Hello!
I hope everyone has had a good weekend. I have had rather a bad week blogging but a slightly better week reading.
Blog Posts
Currently Reading
Started this yesterday and really enjoying it so far.
Happy Reading
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Blurb
A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of fantasy, Garth Nix.
In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn’t get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.
Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.
Susan’s search for her father begins with her mother’s possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.
Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan’s. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.
Review
It has been many years since I have read a Garth Nix book but when I saw this I was intrigued and had to buy it. I am so glad I did and I have also bought the sequel.
I basically read this book in one day as I just couldn’t put it down and it is by far my favourite read of 2023 so far. The book is set in 1983 but not quite the 1983 we all know there are some differences. The book centres around Susan Arkshaw a girl who just wants to find out who her father is and to study art after the Summer holidays.
On her quest to find her father Susan meets Merlin. Merlin is clearly an interesting character who has a fantastic dress sense and who also has some special skills that Susan has not seen before. By meeting Merlin Susan is thrown into the world of the booksellers. The booksellers come in three categories, they are either left handed like Merlin which means they are warriors with superior strength and speed, right handed who are more studious and use magic and then there are the even handed booksellers who are clearly very powerful but we don’t get to find out the full extent of their abilities.
As Susan, Merlin and Vivien start to work out what is going on we soon learn that Susan’s and the booksellers’ quests overlap in more ways than they originally thought. This leads to one adventure after another.
I love the idea of the booksellers hiding behind their bookshops and books so nobody knows their true identities and abilities. Their network is huge and the police have a special unit to work with the booksellers. It would appear the booksellers have power over everyone but they have to have many fingers in many pies to keep everyone safe from the Old World.
I loved this book! My favourite character is by far Merlin who is eccentric and a laugh a minute but at the same time caring and protective. I will be starting the next book in the series straight away and I will definitely be catching up on my Garth Nix reading. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons.
🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲
Purchase Links
Foyles | Bookshop.org | Waterstones | Wordery
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing ‘Hail the Conquering Hero Comes’ or possibly ‘Roll Out the Barrel’. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter.
Despite a wheel literally falling off the Austin, Garth survived to return to Australia and study at the University of Canberra. After finishing his degree in 1986 he worked in a bookshop, then as a book publicist, a publisher’s sales representative, and editor. Along the way he was also a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve, serving in an Assault Pioneer platoon for four years. Garth left publishing to work as a public relations and marketing consultant from 1994-1997, till he became a full-time writer in 1998. He did that for a year before joining Curtis Brown Australia as a part-time literary agent in 1999. In January 2002 Garth went back to dedicated writer again, despite his belief that full-time writing explains the strange behaviour of many authors.
He now lives in Sydney with his wife, two sons and lots of books.
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a good week so far.
My chosen poem this week is by author Rachel Field (1894-1942).
If Once You Have Slept on an Island If once you have slept on an island You'll never be quite the same; You may look as you looked the day before And go by the same old name. You may bustle about in street and shop; You may sit at home and sew, But you'll see blue water and wheeling gulls Wherever your feet may go. You may chat with the neighbours of this and that And close to your fire keep, But you'll hear ship whistle and lighthouse bell And tides beat through your sleep. Oh, you won't know why, and you can't say how Such change upon you came, But once you have slept on an island, You'll never be quite the same! Rachel Field
Happy Reading
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?
Hello and Happy Friday!
Firstly, apologies for my tardiness on the blog this week. I’m not entirely sure where the week has gone and it is showing me I must get organised and get back into scheduling my blog posts.
I am actually starting a new book on a Friday for a change which never seems to happen anymore so I thought I would take part in First Lines Friday.
As per usual the answer is below the Lyra photos.
When I was born, they left me on a hillside. The king had given his decree – if it’s a girl, expose her on the mountain – and so some unfortunate soul was dispatched from the palace with this unwanted scrap of humanity: a baby girl instead of the glorious heir the king desired.
Get guessing!
And the answer is….
When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment.
Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta, is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis.
Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason’s band of Argonauts. But can she carve out her own place in the legends in a world made for men?
Did anybody guess correctly?
Please drop me a comment with your First Line Friday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club. All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.
Happy Monday!
I hope everyone has had a good start to the week. I have spent a good chunk of today gardening which was nice but I think I will most likely ache tomorrow.
My chosen book this week is one on my 20 Books of Summer challenge.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enrol in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world’s centre for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire’s quest for colonisation.
For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realises serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organisation dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .
What are your thoughts on this book if you have read it?
Please drop me a link with your Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
Hello!
I hope you have all had a good weekend. This week has been a much better week reading and blogging which has made a nice change.
Blog Posts
Currently Reading
I have a new system for making sure The Count of Monte Cristo doesn’t get neglected. I now read one book during the day and The Count of Monte Cristo is my read before bed, I might only be reading a few pages a night but at least I am progressing.
Happy Reading
A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths
Blurb
Set in Norfolk, England, A Room Full of Bonesembroils, once again, our brainy heroine in a crime tinged by occult forces. On Halloween night, the Smith Museum in King’s Lynn is preparing for an unusual event — the opening of a coffin containing the bones of a medieval bishop. But when forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway arrives to supervise, she finds the curator, Neil Topham, dead beside the coffin. Topham’s death seems to be related to other uncanny incidents, including the arcane and suspect methods of a group called the Elginists, which aims to repatriate the museum’s extensive collection of Aborigine skulls; the untimely demise of the museum’s owner, Lord Smith; and the sudden illness of DCI Harry Nelson, who Ruth’s friend Cathbad believes is lost in The Dreaming — a hallucinogenic state central to some Indigenous Australian beliefs. Tensions build as Nelson’s life hangs in the balance. Something must be done to set matters right and lift Nelson out of the clutches of death, but will Ruth be able to muster herself out of a state of guilt and foreboding in order to do what she does best?
Review
I will be honest this was the first Dr Ruth Galloway book that didn’t have me completely gripped. I still loved the book but I didn’t find it as engaging as the other books I have read from the series. The storyline of this book was rather disturbing to me especially the room of bones and certain scenes at the riding stables.
I found the whole thing of Ruth being depressed about being overweight and struggling to be a mom and have a career rather repetitive from the previous book. And yes I know Ruth probably wouldn’t have changed her mind on these things from the last book but it almost felt copy and pasted sadly.
I also found it interesting how Ruth could identify the sex of the skeleton so quickly. I know there are ways to tell the sex of an adult skeleton but she was straight out with an answer having only had a cursory glance at the skeleton because she was on the phone whilst the lid of the coffin was lifted. Having studied some archaeology during my Masters I know that identifying the sex of a skeleton is nowhere near as easy. I also wonder how Ruth gets any work done at the university as she always seems to be dashing off to one thing or another.
To be honest I guessed what was happening with the random people dropping down dead or being really ill and I found how Griffiths was dragging it out with the Australian mysticism rather dull.
The thing that saved this book for me was of course Cathbad. Cathbad is the best character in this series and as long as he is in the books I will be a fan. I love how he is there to support Ruth and Kate. He is always there for people no matter what and doesn’t care a fig what people think of him. Due to Cathbad I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
🐲🐲🐲🐲
Purchase Links
Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery
(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)
About the author
Elly Griffiths was born in London and began her career in publishing, she then turned to writing full time. In 2016 she won the CWA Dagger in the Library for her work. Griffiths lives in Brighton with her family.
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a good week so far. I hope you all have some good plans for the weekend as well.
My chosen poem today is by a new poet for me Paul Cookson. Paul Cookson (1961) is a children’s writer who has been known to perform with a ukulele. I find this poem rather inspiring.
Let No One Steal Your Dreams Let no one steal your dreams Let no one tear apart The burning of ambition That fires the drive inside your heart Let no one steal your dreams Let no one tell you that you can't Let no one hold you back Let no one tell you that you won't Set your sights and keep them fixed Set your sights on high Let no one steal your dreams Your only limits is the sky Let no one steal your dreams Follow your heart Follow your soul For only when you follow them Will you feel truly whole Set your sights and keep them fixed Set your sights on high Let no one steal your dreams You only limit is the sky. Paul Cookson
Happy Reading
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I thought it was a good time to do a non bookish update.
Now I am back at work we are trying to make the most of my days off which is nice because we are planning little adventures to go on.
Walking
We are still trying to go on regular walks and I have been really enjoying all the beautiful blossom which is about. We also spotted a fantastic coronation themed postbox. We are also still working on our Conqueror medals.
National Trust and English Heritage Properties
We have been visiting lots of National Trust and English Heritage properties recently and making use of our memberships. They are all properties we have been to before but it is always nice visiting our favourites. You can’t beat going for a nice visit, lunch and a walk and possibly an ice cream if the weather is nice.
Afternoon Tea and eating out
My best friend bought me an afternoon tea voucher for my birthday and we finally used it recently. The afternoon tea was really scrummy and it was at a lovely venue. We have also been going out for the occasional evening meal which has been lovely. We discovered a wonderful local Tapas restaurant which we will be definitely visiting again and we have visited one of our favourite restaurants which does the best chicken lasagne ever.
Hopefully our little adventures will continue as it makes such a difference to get out and about on our days off.
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.
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I’ve had a really good week reading so far and I hope it continues.
What I am Currently Reading
I started this yesterday after binge reading The Left-Handed Booksellers of London on Monday. I had forgotten just how good Garth Nix was as an author.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I wasn’t too impressed with The Power and the Glory but I absolutely loved The Left-Handed Booksellers of London.
What I Think I will Read Next
I have these 4 books lined up for this month as I need some shorter reads whilst working.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
Lady Book Dragon 