Tag: bookish

Biblioshelf Musings – The Violent Season by Sara Walters

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Hey Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musings are about The Violent Season by Sara Walters. I first heard about this book through the SourceBooks Fire newsletter. They included a brief sampler and after reading the blurb and the first chapter or so I requested an eARC through Netgalley which was thankfully approved!
Huge thanks to NetGalley, Sara Walters and the publishers SourceBooks Fire for providing me with a complimentary e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Book: The Violent Season by Sara Walters
Genre: YA / Thriller
Publication Date: October 5th 2021
Publisher: SourceBooks Fire
Pages: 320
Rating: 📚📚📚📖

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

An unputdownable debut about a town marred by violence, a girl ruined by grief, and the harsh reality about what makes people decide to hurt each other. The Violent Season is a searing, unforgettable, and thrilling novel that belongs on shelf with Sadie and Girl in Pieces.

Every November, the people in Wolf Ridge are overwhelmed with a hunger for violence–at least that’s the town rumor. Last fall Wyatt Green’s mother was brutally murdered, convincing Wyatt that this yearning isn’t morbid urban legend, but rather a palpable force infecting her neighbors.

This year, Wyatt fears the call of violence has spread to her best friend Cash–who also happens to be the guy she can’t stop wanting no matter how much he hurts her. At the same time, she’s drawn to Cash’s nemesis Porter, now that they’re partners on an ambitious project for lit class. When Wyatt pulls away from Cash, and spends more time with Porter, she learns secrets about both of them she can’t forget.

And as the truth about her mother’s death begins to emerge from the shadows, Wyatt is faced with a series of hard realities about the people she trusts the most, rethinking everything she believes about what makes people decide to hurt each other.

My Musings

When I first heard about this book, it sounded like an eclectic mix of The Purge mixed with a science-fiction worthy violence-virus which infected a town each November leaving a lot of devastation in it’s wake. In truth, the main focus of this book is really about the emotions and trauma we feel when we experience pain, hurt and suffering at the hands of the people we love, or even ourselves.

This novel definitely earns it’s place amongst the thriller section of the YA genre. We are led on a spiral of events and revelations which keep twisting and turning as the novel progresses. I kept coming up with little theories about who did what or which characters I could trust but then as the plot got deeper I found myself constantly changing my mind! The pace kept me on my toes right up until the very final pages and the ending left me with with a haunting sense of foreboding which is perfectly in-keeping with the upcoming spooky season.

As the leading character, the story is told through Wyatt’s perspective and everything that happens in the story we witness simultaneously through her eyes, emotions and actions. This made her narrative particularly powerful to me as the pain and suffering she experiences comes across so raw, brutal and honest. Some of the things that her character went through made me feel for her and at times I just had to stop and think about how some of these things are the harsh reality of life for people all over the world.

In places, you experience the flip-flopping of Wyatt’s personas – from that tough-girl stance of self-belief and personal empowerment, to the crippling feelings of anxiety and doubt that you put on yourself when you’re facing inner turmoil. Walters’ writing really communicated those feelings of suffering strongly enough to make me consciously feel them.

In some ways, Wyatt almost takes on the role of unreliable narrator too, which may seem odd given that I’ve just described her perspective as brutally honest – however… Wyatt’s recollection of her Mother’s death is hazy and some parts of it have been blocked out of her mind completely. As she gradually begins to remember more and and reconnect those lost memories, we also start to find out how she genuinely believes that there is some strange and mysterious sickness causing the season of violence each November. On the one hand you want to believe her, but then on the other hand – some part of you starts to doubt whether she’s not just creating a false narrative because she can’t bear the actual reality of the truth. The depth of Wyatt’s character is so wide that I think it’s the part of this book that I liked the most.

The relationship between Wyatt and Cash takes many turns during the course of the plot. I feel it’s safe to say that this is an extremely harmful relationship which comes with several trigger warnings. This is countered slightly through Wyatt’s reconnection with Porter who, although has secrets of his own, forms as the counter to Cash.

The Violent Season is a powerful standalone thriller which transforms an urban legend into the harrowing reality of just how deeply grief, trauma and violence can affect a person, especially when it is dealt out by the ones we love the most.

Why Should I Read This?

For a slightly unreliable yet brutally honest main character who transports you from her deepest pit of pain to a place of self-love and empowerment.
For the nod to Great Gatsby in the middle of the book.
For an interesting concept of how violence can be construed as a sickness.

Read a sampler:

You can read an excerpt of this book here: https://read.sourcebooks.com/fire-a-violent-season-excerpt

Find out more about this book here:

Amazon | Waterstones | Goodreads | Author’s Website

Connect with me here:

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

#SixforSunday – Favourite Books by Non-White Authors

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends!

October is bringing us a brand new theme for Six for Sunday and this month is all about Celebrating Diverse Voices to tie in with Black History Month in the UK.

Our first prompt is to discuss our favourite books by black authors. This year I’ve been actively trying to read more diversely and I’m going to be totally honest here – the thought of upsetting or disrespecting someone’s heritage completely frightens me. I’m reluctant to refer to someone as black if they prefer to identify themselves differently and it would horrify me to misrepresent somebody; that’s never, ever an intention of mine. So with that in mind and in the hope of celebrating all diverse voices, I’m slightly shifting this prompt to discuss my favourite 2021 reads from writers who are not white.

For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot. October’s theme is ‘Celebrating Diverse Voices’. 

Favourite Books by People of Colour

Any hyperlinks below take you to some of my reviews for the above reads!

  1. The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
  2. Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
  3. Can You Sign My Tentacle? by Brandon O’Brien
  4. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  5. Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
  6. Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap [Review to come soon]

As always, leave your links below to your own posts or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

The Wrap – September 2021

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Howdy Bibliofriends!

September definitely felt like a ‘blink and you’ll miss it moment’ – seriously where has that month gone?! Although the pace was fast, looking back on it there were actually so many things that happened: the return of the Magical Readathon, starting my new job at a new school and our first stable yard Open Day (post-pandemic restrictions). Overall, this September seems to be the most positive month I’ve had in ages filled with lots of wonderful times! ☺️

We’re off to see the James Bond film tonight and I’m so excited!! I also have a new Audible subscription so please send recs of audiobooks as I’m totally procrastinating on what to get with my 2 free credits – HELP! 😂🙈

Life Update

Starting at my new school has been so wonderful and such a breath of fresh air after all of the work related problems from the past couple of years. I am actually loving my job again and it’s brought about a whole new energy which I’ve really been missing. Even friends have commented and said I seem like a much more positive person nowadays! 😂 I guess it’s pretty amazing what a change of scenery and a reduction of toxicity can do for your personality!

For the first time in about two years we were able to hold our annual Open Day at the stable yard I’m a part of. It was so nice to have visitors around the yard again and show them our fabulous horses and facilities. So far, this is our best season yet as we’ve had more winners already than ever before with the biggest part of the jumps racing season still ahead of us. The good vibes are in full flow at the minute, long may it continue!

I was so happy to see the return of the Magical Readathon hosted by Book Roast! I loved it back in it’s HP form but G has really pulled out all of the stops to make this bigger, better and more unique than ever before. You can read my original TBR below or scroll down to the What I’ve Been Reading section to find out more!

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

What I’ve Been Reading

Having a readathon definitely helps my drive and determination to try and plough through the books – I think is probably my best reading month of the year so far. Despite only needing to fulfil two prompts to ‘pass’ the readathon, I always try to pick something for every prompt just in case I change my mind on the book I want to read, I’m such a mood reader at times! I’m going to write a proper wrap post for the Magical Readathon soon to go back over the prompts and challenges etc. but for now, here’s what I read in September:

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was so much fun and the perfect ‘end of school holidays’ distraction that I needed!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I finally started the Percy Jackson series! Greek mythology is one of my favourites so I can’t believe it took me this long to get around to it. I loved the way Riordan blended ancient Gods and contemporary worlds together. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It took me ages to finish this behemoth of an audiobook (clocking in at 19hrs long) and I’ve decided audio is definitely the way forward for me in terms of reading more of Murakami’s works. I much preferred Kafka to The Wind Up Bird Chronicle as I think I had a bit more of an understanding as to what was actually happening! Nakata’s character was adorable and the loved the speculative, magical-realism element the book had.

The Violent Season by Sara Walters (eARC)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Violent Season comes out into the world next week! I was fortunate to get an eARC of it via Netgalley. The story revolves around a sleepy little town called Wolf Ridge where every November a strange sickness takes over the town’s residents and it turns into the season of violence (hence the title). I thought it would have paranormal / The Purge style vibes but this wasn’t quite the case. It was still an enjoyable read though. Review to come next week!

You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I think this was probably my favourite read of the whole month! I listened to it on audio with narration by Julia Whelan and it had me both laughing and crying at different points! Sometimes a book just comes along for you at the right time and it becomes everything you needed in that moment – You and Me on Vacation was exactly that. I’m turning into such a fan of Emily Henry’s writing, she creates some endearing characters and storylines. You can check out my spoiler-free review here.

Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Never Have I Ever is a short story collection from Isabel Yap and is based on Filipino folktales, myths and legends. I first came across the book on the Book Riot SFF Yeah! podcast and remember having to wait weeks for it to arrive from Bookshop.org as it had to be ordered direct from the supplier. I’ve always been intrigued by mythologies and tales from different cultures. Yap has a superb writing style which mixes threads from fantasy, speculative and magical-realism genres with contemporary vibes for modern readers. It’s a remarkable anthology and definitely got me in the spooky Halloween spirit!

#CurrentlyReading

As it was only £4.99, I completely caved and purchased the audiobook of Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer. I was determined not to continue anything to do with the Twilight series as I read it so long ago but curiosity (and my love of bargains!) got the better of me! I can’t believe it’s over 24 hours long and I must confess that I’ve had to crank the speed up to 1.5x because Edward’s narration is a little drawn out in places. I’m loving the background into the Cullen family so far.

In a bid to try and ‘read it before you see it’ I’ve recently started Dune by Frank Herbert in the hope I can finish it before the film comes out in cinemas later this month. At over 500 pages and tilted more into the Sci-Fi part of the SFF genre, I was a little apprehensive at first but now I’m about 200 pages in and loving it. Now I have majorly high expectations for the movie! 😂

Upcoming Reads

My book haul this month is making me so excited about my upcoming reads! I got the Illumicrate edition of Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff which is so stunning – the sprayed edges, the pearlescent hardback… it’s so gorgeous I almost don’t want to read it. (if that makes any sense?!)

I’ve also got some pretty cool ARCs on Netgalley and the release dates are fast looming so I’m keen to make my way through those pretty soon:
Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar – publication date: 28th October
The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl – publication date: 2nd November
Swashbucklers by Dan Hanks – publication date: 9th November
A Three Dog Problem by SJ Bennett (Book 2 of the HM the Queen Investigates sereis) – publication date 11th November

What I’ve Been Watching

TV this month has been all about Grey’s Anatomy (again!) – it’s one of my all-time favourite series so I’ve been binging my backlog including Seasons 14, 15 and 16 and I’m now trying to rapidly make my way through Season 17 before it disappears from Sky later this month. Season 16, episode 16 (Leave a Light On) had me bawling my eyes out! In one way I’m so angry and gutted that the storyline had to go in that direction but what the writers did with it was so sentimental and just felt so right for that particular character that even though I don’t like it, it’s pretty perfect really.

Money Heist is back!! I can’t believe I got to the end of the 5th episode and then have to wait another few months for the second part of the season! Another cliffhanger/resolution/ending which made me grab the tissues. I get so sucked in to these TV programmes! 😂

Has anyone seen The Chair on Netflix with Sandra Oh? It’s on my watchlist but I haven’t started it yet.

Cinema movies this month have been:
Free Guy (LOVED IT!)
Respect – Aretha Franklin biopic (I never knew how turbulent her life was)
Shang Chi and the Ten Rings (the dragon scenes were epic)
The Many Saints of Newark (Sopranos prequel film)

Pokemon Go Update

I’ve definitely lost a bit of interest in the game since school started again. I basically leave my house at 7.15am and don’t return until 6.30pm so with the nights drawing in and the weather definitely turning more autumnal by the second, I’m not able to get out and play as much as I used to. The Fashion Week event was quite fun but it was a real sprint to the line to make sure I found all of the Fashion Challengers to battle for the Timed Research. I did manage to get a hundo Chansey and a hundo Furfrou out of it though.

September’s Shiny Haul
Lugia (finally!)
Oshawott (and all it’s evolutions on Comm Day)
Galarian Meowth (spotlight hour – I was so happy to see this guy!)

My Trainer Code: If any fellow Pogo players want to add me, my trainer code is: 8327 7170 2277

And that’s a wrap! How was your September? Are you heading into Autumn or is your weather still sunny and warm? I’m totally feeling the spooky vibes of Halloween and the witching season so feel free to send some bookish recommendations my way! What are you all looking forward to reading in October?

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

The Seven Deadly Sins Book Tag

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Happy Thursday Bibliofriends,

The weekend is almost upon us which means it’s time for another little Book Tag! I found this Seven Deadly Sins tag over at What’s That Mark’s Reading!? and as a fan of all things fairly strange and occult, I knew I had to take a little pop at it.

GREED: What is the most expensive book you own? What is the least expensive book you own? 

Most expensive: I have no idea what my most expensive book is! As an Illumicrate and FairyLoot subscriber I’ve been getting a lot of signed first editions and special editions of books so it may be one of those. I also have a First Edition of a Harry Potter book but I don’t think it’s one of the ones that are worth thousands.

Least expensive: I have a number of paperbacks that neither eBay, Music Magpie or Ziffit wants to pay for so I guess at the moment they’re the least expensive ones!

GLUTTONY: What book(s) have you shamelessly devoured many times? 

The Harry Potter books – I can just keep rereading them and never get bored of them!

SLOTH: What book or series have you neglected out of sheer laziness? 

I don’t think I’ve ever neglected a book or series out of laziness. Actually, I lie – I have kind of neglected She Who Became the Sun as I just found the pace to be a little slow. I’m hoping to pick it up again soon though, it’s definitely a book I want to finish.  

PRIDE: What book(s) do you bring up when you want to sound like an intellectual reader? 

I think I turn to the non-fiction when I want to sound intelligent so it’ll probably be Atomic Habits by James Clear. It was full of so many practical tips about how to encourage building up positive habits to make your lifestyle more effective. I have a little review here.

LUST: What attributes do you find most attractive in your characters? 

I adore those complex, morally-grey type characters when you can’t work out whether they’re a hero or villain. That’s why Severus Snape is one of my all-time favourite literary characters, I even have a book called The Great Snape Debate which came out before the finale of the books – one side argued for the hero, the flipside argued for the villain. Those complexities and depth seem to add mysticism and depth which outright heroes just don’t quite conjure up for me.

ENVY: What books would you most like to receive as a gift? 

I literally adore any bookish gift. I think it’s really nice when friends pick out a book for you that they think you’ll really like and may not have bought for yourself. You can find completely undiscovered treasures that way. My Nan once bought me a copy of The Shadow of the Wind as a gift and I had never heard of the book or the author – Zafon immediately became one of favourite authors and I own multiple copies of his works.

WRATH: What author do you have a love-hate relationship with?

I don’t think I can really answer this one?! Perhaps maybe Murakami, his works are so ingenious and enchanting. I love all of their peculiar curiosities but I do find them pretty damn difficult to read and understand! 😂

That’s a wrap! What are your favourite Deadly Sins? Consider yourself TAGGED if you fancy like giving this one a go.

As always, drop me a comment below to chat!
T xx

Biblioshelf Musings – You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry

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Hello Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musings is You and Me on Vacation (People We Meet On Vacation) by Emily Henry.

I remember falling head over heels with Beach Read when it first came out. Emily’s writing style and main characters had me swept so far away on that Lake Michigan beach, that when the audiobook for You and Me on Vacation was on iBooks for £4.99 I just had to hit that download button!

Book: You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry (Audiobook narrated by: Julia Whelan)
Genre: Fiction (Contemporary / Romance)
Publication Date: May 2021
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Pages: 368 (Audiobook: 10hr 45min)
Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?

My Musings

Sometimes we all need a little respite in the form of some contemporary romance and You And Me On Vacation brought me that respite in buckets. Reader, this book ‘speaks to me’ 😉 – on so many levels!

As a girl who reads predominantly SFF, I don’t know what kind of bookish chemical equations Emily Henry conjures up but she’s fast becoming a part of the romance genre that I actually like. From the realistic characters and the wish-you-were-here locations, to the plot lines that just keep me begging for more – I ate up every single word that Alex and Poppy gave me in this audiobook.

As far as two main characters go, Poppy and Alex’s friendship was so believable. They’re the BFFs that often get mistaken for a real-life couple and that throws the usual obstacles in their way with families and prospective partners. They are so genuine together and I found both characters extremely likeable. I enjoyed the way we found out about each friend’s history from the other friend’s perspective. It really allows you to see them through each other’s eyes. They just get each other! Their nuances, quirks, likes, pet hates… they are so completely in-sync with each other’s existence whilst at the same time both appearing to be completely blind to what is right in front of them. I must admit, I did find myself wondering whether I skipped the bit of the audiobook where they initially friend-zoned each other but ultimately this didn’t really matter as the novel went on. As an English Teacher and aspiring writer, Alex reminded me slightly of Gus from Beach Read so I liked the continuity of literary-loving characters throughout Henry’s books.

The structuring of the story was quite well done. With constant flashbacks to previous summers and the trips Poppy and Alex had taken, interspersed with the up-to-date ‘this summer’ happenings – we get a breadcrumb trail of clues to try and work out what the catastrophic event that caused these two steadfast friends to go their separate ways. All the time this happened, I kept internally screaming to myself, “what the hell happened in Croatia?!” I enjoyed trying to piece together the story in my head and whilst some things were entirely predictable, the anecdotes from each summer trip were filled with little twists and comedy moments.

As a travel enthusiast whose trip to Peru was kiboshed by the pandemic, Poppy and Alex’s trips to different destinations across the world helped me to fill up that little travel void ever so slightly. This shift in setting destination was definitely an element of the story which I thoroughly enjoyed.

All in all, You and Me on Vacation gave me everything I was looking for, hence the 5* rating – for me, it’s faultless. On some small level, Poppy and Alex’s story is a little relatable to my life – their predicaments were ones I could relate to and find solace in, which is probably why it resonated with me so much. Yes, some parts of the story are predictable and at times inevitable, but the journey to the ending wasn’t a straightforward path. The resolution was uplifting and satisfying whilst remaining both practical yet realistic (compared to the usual happily ever afters you sometimes get).

If you loved Beach Read, enjoy travelling the world through literary characters, or you’re just looking for a soul-clenching, heartwarming story of true love and devotion then give You and Me on Vacation a go – it just might ‘speak to you’ too.

Why Should I Read This?

For the breadcrumb plot line of summer flashbacks.
For the chemistry and charisma between two loveable main characters.
For the Flannery O’Conner side stories! 😸

Find out more about this book here:

Amazon | Waterstones | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | Author’s Website |

Connect with me here:

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

#SixforSunday – Books I Studied In School

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends!

This week’s Six for Sunday is all about books we studied at school. As an English Literature student I studied quite a lot of different reads at both High School and University; most of them are still sitting on my bookshelves so it was nice to take a little trip down memory lane this week.

For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot. September’s theme is ‘The School Month’. 

Fictional Schools/Universities I’d Want To Go To

  1. The Miller’s Tale – The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
    Bawdy, humorous and downright Medieval-style X-rated this was definitely a memorable historical tale.
  2. Spies by Michael Frayn
    For some reason I got so drawn into this story and the cryptic secrets of the plot as the two main characters embark on their espionage.
  3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
    One of my favourite classics, it’s such a timeless love story and champions women standing firm in their own beliefs.
  4. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
    This was the first time I’d read anything by Hardy and I got swept away in the pastoral world and characters that he created.
  5. Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth
    I studied this as part of my coursework on comparing different memoirs. My favourite English teacher gave me her copy. I loved Ashworth’s writing style, she took her pain and trauma and turned it into beautiful, lyrical writing.
  6. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    There ain’t no story like a Gatsby story – I love this one so much!

Which books did you study at school?
As always, leave your links below to your own posts or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

The Pride and Prejudice Book Tag!

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Hi Bibliofriends,

I was browsing for tags the other day and came across this fun Pride and Prejudice Book Tag over on Elaine Howlin’s blog. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourites of all the Classics – the story is just so timeless and beautiful. I knew I had to do this tag as soon as I read the character-based reading prompts.

A few little pleasantries:

  • Thank those who tagged you.
  • Link back to the creator of the tag (Emma @TurnAnotherPage)
  • Tag as many people as you want
  • Have fun!

The Bennet Sisters: A Mixed Bag
A book or series with an eclectic cast of characters

I think the Illuminae Files has got such a mix of different personalities and traits amongst its characters – there’s a little someone for everyone in that trilogy I think!

Charlotte Lucas: The Best Friend
A dependable book/series, tv show or film you can always turn to

Wow so many! It would have to be a toss-up between Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Greys Anatomy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Friends.

Mr Darcy: The Unexpected Surprise
A book or series that you didn’t originally like but grew to love.

This is such a tough one! I guess I could say Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – it was so difficult to read and understand the narration style at first but by the end I was so blown away by Cromwell’s characterisation.

Lady Catherine de Bourg: The Intimidating Aristocrat
A book or series that intimidates you

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – I’m determined to read it one day (along with War and Peace and Anna Karenina by Tolstoy) but the sheer size of it really overwhelms me and I keep putting it off to read a shorter book!

Mr Bingley: Honest Yet Easily Led
A character you think deserves a lot of love

Eleanor from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Her character lives under such sad circumstances that she deserves lots of love.

Mr Collins: Awkward and a little socially inept.
What hyped or popular book/series have you not yet read?

So many! The Poppy War series, The Daevabad series, An Ember in the Ashes series, Nevernight, Shades of Magic, These Violent Delights… the list is endless – and these books are all sat on my shelves right now! 🙈

The Gardiners: Steady Voices of Reason
A character from any book, film, or tv series that you would turn to for advice

Jacqueline Carlylefrom The Bold Type TV series – I absolutely LOVE that show (I should probably have put it in my Charlotte Lucas list)!When I was looking for a new job I used to joke with my friends that I was looking for my own Jacqueline Carlyle to work for! 😂

Mr Wickham: The Deceiver
A book that did not reach your expectations

The Serpent and Dove series – I feel like it was massively hyped but I just couldn’t really connect with any of the characters.

Georgiana Darcy: Shy and Naive but Friendly
An under-hyped or represented book that you really love

I loved The Immortal City by Amy Kuivalainen which is the first book in The Magicians of Venice series. It’s like a fantasy version of Dan Brown and I found it fascinating.

Colonel Foster’s Regiment: Sure to liven up any party!
What book or series would you always recommend?

I always find it hard to recommend books to people because my reading tastes are quite varied and can be different to many of my friends. I would champion anything written by Carlos Ruiz Zafón; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and The Life and Death of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – they’re all some of my all-time favourites.

If you love Pride and Prejudice and Book Tags then consider yourself tagged! 🤓

As always, drop me a comment to chat!
T xx

#SixforSunday – Books I Think Should Be Studied In School

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends!

I hope those of you going back to school this week enjoyed your first week back! I absolutely love my new job at my new school. I even got up voluntarily on Saturday morning and finished off a little bit of work (crazy right?!). Coinciding with the school theme, today’s Six for Sunday is all about books which we think should be on the school curriculum. Most of my current reads are SFF so this list is quite narrow in genre-wide picks, however I always think that Science Fiction and Fantasy deserves a little more appreciation and attention on the school reading lists anyway! 🚀

For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot. September’s theme is ‘The School Month’. 

Fictional Schools/Universities I’d Want To Go To

  1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
    This one is an absolute MUST. Asides from the really important messages around racism, prejudice and gun-violence – the story and characters crafted within these pages is beautifully written that the whole book is powerful in multiple ways. It’s a really important read for our young generation.
  2. The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
    I really enjoyed how the female gang of warriors in this book supported and uplifted each other. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not all the pyjama-party-joint-bathroom-trips kind of friends but they bond together in the face of adversity. For me that’s a huge part of why I chose this book, especially in a world where women can quite often tear each other down. The African mythology vibes were spectacularly written too. You can my read my spoiler-free review here!
  3. The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
    I love the way Robbie Arnott created a story which contains magical creatures but also contains morals about why we should take care of nature and the devastating consequences of what could happen if we don’t. This was one of my top ten books of 2020, you can read more about The Rain Heron here.
  4. The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
    SFF Classic. Female author. Vast empire. I’m only gutted that I didn’t study this when I was in school.
  5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
    I know, I know, I know that I keep going on about this book (one of my all-time faves!) but I do think it’s great for the curriculum. 1) It’s about a VR video game, which most kids love. 2) There’s an entertaining quest element. 3) It has an important theme about collaboration to overcome the massive, corporation villain. 4) I see so many kids who love playing computer games, but don’t love the subject of computing enough to think that rather than being a ‘YouTuber who plays games’ – why don’t they be the ones inventing them instead?!
  6. The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta / Everybody’s Talking About Jamie by Tom MacRae (stage musical)
    This would make such a good comparison module! Both contain important themes and representations of identity, self-awareness, working-classes and prejudice as the main characters go on mirroring metaphorical journeys to going public with their drag queen alter-egos.

    In Black Flamingo, Michael’s drag character and his performance raise awareness of racism and also many prominent real-world LGBTQIA+ people who have supported and bolstered this community. The format of the book as a verse novel would make for a good literary study too.

    In the stage musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, not only is the music so fun and catchy – Jamie’s story about wanting to go to Prom as his drag-queen self is so endearing. The way he is viewed by his parents, teachers, classmates all add to the narrative of obstacles people in this community face just for expressing who they truly are. A playscript is a must for a literary curriculum too!

    I love this pairing (and both of these titles) so much that I could practically write the whole module for it right now – perhaps not for the 8-9 year olds I actually teach though…! 🙈

Which books do you think should be on today’s study list for schools?
As always, leave your links below to your own posts or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings – Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

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Hello Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musings is Black Flamingo by Dean Atta.
I heard so many amazing things about this book and when I heard that it was a novel in verse form, I knew I definitely had to read it!

Book: Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
Genre: YA
Publication Date: 8th August 2019
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Pages: 368
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

This is not about being ready, it’s not even about being fierce, or fearless, IT’S ABOUT BEING FREE.

Michael waits in the stage wings, wearing a pink wig, pink fluffy coat and black heels.

One more step will see him illuminated by spotlight.

He has been on a journey of bravery to get here, and he is almost ready to show himself to the world in bold colours …

Can he emerge as The Black Flamingo?

My Musings

The Black Flamingo is such a fantastic book. I’m a teeny-weeny bit obsessed with flamingos so I found the title itself incredibly intriguing – I just can’t believe it took me this long to actually get around to reading it! The verse structure was one of my favourite things about this book and is (in part) one of the contributing factors to its uniqueness. It really emphasised the poetic nature of Atta’s writing and complimented the pieces of poetry, written by the character Michael, which were dotted throughout parts of the story. Those poems really helped to express Mikey’s raw feelings and added a more private perspective of his character’s inner mindset – almost like a stream of consciousness. The illustrations also made it a brilliantly immersive read.

The coming of age element and transformation of the Michael’s character as he goes through the different stages in his life was poignantly written. His journey is fraught with obstacles and questions which he asks himself – mistakes he makes, stereotypes others put on him before he can really find out who he truly is and where he belongs. This raised awareness of many themes including race, poverty, lgbtqia+ and all of the chaos that comes with surviving high school, university and entering the real world.

The drag show towards the end of the story and Mikey’s transformation into the black flamingo is a real ‘butterfly coming out the cocoon’ moment. It has a real celebratory feel and the pride of the main character just leaps off he page as Mikey owns the stage with his feathers. The Fierce poem was a particular highlight as it speaks to everyone and is so relevant to all people regardless of their gender/racial status – we all want to be that little bit fiercer just like the idols he writes about in his poem. Incorporated into Mikey’s show was a whole host of real-world people and influencers who have contributed to the lgbtqia+ movement and the attention and awareness raised here was such a touching tribute.

I really enjoyed how Black Flamingo felt autobiographical but still retained the magic of fiction and poetry combined. It reminded me of a fantastic stage musical I once saw called Everyone’s Talkin’ About Jamie – the songs were so catchy and the whole storyline was incredibly uplifting.

Overall I loved everything about this book. From the message it conveys to the way it has been and all of the high heels, stardust and feathers in between – the Black Flamingo really is one multi-faceted gem of a read!

Find out more about this book here:

Amazon | Waterstones | Bookshop.org | Goodreads |

Connect with me here:

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

#SixforSunday – Characters I’d Like to Swap Lives With

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends!

This week’s S4S prompt, Characters I’d Like To Swap Lives With, was so much fun to think about! I tried to come up with a range of different lives which offered a bit of variety, it is the spice of life after-all!

For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot. September’s theme is ‘The School Month’. 

Characters I’d Like To Swap Lives With

  1. Art3mis – Ready Player One
    It’s no secret, Ready Player One is one of my all-time favourite reads. I’d love to swap lives with Art3mis and spend all my days exploring the endless bounds of the OASIS.
  2. Avery Grambs – The Inheritance Games
    Imagine finding out you’re the sole beneficiary of a mysterious billionaire and then having to embark on a treasure hunt to find out clues as to the reason why. I love this trilogy so much and binged my way through the first book. The Hawthorne Legacy (book 2) was released earlier this week; I was lucky enough to read an ARC of it and I’m already craving book 3! IF you want to check out my spoiler free reviews for this series you can check them out > Book 1 / Book 2
  3. Rachel Chu – Crazy Rich Asians
    Rachel Chu’s summer in Singapore is so wild that I’d love to swap places with her!
  4. Robert Langdon – Angels and Demons / The Da Vinci Code / The Lost Symbol / Inferno / Origin
    I always love a good treasure hunt / clue-style quest so Robert Langdon’s life would be right up my alley. It’s be pretty cool to have a photogenic memory too!
  5. Minerva McGonagall / Professor Sinistra – Harry Potter
    There had to be at least one HP professor here. I love Minerva’s character as Deputy Headmistress but I also love the subject of Astronomy so I couldn’t pick between these two fabulous teachers.
  6. Rozie – The Windsor Knot
    Turning detective to solve murder mysteries with HM The Queen – why wouldn’t I want to swap with Rozie’s character?! If you interested in this series click here for my spoiler free review. Book 2 is coming out a little later this year!

What characters do you wish you could swap lives with? Would you base you life swap on differing experiences, opportunities for adventure, opportunities for magic or do you prefer more homespun comforts?
As always, leave your links below to your own posts or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx