Books and travelling with Lynn

#artitupwithfriends : Dreams

Posted On 3 May 2016

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #artitupwithfriends, @badaliceshop, @pabkins, Dreams

For the month of May I am going to try and take part in a daily drawing challenge organised by @pabkins and @badaliceshop. These will only be sketches but if you check out the #artitupwithfriends hashtag you’ll see some really excellent pieces of art! Each day the aim is to sketch or draw using the word for the day. Today is ‘Dreams’. This is a sinister and sweet themed month.

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Where are they now??

Posted On 3 May 2016

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Broke and Bookish, Ten characters we'd like to read more of, Top Ten Tuesday

Comments Dropped 38 responses

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Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is:

‘Ten Childhood Characters You’d Love To Revisit As Adults’

Now, it’s quite possible that some of these already have follow on novels – but I’ve either not read them or I’m not aware so here are mine for this week:

Alice from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland – just what did happen to Alice?
Harry, Hermione and Ron – I know that J K Rowling wrote them grown up with their own children – but I’d like to see maybe a few of the years in-between.
Merry, Pippin and Sam from JRR Tolkien’s LotR – I mean, we know that Sam married his young lady from the Inn but what happened to Merry and Pippin.
Nobody, Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book. To be honest I really thought we might hear more about what happened to Bod.
Mowgli from Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book.
Christopher from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon – it would be interesting to read another tale from Christopher and gain a little more of his perspective.
Melanie from the Girl With all the Gifts by M R Carey – I am curious. Or maybe I just want to read more from this particular alternative world.
Katsa from Kristin Cashore’s Graceline – I really enjoyed this world and the character of Katsa.
Judith from All the Truth That’s in Me by Julie Berry. I loved this book and would gladly return.
I have to go here – Kvothe, Patrick Rothfuss – yes, I so want to read more about what happens to Kvothe. If any one wants to throw me a line and let me know when the third book will be out then please do so!

#artitupwithfriends : Danger

Posted On 2 May 2016

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #artitupwithfriends, 'danger', Monthly challenges, Sketches

Comments Dropped 4 responses

For the month of May I am going to try and take part in a daily drawing challenge organised by @pabkins and @badaliceshop. These will only be sketches but if you check out the #artitupwithfriends hashtag you’ll see some really excellent pieces of art! Each day the aim is to sketch or draw using the word for the day. Today is ‘Danger’. This is a sinister and sweet themed month.

Tomorrow’s prompt is ‘Dreams’. I hope you come and join in.

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Posted On 2 May 2016

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Hex, Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Comments Dropped 20 responses

26802679 Hex is a unique story about a witch who haunts the inhabitants of a small town. It’s a creepy tale that stays with you after you finish reading and gives you plenty of food for thought – but probably in a way that you really wouldn’t suspect.

Katherine van Wyler was sentenced to death for witchcraft by the towns people of Black Springs in the year 1664. Unfortunately for the people of Black Springs Katherine took her death sentence rather badly and ever since has haunted the towns people who are now, effectively, cursed!

I think Hex probably has one of the most unusual concepts for a creepy tale that I’ve ever come across. A witch, who haunts a town and literally walks the streets or shows up in people’s houses. What makes this worse is that Katherine has her eyes and mouth sewn shut and is wrapped with chains. Her appearance is usually preceded by the smell of rot and dirty water and if the inhabitants listen closely enough they can hear Katherine whispering quietly a string of vitriol that can cause madness and worse in any that overhear her words. Add to this the fact that most people have become almost immune to the sight of Katherine and in some, far from causing fear she has almost become a figure to ridicule or taunt.

Now, I must confess that this isn’t a horror story! It’s not a slasher or blood filled fest. It’s a book that is progressively creepy. It lulls you into a false sense of security by showing you a town full of people who have come to terms with their own sentence. And, make no mistake, living in Black Springs is a sentence. Once you move there you can’t leave – I won’t go into the reasons why but trust me on this – there are no physical barriers but everyone knows that escape isn’t an option. This is the beauty of this book – it’s like a work of stealth! You’re reading along oblivious to the fact that you’re about to be hit by something strange and dark and more than that something that will shock you and keep you reading even if you want to stop.

So, to the town – Black Springs appears to be an average and picturesque place. The inhabitants have had a long time to come to term with it’s resident ghost and are now experts at keeping everything under wraps (or tea towels for that matter!) The odd thing is that nobody really knows the true story surrounding Katherine but everybody knows that if something goes goes wrong and upsets the equilibrium then the whole town could fall victim. This is such a clever concept – everyone is dependent on everyone else and it really only takes one weak link for the whole thing to fall apart and spiral into chaos. In turn it gives Black Springs an olde world feel – the people there live their life with fear and superstition. They don’t always trust each other and can in fact point the finger of blame without a second thought. Almost like a witch hunt all over again.

Of course, the last time that anything scary happened in town was so long ago that most of the residents have forgotten and although some still remain vigilant the younger members of the population are starting to resent the restrictions placed on them. They want a regular life, they want to take pictures and tweet them, date people from other towns, go on holidays to far flung places and be reckless – and so we have a situation bubbling and about to boil over. The town of Black Springs is a town stuck in the dark ages but with a young generation bursting at the seams to break into the modern century. A generation of youngsters who secretly wonder how bad it could really be.

I can’t give away too much more about Hex without spoiling it. It’s a very unusual ghost story. It takes a look at people and how they sometimes react, particularly when under severe stress or fear. The animal instincts that awaken, only thinly covered by a relatively new veneer of civility, when the going gets tough. And the fact that sometimes the fear and the reaction it causes can be equally bad if not worse than whatever it was that caused the fear in the first place.

I definitely recommend Hex. It’s such a compelling book, it will make you think, you’ll start the story and have questions, much like a new resident to the Town, and slowly the truth will become apparent – and just as you come to terms with what’s going on and think you have a grip on things everything will go to hell in a handcart!

I received a copy of Hex courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

#artitupwithfriends : Another World

Posted On 1 May 2016

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #artitupwithfriends, Drawing challenge, Sinister and Sweet

Comments Dropped 5 responses

For the month of May I am going to try and take part in a daily drawing challenge organised by @pabkins and @badaliceshop. These will only be sketches but if you check out the #artitupwithfriends hashtag you’ll see some really excellent pieces of art! Each day the aim is to sketch or draw using the word for the day. Today is ‘Another World’. This is a sinister and sweet themed month.

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