It's (nearly) readathon time again!

Every year, I whitter over whether I'm going to sign up for Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon or not, and every year (well, twice a year) I talk myself into it.

This month is no different. I signed up earlier in the week, and I'm all set to go, although I still need to stock up on snacks and figure out what I'm going to read.

If you're reading this and going ... huh? Go here: http://www.24hourreadathon.com/ and all will be made clear and all that jazz. Readathon is fun, and it brings all corners of the book blogging community - from the old-school crusty bloggers like myself - to the young'ns on the tumblr and the instagram together to unite in the same purpose: read as much as possible, and consume mass quantities.

This year I'll be diving in a little bit late, as I'm going out on Saturday night to my stitch-and-watch friend's place - Saturday is her birthday, and she not long ago lost her mum, so I'm sticking to my leave-the-house plans this once. On Sunday, however, my "plan" is to find a book, park up somewhere comfy, no doubt with a cat ... and probably spend far too much time on social media, like I always do.

Join us! It's fun! :)

Review - Pansies by Alexis Hall

Alfie Bell, on paper, has everything. A flash London flat, a six-figure salary, and good friends. Going home to South Shields for a wedding, however, throws into relief for Alfie how shallow his life really is. And now that everyone back home knows that he's gay, well, that just adds to the complications.

Alfie expects to grit his teeth through his best friend's wedding, head to London and never return to South Shields again. Fate, however, has other ideas, in the form of Fen. Fen, with his sharp tongue and pink-tipped hair, draws Alfie in straight away. The trouble is, Alfie doesn't remember Fen, but Fen remembers Alfie and the torment he put him through back at school.

Once Alfie realises who Fen is, he wants to try and put things right, and hopefully move on WITH Fen. But there are a lot of obstacles in their way ...

Oh, I liked this. I liked this very much of a lot. Fen, especially is a great character and Alfie is like this blundering, well-meaning Great Dane who still thinks he's a lapdog.

Pansies has more in common with Glitterland (incidentally my all-time favourite Alexis Hall novel) than, say, For Real, and it's just a very, very good read with an awful lot of heart.

Review - The Secret Life of Pets

Ever wondered what your pets get up to when you're not around? Well, here's the answer and it's adorable and funny.

The Secret Life of Pets follows terrier Max as he goes about his day in New York while his owner Katie is at work. Max, as per every kids' movie ever with animals, has a host of quirky animal friends, including Gidget the pomeranian, Chloe the cat and Mel the pug.

When Katie adopts a new dog, Doug, Max lets his jealousy get the better of him and shenanigans ensue. There's a bad-tempered bunny (an abandoned pet) called Snowball, an ancient basset hound called Pops and a whole host of cats, dogs, birds and others.

I took spawn to this during the school holidays, and we both enjoyed it greatly. It's light-hearted for the most part, with some sniffle-inducing emotional parts as well.

Great for the kids, and a really enjoyable family movie.

Sunday Post 45; It's Monday, what are you reading? 31

The Sunday Post - a chance for a chat and a catch-up with other bloggers - is hosted by Kimba here: http://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What are you reading? is now hosted by Kathryn, here: http://bookdate.blogspot.co.nz/

Let's see ....

Well, I'm now a fully functioning beneficiary.  A ward of the Government, as it were. It feels ... weird. It's good, to have some kind of money coming in, but the longer I'm out of work, the more heavily the days weigh on my hands. I'm applying for everything even remotely likely and so far all I've had are a couple of interviews, a vague expression of interest from a recruitment agency, and rejections, rejections, rejections.

I think my favourite one so far said that although my experience was "of interest" to them, it didn't' line up perfectly with what they wanted. They wanted a content writer with sub-editing skills. Which. That's. That's what I did, essentially. So right now, my job-seeking mode is ... frustrated. I feel like ... I don't know. If I'm not filling my days productively then I'm somehow ... cheating someone somewhere. But after I've applied for all the jobs in the morning, what CAN I do? Spawn is at school, and he's nine, so he needs me less than he used to and so ... ugh. I didn't mean to start a pity party. I'd just rather be working. Being home was nice and fun and all when I had funds, and then I was working for a bit, and now that I don't have funds and I'm not working? Less fun.

Anyway. Spawn is sick - it never fails, he goes back to school after the holidays, and comes home with a bug. Sore throat/sore ear/fever again. He's had it for a few days, so it'll be off to the doctor again. The school has done a hearing assessment on him too, and he's been referred to the hospital, so we're waiting for an appointment there. Likely he'll need grommets, but I'm adopting a wait-and-see approach because what-ifs aren't productive.

My Saturday night stitch-and-watch friend's mother died last Monday. She had had Alzheimer's for about nine years, and my friend was her main caregiver. Her funeral was on Friday.

I have been reading a bit, and I finished Pansies by Alexis Hall on Saturday. It never fails when I get one of his books, I have to sit down and read it till it's done. It was great, but I don't think anything can replace the standing Glitterland has in my heart. Review to come this week,  hopefully! I still need to write up The Secret Life of Pets, too.

I'm picking away at the audio for This Census-Taker, and it's going okay. I don't really listen to a lot of audiobooks but I had a free Audible credit, so I took advantage. I also started Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristof. The formatting takes a bit of getting used to but I'm enjoying the story so far.

I think that's all - lol.

What about you?

How's your week?

What are you reading?

Short reviews

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Clay Jensen comes home to find a box of cassette tapes on his doorstep. He soon realises they're a recorded suicide note from classmate Hannah Baker, who had recently taken her own life.

Hannah has tapes for various different people from her life, and how they impacted and affected her decision. Clay spends a long night listening to them all, to find out why Hannah did what she did.

13 Reasons Why was a difficult read for sure, and I found the plot a little bit clumsy at times, but it was an absorbing and moving book.

Leviathan Wakes: Book one of The Expanse by James S A Corey
Humanity has spread itself out across space - from earth to Mars and beyond. It hasn't, however, conquered the stars as of yet.

When the crew of an ice miner runs into an abandoned ship and a secret they don't want on their hands, events tip out of their control very quickly.

On Mars, security officer Detective Miller is looking for a missing girl. When his case and that of the abandoned ship collide, things happen that no one expects.

Leviathan Wakes is like a noir novel but set in space, and I enjoyed the fusion of genres greatly. Also the adverserial relationship between cynical Miller and idealistic Holden from the ice miner. Good stuff.

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes
Set before the events of Dragon Age Inquisition, Empress Celene is fighting to keep her throne as the ruler of Orlais. Her cousin, the chevalier Gaspard is right on her heels for the throne, and complicating things even further is Celene's Elven lover, Briala.

Orlais is a kingdom of masks, and the Game, which plays out among the nobles and the elite. Meanwhile, the elves of Orlais suffer under the burdens of prejudice and poverty. Briala is trying to improve their lot, but when Celene takes drastic action against an elven uprising in Halamshiral, things spiral even further out of control.

I love this stuff. Honestly. Murder and masks and conspiracies and magic ... The Masked Empire fills in a lot of the background as well for one of the main questlines in Dragon Age: Inquisition and honestly leads me to the conclusion that Orleisians are collectively terrible, terrible people.

Dead Wrong by Leighann Dobbs

I picked up the first three books of this series free on iBooks. It happened to be just what I needed at the time - something relatively light, with a hint of mystery and a touch of romance.

The Blackmoore sisters all enjoy their life in a small sleepy Maine town, even as they struggle with property taxes on their home. However, when a woman that Morgan Blackmoore had a long-running feud with turns up murdered, things get a whole lot murkier.

All four sisters pull together to find out whodunit, and for Fiona Blackmoore, there's the new detective in town: Jake. Romance, mystery, family bonding. It's a short, slight novel to be sure, but it's also ideal for filling that I-don't-know-what-to-read-next gap.

Sunday post 44; It's Monday What are you reading? 30

The Sunday Post - a chance for a natter and a catch-up - is hosted by Kimba here: http://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/ and It's Monday! What are you reading? is now hosted by Kathryn over here: http://bookdate.blogspot.co.nz/

It's been a couple of weeks since I did one of these posts. There's something disheartening about sitting down to write one and realising it's essentially the same thing over and over again. I'm still looking for a job. I had .... six? rejections last week, I think?

Spawn has been on school holidays but heads back tomorrow.

I've applied for benefits but the wheels of bureaucracy grind exceedingly slow.

I've done one short reviews post, and I have a couple more posts lined up this week - another short reviews one, and a review of The Secret Life of Pets which I took spawn to in the first week of the holidays.

So. I'm applying for jobs, applying for benefits, trying to fill my days as best I can at the moment.

Up next reading-wise is the audiobook of This Census-Taker by China Mieville, that I'm co-reading with Jodie from https://ladybusiness.dreamwidth.org/

How about you? How's your week? What are you reading?

Short reviews

Former best friends Clark and Bryce are reunited unexpectedly at a comic convention. They have a bit of a history, and Bryce is wary, especially after Clark broke his heart a few years ago.

Clark, however, is determined to make it up to Bryce and to get back into his good books (and his pants).

Super-cute novella about life, love and second chances.

I got these two as freebies on iBooks. Book one and book two of Aria Grace's Mile High Romance series. I didn't really know what to expect, but hey, the price was right.

I was mostly pleasantly surprised overall, although the angsty parts felt overdone and awkward. One of the characters - both grown men who presumably know how to use their words - ups and leaves one day with no explanation, and just assumes other grown man will move on with his life with no closure. Um. 

I enjoyed book 2 more than book 1. There was still some angst, but it felt more organic and plot-relevant than the angst in book 1. Pleasant M/M romances, both of them.