March Wrap Up…

Welcome to my March Wrap Up. I had a great reading month in March, finishing 10 books (5 books off my TBR). I also received 1 ARC this month. I have reviews up or coming up for these books so as usual this is just going to be a brief rundown on each book I read.

Without further ado, let’s get into my March Wrap Up:

The Book Of Wondrous Possibilities by Deborah Abela: This book was wonderful. Reading this book was like reading a love letter to book lovers, authors, and booksellers. The way in which books are held in such high esteem in this story is really beautiful, and the way the characters believe in and love books is something I don’t think I have ever seen before. Add to this a face-paced, twisty, and thoroughly entertaining plot and you have a really great reading experience. I am so glad that I read this beautiful book.

Still Life With Bones by Alexa Hagerty: This book was fascinating. I knew going into this book that it would be an emotional read; and it was, what I hadn’t expected was how much I learned from this book. Alexa Hgerty beautifully captured some of the most heartbreaking situations while still moving the story forward. I loved the way she walked the line between science and emotion; it made for a really interesting reading experience. I am really glad that I read this book and I truly believe that this is a must-read for everyone.

Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was quirky and fun, while also being full of drama and emotion. I loved the way the characters were written and how they interacted with each other. I also loved getting to read about Shakespeare in a new and interesting way. This is one of those books that I put off reading for too long and now that I have read it I can’t wait to read it again.

The Truth Detective by Tim Harford: This book was great. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it and by how much I learned from it. The information was really easy to understand as well as being fun and on top of this, the illustrations by Ollie Mann added and bright, bold element that really elevated this book. This book is a must-have for all Middle-Grade readers.

The Dressmakers Of Auschwitz by Lucy Adlington: This book was equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. I have read a lot about the Holocaust so that helped me understand certain places and phrases in this book. I loved that we got to see human kindness grow in such a horrific place. This is one of those books that I am very glad that I read and I truly believe that everyone should read this book at least once in their life.

The House At The Edge Of Magic by Amy Sparkes: This book was magical. The story was thoroughly entertaining, the characters were weird and wacky yet still believable and likable, and the writing was fantastic; it built in all the right places and was emotional when it needed to be. Given how much I liked this book I can only imagine how much Middle-Grade readers are going to get from it.

Mim And The Anxious Artist by Katrina Nannestad: I loved this book. I am a massive fan of the Travelling Bookshop series so I was very excited to get my hands on this book. I loved the characters, the plot, and the writing. This is one of those books that draws you in and keeps you excitedly turning the page. Now that I have finished this book I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

The Tower At The End Of Time by Amy Sparkes: This book was wonderful. I was excited to read this book after reading its predecessor and I wasn’t disappointed. I loved learning more about the characters and seeing them grow and start to depend on each other. I also loved that we got to travel to new worlds with these characters which was a weird and wacky experience. I am very excited to now read the next book in this series.

Mim And The Disastrous Dog Show by Katrina Nannestad: I am a massive fan of The Travelling Bookshop series so I was excited to read this book, and I am happy to say it was everything I hoped it would be and more. I loved catching up with Mim and her family as well as meeting new characters. I also loved that this book had so many awesome animals in it. I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about this book.

The Bookshop At The Back Of Beyond by Amy Sparkes: This book was awesome. After reading the first two books in this series I was excited to dive into this book. I loved that we go to learn more about magic and magical places; as well as meet some new magical characters. This is one of those series that gets better and better as it goes on and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in this magical series.

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That’s it for my March Wrap Up. I hope you all had a great reading month. Let me know what you guys read this month in the comments section.

Queen Book Tag…

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in the Queen Book Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, let’s jump straight in:

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

A WORK THAT YOU FEEL SUCCESSFULLY TELLS THE STORY FROM MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW.

Black Summer by Michael Rowland.

WE WILL ROCK YOU/WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

A WORK, SERIES, OR AUTHOR YOU FOLLOW AND SUPPORT THE WAY A SPORTS FAN SUPPORTS THEIR FAVORITE TEAM.

Fiona Palmer.

DON’T STOP ME NOW

A WORK YOU CANNOT PUT DOWN.

The School That Escaped The Nazis by Deborah Cadbury.

KILLER QUEEN

A DOMINANT OR BADASS FEMALE CHARACTER.

Ridley Larsen – The Fourth Suit by Neil Patrick Harris.

A CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE

A WORK THAT INCLUDES A FORCED RELATIONSHIP.

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher.

UNDER PRESSURE (FT. DAVID BOWIE)

A WORK YOU WERE PRESSURED TO READ (BY A TEACHER, PEER, OR BOOKTUBE).

The Catcher And In Rye by J. D. Salinger.

I WANT TO BREAK FREE

A FEMINIST WORK.

Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn.

RADIO GAGA

A DYSTOPIAN WORK THAT MAKES YOU UNEASY, BECAUSE YOU FEEL ITS PREDICTIONS ARE OR WILL BE CORRECT.

All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown.

I WANT IT ALL

AN AUTHOR OR COLLECTION YOU WANT TO OWN IN THEIR ENTIRETY.

Stephen King.

INNUENDO

THE MOST SUGGESTIVE LINE IN LITERATURE (LIKE AN INNUENDO).

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.” – The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I’M GOING SLIGHTLY MAD

A WORK YOU ENJOY FOR ITS ECCENTRICITY.

The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

A WORK YOU ENJOYED THAT WAS POSTHUMOUSLY RELEASED.

The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank.

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Well, that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading… 

~>GEM<~

The Tower At The End Of Time by Amy Sparkes

‘Nine and her friends have broken the curse on their marvellous, magical House, and are free to travel the worlds once more! Their first stop: The Wizarding Hopscotch Championships.

There’s only one problem: the House is nervous about travelling – and gets the hiccups! Bouncing from world to world with every “HIC!”, they finally land at the championships, only for Flabberghast to have an unfortunate run-in with square number seven, and find himself faced with the terrible Tower at the End of Time.

But maybe here they can find out how to cure the House’s hiccups, and Nine might finally discover who left her the beloved music box, and who she really is…’

This book was wonderful.

After reading The House At The Edge Of Magic I was very excited to read this book, and I am happy to say it lived up to my high expectations.

I loved that this book picked up right after its predecessor ended; this made it really easy to slip right into the story without having to have any information dumps to fill the reader in on what they had missed. As this book is aimed at Middle-Grade readers the decision to pick up the story straight away really works.

In this book, we got to see a lot more growth from the characters and we got to learn more about each of the character’s backstories and motivations which I loved. Now that the characters are established I found it really interesting to see how they related to each other and to the situations they found themselves in.

Amy Sparkes has done a fantastic job with this book. The characters have grown and become more solid and believable, and the story was both interesting and character-driven. On tope of that, the writing was perfectly paced and easy to read. Now that I have finished this book I am excited to dive into the next book in this series.

The Tower At The End Of Time by Amy Sparkes is the perfect addition to The House At The Edge Of Magic series.

Pointless Facts 35!

As I am really enjoying compiling Pointless Facts, I am going to stick with my plan of posting a new list every month; at least until it stops being fun for me. So I hope you all enjoy this month’s installment of Pointless Facts.

Let’s jump in, shall we?

A German 16th-century religious book can be read in six different ways because of how it’s bound.

Australia has more sheep than humans. It has three times more sheep than humans in the country.

Australia was the second country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1902 after New Zealand.

As a struggling young writer, Harper Lee once got a year’s wages as a gift from her friends so that she could quit her job and devote more time to writing. She wrote To Kill a Mockingbird.

Little brown bats make for the longest nappers — in captivity, they nap up to 19.9 hours a day.

The first bookmobile in the world was launched in 1857. It was a horse-drawn wagon created to “diffuse good literature among the rural population.”

For 26 years from 1901 to 1927, Melbourne was the capital city of Australia.

A whopping 200 languages and dialects are spoken in Australia.

Written in AD 123, Chariton’s Chaereas & Callirhoe is the oldest existing novel in the world.

Australian mammals, Platypus and Echidnas are the only two mammals in the world that lay eggs to give birth.

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I hope you all enjoyed today’s pointless facts. Let me know in the comments if these pointless facts were new to you or if you had already come across them.

~>GEM<~

Mim And The Anxious Artist by Katrina Nannestad

‘Mim Cohen roams the world in a travelling bookshop, with her dad and brother and a horse called Flossy. Flossy leads them where she will, to the place where they’re needed most … the place where the perfect book will find its way home.

Now Mim has arrived in elegant Paris where she meets Pierre, a talented but anxious artist who cannot bear to give up his paintings, even to sell them. He’s miserable and poor. His customers are cross.

Mim knows they’re here to help Pierre. To calm him down. To turn him into a successful artist. To make him truly happy.

If only Mim could find him the right book. If only Dad would stop getting muddled and giving everyone the wrong book.’

I loved this book.

After reading the first two books in The Travelling Bookshop series I was both excited and nervous to read this book. Thankfully I had no reason to be worried as this book was everything I had hoped it would be.

Getting to journey with Mim, Nat, and Zeddy; as well as all animals of The Travelling Bookshop, was like catching up with old friends; warm and much needed. I loved that we get to see the characters grow and develop more of their personalities as this series continues.

I think it is wonderful that each of The Travelling Bookshop has its own message and something for young readers to learn. Having this book focus on Anxiety was something that I was really interested to read about. The way in which Anxiety was handled in this book is perfect for the intended age of the readers of the book.

Katrina Nannestad has done a fantastic job with this book. It was sweet and fun, while also teaching young readers an important lesson without being heavy-handed in any way. The characters were interesting and at times intriguing, and the writing was easy to follow and perfectly paced.

Adding to Katrina Nannestad’s fabulous story were stunning Illustrations by Cheryl Orsini. Cheryl Orsini’s illustrations not only bring the words to life they perfectly compliment the story being told.

I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about this book, and I cant wait to get stuck in the next book in this brilliant series.

Mim And The Anxious Artist by Katrina Nannestad is a wonderful addition to The Travelling Bookshop series.

Finally Autumn Book Tag…

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in the Finally Autumn Book Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, let’s jump straight in:

IN AUTUMN, THE AIR IS CRISP AND CLEAR

NAME A BOOK WITH A VIVID SETTING!

The Wrong Siter by Fiona Palmer.

NATURE IS BEAUTIFUL…BUT ALSO DYING

NAME A BOOK THAT IS BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN, BUT ALSO DEALS WITH A HEAVY TOPIC LIKE LOSS OR GRIEF.

The Book of Wondrous Possibilities by Deborah Abela.

IN ORDER TO KEEP WARM, IT’S GOOD TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH THE PEOPLE WE LOVE

NAME A FICTIONAL FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD/FRIEND-GROUP THAT YOU’D LIKE TO BE A PART OF.

The Cohen Family – Travelling Bookshop series by Katrina Nannestad.

THE COLOURFUL LEAVES ARE PILING UP ON THE GROUND

SHOW US A PILE OF FALL-COLORED SPINES!

AUTUMN IS THE PERFECT TIME FOR SOME STORYTELLING BY THE FIRESIDE

SHARE A BOOK WHEREIN SOMEBODY IS TELLING A STORY.

Black Summer by Michael Rowland.

THE NIGHTS ARE GETTING DARKER

SHARE A DARK, HAUNTING READ.

Destination Buchenwald by Colin Burgess.

THE DAYS ARE GETTING COLDER

NAME A SHORT, HEARTWARMING READ THAT COULD WARM UP SOMEBODY’S COLD AND RAINY DAY.

Dear Lover by Samuel Johnson.

AUTUMN RETURNS EVERY YEAR

NAME AN OLD FAVOURITE THAT YOU’D LIKE TO RETURN TO SOON.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

AUTUMN IS THE PERFECT TIME FOR COZY READING NIGHTS

SHARE YOUR FAVOURITE COZY READING “ACCESSORIES”!

Hot chocolate, Tim Tams, and my Weat Pack.

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Well, that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading… 

~>GEM<~

The House At The Edge Of Magic by Amy Sparkes

‘Nine is an orphan pickpocket determined to escape her life in the Nest of a Thousand Treasures. When she steals a house-shaped ornament from a mysterious woman’s purse, she knocks on its tiny door and watches it grow into a huge, higgledy-piggeldy house. Inside she finds a host of magical and brilliantly funny characters, including Flabberghast – a young wizard who’s particularly competitive at hopscotch – and a hideous troll housekeeper who’s emotionally attached to his feather duster. They have been placed under an extraordinary spell, which they are desperate for Nine to break. If she can, maybe they can offer her a new life in return…’

This book was magical.

This is one of those books that I picked up on a whim, so I didn’t have any previous information on it nor did I have any expectations. But it turns out that buying this book was a great idea, as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I loved the plot of this story; the magic elements sat right beside non-magic elements, making for an intriguing situation for the character to deal with. I also loved that we weren’t actually told when or where the book is set, this allows readers to imagine a place and time that they want which is unusual but really works for this story.

The characters in this book were both weird and wacky but were still relatable. This is a difficult balance to walk but it was perfectly executed in this book. The fact that each of the characters had their own personalities and faults was beautiful to see and made me really get behind their journey.

Amy Sparkes has done a fabulous job with this book. On top of the wonderful story and amazing character, the writing in this book was stunning. It was floaty and whimsical when it needed to be while still being based in reality. It also didn’t shy away from emotional moments. The switch between whimsical and emotional was made possible by fantastic pacing.

I am so glad that I decided to read this book and I cant wait to get stuck into the rest of the books in this series.

The House At The Edge Of Magic by Amy Sparkes is a must-have for all Middle-Grade readers.

St Patrick’s Day Facts!

As I am really enjoying compiling Pointless Facts each month, I have decided to put together a St Patrick’s Day Facts post. I hope you all enjoy these St Patrick’s Day Facts.

Let’s jump in, shall we?

The very first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the United States was held in Boston in 1737.

Corned beef and cabbage are traditional foods eaten on this holiday.

The city of Montreal has one of the longest-running and largest St Patrick’s Day parades in North America, occurring since 1824. 

Over 100 countries around the world celebrate St Patrick’s day.

Over 600 stadiums, statues, museums, and towers will light up green on St Patrick’s day.

St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish national holiday with banks, stores, and businesses closing for the day.

There are 34.7 million U.S. residents with Irish ancestry. This number is more than seven times the population of Ireland itself.

The real St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. He was born in Britain around A.D. 390 to an aristocratic Christian family.

Your odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000.

The world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in an Irish village. It lasts only 100 yards, between the village’s two pubs.

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I hope you all enjoyed today’s St Patrick’s Day Facts. Let me know in the comments if these facts were new to you or if you had already come across them.

~>GEM<~

The Dressmakers Of Auschwitz by Lucy Adlington

‘At the height of the Holocaust twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – mainly Jewish women and girls – were selected to design, cut, and sew beautiful fashions for elite Nazi women in a dedicated salon. It was work that they hoped would spare them from the gas chambers.

This fashion workshop – called the Upper Tailoring Studio – was established by Hedwig Hoss, the camp commandant’s wife, and patronized by the wives of SS guards and officers. Here, the dressmakers produced high-quality garments for SS social functions in Auschwitz, and for ladies from Nazi Berlin’s upper crust.

Drawing on diverse sources – including interviews with the last surviving seamstress – The Dressmakers of Auschwitz follows the fates of these brave women. Their bonds of family and friendship not only helped them endure persecution but also play their part in camp resistance. Weaving the dressmakers’ remarkable experiences within the context of Nazi policies for plunder and exploitation, historian Lucy Adlington exposes the greed, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Third Reich and offers a fresh look at a little-known chapter of World War II and the Holocaust.’

This book was fascinating.

As I have read and watched a lot of things about WWII and the Holocaust, I already had some knowledge of the women of Auschwitz who worked as seamstresses but I didn’t know much about their stories so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it.

Reading about these amazing women was equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. The strength that has to survive and the way they helped each other survive was truly remarkable, all the while living through and witnessing the worst of humanity on a daily basis.

As someone who has very little interest in fashion as a whole, there were sections of this book that were a little long for me, but the stories of the women; both before, during, and after the war, captivated me from the very first page. If you have an interest in fashion then this book is one you should definitely read.

Lucy Adlington has done a wonderful job with this book. The writing was descriptive and emotional while still being informative and interesting. The addition of photographs scattered throughout the book were not only perfectly placed they added an extra layer to the story being told.

I am very glad that I picked up this book and I am looking forward to learning more about these amazing women.

The Dressmakers Of Auschwitz by Lucy Adlington is a must-read for everyone.

St. Patrick’s Day Book Tag…

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in the St. Patrick’s Day Book Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, let’s jump straight in:

END OF THE RAINBOW:

WHAT BOOK DID YOU HAVE A HARD TIME TRACKING DOWN A COPY OF?

Black Summer by Michael Rowland

POT OF GOLD:

WHEN YOU FOUND THAT BOOK, WAS IT WORTH THE QUEST?

Yes. It was worth every single second of searching.

CELEBRATING A RICH HERITAGE:

NAME A BOOK THAT CONTAINS A WELL-DEVELOPED CULTURE/WORLD.

The Magic Misfits: The Fourth Suit by Neil Patrick Harris.

SHAMROCK SHAKES:

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FOOD TO SNACK ON WHILE READING?

Tim Tams.

FOUR-LEAF CLOVER:

NAME A BOOK YOU THOUGHT WOULD BE ‘JUST ANOTHER GENERIC BOOK’, BUT TURNED OUT TO BE SOMETHING GREAT.

The Last Woman in the World by Inga Simpson.

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Well, that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading… 

~>GEM<~