Review: Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales. In Norse Mythology, Gaiman fashions primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds; delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants; and culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the rebirth of a new time and people. Gaiman stays true to the myths while vividly reincarnating Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, the son of a giant, a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator. From Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerges the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to dupe others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again. 

I am a huge mythology nerd, I'm not going to lie, ever since learning about the Egyptians at school I've been so intrigued by Egyptian Mythology. I have to say that one's my complete favourite, tied with Greek mythology. The Greek Mythology intrigue started after watching the Hercules Disney movie...and one of my favourite YA series, one of the first that I read in fact...The Covenant by Jennifer L Armentrout, is swimming in it and added to the obsession. Not to mention the Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan that I'm enjoying right now! (I still need to get to Percy Jackson!) If it has mythology in it...I'll read it. But not just Greek or Egyptian, I've always been fascinated by Chinese mythology too, and if there's a book, movie or TV show with it in...I'm all over it. My interest in Norse Mythology is the most recent, I'm not sure quite when it sprang up, I'm thinking it might have been the Thor Marvel movie, but it could have been me picking up an interesting sounding book with it in! Most recently I've been enjoying the Magnus Chase series by Rick Riordan that is completely full of Norse Mythology, and as I was reading this, I spotted more and more details that Riordan had used from mythology! 

I love Neil Gaiman's books, and when I heard he was going to be doing Norse Mythology I was so excited, it promised to be an utterly brilliant and exciting combination..and I wasn't wrong. Norse Mythology as told by Neil Gaiman is intriguing and compellingly written. I found myself falling in to the different tales, the Gods and Goddesses coming to life and leaping off the page. The settings painted vividly. There was humour, of course there was, as Gaiman adds his own touch. 

Norse Mythology is fast paced and for lack of a better term, it's not at all waffly like a lot of mythology books are. They can be dry and overly long...but Gaiman's Mythology is to the point, and fresh. I really, really enjoyed reading all about it, I knew bits and pieces...but this book has filled in the gaps and brought more to my attention. I could make connections to the Marvel Thor movies and other books I've read with Norse Mythology, I could see where things had been taken from and changed and twisted and so on. There's an abundance of information in this book and I'm kind of finding myself hoping Gaiman might do a Greek, Chinese or Egyptian Mythology book next! 

Review: Odd and The Frost Giants

Odd and the Frost Giants
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

A thrilling, wintry Nordic epic from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell, weaving a tale of legend, magic and adventure which will grip and enchant readers from beginning to end.

Odd, a young Viking boy, is left fatherless following a raid and in his icy, ancient world there is no mercy for an unlucky soul with a crushed foot and no one to protect him. Fleeing to the woods, Odd stumbles upon and releases a trapped bear . and then Odd's destiny begins to change. The eagle, bear and fox Odd encounters are Norse gods, trapped in animal form by the evil frost giants who have conquered Asgard, the city of the gods. Now our hero must reclaim Thor's hammer, outwit the frost giants and release the gods. 

I am a huge fan of both Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell so I jumped at the chance to review this and to you know....stare at the pretty pictures! Personally, I feel like Gaiman and Riddell are a perfect combination but there you go! This is a completely gorgeous book and will be perfect as a gift for people of all ages. The illustrations are so beautiful and so detailed, plus even the chapter headers and the page numbers had illustrations! 

I love Norse mythology so of course I loved this book and the story it told. It's brilliantly written as you would expect from Gaiman and has his unique touch. It's rich and humorous and while it's a quick read, it's one that you'll come back to and read again and again. I loved the way the words and images combined on the page, and I'm genuinely a little bit in love with this book! There's plenty of Norse mythology, mentions of stories from it are all over the place and it's made me super excited for Gaiman's mythology book! 

So, obviously I love the book and I want you guys to love it too, because I think a lot of you really will both because of Gaiman's fantastic storytelling, but also because of Riddells beautiful drawings and his attention t detail...so....have some sneak peeks from inside the book! 

Spooktober TBR

Hey guys! 

Happy October! And ya know...Halloween because for me at least it's like a month long event because why not!

 This October, for the entire month myself and Becca (The Brunettes Bookshelf) will be bringing you guys Spooktober! We're going to spend the entire month reading all Halloween reads all the time, and we'll be bringing you guys discussions, rec posts, reviews, giveaways and more for the entire month! You can check out our TBR's and read along with us if you like! On the discussion front, we'll be talking about the classics we're reading, so feel free to join in with us! I'll probably do a discussion for most if not all of them, because why not! 

So today, I'm bringing you my Spooktober TBR! I got a little bit carried away and chances are I won't get everything read, but I'm gonna try my best! Stalking Jack the Ripper is missing because it hadn't arrived when I made this post, but it's on there too! Becca's going to be doing classics and a mix of other reads, YA and adult, but she's totally doing the more murdery, scary books because I'm a total pansy! I'll be doing mostly YA with the odd other book. So first up is what I'm going to be reading and what I'll be watching is after that ;) 

The Classics

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Obviously Dracula had to make the list, it's not only a classic but it's also kind of a Halloween specific classic. Like you can't have Halloween without Dracula! This'll be a re-read for me!

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I still haven't read this, and after watching the movie a couple of years ago, I'm curious to read the book it was based on! Plus everyone raves about this book, and I feel kinda left out! 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Even I'm ashamed of myself that I haven't read this yet. I can't even. Frankenstein is such a huge Halloween monster, there's been multiple movies and it's finally time for me to read the book! 

Daisy Miller and the Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Daisy Miller isn't such a Halloween read, but it's the other story in this volume that screams Halloween. A governess goes to take care of two orphans...and gets a sense of intense evil within the house. Then she's all like "aaahh the malevolent forces are stalking the children"...but are they!? 

The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens

This is Dickens last novel and it's actually incomplete which is probably going to drive me up the wall because I NEED TO KNOW. This is going to contribute to the murdery type books in my Halloween TBR!

Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Okay so, I still haven't read this either, because I suck. But I vaguely remember going to see the musical version of it when it was on in London, I think I actually have the soundtrack somewhere? Anyway, I need to finally read this, and it's not like it's a huge book! 

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

I've read a couple of the shorter Holmes stories, I'm not a really huge fan but I do watch the odd episode of Sherlock! I picked Baskervilles because it sounded the most creepy of the ones that I have AND when I was a kid I watched the film version of this with Peter Cushing because it used to be on TV a lot and my dad would watch it and for some reason I really loved it :') 

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Yes....I haven't read Coraline. Shocking I know. I'm a terrible bookworm! I feel like Coraline is a modern Halloween classic, not going to lie! 

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Again...I really should have read this by now, and it's another Halloween type classic! I also got to review the graphic novel for this, or at least the first half, and I need to know what happens next! 

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

I'm going to be reviewing this for Penguin! It's a collection of creepy and gothic stories, that are perfect for Halloween! I've not read any of Jackson's stories before, I've been eyeing up "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" for a while, but never gotten around to it, so I'm excited to finally read her work! 

The Trilogy

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

A Darkness Strange and Lovely

Strange and Ever After

I've been itching to get to the Something Strange and Deadly trilogy for ages, I managed to grab the hardcovers before they started to be really hard to get hold of! There's brand new covers for these, and I'm fairly certain you can still get the ebooks if you want to join in reading this! I loved Truthwitch so I'm excited to read Dennard's earlier works and these sound like the perfect Halloween read! 

The Series

Jackaby by William Ritter

Beastly Bones

Ghostly Echoes

Yes. Having Jackaby as a paperback does bother me. Book Depository sent me a paperback instead of the hardback that I ordered and I'm in the process of getting the hardback to match the others, never fear! I love the sound of this series, and I figure seeing as there's the whole murder aspect going on, I can get away with putting this down for Halloween! 

The Hardcovers

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

I picked this book up ages ago because it sounded fun and I liked the cover, I need to actually buy the other two in the series but for now the first book is all good for my Spooktober TBR! There's murder and a girl who feeds on your nightmares. 

Shutter by Courtney Alameda

This has been on my TBR for ages so it's about time I got round to it! Our main character is from the Van Helsing line and she can see the aura's of the undead! It sounds awesome, there's some ghost exorcising going on, and a fun group of kids doing the whole..well....exorcising! 

Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

HELL YES MORE PECULIARITY! I got so excited when I heard this was being released and I'm so excited to get to review it for the publisher! I loved the Miss Peregrine's trilogy, even the pictures that totally creeped me out and this book is completely gorgeous! 

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

Again, this has been sitting on my TBR for what feels like forever, and the whole murder aspect made me add it. Sure it's not like OMG SO CREEPY TOTALLY HALLOWEEN but murder mystery is enough for it to make my list! I'm actually really excited to get to this one finally because it sounds totally awesome! 

The YA

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Another "has been on my TBR forever" book. I'm a huge fan of Kelley Armstrong so I'm excited to read this trilogy opener! There's gonna be a tonne of ghosts, and ghosts freak me out so this'll be good! 

Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata

I started to collect Death Note not too long ago, I've got the really cool black editions with the sprayed edges, and then I've got these regular editions! Now, I don't have ALL of the volumes, I've got the first four and then I'm missing a couple in the middle, but for Halloween I'm definitely going to read at least the first four volumes, if not all of it if I get hold of the other volumes! I know everyone loves this manga so I'm excited to finally jump on the band wagon. 

Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey

I love Alyxandra's books and have for a few years now, and Haunting Violet is the only one I haven't read yet! It's been sitting on my TBR because I've been busy with review books and haven't had the chance to read much from my regular TBR, and when I have I've always shied away from this one and decided to leave it for Halloween...and now it's Halloween! I'm expecting this to be a really good read! 

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Super Halloween-y title am I right?! I though this sounded like a good Halloween read, creepy, but should make for a nice break in between classics! Wicked Lovely is still on my TBR, but I did get to read Made For You the other year and it was SO GOOD, so I'm expecting good things from this! 

Team Human by Sarah Rees Brennan & Justine Larbalestier

Pretty much the only SRB book I haven't read yet, and this has seriously been on my TBR for ages, I've just never gotten round to it! Vampires are totally perfect for Halloween and this sounds like it's going to be a nice fun read, as well as being great for Halloween! 

House of Ivy and Sorrow by Natalie Whipple

I can't remember when I picked this up, I think it was not too long after it was published? The synopsis intrigued me, and Witch's are another classic Halloween staple! 

The Adult Fiction

The Sight by Chloe Neill

The first book in this series was awesome, it was original and fun and a great read, so I'm excited to get to review this for the publisher and just in time for Halloween! Nothing like a good paranormal/supernatural read for Halloween!

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

I picked this up at a used book store, as I'm sure you can tell! I loved the sound of the back of the book, I thought it sounded original and fun and so it's been sitting on my TBR waiting for the perfect opportunity for me to read it! I got to review Drearcliff and it's made me really excited for this! I've got the sequel sitting on my TBR and I may or may not get to it this month too!

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian

Okay so I only looked at this because I loved the cover and then I read the synopsis and I was like, okay I need this book. Gargoyles and alchemy and a tonne of originality...perfect read for me! And perfect for Halloween! I really need to pick up the sequel though! 

The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood

I was sent this for review, and it sounds like it's going to be a good read, and possibly the creepiest of them! 

What I'm Watching...

Like I said, Halloween is a month long thing for me and I usually watch Halloween kinda films all along, before having a huge marathon on Halloween itself! This year, I've gotten really in to anime, like I'm fully obsessed! I've just finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and honestly? I think it might be my favourite anime and I'm kinda having withdrawals from it, all I really want to do is rewatch it like straight away, but I've told myself I'm not allowed to until after Halloween at least! SO for Halloween I'll be getting over my FMAB withdrawals by watching Death Note, Tokyo Ghoul and possibly Soul Eater! 

Yep. I'm well aware by watching Death Note I'm going to spoil the rest of the manga for myself, but I did the same thing with Fairy Tail and it doesn't really bother me! Plus if I don't manage to get the other volumes to read this Halloween, it'll bug me not knowing what happens next because I'm super impatient! 

Tokyo Ghoul is a manga that I've been eyeing up for ages and uhm-ing and ah-ing over, I usually prefer the more fantasy type manga's, like SDS and Fairy Tail and Arslan etc, but seeing as it's Halloween, I figured I'd finally watch the anime adaption! And I know what's going to happen...I'm going to end up loving it and then buying the manga as well! 

Soul Eater I debated but wasn't too sure on, when I first started to look for manga to read. I know a lot of people rave about it and while I can't buy Soul Eater to read for Halloween, I thought I might take the plunge and watch it and see what everyone's on about! I say might, because I might not have time after watching both Death Note and Tokyo Ghoul, but I'm hoping I'll be able to get to it!

On the film front, I'll be watching such classics as Hocus Pocus, Nosferatu, The Addams Family, Van Helsing, Casper, Ghostbusters, Black Cauldron, Sweeney Todd, Burke and Hare, Nightmare Before Christmas, Gremlins, Teen Wolf, Sleepy Hollow, The Universal Monster movies, and whatever else I've forgotten to write down in this little mini list thing! Let me know if you're going to be watching any of these, especially the anime because then we can buddy watch! 

What I'm Listening To....

SaveSaveSaveSave

This is a quick little playlist that I made up the other day, it's not even complete yet and there's a couple different versions of some songs on there, because why not? I'll probably add to it over the month, but this is what I'm starting with! And yes...two of those songs are from a Scooby Doo film because I loved that movie as a kid okay! 

Let me know what you're going to be reading, watching and listening to this October! To see what Becca and I are up to follow us on Instagram and Twitter, and follow the hashtag Spooktober! Feel free to join in with us as we read and discuss throughout the month! 

Good Omens

Good Omens
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

There is a hint of Armageddon in the air. According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (recorded, thankfully, in 1655, before she blew up her entire village and all its inhabitants, who had gathered to watch her burn), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. So the Armies of Good and Evil are massing, the four Bikers of the Apocalypse are revving up their mighty hogs and hitting the road, and the world's last two remaining witchfinders are getting ready to Fight the Good Fight. Atlantis is rising. Frogs are falling. Tempers are flaring, and everything appears to be going to Divine Plan.

Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not particularly looking forward to the coming Rapture. They've lived amongst Humanity for millennia, and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle. So if Crowley and Aziraphale are going to stop it from happening, they've got to find and kill the AntiChrist (which is a shame, really, as he's a nice kid). There's just one glitch: someone seems to have misplaced him.

I love Neil Gaiman books and I also love Terry Pratchett books...yet oddly enough, this is one of the books I hadn't yet read! Which makes no sense, but there you go! I completely loved the Hardback Library editions that Gollancz came up with and I'm still in the process of collecting them all, this new edition of Good Omens has been created due to the success of that and the edition of Good Omens from that collection. There where three possible covers, everyone voted and this one won. Now, I'm slightly assuming it won because this one matches certain newer editions of Neil Gaiman books, but I could be wrong! Either way, it's kind of a perfect cover, it's not over done, it's simple and completely fabulous! 

As I cracked (very carefully) the book open to start reading...I was excited and full of anticipation, the two authors separately have given me hours of joy and entertainment and I was expecting this book, combining the two of them, to be no different. I wasn't wrong. I loved every single page of this book, frantically noting down favourite quotes, or quotes that just made me laugh. This book is wonderfully amusing, witty and full of dry humour about the Armageddon. 

It all has it's own spin, the kind of spin you'd expect from the two authors. And so, for example, our Four Horsemen of the apocalypse are actually Hells Angels, riding motorbikes and Pestilence had to retire and has been replaced with Pollution. Brilliant! I think, Crowley may be my favourite character, although I was half picturing Crowley from Supernatural and half trying very hard not to! He's kinda, sorta, a little bit friends with Aziraphale, an Angel. They may have slightly come to like our world a bit too much, and so decide to try and stop the Armageddon. I will admit, Aziraphale's book shop is the kind of one I'd run, let's be honest. 

I laughed far too much at the concept of the anti-christ being misplaced by an overly talkative nun, I've got to admit. But then I laughed pretty hard at most things in the book, it was hard not to! I rather enjoyed Adam and his little...power, shall we say for now? A power that is kinda, sorta, accidentally responsible for the beginning of Armageddon. I am so trying very hard not to use the O word, but this book, much like the other novels of the authors...is over flowing with hilarious, chuckle inducing originality. 

The anti-christ being misplaced is not the only problem that everyone has.....you see, he's grown up as a regular human boy called Adam, and isn't real down with the whole "destroying the world" thing. He actually rather likes the world, particularly his little corner of it, and would rather it stayed as it is. The book gives you a good look at humanity and all the different face of it, and was so incredibly well done and amongst the humour....it did make you think about things. Would Adam's good intentions make any difference? And so on. 

The book is much as you'd expect from these two brilliant authors, it's easy to read, plenty of sarcasm, intelligence, humour. It stretches your imagination and provides you with hours of losing yourself in to the world they weave for you. The plot is woven of many different threads and characters, all seamlessly tied together to keep you occupied. There's a fantastical world set in, well, our world. Or perhaps I mean to say fantastical events set in reality, or a rathe fantastical reality. You get what I mean, I hope. There's observations about humanity/human nature. They play with beliefs that we've always thought of, or maybe pictured, one way. 

The great thing about the book is that, yes at times you can tell who wrote which part. If you read the interview at the back it also tells you a few bits they created individually. But the two's voices blend together so well in to one engrossing narrative, that for the most part it's hard to tell who wrote what. And from what's said in the back of the book, it's hard for the two of them to know as well, with sentences appearing from nowhere! Gaiman takes responsibility for the Horsemen, for instance, and Pratchett for the children and Agnes. 

I found myself completely enchanted by the book, losing track of time, and unwilling to leave it so resorting to a dinner of food that doesn't require concentration or cutlery. I'm sure crisps are very nutritious! The blend of humour and seriousness is pulled off to perfection. I found myself unwilling to try to guess what would happen next, because I was always quite wrong, and I actually rather liked being surprised! I'm currently resisting the urge to pick it up and start it again immediately! 

Wishing For Wednesday #18

This week on my most excited for list type thing, I have another two I think you guys will love!
So, I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, and so you can imagine my excitement for his version of Hansel and Gretel! I'm well aware a load of you guys love his work too, so feast your eyes!
Next up is a nice little gem I stumbled across, to be honest, I pretty much have one that I've stumbled across each week, I don't know why I bother pointing it out! Anyways, I stumbled across it and when I saw the "Game of Thrones meets Grimms fairy tales" I knew I couldn't resist, to be honest that sold it to me pretty much straight away, let alone the rest of the synopsis!

Hansel And Gretel

The enduring story of the children, the breadcrumb trail and the gingerbread house is brought to life by master storyteller, Neil Gaiman. Who better to retell the Brothers Grimm's greatest, and perhaps darkest, fairy tale, Hansel and Gretel? Coupled with breathtakingly haunting illustrations from Lorenzo Mattotti, you will be enticed into the world and into the woods . . . so beware.

Hansel And Gretel is out December 11th, pre-order your copy here. 

Add it to your GoodReads here. 

Princess Of Thorns

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

Princess Of Thorns is out now! Buy your copy here. 

Add it to your GoodReads here.