Month: September 2020

The Smell of Cedar by River Dixon (Review)

The Smell of Cedar by River Dixon

Trigger warning: Male rape, child abuse, torture

About the author

When once asked for an author bio, River Dixon was quoted as saying, “Life is pretty good these days. But that doesn’t mean I don’t remember. It’s quite easy, too easy, to slip back to what once was, realizing it still is. Fortunately, I have the knowledge that there is an underlying hope in all this, and that is one of the greatest gifts the years have given me.”

When asked what she thought of his writing, his wife answered, “I don’t know, he puts his soup in the freezer and ice cream in the microwave. I think that just about says it all.”

River Dixon and his family are currently trapped in the incessant heat and beauty of Arizona.

Blurb

Sarah’s day was already off to a bad start when the arrival of a strange package from an unknown sender sent her spiralling into a state of paranoia. Memories of a tortured childhood in her grandmother’s care taunt her as she tries to piece together the events of the past few months—the events that have led up to this day. She’s convinced that a killer is coming for her, and it’s become a race against time and madness to figure out who is pulling the strings in this game of hunt or be hunted.

Review

I saw this book on a fellow blogger’s site and thought it sounded really good so I immediately downloaded it on the Kindle and started to read it. Oh how misleading the blurb is.

The beginning of the book started off well and I was hooked but then it went downhill fast and I was also left with a few unanswered questions which I also found annoying. The character Sarah has a great deal of issues and they are not her fault. Her grandmother created what Sarah is today and you can’t help but feel sorry for Sarah when reading Sarah’s flashbacks of her life with her grandmother.

However, Sarah as an adult is a different kettle of fish. It all starts off so normal but then it spirals quickly. Towards the end of this book I will be honest I had to skim read certain parts just to make sure I could sleep that night and also not throw up.

I will say that this book has probably upset me more than any other book I have read. I can’t even say I recommend it and that does not often happen and I always try to find a positive with a book and give it a chance. The book was well written and does hook you in but it really was not my cup of tea and I wish to forget it as soon as possible.

A disturbing read that I only give 1 Dragon to.

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The Weekly Brief

Another busy week complete and I am so happy to have early access to my course which I have now started to have a look at and I must admit I am in for a busy academic year.

So here is the weekly brief

Posts this Week

 

Currently Reading

 

Books Acquired

 

Blogs I Have Enjoyed This Week

  • Heather at Bookish Belongings has been a relatively new blog for me but I am really enjoying Heather’s posts.
  • Julie at One More Book has been another favourite this week.

 

So that is my week on the blog! I wish everyone the very best of weeks.

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A New Challenge: Shakespeare

So I have decided a new challenge is in order and that challenge is Shakespeare. I will be honest I have only ever read Shakespeare for school but this year I have read Twelfth Night and Venus and Adonis for fun and really enjoyed them so I have decided to read everything by Shakespeare. I’m discrediting the ones I read for school and I plan on reading them again without the pressure of having to write an essay on them.

So here is the list. (If you click the crossed out ones you will go to the review)

Plays

  • All’s Well That Ends Well
  • Antony and Cleopatra
  • As You Like It
  • The Comedy of Errors
  • Coriolanus
  • Cymbeline
  • Hamlet
  • 1 Henry IV
  • 2 Henry IV
  • Henry V
  • 1 Henry VI
  • 2 Henry VI
  • 3 Henry VI
  • Henry VIII
  • Julius Caesar
  • King John
  • King Lear
  • Love’s Labour’s Lost
  • Macbeth
  • Measure for Measure
  • The Merchant of Venice
  • The Merry Wives of Windsor
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • Much Ado About Nothing
  • Othello
  • Pericles
  • Richard II
  • Richard III
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • The Taming of the Shrew
  • The Tempest
  • Timon of Athens
  • Titus Andronicus
  • Troilus and Cressida
  • Twelfth Night
  • The Two Gentlemen of Verona
  • The Winter’s Tale

 

Non Plays

  • Sonnets
  • Venus and Adonis
  • Lover’s Complaints
  • Passionate Pilgrim
  • Phoenix and the Turtle
  • Rape of Lucrece

 

I’m not setting a time limit on the challenge because I have a lot of studying to do this year and next so I’m not sure just how much reading I will get done. I am rather excited to get going on this challenge.

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First Line Friday: 18/09/2020

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

 

Happy Friday!

It is time to guess that book. As per usual the answer is below the cats.

“Anna peered through the window of the gatehouse, watching the chariot trundling through below, enjoying the rich sensuousness of the new silk gown she was wearing, and conscious of her parents’ expectations of her.”

 

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ANSWER

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Newly widowed and the father of an infant son, Henry VIII realizes he must marry again to insure the royal succession. Now forty-six, overweight and unwell, Henry is soundly rejected by some of Europe’s most eligible princesses, but Anna of Kleve—a small German duchy—is twenty-four and eager to wed. Henry requests Anna’s portrait from his court painter, who enhances her looks, painting her straight-on in order not to emphasize her rather long nose. Henry is entranced by the lovely image, only to be bitterly surprised when Anna arrives in England and he sees her in the flesh. She is pleasant looking, just not the lady that Henry had expected.

What follows is a fascinating story of this awkward royal union that had to somehow be terminated tactfully. Alison Weir takes a fresh and surprising look at this remarkable royal marriage by describing it from the point of view of Queen Anna, a young woman with hopes and dreams of her own, alone in a royal court that rejected her from the day she arrived.

Please drop me a comment with your First Line Friday and I will head over for a visit.

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Friday Poetry: Hugo Williams

Happy Friday!

Today is an unusual one for me because I have no teaching! Usually I have some lessons to teach but everyone is on holiday so that means I get an extra day off which is nice. Hopefully this means a little bit more reading.

The chosen poem for this week is by Hugo Williams. I must admit I hate a nettle sting hence why I have chosen this poem. I do like nettle tea though, very calming.

Joy

Not so much a sting

as a faint burn

 

not so much a pain

as the memory of pain

 

the memory of tears

flowing freely down cheeks

 

in a sort of joy

that there was nothing

 

worse in the world

than stinging nettle stings

 

and nothing better

than cool dock leaves.

 

Hugo Williams

 

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This and That Thursday

Happy Thursday!

Another busy week has gone by but still plenty of reading accomplished thankfully.

Birthday Celebration

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This week was my husband’s birthday which meant a special meal of pizza and a nice bottle of bubbly.

 

Jigsaw

It has been a while since I have done a jigsaw but a friend of mine has given me a load of jigsaws to do so I thought I had better make a start.

 

Future Learn

I’m back on my future learn courses to get my brain back in gear for studying ready for my Masters that restarts in October.

 

Parents Garden

On Sunday I went around to my parents’ house where we watched the church service online but before the service started I went for a wander around the garden because the flowers in my parents’ garden are gorgeous so I had to take some pictures.

 

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WWW Wednesday: 16/09/2020

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you will read next?

 

What I am Currently Reading

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I took a bit of a break on this but have now started reading it again. So far so good.

 

What I have Recently Finished

Loved both of these books and highly recommend them.

 

What I will Read Next

As per usual I’m never sure what I will read next. It all depends on my mood.

So there is my WWW Wednesday. Please drop me a message with the link of your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit. 

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Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers That I Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For more info please check out Jana’s blog.

 

Hello!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie but must be cover related so I have chosen Book Covers That I Love. I will be honest I have chosen books because of their cover rather than their content but sometimes you just can’t help but be tempted by a pretty cover. I am really guilty of buying Christmas books due to their pretty covers but I will try not to have just ten Christmas books on my list, I promise.

So here is my list…

 

  1. The Everyman’s Library. This isn’t really a book but a collection of books but I love the covers and happily collect these books. I just love how uniform they all are.
  2. Dickens. I love my Dickens collection, they are early 1900’s and just beautiful and so tactile to hold.
  3. Magic Windows. Now people who have been reading my blog for a while know that I love this book and always read it on Christmas Eve. It just reminds me so much of Christmas as a child.
  4. Old Possum’s Book of Predictable Cats by T. S. Eliot. I love this book and when I went to buy a copy of this book there were quite a few different copies to choose from and I chose this one just because of the cover.
  5. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins. Oh dear now this was a book I chose because of the cover and was sorely disappointed with the actual story. I really should have learned a lesson from this book but it is doubtful.
  6. The Immortal City by Amy Kuivalainen. Read this book as a NetGalley read and then promptly ordered the book as I loved it so much and was even happier when I saw what an amazing cover it has.
  7. Five Feet Apart by Mikki Daughtry, Rachael Lippincott, and Tobias Iaconis. Haven’t read this yet but have seen the film and loved it. I really love the cover of this book.
  8. The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith. My husband had this book sat on his bookshelf for ages and I was desperate to read it as it was so pretty. Thankfully I loved the book as much as the cover.
  9. The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton. I love the film so much! I was so happy when I discovered this book last year.
  10. Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. I have this on my Ipad and have preordered the hardback which is due out near my birthday. The whole book is just gorgeous so I am really excited to actually own a physical copy.

 

There is my list! Please drop me a comment with your thoughts on my choices and of course if you have taken part in Top Ten Tuesday the feel free to drop a link and I will head over.

 

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The Existence of Amy by Lana Grace Riva (Review)

The Existence of Amy by Lana Grace Riva

Blurb

Amy has a normal life. That is, if you were to go by a definition of ‘no immediate obvious indicators of peculiarity’, and you didn’t know her very well. She has good friends, a good job, a nice enough home. This normality, however, is precariously plastered on top of a different life. A life that is Amy’s real life. The only one her brain will let her lead.

Review

Firstly, a massive thank you to Lana Grace Riva for supplying me with a free copy of her wonderful book to review.

I will be honest this isn’t a book that I would have chosen to read on my own but I am so happy that I did read it and I definitely plan on reading more of Riva’s work.

Amy is a wonderful character and one that I loved and felt a rollercoaster of emotions for. Amy has a good group of friends, a fantastic job and what appears as a normal happy life. However, Amy is also plagued by her own mind, that little voice that insists she should live a certain way to survive, even though Amy knows this makes no sense. This almost double life for Amy is exhausting and upsets her greatly because she realises she is missing out on things she would love to do and she is grieving for a time she can remember where she didn’t have this weird double life and grabbed life with both hands.

Riva has really done her research for this book and the character of Amy is brilliantly thought out and her friends are perfect. Sally is the loud socialite who doesn’t see that there is more to Amy than she sees and so thinks wrongly of Amy and leaves Amy out of things but is still Amy’s friend. Nathan is the bubbly happy friend who cares for Amy and wants to help her. Then there is Ed who has always had a deep relationship with Amy and cares for Amy a great deal. Ed and Amy share the same tastes and love nothing more than going around an art exhibition.

The thing I love most about this book is that the story is so simple and it focuses on Amy’s daily life and the struggles she encounters each day. This simplicity makes the story so much more real and makes you realise as a reader that this could be anybody in the world who is facing these struggles, including your own work colleagues and friends. This book definitely makes you think about the struggles people have to deal with that you can’t see.

I am so happy that I read this book and highly recommend it to everyone. It won’t take you long to read but I can guarantee that it will stay with you and give you a lot to think about. I give this book a big 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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