Happy Pub day to all of these new books!
What books are you most excited for this week?
Title: Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell #1)
Author: Hilary Mantel
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: July 1, 2010
Rating: ★★★★
England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey’s clerk, and later his successor.
Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.
From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.
I love reading about English history. I especially like books written about Henry VIII and his wives. This book was great!
Since I love reading about this time period, I was familiar with a lot of the story. There were some interesting parts that I didn’t know, though. Whenever I read historical fiction, I find myself looking up things that happen in the story to find out if they really happened. There weren’t a lot of records kept for that time period, since it was hundreds of years ago, so I’m sure most of it is imagined, but it made a great story.
I found the writing difficult to follow at the beginning. Some of the dialogue was written without quotation marks, so it wasn’t easy to always recognize when someone was speaking. Another thing that was confusing was that the main character, Thomas Cromwell, was only referred to as “he” in the story, not by his name. Since most of the characters were men, it was confusing to figure out who exactly was talking sometimes.
I enjoyed this book! I’m looking forward to finishing the series.
Have you read Wolf Hall? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
This weekend I finished Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud.
I’m currently reading Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey.
Next I will be reading My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:
I did 8 weekly blogging memes:
How was your week? What did you guys read?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham.
The Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home—based on the true story of the British Home Children.
2018
At ninety-seven years old, Winnifred Ellis knows she doesn’t have much time left, and it is almost a relief to realize that once she is gone, the truth about her shameful past will die with her. But when her great-grandson Jamie, the spitting image of her dear late husband, asks about his family tree, Winnifred can’t lie any longer, even if it means breaking a promise she made so long ago…
1936
Fifteen-year-old Winny has never known a real home. After running away from an abusive stepfather, she falls in with Mary, Jack, and their ragtag group of friends roaming the streets of Liverpool. When the children are caught stealing food, Winny and Mary are left in Dr. Barnardo’s Barkingside Home for Girls, a local home for orphans and forgotten children found in the city’s slums. At Barkingside, Winny learns she will soon join other boys and girls in a faraway place called Canada, where families and better lives await them.
But Winny’s hopes are dashed when she is separated from her friends and sent to live with a family that has no use for another daughter. Instead, they have paid for an indentured servant to work on their farm. Faced with this harsh new reality, Winny clings to the belief that she will someday find her friends again.
Inspired by true events, The Forgotten Home Child is a moving and heartbreaking novel about place, belonging, and family—the one we make for ourselves and its enduring power to draw us home.
What book are you in bed with today?
This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Characters I’d Like To Be Stranded With. Here’s my list:
Did you write a Six for Sunday list?
Title: I Hope You Stay
Author: Courtney Peppernell
Genre: Poetry
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Rating: ★★★★
In the spirit of her bestselling series, Pillow Thoughts, Courtney Peppernell returns with a new, empowering collection of poetry and prose. From heartbreak to dreaming of and finding a new love to healing the heart to ultimately finding peace, the themes in this book are universal but also uniquely individual to readers.
Just as moving and endearing as Peppernell’s previous books, I Hope You Stay is a reminder of the resilience and hope needed after heartache and pain. The book is divided into five sections, with poems ranging from free verse to short form. These words are a light in the deepest hours of the night: Hold on. The sun is coming.
I’m not a big fan of poetry, but I really enjoyed Courtney Peppernell’s Pillow Thoughts collection, so I wanted to read this book.
The collection is divided into 5 parts: You will ache, You will dream, You will love, You will heal, and You will rise. These covered many subjects, from falling in love to breaking up with someone. I especially liked the final section, You will rise, which was about feeling empowered.
There was one poem about how women should stick together and support each other, which really resonated with me. Sometimes we judge others, without thinking about how we can help them instead. The example she gave in the poem was whispering to a woman to tell her she has lipstick on her teeth. We should look out for each other, rather than trying to bring each other down.
This is another great poetry collection by Courtney Peppernell.
Thank you Andrews McMeel for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read I Hope You Stay? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted Devouring Books. This week’s prompt is Trilogies. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
If you’d like to do this list too, consider yourself tagged!
Did you make a Top 5 Saturday list?
Title: Twisted Fairy Tales: Snow White and the Seven Robots
Author: Stewart Ross, Chris Jevons (illustrator)
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: February 15, 2020
Rating: ★★★★
When the wicked Star Queen shipwrecks her daughter, Snow White, on a remote forest planet, the plucky princess uses her engineering know-how to rebuild her ruined spacecraft into robot helpers! Can she and her mechanical friends find a way to defeat the Star Queen once and for all?
This is another great fairy tale with a twist.
This story takes place in space. Snow White has a talent for building robots. The evil queen sends her away, since she has been told by her “space book” screen that Snow White is the best. I liked these space and technology elements of the story.
There was a different twist to the story because the evil queen sends fruit robots to put Snow White to sleep, rather than giving her an apple. The fruit shoots a poison dart at her, and the only way to wake her is to remove it. This is another way a technological element replaced the magic of the original fairytale.
This was a great story!
Thank you Arcturus Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Twisted Fairy Tales: Snow White and the Seven Robots? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Laurie Reads and Niffler Reads. Every Friday, they post a list of bookish things based on the prompt they provided. The prompts for Feb to May can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Harry Potter Spells. Here’s my list:
Did you make a list for Bookish Friday?
Jill's Book Blog 