Month: June 2021

Wyldblood Magazine Issue #1

Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub

Thank you to Wyldblood Press for the opportunity to read and review the first issue of Wyldblood Magazine. You can find WyldbloodMagazinehere.

This is a great offering from some truly talented authors. I got sucked into the very first story, and looked up a moment later to realize that I had finished the entire magazine and time had flown by without my noticing.

No one story was like another. Each piece was completely unique and stunningly creative. While I enjoyed all of them, there were two that really stood out to me. The first was Thawing by JL George. This is about the Ice Princess, a frozen statue that stands in the center of a village square. Legend has it that-well, I don’t want to spoil it. I’ll just drop a hint about dragons (oh, how I love stories that contain dragons!), and say that Thawing

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Not Cool: Europe by Train in a Heat Wave by Jules Brown- Cover Reveal

Today I have the opportunity to show off a great cover for a book that looks hilarious. This is the sort of book I’d happily curl up in front of the pool with if I did, in fact, have a pool. Check out the cover and blurb!

Are you ready?

Here it is!

A laugh-out-loud train journey across Europe with a travel writer who should know better.

Inspired by the budget InterRail trips of his youth, veteran travel writer Jules Brown thought he’d try and visit 9 cities in 9 countries in 9 days. Sadly, that wasn’t his only mistake.

It soon turned into a hot and steamy adventure (no, steady on, not that kind) by rail across Europe, taking in Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Liechtenstein, Zürich and Milan.

A tale of relaxing train rides to famous tourist destinations and guidebook sights? Not so much. All aboard for an offbeat travel adventure with a very funny writer seriously in danger of losing his cool.

About the author:

I took my first solo trip around Europe when I was seventeen, and I’ve been travelling and writing professionally since I published my first travel guide – to Scandinavia – in 1988. Since then I’ve eaten a puffin in Iceland, got stuck up a mountain in the Lake District, crash-landed in Iran, fallen off a husky sled in Canada, and got stranded on a Mediterranean island. Not all of those things were my fault. You can read about my travelling life in my memoir, Don’t Eat The Puffin.

I wrote Rough Guide travel books for over thirty years, but now that I no longer have to copy down bus timetables for a living I don’t really know what to do with myself. So I come up with ridiculous ideas for trips and then write about them, which is where my 9-city, 9-day, 9-country trip came from – that’s covered in Not Cool: Europe by Train in a Heatwave.

I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.

You can find out more about me and my books at my publishing website, www.trustmetravel.com.

I also blog at www.julestoldme.com, sharing travel stories, travel-writing tips, videos and inspiring destinations – see you there, and happy travels.

Author Links

Website: www.trustmetravel.com

Blog:  www.julestoldme.com

Twitter: @julesbrown4

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JulesBrownWriter

Picture Book Picks: What Caught My Youngster’s Eye in May

My littlest, who loves history books and biographies more than anything else, has finally started reading picture books every now and again as well. I’m so relieved, simply because it’s hard to work on reading skills with a little kid when the print from the very adult history book he’s picked is miniscule. While books about people such as Confucius or President Taft are still his go-to, here are a few picture books from May that he picked out, as well as what we thought of them.

Great, Now We‘ve Got Barbarians! by Jason Carter Eaton, Illustrated by Mark Fearing

I bet you thought that leaving dirty dishes out could attract ants. And never picking clothes up off the floor causes mold and bugs. Nope! Being slobby attracts…barbarians! Barbarians who eat the food, destroy the room and basically become a hilarious nuisance. This kid learns the importance of cleaning up after himself after dealing with a barbaric infestation.

This book was a hit! My youngest giggled his way through it, and objected to returning it to the library. I enjoyed it too. The pictures are so much fun. There’s a lot going on that can be enjoyed and talked about. The language was simple enough the my little guy could read it, but not so simple that it read like an early reader. I give this cautionary tale points for creativity and would happily read it with my youngest again.

The Yawns are Coming! by Christopher Eliopoulos

This book is about a sleepover that is interrupted by the YAWNS (insert gasp here). These two children have a list of fun things they want to do and they aren’t going to let a little thing like sleep get in the way. They try to find ways to avoid those pesky yawns, but the next thing they know, they’re also being bothered by DOZES.

My youngest loved this one. I was a little less enthusiastic, but I didn’t hate reading it with him. The pictures are cute and so is the concept, I just would have like to see a little more happening. As far as reading level, I’d suggest this one to children who are learning their very first sight words, as it was a little simpler than some of the others on the list.

My Symphony by William Henry Channing, Illustrated by Mary Engelbreit

My Symphony happens to be one of my favorite poems and I thought the colorful illustrations would delight my youngest. Boy, was I wrong! He didn’t like this book at all. I’ll forgive him for his lack of taste (ha!) just this once: I’m pretty sure he’s not the intended age group for this particular book.

The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snickett, Illustrated by Carson Ellis, Contributed to by Nathaniel Stookey

A dastardly deed has been discovered: the composer is dead! I realize this sounds absolutely awful, and not the sort of book a five year old should read, but it’s actually great fun. A detective must figure out what has happened to the composer and who is responsible, introducing kids to different parts of the symphony as he investigates. With just a tiny touch of the macabre, and an enormous helping of creativity and fun, this was a favorite of my oldest when he was young and my youngest loved it too. In fact, you can find narrations of it on YouTube to go along with the book, if you’d like the sound of each instrument to accompany the pictures in the book.

I would love to eventually own this one.

The Traveler’s Gift: A Story of Loss and Hope by Danielle Davison, Illustrated by Anne Lambelet

I fell in love with this book. Yes, it’s a picture book and I’m an adult, but so what? It was beautiful. Liam is told magical stories of faraway lands by his father, who is a sailor. One day, his father’s ship sinks and he doesn’t return. Liam feels like the magic has been drained from the world, which is brilliantly shown by shades of gray. Eventually, he meets the Traveler, a man with a wondrous, multicolored beard filled with bits of amazing stories of the magical places he’s been. Liam travels with him and begins to see the magic in the world again. He learns that even the sad things in our life make us who we are and that our experiences shape our perspectives and give us stories that only we can tell.

My youngest was fascinated by the gorgeous illustrations and I was floored by the beautiful story and how it was told gently, but never in a condescending way. This is another one that I want to add to our large collection of picture books.

There were several rereads throughout the month, of course, and the usual deluge of historical books, but these were some of the new ones that we read together. Have you read any of these with your little one? What did you think?

Sairō’s Claw by Virginia McClain

Torako has done many things to protect the valley that she calls home, but she’s never looted a corpse before. So when the katana she steals off the still-cooling body of a bandit turns out to be possessed by a grumpy wolf kami, she can only assume it’s because she’s somehow angered the spirits. An impression that’s only reinforced when she returns home to find her wife abducted and her daughter in hiding. But angry spirits or no, Torako isn’t about to let bandits run off with the love of her life, even if it means taking their 3 year old on a rescue mission.

In all Kaiyo’s years as Captain of the Wind Serpent she has never once questioned her admiral’s orders. So when she receives the command to abduct a civilian scribe with the help of fifteen felons, she registers her objections, but does as she is bid. Yet, as the mission unfolds, Kaiyo finds herself questioning everything from her loyalties to her convictions. 

As Torako and Kaiyo’s fates cross like dueling blades, their persistence is matched only by their fury, until they uncover a series of truths they may never be ready to accept. (taken from Goodreads)

Thank you to the author for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Sairō’s Claw is available for purchase now.

Technically, Sairō’s Claw is the third book in a series. However, it reads as a standalone. You definitely don’t need to read the other books to understand what’s going on.

Influenced loosely by Japanese culture (though taking place in an entirely fictitious world), Sairō’s Claw is an immersive story, peopled with well-executed characters. The world itself is fascinating and richly described. I really appreciated that the author provided a glossary of Japanese terms, although the context that she used the words in throughout the book made it pretty clear what they meant. I really liked how well the world was described, although for me it was the amazingly three-dimensional characters that stood out.

There are several important characters in Sairō’s Claw, and the story is told from multiple points of view. Each personality is distinctive and adds something to the narrative. While each character was interesting in their own way, I liked Raku and Torako the best. Raku is a scribe who finds something she really shouldn’t, something that someone doesn’t want found. Trouble with interest finds her as a result. I also really liked Torako, her kick-butt warrior of a wife. The thing I liked about them really had to do with their love for their daughter, and for each other. It’s rare to find a fantasy where being a mom or wife is treated as anything other than either an unwanted inconvenience, or the inevitable death that sparks a murderous revenge story. We need more loving and hardcore moms in fantasy, please!

Sairō’s Claw was full of adventure and heart. I really enjoyed author Virginia McClain’s work. Her skillful writing and excellent characters are exactly what I enjoy in fantasy. I recommend this book to readers who love books with lots of action and who appreciate well-developed characters.

The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms, Book 1) by Tasha Suri

Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub

A long-imprisoned princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic come together to rewrite the fate of an empire in this “fiercely and unapologetically feminist tale of endurance and revolution set against a gorgeous, unique magical world” (S. A. Chakraborty).

Exiled by her despotic brother, Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while trapped in the Hirana:an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent’s household, biting her tongue and cleaning Malini’s chambers.

But when Malini witnesses Priya’s true nature, their destines become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other apowerful priestess seeking to save her family. Together…

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For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark, sweeping debut fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn’t the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

“A masterful debut from a must-read new voice in epic fantasy”—Kirkus (starred review) 

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose—to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood—and her world—whole. (taken from Amazon)

Thank you to Angela Man at Orbit Books for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. For the Wolf is available now.

Mysterious with its fair share of magic, For the Wolf had a very classic (as in pre-Disney) fairy tale feel to it. While I felt that some elements worked incredibly well, there were a couple of things that distracted me a little. I am pretty sure I’m in the minority on this one, as the things I didn’t really connect with are usually things that draw people into books. I’m funny like that.

Red has known for ages that her entire purpose in life is to be a sacrifice. The beginning of the book shows her both resigned and (a little) relieved. She has a power that has hurt her loved ones in the past which makes her feel like a danger to those she cares about, including her sister, Neve. The relationship Neve and Red have is my absolute favorite thing about For the Wolf. Their love for each other is the catalyst for much that happens, and a huge part of their characters. I loved seeing their relationship affect every choice they made. Their love for each other really is a part of who they are.

The beginning felt slow to me. I struggled to become interested in the plot because it was originally explained in-between scenes of Red getting ready for a party in honor of her sacrifice. I would start to become invested in the story arc, then get distracted by the details the author gave. It just wasn’t my bag. I doubt my reaction will be shared by many readers in this case, but it was a little off-putting.

Once Red got to the forest, things picked up and moved along quickly. Neve is determined to save Red, no matter the cost. Red is determined to fulfill her role and protect others, no matter the cost. This is an interesting conglomeration of multiple fairy tales, woven together into something new. I have to give the author major points for creativity: she tied several disparate plots together into something very different.

Here’s where those who have read my blog for a while know I lost interest: the love story. It wasn’t overbearing or anything like that, I’m just not big on love stories taking front and center in a book. As far as love stories go, it was a good one, I guess. It’s just not my thing. This is absolutely a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”. I was definitely the wrong reader.

The book itself is well written and fans of fairy tale retellings that lean in a romance direction will love it. While For the Wolf wasn’t necessarily what I look for in a book, it is an excellent addition to the fantasy-romance subgenre, one that I think will be loved by many.