My goal is to read 52 books in 2016. These are the books that I’m reading and my thoughts on them. When you read dozens of books, it becomes hard to remember what they were all about, so I’m making notes and posting monthly on what I’m reading. Do you have any books you’d like to recommend? The below contains affiliate links so if you click and purchase I may be compensated for them. I need to support my reading habit somehow!
In February, I read and enjoyed the following books:
The Angel by Mark Dawson
I was a little disappointed by this books. It ends in a massive cliffhanger. The story doesn’t seem finished. The main character doesn’t really come into play until the end of the book.
It was interesting and all but given how great Beatrix Rose Trilogy was, the first in the Isabella Rose series needed a little bit more, well, Isabella in it.
From a readers perspective I was a little annoyed. From a writers perspective I think changing the writing style is good to keep things interesting. You get authors that by the fifth book they all sound the same and that’s not good. Sure you want to be recognised but you don’t want your stories to be predictable and run the same linear fashion.
Blood & Roses By Mark Dawson
The third book in the Beatrix Rose trilogy finished well. There was a good amount of tension, action and emotion. While all the books require a suspension of disbelief, the way the story finished was sad, tragic and true to the characters.
Shut Up & Write: The No-Nonsense, No B.S. Guide To Getting Words On The Page By Mridu Khullar Relph
I’m a sucker for a good motivational book and I”m a huge fan of Ms Relph. I’ve been following her blog for about eight years now and she truly is an inspiration. A great journalist and writer that many can learn from. I’ve been looking forward to reading a book by her for a long time. While Shut Up & Write, is not what I expected, it was an enjoyable read that was motivating and offered an insight into her life and work. I definitely recommend this book for writers who are at the beginning of their journey or even those who need a refresher in order to shut up and write.
Day of the Vikings by J.F. Penn
Sign up for JF Penn’s email list and you’ll get a copy of this book free. It’s also available on Amazon if you prefer to buy it. Action, non-stop action. I was actually disappointed the book ended. It’s a novella starring Dr Morgan Sierra, a Lara Croft slash James Bond (authors words), character, fighting to protect the world from religious supernatural elements. It was an entertaining read. It’s a novella, short but definitely not lacking in substance.
Blood Moon Rising By Mark Dawson
The second book in the Beatrix Rose series. Action-packed with a tough and dying assassin set out on revenge. Kept me up at night.
I love a good suspense thriller and I picked this one up because it was free on Amazon. Inheritance is a story about a woman who starts suffering from blackouts and frighteningly real dreams after having mugged and hit on the head. The story has a lot of plot twists and is long-winded and repetitive at times, it could use a bit of editing but the story is quite good. It took me about 10% of the book to really get into it but once I did I really wanted to know what happened next and couldn’t put it down.
Stoicism: Ultimate Handbook To Stoic Philosophy, Wisdom and Way of Life by Thomas Beckett
An interesting read and not what I expected. I wasn’t familiar with Stoicism and this book gave a basic rundown of the ‘religion’, although I’d call it more of a way of living. Stoicism is an interesting concept although it seemed to me to be contradictory in some ways. At one point the author is claiming that stoicism shouldn’t be pushed on others while on another page it claims you should get as many people in your group as possible. The impression I got was that when following Stoicism, you lose all sense of emotion, you control your emotion and avoid outbursts of joy and anger or disappointment. There’s definitely some ideas that would be worth implementing in life. I’m definitely interested in reading a little bit more on the subject out of my own curiosity. This book is a quick intro.
Write. Publish. Repeat by Sean Platt & Johnny B. Truant with David Wright
I want to make a living from my writing. The only way to do that is to increase my output. I read about this book on The Creative Penn, and it took a couple of months before I decided to purchase it. I’m glad I did. It’s a long book but it’s filled with so much useful and motivating information. The guys really know what they are talking about and I’m looking forward to putting some of the tips in the book to practice this year!
What were your reading in February?
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