Best of the Best 2017
Happy New Year to everyone. I enjoyed a fantastic year in books during 2017 and really struggled to pick my favourites of the year, in fact, I’ve had to go for 11 books this year rather than 10. My last read of the year was John Gwynne’s A Time of Dread and it was so good that it had to go on here too even though I’ve not yet published the review.
- Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
- The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French
- The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams
- Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
- The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark
- Blackwing by Ed McDonald
- The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
- A Pocketful of Crows by Joanne M Harris
- The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear
- The Nine by Tracy Townsend
- A Time of Dread by John Gwynne
And here are the lovely covers:
If you’re interested in a few statistics from last year:
- Last year I read 104 books (probably a couple more but I’ve not listed a few of my reads.
- I completed the first half of the SPFBO competition. The ten finalists are here.
- At least 50 of my books were by female authors – possibly more.
- I have written 91 reviews.
- I have completed four series – not very impressive is it!
- Books bought 45
- Bought books read – 0 – eek! Need to start reading some of my own books methinks
- One author has been on my ‘best of list’ for the past 7 consecutive years: Mark Lawrence – that definitely deserves a little shout out.
“Ah, music,” he said, wiping his eyes. “A magic beyond all we do here!”
29 December 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Covers featuring a musical instrument, Friday Face off
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below. This week’s theme:
If music be the food of love, play on – a cover featuring a Musical Instrument
This week my book choice is The Hum and the Shiver (Tufa #1) by Alex Bledsoe – I read this quite a while ago and really enjoyed it – in fact I should try to catch up with the rest of the series:
Next week – a cover that features ‘Under the Sea’
Future themes:
5th January – ‘The seaweed is always greener, in somebody else’s lake.’ – Under the Sea
12th January – ‘More than one meaning have I’ – a cover featuring a Knot/knots
19th January – You know your A, B, Cs – a cover made up only of letters/words
26th January – “The grass is always greener on the other side of personal extinction” – a cover featuring grass
2nd February – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – a Psychedelic cover
9th February – ‘My what big teeth you have’ – a cover featuring a cloaked figure
16th February – ‘Groovy baby’ – a cover that is: Retro
23rd February – “There are too many steps in this castle, and it seems to me they add a few every night, just to vex me” – a cover featuring a staircase
2nd March – ‘The only true wisdom is to know that you know nothing’ – a cover featuring something from Greek mythology
9th March – ‘…but Icarus flew too close’ – a cover featuring the Sun
16th March – ‘I got no strings to hold me down’ – a cover featuring a doll or puppet
23rd March – “When she was a child, the witch locked her away in a tower that had neither doors nor stairs.” – a cover featuring a Tower
30th March – ‘A little soil to make it grow’ – a cover featuring seeds/spores
6th April – “After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” – a cover featuring a family
13th April – ‘lawns and rocks and heather and different sorts of trees, lay spread out below them, the river winding through it’ – a cover featuring a panorama
20th April – Where there’s fire there’s… – a cover featuring smoke
27th April – ‘Those darling byegone times… with their delicious fortresses, and their dear old dungeons, and their delightful places of torture’ – a cover that is positively mediaeval
4th May- ‘A Hand without a hand? A bad jape, sister.’ – a cover featuring a hand/hands
11th May – ‘Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth’ – a cover featuring a dinosaur/s
18th May – ‘Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;’ – a cover featuring a gravestone
25th May – Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap – a cover featuring footsteps
1st June – clinging and invasive – a cover featuring creeping vines
8th June – Raining Cats and Dogs – a cover featuring a stormy sky
‘Yes Hermione, I thinks is going to be exactly like wizards chess’
22 December 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, JKRowling, The Friday Face Off
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below. This week’s theme:
‘Oh, we loves games! Doesn’t we, precious?’ – a cover featuring a Puzzle or Game
I had a couple of books in mind this week but decided on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s/Philosopher’s Stone – I’ve used HP a few times but I don’t think I’ve used this particular book and it came to mind because of the Wizard’s Chess game that Ron takes part in. There are a lot of covers for the HP books so I’ve not posted them all:
The one I’ve picked this week feels like it has a winter vibe:
Which is your favourite?
Next week – a cover featuring a musical instrument
Future themes:
29th December – If music be the food of love, play on – a cover featuring a Musical Instrument
5th January – ‘The seaweed is always greener, in somebody else’s lake.’ – Under the Sea
12th January – ‘More than one meaning have I’ – a cover featuring a Knot/knots
19th January – You know your A, B, Cs – a cover made up only of letters/words
26th January – “The grass is always greener on the other side of personal extinction” – a cover featuring grass
2nd February – Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – a Psychedelic cover
9th February – ‘My what big teeth you have’ – a cover featuring a cloaked figure
16th February – ‘Groovy baby’ – a cover that is: Retro
23rd February – “There are too many steps in this castle, and it seems to me they add a few every night, just to vex me” – a cover featuring a staircase
2nd March – ‘The only true wisdom is to know that you know nothing’ – a cover featuring something from Greek mythology
9th March – ‘…but Icarus flew too close’ – a cover featuring the Sun
16th March – ‘I got no strings to hold me down’ – a cover featuring a doll or puppet
23rd March – “When she was a child, the witch locked her away in a tower that had neither doors nor stairs.” – a cover featuring a Tower
30th March – ‘A little soil to make it grow’ – a cover featuring seeds/spores
6th April – “After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” – a cover featuring a family
13th April – ‘lawns and rocks and heather and different sorts of trees, lay spread out below them, the river winding through it’ – a cover featuring a panorama
20th April – Where there’s fire there’s… – a cover featuring smoke
27th April – ‘Those darling byegone times… with their delicious fortresses, and their dear old dungeons, and their delightful places of torture’ – a cover that is positively mediaeval
4th May- ‘A Hand without a hand? A bad jape, sister.’ – a cover featuring a hand/hands
11th May – ‘Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth’ – a cover featuring a dinosaur/s
18th May – ‘Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;’ – a cover featuring a gravestone
25th May – Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap – a cover featuring footsteps
1st June – clinging and invasive – a cover featuring creeping vines
8th June – Raining Cats and Dogs – a cover featuring a stormy sky
A Matter of Blood (The Dog-Faced Gods #1) by Sarah Pinborough
21 December 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Matter of Blood, Sarah Pinborough, The Dog-Faced Gods #1
I’ve read quite a few of Sarah Pinborough’s books and what they all share, regardless of what type of story or genre they might seem to sit in, is a dark edge – and of course damned good writing – and A Matter of Blood is no exception.
Set in a potential near future A Matter of Blood brings to us a different and yet at the same time familiar, London. The world has been hit by recession, crime is a major problem and most people, organisations and governments are in debt to the Bank, an incredibly wealthy organisation that has ‘big brother’ vibes. The story starts with an introduction to Cass Jones, a detective inspector. Cass is a complex character. He has a past that haunts hims, a marriage on the rocks (due to his own philandering I might add), an on and off drug problem and a huge number of cases to solve including a serial killer and a drive-by shooting that killed two young school boys in the crossfire. Now, added to this things get very complicated for Cass when his own brother shoots his family before turning the gun on himself and leaving Cass, given his shady past, as a potential suspect.
There is plenty going on here. On the face of it this is a police procedure, murder mystery with a creepy serial killer planning his next murder but upon further reading this killer is more than at first appears and the mystery aspect of the story is much more complicated. Everything in fact is inextricably linked and as Cass starts to dig into his own family history he begins to uncover secrets.
Cass is a great character. I mean, he’s not really a nice guy in a lot of ways. He ignores his brother’s repeated attempts to get in touch, he’s jaded, he’s corrupt, he cheats on his wife but in spite of that you end up getting sucked into his life and wanting him to pull through when things start to spiral out of control. One thing about Cass is he is a good detective, he wants to get to the bottom of things and once he starts digging he doesn’t stop – and of course when the ghost of his dead brother starts visiting him it gives him a new incentive to work things out. Pinborough manages to deliver a seriously flawed character and yet at the same time manages to keep you on his side.
In terms of criticisms. Not much to mention. The story wraps up well although it leaves plenty to explore in the next instalment. This is a mix of police procedure and fantasy with a dash of horror, but, the fantasy elements are fairly subdued. This isn’t a story that really delves into urban fantasy and it probably won’t shock hardcore horror fans but personally I liked the fantasy element of the story and thought it played really well into the whole murder mystery/serial killer theme.
This is a bleak setting and a chilling story with a couple of creepy characters sat at the very centre of the plot. I never know quite what to expect from Sarah Pinborough, she seems to be an author who likes to push the boundaries and keep readers guessing and I look forward to picking up the second in the series to see where this story goes next.
Waiting on Wednesday : Between the Blade and the Heart (Valkyrie #1) by Amanda Hocking
20 December 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Amanda Hocking, Between the Blade and the Heart, Breaking the Spine, Can't wait Wednesday, Waiting on Wednesday, Wishful Endings
Blade Runner meets Game of Thrones in Between the Blade and the Heart, a gripping story of love and revenge from Amanda Hocking, author of the Trylle trilogy and the Kanin Chronicles.
Malin is a Valkyrie-in-training. It’s her responsibility to slay immortals, returning them to the afterlife to maintain balance in the world. She also struggles to maintain balance in her own life – between her studies, her duties as a Valkyrie and her conflicting feelings for her ex-girlfriend.
But when a beguiling stranger breaks into her home on a quest for vengeance, Malin’s carefully balanced life falls apart. Asher is hunting the rogue immortal who murdered his mother, and he thinks Malin may have information. Her loyalties are tested, as she uncovers a betrayal that unravels everything she thought she knew. And she must decide if helping the mysterious Asher enact his revenge is worth the risk – to the world, and to her heart.
Due for publication: February 2018
Books and travelling with Lynn 