Monthly Archives: April 2024

Green Frog

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Gina Chung. Pan Macmillan. (240p) ISBN: 9781035019458

 

Green Frog

Green Frog

As you should all know I really like a well-crafted collection of short stories so as soon as this came up on NetGalley I jumped at it.

Gina Chung travels through many different worlds in this collection, but always with the female character central, no matter if it is Sci-Fi, mythological, or domestic situations the women often have moral dilemmas to work through and family is more than likely to be at the centre of it.

The collection plays on Korean myths and behavioural expectations and the weaving through of both these makes for very interesting reading. A spotlight onto a culture like but unlike our own, especially when these two cultures intersect.

There are lots of really strong stories in here but I feel my favourites were the sci-fi based ones, especially about traumatic memories and grief and how there could eventually be technical solutions but at what cost.

Another one I really enjoyed was a tale seen from the perspective of the kumiho who has to revenge her dead sister and her feelings on that and her life.

But I really enjoyed all of them, though the whole collection seemed to riff off a deep melancholy and was quite muted in tone this only heightened the feeling of difference and other.

I received this from NetGalley and Pan Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.

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Blogging and Social Media

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Coffee and cake, essential to deep. thoughts!

Coffee and cake, essential to deep. thoughts!

It’s been eight months now since I was made full-time and transferred to a different branch which means I leave the house just before 7am and get home at about 7pm five days a week.

I found this soul sucking over the winter months, a dark out and dark when I got home but thought that I’d push on with all I was doing on various blogs and multiple social media stream and see what spring brought with more light during the day.

I’ve realised that I can’t keep this up, quite simply I get into the idea of negative time, not actually having time for myself to relax in as I’ve been constantly on the go working on blogs, feeding social media channels, writing a newsletter, and keeping up to date with the news in the book world.

As you may have noticed my reading has increased over the last couple of months as I get back to what I started out as, a book blogger reading and reviewing anything that comes my way. This has been a great way to ‘using’ the time in my daily commute and carves out some important reading time for me.

Everything else that happens after that is just icing on the cake and as such I’ve condensed everything into this blog, a Ko-Fi/Substack fortnighlyish update, and I’m only using Twitter and Instagram for social media now, but mainly Instagram. I’ve closed all my other social media accounts as there just felt way too much to do and I felt very thinly spread.

So I’m cutting myself a lot of slack and just doing what I feel like now with no timetable, no end results, no side hustle or grift, no outcomes other than enjoying what I’m doing.

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Book Lovers

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Emily Henry. Penguin Books. (384p) ISBN: 9780241995341
Book Lovers

Book Lovers

I’m sorry, I’d disparaged romance writing for way too long without trying it again, really sorry.

Two friends keep telling me how good Emily Henry’s writing is and I just ignored them, but eventually thought I like these two people, they are intelligent, and usually have good taste. What have I got to lose?

Several hours of my life, that’s what? Several hours of my life in a really well written, engrossing love story, but also a story about loss, the need for control, family, friendships, misunderstanding, and trying to be true to yourself.

I got so invested in these characters straight away and was so desperate to find out where the various twists and turns of the story would take us, secrets coming out and a very passionate love affair is where it led, but it also led to people being far truer to themselves in the end and dreams being realised.

I’m really feeling these books where people are nice to each other (OK in the case of Nora in her own idiom) and where people fall in love and are happy.

Though I did think my preferred ending would have worked as well I was happy with the ending in the book, but then again my heart is black and scarred.

I loved this so much that Emily Henry is going to be an end of month reading treat as all her books are on the library app.

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It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth

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Zoe Thorogood. Image Comics. (196p) ISBN: 9781534323865
It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth

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.

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When Among Crows

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

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.

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Flowers from the Void

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Gianni Washington. Serpent’s Tail. (256p) ISBN: 9781800816312
Flowers from the Void

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.

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