It’s been a while since my last bookish update, so here I am… I´ve read quite a few titles since my last update. I don’t know how I managed, but where there’s a will, there’s a way!

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque: a timeless novel. The people I know who have read this 100% agree that this is a must read. This book was required reading for me when we were in 8th grade – so age 14 or 15 – and it cracked my brain. Reading this book was a pivotal moment for me.. I think, even though I had read the likes of Jack London and “Black Beauty” and all the horrible, cruel, sad moments they delivered, AQonWF was a different kind of eye-opening and the amount of essays I wrote quoting Remarque, based on this book, afterwards was staggering. Any topic we were thrown at to write about, >I always found a way to plug it. I was completely absorbed in this title. And reading this now, some 15+ years later, of course I was able to understand and feel similarly yet also differently about the whole theme. But this is all just personal waffle and my connection to the book. In one word, I would describe the book as ‘profound’.

Thorn by Intisar Khanani: I decided to read this title because a credible, trusted blogging and word game buddy La La in the Library recommended it. She was right to sing praises for the book – this must have been one of the most exciting fairy tale retellings I have read in a while. Hooked from page one, squirming with anticipation, crying through the sad parts- hot damn, this is SUPER good! Not a word, sentence, paragraph, chapter out of place. Incredibly written, well paced story that has so much going for it and thrums on every chord of emotion. Simply magical and I cannot wait to read the sequel!

Fatal Harmony by Anne Malcolm: I always say it, I am a sucker for vampire books. I am on the hunt for the gem, always. Fatal Harmony came to my Kindle through a sale, in fact, I think it was free at the time, so of course I was going to! Reading this book highlighted a pet peeve for me: I hate it when vampire books make references (sarcastic, I’m better than Edward Cullen because I don’t sparkle type comments) back to Twilight and the sparkling vampire thing. Just bloody get over it… It really gives me a sour taste when everyone has to pop THEIR vampire story on a higher peg because their vamps don’t sparkle. Again, get over it. Every story is different. This butthurt snide commenting on another book is so old, especially when it comes to Twilight. Blergh. That said! Fatal Harmony was a book I quite enjoyed. It was full of action, some really cool twists and backstories. Our main character is a female vamp that is so over the top sassy that at some stage it started to get too much, but she was quickly knocked down a peg and I was down for that. There’s a bit of ‘unforbidden’ romance, you know the natural enemies to soulmates kind of thing. There’s a witch! Did I mention the action? Yeah, plenty of that. So, overall, a quick entertaining read!

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher: Yeah, I finally received my book and I was delighted to jump into book 2 of the Dresden Files. I have to say, any urban fantasy that I had previously tried before Dresden Files was a huge flop for me. Something just never quite sat right. Jim Butcher however has managed to get me to enjoy this genre. Sure, book 2 was structurally and plot point wise a close copy of book 1: we have the murder, Harry goes to scene, has words with Murphy, gags at the scene, hides things he shouldn’t hide. Then, things go entirely sideways. Then we go to Bob the Skull.. etc, etc… That said, Fool Moon was again a very entertaining story. Harry can be such an awkward dude, though. I mean, really, the comments he can make about females is astounding… Men, do you really notice how cute a females earlobes can be? Do you?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: Khm. Well, I guess I can now say I have read the highly popular author and her highly popular book series. I am part of the gang. Yes, I rather enjoyed the books as well… Plenty of action and intrigue. It did feel like the further in the series I progressed, the more pornographic things got. Graphic banging sessions aside, it kind of baffles me how much story and how many words, how many pages, this whole series is. I mean, there’s a lot happening and yet… I guess, it’s all those little side stories, side plots, side schemes… I didn’t feel like things were slow, or infodumpy, however (and I can’t remember which book now) but I did skip a chapter here and there of the backstory and seemingly didn’t miss out on anything. I started reading these books on September 25th and the fifth book was finished by November 3rd. So, in about a month, I read 2822 pages. In a month. I must remember that when I am next hesitant to pick up a tome due to commitment, because it appears, a tome is completely doable. Across the 5 books I read, the average rating comes to 3.4 – enjoyable, mind boggingly fast paced, the pages simply seem to fly by… I look at the page counts for book 3 and 4 (both over 700 pages) and I’m wondering- how?!?! Was there really so much to it? Or are they just so skillfully waffled up that you just don’t notice it? 😀 Incredible, eh? Anyway, I want to read the book about Azriel. He’s been the most subdued, quiet character this far with an incredibly crappy past so once I know more about him, and apparently find out about his bedroom preferences, I can safely put this series to bed. Surely, knowing my luck, The Morrigan book will happen first? And it’ll be a rager with a feminist undertones.. so, fair enough, if I have to do the Morrigan first, I will… although I am still baffled by her behaviour towards his friends, for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS! I cannot ever get behind it. Whatever… That’s that!

Have you read any of the books above? Let me know 🙂