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Monthly Wrap Up

Monthly Wrap Up – February 2020

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February has been a crazy but wonderful reading month. I’ve read a total of fifteen books, taken part in sixteen blog tours and in two readalongs – the second one I’m still currently reading. So here is what I read this past month:

  1. Never Look Back by A. L. Gaylin ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 
  2. The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  3. The Alibi Girl by C.J. Skuse ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
  4. Beast (Six Stories #4) by Matt Wesolowski ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  5. Real Life by Adeline Dieudonné ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  6. The Guest List by Lucy Foley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  7. The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  8. The Holdout by Graham Moore ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  9. The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  10. Saturdays at Noon by Rachel Marks ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  11. The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  12. The Snakes by Sadie Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  13. The Dark Side of the Mind by Kerry Daynes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  14. Tales of Mystery Unexplained by Steph Young ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  15. Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can read the synopsis for the books and my reviews by clicking on the title for all except Away with the Penguins, which will be published on Monday, March 2nd.

It’s been another month of strong and phenomenal reads, which made it almost impossible to choose a favourite. After a lot of thought I’ve decided it was a tie between the two books that linger most in my mind after reading – The Memory Wood and Away with the Penguins.

In February I also attended two book events. On February 19th I attended my first book event here in Sheffield – the book launch of Firewatching, the sensational debut by local author Russ Thomas. It was a fantastic evening and I left eagerly anticipating book two in the series which is out this time next year. You can read my review for Firewatching by clicking here.

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Just a few days ago I travelled to Nottingham for the second event, The Orenda Roadshow. Orenda is one of my favourite publishers. Every book I’ve read from there collection is amazing. When you pick up one of their books you know you’re getting quality writing, great storytelling and something a bit different. Plus there’s the fact that Karen Sullivan is one of the nicest people I’ve met. At the event each of the twelve authors had a minute to talk about their latest release and later read an excerpt from the book – which resulted in tears of laughter when Matt Wesolowski read his excerpt as a 20-something vlogger. I only wish I’d videoed it. It was great to meet and get a glimpse into the personalities of so many authors and I came away with a lot of extra books on my wishlist. There was also the added pleasure of  meeting blog tour organiser extraordinaire Anne Cater at the event. A wonderful surprise.

How was your February? Did you read any of the same books? What was your favourite? Let me know in the comments below.

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Categories
Blog Tours book reviews

Tales of Mystery Unexplained by Steph Young ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tales of Unexplained Mystery Front Cover

Published: December 2nd, 2019
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: True Crime

Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part in this blog tour.

SYNOPSIS:

Tales of Mystery Unexplained….What happened to Elisa Lam, found dead in a water tower atop a hotel roof? Who were the two men who came to see her & what was in the mystery box they gave her? Why did the location of her gravestone match the zip code of a Bookstore, miles away?

Why was a man found in the same spot he disappeared, but 4 years later, with a hole in his head that no surgeons could explain? And what did this have to do with a séance, doppelgangers & the assassination of Abraham Lincoln? Why did a man write the Fibonacci sequence as a clue & tell a stranger he was “Looking for the Beast,” before he disappeared in the barren plains of a desert? Plus many more Tales of Mystery Unexplained.

Steph Young has appeared on national radio shows & podcasts including the UK’s The Unexplained, and Coast to Coast Am, talking about many of these mysteries.

You can also hear some of these Unexplained Mysteries on her podcast on iTunes ‘Tales of Mystery Unexplained.’

MY REVIEW:

“Who doesn’t love an unexplained, cryptic and beguiling mystery?“

Aren’t we all fascinated by the things that can’t be explained? Think of some of the most infamous and intriguing murder cases and they’ll probably never have been solved – Jon Benet Ramsey, the Zodiac killings, the Black Dahlia.

In this compelling read author Steph Young has compiled twelve mysterious and strange true stories that all have one thing in common – they’ve never been solved. Each chapter follows a different case, some are well known while others are more obscure.

The stories range from curious to terrifying, and involve things such as rumours of the supernatural, aliens and secret government experiments. The ones that stood out to me were the stories of Elisa Lam, Netta Fornario and the Swedish twin sisters. Though I’d not heard of most of the cases, the author leaves you wanting more and I’ll definitely be listening to her podcast and delving deeper into the cases in this book.

I devoured this quick read in just a few hours but it would also be great to pop in and out of as you wish. If you love true stories and things that are cryptic, eerie and mystifying, then this is the book for you.

Steph Young Author Picture

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Steph Young is an author addicted to researching all Supernatural, Paranormal, Esoteric and Enigmatic mysteries of the unexplained. Each book she writes seems to lead her to further questions & searches for answers, as the mysteries inevitably deepen into ever more complex riddles in the spectrum of the Unknown. 

She covers True Stories of the strange, mysterious, and frightening, and the monstrous creatures who feature in them. Our darkest history mythology and Lore. True life stories which expose our darkest, deepest fears… and tragic ends. 

Steph has been a guest on National Radio shows including ‘Coast to Coast AM,’ as well as being a regular guest on podcasts. 

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

Website
Twitter

BUY THE BOOK:

Amazon

Tales of Unexplained Mystery BT Poster