Luke Harkness, Author at Luke’s Blog

03Sep 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Three Books I Read in August And Why I Read So Few

So August was a very busy month for me, just not when it came to reading. I managed to finish three books throughout the month, probably the least amount of books I've finished in a month for quite some time. Don't get me wrong, they were nearly all great books, but it's still not as many as a book blogger should be reading (don't worry, I don't actually set myself any unachievable goals). But there's a good reason why, I was on holiday! 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. Yeah,…

01Sep 2023 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman book review

Book reviews, Crime, Mystery

The Thursday Murder Club series is a bit of a cult sensation. When the first book came out it broke some record for being one of the fastest-selling debut novels of all time or something and since then every single sequel shoots to the top of the best sellers almost instantly upon release. There’s something about Osman’s casual and lighthearted writing style and the cast of unexpectedly humorous older characters that make these such accessible books for all ages. But how’s the third in the series? 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…

30Aug 2023 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin book review

Book reviews, Historical Fiction, Romance

If you wanted to sell a book to me, telling me it was about two people who spend decades of their lives trying to create the best games, you'd have me pretty much sold. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was sold as this to me by many people across social media. This concept sounded very enticing and so I went into it more excited than I already was by the fantastic front cover design. 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 commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a story about Sam Hasur…

08Aug 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Most Read Articles on My Blog in July 2023

Features, Monthly Round Ups

Welcome back to another monthly article where I round the top five most-read articles I wrote in the previous month. As always, I organise these from least most-read to most most-read. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. I do this for a couple of reasons: mostly as advice for others who are looking for ideas on what they can be posting about and specifically if you're a book blogger, which books are popular. Another reason is that it's always good fun to be able to look back and see which articles did well for…

01Aug 2023 by Luke Harkness

A Court and Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

You've likely heard of Sarah J Maas if you know much about fantasy. She's made a name for herself in the fantasy genre over the past decade-plus for smashing out some well-received female-led fantasy series. One of her more successful is the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. The first book in the series is of the same name - but is it any good? Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via any of 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've updated this review to reflect my reread in 2023. Some elements are my initial thoughts…

31Jul 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Four Books I Read in July 2023 and what I thought about them

Features, Monthly Round Ups

Well, it looks like July wasn't a particularly productive month for me then! I only managed to read four books throughout this month - I'm not too sure why I read so few but there we go. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products, 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 was quite an interesting selection of different books however which makes up for it. Plus one of the books I read did end up featuring on my recent list of the best books I've read so far this year. So as always, what I've done is compile the four books…

29Jul 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Tribe of the Accord by Shaun Michael Stone book review

Book reviews, Historical Fiction

I was kindly sent Tribe of the Accord by Stone himself. I was in limbo with whether I could take any more review requests but after seeing the front cover and hearing about the unique premise, it piqued my interest and so I said I'd be happy to review a copy. 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. Please note that I received a copy of Tribe of the Accord from the author in return for an honest review. Tribe of the Accord appealed to me straight away, as I said…

26Jul 2023 by Luke Harkness 3 Comments

The Best Books I’ve Read So Far This Year (2023)

Features, Recommendations

I put out a poll on my Twitter the other day asking if people would be interested in reading an article about the book best books I’ve read so far this year. 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. Obviously, with most of my followers being bookish folk and me offering them a free list of good books, most of them came back and overwhelmingly voted “f*ck yeah”. So then I had to go out and have a look at my StoryGraph and have a look at the books I’d rated…

22Jul 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

Joe Abercrombie is an author name that needs no introduction in the fantasy space. He’s a name that is often brought up as one of the best in the genre and most certainly the best at grim dark fantasy (where it’s all swearing, dark humour and gore etc). Before They Are Hanged is the second in the The First Law trilogy. I have read and enjoyed The First Blade which I enjoyed the characters of but said that the plot was slightly lacking. Does Before They Are Hanged improve upon this or is it much of the same? Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links provided below, I may receive a small commission at no extra…

16Jul 2023 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid book review

Book reviews, Contemporary Fiction

I’ve read a few books by Taylor Jenkins Reid with my first being Malibu Rising which I thought was good but nothing amazing to then the incredible The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six, two books that will forever be on my list of the best books I’ve ever read. Taylor Jenkins Reid (or TJR as I’m gonna refer to her so I don’t have to keep typing out her full name) specialises in writing books about lifetimes. They’re often stories of incredibly famous fictional people who have lived incredible lives to get to where they are today. Carrie Soto is Back is exactly the same. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via…

Author: Luke Harkness