Paperbacks – Lyndsey Hall

My reading and writing goals for 2024

Okay, I just checked and I haven’t done one of these posts since 2019! Five whole years. That’s crazy (although the correlation with my son being born doesn’t escape me). But I thought it might be nice to put some goals for reading and writing in 2024 down here, if only so I can look back at them in another five years time.

I’ll give you a quick recap of how 2023 went for me, and then we’ll get on to the fun stuff!

I read the grand sum of 16 books in 2023. Even for me (a very slow reader) that’s quite low, I usually listen to a fair number of audio books, which means I can get through at least a couple of books a month, but at the beginning of 2023 I changed jobs and my commute was cut down to just about ten minutes each way. That, combined with the fact my son is now fully aware of what I’m listening to while driving, cooking and cleaning, has made it difficult to get through many listens in the last 12 months. As a result, I only got through 4 audiobooks last year. However, my darling husband bought me some wireless ear buds for Christmas, so I’m hoping to be able to listen much more in 2024, whether it’s SJM while making dinner or Fourth Wing while folding laundry.

In 2023, I read 5 thrillers, one non-fiction and ten fantasy novels. I also beta read a few books and short stories, all fantasy.

I wrote roughly 60k words in 2023 – 10k for The Wyvern and the Woodwitch, my story in Enchanted Flames, and 50k for The Silver Prince, my book in the Once Upon a Prince series. Despite being a lower reading and writing year, 2023 has been my biggest year career-wise so far. The Silver Prince release went so mind-bogglingly well, it’s my biggest release so far by about 5 times. So, all in all last year was still an enormous success for me and a huge step in my publishing journey, and I’m so happy with everything I achieved.

That pretty much sums up my past twelve months. It’s been a really big year for work, family and self-care, but I’m planning for 2024 to have a stronger focus on books and publishing, so let’s see what I’m hoping to achieve…

12 months, 48 books on my physical, ebook and audio book TBR

I plan to read four books a month on average, with a blend of paperbacks, ebooks and audio books. I really need to start working through my physical TBR, so I won’t be borrowing any books from the library this year (I’ll always be a huge library fan and advocate though!).

I’ve started putting a spreadsheet together to track my reading a little more neatly than on Goodreads, with columns for my planned TBR, genre, format and the dates I read each book. I’ll keep a note of my ratings and some thoughts, and I’ll try to leave a quick review for each one, on Amazon and Goodreads.

I haven’t listed all 48 books yet, I’m a bit of a mood reader and want to leave a bit of wiggle room, but at the moment I’ve got YA thrillers, Adult thrillers, YA fantasy, Adult fantasy, MG and Non-fiction books on the list. My first read of the year is A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, and I’m really enjoying it, so I think I’ll read a few other YA thrillers at the beginning of the year, as well as finishing House of Sky and Breath before House of Flame and Shadow is released at the end of January.

365 days of writing, plotting and editing in 2024

I published one novel and one short story in an anthology in 2023, and my stretch goal is to double that. I’d love to write, edit and publish two novels, my short story for Enchanted Skies, and another short for my email subscribers. All in all, that might amount to roughly 160k words, but that’s just an estimate, I don’t have a specific word goal.

My planned WIPs include a sequel to The Silver Prince called The Golden Princess, giving Issy’s younger sister Livia her very own happy ending. That won’t release until the end of 2024, when TSP is out of its contract and I can rerelease them both together with new covers. My other novel length WIP is a historical fantasy for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper that I’ve had in my mind for years now and can’t wait to write. I’d like to get that one out by the summer, but I also have When Skies Darken to draft and edit, and then I’d love to write something festive to release next Christmas just for my email subs. A short tie in story set in the world of The Fair Chronicles.

And those are my writing and publishing goals for the next twelve months. A quick note on the how, what and when – my aim is to write 500 words per day or spend some time either marketing my books or studying/learning every day. And I’ve also decided to read for 2 hours for every hour I spend watching tv or gaming. That should hopefully help me to get to my goals by next December!

What are you reading and/or writing goals for the next twelve months?

Happy new year book friends, I hope 2024 is filled with calm, joy, and lots of great books!

Lyndsey

Crown of Glass by Alice Ivinya release day!

Happy book birthday to Alice Ivinya’s new dark, fae fantasy, Crown of Glass!

This is a brand new series starter, with three more novels coming soon, each retelling a familiar fairytale in a fresh, exciting way.

Crown of Glass is a Cinderella retelling set in Faery. Only in this retelling, the prince is the villain, the balls are deadly, and Ella has much better reasons to run that coaches turning into pumpkins!

The ugly sisters will get you drunk on faery wine, and the fairy godmother is a bloke who’s a spy!

Here’s the official blurb:

Sometimes the strongest things are made of glass.

Half kelpie, half human, Fenella belongs to neither Faery nor the mortal realm. She strives to remain unnoticed, for humans have always distrusted the fae.

And distrust breeds violence.

When Fenella is kidnapped by a ruthless stranger, she lands in Faery at the center of deadly schemes. Her only chances to escape back to her family are during three glittering balls.

However, escape from this dangerous world becomes more complicated as she’s torn between a villain and a spy.

Neither will give her up.

Neither will let the other live.

And both will wage war to place a crown of glass on her head.

Crown of Glass is a heart-pounding young adult fantasy with clean romance. It is perfect for fans of Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince, Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone, and the retellings of K.M. Shea and Marissa Meyer.

If that sounds like your cup of tea, you can grab Crown of Glass, book one in the Kingdoms of the Faery Path series by Alice Ivinya, right now:

Happy reading friends!

Lyndsey

Review: Sixteen Souls

Hello, hello! I’ve got a brand new review for you today, so if you’re a fan of Young Adult Paranormal with ghosts, gore and diverse representation (queer and disability rep), then this one might be for you!

I mean, look at that cover (imagine it with gold foil, because the paperback is gorgeous):

Blurb:

In haunted York, even the dead have something to fear.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie has problems. He’s a seer-of-spirits in York, the most haunted city in Europe, and all his friends are ghosts. His sisters have glittered his prosthesis, again, and his crush is dating someone new.

On top of that, famous spirits are mysteriously vanishing from York’s alleys and snickleways. Charlie is determined to stay out of it, but Sam, the irritating new seer in town, expects him to track down who – or what – is responsible and uncover the dark purpose behind the disappearances.

When a ghost Charlie is indebted to also vanishes, he has no choice but to face the shadows. And his growing feelings for Sam. The boys must be willing to risk it all to save York’s spirits, because their adversary will stop at nothing to complete their devastating plan. Afterlives are at stake, and Charlie is running out of time…

With echoes of Anna Dressed in Blood, The Fell of Dark and Cemetery Boys, Rosie Talbot’s debut is an irrefutable must-have for all YA bookshelves.

Links:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60679667-sixteen-souls

Amazon:

Review:

I gave Sixteen Souls 5 stars, I loved the detailed mythology of spectres that Talbot created, it was really original and unique, and the steady, natural unveiling of the world through the MC, Charlie’s eyes is done so well. We learn more about his ability as a seer at the same time as he does, which is my favourite way to discover a new world (I’m a big portal fantasy fan, as you’ll know if you’ve read my book The Fair Queen).

I also adored the setting of York, being a proud Yorkshire lass myself (and having an upcoming story planned to be set in York), this book really inspired me with how the setting became a character all of its own. The spooks and spectres of York made the perfect supporting cast to the story, the Mouldy Oldies were brilliant, and the whole concept of death loops and tethered souls was so interesting.

The plot was really gripping, with plenty of action, tension and twists. At times, some of the plot elements were a little convoluted and there were at least a couple of characters I think could have been cut completely because they just seemed to be included to add to the chaos rather than for any good reason (although, I will say I got the impression there could be sequels coming and hopefully we’ll get more of an explanation about those characters in book two). The climax also got a little messy, but I can forgive that as it did bring together a lot of plot threads and tie things up well, for the most part.

All in all, I loved every minute of this book and I burned through it quicker than I’ve read anything in a while. It was fun and exciting, with a sweet budding romance between the two MMCs (Charlie is a gay amputee, and Sam is a trans man). If you love a twisty, turny ghost story and you’re good with regional slang (I could obviously read this book in the voice it was intended, being from the local area, but if you’re in the US you might struggle at first with some of the phraseology) then I can highly recommend Sixteen Souls. The blurb says it’s perfect for fans of Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, which is my other absolute favourite YA paranormal ghost story, so if you’ve read and loved that then get stuck in!

Happy reading,

Lyndsey