This is a winter made for reading! I’ve finally been getting around to reading some of the 200+ books on my to-be-read shelves (yes, they are a little bit out of control, yes, I do hope to vlog about this soon).
The other week I finally picked up The Near Witch by V.E.Schwab, as I was looking for a nice, easy read. Something fantastical and magical and well written. Well, V.E. Schwab is a marvelous writer. The Near Witch was a good read. It was like a long fairy tale with a simple, straight forward plot and a lovable heroine that is everything a girl in a backwoods town isn’t supposed to be. I think the cover of this book says something like “One for Neil Gaiman fans”, and I found that was definitely true. This book reminded me a bit of ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’. Also many of the fairy-tale-esque short stories that Gaiman writes.
I did wish for a bit more of the witches though. But that’s just me. Give me all the witch stories you got!
All in all, 4/5 Stars. A nice quick read for anyone who enjoy fantasy.
First off, I have been working on this book forever. I’ve also had the cover forever, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never revealed it. I’m super excited to share this book with you all. It’s a young adult steampunk-fantasy that I just love. I’ll have a few more details for you soon (like the back cover blurb, which doesn’t sound quite right yet), but for now, here’s the cover. What do you think? Do you love steampunk?
Whenever I’m writing full-time, and writing moves from hobby to job, I find I need a new hobby to do during the evenings and on the weekend to help me recoup form all the mad writing I’ve been doing all day or week.
Lately, I’ve discovered junk journaling. I’ve always journaled, and my journals have always been colourful, interesting things where I record all sorts of stuff. I glue in and save all kinds of things in my journals such as tickets and pictures. But discovering junk journaling has opened a whole new level of journaling to me. It’s like I’ve been playing a video game for years and have finally arrive at level 50!
I’ve also been interested in sharing more via video. So mixing those two together resulted in uploading my first ever junk journal video of my little poetry junk journal. I’ve embedded the video here for your convienicne. Please keep in mind this video was largely a trial (I have absolute none of the right equipment), but, as it was simple to film and upload, I may invest in something for future videos. Would you like to see more video content on here? Let me know what you think!
First and foremost, I’m going to acknowledge that I was provided an ARC of Ghost of an Enchantment in exchange for an honest review. I was so happy to receive this book because I read book one of the Wickwood Chronicles and loved it.
Ghost of an Enchantment, while it is book two of the Wickwood Chronicles, can be read as a standalone. The main character, Stella, is a witch who inadvertently ends up in a lot of trouble when a mysterious artifact falls into her hands and she accidentally opens a portal to another world. When the police arrive, she finds that the man she’s been obsessing over has been assigned to her case and, well, you can imagine all that fun that happens after that.
Now, I love witch books, I love paranormal and fantasy fiction, and I love a good, sexy romance, and this book has that all! Right from the start I fell in love with the two main characters, Stella and Lucas, who both have a knack for getting in trouble. And Wickwood, the fantastical city where all of the Wickwood Chronicle books take place, is realistic and charming, and a place I would love to visit if I could.
The thread of mystery in Ghost of an Enchantment kept me reading well into the dark, well after I should have turned off the lights and gone to be. The details were fantastic and well-woven together, resulting in a satisfying ending. Ghost of an Enchantment was a satisfying, magical read and a true romance. If you love witch books or paranormal romance like I do, then pick up this book, you won’t be disappointed.
Hi all, I know it’s already been a few weeks, but welcome to 2021! I’m trying to not get my hopes up for this year, but I am crossing my fingers that I’ll be able to get out a bit more in 2021 and do some writing in the cafes.
I miss writing with people around me. I miss the ambient noise and the fresh brewed lattes in colourful rounded mugs. I miss the sometimes terrible music that clashes with what I’m trying to write (which is why I always pack a set of headphones with me when I head out to do some writing on the go). This past year has brought many changes, but now that the year that shan’t be named is over, I’m looking forward to new things of my choosing.
This year I’m going to continue to blog about what I’m reading, and—of course—the writing life. I’m keeping busy day in and day out at the moment working on a handful of projects, though I still never seem to have enough time to finish them all—let alone for this blog! But, unfortunately for me, the weather turned this week which means that instead of being nice enough to still enjoy the outdoors (somewhere between 0 degC and -10degC), I’m looking at -30 degC temperatures over the next week, so maybe I’ll finally get a few small projects off my list.
So, at this point I’m taking requests. Is there anything that any of you readers would like me to blog about this year? What kind of things are one your mind?
My mind is primarily filled with books—writing them or reading them. I set my Goodreads reading goal at 64 books for 2021, which will be one more book than I’ve ever read in a year (since I began tracking), so I hope to achieve that.
Books on my To Be Read shelf!
And for writing, well, my current goal is write 8 books this year, but I think that’s a bit too high (insert maniacal laughter here). So I may have to reassess that soon—but I don’t want to give up on any of my book writing dreams this year or my project babies! Does anyone else have this problem? How do I keep it realistic??? Just kidding, don’t worry about me. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that at least three of my planned projects will just remain on my virtual shelf for the year and I will imagine them longingly with somewhat regularity.
But…there’s always hope, right?
Here’s to a New Year and Reach Goals, because if you aren’t reaching, then why are you on your tippy-toes?
Every so often, a book calls to you. That was how I felt when I first read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss a few years back. I loved this book so much I dreamed about it. I loved it so much I refused to read the sequel because I wanted to save it for later, since no one seems to know when the Third book of the Kingkiller Chronicles will be released.
A year ago I bought the special ten year anniversary edition of The Name of the Wind because I absolutely love beautiful books. The anniversary edition is hardcover and has both beautiful maps and illustrations. It is heavy, it is thick, and it is still my favourite.
I decided to reread this book last month, because I was in that epic fantasy super-giant book mood I get into every so often. And I loved it all over again. For me, The Name of the Wind is the kind of book I read without checking to see what page number I’m on. I just read. And then before I know it I’m at the end of the book. All too soon.
My favourite part of the book is the mystery around the Chandrian. Kvothe, though, is just a great character. And Rothfuss’ writing is so spectacular that in my dreams it is like I’m actually living on the streets of Tarbean myself (not such a great place to me if it were real).
Have you ever read The Name of the Wind? If you haven’t, I highly recommend it.
This review is a little different than the young adult titles I’ve mainly reviewed in the past, but I’m a broad reader and earlier this year I decided I would post more about everything I read, not just YA titles. Not that I’ve been finding much time to post reviews due to the day job, but I’m here now, and I’m back with a review of a brand new paranormal romance.
I’m lucky enough to be friends with the author and was provided a free copy of Ghost of a Gamble to review, and I’m so glad because I loved this book! This is J.E. McDonald’s debut novel and fans of paranormal romance won’t be disappointed.
Bree can’t hold down a steady job, and when she once again finds herself unemployed she snatches up work with Zack in the hopes she’ll be able to pay her rent. Zack is mysterious and hot and a paranormal investigator and Bree has no idea what she’s in for.
Ghost of a Gamble is full of twists and turns and bursting with a haunting atmosphere that I loved. J.E. McDonald has a great sense of humor and smooth writing and plot make it easy to keep reading and hard to put down the book. Ghost of a Gamble is also the first book in the Wickwood Chronicles, names after the fictional town where this book is set. If Ghost of a Gamble is a sign of things to come, then I’ve very glad there will be more books in this series.
Ghost of a Gamble is out today, and if you want to check it out, just follow the links below.
Book Review: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
I had this book on my shelf for about a year before my mother told me that she had read it and that she liked it. As a library technician, my mother knows books. So I knew I should pick it up and read it soon, and I’m glad I did.
The Bear and the Nightingale takes place in historic Russia and is full of folk and fairy tales. It consumes you, bringing you into the past and a deeply detailed life of a family struggling to survive the winter. Before reading this book, I vaguely remembered the tale of the Bear and the Nightingale from my childhood love of fairy tales, and I think I thought that this book would be as simple and straightforward as a five-page fairy tale, but it was much more intricate than that.
I love the characters, especially Vasya, the strong heroine. But the book was slow to start and took me a good fifty to seventy pages to get immersed in, but once I was over that hump, the book flew by. I can’t wait to read the next one (I just have to wait for my mom to finish with it first!)
Young Adult Book Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo hasn’t let me down yet. Crooked Kingdom, the sequel to Six of Crows, was just as good as the first book. I love the rich cast of characters, and how she delved deeper into their psyche’s in this book.
Crooked Kingdom is again set in the Grishaverse. Technically, it’s the fifth book, but Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom can be read without having read the original Grisha Trilogy. For a more mature reader of YA, I might recommend skipping the original trilogy. Crooked Kingdom is darker than the original trilogy. It’s gritty and real and describes in breathtaking detail life on the streets of Ketterdam.
This book, like Six of Crows, is a heist book. A gang of criminals, a job that needs to be done, will they be able to do it? This kind of dazzling plot keeps me reading and enjoying the book the whole way through. However, it did feel a tad bit longer than I like, but that may be because I’m favoring a slightly shorter read at the moment. But for fans of YA fantasy, this is a must-read.
And while I was reading it, I also made myself this sweet double-sided book cover to keep my cats from eating books.
Young Adult Book Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Last year I reviewed Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse Trilogy, which I really enjoyed. I borrowed Six of Crows from a friend, and finished reading it at the tail end of last year (it has taken me forever to post this review but that’s another story of a busy writer’s life). I have to say that I was hesitant to read another book in Grishverse, but in the end I preferred Six of Crows over the initial Grishaverse Trilogy, mainly because Six of Crows was more adult than Shadow and Bone.
I’ve written before about my preference for mature young adult fiction, books along the lines of Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, The Raven Boys trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater, and anything written by Holly Black. These authors don’t treat their characters like sheltered teens with perfect, non-dangerous lives. Their characters are constantly being forced to make tough choices, and they do. Life is about tough choices, and I love seeing this in young adult novels.
Six of Crows is about a rag-tag team of thieves brought together for a singular purpose, but everyone has their own agenda (of course!). It is a fast-paced heist novel, set in the Grisha world, which is a near steampunk, somewhat Gothic, almost Victorian but kind of Russian fantasy world. It is so unique and fun that Six of Crows was hard to put down.
I guess I’ll have to read Crooked Kingdom, the sequel to Six of Crows, because I know it will be just as fun.
J. E. H U N T E R 