Tag: Animals

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The Bookish Owl – Alanna by Tamora Pierce

Alanna by Tamora Pierce

Here’s Alanna by Tamora Pierce.

Artemis is currently hospitalized with an infected talon, but I got a backlog of these book owl photos and writing blog posts helps distract me from worrying about possibly becoming the owner of a one-legged owl tomorrow (for once I’m not exaggerating – it might actually be that bad).

A friend recommended this book to me, since she thought I would enjoy a book about girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to become a knight.

I did.

It’s a short and entertaining read with likable characters and a simple story, and that’s something I think the high fantasy genre needs a bit more of. It doesn’t all have to be huge sagas with enough storylines to make your head spin (though I do like those as well).

The full title is ‘Alanna: The First Adventure’, so you can probably guess it’s part of a series, in this case the Song of Lioness Quartet.

I think more people should write four-book series. Quartet is a great word and ‘trilogy’ has had a good run.

Alanna
by Tamora Pierce

“From now on I’m Alan of Trebond, the younger twin. I’ll be a knight.”

In a time when girls are forbidden to be warriors, Alanna of Trebond wants nothing more than to be a knight of the realm of Tortall. So she finds a way to switch places with her twin brother, Thom. Disguised as a boy, Alanna begins her training as a page at the palace of King Roald. But the road to knighthood, as she discovers, is not an easy one. Alanna must master weapons, combat, and magic, as well as polite behavior, her temper, and even her own heart.

Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil, Alanna’s first adventure begins—one that will lead to the fulfillment of her dreams and make her a legend in the land.

Alanna by Tamora Pierce

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The Bookish Owl – Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

Next up is Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett.

This Discworld book is about asshole elves and a royal wedding, but I reread it for Granny Weatherwax and Archchancellor Ridcully reminiscing about their past romance (I ship those two so hard), Nanny Ogg being Nanny Ogg, and Magrat suddenly becoming super badass and killing elves left and right and scaring the shit out of poor Shawn.

There’s also a falconer that I feel a certain sympathy for. He’s called Hodgesaargh, which is not his name, but it’s how he introduces himself because all his birds try to rip his face off. He’s the kind of falconer I’ll end up being if I ever upgrade to something bigger than Artemis.

Speaking of Artemis, he’s looking especially handsome and dramatic in today’s photo. We took it on a bright sunny day, so I’m not sure how he managed to look like someone watching a sunset, but I’m starting to believe he might have some magic powers over cameras. It’s the same way he always stays photogenic, even when he’s molting and looks like a plucked turkey in reality.

Lords and Ladies
by Terry Pratchett

The fairies are back – but this time they don’t just want your teeth.

It’s Midsummer Night – no time for dreaming. Because sometimes, when there’s more than one reality at play, too much dreaming can make the walls between them come tumbling down. And there’s usually a damned good reason for there being walls between them in the first place – to keep things out. Things who want to make mischief and play havoc with the natural order.

Granny Weatherwax and her tiny coven are up against real elves. And even in a world of dwarfs, wizards, trolls, Morris dancers and the odd orang-utan, this is going to cause real trouble. With lots of hey-nonny-nonny and blood all over the place.

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

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The Bookish Owl – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban owl

Enjoy Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling!

This is another Harry Potter book, which means Artemis the owl is not happy.

It might have something to do with me once considering naming him ‘Pigwidgeon’…

Once again, rereading these books as an adult has turned out to be both awesome and infuriating. Awesome because they’re still great and entertaining books, infuriating because I’m sounding more and more like Mrs Weasley for every book. These kids are totally irresponsible, but even worse: what kind of headmaster urges thirteen year old kids to go back in time, dodge a rabid werewolf, steal a hippogrif out from under the noses of law enforcement, just so they can fly around to save a convicted murderer from soul-eating monsters?!

Why don’t you do it yourself, you crazy old bat?!

I have some unresolved Dumbledore issues, yes.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
by J. K. Rowling

When the Knight Bus crashes through the darkness and screeches to a halt in front of him, it’s the start of another far from ordinary year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter. Sirius Black, escaped mass-murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, is on the run – and they say he is coming after Harry. In his first ever Divination class, Professor Trelawney sees an omen of death in Harry’s tea leaves . But perhaps most terrifying of all are the Dementors patrolling the school grounds, with their soul-sucking kiss.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban owl

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The Bookish Owl – Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

Here we go with Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett.

This was another Discworld reread (surprise, surprise). This one is about witches, wizards, gender roles, and of course, horrible monsters from another dimension.

It also has Granny Weatherwax, who, in the eyes of the wizards of Unseen University, might very well be both a witch and a horrible monster from another dimension.

I want to be Granny Weatherwax when I grow up.

Equal Rites
by Terry Pratchett

On Discworld, a dying wizard tries to pass on his powers to an eighth son of an eighth son, who is just at that moment being born. The fact that the son is actually a daughter is discovered just a little too late. The town witch insists on turning the baby into a perfectly normal witch, thus mending the magical damage of the wizard’s mistake. But now the young girl will be forced to penetrate the inner sanctum of the Unseen University–and attempt to save the world with one well-placed kick in some enchanted shins!

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

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The Bookish Owl – The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

We’re delving into horror this time with The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

I know my last post very specifically didn’t feature Artemis, but I do have a lot of book owl photos I need to do something with, so you will still have to put up with these posts. I promise I will try to write more non-owl posts, but honestly, I’m not all that interesting. My idea of a wild night out is when a Dungeons & Dragons session gets a little intense…

On to the book stuff: I wanted to read ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ after watching the Netflix show loosely based on it (and absolutely loving it), even though I knew the book would be a lot different. It has now been a while since I finished the book and I’m honestly still not sure how I feel about it. I think I missed some more actual horror – it’s fine to have the book be mostly about the psychological effect the events have on the characters, but without more focus on the things that happens to cause said effect, it’s hard to truly relate.

I also think the book suffers from the same minimalism writing as many other old classics – I don’t need everything spelled out for me, but I would like it if most of the story wasn’t told between the lines.

But all in all I didn’t hate this book.

The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson

First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson