Literary Brooding

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir Published September 10th 2019 by Tor Two young women are tethered to lives neither have chosen. Harrow is leader of the Ninth, a talented necromancer who wants to save the people who follow her. Gideon has been raised on the Ninth and she hates it with a passion and has planned her escape from the planet and is ready to start a new life. At the last moment Gideon finds herself back in the throes of the Ninth and even worse being part of a bigger scheme involving the Emperor. The Emperor has summoned the eight houses to compete for a prized position that offers eternal life. None of that really rankles Gideon, what annoys the crap out of her is that she is now required to protect Harrow. As the two women become entangled in the machinations of this game they are forced to play, they also come to realise that perhaps they are not enemies. Muir has created one richly dense world with deftly created characters and you are sucked into it

  Dark City (Tales of the Shadow City #2) - Anna Mocikat Expected publication: 17 September 2020 by Black Rose Writing  ISBN1684335809 (ISBN13: 9781684335800) The world is a mess, something called the Glitch has decimated the human population but there are survivors. The survivors have to eke out an existence between the harshness of the land and a vampire colony with an agenda of their own and the Dark Ones who seek to end the human race. There is also a cyber race that assists the humans. It certainly is not an easy world for anyone to navigate. We meet all the characters a couple of weeks after a major battle has occurred in which the humans with the assistance of the vampires have secured a major victory over the Dark Ones. Everyone is smarting from their wounds and even victory has had a cost. At the start of the story everyone is regrouping and developing strategies for their next moves. For the humans, it is about affirming their alliance with the vampires through blood. For the

Well it has been a shitty year (so far, I remain an optimist) for everyone. For me, it has come with some extra challenges of moving interstate, buying a new house and starting a new job. So updating writing blogs has fallen to the wayside but I am back. For my legion of imaginary fans, I am here to tell you the reading mojo may have curtailed but purchasing of books did not.  So what have I read in the since I last wrote, well the following: The Anthology of Scottish Folk Tales Resistance (Divided Elements, #1) - Kopievsky, Mikhaeyla  Codename Villanelle (Killing Eve, #1) - Jennings, Luke The Dark Tide (The Dark Tide, #1) - Jasinska, Alicia  Babylon Berlin (Gereon Rath, #1) - Kutscher, Volker I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1) - Angelou, Maya La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust, #1) - Pullman, Philip Daybreak - Alsop, Cheree  Shoot the Messenger (Messenger Chronicles, #1) - DaCosta, Pippa  Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle, #1) - Jon

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows Kindle Edition, 257 pages Published May 10th 2009 by Bloomsbury Publishing I have had this book on the to be read pile for a long time and kept putting off reading it. There has been an awful amount of hype about the book and to be honest it was putting off reading it for that reason. Well, this book is a little gem. It is friendly, funny, engaging and just a wonderful escapist read. World War 2 is slowly receding away and Juliet Ashton is touring the English country promoting her latest book a collection of articles is favourably reviewed. This brings into Juliet's world the New York publisher Markham V. Reynolds, Jr and he woos her by sending copious amounts of flowers. Sidney her publisher, warns Juliet to be careful about Mark but his intentions are romantic. Then Juliet receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a complete stranger from Guernsey. He writes to her about his love Charles Lamb an

Two books about sisters, two books that could not be more different. The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean Kindle Edition, 352 pages, Published June 25th 2019 by Algonquin Books It is 1992, it is hot in Australia, Lindy Chamberlain is being compensated and the three Van Apfel sisters have disappeared.  Tikka was friends with the three sisters and through her eyes we unwrap the mystery.   This is a complicated little story, told by one narrator but at different points of time. Some when she is 11 and others when she is in her 20s. Tikka 11 is trying to find her way, she worships Cordelia Van Apfel and just wants to be a part of everything. Tikka 20s is a mess, coming to grips with trauma of the disappearance and riddled with the what ifs. As the narrative unfolds instead of clarity you are provided with more shades of grey. Could the teacher be involved, what is going on with Mr and Mrs Van Apfel and does everyone know the truth but chooses to look the other way?

Starting with a refresh Time to give the blog a freshen up for 2020 and do some reading calculation.  Looked at my Kindle and found at least 50 books to read and I have not even looked at the book shelves. At a guess at least another 100. Yes I have been buying and reading but perhaps more buying of late.  Time to make a significant dent in the list and resist buying more. That is so not going to happen but I can but try. I have started reading 'The Van Apfel Girls are Gone' by Felicity McLean. So far it is a meandering piece that is slowly revealing the story. I am intrigued but will it hold my interest? I am sure to let you know.