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All About Me!

‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go’ – Dr Seuss

So, before I start blogging, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you a little more about me, and particularly what I like reading.

Favourite genres – fantasy, young adult, romance (but not too mushy!), crime fiction.

Favourite types of non-fiction – history, autobiography and biography, science, education.

Favourite authors – Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Sarah J. Maas, J.K. Rowling

Favourite books – the ‘Harry Potter’ series, the ‘Throne of Glass’ series.

End of the Reading Challenge 2021!

I have finished the first part of my reading challenge for this year. It was always a bit of a conservative estimate for books I would read this year, but I wanted to set myself something that was doable, rather than feel that the challenge was turning into a bit of a chore. I’ve continued with having my husband pick out random books for me to read, which I have really enjoyed, as I have not had to sit in front of a bookcase and go – “What now?”

My TBR pile has grown though, and my plan of not buying any more books hasn’t really worked – but oh well! More bookcases are on their way!

So, as with last year, I thought I would rate my top five and bottom five books for the year, and use the same genres as last year to pick out my favourites!

Five Best Books of the Year:

Yours Cheerfully – I loved this book! It was the sequel to one of my favourite books ever and had everything that I love – WW2, humour, romance, intrigue and a really lovely female friendship.
Magpie Murders – This book is one that is definitely better than its sequel, and I have waxed lyrical about it to friends and family members alike. I loved the mix of modern and ‘golden age’ mystery.
Middle Earth: From Script to Screen – I really enjoyed how the book showed the immense hard work that went into the films and the way that it always focussed back on the lore of JRR Tolkien’s masterpiece. It also reignited my love of the films and books – so yay!
The Good Hawk – a beautifully written fantasy, set in Scotland, my favourite place in the world. I loved the inclusiveness of the book, with its beautiful portrayal of a girl with downs syndrome as our main heroine.
A Thousand Ships – this year, I have really got into books that are feminist retellings of Greek myths, and in my opinion, this was the best of them. I loved how all of the different female characters were shown throughout the story.

Five Worst Books of the Year:

Shadowplay – couldn’t get into it, and didn’t really understand the story. I didn’t really care about the characters and I couldn’t bring myself to listen to much of it.
Priestess of the White – usually I love fantasy books, but this one just wasn’t for me. I didn’t really like the characters, and found the story really hard to follow. It isn’t one I will be trying again – life’s too short.
The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow – not a massively bad book, but just one that I couldn’t picture myself continuing to enjoy as it continued. The characters were a bit two dimensional and I didn’t really like them!
Grimm Tales for Young and Old – excellent narrator, but the stories were uninspiring.
The Wicked King – After the Cruel Prince, which I really enjoyed last year, this book was one that I was looking forward to but unfortunately didn’t meet the potential of the first one.

And now, my favourites of each genre (not including the ones above)…

Favourite History Non-Fiction: The Volunteer

Favourite Feminist Non-Fiction: Toksvig’s Almanac 2021

Favourite Other Non-Fiction: Poirot – The World’s Greatest Detective

Favourite History Fiction: Romanov

Favourite Crime Fiction: A Quiet Life in the Country

Favourite Fantasy Fiction: Priory of the Orange Tree

Favourite Drama/Romantic Fiction: Pursuit of Love

As with last year, my plan is to continue my blog (and the podcast that goes with it) into the rest of the year. I’ll continue rating them out of five, and my aim is to try and read 100 books by the end of the year. Let’s see how I go!

2021 Book #75 – Cecily

Medium – Book

About the Book – Cecily Neville is the wife of Richard Duke of York, during the time just before the Wars of the Roses. The book starts off with her as a young wife of 16, watching the burning of Joan of Arc, and then follows through her life with Richard, the births of her twelve children (seven of whom survived) and the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, with her taking control of London whilst her son (the eventual Edward IV) rides out against the armies of Henry VI and his wife, Margaret of Anjou. Throughout the book, we see her using her amazing intellect to advise her husband and to cover for him when his schemes go awry. We see her all encompassing love for her husband and children, and her hatred for those she sees getting in the way of her dynasty.

My Rating – 4/5

My Thoughts – This is the last book of my reading challenge! I am going to carry on reading, but feel quite chuffed with myself that I have managed to read 75 books this year already! This book was one I picked out just for the cover, to be honest, and a bit of the blurb. However, I hadn’t realised that the book was about the Wars of the Roses, so it was a bit of a surprise when I actually ended up reading it. But, I really enjoyed it. The early part of the Wars of the Roses is not something I know a lot about. I tend to go for Tudor or later when I am reading, so to read something that is set more in the Medieval period was really interesting. I am really glad that the author included ancestry trees in the book as I think I may have got completely lost with all the similar-sounding names!

The character of Cecily is beautifully drawn. She is a woman who moves within her sphere (and outside of it) to influence the people around her, and head towards her goal – placing her husband, or her son on the throne of England. She is clever, witty and brave, a woman who is willing to do anything in order to ensure that her family are protected. Her husband is generally quite brave, but also a bit of an idiot in places, and Cecily has to spend quite a bit of time getting him out of trouble and protecting him. I’d not read much of her, but I do hope that this is the first of two books – the book finishes when she is in her forties and I know she lived until her eighties, so much more to find out about!

2021 Book #74 – A Court of Thorns and Roses

Medium – Audiobook

About the Book – Feyre is a young human girl who hunts in the forest that she lives in to feed her two older sisters, Nesta and Elain, and her crippled father. One day, she goes into the forest and kills a wolf. After she has sold its pelt, she is ambushed at home by a creature that turns out to be one of the dreaded High Fae, who tells her that she has killed one of his friends and so must go to live with him at his court in the land of the Fae. Feyre goes, unhappily, and ends up living at the Spring Court with Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court and his emissary, Lucien. Feyre, initially full of hatred, finds herself falling in love with Tamlin, but all in the Fae world is not as it seems, and there is a wicked Fae Queen who has her eye on Tamlin…

My Rating – 4.5/5

My Thoughts – I am a big Sarah J. Maas fan, having listened to all of the ‘Throne of Glass’ a couple of years ago. I bought this audiobook a while ago and hadn’t got round to listening to it, but after the joy of the Priory of the Orange Tree, I was in the mood for more fantasy! Sarah J. Maas is one of those authors that I really enjoy, although I am aware that she isn’t for everyone. I find her books quite ‘unchallenging’ (in a good way) and exciting – it’s good, clean (mostly) fun, with likable characters, fairytale settings, fighting, fantasy and feminism. The plot of this book was great, and I enjoyed the fact that it was a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, without being too close a retelling. The ending was enjoyable and satisfying, and I liked the way that Maas kept the door open for the sequel (which I have already downloaded to listen to!)

The characters were ones I really liked. Feyre is a bit annoying at the beginning, but settles into a person that I would enjoy meeting through multiple books. The love interest, Tamlin, is an interesting proposition. He is generally lovely, but has this slightly odd (and maybe a bit possessive) streak which comes through during the book and which I will be interested to see develop. I have a real soft spot for Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court, who starts off as an enemy but becomes a really enjoyable character. I am really looking forward to listening to the next book, and may break my own rule and listen to the whole series in one go!

2021 Book #73 – Miss Benson’s Beetle

Medium – Book

About the Book – Margery Benson is a schoolteacher, living in London in 1950. London is still reeling from WW2, and Margery is making her way quietly through live, just scraping by. One day, after a terrible lesson, Margery decides that she has had enough, and she leaves the school in an exciting fashion, deciding to rediscover her passion for beetles and her dream to travel to New Caledonia to search for the golden beetle, which may or may not exist. Margery decides to hire an assistant, and manages to hire Enid Pretty, the last person she had in mind. Decked out in a pink travelling suit and pompom shoes, Enid is fun-loving and adventurous, but isn’t really suited to an expedition into the jungle. The women’s friendship grows however, although Enid seems to have a number of secrets, and Margery has a rather dangerous admirer…

My Rating – 3/5

My Thoughts – I bought this book whilst on holiday, having seen people raving about it in a reading group I’m part of on Facebook. The precis appealed to me – a story of female friendship, with adventure and humour thrown in. I enjoyed the beginning of the book, and liked meeting Margery and Enid – they are two completely different characters, but also very complementary, and I enjoyed seeing their friendship blossom. This isn’t an ‘easy’ book – there are some potentially triggering depictions of suicide, PTSD, miscarriage and physical abuse – but there is a charm to it that I enjoyed. The characters of Margery and Enid are eminently readable and likable, and I enjoyed the descriptions of their journey into the jungle.

I was disappointed, however, by the ending. Whilst I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, I did feel that it was an ending which did not suit the earlier tone of the book or the growth that the characters had experienced. It felt unfair on both the characters and the reader to have the ending that we did, and although I can see the reasons for it, I would have preferred a different one! I gave this book to my husband to read and he said the same – great beginning and middle, unfortunate ending. This is not a book that will have a sequel, and I don’t think that I would re-read it.

2021 Book #72 – The Priory of the Orange Tree

Medium – Audiobook

About the Book – In this epic fantasy, we are introduced to a world divided by religion and ideology. At one side of the world, the house of Barethnet rules the realm, led by the beautiful queen Sabran the ninth. She must give the realm and heir in order to keep the great dragon, the Nameless One, from rising again and destroying the world, but she is in danger. To keep her safe, Ead Duryan, one of a hidden society of assassin mages, has been integrated into the palace, to act as lady-in-waiting and Sabran’s protector. Across the sea, Tane has trained to be a dragon rider since her childhood. But the choice she makes one dark night may bring all of her dreams to dust. As the Nameless One and his forces continue to rise, the East and West must band together in order to defeat him.

My Rating – 4.5/5

My Thoughts – This was a book that I had put off listening to for a while, due to the length of it (around 25 hours!), but I decided that I was in the mood for some fantasy, so wanted to have a go at reading it. The book is a monster, but contains enough action and adventure to keep any fantasy-lover occupied. The book is told from the POV of four characters – two female (Ead and Tane) and two male (Niclays and Loth). The two female characters are the main, lead characters. They are the ones who provide the fight scenes, the adventure and the action. The male characters provide the antihero and the strategist/friend, but they are not the most important characters in the story. Gender equality is taken for granted in this world, and many of the realms (including Inys, where Sabran rules) are historically matriarchal.

The plot is interesting and moves quickly between different areas of the world. Like other fantasy stories, it never pays to become too attached to a character – there are plenty of unexpected deaths, which help to keep the story flowing and unguessable. The world and world-building is some of the best I’ve experienced – maybe because it was an audiobook, I felt wholly immersed into the world, rather than feeling like an onlooker. There’s also a lovely, natural LGBTQ relationship, alongside dragons and an inclusive cast – always a plus point for me! The half a star I have taken off was not for the book, but for the audiobook. The narrator had fantastic voices for the female characters, but really seemed to struggle with the males – they were either really gruff or really deep, and sounded very similar. But all in all, an excellent book, and one I am glad that I did listen to in the end!

2021 Book #71 – An Inspector Calls (Graphic Novel)

Medium – Book

About the book – This book is the graphic novel version of the play, with the original text (not the ‘quick text’ modern version). The rich, successful Birling Family are having a quiet night in, celebrating the engagement of the daughter, Sheila, to son of Mr Birling’s competitor, Gerald Crofts. As Mr Birling expounds on the need to take care of oneself and not worry about the rest of the world, an inspector (Inspector Goole) arrives, with the news that a young woman has been found dead, after committing suicide by drinking bleach. His questioning soon shows that each of the family members and Crofts had something to do with the girl’s death.

My Rating – 4.5/5

My Thoughts – ‘An Inspector Calls’ is one of those classic plays which is given to GCSE and A Level classes in the UK during modules which look at plays as part of literature in the English language. The play is one of my favourites, and it was (in my view) the best of all the plays we covered at A Level. The story is a sort of classic mystery, with the police inspector trying to find a culprit, but it has massive elements of social justice and comment running through it – discussing the need for community, for looking after those less fortunate and ensuring that all people have the right not to be judged. It’s a proper, left-wing play – and that’s probably why I enjoyed it so much!!

The characters are excellent, from the slightly scary inspector, to the horrible Mr Birling and the more sympathetic Birling children. Just commenting on the graphic novel element of the story, the illustrations are excellent, and the way that the novel is set out makes it easy to follow. There are two versions available, the one that I had, which is the original text version, and then one written in more modern English. Whilst I got the original text for nostalgia’s sake, the quick text one looks brilliant to have a good idea of the story. The same company who did this graphic novel do many more classic books in this form, and I would be really interested in the other ones that they do!

2021 Book #70 – The Gran Tour

Medium – Book

About the Book – Ben Aitken (who like me is from the UK South Coast), decides that he can save rent money in London by going on six coach holidays across the UK, and one into Europe. These coach holidays are generally for four days, and are usually the province of pensioners. They include four nights in a posh hotel, three course dinners, nightly entertainment and day trips – often for around £100 – or they did, before the pandemic. Ben travels on these coach holidays, commenting on the OAPs that he travels with as he goes, and telling stories of the eccentric activities that they get up to when on holiday.

My Rating – 2.5/5

My Thoughts – Firstly, I should say that I really enjoy travel books and books about people’s experiences – hence picking up this book. It was one I had seen advertised on Amazon a lot due to my other preferences, so I decided to pick it up and have a read. It’s a book with a lot of good stuff. Ben Aitken is great at picking up on eavesdropped remarks, and then reporting them with humour. He does a brilliant job of describing the places that he does to. Some of the things that he comments on are super moving, like the people he meets who are on their first holidays after losing their spouses. The trip that he takes with his grandma is a highlight, and she is one of the most interesting and funny characters that we meet.

So why only 2.5 stars? Aitken talks throughout about how terrible ageism is – and I completely agree. I’ve hated the narrative throughout the pandemic, where some people (including people close to me) have written off the deaths of the elderly as if it hasn’t mattered that they have died, or it’s just ‘very sad’. But I think that Aitken almost goes the other way, and majors too much on the wisdom of the old and the silliness of the young. The young are seen as being under-educated and unthinking, the old as wise and insightful. In my eyes, it is too much of a black and white hypothesis – there is little room for the grey truth – that sometimes it doesn’t matter how long you have been on this earth, an older person can be foolish and selfish, and a younger person can be sage and giving, and vice versa.

2021 Book #69 – The Queen’s Fool

Medium – Book

About the Book – Cat Sparrow lives in a nunnery as an orphan, with her big sister Meg. One day, Meg is taken away by a man on a big black horse, and Cat decides that she will go after her. Armed with her bird flute, a beautiful singing voice and a bit of food, she takes to the road, hoping to get to London where she hopes to find her sister. On the road, she meets French boy Jacques, and his monkey Pepin, and the three of them make their way to London. When there, Cat is picked out by Queen Catherine of Aragon to become her ‘fool’, and Cat and Jacques search on to find Meg, uncovering a dastardly scheme as they do.

My Rating – 3/5

My Thoughts – I am really enjoying reading books which are narrated by unusual or generally unseen characters at the moment, and so this book was one I read keenly. The main character, Cat, has Williams Syndrome, a condition which leads to a person forming strong attachments, having some learning difficulties but generally being kind, honest and strong-willed. The author who wrote the book has researched the ‘fools’ who were employed by the Tudor courts and believes that many of them had a degree of learning difficulties, especially Williams Syndrome. Cat is a delightful character – she speaks in quite an informal, but very descriptive way, and is extremely brave. The friends that she surrounds herself with accept her for who she is, and understand the many strengths that she has.

The plot line is a little weaker than the characters, and I did find myself skimming through and getting a little bored at time. The book was obviously well researched, and felt very genuine to the time period. Being a children’s book, there was obviously an element of rose-tinted spectacles, and I imagine that a lot of the problems that I had with the book were because I was an adult reading a children’s book. It was well written, but I think just not a book that I would re-read in a hurry. It would be perfect for history-loving children, and I am keeping it in my bookshelf for future teaching oppurtunities!

2021 Book #68 – The Nesting

Medium – Book

About the Book – Lexi Ellis is at the end of her tether. Struggling with depression and anxiety, one day she decides to take her own life but is found just in time by her friend. When she leaves hospital, she is dumped by her boyfriend, chucked out of his house and she steals his railcard. As she travels from one end of the country to the other on the train, she hears a girl talking about a nannying job that she may apply for in Norway. Wanting to get out of her life, Lexi steals the girl’s details, and applies for the job. She arrives in Norway to find a grieving widower, Tom Faraday and two traumatised children. Their mother has apparently committed suicide, but there are dark stories of Norwegian monsters and whispers of a curse on the family.

My Rating – 5/5

My Thoughts – The Nesting is not a book I would have picked up myself as a read. From the blurb, it’s a bit too much of a thriller/horror for my slightly wimpy self. But it came as part of a crime fiction book box I had been gifted by a friend, so I thought I would have a go at it! And I am absolutely chuffed that I did, because I loved it. The book is set in the present and past – the present part is told in first-person by Lexi, the past in the third person centred around the wife of Tom and mother of the two girls, Aurelia. The narration style is completely relatable – there’s pop culture references and plenty of references to things in UK life (like Waitrose, Tesco and primary school). Lexi’s part of the book in particular reads well, and she was a character I completely believed in, and really liked by the end of the book.

The storyline is interesting – it starts off quite natural and normal (a little Jane Eyre-ish with the middle class daddy and his children) and then becomes more of a ghost story, with sightings of the Sad Lady who haunts the house. The Norwegian housekeeper tells Lexi of the folk creatures/monsters who come after those damaging the land – which is exactly what Tom and his company are doing as they try and build a beautiful new house on the site of Aurelia’s death. It’s creepy, exciting and thrilling, and is a book that I would definitely read again. The integration of the Norwegian folk tales feels right. Sometimes at the end of these sorts of books there is a perfectly rational explanation to the goings-on, which can feel a bit of a let down but (SPOILER) this doesn’t happen in this book…

2021 Book #67 – Hamnet

Medium – Audiobook

About the Book – Agnes settles with her playwright husband and their children, Susanna, Judith and Hamnet, in the house next door to his parents, in Elizabethan Stratford-Upon-Avon. Agnes is a woman who is feared as much as she is loved – she has gifts of healing and also of foresight, and she can see glimpses of the future as it comes to ensnare her and her family. In 1596, the unthinkable happens, and their beloved son, Hamnet, dies of the plague. Four years later, the playwright writes one of his most famous plays, Hamlet, about a father who has lost his beloved son. The book explores the life of Hamnet himself as well as his mother and father, whose marriage is marred by the loss of a child.

My Rating – 4/5

My Thoughts – There are lots of amazing things about this book. I am in awe of Maggie O’Farrell’s ability to write descriptively – she made everything so entirely real and touchable, especially at the beginning of the book. The settings and characters are created beautifully and you get such a feeling of them actually being living, breathing people and places that the book kind of sucks you in. Unpopular opinion, but I do think that the author runs out of steam in the second half of the book. The book is set out in an interesting way – the first part skips between the ‘present day’ with Hamnet discovering that his sister Judith has the plague, and his father and mother’s love story in alternate chapters. The second part is one long chapter set after Hamnet’s death, discussing how the family deal with the aftermath of their loss. It’s touching and moving, but doesn’t quite have the descriptive power of the first part of the book.

The characters are interesting. Agnes Hathaway is amazing, and soon became my favourite character in the book. She is strong and brave, and has this deep knowledge of the earth and of human nature which is really attractive. Her husband is never named in person (although we all know that it’s William Shakespeare!) and I quite like that as it means that he never overshadows the rest of the narrative. Some of the incidental characters, like Agnes’s brother Bartholomew, are excellent, and the author is able to make a lot of a series of unknown characters. I would recommend this book, but I don’t think I would have been able to ‘read’ it in print form – I really enjoyed the audiobook!

‘The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go’ – Dr Seuss

Episode 6 – fantasy and murder, the end of the reading challenge – Jen's Book Blog

Episode 6 – fantasy and murder, the end of the reading challenge – Jen's Book Blog