Connie ROOTs for another year in 2024 - part 2

Hello all my co-ROOTers.

I'm known to most of you but here is a small introduction.

I'm Connie and I live in a small town in The Netherlands. I celebrated my 71th birthday on March 25.

I'm a retired secretary at a college and was looking forward to a nice retirement with my husband, Peter. Sadly enough he now lives in a care-centrum since he fell with his bike and damaged a nerve in his neck which was operated on. The surgery failed and his walking is rather bad and unstable. Taking care of him in our home was impossible and he moved to a place nearby. So for the first time in my live I life alone.
I have a son, Jeroen (41) who lives with his partner Rianne (37) and their daughter Lonne (6)
And a daughter, Eveline (38) who lives with her partner, Cyrille (42) and their daughters Fiene (8) and Marie (5).

I'm a very proud grandmother and have lots of children's books. All my girls love books and reading.

I have read books for as long as I can remember and bought a lot of books too. My favourite genres are Fantasy and Thrillers, but I love a god novel too.



Me and the girls

Fiene in the train for a night spend at grandma's with her sister.

It was carnaval so she is dressed up as one of the frozen girls.

Lonne in front of the trainstation in Maastricht

Marie dressed for the snow we had two months ago.

For my RL Book-club I will read books for the challenges we set for 2024
I will keep a list of them here.

Total
40.

01. Nobility
01. The Holly King - Mark Stay
02. De koningsvrede - Jo Walton
03. Prins der wrake - Mark Lawrence

02. Three times
01. Wonder Woman, Warbringer - Leigh Bardugo
02. Ren, Jack Ren - Ruth Ware

03. Inheritance
01. De gestolen erfgenaam - Holy Black
02. Heir Apparent - Vivian Vande Velde
03. Een onmogelijk leven - Matt Haig
04. Swordheart - T. Kingfisher

04. Isogram
01. Vermist - Simon Beckett
02. Water - John Boyne
03. De Camino - Anya Niewierra

05. Cats (for Marion, in loving memory)
01. De reis van de wijze kat - James Norbury

06. Classic titles
01. De abdij van Northanger - Jane Austen

07. Ridiculous titles
01. De boom die een wereld was - Yorick Goldewijk
02. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente
03. A Fae Coin Transported Me Into Another World and Now I'm the Gay Holy Maiden - AJ Sherwood

08. Coffee
01. Murder at the bookstore - Sue Minix
02. Kon je me maar zien! - Cecelia Ahern

09. Denial
01. Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd - Celeste Ng
02. Never trust a dead man - Vivian Vande Velde
03. If Tomorrow Doesn't Come - Jen St. Jude

10. Old ones

11. Oxymoron
01. Een eerlijke leugen - Tarryn Fisher
02. Het geluid van stilte - Belinda Aebi

12. Publication time train
01. Al het blauw van de hemel - Mélissa De Costa

13. Queeste
01. A Well-Timed Enchantment - Vivian Vande Velde

14. Rainbow colors
01. De groeten van de krijtjes - Drew Daywalt
01. Een regenboog in mijn kast - Dolf Verroen

15. Forbidden books
01. De bastaard van Istanbul - Elif Shafak

16. Far East
01. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - Axie Oh

17. Vehicle
01. Schip der zielen - Kate Mosse
02. The Last Time I Saw You - Elizabeth Berg

18. World-trip
01. Belgie - De storm van de echo's - Christelle Dabos
02. Ierland - De stem van het meer - Santa Montefiore

19. Shop
01. The Lost Bookshop - Evie Woods
02. Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune
03. Het boekwinkelcomplot - Louise Fein
04. Een bakkerij in Parijs - Aimie K. Runyan


20. No pictures
01. Trots en vooroordeel - Jane Austen
02. The Wonder Engine - T. Kingfisher

I will count a book or E-book as a ROOT if it has been on my shelves for more then 4 months.

01. Wonder Woman: Warbringer - Leigh Bardugo -
02. De storm van de echo's - Christelle Dabos -
03. Trots en vooroordeel - Jane Austen -
04. Het meisje dat de wereld veranderde - Machiel Hoek -
05. Vermoorde onschuld - Angela Marsons -
06. Hartenstrijd - Tracy Rees -
07. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - Axie Oh -
08. Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune -
09. Het geheime boek van Flora Lea - Patti Callahan Henry -
10. The Holly King - Mark Stay -
11. The Book that Wouldn't Burn - Mark Lawrence -
12. De gestolen erfgenaam - Holly Black -
13. 10 minuten 38 seconden in deze vreemde wereld - Elif Shafak -
14. De veertig regels van liefde - Elif Shafak -
15. Schip der zielen - Kate Mosse -
16. De koningsvrede - Jo Walton -
17. De naam van de koning - Jo Walton -
18. Briefjes voor Pelle - Marlies Slegers -
19. Normale mensen - Sally Rooney -
20. Wolfsong - T.J. Klune -
21. De groeten van de krijtjes - Drew Daywalt -
22. A Song of Flight - Juliet Marillier -
23. Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd - Celeste Ng -
24. Never trust a dead man - Vivian Vande Velde -
25. Heir Apparent - Vivian Vande Velde -
26. A Well-Timed Enchantment - Vivian Vande Velde -
27. Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett -
28. Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands - Heather Fawcett -
29. De avonturen van Amina al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty -
30. Kwaad bloed - Robert Galbraith -
31. Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg -
32. The Last Time I Saw You - Elizabeth Berg -
33. If Tomorrow Doesn't Come - Jen St. Jude -
34. In steen gebrand - Rebecca Yarros -
35. Een ijzeren vlam - Rebecca Yarros -
36. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente -
37. Kleine brandjes overal - Celeste Ng -
38. Honderd namen - Cecelia Ahern -
39. Kon je me maar zien! - Cecelia Ahern -
40. Anna O - Matthew Blake -
41. De familie Aubrey - Rebecca West -
42. Al het blauw van de hemel - Mélissa Da Costa -
43. De abdij van Northanger - Jane Austen -
44. Prins der wrake - Mark Lawrence -
45. The Book that Broke the World - Mark Lawrence -
46. Clockwork Boys - T. Kingfisher -
47. The Wonder Engine - T. Kingfisher -
48. Swordheart - T. Kingfisher -
49. Het geluid van stilte - Belinda Aebi -
50. Het boek der deuren - Gareth Brown -
51. Het teken van de vogel - Deborah Harkness -

Books read in 2024

January, Februari, March

01. Vermist - Simon Beckett - Book - Forumchallenge # 1 -
02. Water - John Boyne - Book - Forumchallenge # 2 -
03. Wonder Woman: Warbringer - Leigh Bardugo - E-book - ROOT # 1 - Forumchallenge # 3 -
04. De reis van de wijze kat - James Norbury - Book - Forumchallenge # 4 -
05. De storm van de echo's - Christelle Dabos - Book - Forumchallenge # 5 - ROOT # 2 - BFB # 1 -
06. Trots en vooroordeel - Jane Austen - E-book - ROOT # 3 - Forumchallenge # 6 -
07. De vervlogen helft - Brit Bennett - Book -
08. The Lost Bookshop - Evie Woods - Book - Forumchallenge # 7 -
09. Een eerlijke leugen - Tarryn Fisher - Book - Forumchallenge # 8 -
10. Het meisje dat de wereld veranderde - Machiel Hoek - Book - ROOT # 4 -
11. Vermoorde onschuld - Angela Marsons - Book - ROOT # 5 -
12. Hartenstrijd - Tracy Rees - Book - ROOT # 6 -
13. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - Axie Oh - E-book - ROOT # 7 - Forumchallenge # 9 - Foreign Fantasy # 1 -
14. Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune - E-book - ROOT # 8 - Forumchallenge # 10 - Foreign Fantasy # 2 -
15. Stromend graf - Robert Galbraith - Book - BFB # 2 -
16. Damsel - Evelyn Skye - E-book - OB # 1 -
17. Het geheime boek van Flora Lea - Patti Callahan Henry - Book - ROOT # 9 -
18. The Holly King - Mark Stay - Book - ROOT # 10 - Forumchallenge # 11 -
19. The Harp of Kings - Juliet Marillier - E-book - Foreign Fantasy # 3 -

Books read in 2024

April, May, June

20. The Book that Wouldn't Burn - Mark Lawrence - Book - ROOT # 11 - Foreign Fantasy # 4 - BFB # 3 -
21. De boom die een wereld was - Yorick Goldewijk - Book - Forumchallenge # 12 -
22. Tower of Thorns - Juliet Marillier - E-book -
23. Den of Wolves - Juliet Marillier - E-book -
24. De gestolen erfgenaam - Holly Black - Book - Forumchallenge # 13 -
25. A Dance with Fate - Juliet Marillier - E-book - Foreign Fantasy # 5 -
26. Ren, Jack ren - Ruth Ware - Book - Forumchallenge # 14 -
27. De Camino - Anya Niewierra - Book - Forumchallenge # 15 -
28. 10 minuten 38 seconden in deze vreemde wereld - Elif Shafak - Book - ROOT # 13 -
29. De veertig regels van liefde - Elif Shafak - Book - ROOT # 14 -
30. Schip der zielen - Kate Mosse - Book - ROOT # 15 - Forumchallenge # 16 -
31. De koningsvrede - Jo Walton - Book - ROOT # 16 - Forumchallenge # 17 -
32. De naam van de koning - Jo Walton - Book - ROOT # 17 -
33. Briefjes voor Pelle - Marlies Slegers - Book - ROOT # 18 -
34. Terugkeer - Harlan Coben - Book -
35. Normale mensen - Sally Rooney - Book - ROOT # 19 -
36. Wolfsong - T.J. Klune - E-book - ROOT # 20 -
37. De groeten van de krijtjes - Drew Daywalt - Book - ROOT #21 - Forumchallenge # 18 -
38. A Song of Flight - Juliet Marillier - E-book - ROOT # 22 -
39. De perfecte zoon - Freida McFadden - Book -
40. Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd - Celeste Ng - E-book - ROOT # 23 - Forumchallenge # 19 -
41. Never trust a dead man - Vivian Vande Velde - E-book - ROOT # 24 - Forumchallenge # 20 -

Books read in 2024

July, August, September

42. Heir Apparent - Vivian Vande Velde - E-book - ROOT # 25 - Forumchallenge # 21 -
43. De stem van het meer - Santa Montefiore - E-book - Forumchallenge # 22 -
44. A Well-Timed Enchantment - Vivian Vande Velde - E-book - ROOT # 26 - Forumchallenge # 23 -
45. Een regenboog in mijn kast - Dolf Verroen - Book - Forumchallenge # 24 -
46. Het boekwinkelcomplot - Louise Fein - Book - Forumchallenge # 25 -
47. Magical Midlife Madness - K.F. Breene - E-book -
48. The Spellshop - Sarah Beth Durst - E-book - Foreign Fantasy # 6 -
49. Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett - Book - ROOT # 27 - Foreign Fantasy # 7 -
50. Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands - Heather Fawcett - Book - ROOT # 28 -
51. Magical Midlife Dating - K.F. Breene - E-book -
52. Magical Midlife Invasion - K.F. Breene - E-book -
53. De avonturen van Amina al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty - Book - ROOT # 29 - Foreign Fantasy # 8 -
54. Magical Midlife Love - K.F. Breene - E-book -
55. Het lied van leven en dood - Marcelo Figueras - E-book - BFB # 4 -
56. Kwaad bloed - Robert Galbraith - E-book - ROOT # 30 - BFB # 5 -
57. Leef je nog? - M.J. Arlidge - Book -
58. Home Safe - Elizabeth Berg - E-book - ROOT # 31 -
59. The Last Time I Saw You - Elizabeth Berg - E-book - ROOT # 32 - Forumchallenge # 26 -
60. If Tomorrow Doesn't Come - Jen St, Jude - E-book - ROOT # 33 - Forumchallenge # 27 -
61. Murder at the bookstore - Sue Minix - Book - Forumchallenge # 28 -
62. In steen gebrand - Rebecca Yarros - Book - ROOT # 34 - BFB # 6 - OB 2024 # 2 -
63. Een ijzeren vlam - Rebecca Yarros - Book - ROOT # 35 - BFB # 7 -
64. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente - E-book - ROOT # 36 - Forumchallenge # 29 -
65. Kleine brandjes overal - Celeste Ng - E-book - ROOT # 37 -
66. Honderd namen - Cecelia Ahern - E-book - ROOT # 38 -
67. Kon je me maar zien! - Cecelia Ahern - E-book - ROOT # 39 - Forumchallenge # 30 -
68. Een onmogelijk leven - Matt Haig - Book - Forumchallenge # 31 -
69. Anna O - Matthew Blake - Book - ROOT # 40 -
70. De bastaard van Istanbul - Elif Shafak - Book - Forumchallenge # 32 -
71. De familie Aubrey - Rebecca West - Book - ROOT # 41 -
72. Al het blauw van de hemel - Mélissa De Costa - Book - ROOT # 42 - Forumchallenge # 33 -

Books read in 2024

October, November, December

73. A Sorceress Comes to Call - T. Kingfisher - E-book - Foreign Fantasy # 9 -
74. Schatpakkers - Pieter Koolwijk - Book -
75. De abdij van Northanger - Jane Austen - E-book - ROOT # 43 - Forumchallenge # 34 -
76. Een bakkerij in Parijs - Aimie K. Runyan - E-book - Forumchallenge # 35 -
77. Prins der wrake - Mark Lawrence - Book - ROOT # 44 - Forumchallenge # 36 -
78. The Book that Broke the World - Mark Lawrence - Book - ROOT # 45 -
79. Clockwork Boys - T. Kingfisher - E-book - ROOT # 46 -
80. The Wonder Engine - T. Kingfisher - E-book - ROOT # 47 - Forumchallenge # 37 -
81. A Fae Coin Transported Me Into Another World and Now I'm the Gay Holy Maiden - AJ Sherwood - E-book - Forumchallenge # 38 -
82. Swordheart - T. Kingfisher - E-book - ROOT # 48 - Forumchallenge # 39 -
83. Het geluid van stilte - Belinda Aebi - E-book - ROOT # 49 - Forumchallenge # 40 - -
84. Het boek der deuren - Gareth Brown - Book - ROOT # 50 - OB # 3 -
85. Paladin's Grace - T. Kingfisher - E-book -
86. Het teken van de vogel - Deborah Harkness - Book - ROOT # 51 - BFB # 10 -

Books bought in 2024

01. De reis van de wijze kat - James Norbury
02. Duizend & ik - Yorick Goldewijk
03. Gun iedere kabouter zijn eigen muts - Aaf Brandt Corstius
04. Een eerlijke leugen - Tarryn Fisher
05. The Lost Bookshop - Evie Woods
06. De boom die een wereld was - Yorick Goldewijk
07. Normale mensen - Sally Rooney
08. Schermtijd - Linda van Rijn
09. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett BB by Curioussquared
10. Anna O - Matthew Blake
11. De Camino - Anya Niewierra
12. Het boek der deuren - Gareth Brown
13. Emily Wilde's Maps of the Otherlands - Heather Fawcett
14. Ren, Jack, ren - Ruth Ware
15. Starling House - Alix E. Harrow
16. The book that wouldn't burn - Mark Lawrence
17. De hulp - Freida McFadden
18. De stille Patiënt - Alex Michaelides
19. Gezinsverpakking - De Chabotten
20. In steen gebrand - Rebecca Yarros
21. Een ijzeren vlam - Rebecca Yarros
22. Moeder Doorn en andere verhalen over moed en vriendelijkheid - Juliet Marillier
23. The Book That Broke the World - Mark Lawrence
24. Al het blauw van de hemel - Mélissa Da Costa
25. Terugkeer - Harlan Coben
26. Stille angst - Robert Bryndza
27. Dodelijke wraak - Robert Bryndza
28. Het eiland van Anna - Eva Vriend
29. Het spel - J.D. Barker
30. Ik kom hier nog op terug - Rob van Essen
31. De perfecte zoon - Freida McFadden
32. Waarom we logen - Karen Slaughter
33. Een regenboog in mijn kast - Dolf Verroen
34. Het boekwinkelcomplot - Louise Fein
35. De nomade - Anya Niewierra
36. Leef je nog? - M.J. Arlidge
37. Het teken van de vogel - Deborah Harkness
38. Murder at the Bookstore - Sue Minix
39. De hulp ziet alles - Freida McFadden
40. Als de nacht valt - Marieke Nijkamp
41. Er stromen rivieren in de lucht - Elif Shafak
42. Een onmogelijk leven - Matt Haig
43. De bastaard van Istanbul - Elif Shafak
44. De verborgen belofte - Lucinda Riley
45. Aarde - John Boyne
46. Vuurstrijd - Marcel Groenewegen
47. Schaduwkraai - Marcel Groenewegen
48. Het eeuwige leven - Matt Haig
49. De vierling op de vensterbank - Erik van Os & Elle van Lieshout
50. The End of Dragons - Mark Stay
51. Het blauwe uur - Paula Hawkins
52. De laatste steen M.J Arlidge & Steph Broadribb
53. De dagen die komen - Mélissa Da Costa
54. De zilveren rivier - S.A Chakraborty
55. Someone you can build a nest in - John Wiswell
56. De vloek van Negen - Ben Guterson
57. Schaduwen van de tijd - Santa Montefiore
58. Het pumpkin spice café - Laurie Gilmore
59. De jongen zonder gisteren - Jur Deitmers

Cursief is read.

BFB's in 2024

01. De storm van de echo's - Christelle Dabos - 572 pages
02. Stromend graf - Robert Galbraith - 1117 pages
03. The Book that Wouldn't Burn - Mark Lawrence - 559 pages
04. Het lied van leven en dood - Marcelo Figueras - 607 pages
05. Kwaad bloed - Robert Galbraith - 936 pages
06. In steen gebrand - Rebecca Yarros - 589 pages
07. Een ijzeren vlam - Rebecca Yarros - 797 pages
08. De familie Aubrey - Rebecca West - 605 pages
09. Al het blauw van de hemel - Mélissa Da Costa - 636 pages
10. Het teken van de vogel - Deborah Harkness - 541 pages

BookBullets

01. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries - Heather Fawcett BB by Curioussquared (Bought)
02. Het onsterfelijke leven van Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot BB by LisaMorr

I'm glad you followed me to my second thread for 2024. Welcome.

Now starting in De gestolen erfgenaam by Holly Black - ROOT # 12 - Forumchallenge # 13

The blurb NOT my review

Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.

Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He's on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren's help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind.

Started and finished De boom die een wereld was by Yorick Goldewijk

Original Dutch, translation: The tree who was a world - Forumchallenge # 12 -

My review

Nice story about a tree inhabited by all kinds of animals and insects, with even a small lake at its foot with two pikes.
The residents are all jealous of what the others have and can do and they cannot. But that changes when one of them decides that they are actually all extraordinary and it's time for a celebration.

Happy new thread, Connie! That first picture of you with the girls is adorable. How grown up they are getting!

>18 Jackie_K: And this was taken more then a year ago. Thanks, Jackie.

Love all the pictures! Beautiful!

I think I will steal your BB tracking; I take way more BBs though, lol, and don't get around to reading enough of them. Maybe in retirement!

Hello to you and the girls! Love the photos -- you are all very fashionable :) I love Fiene's Frozen dress, Lonne's rabbit handbag, and Marie's wool hat!

>21 rabbitprincess: Thanks, RP. I think they are pretty awesome too.

Happy new thread, Connie! Love the photos :)

Happy new thread, Connie! I also enjoyed all the pictures of the family.

Thanks, Natalie and Irene.

Happy new thread, Connie! The girls are looking so happy!

Thanks, Birgit. They are always happy and cheerful, except when they are quarreling (Fiene and Marie) about who gets what. Lonne is happy most of the time.

Finished Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier -

The blurb NOT my review

Disillusioned healer Blackthorn and her companion, Grim, have settled in Dalriada to wait out the seven years of Blackthorn's bond to her fey mentor, hoping to avoid any dire challenges. But trouble has a way of seeking out Blackthorn and Grim. Lady Geiléis, a noblewoman from the northern border, has asked for the prince of Dalriada's help in expelling a howling creature from an old tower on her land, one surrounded by an impenetrable hedge of thorns. Casting a blight over the entire district, and impossible to drive out by ordinary means, it threatens both the safety and the sanity of all who live nearby. With no ready solutions to offer, the prince consults Blackthorn and Grim. As Blackthorn and Grim begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together, it's apparent that a powerful adversary is working behind the scenes. Their quest is about to become a life and death struggle--a conflict in which even the closest of friends can find themselves on opposite sides.

My review

Wonderful book by Juliet Marillier. Enjoyed reading this story in the Hawthorn and Grim series. When Hawthorn and Grim go to the court of Prince Oran to assist his wife Flidais with her pregnancy, they meet Geiléis, the lady of Bann, who comes to ask for help in a panic. Her estate is being ravaged by the screams of someone in the tower of her domain. The entire environment must hear the noise every day from sunrise to sunset, affecting everything from agriculture to mental health. Hawthorn travels back with her and tries to investigate what happened in the years before, but it turns out that this has happened several times in the last two centuries. Meanwhile, Grim must deal with his own demons from the past. Well written, exciting and just wonderful to read.

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On with Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier

The blurb NOT my review

Healer Blackthorn knows all too well the rules of her bond to the fey: seek no vengeance, help any who ask, do only good. But after the recent ordeal she and her companion, Grim, have suffered, she knows she cannot let go of her quest to bring justice to the man who ruined her life. Despite her personal struggles, Blackthorn agrees to help the princess of Dalriada in taking care of a troubled young girl who has recently been brought to court, while Grim is sent to the girl's home at Wolf Glen to aid her wealthy father with a strange task--repairing a broken-down house deep in the woods. It doesn't take Grim long to realize that everything in Wolf Glen is not as it seems--the place is full of perilous secrets and deadly lies...
Back at Winterfalls, the evil touch of Blackthorn's sworn enemy reopens old wounds and fuels her long-simmering passion for justice. With danger on two fronts, Blackthorn and Grim are faced with a heartbreaking choice, to stand once again by each other's side or to fight their battles alone.

Hi Connie! I need to try some Juliet Marillier at some point.

Hi Natalie, please do. They are wonderful stories and al intertwined. The series can be read on their own, but some people are sidekicks in other books. The world is situated in a country that is called Erin and all het stories have that Irish feel, complete with Fey and Wee people.
If you like fairytales, you will appreciate them.

Ohhhh I'm late to the new thread and the glorious new photos, absolutely lovely!

>30 connie53: I need to check out Juliet Marillier too!

>31 detailmuse: Thanks, MJ.

>32 LisaMorr: Please do, Lisa.

Finished Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier and the book gets

My review

Last part of the Blackthorn & Grim series and a great ending it is. It's a shame there aren't more books about these two great characters. There are two storylines. One that runs through all three books and tells of Blackthorn and Grim's battle against Lord Mathuin, a power-hungry nobleman who commits the most cruel crimes against his subjects. And another storyline that tells the story of the young girl Cara, her father Tóla and Bardán, a man who spent fifteen years with the Fey and returns to the village of Winterfalls a broken man.
Tóla is a rich man who wants Bardán to make a second attempt at building a heartwood house. That house will guarantee prosperity and happiness. Tóla asks Grim to build the house because Bardán is unable to do so with his broken and deformed hands.
Cara has a talent for communicating with birds and trees, which suggests she has some Fey blood. Blackthorn doubts whether Tóla is Cara's real father and investigates and discovers a big secret. Different people from the villages know parts of the history and Grim and Blackthorn have to put these pieces together.

Finally finished De gestolen erfgenaam by Holly Black - ROOT # 12 - Forumchallenge # 13 -

My review

I am not very impressed with this book, especially after the first 3 parts, which I enjoyed reading much more. The story revolves around Suren and Eik again. It mainly takes place in the Fey world. I thought the Young Adult content was very high. And I found it not very coherent and sometimes impossible to follow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Started in A Dance with Fate by Juliet Marillier

The blurb NOT my review

A young woman who is a bard-and a warrior-seeks to repay her debts and settle scores in this thrilling historical fantasy series. The young warrior and bard Liobhan has lost her brother to the Otherworld. Even more determined to gain a place as an elite fighter, she returns to Swan Island to continue her training. But Liobhan is devastated when her comrade Dau is injured and loses his sight in their final display bout. Blamed by Dau's family for the accident, she agrees to go to Dau's home as a bond servant for the span of one year. But Oakhill, she soon learns, is a place of dark secrets. The vicious Crow Folk still threaten both worlds. And Dau, battling the demon of despair, is not an easy man to help. When Liobhan and Dau start to expose the rot at the center of Oakhill, they place themselves in deadly danger. For their enemy wields great power and will stop at nothing to get his way. It will take all the skills of a Swan Island warrior and a touch of the uncanny to give them a hope of survival. . .

Started a new Tree-book for my RL-Forumchallenge

Ren, Jack, ren by Ruth Ware

The blurb NOT my review

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect...her.
Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer

Finished A Dance with Fate by Juliet Marillier - Foreign Fantasy # 5 -

My review

What a great book this was. I actually read the last 40 pages in tears. Occasionally wiping my eyes because I could no longer read one
syllable. Such a shame that there are no more unread books left for me to read by Juliet Marillier.
I would very much like to have stayed in that world.
Liobhan, Dau and Brocc must do everything they can to survive and solve some misunderstandings and riddles. When Dau accidentally lands on his head during a practice fight with Liobhan, he becomes blind and can no longer stay on Swan Island. Liobhan is accused of causing grievous bodily harm. She is sentenced to serve Dau's family for a year.
They leave for the family estate, but there is Seanan, Dau's eldest brother, who abused him in his youth and blamed him in all kinds of ways for the things that went wrong then. Dau is rebellious and in a lot of pain. Liobhan acts as his nurse and babysitter. Meanwhile, Brocc has his hands full protecting the Fey people of his wife, Queen Eirne, whose realm is ravaged by the attacks of the Crow Folk.
Really well written and exciting down to the last letter.
It's all about loyalty and trust and perseverance.

I found one last book by Juliet Marillier I overlooked. So I will start that one after I finished the books I'm now reading.

>38 connie53: I've enjoyed the few books of hers I've read. I need to get back to her.

Finished Ren, Jack Ren by Ruth Ware - Forumchallenge # 14 -

My review

Ruth Ware's books are usually exciting and good. And this book is no exception.
Jack and Gabe are a married couple and a team. They investigate the security of companies and produce reports on this for the management of the company in question and make recommendations for improvements. Jack is the one who does the outside work and Gabe guides her through her earphones as he digs into the internet side of the business and guides Jack through her work. One evening she is stopped by company security and is interrogated for a while at the police station. When those problems are solved, she goes home relieved, only to find Gabe murdered. Then her nightmare begins, because she is suddenly the main suspect for his murder. She decides to escape from the police station and find out for herself who could have killed Gabe. A few tense days follow where she only has two people who can help her and whom she trusts, her sister Helena and Gabe's best friend, Cole.
To survive, Jack must break in, hack things, stay out of the hands of the police and piece together all the clues she can find along the way.
I thought it was an exciting book, but not very believable. There are a lot of things a woman can handle, but Jack has to be able to handle a lot while also getting hurt. It was a bit much. And the number of repetitions of the same thoughts about Gabe, who can no longer help her. That could have been a little less. Those are two negative points that do not make it a 4 ****.

>38 connie53:
Have you read the Sevenwaters Trilogy by Marillier? I have a couple of those books on my shelves but just have not read them yet.

>41 benitastrnad: Yes I did. Good reads, all of them. But totally different from her latest books. The earlier ones are more dreamlike and based on fairytales. These newer ones are more developed in character building. There is one book I gave 3 stars, the remaining are all 4 stars or more.

Started and finished De Camino by Anya Niewierra - Forumchallenge # 15 -

Original Dutch book

The blurb NOT my review

The 44-year-old chocolatier Lotte Bonnet has lived happily in South Limburg (The Netherland) for years with her husband Emil, a former refugee from Bosnia. But then Emil unexpectedly commits suicide while walking the Camino, leaving Lotte devastated.
When she travels to Bosnia eleven months later to scatter his ashes, Lotte discovers that Emil has lied about his identity. She hires a lawyer from Sarajevo to investigate his past, and he makes a shocking discovery. In the meantime, Lotte will walk the Camino herself, exactly according to Emil's route and planning. She wants to find out what drove him to his act of desperation. But someone is following her, someone who doesn't want her to discover the truth.

My review

I finished this book yesterday and thought for a long time about what I felt about it. I mainly felt uneasy about it. Many people who all took different names, people who did bad things, but turned it around.
The story takes place along the Camino, part of the walking tour to Santiago de Compostella. Lotte walks this route in memory of her husband Emil, who committed suicide on the route exactly one year before she walked it. The reason for this suicide lies in the distant past during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where 3 childhood friends from a small village eventually grow apart and end up on different sides of the conflict. Very disturbing to read what fanaticism does to people. That can make for a moving story, but sometimes I couldn't make sense of it. A bit of a missed opportunity. Ultimately I decided to give 3 stars (a 6).

Starting in 10 minuten 38 seconden in deze vreemde wereld by Elif Shafak

The blurb NOT my review

In the pulsating moments after she has been murdered and left in a dumpster outside Istanbul, Tequila Leila enters a state of heightened awareness. Her heart has stopped beating but her brain is still active-for 10 minutes 38 seconds. While the Turkish sun rises and her friends sleep soundly nearby, she remembers her life-and the lives of others, outcasts like her.
Tequila Leila's memories bring us back to her childhood in the provinces, a highly oppressive milieu with religion and traditions, shaped by a polygamous family with two mothers and an increasingly authoritarian father. Escaping to Istanbul, Leila makes her way into the sordid industry of sex trafficking, finding a home in the city's historic Street of Brothels. This is a dark, violent world, but Leila is tough and open to beauty, light, and the essential bonds of friendship.
In Tequila Leila's death, the secrets and wonders of modern Istanbul come to life, painted vividly by the captivating tales of how Leila came to know and be loved by her friends. As her epic journey to the afterlife comes to an end, it is her chosen family who brings her story to a buoyant and breathtaking conclusion.

>44 connie53: I remember reading Severance, a collection of dozens of flash fictions that imagine the last thoughts of various real people and fictional characters, based on the premise that consciousness remains for 90 seconds after decapitation. It was interesting!

>44 connie53: I love Shafak's books. I haven't read this one yet. I'm looking forward to your opinion.

>1 connie53: You have beautiful granddaughters! Sorry to hear about your husband. I hope he is doing well and you are adjusting to living alone. You have read some interesting books, that I might possibly add to my TBR mountains. That is one of the reasons I try not to look at all the threads, I always find another book I am interested in trying.

Thanks for visiting my thread, MJ, Barbara and Monica.

10 minuten 38 seconden in deze vreemde wereld by Elif Shafak

It was a impressive book to read, ROOT # 13 -

My review

One thing is certain, Elif Shafak can write very well. This is a story full of hope and friendship and loyalty through thick and thin. It mainly takes place in Turkey, in Istanbul in the prostitution circuit. Leila was born the daughter of a wealthy man, but she is the child of his concubine. His main wife, Suzan, cannot have children and so Leila's mother has been purchased (literally) to produce the children in the family. Leila is seen by the outside world as Suzan's daughter. For Binnaz, her biological mother, that is the final straw that makes her break down and Binnaz becomes seriously confused.
I'm not going to tell too much about the further story and how Leila ends up in prostitution. But over the years she has become good friends with five people. There is Sinan, her childhood friend, Jamilla, a young African woman, Nalan, a transgender man who now goes through life as a woman, Zaynab122, the woman of Indian descent who is only 1.22 meters tall. And Humeyra, the singer of a band.
The book starts when Leila is found murdered in a container. However, after her death, Leila can still think for 10 minutes and 38 seconds. And during that time she tells the stories about how she found the five friends.
The story is very impressive and really well written.

I heard the Dutch singer representing The Netherlands in Eurovision was kicked out. So do you know why?

I heard he had a confrontation with a female photographer who did not want to stop making pictures even when he asked her five times over. He then pushed the camera from her hands and the organisation from the Song-contest reported it to the police as an 'incident'. The Swedish police is then obliged to investigate. So he was removed from the contest and is now back in the Netherlands. I bit blown up, I think.

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Finished De veertig regels van liefde by Elif Shafak - ROOT # 14 -

My review

Of all the books I have read by Elif Shafak, this one is the least. There are parts of it that are quite nice and everything is beautifully written. I do think that the story of Ela and Aziz could have received a little more attention and the part that takes place in the thirteenth century, about Rumi and Shams, contained a bit too much philosophy for me. I'm more down-to-earth to do something with that. The rules are all covered, all 40 of them, but I only remembered one and that is living more in the present. I've been trying to do that for some time now, but I still find it quite difficult. The writing style makes up for a lot

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Schip der zielen by Kate Mosse - ROOT # 15 - Forumchallenge # 16

The blurb NOT my review

The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is known only as the Ghost Ship. For months, its captain - Louise Reydon-Joubert - and her courageous crew has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved during the course of their merciless raids. But now the Ghost Ship is under attack - its hull splintered, its sails tattered and burnt, and the crew at risk of capture. But the bravest among them are not who they seem. Louise is fleeing a miscarriage of justice; her lover, Gilles Barenton, is at risk of being exposed - she is forced to masquerade as her brother. The stakes could not be higher: if arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?

Thank you for visiting my thread, Ann. And I absolutely recommend The Lost bookshop. I thought it was very good.

Finished Schip der zielen by Kate Mosse - ROOT # 15 - Forumchallenge # 16 -

My review

Excellent third part in the series about Minou Joubert, with a possibility for a fourth part. This novel tells the story of Louise Reydon-Joubert, the granddaughter of Minou and her grandfather Piet Reydon. Louise is a woman with a strong love for the sea, but at that time (1621) women are not supposed to be captains of their own ships. When Louise meets the younger Gilles Barenton, she is very charmed by him. He is a reliable secretary and knows how to arrange many things discreetly, but Gilles has a secret. If a murder is committed later, Louise and Gilles have to leave Amsterdam in a hurry in order to keep Gilles' secret a secret.

Her aunt Cornelia van Raay owns a number of ships and Louise boards the ship De Oude Maen. They sail to La Rochelle (France). Ultimately, an encounter with a ship full of dead floating along their route makes Louise decide to fight piracy. Exciting and of course well written.

Now deciding on the next tree-book to read.

De koningsvrede by Jo Walton - ROOT # 16 - Forumchallenge # 17

The blurb NOT my review

Sulien ap Gwien was seventeen when the Jarnish raiders came. Had she been armed when they found her, she could have taken them all. As it was, it took six of them to subdue her. She will never forgive them. Thus begins her story--a story that takes her back to her family, with its ancient ties to the Vincan empire that once ruled in Tir Tanagiri, and forward to Caer Tanaga, where the greatest man of his time, King Urdo, struggles to bind together the squabbling nobles and petty princes into a unified force that will drive out the barbarian invader and restore the King's Peace. Ringing with the clash of arms and the songs of its people, rich with high magic and everyday life, The King's Peace begins an epic of great deeds and down-to-earth people, told in language with the strength and flexibility of sharpened steel.

>55 connie53: Finished this book and I give it

My review

What can I say about this book. For a long time I thought it was too much of everything. Too many battles and too many characters (I would have liked a list). If there was no fighting then they were headed for a fight. I've often thought about giving up, but I read it for my RL Forum-Challenge, so I will keep plodding on. And then after 3 quarters of the book it became entertaining to read. And now I'm really unsure whether I should even read part 2 to find out how it ends.

De naam van de koning by Jo Walton

Started in this book yesterday, because the last part of the first book was really intriguing and I decided to keep reading now that I had the story and people participating clear in my head.

The blurb NOT my review

Years have passed since the Jarnish invasion, and Sulien ap Gwien has worked tirelessly alongside her lord, King Urdo, to restore the King's Peace to Tir Tanagiri. But the man Sulien believes to be the greatest of his time is seen by others as a potential tyrant. Urdo's vision of a nation of citizens bound by a single code of law is viewed with increasing mistrust, and this soon gives way to civil war.Sulien must take up arms again. But where once her enemies were barbarian invaders, now they are former comrades and loved ones. As the conflict tears her country and her family apart, Sulien must fight harder and harder to hold onto Urdo's vision of the future.

Hi Connie, I hope you are doing well. I only have 24 working days left. I'm so looking forward to retirement.

Hello Connie! What beautiful pictures of your grandchildren. I don't recognize (well, can't translate) most of your reading list, but I was planning soon to read The Ten Thousand Things by Maria Dermoût (a ROOT book) and wonder if you have read it and can tell me anything about it.

You're doing a fantastic job this year. I'm jealous!

>58 VioletCrown: Hi Violet, thank you for visiting my thread. If you hold your cursor on the title, that link will give you the English title for most of them.

And I did not read The Ten Thousand Things so I can't help you there.

>57 Ameise1: I'm doing fine Barbara. I hope you are going to love your retirement. It's a good time of the year to start. Summer feels much lighter then Autumn or Winter.

>59 handshakes: Thanks, HS. Lovely to see you here.

>56 connie53: Book finished and I give it

My review

This second part had a little more depth in the characters, but still many battles and many characters. And a lot of scheming between the various countries. Allies are constantly changed, so that no one can ever rely with certainty on a clan that had previously been a friend and has now joined the enemy. I'm glad I read it. I didn't think the Arthur level was really high.

Hi Connie! I lost track of you and am just catching up now. Your granddaughters are beautiful.

I read Marillier's Daughter of the Forest a few years ago and I must confess that, though it was a strong book, I thought that the protagonist was a bit spoiled and though the hero was a good king, he gave up his people to a lesser king just for her which I found disappointing so it will be a while before I look for another of hers again.

>62 humouress: The books that I've been reading lately are stronger than The daughter of the Forest you are referring to.

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Finished Briefje voor Pelle by Marlies Slegers and the book gets

My review

Pelle's father died of cancer and Pelle and his mother are very sad about it. A year after his father's cremation, his mother gives him a shoebox with 16 notes that his father wrote to him before his death. There are assignments on it that Pelle has to do and they all are actually a way to get out of the grief, and that also works for his mother, because she has to do somethings too. Pelle gets help from Bloem, his neighbor girl and Eva, a friend since primary school. And from his mother. Both Pelle and his mother slowly crawl out of their lethargic mood. The world is suddenly no longer just sadness, but also a place where you may laugh and love again.

Now reading Terugkeer by Harlan Coben

The blurb NOT my review

Three years ago, sports agent Myron Bolitar gave a eulogy at the funeral of his client, renowned basketball coach Greg Downing. Myron and Greg had history: initially as deeply personal rivals, and later as unexpected business associates. Myron made peace and moved on - until now, when two federal agents walked into his office, demanding to know where Greg Downing is. According to the agents, Greg is still alive, and Myron has been placed at the scene of a double homicide, making him their main suspect. Shocked. Myron needs answers. Myron and Win, longtime friends and colleagues, set out to find the truth, but the more they discover about Greg, the more dangerous their world becomes.

>64 connie53: Finished this book today and I give it

I could have finished it sooner, but my last days were full of Real Live things that needed my attention.

My review

Whenever I see a new book by Harlan Coben, I always have to have it and read it as soon as possible. I'm a huge fan and have every book by him that's translated on my shelves.

This book was and is no exception.
The story is well put together, so well that I really couldn't figure out who could have done it.

Three years ago, Myron stood at the grave of Greg Downing, whom he had represented as a sports agent. He knew Greg during both of their basketball careers, where they often played against each other at a high level, but later they became business partners and was very shocked by is death.
And now two FBI agents knock on Myron's door and demand that Myron tells them where Greg is. According to the FBI, Greg is still alive and has left DNA traces at a crime scene. Myron is stunned and together with Win, his old friend and colleague with whom he has already solved many cases, he searches for the truth. They make a number of shocking discoveries, including that there are even more cases of which the alleged perpetrator claims to be innocent. The more they find out, the more dangerous it will become for Win, but especially for Myron.

Now reading Normale mensen by Sally Rooney - ROOT # 19

The blurb NOT my review

At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He's popular and well-adjusted, star of the school football team, while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her job at Marianne's house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers--one they are determined to conceal. A year later, they're both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other

Finished 2 ROOTs today

>66 connie53: I did finish this one and give it

Normale mensen by Sally Rooney - ROOT # 19 -

My review

This book is praised on many levels, but I had a little trouble with it.
Marianne Sheridan is the daughter of a wealthy family with dark secrets. Connell Waldron is the son of the unmarried Lorraine. She works in the Sheridans' house and is always picked up by her son and that is how Marianne and Connell get to know each other. They understand each other despite the fact that they both sometimes have difficulty expressing their thoughts in words and despite their very different backgrounds. They also have an affair on and of throug their lives. When they both go to study in Dublin, they still meet regularly, but they meet different people, have different loves and yet they always end up together. It's a nice book, but I don't think it's for the Longlist for the Booker prize.

And



Wolfsong by T.J. Klune - ROOT # 20 -

My review

I was very surprised by this book. T.J. Klune is usually good, but a book about werewolves that I enjoyed so much, I didn't think that would happen to me.
Oxnard (Ox) Matheson lives with his mother on a lane outside the village of Green Creek. At the end of that avenue is a large vacant house. One day people move in, a couple and their 3 sons. An uncle also lives with them. One day when Ox is walking on the lane, a boy comes running towards him and starts talking to him excitedly. It's Joe Bennett, the youngest of the brothers. He takes Ox to his house and his family is stunned because Joe hasn't talked since he was kidnapped and eventually returned home broken. Ox and his mother are accepted into the Bennett family. But then it turns out that the Bennetts are werewolves, who try to stay out of the hands of a number of ruthless other werewolves. Very well written and exciting.

Now reading De groeten van de krijtjes by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, ROOT # 21 - Forumchallenge #18

The blurb NOT my review

I'm not sure what it is about this kid Duncan, but his crayons sure are a colorful bunch of characters! Having soothed the hurt feelings of one group who threatened to quit, Duncan now faces a whole new group of crayons asking to be rescued. From Maroon Crayon, who was lost beneath the sofa cushions and then broken in two after Dad sat on him; to poor Turquoise, whose head is now stuck to one of Duncan's stinky socks after they both ended up in the dryer together; to Pea Green, who knows darn well that no kid likes peas and who ran away -- each and every crayon has a woeful tale to tell and a plea to be brought home to the crayon box.

Finished the book in >68 connie53: and the book gets

My review

Funny book for children. Some of Duncan's crayons are missing. There is one forgotten in the basement, two of them have been lying in the sun and have now melted together. But Duncan has a solution. My grandkids thought this was a great book.

Duncan is called Teun in the Dutch version.

Starting in A song of Flight by Juliet Marillier

The blurb NOT my review

A young warrior who wields both the power of her music and the strength of her sword faces a grave threat in this enthralling historical fantasy. Bard and fighter Liobhan is always ready for a challenge. So when news arrives at Swan Island that the prince of Dalriada has gone missing after an assault by both masked men and the sinister Crow Folk, she's eager to act. While Liobhan and her fellow Swan Island warriors seek answers to the prince's disappearance, the bard Brocc, Liobhan's brother, finds himself in dire trouble. His attempts to communicate with the Crow Folk have led him down a perilous path. When Liobhan and her comrades are sent to the rescue, it becomes clear the two missions are connected-and a great mystery unfolds. What brought the Crow Folk to Erin? And who seeks to use them in an unscrupulous bid for power? As Liobhan and Brocc investigate, it will take all their strength and will to continue pursuing the truth. With the safety of their loved ones in the balance, the risks they must take may cost them everything

This one will be my e-read book.

You've read quite a few books since I last dropped in, congrats!

>71 MissWatson: Thanks Birgit.

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As a paper-book I started in De avonturen van Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

The blurb NOT my review

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean's most notorious pirates, she's survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural. But when she's tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she's offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade's kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family's future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God's will. Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there's more to this job, and the girl's disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there's always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power ... and the price might be your very soul.

Looks like you are getting some good reading in, Connie! >72 connie53: This one is on my list, too.

>73 curioussquared: I like it so far, but I'm still not that far in the book. I don't get the Daêvabad vibe yet. Which was awesome.

Hi Connie, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have just seen this thread in the 75ers group and thought you would like to know.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/361457

Thanks, Jackie. Such sad news.

>75 Jackie_K: Oh, that is such sad news.

Yesterday I came back home from a long weekend with Fiene and Marie in Maastricht. The weather is very warm now and I'm enjoying every minute reading in the garden.

I finished 2 books in the weekend and on the train to and from Maastricht.

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A Song of Flight by Juliet Marillier - ROOT # 22 -

My review

Great closing part of this series, with plenty of possibilities for a following series. And when that happens I will read them all in a hurry.
All problems from the earlier books are solved and it made me completely happy. I can't say more without spoilers, so I won't. But I can absolutely recommend these books to anyone who likes these types of stories, a touch of magic, but above all a story about trust and unconditional friendship and loyalty to the people in your group. And about the value of music.



De perfecte zoon by Freida McFadden -

The blurb NOT my review

Erika Cass has a perfect family and a perfect life. Until the evening when two detectives show up at her front door. A high school girl has vanished from Erika's quiet suburban neighborhood. The police suspect the worst-murder. And Erika's teenage son, Liam, was the last person to see the girl alive. Erika has always sensed something dark and disturbed in her seemingly perfect older child. She wants to believe he's innocent, but as the evidence mounts, she can't deny the truth-Liam may have done the unthinkable. Now she must ask herself: How far will she go to protect her son?

My review

This book had everything to be an exciting book, but it just wasn't for me. It reads like clockwork, but it is so predictable that it never becomes exciting.
Shame.

Started in Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd by Celeste Ng

The blurb NOT my review

The story about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue-in Marilyn's case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James's case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party. When Lydia's body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart.

Finished Wat ik nooit eerder heb gezegd by Celeste Ng - ROOT # 23 - Forumchallenge # 19 -

My review

Although this book starts with Lydia's disappearance, that is not the subject of this book. The book is set in 1977, so the norms and values ​​were very different than they are now.
It is more about how Lydia's parents project their own frustrations about missed opportunities onto their three children, Nath, Lydia and Hannah.
Their father is James Lee, a second generation Chinese man, professor of English language and literature and Marylin. Marylin was his student and when they started an affair, Marylin was still determined to become a doctor. But when they get married because Marylin is pregnant, the plans have to change drastically. Marylin tries to steer her daughter Lydia in the direction of medicine. And she does so quite forcefully. With all the consequences.

Forgot to mention another ROOT



Never trust a dead man by Vivian Vande Velde - ROOT # 24 - Forumchallenge # 20 -

The blurb

Selwyn is brokenhearted when the beautiful Anora chooses to marry the awful-but-rich Farold. It’s bad enough when Farold beats him up in front of the villagers, but nothing prepares him for when Farold is found murdered. All accusing fingers point to Selwyn, who is promptly sealed in a burial cave with Farold’s corpse. But they’re not alone in the cave. A witch appears with an offer of escape if Selwyn will be her servant. The witch brings Farold back from the dead in the form of a bat–too bad he doesn’t know who really killed him! There’s no choice left for Selwyn except to join forces with his worst enemy, a dead man, to find the real murderer.

My Review

What a nice story this was. Completely unexpected by the way. Selwyn is a boy who lives in a very small village somewhere in a medieval country. He is in love with Anora, but she chooses Farold, the cousin of Derian, the miller of the village. He will inherit the mill and thus become a rich man.
One day all the men of the village come to the farm of Selwyn and his parents. Farold is murdered and Selwyn is blamed for it.
He is taken with Farold's corpse to the caves where every dead person in the village has ended up, luckily he is saved by the witch Elswyth, who takes him and Farold back outside. Elswyth brought Farold back to life, like a bat. Farold also wants to know who killed him. Elswyth gives Selwyn a different appearance (He becomes the girl Kendra) and together they investigate.



Started on 2024-06-26 and finished today.

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde - ROOT # 25 - Forumchallenge # 21 -

The blurb

While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself. In the virtual reality game Heir Apparent, there are way too many ways to get killed -- and Giannine seems to be finding them all. Unless she can get the magic ring, find the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf's dumb riddles, impress the head-chopping statue, charm the army of ghosts, fend off the barbarians, and defeat the man eating dragon, she'll never win. And if she doesn't win, she will die -- for real this time.

My review

I have been very surprised by books by Vivian Vande Velde I have read so far, and this book is no exception.
Giannine receives a voucher from a Game Center for her birthday. She chooses a game and goes there to play the game as Janine. There she is the heir to the throne, much to the chagrin of her 3 half-brothers and their mother. She must do everything she can to survive until the day of her coronation. That brings her all kinds of difficulties and riddles that she has to solve. If something goes wrong, the game starts again. But she only has so many lives. But then something goes wrong with the computers at the Game Center, due too some demonstration and it becomes questionable whether she will survive.
Written with a lot of humor and read with great pleasure

Finished De stem van het meer by Santa Montefiore - Forumchallenge # 22 -

The blurb

Eliza Fairfield is not like her three older sisters, who dream of marrying one of the handsome, wealthy Deverill brothers and running the house at the stately castle. Eliza prefers to dream away in her own fairytale world. But then she becomes entangled in an impossible love triangle, in which the Deverills also play a role.

1925. Lady Gabriella Tremaine is banished from London to Cavan Court after committing a faux pas until the scandal blows over. On the estate, where she stays with her three great-aunts, Gabriella is strongly aware of the presence of ghosts. Will she and Adeline Deverill be able to discover who haunts the old house? And why is she so attracted to Charlton, the handyman?

My review

Santa Montefiore always guarantees pleasantly readable books with a romantic touch. This book is no exception. It is the story of Eliza Fairfield, daughter of a wealthy family. She is the youngest and the most headstrong of the 5 children. She does things her own way and her three sisters and parents don't like that. She is loud and often has tantrums. She does get support from her brother Joseph, the eldest. Mother is fanatical about marrying off her daughters to a good match, preferably one of the Deverills. Mother doesn't really make any effort for Eliza, she is still too young and mother thinks that Eliza will never find a man who will marry her because of her hot temper.

In the second timeline we see Gabriella appear at the Fairfields. Eliza's three sisters are Gabriella's great-aunts and she was sent to them by her parents because of an affair with a married man in London. Her parents hope that about three months in the Irish countryside will bring an end to the affair. Gabriella hates it at first, but soon she becomes captivated by an apparition that wanders around the mansion. She turns out to have a paranormal gift and Gabriella investigates, helped by Charlton, the Fairfields' caretaker.

Nicely written, but I feel like there is a lot of repetition in the text. That makes it a 7 instead of an 8.

Finished two books today, started in the last week



A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde - ROOT # 26 - Forumchallenge # 23 -

The blurb

A girl and her cat disappear back in time to retrieve a lost watch. Deanna's summer is lousy: her parents are divorcing, she's stuck in France, and her only companion is a mangy black cat. Things couldn't get worse- or so she thinks...But things do get worse- much worse- when Deanna accidentally drops her wristwatch into a well that turns out to be a magical gateway in time. The watch finds its way into medieval France, where it will change history once it is found- unless Deanna finds it first. Her only help is the cat, Oliver, who is magically transformed into a lanky young man- a young man so dark and mysterious that Deanna soon finds herself falling in love with him.

My review

Deanna is on holiday with her mother in France with her mother's family in the countryside. Deanna hardly speaks French and is alone almost all day with the cat Olivier as her only companion. One day she accidentally drops her Micky Mouse-watch into the well. When she makes a last grab for it, a hand pulls her into the well and Olivier jumps after her. She wakes up in the France of 700 years before and is met by two Sidhe elves who are angry with her because the watch will be the beginning of a change into a world into which she will not have been born. She has 24 hours to find the watch before history begins to change. And help from Olivier who has turned into a handsome young man. A young man with the mind of a cat, which makes his actions quite cat-like.
They are welcomed by the de Belesse family, Lord Henri, Lord Algernon and Lady Marquerite and Henri's sons, Leonard and Baylen. And the quest for the watch can begin.

And



Een regenboog in mijn kast - Dolf Verroen - Forumchallenge # 24 - Original Dutch -

The Blurb

Jasper knows he likes boys, his parents know it too. No one else yet. His grandmother already understood it on her own. She gives him a rainbow belt; when he wears it, he needs no words. Jasper puts the belt in the back of his wardrobe. But then the first day of school arrives after a long, hot summer. Does Jasper dare to wear the rainbow?

My Review

Simply written book, which I think the target group (12 to 14 years) will find it a bit too simple to read.
Jasper knows that he is gay, but keeps it a secret from his fellow students and his friends Jaap and Simon. His parents know it, his grandmother too, she saw it early on. She gives him a rainbow belt to wear if he dares to come out, so he doesn't have to say anything. Everything goes wrong during the summer holidays. He is bored, because they don't go on holiday and Simon and Jaap don't always have time. When he can finally go back to school, he puts on the belt and no one seems to think it's a problem.
Not much actually happens.

Starting in Het boekwinkelcomplot by Louise Fein

The Blurb

It's 1962, and the world is teetering on the brink of nuclear war. But daily life must go on. South London girl Celia Duchesne longs for a career but with no means, connections, or qualifications, she spends her days at the till of a dusty antiquarian bookshop on the Strand, unable to see a way out. The day a handsome American walks into the shop, she thinks she might have found it. Just as the excitement of a budding relationship engulfs her, she learns a devastating secret that draws her into the murky world of espionage. Twenty years prior, nineteen-year-old Anya Moreau was dropped behind enemy lines to aid the resistance in occupied France, sending messages back to London via wireless transmitter. When she was cruelly betrayed and handed over to the Nazis, evidence of her legacy and the truth of her actions were buried by wartime injustices. As Celia learns more about Anya-and her unexpected connection to the undercover agent-she becomes increasingly aware of furious efforts, both past and present, to protect state secrets, at all costs. With her newly formed romance taking a surprising turn and the world's superpowers on the verge of nuclear annihilation, Celia must risk everything she holds close to her heart, in the name of justice.

>84 connie53: This book is finished and gets

My review

This story has so many different layers and storylines that it is difficult to write a review.

Celia Duchesne works in an antique store that was recently sold to Vera Denton. While Celia keeps the shop running, Vera receives several visitors in her apartment above the shop. One of the visitors is the attractive Septimus Nelson. He is very charmed by Celia.
When Daphne, Celia's best friend, finds a file at work while archiving that mentions the names of Celia's parents, the friends start investigating. They also come across a story about Jeannie, who, as Anya, was in the resistance and was executed by the Germans. Celia confronts her mother with this story, but it turns out to be different than she thought.
Meanwhile, Celia and Septimus become good friends.
Celia, who is smart enough to piece together all kinds of facts, eventually discovers the truth. Not only about her parents, but also about Septimus and Vera Denton and about espionage activities. Many characters are not who they appear to be
The story is well written and enjoyable to read.

Now reading Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene

The blurb NOT my review

Happily Ever After" wasn't supposed to come with a do-over option. But when my husband of twenty years packs up and heads for greener pastures and my son leaves for college, that's exactly what my life becomes. Do-over. This time, though, I plan to do things differently. Age is just a number, after all, and at forty I'm ready to carve my own path. Eager for a fresh start, I make a somewhat unorthodox decision and move to a tiny town in the Sierra foothills. I'll be taking care of a centuries old house that called to me when I was a kid. It's just temporary, I tell myself. It'll just be for a while. That is, until I learn what the house really is, something I never could've imagined. Thankfully forty isn't too old to start an adventure, because that's exactly what I do. I could've had no idea how dangerous my life would suddenly become. I have a chance to start again, and this time, I make the rules.

Finished Magical Midlife Madness and the book gets

My review

Entertaining and enjoyable book. The first part in a large series. Jessie recently divorced and decided to start over somewhere else. She does this in a small village where she once visited as a child with the family of her best friend Diane and where she felt comfortable. She takes the job as manager of an old house. In the village she meets Niamh, Edgar, Earl (Mr. Tom) and the handsome Austin Steele, the uncrowned mayor of the village. But then strange things happen. The house has unexpected hallways and rooms and her new friends also have strange characteristics. Nice first part.

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Now reading The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

The blurb NOT my review

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant Caz--a magically sentient spider plant--have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire's most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city's elite. Then a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames. She and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she'd see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy--and very handsome--neighbor who can't take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she's fed and help fix up her new home. In need of income and reluctantly inspired by the beauty and people of the island who have welcomed her into their hearts, Kiela discovers something that even the bakery in town doesn't have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries that become the town's, and her handsome neighbor's, new favorite confection. But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela decides to open the island's first-ever and much-needed secret spellshop. Her plan comes with risks--the empire condemns the use of unsanctioned magic, and the consequence of sharing spells with commoners is death. But Kiela has only just found a place that feels like home and people who feel like family, and she'll risk anything for a chance at happiness.

Just waving abd wishing you a fabulous summer. 😃

Thanks, Barbara! Same to you.

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Finished The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst and the book gets

My review

This really is a 'cozy story book' with the strangest creatures walking around in it.
Kiela Orobidan works in the capital in a section of the library where the spellbooks are kept. She works together with Cas, a spider plant. But Cas is intelligent and can talk and they are good friends. When a rebellion breaks out in the city, as a precaution they decide to pack up the most important magic books and hide them in the library boat. Then a fire breaks out and they indeed have to flee the city. Kiela decides to sail back to the island where she was born. They move into the house where she used to live with her parents. But they also have to survive, so Kiela has to do something to earn money. She soon meets Larran, a young man who manages a herd of sea horses on the beach. Larran tries to help her, but Kiela has some difficulty with that, because she is used to living and working with Cas in her little section of the library, without ever seeing or speaking to other people. But slowly Kiela starts to find her place in the village. With her magic spells she makes fruit-shrubs blossom and she makes jam from it. The islanders, in the mean time, have been abandoned to their fate by the emperor. The government no longer makes weather spells and the island slowly begins to turn into a poor village where the fishermen no longer catch anything, the people no longer have anything to sell to other islands and they can no longer provide for themselves.
We are introduced to, among others, a talking cactus (Meep), a Centaur (Eadie), a woman with four arms (Ulina) and Bryn, the female baker.
Wonderful book, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I hope to find more books by this author soon.

Looks like you're having lots of time for reading, Connie. Is it raining very much? Here we are living from one shower to the next, and I am longing for some sun.

Hmm ... some interesting books/ authors. I'm off to my Overdrive libraries to see if I can find some of them ...

ETA: I've borrowed Dragon's Bait and Race the Sands.

>90 MissWatson:. Well the sun is here in large amounts. But is has been very wet.
I'm waiting for my friend Vera to arrive for a long weekend of talks.

>91 humouress:. Nice, I hope you like them

Finished Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett and the book gets

The Blurb NOT my review

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore.
But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people. So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, muddle Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all...her own heart.

My Review

After I'd hereard mixed opinions about this book, I started it a bit skeptical because it was also a book that was club-read on my real life forum. In the beginning it does take some getting used to, but after about a third I really started to like it and I went for it. I thought Emily's story started out quite academic, but when she had overcome her awkwardness with other people it just became exciting, especially when she was trapped in the Faerie world and was destined to marry the king. Wendell Bambleby is her friend and follows her (or is one step ahead of her) on all her adventures.

The village where she ends up for her research is Hrafnsvik, Ljosland and it is a cute little village with a variety of colorful inhabitants.

I thought it was a nice book and will continue in part 2.

Now reading Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

The blurb NOT my review

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it's too late, in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world's first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She's learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He's an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily's feelings for Bambleby, she's not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.
She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby's realm and the key to freeing him from his family's dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.

I hope you have a lovely weekend with Vera, Connie! If you want a bit less sun then we'll happily take a bit from you here in Scotland! The summer has been very disappointing this year!

I know Jackie. It was a real nice long weekend with varied weather, from rainstorms to 30C+. But we had a nice time. Lots of talking, reading and jigsawing.

Finished Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett and the book gets

My review

Emily, together with her cousin Ariadne, tries to find the door to the kingdom of which Wendell is the rightful king. She also gets help from Poe, the little faerie. And there is a rush because Wendell is sick from some kind of poisoning. In the meantime, she also wants to make a map of the kingdoms and their place in the whole. There are quite a few terrifying creatures in this book. The paths she has to walk are unpredictable and after many detours she can eventually poison Wendell's mother with the same poison that makes Wendell sick. There will be a third part, which I am looking forward to, because these are pleasantly readable books.

Yesterday I started in Leef je nog? by M.J. Arlidge

The blurb NOT my review

A city on the brink. A mother on the edge. A nightmare that only DI Helen Grace can end. Sometimes, the darkest secrets hide in plain sight...

A gang war grips the city, and the police force is under fire from all sides. But Detective Inspector Helen Grace defies direct orders as she becomes drawn to the case of a missing teenager.

Naomi's mother is desperate for help - and Helen is her only hope. Keeping the investigation secret, she finds a disturbing trail of questions - and more who have vanished off the streets...

Sometimes, the truth hides in plain sight. But proving it is another matter entirely. The clock is ticking - and the only person looking for Naomi is about to meet her match.

And



Magical Midlife Dating - K.F. Breene

The Blurb NOT my review

The decision has been made. Jessie has taken the magic, and all the weird that goes with it. Including wings. There's only one problem - she can't figure out how to access them. Through a series of terrible decisions, Jessie realizes she must ask for help. Gargoyle help. But she could've never predicted who answers her call - he's an excellent flier, incredibly patient, and a good trainer. He's also incredibly handsome. And interested. Maybe flying isn't the only thing she needs help with. Maybe she needs help getting back on that saddle, too, emerging into the dating pool. Except, the new gargoyle is also an alpha, just like Austin, and the town isn't big enough for two.Turns out, flying is the least of her problems.

Magical Midlife Dating by K.F. Breene is finished and the book gets

My review

Cozy, slightly erotic part about Jessie Evans, a forty-year-old woman who has become the owner of Ivy House and now has all the magic that goes with it.
In this second part, Jessie decides to look for a date, but that does not go as smoothly as she had thought. She has summoned a large number of gargoyles, of which Damarion and Ulric are a few. Damarion is clearly also an Alpha and that does not go well with Austin, the uncrowned mayor of the village that Ivy House belongs to.
These are fun books to read as snacks in between.

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On with Magical Midlife Invasion by K.F. Breene

The blurb NOT my review

Jessie's new life adjustment is well underway. The tough alpha, Austin, has joined her team, and she has painstakingly learned to fly. Life is going a-okay. That is, until her parents decide to visit... They don't know anything about magic, about Jessie's new digs, or about the crazy crew living in and around Jessie's house. She must do everything in her power to keep the truth away from them. Which would be much easier without the unfelt presence lurking within Ivy House's borders. It seems an enemy has figured out a way to magically bypass Ivy House's defenses. Jessi is completely exposed. The real battle, however, won't be with the incoming force. It will be between Mr. Tom and Jessie's mom, each intent on being the most helpful. Mr. Tom might have met his match, and his is not pleased. Just when things were finally settling down, Jessie is in the thick of it again, and this time, the turmoil is all around her.

Finished >99 connie53: and the book gets

My review

This series is still fun to read, but it could be a little less erotic. I now know that the tension between Jessie and Austin is palpable. It doesn't have to be said in such detail every time they meet. The story around it is entertaining and I want to know how it ends with everyone in the series.
In this part, Jessie's parents come to visit and she has to make an effort to hide the magic from them. And Ivy House is surrounded by a mob that wants to plunder the house.

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Now reading Magical Midlife Love by K.F. Breene

The blurb NOT my review

The Ivy House team is shaping up, but there are still holes to be filled, and a magical summons outstanding. Jessie needs a teacher. Someone who can fit in with the whacky Ivy House crew. And that was going just fine... until she gets a request to host a powerful, neighboring mage. A teacher isn't going to be enough. She needs more power in her crew. She needs some might. This time, Austin Steele might not be able to dominate what she calls in, creatures no shifter has ever dominated before. But that isn't all Austin has to worry about. After a skirmish in the bar, suddenly his whole world is turned upside down. He can no longer ignore the feelings that have been growing for Jess. He also can't ignore the town's complete lack of readiness for the neighboring mage's visit. He must call in his brother to help lock down the town. And when his brother arrives, he must finally hash out the past that has split them apart so that he can claim his future.

I finally finished De avonturen van Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty an this book gets

My review

I started this book because I really liked the Daevabad series, but I am a bit disappointed with this first part of a new series. I could put it down for days in a row too easily. That is not really a good sign for me.
Amina picks up her old job as a pirate captain again and gathers her old crew. An older lady has approached her with the request to take her granddaughter Dunya away from the infamous Falco Palamenestra, nicknamed the Frank. In doing so, she threatens the lives of Amina's mother and daughter. That is the beginning of an adventurous journey across seas and through enchanted islands.

>100 connie53: Finished this book and it gets

My review

Part four, and now it's starting to get a bit boring. Way too much sex, I skipped those pages. Not that I can't handle that, but this was just TOO much. Jessie and Austin have finally decided to give in to their feelings. At the beginning of the book, Jimmy, Jessie's son, comes to visit. He is very enthusiastic about the magic that his mother has now embraced. Of course there are the necessary problems with Elliot Graves and Domino Kinsella, both other magicians. The story would have been so much better if it had been worked out better. Because it certainly has that potential. Too bad.

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Started in Het lied van leven en dood by Marcello Figueras

Original Spanish

The blurb NOT my review

Argentina, 1984: the junta's rule is over, but the consequences are still painfully palpable. Also for the beautiful, unapproachable Pat, who is hiding with her daughter Miranda in the forests of Patagonia. They are on the run from Miranda's father, a high-ranking military officer, who wants his daughter with him. Their difficult situation improves when Teo, a man of gigantic proportions, crosses their path. A love story develops between Pat and Teo, while they increasingly courageously mingle with village life with its amiable, wonderful inhabitants. When the three have to flee again and Pat threatens to succumb to her responsibility, the girl Miranda shows her true strength.

>102 connie53: This book is finished and gets

My review

I am a bit speechless after reading this book. It seems like a normal novel but secretly it also has a bit of magic. It starts with the story of Teo, a man who is tall (2.23 meters or so). Everywhere he goes people react with fear of him or do everything they can to not get in his way. When he meets Pat and she treats him normally, it is a relief and he becomes friends with her and her daughter Miranda. And a kind of relationship even develops between Teo and Pat. They live in a small village in a sparsely populated area of ​​Argentina. The dictatorship has just ended and people still have to get used to the new freedom.
The story is told by an anonymous narrator and every now and then he/she looks forward into events in the future. The titles of the chapters are also very funny at times.
As we get further into the book (the beginning takes a bit of perseverance) we learn that Miranda has a kind of magic. She sings constantly and can sometimes look into the future with help of her music or letting something fly to her that she cannot or does not want to catch. Pat has to make an effort to keep that a secret from the rest of the people around them. They have already left many villages to keep Miranda's gift a secret, but also to stay on the run from Miranda's father.
The book has a rhythm that is pleasant to read and the people from the village, including Mrs. Pachelbel, Mr. Dirigibus, Mr. Puro Cava and Mr. Farfi, are all special people with a user manual but with a philosophical disposition. Gradually everyone starts to change a little. And when you read all those life lessons you also start to think a little about how you approach things. The ending is especially heartwarming when the entire village commits itself to saving something.

Kwaad bloed by Robert Galbraith - ROOT # 30 - BFB # 5 -

The blurb

Private Detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family in Cornwall when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother, Margot Bamborough - who went missing in mysterious circumstances in 1974. Strike has never tackled a cold case before, let alone one forty years old. But despite the slim chance of success, he is intrigued and takes it on; adding to the long list of cases that he and his partner in the agency, Robin Ellacott, are currently working on. Plus the pair are still battling their feelings for one another, while Robin is also juggling a messy divorce and unwanted male attention. As Strike and Robin investigate Margot's disappearance, they come up against a fiendishly complex case with leads that include tarot cards, a psychopathic serial killer and witnesses who cannot all be trusted. And they learn that even cases decades old can prove to be deadly . . .

My review

Another good and exciting book by Robert Galbraith (AKA J.K. Rowling). The story is complicated, partly due to the number of characters that play a role in it (98!!). That feels a bit too much to me. Every now and then I got lost a bit and I had to look in my notes to see who was who. That makes my rating a bit lower. It must also be difficult for a writer to keep them all apart.
The story revolves around the disappearance of a general practitioner (Margot Bamborough) almost forty years ago. Margot's daughter, who was only 1 year old when she disappeared, has asked Cormoran and Robin to investigate what might have happened to her mother.
In the meantime, the private detectives and their freelancers are also investigating all kinds of other cases and the personal lives of Robin and Cormoran play a role (Robin's impending divorce and a death in Cormoran's family).
That makes reading a real challenge that I do enjoy. I read it with great pleasure.

>104 connie53:
WOW! That certainly is a big fat book! I am also reading one of those. Column of Fire by Ken Follett. It has 936 pages as well. I am listening to it and should get it finished by the time I make the drive back to Alabama. It is an 18 hour trip and I have about 15 hours of listening left.

>105 benitastrnad: I love a BFB now and then, Benita.

>98 connie53: I started over in this book because I neglected it for a while and had forgotten how it stared. The book gets

My review

The subject of this book is not new. I even had the idea that I had read the book before. But then written by another writer. The main character is of course Helen Grace and her female police friend, Charlie Brooks. But the young 15 year old Naomi Watsons also plays a major role. Because she is the victim in this book. Naomi gets to know Darren and despite knowing that he is a bad man, she runs away from home to be with him. After a few months Darren has had enough of her and dumps her. She calls her mother, but ultimately does not dare to say anything and she has to spend the night on the street. There she is picked up by a nice man who offers her help. Naomi goes with him in his car, but what follows is a nightmare. She wakes up chained in a dark small room. In the meantime her mother has gone to the police and Helen decides to help the woman in her search and calls in her team. But not everything is as it should be there either. Corruption and misconduct causes the search to be on a small burner. Helen must do everything she can to find Naomi without the support of her superiors. Very exciting and well written.

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I started a new E-book too

Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg - ROOT # 31

The blurb NOT my review

Helen Ames - recently widowed, coping with loss and grief, unable to do the work that has always sustained her - is beginning to depend far too much on her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Tessa, and is meddling in her life, offering unsolicited and unwelcome advice. Helen's problems are compounded by her shocking discovery that her mild-mannered and loyal husband was apparently leading a double life. The Ameses had painstakingly saved for a happy retirement, but that money disappeared in several large withdrawals made by Helen's husband before he died. In order to support herself and garner a measure of much needed independence, Helen takes an unusual job that ends up offering far more than she had anticipated. And then a phone call from a stranger sets Helen on a surprising path of discovery that causes both mother and daughter to reassess what they thought they knew about each other, themselves, and what really makes a home and a family.

Finished Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg and the book gets

My review

I found this a very enjoyable book to read. And not just because it is about books and writers and writing lessons, but also because Helen is a middle-aged woman and there are many women and men in it who are not all young and beautiful.
Helen has just lost her husband, Dan, and now has to arrange everything in life herself. Dan has always done that for her and she has no idea how to go about it. Tessa, her daughter, does not always have the patience to help her mother. Moreover, Helen always gives her daughter well-meant but unwelcome advice.
Helen is a writer of novels, but her inspiration has also deserted her.
When she is asked to give writing lessons to a group of aspiring writers for a few weeks, she accepts.
This is not even a thick book, but there is so much in it. It is mainly about finding a new path when your life is suddenly turned upside down. The writing style is very pleasant and relaxed.

Some Quotes

When Suzie introduced Helen, she told the audience that one of the best things about books is that they are an interactive art form; that while the author may describe in some detail how a character looks, it is the reader's imagination that completes the image, making his or her own. 'That's why we so often don't like movies made from books, right?'Suzie said. 'We don't like someone else's interpretation of what we see so clearly.'

She talked about how people complain that they don't have time to read, and reminded them that if they gave up half an hour of television a day in favor of reading, they could finish twenty-five book a year.
'Books don't take time way from us,' she said. 'They give it back. In this age af abstraction, of multitasking, of speed for speed's sake, they reintroduce us to the elegance - and the relief! - of real, tick-tock time.

Thanks heaven for the popularity of book clubs: sometimes Helen thinks they are the main reason publishers - and authors - are still in business

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Started yesterday in a new E-book

The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg

The Blurb NOT my review

As onetime classmates meet over the course of a weekend for their high school's fortieth reunion, they discover things that will irrevocably affect the rest of their lives. For newly divorced Dorothy Shauman, it is the possibility to finally attract the attention of the class heartthrob, Pete Decker. For the ever self-reliant, ever left-out Mary Alice Mayhew, it's a chance to re-examine a painful past. For Lester Hessenpfeffer, a veterinarian and widower, it is the hope of talking shop with a fellow vet - or at least that's what he tells himself. For Candy Armstrong, the class beauty, it's the hope of finding friendship before it is too late. As Dorothy, Mary Alice, Lester, Candy, and the other classmates converge for the reunion dinner, four decades melt away: Desires and personalities from their youth re-emerge, and new discoveries are made. For so much has happened to them all. And so much can still happen.

>107 connie53: The writing style is very pleasant and relaxed
Yes exactly, I find Berg's books so comforting and have loved so many despite never rating one more than 4 stars. A couple favorites are Talk Before Sleep and the short story collection, Ordinary Life.

>108 detailmuse: Thanks for the tip, MJ. I have those on my reader too. At least I'm sure about the first.

finished >107 connie53: and I give the book

My review

Another enjoyable book by Elizabeth Berg. This time about a high school class reunion in America. The people who come are all around sixty and curious about their old classmates. Some want to talk to a flame from the past again. Everyone wants to see Peter Decker again. He was the handsomest, most desirable boy from the final year and Dorothy Shauman, recently divorced, has her eye on him.
There are two outsiders; Mary Alice Mayhew, then a shy girl, but now a self-assured woman who doesn't mince her words and Lester Hessenpfeffer, then a loner, but now a passionate veterinarian and who has become a widower at a young age. Candy Sullivan was the prettiest girl in the class but now has a rather burned-out marriage and has just been diagnosed with cancer a few days before but still wants to go to the reunion, if only to get away from the house and her husband Cooper. They all come with the hope of friendship, a kind of flirtation or even a night with one of the other guests. But that all goes differently. They miss opportunities to have a conversation with the one they want to see. They hear things they don't want to hear. They fall back into old feuds and make wrong choices. Very well written with a kind of underlying tension. Very enjoyable and relaxing to read.

Hi Connie, thanks for the visit to my thread. I finally visited yours and ended up seeing lots of books here that look interesting. I just read one of the DI Helen Grace books (the second one) now I need to read the first but it looks like there are a lot more in the series to catch up with.

>111 Familyhistorian: Happy to visit you, Meg.

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Started yesterday in If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude - ROOT # 33 - Forumchallenge # 27

The blurb NOT my review

When you can't save the world, how do you save yourself? Avery Byrne has secrets. She's queer; she's in love with her best friend, Cass; and she's suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression. But on the morning Avery plans to jump into the river near her college campus, the world discovers there are only nine days left to live: an asteroid is headed for Earth, and no one can stop it. Trying to spare her family and Cass additional pain, Avery does her best to make it through just nine more days. As time runs out and secrets slowly come to light, Avery would do anything to save the ones she loves. But most importantly, she learns to save herself. Speak her truth. Seek the support she needs. Find hope again in the tomorrows she has left.

Started today because I also like to read a Tree-book

Murder at the Bookstore door Sue Minix - Forumchallenge # 28

The blurb NOT my review

She can write the perfect murder mystery? But can she solve one in real life? Meet Jen Dawson, mystery writer, coffee lover, and amateur detective?
Crime writer Jen returns to her small hometown with a bestselling book behind her and a bad case of writer's block. Finding sanctuary in the local bookstore, with an endless supply of coffee, Jen waits impatiently for inspiration to strike. But when the owner of the bookstore dies suddenly in mysterious circumstances, Jen has a real-life murder to solve.
The stakes are suddenly higher when evidence places Jen at the scene of the crime and the reading of the will names her as the new owner of the bookstore? Can she crack the case and clear her name, before the killer strikes again?

>113 connie53: Sounds right up my alley! I'm looking forward to your review. I hope you are doing well!

>114 Cecilturtle: I will let you know, Cécile.

Finished If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude -

My review

Very surprising and unexpectedly emotional book.
Avery is a young girl who can't find her way in this world. She thought that if she went to university, everything would fall into place, but nothing could be further from the truth. Now, on her nineteenth birthday, she stands on the edge of a river and is determined to end her life. Then she hears that nine days later an asteroid will crash into the earth and that it will fall on the region where her family lives. She decides to spend those nine days with her family and friends and face their fate together. With her roommate Aisha, her best friend Cass and professor Basil Talley and his dog Scout, they leave Eaton on their way to her parents. There are fires everywhere, abandoned houses and car wrecks, left behind by fleeing people. In the nine days they have left, they try to make a bunker out of the basement. They go into empty houses to collect food, drink and other useful items so that they can stay underground as long as possible. Gradually Avery gets a different perspective on life and the people around her. She gives in to the love of her life and finds her place in this world. I occasionally shed a tear at the end and look at the open ending with an optimistic view. Very nice book.

Murder at the bookstore is finished and gets

My Review

Jen Dawson is a writer who has written a bestselling thriller. She returns to her hometown where she tries to write her second book, but she can't seem to get it right. She finds a spot in the local bookstore where she sits at one of the tables trying to find inspiration accompanied by many cups of coffee. She befriends the owner of the store, Aletha Cunningham.
When Aletha is found murdered, she has to unravel a real mystery this time. When more people die and Jen herself narrowly escapes an attempt to kill her, she has to do everything she can to stay ahead of the killer.
I thought it was a bit messy written. It had much more potential than the book showed

Now reading



An E-book

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente - ROOT # 34 - Forumchallenge # 29

The blurb NOT my review

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn't . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.


And a paper book



in steen gebrand by Rebecca Yarros - ROOT # 35 - BFB # 6

The blurb NOT my review

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general--also known as her tough-as-talons mother--has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you're smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don't bond to "fragile" humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother's daughter--like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She'll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise

I'v been away for a few days to visit my friend Vera. Came back yesterday.

Finished In steen gebrand by Rebecca Yarros - ROOT # 34 - OB # 2 - BFB # 6 -

My review

I'm afraid I'm mixing up the events of part 1 and part 2 a bit. It all flows together seamlessly and I'm also reading them one after the other. So the dividing line is a bit vague.
Violet Sorrengail is admitted to the dragon riders in the first year of school, in the Fourth Wing. Her mother is General Sorrengail, one of the leaders of Navarre. Xaden Riorson is the son of Fen Riorson, the rebel leader. The rebels have tried to overthrow the gouvernement and have all been executed. Their children have been taken in by Navarre, given a kind of tattoo and are also allowed to participate in the selection process for the dragon riders. Violet and Xaden should actually hate each other, but they feel very attracted to each other. Xaden is in a higher year and that is also a difficulty. When the dragons come to choose a rider, Violet is chosen by 2 dragons, something that has never happened before. The school days are filled with lessons and with flights on their dragon. They learn how to attack and fight on a dragon they have mental contact with.

I hear very different opinions about these books, but I like them very much and therefore continued with part 2.

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Now reading

Een ijzeren vlam by Rebecca Yarros

The blurb NOT my review

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College, Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet's already wondering how she'll get through. It's not just that it's gruelling and maliciously brutal, or even that it's designed to stretch the riders' capacity for pain beyond endurance. It's the new vice commandant, who's made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is - unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet's body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else's, she still has her wits, and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But a determination to survive won't be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College - and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

finished Een ijzeren vlam by Rebecca Yarros - ROOT # 35 - BFB # 7 - -

My review

Second part of the series The Fourth Wing. That is the name of the part of the military that Violet and Xaden are part of. Violet is the daughter of Lilith, one of the generals and Xaden is the son of the rebel leader. All the rebels have been executed and their children have been admitted to the Rider training once they have reached the right age. There are 3 years of training and in this book Violet and Xaden are in the second year and they are still in love with each other. There are also some love scenes that are quite explicit, but I scan them diagonally.
The wyvern, a kind of dragon, and their riders, called Venims, are on the warpath and Violet and her friends must do everything they can to prevent total destruction. In the meantime, Violet is looking for a way to make the shields around certain parts of the country work again. That may be their only solution. But the training also continues, with all the assignments and tests of strength that entails. I find these books very exciting and easy to read, although I often find mistakes in the translation. Words that are missing and slightly crooked sentences that follow English rather than being converted to Dutch. But only a nitpicker would pay attention to that (too much). Now we have to wait for part 3.

Started (again) and finished today

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente - ROOT # 36 - Forumchallenge # 29 -

The Blurb NOT my review

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn't . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

My review

Nice story about September, an eleven year old girl who is usually home alone. Her father has left with the army and her mother has to work. Then a gentleman comes to visit who introduces himself as Green Wind and asks her help with a problem in Fairyland. September goes with him, because it seems like an adventure to her. She meets the wyvern A-Through-L, the daughter of a wyvern and a library. September calls her a Wyverary and names her Ell. Ell knows everything about things that start with the letters A to L. The rest of the alphabet is the responsibility of her brother and sister. She also encounters witches and is given the task of retrieving a spoon that is in the possession of the Marquess, the successor of Queen Mallow.
Later on their journey they are joined by Saturday, a blue-colored boy, a Marid. (a kind of Djinn but of the water). They experience all kinds of adventures and at one point September even slowly changes into a tree.

No idea what age this book is for, it sounds like a children's book (for 10 to 12 year) but the things that happen might be better understood by 14 to 15 year old.

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And started in Kleine brandjes overal by Celeste Ng

The blurb NOT my review

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned -- from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren -- an enigmatic artist and single mother -- who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town -- and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides.

>121 connie53:
Here in the US Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a YA (Young Adult) book. That means its targeted age group is 12-18 years old. It is the first book in a series called Girl Who. I think there are four books in the series. I read this book back in 2014 and don't really remember much about it. I rated it with 3 stars but I haven't read any of the other books in the series.

Hi Benita, great to see you here. I don't know if I will read anyone of the other book in the series. I don't even know if I have them.

>121 connie53: Kleine brandjes overal by Celeste Ng is finished and the book gets

My review

Very well written story about 2 families. On the one hand, the Richardsons and on the other, the Warrens.
Mia and Pearl Warren are mother and daughter. They have a life that mainly consists of moving from one place to another. And now they have arrived in the neat and tidy Shaker Heights in America. Shaker is a meticulously planned place near Cleveland. The colors of the houses are prescribed, what is allowed in the garden is limited to flowers and certainly no vegetables. And that is where the Richardsons live, mother Elena, father Bill, sons Trip and Moody, and daughters Lexie and Izzy. Elena rents out an apartment in another part of the city and the lucky ones to rent it are Mia and Pearl. Mia has promised that they will stay here and Pearl thinks that she can finally make some lasting friendships. She meets Moody and soon she is a regular guest at his family's house. Mia is an artist who uses photography to transform all kinds of objects and give them a different meaning. Elena is a true Shaker woman, she sticks to the rules and does not tolerate any deviations from them. When Pearl comes to their home more and more often, she starts investigating to find out more about Mia's past. As a kind of thread, there is also the story of Bebe Chow, a young mother who has abandoned her baby. And that of Izzy, who is the cause of the Richardsons' large house burning down, the scene with which the book begins. I thought this was a very good story. It contains everything, rigidity, unconditional love, friendship and loyalty.

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Honderd namen by Cecelia Ahern

The blurb NOT my review

Scandal has derailed Journalist Kitty Logan's career, a setback that is soon compounded by an even more devastating loss. Constance, the woman who taught Kitty everything she knew, is dying. At her mentor's bedside, Kitty asks her, "What is the one story you always wanted to write?" The answer lies in a single sheet of paper buried in Constance's office--a list of 100 names--with no notes or explanation. But before Kitty can talk to her friend, it is too late. Determined to unlock the mystery and rebuild her own shaky confidence, Kitty throws herself into the investigation, using her skills and savvy to track down each of the names on the list and uncover their connection. Meeting these ordinary people and learning their stories, Kitty begins to piece together an unexpected portrait of Constance's life...and starts to understand her own.

Finished Honderd namen and give this book

My review

This is quite a funny book, but towards the end it is also a beautiful book about friendship and doing things for others without wanting to benefit yourself. At the end I really had to cry, not just wipe away a few tears, but real tears on my cheeks.

Katherine (Kitty) Logan is a journalist and has wrongly accused someone of an affair with a student and the paternity that resulted from it and that she brought to light on a talk show. Because of this she lost her job at the TV. She also works for the magazine 'Etcetera' that was founded by her mentor Constance Dubois and her husband Bob McDonald. When Constance is dying, Kitty goes to visit her and is given the assignment by Constance to pick up an envelope and bring it to her. But Constance dies before she can explain what the assignment entails. Pete, the editor-in-chief of 'Etcetera' gives Kitty 2 weeks to make a story of the contents of the envelope.

That seems an impossible task because there is only an A4 sheet with 100 names on it and nothing else. Kitty starts searching but that seems almost impossible, because where do you start? Eventually Kitty manages to track down 6 people, but she has no idea what the connection between these people is. The 6 people are Bridget "Birdie" Murphy, Eva Wu, Archie Hamilton, Mary-Rose Godfrey and Jedrek Vysotski. But when she hears the stories of the people she slowly starts to discover what Constance wanted to do with these names. When the 2 weeks are almost over she goes on a bus trip with these people and a number of their acquaintances and friends where they make all kinds of visits that according to each of the 6 people are necessary to give meaning to their story. In the meantime Kitty learns from them and she can also finish her own story by talking to the man she wrongly accused.

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Kon je me maar zien! - Cecelia Ahern

The blurb NOT my review

In the Town of Hearts, one woman has hers firmly under lock and key...Everything in Elizabeth Egan's life has its place, from the espresso cups in her gleaming kitchen to the swatches and paint pots of her interior design business. Order and precision keep life under control - and Elizabeth's heart from the pain and hurt she has suffered in the past.The only cloud on the horizon is her sister Saoirse, a red-haired whirlwind always leaving behind pieces which Elizabeth struggles to pick up - including her six-year-old son Luke. Being a reluctant mother while trying to keep her business on track is a full-time job, one which leaves little room for error - or fun.Until, one day, a stranger unexpectedly comes into their lives. Ivan is carefree, spontaneous and always looking for adventure - everything that Elizabeth is not. In no time at all, he has crept under her skin and started to change her life in ways she could never have.But knows barely anything about Ivan - who he is and whether he is everything he seems. And if there is a future for their blossoming relationship...

Finished Kon je me maar zien! by Cecelia Ahern - ROOT # 39 - Forumchallenge # 30 -

My review

This was another book by Cecelia Ahern full of life lessons, even one in which I could recognize myself. One of the main characters is 34-year-old Elizabeth who takes care of her six-year-old nephew Luke, the son of her derailed sister Saoirse and her elderly father Brendan, a seemingly grumpy man. Saoirse appears and disappears in their lives and always leaves a trail of bewilderment in her wake. She steals Elizabeth's car, has no driver's license and then has to be picked up from the café by the police, completely wasted. Elizabeth and Saoirse's mother was a lot younger than their father and did exactly the same as Saoirse. Until she finally didn't come back, leaving behind 12-year-old Elizabeth and 11-month-old Saoirse.
Now Elizabeth has a successful interior design agency and is very structured, everything in her house is black, white and brown. And Elizabeth is constantly cleaning and moving things inches. That is how she keeps all the unwanted thoughts and memories at bay, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.
And then Ivan appears on the scene. Luke says he has a new friend who is staying for dinner, but Elizabeth can't see him. It is very difficult for Elizabeth to get used to that third plate on the table and especially that the food that should be on Ivan's plate is waste, but then she notices that the food disappears and she feels someone's breath against her ear. Then she also hears him whispering every now and then. And finally she can see him too. Ivan takes Luke and her on some adventures in the area and gradually Elizabeth loosens up a bit.

Ivan belongs to a group of invisible people who help people, usually children, but sometimes adults, through a difficult period. Luke doesn't really need Ivan but Ivan discovers that he actually came for Elizabeth to help her to face and process her memories.
I thought it was a nice book and it didn't get an 4 stars because I found the jumping of the timelines without real clues rather strange. It really keeps jumping from the present to Elizabeth at various other ages.

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Now reading Een onmogelijk leven by Matt Haig

The blurb NOT my review

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan. Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend's life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past. Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning

Finished Een onmogelijk leven by Matt Haig - Forumchallenge # 31 -

My review

This was a bit of a strange book. It starts out as a regular novel but gradually becomes a bit SF-like.

Grace is surprised by a letter from one of her former students. He tells her that he finds life hard and that the problems seem to be piling up. In response, Grace writes a long story about her own experience.

Until recently, her life had also become empty and a kind of rut. The death of her son and later the death of her husband had taken all the color out of her life. But then she receives a letter from a notary and hears that she has inherited a bungalow on Ibiza. Years before, she had had a colleague at her school as a guest for Christmas. Christina would otherwise have had to spend it alone and Christina apparently appreciated that so much that she named her in her will. Christina had an accident in the sea and her body was never found. An investigation into the accident is still ongoing. Grace decides to go and have a look at the bungalow first.
When she arrives on Ibiza, she meets several people who knew Christina. Among others, Alberto Ribas, an old diver who looks a bit like a pirate. He takes her on a dive and shows her a remarkable phenomenon that takes place under water. On that day everything changes because the phenomenon turns out to be a special gift.
In itself nicely written, but I expected something different from the book so it took some adjusting.

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Started in Anna O by Matthew Blake - ROOT # 40

The blurb NOT my review

What if your nightmares weren't really nightmares at all? We spend an average of 33 years of our lives asleep. But what really happens, and what are we capable of, when we sleep? Anna Ogilvy was a budding twenty-five-year-old writer with a bright future. Then, one night, she stabbed two people to death with no apparent motive -- and hasn't woken up since. Dubbed "Sleeping Beauty" by the tabloids, Anna's condition is a rare psychosomatic disorder known to neurologists as "resignation syndrome." Dr. Benedict Prince is a forensic psychologist and an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. His methods are the last hope of solving the infamous "Anna O" case and waking Anna up so she can stand trial. But he must be careful treating such a high-profile suspect -- he's got career secrets and a complicated personal life of his own. As Anna shows the first signs of stirring, Benedict must determine what really happened and whether Anna should be held responsible for her crimes. Only Anna knows the truth about that night, but only Benedict knows how to discover it. And they're both in danger from what they find out.

Finished Anna O by Matthew Blake and the book gets

My review

Chaotic, that is the first word that comes to mind when I think of this book. There are only about 15 main characters and yet it is more complicated than many books I have read with two or three times that number. The story certainly has potential but it is too verbose and there are too many plot twists and new events for me. So I am not very satisfied with it.

Started a few days ago in De bastaard van Istanbul vy Elif Shafak

The blurb

One rainy afternoon in Istanbul, a nineteen year old, unmarried woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I need to have an abortion,' she announces. Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul. All the Kazanci men die in their early forties, victims of the mysterious family curse, so it is a house of women. Among them are Asya's beautiful, rebellious mother, her clairvoyant aunt, and their hopelessly hypochondriac sister. Into the midst for this madhouse comes Asya's feisty American cousin, and she's bringing long-hidden family secrets connected with Turkey's turbulent past in her wake.

This book is finished and gets

My review

Another great but rather difficult and burdensome book by Elis Shafak.
I was completely surprised by the subject of this novel. I don't know much about the history of Turkey and had no idea that in 1915 there was a kind of genocide to get all Armenians out of Turkey. Many of them were murdered by the then Turkish government and many also chose to flee to safety in America, among other places.
This historical fact also forms the underlying foundation of this book. It is told by Aysa, daughter of an unmarried mother, Zeliha, who now lives with her mother in the parental home in Istanbul. Aysa discovers in her teenage years that she is a bastard. But she doesn't let that get her down.
Zeliha's only brother, Mustafa, has been sent away to America to escape a family curse. All the men in the family die at a young age and the family hopes that Mustafa will remain safe. Meanwhile, Armanoush (daughter of Rose and stepdaughter of Mustafa) decides to secretly travel to Istanbul during spring break in America. Her mother thinks she is with her father, Barsam, and he thinks she is with her mother. The two girls are about the same age and like to hang out together. But there is a secret in the family and it is slowly coming out through the stories and memories from the past that are told by Zeliha's three sisters.
A very strong book, with strong characters and for me a hard lesson in a history that I knew nothing about.

De familie Aubrey - Rebecca West - ROOT # 42 - BFB # 8

The blurb NOT my review

West's semi-autobiographical novel introduces the multi-talented Aubrey family as they strive to find their place in the world. Papa Aubrey's wife and twin daughters, Mary and Rose, are piano prodigies, his young son Richard Quin is a lively boy, and his eldest daughter Cordelia is a beautiful and driven young woman with musical aspirations. But the talented and eccentric Aubrey family rarely enjoys a moment of harmony, as its members struggle to overcome the effects of their patriarch's spendthrift ways. Now they must move so that their father, a noted journalist, can find stable employment. Throughout, it is the Aubreys' hope that art will save them from the cacophony of a life sliding toward poverty. In this eloquent and winning portrait, West's compelling characters must uncover their true talent for kindness in order to thrive in the world that exists outside of their life as a family.

>130 connie53:
Another good historical fiction book on the Armenian Genocide is Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian. He is a popular author so there should be a Dutch translation of the book.

Thanks, Benita. I have several books by Bohjalian. But not the one you mentioned. I will see if there is a translation.

Finished De familie Aubrey by Rebecca West - - ROOT # 41 - BFB # 8

My review

I really expected much more from this book. It is actually a long story, with few dialogues. The writing style probably does not suit me and I kept reading because the story does have potential. This author is apparently very well-known and very famous, but I have never heard of her. She died in 1983 and was 90 years old at the time. This book originally dates from 1954, when I was 1 year old.
It is the story of a family consisting of a mother, a father, three daughters and a son as the youngest. The father Piers is a flamboyant man with an uncontrollable compulsion to speculate with the family's money and always lose. Mother Clare meanwhile does everything she can to keep her children and the household running and at the same time stimulate the musical talents of her daughters and son. Clare herself was a concert pianist but gave up her career when she had children. Cordelia, the eldest daughter, plays the violin, the twins Mary and Rose play the piano. And Richard Quin can play anything, but he only does everything halfway. The book describes their daily lives and the difficulties to keep everything going. Too bad the writing style didn't suit me.

Al het blauw van de hemel - Mélissa Da Costa - ROOT # 42, BFB # 9

The blurb NOT my review

A 26-year-old young man, sentenced to a life of early Alzheimer's, wants to hit the road for one last trip. I am looking for a road trip partner to enjoy this adventure with." These are the first words in the ad that Émile publishes online one day in June. He has decided to run away from the hospital, and from the pity he sees reflected in the faces of his family and his friends. He doesn't really expect anyone to answer the ad, but he's wrong. Three days later, in front of the RV he bought for the trip, awaits Joanne, a woman with a large black hat, golden sandals, a backpack, and no desire to explain her presence there. Thus begins an incredible adventure. A trip to reconnect with people and with the world. A journey of self-discovery from which joy, fear, and friendship will emerge, as well as a love that, little by little, will pierce Émile's armor of pain.

>135 connie53:
Did you like it? I'm not interested in the romance part - i understand the running away part. I guess, I'm just curious how it al turns out.

>136 EGBERTINA: Hi, Egbertina. I've read about 133/636 pages, so far I like it. I like the way it's written.

Finished Al het blauw van de hemel by Mélissa De Costa - ROOT # 42 - Forumchallenge # 33 - BFB # 9 - 636 pages -

Original French

My review

What a beautiful, emotional book this is. Well written with many descriptions of nature in the French Pyrenees, which immediately made me homesick for this beautiful, impressive part of France where I have spent many holidays.
The story is about Emile, a young man who is diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer's disease. He wants to spare his family that last period of decline and also not be subjected to a clinical examination in an institution. He decides to place an advertisement and ask if someone wants to accompany him on his last journey. He is very surprised when a young woman shows up at the meeting point. It is a young, small woman called Joanne.
Joanne has her own tragic story and throughout the book something is told about it. Together they go on a trip in the camper that Emile has bought. Along the way they meet all kinds of people and they learn more and more that there is no one who does not have a past in which less pleasant things have also happened. As they continue their journey, Emile slowly deteriorates. His memory fails him now and then and Joanne has to find a way to deal with that.
The book is interspersed with quotes from books, especially from 'The Alchemist' by Paul Coelho. I read the last pages with tears on my cheeks. Very beautiful.

And finished and the book gets

My review

What a beautiful, emotional book this is. Well written with many descriptions of nature in the French Pyrenees, which immediately made me homesick for this beautiful, impressive part of France where I have spent many holidays.
The story is about Emile, a young man who is diagnosed with young-onset Alzheimer's disease. He wants to spare his family that last period of decline and also not be subjected to a clinical examination in an institution. He decides to place an advertisement and ask if someone wants to accompany him on his last journey. He is very surprised when a young woman shows up at the meeting point. It is a young, small woman called Joanne.
Joanne has her own tragic story and throughout the book something is told about it. Together they go on a trip in the camper that Emile has bought. Along the way they meet all kinds of people and they learn more and more that there is no one who does not have a past in which less pleasant things have also happened. As they continue their journey, Emile slowly deteriorates. His memory fails him now and then and Joanne has to find a way to deal with that.
The book is interspersed with quotes from books, especially from 'The Alchemist' by Paul Coelho. I read the last pages with tears on my cheeks. Very beautiful.

Freedom - Jonathan Franzen - ROOT # 43 - BFB # 10

I did start another book on my reader a week or so ago

The blurb NOT my review

This novel follows several members of an American family, the Berglunds, as well as their close friends and lovers, as complex and troubled relationships unfold over many years. The book follows them through the last decades of the twentieth century and concludes near the beginning of the Obama administration. The Berglunds are the middle class suburban family that the neighbors just love to talk about. Walter, the successful and doting husband, and Patty, the tall ex varsity basketball player who bakes Christmas cookies for each resident of Barrier Street, seem like the perfect couple. But life is not the pretty picture presented to the world. When their precious first born is corrupted by the wanton girl next door, the edges fray on the Berglunds' family fabric. An old friend emerges, tall, dark and only slightly disheveled and mistakes are made.

Also started in A Sorceress comes to Call by T. Kingfisher - E-book - Foreign Fantasy # 9

The blurb NOT my review

Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms-there are no secrets in this house-and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers. When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.

>139 connie53: I read my first Da Costa book this year and gobbled it up - very emotional as well! It was The Star Maker (La Faiseuse d'étoiles) about a Mom dying from cancer who refuses to deprive her son of a mother, and so she weaves a tale and prepares her death in the most gentle and creative way.

>142 Cecilturtle: That sounds very interesting, Cécile. But I'm not that good in French. English is no problem, but such an intense book needs my full attention.

Finished the book in >141 connie53: and the book gets -

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher - E-boek - Foreign Fantasy # 9

My review

Cordelia is the daughter of a sorceress, Evangeline, who has the habit of mentally taking over her, causing Cordelia to do all sorts of things that work to her mother's advantage. Cordelia is only happy when she can ride her horse Falada. One day, her mother decides that they are going to look for a rich man for her and possibly also to marry Cordelia off. Cordelia has to pretend to be 17, but in reality she is 14. They go to the house of a country squire and his sister Hester. There they find shelter after pretending that they have been mugged and robbed of everything they had with them. Samuel is very impressed by Evangeline, who of course casts a spell on him. Hester is skeptical and she absolutely does not want it to end in a marriage between Samuel and Evangeline. She tries to gather as many people as possible on the estate, including a few older ladies and their husbands, under the guise of a festive weekend. When people start dying, these ladies, together with Cordelia, look for a way to stop Evangeline. Cordelia comes out of her shell a bit because of all the attention these ladies give her.

I always love it when older people (preferably ladies) play a role. There doesn't always have to be a young, beautiful heroine. Although Cordelia certainly plays a role in the story. She is, with Hester, one of the two characters from whose point of view the story is told. Both great characters who really have depth. The setting is a bit Downton Abbey, complete with a butler with extraordinary talents. Enjoyed it immensely

Starting in Het eiland van Anna - Eva Vriend - ROOT # 43/44
Original Dutch

The blurb NOT my review

Anna Diender was not born there, but she felt connected to it in everything. To Schokland, that magical place in the middle of the austere Flevopolder. For a long time, Schokland was a lively fishing island in the Zuiderzee. It was the home port of Anna's grandparents. Until the government decided to evacuate the island in 1859. Later, with the closure and reclamation, it disappeared from the map for good. But this certainly did not mean the end of the Schokland story for Anna and for many thousands of descendants. In Het eiland van Anna, Eva Vriend shows how history can continue to have an effect for generations. Using the ordinary fisherman's daughter as an example, she brings the vanished island to life. She talks about the hardships, the many floods and the dramatic evacuation. About roots, migration and identity. But above all, it is about how everyone is looking for a 'home'. And that can also be, as in Anna's case, an island that has long since ceased to exist.

In the US there is a PBS (Public Broadcasting System) travel program titled "Islands Without Cars." It recently featured an island in the Netherlands where cars are banned. It sounded like an interesting place to live and a place I would like to visit.

The book mentioned above also sounds interesting. I don't read Dutch so it is probably not a book that I will be able to read, but I hope someday somebody will write about it in English.

>146 benitastrnad: That will be Schiermonnikoog and Vlieland.

>146 benitastrnad:. I discovered a book about the island that is in English "New land, old history: past landscapes and hominin activity covering the last 220,000 years in Flevoland, the Netherlands" by Don van den Biggelaar.

Sorry, no touchstones there.

Starting in another ROOT, a Tree-book

The Book That Broke the World by Mark Lawrence

The blurb NOT my review

Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other's reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he's never seen, Livira's destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written. And all the while, the library quietly weaves thread to thread, bringing the scattered elements of Livira's old life friends and foe alike back together beneath new skies. Long ago, a lie was told, and with the passing years it has grown and spread, a small push leading to a chain of desperate consequences. Now, as one edifice topples into the next with ever-growing violence, it threatens to break the world. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

And another E-book



Clockwork Boys - part 1 by T. Kingfisher

The blurb NOT my review

A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It's not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T. Kingfisher's new novel begins the tale of a murderous band of criminals (and a scholar), thrown together in an attempt to unravel the secret of the Clockwork Boys, mechanical soldiers from a neighboring kingdom that promise ruin to the Dowager's city. If they succeed, rewards and pardons await, but that requires a long journey through enemy territory, directly into the capital. It also requires them to refrain from killing each other along the way! At turns darkly comic and touching, Clockwork Boys puts together a broken group of people trying to make the most of the rest of their lives as they drive forward on their suicide mission.

First time Fiene lent me a book owned by her.

Schatpakkers by Pieter Koolwijk) - present for the Kinderboekenweek (week of books for children) 2024. When somebody buys children's books for more than 13,50 Euro she/he gets a free book, written just for this purpose. And Fiene let me read it first! Only a small book, only 94 pages.

The blurb

Nevin is sent outside by her father. Unfairly, she thinks. So she takes the car key with her, so he can't go to the football match. But then she drops the key in a well...



Suddenly a strange, high-pitched voice sounds. 'Ooo... Darling!' A dark blue hand appears, grabs the key from between the leaves and disappears again. Then Nevin has a problem. Fortunately, there are two children who want to help her. Children who are always bullied at school, also by Nevin...

>150 connie53: >First time Fiene lent me a book owned by her.
Oh I love this!

It felt very special, indeed.

Finished Schatpakkers and give this book

My review

Very nice children's book by one of my favorite children's book authors, Pieter Koolwijk.
Nevin has to go outside to play because of her father. He thinks she spends far too much time behind a screen playing games with her friends from school. When she is forced to go outside, she grabs the car key so her father can't go to a football match. According to her, he does that too much.
When she accidentally drops the key in a sewer-drain, she gets help from Bec, a girl who is in a class lower than her. They try to fish the key out with a stick, but then they hear a little voice that calls out 'ohh ...treasure' and the key is gone. Bec asks Davy for help, a quiet boy who is avoided by everyone. Bec is also a strange girl. She is always busy with animals and has a number of snails that she carries with her in her yellow raincoat.
The three of them go in search of the place where the little people are supposed to live. They enter a completely different world where hundreds of these creatures live, all collecting lost and misplaced things. They want to give back the key, but then Nevin has to go to their treasure cave alone. Nevin searches among all the things that are lying around and when she says that she can't go home, the creatures think that she is also lost and add her to their collection. Thanks to the help of Bec and Davy, she manages to escape. And she decides that playing outside with other children who don't laugh at you if you are a little different from the rest, is better than being laughed at if you are a little different from your gaming friends. The story is mainly about bullying and about being allowed and able to be yourself.

A few photo's from when I, my daughter and Fiene and Marie went to the children's bookstore to buy the books for children'd book week. We are on a small terrace outside the bookstore.



Marie and I



Marie with on of her books



Fiene with one of her books

It's wonderful to see them read so eagerly. And yay for lending books to grandma!

What lovely pictures! Marie looks very grown up all of a sudden!

It's so lovely to see your granddaughters reading.

Thanks Birgit, Jackie and Barbara!

Finished my first ROOT for October

De abdij van Northanger by Jane Austen - ROOT # 43, Forumchallenge # 34 -

The blurb

When Catherine Morland, a country clergyman's daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of 'Gothic novels' by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and romance. When she is invited to stay with the beguiling Henry Tilney and his family at Northanger Abbey, she expects mystery and intrigue at every turn. However, the truth turns out to be even stranger than fiction ...

My review

Read for the Forum Challenge and a ROOT.

This novel does require some adjustment to your reading skills. The tone is old-fashioned, which is logical if a book was published in 1818. The sentences are long and in a courtly style and it takes some effort to get into a rhythm. But once you do, it is a nice story about a budding love and a period of opposition, misunderstandings and intrigues. With a very annoying little man who can't help but exaggerate things to the bizarre, both negatively and positively. Fun to read.

This has always been my favourite Austen. It is not her best, and the paternal aspect of Henry is positively cringeworthy; still it captured something so simplistically.

Bought The End of Dragons by Mark Stay

To Survive, They Must Kill The Last of Her Kind.
The Lapis Moon is gone. Magic is dying. The world has moved on.

Mages, however, are an endangered species. Sander Bree is scraping a living as a mage for hire, Rosheen Katell is in hiding with her brother Oskar. All mages are outlawed, exiled, dodging assassins and the wrath of Archbishop Yorath Pasco who would gladly have them skewered in public.

Then a dragon attacks a small fishing village on the Parthalan coast. Dragons aren’t supposed to exist in these enlightened times, and so the Archbishop suggests a deal: if Sander and Rosheen use their magic to slay the dragon without fuss then their slates will be wiped clean. Of course, they encounter personal betrayals, political backstabbing, criminal shenanigans and a bloody great dragon in a rollicking adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Started a few days ago and finished today

Een bakkerij in Parijs by Aimie K. Runyan - E-book - Forumchallenge # 35 -

The blurb

Paris, 1870. The city is besieged by the Prussians, but Lisette Vigneau doesn't see much of it in her parents' luxurious mansion. Until she meets a young revolutionary, Théodore Fournier. For him, she leaves her golden cage behind. But can she stick to her plans when her loved ones are in danger?

Paris, 1946. After the war, 19-year-old Micheline Chartier tries to take care of her two sisters, since they have lost both their parents. When the tenants of the restaurant below their apartment leave, she also loses their only source of income. Unless she fulfills her parents' long-cherished dream and starts a bakery in that space - but then she has to give up her own dreams...

My review

Entertaining story with 2 storylines, which I usually find pleasant to read. Paris in 1870 and Paris just after the Second World War. Both stories are largely set in Montmartre. Lisette's story is that of a young woman who grows up in a wealthy family, but does not really fit in well with the family. She prefers to be in the kitchen with the cook Nanette who teaches her to bake, which she really enjoys doing. On one of her shopping rounds she meets Théodore, a young revolutionary and she falls head over heels for him. When her parents decide that Lisette should marry a young man from their circle of acquaintances, she runs away and goes to live with Théo and eventually marries him. She finds an old restaurant and starts a bakery there, but the revolution is in full swing and the Prussians are besieging Paris. With the little she can find or buy, she tries to keep her neighbors alive

In 1946, 19-year-old Micheline lives with her two sisters above a restaurant. Their father died in the war and her mother has been missing for two years. Micheline also has to improvise to be able to support her sisters and when the tenants of the Bistro where they live above suddenly leave, she starts a bakery with a little help from an old neighbor. She finds a diary in the house and it turns out to have been Lisette's. Which brings the two storylines together nicely.

Nice to read and enjoyed.

Started on September 10th and finished today Prins der wrake by Mark Lawrence and this book gets

The blurb

When he was nine, he watched as his mother and brother were killed before him. By the time he was thirteen, he was the leader of a band of bloodthirsty thugs. By fifteen, he intends to be king... It's time for Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath to return to the castle he turned his back on, to take what's rightfully his. Since the day he hung pinned on the thorns of a briar patch and watched Count Renar's men slaughter his mother and young brother, Jorg has been driven to vent his rage. Life and death are no more than a game to him-and he has nothing left to lose. But treachery awaits him in his father's castle. Treachery and dark magic. No matter how fierce his will, can one young man conquer enemies with power beyond his imagining?

My review

I don't really know what to say about this book. It is Mr. Lawrence's debut book and that of course makes a difference. In all honesty, I have to say that his later books are clearly better.
I find it very confusing and it jumps back and forth a bit in time.
Jorg is the eldest son of King Osson and had to watch his mother and brother being murdered by his uncle's men. It is also a very cruel book. One dead person more or less doesn't matter to the writer.
Jorg, at the age of 10, has put together his gang from prisoners he has freed. And it is a ragtag bunch. But they are very loyal to Jorg. They plunder all around the country. When he is 13 or 14, Jorg decides to look up his uncle to take revenge, so the gang leaves for the realm of Lord Renar.
The story tells of the gang and their wanderings, of witches and the dream world.

>164 connie53: This book sounds interesting Connie, it's unfortunate that it wasn't as enjoyable as the author's other works. Which Mark Lawrence books would you recommend?

I loved The Book that wouldn't burn and am reading the next book in this series now The Book that Broke the World



The blurb NOT my review

Two people living in a world connected by an immense and mysterious library must fight for those they love in the second book in a new trilogy from the international bestselling author of The Book That Wouldn't Burn. The Library spans worlds and times. It touches and joins distant places. It is memory and future. And amid its vastness Evar Eventari both found, and lost, Livira Page. Evar has been forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover the book she wrote--one which is the only true threat to the library's existence--if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into a world he's never seen, Livira's path will taker her deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

>166 connie53: Finished this book and it gets - ROOT # 45

My review

The sequel to 'The Book that Couldn't Burn' and it is just as good and complicated as the first book. There are many types of creatures in the book. There are Humans, Canith (a dog-like species), Ganar, (a bear-like species), Skeers (life-sized arachnid). The assistants are enormous, but there are only a few of them.
It all started in book 1 with Livira (a human girl) and Evar (a Ganith boy) who fall in love with each other. They also play a role in this book, but more of a supporting and not directly leading role. Although it is an intriguing story that really, even when I was not reading, kept playing in my head. I read it in English and that may also make it more difficult. There are so many non-English or Dutch terms, that I sometimes had to guess the meaning. But still it played as a kind of alternative world through my daily life. That is enough reason to give it a 9. I especially liked the messages that you can get from it. Different races can easily live side by side. And even love each other and forgive each other or care for each other, without distinction of race or color or anything else. The story takes place for the most part in a large library, but then I mean an immensely large library. There are lies and mistrust, peace and skirmishes, friendships and loves, caring for each other and quarreling.

Read with great pleasure, but I actually think that of all the books by Mark Lawrence.

Finished Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher - ROOT # 46 -

My review

This is a really wonderfully uncomplicated book that I read with great pleasure. It is also a relief to read a book with only 4 characters and 2 supporting roles for a gnome and a doe.
It is a kind of quest because Slate, an exceptionally talented forger of all kinds of forms, accepts a mission to search for the Clockwork Boys, enormous robots that threaten to ruin the city where Slate currently lives.
She is joined by Brenner, a murderer and her former lover, Caliban, paladin, an ex-knight and exorcist of demons and by Learned Edmund, a young scholar who finds it terrible to have to tolerate a woman as leader of the group. The four of them set off and of course encounter all kinds of resistance, troubles and mutual quarrels. Halfway through the story, the badger-like Grimehug and a doe that collects demons also come along. I'll quickly continue with part 2.

The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher - ROOT # 47 - Forumchallenge # 37

The blurb NOT my review

In the sequel to Clockwork Boys, Slate, Brenner, Caliban and Learned Edmund have arrived in Anuket City, the source of the mysterious Clockwork Boys. They even managed to build some trust in each other's skills. That trust is built on quicksand as the risks continue to escalate. But the secrets they're keeping could well destroy them, before the city even gets the chance...Old foes and consequences of past decisions lurk in the shadows.

Finished The Wonder Engine by T. Kingfisher and the book gets - ROOT # 47 - Forumchallenge # 37

My review

This second part of the Clocktaur War was created, according to the author, because it would be too thick as one book. I don't see a problem with that. But anyway, the author decided it that way.
It is just as full of humor as the first part was. Now that they have arrived at their destination, Slate, Caliban, Brenner and Learned Edmund have to find a way to destroy the Wonder Engine. They are helped by a number of Gnoles, including Grimehug and Sweet Lily. In the meantime, Caliban is also fighting the demon that is still inside him, but is sleeping most of the time. Caliban and Slate have also gradually given in to their attraction to each other. But this is made somewhat difficult by the fact that they are both rather clumsy with the things they say. I read this book with great pleasure.

Started two more books today.



A Fae Coin Transported Me Into Another World and Now I'm the Gay Holy Maiden by AJ Sherwood - E-book - Forumchallenge # 38

The Blurb NOT my review

What happens when you fall and hit the webtoons trope tree? You get killed by Truck-kun, get transported to a fantasy world by a sentient Fae coin, and become the first gay holy maiden.

Jake Alexander is Not Happy to be sure. Fortunately in Jake's case, part of the trope tree includes the gorgeous Duke of the North, Theon. And starting a business from scratch, which he's always wanted to do. And revitalizing his new country which is on the verge of collapse.

He could do without the killer miasma and corrupted kings and the singing magic and a sentient coin that doesn't shut up, however.
Jake's not sure if he should thank or melt the Fae coin into *ahem* something more useful.

And



Het boek der deuren by Gareth Brown - Book - ROOT # 48 - OB 2024

The blurb NOT my review

Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers--a lonely yet charming old man--dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading. But this is no ordinary book...It is the Book of Doors. Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.Then she's approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He's a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie's possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them. Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors--and the other books in his secret library's care--from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie's book can get them there. But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force--in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman--is at the very top of that list.

Finished A Fae Coin Transported Me Into Another World and Now I'm the Gay Holy Maiden by AJ Sherwood and the book gets

My review

I really enjoyed this book, although it is quite absurd what Jake can do. But then again, he has been given a certain amount of divine magic.
Jake is quite unhappy, his parents disapprove of everything he does and are always disappointed in him. One day he picks up a coin from the street and when he opens his eyes again he is in a strange room in the bed of a strange man. And it turns out that he has also ended up in another world. The strange man is Theon, a very attractive young man. Theon turns out to be a Fae and the Duke of a piece of land with a kind of mansion and a surrounding village. Theon and Jake are immediately attracted to each other. And Jake turns out to have a very large form of divine magic. Since Jake cannot sit still, he starts doing some work with that magic to make the lives of the villagers more pleasant. The village is surrounded by a sickening mist that is getting closer and closer and while the love between Theon and Jake is growing, Jake also tries to put an end to the mist and for that he has to go to the source.
This book is full of magical creatures, Trolls, Orcs, Gnomes and Dragons. It is written in a light-hearted way with a great sense of humor and also some explicit sex scenes, which I have only skimmed a little.

Started in Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

The blurb NOT my review

Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle's estate... and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws... and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all

Finished the book in >173 connie53: and the book gets - ROOT # 48 - Forumchallenge # 39

My review

This was another great book by T. Kingfisher. Good story and well written with humor and very nice main characters like Halla, Sarkis and Zale. And Brindle was also present (one of the gnoles from the Clocktaur War books. Halla is a 36 year old widow who, after the death of her husband, has been a housekeeper for her great uncle Silas for several years. When it turns out, after his death, that he has left everything to Halla, the family of her deceased husband is not happy, and especially aunt Malva. Malva wants Halla to marry her son Alver, but Halla declines. Her first marriage to a brother of Alver was a disaster and Halla does not like Alver. When she is locked in her bedroom, she has to find a way to escape. The only solution she can find is suicide and for that she wants to use the sword that has been hanging on the wall in the bedroom for years. When she pulls the sword out of its sheath, a swordsman, Sarkis, suddenly appears in her room. After recovering from the shock, it turns out that Sarkis lives in the sword and is now her protector. They decide to flee and start looking for a lawyer to sue the family, and they find Zale, a lawyer priest of the Rat God. With a little help from Brindle and his ox cart, they set off to ask Silas' friend Bartholomew for advice.
I especially enjoyed the humor. Halla is someone who doesn't give answers that are only a sentence long. She just rattles on (if she needs to) until the people who try to talk to her are bewildered and have no idea what they were asking.
A wonderful book. The sequels will certainly not go unread for long.

Started and finished Het geluid van stilte by Belinda Aebi - ROOT # 49 - Forumchallenge # 40 -

The blurb NOT my review

Eduard and Ulrica van Loo have successfully purchased, trained and sold thoroughbred horses for many years. Now that they are retired, they leave the tasks to their three children Olaf, Alexander and Elizabeth. Elizabeth runs a riding school herself, where she gives hippotherapy to autistic children. When Alexander brings Elizabeth's daughter to the riding school one day, he is grabbed by a motorcyclist who commits a hit-and-run. He has a serious head wound and is taken to the Gent University Hospital, where he dies. Maud and her detectives get clues that make Alexander's death very suspicious and mysterious.

My review

What a terrible book this is. Fortunately not too thick and it was for the Forum Challenge, so I just read on. Young Alex is found dead, with his 7-year-old niece Amber next to him. The person who hit him with a motorcycle has left the place of the accident and that is why the criminal investigation department is called in, led by Maud Gelderman. I don't know much about Belgian police regulations, but the rules that are adhered to in this book are very strange in my eyes. And almost everyone has something, from Asperger's, autism, jealousy to prostitution and gambling addiction and all that in 161 pages. And at the end I still didn't know who had done what and who the ultimate murderer/res is.

>175 connie53: Oh, that sounds like an awful book. I hope your next one gives you more joy!

I hope so too. It can't be more awful than this one.

Finished Het boek der deuren by Gareth Brown - ROOT # 50 - OB # 3 -

My review

Although the time travel principle is abandoned here and people can walk around in the same world at the same time at different ages, I still enjoyed this book. I found it well written and easy to read.
Cassie and Izzy became friends when they worked together in a bookstore and are now roommates. Cassie receives a book from a customer of the bookstore, just before he dies in the store. It is the book of doors, with which you can step into another part of the world through a door where you are, as long as you can visualize a door opening there. They visit a number of familiar places together, but when Cassie later starts experimenting alone, she notices that she can also go back in time. And there are several magical books, each with a different property, such as joy, pain, health and shadow. However, she notices that there are also owners of books who will stop at nothing to obtain as many other books as possible.
Later, Cassie meets Drummond Fox who takes her from his mansion, which he has made invisible to others with the book of shadow.
There are quite a few deaths in this book and that was sometimes quite intense reading. So I just kept going.

I started in Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

The Blurb NOT my review

Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year...Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind...

Meeting with Barbara (Ameise) in Roermond

Hurray for LT meetups! Great photo :)

Dear Connie, thank you so much for bringing us closer to your home town. We really enjoyed it. It was great to meet you in person. The time flew by in a flash. 😘💖

How lovely! 😍

Thanks , Barb. I enjoyed it too and realized that I really don't know that much about my town's history and that it is rather small.

>180 connie53: Oh wonderful!

Finished Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher and the book gets

My review

T. Kingfisher (pseudonym) writes so many different books under different names. But I always like what she writes under this name. This time the main characters are Grace and Stephen. Stephen is one of the few remaining paladins and Grace is a young woman who can make very good perfumes and earns her money with it. One day she has to flee from a robber and Stephen comes to her aid. They then continue to circle around each other a bit. When a king from a friendly country comes to visit the court, Grace is asked to make a special perfume for that king. Together with her friend Marguerite she goes to hand over the perfume and Stephen is asked to go along as a kind of bodyguard. Then the book takes a completely different direction. The king seems to have been poisoned by the perfume and Grace is captured on suspicion of attempted murder. And Marguerite and Stephen have to do everything they can to defend her. What I like about these books is that every now and then a character from her other books passes by. In this case, it were Bishop Beartongue and lawyer Zale.
It is a bit less that Grace and Stephen fall for each other and that they both cannot believe that those feelings are mutual, which is why they keep circling each other. Fine, but that could be a bit less evident throughout the book. Fortunately, the book is written with a lot of humor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Het teken van de vogel by Deborah Harkness - ROOT # 51 - BFB # 10

The blurb NOT my review

Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself--and her family history ...
Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family's future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It's time you came home, Diana. On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family's dark past and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power?if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it

Finished Het teken van de vogel by Deborah Harkness - ROOT # 51 - BFB # 10 -

My review

This is the fourth book in the All Souls series and it took me a long time to finish it. Not because it is a bad story, but because I was distracted by other things. It is the story of Diana Bishop, her husband Matthew de Clermont and their children, the twins Philip (Pip) and Rebecca (Becca). Almost all the characters in this book are witches, vampires or demons or a combination.
When the twins are almost 7, they will be tested according to the rules whether and what their magical powers are, but Diana is not happy about that. She does not have pleasant memories of her own test. But before anything happens, Diana receives a letter from her great-aunt Gwyneth who asks her to come to the Ravenswood estate to find out more about her father's family. That is the very extended Proctor family. When it looks like the visit will last longer than a few days, her husband and children also come and it becomes an interesting visit full of magic and family complications.
Excellent book, complicated by the many, many family members and names to keep apart.

De kleermaakster van Parijs by Georgia Kaufmann

The blurb NOT my review

Rosa Kusstatscher has built a global fashion empire upon her ability to find the perfect outfit for any occasion. But tonight, as she prepares for the most important meeting of her life, her usual certainty eludes her. What brought her to this moment? As she struggles to select her dress and choose the right shade of lipstick, Rosa begins to tell her incredible story. The story of a poor country girl from a village high in the mountains of Italy. Of Nazi occupation and fleeing in the night. Of hope and heartbreak in Switzerland; ambition, glamour and love in Paris. Of ambition and devastation in Rio de Janeiro; success and self-discovery in New York. A life spent running, she sees now. But she will run no longer.

I wish you and your loved ones a happy and blessed festive season.