Wondrous Words and Can’t Wait Wednesday : The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
21 April 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Ariadne, Can't wait Wednesday, Elodie Harper, Elza Reads, Jennifer Saint, the Wolf Den, Wishful Endings, Wondrous Reads
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper. Here’s the description:
Sold by her mother. Enslaved in Pompeii’s brothel. Determined to survive. Her name is Amara. Welcome to the Wolf Den…
Amara was once a beloved daughter, until her father’s death plunged her family into penury. Now she is a slave in Pompeii’s infamous brothel, owned by a man she despises. Sharp, clever and resourceful, Amara is forced to hide her talents. For as a she-wolf, her only value lies in the desire she can stir in others.
But Amara’s spirit is far from broken.
By day, she walks the streets with her fellow she-wolves, finding comfort in the laughter and dreams they share. For the streets of Pompeii are alive with opportunity. Out here, even the lowest slave can secure a reversal in fortune. Amara has learnt that everything in this city has its price. But how much is her freedom going to cost her?
Set in Pompeii’s lupanar, The Wolf Den reimagines the lives of women who have long been overlooked.
Expected publication : May 2021
This meme was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion Blog and has now been adopted by Elza Reads.
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.
No rules just enjoy and for further info check out Elza Reads.
This week my word is:
AMPHORAE
An amphora is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land or sea. The size and shape have been determined from at least as early as the Neolithic Period.
This is a word taken from a recent read that I really enjoyed: Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint:
Wondrous Words and Can’t Wait Wednesday : The Hidden by Melanie Golding
14 April 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Caffeinated Reviewer, Can't wait Wednesday, Elza Reads, KJ Maitland, Melanie Golding, The Drowned City, The Hidden, Wondrous Words Wednesday
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : The Hidden by Melanie Golding. I loved Little Darlings and so have been waiting to see what the author would come up with next and The Hidden has an excellent description:
Melanie Golding’s newest folkloric suspense is a spine-tingling twist on Celtic mythology.
One dark December night, in a small seaside town, a little girl is found abandoned. When her mother finally arrives, authorities release the pair, believing it to be an innocent case of a toddler running off.
Gregor, a seemingly single man, is found bludgeoned and left for dead in his apartment, but the discovery of children’s toys raises more questions than answers.
Every night, Ruby gazes into Gregor’s apartment, leading to the discovery of his secret family: his unusually silent daughter and his mentally unstable wife, Constance, who insists that she is descended from the mythological Selkies. She begs Ruby to aid in finding the sealskin that Gregor has hidden from her, making it impossible to return to her people.
DS Joanna Harper’s investigation into Gregor’s assault leads her to CCTV footage of the mother-daughter pair from town. Harper realizes she knows the woman almost as well as she knows herself: it’s her estranged daughter, Ruby. No matter the depth of Ruby’s involvement, she knows she will choose her daughter over her career.
Steeped in local legend and exploring the depths of what it means to be a mother, Melanie Golding’s newest novel is a lyrical and atmospheric folktale for the modern age.
Expected publication : November 2021
This meme was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion Blog and has now been adopted by Elza Reads.
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.
No rules just enjoy and for further info check out Elza Reads.
This week my word is:
TARADIDDLE
A taradiddle is a petty lie or pretentious nonsense.
What a lovely sounding word it is. I had a little look into the word. It may have first been used in the 18th Century although the origins aren’t known. There are a few myths out there about where and when the word came into use but it appears that these rumours are ‘taradiddles’ in themselves.
If you break the word up –
Tara – is an exclamation; and
Diddle – can be to cheat or swindle
So, put the two together and you have a cheating exclamation! Which could be a little lie if you think about it.
Whilst I was looking into this I also came across an interesting little snippet for Harry Potter fans. Apparently the word was used by Cornelius Fudge in JK Rowlings Order of the Phoenix “‘We haven’t got time to listen to more taradiddles, I’m afraid, Dumbledore.’”
Anyway, the book I was reading when came across this word was The Drowned City (which I enjoyed, my review here) by KJ Maitland:
Wondrous Words and Can’t Wait Wednesday : The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
31 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't wait Wednesday, Elza Reads, Pat Barker, The women of troy, Wishful Endings, Wondrous Word
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : The Women of Troy by Pat Barker (I loved The Silence of the Girls by the same author.)
From the Booker Prize-winning Pat Barker, author of The Silence of the Girls (“An important, powerful, memorable book” –Emily Wilson, translator of The Odyssey), a retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of the women who endured it
Troy has fallen and the victorious Greeks are eager to return home with the spoils of an endless war–including the women of Troy themselves. They await a fair wind for the Aegean.
It does not come, because the gods are offended. The body of King Priam lies unburied and desecrated, and so the victors remain in suspension, camped in the shadows of the city they destroyed as the coalition that held them together begins to unravel. Old feuds resurface and new suspicions and rivalries begin to fester.
Largely unnoticed by her captors, the one-time Trojan queen Briseis, formerly Achilles’ mistress, now belonging to his companion Alcimus, quietly takes in these developments. She forges alliances when she can, with Priam’s aged wife the defiant Hecuba and with the disgraced soothsayer Calchas, all the while shrewdly seeking her path to revenge.
Expected publication : June 2021
This meme was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion Blog and has now been adopted by Elza Reads.
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.
No rules just enjoy and for further info check out Elza Reads.
I’ve not made a note of any particular words this week but instead I’m taking inspiration from the title of a recent book – A Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop.
This week I’m looking at collective nouns:
‘In linguistics, a collective noun is a collection of things taken as a whole. Most collective nouns in everyday speech are not specific to one kind of thing, such as the word “group”, which can be applied to people or dogs or other things. ‘
A Murder of Crows originated in the fifteenth century during which time it became popular to give ‘poetic’ collective nouns for groups of animals and birds, for example a gaggle of geese or a pride of lions. The noun was usually a reflection of the perceived qualities of the animal/bird, etc. Crows were associated with death. They are scavengers and so would often congregate at the site of death, such as battlefields, and so became known as harbingers or omens of death. Crows were also, in folklore, believed to sit in judgement of other crows, gathering together to decide the fate for one that had committed wrongs.
Wondrous Words and Can’t Wait Wednesday : Feral Creatures (Hollow Kingdom, #2) by Kira Jane Buxton
24 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't wait Wednesday, Elza Reads, Feral Creatures, Hollow Kingdom, Kira Jane Buxton, Wishful Endings, Wondrous Words Wednesday
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : Feral Creatures (Hollow Kingdom, #2) by Kira Jane Buxton – because I loved Hollow Kingdom and I was so happy to discover there would be a book 2! Here’s the description:
In this stunning follow-up to Hollow Kingdom, the animal kingdom’s “favorite apocalyptic hero”is back with a renewed sense of hope for humanity, ready to take on a world ravaged by a viral pandemic (Helen Macdonald).
Once upon an apocalypse, there lived an obscenely handsome American crow named S.T. . . .
When the world last checked-in with its favorite Cheeto addict, the planet had been overrun by flesh-hungry beasts, and nature had started re-claiming her territory from humankind. S.T., the intrepid crow, alongside his bloodhound-bestie Dennis, had set about saving pets that had become trapped in their homes after humanity went the way of the dodo.
That is, dear reader, until S.T. stumbled upon something so rare—and so precious—that he vowed to do everything in his power to safeguard what could, quite literally, be humanity’s last hope for survival. But in a wild world plagued by prejudiced animals, feather-raising environments, new threats so terrifying they make zombies look like baby bunnies, and a horrendous dearth of cheesy snacks, what’s a crow to do?
Why, wing it on another big-hearted, death-defying adventure, that’s what! Joined by a fabulous new cast of animal characters, S.T. faces many new challenges plus his biggest one yet: parenthood.
Expected publication : August 2021
This meme was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion Blog and has now been adopted by Elza Reads.
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.
No rules just enjoy and for further info check out Elza Reads.
I’m sure that I’ve read some worthy words to highlight this week but unfortunately I haven’t made a note of any so nothing from me today but stop over to Elza Reads to see what word(s) she’s discussing and check out the other links.
Wondrous Words and Can’t Wait Wednesday : Sidewinders, (The Fire Sacraments #2) By Robert VS Redick
17 March 2021
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't wait Wednesday, Elza Reads, Robert VS Redick, Sidewinders, The Fire Sacraments, Wishful Endings, Wondrous Word
Every Wednesday I take part in Can’t Wait Wednesday, I’m also hoping to take part in a new meme being hosted by Elza Reads called Wondrous Words Wednesday. I’ll be combining these into the same posts as they’re both short and sweet.
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is :Sidewinders, (The Fire Sacraments #2) By Robert VS Redick.
Two brothers flee an army of fanatics across a vast and magical desert in this white-knuckle sequel to Master Assassins from Robert V.S. Redick, author of The Red Wolf Conspiracy.
The worst of rivals, the closest of friends, the two most wanted men in a war-torn world: Kandri and Mektu Hinjuman have cheated death so often it’s begun to feel like a way of life. But nothing has prepared them for the danger and enchantment of the Ravenous Lands. This sprawling, lethal desert is the brothers’ last hope, for they have killed the favorite son of Her Radiance the Prophet, and her death-priests and magical servants are hunting them day and night.
But there are dangers even within their caravan. Some of their fellow travelers worship the Prophet in secret. Others, including Mektu, have become obsessed with a bejeweled dagger that seems to afflict its owners with madness or death.
At stake is far more than the lives of two runaway soldiers. Kandri is carrying an encoded cure for the World Plague, a disease that has raged for centuries—while far from the desert, certain criminals have learned just how lucrative a plague can be. Are they using the Prophet, or being used by her? Who, in this game of shadows, can Kandri trust?
He knows one thing, however: they must reach Kasralys, great and beautiful fortress-city of the east. Only there can the precious cure be deciphered. Only there can Kandri seek word of the lover who vanished one night without a trace.
But Kasralys, never conquered in 3,000 years, is about to face its greatest siege in history.
Expected Publication July 2021
This meme was first created by Kathy over at Bermuda Onion Blog and has now been adopted by Elza Reads.
Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme where you can share new words that you’ve encountered, or spotlight words you love.
No rules just enjoy and for further info check out Elza Reads.
My word this week is :
OPHIDIOPHOBIA
Ophidiophobia is a particular type of specific phobia, the abnormal fear of snakes. It is sometimes called by a more general term, herpetophobia, fear of reptiles. The word comes from the Greek words “ophis” (ὄφις), snake, and “phobia” (φοβία) meaning fear.
About a third of adult humans are ophidiophobic, making this the most common reported phobia.
Are you afraid of snakes or are you an Arachnophobe?
Anyway, this is the book that inspired the thought process:
Books and travelling with Lynn 