New Year, New Books!

Happy New Year! After an absolutely fantastic year of reading last year (I wasn't the only blogger who couldn't pick only ten books for their end of year favourite reads!), 2018 has much to live up to but I already have high hopes for the year ahead.

I tend not to make too many resolutions when it comes to my reading goals this year but I am hoping to avoid the reading slump I seem to fall into around February or March most years for some reason. Thankfully I'm already signed up for quite a few blog tours for the first part of the year, I really appreciate the structure having set dates for reviews adds to my reading - thank you to the authors, publishers and blog tour organisers who continue to ask me to take part in their tours.

As we enter January I already have a few reviews to write after my Christmas readathon (which wasn't quite as successful as I'd have liked, turned out I actually had to talk to people over the festive period!) Nevertheless I did manage to read six books between 23rd and 31st December so I did manage to squeeze in some reading time! I don't want to give too much away about them now but here's a look at the books I've already read and then the blog tours I have coming up this month.

Keep Her Safe by Richard Parker, published by Bookouture - the third book I read by this author in 2017, his other two books, Follow You and Hide and Seek were both among my favourite reads of the year. This one came too late to be considered for inclusion but will be eligible for next year's list. You'll have to wait and see what I thought of it though...

Deep Down Dead by Steph Broadribb, published by Orenda Books - I've had this sat on my shelf for far too long and after reading so many glowing reviews I accepted an invitation to take part in the blog tour for the sequel Deep Blue Trouble without any hesitation - which meant of course I really needed to bump this one to the top of my tbr pile. I might be giving a bit of a clue as to my thoughts when I say I cannot wait to read the next one now!

Fruit Woman by Kate Rigby - I'm kicking off the blog tour for this book on 12th January. I've just been re-reading the email I was sent about it by Anne Cater of  Random Things Tours when she invited me onto the tour and I'm surprised to realise it's only 170 pages long, there's certainly a lot packed into those pages...

On the Bright Side: The New Secret Diary of  Hendrik Groen, published by Michael Joseph - I have to confess to not having read the previous book, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old but that's never stopped me choosing a book before! The diary format of this book meant it was the ideal choice to  pick up and put down over Christmas. The blog tour for this has already started, look put for my review on 6th January.

The Weight of Shadows by Karl Holton - Karl contacted me several months ago asking if I'd like to read The Weight of Shadows and so I was delighted to finally have the chance to read it. Thanks for your patience, Karl! Once again I don't want to give too much away about my thoughts ahead of my review but I did give this book five stars on Goodreads!

The Healer by Antti Tuomainen, published by Vintage Books - I've made no secret of just how much I loved Antti's most recent book to be translated into English, The Man Who Died. I also loved The Mine, published in 2016 and so recently decided to treat myself to his other translated books, The Healer and Dark As My Heart. Perhaps it's fitting that the very final book I read in 2017 was a dystopian novel set in the new future...

As I look forward to the rest of the month now, I'm thrilled to be taking part in some fabulous blog tours.

After my review of On The Bright Side on 6th January, I'll be featuring a promo post for Beginnings by Helen J. Christmas on 8th January. As I stated above I'll be kicking off the blog tour for Fruit Woman on 12th January, then on 14th January I'll be bringing you my review of Madeleine Black's memoir, Unbroken. After this I have a further six more blog tour reviews for the rest of January; La Casa D'Italia For Starters by Anna-Marie Athanasiou on 15th; Turning for Home by Barney Norris on 16th; Disposal by David Evans on 21st; Matt Wesolowski's follow-up to Six Stories, Hydra on 22nd; Steph Broadribb's Lori Anderson sequel, Deep Blue Trouble on 28th, and finally, Ellie Dean's new book, With a Kiss and a Prayer rounding off the month on 31st.

I do hope you will be able to join me for some of them. Thank you so much for your continued support, whether you're an author, publisher or blog tour organiser who entrusts me with these brilliant books, my fellow bloggers or someone who reads this blog, thank you for your shares and I do hope my reviews sometimes help you choose your next read!

I'd like to wish you all a happy 2018 with lots of wonderful books to see you through the year! Happy reading!