Happy Friday Bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today! It is September and that means children are going back to school. So, I thought it would be fun to do a back to school themed book tag challenge. I found this one on monstrumology.com
English – name your favourite authors (or books) writing style: Erin Morgenstern
Particularly the whimsical, lyrical writing from The Starless Sea. One of my favourite books ever.
Maths – a book that made you frustrated: Ulysses by James Joyce
Parts of this book have no punctuation. Need I say more.
Social Studies/History – your favourite book from a different time period: A Little Princess
I have always loved this book, reading it is a very nostalgic experience for me. It is sad and heartwarming in equal measure.
Art – your favourite book with pictures: The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant.
This book follows Cordelia Hatmaker and her friends as they discover the secrets of their world and this is complimented by beautiful illustrations in the book and on the cover. It is stunning.
Drama – a book you would love to turn into a movie: the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco
It is so gothic and atmospheric, Victorian London, a bit of murder and mystery and romance. I would be front of the queue to see this as a film.
Music – name a character you think would have the same musical taste as you: Evangeline Fox from Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
I think she is quite whimsical and would like songs from musicals and disney, maybe a bit of country all of which I like.
Lunch – a food you would love to try: castle banquets
Honestly, I don’t mind which one, but definitely castle banquets. They are always described as lavish and covered in gravy. Anyone who knows me knows how much I enjoy gravy. I would have it on everything.
Bus ride home – a book or author that is relaxing: Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell.
I don’t know what it is about these books, there’s magic, rebels, high stakes, murder, secrets and yet the whole tone is soft and comedic and just every time I think of it I feel calm and relaxed.
Extra credit – a book someone else told you to read and wound up enjoying: Lireal by Garth Nix.
It was suggested I read this, although they did not tell me it was not the first book in a series, because they had read it and liked it but they thought I would love it. Honestly to begin with I didn’t believe them, the synopsis didn’t hook me, but once I started reading I loved it.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all good today, a bit of a warning, this might be a long one.
I have been seeing these lists everywhere and I thought it would be fun to do my own. So, these are the 25 books I want to prioritize in 2025. I have chosen these books because they are either: oldest on my TBR, continuing series I have started which is one of my goals for the year or they are books I feel like I should have got to by now.
The ACOTAR series (yes, I am counting the books I have left to read – A Court of Wings and Ruin, A Court of Frost and Starlight and A Court of Silver Flames – as one together because I really want to finish this series in 2025)
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan
Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco
The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V E Schwab
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Traitors Blade by Sebastien de Castell
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
City of Brass by S A Chakraborty
Where Dreams Descend by Janelle Angeles
Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
The Painted Dragon by Katherine Woodfine
That’s the ones on my list, what books do you want to read in 2025?
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
Happy Friday bookish people! It’s a different kind of post today, I hope you’ll all enjoy my review of GollanczFest 2024.
On Friday 15th March my Mum and I travelled to London for this event, the train journey was an absolute nightmare but we eventually made it to our hotel. The great thing was that the hotel we were staying in was only a ten minute walk from the Leonardo Royal hotel that Gollanczfest was being held in.
I think the best thing for me to do here is to be completely honest, I paid for a VIP ticket to this event and I do think the description of the things we were meant to get was not at all like what we got. For example the VIP tickets gave you a goody bag worth £60, well there’s no way that goody bag was worth anywhere close to £60. There was a proof of un upcoming book, a pen, a pin badge, a schedule for the day, a piece of card to get authors signatures on and some bookmarks etc. It also said that we would get £40 to spend in the Gollancz shop and this was not true either – we got a ‘£40 off when you spend £80’ voucher. So, before I get into anything else about the day I will say I don’t think the VIP ticket was worth the price of it.
Okay, so moving on to the panels of the day, I went to three of the panels. I went to the Romantasy panel, ‘I would do anything for love but I won’t stay at an inn with two beds’ with Dhonielle Clayton, Lauren Dedroog, Sarah Hawley and Jennifer Delaney. Which was a very entertaining start to the day. Four very string women talking about the struggles they face working in the fantasy genre.
The second panel I went to was ‘we built this city on airtight magic systems’ with Joanne Harris, Garth Nix, Ben Aaronovitch and Oraine Johnson. This was my favourite panel of the day. I loved hearing these authors talk about how and where they can write and how the process goes from idea to novel.
The final panel event was the headliner event which was Victoria Aveyard, author of the Red Queen series and the Realm Breaker series. This was a nice gentle event to close the day with.
I didn’t go to any of the signings in between the panels because they got very busy and I struggle to manage crowds like that so I stayed away but because I had the VIP ticket I got to meet two authors of my choice at two separate times during the day. I met Garth Nix first, he was so lovely and he signed my copy of Newt’s Emerald. I got to spend 15 minutes with him and then take a polaroid with him which is now on my bookshelf. Then in the afternoon I got to meet and chat with Ben Aaronovitch for 15 minutes and I showed him my braille copy of Rivers of London which he got very excited about.
Throughout the day there were also interactive events like have a go at audiobook narration and panels about the blogging industry and getting a novel published. They also had a waterstones shop and a raffle and a few other games. Overall I feel the experience was a good one, although it was a long and tiring day.
Have you ever been to Gollanczfest? How did you find it?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.
Today I am bringing you my answers to the Totally Should’ve book tag!
Gotten a sequel – Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
This book was left on an unacceptable cliffhanger! I was so annoyed when I read the end, I needed a sequel immediately and of course there wasn’t one. I think there is definitely more to explore with these characters that could fill a sequel.
Had a spin off series – The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
I loved this book and for me I thought there was a lot of room to go back and share more stories, maybe in a spin off series, from the apothecary when it was being used by women looking for ways to be rid of their husbands, like a series that would come before this book.
Author who should write more books – Erin Morgenstern
Erin Morgenstern is one of my favourite authors and I would love to get more books by this author.
Should have ended differently – Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Only because of that one character’s death, I personally feel that was out of place and I would have liked the ending better if it hadn’t happened.
Been a movie franchise/Had a TV series
These are two separate questions but because I am giving the same answer for both I put them together. That answer is pretty simple: all of them!
Only had one point of view
I am honestly struggling to think of an answer for this on so I’ll unfortunately have to pass on this question
Had a cover change – The Left Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
I love this book, I love this author, I do not like the cover on the one that I own. It just doesn’t fit the weird, whimsical story.
Should have kept the original cover – The A Court of Thorns and Roses series
I did not like the changed covers and now my editions don’t match because of the cover of A Court of Silver Flames!
Stopped at one book – Spin the Dawn
Without giving away any spoilers, I enjoyed Spin the Dawn a lot with the competition and magic plotline, even the little bit of romance in it but I didn’t like the plot twist event that happened near the end and is consequently the main plot in the second book, I just don’t think it needed it at all.
That’s it for this book tag! I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Thursday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. I know this is a couple of days late but I haven’t been very well. But finally I can put up my May wrap up! I had a much better reading month, part of this was because I took part in the 48 hour readathon hosted by Becca and the Books on YouTube for which I ended up reading seven books over a weekend.
So, let’s see what I managed to read this month from my TBR:
The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell – I did read this! It was one of the seven books I read for the readathon, a review will be coming soon
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling – another book I read as part of the readathon, review coming soon
Graceling by Kristen Cashore – I did not read this
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – I did not read this
Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey – I did not read this
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao – I did not read this
A Three Dog Problem by S J Bennett – I did not read this
The Crowns Game by Evelyn Skye – I did not read this
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross – I did not read this
The Final Girls Support Group by Grady Hendrix – I did read this for the spooky book prompt of the readathon
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske – I read this while on the drive up to Cardiff for a concert this month
The Key in the Lock by Beth Underdown – I did not read this
Dangerous Women by Hope Adams – I started this book in May and I am currently finishing it now
A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz – I did read this
Cecily by Annie Garthwaite – I also read this
Queenslayer by Sebastien de Castell – and I read this
Outside of my TBR I also read Turtles All The Way Down by John Green, Newts Emerald by Garth Nix and Love Him To Death by Tanya Landman
I think I read 11 books this month which is really great and a lot better than the past few months.
That’s it for my May Wrap up, I hope you all had a good reading month. My reviews of the books that I read will be going up soon!
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I thought it might be fun today to share what some books I have, that I have signed, are.
I would just like to say that I am not trying to brag about the books that I have I just thought it might be fun to share which books and where I may have gotten some of them.
The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino
I got this book as a wonderful signed edition from my monthly Illumicrate boxes
The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
I also got this book in a book box!
Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn
I also got this one in an Illumicrate box, I read it and loved it and now I own the second one in the series.
Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody
My friend ordered me this book from online because they had found a hardback copy and then when it arrived it was a great surprise to find out it was also signed
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
I got this amazing book in my Illumicrate box too.
Mrs England by Stacey Halls
I managed to grab a signed edition of this book from my local waterstones
Haven’t They Grown by Sophie Hannah
I found this book in a charity shop and it turned out to be a signed hardback and it was an amazing bargain
A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz
I got this from a company called Forbidden Planet, I was just scrolling through their website and I ended up ordering a lot of books (oops!) and I managed to get a signed copy of this book from there.
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
I got this one in my Waterstones, it didn’t say it was signed and I was very happy when I got home and saw it was signed
Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow
I got this book and Once and Future Witches by the same author in my monthly book boxes
As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
I got this one in my local Waterstones
Under the Whispering Door by T J Klune
I found a signed copy of this one in my Whsmiths and I was really excited to find this one
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
I got this book in a recent Illumicrate box
The Desolation of Devil’s Acre by Ransom Riggs
I managed to preorder a signed copy of this book from waterstones
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
I got this book in my Illumicrate box too
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
I got this beautiful book in my Illumicrate box
One Of Us Is Lying/One Of Us Is Next/Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M McManus
I got these books signed when I met Karen M McManus at YALC in 2019 which was amazing!
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
I also got this in my Illumicrate box
The Mapmakers by Tamzin Merchant
My local waterstones luckily had a signed copy of this book
This Woven Kingdom by Taherah Mafi
I also got this one in my Illumicrate box
Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix
I was looking everywhere for a signed copy of this book and I finally found one in Whsmiths
A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab
I bought the special Illumicrate box for this book and along with some other items it got me a signed copy of this book
That’s it for this blog post, I hope you all enjoyed it! Do you have any signed books?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It was recently Valentines day and I shared a few posts about different types of relationships and book couples so now I am sharing a few books that have no romance or very little in them.
I haven’t read all of these books so I can’t call them a recommendation but I am pretty certain that there isn’t any romance and I have heard good things about all of them.
Onto the books!
A List of Cages – Robin Roe
When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends. Then the doctor asks him to track down the troubled freshman who keeps dodging her, and Adam discovers that the boy is Julian—the foster brother he hasn’t seen in five years.
Adam is ecstatic to be reunited. At first, Julian seems like the boy he once knew. He’s still kindhearted. He still writes stories and loves picture books meant for little kids. But as they spend more time together, Adam realizes that Julian is keeping secrets, like where he hides during the middle of the day, and what’s really going on inside his house. Adam is determined to help him, but his involvement could cost both boys their lives…
The Black Flamingo – Dean Atta
A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen – then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers – to show ourselves to the world in bold colour.
A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness
Conor has the same dream every night, ever since his mother first fell ill, ever since she started the treatments that don’t quite seem to be working. But tonight is different. Tonight, when he wakes, there’s a visitor at his window. It’s ancient, elemental, a force of nature. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth.
Patrick Ness takes the final idea of the late, award-winning writer Siobhan Dowd and weaves an extraordinary and heartbreaking tale of mischief, healing and above all, the courage it takes to survive.
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.
By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up, and closed down.
Lirael – Garth Nix
Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr’s birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. “To Kill A Mockingbird” became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, “To Kill A Mockingbird” takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.
The Hobbit – J RR Tolkein
The Lie Tree – Frances Hardinge
The leaves were cold and slightly clammy. There was no mistaking them. She had seen their likeness painstakingly sketched in her father’s journal. This was his greatest secret, his treasure and his undoing. The Tree of Lies. Now it was hers, and the journey he had never finished stretched out before her.
When Faith’s father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she is determined to untangle the truth from the lies. Searching through his belongings for clues, she discovers a strange tree. A tree that feeds off whispered lies and bears fruit that reveals hidden secrets.
But as Faith’s untruths spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter…
That’s it for this post I hope you all enjoyed it!
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day and week. My week has been very upsetting and stressful, my partner and I ended up breaking up and I had to gather the things I needed and move to my sister’s house for a few days. Then I will be moving back in with my parents so it’s been really difficult and I’m not doing too great but things will get better soon I’m sure.
Spaghetti – A book with a friendship or multiple points of view
All I had to know about this book is that there’s a library and demons coming out of books so of course I want to read it.
Champagne – A character with anxiety
I don’t know much about this book but I saw a few people mention that if you like the book fangirl by rainbow rowell then you might like this one so that’s why I picked it up and I am intrigued.
Steak and Lobster – A book that looks expensive or has a fancy cover
I am so excited to read this book! And this cover definitely fits the prompt of looking fancy.
Ring Pops – a book featuring or revolving around a wedding
Yuzu – a sweet and tart character
I love anything Garth Nix so I am very excited to read this.
Truffles – A darker genre book e.g mystery or thriller
Leftovers – A book you DNF’d
I started this book about a year ago and I read the first 100 pages and then I can’t remember the reason why I put it down but I did and I hadn’t gotten around to picking it up again yet.
Baked Alaska – a book with a surprise
Edible Glitter – A book with magic or fantasy in it
Milkshake – a book where two characters have to go on a quest
Pizza – a comfort read
Strawberries – a book with a red cover
I know it doesn’t look very red here but I was very lucky to be sent a proof copy of this book and that one has a red cover, so I am going to count it.
That’s it for my February TBR, I hope you all enjoyed seeing what I plan to read. Let me know in the comments if you plan to join us with the readathon – there are prizes! – and what you plan to read for it.
Happy Tuesday bookish people! Merry Bookmas day 28! I’m giving you another book tag, I’m doing it. I have so much fun making them, I hope you all enjoy seeing what answers I put.
Jingle Bell Book Tag!
All I Want For Christmas Is You – which book do you want to see under the tree?
Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time – what book read this year did you enjoy the most?
It’s beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas – which book has the most festive look to it?
Elf – what book released your inner child?
The Grinch – Your Favourite Villain
The Darkling from Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.
The Holiday – name your favourite two couples
Scarlett and Julian from Caraval by Stephanie Garber and Audrey rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell from Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Finally, what book would you gift your followers?
That’s it for this book tag, what answers would you give?
Home | The Blind Scribe 