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.
Another interesting topic this week!
I think there will be some interesting books listed this week in response to the prompt.
So here is my list.
The Summer of Madness by Alexander Raphael
Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss
Girl in Trouble by Stacy Claflin
The Way to the Stars by Una McCormack
Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
While you were Sleeping by Kathryn Croft
Goodbye to All the Cats by P. G. Wodehouse
Half a World Away by Mike Gayle
The Existence of Amy by Lana Grace Riva
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
There is my list. I think some of these would make some pretty good heavy metal songs.
Please drop me a comment with your Top Ten Tuesday and I will head over for a visit.
Wilde’s supremely witty tale of dandies, anarchists and a murderous prophecy in London high society.
Review
I picked this up the other day as I fancied a quick read that I knew would put a smile on my face. Oscar Wilde always makes me laugh and I just love his subtle humour.
The story begins at a party and involves a palm reader who sets a series of events into motion. Lord Arthur I will admit is rather a silly character who totally believes in the power of fate and will do anything to make sure it goes to plan. Wilde is most definitely having a little fun subtly mocking the English aristocracy with the characters of the party and Lord Arthur.
The thing I love most about this is just how ridiculous this story is. Lord Arthur does some very suspicious things like purchasing poison and meeting with bomb makers but nobody bats an eye lid.
I really enjoyed this short story and read it with a nice mug of tea as it is only 50 pages long. An amusing version of a murder mystery that I give 4 out of 5 Dragons.
Another week is over and blogging continues. I will be honest blogging is one of those things that is keeping me sane in these strange times at the moment.
So here is what I have been up to in the blogging world.
So we have had our first day of lockdown, I will be honest it hasn’t been much different to my normal days. Studying with a little bit of online teaching thrown into the mix. However, I did have something which doesn’t happen everyday and that was my wonderful Willoughby Book Club delivery! I have been so excited about this delivery! I am so grateful to my amazing friend who got it for my birthday as it really is something to look forward to each month.
Here is my lovely book!
I’ve never come across this author or even seen this book before so I am rather excited to read it.
I think the thing I love most about getting a surprise book each month is the fact that I am getting to discover lots of new books and authors. It makes me leave my comfort zone and I think that is definitely a good thing.
Please drop me a message if you have read this book as I would love to hear your thoughts.
Another good month for reading and I seem to have come up with a good balance between studying and fun reading. Whether that balance will continue once I get into writing assignments is yet to be seen.
This wrap up post has a new addition of statistics I am very excited, even if I never have been that keen on pie charts. I think they will grow on me.
I love all the different moods of the books I have read.
Quite an even balance this month.Another equal balance.Definitely two firm favourites this month.
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.
When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe’s place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.
There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe’s independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
Review
After reading The Song of Achilles I was really excited to read this book by Miller but I must admit I was slightly disappointed because it just didn’t seem to have the same polish to it like The Song of Achilles.
Circe is an interesting character from the myths of ancient Greece and Miller has taken an interesting view of Circe’s story. Circe is the daughter of a Titan and the Oceanid nymph Perse, but Circe and her three siblings are not the normal offspring of a Titan and a nymph, they have abilities that Zeus fears greatly. Circe sadly is ignored by her family because she does not look or sound like a being that possesses divinity so she turns to mortals for friendship.
I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Circe in this book as she never seems to get a break and when things do start to go well something always happens for that to change. However, I do think Miller has used her literary license here to make Circe’s story rather depressing at times. As someone who is studying Classics I will be honest I was bit annoyed how Miller treated certain things like Glaucus but I will forgive her. I did like how Miller included the Golden Fleece and the Minotaur in the story and was pleased to see them included.
Circe only really acts like she does because she lacked guidance from her elders and had to make her own way in the world. As her life went on she makes decisions based on the way she has been treated and some of those are good and some are bad and some she regrets dearly. Everything she does helps her decide where she belongs in the world.
Circe is quite often depicted as a loose woman who preys on men but Miller hasn’t gone down that route thankfully and been kinder to Circe. However, I am not too keen on some of the aspects Miller has chosen to either avoid or rewrite about Circe and that for me was a real shame. I did really enjoy the book though and give it 4 out of 5 Dragons.
(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)
About the author
Madeline Miller was born in Boston and grew up in New York City and Philadelphia. She attended Brown University, where she earned her BA and MA in Classics. For the last ten years she has been teaching and tutoring Latin, Greek and Shakespeare to high school students. She has also studied at the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought, and in the Dramaturgy department at Yale School of Drama, where she focused on the adaptation of classical texts to modern forms. She currently lives in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches and writes. The Song of Achilles is her first novel.
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!
I hope you all have some amazing reads planned for the weekend.
I thought it was time for a First Lines Friday. As usual the answer is below the cats.
“These days the origin of the universe is explained by proposing a Big Bang, a single event that instantly brought into being all the matter from which everything and everyone are made.”
LyraPan
The answer is…
Mythos by Stephen Fry
Rediscover the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths—stylishly retold by Stephen Fry. This legendary writer, actor, and comedian breathes new life into beloved tales. From Persephone’s pomegranate seeds to Prometheus’s fire, from devious divine schemes to immortal love affairs, Fry draws out the humour and pathos in each story and reveals its relevance for our own time. Illustrated throughout with classical art inspired by the myths, this gorgeous volume invites you to explore a captivating world, with a brilliant storyteller as your guide.
The Sea of the Dead by Amy Kuivalainen (The Magicians of Venice book 2)
Blurb
The battle for Venice might be over, but the war is just beginning… Penelope’s and Alexis’s adventure continues in the second instalment of The Magicians of Venice series.
Penelope has accepted her role as the new Archivist for the magicians, but with war brewing with the priests of Thevetat and the tide of magic on the rise, she’s going to have to learn her way around her new and dangerous world if she has any hope of outsmarting their enemies.
When Penelope’s friend and fellow archaeologist, Tim, uncovers a scroll containing a magical secret lost in the Dead Sea for two thousand years, Penelope and Alexis must travel to Israel to find him before Abaddon and Kreios get there first.
To defeat Thevetat and his followers, they’ll need to find a weapon capable of ending him for good, and as her old life collides with her new, Penelope will pay the ultimate price to keep the secrets of the magicians safe.
Review
I have been waiting for this book to arrive for so long! I read the first book in the series last year as a NetGalley read and loved it so much I promptly ordered the book. Thankfully I was not disappointed with the second instalment.
Penelope is an academic who has always been obsessed with finding Atlantis and has finally found her answers and her dream man. Penelope is a wonderful character who treasures knowledge above all else so her new role as the archivist for the magicians is perfect for her.
I love the characters of the magicians. The relationship between them all is brilliant and very funny. They are just like siblings always joking around with each other and getting on each others’ nerves. My personal favourite is Zo, he is funny and just an amazingly nice guy.
Carolyn and Tim’s characters were rather annoying but I can see they were meant to be as we were viewing them from Penelope’s point of view. However, Tim was rather a nasty character in my opinion.
Kuivalainen is an excellent writer and she definitely does her research to seamlessly link up real life history and legends with her magical world. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons. I just hope the wait for the third instalment is not too long.
Amy Kuivalainen is a Finnish-Australian writer that is obsessed with magical wardrobes, doors, auroras and burial mounds that might offer her a way into another realm. Until then, she will write about fairy tales, monsters, magic and mythology because that’s the next best thing. She is the author of The Firebird Fairytales Trilogy and The Blood Lake Chronicles series that mash up traditional tales and mythology in new and interesting ways.
