Month: February 2014

Review: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

Posted February 16, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 0 Comments

Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey Published by Harper Voyager on September 2nd 2014 Genres: Fantasy, Fiction Pages: 416 Format: E-Book Source: Own Copy Buy on Amazon Goodreads “An addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece.”—William Gibson “A sharp-edged urban fantasy, drenched in blood and cynicism, tipping its hat to Sam Peckinpah, Raymond Chandler, and the anti-heroes of Hong Kong cinema….A bravura performance.”—San Francisco Chronicle “I couldn’t put it down.”—Charlaine Harris Sandman Slim has arrived—a wild and weird, edge-of-your-seat supernatural roller-coaster rider that propels author Richard Kadrey to the forefront of the fantasy, thriller, and a host of other literary genres. This spellbinding, utterly remarkable tale of a vengeful magician/hitman’s return from hell is part H.P. Lovecraft, part Christopher Moore, part Jim Butcher, and totally, unabashedly dark, twisted, and hilarious. The opening chapter of Sandman Slim throws you straight into the story, with the reader having no time to grasp what is occurring. Stark is throw into the cosmic battleground, where there appears to be no good guys (the Angels do not come across as particularly angelic). The book is written in […]

Review: 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Posted February 13, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 0 Comments

12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup on January 1st 1970 Genres: Biography, Historical, Non-Fiction Format: E-Book Source: Own Copy Buy on Amazon Goodreads A film tie-in edition of this eloquent and powerful memoir, to accompany the major new film starring Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives, Twelve Years a Slave is a harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. It recounts how Solomon Northup, born a free man in New York, was lured to Washington, D.C., in 1841 with the promise of fast money, then drugged and beaten and sold into slavery. He spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity on a Louisiana cotton plantation. I decided to read 12 Years a Slave before I saw the film, and I managed to read the whole book in one sitting on a train ride home. How can a book like this have disappeared from bookshelves? I am thankful to the film for bringing this story back from obscurity. Twelve Years a Slave conveys […]

Review: Blight of Mages by Karen Miller

Posted February 13, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 0 Comments

A Blight of Mages by Karen Miller Published by Orbit on May 1st 2012 Genres: Fantasy, Fiction Pages: 767 Format: Paperback Source: Own Copy Buy on Amazon Goodreads Hundreds of years before the great Mage War, a land lies, unknowing, on the edge of catastrophe… Barl is young and impulsive, but she has a power within that calls to her. In her city, however, only those of noble blood and with the right connections learn the ways of the arcane. Barl is desperate to learn-but her eagerness to use her power leads her astray and she is banned from ever learning the mystic arts. Morgan holds the key to her education. A member of the Council of Mages, he lives to maintain the status quo, preserve the mage bloodlines, and pursue his scholarly experiments. But Barl’s power intrigues him-in spite of her low status. Together, he realizes they can create extraordinary new incantations. Morgan’s ambition and Barl’s power make a potent combination. What she does not see is the darkness in him that won’t be denied. A Blight of Mages […]

Challenge: 100 Books Everyone Should Read in a Lifetime

Posted February 11, 2014 by Charlotte in Challenge - 100 Books Everyone Should Read, Challenges / 13 Comments

The BBC recently published the list 100 books everyone should read in a lifetime and I got the shockingly low score of eighteen; I have, therefore, challenged myself to read every book on the list. How many have you read? Challenge so far 18/100 (started 11/02/2014) 1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (read 2003) 2. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien (read 2003) 3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (read 2002) 4. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling (read 1999-2007) 5. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 6. The Bible (read at School) 7. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8. Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9. His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman (read 2000) 10. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 11. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13. Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14. Complete Works of Shakespeare 15. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien (read 2003) 17. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk 18. Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger 19. The Time Traveler’s […]

Review: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

Posted February 10, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting Published by Allison & Busby on March 26th 2012 Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Pages: 380 Format: Paperback Source: Own Copy Buy on Amazon Goodreads In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she’s spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It’s there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she’s never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed. Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can’t be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence […]

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