Hello and Happy New Year!
I didn’t read as many books in 2022 as I usually do but I did read bigger books than usual. I also managed to complete my Goodreads Challenge.
Here are the books I read in 2022.
I’m so glad I read more classics this year and I made progress with the book series I have been trying to finish. I’m still trying to come up with my reading goals for 2023 but I have decided I want to try and read my height in books again as I failed when I tried it in 2021.
Happy Reading
Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse
Blurb
Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries brings together Kate’s rich and detailed knowledge of unheard and under-heard women’s history, and of how and why women’s achievements have routinely been omitted from the history books. This beautiful illustrated book is both an alternative feminist history of the world and a personal memoir about the nature of women’s struggles to be heard, about how history is made and by whom.
Split into ten sections, each covering a different category of women’s achievements in history, Kate Mosse tells the stories of female inventors and scientists, philanthropists and conservationists, authors and campaigners. It is the most accessible narrative non-fiction with a genuinely diverse, truly global perspective featuring names such as Sophie Scholl, Mary Seacole, Cornelia Sorabji, Helen Suzman, Shirley Chisholm, and Violette Szabo. And in deeply personal passages Kate writes about the life of her great-grandmother, Lily Watson, where she turns detective to find out why she has all but disappeared from the record.
Review
I discovered Kate Mosse this year so when I saw this book come out I bought it straight away. It took me a long time to read this book because I found that I preferred to dip into it when I was in the mood for some nonfiction.
I found this book absolutely fascinating but at the same time rather frustrating. Just as I discover this fantastic pioneering woman from history the book quickly moves on to another pioneering woman from history. There were certain women that I would have loved to have learned more about. It did mean that I started doing my own research into these interesting characters.
I will be honest I didn’t really find the sections on Lily, Mosse’s great-grandmother, very interesting and would have happily done without them. I can understand Mosse’s interest in her great-grandmother but it just felt a little bit like she was trying too hard to make her relative who published books and articles known to the general public again as Lily had fallen from everyone’s memory and her books are out of publication.
This book is an amazing resource to dip into and one that I will return to again and again. I learned so much from this book and found some amazing women from history who I plan to research further. History has always generally been written by men about men so it was refreshing to find a book written by a woman about women from history. I didn’t find this book an easy read because I found it jumped around rather a lot but I still loved it. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.
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Purchase Links
Book Depository | 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
Kate Mosse is an international bestselling author with sales of more than five million copies in 42 languages. Her fiction includes the novels Labyrinth (2005), Sepulchre (2007), The Winter Ghosts (2009), and Citadel (2012), as well as an acclaimed collection of short stories, The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales (2013). Kate’s new novel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter is out now.
Kate is the Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (previously the Orange Prize) and in June 2013, was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to literature. She lives in Sussex.
Christmas Poems by Wendy Cope
Blurb
For more than thirty years Wendy Cope has been one of the nation’s most popular and respected poets. Christmas Poems collects together her best festive poems, including anthology favourites such as ‘The Christmas Life’, together with new and previously unpublished work. Cope celebrates the joyful aspects of the season but doesn’t overlook the problems and sadness it can bring. With lively illustrations to accompany the words, it is a book to enjoy this Christmas and in years to come.
Review
I bought this book in October when I was in Bath and I was really excited because I thought this little book would be a perfect festive read in December. At only 48 pages long this did not take me long to read and was a perfect diversion from the Christmas prep.
As you probably know by now if you have been following me for any length of time I was never a huge poetry fan but since I have been blogging I have been making an effort to get into poetry. Since doing this I have found quite a few favourite poets that I enjoy to read and I am always looking for new poets to read. Wendy Cope is one of these new poets for me.
Certain poems within this book I could really relate to. Cope was a primary school teacher for 15 years and a piano player and her reflections on playing for children’s services I can relate to as I teach piano and woodwind in a primary school and know all about the Christmas services and the many renditions of Little Donkey.
I will be honest there were only a few poems that I really enjoyed in this book because I found quite a few of the poems rather depressing and not very helpful for getting into the festive spirit. However, I like Cope’s style as a poet and will definitely be checking out more of her poems.
The illustrations in this book are by Michael Kirkham and were excellent and really added to the poems. Without the illustrations the book would have been a lot shorter.
Overall, I found this little book of poems an accomplished read but not really my cup of tea. It sadly wasn’t the festive read I was looking for but I appreciate the skill of Wendy Cope. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.
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Purchase Links
Book Depository | 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 poet
Wendy Cope was educated at Farringtons School, Chislehurst, London and then, after finishing university at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, she worked for 15 years as a primary school teacher in London.
In 1981, she became Arts and Reviews editor for the Inner London Education Authority magazine, ‘Contact’. Five years later she became a freelance writer and was a television critic for ‘The Spectator magazine’ until 1990.
Her first published work ‘Across the City’ was in a limited edition, published by the Priapus Press in 1980 and her first commercial book of poetry was ‘Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis’ in 1986. Since then she has published two further books of poetry and has edited various anthologies of comic verse.
In 1987 she received a Cholmondeley Award for poetry and in 1995 the American Academy of Arts and Letters Michael Braude Award for light verse. In 2007 she was one of the judges for the Man Booker Prize.
In 1998 she was the BBC Radio 4 listeners’ choice to succeed Ted Hughes as Poet Laureate and when Andrew Motion’s term of office ended in 2009 she was once again considered as a replacement.
She was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s 2010 Birthday Honours List.
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!
Is everyone ready for Christmas yet? I am still nowhere near ready for Christmas but hopefully I will get there soon. One thing I do know is that I won’t be able to read as many books as I usually do in December this year.
What I am Currently Reading
I just started the poems today and so far so good. Yes I am still plodding along with the Kate Mosse and I am determined to finish it before the New Year.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
The Penguin Book of Christmas Stories wasn’t really a finish because once I got to page 136 the book started again at page 89. I was really frustrated and upset about this as I was really enjoying the book but sadly I am unable to finish it. I did ask Penguin about this on Twitter but they chose to ignore my tweet, oh well. I finished Murder in the Falling Snow this morning and I really enjoyed it. I really enjoy these books and I always make sure I buy the new one each year.
What I Think I will Read Next
I really don’t have a clue what I will read next. To be honest it all depends on my mood.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
Blurb
The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the saviour who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.
Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al’Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?
Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?
Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?
Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumour, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits…
Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn….
Review
This is the third time I have read this book but this time through I am determined to actually finish the series and not give up after book 5.
I really enjoyed this book because it wasn’t overly focused on Rand, the events the book focuses on are linked with Rand but isn’t thankfully on him. I will be honest Rand drives me up the wall. All I want to do with Rand is shake him and tell him to stop being a stroppy teenager and grow up.
My favourite character in this book is Perrin. Perrin has a lot to deal with but he doesn’t sulk and act out, he handles it like a man. Perrin has discovered something about himself and it is hard for him to accept but he is trying to deal with it as best he can. Perrin is with Moraine Sedai, Lan and Loial in pursuit of Rand and the pursuit is not easy because Perrin doesn’t know who to trust and because he sees the devastation that follows Rand wherever he goes.
This book also lets us spend more time with Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve which is nice because we start to see what strong characters these three women are. We also get to learn more about Tar Valon which I find fascinating. I really hope we learn more about the tower and the history of the Aes Sedai in the next books.
This book also introduces more of the Forsaken and gives us more of the history about them. We learn how many are no longer imprisoned and we learn more about the individual Forsaken backgrounds. We also learn that more people are Darkfriends and that nobody can be truly trusted.
I really enjoyed this book and I think I enjoyed it more than the previous times I have read the book. I plan on really getting into the series during 2023 but I know that certain books in the series are not as good as others. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.
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Purchase Links
Book Depository | 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
James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007) was an American author of epic fantasy who wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan. Jordan also wrote historical fiction under the name of Reagan O’Neal, a western as Jackson O’Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung.
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. Our December is not going quite to plan so far. We have had lock problems, car problems and problems with the house. We are hoping our luck will change soon. I have finally started my festive reading but it is looking less and less likely that I will get many festive reads complete this month.
What I am Currently Reading
I am really enjoying this so far. Some of the stories I have read before but others I have never come across which is really nice and I also really love the variety.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
These sadly did not have the wow factor for me and were a bit disappointing.
Here are the reviews:
Politically Correct Holiday Stories
What I Think I will Read Next
Going to stick with my festive reads for now but just in case I have included some non festive reads as well.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
Ithaca by Claire North
Blurb
‘The greatest power we woman can own, is that we take in secret . . . ‘
Seventeen years ago, king Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. None of them have returned, and the women have been left behind to run the kingdom.
Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. Whilst he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that husband is dead, and suitors are starting to knock at her door . . .
But no one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’ empty throne – not yet. Between Penelope’s many suitors, a cold war of dubious alliances and hidden knives reigns, as everyone waits for the balance of power to tip one way or another. If Penelope chooses one from amongst them, it will plunge Ithaca into bloody civil war. Only through cunning and her spy network of maids can she maintain the delicate balance of power needed for the kingdom to survive.
On Ithaca, everyone watches everyone else, and there is no corner of the palace where intrigue does not reign . . .
Review
I was really excited when I saw this book whilst book shopping in Bath as I love an Ancient Greek retelling. A book that focuses on Penelope rather than Odysseus was like a breath of fresh air, Odysseus has enough literature about him.
The other element I really enjoyed was the fact that the gods were involved and we could see their interactions with each other and with the mortals. So many retellings tend to ignore the gods because I think people don’t see them as trendy enough anymore but they play a vital role in the myths and I believe they should still be included.
Hera is the main god to feature in this book and it was really nice to see her involved as it is usually the male gods taking centre stage or the impressive female gods like Athena and Artemis.
Penelope is the queen of Ithaca but as all queens of Greece she might appear beautiful and regal but she has very little power. Clytemnestra is a perfect example of what happens to a queen of Greece who tries to rule in a mans world and Penelope knows she must avoid this at all costs. So Penelope is the perfect example of a meek and mild woman who listens to her male advisors and appears to be the perfect queen. However, behind the scenes we see a very different queen. Penelope is a woman of two faces and we get to see both.
I really got into this book and really enjoyed it to start with but towards the middle the story really started to drag for me and to be honest I got a little bored. This meant my reading slowed down which made the book worse because it felt like it was never-ending. Thankfully, I kept with the book because the ending was better. This book was really well written but I felt it was just too long and could have been shorter. Overall, I enjoyed the book but for me it did drag. However I will give the next book in the series a chance because I would like to see what happens next. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.
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Purchase Links
Book Depository | 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
Claire North is actually Catherine Webb, a Carnegie Medal-nominated young-adult novel author whose first book, Mirror Dreams, was written when she was just 14 years old. She went on to write seven more successful YA novels.
Politically Correct Holiday Stories For an Enlightened Yuletide Season by James Finn Garner
Blurb
Holiday tales have long delighted and entertained us, but until now they’ve always been burdened with society’s skewed values and mores. Stories that reinforce the stifling class system (Dickens’s A Christmas Carol), legitimise the stereotype of a merry, over-weight patriarchal oppressor (Santa Claus in The Night Before Christmas), and justify the domestication and subjugation of wild animals (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) abound in the literature and lore of this season. Now James Finn Garner has stepped in to revise and improve these familiar tales to free our social consciousness from the ghost of prejudice past. From the newly revised “Nutcracker” to “Frosty the Persun of Snow”, these stories rekindle the true holiday spirit and redefine the idea of “good will to all men” to include womyn, pre-adults, and companion animals as well.
Review
I picked this up from a National Trust second hand bookshop. When I saw the book I immediately picked it up because I thought it looked like quite a fun read. The book was clearly brand new as well which also added to the appeal.
At only 99 pages I thought this would be quite a quick read for me but it turned out that it took me a while to read rather than flying through it like I normally would. This is probably because I didn’t really gel with this book and wasn’t so keen to pick it up and read it.
I can understand the appeal of this book because it is political correctness in overdrive and it kind of has a funny appeal to it but after a while it just started to get on my nerves. My favourite story was the retelling of A Christmas Carol. This was because of Scrooge’s fantastic reactions to the spirits that visit him especially the last spirit. In fact I was a little disappointed with the ending because I really wanted Scrooge to act on his new philosophy.
Rudolph the Nasally Empowered Reindeer was probably my least favourite story as Rudolph was just too irritating.
Overall, I did enjoy this book but it didn’t really hook me in and didn’t have me as gripped as I expected. This is definitely a book that I could take or leave and I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
James Finn Garner is an American writer and satirist based in Chicago. He is the author of Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, Tea Party Fairy Tales, and Honk Honk, My Darling.
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far. My blogging hasn’t gone quite to plan this week. I had planned to blog yesterday but we got stuck outside our house for hours and hours waiting for an emergency locksmith because our lock broke. Hopefully next week will be a better blogging week.
Posts this Week
Currently Reading
I have finally started my festive reading and I am very behind. I am really enjoying this book although I was very surprised to see how small the print is (maybe I am getting old).
I have done lots of Christmas shopping this week which also meant that I have bought a few books for myself as well. I will post a book haul soon.
Happy Reading
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a good week. I have finally started my festive TBR and so far I am really enjoying it although I keep adding more books.
Posts this Week
Currently Reading
I am still trying to finish Ithaca and Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries because I really want to focus on my festive reads.
Happy Reading
Lady Book Dragon 