‘…and they all lived happily ever after.’
26 June 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: That Artsy Reader Girl, Top 10 must read series, Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is :
10 (must read) Series that I plan to finish
I am absolutely determined to finish the following 10 series, although you may notice that my header is the usual concluding line to a traditionally told fairytale so perhaps I’m just fantasising – but, fingers crossed, here are my 10 absolutely, definitely must read, without a doubt, dead cert series that I will finish, no question asked, no siree:
- The Book of the Ancestor series by Mark Lawrence, Red Sister and Grey Sister already completed, now eagerly awaiting the final book – Holy Sister.
- Of Blood and Bone a series that got off to an excellent start with A Time of Dread. I’m very excited to read more from this world. A Time of Blood is the next book in series – not quite sure when it’s due but – all good things to those that wait.
- The final instalment in The Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden. I loved The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower. The Winter of the Witch is due out in January 2019 and if the first two books are anything to go by this should be amazing.
- The Winnowing Flame Trilogy by Jen Williams. Such a fantastic series so far. Ms Williams can write characters that you simply love and her books are creative and well drawn. The Ninth Rain and Bitter Twins are simply amazing books.
- The Wounded Kingdom by RJ Barker. I can’t recommend this series enough. Age of Assassins and Blood of Assassins I devoured in short order – I’m highly anticipating King of Assassins.
- The Daevabad Trilogy by SA Chakraborty got off to an excellent start with The City of Brass. The second instalment, The Kingdom of Copper, is due in January 2019.
- The Thieves of Fate series by Tracy Townsend got off to a fantastic start with The Nine – such an impressive debut it left me lost for words – which just doesn’t happen! I am buzzing to get my hands on a copy of The Fall.
- The Empires of Dust series by Anna Smith Spark kicked off in a breathtaking fashion with the release of The Court of Broken Knives. The next instalment, The Tower of Living and Dying is due out in August 2018 – I am giddy with excitement and have an onrush of grabby hands.
- Ed McDonald’s Raven’s Mark series started with the incredibly impressive Blackwing. I’m currently reading (and loving) Ravencry. If you’re not reading this series – why? Just why??
- The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff – Nevernight and Godsgrave were awesome – Darkdawn is due around September 2019. I’m eager to pick it up.
My next ten reads queued:
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is :
Books to Read By the Pool/Summer Reads
The next ten upcoming reads look something like this (the best laid plans not always going according to plan being taken into consideration) – all books linked to Goodreads for descriptions:
Ravencry by Ed McDonald
Witchmark by CL Polk
Bitter Sun by Beth Lewis
The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
Hunted by GX Todd
The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novak
One of Us by Craig DiLouie
Redemption’s Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Little Eve by Catriona Ward
Wish you were there.
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is :
Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me
Rebecca – by Daphne DuMaurier. An author who frequently wrote novels set in Cornwall. Always makes me want to visit and explore along the rugged coastline, stop in at some of the small fishing villages and enjoy a cream tea.
Chocolat by Joanne M Harris – even though I’ve visited many times this book makes me want to visit France all over again. I love the book and the adaptation, it has an effortless charm that brings to life the way of life.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres – beautifully evokes Greece, the crystal sea, the white houses the bright sunshine.
The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons – set during WW2 and the siege of Leningrad you wouldn’t think this book would entice you to pack a bag and set off for distant shores but this book weaves a spell – a little description from the author’s website ‘Leningrad 1941: the white nights of summer illuminate a city of fallen grandeur whose beautiful palaces and stately avenues speak of a different age, when Leningrad was known as St Petersburg.’
The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky – set in Manhattan and starring Greek Gods the descriptions play a major role in this thriller. Definitely enticing.
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – set in Alaska during the frontier years this book and the breathtaking descriptions of the wilderness and the cold are simply amazing.
Witchlight by Susan Fletcher – I absolutely love this book. It’s a historical novel based on true events that took place in Scotland in the year 1692. The main protagonist is accused of being a witch. Some of the descriptions of the rugged landscape are simply gorgeous.
Any of the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – make me long to visit Victorian London. I would visit Victorian London in a heartbeat – who has a time machine?
Books that use Venice – or a very familiar take on Venice. For example, Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora – describes a city strongly reminiscent of Venice. If you haven’t visited then I absolutely recommend you do so and take this book as your holiday read.
That’s it for me – the tenth suggestion is left open for your suggestions please?
Close, but no cigar.
5 June 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: That Artsy Reader Girl, Top Ten Tuesday, Unfinished Series
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is :
Series I Did Not Finish
I’ve changed this slightly to series that I seem to be struggling/reluctant to finish. These are series where I started off by loving the first book, or more, but then for reasons unknown just lost the impetus to continue and it’s now been so long that I’m unlikely to return to them:
- Divergent by Veronica Roth – only read the first book. I enjoyed it but the impetus to continue fizzled out for me.
- The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger – I read the first four books but never completed the series – which is a shame.
- The Sci fi books by Hugh Howey – read Wool and Shift.
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Only read the first. Everyone seemed to love this series and I enjoyed the first book but I recognise that I probably won’t complete it now.
- Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare – I confess that I went off these a little.
- A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, I read the first two books. The first was okay but I did have a couple of issues. The second didn’t really work out for me although it’s a series that has plenty of love.
- The Alchemist of Souls by Anne Lyle – I enjoyed the first one and do have the next two books. Part of me would like to have the chance to get to them but at the same time I recognise I’m probably just being hopelessly optimistic.
- Ashes and Shadows by Ilsa Bick – I still need to read Monsters but I think unfavourable reviews at the time slowed me down and it’s so long ago since I read these now that I’d probably need a reread.
- The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N K Jemisin – another book that has heaps of praise and that I enjoyed and yet here I am no further along. It’s all about the time I suppose.
- Left blank for your unfinished series ???
To infinity and beyond…
Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is :
Bookish Worlds I’d Want to/Never Want to Live In
I’ve decided to give both the good and the bad examples – for this one. So I’m going to choose a place I’d like to live in and one I wouldn’t like to live in, from the same book:
- Love: The Shire. Everybody has surely heard of the Shire. A beautiful countryside, spotted with hobbit holes and a patchwork quilt of gardens and farmland. Flowers abound, It’s basically the quintessential picture perfect rural place to live (and, if you’re really keen to visit you could always check out the hobbit holes in New Zealand).
- Not Love: Mordor. From the same book as the Shire. The absolute polar opposite. Dark, in fact Boromir says it perfectly in the Lord of the Rings Adaptation ‘One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep; the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly!’
- Love: Narnia – how good would it be to have tea and crumpets (or was it toasted teacakes) with Mr Tumnus?
- Not Love: The White Witche’s castle – because nobody wants to be turned into a statue after all.
- Love: Hogsmeade from Harry Potter – because it just looks so quaint and full of charm and – butterbeer!
- Not Love: Azkaban. Nasty, guarded by Dementors – who are, like many of JKRowlings characters, very appropriately named.
- Love: Terre D’Ange, created by Jacqueline Carey, the world in which Phèdre nó Delaunay lives. It is described so beautifully, the clothes, the food and the way of life are just wonderful.
- Not Love: Darsanga – a hideous hell on earth. A place visited by Phèdre in Kushiel’s Avatar – not a place you want to visit, trust me on this. Few remain to tell the tale.
- I will leave 9 and 10 for your suggested Love/Not Love places to visit.
- …..
Books and travelling with Lynn 