This Week by Proxy: 10 – 16 August


Welcome to This Week by Proxy. Join me as I link up with the Caffeinated Reviewer to look back on the past week and see what I’ve been reading, posting, watching and playing!


| This Week by Proxy: 10 – 16 August 2020 |

As busy as it’s been, this week has seemed to fly by! Unfortunately, so has the weekend, which has been a strange mixture of both horrific and relaxing.

Saturday morning was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. The other half and I were awoken on Saturday morning to a phone call telling us our nephew had gone missing in Blackpool. The police were involved and we scrambled to get out of the house as quickly as possible and make the journey to the coast. I have never gotten ready so quickly in my life!

Fortunately, before we left, we received another phone call to say a wonderful man had found him lost on the beach and had taken him to the police. Reunited with his parents and sister, he soon seemed oblivious to the panic he had inadvertently caused and spent the day playing on the beach and making sandcastles. I have never felt either such dread or such relief in my life, and my faith in humanity has most definitely been restored.

Following that, we decided to put our other plans on hold and spend the weekend relaxing and recovering from the shock.

I hope you have all had far more enjoyable weekends and I wish you all a fantastic week ahead!


| Books Read |

This week I finished The Ashes of London, a wonderful slice of historic crime fiction set during The Great Fire of London of 1666. Both skilfully plotted and bursting with descriptions of seventeenth century London, this was a wonderful start to a series I cannot wait to continue.

I also managed to squeeze in another P.G. Wodehouse novel, Ring for Jeeves, which was a brilliantly funny read.


| Currently Reading |

I’m currently enjoying the audiobook for The Doors of Eden, which is a somewhat long recording but fills in a lot moments where I can’t physically hold a book! And All Systems Red is already a joy to read and is only being usurped by A Little Hatred which I am finding difficult to put down!


| Upcoming Reviews |

I’m still making my way slowly but surely through my backlog of reviews and I’m actually seeing the sky through the clouds now! I should have two reviews for any of the above out this coming week!


| Watching |

I finally finished my Humans binge which ended in horror, tears and joy. This is a thoroughly enjoyable series which actually raises some profound questions about those we consider ‘other’ and what it means to be human.

The Umbrella Academy is, as usual, wonderfully ridiculous and makes for an excellent wind down at the end of a busy day, while the latest series of Good Girls isn’t quite hitting my sweet spot just yet. We’ll see how it fares over the course of the season.


| Gaming |

While I haven’t had much time for gaming this week, I’ve still managed to squeeze in a few games of GTFO, Apex Legends and continue the story mode for Red Dead Redemption 2. I’ve also started getting urges for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, which comes out later this year (we hope!), so I may see a return to WoW sooner rather than later.


| Posts |

Review: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

Review: To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Music Mondays: My Only Chance

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten… Books I Loved but Never Reviewed

Teaser Tuesdays: The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor

Waiting on Wednesday: Orfeia by Joanne M. Harris

The Friday Face-Off: Spectacular

Friday Firsts: A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie


I hope you all have a wonderful, book-filled week!

What have you been reading, watching and playing this week? Have you accomplished any goals?

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41 thoughts on “This Week by Proxy: 10 – 16 August

  1. Oh dear! That is scary. I’m glad your nephew was found and is okay.

    I binged on Umbrella Academy all of last week and it was so wonderful! Such fun. And I can’t imagine how the next season will go. This one did not end as I thought it would.
    Of the group, Klaus is my favorite, and Number 5 ā€” the actor does a great job convincing me that he’s an old dude trapped in a boy’s body, lol.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, far too scary!! I will be happy to never have a day like that again!

      Klaus and No.5 are my favourites too – they’re just brilliant! šŸ˜€ I think I would have blasted through the whole season already if I wasn’t watching it with the other half. It’s too good! šŸ˜€

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  2. Oh my goodness – the dreaded phone call we ALL hope we never get… No wonder you need the rest of the weekend to recover from it.

    I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed Ashes of London so much – yay! You have some wonderful reads there – and I hope the coming week is a peaceful, healthy one, Proxy:)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Sarah! I am definitely in need of a peaceful week!!

      Oh I enjoyed reading The Ashes of London so much. I’m so glad you prompted me to pick it up! šŸ˜€ I will definitely have to get the next few books in the series!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Last time Iā€˜ve been in wow was classic for half a year or so. Up to good old Molten Core raids. I realized the tread mill once again and stopped playing it. It was absolutely fun being back, but then Good riddance. Those games suck you in and the life out of you. At least I can control the addiction nowadays. On the other hand, every odd day a new Netgalley waves at me šŸ˜

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes I’m much more adept at controlling my gaming addiction than my book addiction. šŸ˜‚ Though one is definitely more socially acceptable than the other! I’ve played a lot of WoW but have never considered myself addicted… my other half though…. šŸ˜‚

      Liked by 1 person

  4. What a blessing that your nephew was found safe and sound! And how terrifying it must have been while he was missing. I’m glad you were able to take the rest of the weekend off to recover from the fright. I would have needed to do the same.

    Ashes of London sounds interesting. And one of these days, I need to read the Jeeves books.

    Have a great week!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, it was such a relief! I definitely don’t want to go through an experience like that again!

      Oh it was a great read, I really recommend it for anyone interested in historical crime fiction!

      Have a great week too! šŸ˜Š

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  5. Oh my gosh that would be absolutely terrifying! I’m so glad to hear he was found quickly and is okay. Yikes. I don’t blame you for wanting to just relax after that.

    All systems Red is awesome, i love that series. šŸ™‚ And Hvmans- I so agree. I love that show and am sorry it’s done.

    Be well this week!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, it was such a relief! I never want to experience anything like that again!

      Oh I’m enjoying it so much! I just love how in depth the world is. šŸ¤©

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  6. I’m so sorry to hear you had such an awful shock over your nephew, but so thankful that he was found safe and sound by a kind stranger. I can understand after that you changing your plans to relax and recover from it! Pleased to hear you have some thrilling books and some great shows to watch to help with that this week. I also loved Humans and the more I hear, the more I think I need to put The Umbrella Academy on my watch list! Take care and happy reading in the coming week. šŸ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Jessica! šŸ˜€

      Yes, it was terrifying! I’m so glad he was found by a kind stranger – the worst most definitely goes through your mind at the time. I’m so so relieved!

      I’ve just finished the second season of The Umbrella Academy and really recommend it. It is such chaotic fun! šŸ˜€

      Liked by 1 person

  7. There’s nothing more scary than a child going missing like that – such dread. Glad all worked out well.
    Can’t wait to read the Abercrombie.
    Lynn šŸ˜€

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  8. OH MY GOSH how scary! I’m glad he is okay, though!

    I want to read All Systems Red so I’m glad you enjoyed that one. And gosssshhh I wish I had time to play games. I want to pick up RDR2 again but I never have time. It’s been months!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Just struggling to put it down because I was enjoying it too much! šŸ˜… Finished it this eve and it was brilliant!

      All Systems Red was great… I wish the sequels weren’t so damn expensive though!!

      Liked by 1 person

            1. That’s what I’m like! šŸ˜‚ Other than All Systems Red, which is about Ā£2, the rest are Ā£7 plus! I mostly buy Kindles when they’re Ā£0.99 – Ā£1.99 otherwise I’d rather have the real book! šŸ˜‚

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