This is a deliciously quirky trilogy of novels! Many many things in the books, Rotherweird and Wyntertyde should not work, and yet they somehow do. Gosh! Wyntertyde had left us on a cliffhanger: a second mixing point was discovered; Bolitho was revealed as Fortemain and then dispatched; the vile Calx Bole had succeeded in resurrecting…
Category: ARC
Spring, Ali Smith
Look what arrived this week: an ARC of Spring, the third in Ali Smith’s gorgeous Seasons Tetralogy, following Autumn and Winter. Autumn being hailed as the first post-Brexit novel – and it is so much more transformative and lyrical and funny and tragic than that! – the timing of this novel’s release at the end…
2018: A Year in Books
So here it is. New Year’s Eve and, being a dad to a five year old and generally quite antisocial, I am at home with family, a glass of chilled champagne and, currently, Pointless on the television. Living the high life! But I’d have it no other way. The little one is upstairs reading Emma…
30 Day Book Challenge: Day 14!
Heading towards the half way point. Slowly. I’m aiming to finish by Christmas, possibly on Christmas Day which gives me 20 days in which to complete the final 16. Still a little bit of leeway! Anyway, today’s challenge is A fairytale retelling. And there are a lot of these to choose from, even if we…
Regular Reading Update
Book Haul Time! It’s a busy busy time at work – yet again! Exam marking and observations and stress. Much that gets in the way of reading! But equally much that reading can rescue you from! Nothing like escaping from that irksome stress with the pleasures of listening to George Washington Black’s escape from slavery…
The Winter of the Witch, Katherine Arden
Disclaimer: I was provided with an ARC / Proof Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. How exciting! My first ARC review! My first ARC review! My first ARC review! This is the third in Arden’s Winternight Trilogy which commenced with The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower,…
Reading Update: 14th October
Oh the books. The piles of books. The new books coming out. The unread books still waiting. So, this week I have found myself with four books on the go, simultaneously: waking and alert, I’m continuing Daisy Johnson’s Everything Under and as I drive I’m listening to Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black from the Man Booker Shortlist; and…
The Winter of the Witch, Katherine Arden
So excited that an ARC of The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden has been dispatched today! Book three of the Winternight Trilogy. I love Vasilisa Petrovna – firey, alien and other – the phoenix dominating that cover. I adore Arden’s writing, her Russian folklore, the historical authenticity. And Morozko. And Solovey. It is…
Weekly Round Up: 17th July 2018
One more week until the Summer holidays and a real chance to get stuck into my TBR pile – and my To Be Reviewed list too! I’m sure I’ve missed some things off somewhere! Wasn’t there a Dresden File I read and haven’t reviewed yet? Blood Rites? I have this week posted my first Netgalley…
Weekly Round Up: 10th July 2018
This week sees a coupe of books finished and taken from my TBR pile! Jessie Burton’s The Muse grew on me as I reached the final sections and anticipated some of the revelations. I did find her language to be beautiful and sensual but her more contemplative moments a little awkward. I was, though, sad to…
