Tag Archives: favourites

Favourite Book Covers

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Hi guys, I hope you are all well. So last month I did a UK vs US cover post focusing on 2018 releases and it give me the idea to share some of my favourite covers of this years releases too. There are a lot of exciting releases this year and there are also a lot of fantastic book covers, but I’ve decided to share 8 of m favourites out of 2018 releases that I am waiting for. Two of the books mentioned I have already read and loved so I’ve put in my star rating for those ones. Let’s get started.

 

US cover – released 25/01/18
Release date: 08/03/18
Release date: 19/04/18
The Girl in the Tower / Winternight trilogy book 2 / Katherine Arden / ★★★★★
The Bitter Twins / Winnowing Flame trilogy book 2 / Jen Williams / ★★★★ / 08/03/18
The Hyena and the Hawk / Echoes of the Fall trilogy book 3 / Adrian Tchaikovsky / 05/04/18
Circe / Madeleine Miller / 19/04/18

 

 

Release date: 03/07/18
The Poppy War / R. F. Kuang / 03/05/18
The Queens of Innis Lear / Tessa Gratton / 17/05/18
Wrath of Empire / Gods of Blood and Power series book 2 / Brian McClellan / 17/05/18
Age Of War / the Legends of the First Empire book 3 / Michael J. Sullivan / 03/07/18

 

I was going to try to pick a favourite right now, but I really like them all and I’m rubbish at picking favourites :). I love doings these posts so I hope you guys like them too. I don’t the names of the illustrators of these covers but these covers are all amazing. Which cover do like the most? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

5 Reasons To Read Jane Eyre

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Hi guys, I hope you are all well. Today I have a new 5 reasons to read style review and I figured I’d talk about one of my favourite books, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I’ve reread this book multiple times and decided to share my love with you guys. I know a lot of you may have already read this but I wanted to do this anyway.

 

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“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

 

  1. It is well-known and well-loved for a reason. This book deserves it and definitely lives up to the hype surrounding it. It is one of my all time favourite classics and I would recommend it to everyone.
  2. Jane is a fantastic female protagonist. I love that she sticks to her beliefs and I love her development through the book. All of the characters are so well written.
  3. It is so well written and you can tell that each word is chosen for reason. She doesn’t waste any words and this results in an immersive reading experience. Bronte does a wonderful job at creating an atmosphere through her writing, which really lends itself to the story. Basically the writing is fantastic.
  4. Despite the length of this book and the fact that when you think about it not a lot happens in this book, the plot is still compelling. I think even in the slower moments, the writing and the characters really pull you through.
  5. Now I’m not particularly big on romance but I love the romance in this book. The relationship between Jane and Mr Rochester is just so good. They are both flawed people but I think they are so well matched and I enjoyed seeing how their relationship developed.

 

“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.”

 

As you may be able to tell I love this book so much and I thought it was about time to share my love with you guys :). It is one of the few books that I have multiple copies of… I think I only have two other books I have multiple copies of. Anyway have you guys read it? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

 

T5W: Auto-buy Sci-fi and Fantasy Authors

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Top 5 Wednesday was originally created and run by Lainey aka gingerreadslainey (Youtube channel) but it is now being run by Sam aka Thoughts on tomes (Youtube channel). Each week there is a different topic. You can check out the groups Goodreads page here for any more information and the future topics. This week’s topic is your auto buy science-fiction or fantasy authors. Now I don’t really have many auto-buy authors because although I love all the authors I’m going to mention, if the books synopsis doesn’t interest me then I’m not going to get it. All of the authors I am going to mention are ones that I would definitely be interested in checking out any new books though.
  1. Robin Hobb
  2. Alison Croggon
  3. Adrian Tchaikovsky
  4. Ken Liu
  5. Kij Johnson
Honourable mention to Guy Gavriel Kay. I’ve only read two books by him so far but I loved both so I want to read all of his books. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any new releases from him.

 

These five authors have written some of my favourite fantasy books, so of course I would be interested in any new releases from any of them. There are more authors I could mention but I think these are my top five at the moment. Have you read any books by these authors? Who are your auto-buy authors? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

T5W: Favourite Teachers/Mentors

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Top 5 Wednesday was originally created and run by Lainey aka gingerreadslainey (Youtube channel) but it is now being run by Sam aka Thoughts on tomes (Youtube channel). Each week there is a different topic. You can check out the groups Goodreads page here for any more information and the future topics. This week’s topic is your favourite teachers/mentors. To be honest, two of my choices are probably not the best teachers/mentors for various reasons but I still love their characters. I think this is such a great topic, although it took me some time to come up with answers :). Let’s get started.

 

  1. Cadvan from the Pellinor series by Alison Croggon
  2. Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
  3. Nacoya from the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
  4. Rothen from the Black Magicians trilogy by Trudi Canavan
  5. Chade from the Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb

 

Some of these are definitely more in a mentor role, then a teacher but each of them play quite an important role in helping the main characters of each book. All of these characters are fantastic in my opinion. Who are your favourite fictional teachers/mentors? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

T5W: Favourite Sci-fi & Fantasy in Other Media

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Top 5 Wednesday was originally created and run by Lainey aka gingerreadslainey (Youtube channel) but it is now being run by Sam aka Thoughts on tomes (Youtube channel). Each week there is a different topic. You can check out the groups Goodreads page here for any more information and the future topics. This week’s topic is favourite sci-fi and fantasy in other media, such as films, TV and video games. I couldn’t just choose five things so I’ve split it into four categories and listed some of my favourites for each of them.

 

  1. Video games – Witcher 3: the Wild Hunt, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Okami.
  2. TV –  Orphan Black, Stranger Things, Eternal Love aka Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and Person of Interest.
  3. Films – Avatar, Stardust, Arrival, Star Trek films and the Batman trilogy
  4. Animated film/tv – Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä of the valley of the wind, Mulan and Avatar: the Last Airbender (TV)

 

That’s all I can think of for now, so I’m going to leave it at that. I love sci-fi and fantasy in all forms but I realise that I haven’t actually seen a lot of it in TV form. Did you spot any favourites in my list? Or do you have any recommendations for me? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

Favourite First Lines

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Hi guys, I hope you are all well. Today I thought I would share some more favourite first lines in books. I did a post like this towards the end of last year so I thought it was about time to do another one. You can check out the first one here, if you want to. First lines can be such a fantastic way to hook the reader in from the very beginning. I’ve got five first lines to share with you, so let’s get started.

 

“A white bird hung still in the clear western sky and flapped its wings sporadically.” A Grace of Kings by Ken Liu

 

“History has failed us, but no matter.” Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

 

“He came one late, wet spring, and brought the wide world back to my doorstep.” Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb

 

“You must go back with me to the autumn of 1827” The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

 

“I am the princess Harueme, daughter of Fujiwara no Enyu and the emperor we now call Go-Sanjo. More to the point, I am old and I am dying.” Fudoki by Kij Johnson

 

As I’ve already mentioned, I have done a post like this before so if you think any are missing they may be in the first post. What are some of your favourite first lines? I need to start noting these done when I first see them, because for this post I had to go back and search through my books for them. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

Cover Wars Wednesday

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Hi guys, I hope you are all well. Today I thought I would try something a little different and take part in the weekly bookish meme, cover wars Wednesday (created by Book is Glee). Basically I am going to be comparing the different covers of one book and I thought what better book to use then my first five star read of this year, Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. I loved this book so I thought this would be a great opportunity to share it with you guys.
I’m not a fan of the cover on the left, but I really like the two others. The paperback I own has the cover in the middle, which is probably my favourite. There’s something about people on the cover that never works for me. I think the other two work better in terms of the book itself too, if that makes sense. They give a better feel of what the book is.
German edition
Russian edition
French edition
Spanish edition
Italian edition
The German edition is definitely my favourite – it looks amazing. I think I like it even more than the English edition. The Italian and French editions are similar to the middle English edition. I’m not a big fan of the Spanish edition but it’s not too bad. It’s so interesting to see all the different cover designs, whether it’s just different editions or different countries. I think all of these covers are great in their own way.

 

Anyway my favourites are definitely the middle English one and the German edition. Which one do you like best? I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Seriously it was so good. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa