What Mrs Hallow Read This Quarter [October - December]

 

 It is indeed March and I am just getting around to posting my own Quarterly Reading Round-Up for the final part of 2020. This blog has well and truly been left behind this year. 

October

The Green Ember by S.D. Smith

⭐️⭐️
I don't know if it was more so the narrator of this, or the story itself, but I just didn't enjoy listening to this audiobook. I had this and others from the same series in my book buying wishlist as I liked the sound of the description, so I'm hoping it was just the strange way the American narrator chose to bring the story to life and that I can give reading it a go in the future. 

The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Not starting out October brilliantly, this one fell slightly short for me. It was a good idea and I enjoyed it overall but I think my expectations were too high with it being based in a place I am familiar with. 

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We're steadily increasing the star ratings haha! I happened upon this book while looking for things to read for Halloween and bought it from eBay. It wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be from the synopsis but the 'moral' of it and stuff was pretty cool - I enjoyed it!

Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved the first one and loved the second one just as much. I look forward to reading the next also.

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I first came across this book in my recommended section on Amazon and stuck it on my wishlist. This is another I bought specifically to read in October and I'm so glad I did - a wonderful story and so uplifting to read something from another culture. Another I am eager to read the sequel. 

Disneyland Paris Phantom Manor: Decrypted by Jérémie Noyer and Mathias Dugouyon

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's not often I pick up a non-fiction book, but when I do you can almost always guarantee it's Disney related. 

Pirates of the Caribbean - Un trésor d'attraction by Jérémie Noyer and Mathias Dugoujon

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As above!

November

The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Anything with 'Magic', 'Witch' or 'Wizard in the title automatically has my interest. 
It was good, I enjoyed it but purely comparing to some of the other things I've read lately it didn't quite make it to the 4-star mark.

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry

⭐️⭐️
Not what I expected and I guess another thing that was a little 'too adult' for me. It's no new news that I am not a fan of adult themes and the portrayal of the friend of the lead character was something I didn't find necessary or enjoyable. If all that teenage, hormonal, adult-y stuff was left out I'd have given the storyline a much higher rating. 

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I bought this book eons ago when doing a blog post about Disney movies that were based on books, however it has sat on my shelf until now. I'd seen the movie previous and I'm glad I got around to this because I enjoyed it much more than the movie. 

December

The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I'm still just sticking in with these because I want to finish the series. As I've said in previous talks about The Series of Unfortunate Events, I like the main plot etc. The writing style on the other hand is a little annoying. 

The Umbrella Mouse by Anna Fargher
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One of the best books I've read in a long time! I loved this so much. SO much in fact I immediately went online to order the sequel upon finishing this. 

Frostheart by Jamie Littler
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This had already been at home in our collection for a little while when I saw a couple of people I know raving about it. I picked it up and the next availability and can see why others loved it. I look forward to reading the sequel.

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So considering I hate and don't celebrate Christmas, I have a huge interest in Father Christmas and his origins story. I read The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum back in 2017 and adored it so when Mr H got Letters from Father Christmas as part of his ever-growing Tolkien collection I had to give it a read. Beautiful book, beautiful images by a beautiful person. Super special!

The Tale Of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Being such Disney and animal fans in this house, we of course love stories about little mice. This was nice, but knowing it has been made into a movie, it was not as amazing as I'd built it up to be.

Umbrella Mouse To The Rescue by Anna Fargher
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See above. The sequel was equally as wonderful. I cried a lot and fell in love with the story behind the story.

Treasured Tales from Beatrix Potter by Beatrix Potter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My childhood!! I still have my copies of these books at my parents house from when I was tiny and picked up this mini anthology from a charity shop a while ago. I was lovely to end the year with such nostalgia. 

A nice stack of reads to finish up last year and with some great star ratings too. I would even go as far as to say that a couple of the books mentioned in this post are favourites of 2020, if not all-time favourite reads.

17 in total took my annual total to 62, 26 more than my goal - woohoo!

Hopefully, I'll be able to get around to writing up my Year in Books. Until then you could always check out my Goodreads Year in Books 2019! 

Until next time...

What Mr Hallow Read This Quarter [October - December]

I read some great books this quarter and the final book I read this year was one of my absolute favourites, sadly I had one of my lowest rated books of the year in this quarter too though...

October

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the second book I have read from Brandon Sanderson and I loved it. Everything about this series of books I love. The first book I purchase in 2021 will be the third from this series and I can't wait to read it already.

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M Harris
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have read a few of this kind of Norse mythology books although the 'narration' of this book was my favourite I've read some of the stories very slightly different as it was being told by Loki and that was a great point of view and gave some nice insights into the Gods.


November

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K Rowling
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finally getting to the end of the Harry Potter books, as I'm getting further into the books I think that I'm actually enjoying each book more and more. I'm actually writing this in February and honestly I can't really remember what exactly happens in this book.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I had my eye on reading this for a while before getting round to it which is pretty much the same for every book I read. I really enjoyed this book and the way the dragons are portrayed I was a little sceptical at first in the first few chapters but this book opened up into a fantastic story.


December

The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket
⭐️⭐️
Its been a long time coming reading these books. That being said I really didn't like this book I found it tedious to read and I can't remember the last time I rated a book so low. I won't be reading the rest of these books but I'm glad I gave them a chance.

The Scent of Magic by Cliff McNish
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am fascinated by these books this being the second in the trilogy. The world-building and high fantasy aspects of these books are huge and the books are actually quite small. These are very cleverly written and I'm excited to read the third if we can ever find it online in the right cover.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K Rowling
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did it!! I read them all! Now stating the obvious the books are so much more than the movies. I kind of wish that HP gets a TV series to fit in more of the content from the books. I love how so much more character development happens in these books. I have always like Harry Potter but now I have read them all I am a huge fan!

Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R Tolkien
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I finished my TBR and wanted a little book to read. this was the last book I bought physically in a store. I have a lot of Tolkien books that I need to read and am I glad I stared with this one! What a great book! Farmer Giles was a fantastic character.

So that's it, all of the books I read in the last quarter of 2020. I'm very happy with how many books I got to read this year. With that being said I only read so much this year because we couldn't really do anything else during the lockdown. Normally we would go for walks and have days out together. Which was a big miss.

How many books did you read this year?

What Mrs Hallow Read This Quarter [July - September]

As I shared in my previous post, we had a 5/6 week break from this blog without really meaning to, so some of these posts may seem slightly outdated while we get caught up. Of course we know not many people read this and it is more so just for our own records and memories, hence posting these rather than skipping them. The below was in part written as I the months went along and the rest in recent days.

Another three months have passed, meaning it is yet again time for a quarterly reading round up. In the first quarter of 2020, I read 13 books, in the second quarter 18... that made 31 total in six months, only 5 away from my yearly goal so let's see what I managed to get through in our third quarter!

July

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is something I owned but gave to a charity shop unread years ago, then we repurchased in December of last year. I got around to choosing it for my TBR in July and was really looking forward to it but it ended up being slightly different to what I was expecting. For something labelled as 'Fairy Tale' and 'Fantasy Fiction' some of the themes and language used was a lot more adult than I hoped. I'm a big girl and can take it, but maybe because I read so much middle grade etc I prefer cleaner reading.
Overall the storyline was good and I'm interested in what the next book will follow.

A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It's common knowledge by this point we are Peculiar fans in our house. I enjoy all the books...or have done so far.

Haunted by James Herbert

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Looking at the cover of this and comparing it to the rest of the stuff we own and read, it didn't seem like something up my alley. However, the blurb did pique my interest and I gave it a go. Again, it was another that was slightly unexpected with moments that helped drop my rating down. 

August

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was super excited to put this on my TBR for August because I'd loved the sound and look of it and been looking at it sitting on my shelf since April. Of course, my hunch was correct and the whimsical, strange storyline was right up my street.

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had high expectations for this one, the title being something I say often haha. It also holds some sentimental feelings from when and where it was bought. And I did actually really enjoy the main plot. Obviously a 3 star isn't usually a rating you'd give a book you liked the plot of so much, however I docked stars for the (what I feel were) very unnecessary 'adult' themes. This seems to be becoming a running theme and a reason the majority of my reading consists of middle grade and other young fiction.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yeah, it was fine. Not quite sure why it is so incredibly popular but it wasn't a waste of time to read.

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

⭐️⭐️⭐️

See every other review of this series haha! I'm only still reading just to complete the series. I definitely prefer these in movie/tv show form and it's not often I say that...and it feels wrong too...but it's true.

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I finished the book I had been reading in bed one night and wasn't ready to go to sleep, so of course my choice from our bedroom bookcase wasn't one of the many books I've never read, but one of my all-time favourites that I've read plenty! I had planned on re-reading the whole series again but I've had a lot of other things on my TBRs recently.

September

As Old As Time by Liz Braswell

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Despite owning all of the Disney Twisted Tales and Villian stories I'm still slowly working my way through them. I've probably mentioned in the past how I really don't like the Villian series by Serena Valentino but I actually have super enjoyed the Liz Braswell twisted tales so far including this Beauty and the Beast re-telling.

The Great Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So this came to me through a recommendation on Goodreads (not that they have a good reputation for recs or anything) and I bought it second hand online. I wasn't 100% sure what to expect and was hoping that there wasn't any animal abuse that was too hard to read but it was set in a time period I enjoy so gave it a go. The storyline progressed well and they managed to respect the elephant more than I thought was going to be the case considering the subject.

The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I think I've talked here before about E Nesbit and my thoughts on her, so when I saw this on the free Audible Stories website I made it my 'on the way to pick up Husband' driving listen. Loved it.

The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Still one of my favourite book series. It's been a while since I rated it, so I'm unsure as to why it doesn't have five stars from me, but I know that the horrible cliffhanger endings annoy me. I know it's to keep you interested so you will pick up the next book but Mr Riggs' feel like he has written a book and then just ripped it in half leaving me completely in the dark for months on end.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories by Tim Burton
⭐️
It pains me to rate this 1 star. I have always hated poetry but I thought my love for Tim Burton may override that. Nope. 

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was technically on October's TBR list, however after having already completed September's TBR plus another two books on top of that I decided to get a head start on the following month too. 
I had had this in our Amazon wishlist for months and bought it in time to read over spooky season. Although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I enjoyed it overall...especially seeing as I've really been loving middle-grade fantasy.

So that's another 14 books down for the past 3 months adding to the 31 from the first half of 2020 to bring me to 45 books. My total goal for the whole year was 36 which means I as of October 1st I had surpassed that by 9! Woo! Let's see if I can reach 60 before the end of the year...

What Mrs Hallow Read This Quarter [April - June]

6 months?! Halfway through 2020?! Whaaaattt?! Considering the worldwide situation and having been at home since the end of February, it really feels like the year is completely flying. Talking of said lockdown I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that as social recluses and bookworms, it was great to have even more time to read haha!
Come check out what I managed to tick off the never-ending TBR pile in April, May and June!

April

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A book that Mr H picked up for me from a charity shop back in January ended up being my favourite read of the month. As we've mentioned before, we do judge books by their covers usually and this wasn't exactly an appealing cover to me. However, being set in Edinburgh and about the paranormal, I knew I would like it!

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I stumbled upon the audiobook versions of the Pooh books on Youtube and thought I'd add them to my 'to listen to' list. If you saw my previous quarterly reading roundup, you'll have seen I listened to 'Winnie the Pooh' at the start of March. Obviously they are classics and even listening as a 29-year-old, they really hold up.

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think I also listened to this one! We have all the books in hardcopy and I read the first two, but as we had been busy doing lots of work in the garden so with Audible having their free books during lockdown I thought why not kill two birds with one stone! Both Mr H and I love this series so obviously, it was good.

Eldest by Christopher Paolini

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another series I had started, The Inheritance Cycle. I read Eragon back in 2019, so was excited to get around to the second book, which I actually enjoyed more so than the first! Hopefully I can squeeze Brisingr in soon...

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So you see the first book at the top of this post? I enjoyed it so much that ordered the sequel and read it in the same month haha! This one was set in the Paris Catacombs so although I don't have direct experience of the area it was still something that has been an interest of mine and I loved the plot surrounding it.

The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Following the trend of starting multiple series, I'm slowly working my way through the

May

The Too-Clever Fox by Leigh Bardugo

⭐️

As we have Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse on our bookcase and this was free to listen to on Audible Stories I thought I'd give it a go. The reviews on Goodreads were amazing and it was said that it had nothing to do with the trilogy so you could read it without having read those, but my goodness! It has fully put me off wanting to actually read the Grishaverse trilogy! I hated it. Not my thing at all.

The Land of Neverendings by Kate Saunders

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love following a 1-star rating with a 5-star rating and I am adoring middle-grade fantasy right now. There was a good mix of whimsical fun, childhood magic and tear-jerking pulling of the heartstrings. This story appealed to me in particular because even now I have a ridiculous attachment and feeling of sympathy for certain inanimate objects (this isn't a rare thing! Google it!) and have since early childhood.

Tales of Terror from the Black Ship by Chris Priestley

⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was alright. Hence the average score star wise. It seemed a little pointless during the reading process...I'm not the biggest fan of lots of short stories in one book. But the ending definitely bumped this up a star.

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

⭐️⭐️⭐️

So looking back to December last year when I read the first book in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series, I have no idea how I gave it 3 stars...it should have been 2 maximum. I hadn't been looking forward to picking up The Subtle Knife because I really didn't enjoy Northern Lights and it is so hyped, but thankfully it was a little better than it's predecessor.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Novelization by A.C.H. Smith

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was super excited to eventually get around to reading this. Like many people around my age, Labyrinth the movie has a special place in my heart and being the novelization of the movie this was sure to too. It was great, the addition of Jim Henson's notes and sketches at the end was a fan's dream, the only reason I knocked it down a star was because of a few scenes that seemed muddled compared to my knowledge of the movie and the very weird portrayal of Sarah and Jarad's relationship.

Cora and the Nurse Dragon by H.L. Burke

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm not sure how I found this, but I do know it was a free kindle ebook and it was about dragons so I snapped it up. It was a different approach to other things I've read involving dragons and although parts were sad it brought up an important point that can be translated to other animals and the exploration they face due to humans. Oh and a lovely ending.

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mentioned within The Land of Neverendings by Kate Saunders, I ended up adding this to my wishlist and ordering a secondhand copy from eBay. It wasn't what I was expecting, but having already read things by George MacDonald and being a fan of children's books from the late 1800s and early 1900s I still really enjoyed it.

June

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fantastic! Another middle-grade fantasy, this was full of magic, adventure and love.
The sisters' relationship, the magical items, the time periods, just the overall atmosphere it was one of my favourite reads of the year so far.

The Scent of Magic by Cliff McNish

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Still making my way through series' I finally got a copy of The Scent of Magic in the cover I wanted!
I've just checked and apparently I rated the first book, The Doomspell, 5 stars and I was about to say I think I enjoyed this one more than that...I guess I didn't! haha

The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Originally Mr H and I thought there were 3 books in the Artemis Fowl series. Apparently not! We have both now read the first three though and I think for now we'll leave it there. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, I just don't think I can commit to 10 more when there is so much on our bookshelves.

Five Children and It by E. Nesbit

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The last time I read anything by E Nesbit was April 2018 so I really enjoyed getting into the Psammead Trilogy. Due to the age of these stories, written in the early 1900s some language used can be shocking and I don't agree with it even if I do love Nesbit's stories on a whole.

A Sprinkle of Sorcery by Michelle Harrison

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thankfully I already owned the sequel of A Pinch of Magic! I don't know if there are going to be any more but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on Michelle Harrison because I love, love, love her writing. 

 18 total, 3 of which were audiobooks and 1 that was an ebook, averaging out at 6 per month! I'm now sitting on 31 finished books this year by the halfway mark. That means if I carry on the way I'm going I'll hopefully manage to finish over 60 books! That is 24 more than my initial goal and I'm actually really proud of how well both Mr H and I are doing at not only buying and collecting books...but actually reading them too!

To see what I read in the previous quarter, click here.

Top Reads of 2020...So Far

We made it halfway everyone! It's been a hell of a year, but it's halfway over and a good time to take stock and then re-set.
I take a daily photo every day of the year and have for 8 years now which I share on my other blog, Adventures of the Hallows. The reason I mention it is because this year my very first photo on January 1st was of us reading in bed, with the hopes to continue the year the way we started! We have read almost every single night in bed since and a lot of mornings (and afternoons) too, meaning as of today our total books read stand at 29 for myself and 24 for Mr H. Out of those we've chosen 3 of our highest rated each to share here today!

Mr's Top 3

Eragon by Christopher Paolini
I was encouraged to read this by Mrs H, and it did not disappoint I thought it was a great debut for a fantasy series easy to read and kept my interest peaked. I can't wait to delve deeper into this series I also think it's crazy that the author wrote this first instalment when he was just 16 years old!

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
I had my eye on this book for a long time but never got around to buying it, eventually, when the time came I read it pretty much straight after it was bought which never happens here in the Hallow household. As I'm sure you have grasped by now from my TBR's etc that I love my fantasy books. and this was one of my favourites with its amazingly detailed world.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
This was a fantastic book, tales from Norse mythology told amazingly by Neil Gaiman while reading this I felt like I was around the hearth in a Viking hall I have heard /read this was by far the best re-telling.

Mrs' Top 3

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
This was a book Mr H bought for me from a charity shop months ago and although it's not a cover I'd usually go for, anything including the paranormal is up my street. It was an easy read, interesting plot and it's set in Edinburgh - a city I've visited a lot over the years and could picture the locations well.

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison
I'm not embarrassed to say I picked this up purely for the cover and title originally, but it ended up being a really cool story involving a curse, family and with a map at the start of the book it's always going to be good.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

This sat on our bookcase for a little while until I finally got the courage to pick it up. As you'll see I'm a big fan of children's literature and young adult, so going on to a book written for adults I need to be in the right frame of mind.
I obviously ended up loving it! The characters were appealing and it was a good mix of unpredictable and being easy enough to follow.

What Mr Hallow Read This Quarter [January - March]

So it's that time again, quarterly review!! I'm quite happy with the progress I've made so far this year, although for a time around February I hardly did any reading at all... which wasn't great. At the time of writing this, I find myself reading a lot daily because I have more time to with not being at work as much and I still want to read even more than I am.

January

Alice in Wonderland: Based on the Motion Picture by Tui T Sutherland

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed these movies of Alice and the book did not disappoint although I have not actually read the original story I loved this adaption of it, It kept me wanting to read and I enjoyed everything about it from the way it is written to the way the book looks.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S Lewis

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am currently working my way through the Narnia series, one of Mrs H's all time favorites an dim loving them. This book for me was a little more slow paced and was used to introduce some more characters to the story hence the three stars. With that being said i still really enjoyed reading this book but come on it has a dragon in it.

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book and already want to read it or something very similar again, you can just imagine yourself sat in a tavern listening to a bard tell these Tales of Odin and the other gods. I am a huge fan of all things Norse and I actually learned some things I didn't know in this book so it had to be 5 stars!

February

Lord of Chaos (Wheel of Time Book 6) by Robert Jordan

DNF

Now I'm not sure that I should even put this book in this post? So the thing is I love the Wheel of Time and have put off continuing reading it for too long but the start of this year hasn't exactly gone to plan for Mrs H and I and its safe to say we have been preoccupied with other things. I got about 190 pages into this book and it took nearly 3 weeks so I put it down and decided to continue with my February TBR until I have more free time for reading.

Artemis Fowl, The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer

⭐️⭐️⭐️

After reading the Arctic Incident I have to say I was expecting more from this book although I did enjoy reading it seemed a little bit forced and I wish we could have spent more time underground with the people.

March

Grim Grinning Ghosts (Tales from the Haunted Mansion) by Amicus Arcane

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finally got round to reading the third installment of the tales from the haunted mansion! These books a great short reads and it did not disappoint. My favorite thing about these books in the narration by the spooky librarian.

Alice Through the Looking Glass : Based on Motion Picture by Kari Sutherland

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well what more can I say... as you have read above review (Alice in Wonderland) I think the same of this book! Fantastic read and again I enjoyed this even more with already having seen the movie. The thing I find strange is that this book was written by a different author than its prequel but that didn't change the way I felt about this read.

Shieldwall by Justin Hill

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Now what can I say, this is a great debut book and the first in a trilogy!! I cant wait to read more. The book was very slow to start but by the end of this book soooo much had happened!! And even though I would generally prefer to read this kind of story from the point of view of the vikings it kept me completely hooked.

The Firework Makers Daughter by Phillip Pullman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I finished this short story in just one day!! well not even a day just in a few hours. I loved this read from how it was written to the characters and the story. I cant wait to read some more of Phillips short stories!!!

There we have it... my reads this quarter have you read any of these books? I'm excited to see what April-June bring in the next post what with Covid-19 keeping us all isolated maybe I will get a lot more books read for the next updates.

What Mrs Hallow Read This Quarter [January - March]

Here we go, we're at the quarter mark of 2020 already and our first reading summary of the year. If you caught my 2019 Goodreads Year in Books you'll have read that I didn't do too much reading at the start of the year, the bulk of my total being in the last six months. What with our collection haven grown over the last few months we really needed to crack down to some serious reading...and here is exactly how that all turned out.

January

The Brothers Grimm Folk Tales by Brian Alderson [Translated]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book Mr H and I had started reading together in December. We'd read each other a story or so while the other was having a bath or something, but only got a couple stories in. I decided to start the reading year with something I knew I would enjoy and of course I did.

The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl #2) by Eoin Colfer

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read the first in the Artemis Fowl series back in March 2019 to get ready for the Disney movie adaptation coming out. It turned out that the release date got changed and although I didn't extremely care for it, I thought I'd try to read the other two before we see the film. Overall I think I enjoyed this one more than the first, but I wouldn't read it again.

As someone who loves fairies and fantasy it throws me off a little with it coming from a sci-fi perspective.

Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch by Serena Valentino

⭐️

If I could say 'I give up with these books' I would. I own the full series of Disney books from Serena Valentino and I'm determined to get myself through them but man!! This is the second out of six that I've forced myself to read and I just do not enjoy anything about them.

The Tin Woodman of Oz (Oz #12) by L. Frank Baum

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anything from the lands of Narnia or Oz I'm guaranteed to like. I'm coming to the end of the Oz stories but unlike most series that are so many books long, each of these stories still keeps me interested and entertained.

February

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

⭐️⭐️

I've had this book on my shelves for a long time and have to admit that it was another I only picked up after seeing the new movie was being released. I read a couple of 'non-spoiler' reviews before and during reading this and cannot disagree more that this is a book that all dog lovers will adore. I read that review a lot. Maybe other dog lovers like to be sad but this book was just so upsetting and full of horrible themes that I couldn't bare it. Yes, I stuck with it until the end though literally just because others had loved it so much I thought something was going to turn it around. The ending is the only reason I gave this 2 stars otherwise it would be a - 5.

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In contrast to the previous book, The Toymakers ended up being me second 5 star of the year! I didn't expect it at the beginning as apart from the magic aspect, it really isn't my usual thing. I'm not a fan of things set around war times, I don't like romance or relationships in books. However, it kept me reading! I didn't have to ever force myself to pick it up and although some parts were predictable, other parts I really was excited to find out more. The ending cemented the rating even after all my tears!

The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events #2) by Lemony Snicket

⭐️⭐️⭐️

For this 'review' I revert to my previous What I Read This Quarter post, to the first Series of Unfortunate Events book I read and I repeat - Meh. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it and it was better than The Bad Beginning but considering my admiration for the film and TV series adaptations I think my expectations were too high.

March

The Magic of Oz  (Oz #13) by L. Frank Baum

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's an Oz story. I'm always going to love it. As for why it isn't a 5 star...I'm not sure. My gut tells me when I close a book whether it has earned complete obsession or just high adoration and although I would of course read and love this again it just didn't quite get the 5.

Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this in the form of an audio-book, my first of the year, and on this occasion I'm pretty sure it was a better experience listening to this book than reading it because the performance added such an extra special touch. Voices included Stephen Fry, Jeffery Palmer, Dame Judy Dench and many more. 

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Admittedly I originally picked this up because of the cover (but from other reviews I've read so did others). The first chapter or two didn't get my interest at all, however once Mori is introduced I got more into it until I ended up not really wanting to put it down.Usually with books that jump time and place every other chapter I can get a little lost but this was easier to follow, kept me guessing and wasn't as predictable as a lot of things I've read lately. I enjoyed it so much actually that I ordered the next book that Natasha Pulley had written the day I finished this.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read the first of this series back in November and the tie-in/prequel/short story collection 'Tales of the Peculiar' in June 2017, so I was more than ready to continue this series. Again, I'm lucky that this month has been filled with good books and my only real thoughts about this book was that it felt like another 'Series of Unfortunate Events'!

The Wide Window (A Series of Unfortunate Events #3) by Lemony Snicket

⭐️⭐️⭐️

3rd book of the series, 2nd time I'm going to refer you to the review for the previous of the series and say 'ditto'.

Frankenstein by Mary M Shelley

⭐️

Originally on my January TBR list I DNFed it because I just couldn't get into it. Then Audible released a load of free to listen books and as it was on there I thought I'd give it another go. This really cements my dislike for the majority of 'classics' haha. 

13 total, 2 of which was an audio book, averaging out at 4 per month. If I carry on the year as it has started out I should beat my goal of 36 by a whole 12 books. I'm excited to finally make a dent in what seems to be a never ending TBR list.

Check out what I read in the previous quarter by clicking here.

Cherished Childhood Books

I've always enjoyed reading, even if I wasn't the most 'well read' and can fondly remember being on the year above's level of 'The Magic Key', Biff and Chip books in school or nursery at around 4 years old. I remember library visits where I had my own little library card and could rifle through the children's box shelf thingys, then be pretty chuffed checking them out and getting to read them at home.There are also a small, but important group of stories that I will always cherish from my earlier reading days. Here are some of them...

Puppy Patrol by Jenny Dale (aka Linda Chapman)

Probably the most memorable to me is the Puppy Patrol series by Jenny Dale. If you hadn't guessed from the title, they were about dogs ahah. With around 40-50 books in the series, they kept me busy for a little while but were also rather entertaining adventures for children's books (if I remember rightly).A funny fact that I'll never forget is talking about them for some show and tell or report or something in first school, where the teacher thought I'd said 'Jelly Deel', instead of Jenny Dale. Everyone thought it rather hilarious! A bit random to stick in my memory considering I haven't a great one to begin with!Despite being short at less than 150 pages each, I would love to read through them again and, from memory, thoroughly recommend them for people who have animal loving kids - if you can get your hands on them!

Noddy by Enid Blyton

Man I loved Noddy! The show, the books, Noddy was awesome.

Room 13 & The Nightmare Stairs by Robert Swindells

Not a series, but a book with two stories in one - or so my copy was. Room 13 and The Nightmare Stairs were my first real introduction into the 'Horror' genre and I think it's safe to say Mr Swindells is to thank for capturing my heart for all things freaky, creepy and weird. He is of course, an award-winning author and doesn't need bigging up in the slightest anyway, but man I love these books!!Room 13 is also set in Whitby which is awesome as it's always cool to be able to picture the places described when you've been there before.

The Mermaid by Lucy Kincaid

This was one that I didn't realize was in my memories until I saw it at my parents. I now vividly remember flipping through the pages, completely taken in by the beautiful illustrations (by Lynne Willey) and sucked in by the magical mermaid story. This, as well as the Fairytale movie were my first glances as 'mythical' creatures and I do still believe in them both fyi :)

Beatrix Potter Tales

Of course, this was when I was a little littley and I can't personally remember my first introduction, but tell me the name of a person my age who didn't love Beatrix Potter books! It's lovely to still have the special set from my childhood, the artwork is always beautiful to appreciate no matter your age.  Unfortunately, I am yet to read the 'new' story, The Tale of Kitty in Boots, that was released last year. Have you read it?

The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling

'Duh' feels like a fitting statement to make here haha! I was late to the Harry Potter fandom, though still only 11 years old...so you could say I was right on time to get to Hogwarts. The first movie had come out in 2001 and for some reason, we were taken on a school trip to see it at the cinema. Before that, I hadn't heard anything about it...but after I'd see the movie I picked up the books and fell into the world head first, never to return.After I completed the series up to date I waited and pre-ordered the next 3. This was the first time I had ever become so in love with a world that 'wasn't real' and (besides The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - which I had read to me, not read myself hence not being on the list) pretty much started my obsession with all things magical.

John Speirs' Margaret Wise Brown Treasury - 14 Classic Stories and Poems

Another similar to 'The Mermaid' in the fact that I only remembered it once I saw it again. As you can see it's a book of short stories and little poems, many about animals and nature. Looking back on it, you can see it was well loved as I've written my name and 'keep out' in the front cover as well as circled and 'highlighted' bits and pieces throughout haha.

Disney Wonderful World of Reading & Other Books

Lastly, what would this list be without Disney? Self-explanatory really. I've been watching, reading, playing, wearing, drawing, everything Disney since I was born.

I did, of course, read other things, but these are those that stick in my mind and mean a lot to me. Though probably with some missing. Did you read any of these as a child too? What was your favorite book to read back when you were young? Have you re-read it since? I plan to re-read some Robert Swindells and hopefully the Puppy Patrol books too! I've already re-read Harry Potter around 6+ times over the years but I will never get bored of reading them over and over haha!

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As I mentioned in the 'Disney Movies That Were Books First' post I put up at the end of November, I used to run a lifestyle blog for around 10 years. When looking back at that old blog I decided there were some posts that I enjoyed so much I didn't want to leave them in a black hole, unseen on the internet since unpublishing that website. So this post and a couple of others to come are from said blog with only a tiny updating.