Why You Should Drop Everything And Go Read The Old Kingdom Series By Garth Nix

It was little more than three miles from the Wall into the Old Kingdom, but that was enough.
Across the Wall, in the Old Kingdom, the dead don't always want to stay dead. When Sabriel receives a message that her father, the Abhorsen, is trapped somewhere in Death, she must take up his sword and bells, return to the Old Kingdom to rescue him, and send the Dead back to rest.



Review: His Bloody Project

I am writing this at the behest of my advocate,
Mr Andrew Sinclair, who since my incarceration
here in Inverness has treated me with a degree
of civility I in no way deserve.
On a seemingly normal morning in 1869, a brutal triple murder rocks the remote highland village of Culduie. There is no doubt that the perpetrator is local teenager, Roderick Macrae, who freely and openly admits to carrying out the bloody crime.
All that's left in question is his motive, and his sanity.



Review: The Trespasser by Tana French

My ma used to tell me stories about my da.
Detective Antoinette Conway has had just about all she can take of the constant drip of hostility she's been facing since joining the murder squad. When she and her partner Steven Moran are handed the case of a young woman found dead in her home, it seems to be yet another slam dunk domestic, but it isn't long before they start to wonder if maybe there might just be a little more to the story.



What I Read This Month: September 2016


Ha, ha... ha. Yeah, so that went well. I had such hopes, such dreams, such plans of reading all of the things... all of the things. Then I had food poisoning. And then my mother had a hip replacement on about three days notice. And suddenly it was all busy busy, stress stress, unbelievable tiredness and OMIGOD I AM SO SICK OF THIS HOSPITAL! I read absolutely nothing off of my tbr, not a sausage, sigh, let's just forget September happened. But I did at least manage to read a small handful of books, a couple of which I even liked, so let's proceed...



Review: Alex As Well

There are moments in life where something happens and it changes everything.
Raised for fourteen years as a boy, Alex's parents never told her she was born intersex, but she just told them what she always knew: she is a girl. They did not take it well; her mother had a tantrum, her father walked out. Hoping to start over Alex enrolls at a new school, one where nobody has to know that she is anything but just another girl.



Review: The Reason I Jump

When I was small I didn't even know I was
a kid with special needs.
Naoki Higashida, a thirteen year old, non-verbal autistic boy from Japan had his world opened up by the application of an alphabet board, giving him a long desired way to communicate his thoughts to those around him. Here he answers questions about his experiences, the way his mind works, and of course, why he jumps.



Review: A Brief History Of Seven Killings

Listen. Dead people never stop talking.
Jamaica, 1976, and the country is at a tipping point. With just weeks until a general election, Bob Marley is planning a concert for peace, to unite the warring gangs and political parties. Around him spin the lives of gang kids, journalists, dons, forgotten one night stands, drug lords, hitmen and CIA operatives, not all of whom want him to succeed. Spanning years and continents, this is their story.



September TBR



I don't really tend to plan my reading to any major degree, I read what I feel like reading with a few exceptions for reading things in certain order, or in order to prepare for an upcoming release. But I do generally have some vague idea of a few of the things I would like to get to soon, so for this month, what's on my list?



What I Read This Month: August


And so another month comes to an end, another begins, and it is time to waffle on a bit about what I read. August was a pretty good reading month, I read some library books, a new release and a few things that have been sat unread on my shelves for years. I also reached a point where I had no idea what I wanted to read and so just thought, screw it, alphabetical order through my unread books it is...



Review: Salt To The Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Guilt is a hunter.
1945, WWII is heading towards its bitter end, and thousands flee from the oncoming Russian army through German occupied Europe. As the evacuation progresses, the paths of four young people, a Lithuanian, a Pole, a Prussian, and a German, are becoming entwined. All four have a secret. And all four are heading towards the Wilhelm Gustloff, and the greatest disaster in maritime history.



Top 10 Most Anticipated For The Rest Of 2016


Autumn is fast approaching and with it come a new host of book releases to salivate over. So, in order of expected release date, here are the top ten books that are coming out in the autumn months of this year (September to November) that I have a mighty need for. A mighty, mighty need indeed.


Adaptation Observations: The Little Prince


Title: The Little Prince
Source: Netflix
Director: Mark Osborne
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Mackenzie Foy, Riley Osborne
Adapting: Le Petite Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Rating: 

A Little Girl and her Mother are desperate to get her ready to attend the prestigious, if intimidatingly rigid and boringly adult, Werth Academy. They have a plan and they are going to stick to it. But a spanner, or an airplane propeller, is thrown into the works when the Little Girl meets her new next door neighbour, the Aviator, who begins to tell her the story of the time he was stranded in the Sahara desert and met a Little Prince.



Review: We Have Always Lived In The Castle

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood.
Merricat lives with her sister Constance and their unwell uncle in the large Blackwood house, hating and hated by the locals. They have lived content in their seclusion since Constance was acquitted of the murders of every other member of their household several years before. But a new threat to their way of life is about to appear, in the form of their opportunistic cousin, Charles Blackwood.



What I Read This Month: July 2016


August is here, July is no more, time for a quick wrap-up. I had a rather good reading month, read a grand total of fourteen things, I absolutely loved almost all of them, and didn't really dislike anything. So here is a quick run-down of what I read in the past month and what I thought of it...



Review: Harry Potter And The Cursed Child

Dad. He keeps saying it.
Nineteen years later, all is well, and Albus Severus Potter is off to Hogwarts. It's difficult being the son of famous Harry Potter, especially when your first day doesn't go quite as expected and you just don't fit in... But now it's time for Albus to have some adventures of his own, adventures that will dredge up the past and that could turn the present into a living nightmare...



Who's Excited For Harry?!


Are you excited for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child? Are you? ARE YOU?!

I've posted my pre-order request into the little postbox at my local Waterstones (a lovely magical touch from them) and am now staring at the clock, the calendar, everything that is defiantly telling me it isn't yet release day, and a certain Mr Potter's birthday, July 31st.

Now, I would sell my left kidney and at least three quarters of my soul to go and see the actual play in London (soon, soon... well, I can dream) but for the time being having a book of said play will be a nice stop-gap measure, to keep me going without incredible jealousy and terror of spoilers.

And obviously this gives me an excuse means I need to re-read the series. Again. Starting with the delightful illustrated edition of Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone. Yes, I have given myself six days to read all seven books... who needs sleep? Oh Hogwarts, how I've missed you.



Who else is having a cheeky re-read in preparation?


Review: Vicious by VE Schwab

Victor readjusted the shovels on his shoulder and stepped gingerly over an old, half-sunken grave. 
Victor Vale has just broken out of prison with only one thought on his mind: the man who put him there, Eli Ever. Ten years previous, Victor and Eli were college roommates, best friends, arrogant, brilliant, and undertaking a research project into the rumours of EOs, ExtraOrdinaries, people with superhuman powers…
But this is not a superhero story.



Greetings, Fellow Book Nerds


Hello lovely person, whoever you may be, and welcome to this small corner of the internet that I am apparently claiming as my own. Because we can do that now. Like sticking a flag in a piece of land for Queen and country, but without the physically having to go outside part.

I'm Stacey and I like books.

Do you like books? Fantastic, me too.

I am twenty-nine years old and I live in England, land of politeness, queuing and rain. I am besotted with my cats (and puppies), drink an obscene amount of tea, and have a small enormous obsession with Doctor Who. I also happen to be autistic, hence the name up there at the top. And as you've probably gathered, I love to read. Always have, I pretty much picked up a book in my grubby little baby hands the moment I learnt to physically grasp and never stopped.

So, how do I come to be here, metaphorically shouting into the void?

I went to see the Aladdin musical in London with my sister.

Strange reason to start a book blog you might think, but there is more to the story. Before heading to the theatre we had a few hours to potter about, so of course we popped into Foyles which is one of my favourite places, she sat in the coffee shop while I browsed, picking out some books I wanted her to read (I lend her books too but some are too precious, she'll hurt them) alongside my own stack. And so we had books on the mind, and in bags, while on the trip home.

Sadly the potentially lucrative reading time to be had on train journeys is scuppered by the motion sickness headaches that are the bane of my existence, I can't read at all on any form of transport and am very jealous of those who can. So instead I was talking to my sister, about the musical (which was rather fabulous, Genie completely stole the show), about my sister's blog, and about books. I made an offhand comment, joking about starting a book blog, my sister stopped and said, "actually, you really should".

The idea hadn't ever been more than an idle one for me, I'd considered joining in with booktube, which I really enjoy watching, but me and verbal communication aren't the best of friends, the written word is much more my speed. So gradually the idea lodged somewhere in the recesses of my brain, and now here we are. I am adding myself to the hordes of people rambling on the internet, my subject of choice; books.

I am bibliophile, hear me... well, sit quietly mainly.

So welcome, help yourself to a cup of tea.

Now shush, I'm trying to read.