“Farewell Miss Julie Logan: A Wintry Tale”, by J.M. Barrie
Written in diary form & telling of an uncanny romance in a remote winter glen, “Farewell Miss Julie Logan” evokes J.M. Barrie’s fascination with longing, death & loss in one of the most unnerving & tenacious examples of #Gothic fiction ever to come from #Scotland
Listen to the story online, courtesy of Romancing the Gothic:
We always found ourselves in Magdalena, a quaint, abandoned town nestled far in the western reaches, Lya and I, as we ventured into the Spree. I didn’t know why. And I had never really thought about it. Until now…
Five stars: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (2023) is a novella retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The story was inspired in the process of writing a different retelling, namely, Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible (2016), written under the actual name, Ursula Vernon
A Shining, by Jon Fosse. You drive to the end of a road and hike into a Norwegian forest in winter, where you become lost and may die but your brain meanders casually over many topics until some presences show up which really don’t help much, so your brain keeps thinking random thoughts. 4 of 5 library cats 🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈
Time to talk about my latest release! #PompeiiFire is a #dualtimeline#HistoricalFiction#novella of which I am very proud. Researched in person just before the pandemic and released in August of this year, the book has already garnered three awards.
#WordWeavers Do films or theatre play a role in your story?
Absolutely. In #PompeiiFire, Drusilla and Suetonius attend a production of Plautus' "Pseudolas." It gave me an opportunity to talk about social mores in ancient Roman society; men and women were not seated together at most entertainments.
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Assassin's Blade
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Throne of Glass (Book 6/8)
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Sarah J. Maas
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Young Adult, Fantasy
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: October 23, 2023 @ 3:35 PM
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★☆☆
This one is about 16 year old Celeana acting like the bratty teen that she is, her silly little antics come off as annoying rather than understandable because “she's young and this and that” though her actions did almost cost the lives of her and Sam. I didn't find much thrill reading this part of the book but it was still a fun short read because c'mon, assassins on a mission to find their fellow guild members in the territory of pirates? Great idea and could've been done in a very whimsical way but still better than the next one.
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Healer
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★☆☆☆
This is just filler, there was nothing about this that intrigued me or gave me any worthy information for when I read the main series again. This felt more like a one shot fic that's tagged hurt and comfort, not to say that fanfiction is in any way shape or form a lesser media, there are tons of fanfiction out there that have the potential to be their own novels and some being better written than the series that they are a fanfic of. But this was like, a fanfic without the strong feeling of a fanfic. It wanted to evoke softness and compassion, but it couldn't reach it.
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Desert
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆
Now this is the part of the book that is about Celeana's character development. She reaches the Silent Assassin's fortress and meets the Mute Master wherein her stay makes her slowly realize all the abuse that she had gone through in her life and how all of that suffering and pain was not normal nor okay. The side characters here were also more fun than the first two stories, they had a certain way of writing in them that made them sound more believable at least to me, more human than just characters. Or maybe it was because of the tone of the book, who knows? 🤪
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Underworld
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆
She's back at Rifthold and she's with Sam. Like, there is nothing more I could say that would explain the four stars. Celeana and Sam is my pre Celeana and Chaol. I don't understand why SJM chose to write her with someone like Rowan, there isn't a reason for them to be together. Also, fuck Arobynn.
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: The Assassin and the Empire
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★☆
The start was very dry but the moment the feel rolled in, it steamed on without mercy. Sam and Celeana plan to leave from Rifthold and perhaps start a life somewhere else but they need money to do so, luckily they are offered a job that will make them both rich. Seems like a pretty sweet and simple plot about two teens trying to make it out of their shitty lives hoping for better in the future, UNTIL THE PLOT TWIST AND THE ENDING. This part of the novella alone can go against the entire main series and win istg. 𝘐𝘛 𝘞𝘈𝘚 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘗𝘓𝘖𝘛 𝘛𝘞𝘐𝘚𝘛 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘐𝘛 𝘞𝘈𝘚 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘌𝘕𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘎
If you like thin books (under 150 pages), but are not very into SFF (where novellas are a thing since forever), this new online reading group website seems to be a nice place to get inspiration. #thinbooks#books#novella#reading#bookstodon@bookstodon
The English Understand Wool, by Helen Dewitt. You are an extremely wealthy young lady who does not blink an eye when everything you thought was true turns out to be a lie, and by avoiding actions in bad taste, defeat some who would take advantage of your situation. 5 of 5 library cats 🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈