I grabbed this idea from Lucy (with permission!) from Bookworm Blogger! Go check out her blog!
I always hope that I read new-to-me authors every month and getting book box subscriptions, access to library borrows, Netgalley and also KU really helps with that so thought it would be nice to look back and see what new authors I’d read this month.
By the end of August I’d read 34 new-to-me authors and now I’ve read 38 so far this year!
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.
Babel is the world’s center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research in foreign languages serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters.
Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?
Babel — a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire.
Beautiful, heartbreaking, impressive and a totally amazing storyline. This book was so unique like nothing I’ve ever read and I really enjoyed it!
I really don’t know if I can do this masterpiece of a story justice so I’ll keep this simple and short!
The world that was built here was so utterly magnificent that you can lose yourself in it. The magic system simple yet effective.
The main character, Robin was so innocent, so eager to learn and what happened to him in each stage of this book broke my heart.
One thing that healed my heart a tad was the wonderful friendship between outsiders, Robin, Ramy, Victorie and even Letty.
I’m not going to say anything more about the plot because this historical fantasy mixed with dark academia read needs to experienced. Because it is an experience.
Top Ten Tuesday is featured by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Topic – Favorite Bookstores OR Bookstores I’d Love to Visit
Waterstones (local) I love browsing in my local Waterstones and also having a nice latte in their cafe whilst watching people selecting books!
Waterstones Piccadilly Only because it has these great displays like Charlie’s bedroom from Heartstopper!
Blackwells This is quite a small local bookshop and I haven’t been there in a while (I order online) but it’s so quaint, love it.
Oxfam Bookshop Another local shop to me. I do love browsing their shelves for secondhand bargains!
Barnes and Noble There aren’t any of these in the UK (as far as I know) but, from what I’ve seen, the insides look like what dreams are made of!
Chapters Indigo (Canada) I’ve never seen inside one of these stores but have seen some lovely stuff bought in them and I have fomo!
The Travel Bookshop (Notting Hill) This Portobello Road, London bookshop was taken over for the film (it wasn’t a bookshop!) but now is called the Notting Hill Giftshop!
Flourish and Blotts (Harry Potter) Who wouldnt want to visit this bookshop in Diagon Alley?!
On the worst birthday of my life, I come home to find my boyfriend in bed with another woman. Within hours, I’m drunk, homeless, and pledging to stay single forever. And that is when the dangerously sexy Seelie King rolls through town, looking for fae like me.
Every generation, the king holds a competition for Seelie queen. But for reasons he won’t explain, Torin is looking for a charade, not a real marriage. So when I drunkenly sling insults his way, I have his attention.
When Torin offers me fifty million to participate, I think, “What have I got to lose?” The answer turns out to be “my life,” because my competition will literally kill for the crown.
And the more time I spend with the seductive king, the harder it becomes to remember it’s all supposed to be fake. Now, my life—and my heart—are one the line.
This book is just what I needed! So much so I read it in one sitting!
Ava, a fae raised in the human world, gets embroiled in a plan to be the next Queen of the Fae in a marriage of convenience deal…..but first she has to survive the competition!
This was a brilliant fantasy romance with beautiful, descriptive writing of the world and I almost felt like I was there!
The chemistry! The tension! Torvin was absolutely delish!
I loved Ava, her character growth, how she came into herself. Her bestie, Shalini, was a breath of fresh air!
A new-to-me author that I will 100% be reading again. Off to look at her back catalogue after that cliffhanger!
The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.
Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week?
October has arrived and so has the Autumn weather. I’m so thankful!
My goals this week were to:
Watch House of the Dragon ✔️ Listen to an audiobook ✔️ Read a physical/ebook ✔️
Woohoo!
I read 12 books in September which is huge for me, half of these were audiobooks so my audio game feels strong!
What I’ve Read
🎧 The Traitor Queen by Danielle Jensen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ See my review here
The Hedge Witch by Cari Thomas ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ See my review here
Lies of the Fae by MJ Lawrie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ See my review here
New arrivals
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young
You might have missed…..
Review – Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Review – Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim Challenge – Beat the Backlist: 3rd update
Just for a bit of housekeeping, you can see my last updates here.
I haven’t really read as many backlist titles as in previous months as I’ve had a lot of arcs and new releases I wanted (or needed!) to read.
However……
I HIT MY TARGET!!!!!!! I’ve read 24 backlist books! And I’ll keep going!
Here are the backlist books I read in the last quarter:
22) Air Awakens by Elise Kova 23) Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid 24) The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 25) Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
26) Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko 27) Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse 28) Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir 29) It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Are you going this challenge? How are you getting on?
After the destruction of her entire Talon gang, eighteen-year-old Shin Lina—the Reaper of Sunpo—is forced to become a living, breathing weapon for the kingdom’s most-feared crime lord. All that keeps her from turning on her ruthless master is the life of her beloved little sister hanging in the balance. But the order to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple incites not only the wrath of a legendary immortal, but the beginning of an unwinnable game…
Suddenly Lina finds herself in the dreamlike realm of the Dokkaebi, her fate in the hands of its cruel and captivating emperor. But she can win her life—if she kills him first.
Now a terrible game of life and death has begun, and even Lina’s swift, precise blade is no match for the magnetic Haneul Rui. Lina will have to use every weapon in her arsenal if she wants to outplay this cunning king and save her sister…all before the final grain of sand leaks out of the hourglass.
Because one way or another, she’ll take Rui’s heart.
Even if it means giving up her own.
Shin Lina is an assassin, the Reaper of Sunpo, and has lost nearly everything and is owned by a despicable man. One day when she steals something sacred she gets more than she bargained for.
‘Death does not die, and neither will you, Shin Lina.’
Before I gush over the rest of the book let me just tell you I have a new bbf. Rui. He’s mine ladies and gents…..back off!!!!! I mean the man is an Emperor and he has a fondness for winter. It all just points to being mine!
I absolutely loved this book! It’s been a while since I’ve had this feeling about a book and it feels so good! The utter joy of reading each word, sentence and paragraph and never wanting it to end but still wanting to know what happens!
The writing, the story, the characters, the world of Gyrulcheon. Everything! In fact I’m actually lost for words! I do not know how to review this book to do it justice apart from to say that it deserves all the stars and now I’m off to stalk the author and to see what’s next!
Top Ten Tuesday is featured by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Topic: Typographic Book Covers
For me, finding books with just typographic covers was really hard! But I’ve played hard and fast with the rules and also split it between typographic covers and also covers with typography that I like!!!
Typographic Book Covers
Family of Liars by E Lockhart Galatea by Madeline Miller Hexed by Julia Tuffs Gemina by Jay Kristoff Deviate by Jay Kristoff The Dawn of the End by Kristen Ashley
Covers with typography that I like!!!
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber Glint by Raven Kennedy Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa
CJRTB Books 