So, I did this tag last year! You can check it out here >>> But I decided that I really want to do it again! So, let’s jump right in!
The Last Book You Didn’t Finish?

Portrait of a Murderer – Anne Meredith
Now, I bought this book Christmas of 2021!! I waited a whole year to read this book and then I DNFED it!!!!! Now the only reason for this was down to the fact that I went into this book expecting something completely different from what the book actually did.
I was expecting a classic murder mystery where we guess which sibling killed the dad but what this story was instead was a character study of the murderer and what led them up to that moment and the events afterwards. It was more about focusing on the mind of the murderer and I personally just wanted an easy whodunit.
Plot: Each December, Adrian Gray invites his extended family to stay at his lonely house, Kings Poplars. None of Gray’s six surviving children is fond of him; several have cause to wish him dead. The family gathers on Christmas Eve―and by the following morning, their wish has been granted.
The Last Book You Re-Read?

The Last Olympian – Rick Riordan
I didn’t re-read a single book in 2022. I am not a massive re-reader. I tend to worry that the book won’t meet the hype and rating I gave it last time.
I have since paused my re-read of Riordan’s work as I didn’t love The Lost Hero upon re-reading it. But I do plan on continuing as I need to read like 9 other books before Percy Jackson #6
Plot for Book 1: Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse – Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy’s mom finds out, she knows it’s time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he’ll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena – Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.
The Last Book You Bought?

Usotoki Rhetoric Vol. 1 – Ritsu Miyako
I had been eyeing up this book the minute it came into work and I am trying not to spend too much money on books this year. I know I said that last year but I have moved into my first home so it’s more serious this time hahaha. But an opportunity presented itself and I knew instantly that this was the book I wanted to buy.
Plot: Sixteen-year-old Kanoko Urabe knows that someone is lying if she can hear the strange, echoing sound of clanging metal in their voice. As a young and overly honest child, she would point out the lies of other villagers, and was ostracized as a result. She is eventually forced to leave her hometown and tries to find a place for herself in the city of Tsukumoya in 1920s Japan. In a chance encounter, Kanoko meets Souma Iwai, a gifted but penniless detective. After she is forced to demonstrate her ability, he expresses appreciation for what she can do and agrees to take her in, asking the girl to be his assistant. The Iwai investigation firm soon makes a name for itself helping clients by solving cases with Souma’s sharp wits and Kanoko’s power. In the process, Kanoko’s life is enriched by the various people she encounters in her investigations.
The Last Book You Said You Read But Hadn’t?
Now, last year I said I didn’t really do this but it was slowly changing since becoming a bookseller. Ok, so now this is something I definitely do. You can’t read every book in the store so sometimes I base my reviews based on what colleagues have said or other reviewers whose book opinions are similar to mine. But I cannot pick what the last book was…
The last book you wrote in the margins of?

In The Watchful City – S. Qiouyi Lu
Now, this is cheating a bit because I didn’t annotate this book but a friend of mine did. My friend Morgan is a co-host of a book podcast called The Hidden Bookcase (CHECK IT OUT!!!) and they were reading this book for an episode. I wanted to read it swell so they gave me their copy to read and I loved being able to look into my friend’s brain and witness what went through their mind as they were reading this book!
Plot: The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora’s citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm. All that changes when a mysterious visitor enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around the world, with a story attached to each item. As Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places—and possibilities—æ never before imagined to exist, æ finds ærself asking a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?
The last book you had signed?

Rabbits – Terry Miles
Now I got a signed copy of this book for £3!!!! I was so happy. I listened to the original Rabbits podcast a couple of years a go back when I was doing my A-Levels. I remember loving it and literally listening to it whenever I got a chance to. I was over the moon when I saw that the creator had also written a book as well.
Plot: It’s an average work day. You’ve been wrapped up in a task, and you check the clock when you come up for air—4:44 pm. You go to check your email, and 44 unread messages have built up. With a shock, you realize it is April 4th—4/4. And when you get in your car to drive home, your odometer reads 44,444. Coincidence? Or have you just seen the edge of a rabbit hole? Rabbits is a mysterious alternate reality game so vast it uses our global reality as its canvas. Since the game first started in 1959, ten iterations have appeared and nine winners have been declared. Their identities are unknown. So is their reward, which is whispered to be NSA or CIA recruitment, vast wealth, immortality, or perhaps even the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe itself. But the deeper you get, the more deadly the game becomes. Players have died in the past—and the body count is rising. And now the eleventh round is about to begin. Enter K—a Rabbits obsessive who has been trying to find a way into the game for years. That path opens when K is approached by billionaire Alan Scarpio, the alleged winner of the sixth iteration. Scarpio says that something has gone wrong with the game and that K needs to fix it before Eleven starts or the whole world will pay the price. Five days later, Scarpio is declared missing. Two weeks after that, K blows the deadline and Eleven begins. And suddenly, the fate of the entire universe is at stake.
The last book you lost?

The Fires of Heaven – Robert Jordan
I did find this book in the end. But since moving house I couldn’t for nearly a month, find my copy of the Fires of Heaven! It wasn’t until we had moved things around did I find it placed neatly in a random box.
Plot for Book 1: Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction. When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the village seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.
The last book you had to replace?

The Lost Metal – Brandon Sanderson
So, I had pre-ordered my copy but it arrived very damaged and I was devastated. I had to re-order a copy so I could have a book that wasn’t broken.
Plot for Book 1: Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice. One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.
The last book you had an argument over?

Spare – Prince Harry
Now I haven’t personally got into any arguments with anyone regarding this book. But I have witnessed many interesting conversations between people since this book was announced etc.
Synopsis: Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight. At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love. Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.
The last book you couldn’t get hold of?
I said it last year and I will say it again. Manga is the biggest struggle to get hold of. I am trying to get hold of the sequels of the books I read in Jan 2023 alone and it’s been hard. Books like Children of the Whales Vol. 2 and Shuna’s Journey has been hard.