Christmas treats for myself

I have been saving hard this month thinking I had seriously overspent, but apparently I’ve done better than I thought, so I decided to celebrate by buying some books I have had my eye on for a little while.  I picked two books each from two booksellers, fairly restrained of me I thought!

From the Folio Society Christmas catalogue I bought one of my favourite ghostly childhood reads, and an intriguing sounding crime novel.  The current Folio offer is a free 2015 diary, toward which I have blog related intentions.

 

I also bought the first offerings from new Publisher on the block Fox, Finch and Tepper. This is the new publishing company established by Mr B’s, bookseller extraordinaire.  You can read more about the launch and the naming of the company here.

 

It’s not quite their first foray into publishing, they've had a hand in a couple of special editions of favoured books before, one of which is The Howling Miller by Aarto Paasilinna read and reviewed by me in early 2013.  However, it is their first release completely under their own steam.  To launch the new publishing house they've chosen the two books whose covers you can see below.  I usually love their recommendations, and if they think these two new books are good enough to launch their new publishing house, then how can I possibly resist?  I did recently finish a spa recommendation - Tim Gautreaux’s The Missing, which was fantastic, so I’m fairly eager to read more of his work.  I also love reading about Australia, it brings back wonderful memories.

As I’m not spending Christmas at home, but I will have my own tree in the build-up, I thought I’d wrap these books up and put them under the tree as my Christmas treat to myself.

As for the excellent progress I was making through my TBR shelves?  There’s always next year!

Still on my wishlist – from the Mr B’s Christmas Catalogue:  The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman.  A reimagined Sleeping Beauty and Snow White.

Where in the Literary Universe are you?

My name is Kvothe, and I am telling my life story in three parts, the first day of a three-day story. By my side is a friend, student and prince of the Fae, and a Chronicler who is recording my story. We are sat in my inn, The Waystone, which is in a country known only as The Four Corners of Civilisation, and I have led quite a life. At this point in my tale I am 15 years old, I have been a travelling Actor, musician, apprentice, genius, and found my parents and friends slaughtered, with their murderers laughing around a fire. I have lived homeless for three years and have just talked my way into entry to the University where I plan to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to wreak my revenge on the creatures who killed my parents. Oh, and learn The Name of the Wind.

Back to me, the blogger. I love this book! I can hardly stand to put it down, and when I have to, I can't stop thinking about it, and wait with eager anticipation for the next moment I can pick it up. I nearly missed my bus stop I was so drawn into it.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

A Mr B's Emporium spa recommendation.

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Publisher: Hodder

ISBN: 1444722654

Since I’ve been blogging (almost a year now) I have seen this book appear on Top Ten Tuesday lists nearly every week.  It seems to score highly for plot, genre, author, characters and even ‘Best books ever’ type lists.  So when it was suggested during my September book spa at Mr B’s bookshop in Bath I knew I had to read it.

It turned out better than expected, and I cannot recommend it highly enough!!!!

Short Synopsis:  Karou is a 17 year old art student in Prague.  She is far from ordinary, she has blue hair and wears a string of wishes around her neck.  She lives a double life, one foot in Prague and one in a shop ran by the only father figure she has ever known. She doesn’t know who her parents are, and the only family she knows are magical creatures unable to walk in our world.  She spends her days dodging her ex-boyfriend, attending art classes and collecting teeth.  Until on one of her errands she is attacked by an angel.  That’s when then things start to get interesting.

I could wax lyrical about this book using all the superlatives in my repertoire, but I will try to keep it brief.

The plot – fascinating, original, complicated and will keep you guessing

The characters – multifaceted, intriguing, lovable, frustrating, hateful, you name it.

The settings – this and the other world are well described and I had no problem imagining myself in Prague or the other realm.

The writing – inspired.  I practically inhaled the book!  I could not put it down.

What I liked most: Everything!  I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series.  I just have to read what is on my shelves first, which is painful, as Days of Blood and Starlight is all I want to read right now.

What I liked least: That I have to wait before I can get a copy of the sequel.

Mr B's Reading Spa number 2 & book haul

Last week while on holiday I took a day out from my family to visit Bath and one of the best independent bookshops I've ever come across...  I made a day of it and had a book spa in the morning, spent the day walking around Bath and went to an Author event in the evening at the same bookshop.

Let me just say that I am not affiliated with Mr B's in any professional capacity other than as a customer and a fan of their brilliant service!

A book spa basically involves having a chat with one of Mr B's booksellers about books you love.  They love books too, so it's a great feeling to sit back and chat about what you like to read.  I so want to do a spa in the winter when the fire is on!  After about 20 minutes or so of talking about your likes and dislikes, preferences and reading goals the bookseller, in this instance Emma, will leave you in peace with a drink and a slice of cake.  You can browse their eclectic shelves or pick up a book to read while they search out a huge pile of books that they think you'll like. They'll then sit with you and go through their suggestions explaining why they've selected each book and why you'll like it.  You're then given time to choose whichever books you want, no pressure or obligation.  The cost of your book spa does include a set amount to spend on books, so you know you can walk away with some.

The first time I went I wanted a general selection of fiction, but this time around I wanted to explore SF/Fantasy a little more, which is great because this is Emma's favoured genre and she was able to make some interesting suggestions.

I turned a few down that I already had in my TBR list, or had already read, but here's my fabulous haul:

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente - I finished this book yesterday, and it is sublime.  I loved every word of it.
Quesadillas by Juan Pablo Villalobos
The City & The City by China Mieville
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Heap House by Edward Carey
Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
The Explorer by James Smythe
The Panda Theory by Pascal Garnier
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

There were a few more books that I turned down, simply because my budget wouldn't allow it.  It's my ambition to go there one day with no budget to stick to...

I'll discuss the Author Event (Juan Pablo Villalobos) in my reviews of Down The Rabbit Hole & Quesadillas.

The Howling Miller by Arto Paasilinna

Publisher: Mr B's
£11.69 (special edition hardback)
Bought from Mr B's Emporium
ISBN 9780857869661

I've heard only very good things about this book, and was not disappointed myself.  As a friend from book club said on her blog site - for a bookshop to organise their own special edition print run it must be something special!
This is a wonderful story about a miller called Gunnar Huttunan who moves to a small village.  At first the village are pleased to have a new miller in town and like what he's doing to rebuild the dilapidated old millhouse, but soon things turn sour when his eccentric ways (howling at night and imitating animal behaviour) set him at odds with the rest of the villagers, and piece by piece things get worse for our anti-hero.

It's tempting to tell you about what happens to him, but I will try to resist, and instead tell you that this is a story about friendship, love, acceptance and freedom.  It's easy to identify with Gunnar, despite his eccentricities, and the descriptions of the escalating war between Gunnar and the villagers affects you more than you would expect.

The story was written in Finnish and translated to English via a French translation, so it's hard to say for certain what effect this has, however it reads very well, and you do get the impression that not a word is wasted.  I heartily encourage you to give this one a chance.

At the time of publishing this I can't upload the picture of my cover... hopefully I can do this soon.

Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights (aka Heaven)

What better way to start a new book blog than with probably the best book-related experience I've had in recent years.

I had some time off from the day job last week, and took my sister on a day out to Bath.  It's very pretty, nice and compact so it's easy to get around, has plenty of history, nice shops and all that other stuff I told my sister.  All good and fine reasons to visit Bath, but there was more to it... I had a badly disguised ulterior motive.  Since our newest book club member (from Fennell Books) joined and told us about book spas (who knew such a heavenly concept existed) I've been dying to get to a cosy little bookstore in Bath called Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights.  Yes, it is as delicious as it sounds.  Every time I check their website I've been salivating at the thought of treating myself to a Book Spa, or a Reading Year.

I finally took the plunge and decided to take a trip and get myself a Bibliotherapy session, but sadly they were fully booked.  As we were passing nearby (and where isn't nearby in Bath?) I thought I would pop in and take a look around anyway.  I love their VIB lists for quick inspiration, and thought I might find some new books to keep me occupied.

Trawling through the shelves my sister and I got talking to Ed about Jasper Fforde, and I cheekily asked if there had been any cancellations.  Ed explained they were short staffed and weren't doing any that day, but he would check.  A few minutes later they very kindly agreed to let me indulge myself in a Book Spa, and I settled down in a comfy chair to chat with Libby about my favourite topic; books.  Any committed book club member will tell you that other than actually losing yourself in good book there's little better than talking about books with like-minded people.  And that's even more pronounced during a Mr B's book spa. There's something really special about that time, when it's all about you, and someone wants to hear what you have to say, and your opinions count.  As if this wasn't good enough, Libby came back with a huge stack of about 20 or so books she thought I'd enjoy, and we went through them one by one.

Of all the books suggested, I only put two in the 'No' pile, and every other book went into the 'Definitely Maybe' pile.  I did love that pile of books.  Of course I don't have an inexhaustible supply of ready money, so I had to go through them and decide which to buy now, and which to buy later.  Some are included in the price of the Spa, so you know you're going to be able to leave with some books.  I had to limit myself to the value of books included in the price this time (next time I will plan farther in advance)...

I couldn't tell you why I chose some and not others, but here's what I left the shop with, reviews to follow as I read them...

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Store of the Worlds: The stories of Robert Sheckley
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
The Parasites by Daphne Du Maurier
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (my choice, not a personalised recommendation from Mr B's, hope I won't regret it).