Happy World Book Day!

March 7, 2019 The Biblioshelf2 Comments

It’s World Book Day everyone! Working as a Year 6 teacher in a primary school we get to have loads of fun by dressing up as our favourite book characters. I always dread the drive to work, just in case you get pulled over or have an accident and end up having to explain your weird outfit to strangers.

Today I went as Wally (Where’s Wally) which ended up being a bit of a Plan B as I originally intended to go as Luna Lovegood, purely because I own a pair of Spectrespecs! 😂 We took part in a BBC Live Lesson this afternoon which featured authors including Malorie Blackman, Cressida Cowell and Rob Biddulph.

During the middle of the broadcast they had a random fact montage and as soon as a word and it’s definition popped up on screen, I just had to write it down:

Tsundoku – It’s basically the Japanese way for describing the never-ending TBR pile! It’s their word for buying loads of books and never having the time to read them.

So in honour of World Book Day and my new-found knowledge of the word Tsundoku, I would like to list 3 books that have been on my never-ending TBR pile and pledge to read them before the end of 2019.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

What do you do to avoid Tsundoku? To be fair I should probably stop buying so many books…but let’s face it, hell may freeze over before that happens!

Feel free to post your own Tsundoku list in the comments! I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

Happy World Book! Enjoy celebrating one of the greatest days of the year for us book-lovers!

T xx

Bookish Adventure Tag!

March 6, 2019 The Biblioshelf2 Comments

Umairah @ Sereadipity celebrated reaching 100 followers with a special Bookish Adventure Tag. This is my first tag and I had such a lot of fun!

Here are the rules:

Write about one place mentioned in a book you wish you could visit and why.

List 3-5 things that you would do there.
Mention which souvenirs, if any, you would bring back with you.
Then tag some more literary explorers and please link back to the creator

To be honest I had to condense it loads as I could ramble on forever about my Dream Bookish Destination! Here goes…

Dream Bookish Destination:

When someone says ‘Ultimate Bookish Destination’, Middle Earth is the first thing that pops into my head. I know it’s not exactly one destination but I can’t thing of a single place that I’d love to visit more. There’s just something so magical and unforgettable about Tolkien’s world. Trouble is, if I ever got to visit, I don’t think I’d ever want to leave!

Things I would do:

Rent a room at the Prancing Pony and drink pints with hobbits.
Attend one of Gandalf’s famous firework parties in the Shire then eat breakfast, second breakfast and elevenses the morning after.
Sit and read books by the waterfall in Rivendell.
Go horse riding with the Rohirrim across Rohan.
Visit the Lonely Mountain and try and steal a bit of Smaug’s treasure.
Have tea with Radagast the Brown and his amazing menagerie of animals.
Wander through the streets of Gondor and see the famous White Tree.
Steer well clear of Minas Morgul and the creepy spider lair.
Go on a walk with the Ents.

Souvenirs:

The Light of Eärendil – because it would be way cooler than using my phone as a torch…
If I couldn’t bring back a horse from Rohan, I’d make do with a Rohan flag that I could use as a throw-cover or something.
A piece of treasure from the Lonely Mountain; just to say that I, like Bilbo, could pass for a thief and because I like shiny things! 😂

Tag! You’re it! Feel free to have a go at your own Dream Bookish Destination.

Thanks again to Umairah for creating the Bookish Adventure Tag. I had a blast!

T xx

Top Ten Tuesday – Characters I’d Like to Trade Places With

March 5, 2019March 4, 2019 The Biblioshelf8 Comments

Hey Bibliophiles,

It’s that Top Ten Tuesday time again! This week’s theme is Characters I’d Like to Trade Places With. The way this term is going at work I’d happily hop into a bookish portal and body-swap with any of these guys right now; no hesitating or looking back required!

10) ‘Traitor Kate’ from Onyx and Ivory [Mindee Arnett]

I’m currently reading this book and loving it! As a Relay Rider Kate has to gallop across the country of Rime delivering things for the Royal Courier Service. Part of Kate’s wilder magic gives her the ability to speak to horses and connect with their essence; perfect for a horse-lover like myself!

9) ‘Flora’ from Summer at the Lake [Erica James]

She gets to hold guided tours around the beautiful City of Dreaming Spires for a day job, then jets off to the picturesque Lake Como in Italy where all her dreams come true and she meets and falls in love with the man of her dreams…What’s not to want to switch with?

8) ‘Isabel’ from The Mortal Instruments Series [Cassandra Clare]

Isabel is one of my favourite Shadowhunters and I think it’d be pretty cool to have a lightning whip!

7) ‘Robert Langdon’ [Dan Brown]

I am such a nerd when it comes to conspiracies and symbolism! I’d really love to have Langdon’s eidetic memory and visit lots of historic cities and landmarks cracking codes and solving puzzles.

6) ‘Wade Watts’ from Ready Player One [Ernest Cline]

Get me to the OASIS! Ready Player Onewas one of my favourite reads of last year! I basically just want to be Parzival’s character and go on my own Treasure Hunt to find 80s pop culture easter eggs!

5) ‘Elizabeth Bennett’ from Pride and Prejudice [Jane Austen]

Two words:

Mr. Darcy

That is all.

4) ‘Lysandra’ from theThrone of Glass Series [Sarah J Maas]

Ok, so I’d only switch places after the magic has been freed and then I could shapeshift into anything or anyone I wanted right? Or is that cheating, like Aladdin wishing the genie for more wishes…?

3) ‘Buffy’ [Joss Whedon]

Now I know Buffy is more famous for being a TV show, but they also did books too. This TV show is one of my all-time favourites. I so badly wanted to be a vampire slayer when I was a kid! I haven’t read the new Slayernovel by Kiersten White yet but I’ve heard lots of great things.

2) ‘Professor McGonagall’ from the Harry Potter series [J. K. Rowling]

As a teacher myself, who better to switch places with then one of the fiercest teachers at Hogwarts? Alas, I guess I’ll have to stick to teaching the muggles for now!

1) ‘Arwen’ from The Lord of the Rings [J. R. R. Tolkien]

Reasons to switch places with Arwen:

Elven – check
Wears swishy long dresses – check
Adorned with ultimate Evenstar bling – check
Lives in Rivendell – check

Anything I’ve forgotten? Oh wait…

In love with Aragorn – BIG CHECK!

That’s the end of TTT for another week. Who would be your ultimate character to switch places with? I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

T xx

5 Biblioshelf Musings about ‘The Wicked King’

March 2, 2019 The BiblioshelfLeave a comment

After reading and loving The Cruel Prince, Holly Black’s sequel, The Wicked King,was immediately added to my TBR and I was thrilled to be lucky enough to win a copy from Hot Key Books through Readers First back in January. Now that I’ve finally got around to finish reading it here’s five things (as spoiler-free as possible!) I loved about The Wicked King.

1. We need to talk about Cardan… future-hero or long-time villain?

Back in The Cruel Prince, I found Cardan to be a very self-absorbed character which I wasn’t that interested in…but now, in The Wicked King, I’m completely fascinated by him. And what’s more, I can’t work out whether he really is a long-time villain and is just as cruel and wicked as the titles of Holly’s stories suggests OR whether Cardan’s nastiness is all just a ruse before he swoops in to save the day. The way he plays back and forth with Jude was mirrored with the way I felt about his character. I’m secretly hoping that he’s some kind of flawed-hero who will come good in the end. I guess we’ll have to wait until The Queen of Nothing to find out!

2. Who’s that Jude?

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by Jude and her growth of character in this sequel. In the first book I wasn’t terribly keen on her and I can’t actually put my finger on why. But it seems that her role as the seneschal of King Cardan has given her a new dimension. She is much more ruthless and calculating whilst at the same time battling against her feeling of being out of place in Elfhame. I like the way Holly Black explores that sense of not-belonging in the role/world you find yourself in and how she has Jude with this in the story.

“Once upon a time, there was a human girl stolen away by faeries, and because of that, she swore to destroy them.”

3. Diving into the Undersea

Sounds strange, but in a previous life I definitely believe I lived in the ocean…I think that’s why I am drawn to any stories about pirates, mermaids, sea adventures and underwater worlds. I was so happy that we got to see what The Undersea is like in The Wicked King; I liked the way the world is shaped from reef coral and sea kelp and how the Mer Folk go about on their turtles. I hope we get more of it in the finale.

4. Deception, Lies and Secrecy

The twists and turns in this book come in thick and fast. I really enjoyed the political intrigue and second-guessing which ran through the story. There are so many different court factions who all have their own loyalties and priorities which make for a fascinating narrative. I wound up constantly changing my mind about which characters were good and which were bad. Whilst I’d love to say that I figured out which character had betrayed Jude, I still wasn’t 100% certain until I read it in black and white. Add to that the mystery of good-guy/bad-guy King Cardan then The Wicked Kingcertainly kept me on my toes.

“Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to.”

5. THAT ending…!

It’s fair to say that Holly Black has mastered the cliff-hanger ending. Just when we were thinking that all was well – BAM – there goes the rug, pulled right out from under your feet and you’re questioning all you thought you knew about how this tale was going to turn out… It’s hard to describe without giving away loads of spoilers but it’s safe to say that I didn’t see it coming and, as alluded to before in my feelings about Cardan, I’m not entirely sure whether Cardan is protecting Jude and being the “hero in disguise” or whether he really has managed to get his own back after what Jude did to him at the end of The Cruel Prince.

“And the single last thing in my head: that I like him better than I’ve ever liked anyone and that of all the things he’s ever done to me, making me like him so much is by far the worst.”

Needless to say, the only way I will find out the answers to the many, many questions buzzing through my head is with the final instalment in this trilogy, The Queen of Nothing, set for release in 2020. I thoroughly enjoyed returning to Elfhame to see what lay in store for Jude, Cardan and the rest of the characters in this series. Again, thanks to Readers First and Hot Key Books for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Have you read The Wicked King? If anyone wants to chat Book 3 or Cardan theories then feel free to drop me a comment below!

Friday 56 – Crooked Kingdom

March 1, 2019March 10, 2019 The BiblioshelfLeave a comment

Happy 1^stMarch Bibliophiles!

I cannot believe how fast 2019 seems to be going, where did January and February go…?

It’s Friday 56 time! In a bid to start finishing some of the book series I’m still part-way through I’m currently reading Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I’m enjoying this series much more than the Shadow and Bone trilogy as it seems to have many more layers to its story and is more dark and twisty.

‘And yet amid the clamor of suspicion, she could hear the soft chiming of another bell, the sound of What if? What if she let herself be comforted, gave up the pretence of being beyond the things she’d lost?’

I really like Inej’s character. She has strength but shows vulnerability at the same time and I really think this quotation sums that up. Here’s to hoping her story has a happy ending! I’m so close to the end and it’s getting towards the stage where I’m late leaving the house for work because I just can’t put it down…!

Any other Grishaverse fans out there? If you could be in any Grisha Order which would you want to be in and why?

I always thought I’d want to be something to do with the elements, like an Inferni or a Tidemaker. Being late to the Bardugo party, I only recently realised that there is an actual Grisha quiz you can take on www.grishaverse.com to find out what Order you would be suited to. Typically I didn’t get Inferni or Tidemaker…turns out I’m a Heartrender and the character I am most like in the Grishaverse is Nina – which now makes sense the further through these books I go…

Hosted by Freda’s Voice Friday 56 is a weekly bookish prompt. It’s quite easy to do and could cover no end of different books and genres so seems great if you’re looking for a quick snippet to discover something new!

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that’s ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post here in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It’s that simple.

Have a super weekend guys! My friend is getting married today so we’ll be partying in style tonight!

T xx