Sometimes the blurb of a book can be a tad off putting. I remember when I first became aware of Wild : a journey from lost to found a few years ago. It became very popular at the library and we had a fair few requests for it. But the description did absolutely nothing for […]
A book in the The Universe of Xuya I do love the idea of ships as people. I really enjoyed Anne McCaffrey’s The Ship Who series way back in the way off times when I read it. It’s just a fascinating idea, a space ship with all the computing power of an AI, but still […]
Read it online at Tor.
reread in April, 2018 and loved it just as much.
A long time ago in Japan, when cats were new there, an earthquake shook Small Cat’s home, and her city caught fire. In escaping the fire she ran too far from her home and her fudoki. “The fudoki was the collection of stories about all the cats who had lived in a place. It described what made it a home, and what made the cats a family.” In fleeing the fire the Small Cat gets lost in the city but decides to follow the story of her aunts, The Cat Who Came From the North. And so she heads North. But she goes too far and soon is so far from home that she thinks she will never find her way to her fudoki again.
translated by Diane Oatley Bees are pretty cool insects. They are also pretty damn important. Insects in general are essential to the world we know, so maybe think twice before spraying those insecticides and getting rid of all the dandelions in your lawn. We need insects1 so we should be paying more attention to their […]
I read this because it was my bookclub selection for March. I am afraid that it certainly was not my cup of tea. It appeared to be set in modern times, but the attitudes of the people seemed to belong in the fifties. Or maybe little England really is like that? If so I despair […]
The Winnowing Flame trilogy ; book 2 Have you read this first book in this series? If not then go read it. It is awesome and action packed with great characters and a story that’ll keep you turning pages long after you promised yourself you’d stop. If you have read it, well The Bitter Twins […]
Mollie Carberry ; book 2 I quite enjoyed the first book in this series, The Making of Mollie, and this second book picks up pretty much where that one left off. Mollie is learning more about the suffragette movement and getting more involved, she also learns more about the dangers involved. If you enjoyed the […]
Added to Mount TBR in March 2018 – I came across this book as it was longlisted for the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize. It sounded interesting It is a strange book in a way. Sort of a biography, sort of a book about drug addiction, but more a book about dealing with other people and […]
The Clocktaur War ; book 2 Some books are just great fun. You sit down to see what they’re like and before you know it you’ve read the whole book and are wishing you would’ve slowed down a bit because now it is over. I loved the first book, and this sequel is just as […]
I picked this book up on impulse. I had finished a book the day before and hadn’t yet decided what to read when lunchtime came around. I scanned the library shelves and this was the only one that seemed to appeal, mainly I think, because of the cover. It’s pretty awesome looking. I had seen […]
Mollie Carberry ; book 1 Mollie Carberry’s life seems pretty dull until she discovers her older sister Phyllis is a suffragette! When she and her friend Nora get involved they must face the question of how far a girl should go for her beliefs. Anna Carey’s Rebecca series of books are popular ones in the […]
translated into English by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky When I saw this mentioned in some magazine or other I had to order it. I was vaguely aware of the Russian front during World War II, vaguely aware that women signed up and fought for Soviet Russia, but I knew very little more than that. […]