#toadles is adorable

[kaypanda]

Made a little tadg comic

[tkingfisher]

Hello I have just finished reading Thornhedge, and I have come here to tell you that it is a very sweet story, child-eating fish monsters and all. It is sweet, and wonderful, and I adore it, and I have cried a little bit over Toadling and her loneliness, but the end made it all better. Thank you for sharing her with us!

Thank you so much! I keep saying it’s a sweet story, and then people who know me for horror novels look at me with skepticism in their eyes, but it is! I’m glad you liked it.

[redheadgleek]

Books read July-September

July The Grace of Wild Things by Heather Fawcett. A completely enchanting Anne of Green Gables retelling. Utterly delightful and unique. Book Lovers by Emily Henry. My first book that I’ve read of hers and it set high standards for the rest of them. I loved the characters, I loved the romance, and it just made me feel all the feelings. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh (audio). A retelling of a Korean fairytale that I knew nothing about. I loved the voice actor (she sounded a lot like Christina Chong from Strange New Worlds). Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (audio). Drove to Yellowstone and back and this was one of my listens. I think it was even better as an audiobook – the voices were great. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I loved this book and I didn’t think I would, but it was written for my generation and dealt a lot with college and nostalgia and evolving friendships. A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. I don’t like her horror as much as I like her fairy tales and fantasy. A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland. A m/m romance set in a fictional Islamic-like world. The world building was fantastic, the magic building was disappointing, and the romance was sweet, if slow-building. The Celebrants by Steven Rowley. I almost gave up on this entirely after the first chapter, because it felt pretentious and dull and “look how adult we are because we are talking about using drugs”, but I kept reading because I liked the premise and by about half way through, I realized that i really liked the story and most of the characters. College nostalgia seems to be my thing right now, and this really captured that friendship – they just all needed less reliance on substances when having conversations. It made me want to do something similar with my friends.

August: Strange Planet by Nathan Pye. I really like his comics so this was a fun quick read from the library. In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (audio). The book on the drive back from Yellowstone. I didn’t really like the voice actor, which is surprising because I loved his voices in The House in the Cerulean Sea. The rhythm of his voice was off-putting. Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. Second book of the Arc of the Scythe series. A very solid second book. Nottingham: The True Story of Robyn Hood by Anna Burke. A gender swapped Robin Hood story – fast read and fun. The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson. Friend recommendation. My first Brandon Sanderson read. This was a well developed little novella and an ending that surprised me and yet fit quite well. The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran (audio). Truly depressing but important look at how systemic racism and blatant racism lead to the wealth gap. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. Lovely book, with interwoven characters, and plenty of gray humor. The Moon by Night by Madeleine L’Engle. I had a hankering to reread this after my failed to launch summer romances. Definitely felt the age of this book (written in the 1960s) and the pacing is much different than I remembered, but still some sweet parts. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. I don’t even know how to describe this book. Space opera meets Faust? Foster by Claire Keegan. So much atmosphere packed in this short story. Beach Read by Emily Henry. Not quite as good as Book Lovers, but a close second. They just never read on a beach… Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen. Book club. This was unexpectedly powerful and the theme of gun violence through was subtle but important. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. This was definitely a “you are my story had I had done what I could not do” for me so it probably hit me a little differently than others. It worked well as a When Harry Meets Sally rewrite. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher. A short Sleeping Beauty retelling of a sort. I adored Toadling. Meet the Austins by Madeleine L’Engle. Went back to read book 1 since I felt like I had missed things with the Moon at Night. I don’t know if I’ll read the whole series again. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. I keep expecting really terrible things to happen to her characters so I’m on edge when reading, but it’s never as bad as I fear.

September: Happy Place by Emily Henry. I was quite in my unhappy place by the end of this book and could grumble about it for hours. The Toll by Neal Shusterman. I can understand why there was some disappointment with the ending of the trilogy but I thought it was quite fitting and I loved the last chapter. Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg. Made me really miss Ruth Bater Ginsberg, but I also liked the focus on how friendships enrich adults lives (I’m liking this theme of friendship much better than the problems with mothers of the first half of the year). A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik. Friend recommendation. I found the 1st person narrative to be claustrophobic as it was all stream of consciousness and the world-building a little too pretentious, but the story was still enjoyable. Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. His books are always hit or miss for me and this one fell into more of the miss bucket – the mystery solved itself halfway through, the next quarter was my least favorite romance trope, and then it was off for another mystery.

Currently reading: Firekeeper’s Daughter (tried this one on audio and it was too much teenager angst, so reading it instead, Braiding Sweetgrass (audio), The Romance Rx (I’m so determined to find a good doctors in training story. I’m a quarter of the way through and can tell you that this won’t be it).

Friend recommendations still to go: The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel, Sweet Like Jasmine by Bonnie Gray, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.

[theliterarymess]

‘Thornhedge’ by T. Kingfisher

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ll be honest, I picked this up purely for the cover, and I wasn’t disappointed!

This was a really sweet and interesting retelling of the classic fairytale ‘Sleeping Beauty’. I liked that it reads more like the old fairytales rather than the Disney-fied watered down fairytales we get today.

Toadling was an adorable protagonist. Her story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It was an interesting point of view to explore, there’s a childlike innocence to Toadling that is very endearing as we see her exploring her moral compass

This was my first T. Kingfisher read and I can’t wait to read the rest of their works.

[travelinglibrariansdesk]

Two Very Different Books That I Read Overnight

I adore fairy tales. Since my present of Andrew Lang's The Blue Fairy Book at about age 5, I have always enjoyed them, and I enjoy equally those who rewrite them and inject new life into them, from Marissa Meyer's Cinder to Robert Munsch's The Paper-Bag Princess, Amanda Lovelace's the princess saves herself in this one and my beloved Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles to Jane Yolen's grim Briar Rose and Charles deLint's Jack the Giant-Killer - oh, I could go on and on. Oddly, a number of "princess saves herself" narratives appear in The Blue Fairy Book, though I suppose they're Mulan-esque: she has to disguise herself, either her cleverness or her beauty or both in order to be badass, and the resolution DOES involve a man. In Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) takes another angle altogether: the traditional villain of Sleeping Beauty IS the sleeping beauty. Narrated by Toadling, the "evil" fairy godmother of the usual story, Kingfisher's story takes us into faerie, giving us Toadling's history, but Maleficent this isn't. The author herself calls it a "sweet" novella, and that's a good description. Both hero and heroine are flawed, basically gentle characters, and the tearing down of the briars is a dubious prospect that both engage in, finally, as if they must finish the fairy tale rather than because the "prince" desires the "princess". For those who enjoy new interpretations, Thornhedge is a little gem.

How can I resist a book entitled The Book No One Wanted to Read? I spied this one on the "to be shelved" cart and grabbed it. It's a quick read, but fun. Author Richard Ayoade is a British comedian, director and actor, and his acerbic sense of humor showed throughout the book. The illustrations are lovely pen and ink images of a library and multiple "fig. 1" images that relate tangentially to the dialogue taking place between the narrator and the book who has written this book - that's not a typo. It's very meta - children who enjoy Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series might enjoy this later in their reading careers. I specifically refer to We Are In A Book!, one of the most delightful examples of breaking the fourth wall I have ever seen, children's lit or otherwise. Deadpool might have been raised on such literature. While the dialogue (and pictures) feature a high degree of snarky humor, the ultimate result of the conversation is almost cliche. Like all children's books, the ending inspires readers to go out and create their own works of art, yet Ayoade never lets it get sappy. This reader smiled, picturing the narrator tucking the grumpy, prickly book under her arm and quietly leaving the library to find a coffee shop to write in. This is probably a terrific book to read aloud with a kid who's a bit too old to be read aloud to.

[beckysbook5]

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher - ARC Review!

Today on my blog I have a review for #Thornhedge, the latest Novella by @UrsulaV. It's quirky, it's beautiful, it flips the traditional fairy tale on it's head and I bloody adored it! #BookReview

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? If only. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns…

[toadlingscentral]

Oh heck yeah I am ready for the toadlings attacks. *arms wrap around as many as they could before looking up at little Todd* hey you. Come join us. Plz. We need more adorable little ones for the puddle.

Little Todd looks at the cuddle puddle. It does look like fun. He does like hugs even though he won’t admit it. Maybe just this once? Little Todd makes a show of sighing before getting up. “I’m only doin this because ya won’t stop buggin me. An only for a minute,” Lil Todd replies before he goes over and joins the puddle. 

[kaypanda]

Okay now where’s the Tadg x Hasu Huntlow comparison post (/j)

Omg you are so right!!!

Ok first off I don’t know how I didn’t think of this these are my literal favorite characters from both!

Tadg and Hunter: when you first meet them they are grumpy and mean, and that’s what you are supposed to think. But they both turn over a new leaf and you learn they are not as mean as you thought they were. Still grumpy though. Oh boy do these two have a soft spot for their girlfriend (and it’s adorable). They both have a beast/palisman that picked them even when they were not expecting/ wanting that to happen (toadles and flapjack).

Hasu and Willow: well first they both have magical bees 🐝. They are both girls with bigger builds. They both are extremely powerful and over looked and not thought of to be as powerful as they are. They both are the sweetest but can totally kick butt. These two would be good friends, I can taste it lol

We haven’t gotten a whole ton of Hasu so it makes this a little harder. Thought the ending of TNC seemed to say that the next book will be more about her.

Also extra: yellow and green kind of color scheme, at least with the pictures I choose. And and and Hasu and Hunter, the two H’s both have teleportation powers :)

Tell me if I missed any

…These are literally the same ship