Tag: bibliophile

Biblioshelf Musings – Esme’s Wish

The Biblioshelf4 Comments

Hi Bibliofriends,

One of my bookish blogging goals this year was to try and get started on taking author/publisher requests and also start investing some time into improving my NetGalley feedback score.

It was such a thrill when Elizabeth Foster contacted me after reading one of my reviews for Odyssey Books and asked me if I would also be interested in reading her novel Esme’s Wish in exchange for an honest review. I’m so pleased that I did, this was a wonderful fantasy series starter to lose myself in during the last few weeks of what was a really crazy school year! Huge thanks to Elizabeth for getting in touch and sending me her e-book.

Book: Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster
Genre: Middle Grade/YA Fantasy
Publication Date: October 30th 2017
Publisher: Odyssey Books
Pages: 252
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

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.
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.
“A fresh new fantasy of an enchanting world.” – Wendy Orr, New York Times best selling author of Nim’s Island.

My Musings

Esperance is such a beautifully crafted world to lose my bookish mind in. The waterways and canals winding through the city instantly made me reminisce about one of my favourite holidays spent in Venice, Italy. I’m also a huge fan of any worlds where water is a feature (seriously, I think I must have been a fish in a former life!). The frequent references to fountains, sea portals, caves, sirens and sea hawks made me put this world firmly on my fictional travels bucket list.

Esme is quite a young character and her emotions are clearly laid out for the reader to see. You witness her turmoil over the loss of her mother and also her anger at her father for remarrying and beginning a new life. As the story progresses, Esme’s determination and resilience grow alongside the plot and it was nice to see those rites of passage elements in the story as Esme branches off on her mission to discover what happened to her mother. I enjoyed the way her friendships and personality grew throughout the story as she left her world and travelled into the magical world of Esperance.

Mythology and magic run strongly throughout the whole story and I loved picking out those mythology-inspired references which were woven throughout. The book features brilliant creatures such as sirens, stygians and (woohoo!) dragons! I really enjoyed the character Augustine who is a keeper of magic – he added a quirky wizard-like dimension to the story with a diviner rod named Willow which reminded me of Dr. Strange’s Cape in some crazy way that the keeper and his diviner are pretty much a team but the objects are sentient and have a mind of their own.

The story itself is pretty much a quest which is based on a number of clues leading from one to the next, gradually unravelling the story. Whilst in my adult head I was expecting and predicting that some of these would happen, my teacher head was thinking about how perfect this book would be for some of my more reluctant readers and students. Descriptions and vocabulary are on point in this. Vocabulary is such a buzz-word in the teaching world now as children are exposed to fewer words and this has a massive impact upon their reading and writing progress. Esme’s Wish is such a brilliant book to try and inspire this love of words as it is littered with so many wonderful ones and as a logophile myself, this was one of my favourite aspects of the writing. 

Favourite Quotes:

‘The pool settled back into peaceful somnolence, winking at her in the sunlight.’

‘Life is such a fragile thing. Like butterfly wings.’

‘Water has a memory of its own. It stores within itself the history of all it sees.’

‘She was the thread that ran through all things, unravelling the world at will. She could create, or destroy, at her whim. Time had no meaning here. Death was merely an abstraction.’

Why Should I Read This?

For the vocabulary and the writing.
For the sirens, waterways and dragons.
For the amazing world of Esperance.

Esme’s Wish is perfect for the Middle Grade age range and those who are starting out to explore the fantasy genre. Equally, if you’re an adult who loves your mythological references or fantasy islands filled with fountains, seas, magical portals and dragons then this could also be the perfect book for you to escape into a light yet welcoming fantasy world.

Find out more about this book here:

Amazon | Odyssey Books | Waterstones | Elizabeth Foster on Twitter

#BookTag – Taylor Swift Lover Book Tag

The Biblioshelf6 Comments

Hey Bibliofriends,

Not gonna lie, Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore has been playing on repeat ever since it’s extremely welcome release so I thought it would be a brilliant time to tackle the Taylor Swift ‘Lover’ Book Tag which I found over on Chocolate’n’Waffles blog here.

You can find the original post here on Nish & Ngoc’s Book Nook.

The Rules:

  • Link back to the original creator of the book tag (Nish & Ngoc).
  • Thank the person that tagged you and link to their post (above).
  • 3. TAG AS MANY SWIFTIES AS YOU WANT! (Or non-Swifties, maybe inspire them to listen to our Queen)

I Forgot That You Existed – A book that you want to forget you ever read

I can’t actually think of a book that I hated so much that I want to forget I ever read it so perhaps I wish I could forget ever reading Harry Potter or the Throne of Glass series just so that I can experience them again with fresh eyes.

2. Cruel Summer – A book you turn to when the going gets rough

To be honest, I have so many books on my shelves that I rarely get chance to reread many novels but whenever I head into a little bit of a slump I tend to pick up something either something by Erica James as I love her stories or a chick-lit style romance set in Italy – it’s my favourite city and always makes me feel happy to reminisce about my trip there. 

3. Lover – Your book OTP

I come back to Rhysand and Feyre every…single…damn…time! 

4. The Man – Your fave kick-ass female protagonist

This one is so tough – I think Kady Grant and Hannah Donnelly from the Illuminae series really lay their gauntlets down. Failing that, I wouldn’t mess with Manon from Throne of Glass either!

5. The Archer – A book with good mental health representation

I’m struggling to find any fiction novel that I have read that could fit this brief… Maybe the Six of Crows duology as the characters have to each overcome their various burdens and the way they all pull together as a team shows how important good friendships are in overcoming your demons and accepting people for who they are.

Non-fiction-wise: Remember This When You’re Sad by Maggie Van Eijk really helped me out during a dark time. 

6. I Think He Knows – Your fave fictional crush

Dare I admit this but… Snape?! Of course, Alan Rickman playing him in the movies helped me to see and hear him in my head when reading the later HP books. There’s just something about that voice! 😂🙈

7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince – Fave angsty romance

Alessandra and the Shadow King in The Shadows Between Us – just get it together already!!

8. Paper Rings – Book with an ugly cover that you absolutely adored

The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault by Angela Carter – to be in-keeping with Carter’s retellings of the stories inside the cover features a really grubby foot inside a stiletto slingback. Feet are a big no-no for me, but Angela Carter is one of my all-time favourite storytellers and I wrote my dissertation about fairytales so it’s just the cover on this one putting me off!

9. Cornelia Street– A book or series you never want(ed) to end

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – that book skyrocketed to God tier on my favourites shelf that I could have lived in it forever – it was recently announced that the sequel is being released later this year and I am SUPER excited!

10. Death By A Thousand Cuts– A book or series that deserved a better ending

Evermore by Sara Holland – the first novel blew me away but I didn’t feel that the sequel lived up to its predecessor which was gutting.

11. London Boy– Your fave British male protagonist

So without drifting back into HP territory I’d probably have to say Cormoran Strike or James Bond – keeping my head up in the fantasy crowds I don’t tend to read many stories with solidly British characters anymore. 

12. Soon You’ll Get Better– A book that your heart will never recover from

I’m such a baby and always seem to cry sad stories or at ‘ends of things’ – be it a book series, tv show, people saying goodbye – even the end of term sometimes gets me (I have no idea why?!).
In that respect I could easily pick any of the following:

One Day by David Nicholls
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas

13. False God– A character you would leap into the burning pits of hell to save

Snape again… he needs a proper redemption in my head! 

14. You Need To Calm Down– A book with a powerful message

Lord of the Rings by Tolkien for its fellowship and finding inner strength to overcome barriers for the greater good.

The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott for its message about the importance of looking after our natural world and not taking excessively from it or destroying it for personal greed/power.

15. Afterglow – A book you want to give a second chance

Thorn by Intisar Khanani – it’s been sat on my ‘currently reading pile’ since about March?!

16. ME! – Best character development

Don Tilman in The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – such a brilliantly written character.

17. It’s Nice To Have A Friend – Fave friends-to-lovers story

One Day by David Nicholls or The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary

18. Daylight – If you could only read one book or series again and again, what would it be?

I’m the person whose holiday carry on weight is mostly books so I couldn’t possibly pick just one.

A few faves:

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

I had forgotten just how many tracks Swift puts on her albums! 😂 This seemed fairly long. Apologies if the formatting is slightly out, it’s my first time trying to get my head around this block editor and it’s frying my brain slightly!

Feel free to tag yourself if you are a fellow Swifty fan and fancy like giving this a go. Have you listened to Folklore yet? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

Have a good week everyone,
T xx

#Friday56 – These Divided Shores

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Aloha, it’s finally freakin’ Friday!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch which is the sequel to These Rebel Waves. This is another part of my ‘series I’m trying to finish’ episodes and I’m kinda sad to be saying goodbye to Grace Loray and it’s wonderful botanical magic.

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.

You cannot even trust yourself,her mind echoed.

But I trust him, she told the broken pieces that had once been her heart.

I enjoyed returning to Grace Loray to see what happened to Vex, Lu and Ben in this sequel to These Rebel Waves. The Botanical Magic in this series was really something special and I loved finding out the different ways it was used in the story.  If you want to find out more about These Divided Shores then you can check out my full review here.

Have you read These Rebel Waves or These Divided Shores? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

 

#Friday56 – Shadow and Flame

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Woop Woop – TGI Friday!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from Shadow and Flame by Mindee Arnett which is the sequel to the fantasy novel Onyx and Ivory. I got this as part of my birthday haul in my bid to try and finish off some of the series I’d already started from way back when!

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.

Signe wasn’t a wilder or magist, only a woman from the Esh Islands of unknown birth and background. Still, she possessed many talents, including senses keen enough to provoke envy in any assassin or spy – and one secret that made her the most important woman in the Rising.

Signe was one of the sassiest and most mysterious characters in this book. I really like the way her friendship with Kate goes through its trials and tribulations. It isn’t often that you witness people facing up to the consequences of their actions like this pair of friends. If you want to hear more about Shadow and Flame then you can check out my full review here.

Have you read Onyx and Ivory or Shadow and Flame? What kind of Wilder magic would you rather have? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

#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

#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

#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

#Friday56 – My Fence Is Electric: and Other Stories

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Howdy Bibliofriends, it’s Friday!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from My Fence Is Electric: and Other Stories by Mark Newman. I was so excited when Odyssey Books contacted me directly to review this collection of short stories. It’s not often I’m approached by publishers directly so I jumped at the opportunity straight away – and I was not disappointed – thanks so much to them and Mark Newman!!

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.

A rustling, a muted round of applause then, as all the little yellow squares test their newfound wings. Then there is a blur of little yellow squares around them, like blossoms falling. They are surrounded like this for perhaps a minute, then the little yellow squares find a place to land and fold themselves flat again.

This collection of short stories was so relevant and current that I strongly suggest you check it out – there really is a story for everyone in this anthology and it’s so clear to see why so many of them are award-winning. In a world filled with novels and epic sweeping series, Mark Newman has put the humble short story firmly back on the map! You can check out my full review here!

What is your favourite short story / short story collection? Do you read this genre often or would you like to explore it more? As always, leave me your #Friday56 links or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

#BookTag – Disney Parks Tag!

The Biblioshelf4 Comments

It’s Tag Tuesday Bibliofriends!

Welcome to the Disney Parks Book Tag! I’m absolutely in love with all things Disney so as soon as I came across this Tag on dinipandareads I knew that I had to have a go myself!

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I visited Walt Disney World in Florida for the first time back in 2018 and now truly understand why they call it the most magical place on earth! The California parks is the next one on my travel bucket list having already visited Paris.

The Rules

☆Mention the creator and link back to original post [Alexandra @ Reading by Starlight]
☆Thank the blogger who tagged you
☆Answer the 10 questions below using any genre
☆Tag 5+ friends
☆Feel free to copy the heading graphics

the-jungle-cruise-1

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pirates-of-the-caribbean

TKAK

the-haunted-mansion-2

30237061

thunder-mountain-railroad

img_7767-2

splash-mountain

37415

cinderella-castle

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mad-tea-party

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matterhorn-bobsleds-1

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its-a-small-world

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space-mountain

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Thanks so much to Alexandra for creating this Disneytastic Book Tag! Have you ever been to Disney? What’s your favourite ride/attraction? Are any of the theme parks on your travel bucket? As always, tag yourselves and feel free to keep spreading the Disney joy, otherwise drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

#Friday56 – A Touch of Death

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Happy Friday Bibliofriends! The weekend is almost here…

This week’s Friday 56 comes from A Touch of Death by Rebecca Crunden. I was so overwhelmed when Rebecca contacted me to review the first book in her dystopian Outlands Pentalogy. It’s such a fantastic novel and I can’t wait to get my hand on the sequel and find out what happens next.

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.

fri56atod

A Touch of Death is an intriguing, dystopian thriller which left me curious as to how the series is going to develop next. I absolutely loved the attention to detail at the world-building in the Kingdom of Cutta and am looking forwards to getting my hands on the sequel. You can check out my full review here!

What do you look for in dystopian fiction? Do you have any fun weekend plans? As always, leave me your #Friday56 links or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx