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 good weekend so far. I’ve managed some reading today which has been lovely. I had two books arrive this week that I had preordered ages ago.
Medusa by Rosie Hewlett – I’m really excited to read this version of Medusa’s story. I always find the story of Medusa a hard story to read because she was a very wronged woman.
The Stolen Crown by Tracy Borman – I am a huge fan of Tracy Borman and can’t wait to read her latest book.
My chosen poem this week is by Henry David Thoreau born 12th July 1817 and died 6th May 1862. Thoreau was an American essayist, poet and philosopher.
Men Say They Know Many Things
Men say they know many things; But lo! They have taken wings,- The arts and the sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that blows Is all that anybody knows.
I will be honest my August TBR didn’t go very well and I only read one of the books I planned to read.
I will try better with my September TBR I promise!
She Played and Sang by Gillian Dooley
Unfortunately She Was A Nymphomaniac by Joan Smith
Holbein The Ambassadors by Tracy Borman
The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North
Hera by Jennifer Saint
Aphrodite by Phoenicia Rogerson
I really hope I get to read some of these but I have just started Villette by Charlotte Bronte and i know that will take me quiet a while now I am back at work.
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 good start to September so far. I have had a busy day of taking my bedroom apart and putting it back together. I never knew getting a new rug would cause so much of a problem!
My chosen book to feature this week is one that has been on my TBR for a very long time but I needed to read the previous book in series before I get to this one. I can’t wait to get reading this as I just love the series.
Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey
Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper.
In the dead systems where gates lead to stranger things than alien planets, Elvi Okoye begins a desperate search to discover the nature of a genocide that happened before the first human beings existed, and to find weapons to fight a war against forces at the edge of the imaginable. But the price of that knowledge may be higher than she can pay.
At the heart of the empire, Teresa Duarte prepares to take on the burden of her father’s godlike ambition. The sociopathic scientist Paolo Cortázar and the Mephistophelian prisoner James Holden are only two of the dangers in a palace thick with intrigue, but Teresa has a mind of her own and secrets even her father the emperor doesn’t guess.
And throughout the wide human empire, the scattered crew of the Rocinante fights a brave rear-guard action against Duarte’s authoritarian regime. Memory of the old order falls away, and a future under Laconia’s eternal rule — and with it, a battle that humanity can only lose – seems more and more certain. Because against the terrors that lie between worlds, courage and ambition will not be enough…
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!
This week has involved a lot of book shopping and a preordered book arriving. I can’t wait to get stuck into reading them all. I went to my favourite bookshops in Bath this week and had one delivery from Waterstones.
Persephone Books
I’m not going to do pictures of these books because they all have the same cover and are never very clear in the pictures. My dream is to own the complete set of Persephone Books and one day read them all.
Mariana by Monica Dickens
Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple
Fidelity by Susan Glaspell
Mr B’s Emporium
I’ve seen some interesting reviews of the Great Eastern Hotel by Ruchir Joshi so I thought I would purchase it and give it a read. The book is huge so it will take me a while.
Unfortunately She Was A Nymphomaniac by Joan Smith looks like a very different history of Rome’s Imperial women.
Toppings and Company Booksellers of Bath
I always try and add another Alison Weir book to my collection and I am thoroughly looking forward to reading Elizabeth The Queen because Elizabeth is my favourite monarch.
Phoenicia Rogerson is a new author for me but I am looking forward to reading her version of Aphrodite.
She Played and Sang by Gillian Dooley looks like a fascinating read about Jane Austen. As a musician myself I am looking forward to reading about Austen’s love of music.
Waterstones
This was my preordered book. R. F. Kuang is a bit of an auto buy author for me so I am very excited to read her new book.
The young Gascon d’Artagnan and the legendary musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis are ready to sacrifice everything for love, glory and the common good. The wicked machinations of Cardinal Richelieu and his accomplice, the magnetic Milady de Winter, propel the devoted friends across seas and battlefields from masked balls to a remote convent, in order to defend the honour of the Queen and the life of Constance Bonacieux, d’Artagnan’s true love.
Review
I absolutely love this book and have read it many many times. My original copy completely fell apart and I lost some of the pages so this read through was a different book and a different translation which threw me to start with but I soon got back into one of my favourite stories.
The main thing I absolutely love with this book is the amazing characters. Aramis is so unbelievably vain but always wants to appear holy and devout. Porthos is all about image, he must have the best of everything and he always makes me laugh with his antics. d’Artagnan is adorably frustrating, sometimes I want to smack him and tell him to be quiet and other times I wanted to hug him. Athos was a troubled man but the perfect guiding hand that d’Artagnan needed and the calming influence that Porthos and Aramis needed. Athos is my favourite character because of his calmness but also because of his eccentric behaviour. The scene where he locks himself in the inn keeper’s cellar for weeks and drinks all the wine and eats all the food is hilarious.
The other character that was impressive was Milady. Milady is a complete psycho! She has a poison ring, she seduces men who are meant to be impossible to seduce, she happily stabs herself to appear suicidal and she is always trying to kill the musketeers. I even think Cardinal Richelieu was frightened of her at times.
The story of The Three Musketeers is well known as it has been the focus of many films but these films will never be a patch on such a wonderful book. The storylines that are based on historical events and characters work brilliantly. The book is packed full of action, romance and humour. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons and will be reading the next book in the series very soon.
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About the author
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors.
When vandals destroy beach hut 512 on Brighton’s iconic seafront, they reveal a dead body that has apparently lain undisturbed for two months. But according to the hut’s owner, Sims, its locks rusted shut three months ago and she hasn’t had access to it since. So how could the man have got in, and why is there no evidence of the murderer?
Sims has spent the past three years recovering from the trauma of being targeted by a serial killer and narrowly escaping with her life. But this grim discovery feels like too much of a could the person who put the body in her hut be the same man who wants her dead? In a desperate race against time, can she uncover the truth behind beach hut 512 before a murderer with a chilling obsession strikes again?
Review
I got this short story on the Amazon Prime First Reads scheme and I’m really pleased I did as it was a good introduction to a new author for me.
I always struggle with short stories as I get frustrated when a story feels rushed and some authors are just not great short story writers but this was not the case with Koomson’s short story. This short story was brilliantly written and didn’t feel rushed or like details were missing. The story was well rounded and lacked for nothing.
The story goes between current events and past events. The past shows Sims as a Chemistry professor who was targeted by a serial killer but she survived. Sadly the serial killer escaped and is still on the run. The current events show Sims discovering her beach hut vandalised but what she didn’t expect was a dead body to be in her beach hut. She has no idea how the body got there as the locks on the hut have been rusted shut for 3 months and apparently the body has been in the hut for 2 months. Sims must work out what is going on.
At the beginning I did find Sims a little odd but once I realised her past trauma I understood her more and understood her actions. She really was a fascinating character. I also really liked the idea of a locked room (beach hut) mystery and it really reminded me of a Jonathan Creek episode.
I really enjoyed this short story and give it 4 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Dorothy Koomson (born 1971 in London) is a contemporary British novelist of Ghanaian descent. She has been described as “Britain’s biggest selling black author of adult fiction”.
I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. I’m still not doing very well with my blog but I am hoping to get back into routine soon and back to reviewing more regularly.
Lady Book Dragon 