Over the last week some of you may have noticed that I’ve had hardly any posts scheduled; & for that I’m sorry, but the truth is – I’m knackered! Since starting my new job I’m finding it hard to get through as many books as I would like, & when it gets to my three day weekend (Friday, Saturday & Sunday) all I want to do is chill & read, so writing has started to feel like a little bit of a chore. Which sucks. I love my blog & that’s absolutely not going to change anytime soon; I love being able to share my love (& sometimes hate) of the books I read & I adore being able to let you know about up-coming releases as well but I need to make some changes to how & when I post. Continue reading
Month: May 2018
The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green
At this time in my reading journey I tend to avoid books that involve kings & queens (or similar themes) as I’ve become quite bored of reading the same story, but with slightly different characters & not-so-different world-building… I broke that rule for The Smoke Thieves though; & that’s because I adore Sally Green. Sally did not let me down. The Smoke Thieves was funny, exciting & original (at least for me) & I’m eager to get my hands on the next book.
This book contains violence, ableist slurs, a homophobic character & bloodshed throughout.
I saw this tag done by Kris over at Boston Book Reader back in April;
you can find Kris’ answers here!
The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman (Illustrated by Dave McKean)
I bought myself a copy of this book after my mum had read it to the children she works with (7 & 8 year olds) & told me it was one I would appreciate. I decided to take it into work to read to the 2 & 3 year olds I work with… although the book was a bit long for them, the older children seemed to be really engaged in the story – with one boy telling his mum that he couldn’t go home yet because the story wasn’t finished. Plus, the next day I had a conversation that went a little like this:
The Girl Who Walked on Air by Emma Carroll
Most of you should know by now that I love a circus book, so Emma Carroll’s The Girl Who Walked on Air just had to be one of my Beat The Backlist targets – unsurprisingly I absolutely adored this book & loved being back within a circus environment. Also – that cover!
Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima (translated by Geraldine Harcourt)
Yūko’s writing in this series of short chapters that add up to a year in one woman’s life felt very natural & effortless, but I’m positive that a lot of thought & care went into portraying this nameless woman’s life. This short book of 122 pages left me deep in thought & intensified my respect for my mother, who raised me alone.
I was sent a copy of this book by Penguin Classics UK in return for an honest review.
Charles Darwin, whose 1859 masterpiece ‘On the Origin of Species’ shook society to its core, would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy over evolution still raging 150 years later.
‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ is a stunning counter-attack on creationists, followers of ‘Intelligent Design’ and all those who still question evolution as scientific fact. In this brilliant tour de force Richard Dawkins pulls together the incontrovertible evidence that underpins it: from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from plate techtonics to molecular genetics.
‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ comes at a critical time as systematic opposition to the fact of evolution flourishes as never before in many schools worldwide. Dawkins wields a devastating argument against this ignorance whilst sharing with us his palpable love of science and the natural world. Written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.
Down the TBR Hole #5
(source)
Down The TBR Hole is a meme set up by Lia at LostInAStory & involves deciding whether to keep or remove certain books from your TBR list. The meme works by going to your GoodReads to-read shelf, selecting “ascending” on date added, taking the first 5 (or how many you would like) books, reading their synopsis & then deciding whether to keep them on your TBR or to get rid of them. I’ll be doing this meme using my to-buy list, as my to-read list only includes books that I already own; after my fourth go at Down The TBR Hole I had 274 books on my to-buy list, I now have 301 – ah fuck. I suck so bad at this so I’m going to do 10 books from now on, rather than 6…
Kay over at Hammock of Books did an open tag for this one & as I liked the idea of doing a tag that’s personal to my bookshelves I just had to take part!
The Cheetah Who Could Not See Very Well by Paul Crawford (Illustrated by John Crawford)
I was sent this book, & a bundle of others, by The Sanity Company, to read to the children I work with – they are 2 – 3 years old nursery attendees. I chose this book to read to them first as I felt it was the most appropriate for their age group & they absolutely loved it.
