Tag Archives: Book Review

The Man Who Planted Trees

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Jean Giono, trans. Barbara Bray. Vintage. (64p) ISBN 9781784878016

The Man Who Planted Trees

The Man Who Planted Trees

I had to get this book as soon as I saw the cover and read the blurb, but as usual it has sat on my shelf for what feels like forever waiting for my mood to swing back to it.

Yesterday it did and I was so pleased it did, a short read but kept me engrossed from start to finish (along with the interesting story about its origin and life after writing).

Giono’s prose as translated by Bray is wonderful, full of heart and passion.

We enter the world of Elzéard Bouffier, a lone shepherd in the foothills of the Alps who day by day plants tree seeds and has a new world grow around him, literally. This growth brings back more than tree life, it bring back humans and hope in the valleys as the forests grow.

A lovely story about how one person can change things and that this can have such a positive impact on the world and those around them

I love these short books that come in to your life make a big impression and sit there at the back of your mind forever.

It has been made into a short film and if you want to watch it you can find it at YouTube.

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What Writers Read

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edited by Pandora Sykes. Bloomsbury Publishing. (208p) ISBN 9781526657480
What Writers Read

What Writers Read

As soon as I saw this I knew I was going to love it and I was right, a collection of essays from some of my favourite writers, talking about some of my favourite books.

Not only this all the profits go to the National Literary Trust who work toward ending literacy inequality, so if you want a good read that also help a good cause this is the book for you.

This year for me is a year of short stories, poetry, and essays so the format of this book is perfect, 35 short essays from writers on their favourite books, with the last essay by Fatima Bhutto being the one I agree with wholeheartedly! Who can choose just one book as a favourite, all the others would just get so jealous and each book I’ve read has helped develop me into who I am now equally.

Though saying this there are some excellent choices by the various authors especially when their reasoning is taken into account; Catch-22 from William Boyd, Caleb Azumah Nelson with NW, Kit de Waal choosing The Thing About December.

These insights into an authors life through their favourite books and how that developed their own personality and practice speaks to the strength of books as agents of change and development, especially when the book gives a voice that has never been heard before and explains that niggle that has just been sitting at the back of your head.

This was going to be a book I read one chapter a night but once I started I just had to finish.

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Circe

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Madeline Miller. Bloomsbury. (352p) ISBN 9781408890042
Circe

Circe

I was very late to reading this and never understood why, I had it on my bookshelf from the moment it came out in paperback as I’d loved Song of Achilles so much and was looking forward to it but it sat there for ages.

In the end I listened to it on the library audiobook service and that was absolutely perfect and seemed entirely apt to listen to a mythology as part of an oral storytelling tradition.

We are taken into the world of Greek mythology once more by Madeline Miller, this time to explore the myth of Circe through her eyes and with her words, not through the eyes of a hyper-male society and modern patriarchal adaptations.

This was a stunning adaptation, closely following the myth, with Madeline Miller’s lyrical text mirroring a lot of forms of Greek myth narrative style. Writing HERstory is always difficult as it is a voice that we’re not used to and it centres parts of the story that are often brushed aside or glorified when they really need to be highlighted.

Madeline Miller does an excellent job of this, and I especially loved the swine story and how it was viewed from Circe’s point of view.

I think it was also enhanced by listening to it, Perdita Weeks was the perfect narrator/voice, I could imagine listening to this in a public space being performed to an audience.

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Swashbucklers

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Dan Hanks. Angry Robot. (400p) ISBN 9780857669384
Swashbucklers

Swashbucklers

Let’s start this off with the fact that I’m a great fan of Angry Robot, they always seem to release great books 🙂

Cisco is the only one that remembers Deadman’s Grin, this has not been great for his life and marriage as he also can’t let go.

And in Dark Peaks it’s all starting over again!

This was a great read, really pulled me through from start to finish. Some wonderfully described images still stick in my mind, especially the Christmas Market!

Dan plays with a lot of tropes from old children’s favourites and some newer film-based ones, but puts his own twist on them and serves them up fresh (love the use of old consoles) and without stumbling.

In places quite dark, but also very funny, a bit horror, a bit fantasy, a bit sci-fi but all a great story, looking forward to reading more from Dan.

I was given this on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Patreon which would help pay for my hosting, domain names, streaming services, and the occasional bag of popcorn to eat while watching films.

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A Madness of Angels

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Kate Griffin. Little Brown. (496p) ISBN 9781841497334
A Madness of Angels

A Madness of Angels

I have several books I reread if I get into a bit of a rut and find myself unable to read, A Madness of Angels is one of them.

Familiarity is one of the main reasons, but this is such a great example of urban fantasy with a great original premise that it still grabs me and excites me after all this time (2009).

We are introduced to a world where sorcerers and other magic users tap into the magic around them in the urban environment, a world of litterbugs, neon demons, personifications of an idea, and hunger…

Matthew Swift was killed two years ago and is out for vengeance, maybe even justice. And he has very powerful friends/symbiotes/angels to help him achieve this.

A fast-paced urban fantasy which has a great twist on the genre. This first book is a brilliant setup for the rest of the series but doesn’t feel like just pure world building and exposition.

It develops the magic of the world perfectly, showing various different factions, various powers, and hints at so much more.

Some brilliant set pieces including a pit fit, dragons, aluminium fairies, Jeremy the Troll, and so much more make this one of my favourite re-reads.

If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Patreon which would help pay for my hosting, domain names, streaming services, and the occasional bag of popcorn to eat while watching films.

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Treacle Walker

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Alan Garner. 4th Estate Books. (160p) ISBN 9780008477790

Treacle Walker

Treacle Walker

I preordered this the moment I heard that Alan Garner was releasing a new book, his take on mythology in children’s fiction is always wonderfully nuanced and executed.

All the way through this there was the feel of an epic poem or a folk ballad with the prose being so lyrical and flowing and filling all the gaps of thought as I was reading it, it almost begged to be read aloud.

Treacle Walker tells the story of Joe, a boy with a lazy eye, marbles, and a chimney, his meeting with Treacle Walker, his desire to find the cuckoo and the changes this brings to his life.

There are hints of deep and old magics, especially in one of Joe’s dreams, where he dreams of music under the hill, a common theme of the fey in Britain where they will entrance you and lead you astray.

We see Joe and Treacle Walker exchanging objects and get a hint of the magics to come early on in the book and we’re never sure of anyones motives throughout. Full of strange adventures and mystical guides Joe has to navigate ever confusing worlds to realise his destiny.

Unfortunately this was only a novella and finished oh so quickly, but any longer and it wouldn’t have been as pin sharp as it was.

A brilliant book from a wonderful writer.

If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Patreon which would help pay for my hosting, domain names, streaming services, and the occasional bag of popcorn to eat while watching films.

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Ten Things About Writing

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Joanne Harris. September Publishing. (320p) ISBN 9781912836598

Ten Things About Writing

Ten Things About Writing

Following Joanne Harris on Twitter is always worth it, supportive and enthusiastic about writing and the process, and her twitter threads of “Ten Things…” are always refreshing.

So as soon as I saw that she was releasing a collection of her writing tips in a single volume I popped it onto my #TBR.

My original idea was just to have this by my computer and read it bit by bit as I worked, getting inspiration or support from it when I needed it.

This is still going to happen and it now does have pride of place by the monitor, but I couldn’t resist reading it from start to finish in a couple of days as the collection of tips and information was moreish.

One was never enough as each led onto another naturally and before I knew it half the book was gone.

Each section is a themed collection of ten different areas about writing with ten hints/tips/ideas and more listed there to help and support writers whatever part of the journey they’re on.

My personal favourites being Permission and Imposter Syndrome since I’m in the foothills of writing right now and I’ll be reading these again, regularly.

A great collection that has made me feel supported and given me more confidence in actually writing rather than wanting to write.

If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Patreon which would help pay for my hosting, domain names, streaming services, and the occasional bag of popcorn to eat while watching films.

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Agency

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William Gibson. Penguin. (416p) ISBN 9780241974575

Agency

Agency

I’m a huge fan of William Gibson (I’ve not got a collection of Neuromancer in different editions…) and am always waiting for his next book with great anticipation, waiting to see where he takes us next.

In Agency, he gives us a ‘prequel and sequel’ to The Peripheral.

Like The Peripheral the story of Agency switches between two different timelines, a 2017 where Verity lives in a world where Hilary Clinton won the 2016 elections, and the other is set in the 22nd century post-Jackpot world of Russian crime families and advanced technology.

Written in short punchy chapters switching between the two time frames, developing character depth and interaction which makes you invest very quickly and ensures that you don’t want to put the book down. The explanation of the technology in the book works on extrapolations from existing technology so never really seems that far fetched.

Though the way interaction with ‘stubs’ is achieved is the most ‘out there’ technology mentioned it still doesn’t jar and t hat’s what I’ve always enjoyed about Gibson’s writing, especially Blue Ant Trilogy and the Bridge Trilogy, the technology could be out there now, being developed and tested as it is never an outrageous use of ‘black box’ technologies.

Another great addition to William Gibson’s oeuvre, and I’m now back to anticipating his next work.

If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Patreon which would help pay for my hosting, domain names, streaming services, and the occasional bag of popcorn to eat while watching films.

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Black Sun

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Rebecca Roanhorse. Rebellion. (400p) ISBN 9781781089477

Black Sun

Black Sun

I was lucky enough to get a copy of this from NetGalley to read and give an honest review.

This is the story of Old Gods, blood magic, sacrifice, murder, revenge, and of course love.

Set in a fictional representation of a world with similarities to the Mesoamerican cultures of Central and North America, we follow a cast of characters through a powerful story of revenge.

A well-written slow burn of a read, each chapter revealing more of the world and characters to build a magnificently layered low-fantasy world with believable are relatable characters.

We follow Serapio and his quest to avenge the Night of the Knives and become the Crow God. Along the way we meet some brilliant supporting characters such as Xiala a Teek who has her own hidden past and is something other than human, and Narapanpa the Sun Priest from Tova’s slum district The Maw. There are others and I’m looking forward to these being fleshed out further in the coming books.

The weaving of these stories build tension really well up to the climax, with some wonderful revelatory scenes where we see the magics of the world out in full daylight (or shadow as the case may be). I will just say keep an eye out for the crows and the canoe, a belter of a scene which starts hinting at the power and possibility of more in one of the main characters.

A really good book, with so many ways for the rest of the series to go.

I’ve now got so long to wait for a follow up and I really want to know what happens to everyone.

If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Patreon which would help pay for my hosting, domain names, streaming services, and the occasional bag of popcorn to eat while watching films.

If you can’t support with a monthly subscription a tip at my Ko-Fi is always appreciated, as is buying things from my Ko-Fi Shop.

You can always email me on contact@bigbeardedbookseller.com with any suggestions.

Amelia Fang and the Lost Yeti Treasures

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Laura Ellen Anderson. HarperCollins. (240p) ISBN 9781405293921

Amelia Fang and the Lost Yeti Treasures

Amelia Fang and the Lost Yeti Treasures

I really love these books from Laura Ellen Anderson and think I look forward to a new adventure as much as the children in the shop (maybe even more).

Amelia Fang and the Lost Yeti Treasures sees the gang visiting the Yeti Pits to celebrate Grand-yeti’s 350th birthday party. This is very exciting in itself as the Yeti pit is a warren of tunnels built into Yeti Mountain, and also we all love a good party with loads of food.

Things aren’t all as they seem though, throughout the day and evening objects, shiny objects, go missing.

Amelia and friends resolve to find out what’s happening but will they be able to do it before things go really wrong.

Another lovely adventure which concentrates on themes of friendship and growing up. It’s this core to each of the Amelia Fang adventures that I love the most; a group of children learning and growing emotionally together and supporting each other.

In this one Amelia is also worried about making new friends outside the core group and this become a bit of a problem and upset, until the group work it out.

Funny, friendly, and really fangtastic. One of the best series of vampire books for this age group (well any age group really).

If you want to help and support this blog and my other projects (Indie Publishers and Indie Bookshops) you could become a Patreon which would help pay for my hosting, domain names, streaming services, and the occasional bag of popcorn to eat while watching films.

If you can’t support with a monthly subscription a tip at my Ko-Fi is always appreciated, as is buying things from my Ko-Fi Shop.

You can always email me on contact@bigbeardedbookseller.com with any suggestions.