Thursday, December 4, 2025

December Doohickies Day 4

 

Look at me go! So things should be settling down and returning back to sorta normalcy. She's back home from the hospital and getting settled in. Her nurse will be visiting her to check in sometime today and I have work later, but in the middle of the day I have plenty of "spare time" to use to read. 

I'm going to be meal prepping some foods and a bit of tidying up and of course taking care of the lady but I think I'm going to aim for an hour or two of reading in total today. 

I am going to do a mini readathon tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll aim for 10-12 hours total reading time tomorrow. I have plans for the night so it'll be day reading a bunch. 

Still reading Mistborn and A History Of Women in America. I'm going to try to finish AHoWiA tomorrow. 


Wednesday, December 3, 2025

December Doohickies Day 3

 

This one is going to be a short update. Yesterday, the woman that I am a caregiver for had to have an ambulance pick her up and take her to the ER. She's fine, had to have a minor surgery and is due to come home sometime today. I didn't read much yesterday obviously and kind of had to grab whatever food I could snag quickly. 

Today is my day off from work, but with all that's bound to happen today I don't know how much actual reading time I'll be able to squeeze in. 

I do have Friday off, so maybe that can be my designated reading day? She usually has her nurse visit then, but that's only an hour or so out of the day. 

So there's my Day 2 update. 

Today I will squeeze in as much reading as I can manage. I am exhausted though, I didn't get to bed until about 2:30am and got a text from her at about 5 something (was too bleary eyed to see for certain) letting me know how she was doing. 

How's your December going so far? 

See ya tomorrow! 

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

December Doohickies Day 2

 

How's it going ya'll? This isn't gonna be a long post or anything, but yesterday went swimmingly. I got my 2 hours of reading in, finished my to do list and stuck to my goals for exercise and diet. So good on me! 

Today I didn't do the treadmill but I did some stretches and have been on my feet a lot already. I'm about to have my breakfast and get some reading started up. 

Mistborn is hooking me in and I'm really enjoying it. My kindle told me I started out with a bit over 15 hours of read time and I finished up with a little over 11 hours left (not sure how that translates to pages). So I take that as a win too! 

I also did some reading in my other book, History of Women in America. That's a more "thinky" kind of book so it is slow going but very very interesting! I am liking Mistborn (first in the series) so much I went ahead and got the next two books!

It's a cold, wet day today so I don't know how my energy is going to hold out but I'm going to do my best to stay on this streak!

Tomorrow I have the day off so I am going to really really focus on reading! 

I hope you all have a wonderful day and "see" you tomorrow! 

Monday, December 1, 2025

December Doohickies Day 1


 So I'mma try a little something something this month and see how it goes. Are you prepared for the rambles? Tooo bad cuz that's what you're getting! I'm thinking that from now until the end of the year I'll do little daily posties to keep myself accountable for my reading, fitness and just about anything that I am up to. I'm calling it December Doohickies Days. 

I'm on day 2 of my restart of the carnivore diet, I had a little slip up over the weekend so I began anew Sunday. I woke up today feeling great! After getting my furry creatures fed, I jumped on the treadmill for a little leisurely walk. 


Nothing major, just about 20 minutes to get the blood pumping before I filled my body with all the caffeine! 


Got some cleaning tasks done and a shower so now I'm able to sit and relax a bit. Coffee and books at the ready. I'm gonna get a nice chunk of Mistborn read before I have to get up off my booty and do more things. 



Later on before I go to work I think I'll catch up on Welcome To Derry. Anyone else watching it? I'm loving it! I even paid for the HBO Max subscription to renew! 


I'm not sure what I will have for dinner, thinking it'll be an easy day and do breakfast for dinner or something like that. (Bacon and eggs..lots of bacon!) 

My goal for the day (I'll let you know if I make it) is to read about 2 hours total for the day. I'll keep track on my timer for it. I don't go into work until 6 (it's 9am ish atm) but I do have lots of things to do before then. I'll let ya'll know tomorrow!

So how's your December starting out? What are your goals? What are you watching? 


A Bookish December

 

I know I know, I come and then I go and then I come back and then I go again. Lately I've been contemplating the future of this blog. Should I keep it or should I let it die? I'm not ready to say goodbye to Much Read Faster, so that leaves me with no other choice but to keep on chugging. My reading has fallen into a slump of sorts, but I've been making it a daily priority and I'm feeling that sluggish bookworm start to wake up again! 

I'm dangling the carrot in front of it to get it ready to chow down on some yummy papery delights this month..

My goals for December are to gobble up 10 books. That's a doable amount I think. 

I won't make a TBR stack but I have a few in mind. 

Currently I'm reading these two: 



So those are my starting books for the month. 

I'm also thinking about doing a couple of my own personal readathons this month too. I have Wednesdays and Fridays off work, so I might just pick on of those days each week to read all day if I can? We shall see how that goes. I'm finding myself less and less attracted to doomscrolling and aimless watching of things and more drawn to my books and kindle, so I'm going to take from one bad distraction and feed a much better one. 


What are you planning this month? Do you have any goals to finish up the year? Drop me some recommendations for books that you are reading or excited about! 


Monday, October 27, 2025

What I'm Reading This Week(s)

 

I know it's been awhile (How are you doing?) since I've posted here. Lots of things have happened and I've had to adjust in many many exhausting ways. I'm back though, I'm going to be posting here regularly. Getting the bloggy juices flowing again. 

I've got some great books on my deck for this week (and probably into next week as well knowing my reading pace!) So here they be:



Now with Crooked Kingdom and Pride and Prejudice I have already started these, so my aim is to finish them up. I might crack into Hell House to get a little spoopy reading in for Halloween though. I'm gonna aim for a 2 week reading window because lately I've been reading so so so sloooowwww. 

What are you reading now? 


Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Knot of Souls by Christine Amsden (Spotlight/Giveaway)

 

 

Two souls trapped in one body must work together to solve multiple murders before it’s too late – before they can no longer tell where one of them ends and the other begins…

 


Title: KNOT OF SOULS

Author: Christine Amsden

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback, Free on Kindle Unlimited

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy/Paranormal

Two souls, one body …

When Joy wakes up in an alley, she knows three things: she was brutally murdered, she has somehow come back to life … and she is not alone. She’s been possessed by an inhuman presence, a being that has taken over her dying body. That being is powerful, in pain, and on the run from entities more dangerous than he is.

Shade, a Fae prince on the run, didn’t mean to share the body he jumped into. Desperate and afraid, accused of a murder he didn’t commit, he only sought a place to hide—but if he leaves Joy now, he faces discovery and a fate worse than death.

Forced to work together to solve multiple murders, including her own, Joy and Shade discover hidden strengths and an unlikely friendship. Yet as their souls become increasingly intertwined, they realize their true danger might come from each other … and if they don’t find a way to untangle the knot their souls have become, then even the truth won’t set them free.

Knot of Souls is a stand-alone buddy love fantasy that forces two very different beings to work together … and come out stronger on the other side.

Knot of Souls is available at Amazon.


Book Excerpt



Joy

The first thing I realized, after I died, was that my body could walk and talk and no longer needed my help for any of it. I was in there, able to look through my eyes and hear through my ears, but even the simple task of aiming my gaze had slipped outside my control. I was a passenger inside my own mind, an observer along for the ride.

Kristen had been right, I thought numbly as I struggled to make sense of my new reality. Had it only been lunchtime today when she’d told me I’d never get ahead if I didn’t learn to assert myself? “Take control of your life,” she’d said, “or others will take it for you.”

She couldn’t have been thinking of anything quite so literal. Whatever was happening to me, it wasn’t because I’d failed to advocate for a promotion at work or refused to ask out a coworker.

Right?

My body reached my car and slid behind the wheel. A rattled thought—not my own—cursed as it tried to understand how the contraption worked. How much can cars have changed in only a century? Visions accompanied the thoughts, memories—again not my own—of a classic car, gleaming black and elegant, its top down, my bobbed hair whipping around my face as I laughed with glee, a white-faced young man at my side gripping the door, begging me to slow down. I did not.

Which brings me to the second thing I realized, after I died: I was no longer alone inside my own mind.

Whoever was in there didn’t seem to have noticed me yet. Fine. I slid into the smallest corner of my brain I could find, ignoring the intruder as they struggled to figure out how to work an automatic transmission. Maybe they’d get frustrated and give up and go find someone else’s body to possess.

Holy shit! I’ve been possessed by the ghost of someone who died in like 1930.

But why?

I tried to remember what had happened, but the images danced just out of reach. I recalled that the night had been unseasonably cold for October, the chill biting through my inadequate jacket as I hurried to my car, parked in a garage two blocks away from the shelter where I’d been volunteering. Hugging my arms around my torso for warmth, I took a shortcut through an alley and …

There was a noise. I’d startled, my heart pounding in my throat, already on edge because of the argument.

Wait. Back up. There’d been an argument. That seemed significant, but my scattered thoughts couldn’t piece it together as yet, not when a bodily intruder fumbled at the gearshift of my two-month-old Hyundai Accent with only fifty-eight “low monthly payments” left to go.

Low is such a relative word.

– Excerpted from Knot of Souls by Christine Amsden, Christine Amsden, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author
 

Christine Amsden is the author of nine award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels, including the Cassie Scot Series.

Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but Christine believes great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. She writes primarily about people, and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

In addition to writing, Christine is a freelance editor and political activist. Disability advocacy is of particular interest to her; she has a rare genetic eye condition called Stargardt Macular Degeneration and has been legally blind since the age of eighteen. In her free time, she enjoys role playing, board games, and a good cup of tea. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two kids.

Author Links

Website https://christineamsden.com/wordpress/

X http://www.x.com/christineamsden 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Amsden-Author-Page/127673027288664?ref=hl


Christine Amsden is giving away one 2 epub copies of the 4-book Cassie Scot series (gifted through BookFunnel! This includes Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective, Secrets and Lies, Mind Games and Stolen Dreams

Terms & Conditions:

  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one epub copy of the 4-book Cassie Scot series.
  • This giveaway starts July 1 and ends September 26.
  • Winner will be contacted via email on September 26.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.

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