Jamaican steampunk? Yes please! (About a third in - Loving this so far.)

Fantastic book. The nephews were going through Percy Jackson withdrawals, but didn‘t want more Greek and Roman mythology storylines. This steampunk gem fit the bill: well-rounded characters, fast pacing, wonderful world building, and little plot twist that kept you guessing. Buying the sequel now!

"I am sure you do know the answer," said Mrs Rockabye. "All questions have an answer."

Silver wondered if that was true, but there was no point in asking Mrs Rockabye. Privately, Silver thought that the answer to some questions was another question.

"When you're scared but you still do it anyway, that's brave."

I adore this book so far. So beautifully told, and on a slice of history we (Americans) rarely get from the French side of things, let alone Brittany's. Throw in a convent that serves the old pagan god of death, and I am all in. Sneaking in a few more pages at the pottery studio!

"I learned early on that you can go anywhere unobstructed if you act like you're supposed to be there. Never show that you don't belong."

Still not quite connecting with the protagonist, but the narrative is gorgeous. Gonna keep reading, for now.

"I repressed a desire to say that Helen should have been kept locked in a trunk in a dark cellar because she was poison on legs."

Margaret Atwood's reimagining of The Odyssey from Penelope's point of view is pure gold. Even the choruses from the dead servant girls. Cheeky, literary good fun.

A perennial favorite of mine. I just finished this one on audiobook with my own 8yo nephew, who is big into the Narnia books. So much fun to see his facial expressions when it got down to the last chapter, with the origins of the wardrobe and everything else!

No pottery studio is complete without its own library for informing and instructing the potter. This is one of my most constant references. So much awesome inspiration here.