Hello!
I am back to work this morning so that will be a shock to the system after a lovely week off. The week off has really helped my reading and blogging this week and I have managed to get a good chunk of my dissertation written as well.
Posts this Week
Currently Reading
I was good and didn’t buy any books this week.
Happy Reading
Sistersong by Lucy Holland
Blurb
535 AD. In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, King Cador’s children inherit a fragmented land abandoned by the Romans.
Riva, scarred in a terrible fire, fears she will never heal.
Keyne battles to be seen as the king’s son, when born a daughter.
And Sinne, the spoiled youngest girl, yearns for romance.
All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold – a last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. But change comes on the day ash falls from the sky, bringing Myrddhin, meddler and magician, and Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear the siblings apart. Riva, Keyne and Sinne must take fate into their own hands, or risk being tangled in a story they could never have imagined; one of treachery, love and ultimately, murder. It’s a story that will shape the destiny of Britain.
Review
I will be honest I struggled with this book and at least twice I considered not finishing it. However, I am pleased that I did finish it because it did pick up and I really enjoyed the second half. I think my main problem was that I just found the beginning rather slow and to be honest annoying.
The story is based around the lives of three sisters and two of these sisters at times drove me mad. Sinne was the worst culprit for driving me mad and it was simply because she was a spoiled brat who was very immature and rather heartless. Sinne spends her time dreaming of romance and adventures and not living in the real world and because of this she does not see what is happening around her or that people she loves are hurting.
Riva is a troubled character, she was terribly burned in a fire when she was young and although she is now healed but left with scars she is clearly not healed mentally. At times I felt sorry for Riva but I also despaired at her naivety and just wanted to shake her at times.
Keyne was my favourite character and the reason I carried on reading. Keyne was born a daughter but clearly wants to be a son but nobody sees this in her and everyone just thinks she is a silly girl who dresses in boys’ clothes. As the story goes on you see Keyne develop as a character and become what he was meant to be. Keyne can see in people their true worth and also is not so easy to trust people.
Osred was another favourite of mine, he is sworn to serve Tristan and can not speak but he silently watches and is a true friend to Sinne. Tristan however was not a favourite of mine and I did not trust him at all.
The book is full of magic and wonder but it is also the tale of three sisters who are so different from each other that only love and their parents really holds them together. It is also an interesting telling of how Christianity was starting to be introduced into Britain. Overall, I give this book 3 out 5 Dragons.
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Purchase Links
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About the author
Lucy Holland works for Waterstones and has a BA in English and Creative Writing from Royal Holloway. She went on to complete an MA in Creative Writing under Andrew Motion in 2010. Lucy lives in Devon and co-hosts Breaking the Glass Slipper, an award-winning feminist podcast.
Happy Friday!
I have spent most of today on my dissertation and managed to write 685 words and do some editing and reading through to make what I already had better reading. I will keep working on it over the weekend with the hope I can get a good chunk written before it is back to teaching on Monday.
I hope everyone has some good plans for the weekend ahead!
My chosen poem today is by Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861) who was an English poet, educationalist, and secretarial assistant to Florence Nightingale, his wife’s cousin. He was also the brother of the suffragist Anne Clough.
The message of this poem is: don’t give up, keep fighting – better things are on the way.
Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth Say not the struggle nought availeth, The labour and the wounds are vain, The enemy faints not, nor faileth, And as things have been they remain. If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars; It may be, in yon smoke concealed, Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers, And, but for you, possess the field. For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, Seem here no painful inch to gain, Far back through creeks and inlets making Comes silent, flooding in, the main, And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light, In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly, But westward, look, the land is bright. Arthur Hugh Clough
Happy Reading
Hello!
I thought it was time to share what I have been up to outside of reading this week as it has been rather an exciting week.
Dissertation writing continues and I am still enjoying it so that is a good sign.
Elephant Hunting
I met up with my two best friends for the first time in nearly two years and we went to Worcester to do the elephant trail. It was so much fun and so lovely to spend time with friends again.
Safari Park
I have also been to the safari park this week and it was wonderful to see all the animals. I haven’t been to the safari park for over ten years so it was wonderful to see everything again and the new addition of the Red Panda. My husband loved the Red Panda and bought a massive cuddly toy of one. I had a little elephant toy.
Family Party
At the weekend we had a get together with my husbands side of the family which was wonderful to see everyone. It was an evening of good food, drink and excellent conversation.
It was so nice to get away from teaching this week and go on some adventures. Hopefully, we will be going on some more soon.
Happy Reading
Hello!
I missed last weeks Mid Week Quote sadly, but thankfully I remembered this week.
The quote I have chosen this week is by Euripides. Euripides who was born in Athens around 485 BCE. Euripides was a playwright who is thought to have written around ninety tragedies but sadly only nineteen have survived.
“The greatest pleasure of life is love.”
Euripides
Happy Reading
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 am enjoying my week off so far and have loved meeting friends that I haven’t seen since before covid.
My reading has gone a bit crazy this week, usually I am a one book at a time person but currently I have three books going, which is most unlike me.
Here is my WWW Wednesday!
What I am Currently Reading
The Book Lover’s Bucket List is my dip in book and I absolutely love it. I am building a lovely little list of all the places I desperately want to visit. I am still plodding on with Sistersong and although it isn’t blowing my socks off I am enjoying it but I do find my attention wavering when reading it. I started Death of Darkness over the weekend and I am thoroughly enjoying it and I am wondering why I have put off reading it for so long. Death of Darkness is a kindle book though, so I have slightly deviated from my plan of only reading hardback books this month.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I spent a lovely afternoon yesterday reading books with my best friends son and these were my two favourites. Due to a busy week dissertation writing these are the only books I have finished this week.
What I Think I will Read Next
I am still only trying to read hardbacks this month and I might continue next month as well because I do have a lot of hardback books to read.
There is my week.
Please drop me a message with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading
Hello to all my fellow Book Dragons!
I have had a Bookstagram for a while now but just recently I have been really getting into it. This has led to my TBR pile getting even higher but I have also met some wonderful fellow Bookstagrammers.
I love the Bookstagram community and I was wondering if any of my fellow book bloggers also have a Bookstagram account? If you do I would love to follow you on your Bookstagram as well.
So if you have a Bookstagram and would like a follow please drop me your Bookstagram below and I will head over for a follow and if any of you would like to follow my Bookstagram look for
theladybookdragon
I look forward to meeting you in the Bookstagram world.
Happy Reading
Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners. 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 am taking a week off teaching this week, so today I have done three hours of dissertation writing, some fun reading, a nice walk and baked some cookies. A very relaxing day.
I am sticking with my classics theme and hopefully I will have built up a nice list of classic books to start reading once the dissertation is all finished and handed in.
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas’ epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.
One of my all time favourite books is The Three Musketeers and I have read it more than once so I really want to read The Count of Monte Cristo to see if it is just as good. I know it will take me a long time to read but I do like reading longer books.
Please drop me a comment if you have read this book, I would love to hear your thoughts. Also please drop me a link to your Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
Happy Reading.
Hello!
I hope everyone has had a good weekend so far.
This week has been slightly better for me blogging wise so I hope it continues.
Posts this Week
Currently Reading
I’ve been struggling to get into this but I will keep trying for a little longer.
So there is another week complete.
Happy Reading
Happy Friday!
I hope everyone has exciting plans for the weekend. I have a family get together on Saturday and an actual day off on Sunday.
My chosen poem this week is by the English poet Wendy Cope (1945).
Shakespeare at School Forty boys on benches with their quills, Six days a week through almost all the year, Long hours of Latin with relentless drills And repetition, all enforced by fear. I picture Shakespeare sitting near the back, Indulging in a risky bit of fun By exercising his prodigious knack Of thinking up an idiotic pun, And whispering his gem to other boys, Some of whom could not suppress their mirth - Behaviour that unfailingly annoys Any teacher anywhere on earth The fun was over when the master spoke: Will Shakespeare, come up here and share the joke. Wendy Cope
Happy Reading
Lady Book Dragon 