Book Recommendations: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Book Recommendations

Welcome all to another new segment that I am starting on my blog. As the name suggests, this will be recommendations of books that I have read and enjoyed.

The recommendations will be from my own book shelf. I won’t be providing reviews, these will just be my pick each month of books that stood out for me. I am sharing these in a hope of connecting you with your next read or helping if you don’t know what to read next!


49628Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. . . .

Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter. . . . From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life. . . . And onward, with dazzling virtuosity, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.

But the story doesn’t end even there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

Book Recommendations: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Book Recommendations

Welcome all to another new segment that I am starting on my blog. As the name suggests, this will be recommendations of books that I have read and enjoyed.

The recommendations will be from my own book shelf. I won’t be providing reviews, these will just be my pick each month of books that stood out for me. I am sharing these in a hope of connecting you with your next read or helping if you don’t know what to read next!


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Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space-and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe-in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

Favourite Reads of 2021

By the time this post goes live I am hoping that I have achieved my goal of reading 40 books again this year! I’m currently on 38 as I am writing this but hopefully I will have now finished! I read so many amazing books again this year. As is my tradition, I have listed the standout ones for me below. Do check these and all the others I have read this year out!


Bloodlaced

Bloodlaced (Youkai Bloodlines #1) by Courtney Maguire

 

Captivated

Captivated by A.C Thomas

 

 

Dark Summer

Dark Summer by S.J. Coles

 

Blood Stained Tea

The Yakuza Path: Blood Stained Tea by Amy Tasukada

 

Aeterna

Aeterna by Kim Bannerman

Favourite Reads of 2020

I’ve had a lot more time for reading this year and have been able to read 40 books and clear the majority of my review queue which is great! I have read so many great novels in 2020 and have listed below the standout ones for me. I recommend you checking them out!

The Life Siphon series by Kathryn Sommerlot

The Life Siphon (The Life Siphon #1)

The Mage Heir (The Life Siphon #2)

The Loyal Whispers (The Life Siphon #3)


Serial Investigations series by Rhiannon D’Averc

Bloodless (Serial Investigations #1)

Blood Evidence (Serial Investigations #2)

Blood Alcohol (Serial Investigations #3)

Blood Sucker (Serial Investigations #4)

Blood Sport (Serial Investigations #5)

Blood on Poinsettia (Serial Investigations)


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The Gemini Connection by Teri Polen


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Born to Liberty (Light from Aphelion #3) by Martine Carlsson


Blood Winter

Blood Winter by S.J. Coles

Released today! Perchance to Dream: Classic Tales from the Bard’s World in New Skins

perchance to dream

Perchance to Dream: Classic Tales from the Bard’s World in New Skins Edited by Lyssa Chiavari

Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet. Macbeth. Everyone has heard their names. Everyone knows their stories. But you’ve never seen them like this.

In this collection, some of the hottest names in YA today reimagine ten of Shakespeare’s best-known plays and sonnets for a new audience. From sci-fi adventures on distant moons to modern magic found in everyday places, these updated myths pay homage to the Bard’s timeless storytelling while spinning fresh and original tales that will captivate readers all over again.

Buy Now from amazon.com

Book Recommendation: Downtime by Tamara Allen

Downtime by Tamara Allen

On assignment in London, FBI Agent Morgan Nash finds himself moments away from a bullet through the heart when the case he’s working goes awry. But fate has other plans, he discovers when he wakes in a world far removed from his own.

At work cataloguing ancient manuscripts in the British Museum, Ezra Glacenbie inadvertently creates the magic that pulls Morgan out of the twenty-first century and into the nineteenth. It’s an impromptu vacation which may become permanent when the spellbook goes missing. Further upsetting Morgan’s search for a way home is the irresistible temptation to investigate the most notorious crime of the nineteenth century. But it’s the unexpected romance blossoming between Morgan and Ezra that becomes the most dangerous complication of all.

Book Recommendation: Illumination by Rowan Speedwell

Illumination by Rowan Speedwell

Adam Craig is burned out. Lead singer of the hard rock band Black Varen, he’s tired of the empty life of groupies, paparazzi, and hotel rooms. Worse, a life in the closet. After the final concert of their latest tour, he flees the after-party in pursuit of memories of lost summers and carefree days, until he passes out on the patio of a shuttered lake resort.

Miles Caldwell is a brilliant artist, tied by agoraphobia and social anxiety to his family’s lodge. Alone but for his parrot, he spends his days illuminating manuscripts and hiding from the complexities of life. When he discovers Adam asleep in a deck chair, he’s furious but intrigued. Adam soon charms his way into Miles’ bed, and they lose themselves in a summer idyll, safe from the compromises and claims of reality.

But Adam’s life, with all its demands, is waiting for him. And Miles, uncertain of Adam’s true feelings, is battling demons of his own. Somehow, the man who’s never home and the man who never leaves it must find the strength to fight for a future together.