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Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, you pick ten books on that week’s topic. This week’s topic was books similar to Crayola Crayon Colors. But it was really difficult — so I decided to go with tales of revenge.
Here are 10 books where the main driving force was revenge, or where the characters spend a lot of time figuring out the mechanics of vengeance or dealing with its aftermath.
I really wanted to give this book a 10-rating, to put it in my Top 10 of 2021 list later in December. Unfortunately, while The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was interesting and certainly novel, I just couldn’t fall in love with this book.
Aiden Bishop finds himself trapped at Blackheath Manor, where he has been invited to attend the homecoming party for Evelyn Hardcastle. It should have been a happy occasion. But night after night, Aiden finds his “spirit” transmigrated to the body of a different guest at Blackheath — all on the same day. If Aiden can figure out who wants to kill Evelyn, he can escape this repetitive time-loop. Trouble is, Aiden has “competitors” in this game, and only one victor can escape Blackheath.
It’s time for #6degrees. Start with the monthly read, add six books, and see where you end up. Inspired by the 6 Degrees of Separation Meme hosted every month at Books are my Favorite and Best.
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart is the book for April 2021. Shuggie Bain won the Booker Prize for its portrayal of alcoholism and addiction, and its impact on working-class families in 1980s United Kingdom.
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, you pick ten books on that week’s topic. And this week, you get to choose top 10 places from books you’d like to live in. Honestly, I couldn’t really remember any specific places — so I decided to focus on worldbuilding instead.
1 / The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Detailed and intricate mythology: World Tree, void, floating city of Sky, Shadow worlds…
2 / Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. A dystopian, post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, controlled ruthlessly by its dictators.
3 / Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. A castle that can travel as the magician Howl dictates, fed by a magical fireplace engine.
4 / Lord of the Rings Series by J.R.R. Tolkien. Have you seen the movies? Enough said.
5 / The Bitterbynde Trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton. This Tolkien-esque Faerie world has been sealed off, but some humans still long for it.
6 / The Sevenwaters Series by Juliet Marillier. The tension between the Celts and the Britons gets an epic, magical portrayal in ancient Ireland.
7 / Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Alice falls into a dream-world where the Queen of Hearts bakes some tarts. Well, we know how this goes.
8 / Malazan Book of the Fallen Series by Steven Erikson. The Malazan Empire is in turmoil and the imprisoned Crippled God plots to escape.
9 / Game of Thrones Series by George R. Martin. The Hundred Years’ War gets re-written, with oodles of grimdark and gore. Ask HBO.
10 / Imperial Radch Series by Ann Leckie. Radch has expanded its inter-galactic empire by means of sentient AI spaceships and soldiers.
Not one sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.
Matthew Ten, Verse Twenty-Nine
I read some time back, but I am reviewing it here only now. The book raises some uncomfortable questions about our perception of and our (according to the book, unfounded) expectations from God. Mary Russell does a spectacular job of blending science and religion in this book. For both agnostics and believers alike, this is a story that will send you reeling.
The Sparrow is set in the future, and revolves around Emilio Sandoz. Emilio is a devout Jesuit priest and a good man whose friends love him. Sandoz’s biggest strengths are his self-awareness, and his faith in God which can move mountains. But that faith is about to be tested.
This is the final month for the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge, so I really had to hurry up with this one. I had two main recommendations for this month: Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa, and an anthology of Japanese Haiku poetry compiled by Yamamoto and Addiss. And although not “literature”, also the superbly mind-bending scifi anime, Paprika.
Book: Thorn (Dauntless Path Book 1)
Author: Intisar Khanani
Published: March 2020
Trope: Goose Girl Retelling, Identity Theft with a Twist
Rating: 8 of 10 / Recommended
Thorn has been getting a lot of blogger attention lately, even though released much earlier. When I realized it was a cozy Goose Girl retelling, I knew I had to give it a try. I liked it exceedingly, but also turned out to be quite unusual.
Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs was like water after a reading drought! I was half afraid that the series would have lost its charm, but I needn’t have worried. Happy to report that this was an awesome read.
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every Tuesday, you pick ten books on that week’s topic. And this week, we spotlight our ten favorite funny books. In no order of priority, here they are!
