It’s been a funny few days in the house, not in a hilarious way either, the terrible two’s have been making things a big stress fest so I have been really appreciating the time to read in the evenings to unwind.  I have been making my way through the divergent series the last few weeks and I finished Allegiant last night.  I think it’s fair to say that i’m still thinking about it now.  I am a fan of the films, I know many aren’t, but I have found them to be enjoyable; Allegiant probably the most.  However, the book and the film could not be more further apart.  I thought it was because I hadn’t seen the film for a while but as I got to the end it was apparent that they are very different entities.  It was good though, it meant that it was a book full of surprises for me and clearly many that I wasn’t expecting (no spoilers here) and I found it very thought provoking.  I expect that it will be one for a re-read in the near future when I don’t have the shadow of film in my mind anymore.

Other things that have happened have been the completion of my His Dark Materials trilogy, you may remember that the other week I picked up Northern Lights and The Amber Spyglass (thankfully without cover promo) so I fully intended on getting The Subtle Knife as a priority book spend.  I was thrown into turmoil though when I went to the shop to see that the covers had changed again to match in with The Book of Dust cover; which weren’t nearly so pretty and didn’t match the books I already had.  After a short but frantic search on the Zon I managed to find the old cover and all is right again in the world – but seriously how many times do the publishers need to change the covers??  This series always holds a special place for me, I read them when I was pregnant with child number 1 and they kept me company for the 2 weeks that she was overdue by.  I need to read them again and especially the Amber Spyglass as I had to read the last few chapters of that with a newborn and that time is a bit hazy now!  As an aside, if you are able to get the BBC iPlayer I would highly recommend listening to the abridged Book of Dust radio drama and you can make a start on it here it is utterly compelling.

Tonight i’m going to make a start on Caraval by Stephanie Garber, again it’s a book that I picked up due to hype and a pretty cover – and at just £5 for the hardback edition I didn’t think I had much to lose.  Since picking it up I have heard from two friends, who’s recommendations I trust, that it’s not up to the hype but so many people have loved it that I have decided to plough on through with an open mind and hope to be surprised, if anything it certainly looks beautiful and totally appeals to the formatter in me!  I’ll let you know how I get on.

Have you picked up any books recently due to hype and either loved or hated them?

I have been getting back to reading this week after the playstation was a time sponge for me last week.  That’s not to say that I have being completely immune to it’s charms as I have some Assassins Creed DLC that i’m currently engrossed in. I have now finished Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo and you can check out my review here I’m not convinced it was a good choice as a first read by this author but I want to read more by her where she isn’t tied into someone else’s ideas and it does make me worry for what my beloved Sarah J Maas will be like when she takes a turn next year with Catwoman as part of this ongoing DC Icons series.  As for my current read, i’m now onto Allegiant by Veronica Roth which I will be enjoying with a glass of wine once this has been posted.

However, one awesome thing that happened this week was that my gorgeous Book and Nook candles arrived which are based on Feyre and Rhysand from the ACOTAR series. They are fabulous!  I wish I could add smells to the blog because they are just so fitting and they are full of sparkles 🙂   I also managed to pick up a Velaris necklace which was in an earlier Fairyloot box and I love it!  Excuse that my favourite of the trilogy is missing from the photo, it’s currently on loan to my mum 😉

Other fun bookish loveliness I have acquired is this set of Harry Potter playing cards, I have to say that I don’t play a lot of card games any more (although Poker has been a big part of my past before the kiddies arrived) but I think these are pretty cool to keep around.  Instead of the usual Hearts, Clubs etc each Hogwarts House has a turn and I love the artwork on them.  They are on display but I fully intend on breaking them out at every opportunity.

Have you got any great bookish finds?  I would love for you to share them with me 🙂

It’s been a funny old week… Not much reading has been done and that is mainly down to the playstation.  My fab brother lent me Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and it’s fair to say that it’s been quite the time sponge.  Uncharted is one of my favourite playstation franchises and even though there is no Nathan Drake, there are enough kickbacks to make it really enjoyable.  It’s very much uncharted by numbers though, cue lots of relentless gunfights, Tomb Raider style puzzles and and an arduous battle on a moving train but that’s what makes it so playable!  It’s not the best of the franchise by far but (apart from one utterly fiendish puzzle) it’s really really fun to play and most of my evenings have been spent playing that rather than reading.  Don’t listen to the reviews either, I got a good 10 hours game play out of it and I was expecting half of that from what I had heard!

Other bars to reading this week have been the horribly stressful muggle job and even the fun job has been a real emotional drain but i’m back on track with a fab client and a piece that i’m really proud of!

Other things have been afoot this week, the new bookcase arrived on Sunday it’s installed and is starting to be filled, mini me was most excited to bring down the book stack from the attic to put them in pride of place.

I love finally having a bookcase in my living room, it really completes it and I can’t stop looking at all the bookish goodness, i’m trying to be good by reigning in my book spends as I know my fairyloot boxes will start adding to the shelf next month but I’m finding it so hard to say no!

My bookstagram has taken a bit of a back seat as well this week as I have been struggling to feel inspired as a lot of the book challenge themes are samey given that it’s start of Autumn and Halloween coming up.  I have also been very good with my book buying, trying to restrict it to new purchases on pay day so I don’t have anything new to add to my photos and I don’t want my followers to get bored with me posting the same books all the time. I’m going to be very proud to do my first proper #shelfiesunday though this week, this is a sneak peak as a work in progress, I have added a lot of bookish goodies since I took this ❤

So as you all know I’ve recently taken up bookstagramming which combined with my move away from ebooks has meant a new lease of life for my bookshelf.  It has made me look at and appreciate beautiful book covers at a new level, to seek out the unusual and colourful offerings.  A few weeks ago I saw that the “His Dark Materials” trilogy had released new covers and after coveting them since, I picked up Northern Lights and The Amber spyglass today (sadly no Subtle Knife).  All good and lovely, however, when picking up the Amber Spyglass I was frustrated to find that there was a sticker advertising the fact that the first chapter of “The Book of Dust” was included (I hate the residue the stickers leave) but then I realised that it wasn’t a sticker at all but it was actually printed into the gorgeous cover!  I was so upset that the cover had been marred in this way, thankfully as I went back through the shelf there were 2 older versions which didn’t have that addition so I managed to leave happy.  However it really got me thinking as to why the publisher chose to do that?

It’s long been a bugbear of mine that when a book gets made into a TV show or a film that the publisher chooses to update the cover to match, American Gods and the Handmaids Tale are the most recent examples, with it’s stars emblazoned across the front rather than the original cover design.  I’m sure that there is a plausible marketing formula for it, but is it really necessary?  In fact when researching this post I looked up American Gods on Amazon and the new cover is labelled as “mass market paperback” #sigh.  If anything I am less likely to buy a book with a “tie in” cover, because usually they just aren’t very good. Similarly, with The Amber Spyglass, it’s clearly being marketed as an exciting extra but then surely a sticker can easily achieve this?

At a time where paperbacks are experiencing a resurgence, bookcases are becoming displays, and the huge bookstagram community are championing beautiful covers, it’s baffling as to why publishers want to change the covers to something that’s simply less.  It’s of course only a good thing that the serialisation of these books bring people round to wanting to read them, but then is it insulting to readers that they have to be drawn to it by a book cover that matches the DVD?  Like readers are unable to figure out who wrote something and then follow a simple alphabetical system in the book shop?

Maybe it’s just me, but then it’s clear that whilst looking up some other titles that there is a move back to traditional covers after the initial excitement.  I remember how awful the Game of Thrones tie in cover was, just Sean Bean sat on the Iron Throne, but now they are back to wonderful decorative covers.  It’s obviously all down to timing.  Had “The Book Of Dust” not been due for release in a couple of days I may have missed this compromised cover entirely and then what would I have rambled about?

How about you, do you mind tie in covers?  Do you agree that they aren’t necessary? Maybe you can change my mind with a tie in cover which surpasses the original!

So it’s the start of a new week and there a number of things I’m excited about!   In an effort to move on from the emotional trauma of A Court of Thorns and Roses, I have picked up the new DC Icons book which is Wonderwoman – Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo.  I have heard lots of good things about this author and as this is a standalone i’m looking forward to getting a feel for her writing style (and I don’t think i’m ready to emotionally invest in another series straight away) It was part of my payday book haul  which you can check out over on my Instagram!

I’ve also broken my bookish cherry and purchased some fandom items from Etsy.  There is a whole world of bookish goodies available on there, sadly more for the traditionally published fandoms at the moment, but hopefully indies will get a look in too soon.  I have ordered some ACOTAR candles from Book and Nook they are based in the UK and have featured in the Fairy loot subscription boxes.  I have got ones for Feyre and Rhysand and hope to have them arrive in time to add to our new book shelves which arrive at the weekend.

Speaking of which I can’t wait for this, sadly all my paperbacks are currently in a big old stack looking very sorry for themselves, so i’m excited to finally have found a case that will fit them all and have room to grow, i’m anticipating a Saturday delivery so my Saturday night is sorted!

What are you all up to this week, anything you are looking forward to??