(no subject)
I definitely didn't give October permission to start, was it one of you? /o\
To be fair the month has got off to a pretty good start what with all the sunshine and then a friend bring her kids to a museum event today so I got taken out for lunch <3 Here's hoping the rest of October lives up to its first day. Though saying that I have to go to a 2 hour Safeguarding thing this evening despite having only just done the Girlguiding one so we'll see how happy with life I am after that!
Anyway. Not a lot of books this month but then I did technically WRITE a book this month (with some help, for our latest exhibition) so I'm not going to be too hard on myself.
The Letter for the King- Tonke Dragt I have no memory whatsoever of why I bought/asked for this book but whatever the reason it was a good decision. Tiuri walks out in the middle of the vigil the night before he is knighted to help someone and his adventures are fast paced and exciting and terrifying and the world he moves through is fascinating PLUS I love that although we can sometimes guess at things he might not we see everything very much through his eyes so we don't have more information than he does. It's just a lovely fantasy adventure story- wicked knights and slimey mayors and friendship in unexpected places <3
The Golden Egg- Donna Leon This felt different to a lot of the other Brunetti books. I mean he's investigating a crime but just what that crime is... well it takes a long time to develop and it's really upsetting. I mean it's good, it's really good, and there are lots of wonderful character moments but I sort of had to sit and stare at a wall a bit at the end.
Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell ♥ I mean I sort of knew I'd like this because it's being a fan by an actual fan and because she's been so clear in things that Cath might grow up but she'll never grow out of fandom. And I do love this book. LOVE IT. And highly recommend it but WOW did it give me horrendous flashbacks to hiding in my room at university because the kitchen and the common room and the cafeteria were terrifying places. I mean I was still half hiding from our shared kitchen in my third year except that one of my flatmates was tikiaceae which helped. So Cath's anxiety felt all too real even if I don't have her traumatic backstory. Sadly of course I also never had a Levi (or thousands of people reading my fic) so she definitely wins.
Swift- R.J. Anderson I hadn't really registered that there were more books beyond the original Knife/Rebel/Arrow trilogy till recently but I like this. It's separate enough to not mess with the original three but clearly the same world and so sometimes we know things Ivy doesn't. Also who wouldn't love a Shakespeare quoting faery (half faery, whatever). Lot's of twists too and a nicely open ending for the next book to continue on.
The Bellwether Revivals- Benjamin Wood Read this because various people rec'd it but I have to admit I had NO CLUE what it was about other than the eternal "if you like Brideshead" quotes on the cover. It sort of is like Brideshead in that it's set in Oxford and there's a very posh/not so posh divide going on but I have to take exception to anyone and everyone who ever mentally compared Eden with Sebastian Flyte because NO. Once I realised I was reading something that was (sort of) horror and once I got into the world I did enjoy it and it's certainly compelling but I have to say I was tempted to give up once I truly realised how it was going to end (as I did about half way through because you get a flashforward at the start). It's well written and full of interesting ideas and several very interesting characters but it didn't really satisfy somehow? It might need some more reflection time.
Oh and whilst I'm here don't forget yuletide nominations close at 9am UTC this Saturday...
To be fair the month has got off to a pretty good start what with all the sunshine and then a friend bring her kids to a museum event today so I got taken out for lunch <3 Here's hoping the rest of October lives up to its first day. Though saying that I have to go to a 2 hour Safeguarding thing this evening despite having only just done the Girlguiding one so we'll see how happy with life I am after that!
Anyway. Not a lot of books this month but then I did technically WRITE a book this month (with some help, for our latest exhibition) so I'm not going to be too hard on myself.
- The Letter for the King- Tonke Dragt
- The Golden Egg- Donna Leon
- Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell
- Swift- R.J. Anderson
- The Bellwether Revivals- Benjamin Wood
The Letter for the King- Tonke Dragt I have no memory whatsoever of why I bought/asked for this book but whatever the reason it was a good decision. Tiuri walks out in the middle of the vigil the night before he is knighted to help someone and his adventures are fast paced and exciting and terrifying and the world he moves through is fascinating PLUS I love that although we can sometimes guess at things he might not we see everything very much through his eyes so we don't have more information than he does. It's just a lovely fantasy adventure story- wicked knights and slimey mayors and friendship in unexpected places <3
The Golden Egg- Donna Leon This felt different to a lot of the other Brunetti books. I mean he's investigating a crime but just what that crime is... well it takes a long time to develop and it's really upsetting. I mean it's good, it's really good, and there are lots of wonderful character moments but I sort of had to sit and stare at a wall a bit at the end.
Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell ♥ I mean I sort of knew I'd like this because it's being a fan by an actual fan and because she's been so clear in things that Cath might grow up but she'll never grow out of fandom. And I do love this book. LOVE IT. And highly recommend it but WOW did it give me horrendous flashbacks to hiding in my room at university because the kitchen and the common room and the cafeteria were terrifying places. I mean I was still half hiding from our shared kitchen in my third year except that one of my flatmates was tikiaceae which helped. So Cath's anxiety felt all too real even if I don't have her traumatic backstory. Sadly of course I also never had a Levi (or thousands of people reading my fic) so she definitely wins.
Swift- R.J. Anderson I hadn't really registered that there were more books beyond the original Knife/Rebel/Arrow trilogy till recently but I like this. It's separate enough to not mess with the original three but clearly the same world and so sometimes we know things Ivy doesn't. Also who wouldn't love a Shakespeare quoting faery (half faery, whatever). Lot's of twists too and a nicely open ending for the next book to continue on.
The Bellwether Revivals- Benjamin Wood Read this because various people rec'd it but I have to admit I had NO CLUE what it was about other than the eternal "if you like Brideshead" quotes on the cover. It sort of is like Brideshead in that it's set in Oxford and there's a very posh/not so posh divide going on but I have to take exception to anyone and everyone who ever mentally compared Eden with Sebastian Flyte because NO. Once I realised I was reading something that was (sort of) horror and once I got into the world I did enjoy it and it's certainly compelling but I have to say I was tempted to give up once I truly realised how it was going to end (as I did about half way through because you get a flashforward at the start). It's well written and full of interesting ideas and several very interesting characters but it didn't really satisfy somehow? It might need some more reflection time.
Oh and whilst I'm here don't forget yuletide nominations close at 9am UTC this Saturday...