Biblioshelf Musings – The Carpet Cipher

May 9, 2020May 6, 2020 The Biblioshelf1 Comment

Hey Biblioshelf Friends!

Ever since I started reading more books in Lockdown and getting involved with BookTwitter, that little need to start requesting books on Netgalley resurfaced again! Being approved for a more popular arc still seems like a distant dream, however after scrolling through the Read Now section I came across The Carpet Cipher by Jane Thornley which sang out to my inner historical-mystery soul. Big thanks to Netgalley and the publishers BooksGoSocial / Riverflow Press for my free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Book: The Carpet Cipher by Jane Thornley
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publication Date: 12^thMarch 2020
Publisher: BooksGoSocial / Riverflow Press
Pages: 258 (from paperback edition)
Rating: 📚📚

Synopsis

Can a painting hold a secret safe in plain sight across seven centuries? The murder of the last member of an old Venetian family peels back the rug on a shocking truth that draws art historian and textile expert Phoebe McCabe into the fray.

What she sees in the missing Renaissance symbology will shake the foundations of religious and cultural assumptions across two continents and point the way to a priceless hoard. It’s a secret potent enough to pitch rival factions against Phoebe and her team while destroying history as collateral damage along the way.

By the time Phoebe tracks down the truth to its final destination, she’ll need to face her greatest enemy armed with nothing but wry wit, an indomitable spirit, and what’s left of a broken heart. But nothing will stop this warrior of the ancient lost and found.

From the dark misty canals of Venice to the vivid souks of Marrakech, Phoebe and her friends are pitched against the desperate and the entitled. Who owns a treasure buried on foreign soil? Can the poor ever win against the rich? And most importantly, can love conquer religious persecution and even time itself?

If you love twisty, action-packed mysteries driven by engaging characters set in vividly drawn locales rich in historical detail, then you’ll love this first book in the Ancient Lost and Found series. Think Robert Langdon meets Lara Croft with a side of textiles.

Why Did I Want To Read This Book?

First tick: Anything set in Italy, especially with reference to the Renaissance immediately grabs my attention and makes me read the blurb.
Second tick: Symbology, secrets, mysteries, histories and my little nerdish senses get really tingly.
Third tick: “Think Robert Langdon meets Lara Croft with a side of textiles.” Are you kidding me? To me, this would be one of the greatest pairings since Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers sang Islands in the Stream! This is the bit that made me hit that ‘read now’ button! I was expecting BIG things from this pairing/strapline and reader… I was fooled.

Am I Missing Something…?

To start with, there’s the usual murder in the prologue. This I can cope with – it happens. Except here, we get told exactly what time and place the murder happens, then all of a sudden in chapter one, we are left wondering whether we are still in the same time and place of the aforementioned murder. Turns out…we weren’t – cue: head scratching.

We are also rapidly introduced to a whole bank of characters (including the protagonist Phoebe McCabe) and what feels like an entire spider web of backstories and events at how all of these people seem to know each other. For what is supposedly the first book in this new Agency of the Ancient Lost and Found Series, I feel like I’ve stumbled in halfway through. As it turns out, I actually did – cue: more head scratching.

Going back to do a quick Goodreads search and it turns out that Phoebe McCabe & Co. have been in 5-book series before which is why I felt like there was a bit of reliance on my prior knowledge of these characters’ escapades and a lot of info-dumping in the first few chapters. Whilst this awareness of the characters’ histories is not essential to the plot of The Carpet Cipher, the continuous references to past events from a different time/series made my reading experience feel a little disjointed, as if I couldn’t fully invest myself in all of the characters.

Phoebe McCabe & Co.

Phoebe herself, has a remarkable passion for textiles which bounces off the page. The references to carpets and clothing throughout the book is well-researched and clearly evident of the writer’s enthusiasm for this subject.

When I was still trying to work out what nationality Phoebe is (she works at a gallery in the UK), some of the vocabulary she used only sought to make me think she was American. Phrases like, “stuck in my craw”, “Crud, Phoebe, stop it.” and talk of ‘phyllo’ instead of filo didn’t marry up with what I would expect a British person to be saying, so is she British or is she American? Cue: even more head scratching.

She also has an over-reliance on calling the bad-guys ‘bastards’ which did grate on me towards the end. This very male-bashing attitude that radiates through her narration felt quite passive aggressive as if she has a chip on her shoulder and I found it difficult to warm to her as a character overall [from further text deduction, previous boyfriend from previous series ‘Noel’ definitely has something to do with this].

There are a whole host of other characters who feature in this story (Max, Evan, Serena, Noel, Nicolina, Seraphina, Zara, Agent Walker, Foxy, the ‘bastards’, June & Joe) but a special mention must go to Peaches. Her comedic quips and zesty attitude breathed some much-needed humour into the dialogue towards the end of the novel. I loved her Jamaicanese speech and all-around eccentricity. “Muscle Man’s coming here with Hottie on the roof?” was one of her defining moments.

The History Behind the Mystery

The plot behind this story is based around two real-life pieces of artwork; the main piece by Bartolo becoming a painting for the purposes of this story, rather than the fresco that it really is. Having looked into the real representations of these pieces of art, the author admits to taking artistic liberties with some of the elements and symbology within the pictures. The passionate historian in me was left slightly longing. Nevertheless, the conspiracy and mystery at the heart of The Carpet Cipher and the puzzle which needed to be unlocked was engaging enough to just about keep my attention span going to the end.

Notes Whilst Reading

Lastly, my e-book notes are crammed with 39(!) highlights containing grammatical/spelling errors, alongside my own utterances of questions, queries and all of the head-scratching moments that made me shout ‘huh?’ or ‘why would you do that?’ so often that I had to check whether there was a bald-patch forming on the back of my head. Here are some of my favourites:

“That alone was enough to induce conniptions.” – I had to use a dictionary for the word conniptions.
At 37% of the book it’s finally carpet time!
“I changed into my only non-jeans pants – leather,” – Why does everyone wear leather ‘pant-suits’ in this book?
“Let’s assume that everybody is innocent until proven guilty and discuss what we know together.” – Phoebe McCabe channels her inner Poirot.
“Seemed like a bad time to mention my mold allergy so I just coughed for effect.” – Are you kidding me, someone who works with mouldy old textiles is allergic to mould?!

And my personal favourite:

Final Thoughts

Overall, it is abundantly clear through the writing that The Carpet Cipher is a work of fiction. References to real historical facts and attitudes are minimally skimmed across the surface of the text. If you’re looking for a thrill-ride full of the common tropes found in historical mystery/thrillers then this could very well be the book for you; however, if you’re looking for a narrative that is so deeply entrenched with historical accuracy that you could genuinely believe that the conspiracy is real, then perhaps this may not quite capture your imagination for long enough.

Are you a fan of historical mysteries and thrillers or a carpet addict à la Phoebe McCabe? Feel free to recommend me a conspiracy novel that is so damned good I’ll believe it’s real!

T xx

#Friday56 – The Carpet Cipher

May 8, 2020May 6, 2020 The Biblioshelf11 Comments

Happy VE Day / Bank Holiday / Friday Bibliofriends!

I hope you have been having a good week. I am looking forward to spending the Bank Holiday by catching up on some reading and blog-hopping. Drop me a comment if you want me to stop by your posts.

This week’s Friday 56 comes from my most recent Netgalley read, The Carpet Cipher by Jane Thornely.

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.

I admit that knowing he was watching my back was fortifying. Forget that it was unlikely he could get to me quickly, anyway. Right then, I was focused on being inside a weaving studio alone. It was like standing inside a cathedral, hushed and hallowed with all that I revered. But I had to get to work.

The Carpet Cipher is a historical mystery thriller which sees textile and carpet lover Phoebe McCabe get entangling in a murder investigation and treasure hunt spanning Venice and Marrakech. The plot features on the use of carpets and textiles depicted in two notable artworks and the deeper meanings/symbology which they convey.

I received a free copy of this e-book thanks to Netgalley and the publishers BooksGoSocial / Riverflow Press in exchange for an honest review. Full review up tomorrow!

Are you into your historical mystery thrillers and conspiracies? What would be your top picks? How are you spending the Bank Holiday weekend? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings – Wolf Hall

May 6, 2020April 26, 2020 The Biblioshelf1 Comment

Hello my bookish friends,

The typical Bibliophile that I am, as soon as social distancing and lockdown began to start, my bookish mind went straight into TBR compilation mode to try and put together the reads I wanted to get through now that I had slightly more headspace to do it.

With the recent release of The Mirror and The Light, the final instalment in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy, Wolf Hall was one of the books that went straight on the list.

Writing this review and looking back on it has perhaps made me rethink my initial grading of 4 stars and uplift it to 5/5. It really is a literary masterpiece and I can see now why it won the Man Booker Prize in 2009. Humour, despair, power, philosophy just drips from every single page.

Book: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: 30th April 2009
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 653
Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis from Goodreads:
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

Over the city lies the sweet, rotting odour of yesterday’s unrecollected sins.

The Tudors have always been my favourite period of British history. I love the drama, pageantry and wife-swapping nature of the whole dynasty. Mantel did a superb job of bringing this to life and making it jump right off the page. From the descriptions of food, to the stench of the Thames, every sense was catered for as she rebuilt her own idea of the lush and extravagant world of Henry VIII’s England. I kind of wish Austin Friars was still standing today just to glimpse Cromwell’s world physically with my own eyes. I understand that lots of description is a bit of a Goldilocks situation for most readers but for me, Mantel got this spot on!

He thinks, I remembered you, Thomas More, but you didn’t remember me. You never even saw me coming.

I have to admit, it took me a little while to get to grips with the narration. We see the story through the perspective of Cromwell who is referred to as ‘He’, but then sometimes I’d get a little lost as to which ‘he’ we were talking about because there seemed to be lots of ‘he-s’ walking round the palaces and streets of Tudor London that I didn’t really know which He was thinking or which he was speaking or whether it was Him narrating… you get my point?! Nevertheless, I quickly got into the rhythm of the writing style and what seemed like Thames mud at first rapidly became the clear prose of Cromwell’s narrative. It really enabled you to see the world through his eyes, almost video-game style. Thinking back upon it now, I can really appreciate how clever Mantel’s writing actually is.

Mercy comes in and says, a fever, it could be any fever, we don’t have to admit to the sweat…If we all stayed at home, London would come to a standstill.

When you’re in strange times like these, do you ever seem to focus on some things or interpret comments and thoughts in a particular way that you may not have done previously? It seemed so ironic that parts of Wolf Hall seemed to echo real life and poignantly link to Covid-19. There was an almost philosophical sense to the novel and one particular line metaphorically slapped me in the face:

We are always dying – I while I write, you while you read, and others while they listen or block their ears; they are all dying.

It was a real ‘The Power of Now’ moment, that whilst in my little Cromwellian hole I’d almost forgotten the passing of time going on and on. The book is littered with little sentiments like this; they’re not all doom and gloom like the one above, but they stick out in your brain and really make you think. It’s one of the things I admired most about the writing in Wolf Hall.

‘Call her Elizabeth. Cancel the jousts.’

‘We are young enough, he says, and next time it will be a boy. One day we will make a great marriage for her.’

The tone of this entire scene, upon the birth of Elizabeth, was just so melancholic – you could feel Henry’s despair through the quietness of his actions and words. I think it’s such a shame that Henry VIII will never have the hindsight or awareness to recognise the magnanimity of his daughter. I wonder how he would feel if he actually knew of her achievements and that she was one of the defining and longest standing rulers of our entire history. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but maybe he wouldn’t have written her off just because of her gender.

All in all, Mantel has created such a fantastic work of fiction. I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it. Don’t get me wrong, trying to keep up with what was going on was like running a marathon for my brain, but the story, characters and writing is just so encapsulating that I needed to drag myself back into the 21^stcentury after closing the final page. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has even an ounce of interest in the Tudors or historical fiction. Bring Up The Bodies, is currently sitting on my shelf waiting to be picked up… but not until I’m finally ready and in the right headspace to train my mind into reading Cromwell-speak again!

Have you read Wolf Hall? Should I watch the follow-on TV series? What’s your favourite time period in history? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Six For Sunday – Favourite Book 1 in a Series

May 3, 2020April 30, 2020 The BiblioshelfLeave a comment

Hello Biblioshelf Friends,

I hope you have been having a good week. I have felt incredibly productive with work this week as well as finally getting round to finishing my OWLs exams for the Magical Readathon. I’ll be posting a Readathon Wrap soon so watch out for that one!

As we are now into May, we are kicking off a brand new Six For Sunday theme which is all about ‘showing some series love’. For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is a weekly list-based meme created by Steph @ALittleButALot and has a different weekly prompt based on a monthly theme.

This week’s S4S is based on Favourite Book 1s in a series – initially I thought this was going to be really hard as it’s becoming a bit of an ongoing affliction that I start a series and then never get around to buying any of the sequels. I just can’t seem to shake off! Anyway, a quick scroll through the bible that is Goodreads helped me to come up with these. All heading titles link to Goodreads!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
I totally devoured this book and loved it a smudge more than the sequel Crooked Kingdom. I was a little apprehensive going into this duology as I couldn’t really understand the hype surrounding the Shadow and Bone series but I am so glad I read them that way round.
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C Dao
This Evil Queen retelling was just something else. I was gripped to every last word on every page. The sequel definitely had a different feel to me as the perspective changed from Xifeng in the first novel to Jade in the second. I think that’s why I preferred the first novel more.
Everless by Sara Holland
Another fantasy where I was blown away by the first one then slightly disappointed by the sequel. I could not put Everless down, yet Evermore felt like it had lost all of the things which I had loved so much about the first one.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
For me this introduction to the world of Caraval was by far my favourite. It was filled with so much magic and wonder. In that first book none of us quite knew the character traits and how the game worked so everything was just that little bit more mysterious.
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
How on earth could the original tear-jerking starter be outdone by it’s sequels? For me, it just couldn’t. As much as I adored Lou, there just seemed to be something so final after this first book that I think I would have been happy had it just been a standalone.
From Notting Hill With Love… Actually by Ali McNamara
The set-up of this novel was so brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it however when I read the others in the series, they just seemed to become slightly formulaic.

There we go, my Six For Sunday favourite firsts in the series! What have you read? What firsts in a series were your absolute favourites. Drop me a comment or leave me your link to your own Six For Sunday below!

T xx

OWLs Readathon and April Wrap-Up

May 2, 2020 The Biblioshelf3 Comments

Happy May Biblioshelf Friends!

Welcome to the OWLs Magical Readathon and Monthly Wrap Post Mash-Up!
This post started small and then gradually gathered moss so it’s a pretty epic one. I’ve put a kind of contents list below so feel free to scroll to any particular section rather than having to suffer through the whole thing if you want – it is pretty long!

All About OWLs Magical Readathon 2020
New Biblioshelf Twitter
My Chosen Wizarding Careers Path
Books Read in April
Films Watched in April

All about the Magical Readathon

So this month, I took part in the OWLs Magical Readathon for the second time. For those of you who don’t already know, Magical Readathon is a Wizarding World themed, month-long readathon hosted by G (Book Roast). Every year she creates this amazing Wizarding Careers booklet and picks bookish prompts to match each of the Hogwarts school subjects taken at OWLs level. Which prompts you chose depends on the career path you want to complete. In August, we then take our NEWTs and study the final exams/reading prompts for our chosen careers.
It is heaps of fun and G makes it really entertaining by hosting reading sprints, quidditch trials and quizzes. A page counter also lets you submit your reading in return for House Points and those all clock up to see who wins the House Cup at the end of the contest.

Obviously… *Snape drawl* you can participate in as much or as little as you like so you don’t have to be too daunted with all of the ongoing festivities. This year was extra-special fun as two of my friends also joined in and we created our own little reading WhatsApp group to discuss our progress!

New Twitter!

I went to the extreme of making my own BookTwitter just to take part in the Readathon! I had been thinking of doing this for a while anyway now just seemed like the perfect time. I’ve kind of neglected my bookstagram badly and been spending a lot more time on my personal Twitter account. You can follow my bookish account @biblioshelf if you wanted to – come and say ‘Hi!’, I usually always follow back! So far I am loving the BookTwitter community so fingers crossed I can keep it going now that it’s original purpose has ended!

Chosen Wizarding Career Path

Last year, I graduated as a Hogwarts Professor so this year I decided to try something a little different. Being as indecisive as I am at the moment, I settled on two different career paths, Spell-Maker and Ministry Worker (Department of Mysteries). That way I figured I could choose the one that I preferred best by the end… however, I did kind of screw myself over as this meant that I had to do 9 of the 12 overall prompts…

Prompts and Books Read

ᚠ Ancient Runes: Read a book with a heart on the cover or title.
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmer – 📚📚📚📚
Read my review here!

Arithmancy: Read something outside of your favourite genre.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – 📚📚📚📚📚
Review to come on 6^thMay

💫 Astronomy: Read a majority of the book when it’s dark outside.
Awful Auntie by David Walliams – 📚📚📚

✨ Charms: Read a book with a white cover.
Selected Poems by T.S. Eliot – 📚📚

💀 Defence Against the Dark Arts: Read a book set at the coast or at sea.
The Beholder by Anna Bright – 📚📚📚.5

🔮 Divination: Read a book using a random number generator from your TBR.
Romanov by Nadine Brandes – 📚📚📚📚

📖 History of Magic: Read a book with witches or wizards in it.
Circe by Madeline Miller – 📚📚📚📚

🕷 Potions: Read a book under 150 pages.
Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers – 📚📚📚📚📚

🎴 Transfiguration: Read a book featuring a shapeshifter.
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – 📚📚📚

Total pages read: 3272

I am so happy that I actually finished my OWLs! I mean, it was down to the wire right up to the last day but April has definitely been my best month for reading so far. I started the month being behind on my Goodreads reading goal of 45 books and now I think I’m 2 ahead! #winning 🍾
Bring on the NEWTs in August, the Spell-Maker/Ministry Worker dream is still alive!

Films I Watched

I can’t remember if I mentioned this anywhere before, but at the start of lockdown I came across a Sky Movies deal on Now TV that was 2 months of movies for £2; it’s one of the best £2 I’ve ever spent. Those of you who knew me from before might recall that I’m part of a film club. We used to go to the cinema about 2-3 times a week; now everything is shut we’re having to get our film fix in other ways. Here’s what I watched this month – some were rewatches and others were films that I’d missed from last year.

The Kid Who Would Be King: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
Loved this movie, not just because I have ties to Cornwall but King Arthur’s tales have always been a part of folklore I’d love to read more about.

Clue: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
I am a massive sucker for board games, particularly Cluedo and this film was just so perfect, can’t believe I haven’t seen it before!

Bad Times at the El Royale: 🎬🎬🎬
I missed this when it came out at the cinema and was so glad to get the chance to watch it. It had a really interesting plotline and I wasn’t at all sure which characters to trust or believe in.

The Secret Life of Pets 2: 🎬🎬🎬
Gotta say, I still think the trailer for the first film is the best part of this franchise, otherwise, it’s pretty much your average animal animation movie. I still loved it though!

Coco: 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬
I’ve always known that everyone has said I should watch Coco but I didn’t really understand why until I actually saw it! The music, the graphics, the heartfelt message in the story, it was pure magic!

Spider-Man into the Spider Verse: 🎬🎬🎬
This was the 2018 film of the year in our film club but I never got around to seeing it when it came out at the cinema. I can admire the storyline, the production and everything but sorry guys, Spiderman is just not my thing!

Rocketman: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
This was a rewatch for me but I think Taron Egerton does an exceptional job at portraying Elton John. I really love his music and the movie felt so raw and personal.

Yesterday: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
Another musical rewatch. Richard Curtis is one of my favourite film makers. I think he’s a bit of a genius really and it was so much fun seeing him do a talk at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last year. I thought Yesterday had such an intriguing storyline and actually made me fall a tiny bit in love with The Beatles.

Mission Impossible Fallout: 🎬🎬
I’m not the biggest MI or Tom Cruise fan so this just went over my head really as an afternoon filler.

What Men Want: 🎬
I thought this would at least be funny enough to keep me entertained. Sadly, it wasn’t!

Mary Poppins Returns: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
I adore Emily Blunt and Julie Andrews. I think Disney did an incredible job at giving Mary Poppins a fresh new life, whether it needed it is another matter. I love the little nods to the original but can’t help wishing whether I feel Julie Andrews should have just done that little role as the balloon lady at the end. I can totally see why she didn’t want to be involved but I just can’t decide whether my heart wanted her to do the cameo or she was better off just staying out of it. I’ve clearly thought about that way too much…

Aqua Man: 🎬🎬🎬
Like in books, any kind of watery film will instantly make it to my watch list. I wouldn’t say this is the most ground breaking film DC have ever done but I really did enjoy watching it.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu: 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬
I need a sequel to this film NOW! I love Pokémon, so much so that after the film I had to complete the Pokémon book tag. You can find it here.

Ma: 🎬🎬
Octavia Spencer does a really great job at playing a creepy role although I just couldn’t stop myself from yelling “why would you do that?!” to the bunch of kids who decided to go and illegally drink with her in her basement.

The Lion King: 🎬🎬🎬🎬.5
The Lion King is one of my all-time favourite Disney films, so much so that I made my Y6s do it as their end of year production last year. I was very sceptical about this live action remake which is why it has taken me this long to get around to watching it. I think it’s brilliant…and yes I still cried at all my favourite songs!

If you’ve reached this far… 👏👏👏 Well done! I can’t actually believe that I’ve watched and read so much!

Did you take part in OWLs? Did you reach your reading goal for April? If you want to chat films/books/Readathon, as always drop me a comment to chat or leave me a link to your own wrap!

Enjoy the weekend!

T xx

Friday 56 – Wolf Hall

May 1, 2020April 30, 2020 The BiblioshelfLeave a comment

It’s Fri-YAY!! 🤗

This week’s Friday 56 and First Lines Friday comes from historical novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

Rules:

A conversation between me and Wolf Hall from 2009:

Me: I really didn’t like the last (and only) Mantel book I read…
Wolf Hall: But I won’t be like Beyond Black, I promise, buy me!
Me: You are pretty hefty at over 650 pages…
Wolf Hall: But I’m all about the Tudors, your favourite history period… buy me buy me!
Me: I don’t think I’ll ever find the time to read you.
Wolf Hall: But I won the Man Booker Prize and my sequel Bring Up the Bodies did too… That’s TWO MAN BOOKERS! Buy me buy me buy me!!
*buys both Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies*

Years later – Present Day…
Wolf Hall: [whispers enticingly from the shelf] You still haven’t read me yet, I’ve even been a TV series that you haven’t watched either… It’s not like you can go out and see all of your friends right now, I’ll be the perfect lockdown companion…

So that’s the story of how I finally got round to reading Wolf Hall. I don’t know why but I always feel a sense of achievement when I read something that has won a prestigious award or prize. I have a Biblioshelf Musings about Wolf Hall coming up next Wednesday so watch this space, but for now here are the First Lines Friday and Friday 56!

First Lines Friday:

‘So now get up.’
Felled, dazed, silent, he has fallen; knocked full length on the cobbles of the yard. His head turns sideways; his eyes are turned towards the gate, as if someone might arrive to help him out. One blow, properly placed, could kill him now.

Friday 56:

The cardinal closes his eyes. Tears are seeping from beneath his lids. ‘For it is a truth,’ says Cavendish, ‘that fortune is inconstant, fickle and mutable …’

As I said, my review for this is coming up on Wednesday and I cannot tell you how much I admire this book. It is my latest 5 star read and it totally makes sense to me how this ended up winning the Man Booker!

Have you read Wolf Hall? Do you enjoy Historical Fiction? As always, drop me a comment to chat and feel free to leave your Friday 56 or First Line Friday links below so I can swing by!

Happy weekend everyone!
T xx

Pokémon Go Book Tag

April 29, 2020April 25, 2020 The Biblioshelf5 Comments

Hey friends,

So whilst on Lockdown I managed to great an amazing deal on Now TV for the Sky Cinema Pass – 2 months for £2 – I could not resist at all and it’s almost the best £2 I ever spent! There must be hundreds of movies on there waiting to be watched!

I have just finished watching Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and cannot tell you how much I want to live inside that film right now. Ryme City is awesome!! I’ve been a mahoosive Pokémon fan since the good old days of the GameBoy Colour and after watching the film I immediately had to start looking for a Pokémon Book Tag out there in the blogosphere!

Thankfully, Aentee over at the Read at Midnight blog created this brilliant tag to celebrate Pokémon Go so I decided to participate. All of the graphics have been magpied from her blog (thanks 🙂).

I would always pick the water pokemon at the start of every game. I always seemed to get along better with them than the Fire and Grass types.
Roald Dahl, being one of the best storytellers of all time, definitely kick started my love for reading. My parents would always read to me at bedtime and my Grandad would always buy me books when we went to the car boot sale. The BFG and The Witches were particular favourites!

Pride and Prejudice is such an iconic classic that I enjoy but the classic that really has a place in my heart would have to be Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I remember reading it whilst I was on holiday and surprised myself by devouring the whole thing.

Dare I say it but… ACOTAR?! The ending of Wings and Ruin obliterated me, followed by the ending of Kingdom and Ash and that little cameo (y’all know the one I mean 😉), I think I’m just ruined by it. I haven’t even read A Court of Frost and Starlight yet, let alone wait for the Nesta novel that now supposedly has a release date. I love my Maas and always will but for now, I think me and ACOTAR are taking a little time apart…

I have recently finished Clockwork Prince for the OWLs Magical Readathon and could not help but be reminded of The Mortal Instruments series all the way through it. I have been trustingly convinced that it’s worth sticking with but I think the similarities between them may prevent me from loving it as much as the hype suggests.

I remember back in 2013, I saw a TV interview on the BBC where they interviewed a debut author and raved about how her 7 book series had already had the movie rights procured even though the debut had not been released yet. That author was Samantha Shannon. I own a copy of The Bone Season but am yet to start it – or The Priory of the Orange Tree for that matter. I know that I should just get started on reading it but I just hope it isn’t 2059 before either I get round to it or the series gets completed!

Admittedly, I didn’t jump on the Robert Galbraith bandwagon until it had been ‘leaked’ online that it was really the pen name of J.K Rowling. That being said, Lethal White (one of my last 5 star reads) definitely kept me up all night long. Sleep became secondary to my need to just…keep…reading…that…book…!

Back to the world of Maas for this. Undeniably Rhysand and Feyre were more divinely matched than even Romeo and but my all-time favourite bookish OTP champions are Manon Blackbeak and Dorian Havilliard – now that is the spin-off Maas novel that I need!

Initially I struggled to find something as fire-hot and fast-paced as the beauty that is Rapidash, however a quick scroll through my ‘read’ shelf and the answer blasted into my face. The Illuminae Files were completely different to anything else I have ever read and I think AIDAN could definitely put Ponyta and Rapidash through their paces.

You know that saying as you exit the wand shop at Warner Brothers Studio…

“The stories we love best do live in us forever so whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.”

– J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter – forever carved into my soul – will always be a series that no matter how many spin-offs, fan-fiction stories, sequels, prequels, stage plays, film scripts, illustrated versions, translations or gods damned House Editions they bring out… I will want to own every single one. Always 💙

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline was a book that I can’t even remember why I bought it in the first place. That being said, when I did read it back in 2018, I was so shocked how surprisingly awesome it was and that I loved it so much. It called out to the inner geek in me and is probably one of my favourite novels of all time.

I’ve been meaning to do a re-read of all the Throne of Glass novels and novellas for a while but am waiting for that right block of headspace as I know it will consume me and my brain won’t be able to concentrate on anything else. Asides from that, two hyped up series that I am still excited to get started on are the Nevernight series and the Shades of Magic series.

Imagine having a handwritten, signed and jewelled collector’s edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard…? Whilst I don’t have hundreds of thousands of pounds to have bought the one her publisher sold ~~why would you?!~~ if that was on my bookshelves I think I’d sit and stare at it all day long.

In June Kester Grant is publishing her debut novel ‘The Court of Miracles’. Billed as a ‘Les Mis meets Six of Crows’ I am ecstatically awaiting this release!

There are far too many amazing authors out there to pick just one but my top auto-buys are: Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith, Carlos Ruiz Zafon and Sarah J Maas.

Two books from the Wizarding World I really wish would get written is The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore or Hogwarts, A History. It would be so cool if these came to life in the real world. However, if they weren’t an option then I would have to choose a quietly known little series called The Magicians of Venice by Amy Kuivalainen. I read The Immortal City through NetGalley last year and loved it! It is billed as a series but so far there hasn’t been any news on a sequel – I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed!

There we have it – it was so much fun to do this tag and celebrate my love for Pokemon and books together so huge thanks again to Aentee over at the Read at Midnight Blog.

Tag yourselves if you want to join in and have fun! What answers would you choose? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Six For Sunday – Books on my TBR because of someone else’s recommendation

April 26, 2020April 25, 2020 The Biblioshelf4 Comments

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope you have been having a good week wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. This week has left me particularly exhausted so I was really glad for the weekend to be here as it has given me a chance to slow down, take a breath and try and finish my books for the OWLs Magical Readathon! I’ve been participating with two friends which has been brilliant motivation to try and stick with the TBR I set myself. I’ve also been making sure to catch up with other friends which resulted in a 2 hour WhatsApp video call on Saturday morning! We clearly needed it to chat through all that has been going on!

Speaking of friends, this week’s Six for Sunday is all about the books on my TBR because of someone else’s recommendation and these have all come from my nearest and dearest book lovers. For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is a weekly list-based meme created by Steph @ALittleButALot and has a different weekly prompt based on a monthly theme. All synopses from Goodreads.

Dune by Frank Herbert

Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the ‘spice’ melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.

This book was gifted to me for Christmas by one of my friends called Phil. We all co-host a Film Club together where we live and he often gets me books to bring out the inner sci-fi fan in me. As this is coming to movie theatres very soon, or was until Covid-19 hit, I definitely think I want to read it before it comes out in the cinemas.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant [pre-order]

Les Misérables meets Six of Crows in this page-turning adventure as a young thief finds herself going head to head with leaders of Paris’s criminal underground in the wake of the French Revolution.

In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina’s life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father’s fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie). When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger–the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh–Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Her vow takes her from the city’s dark underbelly to the glittering court of Louis XVII. And it also forces Nina to make a terrible choice–protect Ettie and set off a brutal war between the guilds, or forever lose her sister to the Tiger.

My friend and fellow Potterhead @Megalynreads (stop by on Twitter and say hello) suggested this book in our reading group. With a love for fantasy and musicals this ‘Les Mis meets Six of Crows’ retelling went straight onto the pre-order pile. It’s released in June this year and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

I know this book has good standing in the bookish community but it is one I simply have not got around to reading. When our teaching WhatsApp group shared their reads during lockdown, one of my fellow teachers recommended that I should pick it up soon and also suggested the audiobook as well.

Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin

Nell Crane has always been an outsider. In a city devastated by an epidemic, where survivors are all missing parts—an arm, a leg, an eye—her father is the famed scientist who created the biomechanical limbs everyone now uses. But Nell is the only one whose mechanical piece is on the inside: her heart. Since the childhood operation, she has ticked. Like a clock, like a bomb. As her community rebuilds, everyone is expected to contribute to the society’s good . . . but how can Nell live up to her father’s revolutionary idea when she has none of her own?

Then she finds a mannequin hand while salvaging on the beach—the first boy’s hand she’s ever held—and inspiration strikes. Can Nell build her own companion in a world that fears advanced technology? The deeper she sinks into this plan, the more she learns about her city—and her father, who is hiding secret experiments of his own.

This is another Phil recommendation which he also gifted to me – we often have ~~arguments~~ disagreements about artificial intelligence so I think this is part of his plot to turn me into a robot sympathiser – gotta say though, after recently finishing Clockwork Prince I’m not sure I’m going to be on the side of the robots any time soon!

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

‘Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.’
People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. But what if, for once, the predictions are right, and the apocalypse really is due to arrive next Saturday, just after tea?
You could spend the time left drowning your sorrows, giving away all your possessions in preparation for the rapture, or laughing it off as (hopefully) just another hoax. Or you could just try to do something about it.
It’s a predicament that Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon now finds themselves in. They’ve been living amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and, truth be told, have grown rather fond of the lifestyle and, in all honesty, are not actually looking forward to the coming Apocalypse.
And then there’s the small matter that someone appears to have misplaced the Antichrist…

Another one of my friends Stephen absolutely loves Terry Pratchett and as this is a crossover between him and one of my all-time favourite authors, Neil Gaiman, then I couldn’t resist downloading this on audiobook when it came up on special offer in the iBooks store.

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Hannah, one of my longest friends and fellow Potterhead (and sister of Megalynreads) suggested this series to me. I think I set her off on the Sarah J Maas train so after sharing our love of all things Rowling (therefore by proxy Robert Galbraith) she though I’d really enjoy this series so I can’t wait to get started on them too!

That brings me to the end of this week’s Six For Sunday. Have you read any of these? Which one should I get started with first? Feel free to share your own Six For Sunday links below for me to check out.

Have a good week everyone. Stay safe!

T xx

Friday 56 – The Beholder

April 24, 2020April 24, 2020 The Biblioshelf16 Comments

Happy Friday everyone!

In these times where we’re spending most of our days at home and they all seem to melt into one, I definitely have that Friday feeling! As I’m a school teacher I’m both going in to school to look after key worker children and working from home on the days that I don’t, so I am glad that the weekend is finally here!

Rules:

This week’s Friday 56 comes from The Beholder by Anna Bright. I started reading this book to complete my Defence Against the Dark Arts exam for the OWLs Magical Readathon 2020 – it seemed to fit the prompt for a book set on the sea or at the coast.

Typically, page 56 is blank so as I’m not 56% of the way through yet, I picked out this quote to share with you.

Carved into the prow of one of the ships was a girl. Her long arms were flung wide, fingers splayed, and apples and olive branches rippled like hair around her shoulders. Sinuous carvings like ocean waves hinted at a flowing gown, with high-heeled shoes visible beneath, but she was ready for battle: a sword and a bow and arrow were crossed over her chest. Her face was blank but for enormous stars etched where eyes, ears and a mouth would be.

It’s a rather long one but I just love the description of the ship and the cover illustration fits this perfectly. I’m looking forward to hopefully getting it finished this weekend!

To find out a little more about The Beholder, you can find it here on Goodreads.

Are any of you taking part in the Magical Readathon? How many exams have you got left and do you think you’ll finish?

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, happy reading everyone and stay safe this weekend! 🙂

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings: A Heart So Fierce and Broken

April 22, 2020April 23, 2020 The Biblioshelf8 Comments

Howdy y’all!

I’m starting off with what may be a ~~slight~~ ‘unpopular opinion alert’ but after reading A Heart So Dark and Lonely last year, I was not 100% sure whether I wanted to continue with the Cursebreakers series. The first book had so much hype surrounding it and was hailed as one of the best Beauty and the Beast retellings of all time. As much as I enjoyed reading ACSDAL, I clearly wasn’t as blown away by it as everyone else. Don’t get me wrong it was a highly enjoyable read but perhaps I just love the original tales too much.

That being said, when I saw the sequel advertised on Amazon as part of their 2 for £7 deal (a steal!) I could not resist buying it to see what happened to Rhen and Harper!
The narrative and focus of the tale moving away from Rharper/Harpen onto Grey and a completely new character called Lia Mara didn’t entirely appeal to me at first (another thing which stopped me from putting it on auto pre-order), but when the prompts for the OWLs Magical Readathon 2020 were revealed and Ancient Runes was to read something with a heart in the title or on the cover then this was my immediate pick. 💚

Book: A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Publication Date: 7th January 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Pages: 450
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Whilst there are no major plot spoilers ahead for AHSFAB, there will need to be a little bit of discussion as to my thoughts on where this story is going so bear that in mind if you haven’t already read this book or series (which tbh I think you should!!).

The Unanswered Story Strands
From the off it felt so good to be back in the world of Emberfall and pick up essentially where the story left off. The curveball twist of an ending from book 1 needed to be played out as many strands had been left unanswered: Lilith, the mystery heir, Syl Shallow’s forces descending on Emberfall, the ‘Disi/D.C.’ sham…
I really like Brigid’s writing style and feel that she has hit the balance between detail, pace and storytelling so that I could allow myself to get lost in the vortex of the story without having to overthink or reread paragraphs just to keep up with what was going on.

New Character Alert
Usually, I’m not a fan of main character introductions part way through a series; I like to see a full, well-developed character arc, however I was pleasantly surprised by Lia Mara. She is smart, clever and definitely no wallflower. She added a really down-to-earth yet vibrant dynamic which counterbalanced Grey’s personality really well. Although the ‘main plot’ thread of the story seemed to move a little slowly to make room for this, I did not mind in the slightest as it enabled us to fully understand these main characters’ backgrounds and motivations. As Lia Mara’s story unfolded alongside Grey’s, my initial worries went out the window and I became totally invested in their relationship; in fact, I think I even prefer them to Rhen and Harper! [Side-note: I know the ages don’t match up at all, but I can’t help but visualise Grey as Michael Fassbender…anyone else?!]

Is It Really That Complicated?
As I touched on above, the whole point of this novel seems to revolve around Rhen trying to discover the identity of the mysterious other heir to Emberfall and Grey trying to hide the fact that it’s him. In my head, surely their relationship wasn’t that bad that they couldn’t have chatted about this and worked it out between them…? They could have been co-rulers or Rhen could politically shape the kingdom and Grey could focus on the military side of things…? My brain just doesn’t see why this had to be the massive problem that it turned out to be; it’s like when you’re watching a TV programme and you think to yourself ‘there’s no way that would happen like that” – anyway that’s how it did happen yet I was hooked with my reading and carried on with the plot regardless.

If anyone is interested, my prediction theory for Cursebreakers #3 is: (aside from any shockingly twisty main character deaths) Rhen and Harper rule Emberfall, Grey and Lia Mara rule over Syl Shallow; together they unite their countries in some sort of alliance then everyone has world peace and lives happily ever after…!

We Need To Talk About Scravers
Can we just take a minute to talk about the incredible creature creation ‘scravers’?! For me these are the coolest things to come out of this book. I really enjoyed Isaak’s character and loved his little curiosities and mysteriousness. It feels like there is a whole other backstory here that we need to explore and I really really hope that this comes out in Cursebreakers #3 otherwise I’m going to need a novella or a side-series or something!

And finally…
All in all, I am so glad that I took a punt and carried on with this series. Despite the epilogue, which is a little ‘trope-y’ for my liking although I see why it had to happen, I thoroughly enjoy Brigid’s writing style, characters and the world she’s created. They really got me invested into the series again. Cursebreakers #3 – A Vow So Bold and Deadly is definitely going to be on auto-preorder because I need to find out if my theory about how this resolves itself is correct – and I need to find out what happens to Isaak!

My finishing thought is a little insight into how this series fits into my brain…
It’s like the two separated sides of a Victoria Sponge – A Curse So Dark and Lonely was half the sponge and cream; A Heart So Fierce and Broken was the other half of sponge and the jam. Each yummy on their own but… hopefully A Vow So Bold and Deadly is going to put the whole damn scrumptious cake together! Bring it on!

If you have read AHSFAB or wanted to chat about any part of the series or characters, as always drop me a comment below! 🙂

Txx