Luke Harkness, Author at Luke’s Blog

09Sep 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Revelation by C.J. Sansom book review

Book reviews, Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery

The Matthew Shardlake series by CJ Sansom is one of the best historical fiction crime series around. It's likely not an overcrowded genre but nonetheless, Sansom seems to have marked himself down as the one to beat in the genre and the king of historical fiction crime. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links provided below, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of any of the products. Revelation is the fourth book in the Shardlake series by Sansom - a series that sees lawyer Shardlake get himself embroiled in murders far more often than he'd like and end up having to…

06Sep 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

My Top 5 Posts on my Blog in August 2022

Features, Monthly Round Ups

Every month I like to look back and see which posts from those I posted did the best. This not only allows me to keep a historical archive of which articles have done the best so I can then use these going forward or when I need to look back for inspiration but it also allows me to share content with those of you who are aspiring bloggers. These posts below are the top five performing meaning they received the most amount of views from the month. These posts have all been posted within this month. If I posted the top five most-viewed articles each month that weren't posted in that month, they'd all be fairly similar and repetitive. So here are the top five most viewed blog posts from…

05Sep 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Seven Books I Read in August 2022

Features, Monthly Round Ups

Each month I take a look back at what I've read and post my summaries and a link to the full review below. If you're looking for a new book then there's no better place to look than these lists. August featured four five-star books, possibly the most I've ever had in one month! Please be aware that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase products via the links provided 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 finished seven books over the month with two being epic fantasies, one historical fiction, one a fairly contemporary romance (I know, unlike me!) and the other three coming…

03Sep 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett book review

Book reviews, Crime, Mystery

The Twyford Code is Janice Hallett's second book after The Appeal was very positively received. I absolutely adored The Appeal - I enjoyed the incredible way it was written and how, despite having the technicality of trying to write a book in that way, Hallett still managed to write great characters and a clever twist and crime story. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any of the products below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of any of the products. The Twyford Code is similar to The Appeal in that it is written in a unique way. The Twyford Code uses dictated voice notes to…

01Sep 2022 by Luke Harkness 1 Comment

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

I reviewed A Game of Thrones back in 2021 quite early on after I started this blog - since then I've done a reread and decided I want to give it another crack. I wrote my review based on memories of about two years after I'd read the book. This updated review is based on a reread I finished literally days ago. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any of the products linked below, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These links do not affect my opinion of the products. A Game of Thrones is the first book in the epic A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin - if you've…

29Aug 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

How to Write Blog Posts Super Easily – How to optimise your words for Google

Features, How to, Tips and Tricks

I've been blogging for well over a year now and so have some experience when it comes to writing blog posts. In total, I've written over 230 posts at the time of writing this blog post (that's a bit meta hey?) and so I would like to think I know what I'm doing at this point. However, I won't sit here and say writing blog posts has become exponentially easier - in fact as I've learned more about how to optimise blog posts to get them viewed higher on Google, it has become a long process to complete posts. In this post, I'm going to give you tips and tricks on writing a blog post to optimise it for Google including language to use, how to format your paragraphs and…

25Aug 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton book review

Book reviews, Historical Fiction, Mystery

There was quite the hype around The Miniaturist when I posted on social media that I'd bought it. It's a book filled with intrigue, an interesting setting and a lot of mystery. However, as I read it, I felt like more could have been done with it and it felt a little confusing. 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 will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. Set in 1968 Amsterdam, The Miniaturist follows Petronella (known as Nella mostly) as she finds herself wed to a man whom she had no choice over and who also…

23Aug 2022 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

I Answer ALL the Bookish Questions – 50 Book Questions to Ask Your Friends

Features

I was browsing the web, looking for some book tags to do (they're always great fun and I often realise something about my reading habits I didn't know) and came across Owlcation's "50 Questions About Books and Reading to Ask Your Friends" and thought there was great some great questions in there. 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. Therefore, I thought I would steal the question and answer them myself. As there are 50 here, I've not given the longest of answers as I'd be writing all night…

17Aug 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Death on the Pier by Jamie West book review

Book reviews, Crime, Historical Fiction

Death on the Pier by Jamie West is West's debut novel set almost 90 years ago on a Brighton Pier Theatre that longer exists. During a play in which the main character is supposed to die at the end of Act 1, she is found to actually be dead when the curtain goes down - but who is the culprit and why? Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. Death on the Pier was sent to me by Jamie West himself in return for an honest review. It releases on 10…

13Aug 2022 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Normal People by Sally Rooney book review

Book reviews, Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Normal People is one of those books, like quite a few on my blog actually, where I picked it up because I'd heard a lot of chatter around it. My partner watched the television show and really liked it and one of my friends had read the book too. Therefore, to feel involved, I decided to pick it up too. What did I think? Please note that this article contains affiliate links, this means that if you choose to purchase any products via the link below, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Normal People by Sally Rooney focuses almost solely on the lives of Connel and Marianne and how they constantly intertwine…

Author: Luke Harkness