Being Bookish

This week we are visiting the world of Middren, where the worship of gods is forbidden and a battle with the old gods all but destroyed a royal dynasty. Her family devastated by sacrifice to the god of fire, Kissen rejoices in the fact that her search for vengeance is sanctioned by a king who wants to move his people on from the old ways. But when Kissen meets young Inara, the daughter of a noble house, bound by unknown forces to Skedi, the god of white lies, she must face her past on a pilgrimage to the site where the battle was fought at its strongest, Blenraden. And thus begins Hannah Kaner's debut novel, Godkiller. Join me on a spoiler-free analysis. What did I think?

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Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

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Being Bookish on TikTok

I had to do it! For some reason, this book was calling to me, and it does get another book I haven't read off my TBR. This week, instead of reviewing the supernaturally-themed novel I was promising I was going to look at, I picked up this 1941 novel from Agatha Christie. Again we are drawn into the world of Hercule Poirot. Instead of the streets of London though, we are staying in a luxury hotel off the coast of Devon where a glamorous actress has been strangled. But who could possibly dislike the beautiful Arlena Marshall enough to strangle her with their bare hands? Could it be her cuckolded husband? Her unhappy stepdaughter? A jealous wife? A drug smuggler frustrated by her presence near his smuggled wares? You know I am not going to tell you, but I will give you enough clues that you'll want to read the book!

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Death on the Pier

Hickory Dickory Dock

Agatha Raisin

In the 1980s, there was nothing like a good old-fashioned bonkbuster to brighten up your bookcases. With their somewhat stylised but garish covers that declared them to be the sort of book you would probably blush when telling your granny about.

As well as the handsome but rakish main characters, they sold in their hundreds of thousands. Jilly Cooper was the Queen of Bonkbusters, famous for the heartless but too-beautiful-to-exist Rupert Campbell-Black who broke hearts all over the world.

Rivals was released at the tail-end of the 1980s (1988), but everything about it from the cover to the characters and the situations they find themselves in screams 'this is a 1980s book'.

Despite all that, Disney has now purchased the rights and has made the first half of the book into an 8-part mini-series.

So...what did I think about it on this re-read that was 15 years in the making? How will a mini-series based on a book that is all about the boardroom and the bedroom work on a family-friendly network like Disney? Find out in the first episode of Season 4 of Being Bookish.

UPDATE: I will be releasing weekly commentary on my YouTube channel of the TV episodes, so check those out from 30th October.

This year has been a big one. 130 books, 56 new authors, and only 22 re-reads. I have been introduced to new authors, new genres and some incredible new books. So what made it into the countdown? Are there books you're expecting? Is there anything you want me to mention? Go on, it's the final countdown for the year, give it a listen!

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The Spirit Engineer

The House in the Cerulean Sea

Delicacy: A memoir of cake and death

Death on the Pier

The Body

Misery

Skyward

Podcast mentions

Strive, Seek, Find

Once Upon a Nightmare

Bet you never thought you'd see the day when I read a book in the Warhammer series! Well, today you are going to be surprised. This week I am talking Warhammer, specifically Xenos, the first in the Eisenhorn Omnibus by Dan Abnett with Dev - who really knows his stuff.

So, settle back and welcome to Warhammer...

Useful links

Warhammer Wiki

Warhammer beginners guide

Warhammer Space Marines Trailer

The Astartes Project

It’s 1960, in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Ray Brower, a boy from a nearby town, has disappeared, and twelve-year-old Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find his body along the railroad tracks. During the course of their journey, Gordie, Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio come to terms with death and the harsh truths of growing up in a small factory town that doesn’t offer much in the way of a future.

Join me and my guest, Lorraine, as we talk about this book, school bullies and a little about the 1986 film, Stand by Me. And we don't spoil the ending!

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Good Omens

Misery (1987)

Misery (1990)

Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body feels like the perfect start to December. When Health and Safety busy body John Sunday starts to tell people that there will be no Christmas trees on the church roof, that Christmas lights are a health and safety hazard and there can be no candles during evening services, you just know his days are numbered. But who in the village is the one that stabs him repeatedly in the back?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the first book in her bestselling trilogy (though it has since been added to with a prequel). First released in 2008, it was made into a Hollywood Blockbuster in 2012 (which made Jennifer Lawrence a household name). It is a story of political intrigue and mass murder made to look like entertainment. So, what did I think? Was it a book I liked more or less on the second reading? And how did the film fare? Find out in the first of my November Adaptation episodes.

Shiver is the first in a YA series by Maggie Stiefvater, originally released in 2009. The book has been on my bookcase since that point and until this year I hadn't done more than move it twice (when I moved house). So, what makes this werewolf novel the perfect spooky read for Booktober? Check out my spoiler-free review to find out. It was the ideal palate cleanser after my previous Booktober read.

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Flowers in the Attic

Flowers in the Attic is the gothic novel that has it all, some of this all you probably don't want, but over the 43 years since its release it's sold over 40 million copies worldwide and while you'd think that its popularity would fade as more books were released to market, it's spawned a franchise of films and a mini-series. So, what is it about this novel that makes it perfect for Booktober? Tune in to find out as I talk about Virginia Andrews' 1979 taboo tale.

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Call for the Dead by John Le Carré