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Beetle Queen

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Beetle Queen

22nd April 2020

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Just been approved for Extremophile by Ian Green o

Just been approved for Extremophile by Ian Green on @netgalley

Had a quiet night tonight, can you tell?

Had a quiet night tonight, can you tell?

Just starting to get around to using the new deck

Just starting to get around to using the new deck I received called The Change Tarot.

This part is where I draw five cards to get a feel for the deck.

What is the energy of the deck?
This was the Two of Cups, which lets me know that the decks energy is about making connections, trust, and harmony.

What is my initial energy when I interact with this deck?
This was the Knight of Cups, which was probably referring to my love of the design and muted palette, using the Rider-Waite-Smith iconography but having a cooler colour scheme.

What might I learn about myself when using this deck?
This is the Eight of Wands, this deck could let me know more about the energy and need to keep moving forward and the need to do something.

What kind of growth might this deck inspire in me?
This is the Page of Wands, this deck could give me inspiration and help me get toward that growth I'm always after.

Card of the day
This is the Nine of Swords, talks about my feelings of depression, anxiety, and fears and that these are weighing on me at the moment and to not let these worries become self-fulfilling.

I'll be using this for my daily reads for the rest of the week and putting up a review on the blog and Waterstones at the end of the week.

#tarotreading #tarot #tarotcards #tarotdeck #thechangetarot @hayhouseinc

Day 22 of 19 with some of my favourite poems. #po

Day 22 of 19 with some of my favourite poems.

#poem #poetry #nationalpoetrymonth

Monday morning once more, this week I'm reading "H

Monday morning once more, this week I'm reading "How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying" by Django Wexler

What book(s) are you reading this week?

#amreading #books #bookstagram

Lights on the blinds listening to #ttpd once more

Lights on the blinds listening to #ttpd once more

Arancini for lunches and fish stew for dinners nex

Arancini for lunches and fish stew for dinners next week

#homecooking #stew #arancini

Never realised it was St Bueno’s day, the patron

Never realised it was St Bueno’s day, the patron saint of curlews, and so it is also World Curlew Day

#worldcurlewday #curlew

Zoe Thorogood. Image Comics. (196p) ISBN: 97815343

Zoe Thorogood. Image Comics. (196p) ISBN: 9781534323865

It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth

I know this wasn’t published this year but I’m feeling really lucky in having read so many amazing graphic novels in the last few months.

I’ve sold loads of this in the Middlesbrough shop that I felt I had to read it and I’ve now eventually got round to it.

I was instantly enthralled by the depiction of the looming mass of depression always sitting around somewhere and the various voices that talk to your depths and worst fears, especially when the looming mass is extra close.

Loved the different art styles used throughout as expectations, energy, thought patterns changed and swirled constantly second guessing and denigrating the self but through the lens of different parts/ages of self.

A very raw and honest look at several months of Zoe’s life, her expectations, her thoughts, her multiple realisations, the ups and downs and ins and outs of examining life in its minutia and coming back with different answers each time but having to accept that that is the answer that is working (or not) at this point.

So well deserved of all the praise I had heard about it and now looking forward to discovering more of Zoe’s work.

I received this from NetGalley and Image comics in exchange for an honest review.

@zoethorogood @imagecomics @netgalley #graphicnovel #memoir #depression #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

Updated April read grids, one of my favourite read

Updated April read grids, one of my favourite reads of the year along side one of my least favourites

#booksread #aprilreads #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #haveread

Book 49 of 2024...

Book 49 of 2024...

Cat loves her window

Cat loves her window

Veronica Roth. Titan Books. (176p) ISBN: 978180336

Veronica Roth. Titan Books. (176p) ISBN: 9781803363585

When Among Crows

At about this time last year I read Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth and absolutely loved it, so was really looking forward to this novella as soon as I saw it on NetGalley…

and I wasn’t disappointed, from the very start we were immersed in a magical culture so different from the usual worlds we see portrayed in fantasy and urban fantasy.

The first chapter started the story off in such a vivid and fascinating manner I was hooked, then late on I was going to bed to finish a chapter and continue it the next day but just couldn’t put it down! So finished it at 1am, I’ve not done this for a long time.

Full of dark stories of blood, revenge, guilt, remorse, ancient hate, and curses all set in modern day Chicago where the various creatures of Slavic mythology have come across running from some of the same things that other waves of immigrants were running from. Finish this with a great tale of found family and an eventual kiss that seals the story.

The world building is amazing for such a short work and throws you full blown into the dark underworld that these creatures inhabit and the magic systems which are based on debt and/or blood.

My only disappointment is that I had to leave the world so beautifully and carefully described.

I’m always a sucker for stories with a depiction of Baba Jaga, and combine this with a quest story was brilliant, the depiction of the leszy at the start of the book was brilliant and this was the introduction to the idea of magical places coming from some form of debt.

As I said I just couldn’t put it down until finished and would love this world to be revisited at some point.

I received this from NetGalley and Titan Books in exchange for an honest review.

#fantasy #urbanfantasy #slavicmythology @veronicaroth @titanbooks #novella #bookstagrammer #boostagram #bookreview

Day 21 of 19 with some of my favourite poems #poe

Day 21 of 19 with some of my favourite poems

#poem #poetry #nationalpoetrymonth

Mushroom risotto with braised cabbage tonight it i

Mushroom risotto with braised cabbage tonight it is then #risotto #homecooking

Gianni Washington. Serpent’s Tail. (256p) ISBN:

Gianni Washington. Serpent’s Tail. (256p) ISBN: 9781800816312

Flowers from the Void

The description of this horror collection from Gianni Washington had me intrigued as it sounded so varied, varied but all of the descriptions were so dark.

The first story gripped me immediately and was a good indication of the quality of the rest of the collection, so Cenobite, and so well written

From cosmic horror this collection of short stories seemed to have something for all tastes, some slightly bloodier than others, some going down a very slow burn route, but no matter which story it was the pay off was always worth it.

As with all collections some where stronger than others but that is always down to personal taste and for me my three stand outs were: Prelude: The Glass Terminal, Redemption Express, and Hold Still, but there really isn’t a terrible story in this collection.

This is a great example of the short story horror form and looking forward to reading more from Gianni.

I received this from NetGalley and Serpent’s Tail in exchange for an honest review.

#horror #shortstories #collection @serpentstail #netgalley #flowersfromthevoid

Cherry Blossom Moon

Cherry Blossom Moon

Just started working with The Change Tarot by Jess

Just started working with The Change Tarot by Jessica Dore, Xaviera Constanza Lopez Liendo.

Subdued colour palette heavily influenced by the Ryder-Waite-Smith deck but with the symbolism lessened but clarified in the cards I’ve seen so far.

Here we have The Fool, The Emperor, The Hanged Man, The Moon, The World, Ace of Cups, Seven of Pentacles, Knight of Wands, and King of Swords.

Over the next week I’ll be doing some daily draws and getting a review ready.

#thechangetarot #tarotdeck #tarot #tarotcards #cartomancy

Not seen these bookcases like this for almost 2 mo

Not seen these bookcases like this for almost 2 months, lots of work was done in the house, getting things back to normal so I can see all the books again is so relaxing!

Can feel some of that fury and rage bleeding out with the return to normality 🧘‍♂️

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