William
I really enjoyed this little mystery.
This series has been growing, both in characters and in the quality of it's puzzles. Up until now the “supernatural” elements, such as the main character being a novice witch (though it's all a bit of a surprise to her) and the undead knitting club in her back room, have been pretty much window dressing in most of the books. In this volume we get some real witching going on with full on broomstick lessons. We also have some quite dramatic scenes An actual rooftop showdown! and get to see some beloved characters again Charlie and Alice's wedding...I do hope they get their honeymoon after all!
I think I've fallen in love with this cozy little series.
Another crime to be solved by Lucy the knitting-shop owner with a little help from the vampires who secretly live downstairs.
This time a TV show is going to be filming in the shop, but of course someone meets an untimely end.
Up until now the attraction of these books has been more on the likable characters and gentle humour - at which they excel, but this time the mystery was a real puzzle which I really enjoyed. The supernatural side (largely almost a comedic afterthought in the series) was, while not in the foreground, at least more intriguing than usual.
I'm really enjoying this series and it keeps getting better.
Another installment of the story of Lucy, Oxford knitting shop owner and part time secret witch who is drawn into investigating yet another mysterious murder, this time at a village fair.
The mystery was a little harder to crack for me this time - up until now I've had my suspicions pretty early in the book - not that it matters, I'm there for the cozy ride with added chuckles - but this time the mystery was actually rather intriguing.
If you are looking for a gentle feel-good read with a bit of a mystery and a sense of humour - give this series a go.
Overview: Another fun mystery based in Oxford, following Lucy the Knitting Shop owning novice witch who can't knit.
In this book Lucy volunteers to help out at a local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (or should it be a Midsomer Night's Dream?), but of course there's a murder which Lucy has to help unravel, all while helping her friend Alice with her romantic attachment to the local book seller and helping out with the mystery of the vanishing (kidnapped?) uni student.
The vampire nest in her basement is just an added bother. She's a very busy lady.
On 1st Reading: These are great little comfort reads. OK there is a crime, but you know the good will end happily and the bad unhappily (for them).
.On 2nd Reading: I'm really appreciating how the author's skill clearly improves with each novel. The last book was possibly the darkest in the series - this one has a much lighter and warmer feel. Of course there is a serious crime and a well written mystery to get the little grey cells working, but I just had a big grin through much of the book - especially at the very end...
This second volume of this series follows the crew of the Pontus as they travel to the moon Europa. My feelings about this book are somewhat conflicted so I will try to explain with minimal spoilers:
/\ : The main characters were excellent. While they were thrown into an utterly bizarre situation, the characters were utterly believable and they reacted in very believable ways. Both of the main characters were well meaning, which let me cheer them on and fear for them when they were in danger.
/\ : There was something about the writing style that just kept me reading - I so wanted to find out what happened next.
/\ : There was a mystery that I really wanted to solve.
/\ : I really appreciated the Persian phrases, references to Naw Ruz and Persian food (the best food imho).
\/ : There was very little description of place. For a book that was based largely on a space craft I have no idea what the darn thing looks like inside or out. It was initially referred to as a “capsule” so I imagined something Apollo or Space X Dragon style. Then there were references to multiple rooms, bedrooms, lounges and mezzanine floors. Of course when they were docking or landing I really wanted to know what it looked like from outside - but I haven't a clue. I tried to ignore it but I'm a very visual reader and it almost gave me a headache mentally redrawing the ship every chapter.
\/ : The technology just doesn't make sense. One example that bothered me was when they floated into the Habitation Module and their “feet land with a thunk”. Apparently this is an artificial gravity area with “a soaring atrium surrounded by six wraparound levels of living space”...“created by turning the module into an ever-rotating centrifuge”...but they just floated into it...this should mean that they would see the whole place whipping around them at high speed while they floated in the middle before falling to their deaths “with a thunk”. OK, ignore that, mentally rewrite it as there is an area that matches the spin to the presumed wheel or arm that the Habitation area is based in and their feet touched down in there. It was really hard to keep this mental rewrite going while they happily dashed in and out throughout the novel. There are many other examples, but I'm griping too much already.
\/ : The ending really felt that there should be a book 3, but I see no evidence that there is one coming. Which is a shame as despite the flaws, I really loved the story and the characters.
I really enjoyed this book for several reasons:
• A strong mystery that made it very hard to put down.
• A well written, slowly developing non-cliché romance
• A well written ethnically Persian character (a relief after a previous example).
This felt like a rush in the best sense. I wanted to find out what was going to happen and before I knew it I'd reached the end desperate to uncover more of the mystery and to follow the characters further in their stories.
I'm going to be grabbing book two and finding out more about this author.
A great adventure story made into something special by a genuinely good main character - both as in good hearted and very complex and well written - and a strong seam of humour that allows for some dark themes of personal trauma to be properly addressed while keeping the feel of the story accessible. This is a relatively new author who shows great skill at her craft. I eagerly look forward to her next book.
Overview of Series that starts with [b:Kristy's Great Idea|38424|Kristy's Great Idea|Raina Telgemeier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349053518l/38424.SY75.jpg|2008634]: Short novels/Chapter Books for 10-13 year olds that follow a group of friends who babysit for neighbours. The books guide the readers through social issues and challenges faced by those in this age group through stories told with humour and warmth. Strongly recommended for children of this age, also entertaining for adults.
This book focuses on Claudia, a girl who loves art, and the “New Girl” who puts art above all else. As with the other books in this series the author cleverly tells a great story while teaching positive values and morals to her readers.
Strongly recommended, especially to readers around Claudia's age (10-13ish).
Overview of Series that starts with [b:Kristy's Great Idea|233722|Kristy's Great Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #1)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389241314l/233722.SX50.jpg|2302767]: Short novels/Chapter Books for 10-13 year olds that follow a group of friends who babysit for neighbours. The books guide the readers through social issues and challenges faced by those in this age group through stories told with humour and warmth. Strongly recommended for children of this age, also entertaining for adults.
I read some Baby-Sitters books many moons ago, but I recently became aware of how many books are in the series. Looking at the publication dates I believe I read through the 10 Baby-Sitters books in the library (pretty much all the books published at the time) and thought that that was that.
Now, decades later, I have continued the Stonybrook Saga...but as an adult I have to ask, are they any good?
Yes, yes they are.
OK they are aimed at younger people (10-13ish I imagine), but they are so well written that the characters came alive and I really wanted to find out what happened next. I am deeply impressed at how the author manages to guide the reader through some complex social issues (economic disparity, sheltered/spoilt upbringings, remarriage, issues of moving to a new area and the aging and death of a pet) while avoiding any sign of this being gasp educational - it's just what happens to Kristy.
A very good book.
This was an intriguing story based in a world in which a magic-using fantasy world is increasingly plagued by deadly wild magic “miststorms”, while in the skies above are high-tech floating cities, the population of which has forgotten the existence of surface dwellers, but are facing their own crisis as many are coming to realise that the cities are slowly loosing altitude.
It is in this setting that the young Nimhara - the one chosen to be the leader and “Living Goddess” of her people sets out to to follow a prophecy to find a fallen star...and it is in this setting that Prince North of the cloud city Alciel discovers his glider has a problem (it's on fire, rarely a good thing) and crashes to the surface below.
Romance and adventure ensues.
I had somehow overlooked the fact that this is only book 1 in the series and was rather shocked to realise that the book ends on a cliffhanger. I look forward to the sequel.
Overview: So good! Longer Overview: Directly continuing the story of [b:Hera 2781 28259047 Hera 2781 (Drago Tell Dramis #0.5) Janet Edwards https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450710941l/28259047.SY75.jpg 48298865] this is an excellent work of character and world building, clearly laying the foundations for the climactic third story [b:Sol 2781 57183948 Sol 2781 (Drago Tell Dramis #3) Janet Edwards https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614072335l/57183948.SY75.jpg 88055472].Detailed thoughts (avoiding spoilers): I'm a big fan of Science Fiction (SF), really getting into it by diving in at the deep end with [b:Second Foundation 13457053 Second Foundation (Foundation, #3) Isaac Asimov https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1355355187l/13457053.SY75.jpg 64823] by Isaac Asimov and [b:Rendezvous with Rama 112537 Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1) Arthur C. Clarke https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405456427l/112537.SY75.jpg 1882772] by Arthur C. Clarke. These so-called “Golden Age”, “Hard SF” books aren't exactly famous for character development or action sequences - they go in for big ideas that blow your mind or amazing scenes that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up due to the sense of wonder that they bring.I later stumbled onto [a:Anne McCaffrey 26 Anne McCaffrey https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599324585p2/26.jpg]'s SF stories. These were totally different. Ms McCaffrey still made you think, but she wrote about characters that you really cared for, that became almost real in your mind. When a book finished I really missed them. She wrote about complex societies that by the end of a book felt like somewhere you could actually visit. Clarke and Asimov were brilliant thinkers, but I feel that McCaffrey was far and away the better storyteller. [b:Hera 28259047 Hera 2781 (Drago Tell Dramis #0.5) Janet Edwards https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450710941l/28259047.SY75.jpg 48298865] and [b:Hestia 58435981 Hestia 2781 (Drago Tell Dramis #1) Janet Edwards https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1624976040l/58435981.SY75.jpg 91705539] (they really are one story) really combine the best of “Hard SF” with McCaffrey's genius for storytelling. Hestia has moments in it which felt almost pure Asimov gold, early in the story there is a long conversation over a game of chess, it's basically just two people talking - no action, no explosions, and yet it had me on the edge of my seat holding my breath as I discovered point after point about the world and a complex puzzle was slowly built. The pacing was perfect and I really think that this is the best example of this sort of scene since Asimov.This book also gave me a huge dose of the “sense of wonder” as well, there are some moments when Drago looks out on the solar sails that really gave me that magical feel, almost like when the astronauts enter Rama for the first time. It was just wow. These scenes had no explosions, but the book has plenty of action too. In her recent releases Ms Edwards has flexed her action writing muscles, practically giving me a heart attack in her last book, [b:Earth Prime 55119019 Earth Prime (The Earth Girl Aftermath Stories #1) Janet Edwards https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1598362606l/55119019.SY75.jpg 85923167]. The action and adventure scenes in this book are spaced out... I tried to think of how to explain the pacing and I came up with “it's like a fireworks show”. Good fireworks shows go “crackle, crackle, spark, BOOM, whoosh, crackle...pause....BOOM BOOM BOOM...pause...BOOM” the quiet moments make the loud more exciting, and the glorious explosions make the quiet moments more magical. That's how I felt about the structure of the book. I can confirm that the action scenes were well written due to the actual genuine sweat-hand-prints on my ereader cover. (OK, it may be gross, but it's physical evidence).What really makes the action scenes work is Ms Edwards' greatest skill - creating characters you care about. I mean if a character is a cardboard cut-out I'm not fussed if they are in danger - but this is Drago, I know him! He's a good guy! I don't want him hurt! Not again, that poor doctor has enough on her plate without having to patch him up again. It's the characters, their backgrounds, their fears passions and growth that drive this book, and all of Ms Edwards stories. Combine this with a world that is just utterly fascinating and getting more complex and interesting with every page turn and you can see why I was annoyed about things like having to sleep for getting in the way of reading. I didn't want to finish this book because I knew what was going to happen. I keep feeling like I have to check in with my friends Drago and Jaxon to see how they are doing. I've got to be honest and say that I can't place my finger on how she does it, but when Ms Edwards writes a character they really come alive. In this way, and in her worldbuilding, I find Ms Edwards reminds me of Anne McCaffrey more than any other writer. Then again, Ms Edwards is my favorite writer publishing books today.I'm waiting with excitement for the next Drago book: [b:Sol 2781: A Drago Novel 57183948 Sol 2781 (Drago Tell Dramis #3) Janet Edwards https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614072335l/57183948.SY75.jpg 88055472], I want to spend more time exploring this universe (I need to invest in a cloak...) and I can't wait to see what trouble Drago gets himself into (and out of) this time!Thank you Janet Edwards!
Overview: Another short mystery based in an Oxford that has secret magic users and an underground Vampire Knitting Club. This time the story is based around a Christmas market, hand knitted stockings, and a fantasy author called Sanderson.
After 1st Reading: Be prepared for just enough mystery to keep it interesting, but nothing to be too worrying. You know the cat, the handsome detective, or the helpful knitting vampires will be there to help sort things out in the end.
After 2nd Reading: I think this may be one of my favorite of the series, and this is a series that feels like comfort food for the eyeballs. It is best enjoyed with a good cup of tea, some biscuits and preferably a big, cozy, wooly jumper.
This was a short but thought provoking story following some explorers investigating life on planets around another star. While there are some interesting technological innovations )such as altering the body to survive in different gravities etc.) this isn't really the point. This is more of a philosophical work that encourages us to think about our place and purpose in the universe.
Minor gripe: The cover is just wrong. The character repeatedly cuts her hair short and it is a plot point that the astronauts wear space suits when leaving the vehicle.
Overview: Another mystery novel based around a knitting shop in Oxford. While the previous books in the series have been pretty straight-forward mysteries in the style of Midsomer Murders with the magic elements largely as comic relief, the mystery this time actually centres around magical elements.
After 1st Reading: I really enjoyed this short book and while it's a little more tense than previous entries, it is still a bit of escapist fun.
After 2nd Reading: I really enjoyed this book. Having read up to book 13 I can say that this is the creepiest and most halloweenish of the series. Don't get me wrong, this is still mostly cozy reading with a sense that it'll all be OK because everyone will pull together.... but right at the climax there was a serious moment of....but will they? This is also possibly the most supernatural of the books with magic and ancient secrets as basically the entire plot.
So, not as cozy as the other books, but actually really good with an ending I loved. An excellent read for halloweenish time.
Overview: A fun little murder-mystery reminiscent of Midsomer Murders. I really enjoyed this story, it is gentle enough that there are few moments of real tension, but there's enough mystery to keep your brain ticking over nicely. A good book to enjoy with a nice cup of tea and a biscuit.
After 1st Reading: While this takes place in a world in which magic and vampires secretly exist (and vampires attend knitting clubs) this secret world, surprisingly, has absolutely no bearing on the plot. Supernatural elements were generally used for anecdotes and amusing moments, but the book would have been much the same without them.
I look forward to reading more in the series.
After 2nd Reading: I did enjoy reading the rest of the (so far) published series. This is a very gentle entry in the series and pretty representative of the series. If you are looking for something that tickles the old grey cells, while giving the odd chuckle, a gentle hint of romance, and with the general feel of a really good hot chocolate by the fire - this is the series for you.
Asking 7 year olds to review this book resulted in reviews such as “SOOOO GOOOOD!”, “Reepicheep is the best!” and “The bit with the Sea Monster was amazing.” Which pretty much matches my memories of how I thought about it as a child.
So, after reading this innumerable times as a child, does it stand up to a reread as an adult?
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: Yes with a very few niggles.
OK what were the niggles?
1: Towards the end they meet “Ramandu's Daughter” who reminds me of Galadriel. She seems pretty awesome, standing up to this ship load of heavily armed strangers (and a deadly mouse) without batting an eyelid and confidently explains stuff to them. Caspian thinks she's pretty awesome too, marries her and she “becomes a great Queen”. Brilliant. What's her name exactly?
1.5: Caspian and Queen Nameless return to Narnia - I so wish we could read of their further adventures.
2: Everyone talks of the religious allegory of Narnia, something that has soared gloriously over the heads of generations of delighted children. The thing about the allegory is that the story works just as it is. An adult with an understanding of the Christian concept of substitutional atonement can read about Aslan and the Stone Table and nod wisely - but the children are just bouncing around because Aslan beat the White Witch. The story works without the allegory. The ending of Dawn Treader with the lamb handing out fish and turning into the lion works well for someone looking for allegory, but for anyone else it is just really weird. It feels like a really odd dream. I felt that as a child, and having read it to children myself I get questions such as:
“How did the lamb light the fire?” (it's a magic lamb)
“How did it catch the fish?” (it's a magic lamb)
“But if Aslan was the lamb he was lying to them!” (erm, it was a surprise!).
In short it doesn't really work as just a story, unless you are looking for Christian symbolism.
Let's be honest, most readers are looking for adventures with talking animals and dragons. This book provides that and it's great fun. If you happen to want a symbolism aperitif , the book provides that too. For everyone else - enjoy the story and turn a blind eye to the baby sheep incident.
Overview: A really fun mystery involving what might possibly be a murder in an Oxford knitting shop and...well...a vampire knitting club. What more do I need to say?
On 1st Reading: I enjoyed the characters and I really want to know more about the setting. I'm glad I gave this little novel a read.
On 2nd Reading: This series of short mysteries has such a warm and tongue-in-cheek atmosphere that they are the perfect comfort reads. As I've read all the published books in the series and have come back for a second go I can confirm that the cast of lovable characters grows, romances flourish, and we get to know each of them and their eccentricities much better. Yes there is always a crisis - a death, a theft or something more mysterious - but we know that everyone will pull together, help out, and it'll all be OK in the end.
A great adventure in space for younger readers. This is a reread of one of my favorite series from when I was a very “Young Adult”. This series reminds me of the great “Planetary Romances” of the early 20th Century. It is as if Dr Asimov looked at how popular those had been with young readers and decided to update the setting with modern (1950s) science - so less swords and princesses, more maths and physics, all the while keeping the heaping helping of daring-do.This was blatantly an influence on [a:Andy Weir 6540057 Andy Weir https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1382592903p2/6540057.jpg].All good stuff so far - but now for the only negative point.By the end of Book 2 the number of female characters “on screen” totals exactly 0.That's actually quite staggering. There's not even a bit-part or walk on scene. The only evidence that females exist in this universe are as follows:* A mention of a “sister” in David's cover story in Book 1.* Mentions of wives, once in Book 1 and once in Book 2.That is it. I am flabbergasted.Was is a great story, the way I remembered?: YesDid I love every minute?: YesAm I a little weirded out by the lack of females?: Yes. It's just...weird...
Overview
The conclusion to the trilogy following the young witch Nadia as she attempts to stop the apocalypse kicking off in her little town.
A good story with characters I wish we'd spent more time with. Let down by too many scenes of the evil witch doing evil-witchy stuff resulting in the the story dragging on.
To be honest I only hung around to see Varlaine get her happy-ever-after.
Mild spoilers ahead - it's the last book
My feelings average out at 3 stars, though I have mixed feelings about this series, all of which are heightened in this last volume. I'll try to break it down:
The Good
I really liked the characters. I especially liked Verlaine and her Dads. I thought that Nadia's Persian background was a nice twist and Mateo was an interesting person thrust into a fascinating position. Even the Guidance Counselor turned out to be a relatable person with a very interesting backstory.
When “Team Not-Evil” were together the writing really drew me in. The characters bounced off each other so well that I just wanted to see them all through the crisis. I really appreciated the extra few pages at the end that saw the characters grow in a non-world-ending situation.
The Bad
The characters all were very interesting. It's a shame that time wasn't spent getting to know them better. Nadia felt like a very flat character to me. She was from a Persian background rather unusual for a main character in English language books. It's a shame that this aspect was only mentioned in a few throw away passages. I would have loved to see traces of this in the terminology and traditions of the Craft, handed down from her mother's family. At a bare minimum, this girl who is supposed to love cooking could have brewed up some aush to warm them up after the flood, or munched on some tahdig or lavashak to cheer herself up.
OK, full disclosure - I love Persian food.
The Ugly
Elizabeth was nasty. Really nasty. In fact we had to be reminded in detail every few pages, at length, how really, really super dooper mega reallyNASTY she was.
The Elizabeth-does-something-horific-and-gloats cut scenes got somewhat annoying and off-putting after a while. I'd just be getting into a scene of Varlaine coming up with a plan or talking things over with her Dads when we had to skip to Elizabeth being evil and sticking her fingers into some bird/person to feel their internal organs.
I think the word is gratuitous. Though by the end of the third book it's just boring.
Once her nastiness was established in book 1 we really could have dispensed with pretty much all of the Elizabeth scenes, this would have resulted in a much faster paced story and left room for more character development of Team Not-Evil.
This is the second book following the young witch Nadia as she tries to save the small town of Captive's Sound (and indirectly the world) from an infernal fate.
I found this installment much more gripping than the first book, I have to admit to literally sitting on the edge on my seat and gasping at one or two tense moments.
I've given this book 3 stars - if you hover over the stars you see that that means “I liked it”. I did. This book doesn't have anything shockingly original and I think the ending, while OK, was definitely not satisfying - even bearing in mind that this is book 2 out of 3.
Claudia Grey has written much better and I encourage readers to try out her Constellation and Firebird series.
Still, the series is still worth a read and I fully intend to read book 3.
An enjoyable read with interesting characters and an intriguing mystery. This book is a good example of the genre “Modern setting, but with magic and supernatural creatures”. This usually gets called “Urban Fantasy” but I think that's just silly when you're reading stories such as this one which is set in a village or rural setting. So I prefer “Paranormal Fantasy” as a general term, but go ahead and call it “Rural Fantasy” if you prefer.If you've read a bit of this genre you won't find any big surprises. Everything seems normal on the surface of the small town called Captive's Sound, but in the shadows witches practice magic for good and ill, creatures of the night lurk in shadows, and underground an ancient evil lurks.Don't get me wrong, this was well written and had really interesting and likable characters (and one very well written unlikable character). As an introduction to the genre this seems to be great (though I've not read the sequels yet). I admit that I primarily read this book because of my love for the author's Constellation series of Science Fiction books, which I heartily recommend and which are light years ahead of this book. If you are looking to read a fun SF Romance, [b:Defy the Stars 31423196 Defy the Stars (Constellation, #1) Claudia Gray https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1484967166l/31423196.SX50.jpg 47841519] is a good one to pick up.
A haunting and thought provoking book.
There exists a world of endless vast marble halls, each lined with statues. Huge staircases lead up to halls filled with clouds, or down to the drowned halls in which the ocean rages.
Through these halls wanders a man, alone except for the bones of thirteen predecessors and The Other.
Fifteen dwellers in this, The House.
These are his journals which tell of his explorations, his discoveries, and of the coming of the Sixteenth.
—-
I'm not sure what it was about this book, but I was desperate to uncover the mysteries it presented. It was very hard to put it down - I just kept plowing through at every available opportunity.
I'm sure I'll be thinking about the imagery in this book for a very long time.