A satisfied bookworm
A recap of what I read in January and my current reads
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
― Anais Nin
How does a good reading month look for you? Is it the amount of books or pages you’ve read? Or is it more a satisfied feeling of reading something that stayed with you after reading it? For me it has become more about the feeling rather than the amount I read, it is a nice change and pace from before.
I do believe it has a lot to do with leaving Instagram behind for good. It has been just over two months without the app and it has truly been an eyeopener. There are some aspects of it that I do miss, like connecting with the people I had a real connection with and discussed books with on a daily basis. On the other hand, I feel much more relaxed now when it comes to content. It is quieter, calmer and surprisingly more creative to have the time and space to write about the books I read, the bookish thoughts I am having and spending more time reading what other writers are writing about.
In many ways my creativity has found a more consistent pace and a relaxed approach to it. I am not chasing likes, views or engagement - all those things can be found here as well, but the experience of it is noe the same. Perhaps the best way to describe it is, a slow pace social media platform, which suits me perfectly.
Substack does have its positive and negative sides, like Jayshree Gururaj writes in Tech Made Simple, the platform is not a customer oriented platform, but rather a engineering-oriented one. There are so many things that I have noticed that as a reader, they are not really helpful, but as a writer they work out pretty well. As Simon wrote: As a writer, I love Substack. As a reader, not so much. Either way, I am enjoying spending more time writing, taking notes of what I am reading and most of all discovering so many awesome newsletters to follow.
Sometimes leaving one platform, can be the best decision for you where you are right now. It is nice to see that my gut feeling was right. Never doubt yourself! You usually know exactly what you are feeling and what steps to take.
As I said, I am in a very happy place when it comes to my reading! January was a good reading month - so lets take a closer look.
The shrinking TBR pile
As most of you know by now, I have two main reading projects: The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time and my huge unread pile. For January I am pleased to say that three books are gone from my unread pile, it has officially sunk from 135 to 132! I should probably make a proper list of all the books that are in that pile so I can keep track of them. But that will have to wait until after I have moved.
I kicked off the year with cozy fantasy and I must admit that these reads are really making me question my infatuation with the grim and dark fantasy sub genre. Travis Baldrees books have made sure that I have fallen in love with cozy fantasy to the point that I want to explore it more.
“See you in the story past the story.”
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree was such a heart warming story that I gave out my first five star rating of 2024. I do know I am very biased in that call, as Legends and Lattes was one of my absolute favourite reads from 2022. Baldree is one of those authors that writes heartwarming encounters and female characters so well! There will be a review for this book, but for now: if you are looking for a cozy, heartwarming and loving story - this book is for you.
Leksikon om lys og mørke (English title: Keep Saying Their Names) by Simon Stranger, was my second read of the year and one of the 12 books I aimed to read this year. I finished my notes on it this week and I have thoughts. It is not a bad book, not at all. It is a compelling and emotional story of Norwegian Jewish family and how their lives intertwines with Henry Rinnan, a Norwegian who worked as a spy for the Nazis during WW2 in Norway. There were parts I found really well written and others that were less so. The idea of it being an encyclopedia of darkness and light was a really cool concept - but it did not work well in practice. In the end, the very concept was what made sure to disrupt the story rather than keeping its flow alive. Nevertheless, it is a book worth reading.
“Knives,’ muttered Calder, ‘and threats, and bribes, and war?’
Bayaz’ eyes shone with the lamplight. ‘Yes?’
‘What kind of a fucking wizard are you?’
‘The kind you obey.”
Ah. Gods be good.
Joe Abercrombie does it again.
I started on The Heroes last year, but chose to pause it for a while when I dove into The Lord of the Rings, so it was the first book I picked up again after new years. It is a standalone book set in The First Law universe, with mostly new characters and then some you know pretty well. I still despise Bayaz. After all this time? YES.
I adored this book, there are just no words - at least not yet. As always, the audiobooks read by Steven Pacey are the way to go for these, as he brings these amazing books up onto another level. I am going to have to give this book a proper review, but for now, let me pitch it for you:
The orders have been given and the armies are struggling their way to the north. Thousands upon thousands soldiers, young and old alike, are gathering at a forgotten ring of stones. On a worthless hill in an unimportant valley, for the next three days of battle, the fate of the North will be decided.
Three men. One battle. No Heroes.
Wolf Crawl
"But her family will want to get something out of it. What did they get before?"
"The chance to make themselves useful"
It is closing up to a month with the Wolf Crawl group as we read our way through Hilary Mantels Wolf Hall, and it has been so interesting and fun to read! I am happy to say that I am getting more into the flow of how Mantel writes. The first time I picked up the book, I struggled with her writing style and was confused for a bit on whose perspective we were reading.
Six months later it is an entirely different experience. I do give the credit to
and the rest of the Wolf Crawl group that are joining in on this slow read of the Cromwell trilogy. The weekly newsletter from Simon with recaps, overview of characters and other resources has been very helpful for when I lost track of what is going on. Another part has been the joy of reading other readers recaps, thoughts and questions as we read on.I am more immersed into the story now due to all of these things, but also now, now we are getting into the territory I know really well. The Boleyn sisters arrived at court in week three of the read. Mary has become one of the kings mistresses, while Anne has fallen for the earl of Northumberland.
What I enjoyed with this part was that it became clear that both Anne and Harry Percy, do not really have a say in who they can fall in love with or marry.
"He believes he is free to choose his wife"
"Choose his-!" the cardinal breaks off. "I never heard the like. He's not some ploughboy. He's the man who will have to hold the north for us, one of these days, and if he doesn't understand his position in the world then he must be learn it or forfeit it."
If this was actually said or not, who knows, but I find it intriguing. It is easy to forget that even the men had little saying in who they would be able to marry in this period. Marriage was not a private business, it was very much a family business and not something one could just change once the decision was made.
This period is what had me really going throughout week three, the amount of stress poor Wolsey must have been under - a king who wants a divorce, a pope who is under the thumb of Emperor Charles V, my oh my. No wonder most fantasy books get their inspiration from history!
I am excited for the second half of An Occult History of Britain that is due this week, its keeping my history and reading heart quite engaged.
Current reads
Besides Wolf Hall, I have now also picked up two more books. One was an easy pick, the other was a book that I forgot I had on my list until I saw it again.
According to the great world wide web, this is supposed to be our generations Lord of the Rings. Now…that is quite the statement. By the time this newsletter reaches you, I am hoping to be more than just a few pages in it, but from what I have read so far, it seems promising.
Fingers crossed for: The Ember blade by Chris Wooding.
Synopsis from goodreads:
A land under occupation. A legendary sword. A young man’s journey to find his destiny.
Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He’s never questioned it; that’s just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend Cade are thrown into a prison mine, doomed to work until they drop. Unless they can somehow break free . .
But what lies beyond the prison walls is more terrifying still. Rescued by a man who hates him yet is oath-bound to protect him, pursued by inhuman forces, Aren slowly accepts that everything he knew about his world was a lie. The rules are not there to protect him, or his people, but to enslave them. A revolution is brewing, and Aren is being drawn into it, whether he likes it or not.The key to the revolution is the Ember Blade. The sword of kings, the Excalibur of his people. Only with the Ember Blade in hand can their people be inspired to rise up . . . but it’s locked in an impenetrable vault in the most heavily guarded fortress in the land. All they have to do now is steal it. . .
Designed to return to classic fantasy adventures and values, from a modern perspective, this is a fast-moving coming-of-age trilogy featuring a strong cast of diverse characters, brilliant set-pieces and a powerful character and plot driven story.
My second read should not be a surprise after finishing The Heroes. It is of course my trustworthy grimdark fantasy author Joe Abercrombie and favourite narrator Steven Pacey with Red Country.
This is the third and last standalone book set in The First Law universe, before I dive into The Age of Madness trilogy. I am not sure if I should read the short stories of Sharp Ends before diving into The Age of Madness, but I'll see when I finish Red Country.
Synopisis from goodreads:
They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following.Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own. And out in the lawless Far Country the past never stays buried.
Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into an alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust . . .
Ah! I am so excited for the coming weeks with these three books! I hope you are having some great reads as well.
Until next time,
Happy reading! ✨
Thank you for sharing my view, and I love reading too!
Enjoyed hearing about your reading for the month. Sounds like a success to me!