pickSeeing such mixed reviews, I slept on this one for a long time. But I‘m glad I finally went for it because I completely loved it. The plot is ‘things were bad and then they got worse‘ told through a fanatical prior and two monks in 600s Kerry.
panIf this book hadn‘t been my local reading group‘s choice, I would have abandoned it early on. The blurb didn‘t really appeal to me. It‘s well written but I found it incredibly boring and so slow. Nothing really happened until the twist at the end. I skimmed a lot of it - too much animal gutting, midden & cathedral building, praying and copying of the Bible for my liking! I wouldn‘t eat a turnip from their vegetable patch, that‘s for sure! 💩🤢.
I did a good job at reading my own books this month! Just two from the library, the rest all came off my TBR.
Haven was the best of the month, but I also really liked My Year of Meats, Sea of Tranquility, We Carry Their Bones, and What Strange Paradise. I think they were all picks but one. (Sad Janet)
#ReadMyOwnDamnBooks
pickA well written historical fiction set in the 7th century. Three monks leave Ireland to find an island without any people so they can live without any negative worldly influence. Train and Cormac are very likable men. Artt is more unlikely to be by the two other monks. The island is covered with sea birds, which are used for foods, fire, down, feathers until they leave for the winter. Will they survive? Lots of rituals and ceremonies. 4/5 stars
pickWe just got home from our walk and Sietje is out cold!
This got some mixed reviews, but I love ED, so I had high hopes and wasn‘t disappointed! It‘s historical fiction and while it‘s about 3 monks who sail off the coast of Ireland to find a small island to live in seclusion on, the star for me was the natural setting and Trian and Cormac‘s spirits. Artt on the other hand can take his megalomania right to “the bad place.”
Beautifully written.
Finished the March trilogy this morning and got Cutting for Stone completed this afternoon and am onto reading Haven for #deweysreadathon
#12Booksof2023 #September
I think I missed a day. Oops.
In September, I started to get my reading mojo back and my top pick was the fifth book in the Fiona Griffiths series. I highly recommend starting at the beginning.
August is flying by and I haven‘t even started my#BookSpin or #DoubleSpin. So many books, so little time.
pickTen minutes in the library and no reading glasses 😱. Chose this on the strength of the cover and ED's name. Delighted to discover it was about 7th Century monks and the founding of what would become Skellig Michael. It's a suitably tight and tense story, with themes dismayingly relevant today👇. Artt is the sort of charismatic monomaniac the world never seems to be in short supply of. I wanted to shove him off a cliff, to spare Cormac and Trian.
