Tag: Christmas

A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman (Review)

A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman

Blurb

Lynda and her teenage son Rust prepare for Christmas, hanging fairy lights and making decorations. The first door of the advent calendar is opened, but the chocolate inside tastes off. Rust receives his first Christmas card, it’s unsigned and the message is aggressive rather than festive.

The cards keep coming, one each day and each more sinister than the last, and a frightened Lynda recalls a seasonal TV show from her childhood that featured similar happenings, and while she remembers it vividly, there is no evidence that it was ever broadcast…

As their Christmas cheer is gradually poisoned, with real dead robins replacing plastic ones, the turkey rotting in the freezer and Rust becoming increasingly unwell, Lynda begins to wonder if her childhood Christmases were in fact as joy filled as she remembers…

A terrifying tale of seasonal dread from a master of horror.

Review

I picked this up on my last trip to Bath just before Christmas. I don’t usually read ghost stories but I was intrigued by the prospect of reading a Christmas ghost story and as the book was only small I thought it looked like a great little Christmas read. 

Now I will be honest at first I really thought this book was going to be a great ghost story but then it seemed to go along the lines of Lynda and her son Rust having some sort of shared hallucination which just got stranger and stranger. 

Lynda is the mother of Rust and she clearly has some mental health issues. These issues are hinted at by Rust in the book and it is clear he is used to his mother’s strange ways and moods but I do feel sorry for Rust who has had to live with this from birth. I can’t imagine Lynda being an easy mother to live with especially as Rust gets older and begins to realise his mother clearly has some problems. 

Rust is also a complicated character. Rust is at that awkward stage of being a teenager but with some childish traits and tastes still lingering. He is also obsessed with the paranormal and hosts a podcast. Rust has a mixed education of being home schooled and going to school for certain times of the year and it is clear that the isolation of being home schooled by his mother is probably not good for him. 

I’m not entirely sure on what I think about the outcome of the hauntings in this book. I have my theories but I don’t want to spoil anything. I really enjoyed this book, I loved the descriptions of the house and the Christmas decorations. I loved the character of Rust but I wasn’t that keen on Lynda but I suspect I wasn’t meant to really like her that much. This was a great little ghost story and one that I couldn’t put down. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons. 

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

(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

An expert on horror and sci-fi cinema (his books of film criticism include Nightmare Movies and Millennium Movies), Kim Newman’s novels draw promiscuously on the tropes of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. He is complexly and irreverently referential; the Dracula sequence–Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron and Dracula, Cha Cha Cha–not only portrays an alternate world in which the Count conquers Victorian Britain for a while, is the mastermind behind Germany’s air aces in World War One and survives into a jetset 1950s of paparazzi and La Dolce Vita, but does so with endless throwaway references that range from Kipling to James Bond, from Edgar Allen Poe to Patricia Highsmith. 

In horror novels such as Bad Dreams and Jago, reality turns out to be endlessly subverted by the powerfully malign. His pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche–perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.

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Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (Review)

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Blurb

IT’S THE NIGHT BEFORE HOGSWATCH AND IT’S TOO QUIET.

Where is the big jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker…

Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won’t be a morning. Ever again…

The 20th Discworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too).

As they say: You’d better watch out…

Review

This was a reread for me but I really wanted to read it over the Christmas period as it is one of my favourites. 

This book is a story about the nature of belief. How without belief then things don’t exist and that people have to at work belief. Oh and Death is meddling again. I love it when Death meddles in the Discworld books and that he has a thing for cats. Death is one of my favourite characters in the Discworld series so I love the books where he is one of the main characters. 

I also love Susan’s character. Sadly, we don’t see much of Susan in the Discworld series but I think she is wonderful. Susan tries so hard to be normal and the more she tries the more it all seems to go wrong. However, one thing is certain when she is told to do something she generally does the opposite and her Grandfather knows this. 

We also have the Unseen University and the wizards feature heavily in this book which always promises to be amusing. They really are like a group of naughty school boys but with much bigger waist lines and an army of servants. 

This book is the perfect festive read which includes all the necessary elements that a festive book needs. It has robins, snow, sherry, a jolly man in a red suit, chimneys, presents and of course an elf. Oh and a very naughty pig who did a very big wee. I absolutely love reading this book and I think I might make it a new Christmas tradition and read it each Christmas. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons. 

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

(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

Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humorist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels.

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

Everyone this Christmas has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson (Review)

Everyone this Christmas has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson

Blurb

My name is Ernest Cunningham.

I’m not a detective. I just happen to have a knack for what makes mysteries – and murderers – tick. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any killers out there might be willing to take a break for the holidays.

I was wrong.

So here I am, backstage at the Christmas show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. From the magician’s assistant to the hypnotist, my suspects are all professional tricksters. Masters in the art of misdirection.

My clues are even more of a mystery:

A suspect covered in blood, with no memory of how it got there.

A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens.

And an advent calendar. Because, you know. It’s Christmas.

Solving the murder is the only gift I want this year.

But can I catch a killer, and make it home for Christmas alive?

Review

I will be honest I picked this book up not realising it was part of a series but to be honest it worked fine as a standalone book and I didn’t feel the story lacked anything because I hadn’t read the previous books. 

This book was a very easy read for me and I really enjoyed it being set in Australia. I think it was my first festive read set in a hot country. A real change from my usual wintery reads that I usually read this time of year. I also liked the main character Ernest Cunningham and I liked how he worked but I did find him a little bit big headed at times and this made him a little annoying. 

I really enjoyed the storyline of this book and how Cunningham worked out who the murderer was. His methods were very methodical and he reminded me a great deal of Agatha Christie’s Poirot. The way it was all done was very clever. 

The main problem I had with this book was that the characters were just rather unremarkable and very forgettable. Other than Ernest and maybe one other character I couldn’t tell you any of their names or anything really about them. I just felt like all the effort was put into the plot and not the characters which was a shame. 

I did enjoy this book but I wasn’t bowled over by it and to be honest I’m not sure I will return to the world of Ernest Cunningham but maybe I will one day. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons. 

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

(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

Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and USA Today best-selling author. He is the author of the globally popular ‘Ernest Cunningham Mysteries’, including Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, which is currently being adapted into a major HBO TV series, and Everyone on This Train is a Suspect. His books have sold over 750,000 copies in twenty-nine territories and have been nominated for eight ‘Book of the Year’ awards.

Etsy

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

Friday Poetry: Wendy Cope

Happy Friday Everyone!

My chosen poem today is another Christmas poem and one I have recently discovered. The poem is by the English poet Wendy Cope (1945).

Motorway Music

At last, in spite of everything,
The moment does arrive.
This year it was on Christmas Eve,
Teatime, M25,

When I switched on the radio
And heard 'Nowell, Nowell',
And had to join in singing for
The King of Isreal,

Along with half the choirs on earth
And all the choirs of Heaven,
As I drove through the pouring rain,
Approaching junction 7.

And then my passenger woke up
And came in with his bass.
I wanted to see happiness
Like ours on every face.

In every car. The traffic slowed.
The queue went on and on.
The sound of trumpets introduced
Another Christmas song.

Who cares about a traffic jam
While herald angels sing?
Each year the moment does arrive,
In spite of everything. 

Wendy Cope

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

Stacking the Shelves: 14/12/2024

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 I spent a few days in Bath and of course this resulted in book shopping. Bath has some of my favourite bookshops and this always results in a quite a few book purchases.

I bought books from three bookshops.

Mr B’s Emporium

I only bought one book from Mr B’s which was quite restrained. I’ve been wanting a really nice edition of the Hogfather by Terry Pratchett for ages and I really want to re read over Christmas.

Topping and Company Booksellers

I got distracted by the Christmas books again and I bought two new ones. I’m really not sure I will manage to read all these Christmas books over December as the pile is getting higher and higher. However, I do keep reading Christmas books until January 6th so I might manage to finish the pile.

Samantha Shannon and Silvia Moreno-Garcia are two of my favourite authors so I was quite excited to get these pretty hardbacks.

Persephone Books

I only bought two Persephone books and another is a Christmas gift. I was hoping to buy a few more but sadly the shop was full of hyacinths. As pretty as hyacinths are I am also highly allergic and was really struggling to breathe so it was a quick in and out of the shop.

I bought:

Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski

William – An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton

My TBR pile is getting bigger and bigger but I’m really hoping I can get loads of reading done this month.

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

Lyra’s Pawsome Books #14

Hello!

It has been really busy recently with my Etsy shop and I am loving it. I am also throughly enjoying coming up with new designs of bookmarks and other products. As I have been quite busy on the creating front I thought I would share with you some of my latest creations.

Christmas Bookmarks

I now have 14 designs of Christmas bookmarks available in the shop.

Christmas Bookmark Set One

Christmas Bookmark Set Two

Golf Club Bookmark

The Golf Club and Golf Bag Bookmark is new in the shop this week.

Book Themed Wine Glass Charms

These wine glass charms I have just added today and I absolutely love them. I think I will make a set for myself as well.

I will be adding more to the shop over the next few days so watch this space.

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

This and That Thursday

Hello!

Now I will be honest but I haven’t been up to much other than work and been stuck in the house due to the ongoing building work but I have tried to do some other activities.

Northern Lights

This month we were very lucky to see the Northern lights from our back garden which obviously meant a photo opportunity. It was amazing to be able to see them and I couldn’t believe the colours the camera picked up.

Wightwick Manor

Wightwick is a favourite of ours and we managed to go there last week for a break from building work. It was really interesting as they are having restoration work done and it is always good to see how they do everything.

Christmas

I love Christmas and I love visiting garden centres and seeing their Christmas displays. We went to our local on the first day of Christmas decorations and it was beautiful. I can’t wait to visit some more soon.

Etsy

I have been quite busy this month with my Etsy which has been wonderful and I have more products planned which I want to sort out during half term.

Knitting

I have started knitting again. For my birthday I got a Lord of the Rings inspired knitting book which is fantastic! I have started the pattern for a throw and so far I am really enjoying it. I love knitting but haven’t done any for ages. It is a perfect activity for a winter evening.

I’m really hoping we get to go on some adventures during half term as it will be nice to get out and about.

Happy Reading!

Etsy

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

Politically Correct Holiday Stories For an Enlightened Yuletide Season by James Finn Garner (Review)

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.

Etsy

This and That Thursday

Hello!

I thought it was time for a check in of my non-bookish activities. A lot of my time is currently taken up with work and because the weather has been so horrid I haven’t managed much walking but we have been trying to make the most of our days off together.

Statesman Train and Whitby Abbey

We recently went on a Statesman Train to Whitby and back with my husbands family. The food was absolutely incredible and I managed quite a bit of reading on the train. It would have been nice to have had a bit more time in Whitby but we managed to see the Abbey which is somewhere I have always wanted to visit.

Christmas Shopping

I love Christmas and I love buying Christmas decorations so we have been to a couple of places to buy some new decorations. These include lights for the outside and inside, I also managed to get a few Christmas presents as well. I have yet to find a new singing toy but I have managed to find a light up Father Christmas. I buy a new Christmas singing toy every year. I’m hoping to get some more decorations when we visit the Bath Christmas Market in December.

Christmas Card Making

I have recently got into Christmas card making and I am really enjoying it and finding it a nice relief from work. In fact I am finding it a little bit addictive. Due to the sheer amount of cards I have been making and I am now putting them on my Etsy site as well just in case I get swamped with Christmas cards. I am going to have a go at making some birthday cards as well. If you would like to check out my Etsy site the link is below.

Etsy

Walking

We are trying to go on walks when we have time and the weather isn’t to horrid or it is too dark. We have been having a lot of rain recently which has been hampering our walking but we are still trying. On Tuesday we went for a lovely walk with beautiful sunshine and explored our local nature reserve.

So there are some of my latest adventures and endeavours. We have quite a few things planned for the run up to Christmas so I will keep you all posted.

Happy Reading

Christmas Reading List 2022

Hello!

I have started compiling my Christmas reading list for this year. I always start reading my Christmas books on December 1st but I might start slightly earlier this year as I am struggling to resist. I love compiling and planning my Christmas reads. December is the only time I really ever plan my reading as I am a mood reader generally.

My list so far is mainly made up of books left over from my Christmas TBR 2021 but I will most likely add some more in December.

  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling – I have been reading the illustrated Harry Potter books after Christmas Day but before New Year so this will be the next one.
  • Snowflakes on Silver Cove by Holly Martin – This is a new author for me but the storyline looks really good.
  • One Family Christmas by Bella Osborn – Another new author for me.
  • One More for Christmas by Sarah Morgan – reading a Sarah Morgan Christmas book has become a bit of a Christmas tradition for me so I have to one one on my TBR.
  • A Surprise Christmas Wedding by Phillipa Ashley – Another Christmas tradition author for me.
  • Christmas Poems by Wendy Cope – Picked this up in Bath last month and really looking forward to reading it.
  • Christmas is Coming by Monika Utnik-Strugała – This is the book I might start before December as I would like to read about the traditions before they happen.
  • Murder on a Winter’s Night by Various authors – I love this series of books and always buy the latest ones to read over December. My dad also really enjoys them so he also borrows them as well.

So there is my Christmas reading list so far. If you would like to recommend any Christmas books to me then please do as I love finding new Christmas books.

Happy Reading

Etsy