Kirsty Cabot
I can't pretend to be a connoisseur of poetry. I studied some at GCSE/A-level and the majority of the time I can't say I enjoyed it.
But this was just so different. I just felt a weird serenity over me whilst I read it, as if the rest of the world was muffled. The writing was beautiful. My favourite of the selected poems was The Moon and the Yew Tree.
The edition itself was lovely too. Very soft and bendy!
I am now interested to know whether it is just her writing that I love, or whether I have developed an interest in poetry - something I would never ever have thought possible.
It's been a while since we've read a new book as Ivy's enjoyed re-reading the ones she has! One of the ones she seems to really enjoy is [b:Max the Brave 22712981 Max the Brave Ed Vere https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1412059067s/22712981.jpg 42238658], so we got this one and she seems to enjoy it too! A lovely story about birds, flying, kittens and friendship.
Just pure, candid, no frills brilliance. This woman is saying so many things so many mums are thinking/have thought/felt guilty for contemplating and giving you a big IT'S OK, DON'T SWEAT IT seal of approval. Not that mothers need a seal of approval from someone else, but sometimes it just helps knowing you're not the only one.
Recommended to anyone who has ever had a kid.
First read to Ivy 18/11/16
A lovely story about true friendships. Fantastic illustrations
I thought that it was a good children's book, but felt a bit like it was trying to be Horrible Histories and not quite getting there. Still, a good way to introduce Boudicca to children! Tastefully done!
I enjoyed reading this book! A quick read, I think I would probably recommend for younger audiences. An endearing story about a boy and his pet, has a couple of plot twists and is generally a compelling story. This is not the kind of book I would generally read, but i did enjoy it and wanted to keep reading to find out what happens!
Good work!
The fourth book in the Stonewylde series, and as the title suggests, there are certainly a great deal of shadows over the idyllic world of Stonewylde. This book is set 13 years after the finish of Solstice at Stonewylde, I found the book to be a really emotional read, with things perhaps not working the way i wanted them to. The development of the character Leveret is done wonderfully, and I easily became entranced by her. I highly recommend this book! Even if you feel that because of the tags that it is for Young Adults, or its Pagan affiliations make you feel that it is not the book for you I REALLY recommend at least giving the first one (Magus of Stonewylde) a go, I've never read books like these books before, but it is easy to get hooked!!
I will write a review, once it has been released. But needless to say.... It's a perfect finale.
18/10/12 - Today is Shaman's official release date. Luckily I was fortunate enough to receive a pre-publication copy. What a read!
Shaman is the final instalment of the Stonewylde series. The idyllic world of Stonewylde and its future lingers on the brink of ruin. I am very keen not to give any of the story away, but the truth is, if you've made it this far through the series, this book is definitely NOT going to disappoint. Very much a different mood to Shadows at Stonewylde, this book brings together and finalises all the characters stories, and does so perfectly.
I am so sad that the series has come to an end, it's the kind of story part of you wishes could go on forever, but Kit Berry succeeded in bringing the series to a very appropriate close. It's just perfect!
Where to start... I had no real idea what this book was going to be about. I don't think that I have ever read a book based in India before, but read this as it was the book chosen for my book club.
The main emotions stirred in me by this book were disgust and confusion. The book confronted many different themes including gender, sex, drug use, religion, marriage, prostitution, crime, plus many others. This was all set against the backdrop of 1970's Bombay. Unfamiliar with the history, and quite possibly the culture of Bombay and India in general, I found it quite difficult to follow the story (the language used, the types of places mentioned). I believe this could also have been due to the writing style, which I found to have both positive and negative aspects. It seemed that there wasn't any real, solid story to the book, more a series of situations and events that occurred, involving various combinations of characters in various locations. This was something I found difficult to follow, becoming unsure who was talking at different points in the book. However, the authors descriptions were evocative, and I certainly formed images in my mind of how I thought places and people looked.
There were some very graphic, and disturbing scenes in the book involving drug use, sex (both consensual and non-consensual, in heterosexual and homosexual situations), occurring separately, and together. It mingles religion/sex/drugs together very closely which could certainly prove problematic for some readers. I equate some of the scenes in this book with the kind of scenes that occur in American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, graphic and difficult to read. Alot of these did not seem to have any real build up, or come-down, and were in some cases, just another thing that happened, told in quite a neutral tone.
I would say that it would be difficult to say I enjoyed this book, I found it difficult to become attached to the characters, or to feel empathy to many of them. It is quite possible that I missed the point of the book, as I realise that the book dealt with many difficult themes - however when the book ended, I was left unsatisfied, but not particularly wishing that the story would continue. Time shifts and character shifts made it difficult follow.
I did however enjoy reading it from the perspective that it was out of my comfort zone in terms of usual genres of books, and that despite the confusion I encountered (which could of course just be me being a bit thick!), the writer delivered many interesting thoughts, along side deep questions, interesting character conversations and vivid imagery, whilst also dealing with problematic themes.
I am unsure as of yet, whether it is a book I would recommend to others due to the nature of the content. Not for the faint hearted.
Received this book through a giveaway. A little different to books I've read in last few years, I found it to be fast paced and quick to read as other reviewers have noted as well.
I think the story is pretty good, due to its length it maybe misses out on some detail which could have improved the story. Although unlikely, I was kind of hoping that it was going to finish on a cliff hanger which would have allowed the story to continue and open up in a second book... though this seems unlikely.
I'm not sure what else I can really say about it other than the fact that it was ok! Recommended if you fancy a quick read, with a fairly interesting and unconventional plot, with lots of action.
A brilliantly creepy collection of short stories. Definitely felt that there was some Lovecraft influence, and really enjoyed the dark, otherworldly nature of the stories. Read on my kindle, a great book to pick up and read here and there.
In brief:
A really odd, but interesting start to the book, but by the last quarter I was just in a rush to get through and to be honest found quite boring.
I haven't ever read anything like this book. And to be honest one of the reasons I picked it up was because it looked gorgeous. I mean physically. Smaller than a “standard” book, a ribbed thick front cover, with a lovely simple illustration on it, decent quality smooth thick paper, clear typeface. I really did judge this book by it's cover. I was certainly rewarded!
Written by a Hungarian, translated into English, about a Hungarian scholar who is in Wales. A strange setting. Gothic, dry, mystery, romance, intrigue - all these words I use to describe the story! Following Janos Batky in his quest to discover the secrets of his host, the Earl of Gwynedd. Things are not as they seem in his posh country manor!
I hate talking about the content of stories too much, just read it.
The first work of Woolf's I have read. I didn't find it the easiest book to read, but I think it gave me a lot to think about, both her own situation and her contemporaries, as well as me and my own time. So many rousing thoughts and speeches, she sounds like an incredible person.
A short story about the lengths ambition will drive you both physically and mentally, set on a far off world.
It's quite disturbing, in a non horror kind of way, more of a depressing, uncomfortable kind of disturbing.
A good read.
Enjoyed the artwork more than the story I think, however its only the 1st comic, i'd probably be willing to read a few more before I formed a proper decision.
Sexy vamps in short.
Bought as part of HumbleBundles 10th Anniversary bundle.
Great book for young readers, I love ancient history, particularly ancient Greece! I liked the way the author wrote for younger readers but didn't always “dumb down” aspects e.g. Heracles being called Heracles, opposed to his more popular (but Roman) name of Hercules. Plenty of Gods and Goddesses mentioned and many allusions to myths either directly or in passing.
