Month: February 2021

Recent Reads: Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files 8)

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files 8) has Harry at a horror film festival which Molly (Michael’s eldest daughter) is working at, and something hinkey is going on there.  Harry has also been warned that there’s black magic being practiced in Chicago.  And there’s something odd going on with the faeries.  We wouldn’t want Harry to get bored now, would we? 

Harry’s world is one that has been built very well, and you’ve been introduced to extra characters gradually, so Michael (for instance) can come back, is a consistent character, we know what to expect of him, and is a distinct character.  There’s no confusing people in the Dresden Files, which is a great thing.

There is good development with Harry’s character and world, and makes me excited about the next book (and the next, and the next!).  

Proven Guilty was published on 6th February 2007, and is available on Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Jim Butcher on his website, Twitter and Facebook.

My reviews for previous Dresden Files books are below:

Storm Front (book 1)

Fool Moon (book 2)

Grave Peril (book 3)

Summer Knight (book 4)

Death Masks (book 5)

Blood Rites (book 6)

Dead Beat (book 7)

Recent Reads: Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick

Posted on by Pam

My review:??

Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick is a fantasy novel, where the we follow characters on a journey.  

Leith and Hal are travelling to save their parents, and are joined by 2 village elders and another villager.  They meet various people with different customs on their travels, and go through different landscapes.

I’m afraid I found this book too descriptive and quite dull.  Everything has to be described to the fullest, and any decisions need to be talked and argued about.  It was exhausting and exhaustive. 

Across the Face of the World by Russell Kirkpatrick was published on 4th May 2006, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Russell Kirkpatrick on Twitter and Facebook.

Recent Reads: The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Vegetables The Art and Science to Grow Your Own Vegetables by Helena Dove

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Vegetables; The Art and Science to Grow Your Own Vegetables by Helena Dove has lots of photos and illustrations to help you with planning your garden.

There are step by step instructions, information on what to do month by month and it’s accessible to beginners and those who have been growing vegetables for a while.

This is a good book to help you learn more about growing vegetables, and also to understand why you can grow things where.

The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Vegetables; The Art and Science to Grow Your Own Vegetables by Helena Dove was published on 3 March 2020 and is available on Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Helena Dove on Twitter.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Quarto.

Recent Reads: Finder by Suzanne Palmer

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Finder by Suzanne Palmer is about Fergus Ferguson, a man from Earth in a time of established colonies on other planets (such as Mars), and space stations.  He is good at finding things, and he’ll need his skills on this backwater planet that the man who stole a spaceship has come to.

There are threatening aliens who flyover once in a while, Shielders who keep to themselves, and a civil war that breaks out as Fergus arrives.  He has to make alliances, work quickly, and getting the ship will mean he can leave all this madness behind him.

This is an enjoyable sci-fi story, with Fergus as a likeable rogue, and the people he collects around him are unusual.  You are rooting for Fergus to win the day, and the twists and turns seem obvious once they’ve happened.

I enjoyed this adventure, the trip through space and the plot twists!

I read this because it was a Sword and Laser pick for November – I’m a bit behind!  

Finder was published on 2nd April 2019, and is available on Amazon.

You can follow Suzanne Palmer on Twitter and her website.

Recent Reads: House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J Maas

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

The House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas is set on a world where there are fae, shifters of all kinds, angels, demons, and also humans. Bryce is half human, half fae, loves to party, and is aware that she’s in a world that doesn’t treat every race the same.  

Bryce is a very conflicted character, who feels like she shouldn’t be alive after a horrible event, but now she is out to find out what happened, and get revenge.

I read the first five chapters of this book before, but have now read all of it, and really enjoyed the story. 

Sarah J Maas is good at sweeping you along with the story, and leaving you wanting more!  She does romance and danger well, and I enjoyed the twists and turns of this book that’s part romance, part crime and a lot of fantasy!

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J Maas was published on 3rd March 2020, and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones (an exclusive edition!) and Bookshop.com.

You can follow Sarah J Maas on her website or on Instagram.

I’ve also read and reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses which is book 1 in another series!

Southern Spirits: 5th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set by Angie Fox (Southern Spirits 1, 1.5 and 2)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Southern Spirits: 5th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set by Angie Fox (Southern Spirits 1, 1.5 and 2)

Southern Spirits is the first book in the series, and introduces us to Verity Long, who is in the process of selling everything she has so she can pay back her former future mother-in-law after stood him up at the alter.  She is desperate to try to keep a hold of the family home, and so is willing to do anything to get some money.  When she manages to trap a ghost on her property, who is also eager for her to keep it, he lets her see the ghostly side of things, which can help when people have problems!

A Ghostly Gift is book 1.5, so a novella between books 1 and 2.  Verity is asked by her sister to help a friend out who has a resale shop (like a pawn shop), and so Verity and Frankie, her dead gangster friend, are going to investigate, and maybe get some furniture for the house out of it!

The Skeleton in the Closet has Verity and Frankie investigating a dead body, found in the library, which is a very old building, so there are lots of ghosts as potential witnesses!  There are secrets that someone is willing to kill to keep, and so Verity is going to have to watch her back!

These are an enjoyable cosy fantasy crime series, and as you can tell, I’m always happy to pick up one in the series!

Southern Spirits: 5th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set by Angie Fox (Southern Spirits 1-3) was published on 17th January 2020, and is available to buy from Amazon.

Angie Fox also has another series of books called Accidental Demon Slayer, which has 11 books in the series! She also has a Facebook page and a reader group.

I’ve previously read and reviewed:

Pecan Pies and Dead Guys – book 7 in the series.

The Mint Julep Murders – book 8.

The Ghost of Christmas Past – book 8.5

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Moose Island Books and Author Collective 20  (the publishers) for this book.

Recent Reads: All Girls by Emily Layden

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

All Girls by Emily Layden is set in an all girls boarding school in Connecticut, and happens over a year, starting with the first day, where students are being dropped off, and drive past posters that declare a past student is making allegations of sexual misconduct against a teacher, who is rumoured to still be at the school.

This sets the tone for the year, with more information coming out about the past student, and then about the staff, with the school administration striving to keep ahead of the gossip.

The students are finding themselves, and so there are sexual experiences, consent, anxiety, secrets and a lot of emotions. Trigger warning, there is sexual assault in the book.

There are nine girls that we see the story from their perspective, and that’s a lot of different characters to try to keep straight in your head.  I didn’t manage it for all of them, and I think that’s telling in itself.  If I care about a book, I’ll be able to keep the characters straight, or I’ll go back and check what’s going on.  In this book, I just kept going.

All Girls by Emily Layden was published on 18th February 2021, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Emily Layden on Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to John Murray Press.

Recent Reads: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers 4)

Posted on by Pam

My review:?????

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers 4) is the last book in the Wayfarers series, and whilst we don’t go back to the Wayfarer ship, we do have a character from that first book!  This time it’s Pei, who is the Ashby’s lover.

This book is set on Five-Hop One-Stop, on the planet Gora, which is at a nexus of wormholes, and so is a popular stopping point for many travellers. 

Pei is on leave, and heading for Ashby on the Wayfarer, Speaker is an Akarak, travelling with her twin, and Roveg is a Quelin, heading for an appointment.  They all stop at the Five-Hop One-Stop, and so are the guests of Ouloo, and her child, Tupo.

They all have to stay on the planet for longer than they had planned, and so have to rub along together, which means, as in the other books in this series, we learn more about the people, their motivations, and their fears.  

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about this series is that unless you know the person, you don’t assume their pronouns, and in fact there are some people who use the gender neutral pronouns for various reasons.  Instead xe and xyr is used.  In this book, Tupo has not chosen a gender yet (and might not), and so is referred to as xe and xyr.

This was a lovely end to the series of books, which the description of quiet was really made for.  Yes, they’re in space, yes, there are aliens, but this is about characters rather than space battles, and it was very good.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers 4) was published on 18th February 2021, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones (signed edition!) and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Becky Chambers on her website and Facebook.

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Hodder & Stoughton.

You can read my review for previous books in the Wayfarer’s series:

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet  (Wayfarers 1)

A Closed and Common Budget (Wayfarers 2)

Record of a Space Born Few (Wayfarers 3)

Recent Reads: Complete Container Herb Gardening by Sue Goetz

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Complete Container Herb Gardening by Sue Goetz is a lovely book, full of photos and ideas about how to grow herbs.

The herbs are laid out so you know what to grow together for things like what you might want to use in cooking, for drinking as a tea, and what are good together for aromatherapy.

I enjoyed seeing this take on herbs, and seeing information on storing the herbs once grown.    If you’re interested in growing herbs, then this book probably has some ideas for you. It’s got information for beginner gardeners with information on soil, sun exposure and so on.

Complete Container Herb Gardening by Sue Goetz was published on 22nd December 2020, and is available on Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Sue Goetz on Twitter and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Quarto.  

Recent Reads: The Duke and I (Bridgertons 1)

Posted on by Pam

My review:❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

What else do you write about on Valentine’s Day than a series about romance! ?

Like so many people, I have watched and loved the Bridgerton series on Netflix!  And it wasn’t just the romance that I enjoyed! I loved the diversity of the cast, the sets, the outfits, and yes, the story was good!  

Photo of Queen Charlotte from @bridgertonnetflix on Instagram

I was fascinated by the bees that popped up, that the Bridgertons were in pastels, and the Featheringtons were in acid colours, which were both such lovely palettes! And oh, Lady Whistledown voiced by Julie Andrews was perfect!

Photo of The Feartherington’s from @bridgertonnetflix on Instagram
Photo of Dowager Lady Bridgerton and 7 of her 8 children from @bridgertonnetflix on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so here we are, I’ve finished the Netflix series, but I wanted more (this was before the second series was confirmed), so I’ve started reading the books!  

The Duke and I isn’t the same as the Netflix series, which has weaved some other plot elements in.  There’s quite a list of things that don’t happen in the book, so don’t think they are exactly the same.  They have the same feel, and Lady Whistledown is in both and of course we have Simon and Daphne.

If you haven’t watched Bridgerton (I’m sure there’s a couple of people), then welcome to the Regency period!  Daphne is the eldest daughter (and fourth child) of the Dowager Lady Bridgerton, and is out for in society, which means she’s on the look out for a husband!

Lady Bridgerton is keen for her to find a match, and so is Daphne, but she’s far too likeable and men don’t see her as the one they want to marry.

Simon, newly the Duke of Hastings, does not want a wife.  He is only in society to wrap up his late father’s dealings, to say his hellos to Lady Danbury, and then he’s heading off out of the country again.  Except, society Mama’s and their eligible daughters are all over him like a rash whenever he’s present.

Daphne and Simon concoct a plan.  They’re going to act as if they’re courting, which will mean Simon won’t be so sought after, and Daphne will be, because men will see that the Duke wants her, therefore they should want her as well.  And they say women are fickle creatures.

This is an enjoyable Regency romance, in the style of Georgette Heyer, but with more sex! 

The Duke and I was published on 27th June 2006, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Julia Quinn on Facebook, Instagram and her website.