#BookTag – Coffee Book Tag

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Hi everyone,

It’s Tag Tuesday time again. This week I’m hitting up the caffeine shots and doing the Coffee Book Tag which I found on Nen and Jen’s Book Blog so huge thanks to them for posting it! I’m not sure on the original tag creator but thank you to whoever you are! 🙂

Coffee is the absolute fuel for my working life – I definitely wouldn’t get through my teaching day without it. When I’m out and about in the summer my favourite thing to order is the Java-Chip Frappuccino from Starbucks (I’ve really been missing those during Lockdown!) otherwise it’s definitely a toffee/caramel latte for me!

LONG BLACK

Name a series that’s tough to get into, but has hardcore fans.

Game of Thrones – the sheer size of these books and the number of different perspectives always puts me off but I’m determined to get through them.

PEPPERMINT MOCHA

Name a book that gets more popular during the winter or festive time of the year.

A Christmas Carol, that’s definitely festive right?! Or anything by Charles Dickens really.

HOT CHOCOLATE

Name your favourite children’s book.

There’s a series by Geraldine McCaughrean about a witch called Wizziwig which I loved as a child. Other than that, anything by Roald Dahl – he’s one of my childhood staples!

DOUBLE SHOT ESPRESSO

Name a book that kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – the way the book is written just kept me flipping page after page dying to find out what was going on.

STARBUCKS

Name a book you see everywhere.

Recently, Percy Jackson – I really have to read this series… and then watch the movies… and then hopefully the new Disney + series will be out!

THE HIPSTER COFFEE SHOP

Give a book by an indie author a shout-out.

Mark Newman’s Short Stories Anthology: My Fence is Electric: and Other Stories – breathtaking!
Rebecca Crunden: Outlands Pentalogy – gripping, dystopian-edge sci-fi
Amy Kuivalainen: The Immortal City – historical Italian fantasy

OOPS! ACCIDENTALLY GOT DECAF

Name a book you were expecting more from.

The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo – especially considering how much the series was hyped and how amazing both Six of Crows and Language of Thorns were.

THE PERFECT BLEND

Name a book or series that’s bitter sweet yet satisfying.

One Day by David Nicholls – for me this is such a good way to write a novel with an unhappy ending, I hated it but loved it at the same time!

Have a go if you feel like tagging yourself for some coffee bookish love!

What’s your favourite brew? Have you done the Coffee Book Tag yet? Leave you links below and I’ll be sure to check your posts out! ☕️🤗

T xx

#SixforSunday – Tropes I Hate

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends,

We’re continuing the trope theme this month in the #SixforSunday meme. I can’t decide whether it was easier to think of last week’s ‘tropes I love’ or this week’s ‘tropes I hate’. I think tropes are tricky territory for authors as some of them are extremely overdone, however get one and do it well and it can make for an amazing top-rated story.
For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot.

Love Triangles

OMG the to-ing and fro-ing between different people, then my heart makes a case for each different person, and someone always seems to wind up disappointed… – I just find it annoying!

Love at first sight

I mean come on…call me a cynic, but really?!

Ye Olde Worlde

I think I’m done with the purely medieval settings – I need another element in there to make things exciting. What really annoys me is when I can’t actually work out what kind of historical period a novel is set in because it starts off medieval and then someone throws surveillance cameras or radio gadgets in there which just doesn’t fit together in my head!

Copycats

Sometimes it’s so obvious when a novel has copied elements or themes from other bigger novels/series and I hate it when they’re really obvious and stand out in the story.

Happily Ever Afters

Sometimes a little bit of heartache or sacrifice makes a plot line stronger or stick out in my mind. It can get quite boring when everything seems to work out all fine and dandy, especially when it takes about 500 pages to get there.

A Blink And You Miss It Ending

Just as above, I hate wading through about 500 pages of deep world-building, politics, character arcs and quest missions just to find out that the main part of the story or ending magical moment only lasts a few pages before the world is healed and evil is banished forever more.

What are your pet hates when it comes to tropes? Which tropes do you think have been done to death and make you eye-roll at the words in front of you? As always, leave me a comment to chat or drop me your Six for Sunday links below and I’d be happy to visit.

T xx

Summer Reading Goals

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Happy Saturday Bibliofriends,

It has been such a wonderful morning so far. (Non-bookish related) but I have a few shares in some racehorses at a local stable yard and today was the first time since lockdown has been lifted that I’ve been able to go down to the gallops and spend some proper time with the horses and the family that run the yard. It was a ridiculously early start to be down there for 7am but it was all worth it. Afterwards I got to see some of the baby foals at another owner’s nearby stud so it’s been a truly wonderful start to the weekend filled with lots of horse-love! 😍

The Summer holidays are only a week away and I’m already beginning to think about all of the different reading goals I want to try and accomplish during the break.
[All title links go to Goodreads, synopses also from Goodreads.]

ARCs and Author Requests

I have three ARCs from NetGalley to read:

  • Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard – Release date: 18th August 202048574106._SY475_ 

    Synopsis: Once upon a time, there was something called the sun…In a kingdom ruled by an evil witch, the sun is just part of a legend about light-filled days of old. Luckily for everybody in the kingdom, Siria Nightingale is headed to the heart of the darkness to try and restore the light–or she will lose everything trying.
    Sixteen year-old Siria Nightingale has never seen the sun. The light is dangerous, according to Queen Iyzabel, an evil witch who has shrouded the kingdom in shadow.
    Siria has always hated the darkness and revels in the stories of the light-filled old days that she hears from her best friend and his grandfather. Besides them, nobody else understands her fascination with the sun, especially not her strict and demanding parents. Siria’s need to please them is greater even than her fear of the dark. So she heads to the royal city–the very center of the darkness–for a chance at a place in Queen Iyzabel’s court.
    But what Siria discovers at the Choosing Ball sends her on a quest toward the last vestiges of the sun with a ragtag group of rebels who could help her bring back the Light … or doom the kingdom to shadow forever.

  • Twelve: Poems Inspired by the Brothers Grimm Fairytale by Andrea Blythe – Release date: 7th September 2020
    Synopsis: Twelve is a poetic retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairytale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.” Bewitching and beguiling, this short series of linked poems takes the reader to the underground realm and back, following the stories of twelve princesses and their life after the magic shoes.
  • The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow – Release date: 15th October 202049504061._SY475_

    Synopsis: In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
    But when the Eastwood sisters–James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna–join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
    There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.

Author Requests

I’m currently reading a lovely little fantasy book called Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster.

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Esme Silver objects at her father’s wedding, her protest is dismissed as the action of a stubborn, selfish teenager. Everyone else has accepted the loss of Esme’s mother, Ariane – so why can’t she?
But Esme is suspicious. She is sure that others are covering up the real reason for her mother’s disappearance – that ‘lost at sea’ is code for something more terrible, something she has a right to know.9781925652246-Cover.indd
After Esme is accidentally swept into the enchanted world of Aeolia, the truth begins to unfold. With her newfound friends, Daniel and Lillian, Esme retraces her mother’s steps in the glittering canal city of Esperance, untangling the threads of Ariane’s double life. But the more Esme discovers about her mother, the more she questions whether she really knew her at all.
Winner of a Purple Dragonfly Book Award for best fantasy.

Next up I have a NA Dark Fantasy called The Mist Keeper’s Apprentice by E.S. Barrison

Synopsis: Storytelling was outlawed. Magic had all but vanished.
That all changed when the woman in black came to town.
Branded with the black stamp at a young age, Brent thought he would end up a vagrant like his father. His craft was telling stories, but the Order had long forbidden any weaving of tales. When Brent sees the woman in black, she leads him into a menagerie of tunnels beneath the earth where his life falls into the nauseating, but beautiful, mist of the dead.
He finds friendship in Rho, a young woman who hides her face with a tree branch while roots and vines bow to her every whim. Together, they embark on a journey to explore the world, escape the watchful eyes of the Order, and discover the woman in black’s secrets.
For thousands of years, the mist and the tunnels were under the sole guardianship of the Council of Mist Keepers. But as new monsters enter the mist, and magic is forced out of the shadows, the Council searches for young blood to join their ranks and Brent’s next in line.

I’d also like to explore the sequel to A Touch of Death, A History of Madness in The Outlands Pentalogy which I started earlier this year for author Rebecca Crunden. You can read my spoiler-free review of the first book in the series here!

Carlos Ruiz Zafón Readathon

9529So this is not an ‘official readathon’ thing, but after being heartbroken at hearing of Zafón’s death last month I decided it was time to revisit and reread all of his books, in particular the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. Zafón is one of my all-time favourite writers and I would auto-buy all of his books without even reading the blurb. I’m hoping to go right back to The Shadow of the Wind and finish with the last book he wrote The Labyrinth of the Spirits (which I have yet to read so it will still be a surprise!).

Not forgetting the actual TBR pile…

With an influx of Fairloot boxes due to the Corona backlog and my birthday book haul from May, I have a stack of books and series which I was hoping to start or finish! reading. Some of these include:

  • All the Wandering Light by Heather Fawcett
  • Given to the Earth by Mindy McGinnis
  • Rage by Cora Carmack
  • Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
  • Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie
  • + the two books in Fairyloot’s June box which arrived on Thursday evening (no spoilers for those who haven’t received their box yet!)

There’s always plenty to read as they say…
I know that I’m going to be nowhere near achieving all of these! I’m such a mood reader at the best and worst of times so I’ll probably float through the various challenges I’ve set for myself or even invent something new should I get stuck in a slump… especially as we are nearing the final stage of our house renovations before (FINALLY) moving – and all of the school work, recovery curriculums and new risk assessments which will need doing before all of the kids return in September. It’s going to be a pretty busy summer!

What are your summer reading goals? Do you have a set TBR list of are you more of a mood reader? What three books are you looking forward to reading next from your TBR? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

Have a lovely rest of the weekend everyone!

T xx

#Friday56 – Atomic Habits

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Happy FriYaY Bibliofriends!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from a motivational non-fiction read called Atomic Habits by James Clear. This is one of the most helpful “self-help” books that I’ve ever read! As I listened to this as an audiobook, the extract here is from the first chapter which you can download for free at https://jamesclear.com.

Hosted by Freda’s Voice, the 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.

All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.

This book has already helped me to add two ‘good habits’ into my life, simply by following the rule: when I do … I will also do …. The first habit I wanted to try and ‘be better at’ was getting round to finally listening to the audiobooks that are stacking up in my library. Now I’m listening to them out of habit every morning in the time that I get ready for work. Hopefully these techniques will help me to try and instil some other good habits in my life further along the way. If this seems like a book you’d be interested in then you can check out my full review here.

What are some good habits you need to try and incorporate in your life? Do you currently use habit trackers or bullet journals for anything in your life? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings: Atomic Habits

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Yoohoo Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musing is from a non-fiction self-development style book called Atomic Habits. This is by far one of the most useful books I have ever read (listened to). I originally purchased it as a friend had rated it 5 stars and referred to it on one of those ‘books that saved my life’ tweets.

Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear (Audiobook)
Genre: Non-Fiction, Self-Help: Personal Development
Publication Date: 18th October 2018
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audiobooks
Pages: N/A
Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

In this highly practical guide, today’s leading expert on habit formation lays out a proven system for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.

Atomic Habits asks a simple but powerful question: How can we live better? We know good habits build better lives, but it’s easy to get thrown off course–trying to lose weight when we eat poorly and sleep too little; spending when we want to save. What makes some habits easy to stick with while others fail?

Filled with self-improvement tips based on proven scientific research, Atomic Habits reveals how altering our small daily habits can transform our lives for the better. This easy-to-understand guide uncovers the hidden forces that shape your behavior–everything from mindset to environment to genetics–and shows you how to take control of them. Organized around the Four Laws of Behavior Change, this book will show you how to apply each one to your life and work. In the end, you’ll get a simple method for building a repeatable and sustainable system for success.

James Clear, author of a wildly popular blog with more than two million readers per month, is known for his ability to distill complex topics into an easy-to-understand format. Now, he breaks down the art and science of habit formation into its most fundamental state, giving us a playbook for success. Sharing stories of his own achievements alongside those of star athletes, business leaders, artists, people who have kicked addiction against all odds, and even folks who just wanted to stop biting their nails, Clear proves that your goals are within reach–as long as you start small.

If you want to transform your habits–or those of your family, team, or community–then you want to read this book.

Now I have to confess, during the lockdown, my reading of physical books massively increased so I kind of forgot that this audiobook existed for a while and ended up parking it on a digital shelf having only listened to a small portion. Since the Monday-Friday work resumed at school and the pressures of teaching life unfolded, the motivation to try and get through some of the already unfinished books resurfaced and I decided to try and make it a habit to resume the listening of my audiobooks.

Atomic Habits is told in a clearly structured way surrounding the ‘4 laws’ for good habit-making. Each chapter takes you through the strategies of how to develop a good habit and then the book gradually builds up chapter by chapter into how to ingrain those good habits seamlessly into your lifestyle. The chapter summaries at the end repeat the key themes and actions to take forward and almost forms as a workbook or step-by-step guide into what you need to do next to make your own atomic habits a reality. The benefit of having this as an audiobook was that listening to those steps being repeated over and over again made them get stuck in my head almost like the way you can recall the lyrics to your favourite songs.

Clear also goes a step beyond just the formulation of habits and habit strategies by detailing some of the underlying scientific principles to explain how habit formation works in your brain and how to develop good habit behaviours/disciplines in your life. Coupling this with case notes of famous celebrities or renowned organisations (Steve Martin, British Cycling Team, Katie Ledecki) as well as ordinary people in high-powered business jobs, Clear gives first-hand examples of how habit-building and application can lead you into creating a more successful or proactive lifestyle. While listening, my mind was automatically zooming into the type of habits I could be using within both my personal life and at school.

After finishing this book, I’ve definitely been applying some of the strategies I’ve learned into my life. I’m starting (as recommended) with smaller achievable habits which I can then ‘habit-stack’ into hopefully ticking off some of my goals. As a stationery addict of course this has come complete with pretty notebook, colour-coding pens and highlighters, stickers and washi tape etc… At the minute, I’m definitely feeling more motivated now that I’m taking some proactive steps into living more of a productive life (us Taureans do have laziness listed as one of our character traits…!). Time will tell whether or not those atomic habits start to just become part of the normal daily life.

If there are elements of your life or world which you wish were more successful or you want to feel more content with then I strongly recommend buying and reading this book. If you’re even wavering over it, a really good place to start would be James Clear’s website which contains a great deal of information about the book and also features some excerpts and chapters to give you a flavour of what it’s like. I am definitely looking forward to putting what I’ve learned into practice. One of the habits I really want to build upon is my engagement with other blogs and people on Book Twitter so those have now been factored into my habit tracker. There’s also a few health/personal elements that I’m working on such as making sure I text one different friend each day, just to check-in on them and say hello (I’m quite at bad at that!). Fingers crossed that it starts to work – I’ll have to update you in my July update to see if it’s working. Here’s to a more habit-centred, productive lifestyle!

James Clear Website | Amazon | Waterstones |

Do you feel like you need little more order in your life? What bad habits are you guilty of committing? What kind of good/productive habits would you put into your habit-tracker? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

#BookTag – Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag!

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Hey Bibliofriends,

It’s Tuesday tag time again! I was tagged by Books are 42 to do this highly relevant ‘Mid-Year Book Freak Out’ Book Tag! Links will take you to some of my reviews.

How Much Have You Read?

So far, I’ve read 29 books of my target of 45 and it’s looking likely that I’ll manage to achieve my goal this year for the first time in about two years! Being in lockdown for April and May definitely helped me to get a huge chunk of reading done and I like it when Goodreads tells me that I’m 7 books ahead of schedule rather than 7 books behind…

What Have You Been Reading?

Most of my reads consist of YA/Fantasy or Sci-fi books although I have read some literary fiction, historical mysteries and thrillers, short stories, non-fiction as well as some poetry.

Best Book You’ve Read so far in 2020

There are definitely a few highly recommended ones such as The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott or My Fence is Electirc: and Other Stories by Mark Newman but I think my standout book so far this year has to be Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – it’s definitely not for everyone but it was right up my history-geek street!

Best Sequel You’ve Read so far in 2020

I’ve only read 4 sequels so far this year but my favourite would have to be A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer. You can read my review here!

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To

My mission this year has been trying to finish off some ‘already started series’ so I could get around to beginning some new ones but two new releases that I haven’t got around to yet are Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas and The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant.

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Part of the Year

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – this book has me at ‘19thcentury Italian backdrop’!

Biggest Disappointment

Dare I say it… Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin – to be fair, I think the hype ruined this for me. I was expecting a sweeping new epic that I’d be throwing out the stars and rave reviews for but it left me feeling a little like an average YA fantasy, except the cinnamon buns – they sounded delicious.

Biggest Surprise

Romanov by Nadine Brandes – how that book hit the delicately fine balance between historical fact and magical fantasy was really well done. I loved it!

New Favourite Author (Debut or New To You)

I recently read The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (review here!) and think he is such a talented writer. I’ve purchased his first book Flames and cannot wait to read it at some point later this year.

Underrated Gems You’ve Discovered Recently

Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez – I need the sequel, like yesterday! I loved the Bolivian cultural references and the woven animals. A delightful read!
A Touch of Death by Rebecca Crunden – this first book was a thrilling read and I’m reliably informed that the series gets better and better so I can’t wait to read the next book.

Rereads This Year

None so far but I am planning on rereading Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett, Roar by Cora Carmack and Given to the Sea by Mindee McGinnis before reading the sequels.

I’m also planning on rereading all of the books by Carlos Ruiz Zafon as he is one of my all-time favourite authors in the universe and I was so saddened to hear of his death last month.

Newest Fictional Crush

I don’t even know if I have a ‘newest’ one?! I suppose I am seeing Grey from the Cursebreakers series in a new light and I adore his relationship with Lia Mara but I wouldn’t call it a crush…(there’ll only ever be one Rhysand or Aragorn anyway)!

Newest Favourite Character

Hesina (Descendant of the Crane), Ximena (Woven in Moonlight) or Alessandra (The Shadows Between Us).

Book That Made You Cry

Romanov by Nadine Brandes – Nastya is such a wonderful narrator and the author’s phrases are highly emotive at times.

Book That Made You Happy

The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary – it’s an enjoyably light and funny read.

Favourite Book to Film Adaption

Sticking with the classics, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit – the New Zealand Hobbiton tour is now on my travel bucket list.

Most Beautiful Cover You’ve Bought This Year (or Received)

Probably the May FairyLoot book Girl, Serpent, Thorn or the April FairyLoot book Incendiary – I can’t wait to read either of them, they’re so beautiful!

What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year?

How long is a piece of string…? I need to read Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster, Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard and Twelve: Poems Inspired by the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale by Andrea Blythe as they’re all review requests. I’d like to read the sequel to A Touch of Death by Rebecca Crunden and then the rereads I mentioned earlier. #nopressurethen

Favourite Post You Have Done This Year

Probably the Books as First Dates Book Tag – I really enjoy reviewing books but the tags are so much fun, although I do have to try and vary my answers otherwise everything becomes Harry Potter or Sarah J Maas related.

Favourite Book Community Member

I honestly couldn’t single out just one person as everyone here has been so wonderful, helpful and supportive – thank you Bibliofriends! I don’t tend to tag people as I don’t know who has already done the tags or even wants to take part but if you feel like having a go yourself then “tag, you’re it!”

Have you done the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag yet? Do you feel like having a go yourself? What’s been the best thing you’ve read so far this year and what are you looking forward to reading in the next half of the year? As always, drop your tag links below or post me a comment to chat!

T xx

#SixforSunday – Tropes I Love

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends,

We’re starting a new theme this month in the #SixforSunday meme. July is all about tropes! For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot.

The Chosen One

From Harry Potter to Buffy the Vampire Slayer I’m such a fan of the ‘chosen one’ narrative. The idea that there is just one person whose destiny it is to try and stop the evil gets me really invested into a character.

The Powerful Artefact

Talismans, magical rings, powerful weapons, special maps, historical artefacts – I am an absolute sucker for motifs like this. It’s these little story knick-knacks which get my fantasy senses all a-tingling.

The ‘Here Comes the Cavalry’ Theme

When it seems like all hope is lost and evil is about to outnumber and triumph against the good – there’s that moment where all of a sudden, the cavalry arrives and turns back the tide against the forces of darkness. A bit like Gandalf at the Battle of Helm’s Deep and Doctor Strange in Avengers: Endgame – those moments of rallying the troops always seem to bring a little tear to my eye.

The Flawed-Hero/Villain (Anti-hero with a redemption arc)

Severus Snape is absolutely leading the way in this one and is one of my favourite characters in all of fiction. I know there has been a lot of debate about whether he is inherently a good guy or just someone that came out OK in the end but to me he is the ultimate flawed hero. I love any character whose motivations are unclear and you spend most of the series/novel considering whether they’re good or bad only to find out that they were really a good guy in the end.

Enemies to Lovers / Forbidden Romance

There’s just something angsty about this trope which, when it’s done well, has me hanging on every last word. This is sometimes where I start to delve into the realms of fanfiction ever so slightly (guilty pleasure!) but I much prefer this type of romance trope to any of the others out there, especially when the immediate soulmate type of romances are just so typical, predictable or cringe!

Cliffhangers

Is there any other way to end a book mid-series than with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger (I’m looking at you Holly Black in The Wicked King)?! I need that edge-of-my-seat thrill ride that leaves me hanging and craving the next instalment.

What’s your favourite trope? If you’re loving some of the ones above then feel free to shout out some recs! Drop me your Six for Sunday links below and I’d be happy to visit!

Enjoy the last stretch of the weekend everyone.

T xx

June Wrap Post!

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Hi Bibliofriends – Happy 4th of July American friends!

How are you all doing? June really knocked the wind out of my sails blogging and reading-wise. I’ve gone from reading about 9 books a month to finishing just 3.

The School Grumbles…

The sole reason for this is being back at school full-time. We’ve been open anyway the whole way through lockdown, even extending our opening hours into the evenings for keyworkers. May half-term was spent entirely in school trying to finish risk-assessments and put all of the social distancing measures in place around the whole school as well as work out staggered drop-offs, pick-ups, toilet allocations, bubble groupings etc etc. And since June 1st it’s literally been non-stop. We’ve now managed to get every single one of our kids who wanted to come back into school and I’m feeling so proud of our team for pulling together, being flexible and achieving something which it doesn’t sound like many school (in our area anyway) have been able to achieve. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team it kind of fell to us to put all of those plans into place and action them as quickly as we could. I’m exhausted, mentally drained, have barely anything left to give and am practically crawling to the finish-line in July. Reading all of the teacher-bashing in the media has been a real exercise in ‘switching off the negative voices’ but on the plus side I’ve also met some wonderfully supportive people in the teacher community. To anyone who thinks they could have done a better job: you are welcome to come and spend a week with me at school. Even though I’m knackered, it has been so worth it to see our children back in school, trying their best to work with the ‘new normal’ and their smiles and resilience have made these last few months and weeks all worth it!

Books I’ve Read

The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Atomic Habits by James Clear (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shadow and Flame by Mindee Arnett ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Currently Reading

These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (Audiobook)

Films I’ve Seen

Downton Abbey: The Movie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Kitchen: ⭐️⭐️
Maleficent – Mistress of Evil: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Driven: ⭐️⭐️
Prince of Persia – Sands of Time: ⭐️⭐️
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Incredibles 2: ⭐️⭐️
Jack Reacher: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Seven: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Captain Phillips: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Godzilla – King of Monsters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Alien: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Aliens: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Take (Bastille Day): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elsewhere in my little world, with lockdown easing I finally got to see my friend who is expecting her baby in a few weeks time. It was so wonderful just to have a BBQ and sit and talk to friends face to face rather than via Zoom or text messages and it really feels as if the world is slowly becoming more normal again!

Hopefully with the summer looming my reading will pick up again in July and I’ll be well on my way to meeting the elusive reading goal of 45 books which has somehow escaped me over the past couple of years!

What was your June highlight? What are you looking forward to doing now that lockdown is easing? What are your July reading goals? Feel free to drop me your blog links below and leave a comment if you want to chat!

Have a good month everyone!

T xx

#Friday56 – The Rain Heron

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Hiya, it’s FriYAY time again!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from a powerful and deeply moving eco-fable called The Rain Heron. I am so glad that I was accepted for a copy of this through NetGalley so huge thanks to them and Atlantic Books for approving my request.

Hosted by Freda’s Voice, the 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.

Time wavered, shimmered. She could no longer tell whether days  were beginning or ending. Most of the time she lay in her cave, not quite asleep or awake, buffeted not just by hunger, thirst and pain but also by visions, memories, half-dreams.

This raw, parable of finding the balance of living harmoniously with nature is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the environment and giving back to our natural world. You can check out my full review here!

Are you a conservationist? Have you read any stories about the power of nature which you think are must-reads? As always, leave me your #Friday56 links or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings: The Rain Heron

The Biblioshelf6 Comments

Hey Bibliofriends! Happy 1st July!

This week’s Musings come from a wonderful book I recently acquired through NetGalley called The Rain Heron. Although it contains a serious message, a little magic and mythology are interwoven through its narrative and I absolutely adored it!

Book: The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Date: 2nd July 2020
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Pages: 304
Rating: 📚📚📚📚📖

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Ren lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested slopes, she survives by hunting and trading – and forgetting. But when a young soldier comes to the mountains in search of a legendary creature, Ren is inexorably drawn into an impossible mission. As their lives entwine, unravel and erupt – as myth merges with reality – both Ren and the soldier are forced to confront what they regret, what they love, and what they fear.

A vibrant homage to the natural world, bursting with beautiful landscapes and memorable characters, The Rain Heron is beautifully told eco-fable about our fragile and dysfunctional relationships with the planet and with each other, the havoc we wreak and the price we pay.

The Rain Heron is a stunningly decadent tale of mythical creatures and the price our humanity pays on the natural world. Billed as an ‘eco-fable’, the story of The Rain Heron is centered around a legendary bird made of water that can affect the weather of the land surrounding it – and by proxy, the impact that has on humans. The story follows Ren, a woman who lives and forages in the forests, and Lieutenant Harker who has been charged with finding and capturing the heron.

From the outset, the vivid language and opulent vocabulary woven through the pages makes for an atmosphere rich in imagery. I loved the tone of the storytelling and felt as though my senses were heightened as I witnessed Arnott’s landscape inside my brain in HD technicolour.

Being told through four non-linear parts of differing perspectives enables the reader to explore the various personality traits of the main characters and see their unique interpretations and views of the world. Although each character has different motivations, the main message is crystal clear – looking after nature is everyone’s responsibility and we all need to do our bit to prevent the disastrous ramifications that its desolation will bring upon our planet.

I have to admit, when Part Two hit, I did wonder if this were more a compilation of tales rather than just one story but by sticking with it and moving on to the remaining parts, the story neatly weaves itself together and further explains certain characters’ justifications for their actions. This notion of consequence is seen mostly through Lieutenant Harker (whether she is directly affected or an observing bystander) and I really enjoyed the way her character arc changed and developed throughout her journey in the story.

I’d love to think that a rainbow heron existed once upon a time. The bird itself is a powerful symbol within the book and gave the novel a parable feeling – almost like an ancient myth you would use to explain to children where rain comes from. The quest for the legendary creature made me feel as if I was reading the adult Pokémon novel I’ve been waiting for all my life mixed in with a highly poignant ecological sentiment.

Arnott has a standout voice and has spun such a timeless, relevant novel for our times. I found it deeply moving and it really made me consider the balance we need to find between our human world and our natural world. Rather than keep taking from nature, we need to find ways in which we can give back and preserve the heritage of our air, lands, seas and all creatures great and small for future generations. If you love tales from the environmental world which resonate a true, meaningful mantra then you need to take a leap into the world of The Rain Heron!

Big thanks to NetGalley, Atlantic Books and Robbie Arnott for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Atlantic Books | Waterstones | Amazon |

What’s your favourite ecological tale? Do you have a favourite myth or legendary creature? Would you like to live in a world where Rain Herons could exist? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx