Tag: biblioshelf

Biblioshelf Musings – Funny Story by Emily Henry

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Hey Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musings are about Funny Story by Emily Henry. I don’t normally consider myself to be a ‘romance’ reader, but there is just something about Emily Henry’s books that make me laugh, cry, hope, love and gasp! I own all of the Illumicrate editions of her novels (since 2020) and I was so thrilled when this one finally landed on my doorstep. Thankfully, I had finished my previous read the night before so I was able to dive straight into Funny Story. Read on to find out more in my spoiler-free review!

Book: Funny Story by Emily Henry
Genre: Romance / Fiction
Publication Date: April 2024
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 384
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

My Musings

With a plot centred around ‘falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex’ – you just know that this is going to bring all of the fun and feels you get with every Emily Henry novel! I adored the chemistry between Daphne and Miles, they are both such endearing characters – she a children’s librarian (who always does ‘the voices’) and he, a general jack-of-all-trades, community good guy with a few skeletons hidden in his mood closet. At no point, did you feel that they shouldn’t be together, despite just coming out of long-term relationships with each other’s exes. I guess because of that, the will-they / won’t-they aspect of the story, didn’t quite have some of the same angsty tension as in other books, but I was still rooting for both characters very much!

The thing I love most about Emily’s stories, is the sense of place that she creates with her settings and characters. Even though Waning Bay, Michigan is a fictional location, I can just imagine booking a flight there, rocking up and bumping into all of these characters as if they genuinely exist in my real life universe. From BARn, to the Winery, the beaches, the library – all of it is so reminiscent and familiar that it brings this sweet sense of nostalgia when reading. Special mention for the little nod to Beach Read in there too!

There are some absolute corkers of humorous lines within this book! I was definitely chuckling out loud for the most part, again adding to the major enjoyment factor. I’m also starting to think that Emily Henry is either a foil for Taylor Swift’s secret novel-writing passions, or she is actually a little bit Swiftie as I was definitely reading some lyrics and phrases woven into these chapters and paragraphs. The plot keeps moving at the perfect pace. We begin with a countdown to Daphne making a pivotal life decision, and this time frame gradually amends itself as events within her life unfold.

I loved the friendship that she created with Ashleigh. It reminds us that we are more than just the ‘we’ people who constantly refer to themselves as a pair, and actually consider our own identities. This friendship journey that both women were on served as a reminder to those of us wrapped up in our couple-ness to treasure the girlfriends that we do have in our lives and retain some of our girlish individuality.

I constantly adore the love for books and bookish themes which seem to shine through each of Emily’s most recent novels. Be it a bookstore, a library, an author… there is always some literary-related motif which tugs on to my bookish soul. It’s probably why I do enjoy her stories so very much.

Whilst I wouldn’t class Funny Story as my favourite Emily Henry novel that I’ve read, this was definitely a ‘Funny Story’ worth reading and treasuring!

Have you read Funny Story yet or is it on your TBR list? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Connect with me here:

Twitter | Goodreads | Book Sloth: @thebiblioshelf |Email: thebiblioshelf@gmail.com

Biblioshelf Musings – The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

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Hey Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musings are about The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni. I remember when this book was first published in 2021, the hype surrounding it was so big. As it came in one of my Fairyloot boxes, I automatically purchased the matching sequel editions for the whole trilogy despite not reading the first instalment. Fastforward 3 years, and they’ve been sat on my shelves ever since, completely unread! One of my 2024 reading goals was to finally tick this series off my list and reader, I’m proud to say that this goal has officially been started! Read on to find out more in my spoiler-free review!

Book: The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
Genre: Fantasy / YA
Publication Date: April 2021
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Pages: 406
Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Here at Zalindov, the only person you can trust is yourself.

Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan is a survivor. For ten years, she has worked as the healer in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, making herself indispensable. Kept afloat by messages of hope from her family, Kiva has one goal and one goal only: stay alive.

Then one day the infamous Rebel Queen arrives at the prison on death’s door and Kiva receives a new message: Don’t let her die. We are coming.

The queen is sentenced to the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals. Aware the sickly queen has little chance of making it through the Trials alive, Kiva volunteers to take her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

But no one has ever survived.

And with an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.

My Musings

When The Prison Healer was featured in Fairyloot’s 2021 Aril box, the corresponding theme was ‘Hidden Identities’. This actually encapsulates a major part of the novel’s plot. Whilst I was able to guess around 85% of all the plot twists relating to this theme, there were still a few identities which did leave me guessing. The characters themselves are quite an endearing bunch. Being essentially ‘prison riff-raff’, you’ve got your loveable rogues, heroes in disguise, prickly people who are actually good at heart, guards with a sense of morality (or are they…?!) and the elderly comedian.

Kiva is quite an honest character who I warmed to. Her duties as a healer mean that she sees some of the more grizzly sides of prison life. I admired her abilities to want to stay positive and happy, whilst also keeping her steely resolve to stay focused and work towards getting herself out. When she becomes determined to do the Trials by Ordeal, you get to see more of her interactions with those around her and this brings her whole character arc to life. I particularly enjoyed the sections where she worked with herbal remedies as it gave a nerdy, botanical kick!

The Prison setting was quite unique to the book and definitely kept the story interesting. As the plot progresses, we get to visit each area and aspect of the prison which is referenced on the map so for me, the author did a great job at not only utilising this as the main location within the book, but also using the elements and areas of it as a tool to develop and push the story forward. Without going into copious amounts of detail, there was enough world-building to bring Zalindov to life, and even though I’m not adding it to my fictional travel bucket-list in a hurry, it will stay in my mind for quite some time.

The Trials by Ordeal that Kiva puts herself forward for in place of the Rebel Queen, is really the sole magical part of the story. In order to survive the trials and progress towards freedom, challengers ideally need to have an affinity in one of the four elemental areas of magic. It is these trials which also take us to the different prison areas as mentioned above. This was an intriguing part of the plot, if a little predictable at times, but it did heighten the level of drama and tension and added that much needed element of fantasy to the mix.

Now that some big reveals have happened, and based on the outcome of the story ending, I’m not too sure where this book series will go next. Asides from giving out major spoilers about the fates of Kiva, the Rebel Queen and other characters. All of the major parts of what made The Prison Healer that little bit unique, may almost render themselves a bit irrelevant now as we follow down a more traditional fantasy plotline. Nevertheless, I will still be reading the sequels to see how the story pans out – I just hope the follow-ups have the same amount of charm that Zalindov had in this first instalment.

Have you read The Prison Healer yet or is it on your TBR list? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Connect with me here:

Twitter | Goodreads | Book Sloth: @thebiblioshelf |Email: thebiblioshelf@gmail.com

Biblioshelf Musings – Faebound by Saara el-Arifi

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Hey Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musings are about Faebound by Saara el-Arifi. Normally I am such a mood reader, however in April I was taking part in the Magical Readathon so had pre-picked all of my TBR and prompts beforehand. Sometimes when I do this, I almost feel like I’m forcing myself to read something just to tick it off the list, rather than because I wanted to – however, this was definitely not the case with Faebound! I was caught hook, line and sinker from the first few pages! It gave me everything I was craving in a brand-new fantasy and I just had to give it the full 5 stars at the end! Read on to find out more in my spoiler-free review!

Book: Faebound by Saara el-Arifi
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: January 2024
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 392
Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Two elven sisters become imprisoned in the hidden world of the fae where danger, and love, lies in wait. Faebound is the first book in an enchanting new trilogy from the internationally bestselling author of The Final Strife.

A thousand years ago, the world held three beings: fae, elves, and humans. But now the fae and humans exist only in myth and legend, survived by the elves who are trapped in an endless war over the remaining lands.

Yeeran is a colonel in the elven army and has known nothing but a life of violence and hardship. Her sister, Lettle, is a diviner whose magic promises a different future for her and her sister, but the prophecies have yet come to pass.  

When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven Lands, Lettle, fearful for her sister’s life, follows her into the uncharted territory beyond their borders. In the wilderness the sisters encounter the largest obeah they have ever seen. Part leopard, part stag, the obeah’s magic is harnessed to make weapons for the elven war. It is during this hunt that they are confronted with the impossible: a group of fae who take them captive. Imprisoned in a new land, they must navigate the politics of the fae court all while planning their escape.

Now Yeeran and Lettle are fighting a different kind of war: between their loyalty to their elven homeland and the intoxicating world of the fae, between what duty decrees is right, and what their hearts tell them they need.

My Musings

Sometimes, you just come across a book which grabs hold of you from the very first lines – for me Faebound was that book! I haven’t really read many stories about Elves, other than Lord of the Rings so I had a pretty preconceived idea about what I anticipated an elf to be. Saara el-Arifi completely made my perceptions of the elfish shift and I am so here for how she has represented them in this book!

I adored the sisterly relationship between Yeeran and Lettle. The story was a split narrative between their two perspectives. It took me a little time to find my balance between the two, but further into the story their characteristics were so distinctive that I didn’t need the heading at the chapter beginnings to know who I was reading.

As a Colonel, Yeeran is an exceptional warrior – fierce, strong, smart, always ready for a fight and constantly with some kind of battle weapon or armour. I was thoroughly intrigued by her and the military vibes she was giving off. Add into that the Africanesque, desert style surroundings and this presented my reading brain with an aesthetic I couldn’t get enough of.

Lettle on the other hand, is almost a complete antithesis of Yeeran. Whilst Yeeran is all about strength, mettle and fighting – Lettle reads prophecies about the future. She has a more wistful and romantic outlook on life which perfectly complements her sister. Lettle’s strength comes from more than just physicality, it comes from the devotion and loyalty she feels towards those that she loves, and also the conviction of her beliefs and actions.

The plot was pacy and clearly driving towards goals and revelations. It had me turning page after page, and I was so happy when my train was delayed so I could keep reading those extra few pages! The magic style offered a familiarity that I expected with elves and the fae, whilst still bringing in this breath of fresh air about how they use their magic within their environment.

The obeahs were also thoroughly intriguing characters. I’m a little jealous that I don’t have an obeah of my own in all honesty! The role that they play within the story reminds me of the deamons from Philip Pullman’s The Northern Lights. They are characters within their own right and I loved how these personalities intertwined between the lives of the elves and fae.

Political tensions were well-written, without being dull or long-drawn out. We found out all we needed to know and there was still room for a few plot twists and revelations to see how all of the threads were coming together.

When you think of a story about Elves and Fae, you might think that you’ve heard it all before. But Saara el-Arifi has absolutely smashed that threshold with this amazing novel. I devoured every inch of the wild escapist ride it gave me and am now eagerly awaiting the next instalment to find our what on earth is going to happen to my merry band of el-Arfians!

Have you read Faebound yet or is it on your TBR list? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Connect with me here:

Twitter | Goodreads | Book Sloth: @thebiblioshelf |Email: thebiblioshelf@gmail.com

Biblioshelf Musings – The Tortured Poets Department – Part One

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Hola Bibliofriends,

This series of posts if for all of my fellow Swifties out there! You’ve most likely heard of a recent album release called The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift, well there is just so much to unpack from this album that I felt like I needed a place to correlate and collect all of my thoughts together, so here’s my track by track musings and theories.

This will be Part One of several to cover the entire TTPD anthology, (because writing a thought-post about 31 songs is going to make it longer than War and Peace…)… In this block, I’m going to focus on the first eight tracks of the TTPD Anthology album because by the time I got to the end of Florida!!! I realised how long this first bit was! 😂 So many thoughts…!!!!!

I remember setting my alarm for 4.54am the morning TTPD dropped! As I’m not on any streaming services, I initially wasn’t going to purchase the digital album as I knew Taylor normally drops a second version with an added few songs and seeing as I’d already forked out for all 4 vinyl variants and collectors cds, I really didn’t want to screw myself over. However, in all the 4.54am feelings of buzzing excitement and non-awakedness, I ended up downloading it anyway! My first run through was so chaotic and confusing – the thoughts were basically incoherent, I think there was definitely a few tear drops and lots of shocked gasps. Then, the confusion really hit home that the context of the album was way off what I had actually been anticipating!

Fortnight ft. Post Malone – The way this song kicks off the whole album… what a statement! From the final line of the Midnights album, ‘Have they come to take me away?’ to ‘I was supposed to be sent away, but they forgot to come and get me…’ – that is really setting up the state of mind for these next 30 tracks and I am here for it. Not to mention her voice sounds so incredibly smoky and ethereal. It almost has a dirge-like quality which complements the black and white vibes from the music video. There’s some kind of bittersweet paradox about telling someone that you love them, yet they’re ruining your life. I think Post Malone’s voice harmonises really well with Taylor’s and I get totally swept up in the catchiness of it all. I’m not terribly sure what to think of the three Posts theory, whether I quite buy into that analogy but I did love the little features from former Dead Poets Society members Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, that sneaky black dog, the Story of Us and the Style references.
Favourite Lines:
I love you, it’s ruining my life
Your wife waters flowers, I wanna kill her
I took the miracle move on drug, the effects were temporary

The Tortured Poets Department – I can’t deny that I’m a little in love with the 80s vibe of this intro. Upon first listening I was so prepared for a J track to link to The Tortured Man Club, but then the second verse made me swiftly shift my theories – and it was at this part that my brain began getting totally confused in the odyssey of who’s who during this anthology. Nevertheless, TTPD is another track that I can’t help but sing out loud. I love the Patti Smith and Dylan Thomas references too, as well as branding themselves ‘modern idiots’ – I feel like I can see Taylor actually saying it! The bridge at the end with the ring imagery… – oh my, my heart was also exploding at this part, but definitely not for the same reasons as in the song!
Favourite Lines:
You left your typewriter at my apartment, straight from the Tortured Poets Department

My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys – The ‘oh, oh’ and elongated ‘oys’ in this are insane! This track immediately grabbed me. The analogy of being a discarded toy is so sad and is written in such an exquisite detail throughout this whole song, I’m a little gutted that it wasn’t actually on the Barbie soundtrack. There’s a real sense of acceptance and determination to get her guy back, especially with the edginess at the start of the second verse and the ‘litany of reasons why’. I can’t help but think back to cardigan from folklore when she feels like ‘an old cardigan under someone’s bed’ and now here she is, being the toy that got left behind. The fact she thinks fixing herself is going to make him miss her is devastating. When Pixar wrote this title over a picture of Sid from Toy Story… absolute class!
Favourite Lines:
There was a litany of reasons why we could’ve playеd for keeps this time, I know I’m just repeating mysеlf
+ the entire outro

Down Bad – This is one of those songs that everyone was immediately buzzing about and admittedly, I wasn’t all that fussed by it on my first few run throughs of the album. As a bit of a potty-mouth, I was totally here for all of the F-bombs, but I think I was in my confused stage of realisation that she clearly had way deeper emotions for someone than those of us on the outside ever really saw or knew about. Now I’ve sat with the song for countless replays, it has massively grown on me and has become such a mood! It’s like a tragic pit of black despair in musical form with a side of passive stubbornness – what’s the point of it all?! The way she cannot bring herself to say the word ‘over’ and the way that she sings ‘Cause f*ck it I was in love’ at the end of the bridge make my heart bleed. I have to train myself not to play this too late into my car journey to school so it gets stuck in my head. It really wouldn’t go down too well with the parents if I kept singing ‘f*ck it if I can’t have him’ around the classroom with the kids…
Favourite Lines:
For a moment I knew cosmic love, now I’m down bad crying at the gym
How dare you say that it’s—-

So Long, London – As soon as the track titles were released and we saw this was the Track 5 – I think we all knew then, that this one was going to cut deep. The intro sounds like the choral music that you expect to hear at Westminster Abbey, which is one of London’s most famous landmarks. It’s probably my favourite intro of the whole album and was naturally likened to wedding bells… Even though this song has been added to the ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ Playlist on Apple Music to signify ‘acceptance’, for me this song really reflects the entirety of the whole five stages of grief that have been associated with this album even prior to its release. There’s the denial of seeing the ‘fairy lights in the mist’ and carrying ‘the weight of the rift’, then comes the anger at being pissed off about wasted youth and being left at the house by (Hampstead) Heath. The bridge brings about bargaining as she has to explain why she ‘abandoned the ship’ and found it hard to breathe. Depression comes from the third verse where she painfully declares that she ‘died on the altar waitin’ for the proof’ and is ‘mad as hell’ because she loved the life that she’d built there. Finally we get that shattering ending of acceptance when she signs off by realising she’s not the one, it won’t out and ‘(he)’ll find someone’. I mean – what a farewell message! This song has so much to unpack and I feel like Taylor is almost saying farewell to the entirety of the past 7-8 years of her life and the link she has to London. Melancholia to the core!
Favourite Lines:
You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waitin’ for the proof, You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days, And I’m just getting color back into my face, I’m just mad as hell ’cause I loved this place

But Daddy I Love Him – OMG my love for this song is unreal!!! This is my carpool karaoke track! On first listen, I thought is was so random and couldn’t pinpoint a context for the song at all. Fastforward to the almost 24/7 listenathon this album is having in my ears and this song… It ate! I heard every single word. I dance around my kitchen to this song with a glass of wine in hand. It’s a little prairie town scandal and I am living for the drama! The way she shuts down all those ‘judgemental creeps’ who dare to think they’re allowed to impose an opinion on who she decides to fall in love with… I mean yes, come April 2023 – we all had thoughts, but there’s a difference to spilling the tea with your swiftie friends away from the public world of the internet, to writing an open letter to someone’s mother and preaching over social media… 🤯 She explained this so magnificently that I belt out the post-chorus and the bridge with beaming pride. When I finally get around to putting all the tracks off this Anthology in favourite order, expect this one to be right up there at the top!
Favourite Lines: All the lines. Every. Damn. One. 🙏

Fresh Out the Slammer – This one is definitely a grower on me. That little line, ‘fresh out the slammer, oh’ – occasionally I will sing that line randomly in other songs across the anthology, it’s too catchy! The imagery of being trapped in a dead relationship that you compare it to a prison is haunting, but then so is the forswearing of being ‘at the starting line’ (another MH link?), running to someone new and vowing not to lose them again. With each new listen of this track, I seem to pick up parallels to other songs from midnights and folklore and I love a track can give me so many layers.
Favourite Lines:
Years of labor, locks and ceilings, In the shade of how he was feelin’
All those nights you kept me going, swirled you into all of my poems

Florida!!! ft. Florence + the Machine – For the purpose of transparency, Florence and Taylor are my two GOATs. I have been clowning for this collab ever since I saw Florence Welch post a story on her insta back in 2020 saying that she loved the key change at 2:12 of exile from folklore. Then there was that sneaky post of her in the background of the pic of Taylor and Denise Welch… then she was spotted coming out of the studio in May from a Taylor event which many had rumoured to be a listening party for the Speak Now TV release. From this point, I was manifesting so hard for the collab that when Florida!!! was announced I bounced around the room like Tigger on acid. The song itself I love! Florence’s verse about the hurricane with her name that actually links to the real Hurricane Florence that hit the US in 2018… being haunted and drunk with her ghosts in the bathroom! This is the Florence that I know and ADORE. I am convinced that Emily Jean Stone and her ‘oddities’ come in the form of her singing the part of the song where “Love left me like this and I don’t want to exist, So take me to Florida” is sung… If it isn’t that, then it must be some kind of storyline contribution. What else could those damn oddities be? I’m so intrigued!
Favourite Lines:
Well, me and my ghosts, wе had a hell of a time, Yes, I’m hauntеd, but I’m feeling just fine
So I did my best to lay to rest, All of the bodies that have ever been on my body, And in my mind, they sink into the swamp, Is that a bad thing to say in a song?
At least the dolls are beautiful, fuck me up, Florida
What a crash, what a rush, fuck me up, Florida

And I’m done… for now! Stay tuned for Part 2 where we start with Guilty as Sin? 👀 👀 👀

Have you listened to TTPD yet, what thoughts do you have on the first 8 tracks? Have you got an album favourite yet? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

🤍 [Author’s note: I am a huge Taylor fan and cannot wait to be singing loudly (not screaming) along to all 3 and a half hours of songs at Wembley in August with other swifties. However, I’m well aware that Taylor is also a person just like the rest of us. Songwriting is her own way of communicating her version of events and experiences, therefore we only have the side of the story she wants us to know about. I don’t believe in hating on people over the internet and to be honest her dating life is not really anybody’s business but hers. I’ve tried to keep my personal feelings about certain individuals out of this and just stick to my thoughts of where these songs may have come from. As a former English Literature and History student, breaking down literature, language and symbolism is almost what I’ve been raised to do. Analysing lyrics to try and identify deeper meaning, especially coming from an artist who likes to leave us hidden easter eggs everywhere is seemingly natural. Yes all of these songs are about Taylor first and foremost rather than some guy, but they’re also the message that Taylor wants us to hear and know about, therefore we are going to theorise about almost every line and parallel we can draw from this mastermind’s discography – and boy what a gift we have been given in TTPD! And as we know all too well, theories are all that we can have – they regularly fall into the categories of ‘clowning‘ and ‘delulu‘ so none of this swiftie’s random musings here should be taken as anything other than just that!] 🤍

Magical Readathon 2024 – Wrap Post

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Hey Bibliofirends,

April is over, as is the first part of the Magical Readathon challenge for 2024! This readathon is so vast and wide ranging that I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface of the entirety of it, however I’m actually feeling quite OK with just keeping it as an April and August reading quest for myself. I’m guilty of piling heaps of pressure on to complete all of the elements, and usually always end up biting off more than I can chew! I probably would have been a little more successful in my goal had The Tortured Poets Department not come out, however there is no way I am blaming Taylor Swift for distracting me from my reading when she drops a 31-track album that is quickly becoming my favourite!

The Magical Readathon which is hosted by the fabulous G @bookroast! You can find out more information about the Readathon in general, my created character Nárendîl Damenor, chosen career paths and my monthly TBR in my initial TBR post here.

The End Goal

Since my mid-point review, I knew I was pretty much guaranteed to complete one of the six Callings I was aiming for – and I did! I managed to complete the four reading prompts required for the Aeldia Excavationist Calling and I am pretty chuffed about that as it was one of the newer ones. The key traits of being patient, detail orientated, analytical and curious seem to call upon my own natural strengths anyway and I am such a big fan of archaeology – it seemed like the most fitting calling of them all for me to be honest!

Completed Prompts and Books

✅ Animal Studies – A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
✅ Conjuration – Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
✅ Elemental Studies – Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
✅ Inscription – Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura
✅ Lore – Reread The Legend of Dia
✅ Restoration – Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

The Autumn Equinox Challenge

In August for the Autumn Equinox part of the readathon, my character Nárendîl Damenor is going to have to achieve a D in Animal Studies and a Q in Restoration. This means completing 5 books which is definitely do-able in August and I’m so excited to see what the prompts are for these.

I haven’t really accessed the Guild parts of the Readathon just yet, perhaps that can be something I look into during August! Anyways, that’s all for Part One at least!

Have you taken part in the Spring Equinox part of the Magical Readathon? Did you manage to achieve your chosen calling this month? Feel free to drop me a comment and let me know where your character is headed next and what you’re looking forward to from the Autumn Equinox!

T xx

The Wrap – April 2024

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Howdy Bibliofriends!

Where on earth has April gone? I feel like the last few weeks have been such a whirlwind and May is literally here and we’re barreling towards the mid point of the whole year…!! 🤯 The first half of my month was so very productive, however this last part has kind of fallen to sh*t in terms of my reading and blogging. More on that below!!

Life Update

Initially April was fabulous because I was on my Easter holidays from school. My partner and I got to visit my parents down in Cornwall and spend some time near the sea – it was blissful. We visited Tintagel castle and I became very obsessed with Arthurian legends. We also took a trip to an aquarium in Plymouth. We seem to be cursed with our aquarium visits as the last two that we have visited, we’ve both had to leave because the fire alarm was going off – thankfully we still got to go back in and see all of the sharks and big fish. After returning from Cornwall, we did one of our 2024 day trip adventures and went to Cardiff on the train. We took a tour around Cardiff Castle and visited an amazing second-hand bookshop! I talked a little about this in my mid-month Magical Readathon review.

Then fast forward to the return to school and the absences have been bonkers, we’re all picking up extra lessons and my parallel teacher is currently on medical leave so I’m doing my best to hold up a whole year group – thankfully I have a great team of helpful colleagues who are all pitching in too.

There is another reason for the lack or productiveness on my reading and blogging part – but I thought I’d save that for the music section! 😉

The rest of this Wrap Post follows my usual format (Past Reads, Current Reads, Films/TV, Music) so feel free to skip any irrelevant parts!

What I’ve Been Reading in April

The first half of April was incredibly productive with my participation in the Magical Readathon. It definitely helped me tick quite a few books off the list!

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved the eerie atmosphere surrounding Hiraeth Manor and the way the surrounding waters, coastline and mists were almost swallowing up the land. The secrets surrounding the Angharad book were also mystically intertwined to the story and I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A murder-mystery set on a ship… loved it! Everything about Ganymedes Piscero’s character was so endearing. I really bought into the whole blessings part of the storyline and trying to work out not just whodunnit, but also the unique blessings of each of the individuals. The animal references and likelihoods were also cleverly crafted.

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wow didn’t I just devour this book! From the setting, to the characters, to the idea of magic and war – this book had everything I was craving in a magical escapade. I also loved this representation of elves and fae too as my brain automatically puts them in LOTR or ACOTAR vibes so it was nice to see this varied representation.

Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Looking back on this I actually want to downgrade my original rating a little as I feel 3* was too generous. I went into this hoping for a bit of a Tomb Raider style, archeologically driven storyline but about 90% of the story was centred around the character relationship and the smut. It was far too much into the romance box for my liking and I have to admit that I speed read it towards the end.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Without spoilers… I had to reread the final two chapters again because I could not believe what I had read and if I had read it correctly. I still can’t tbh! I have no idea how this story can possibly unfold now… My mind is reeling but I am so irrevocably in love with this series!

#CurrentlyReading

I’m going to take it a little easier in May at deciding what to read. I posted a Top Ten Tuesday a couple of weeks ago about which books are kind of in the starting line, but after being so driven with the Magical Readathon, I just want to let my bookish whims roam free.

I’m currently reading The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni, as well as a non-fiction book about horse racing called The Jumping Game by Henrietta Knight. On audiobook, I’m on A Dance With Dragons to finish off the Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

What I’ve Been Watching

As part of a Film Club, we’re often at the Cinema at least once a week so I watch a lot of movies. I’ve been using the app Letterboxd to track what I’ve seen and give them rating. If you’re on the app and want a new follower be sure to add me! My profile name is: tillyj

I finally finished Beef! And watched quite a bit of other stuff…

Movies/TV, I’ve seen:

  • Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Cinema) – I freakin’ love Godzilla! This movie was action-packed, and we saw it in IMAX so the images and sounds were on-point! One of my favourite films of this year so far!
  • Seize Them! (Cinema) – I liked that this was a British medieval-style comedy. Some of it was funny and had me laughing, but it was also a bit of an average watch.
  • Monkey Man (Cinema) – Don’t get me wrong, although this film is gory, violent and quite sad – the storytelling was brilliantly and poignantly done. Films in this style don’t usual capture my attention but the references to Hanuman and Indian mythology throughout sucked me right in.
  • Scoop (Netflix) – Gillian Anderson and Rufus Sewell as Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew were phenomenal castings! They really got into the depths of their characters and for some strange reason it (almost) made me want to watch the original interview again!
  • Civil War (Cinema) – Wow, oh wow do you have to see this movie! I was blown away and gave it 4.5*! Although you might think this is about war, and whilst it does contain highly graphic depictions of war brutality, the underlying story is about the press photographers on the front line and the dangers they go to just to get their pictures and report the news. Kirsten Dunst was exquisite in her role and did so well at playing the emotionally detached, yet emotionally vulnerable journalist. Spectacular!
  • Back to Black (Cinema) – Marisa Abela did such a stellar job at taking on the role of Amy Winehouse. She showcased everything and sounded so hauntingly like the real Amy without just being pegged as a tribute act. I know there have been plenty of dividing opinions about it, but what I took away from the film was just how deeply one person could feel and the tragic circumstances of how the addictions to whatever love, alcohol or drugs affected her life.
  • Abigail (Cinema) – I can’t help but think of Matilda every time I see Alisha Weir in a film. That being said, she was fantastic as a scary-ass ballerina in this film. It was spooky but funny at the same time and the bloodiness of it all by the end had me squirming in my seat.
  • Challengers (Cinema) – There is something so brilliant in the way this film tells you a story about the lives of three tennis players and then leaves you reeling about how the tennis is almost the fourth character in the whole story. Very cleverly done and engaging!
  • Baby Reindeer (Netflix) – I literally had no idea where this was going. This was dark, twisty yet had some comedic elements at the same time… The fact that it is genuinely a true story and acted by the person who wrote it and lived through it is brilliant. A story I won’t forget in a while that’s for sure!
  • Lost in Translation (Netflix) – This is one of those films where I couldn’t quite decipher what the plot was supposed to be. I was waiting for some major event or storyline to reveal itself but it just appears to be one of those films which follows the ins and outs of a couple of characters and their major life crisis for a couple of hours. I don’t think it’s quite my type of movie!
  • Beef (Netflix) – I finally finished it – the ending two episodes ramped it right up! I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing on my screen at one point (sliding doors – iykyk…!) I can’t help but feel like the characters got what they deserved even after all of the absurdity that it started with a honked horn and a little bit of road rage!

Music

Y’all know this is going to be about The Tortured Poets Department right??? This is the entire reason my productivity has hit the floor and I haven’t read a book or written that many blog posts since mid-April. I have been listening to this album non-stop…. I think it may dethrone Folklore as my favourite TS album! It has grown and grown and grown on me with every listen. I love it, and it’s ruining my bookish life! I’m gathering a post together about my album thoughts – 31 songs is a lot to get your head around so I don’t really want to say too much else about it here, but know that the musings are definitely coming! 🤍🖤

And that’s a wrap! How was your April? Did you have a productive month? I’m really hoping I get my reading groove back this month, especially after my little book buying splurge earlier in April. What are you all looking forward to reading in May?

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

Quarter Year Crisis Book Tag

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Hey Bibliofriends,

I’ve been a little MIA recently due to a certain artist releasing a double album (🤯), with a week’s worth of easter-egg dropping promo before it to boot. Needless to say my brain has been a little bit wrapped up in The Tortured Poets Department and therefore the reading and blogging have been slightly lacking. I have so many thoughts…!

Anyway… I found this Quarter Crisis Book Tag over on Lauren’s blog Little Bit of All That and the prompts were brilliantly centred around reviewing reading habits so far in 2024 that I thought it was a good way to remotivate me and bring me back into the zone! The original tag creator is Roisin’s Reading over at YouTube. I know we’re technically past the quarter point of the year, but I figure we’re close enough to it that this still counts!

How many books have you read so far?

So far in 2024 I have read 24 books. I’m 5 books ahead of schedule to reach my target of 65 by the time 2025 rolls around. April has been quite a successful month for me as I’ve been taking part in the Magical Readathon which you can read more about here and check out my mid-point review of that challenge as well. I’ve got 3 books on the go currently which I’m hoping to complete by the time April is done, however I fear that my audiobook is going to get a little sidelined for the rest of this month.

Have you found a book that you think might be a 2024 favourite?

Having read Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and House of Flame and Shadow in 2024 – they’re going to be very high up on my list. One book I was surprised to love as much as I did was Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. I gobbled up in in about two days! Something about the setting, characters and writing style just resonated with me and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Any least favourite book of the year?

It makes me a teeny bit sad to say this but so far, it’s either going to A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft (review here) or Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura. Although I haven’t managed to get around to reviewing ROTLH yet, I went in it for the archaeology and history but it turns out it was about 10% that and 90% smut… not quite what I had anticipated.

Most read genre?

Fantasy for the win here! It makes up a majority of my reading to be honest. Although I have also read Yellowface which is contemporary fiction, a Taylor Swift bio and I’m currently reading a non-fiction book about horseracing just to ensure that there is some variety in my reading diet!

A book that surprised me?

The Brothers Hawthorne surprised me as I didn’t think I would like this spin-off / continuation (whatever you want to call it!) after the main trilogy had ended. I am so glad I picked it up at the start of the year because it was spectacular! You can read my review here. I guess you could also say I was surprised by how much I took to the Game of Thrones audiobooks. It’s really got me back into the series and I’m currently on the final one!

A book that has come out in 2024 that I haven’t yet read?

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo has been sat tempting me on my shelf, along with A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal. They’ll most certainly be conquered within 2024 – that’s a guarantee!

One goal you made that you’re succeeding at?

Well I’m on track with my 2024 reading goal, but I’m also posting ‘quite’ regular content on my blog which was a mission I kind of rejuvenated a few months back. I’d neglected it for well over a year (maybe even two!) however, my life has recently balanced itself so I’ve been able to find time to write posts and enjoy making content again!

One goal that you need to focus on?

I find that blogging is almost two-parted. There’s the part where you churn out all of your posts and content, but then there’s the other part where you immerse yourself and engage in the community around you. I think that’s the part I need to focus on now, visiting other people’s blogs rather than focusing on my own. I also need to write constant reminders to myself to not leave it too long before actually writing a review of the books that I’ve recently read and just ploughing into the next read! 😂

Quarterly Year Crisis Book Tag is officially wrapped. What books have surprised you so far this year? Have you kept on top of your reading goals or do you have a specific goal you wish you could focus on more? Feel free to consider yourself tagged if you’d love to have your own go at this tag! As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Magical Readathon 2024 – Mid-Point Update

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Hey Bibliofirends,

Can you believe we are halfway through April already?! It definitely feels like a ‘blink and you’ve missed it’ one. This month, I decided to do the Magical Readathon which is hosted by the fabulous G @bookroast! You can find out more information about the Readathon in general, my created character Nárendîl Damenor, chosen career paths and my monthly TBR in my previous blog post here.

Current Progress

I feel a bit like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with trying to complete 13 prompts and books, however the challenge has definitely motivated me to try and keep up my reading pace. I’ve completed 5 out of the 13 prompts so far which is almost halfway through. Returning to work today is obviously going to slow my progress so for the remainder of the month I’m honing down on the career paths which I want to take the most.

Completed Prompts and Books

✅ Animal Studies – A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
✅ Conjuration – Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
✅ Elemental Studies – Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
✅ Inscription – Raiders of the Lost Heart by Jo Segura
✅ Lore – Reread The Legend of Dia

The next half…

Out of the 6 Career Paths I wanted to take, they’re still all open to me as I’ve managed to complete at least one prompt in each one. I’ve kind of ordered my remaining TBR list in the likelihood of what is going to be achievable over the next couple of weeks and which career paths are the most appealing.

Aeldia Excavationist is my most likely path as I only have to complete the Restoration prompt for that career and my book pick is Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros – I’m not going to be able to stay away from that one for too long!

Abjurer and Master of Elements are the two most likely runners up. I only have to complete my audiobook of A Dance of Dragons by George R.R. Martin to finish all of the Abjurer prompts and for Master of Elements there is, Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros, Zhara by S. Jae-Jones and The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni to go…

Paths that may fall by the wayside and are being ruled out are: Star Whisperer, Craftsmage and Archmage.

That’s where my character Nárendîl Damenor is headed next on their first trip into Aeldia and Orilium! Are you taking part in the Magical Readathon this year? Feel free to drop me a comment and let me know your career paths or TBR lists! Wish me luck in the next half, I think I’m gonna need it!!

T xx

Easter Holiday Book Haul

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends!

Today marks the last day of my Easter holiday before the Trinity Term starts tomorrow! I cannot believe we are entering the final term of the year already. I’ve had an incredibly relaxing break and got to spend a lot of it with my partner who also took some time off work. We travelled to see my parents who live in Cornwall and also did some day trips around our local area and took a mini train adventure to Cardiff.

With all of that adventuring there was plenty of secondhand book shopping to be done and it’s fair to say that I had myself a little binge and bought 8 books! Here are my purchases!

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

After saying in a previous blog post that I probably wasn’t going to read this before the film (with Blake Lively in it) comes out, I may have caved in and bought a copy. It was only £3 and the spine is still in perfect tact!

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Turns out I’ve had this on my TBR list on Goodreads since 2020! I don’t know why I never forked out for a brand new book, but I was always on the quest to find a secondhand copy. Seeing it on the top shelf of one of my favourite second-hand bookshops earlier this week was like a treasure hunting dream come true!

Temeraire by Naomi Novik

Whilst in Cardiff, we found this fabulous bookshop called Troutmark Books down one of the tiny shopping arcades. If felt like they had miles of books, I could barely see the top shelves, let alone attempt to reach them. I’ve heard that the Temeraire series is supposed to be pretty excellent and after my recent enjoyment of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon film, what better time to start reading it!

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Funny story, I also bought this copy from Troutmark Books in Cardiff, but it felt a little like a forced buy. A few days earlier I had bought ‘One Dark Throne’ back in a charity shop and thought that that was the first book in the series (the title being ‘one’ and all…!). I couldn’t remember which Kendare Blake book I had actually purchased either! Picture me sat on the floor of a secondhand bookshop, amidst the stacks, trying desperately to get enough signal on my phone to load Goodreads and discover the order of the series – reader, I bought Three Dark Crowns anyway! Luckily for me I now own books 1 & 2 in the series! 😂🙈

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

See the above comment for this one! I can’t believe I purchased the sequel before the first instalment in the series but thankfully a quaint little bookshop in a ‘technically’ different country came to my rescue!

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

I have been intrigued by the premise of this story ever since the hardback came out in 2022 and it won the Book Prize. It reminds me of the type of magical realism Salman Rushdie writes about. My secondhand copy is a little battered and definitely well-read, however for the bargain price of 30p I knew that it was destined to be mine!

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

This is not my typical genre but when I was at University I got a First for a paper I wrote all about the d’Este family and the duchy of Ferrara in Italy which this novel is about. Obviously my purchase had nothing to do with the gorgeous cover either…! 👀

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Again not something of my typical genre, but I have heard such amazing things about this writer and this book so I figured now was the perfect time to start! I haven’t seen the Hulu series yet either so I’m going to be completely unspoiled!

That’s my bargain book haul – 8 books for the total price of £18.10! Obviously I have absolutely nowhere to put these having rearranged my shelves once this month already – eek! Have you read any of these? What books have you been buying this month? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Happy Scrabble Day!

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Hey Bibliofriends,

Writing this blog has introduced me to a whole range of new knowledge and information including the fact that today, April 13th, is National Scrabble Day! The popular word game Scrabble was invented by Alfred Mosher Butts in 1938. Alfred was born on April 13th 1899, hence why we celebrate Scrabble on this day.

As a lover of board games and etymology, it’s no surprise that Scrabble is one of my favourite board games. We haven’t played in a long time, namely because the last time my mother seemed to think she could take up to 30 minutes to decide what her next word was going to be…! 🤨

Nevertheless, in honour of National Scrabble Day, here are 10 of my favourite weird and wonderful words to spell with Scrabble tiles!

1) bedazzles = 30 points
Any kind of references to dazzling and sparkly things is going to make me happy. Bedazzles will score you a minimum of 30 points due to its double z but could net you a whopping score if combined with a triple letter or word tile.

2) mozzarella = 30 points
Following the zz theme, the cheese lover in me is always seeking ways to try and create this word!

3) queue = 14 points
We were always on the lookout for the ‘qu’ combination and the word queue was a popular choice to get rid of it!

4) jiffy = 21 points
“In a jiffy!” was always something that my Nan says when my Grandad is constantly pestering her for things! It seems to be a very British phrase and I love the sound of the word!

5) meadow = 12 points
Not necessarily a highscoring word, however meadow is one of my all time favourite words and I find it a useful way of using an ‘m’ and a ‘w’ tile together.

6) gherkins = 16 points
I used to hate gherkins as a child and would pick them out of any burger that they came in! Now my adult tastebuds have developed, I kind of love their pickly goodness!

7) jellyfish = 25 points
So the likelihood of acquiring all of these tiles is pretty slim but it’s still quite a cool challenge to try and lay it down.

8) quizzify = 41 points
Anything to do with quizzes, riddles and puzzles and I am there!!

9) bookish = 16 points
Come on, there had to be a little bookish word love in here too!

10) confuddle = 16 points
Hopefully you’ll get to confuddle your opponents with this whacky word!

Ten totally random Scrabble words that I love trying to create when playing! Happy Scrabble Day to those who celebrate! What words do you play? Have fun creating those words! As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx