My Winter Reads

With revision of Bronze complete, I had originally hoped that these would be my Fall reads, but Gaiman's American Gods took me far too long to read and I'm reading Percy Jackson now in an attempt to catch up a little - I'm woefully behind on my Reading Challenge! In between, I'm writing daily and as much as I can now that school is back.

I'm currently finishing two books: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, which I have mixed feelings about, and then I'll finish The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.

Next will be Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I've had this on my To Be Read list for quite a while. When my oldest daughter mentioned she was reading it on Kindle (and loving it) and my son asked if I'd ever heard of it on the same day (he was raving about the miniseries he'd just seen), it got bumped to the top of the list. The book is huge so it's going to take a while!

Two magicians shall appear in England.
The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me...

The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is a hardback I've had for quite a while but didn't want to read until I'd read American Gods. Now that I've finished it, I'll read this follow-up novel.

Bursting with the imaginative power of Neil Gaiman, this story blends fantasy with humour and drama. Fat Charlie Nancy is not actually fat. He was fat once but he is definitely not fat now. No, right now Fat Charlie Nancy is angry, confused and more than a little scared - right now his life is spinning out of control, and it is all his dad's fault. If his rotter of an estranged father hadn't dropped dead at a karaoke night, Charlie would still be blissfully unaware that his dad was Anansi the spider god. He would have no idea that he has a brother called Spider, who is also a god. And there would be no chance that said brother would be trying to take over his life, flat and fiancée, or, to make matters worse, be doing a much better job of it than him. Desperate to reclaim his life, Charlie enlists the help of four more-than-slightly eccentric old ladies and their unique brand of voodoo - and between them they unleash a bitter and twisted force to get rid of Spider. But as darkness descends and badness begins is Fat Charlie Nancy going to get his life back in one piece or is he about to enter a whole netherworld of pain?

And finally,

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

I enjoyed the first book of this series and look forward to getting back to it.

Have you read these? What did you think? What are you looking forward to reading this winter?

Writing: TGJ Book 2, Chapter 29.

Listening: Civil Twilight - Story of an Immigrant

Reading: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.

Watching: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and Grantchester

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Reviews for The Glister Journals: Bronze
More Glister Journals info at the book's website here: theglisterjournals.com
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Note: All original text and materials by or commissioned by B. B. Shepherd are copyright 2012-2015 to B B Shepherd.