Blog Tour: Queen of Sea and Stars by Anna McKerrow

So, I havent posted in a while and thought I would get back into the swing of things by taking part in a blog tour! As you know I love all things fantasy, but this time I'm branching out to an adult fantasy book, which hopefully I'll be reviewing in the next few weeks!

Today's post is all about Anna McKerrow, the author of the Greenworld trilogy (Crow Moon, Red Witch and Wild Fire), Daughter of Light and Shadows and Queen of Sea and Stars.

Here's her most recently released book:

Faye Morgan, a hereditary witch, moves away from her tiny coastal village in Scotland to London to be with her new boyfriend, Rav. But though she hopes she can live a normal life in a new city, her blood bond to the realms of faerie can’t be denied. With a faerie war brewing, can Faye realise her destiny and discover who she really is? A tale of faery magic, desire and modern witchcraft.

For this blog tour I have a guest post from Anna about some of her favourite Witch books, so if you love Witchy books like me, you may find some interesting recommendations!

"I’ve loved all of these books, so for those of you looking for fiction and nonfiction about witchcraft, these are well worth a look:

The Sea Priestess / Moon Magic

Dion Fortune

The Sea Priestess and its sequel, Moon Magic, are some of the first books I ever read about magic. They’re novels, but they were intended to provide a kind of subliminal introduction to the principles of working with the moon and creating magic. They’re incredibly rich with wisdom, written by Dion Fortune, one of the most wise and talented women in British magic and the occult. There are other novels which are all great - read them all!

Faery Craft

Emily Carding

This is a wonderful introduction to faery magic and faery witchcraft with lots of hands on activities, if you feel called to the path of the fae!

The Serpent of Lilith

Stewart Farrar writing as Margot Villiers

This is another occult novel I recommend. I think it was written in the 50s or 60s hence my copy’s lurid cover and some of the sexual politics inside, but it’s a really interesting look at the “black” magic of the goddess Lilith and the (at the time) “white” magic of the goddess Isis from a western witchcraft point of view. Then, the dark feminine was very much feared in magical circles, but now, with a greater understanding of dark goddesses like Lilith and the rise of feminism, we recognise Her for her true transformational power.

Priestesses, Pythonesses, Sibyls: The Sacred Voices of Women who speak with and for the Gods, eds Sorita D’Este

I recommend all books from Avalonia Books, who specialise in witchcraft. This collection of essays from a variety of women working with different gods and goddesses as channels is very interesting.

Spellcraft for Hedge Witches: A Guide to Healing our Lives

Rae Beth

Rae Beth is a hedge witch, meaning that she works with nature-based folk traditions and works alone, not in a coven or group. This book is based on our connection to the realms of faerie as the natural elemental kingdoms, so it’s full of meaningful, caring and detailed faery witchcraft.

Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive

Kristen J Sollee

This nonfiction book makes the timely connection between sexuality, sexual freedom and witchcraft. Very interesting.

HausMagick: Transform Your Home, Create Your Sanctuary

Erica Feldmann

This is a rather lovely coffee table style book about earth/home magic by the owner of HausWitch, a funky witchy shop in Salem, Massachusetts which specialises in magic and modern home décor.

A Witch’s Mirror: The Art of Making Magic

Levannah Morgan

This is a very useful and practical book about traditional Devon witchcraft with lots of how to craft activities. It’s witch-craft, after all: all about making things.

Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex, Politics

Starhawk

Even though this was written in the early 80s, the political landscape today seems much the same as the one Starhawk describes in Dreaming The Dark. The book details how to use witchcraft in political resistance - #hexthepatriarchy, indeed.

Circe

Madeleine Miller

My favourite fiction book from last year. Madeleine Miller’s writing is intensely beautiful, writing the life of Greek mythology’s archetypal witch.

Practical Magic / The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Even better than the film! Alice Hoffman is a wonderful writer and in these books she chronicles the lives of a family of witches in New York and its surrounds. It’s luminous, yet based in reality."

Do you think you'll read any of the suggested books? Anna's most recent book is now available to order, so go get your copy!

Review: The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington

So, I've been meaning to read this book since I won it in a competition, but have only just got round to it, and I am so so soooo annoyed with myself for not reading it before as it's such a spectacular book. I know for sure that its one that will be going on my top 10, and one that I'll definitely be re-reading in the future.

Here it is:

Rose, Ella, Marta and Carla. In another life we might have all been friends together. But this was Birchwood. 

As fourteen-year-old Ella begins her first day at work she steps into a world of silks, seams, scissors, pins, hems and trimmings. She is a dressmaker, but this is no ordinary sewing workshop. Hers are no ordinary clients. Ella has joined the seamstresses of Birkenau-Auschwitz. 

Every dress she makes could be the difference between life and death. And this place is all about survival. 

Ella seeks refuge from this reality, and from haunting memories, in her work and in the world of fashion and fabrics. She is faced with painful decisions about how far she is prepared to go to survive. 

Is her love of clothes and creativity nothing more than collaboration with her captors, or is it a means of staying alive?

Will she fight for herself alone, or will she trust the importance of an ever-deepening friendship with Rose?

One thing weaves through the colours of couture gowns and camp mud - a red ribbon, given to Ella as a symbol of hope.

Sometimes, you read a book, and you just know that it is one that will stick with you, and be something you'll remember. This was one of them books for me, it was beautifully written, both heartbreaking and uplifting at the right points, and I know that if you read it you'll probably say the same.

You were really able to connect with the main character, Ella with the way the book was written, and through her you soon ended up loving other characters - I adored Rose, you could really see that the friendship that bloomed between Ella and Rose helped to make the horror of Auschwitz that little bit better for them.

I loved that through the whole book Ella brought in bits of her past, to help her get through each day - it really helped you to show that she was a dreamer, and dreams of big things despite her current situation. It was so insightful to see what someone may have thought about during a time like that. I learnt little things that I never knew about the war and Auschwitz - its really made me want to start researching, and has bought out the history bug in me.

I just don't know how to do this book justice - it made you feel warm and tingly as well as made you want to cry at different points, and I very rarely feel so strongly about a book.

I give this book: 5 cats, and so many more if I could

Have you ever read this book? Comment below. If not, I highly suggest picking up a copy!

Goodreads Look-in!

So, I've been reading a lot, and because of this I can't always review the books I have read. So now, I'll be doing to occasional Goodreads look-in where I will be showing my ratings and a few thoughts of the books I have read.

Here we go:

A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood: 5 Stars. Such a beautiful book, really made me wish to be in the pages and part of the glitz and glamour.

I Invited Her In by Adele Parks: 4 Stars. Definitely a surprising ending, and a good venture out of my usual book genre, just goes to show I need to expand my genre's more often!

Sea Witch by Sarah Henning: 5 Stars. I adored this retelling, it gave some interesting views on everything and was just beautiful.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas: 5 Stars. I re-read this series and it was just as breathtaking, if not more so than before. This is still my favourite book of the series.

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas: 5 Stars. This was a re-read and wow I loved it, and that ending. I'm glad I decided to re-read near to the new/last book of the series coming out so it is fresh in my mind.

Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton: 4 Stars. I got into this quite slowly, but it definitely kept me wondering what would happen, and it ended in a perfect place to leave me wanting more.

Ariadnis by Josh Martin: 4 Stars. Definitely an interesting concept, and I loved the way it went through both POVs of the main characters. I can't wait to get the next book.

The Warrior Queen by Emily R. King: 5 Stars. An amazing ending to a great series, I loved seeing different characters and places, and I'm glad it ended the way it did.

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl: 4 Stars. I've always wondered what happened after the first book as I've seen the movies, it was definitely an interesting way to take the series.

The Mystery of the Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah: 4.5 stars. I've always watched Poirot and never read one of Agatha Christie's books, I think I definitely need to now, and definitely need to read more mystery.

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold: 4 Stars. This book really intrigued me trying to figure out what was happening. I absolutely loved this take on princesses, princes and dragons, and the ending blew me away. I would say though it is quite a dark tale!

Arrowood by Mick Finlay: 4.5 Stars. I've recently got into reading mystery, and this one definitely didn't disappoint, I loved the setting, the characters and the story and I can't wait to read the second book. Definitely happy to have picked this up from HQ crime night!

This is just a few of the many books I've read and only reviewed on Goodreads, have you read any? What did you think of them? I'll be posting another Goodreads look-in in a few months!

Blog Tour: The Lost Man by Jane Harper

So, I'm back again on another blog tour for a Jane Harper book - this time called The Lost Man. As soon as I was asked if I wanted to be a part of the blog tour, I knew I HAD to say yes, as I absolutely adored Jane's last book, Force of Nature.

This book, however, has a totally different narrator and style, being narrated by Nathan, a ranch owner in Western Australia. Here's the book:

He had started to remove his clothes as logic had deserted him and his skin was cracked. Whatever had been going through Cameron's mind when he was alive, he didn't look peaceful in death.

Two brothers meet at the remote fence line separating their cattle farms under the relenting sun of the remote outback. In an isolated part of Western Australia, they are each other's nearest neighbour, their homes three hours' drive apart.

They are at the stockman's grave, a landmark so old that no one can remember who is buried there. But today, the scant shadow it casts was the last hope for their middle brother, Cameron, who lies dead at their feet.

Something had been on Cam's mind. Did he choose to walk to his death? Because if he didn't, the isolation of the outback leaves few suspects...

I will say one thing about this book, it pulled me in straight away. I love my crime TV shows, and this set the scene just like it from the first chapter, setting the scene of the crime, and then pulling you into the main story line. It absolutely captivated me from the first chapter.

I think I loved the book so much because it was a singular POV, unlike Jane's previous book which I had read, so this surprised me a bit, but in a good way. It helped me to connect to the book a lot more, and really get into it, as I follow the MC Nathan.

I loved the way that you were really taken through the whole story slowly, it wasn't an information overload and you slowly got given little tidbits which made you wonder if they would have anything to do with the main story of Cameron's death, or if the points were red herrings  to put you off the track. I'm surprised to say I didn't see where it was going until it got quite close to the end of the book, and so I think I was turned by these little zingers and made to think it was a certain character and then change my mind with the next little twist that was dug up - so I I'll say that it was quite twisty and made me second guess myself, which I love.

I think one of my favourite parts of the book was the writing of the scenery. Jane really brings that little part of Australia to life, and I think that her ability to really describe the landscapes and set the scene is amazing - just like in her last book too.

Overall, this is my favourite of her books, I couldn't find any faults, and I breezed through a lot quicker than I thought I would - I couldn't put it down I wanted to know what was going on such much! Definitely a mystery book I'll read again.

Thank you to Little Brown for gifting me a free e-ARC and letting me be a part of the blog tour! I'll definitely be recommending this to my mystery loving friends and family.

I give this: 5 cats!

The Lost Man is out now, and you should definitely go and buy a copy. Have you read it? What did you think? Comment below!

Review: How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

Okay, I bought this book because I'd heard so much about this author, and especially this book, so I picked it up when I saw it in Costco. I didn't get around to reading it for a while though, and putting words into my review took even longer, which is a shame as it was such an inspiring book!

Here it is:

I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret.

He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover - working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he'd never witnessed them first-hand. He can try and tame the past that is fast catching up with him.

The only thing Tom mustn't do is fall in love.

How to Stop Time is a wild and bittersweet story about losing and finding yourself, about the certainty of change and about the lifetimes it can take to really learn how to live.

I'd heard so many good things about this book before I bought it, and I loved that it would include both current day and historical sections from the life of the narrator Tom. I always have liked books that bring different timelines, and this one was even more interesting because it brought a lot of different times in history into one book! I think that Matt Haig really managed to bring the reader into the different times, as well as making you feel like you meet all the different historical figures dotted throughout (like Shakespeare or Scott Fitzgerald), and it's not often that you can find a writer that manages that.

It did take me a while to get used to the fact that the MC was still narrating from the modern day at points in the chapters about past events, but I quickly got used to it, and actually started to like that style of writing after a while. I really adored the history parts of this book - it gave you such an insight into how Tom's life had gone, and I really connected with him because of that.

Most of all I think I loved this book because it made me nostalgic. There is one chapter specifically, where Tom goes back to his hometown in London that really made me think of all the times I'd talked with my Grandparents, and how they would tell me how much had changed about the town they lived in since they were younger. It was a new feeling from a book - nostalgia - and I adored that feeling, it made me smile.

I admit that this was the first book from Matt Haig that I had read, and from it I am definitely going to read the others. If they're anything like this book, then I'm sure they will blow me away with how powerful and thought provoking the writing will be. There are so many beautiful quotes in this book that really got me thinking - not something that often happens in a book for me. I definitely have to try reading more adult fantasy books in the future if they're as good as this one.

I give this book: 5 Cats (and more if I could)

Have you ever read this book? I highly recommend it if you haven't! Comment below.