Hello, and yes I am still here. It’s been two months since my last post. It’s been a challenging couple of months both at work and at home, and so my blogging has very much suffered. Things aren’t going to quieten down in the foreseeable future, so I’ll blog when I can, making no promises. I sincerely apologise to the publishers who have been kind enough to send me ARCs – I suspect that I will not be able to meet my commitments to review these books, but my responsibilities to my employer who pays our bills and family must come first. At this point in time, reading needs to remain an escape without pressure to review. So onto the books I’ve read in the last couple of months. [book-info]One of the pure joys of my reading/listening time recently has been the audiobook of J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them narrated by Newt Scamander himself, Eddie Redmayne. This was a wonderful surprise – I really wasn’t expecting it to be as entertaining as it was. This is a “revised edition” film tie-in, to include an additional footnote by Scamander commenting on the events of the film and…
As some of you who have been following my blog may know, the last couple of weeks I’ve been obsessed with the new film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This is the latest from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and follows the adventures of Newt Scamander, a British magizoologist (student of magical creatures) who encounters some issues when visiting 1920s New York. As well as following Newt’s attempts to recapture his fantastic beasts, the movie also explores the challenges facing the American wizarding community of that era. As well as seeing the film on release day, I also purchased the screenplay (available on Amazon) and the LEGO Dimensions story pack for Fantastic Beasts. As well a six levels of gameplay taking you through the entire movie, the pack gives you LEGO bricks to build the MACUSA building. For those who have not yet seen the movie, I’ll continue after the cut as I will be discussing spoilers. Warning; complete nerdout follows.
Hello and welcome to another reading roundup. Since my last roundup I have read two pretty good books which I’d like to share with you. [book-info]I received an Advance Reader Copy of The Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott at BEA. It’s been on my TBR for a while, but it’s only recently I read it. The Poisoned Blade is the second book in a planned trilogy (I believe) and continues the story of Jessamy, a young woman caught between two cultures whose passion in life is playing the game of Fives. In this second book, Jes is drawn into court politics and has to deal with the fallout of her decisions in book one. I listened to The Poisoned Blade in audiobook format and very much enjoyed Georgia Dolenz’s narration. What I liked The characters. I really liked our protagonist, Jessamy. Her conflicts between her love for the Fives, her need to protect her family, the limitations placed on her by her heritage and her affection for Kal were expertly written. The pacing. The Poisoned Blade didn’t suffer from middle book syndrome at all. There were enough conficts and resolutions to keep me well satisfied. I will certainly be…
Hello, once again, welcome to my belated reading roundup. My new role at work has kept me extremely busy, we had guests and I’ve been dealing with a sick, unhappy kitty. I swear cats can smell one grain of crushed up medication in a spoonful of delicious, tasty food. I’m really sorry for the forced pill popping Lushka, but I did try it the easy way first. Fortunately, she seems to be on the mend. Anyway, enough of the excuses. Since my last roundup I’ve read three books and I’m part way through three others. What I read The first book I read was The Young Elites by Marie Lu. This is the first book in a YA fantasy trilogy telling the story of Adelina, who, like some other young people, has been left with special powers after an illness. Marie Lu has said her inspiration for Adelina was Darth Vader, and being aware of this helped me a lot – Adelina is a rather dark character. While I enjoyed the book – I loved the Renaissance style setting – a lot, it didn’t leave me with any desire at all to pick up the sequels. Strangely, I had the…