TGIF!

This is my second outing with GReads' TGIF meme. This week the question getting us talking is:

Writing Reviews 101: What's your process for writing book reviews? 

Any tips or suggestions you would recommend to other bloggers?

It'll be really interesting to see what others have to say. I always write my reviews within a day or so of completing the book, otherwise I start on another book and my memory is gone! I don't tend to pitch straight into it though as I like time to reflect on my thoughts before committing them to screen. I rarely make notes while I read because I find it interrupts the flow, although sometimes if there's something I feel I must remember I'll make a quick kindle note or stick a piece of paper in the book. 

I type straight into Blogger, not messing about with drafts in Word first. As far as a structure goes I like to provide a brief synopsis in my own words, although sometimes I'll use the description on Amazon or Goodreads if it's very straightforward or very complicated. Then, not necessarily in this order I try and comment on the characters, the plot and the writing style, plus any particular issues or absence of issues with editing & proofreading. When I first started blogging I didn't provide a star rating but felt an at a glance summary of what I thought had to be a good thing.

My reviews have definitely developed since I started blogging and I'm sure will continue to do so. In fact right now I'm debating with myself about whether to include more info on available formats, publisher and so on...

In the last week I've been quite active on the blog. I read and reviewed the following:

Antigone's Fall by R.K MacPherson, an action thriller

The Memory of Water by J.T Lawrence, a literary crime novel, and

The Luminist by David Rocklin, set in 1830s Ceylon

I also had a chat with Jenn of the Goodreads Creative Reviews group about their Christmas anthology, Christmas Lites, which is raising money for charity. 

Finally I shared a bit about why I was joins thousands of others in taking strike action on Wednesday. Our Prime Minister may have described the action as a damp squib but not from where I was standing/marching.

Coming up soon I have a Q&A with author of The Memory of Water, J.T Lawrence, and a Coming Soon book review for historical fiction Catching the Eagle Have a great weekend everyone. TC x

TGIF, and thanks to GReads

IAs it's all gone a bit quiet on the Book Blogger Hop front I've been looking for a new meme to have fun with on a Friday, and while I have come across it before this is the first time I've joined in Greads TGIF.  So, this week's question is: 

When You're Not Reading: What occupies your time when your nose isn't stuck in a book?

For the most part I spend my time looking after my 2 year old daughter, so that keeps me pretty busy. I do also work a couple of days a week to get some intelligent conversation (and pocket money) and when I can make it I'm on the quiz team at my local pub. We play in a league, got promoted last season, so I guess we must be reasonably good.

When we have time to get out and about I love to be outside. Over the summer we managed to take a few camping trips which are always fun (if chilly in the great British climate) We live right by the sea so walks on the beach are a must. There are also some great outdoor places to take kids near us, and when the weather isn't so good we have a great aquarium not far away. In related activities my husband and I learnt to dive together so on rare days when we're both off work, madam is at nursery and the conditions are right we try and dust off the scuba gear.

I love where we live because there is so much to do if you can bothered to get out there (and if you can manage to get your nose out of a book for long enough)

Looking forward to meeting some new people this week, thanks to GReads for running this!


Now on a Friday I usually do a recap of what I've been reading and reviewing, so here goes.

The Marinara Murders by Erik Hanberg, a crime fiction, the second featuring Arthur Beautyman. Erik also provided a Thanksgiving themed guest post to educate my fellow Brits (and other non-Americans)
The Millstone Prophecy by Jack Harney, a crime thriller 

Later I should have a guest interview to share about a festive short story anthology called Christmas Lites that has been put together by Goodreads group Creative Reviews. They have put together this book, released today, to raise money for charity. You can find the book on Goodreads here. 

Suppose I should go now, since Black Friday has made its way into my vocab (or more to the point my conciousness) I've started to feel like I need to be cracking on with getting prepared for Xmas. My little monkey fortunately loves books, so thus far she has 10 books by the author of The Gruffalo, plus another little activity book. I feel like I need to re-dress the balance and buy her some toys, so online shopping I go.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!