As I’ve said before, I love reading middle-grade fiction. It makes a nice change from my usual literary fiction which often deals with fairly depressing subjects. I loved The Happy Couple but I needed to read something jolly afterwards. So, of course, I was attracted to the rainbow-stencilled edges of this book. It was pure joy. Although, as we know, a petty cover doesn’t necessarily mean a pretty interior. Would the actual book live up to the artwork that had drawn me in?
By now, you should know that I love a good piece of middle grade fiction. If it’s an exciting book that’s intended for kids then I’m probably going to read it. It helps that Waterstones email everyone about their books of the month so often. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t even know about the most recent releases. This is one of the books that I was introduced to through email marketing. Honestly, if all of our customers were as easy to market to as I am then my job would be so much easier. This book just sounded like so much fun and I’m always going to be up for a story set in a magical school. Especially
One of the biggest problems with buying so many books in a year is that I tend to forget about them. I put them on my shelf with every intention of reading them later but, inevitably, they get lost amongst the rest. In some cases, I end up buying the book again but, thankfully, that’s a rarity. Mostly they just sit there gathering dust. In order to get my every increasing TBR down, I’ve taken to buying or borrowing the audiobook version as well. I’ve grown to really enjoy listening to an audiobook at work, so it means I can cross a few off in a particularly good week. In the case of this book, I ended up listening to it by accident. I knew that I’d bought a book a few years ago that had “of London” in the title. Turns out, that book was The Ashes of London instead. Ah well, I borrowed this one and might as well give it a listen. It’s one of those books that I see everywhere but didn’t know much about. Maybe it would be a new series for me?
I’d seen this book all over but didn’t pay attention until Foyles named it their Children’s Book of 2022. I know, I’m fickle. There are so many books published each year, so you need to be discerning about what I pick up. Unless a children’s book is really making waves then I don’t tend to think about reading them. When I actually looked into this book, it just sounded like my kind of thing. I’m not a massive fantasy lover but I think children’s fantasy might be my ideal for the genre. The world-building tends more engaging and fun. A lot of the adult fantasy books I’ve read recently have been too ambitious and I haven’t connected with them. Children’s fantasy books tend to keep things a bit simpler which means they don’t get too tied up in knots.
I hadn’t read anything by Erin Morgenstern when I bought a copy of The Starless Sea. I had owned a copy of The Night Circus and figured it would be something I enjoyed. It was just that constant struggle to actually read it. So buying a copy of The Starless Sea could have been slightly foolhardy. However, once again, I was drawn in by a gorgeous edition. Waterstones released special editions of both books and I had to have them. Guys, they had sprayed or stencilled edges. How could I not? As I’d treated myself to them, I was a bit worried about how much I would like them. I decided it was better to just never find out, so they remained unread. Until this year when I found the audiobook on my library app. I decided it was finally time to cross it off my TBR.
It’s the start of a new month which means I’ll be posting my reading wrap-up tomorrow. It was a bit manic the last few because I was madly trying to get books finished before May officially started. I know it’s stupid but I don’t like starting a new month halfway through a book. I know it will happen every now and then but I just prefer a clean slate. Thankfully I managed it and can start fresh today.
I come from a pretty musical family. My parents are both great singers and my sisters and I all played instruments at school. I initially tried out the oboe but couldn’t cope with the double reed. I then moved to the flute and, after a lot of effort, became pretty adequate. So, it was a given that I’d be interested in a book that a magical musical school with a flautist main character. The fact that I could get it free with my Audible account only made it better.
Once again, I found myself without much to review because I’m still doing terribly at reading. In order to get this post up, I listened to 3 audiobooks on Monday. They were all short and free with my Audible subscription. I guess my lack of organisation is helping me experience books that I’d never have picked up normally. If only I could get through the books on my TBR as easily.
I’m don’t really read a lot of romance books. Not because I think they’re bad. It’s just not something that I’ve ever been bothered by. When I was younger, I used to say that I was too cynical for rom-coms and the like. Now, I think I’d probably say that there are just a few tropes that I don’t really get along with. Being on Instagram and TikTok, I regularly see people praising enemy-to-lovers narratives and I just don’t get it. It just all seems too ridiculous to me. Why do we need to make love this insanely difficult and life-changing thing? Surely, it’s actually quite a simple thing in reality? I know romance novels are an escape for many but they’re often a step too far for me. Although, I will occasionally make an exception.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is old. How old? So old that we used to own VHS copies of all of the films. Also, it turns 20 this week. It’s been a while since I last sat down and watched any of films in the trilogy. I used to watch them all the time. Well, I used to repeatedly watch the scenes where Aragorn was a full-on hunk repeatedly. It probably didn’t do the videos any good, so I quickly upgraded to the DVDs. As tomorrow is the official anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring, I decided that it was a good time to go back to Middle Earth.
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 