Happy Friday bookish people! Today I am doing the Amy’s Book Tag which I believe was originally started by The Dusty Bookshelf on Youtube. I hope you all enjoy!
Double Bergamot Ear Grey: A robust, deep, intellectual and flavourful book
I read this book while I was in primary school and there are so many layers to the story, that build emotion within the reader.
Tim Horton’s Steeped: A book you read on the go that you came back to again and again
I will always come back to this book, it is in a very very well read condition!
Meyer Lemon: A tangy fast paced read gone before you’ve fully savoured the flavour
This was difficult but I eventually settled on
Chamomile Lavender: A relaxing, calming, late night read
To be honest I mainly read in the evening, especially before I go to bed so for this question I am cheating a little because I am choosing every book!
Lady Grey: A smooth, subtle classic book perfect for a serene winter morning
This book is the first book I think of when I think of winter
English Breakfast: A british classic
I had to choose this one, I read it for my BA degree and loved it
Canadian Breakfast: A title that tastes a little like an english breakfast but reads like the new world
Orange Petloe: a popular novel that everyone has read
Green: A healthy book that that feeds your mind
For this I am choosing a genre rather than a book, I think that historical fiction gives me this feeling.
Iced Tea: A sweet summer treat for the days of summer
Today I am bringing you my book review for Gwen and Art are not in love by Lex Croucher, a proof copy of this book was sent to me for review which was a lovely thing to receive.
In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try not to give any spoilers.
Gwen and Art are not in love plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Gwen and Art are not in love is a new exploration of Arthurian legend, if Gwen was interested in women and Arthur was interested in men. The catch is, Gwen and Arthur are engaged to each other.
I thought the plot of this novel was a very interesting take on what is a well known story and I enjoyed it for the most part. This is a difficult book to discuss without spoilers but there were a few events within the novel that seemed to not fit as well as others. The romance threads were one part but there was another thread to the story and I found it complicated the novel.
Gwen and Art are not in love characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Gwen is a very headstrong princess who is struggling with what she wants and what everyone around her wants and how to balance the two, this creates a lovely tension within the novel.
Arthur is a character who I think would be a lot like marmite, he takes a while to warm up to his character. The first half of the book I truly thought how on earth as a reader am I ever going to find any sympathy or interest for him but the second half of the book changed my opinion on him.
Gwen and Art are not in love writing and dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The writing in this book has a lovely blend of comedy and historical and romance, the writing really helped to convey the lives and emotions of the characters.
Gwen and Art are not in love overall:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to try a romance that has a quirky difference to it.
Blurb/Synopsis:
Heartstopper meets A Knight’s Tale in this queer medieval rom com YA debut about love, friendship, and being brave enough to change the course of history.
It’s been hundreds of years since King Arthur’s reign. His descendant, Arthur, a future Lord and general gadabout, has been betrothed to Gwendoline, the quick-witted, short-tempered princess of England, since birth. The only thing they can agree on is that they despise each other.
They’re forced to spend the summer together at Camelot in the run up to their nuptials, and within 24 hours, Gwen has discovered Arthur kissing a boy and Arthur has gone digging for Gwen’s childhood diary and found confessions about her crush on the kingdom’s only lady knight, Bridget Leclair.
Realizing they might make better allies than enemies, they make a reluctant pact to cover for each other, and as things heat up at the annual royal tournament, Gwen is swept off her feet by her knight and Arthur takes an interest in Gwen’s royal brother. Lex Croucher’s Gwen and Art Are Not in Love is chock full of sword-fighting, found family, and romantic shenanigans destined to make readers fall in love.
Happy Saturday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I don’t usually post on a Saturday but I was asked by @BreakevenBooks to do a book spotlight for Like Sapphire Blue today and of course, I said yes.
So, let me introduce you to Like Sapphire Blue by Marisa Billions
Synopsis:
“Your eyes are amazing. I’ve never seen a blue like that.”
Emma Landry is tough, independent, beautiful, and smart. Being an outcast unable to identify with her classmates, she was willing to do whatever it takes to climb her way out of poverty.
“What color would you say they are?”
Like Sapphire Blue
Having never known a mother’s love, her father “Bear”, raised her on the wrong side of the tracks in a wealthy town.
When success beckons, the woman she’s been in love with is, finally, within her grasp. Life is now worth living and loving.
That is, until a dark family secret is revealed. A secret tied into the very fabric of who she is, and what she spent a lifetime working to overcome.
Faced with a foundation shattering treachery, Emma finds herself at the crossroads. Can she overcome a destiny stronger than death, destitution, and murder, to prove she is more than just her father’s daughter? Or will this new knowledge lead her to destroy the world she’s spent a lifetime building?
Winner of the 2023 Reader Views Reviewers Choice Fiction Book of the Year.
Author Bio
Marisa Billions is a high school English teacher in Southern California. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Criminology. She is the author of the fiction novels, This Too Shall Pass,Like Sapphire Blue, and Into the Blue Again. She is working on her upcoming fourth novel. Like Sapphire Blue was the Reader Views Reviewers Choice Fiction Book of the Year. She lives in Southern California with her wife, Stephanie, and son, Alexander, and two Boxer dogs, Max and Ruby.
If this novel sounds interesting to you, here is an excerpt:
~ 1 ~
Humble Beginnings
The Present…
Discord, meaning a lack of harmony or unity by the definition. In a relationship it is that moment when the realization hits that there is no turning back and the damage is done. It’s irreparable.
Why won’t she look at me? Emma looked about the room. The table was set with the good china. Their favorite bottle of wine sat corked in the center, and across from her, was her beautiful wife. This was the woman that she spent the last two decades of her life with, and she won’t even look up? There was no way I was ever going to really fall in love with anyone else, you made sure of that. Whenever I thought you were out of my life, you miraculously reappeared every time. With narrowed eyes, gripping the ends of the table she looked around in the dimly lit room.
The dining room was immaculate, crown molding lines the ceiling, and a tapestry of a French courtyard hangs on the back wall. A china cabinet delicately displaying the unused settings on the opposite wall. The dimmer switch was set to low and candles flicker in silver holders (inherited from her wife’s grandmother, who inherited them from her grandmother and so forth and so on). Her wife was sitting, with her thick strawberry blonde hair in delicate waves down her back. Her favorite dress clung to her curves. She has a beautiful body, and not a lot of things look bad on her. Her chin was down, and her beautiful blue eyes are downcast, refusing to look at Emma. She is leaning back against the chair with her head down. She’s there, but she’s not.
Emma sat back, still staring across the table at her wife. One hand rested on the table, the other on the back of her chair. She worked so hard on this dinner. She made their favorite meal – eggplant parmigiana, pasta, home-made garlic bread. Not even an acknowledgement of the fact that the bottle of wine costs what Bear used to make in two weeks working at Jessie’s shop.
Her wife just sat there unmoved. Unimpressed. Not looking. Not speaking. This was her schtick though. The cold shoulder. The silent treatment. It wasn’t the first time she did this to Emma. But still, it was frustrating to her. And to think, this woman has a PhD. You would think she has better coping mechanisms than the silent treatment.
The dinner itself and the beautiful and impressive dining room it was served in, could not be a further cry from Emma’s meager beginnings. To keep from looking at her silent wife, Emma looked around at the room.
“You had everything growing up. This dinner, and what I did to prepare it, probably don’t mean much to you. But to make this, to have this, this is the world to me. What we built together, has meant the world to me.” Emma’s voice was quiet. Tears had welled up in her eyes.
The Past (1976-1991)
Emma Landry never knew her mother. She didn’t even know she had one until she was in kindergarten. She thought she only came to be because of one parent, her dad Frank, who she called Bear, short for Papa Bear.
She lived with her dad in a small trailer near the town. It was behind the auto shop that her dad worked at, which was owned by his brother, her uncle Jessie. The trailer was rundown, and there was a hole in the corner of the floor in the living room where she could see the ground beneath. In the winter time, she would stick a towel in the hole to keep the cold out, but sometimes the mice beneath the trailer would take it. Bear’s room was located at one end of the narrow trailer, and hers was at the other. There was a small living room with a tv that had bootlegged cable running to it. The walls were lined with a dark, faux wood paneling. An old card table with folding chairs was where they ate from dull plastic plates with mismatched silverware and chipped ceramic mugs. The couch was old, cream colored with brown and orange flower print, sagged in the middle and smelled faintly of mildew.
Their trailer and the shop were located on a small, wooded plot of land. They didn’t have neighbors, and she didn’t have friends. Her friends were two plush animals, Teddy (a floppy eared dog) and Brownie (a threadbare cotton tailed bunny).
And if you are still interested in reading more (which I hope you are!) here is a purchase link:
If you would like to see more content from other bookish people about Like Sapphire Blue, check out this timetable:
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope the month of April has been good for all of you, for me it has been a rollercoaster nightmare! All medical things seemed to happen at once, so hopefully May will be a better month. BUT my reading has been okay this month, I didn’t really stick to my TBR but I was reading which is something good.
Books from my TBR:
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas – I started to read this book (finally!), I haven’t finished it but I have started it and it is a long book so I am pleased with myself for that.
Crescent City House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas – I did not start this book, waaaay too big for me to tackle this month!
Crownbreaker by Sebastien De Castell – I did read this, which means I finished the series!
The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden – I did not read
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir – I did not read
Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – I did not read
Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber – I did not read
Sadie by Courtney Summers – I did not read
Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow – I did not read this
European Travels for the Monstrous Gentlewomen – I did not read, another big book I don’t know what I was thinking when I made this TBR
Sense and Second Degree Murder by Tirzah Price – I did read this and loved it
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano – I did not read this
A Little Bit Country by Brian D Kennedy – I did not read this
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – I have been dying to read this all month but it just hasn’t happened yet
Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb – I did not read
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon — I did not read
So, I read two books and started another from my TBR. outside of my TBR I also read: Gwen and Art Are Not In Love, Kingdom of the Cursed, The Bullet That Missed and I have started Murder Before Evensong. Overall in April I read 7 books!
How did you do in April?
What was your favourite book that you read this month?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all doing well and you’re ready for another fun book tag!
I found this tag on ellesbellesnotebook.co.uk
How many books have you read so far this year?
As of writing this up on the 20th March, I have read 31 books so far this year.
Have you already found a book that could be a 2023 favourite? Or what has been your favourite read so far?
I am not sure if it is a favourite or if it will be in my top ten but the best book I have read so far is the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.
Any 1 star books or your least favourite read so far?
My least favourite book read so far is Study in Charlotte and I was so disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would.
Your most read genre so far?
Mystery books, definitely.
A book that surprised you?
A Million To One – in a bad way. I had very high expectations for this book and it was okay but I did not like the ending at all.
A book that has already come out this year that you want to read but haven’t yet?
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, I bought this book the other day and I keep seeing it sitting on my shelf and I want to read it very badly.
A goal you made that you are succeeding at?
Reading more, I did not meet my target last year but this year I think I could do which is great.
A goal you made that you need to work at?
I think taking more time for myself, I am always busy doing something and I find it very difficult to just sit still and do nothing.
New to you booktubers etc that you would reccomend?
He’s not new to me but my favourite is Gavin at How to Train Your Gavin on Youtube!
Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you my book review for The Accidental Medium by Tracy Whitwell.
In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will do my best to not give any spoilers in this review.
The Accidental Medium Plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
This book is about a woman who figures out throughout the novel that they have psychic ability and then gets caught up with some people who haven’t passed over and a woman who may have been murdered…
Personally, I loved the concept more than the execution. It felt like the novel was trying to incorporate too many elements at once. It felt like a book that was there just to introduce the characters and the world, the two other sub plots were not developed properly, they were rushed and did not feel finished.
The Accidental Medium Characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
I didn’t feel a draw or a connection to any of the characters, so for me that was a big missing part to this novel for me, it was almost there with the female protagonist but not quite and with there being too many plot elements I think the characters struggled to show themselves through it all.
The Accidental Medium Writing and dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I actually didn’t mind the writing style, it was trying to be early 2000’s North England style which felt a little bit jarring with me living in the south of England and not remembering the early 2000s at all but once I got past that feeling I thought the writing style was okay.
The Accidental Medium Overall:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Blurb/Synopsis:
The Accidental Medium is the first book in a hilarious series from Tracy Whitwell featuring Tanz, the accidental medium who, with the help of the dead, is about to become an unwilling crime-solver.
Tanz is a wine-loving, straight-talking, once-successful TV actress from Gateshead, whose career has shrivelled like an antique walnut. She is still grieving for her friend Frank, who died in a car crash three years ago, and she has to find a normal job in London to fund her cocktail habit. When she starts work in a ‘new age’ shop, Tanz suddenly discovers that the voices she’s hearing in her head are real, not the first signs of madness, and that she can give people ‘messages’ from beyond the grave. Alarmed, she confronts her little mam and discovers she is from a long line of psychic mediums. Despite an exciting new avenue of life opening up to Tanz, darkness isn’t far away and all too soon there’s murder in the air.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing very well today. I am bringing you my first book tag of April, (and yes I say first because there will be a second one next Friday so check that out too!).
I found this tag on thissplendidshambles.com
Book With Water on the cover – Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
This is the very first book I thought of, it is covered in a blue/green wave pattern.
Classic Novel You’d Like To Curl Up On The Couch With – Emma by Jane Austen
Emma is my favourite Austen novel but honestly this question could also be answered with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte but that is kept for rainy days so it is very cosy.
A scary book to read in a rainstorm – none of them!
Scary books freak me out anyway, let alone reading it during a rainstorm.
A good book recommendation for rainy days – Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
This is a good question, on rainy days I usually like to read a nice fantasy and the last time this happened I was reading Sorcery of Thorns and that is the book I would recommend.
The characters you’d like to spend a rainy day with –
Hmm… difficult choice.. I think I would have to choose Kellen from Spellslinger because he could keep everybody entertained with his wit, then I would choose lou from Serpent and Dove because she could do some magic and bring some of the amazing sounding food from the books then I would be stuck because I don’t have a room big enough for all the people I would like to have over!
A book that has blue on the cover – the upside of unrequieted
Again, I had to go with the first book I thought of and the Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli is a bright blue all over cover.
A book with a rainy setting at some point
This is very difficult because I can’t think of a single one!
A book you wouldn’t mind using as an umbrella
Catching fire from the Hunger Games series, just because I lent it to a friend when I was in high school and she left it in her bag, outside in the rain so it is already all curled up from the water damage so a bit more rain can’t hurt it any worse than it is already.
A character you would like to share an umbrella with
ooh, another good question. It is very hard because I would choose a male character, but I am so short (literally I am only 4 foot 11, I am tiny) so whoever I would share an umbrella with would also need to be tiny and there aren’t many characters that small…. okay, I am going to choose Eve brown from Act Your age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert, she is so bubbly that she could make anyone feel positive even in the rain and I also think she is quite short.
A novel with a dry beginning but an amazing ending
I am going to choose Dangerous Women by Hope Adams because the beginning takes a long time to set everything up but the book as a whole is brilliant.
Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you my book review for The Bingo Hall Detectives by Jonathan Whitelaw.
In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will do my best to not give any spoilers in this review.
The Bingo Hall Detectives Plot:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
This novel follows Jason, a journalist who has been out of work since the local paper office shut down, and his Mother In Law as they get tangled up in solving what they believe was a murder.
I loved the cosy crime feeling of this novel, and the subverted partnership of Jason and his mother in law being the protagonists. Jason is not sure for most of the book that it was a murder but he goes along with his mother in law anyway and I thought this created a wonderful dynamic for the story.
Personally I thought that the plot itself was just a bit lacking. The first half of the book was great but the second half and the reveal and everything was very rushed and needed to be set up a lot better throughout the whole of the novel.
The Bingo Hall Detectives Characters:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
I have already spoken about this a little bit in the plot section but I liked the dynamic between the two protagonists but, the same as my feelings with the plot, I thought the characters could have done with a little more development on their own, when they were together it is fine but on their own I think they needed a bit more.
The Bingo Hall Detectives Writing and Dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I thought the writing style was okay, as I said it was a cosy crime novel and the writing style fit this well but it wasn’t a writing style that will stick in my brain.
The Bingo Hall Detectives Overall:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Blurb/Synopsis:
Eyes down to find a killer who’s playing to win…
An irresistible slice of murder and mystery – there’s a killer on the loose in the Lake District, and the members of the Penrith Bingo Club have decided they’re the ones to catch the culprit…
Jason Brazel is an out of work journalist who lives in Penrith with his family and mother-in-law, Amita. She knows everyone and everything that’s going on in this corner of the Lakes.
So when it’s discovered that Madeline Forbisher, one of Amita’s fellow regulars at the bingo club has died, found by the postman outside her crumbling country home close to Ullswater Lake, she senses immediately this is no accident. The trouble is, no one else seems to take her suspicions seriously.
That is, until she enlists the help of her friends at the Penrith Bingo Club. Dismissed by many as eccentric, over the hill or out of touch, it turns out that it’s unlucky for some that these amateur sleuths are on the case…
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today!
Today’s post was brought on because my Sister, who has moved out, and her Daughter came over and wanted to see if there were any books in the loft from her childhood, and my childhood, that would be suitable reading for her daughter. I was not ready for how many memories this brought back, the amount of books up there was crazy! Obviously, I am a big reader even when I was very young so most of the books were mine and I thought it would be fun if I shared some of the books that were the most nostalgic for me.
Lets start off with a good one:
The Rainbow Magic Fairies series
I LOVED these books when I was younger, to be honest I loved anything to do with fairies but these were one of my favourite series’. I have to say I kept a few of these books back for myself and my memories rather than giving them to my sister’s daughter, which I felt bad about and then I realised I had actually drawn all over the books anyway. OOPS!
Stardust by Linda Chapman
This was a seven books series which I also really loved. It is about a girl called Lucy who finds out she is a stardust spirit and has magic powers. I learnt a lot about nature and animals from this series and to be honest it is still enjoyable to read even now I am in my 20’s.
The Pony Mad princess Series
I had these books when I was young and I have to say they are very nostalgic because a few months ago, before we even thought about going into the loft, I kept remembering a scene from this book where the horse gets into trouble and she sees another girl in the bushes and I learnt that to keep a horse warm you need to rub its ears.
and finally…
The Lady in the Tower by Marie Louise Jennison
If you have been on any of my other blog posts you probably know I love this book, I talk about it a lot. It was the first book that really showed me that I love historical fiction, especially around the Tudors which is my favourite historical era.
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