Rewind, recap: Weekly Update W/E 14/11/21

Well … it seems a lot can happen in a week. I am not unemployed (at this stage I am taking this as a positive thing) but the job I will have going forward is a lot more responsibility and will need potentially more of my time and concentration, at least in the early days. The week has been really up and down though so reading has been challenging, and concentration has been poor whilst waiting to hear the results of the interviews. Didn’t hear until Thursday so right now I am trying to finish an audio book so at least I will have completed two books this week. Yes. It’s been that disruptive. On the plus side, I had a lovely gift from a friend (lots of Orange Chocolate) and the weekend was better as I met up with not one, but three friends for various combinations of coffee, chat, and cake. A much needed and, in some cases, overdue distraction.

I had a week full of sponsored book post (as in I bought them all). First arrival was The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie. Very pretty, red foil embossed hardcover part of the HarperCollins special edition collection. I also picked up (a week early) my signed collectors edition copy of The Midnight Lock by Jeffery Deaver. Very Pretty. Mandie ordered us both copies of Nowhere To Run by James Oswald from Toppings Edinburgh and my long awaited copy of charity anthology Everyday Kindness arrived on Saturday. A pretty fab week, I’m sure you’ll agree.

No more purchases and no new Netgalley books. I was gifted a copy of The Strange Case of Mr Pelham though by Joanne Clayton and I’m really looking forward to reading it.

Books I have read

SAS: Bravo Three Zero by Des Powell and Damien Lewis

‘A must read. Honesty, integrity and real experience that puts you in the thick of the action.’ Billy Billingham

There were three patrols that fateful January 1991 morning: Bravo One Zero, Bravo Two Zero and Bravo Three Zero. It was the opening hours of the Gulf War and the SAS were flown deep behind enemy lines to hunt down Saddam’s Scud missiles, the use of which threatened a Third World War.

The men of Bravo One Zero stepped off the chopper, took one look at the flat desert devoid of any cover and decided no way were they deploying into all of that. But Andy NcNab’s famed Bravo Two Zero patrol did deploy, with fatal results – all bar one being captured or killed.

And then there was Bravo Three Zero. These men were different. Thought differently. Acted differently. Treating as gospel the SAS’s saying ‘any fool can be uncomfortable’, they deployed with vehicles, and while there was nowhere to hide they could make a dash for the border if desperate.

Even as warnings came in that McNab’s patrol was on the run, Bravo Three Zero remained undetected – the furthest Coalition forces behind Iraqi lines. Slipping through enemy positions, a string of targets were taken out. But with the desert turning bitter and snow starting to fall, they were forced to fight a running battle against the elements as much as the enemy.

Though overshadowed by the fate of Bravo Two Zero, the achievements of this highly-decorated patrol are the stuff of elite forces legend. Now, for the first time, SAS veteran Des Powell reveals their story in gritty, blow-by-blow detail. Written with acclaimed military author Damien Lewis, this is a tale of edge-of-the seat daring deep inside enemy lands. Brutal, savage, unrelenting – prepare to be blown away, in a tale that proves utterly the SAS motto – who dares wins.

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The Nameless Ones by John Connolly

In Amsterdam, three people are butchered in a canal house, their remains arranged around the crucified form of their patriarch, De Jaager: fixer, go-between, and confidante of the assassin named Louis. The men responsible for the murders are Serbian war criminals. They believe they can escape retribution by retreating to their homeland.
They are wrong.

For Louis has come to Europe to hunt them down: five killers to be found and punished before they can vanish into the east.
There is only one problem.
The sixth.

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So that was my limit. Really slow progress for me. 14 days into the month and only four books read. Hopefully now I know my future my attention span will improve and so will my concentration. Failing that, I’m praying for a really productive Christmas break … Buy old week on the blog though with posts every single day. Go us!

#Review – Saying Goodbye To Tuesday – Chrissie Manby
#Review – The Lost – Simon Beckett
#Press Release – Quick Reads 2022
#Review – Nowhere To Run – James Oswald
#Review – Stolen Ones – Angela Marsons
#Review – The Defenceless – Kati Hiekkapelto
#Review – The Commandments – Óskar Guðmundsson
#Review – SAS Bravo Three Zero – Des Powell & Damien Lewis

Two blog tours this week. The Quiet People by Paul Cleave on Tuesday and Poetic Justice by Mark Tilbury on Friday.

So that was my week in a nutshell. A lot to get my head around. A lot to get to grips with. A lot of books to catch up on. Here’s hoping I can keep my head clear now 😉

Hope you have a lovely book filled week. See you on the other side.

Jen xx