Happy 1st Birthday!

Hello Everyone!

It’s time to celebrate!

So I have now been blogging for a year! One whole year blogging about all things books and loving every minute of it. I have discovered loads of fellow book blogs and through these amazing blogs I’ve discovered some fabulous books I would not normally have considered reading, so thank you my fellow book bloggers.

Thank you for all my followers who have followed me from the beginning and to my followers who have just joined me on my journey, I truly appreciate all of your support.

Here’s to another year and hopefully more blogging about all things books.

Happy Reading

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Review)

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

About the author

Margaret Atwood born 18th November 1939 is a Canadian author, poet, essayist and literary critic. She has written numerous fiction and non-fiction books, books of poetry and children’s books. She has won the Giller Prize in Canada, Premio Mondello in Italy and the 2000 Booker Prize. She was also awarded the Asturias Prize for Literature in 2008.

Blurb

In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.

When the van door slammed on Offred’s future at the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her–freedom, prison or death.

With The Testaments, the wait is over.

Margaret Atwood’s sequel picks up the story more than fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.

Review

This book was a welcome change from The Handmaid’s Tale that I will be honest I really did not enjoy but thankfully because I had preordered this book and forgot it until it turned up on my doorstep I read it instead of just avoiding it because of thinking it would be like The Handmaid’s Tale. I understand that people find my opinions on The Handmaid’s Tale as controversial and a lot of people will find my opinions on The Testaments as controversial but thankfully we are all different and that is what makes us all interesting.

I loved this book and would have happily read it a lot quicker but I have a lot of university reading that is taking up my reading time. The first thing that struck me was how different the writing style was from The Handmaid’s Tale. The book flowed better and to me made more sense and because there was so much more information in it about Gilead and its history I found the book a great deal more interesting.

I loved the characters in this book especially sweet Becka who was just so kind and loving even though she had such a horrid upbringing. To me she is the embodiment of goodness in the dark and dangerous world of Gilead.

The character of Aunt Lydia was what really made the book. Her contributions were fantastic and I loved how she could play all the other characters like they were on a chess board. She could orchestrate everything because she was always so many moves ahead of everyone and her main talent was reading people and knowing how people would act.

This book also keeps you on your toes because it has a great deal more action within it in comparison to The Handmaid’s Tale and this is probably another reason why I enjoyed this book more.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and due to this I have given the book the full 5 out of 5 Dragons.

Purchase links

Waterstones

Book Depository

Friday Poetry: Christina Rossetti

Happy Friday!

So I have again returned to an old favourite of mine. I really can not get enough of Christina Rossetti’s poetry. To be honest I am getting really fed up of all this rain we have been having recently, so I have gone for a poem about the wind, as to me this would be a nice change.

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing thro’.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I:

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

Christina Rossetti

Happy Reading

Birthday Books!

Hello my fellow readers!

So on Sunday I had a birthday and of course I had a few books and one of these books I was very excited about as I had been dropping subtle hints to my husband for this book for quite a while.

So I had three books and one very pretty notebook.

The books were:-

The Greek Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.

Marvel: Golden Age 1939-49 (Folio Society)

The Bartender’s Guide to Gin

Alice in Wonderland notebook

So the book I had been dropping many hints about was the Marvel Golden Age book by The Folio Society, I love all things Folio and when I saw this book I knew I wanted it and so the hints began. I was very happy that I had it for my birthday as I just love all things comic book and Marvel.

The Greek Plays has been on my wish list for a while so I was really pleased to also get this book for my birthday, hopefully it might help with my Masters.

My brother got me the gin book and so far I have tried two of the recipes and they have been excellent!

The notebook is very pretty but I haven’t decided yet what to use it for. I always like to plan what I will use a notebook for before using, as I do not want to ruin it by putting rubbish in it.

So that is my birthday book haul.

Happy reading.

Mid Week Quote: Ben Jonson

Hello my fellow Book Dragons!

I hope this post finds everyone well and enjoying some good books.

This weeks quote is by Ben Jonson who was a rival playwright of Shakespeare. During their lifetime Jonson and Shakespeare were both popular and there is evidence to support that Jonson’s plays got more people watching than Shakespeares. However, history has favoured Shakespeare and today Jonson’s plays are rarely performed.

“Shakespeare is not of an age, but for all time!”

Ben Jonson (1623)

Happy reading!

Girl in Trouble by Stacy Claflin (Review)

Girl in Trouble by Stacy Claflin

About the author

Stacy Claflin is a USA Today bestselling author who writes about complex women overcoming incredible odds. Whether it’s her Gone saga of psychological thrillers, her various paranormal romance tales, or her sweet romance series, Stacy’s three-dimensional characters shine through.

Decades after she wrote her first stories on construction paper and years after typing on an inherited green screen computer that weighed half a ton, Stacy realized her dream of becoming a full-time bestselling author.

When she’s not busy writing or educating her kids from home, Stacy enjoys watching TV shows like Supernatural, Pretty Little Liars, and Once Upon a Time.

Blurb

He gave up his daughter years ago, but now he’ll risk his life to save hers.

Alex Mercer is no stranger to kidnappings. The emotional scars still run deep from his sister’s disappearance years earlier. His daughter Ariana remains safe long after her adoption, and he cherishes the few times a year he gets to see her. The joy is palpable when he takes her on their first one-on-one outing. At least until he pauses to answer a text and Ariana disappears…

Wracked with guilt and determined to find answers, Alex teams up with an unlikely ally at the police department. As the clues reveal a pattern of missing girls, the kidnapping case becomes a race against time to save Ariana. What cost is Alex willing to pay to keep his daughter alive?

Review

I got this book as a freebie on Apple Books and I must admit it did not take me long to read and was nice to pick up and read when I had a few minutes spare. This was an easy read and I enjoyed the story but for me it lacked the wow factor and the ending was rather predictable.

I really liked the characters in this book especially Alex and Nick the police captain. I also liked how the character of Alex developed from a dead beat man who had little to do with his daughter but as the story went along Alex turned into a dad determined to get his little girl back and become a better dad and person in general.

The character that I did not like very much was Zoey, Alex’s ex and Ariana’s mother. She drove me slightly mad and I would be happy to not have her feature greatly in the following books in the series if I decide to continue reading the series. I’m not sure what it was that caused me to dislike the character but for some reason she grated against my nerves.

I will be honest it took me a while to get used to Claflin’s writing style and the sheer number of chapters was a bit mind numbing at times but I did enjoy the story. I personally think this book would make a great holiday read or read on a long flight and I will happily read the rest of the series. I have only given this book 3 out of 5 Dragons because it just did not have the wow factor for me.

Purchase Links

Book Depository

Friday Poetry: Margaret Wise Brown

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has exciting plans for the weekend. My chosen poem this Friday is by an American author Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952). Brown wrote children’s books and poetry.

The Secret Song

Who saw the petals

drop from the rose?

I, said the spider,

But nobody knows.

Who saw the sunset

flash on a bird?

I, said the fish,

But nobody heard.

Who saw the fog

come over the sea?

I, said the sea pigeon,

Only me.

Who saw the first

green light of the sun?

I, said the night owl,

The only one.

Who saw the moss

creep over the stone?

I, said the grey fox,

All alone.

Margaret Wise Brown

Happy reading.

Mid Week Quote: Pliny (the younger)

Today’s quote is one I have read several times whilst doing my Masters work and I rather love it so I thought I would share it with you all. I must admit I always do try to see some good in books even if they are not my cup of tea.

“[Pliny the Elder] used to say that “no book was so bad but some good might be got out of it.”

Pliny the Younger

Happy Reading

Weekend Adventures

Hello everyone!

So on Saturday I celebrated my friend’s 30th in style! Yes, we went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London. Now I will be honest I have been quite a few times but I have not seen the Forbidden Forest or Gringotts bank so I was very pleased to visit and see the new scenes.

I will be honest I am terrified of spiders so the Forbidden Forest was a bit of trial for me but I absolutely loved Gringotts bank and it is possibly my second favourite part because of course the ultimate favourite is the castle at the end which is always rather emotional to behold.

What is everyone’s favourite part of the tour?

Here are a few photos from the day!

Friday Poetry: Pamela Mordecai

Happy Friday!

Today’s poem has a different take on things, instead of focusing on Christopher Columbus discovering America, it focuses on the people who lost their lands.

Lament of an Arawak Child

Once I played with the hummingbirds

and sang songs to the sea

I told my secrets to the waves

and they told theirs to me.

Now there are no more hummingbirds

the sea’s songs are all sad

for strange men came and took this land

and plundered all we had.

They made my people into slaves

they worked us to the bone

they battered us and tortured us

and laughed to hear us groan.

Today we’ll take a long canoe

and set sail on the sea

we’ll steer our journey by the stars

and find a new country.

Pamela Mordecai

Happy Reading