Luke Harkness, Author at Luke’s Blog

21Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Blogger Spotlight: Monika Reads

In today's Blogger Spotlight, we're shining a light on Monika Reads. Monika Reads reviews a wide array of books but also puts personal content on there including their love for books and poetry and short stories. [caption id="attachment_1298" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] What made you get into blogging? I’ve always loved reading and writing. When I joined Twitter, I noticed that a lot of people had their blogs and for years I wanted to do the same, but I never had the courage. Part of it stems from the fact that English is my second language, I was born in Poland but moved to the UK in 2008, and even though I speak, read, and write fluent English, there was that nagging doubt at the back of my…

20Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Book review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Book reviews, Classics, Fantasy

George Orwell is a name that needs no introduction if you’re a fan of literature and Animal Farm is one of, if not his most, famous books. Animal Farm centres around animals rebelling against humans on a farm and rising up as part of a revolution. [caption id="attachment_1293" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase Animal Farm via one of these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you to support the blog. These links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Animal Farm was written in 1945 by George Orwell and as noted above tells the story of a group of farm animals who decide to overthrow the…

18Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness 1 Comment

Book review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Book reviews, Fantasy

Harry Potter is the biggest-selling book series of all time. The books have gone on to produce one of the biggest movie series of all time. If you haven’t heard of Harry Potter, you’ve surely been living under a rock? But is the first book The Philosopher's Stone actually any good? [caption id="attachment_1288" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase The Fellowship of the RIng via one of these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you to support the blog. These links do not affect my final opinion of the product. An introduction to Harry Potter For the one person reading this who’s never heard of Harry Potter - it’s…

16Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Why I Love Reading and Reviewing Books

Features

I read around four or five books a month, sometimes more. Last year I read just over 50 books and this year I'm well on my way to marching that, it not overtaking last year's reading goal. When I was young, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and was ahead of my class in the books I was picking up and the amount of joy I got out it picking up the latest releases. Throughout my teens, I stopped reading so much as I went through all the other activities teenagers go through: socialising, partying, girls, drinking, social media-ing, video gaming etc. However, around 5 years ago I picked up The Girl On the Train when I was in-between jobs and this spurred on my love for reading again that has since…

15Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Book Review: The Fellowship of The Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Book reviews, Classics, Fantasy

Hands up if you've never heard of The Lord of the Rings. OK, anybody who put their hands up, keep reading as you're in for a treat. Anybody who didn't put their hands up, also keep reading as you're the only normal people here!! The Fellowship of The Ring is the first in the three The Lord of the Ring books and it starts off strongly. [caption id="attachment_1267" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase The Fellowship of the RIng via one of these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you to support the blog. These links do not affect my final opinion of the product. An introduction to The…

12Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

How I Decide my Book Review Ratings

Features, Tips and Tricks

I’ve written over 60 book reviews at the time of writing this article. I’ve covered romance, fantasy, science-fiction, contemporary fiction, mystery, thriller and more. But how exactly do I work out what to review my books out of five? [caption id="attachment_1264" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] Why maximum five stars for a book review? First off, I’ll discuss why I chose the five-star rating alongside the text-aids you see at the bottom of each of my book reviews. The main reason is that it takes away from the number of ratings I can give. If it was out of 10, I’d have to choose from ten numbers and this could leave me considering for far too long. The other reason is that I feel far more comfortable giving a…

12Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Book reviews, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance

The premise behind The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab had me hooked. A woman makes a deal with an evil god to essentially live forever. But one day a man comes along and changes the three hundred years of life she's lived forever. [caption id="attachment_1254" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue via one of these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you to support the blog. These links do not affect my final opinion of the product. You can't tell me that the premise behind The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue doesn't intrigue you. It instantly made me think of…

11Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

New Author Book Haul Giveaway – 11 October 2021

Features

Hello and welcome to my blog! if you're a regular visitor here, welcome back, if you're not WELCOME! You're here because you've clicked a link to find out more about the books you've seen pictures of and want to know a little bit more about what you're getting yourself in for. A few weeks ago I hit 2,000 Followers on Instagram and have since also hit over 1,000 followers on Twitter. I decided I wanted to do a giveaway to say thank you to everybody who has chosen to follow me. After a little think - I realised most of my audience follow me for the book-related content that I post. I quickly decided I wanted to do a physical book giveaway. HOWEVER, I had no idea what sort of…

09Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Luke’s Book Quiz Round 4

Features, Quizzes

Here we are with a fourth book quiz! That means if you've taken part in the previous three book quizzes already, by the end of this one, you'll have answered 48 questions on books. I wonder how many out of 48 you get right. Do let me know! This book quiz is written under the same idea as the previous three: I've put questions and answers to either books I've read, answers I'd know the answers to or questions I think would be accessible for a large audience. I don't want these quizzes to make you feel dumb, they're simply here to test your knowledge. Right, let's get underway. Don't forget to read the rules below. [caption id="attachment_1227" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] Please note, this article contains affiliate…

08Oct 2021 by Luke Harkness No Comments

How to Drive FREE Engagement to your Blog

Features, How to, Tips and Tricks

It doesn't matter how many social media followers you have or how great your articles are, if you're not managing to find a way to drive people to your blog then none of it really matters. [caption id="attachment_1223" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Pin me to Pinterest![/caption] I've realised over the past few months of blogging that keeping people on your site and keeping them coming back is absolutely crucial to making sure your content is being seen. If you want your time on your blog to feel worth it, then having people return, visit, comment and appreciate your content is the best way to do this. I've been blogging for a few months now so by no means am I the most experienced at this. However, I have a few years in…

Author: Luke Harkness