This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books they’ve read and share what they have got up to during the last week.
It’s been a busy fortnight. Last weekend we had the pleasure of Eliza staying as my daughter had a business trip to Germany. It was a wonderful treat to spend Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, then taking her to school on Monday. She enjoyed reading from a book of children’s poems we gave her for Christmas and the two of us played endless games of Top Trumps on Horses, Beat Your Neighbour Out of Doors and Connect Four. While she enjoyed painting Warhammer figures with Himself. On Sunday, Ethan popped back for the day to spend some time with her. We went into Worthing to the Warhammer shop, where Eliza built a space marine and we stopped off at one of the many restaurants to have lunch before returning home.
The pics this week – Himself and Eliza painting Warhammer figures – notice which one is the muckier – it isn’t the child, Amari’s welcome to Ethan last Sunday and Ethan and Eliza in the Warhammer shop.
On Tuesday we took Amari to the vet to be spayed. It was a miserable wait to hear that she’d come through the op okay. She is wearing a little T-shirt as she promptly removed the cone of shame within minutes of them putting it on. I spent Tuesday night with her on the settee as she was very groggy and had a nasty fall off her climbing platform. She slept peacefully most of the time and I’m very pleased that she hasn’t been worrying the wound and is taking the pain meds with her food. I’ll be a lot happier when she’s properly on the mend – she’s sleeping a lot and cries from time to time. I know that in the long run this is the right thing to do – she needs to be outside as she’s far too adventurous to become a house cat, but I feel horrible watching her suffer.
We’ve had tremendous rain – the ground is absolutely saturated right now. My thoughts and prayers are for the folks around the world suffering from flooding – and those in the dreadful train crashes in Spain.
This fortnight I’ve read:-
NON-FICTION – One Aladdin Two Lamps by Jeanette Winterson
A woman is filibustering for her life. Every night she tells a story. Every morning she lives one more day. One Aladdin Two Lamps cracks open the legendary story of Shahrazad in One Thousand and One Nights to explore new and ancient questions: Whom should we trust? Is love the most important thing? Does honesty matter? What makes us happy?
Posing as Aladdin—the orphan who changes his world—Jeanette Winterson asks us to re-examine what we think we know, to look again at how fiction works in our lives, giving us the courage to change our own narratives and alter endings. As a young working-class woman with no obvious future beyond factory work or marriage, Winterson realizes through the power of books that she can read herself as fiction as well as a fact: “I can change the story because I am the story.”
Review to follow.
AUDIOBOOK – Stuck in Magic – Book 1 of the Stuck in Magic series by Christopher G. Nuttall
Elliot Richardson thought he’d lost everything.
He’d come home from deployment to find his wife cheating on him, his sons strangers and his life in tatters. Driving away, unsure where he was going, he fell through an interdimensional rift and found himself in a very different world, a city of magic and mystery and dangers beyond his comprehension, a land spinning out of control as innovations from the distant west unsettle the monarchy and challenge the position of the aristocrats and warlords that hold the kingdom in their grasp.
Powerless and alone, with no way home, Elliot struggles to survive long enough to make a new life. But as war looms on the horizon, he finds himself forced to use his skills to make a name for himself, all too aware that the slightest slip will mean instant death – or worse.
I thoroughly enjoyed Nuttall’s Schooled in Magic series, featuring Emily so was interested to dive into the start of this new spinoff with Elliot as the protagonist. As ever, there was plenty of action and all sorts of plot twists. 8/10
AUDIOBOOK – Dreadful by Caitlan Rozakis
It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.
It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is… you.
Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.
But as he realizes that nothing – from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess – is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all – who does he want to be?
Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.
One of my reading highlights last year was The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by this author – so it was a no-brainer that I’d seek out her breakthrough book. It was every bit as hilarious and clever – such a treat to discover a new favourite author😊. 10/10
AUDIOBOOK – Alliance – Book 2 of the Linesman series by S.K. Dunstall
The lines. The soul of every ship. It was once thought there were only ten, but that was before an alien vessel appeared at the edge of space—before Ean Lambert heard more lines singing. Ean’s ways of communicating with lines is strange. But his abilities make him a valuable tool—or weapon—to command.
Captain Selma Kari Wang has lost everything—her ship, her crew, her legs. But the New Alliance of Worlds is not done with her yet. After they rebuild her broken body, they send her to captain one of the new alien ships, teaming her up with Ean, the only one who can understand the alien lines.
Kari Wang and Ean are poised on the threshold of discoveries that could change the world. But not everyone wants the New Alliance to control the secrets they uncover—and those who oppose won’t hesitate to do whatever it takes to stop them…
This series is a gem. The first book gripped me from the start and didn’t let go – I’m ultra fussy about my space opera, so I was hoping this one would also sweep me up and carry me off. It did. The notion of the lines is such a cool one and I love the blend of politics and action which is very well done. Highly recommended. 9/10
An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole
Warren University has stood amongst the ivy elite for centuries, built on the bones―and forbidden magic―of its most prized BIPOC students…hiding the rot of a secret society that will do anything to keep their own powers burning bright. No matter who they must sacrifice along the way.
Ellory Morgan is determined to prove that she belongs at Warren University, an ivy league school whose history is deeply linked to occult rumors and dark secrets. But as she settles into her Freshman year, something about the ornate buildings and shadowy paths feels strangely…familiar. And, with every passing day, that sense of déjà vu grows increasingly sinister.
Despite all logic, despite all reason, despite all the rules of reality, Ellory knows one thing to be true: she has been here before. And if she can’t convince brooding legacy student Hudson Graves to help her remember a past that seems determined to slip through her fingers as if by some insidious magic…this time, she may lose herself for good.
Review to follow.
AUDIOBOOK – Druid Arcane – Book 11 of The Junkyard Druid Boxed Set 9-12 by M.D. Massey
I thought that learning magic from a druid master was tough, but that was before I started taking lessons from an insane quasi-god. For six long months I’ve been suffering under Click’s tutelage, boning up on my magic skills so I can survive the wrath of several Celtic gods and find a cure for my druid mentor, Finnegas.
It’s my fault that the old man is hanging on by a thread, and I’m determined to save his life.
Between surviving Click’s batshit crazy magic lessons and being harassed by the huldufólk, I’ve been trying to track down the Celtic god of healing. Only Dian Cécht can heal my master—and, he’s the only god Click trusts to do the trick.
Unfortunately, DC has been damned hard to find. And just when we finally got a solid lead, Loki’s brother showed up to throw a wrench in the gears. Okay, so I may have killed Loki’s nephew. It’s not like he didn’t have it coming. Bottom line? I might have to fight an army of fire and frost giants to save Finn’s life.
It’s a good thing I brought my wading boots, ‘cause shit’s about to get deep…
Once more, Colin finds himself pitted against all sorts of monstrous enemies. Massey is having huge fun deep-diving into various ancient pantheons around the world and having Colin encounter them. I would just mention that Colin has an increasingly bad case of potty mouth so if you find a lot of swearing off-putting, then this series won’t be for you. 8/10
Posts in the last fortnight:
Castellan the Black and His Wise, Draconic Tips on Life
Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 21st January 2026
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc That Murder Feeling: A Soul Garden Mystery by Neve Maslakovic
Can’t-Wait Wednesday – 14th January 2026
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of NETGALLEY arc Detour – Book 1 of the Detour series by Jeff Rake & Rob Hart
Sunday Post – 11th January 2026
Wishing you a happy, healthy week crammed with fabulous books😊.
Brainfluff 