Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars.
Series: The Great Library (Book 5 of 5)
Genre: Young adult, alternate history, historical fantasy, fantasy
Published: Sept 2019 by Berkley Books (US) and Allison & Busby (UK)
Much to my delight, Sword and Pen delivered a truly satisfying and emotional conclusion to The Great Library, a spectacular YA series that has earned a spot as one of my favourites.
Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars.
Series: The Great Library (Book 4 of 5)
Genre: Young adult, alternate history, historical fantasy, fantasy
Published: July 2018 by Berkley Books (US) and Allison & Busby (UK)
The best book in the series so far, Smoke and Iron gave me more than a consistently fantastic continuation in The Great Library.
i
Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars.
Series: The Great Library (Book 3 of 5)
Genre: Young adult, alternate history, historical fantasy, fantasy
Published: July 2017 by Berkley Books (US) and Allison & Busby (UK)
Immensely engaging and intense, Ash and Quill was mid-series perfection.
Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars.
Series: The Great Library (Book 2 of 5)
Genre: Young adult, alternate history, historical fantasy, fantasy
Published: July 2016 by Berkley Books (US) and Allison & Busby (UK)
Another close-to-perfect read, Paper and Fire was a superb sequel in The Great Library series, one that is on track to become a favourite.
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars.
Series: The Great Library (Book 1 of 5)
Genre: Young adult, alternate history, historical fantasy, fantasy
Published: July 2015 by Berkley Books (US) and Allison & Busby (UK)
Ink and Bone is a fantastic entry in The Great Library series that enthralled me right from the very beginning and didn’t let go. …
A review copy received from the publisher, Orbit UK, in exchange for an honest review.
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars.
Series: Stand-alone
Genre: Fantasy, mystery
First published: 23rd July 2019 by Redhook (US) and Orbit (UK)
How many of us readers have experienced the kind of immersion and connection to a story, its setting or its characters, which made us wish that it could be real? I’d gander a guess that it covers pretty much all of us. H.G. Parry’s marvellous debut novel, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, perfectly illustrates the magic of stories and words on a page.
“That’s how the story works, the way the sentence and metaphor and reference feeds into the other to illuminate something important. That explosion of discovery, of understanding, is the most intoxicating moment there is. Emotional, intellectual, aesthetic. Just for a moment, a perfect moment, a small piece of the world makes perfect sense. And it’s beautiful. It’s a moment of pure joy, the kind that brings pleasure like pain.”
The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher (Ace) for providing me with a complementary copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
“No story is insignificant.”
Books are one of the most magical of mankind’s creations. Our ability to tell ourselves stories, to reshape reality and craft worlds of our own using nothing more than ink and page and the random scribblings we’ve agreed on as an alphabet, is in my opinion one of our most human capacities. Every life is a story, and those who write have been gifted with the rare talent for immortalizing the tales that live inside their minds. But what about the rest of us? What about those of us whose minds are filled with stories that we never find time to jot down, or authors who pass away with a multitude of tales still living inside them that never made their way onto shelves next to their kin? Where do those stories go? Do they die along with us, or does the world find a way to keep them? According to Hackwith, it’s the latter.
“Stories are, at the most basic level, how we make sense of the world.”
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I received a copy of this book from the publisher (Orbit US/Redhook) in exchange for an honest review.
It’s.
Not.
Fair.
I know that life isn’t.
But stories are. Or if they’re not fair, they’re not fair with purpose.
I wish I could tell better where stories end and life begins.
Sometimes you just need to escape into a good book. But if you’re Charles Sutherland, sometimes you inadvertently facilitate the escape of fictional characters into the real world. Imagine being able to read out your favorite character from a story and have an actual conversation with them. That sounds like a dream come true for most bookworms, but it’s been a nightmare that Rob, Charley’s big brother and our first person perspective character, has spent his life trying to avoid. He’s had to clean up Charley’s fictional messes a multitude of times throughout his life, but the current fictional mess they find themselves in is the zaniest and more far reaching, and frankly the most dangerous, that the Sutherland family has ever faced. Their world is going to be changed forever if they can’t figure out a way to thwart what’s coming. …
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reading a book about books are among the coziest experiences a bookworm can have, in my opinion. Even if you don’t share all or many or any of the author’s views on books at all, there’s something about the knowledge that this person took the time to write an entire book for the soul purpose of expressing their fervent love for the medium that produces instant camaraderie between writer and reader.
“I have never been able to resist a book about books.”
I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’d Rather Be Reading is a light, sweet little ode to books and the joys they contain. Though the cover is lovely and the title immediately resonated with me, I might never have known it existed if not for the author’s podcast. For those who are unaware, Anne Bogel runs a popular blog by the name of Modern Mrs. Darcy, as well as my very favorite podcast appropriately named What Should I Read Next? On this podcast, she interviews book lovers from all walks of life and readerly tastes. After giving us a chance to get to know these readers a bit she asks them to tell her three books they love, one book they don’t, and what they’ve been reading lately. Using these answers, Anne gives each person a list of three books they might love in hopes they will choose to read at least one of these next. …