Luke Harkness, Author at Luke’s Blog

28Oct 2023 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

The Return to the King by J.R.R. Tolkien book review

Have you heard of Lord of the Rings? If not, it's a relatively unknown fantasy book that was published many decades ago, split into three books to make it more accessible for readers, built up a mass following, made into one of the most successful and celebrated trilogies of all time and is now considered the greatest piece of fantasy work ever written. The Return of the King is the third book in the series and the one many consider the best. But did I? Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the…

22Oct 2023 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

The Top 10 Most-Rated Books on Goodreads – number two might surprise you!

Features, Recommendations

Goodreads has become the biggest platform on the internet for us book lovers to give our honest reviews of books and also to go and find brand new books to pick up. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. One of the biggest features that sets Goodreads apart early on is its simple “out of five” rating system that gives an obvious average rating for each book based on everyone’s thoughts. As well as showing you what the average rating is, it also shows you how many people in total have…

14Oct 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Return of the Knights by Gregory Kontaxis book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

We all know I love a good fantasy book. The Return of the Knights is a book that was kindly sent to me by Kontaxis himself quite some months ago. The book focuses on our main protagonist Elliot who takes on the task of essentially attempting to slow down and possibly even stop the conquering of Knightdorn by Walter, a tyrant king who is looking to slowly sweep across the land and rule it all. But Elliot is more resilient and talented than his younger years may suggest. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final…

10Oct 2023 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

Babel by R.F. Kaung book review

Book reviews, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

I write this review of Babel through gritted teeth as I know it’s a book that is very well-loved by nearly everybody who’s read it. My social media feeds blew up with how great this book was when it first came out and so I was incredibly excited to read it. I will state that I listened to the majority of it and sometimes listening to a book like this where there isn’t a lot of dialogue and there are some very descriptive pieces of narrative can sometimes remove my immersion, but even then I knew what was going on and I’m still left with the same feeling. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below,…

07Oct 2023 by Luke Harkness 4 Comments

The Top 5 Most-Read Articles on my blog in September 2023

Features, Monthly Round Ups

Every month, I compile a list of the top five articles that I posted from the previous month in order of the most to least read. Therefore, the start of October has rolled around and so I've headed over to my Google Analytics and had a quick look to see what you lot had been reading. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. I do this every month for several reasons. The first is simply to give you lot an idea as to which articles have been the most read over…

05Oct 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

Book reviews, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Thriller

If you’ve read any of my previous reviews of Janice Hallett books, you’ll know I’m an enormous fan. I’ve read The Appeal and The Twyford Code and I was a massive fan of the way that Hallett presented the books using different forms of media: emails, text messages, paper clippings etc. The Mystery Case of the Alperton Angels is very much the same sort of thing but this time I think she may have written her most exciting and interesting story yet! Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. The Mysterious…

01Oct 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Four books I read in September 2023

Features, Monthly Round Ups

This month was another quiet month as I was once again physically reading a lot of the books instead of listening to them (which means I don't get through them quite as quickly). However, there's been one book this month that may just shoot to my list of some of the best books I've ever read. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links given below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. So, what is this article? At the end of every month, I have a look back through all of the books I've read that month and provide…

30Sep 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Chapters book tag – all the chapter questions answered

Blog Tags, Features

I was kindly tagged by @amyreadslit on Instagram to take part in this bookish tag. I often forget about these, but I was determined to take part this time. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. This one was an easy enough tag to take part in as it didn't require me to run off and curate a big selection of specific books from my bookshelf for the picture. I just picked a random selection including the one book I do specifically mention. The tag itself asks questions about chapters in…

24Sep 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh book review

Book reviews, Thriller

Hostage is a book that was kindly sent to me by a follower on social media who thought I would absolutely love it. The title gives away what the premise is and the front cover suggests where most of the action takes place. It's a thriller where you can guess most of the action but some very interesting techniques are used here and then there's the ending! Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Mina is on the world's first flight non-stop flight from the UK to Australia - over 20…

19Sep 2023 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

What makes a really good thriller?

Features, Recommendations, Tips and Tricks

The thriller genre is one of the best-selling genres of books out there. It is, without a doubt, a genre of book that gets most people talking and has become a space where many authors find a lot of success. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. There are some of the massive hitters in the genre such as Lisa Jewell, Lee Child, James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Anthony Horowitz, David Baldacci, John Grisham etc (apologies if I’ve missed out any big names you can think of). These are the authors who…

Author: Luke Harkness