I took part in reading for the #ChristiesMissing2021 readathon last month and had a great time getting back into Agatha Christie. I picked up Midwinter Murders (a mixbag of Christie detectives and short stories) and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, as well as watching a ton of the adaptions.
I definitely plan to carry on with working through the Poirot and Marple book I haven’t read this year.
However, I didn’t have time to squeeze in any of the tags I spotted going round, so today I’m playing catch-up and trying out @Hungry Bookworm‘s Murder on the Orient Express Book Tag.
Okay, so this blogs been going for *cough* a while *cough* but Mani @ Mani’s Book Corner tagged me in, and the questions are a lot of fun. So here we go.
Rules:
Nominated bloggers can nominate ten other bloggers. Anyone who wants to is be is hereby tagged by me.
Use the same questions from the tag.
Tag the original creator (Bibliomavens) and the blogger who tagged you
Okay, so this blogs been going for *cough* a while *cough* but Mani @ Mani’s Book Corner tagged me in, and the questions are a lot of fun. So here we go.
Rules:
Nominated bloggers can nominate ten other bloggers. Anyone who wants to is be is hereby tagged by me.
Use the same questions from the tag.
Tag the original creator (Bibliomavens) and the blogger who tagged you
As a bit of a history-lover, I’ve been really enjoying Jessticulates series of royal queen based book tags. Since my degree was in Scottish History, this one, featuring the Stewarts, is even more up my alley.
This is an old tag, one I spotted on Dreamland Book Blog, but since I really love fantasy and sci-fi creatures, I couldn’t pass it up.
This gave me a bit of thought, because I’d expected it to be much easier to fill out than it was. For some, it was a hard job of narrowing down lots of brilliant options — vampires, superpowers — while for others I struggled to remember if I’d ever read anything where the creature featured heavily. I definitely need to pick up more books with zombies and ghosts in future.
You have twenty thousand books in your TBR. How do you decide which book you will read next?
New releases I’m excited about and ARCs that are due usually come first since they’re fresh in my mind.
Other than that, I love readathons for the community and gameplay feel of them. As a nice bonus, matching up my enormous Goodreads TBR and the books I already own to the prompt is both fun and a great way to prioritise a months reading, often reminding my of books I’d forgotten about.
I spotted this one over on Alice in Bookland and, since Beauty and the Beast one of my all time favourite fairy tales, decided this would be a fun substitute for todays Top Ten Tuesday.
TALE AS OLD AS TIME: A theme, trope or setting that you never tire of reading about
The plucky upstart (and Chosen One) sets of on a dangerous quest to save the kingdom and/or world.
RIVERS OF LONDON and the rest of the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovich. I really like the unique, magic take this series puts on the London rivers.
THE FOREVER SEA by Joshua Phillip Johnson is another really unique one. With this take on pirates, you get both the standard ruthless plunderers, but also a complex city of rules and traditions. The book itself is unlike any pirate story I’ve ever read, with a whole new take on the sea itself.
Like Alexandra says in her post, I actually prefer the eerie aesthetic of Phantom Manor in Disneyland Paris. If you want creepy, dark and atmospheric, MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the perfect spooky, disturbing read.
Thunder Mountain and Frontierland’s Western aesthetic makes me think of UPRIGHT WOMEN WANTED by Sarah Gailey. It’s a great story about librarians and censorship in a near-future dystopian world. You get a real sense of living on the road, travelling in an unforgiving landscape.
Splash Mountain is my favourite ride at Disney World. For that lazy, slow-paced Southern feeling, you can’t beat GHOST WOOD SONG by Erica Waters. The music the band play and the humid Florida setting really add to the oppressive feeling woven throughout the story.
UNDER THE PEDULUM SUN by Jeanette Ng is one of my all time favourites. Technically, it’s set in a house not a castle, but the sprawling, labyrinthine location and the fact that a queen comes to visit justifies my cheating.
You thought I’d stop hyping this book now it’s been out a while? Nope! I’m not a big fan of whimsy to be honest, most of the time I find authors tend to overshoot to nonsense instead. THE HOUSE IN CERULEAN SEA by T J Klune hits a perfect balance. It’s whimsical but with a sharp, bittersweet melancholy that makes it a brilliant book.
BLOOD HEIR by Amelie Wen Zhao was a real surprise for me last year and I really enjoyed it. The fantasy-Russian setting was really vivid and it has a great Winter festival to really sell the cold atmosphere. There’s no actual trek through the mountains, but escapes from a fortress-like prison, leaps into icy rivers, and stomping through the woods, will definitely give you that feeling.
I loved the world-building in EMPRESS OF ALL SEASONS by Emiko Jean. Royal palaces, life-or-death contests, magical, season-themed rooms and a yΕkai rebellion. It has a lot going on and totally sucks you in.
I wasn’t sure about THE FIRST SISTER by Linen A Lewis at first, but it unravels slowly, so you’re completely wrapped up in it before you really notice. It really goes all in on the spaceships and sci-fi themes. You get the claustrophobic, untrusting world aboard the Juno, the aftermath of a destructive conflict and worlds creeping towards a new one, places and people of privileges vs those without, body augmentation and loads of intergalactic political manoeuvring.
If you want to give this a go and enjoy a bit of Disney magic, consider yourself tagged.
Foxes and Fairy Tales 