Tag: Books

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The Bookish Owl – Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt

Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt

Next up: Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt.

Now, this is not the kind of book I normally read, but it’s written by my long-time Twitter friend – the lovely Kim – and it promised murder and dragons.

I don’t ask for much more in life.

As I have already finished it, I can tell you that this book reads like an episode of Midsomer Murders… and then suddenly the characters are talking about dragons like it’s completely normal. It’s delightfully weird.

My only complaint is that there’s so much talk of food and baked goods that each chapter leaves you starving. Each paperback should come with a box of scones…

Baking Bad
by Kim M. Watt

A tranquil village.

A poisoned cupcake.

A murdered vicar.

A simple case – or it should be. But all clues point to the Toot Hansell Women’s Institute, and Detective Inspector Adams is about to discover there’s much more to the W.I. than bake sales and jam making.

Alice Martin, RAF Wing Commander (Ret.), and current chair of the W.I., knows the ladies of the Women’s Institute are not guilty. But she has a bigger problem. Toot Hansell has a dragonish secret, and she needs to keep the police well away from it. And she’d really rather not be arrested for murder. Again.

Meanwhile, Beaufort Scales, High Lord of the Cloverly dragons and survivor of the days of knights and dragon hunts, knows even better than Alice that the modern dragon only survives as long as no one knows they exist. But he also knows friends don’t let friends face murder inquiries alone. Beaufort fully intends to Get Involved.

This investigation is about to take on dragonish proportions.

Best put the kettle on.

A funny cozy mystery (with dragons), for anyone that likes their mysteries British, gentle, and well-stocked with cake, tea, and friendship. And dragons, obviously.

Baking Bad by Kim M. Watt

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The Bookish Owl – The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchet

Here’s The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett.

I’m still playing catch-up with these posts. And honestly? I’m not doing well. I’m devouring books at a pace total unheard of for me, so every time I get around to doing a post, I will have read another two books.

This one was another reread. It’s not even purely about being unable to let go of Discworld anymore – I’m reading so much I have to reread some old books, otherwise I’ll run out of books. Imagine the horror!

‘The Light Fantastic’ is the continuation of The Colour of Magic, though it has only slightly more plot than the first book (which doesn’t say a lot), but it introduces Cohen the Barbarian and there’s nothing not to love about an eighty-seven year old barbarian hero with arthritis.

The Light Fantastic
by Terry Pratchett

It is known as the Discworld. It is a flat planet, supported on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of the great turtle A’Tuin as it swims majestically through space. And it is quite possibly the funniest place in all of creation…

As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld has only one possible saviour. Unfortunately, this happens to be the singularly inept and cowardly wizard called Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world.

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchet

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The Bookish Owl – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Owl

Here’s the owl post you have all been waiting for: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling!

It’s really amazing that it has taken me this long to do one of these posts with a Harry Potter book. I mean, really? I have an owl and I take pictures of it next to fantasy books, but for more than a year I never once did it with the most owlish book ever?

Talk about missed opportunities.

But I finally did it and it turned out to be my all-time favorite owl photo… because Artemis is wearing the perfect “Are you kidding me?!”-expression and I find it hilarious.

It’s almost as good as the time a friend and I took him on an improvised Harry Potter cosplay photoshoot, and he tried to eat the letter we gave him.

Artemis does not care to be stereotyped.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Owl

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The Bookish Owl – The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

I present to you: The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett!

Are you getting tired of seeing the same grumpy owl next to yet another Discworld book?

Well, too bad. The owl is not going to stop being grumpy and I got enough Discworld books left to reread to last me until the end of February.

This is the very first book in the series and, unlike the later ones, it has absolutely no plot, but lots of humor and insanity, and sometimes that’s just what you need.

Enjoy!

(Or give my some ideas for new blog posts, so we can get a bit of variation on this site…)

The Colour of Magic
by Terry Pratchett

In the beginning there was…a turtle.

Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different.

Particularly as it’s carried though space on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown). It plays by different rules.

But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land.

Unfortunately, the person charged with maintaining that survival in the face of robbers, mercenaries and, well, Death, is a spectacularly inept wizard…

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

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The Bookish Owl – The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman

The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman

I know I’m so bad about posting these, but here’s The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman.

The book is the fourth in the Invisible Library series. It has gangsters, dragons and time-traveling librarians. There’s really no way to disapprove of this combo.

Enjoy Artemis’s gangster face. Or maybe it’s his dragon face…?

The Lost Plot
by Genevieve Cogman

In a 1920s-esque New York, Prohibition is in force; fedoras, flapper dresses, and tommy guns are in fashion: and intrigue is afoot. Intrepid Librarians Irene and Kai find themselves caught in the middle of a dragon political contest. It seems a young Librarian has become tangled in this conflict, and if they can’t extricate him, there could be serious repercussions for the mysterious Library. And, as the balance of power across mighty factions hangs in the balance, this could even trigger war.

Irene and Kai are locked in a race against time (and dragons) to procure a rare book. They’ll face gangsters, blackmail, and the Library’s own Internal Affairs department. And if it doesn’t end well, it could have dire consequences on Irene’s job. And, incidentally, on her life…

The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman