Rereading Carry On by Rainbow Rowell has been high on my Reread List for the past few months. I’m not sure why but I knew that I wanted to read it over the summer. I, also, knew that I wasn’t going to read the second and third/final Simon Snow books, Wayward Son and Anyway the Wind Blows (Ok, this one I am vaguely intrigued over, but no to Wayward Son), but thought it would be nice to reread this before the third and final book comes out.
In case you don’t know, Simon Snow started life in another Rainbow Rowell novel: Fangirl. A book about fandom, mental health and figuring out who you are (and Simon Snow is the fantasy series book that the main character loves. Very similar to Harry Potter). And Carry On is Rainbow taking the characters from the Simon Snow series and run with them, almost writing her own fanfiction with her own characters. Simon Snow is the Chosen One. The One who will save the World of Mages from the Insidious Humdrum. The Chosen One who can’t control his own magic and just wants to saviour his eighth and final year at Watford School of Magick. And yet, no one is going to let him. His girlfriend has broken up with him, his mentor – The Mage – wants to hide him away, his best friend is acting like a pest and his roommate/enemy is missing, which he should enjoy but can’t because he’s worried about where he is...
Title And Author: Whisper Island by Carissa Ann Lynch
Publisher: HarperCollins/One More Chapter
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher in exchange for honest review/reaction while Audiobook’s borrowed from local library via BorrowBox app.
We all know the plot. I mean, Agatha Christie was the first to do it with And Then There Were None, but we’ve seen this done in murder mystery and thrillers since then. Four US college art students – Riley, Mia, Sammy and Scarlett – decide to go to an island in Alaska to work on their art and their friendship. But when they arrive on Whisper Island, they realise that something is very wrong. The island is nothing like the photos Sammy’s brother sent. Then Sammy’s brother, Rob, and his new girlfriend, Opal, arrive unexpectedly, throwing the group through a loop as Rob is Mia’s ex, and Scarlett and Rob seem to have a sudden connection. Then the murders starts...
Title & Author: The Queer Bible Edited by Paul Guinness
Publisher: HQ
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Audiobook gifted by UK publisher in exchange for honest review/reaction
I’m quite lucky that I managed to get approved, listened and finish this audiobook before the end of June 2021 (aka Pride Month). I am going to admit that non-fiction isn’t my normal reading/audiobook area. I don’t mind dipping my toe into non-fiction every now and again, it’s a genre that always intimidates me. So, when I saw the audiobook of The Queer Bible on NetGalley UK, I requested it so fast that even I was surprised over my reaction. As someone who identifies as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I feel that it’s important for me to know our history. Or herstory, and this was going to be a good place to start, right? I mean, it’s a collection of essays, written from people all over the community (Elton John, Courtney Act, Graham Norton, Tan France, etc) about trailblazers who inspired them (David Bowie, George Michael, Tim Curry, Paris is Burning, Divine, Sylvester, etc), and edited by Jack Guinness, the founder of popular website The Queer Bible (as well as being a model and activist) and with each story illustrated by queer or ally artists (sadly, I didn’t get to see these as I audiobooked it, though I do think that if you buy this via Audible or other audiobook outlets, you might get them as a PDF).
I know historical fiction isn't my normal go to genre, but when this came on my radar, I knew I had to share with you all!
The Tsarina's Daughter by Ellen Alpsten is the sequel to last year's Tsarina, the story of Peter the Great’s wife, who started out as a serf named Marta and ended up a Tsarina named Catherine – and ruler of Russia. The ultimateCinderella, if you were.
The Tsarina Daughter is Cinderella, but in reverse. It follows Elizabeth, Russian Empress, who though born as a princess, free to pursue her passions, only to have it all snatched away from her when her mother dies. She becomes penniless and powerless – living her mother’s story in reverse, riches to rags. But what those who took everything from her don’t know is that she will fight to get it back – though isolated and impoverished, a woman in a man’s Russia, Elizabeth isn't planning to give up... far from it...
This and Tsarina are based on historical fact, but this is the first time that either of these women's stories have been fictionalised, hence why I am a honoured to have Ellen Alpsten on the Pewter Wolf Reads, chatting about her top five novels about Hidden Historical Figures.
Now, before I hand you over to Ellen, I just want to thank her for writing this post. I know she must be busy as heck so thank you! I, also, want to thank Becky from Midas PR who emailed and had to deal with my almost instant reply of "Yes! This sounds like fun!". Also, if you are curious on Ellen, this series or her other works, you can check out her website at ellenalpsten.com or give her a small tweet at @EAlpsten_Author.
I was originally going to put this up in earlier August to celebrate the release the latest five of the Vino and Veritas. But, I got excited so am going to pop this up now to wet your appetites and I would like to welcome Leslie McAdams onto the Pewter Wolf Reads.
Leslie McAdams is an USA Today best selling New Adult romance author, winning a Watty Award 2015 for her debut novel, The Sun and The Moon. Her romances novels include Boy on the Train, Lumbersexual, and series Love in Translation and Giving You. Her newest, coming out next month, is Undone, a MM romance set in Sarina Bowen's World of True North universe.
Undone follows Jason, who thinks his roommate, Murph, deserves someone deserving. Murph has the worst taste in men, according to Jason. He yelled at one of Murph's date and threw beer in another's face. Jason's sister is watching and has a theory that Jason is jealous. Jealous of the guys Murph is dating, which is stupid as Jason is straight and doesn't see Murph that way. So, why does Jason hate the idea of Murph of kissing any other guy. Expect, maybe, him...
I am thrilled that Leslie found time to write this small post to get us excited for Undone. The process of writing Undone, I found, super interesting. Before I hand it over to Leslie, I just want to thank her for find time to write this (and offering me a ton of titles in our emails that she went "Oh, I think you might like this!". Some of which have made their way onto my TBR and my radar for later date adding!). And, if you want to know more about Leslie and her titles, you can check out her website, lesliemcadamauthor.com. Or, if you want to say hi, pop her a tweet at @LeslieMcAdam.
In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan goes to London, on the hunt to find her father, a man she has never met. However, her first real lead is Crime boss Frank Thringley. Shame Susan doesn't have time to ask him any questions as Frank turns to dust within a few hours of meeting. He turned to dust due to a silver hatpin in the hands of Merlin, a young left-handed bookseller. Booksellers are beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World (Left-handed booksellers are the fighters, while the right-handed are the more intellectual) and it looks like it's invading the modern world...
And Susan is slap-bang in the middle of it as someone or something wants Susan. Friend or foe? And does Susan's search for her father have any connect to the mysterious death of Merlin's (and his right-handed bookseller sister, Vivien's) mother...
Oh, heck, sorry! Need to put info up. Got to get back in the habit of this. Hang on:
Title And Author: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix Publisher: Gollancz Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher in exchange for honest review/reaction. However, listened to Audiobook’s via library's audiobook app.
I am thrilled to be involved in Mainstream, a collection of short stories written by authors who are not exactly seen as mainstream authors and push them to the forefront: queer authors, authors of colours and working class authors. Edited by Justin David and Nathan Evans (publisher and editor of Inkandescent respectively), these authors include (deep breath time): Aisha Phoenix, Alex Hopkins, Bidisha, Chris Simpson, DJ Connell, Elizabeth Baines, Gaylene Gould, Giselle Leeb, Golnoosh Nour, Hedy Hume, Iqbal Hussain, Jonathan Kemp, Julia Bell, Juliet Jacques, Justin David, Kathy Hoyle, Keith Jarrett, Kerry Hudson, Kit de Waal, Lisa Goldman, Lui Sit, Nathan Evans, Neil Bartlett, Neil Lawrence, Neil McKenna, Ollie Charles, Padrika Tarrant, Paul McVeigh, Philip Ridley and Polis Loizou.
It's the last name on this list - Polis Loizou - that I am thrilled to have on The Pewter Wolf Reads as I have followed his Twitter for a few months now and couldn't be more thrilled and excited when the Sarah-Louise from Inkandscent emailed and wondered if I would like Polis on the blog.
I won't tell you about Polis's story in this collection - Pixalion - as Polis does a much better job explaining it than I would, but I think you are going to find his guest post (and, hopefully, his story and this collection) gripping.
Now, before I hand you over to Polis, some blog house-keeping. I want to thank Polis for finding time to write this post (I know he is super busy with his sophomore novel, The Way It Breaks, just been released and his one-man show, Mr Fox, about to hit the Brixton Fridge) and I, also, want to thank everyone at Inkandscent (mainly Nathan and Sarah-Louise) who had to deal with my out-of-the-blue email back in April 2021, where I was basically "Hi, you don't know me, but would you consider..."
Oh, links! If you want to know more info on Polis or just fancy saying hi, you can pop onto his LinkTree of linktr.ee/PolisLoizou and all the links you need are there or drop him a hello tweet on @PolisLoizou. Or, if you want more info on Mainstream, you can check out Inkandescent's website (inkandescent.co.uk) or pop them a tweet at @InkandescentUK.
Ok, I think that's everything, so, POLIS! OVER TO YOU!!!
Pinch, punch, first day of the month! And maybe we should all run for cover as look who's snuck back! Darren Shan, international best selling author of the Cirque Du Freak series, the Demonata Series and the Archibald Lox is back with Archibald Lox: Volume 2!
Now, quick backstory. Volume One of Archibald Lox was published as three separate ebooks back in April 2020 as some relief due to the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. These are (hang on, long title time): Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds, Archibald Lox and the Empress of Suanpan and Archibald Lox and the Vote of Alignment. These were put in a bind-up so you can read in one gulp (or, if you are curious to dip toe into this weird world-jumping fantasy, Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds is, I think, free!)
Now, Volume 2 will contain three new instalments which will be published individually then put together in one bindup. eBook 4 aka Archibald Lox and the Forgotten Crypt is out TODAY (!!!), ebook 5 aka Archibald Lox and the Slides of Bon Repell (possibly my fave title in this series) will be out on 3rd August 2021 and the sixth ebook aka Archibald Lox and the Rubicon Dictate is out 1st September 2021.
So, this is gonna be a typical guest author post, I hear you ask. No, dear reader, it's not. It's a little different. Darren did an open call to his fans via his website and socials late May/early June for questions that he will answer on here. As you can imagine, I am excited and terrified to see what you all asked him and how he answered (I haven't read them at the time of writing this!). This is gonna be a deliciously dark mess, isn't it?
Before I hand you over to the Q&A, I just wanna thank Catherine from Catherine Ward PR for emailing and going "I have an idea you might like" and for Darren for being so up for this! And to you, the fans of Cirque du Freak, Demonata, Zom-B and Darren's other works, for going "Answer Me This, Darren!". And if you wanna check Darren out on social, you can find him on darrenshan.com or pop him a hello on either his Twitter (@darrenshan) or his Facebook (facebook.com/darrenshanverified/).
