First Lines Friday: 8/04/2022

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!

Hello and Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has some good reading plans for the weekend.

As usual the answer is below the cat pictures.

When Detective Chief Inspector M… arrived in Delfzijl, one afternoon in May, he had only the sketchiest notions about the case taking him to this small town located in the northernmost corner of Holland.

and the answer is…

‘Just take a look,’ Duclos said in an undertone, pointing to the scene all round them, the picture-book town, with everything in its place, like ornaments on the mantlepiece of a careful housewife . . . ‘Everyone here earns his living. Everyone’s more or less content. And above all, everyone keeps his instincts under control, because that’s the rule here, and a necessity if people want to live in society’

When a French professor visiting the quiet, Dutch coastal town of Delfzijl is accused of murder, Maigret is sent to investigate. The community seem happy to blame an unknown outsider, but there are people much closer to home who seem to know much more than they’re letting on: Beetje, the dissatisfied daughter of a local farmer, Any van Elst, sister-in-law of the deceased, and, of course, a notorious local crook.

So how did everyone do?

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

Happy Reading

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Roverandom by J. R. R. Tolkien (Review)

Roverandom by J. R. R. Tolkien

Blurb

J.R.R. Tolkien’s earliest children’s story.

While on holiday in 1925, four-year-old Michael Tolkien lost his beloved toy dog on the beach. To console him, his father J.R.R. Tolkien improvised a story about Rover, a real dog who is magically transformed into toy, and his quest to find the wizard who can return him to normal.

The adventures of Rover, or ‘Roverandom’ a he becomes known, include encounters with an ancient sand-sorcerer and a terrible dragon, by the king of wordplay, the story underwent a number of revisions and was originally considered for publication in January 1937, the same year as The Hobbit, was abandoned when the publishers asked instead for a sequel, which culminated in The Lord of the Rings. Roverandom was finally published in 1998.

Review

I love Tolkien and I have read The Lord of the Rings more times than I can count. So when I saw this in Waterstones I knew I had to get it and I was not disappointed. 

Roverandom is all about a little dog who due to being a little bit rude and not minding his manners to a wizard he ends up as a small toy dog instead. Roverandom ends up being taken from his home and his beloved ball and goes on all kinds of adventures meeting wizards, dragons, mer people and much more. 

This story is typical Tolkien but doesn’t flow with his usual style but I think this is because it wasn’t refined for publication by Tolkien. You can also clearly see that the wizards in this book were the starting points for Gandalf as Artaxerxes is a little bit similar to Gandalf. 

This is a wonderful little story that you can just imagine Tolkien telling his distraught son to help with the loss of his beloved toy dog. The story also has a very clear moral about the consequences of not minding your manners and being polite. Roverandom goes on his adventures and learns to be a better dog, a dog with manners who is polite and kind and thinks of others. It really was a beautiful little read that I give 4 out of 5 Dragons. 

🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Book Depository | 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

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on the 3rd January 1892 in Bloemfontein. He moved to England when he was three years old and was home schooled with his younger brother and taught by his mother. Tolkien served in the First World War and after the war he established a distinguished academic career and was recognised as one of the finest philologists in the world. He is best known as the creator of Middle Earth and the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He was awarded a CBE and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Oxford University in 1972. He died on 2nd September 1973 at the age of 81.

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

WWW Wednesday: 6/04/2022

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?

Hello!

It has been a while since I have done a WWW Wednesday because I haven’t been reading much but I seem to be getting back into it again.

What I am Currently Reading

I am thoroughly enjoying the Wilkie Collins so far. I can already see how the story is going but I am enjoying it none the less. The James Norbury is just beautiful.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I thoroughly enjoyed both these books. Reviews will follow soon.

What I Think I will Read Next

There are so many good books I want to read and I just don’t know what to decide. I am loving The Wheel of Time and The Expanse series but I am finding it hard to decide which series to carry on with next.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan (Review)

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

Blurb

The Forsaken are loose, the Horn of Valere has been found and the Dead are rising from their dreamless sleep. The Prophecies are being fulfilled – but Rand al’ Thor, the shepherd the Aes Sedai have proclaimed as the Dragon Reborn, desperately seeks to escape his destiny. 

Rand cannot run forever. With every passing day the Dark One grows in strength and strives to shatter his ancient prison, to break the Wheel, to bring an end to Time and sunder the weave of the Pattern.

And the Pattern demands the Dragon. 

Review

I will be honest the first time I read this book in 2015 I did not find it as enjoyable as the the first book in the series but this time round that has changed and I enjoyed it a lot more maybe even more than the first book. 

I found this book a lot faster paced than the first which I enjoyed more and found myself more likely to pick up the book and not put it down for ages. 

This book introduces us to new enemies such as the Seanchan, who I really did not like but I’m not entirely sure they are the bad guys entirely. We also learn more about The White Cloaks, Padan Fain and The Forsaken. We also learn more about The Age of Legends which I really hope we learn more about in future books as I find it fascinating. 

The characters from the previous book are further developed in this book. Rand gets more depth but I do still find him slightly annoying at times but not as much as Mat. I always feel frustrated with Mat. I know it is not entirely his fault but it is clear he does not have the goodness inside him like Perrin and Rand. Perrin is still my favourite character. He is loyal to his friends, caring and you can tell he is someone who is dependable and will always try to do the right thing. 

We also get to know Min and Elayne more in this book which is good even though Elayne is another one of those annoying characters for me but I suspect she is being portrayed to be annoying in comparison to the other female characters such as Min and Egwene. 

This book has so much going on it, it really is packed. Moiraine and Lan are dealing with their own adventures as well as trying to help Rand, Perrin and Mat. Egwene, Elayne, Min and Nynaeve have their own storyline but in the end they all converge together again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down and I look forward to reading the next book in the series because although I have read it before I can’t really remember much. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons. 

Purchase Links

Book Depository | 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. 

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Goodreads Monday: 4/04/2022

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.

Hello!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone has a had a good start to the week so far. This week I am featuring another book off my Classics Club List for Goodreads Monday.

With her final novel, Villette, Charlotte Brontë reached the height of her artistic power. First published in 1853, Villette is Brontë’s most accomplished and deeply felt work, eclipsing even Jane Eyre in critical acclaim. Her narrator, the autobiographical Lucy Snowe, flees England and a tragic past to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette. There she unexpectedly confronts her feelings of love and longing as she witnesses the fitful romance between Dr. John, a handsome young Englishman, and Ginerva Fanshawe, a beautiful coquette. The first pain brings others, and with them comes the heartache Lucy has tried so long to escape. Yet in spite of adversity and disappointment, Lucy Snowe survives to recount the unstinting vision of a turbulent life’s journey – a journey that is one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman’s consciousness in English literature. 

Purchase Links

Book Depository | 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.)

I remember attempting to read this a few years ago but for one reason or another I did not finish it so fingers crossed I do when I read it this time around.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Weekly Brief

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far. I have got back into blogging after a little break so there are not many posts for this week.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

Really enjoying this so far. I had forgotten just how good Wilkie Collins was.

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

March 2022 Wrap Up

Hello!

Another disappointing month on the reading front sadly and even less pages than last month. I must admit I seem to be in a bit of a slump for some reason but hopefully I will be out of it soon.

Books

Pages: 57

Format Read: Hardback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 352

Format Read: Paperback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review

Pages: 150

Format Read: Paperback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

Goodreads Challenge: 10/60

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Star Trek Discovery: Wonderlands by Una McCormack (Review)

Wonderlands by Una McCormack

Blurb

In a desperate attempt to prevent the artificial intelligence known as Control from seizing crucial information that could destroy all sentient life, Commander Michael Burnham donned the “Red Angel” time-travel suit and guided the USS Discovery into the future and out of harm’s way. But something has gone terribly wrong, and Burnham has somehow arrived in a place far different from anything she could have imagined—more than nine hundred years out of her time, with Discovery nowhere to be found, and where the mysterious and cataclysmic event known as “the Burn” has utterly decimated Starfleet and, with it, the United Federation of Planets. How then can she possibly exist day-to-day in this strange place? What worlds are out there waiting to be discovered? Do any remnants of Starfleet and the Federation possibly endure? With more questions than answers, Burnham must nevertheless forge new friendships and new alliances if she hopes to survive this future long enough for the Discovery crew to find her….

Review

I do love a Star Trek novel by Una McCormack but I must admit I struggled to get into this one to start with but once I got used to the characters I really enjoyed it. 

Burnham is now alone in the future and it is very different to what she imagined or hoped for. Everything is terribly wrong and this future she finds herself in is full of people who can’t be trusted and who will betray you for their own gain without a thought. The remnant of Starfleet Burnham finds is one lone man called Sahid who is holding together a damaged space station. Sahid is a valuable friend to Burnham who helps her when she is most in need and is a comfort to her when she needs a friend, he is also someone she can trust completely. 

Book is Burnham’s main friend though and he teaches her everything she needs to know to survive this new and harsh future but sadly Book is very anti Starfleet and does not have the same drive like Burnham to try and find Starfleet. Book’s cat Grudge is also one of my favourite characters of the book and it was nice for her to appear quite often in the storyline. 

I did find this book rather melancholy at times, poor Burnham is clearly struggling. When she tries to move forward with her life something always pulls her back and quite often it is Sahid with another link from the past to do with Starfleet. Burnham knows that in order to make any sort of life for herself she will have to let go of her past and her friends on Discovery but she doesn’t want to. Burnham is essentially grieving but there are bright spots in the story for her. She makes new friends and starts to build a life for herself but at times it is very sad. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book but I did miss the other characters from the Discovery and the  banter between friends that occurs and I think that is what I struggled with when I first began reading the book. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons and I can’t wait for the next book.

Purchase Links

Book Depository | 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

Una McCormack is the author of seven previous Star Trek novels and four Doctor Who novels. She has also written numerous short stories and audio dramas. She lives in Cambridge, England, with her partner of many years and their daughter.

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

WWW Wednesday: 16/03/2022

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?

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I’m not doing as much reading at the moment because I am struggling to read at night like I usually do but hopefully I will get back into it soon.

What I am Currently Reading

Absolutely loving this so far. I really like finding out more about Alex and Amos and their past in this book.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

Really enjoyed this and loved reading more about Grudge the queen of cats. Review will follow shortly.

What I Think I will Read Next

I’m not entirely sure what I will read next but I am hoping to get into my Maigret books again at some point because they make excellent books to read whilst the husband is watching the Grand Prix.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Classics Club: Spin #29

Hello!

I have decided to take part in my first Spin event for The Classics Club. To join in you simply list 20 books left off your Classics Club list before Sunday 20th March 2022 and then the club will randomly select a number. The selected book then has to be read before Saturday 30th April 2022. I have a lot of titles left to read as I have only recently started the challenge so it has been a difficult selection but here is my list:

  1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
  2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  3. Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
  4. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  5. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
  6. Silas Marner by George Eliot
  7. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
  8. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
  9. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
  10. Villette by Charlotte Brontë
  11. The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
  12. Shirley by Charlotte Brontë
  13. The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
  14. The Runaway by Elizabeth Anna Hart
  15. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
  16. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  17. Evelina by Frances Burney
  18. Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
  19. Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot
  20. Love in Excess by Eliza Haywood

I’m really looking forward to what the random selection will be and I hope I will be able to read the book within the time frame.

Wish me luck!

Please drop me a comment if you are taking part in the Spin event or if you have read any of the books on my list.

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you