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!
I hope everyone has had a great start to the week. I have been back at school today so less time reading sadly.
My chosen book for this week is another book off my 20 Books of Summer Challenge. This is another book that has been sat on my TBR for way too long.
It was first serialised in the Merry’s Museum magazine between July and August in 1869 and consisted of only six chapters. For the finished product, however, Alcott continued the story from the chapter “Six Years Afterwards” and so it ended up with nineteen chapters in all. The book revolves around Polly Milton, the old-fashioned girl who titles the story. Polly visits her wealthy friend Fanny Shaw in the city and is overwhelmed by the fashionable and urban life they live–but also left out because of her “countrified” manners and outdated clothes.
What are your thoughts on this book if you have read it?
Please drop me a link with your Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far. I will be honest I ended up in a bookshop again this week and I bought 3 books. I only went in to buy Yellowface but I ended up buying a few extra books. However, the books were paid for by my Waterstones points so at least they were technically free.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway – I’ve always wanted to read this and I thought it would be a nice short read to read during the summer.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang – I’ve read so many fantastic reviews about this book I just had to get it. I’m really hoping I get to read this over the summer.
Atlas The Story of Pa Salt by Harry Whittaker and Lucinda Riley – This was another book I’ve seen loads of good things about so it slipped into the basket as well.
I’m so excited to get reading these books and I am really hoping I have some time over the summer to read them, preferably in the sunshine with a glass of something nice.
Have you added any new books to your bookshelves recently?
I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I started my 20 Books of Summer Challenge today and I am so excited to read the books off the challenge. I really hoped to read more books in May but sadly I only managed 5. This means I’m starting to fall really behind with my Goodreads Reading Challenge so I really hope my reading picks up soon as I don’t want to fall further behind.
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 have had a busy day playing for a wedding and teaching but hopefully the rest of the week will be quieter and involve lots of reading.
What I am Currently Reading
I have nearly finished this book and I have really enjoyed it. It could be one of my favourite Maigret books so far.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
I really enjoyed this book and will be writing my review soon. Jennifer Saint is definietly an auto buy author for me now.
What I Think I will Read Next
My 20 Books of Summer Challenge begins tomorrow and I am very excited to get reading some of these books and also lower my TBR pile.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
In A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the universe of Priory of the Orange Tree and into the lives of four women, showing us a course of events that shaped their world for generations to come.
Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory’s purpose.
To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.
The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother’s past is coming to upend her fate.
When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.
Review
I was so excited to read this book because I really enjoyed The Priory of the Orange Tree and thankfully I was not disappointed. As a prequel I was hoping to learn a lot more about the Priory of the Orange Tree and the world it is set in. The prequel takes place 500 years before the events of The Priory of the Orange Tree.
This book is a slower read than The Priory of the Orange Tree but I liked that aspect because I learned so much more. The history is more fleshed out and I learnt so much more about the different cultures featured in the book and their different beliefs. I learnt so much about the four different geographical regions, the history and the religious and political beliefs of the different cultures. It really gave me so much more detail into how and why certain changes occur within this book and The Priory of the Orange Tree.
The other element I thoroughly enjoyed was the multi person point of view, although I soon found myself wanting certain characters’ chapters to come around quicker than others because I had favourite characters. The different points of view all flow through each other and we see how they connect but at the same time it felt like reading several books because each storyline was so rich and detailed.
My favourite characters were by far Wulf, Glorian and Tunuva, especially Tunuva. I really hope Shannon writes more books in this series and fast because I would love to learn more about The Priory. I would love a book about the founding of The Priory but I will have to wait and see what Shannon comes up with next. I found this a hard book to rate as in my mind it wasn’t quite a 5 out of 5 Dragon book so I think I will go with a first half rating of 4.5 Dragons out of 5.
(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
Samantha Shannon studied English Language and Literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. She is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bone Season series. She currently lives in London.
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.
Happy Monday!
I am off on an adventure today but you will know more later on in the week. I am on half term this week so I am hoping to catch up on my book review writing and reading.
I’ve been wanting to read this for a long time and I’m not sure why I have put it off for so long because I am quite excited to read it.
The great plays of Ancient Greece are among the most enduring and important legacies of the Western world. Not only is the influence of Greek drama palpable in everything from Shakespeare to modern television, the insights contained in Greek tragedy have shaped our perceptions of the nature of human life. Poets, philosophers, and politicians have long borrowed and adapted the ideas and language of Greek drama to help them make sense of their own times.
This exciting curated anthology features a cross section of the most popular–and most widely taught–plays in the Greek canon. Fresh translations into contemporary English breathe new life into the texts while capturing, as faithfully as possible, their original meaning.
This outstanding collection also offers short biographies of the playwrights, enlightening and clarifying introductions to the plays, and helpful annotations at the bottom of each page. Appendices by prominent classicists on such topics as “Greek Drama and Politics,” “The Theater of Dionysus,” and “Plato and Aristotle on Tragedy” give the reader a rich contextual background. A detailed time line of the dramas, as well as a list of adaptations of Greek drama to literature, stage, and film from the time of Seneca to the present, helps chart the history of Greek tragedy and illustrate its influence on our culture from the Roman Empire to the present day.
With a veritable who’s who of today’s most renowned and distinguished classical translators, The Greek Plays is certain to be the definitive text for years to come.
What are your thoughts on this book if you have read it?
Please drop me a link with your Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.
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 you are all having a good week so far. I am thoroughly enjoying the sunshine at the moment and hope it doesn’t disappear anytime soon.
What I am Currently Reading
I am really enjoying this book so far. Jennifer Saint is a definite auto buy author for me.
What I have Recently Finished Reading
Another fantastic book by Garth Nix. Review will be posted soon.
What I Think I will Read Next
I will be starting my 20 Books of Summer Challenge on the 1st June so my reading will be a little more structured than usual so hopefully it will be one of these books that I read next.
Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.
In ‘The Doll’, a waterlogged notebook washes ashore, its pages telling a dark story of obsession and jealousy.
Many of the stories in this chilling collection were written early in Daphne du Maurier’s career, before she wrote the masterpieces that would cement her reputation as one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers: Rebecca, ‘The Birds’ and ‘Don’t Look Now’. These thirteen tales of human frailty and obsession demonstrate du Maurier’s extraordinary storytelling ability and her deep understanding of human nature.
Review
Having never read a book by Maurier before I did not know what to expect when reading this book of short stories. I also knew that these short stories had been written early in Maurier’s career so I approached the book with an open mind and also with the decision that if I didn’t enjoy the short stories I would still read some of Maurier’s full length books to see whether I liked her work.
Although these stories were written early in Maurier’s career you can see she has excellent skill in setting a dramatic scene. For me this is shown at its best in The Doll. The Doll is dark, vivid and mysterious and quite disturbing. Although the story I found the most disturbing was the last story in the book called The Limpet. I hated the main character of this story but it was clear that was what Maurier wanted. The character in my opinion was pure evil and a master manipulator.
There are many themes within this set of short stories but the main theme was love and all the extras love brings. There was adultery, sexuality, crimes of passion, jealousy, sadism and obsession. Some of the stories also showed she had little faith in a man being faithful in marriage.
I enjoyed this book and it is clear Maurier was ahead of her time especially with the story of The Doll but I found myself wanting more from the stories. I often struggle with short stories as I much prefer a full book. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons and hope to read a full length novel soon.
(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
Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Some of Maurier’s notable works are Rebecca, The Birds, Jamaica inn and The Scapegoat.
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