Fleeing her old life, Rosemary Harper joins the multi-species crew of the Wayfarer as a file clerk, and joins them on missions throughout the galaxy. Looking forward to a simpler life, she soon discovers it’s not what she was expecting; everyone has secrets, and there’s more than enough to keep her busy.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers Published 2014 via Kickstarter Bingo Category – Space Opera (Hard Mode)
This comfy, cosy, Firefly-esque space opera hits the spot in terms of an easy going, character focused novel. The plot is good, the writing is good, the characters are fully fleshed out and feel real, and plot arcs get resolved. It’s all very satisfying. I enjoyed it, but it almost felt too cosy. The stakes were relatively small, everyone was polite and nice and friendly and mostly everything was resolved in a nice, polite, friendly way. I know there is loads of love for Becky Chambers and I’m not surprised, because what she writes is great, but this book and most likely the rest of the series, is just not for me.
January 2025 was a nightmare. This is something that I will not change my mind about. Whatever could go wrong, went wrong. Work. Home. Hobbies. Didn’t matter. It was a huge pile of baggy pants that I’d much rather not have worn.
I read two books. Two!!! And I only enjoyed one of them. Neither of them were bingo challenge books and I found myself more and more disheartened as the month continued on like a battering ram. By the end of it, I felt like I’d gone more than a few rounds with Tyson. Whichever one you think of. Either packs a punch.
So here is my January Reading Wrap-Up, just for fits and giggles.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is the kind of book that I should have found thoroughly enjoyable and brilliant. It’s right up my alley. It’s lyrical, descriptive, atmospheric and full of beautiful imagery and concepts. Two characters are chosen to have a dramatic duel of some sort, for some unknown reason, and there’s a circus, created by wonderful people, that arrives in random places without announcement, and is only open at night time. There are characters galore, all of whom are captivated and thrilled by the circus and its inhabitants. There are mysterious “magicians” and “illusionists.” There are characters who are captivated by the very essence of the circus. There is a plot, in all of the atmosphere, somewhere. It was a good book. But I have absolutely no idea what the reason for it was, or why the events were so important, or what the point of the narrative was.
Okay, that’s not entirely true. There are a few themes and tropes that are evident – found family, friendship, good, evil, true love. My point is, that all of that is swept up by the atmosphere, it’s all meaningless without the circus. Maybe that was the point. Anyway. It’s very atmospheric and chock full of gorgeous imagery, but it just missed floating my boat by an oar or two. I gave this a 3.5/5 stars, but that’s probably a bit unfair because the writing is almost as captivating as the circus.
An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance. . . .
A pregnant woman’s sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.
A child’s picture of his home contains a dark secret message.
A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbithole that will reveal a horrifying reality.
Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu—an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan’s most talked about contemporary authors
This is not the type of book that I would usually pick up, as intriguing as it sounds. It was recommended to me by Waterstone’s Dan at my local branch, and it was most definitely worth it. Interconnected stories lead to the unravelling of a mystery is as much as I want to say about it, because if you do pick this up, I don’t want to spoil it. It’s a quick read, and can be “dipped” into if you can resist reading it in one sitting. I couldn’t.
It was a solid 4.5 stars for me.
That was my January. Just those two and a humungous PITA of a life to go with them. Like I said, thank God it’s February.
In a mysterious town hidden in our collective subconcious, theres a department store that sells dreams…
What a wonderful idea! The concept caught my interest straight away and I would have given this book a go even if it didn’t fit my book bingo 2024 list, but it happens to do that quite well in the category of Author of Colour, and it fits for hard mode, which is another bonus. Interestingly, the book was published as a debut in 2020 and funded entirely through a crowd-funding service in Korea – and became a bestseller! How awesome is that! It’s also my local Waterstones pick of the month for August 2024, and there’s a book club meet about it at the store in September, so I’ll be going to that!
This endearing and whimsical tale follows Penny as she becomes the newest employee in Dallergut’s, supplying dreams to customers with various requirements. It’s reminiscent of Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium in parts but is most definitely something that is unique: and I wanted so desperately to love it, to get swept away in the deliciousness of the concept, but it really didn’t hit home for me.
It’s not the concept – that’s fabulous. It’s not the characters, although I felt they could have been more fleshed out. The translation wasn’t even much of an issue, although I do feel that it simplified the narration somewhat and it may have been more effective as a whole if read in the original language. DDDS (Dallergut Dream Department Store) is a very good book: it’s a feel-good, cosy, slice-of-life tale but it could have achieved so much more. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the Tale of the Three Disciples is just one example that could have been expanded to become something even more wonderful. I know it’s part of a duology, and that in the next book, there is the possibility that it could become something amazing. I also know that it might not be the author’s intent for it to become something other than what it is, which is cosy, slice-of-life as I’ve said, but there is so much potential in the concept that wasn’t executed and it’s such a shame.
I liked DDDS, the characters were quirky, and the idea of dream-making and selling was intriguing and compelling. I loved the messages that were in the book – the themes of friendship, love, grief, loss, loneliness, stress, perseverance, acceptance, identity and more were all covered in this little novelette and were covered well. It is a magical, lovely little tale.
I was just expecting something else, and I can see so much more that could come from it. I’ll still be picking up the sequel so I can find out what happens to Penny, Weather, Dallergut, Maxim, Assam, Babynap Rockabye, Animora Bancho and even Vigo!!
If you enjoy slice-of-life, cosy fantasy, you’ll love DDDS, and even if cosy fantasy isn’t normally your go-to, try this one. You might find you enjoy it more than you think you will.
Welcome to Area X. An Edenic wilderness, an environmental disaster zone, a mystery for thirty years.
The Southern Reach, a secretive government agency, has sent eleven expeditions to investigate Area X. One has ended in mass suicide, another in a hail of gunfire, the eleventh in a fatal cancer epidemic.
Now four women embark on the twelfth expedition into the unknown…
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer Southern Reach #1 Published 2014 Book Bingo: Eldritch Creatures (Hard Mode)
This is a ridiculously difficult book to review.
I picked this book up as part of the Bingo 2024 challenge for the Eldritch Creatures category. I’m a little ashamed to say, especially given that I read a lot of horror, that I didn’t realise these odd entities/creatures had a categeory of their own. Anyway, Emily, another lovely member of staff at my local Waterstones, assured me that I would love this book and that it definitely fitted what I was looking for.
Told from the point of view of “the biologist” although the tale includes others, including her own husband’s experiences, her perspective leads us beautifully through this unique, eerie tale of an exploration team (the 12th expedition according to the text) in a place called “Area X.”
The imagery in this deceptively small-looking novel is just beautiful, although not technically traditional. It lulls and lures the reader into a lyrical dance that undulates in the bizarre, and it stays with you. It’s incredibly immersive, and so odd that it’s difficult to define just how effective it is, because I can see how devisive it could be – the interpretation is completely up to the reader, and the content reflects this in the interpretation given by “the biologist” – there are no correct answers, just mystery.
There are plenty of secrets in this book and as the answers are slowly revealed, the story draws you in to its surreal and distorted and disconcerting sense of reality. You are left stranded in the in-between, a kind of limbo, yet there is a feeling of fulfillment. Still there is a sense of needing to dig deeper, to eke out the mystery, to find the reasoning. You know there is more, just not where to find it.
Atmospheric is an almost perfect descriptor, ominous is another.
Personally, I like hauntingly evocative.
“It was as if I travelled through the landscape with the sound of an expressive and intense aria playing in my ears. Everything was imbued with emotion, awash with it, and I was no longer a biologist but somehow the crest of a wave building and building but never crashing to the shore.”
boc-hord 