What Mr Hallow Read This Quarter [October - December]

Welcome to what I believe is the only the third post I have ever written!! As the title says this is a post reviewing what I have read this last quarter of 2019. Because I'm always at work this shared blog is primarily written and edited by Mrs Hallow.

October

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis

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Mrs Hallow picked this book for me this month as she loves C.S Lewis. I read this book very fast its written in a great way and very easy to read. I'm currently reading the Chronicles of Narnia in chronological order not publication order. This is my first time reading this series and I think I enjoyed the first book "The Magicians Nephew" but I think that's because I have seen the Narnia movies and roughly knew the story of this book.

The Wise Mans Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

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This book is huge!! with that said it took me a very long time to read the first book in this series so I got through this one much faster. I love the world created for this book, and the magic system is complex and at the same time easy to follow. I cant wait for the final book in the trilogy to be released, so much seems to have happened in a short time span in the life of Kvothe and I'm intruded to see how the third one ties the story up at this point I would be surprised if a forth book had to be released.

November

The Horse and His Boy by C.S Lewis

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Again Mrs Hallow choose this book for me to read. I must admit that this is so far my favourite book in the series I loved the horse Bree, he's so funny! I enjoyed getting to know more of the world outside of Narnia as the group travelled to get to Narnia. I'm so excited to read more of this series!

Tree and Leaf, Smith of Wooton Major, The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth  by J.R.R Tolkien

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What!!! only 3 starts?? for a book by the master himself... Well the essay part of Tree and Leaf was a bit tedious with that said the short story itself was thoroughly enjoyable! I loved the story and the character of Niggle. The three star score is highly accountable to Smith of Wooton Major writing this like is my I love Tolkien such a great short story and with elves!!what's not to love. The last story The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth now this part of the book was neither good nor bad at the beginning of the story/script I quiet enjoyed it but by the end it got quiet boring I think I struggled to keep my attention in it because it wasn't a story really.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling

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Yes I have never read the harry potter books!! I loved this book the insights into the lives of the house elves and the kitchen of Hogwarts were great. I know its what is always said about every book/movie ever made but the books are far better than the movies I'm actually annoyed with myself that it has taken me so long to read these!

Artemis Fowl: The Artic Incident

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I read this book very quickly! it started quickly a lot faster than the first and with already established characters I found it very easy to get sucked into the story. When I read the first book in this series I was unsure but after reading this I'm eager to read more the character's are great, the back and forth between Captain Root and Mulch Diggums are hilarious and the similar comment from Captain Root and Butler are great too.

December

Prince Caspian by C.S Lewis

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As Mrs has picked a few of the Narnia books for me to read recently I thought I would choose one for myself this month, next on the list was Prince Caspian. I enjoyed this book It was great to have a lot more Narnians involved in the story and I loved the badger Trufflehunter (Hufflepuff Rules). I have seen the Narnia movies and knew what to expect with this book and that I would be seeing more of the pensive children back in Narnia again, my absolute favourite thing about this book has to be that finally the best character Reepicheep is finally introduced!

The House with the Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs

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I simply choose this book as its quiet short and is about magic, it turned out to be a great read I loved the quirky uncle Johnathan and his weird behaviour I found the writing style easy to follow and thought the pace of the book was great I will definitely be on look out for more by this author.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
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I loved reading this book, the way the Perculiardom was expanded was great with the different loops and time zones and as I have also read the tales of the perculiar and the book and the tales themselves are included in the story was fantastic and kept me hooked.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I got through nine books which I'm happy but I hope to read a lot more next year than I did this year.

💀 Mr Hallow 💀

What Mrs Hallow Read This Quarter [October - December]

It feels like forever since I put a post like this together. Well really it has been since the end of 2017 on my old blog. They take a little while, three months in fact, seeing as I comprise (as it says in the title) three months worth of reading into one post! There is more than enough text below therefore I bid you good day!

October

The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

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For this being a book that was chosen for me by Mr H, I somewhat whizzed through this! From the get-go I knew this was going to be right up my alley and it really was. Slightly spooky, great setting, I liked the characters, theme of the story totally our thing and a really nice length. It's rare I give a book a full five stars so that should go for something.

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
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My goodness. You have no idea how long it's actually taken me to read this book. I started it literally years ago when I first picked it up in April 2015 (I know that because I have taken daily photos almost every day since 2013 and checked haha) but went through a reading slump, giving up around a 3rd of the way. I'm so glad I got through it eventually and despite some of the (in my opinion) unnecessary 'sexual'(?) parts I enjoyed the overall storyline.
 

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
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I don't think I have too much to say about this one. In March 2018 I read the first of this series and, despite not being the biggest sci fi fan, rated in 4 stars having loved the fantasy elements and it was same this time around. If anything, I think I might have preffered this over A Wrinkle in Time...though obviously not enough to warrent an ajustment in rating.

November

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
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This is something I've always wanted to read. Well, you know, since I saw the trailer for the movie in early 2016 and since I picked up Tales of the Peculiar just because of how pretty the cover was in 2017. For a peculiar kid it's a wonder I hadn't picked this up way sooner and the added point of how it came to be with the old photos as inspiration, just love it all. The reason I knocked a star off was the ending to be honest. No spoilers though...

The Doomspell by Cliff McNish
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Another dark horse, The Doomspell was a blind bet picked up in the charity shop and totally unexpected to be something I'd enjoy so much. I'd never heard of it or it's author before and now I can't wait to read the next two in this series, especially after the ending of this on. It made me cry!

Eragon by Christopher Paolini
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Another mission and a half for me. Being someone who goes through spurts of reading loads and then struggling to read at all, books longer than 450/500 pages can be a chore no matter how much I'm enjoying them. My weak wrists struggle to hold them up! Anyway, yeah, the plot was awesome. Really enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the next but again the ending just dropped a star for me. I had a feeling as I was approaching the closing chapter that it wasn't going to come to enough of a conclusion to make me happy...ha!

December

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
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Meh. Probably a bit of a harsh word to start off a 3 star review but I guess it sums it up pretty well. It's not bad, obviously, they are well loved stories and I enjoyed it but I wouldn't rush to read it again or really recommend it. Despite liking the writing style, which is mimicked well in the recent Netflix show, I also grew annoyed at the repetitiveness of saying peoples names and such. All that being said, this is the first book I read in one day this year so it couldn't have been that bad could it?!

Switching Well by Peni R Griffin
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The 3rd five star in 3 months?! Never!! Well it was sitting at a generous 3.5 until the ending which just killed me and had me shed more tears, just as The Doomspell had, and it had to be 5 stars. I don't exactly see how this is a children's book...some of the themes discussed we're in my opinion more for older teens/adults but I appreciated things like Foster Care, class, race and such being discussed.

Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
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If you are one of the 3 people that actually read this blog, you might have seen on our December TBR that I was supposed to be reading something else. I did start it but one night I forgot to take it up to bed and so grabbed this off the shelf in our room and ended up not being able to put it down!
A really light read, obviously a kids book, but still super enjoyable for me. When we bought it we laughed that the author had the same name as the actor...until I added it on my Goodreads and realized it actually was him! I'm looking forward to reading the next two in the trilogy.

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
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...Anndd instead of getting onto the book I had in my TBR, I didn't want to end the year with any unfinished books so decided to complete this which I started in October when I completed the 3 books from my TBR early.
It isn't what I expected. Considering how often it was recommended to me due to my other reads I guess I thought it would be a little different but alas, slightly disappointing. I have also owned the dvd of 'The Golden Compass' and have put it off for literal years until I read this first...maybe I should have just watched it. It did get better as it went along thankfully but maybe my expectations were just too high considering the buzz surrounding it.

10 books. I'm happy with that. I'm getting through our gigantic, never-ending TBR pile and that is the main thing! What did you read recently? Mr H's post will be coming soon!

💀 Mrs Hallow 💀