I read only four books in October and November, but in December I read a more usual nine and a half.

• The Raven Heir by Stephanie Burgis: I was delighted to discover that the main character is a shapeshifter!

Twelve year old Cordelia lives with her family in a remote castle. When nobles and soldiers arrive, demanding Cordelia’s mother hand over ( Read more... )

I read these books in July or August. I wrote (but didn’t quite finish) these reviews at the very start of October. And then I have barely read anything since.

Work has been increasingly demanding, with a couple of dramatic plot twists nobody saw coming. My role is currently completely different. It’s actually been a really positive experience, I’m ( Read more... )

The historical fiction finalists for the Goodreads Choice Awards include: The Book of Longings, The Book of Lost Names AND The Book of Lost Friends. I haven’t read any of them but the similarities of the titles jumped out at me, especially as the historical fiction title I would vote for is The Dictionary of Lost Words.

(My favourite this year was ( Read more... )

There’s a Tumblr post collecting descriptions of Jupiter Ascending -- a film I haven’t seen -- which caught my attention: Someone on tumblr described it as the novel all girls wrote when they were 14 and frothing with a mix of swelling hormones and fading Disney fantasies, which I have to say is accurate to the point of pain.
The plot is this: the ( Read more... )

Last night I was washing the dishes I had been supposed to do the night before and not quite giving my full attention to the audiobook I had playing. I had a moment of intense self-centredness and, internally, wailed: WHY ISN’T THE WORLD FILLED WITH MORE BOOKS THAT APPEAL EXACTLY TO ME???

It was (and, arguably, still is) the end of a difficult week ( Read more... )

One of the first books I ever read about WWII was the picture book What Was the War Like, Grandma? The page I remember the most vividly is one about rationing: Lola’s mother [...] made a beautiful evening dress from an old voile curtain. But Lola wasn’t quite so impressed when her mother made her a dressing gown from an old blanket.
That is what ( Read more... )

I miss the crisp coldness of the forest winters I have known. I daydream of warm bread and mittens and the weight of snow on pine trees. The winter here is a different creature all together, lying heavily over my shoulders and stealing into my bones.
-- from Thorn by Intisar Khanani

Yesterday was the first time I went into a secondhand shop in, oh, ( Read more... )

All I have left to review is a bunch of fantasy novels by W.R. Gingell and a Korean drama that I’m rewatching yet again.

• Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher): A very amusing take on ‘Sleeping Beauty’. Upon learning of her curse, Harriet accurately concludes that she must be invincible until it strikes -- ( Read more... )

I’ve fallen behind with reviewing things, nothing new here.

• Descendants of the Sun (2016): A Korean drama about a special forces captain and a doctor, and their colleagues, focusing particularly on the time they spend working overseas in a (fictional) poor region ( Read more... )

I wanted to say something more but I’m feeling foggy-headed, like I’m coming down with another cold (winter just wasn’t my season) so this will have to suffice as it is.

Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Way Past Winter: Mila and her sisters wake up to find their brother has left. Sanna believes Oskar willingly left them, like their father once did, ( Read more... )