Tag: bookstagram

October Reading Wrapup

Halloween, Bonfire night and our youngest’s third birthday means I’m only just finding time to share my October reading wrapup.

Genocide Bad by Sim Kern

I’ve followed Sim Kern, a Jewish anti-zionist writer on Instagram for a while and waited for the audiobook release because I find them such a compelling speaker. This book examines various arguments that Zionist Hasbara uses to justify the apartheid, colonisation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. This was absolutely fascinating as Sim describes their own experiences of anti-semitism, explores the history of anti-semitism and anti-Jewish hatred in Europe. They also humourously explain why ancient religious texts shouldn’t be used to settle land disputes. More than anything, Genocide Bad reminds the reader not to get drawn into arguments about deference politics, what aboutism or anything else that attempts to distract from the fact that genocide against any group of people is never justified.

As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows by Zoulfa Katouh

This story follows a Syrian 19 year old pharmacy student Salama, who finds herself treating wounded civilians and soldiers at a hospital in the War-torn city of Homs during the Syrian revolution. As Long As The Lemon Tree Grows doesn’t shy away from describing the cruelty and brutality of Assad’s regime, the death, destruction and trauma caused by the civil war. The story also describes the difficulty deciding whether to stay in their beloved land or attempt the perilous journey to Europe in search of safety all refugees make. Among the rubble and heartache, Salama finds love, and the gentle, chaste romance in this story offers such sweet contrast to the darkness of the setting. Another book that will definitely be in my end of year favourites that I highly recommend.

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

I first read His Dark Materials over twenty years ago and remember being captivated by the story and worlds Pullman created, my husband and I started watching the BBC adaption last Christmas and finally finished in October, just in time to start reading this. La Belle Sauvage is a prequel to Northern Lights explaining how Lyra came to be raised at Jordan College in Oxford. It’s a thrilling adventure about a boy called Malcolm and the daring voyage he makes in his canoe during a great flood to prevent baby Lyra from falling into the hands of the Magisterium or the mysterious man with the hyena daemon pursuing them. I loved being back in this setting and can’t wait to read the next part of The Book of Dust trilogy.

A Pinch of Magic by Michelle Harrison

A middlegrade story about three sisters who live under a curse that prevents the from leaving their island, and the three enchanted items they inherit that give them magical abilities. The sisters race against the clock as they attempt to break the curse and correct an old injustice. This was a fun adventure with themes of family, justice and helping others.

A Warlock In Whitby by Robin Jarvis

I read The Whitby Witches (reviewed here) a few years ago, and finally found secondhand copies of the other two parts of the trilogy. The Whitby Witches had some genuinely creepy moments, although this one was less atmospheric it did cover some disturbing topics such as bullying and forced marriage. I enjoyed this as it was full of tension and action and I’m looking forward to finding out how the trilogy concludes in The Whitby Child.

Have a lovely week. X

September Reading Wrapup

As we stepped into Autumn, I found myself seeking out a real mix of genres from magical realism and middlegrade fantasy to contemporary fiction and romance, and I enjoyed them all.

The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah

A meandering story that follows Afaf, the middle child of a Palestinian family living in America from her childhood, through adolescence and adulthood. The Beauty of Your Face explores alienation, isolation, assimilation, identity, religion and community. The time line jumps back and forth from Afaf’s formative experiences such as the disappearance of her older sister, adoption of Islam and years of family dysfunction right up to the moment she comes face to face with a racially motivated school shooter.

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

I often find myself reaching for chick lit or contemporary romance when my own life is in flux and I’m in need of something comforting to read. The Bookshop on the Corner follows Nina, a librarian who finds herself redundant when her library is closed and takes the opportunity moves North to Scotland to open a travelling bookshop. Much like the Christmas Bookshop stories also by Jenny Colgan, I enjoyed the little community that Nina becomes part of as much as the slow burn romance.

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

A thrilling fantasy adventure following Mal, a girl born on an archipelago full of mythical and fantastic creatures, and Christopher, a boy from our world who finds out that his family are guardians of the crossing to the archipelago. All is not well on the archipelago, as the creatures are dying and the land is being poisoned, and the two children decide to investigate with the help of a smuggler and a scholar they meet along the way. I loved all the different creatures in this story, especially some of the more dark and dangerous beasts. Impossible Creatures was a great adventure that had plenty of humour, lots of thrills and a little bit of sorrow too, looking forward to seeing where the second book in the series takes the story.

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

I love stories about witches and picked this one up expecting something similar to Practical Magic but it turned out to be more of a twist-filled mystery with a slow burn romance set on a small island. Spells for Forgetting is heavy on mood and atmosphere, and it took a while to get going, but I still enjoyed this story about the inhabitants of a small island community rife with secrets and unsolved mysteries.

If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to know your thoughts. X

August Reading Wrapup

A short and belated reading wrapup. August was a really hectic month with a couple of birthday parties, a wedding and my oldest daughter starting primary school, plus a whole lot of work chaos, which really didn’t leave much time or headspace for reading. I DNF’d two books but thoroughly enjoyed the two books I did manage to read/listen to.

Storm Child by Ele Fountain

I picked up Storm Child from the library because it was on the longlist for the Wainwright’s Children’s Fiction prize, and I was genuinely disappointed it didn’t make the shortlist. The story follows Maya, a talented teenage surfer, whose family are struggling financially, when disaster strikes her parents make a life changing decision to start over halfway across the world. This is such a lovely, engaging coming of age story about adapting to change, friendship, learning that sometimes adults don’t have all the answers, and the impact of tourism on people, places and nature.

Small Talk by Richard Pink and Rox Pink

I’ve followed Roxanne and Richard Pink’s humorous and relatable instagram account for a while but both their books have blindsided me with their insight into the shame and sense of failure that living with ADHD causes. Small Talk explores some of the most common negative self beliefs that ADHDers may hold from “I’m lazy/stupid/useless” to addiction and suicidal ideation. I found this book incredibly compassionate, relatable and helpful as both someone living with ADHD and as the partner of another ADHDer.

Have a lovely week. X

July Reading Wrapup

July was a hectic month with a lovely family holiday, work stress, car breakdowns and a funeral all sapping my time and attention, but it turned out to be a great month for reading.

Perfect Victims by Mohammed El-Kurd

Perfect Victims explores the idea that some lives are more valuable than others and that Palestinians must always prove their innocence when they are killed before anyone is willing to condemn the killing or killer. Even when Palestinians try to advocate for their rights, the entire legal system is rigged against them, and the Western media are biased when they automatically accept the Israeli press and government as more impartial and credible than Palestinian journalists, doctors, academics or civilians. This is a searing critique of western hypocrisy and racism, but a necessary one.

A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir

I left it slightly too long between reading the third book (reviewed here) and the final part of the Ember in the Ashes quartet, but I was soon immersed back into this fantastical story of djinn, and a brave band of rebels lead by Laia, Elias and Helene standing up to a ruthless, authoritarian empire ruled by Elias’ mother, Keris, and the King of the Djinn determined to seek vengeance on the humans who imprisoned his kind. A Sky Beyond the Storm really tugged at the heart strings as the characters experience grief and loss in their desperate fight for freedom and this was a brilliant conclusion to the series.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

This was actually recommended by friends who had seen the film, and it was my holiday read. This is the story of a robot called Roz who finds herself shipwrecked on an island and learns to survive by watching the animals that also live on the island. This is such a sweet, poignant and sometimes tense read with so many themes that I love to read about like friendship, found families and community. The Wild Robot is the first book in a trilogy and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold

I’d enjoyed The Last Bear (reviewed here) and planned to read the sequel next until I saw Turtle Moon is on the longlist for the Wainwright’s Children’s Prize, which is my favourite literary award. Turtle Moon follows a little girl called Silver who’s parents are struggling with secondary infertility and decide to take their family to Costa Rica for a break. Silver gets involved with the local turtle sanctuary and this is such a wonderful adventure about turtles (and other animals like Speedy the baby sloth ❤️), poaching, conservation and family that I think I loved even more than The Last Bear.

ADHD Girls to Women by Lotta Borg Skogland

An absolutely fascinating book packed full of information about the gender bias in medicine, diagnostics, education and socialisation that means so many females are misdiagnosed or diagnosed with ADHD much later in life than males. This explores how adhd symptoms show up differently in females but also how our hormonal fluctuations can impact adhd throughout the life course from puberty to periods, pregnancy and menopause. I have often felt my ADHD is more of a disability than a superpower, and I have rarely felt so seen and less alone in my struggles and challenges than I did while reading this book.

Ghostlines by Katya Balen

Another longlist nominee for the Wainwright’s Children’s Fiction Prize. I read and loved October, October (reviewed here) by Katya Balen a while ago, and this felt like a spiritual sequel. Ghostlines is the gripping story of Tilda who lives on Ayrie Island, and parts of it reminded of childhood adventures with the Famous Five or Swallows and Amazons but threaded with the mystery of Tilda’s missing brother, a new friend and a secret island to explore. I just couldn’t put down this thrilling story of family, islands, ghosts, storms, friendship, cats, dogs and puffins.

Have a lovely week! X

June Reading Wrapup

Life has been really hectic lately, and I’ve really appreciated escaping into stories at the end of long, busy days.

The City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak

This is the story of a young girl, Chompa, who has powerful magic that she struggles to control. When Chompa’s mum is abducted by British colonizers, she must undertake a daring adventure to rescue her. I loved this historical fantasy adventure with fascinating contrasts between the locations in India and London. This also has some really interesting but age appropriate insights into racism, colonisation and exploitation, and I really enjoyed some of the ideas explored in this story, like great power comes at a price and rebels attempting to democratize magic. Really looking forward to seeing where the next installment takes brave Chompa and her loyal friends.

The Morrigan by Kim Curran

When I was about seven, my primary teacher read The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O’Shea to our class, it was my introduction to celtic mythology and fantasy, and I’ve been fascinated by both ever since. I found this in the library and couldn’t resist returning to find out more about the shapeshifting goddess of war. This retelling of Irish mythology starts with the arrival of the Tuatha De to Ireland and runs right through to the defeat of the warrior Cuchulain. I was gripped by this howling tale of female rage and revenge, love and loss, and it’s easily one of the most gripping books I’ve read this year.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

This series of essays by a botanist who also happens to be of indigenous descent has been on my radar for a while and it did not disappoint. There were parts of this book that were just so refreshing and comforting to read, like the ideas around gifts, reciprocity and symbiotic relationships in nature, and about the relationship between Earth and humans. Braiding Sweetgrass is quite a long book but such an interesting mix of topics like botany, nature, history, colonisation, indigenous culture, environmental issues and parenthood that I really enjoyed listening to over a couple of months.

Wildlands by Brogen Murphy

Set in 2050, this is about two children, Astrid and Indie, who accidentally fall out of a train running between Manchester and Glasgow and into a section of Britain that has been depopulated of humans and rewilded with beavers, bison, wolves, bears and lynx. The map at the start made me laugh out loud because the area that becomes the wildlands in the story is where I was born and grew up in the South West of Scotland. Wildlands is a tense and thrilling survival adventure as the sisters try to make their way out of the Wildlands to safety and considers whether humans can truly ever live in harmony with nature.

The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa

A short slice of life novel by the writer of The Travelling Cat Chronicles (reviewed here) about the chance encounters of passengers travelling on the Hankyu Line train. The story follows how these seemingly random interactions end up changing the course of the characters’ lives from fledgling romances to break ups and new beginnings. This was such a sweet and gentle story that was so easy and pleasant to dip into at the end of a busy day.

Halfway through the year and halfway towards my target as I’ve read (and listened to) 25/50.

Have a lovely week! X

March Reading Wrapup 📚

I had great plans for #middlegrademarch but I experienced my first reading slump and it ended up being a slower month than expected.

Amari and The Night Brothers by B. B. Alston

This is a fantastic middlegrade novel about Amari Peters, a young black girl, investigating the mysterious disappearance of her older brother. Amari’s  investigations lead her to the Board of Supernatural Affairs, a clandestine boarding school and ministry for supernatural creatures and people with supernatural powers, where she discovers that she possesses powers beyond her wildest imaginings. This was such a gripping and fun read that really felt like a much more modern and inclusive Harry Potter, that explores race and prejudice, and I was rooting for Amari the whole way. This is the first part in a trilogy and I’m really looking forward to seeing where Amari’s adventures and investigations take her next.

The Hunt for the Golden Scarab by M. G. Leonard

I’d enjoyed Ice Children by M.G Leonard last year, and spotted this at my library after seeing it all over instagram. The Hunt for the Golden Scarab is the first book in the Time Keys duology following Sim, his enigmatic mother and his cousin, Jeopardy, who discover they can use music to open doors to the past and embark on an adventure to stop a rival faction of time travellers from acquiring a valuable and powerful artefact from the Egyptian Pharoahs. I found there was quite a bit of exposition describing how music can facilitate time travel, but this was a really fun adventure.

Crookhaven: The Island Heist by J. J. Arcanjo

The Crookhaven series have quickly become one of my favourite comfort reads combining daring heists with found family and friendship. Crookhaven is such a unique series, offering a fresh twist on the boarding school setting of so many children’s books, switching classes in art, P.E and computing classes for forgery, criminastics and hacking. I also really appreciate that in an ocean of ‘chosen one’ stories, this series promotes friendship and teamwork as the group of exceptional young thieves, hackers, athletes and forgers combine their skills to thwart their enemies and undertake heists.

Now It All Makes Sense by Alex Partridge

Alex Partridge was already a successful entrepreneur when he discovered that he had ADHD and has subsequently started a successful podcast interviewing various celebrities with ADHD and psychiatrists and psychologists who specialise in ADHD, and I found this book to be compassionate, relatable and humorous. My only gripe is that there’s two chapters on romantic relationships and I would have liked one on maintaining friendships as well as this is an area where I struggle, and there’s quite a lot of advice for those seeking to become entrepreneurs, which may work for some people, but is not a realistic option for everyone. There’s a good mix of personal experiences, research and practical advice in here, but I will always vehemently disagree with Alex about using the dishwasher as an extra cupboard!

Have a lovely week! X

December and End of Year Reading Wrapup! 📚

What with Christmas preparations and celebrations, December is typically one of my worst months for reading. I only read three books, but enjoyed them all.

The House of Frost and Feathers by Lauren Wiseborn

A delightful and enchanting story of a young woman trying to escape the sleeping plague that left her parents and so many other victims in a sanatorium, who finds employment as an assistant to the witches who live and travel around in a house with chicken legs. This had a few pacing issues near the start but had me gripped to the end with lots of mystery, twists and betrayals and a slow burn romance (or two!). A wonderful fantasy story to curl up with on these long, dark winter nights. Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the advanced copy. The House of Frost and Feathers is out on 16th January 2025.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

A powerful memoir of grief, hiking, vulnerability and courage, determination and resilience. When Cheryl Strayed’s mother died suddenly from cancer and her own marriage broke down, she decided to walk the Pacific Crest Trail, 2663 miles running from the Mexican border, through California and Oregon to Canada. This isn’t the sort of book I normally read, but was absolutely captivated by this story of endurance and self discovery.

The Ice Children by M.G. Leonard

On the first day of December, Bianca finds her little brother has been frozen in ice, and every day after more children join him. Bianca takes it upon herself to investigate and save her brother, embarking on an adventure that will take her to the heart of winter itself. This was such a surprising story that started off as a fairly familiar quest to rescue a missing child that reminded me of The Snow Queen and Northern Lights in places but became a totally original story about climate change and the power of stories to inspire us to action, and to imbue children with a sense of love and hope rather than fear and despair about the world they inherit.

2024 in Books

In 2024, I read a total of 58 books. I read 34 fiction books across a range of different genres from children’s and YA to fantasy, dystopia and magical realism, as well as mysteries and romance. I read 24 non-fiction books across a similarly eclectic choice of subjects from neurodiversity, memoirs, Palestine and environmentalism.

My Top 10 favourites were fairly reflective of my reading this year with several themes overlapping and crossing genres, such as environmental issues, Palestine, community, and witchcraft which is one of my favourite fictional subgenres. Unusually for me, four of my ten favourites this year were non-fiction and three were audiobooks.

This was the year I switched from audible to LibroFM and really got enjoyed listening to non-fiction audiobooks, listening to eight on my commute to work.

I joined Netgalley back in 2020, but 2024 was the year when I finally started to pick a few ARCs to read and review, and I improved my ratio from 0% to 53%, which I’m pretty chuffed with.

I’m a big advocate of public libraries and 21 of the 58 books I read last year were borrowed from the library. Aside from supporting a valuable public service, I saved myself £265 borrowing books instead of buying them.

What were your favourite reads in 2024?

June reading wrapup

Blogging has fallen by the wayside once again, and only finding time to share my June reviews midway through July.

Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham

Listened to this on Audiobook, and it really felt like catching up with an old friend who occasionally gives really good advice about dieting, dating, technology and social media. What really comes across is that she is every bit as much of a Gilmore Girls fan as the fans themselves. This is a whistle stop tour of Lauren’s life, more thematic than chronological it reminded me of Carrie Fisher’s trilogy of short autobiographies. Short on scandals and gossip but full of wry commentary and self-deprecating humour, this is a thoroughly enjoyable autobiography.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

This had a slow start, introducing all the characters and intrigue, but the second half was absolutely gripping. A Magic Steeped In Poison follows a girl called Ning whose mother was a shennong, a kind of tea mage, but both her mother and sister were poisoned by someone who has been contaminating tea around the Empire. Her mum succumbs to the poison but Ning travels to the capital city to compete in the competition to become the new royal shennong and ask the princess to heal her sister. Along the way she meets a mysterious but handsome exile, and finds herself embroiled in imperial politics. This definitely suffers from some pacing issues and the magic is a bit of a muddle but I’m keen to find out how it all works out in the concluding part.

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

Every so often I read a book I love so much I want to press it into the hands of every reader I know, and I could tell right from the first page that this would be one of those books because every word of this hits home. I’ve always been drawn to stories about underdogs challenging injustice and this story follows an 11 year old autistic girl, Addie, as she learns about women from her own little scottish village who were tried and executed as witches. Recognising that the witches were most probably women who didn’t fit in and feeling kinship with them, Addie starts a campaign for a village memorial. Like so many children’s books, this has some pretty big themes like disability, friendship and bullying, shame and self acceptance, but is a wonderful story and definitely one of my favourites of the year.

Dirty Laundry by Roxanne Emery and Richard Pink

Over the years, I’ve overcome a lot of insecurities and so this (audio)book really surprised me because I expected a lighthearted but candid book about ADHD similar to the Instagram content they share, instead it ended up highlighting how often I’ve blamed myself for being lazy and useless because of symptoms I now know are part of ADHD. There were so many parts I could relate to from my sudden all consuming interests and hobbies, directional dyslexia, losing possessions, time blindness and struggles with housekeeping and personal hygiene. There are lots of useful tips to help make life easier but at times I wondered how Rox would cope without her organised and infinitely patient husband Rich, but the general relationship advice of being honest and treating each other with kindness and understanding is solid.

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

This is a paranormal mystery-heist loosely inspired by the real story of a black woman called Clara Johnson who shot and killed a white policeman but was acquitted. In this story, Clara has paranormal abilities to communicate with spirits, and is one of several humans who have made deals with deities known as Enigmas who can bestow charms on people for a price. The Monsters We Defy is a really intriguing paranormal mystery as Clara finds herself trying to rescue people who have gone missing and free herself from the deal she made with an Enigma. I really enjoyed the richly described setting in Washington DC during the 1920s, the exploration of race and class during that era, the tense and spooky atmosphere, and slow burn romance.

The Kingdom Across the Sea by Zohra Nabi

A thrilling and gripping children’s fantasy about a recently orphaned young girl, Yara, who finds herself travelling from Bournemouth into a magical kingdom across the sea on a journey of self discovery. Trying to follow the last letter of her mother’s instructions, Yara tracks down a sorceress and finds herself against alchemists plotting to destroy all sorcerers who have been forced into hiding. This is such an exciting and heartwarming story of bravery, determination, identity, friendship and found family.

The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa

I loved The Travelling Cat Chronicles (reviewed here) a few years ago and picked this up recently while looking after my own beloved cat Mara after we discovered an ulcer on her eye. Both of these books really capture the eccentricities and personalities of the animals that we take on as pets, but also the sense of companionship, sense of purpose and well-being that pet ownership provides. The Goodbye Cat is seven short stories about different cats and the people who love and care for them with some new characters and others recurring from The Travelling Cat Chronicles.

Halfway through the year and I’m slightly ahead of my reading goal. What have you been reading lately? X

2022 in Books

A very belated happy new year! I decided to combine my end of year reading review with my December wrapup as I only managed to read 2 books last month between Christmas and late nights up with the baby, though just managed to reach my goal of 52 books.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The story follows lonely witch Mika Moon who takes on a job as a tutor for three witch children being raised in secret. This is a slow burn grumpy-sunshine romance between the children’s guardian Jamie and Mika, but it was the found family storyline that really drew me in and kept me hooked. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is such a cosy, comforting and heartwarming story about magic, romance, family, home and belonging.

Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year by Beth Kempton

This was an impulse purchase but appealed because it’s about creating a personal and meaningful Christmas. Kempton suggests that there are five main themes of Christmas: faith, magic, connection, abundance and personal traditions, and each of these themes will have more or less significance to us. It was lovely reminiscing about Christmas from childhood to present but also reading about how other cultures and countries around the world celebrate, thinking about ways to simplify how I celebrate Christmas so that it encapsulate all my favourite parts and eschews all the aspects I find stressful or meaningless, and for a relatively short book it covers a lot of different facets of Christmas from budgeting to coping with grief and loneliness around the festive season.

2022 was an interesting year for reading: I read 52 books, 19 of which were borrowed from the library, as one of my reading resolutions was to read at least one book from the library every month, and as it happened all the books I read in March and August were borrowed from the library.

The majority of the books I read were fiction with a mix of contemporary fiction, fantasy, mysteries from Agatha Christie to Richard Osman, and ten children’s stories from ghost stories like Bridge of Souls, Gallant and The Haunting of Aveline Jones to environmental stories like Julia and the Shark, October, October and The Summer We Turned Green.

I didn’t find as many new favourites as the year before though my absolute favourites were the gripping small town drama Beartown by Fredrik Backman and the urban fantasy Jade City by Fonda Lee, which I enjoyed so much I binge read the whole trilogy in February. I also loved the King of Scars duology, and the final books in the Scholomance and Inheritance Games trilogies.

I also read 16 non-fiction books most of which were on environmental themes or parenting, easily the most non-fiction I’ve read in a year since graduating from university, and something I definitely hope to continue in 2023.

My reading goals for 2023 will be similar to last year, though I’m already off to a slow start and I’m feeling less confident about reaching my target of 52 books by the end of the year. I’ll continue to use and support the library service, and I’d also like to make a dent in my TBR which is currently 45 books long.

What are your reading resolutions for 2023? X

Three Bookish Things Tag

I don’t normally do these types of posts but I had fun thinking up the answers for this one, thanks to Hundreds & Thousands of Books for nominating me. I can’t find a comprehensive list of rules or the original prompt creator so I’ll just press on. Feel free to have a go!

Three Bookish Goals for 2021:

Read 50 Books (22/50)

Read at least 5 Non-Fiction books (1/5)

Read What I Own (Failing miserably at this one, my TBR is already an avalanche risk, and I keep adding to it)

Three Favourite Authors:

Leigh Bardugo

Emily Bronte

Daphne du Maurier

Three Characters I Love:

Inej Ghafa (Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom) – I love that Inej is a survivor who overcomes some really traumatic experiences and finds a new purpose. I also love that she expects her love interest to try to overcome his own traumas if he wants to be with her, and she’s willing to walk away rather than settle.

Father Chains (the Gentleman Bastards series) – this mysterious figure adopts orphans (including Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen) in order to educate and train them into becoming the most cunning con artists, he also appears to know everyone worth knowing and everyone from the nobility to criminals respects him. Father Chains is only shown in flashbacks in the series, but I’d love to read more about him.

Irene Winters (The Invisible Library series) – Irene is such a lovable and relatable heroine, a member of a Secret Society of Librarians travelling around alternate worlds collecting rare books, she’s resourceful, brave, principled and self-deprecating.

Three Weirdest Things I’ve Used for Bookmarks:

Receipts, tickets and a pressed leaf.

Three Favourite Covers:

Three Titles I’ve Watched But Not Read:

The Lord of the Rings

The Umbrella Academy

The Never Ending Story (this was my favourite film as a child and it’s a short book so I really don’t have any excuses)

Three Series I’ve Binged:

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Hunger Games

Shadow and Bone

Three Unpopular Bookish Opinions:

It might be because I worked in a bookshop for years but rainbow shelves, and worse, books with the spines hidden and pages facing out, make my fingers itch, sure it looks good but how on Earth do you find anything?!

I’m a paperback reader and while I appreciate the aesthetic value of a special edition hardback, it really annoys me that hardbacks and ebooks are usually released at the same time but the paperback comes out a year later, grrr.

I’m put off by long-running series. There are obviously exceptions, but I much prefer a concise little trilogy, duology or even a standalone novel to a series that goes on and on. I think stories should leave you wanting more, not wondering if the author will finish the series before they die. ☠️

Three Nominations:

Laura at Freedom and Flour

Jess at Beyond the Front Cover

Nicole at Nicole’s Book Thoughts

Have a lovely weekend! X