I was hoping for something akin to The Little Book of Hygge but it just read like a very long personal blog post. The title suggests a year of living without buying things but the author kept skipping around her own timeline which left me confused. I felt more like I was getting more build up to the ‘Year‘ than experiences from the ‘Year‘ itself. Crunch point came when she went into detail about a breakup and I realised I just didn‘t care.

I‘m not a big horror reader - I want to be but I get so easily spooked it takes me ages to get through a book! This one, however, I devoured. Yea I was spooked but Shirley Jackson‘s writing kept me going. I found her characters believable and compelling and her sense of place evocative. The balance f character drama and action was just my cup of tea. Well crafted. It‘s my second book of Jackson‘s and I‘ll certainly read more. E-book from #libby

I LOVED this book! A wonderful book about family, the strained relationships of parent and child, and healing. Full of evocative landscapes and rich characters. Louise Erdrich is a Native American author, I initially picked this book up from #libby for a reading challenge but I‘m now a fan of her work and will be making my way through her catalogue.

This book was a great ending to the trilogy. The stakes were bigger, the world expanded, and the scope much larger and built wonderfully on the story previously established by the previous two books. These were a lot of fun to read!

Another great book in a trilogy that is proving to be a good workout for my computer-fi fiction brain. Rock hard sci-fi yet again, this time concerning faster than light travel and inter-planetary relations. A fantastic continuation of the trilogy. I couldn‘t stop listening, can‘t wait till the library get the third book as an audio book!

The second book in the trilogy is just as strong as the first. The same foreboding story structure but with additional intrigue and danger. These are a very fun series of books. More relationships, more monsters, more heartbreak.

Something I feel I should have read years ago. And I‘m so glad I got there eventually! I love this book, it‘s very quick and contains less specifics than some of the film adaptations would lead you believe. But the relationship between Frankenstein and the Creature is dramatic, tragic, complex, and inevitable. I know I‘m going to revisit this in the future. Love it!

I‘ve been reading outside of my usual sphere, something I have found very rewarding. I really enjoyed this book; I‘m into old Hollywood and the liked the interspersed newspaper articles as well as the bits about the journalists life too. I felt some major parts of the story were handled clumsily and at times I felt I could hear the author‘s voice not the character. I enjoyed it but was left feeling ‘meh‘ so it gets a so-so rating.

Oh my goodness yes! I have avoided romance for the longest time - but internalised misogyny be damned! And this book was wonderful. Had my heart fluttering by the end; laughing, crying and fuming along the way. So well characterised. Can‘t recommend it enough! #libby

Borrowed from #libby. First time around I had a hard time picking it up for various external reasons and getting used to reading e-books. Still managed to get through 67% of it. This time I finished it in two days, I couldn‘t put it down! Brilliant world building and I loved the storytelling; the framing device was full of foreboding. Can‘t wait to crack into book 2!

I thought about whether to rate this ‘pick‘ or ‘so-so‘ for a very long time. Ultimately it‘s a pick because there are some beautiful bits in it that I really connected with. I enjoyed his writing style too but often I was left lost in where we were in his life and what was going on. It felt like it jumped around a lot but I‘m glad I stuck with it.

Fabulous book. It doesn‘t pull its punches and the sci-fi aspect serves to place the past next to the present (well, the 70s but it was the present when it was written!) Also the protagonists dilemma is incredibly compelling. I could stop listening to it.

Happy Pride!
I adored this memoir. So honest and introspective and beautiful. Deals with queerness, religion, race, culture and acceptance and I got a lot out of it. I changed my listening/reading habits because I couldn‘t stay away.

Just hilarious! I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Carrie Fisher herself. It was like having a special private performance just for me! Love it ❤️

It took a while for me to get into it but once it started to talk about the video game I was hooked. Super hard Sci-fi but really captivating because of it.

I really enjoyed the sections set in 60s China a eventually I got into the detective/physics mystery through thread that carries the ideas of the book.

I think listening to it helped as did the fact I was doing a LOT of long distance driving at that point (January 2020).

Such an epic fantasy that, according to some literary analysts, paved the way for J.R.R.Tolkein and his genius. It is rather old fashioned because of this and it took me a long time to finish this book but I'm so glad I made the effort. This first chapter is irrelevant and it could do with a map!
Love a good fantasy map.

I'm not one that needs a lot of plot points to really enjoy a book and I was more than happy to spend 13 chapters (approx 140 pages) in Shirley Jacksons deeply atmospheric writing. Very gothic, very evocative and sly and I very much want to read more of her work.

I listened to this on Libby as an Audiobook while on my trip to Syros.

I really enjoyed it. I do like some urban fantasy and the addition of a noir-style wizard protagonist was right up my street.

The plot was gripping, the world atmospheric and the magic made sense. The main character, Harry Dresden, is flawed, often terrified and likeable. His behaviour towards women is old fashioned, though.

Jane Marsters narrated and does a decent job.

B+

Well it is Pride after all.

Wonderful book filled with so many perspectives from all types of LGBTQ+ people and straight allies. Some of the politicians' entries grate (I'm thinking particularly of David Cameron's tone-deaf offering) but mostly I'd heartily recommend it for everyone. So much honesty.

Solid 'A'

I'm working at the Bradford Literature Festival this weekend. Just operated a fascinating talk on the 'Opium Eaters' of the 19th century and their writing.

Led by John Mitchinson (ex Head QI Researcher) and conducted by lecturers in 19th Century literature and drugs Dr Stephen Carver and Sharon Ruston

Finished this on my long drive to London and back plus a week of tube rides.

First off - how awesome is the Libby app!

Second - I started off really not enjoying this book but by the end of it I was totally into it. Narrated by the author - to begin with he seemed like such an arrogant twerp and then I realised he was just being honest about who he was as a young man. What followed was a brilliant and honest account of a life of climbing.

B+

Listened to this narrated by the Robin Miles. It was lovely to hear an African based sci-fi narrated by her voice.

The book was a little simplistic for me, I wanted a bit more depth and exploration of certain things but the aliens, Binti's culture and the actual events of the book were wonderful.

A-

My first read on Libby! This app is awesome, I'm getting through so many books and the audiobooks have opened up a whole new world of reading.

Hag-Seed is an odd book. A short retelling of The Tempest. Part of me wonders if it would have been nearly as interesting had it not been. I still enjoyed it but it didn't give me anything more than being an interesting hunt for the comparisons.

C+

Fun! Thank you @RealLifeReading for this.

1. Pratchett is one of the best authors ever!
2. Enjoyed the Hunger Games series, not my favourite but fun. I'm sure there is another 'P' character I'll land on as soon as I post...
3. Not read much Margaret Atwood but I thought I'd give Hag-Seed a go as it popped up on Libby
4. Have this on hold on Libby!
5. A translated book from Nepal. I went there last year and this is set around their Royal Massacre

#fridayintro by @howjessreads

1. To Kill A Mocingbird. Utter classic.
2. Red and black
3. The Tick. SPOOOOOON!!!
4. Dragons, vampires, banshees...pretty much any mythical creature tbh!

Going to Syros island in Greece for work in July so trying to get some language in my brain before I go. Cram session! Thanks library 😁

This was fun! Thank you @EclecticReaders for the Bingo!

Most of these came from my childhood and adolescence - a mix of Road Dahl, Narnia and classic literature (Dracula, Frankenstein...I was a baby goth). But despite my slower reading rate these days I'm still pleased with how many I've done as an adult.

Have gotten into the iBooks app on my computer and am seriously considering erring an ereader so I can carry around so many books on my travels!

Really into this book right now - magicq in the real world.

"'It's hard to search for a summary when the actual book can't be found.' - Warriorrose" The Monarch Papers: Flora and Fauna by Martin Rank and C. J. Bernstein

Very nearly half way through. It's such a wonderful old book and precursor to J. R. R. Tolkein that I desperately want to get through it. I'm away for work this week so I'm hoping some evening reading sessions will get me a fair way through it.

Two stories from Batman's early vigilante career. Both feature psychological threat rather than physical. I found the art style really creepy which fit the book well even if I thought some of the panel content a bit confusing. I found the first story better written than the second though both have their strengths and weaknesses. Pretty good read but not the best.