I pull these out every year because I love them and it sums this period up really!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!!!

Title: Midnight in Everwood

Author: MA Kuzniar

There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms.

When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own. On the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve, she is transported to a snowy forest, where she encounters danger at every turn: ice giants, shadow goblins and the shrieking mist all lurk amidst the firs and frozen waterfalls and ice cliffs. After being rescued by the butterscotch-eyed captain of the king’s guard, she is escorted to the frozen sugar palace. At once, Marietta is enchanted by this glittering world of glamorous gowns, gingerbread houses, miniature reindeer and the most delicious confectionary.

But all is not as it seems and Marietta is soon trapped in the sumptuous palace by the sadistic King Gelum, who claims her as his own. She is confined to a gilded prison with his other pets; Dellara, whose words are as sharp as her teeth, and Pirlipata, a princess from another land. Marietta must forge an alliance with the two women to carve a way free from this sugar-coated but treacherous world and back home to follow her dreams. Yet in a hedonistic world brimming with rebellion and a forbidden romance that risks everything, such a path will never be easy.

‘It is dangerous to dream, Marietta. It will fill your head with tales sweet as sugarplums, until reality is nothing but disappointment.’

But Marietta does dare to dream and finds herself in Everwood, a mystical village in another world called Celstra.

‘Why, you have discovered the delights of Everwood, of course. A land of sugar and ice, Enchanted beyond measure.’

Everwood was such a magical place. The descriptions made me feel so festive (and also cold and hungry!!!!)

However Marietta got right on my wick! I’m all up for a girl setting her own path but she had no actual means, was just rude to everyone and she was a self-centred, spoiled girl! Although saying this, in the last quarter of the book she did get better! Maybe it’s what she was taught!

So in conclusion, this book was magical and I do wonder if Marietta and Legat did ever see each other again?

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: Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection (What books did you get as presents this holiday season? Or what did you buy with gift cards?)

My family don’t tend to get me books for Christmas so this year I took matters into my own hands!!!! I joined in Secret Santa with some book friends, work gave me a National Book Token voucher and I got 2 book boxes so Happy Christmas to me!!!!

The Luminaries by Susan Denard
Make You Mine This Christmas by Lizzie Huxley-Jones
A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft
Dark Rise by CS Pacat
Fine Print by Lauren Asher
What Hunts Inside The Shadows by Harper L Woods

I also preordered Gothikana by Runyx too!

What books did you get for Christmas?

HAPPY BOXING DAY!!!

Boxing Day in the UK

Boxing Day in the UK is the day after Christmas Day, December 26, and is a public Bank Holiday.

Traditionally, it was a day when employers distributed money, food, cloth or other valuable goods to their employees in boxes.

Now it’s a day that brings the start of the post-Christmas sales and also is a time to recover from the excesses of Christmas Day!!!!!

Boxing Day is the day me and my whole family get together to celebrate Christmas. We swap gifts, have food, play games and have a drink together.

Happy Christmas to you all!

“I hope the magic of Christmas fills every corner of your heart and home with joy — now and always.”

I’ll probably be off here until the 27th as we have stuff planned so hope you all have a lovely time filled with fun, family and food! 🎅

BEAT THE BACKLIST CHALLENGE

Do you have books on your to-read list that already released? Do you struggle to get to those backlist books with all the new releases each year? Do you enjoy relaxed reading challenges you can do at your own pace? Then it’s time to beat your backlist!

Join in with Novelknight’s 2023 challenge!

I’m doing things differently for 2023, well different for me! I’m setting my goal at 20 but with the caveat that these must be on my actual tbr with a date before 31 December 2022 and not bought/borrowed before this date!

I’m a mood reader so picking books is hard as I don’t know if I’ll be in the mood to actually read them! I’ve written down my tbr……170 books!!!! It seems I have plenty to choose from!!!! I don’t want to bore you with the list or we’ll be here all day so it’s up to me to govern myself!!!!

THE RULES ARE SIMPLE:

• The book must be published in the previous year or earlier.

• You have to start and finish the book in 2023.

• And that’s it!

Any format, any genre. Re-reads count, you don’t have to own the book, and you can join at any time. 

There is no formal sign-up for Beat the Backlist this year. Whether you want to make a Goodreads shelf, declare your participation on social media, make a blog post, share an instagram story, or say nothing at all, you’re welcome to join in. The only request is if you do post about the challenge somewhere, please link back or tag one of my social accounts so others can find the challenge too! Share your updates with the tag #BeatTheBacklist!

HAPPY BLOGMAS!

Here we are with the end of the year fast approaching and a time to reflect on the best reads of the year!

We all love books here so wanted to spread the love and post about them!

I did a post halfway through the year which you can see here and these are the rest of the fabulous books I’ve loved this year (not necessarily released then, I read then!)

I’ve read so many great books this 2nd half of the year but these are the ones that really stood out to me:

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Hook, Line and Sinker by Tessa Bailey

What have been your best booksof this year?

November YA theme – THE WITCHING HOUR!

The moon is full, the sky is dark and the world is yours to completely rewrite. This box is dedicated to the witches that take magic into their own hands and use it to alter their destiny.

🖤 Kingdom of the Wicked Foiled mug – art by @avendellart
🖤 Book Review Notebook – designed by @chattynora with a cottage-core design
🖤 Letter Opener – inspired by Serpent and Dove with art from @jezhawk
🖤 Spellbook Pin – designed by @no0nedesigns

BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix

Exclusive cover
Ombre sprayed edges
Reversible jacket by @carnemia
Endpaper art by @carnemia
Signed bookplate

Happy Blogmas!!

Here we are nearing the end of the year and the end of my challenges for 2022!

One of those challenges was Beat the Backlist! My sign up post is here.

I said I wanted to read 24 backlist books but by the end of September I had read 29 books.

But I carried on! And, at this point, I have read 38 backlist books!

Here are the last titles of the year I have read!

30) Sabriel by Garth Nix
31) Heartless by Marissa Meyer
32) Thorn by Intisar Khanani
33) City of Thorns by CN Crawford
34) Fire Falling by Elise Kova
35) The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
36) The Traitor Queen by Danielle Jensen
37) The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani
38) Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Did you do this challenge this year? How did you get on?