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<\/a>The Guns of August<\/strong><\/em> by Barbara Tuchman — Historical Non Fiction<\/h4>\nFirst published in 1962 by McMillan, the latest edition by Presidio Press (Penguin Random Group) in 2004.<\/p>\n
This book won the Pulitzer prize for General Non Fiction in 1963 and I can see why — it’s a fascinating and extremely readable account of the first month of World War 1. If you’re interested in history generally and military history in particular I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this book as much as I did.<\/p>\n
The Messenger<\/em> by Marcus Zusak — YA<\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/The-Messenger-98x150.jpg\")
<\/a>First published in 2002 by Pan McMillan Australia; reprinted in 2013, then again in 2014, 2015, and 2017 — by which I’m guessing folk liked it a lot.<\/p>\nI did, too, except for the ending, which I really didn’t care for at all. This statement is also linked to the reason why I couldn’t decide whether to describe it as YA Contemporary or YA Fantasy. To find out more you’ll have to read it for yourself and make up your own mind. However, I liked the majority of the book enough that it’s definitely on the ‘discuss’ list and clearly, from those dates, a lot of other readers did like the ending. Just saying.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Rivers of London<\/em> by Ben Aaronovitch — (Urban) Fantasy<\/h4>\nFirst published in 2011 by Gollancz.<\/p>\n
I’ve been meaning to read this pretty much since 2011 and am glad I finally have. It’s a well-constructed urban Fantasy in which the city of London is as much a character as the human and paranormal players. I also really liked the use of folklore and the underlying savagery that goes with many such tales, as well as the reasonably diverse cast of characters.<\/p>\n
Turtles All The Way Down<\/em> by John Green — YA; Contemporary<\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Turtles-All-The-Way-Down-99x150.jpg\")
<\/a>First published in 2017 by Dutton Penguin.<\/p>\nThis is my first John Green. (I know, clearly I’m a flawed human being and a failure as a reader.) And I really enjoyed it. It’s about a girl with obsessive compulsive disorder and a boy with serious family problems. It’s also about friendship, money, the environment — oh yes, and tuataras (which hail from NZ and are really cool imho, so how could I not like their appearance in the book…) I was very slightly less taken by the ending than the whole of the book, but that may have been because I devoured it pretty much in one go so I was probably a little jaded by that point.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The Travelling Cat Chronicles<\/em> by Hiro Arikawa; Translated by Peter Gabriel — Contemporary<\/h4>\nEnglish language edition in 2017, by Doubleday.<\/p>\n
I bought this book knowing nothing about it at all but sometimes you have to take risks, right? Right: because I loved it. It’s a gentle and insightful story about love and life, friendship and family. If you’ve enjoyed reads like Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book<\/em>\u00a0or films like The Station Agent<\/em>, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this, too.<\/p>\nThe Gate of Ivory<\/em> by Doris Egan — SF-Fantasy<\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Gates-of-Ivory-87x150.jpg\")
<\/a>First published in 1989, by DAW. Nominated for the Locus Award for best First Novel.<\/p>\nI’ve always wanted to read this novel and now I finally have. I liked it a lot, too. It’s one of those novels that’s technically SF (ie it’s set in a world with space travel) but otherwise it’s pretty much straight out Fantasy, even more so than Space Opera. It’s fun and a relatively light read but still with sufficient depth to be satisfying. Interesting use of the tarot, too, as part of the magic system.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Tale-of-Murasaki-100x150.jpg\")
<\/a>The Tale of Murasaki<\/em> by Liza Dalby — Historical Fiction<\/h4>\nFirst published in 2001 by Anchor (Random House Group)<\/p>\n
This book is a fictional account of the life of Lady Murasaki, the author of the Japanese classic The Tale of Genji<\/em>, which was written in the Heian period, 794 — 1185 (AD), when the government of Japan was based in Kyoto. The story is woven around what remains of Lady Murasaki’s personal papers, as well as records of the period. It provides an interesting window onto the court and literary life of the times, as well as a character study of Murasaki as a woman, author, and courtier of the era.<\/p>\nThe Incredible Journey<\/em> by Sheila Burnford — Children<\/h4>\n
<\/a>First published in 2002 by Pan McMillan Australia; reprinted in 2013, then again in 2014, 2015, and 2017 — by which I’m guessing folk liked it a lot.<\/p>\nI did, too, except for the ending, which I really didn’t care for at all. This statement is also linked to the reason why I couldn’t decide whether to describe it as YA Contemporary or YA Fantasy. To find out more you’ll have to read it for yourself and make up your own mind. However, I liked the majority of the book enough that it’s definitely on the ‘discuss’ list and clearly, from those dates, a lot of other readers did like the ending. Just saying.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Rivers of London<\/em> by Ben Aaronovitch — (Urban) Fantasy<\/h4>\nFirst published in 2011 by Gollancz.<\/p>\n
I’ve been meaning to read this pretty much since 2011 and am glad I finally have. It’s a well-constructed urban Fantasy in which the city of London is as much a character as the human and paranormal players. I also really liked the use of folklore and the underlying savagery that goes with many such tales, as well as the reasonably diverse cast of characters.<\/p>\n
Turtles All The Way Down<\/em> by John Green — YA; Contemporary<\/h4>\n<\/a>First published in 2017 by Dutton Penguin.<\/p>\nThis is my first John Green. (I know, clearly I’m a flawed human being and a failure as a reader.) And I really enjoyed it. It’s about a girl with obsessive compulsive disorder and a boy with serious family problems. It’s also about friendship, money, the environment — oh yes, and tuataras (which hail from NZ and are really cool imho, so how could I not like their appearance in the book…) I was very slightly less taken by the ending than the whole of the book, but that may have been because I devoured it pretty much in one go so I was probably a little jaded by that point.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The Travelling Cat Chronicles<\/em> by Hiro Arikawa; Translated by Peter Gabriel — Contemporary<\/h4>\nEnglish language edition in 2017, by Doubleday.<\/p>\n
I bought this book knowing nothing about it at all but sometimes you have to take risks, right? Right: because I loved it. It’s a gentle and insightful story about love and life, friendship and family. If you’ve enjoyed reads like Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book<\/em>\u00a0or films like The Station Agent<\/em>, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this, too.<\/p>\nThe Gate of Ivory<\/em> by Doris Egan — SF-Fantasy<\/h4>\n<\/a>First published in 1989, by DAW. Nominated for the Locus Award for best First Novel.<\/p>\nI’ve always wanted to read this novel and now I finally have. I liked it a lot, too. It’s one of those novels that’s technically SF (ie it’s set in a world with space travel) but otherwise it’s pretty much straight out Fantasy, even more so than Space Opera. It’s fun and a relatively light read but still with sufficient depth to be satisfying. Interesting use of the tarot, too, as part of the magic system.<\/p>\n
<\/a>The Tale of Murasaki<\/em> by Liza Dalby — Historical Fiction<\/h4>\nFirst published in 2001 by Anchor (Random House Group)<\/p>\n
This book is a fictional account of the life of Lady Murasaki, the author of the Japanese classic The Tale of Genji<\/em>, which was written in the Heian period, 794 — 1185 (AD), when the government of Japan was based in Kyoto. The story is woven around what remains of Lady Murasaki’s personal papers, as well as records of the period. It provides an interesting window onto the court and literary life of the times, as well as a character study of Murasaki as a woman, author, and courtier of the era.<\/p>\nThe Incredible Journey<\/em> by Sheila Burnford — Children<\/h4>\n
This is my first John Green. (I know, clearly I’m a flawed human being and a failure as a reader.) And I really enjoyed it. It’s about a girl with obsessive compulsive disorder and a boy with serious family problems. It’s also about friendship, money, the environment — oh yes, and tuataras (which hail from NZ and are really cool imho, so how could I not like their appearance in the book…) I was very slightly less taken by the ending than the whole of the book, but that may have been because I devoured it pretty much in one go so I was probably a little jaded by that point.<\/p>\n English language edition in 2017, by Doubleday.<\/p>\n I bought this book knowing nothing about it at all but sometimes you have to take risks, right? Right: because I loved it. It’s a gentle and insightful story about love and life, friendship and family. If you’ve enjoyed reads like Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book<\/em>\u00a0or films like The Station Agent<\/em>, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this, too.<\/p>\n I’ve always wanted to read this novel and now I finally have. I liked it a lot, too. It’s one of those novels that’s technically SF (ie it’s set in a world with space travel) but otherwise it’s pretty much straight out Fantasy, even more so than Space Opera. It’s fun and a relatively light read but still with sufficient depth to be satisfying. Interesting use of the tarot, too, as part of the magic system.<\/p>\n First published in 2001 by Anchor (Random House Group)<\/p>\n This book is a fictional account of the life of Lady Murasaki, the author of the Japanese classic The Tale of Genji<\/em>, which was written in the Heian period, 794 — 1185 (AD), when the government of Japan was based in Kyoto. The story is woven around what remains of Lady Murasaki’s personal papers, as well as records of the period. It provides an interesting window onto the court and literary life of the times, as well as a character study of Murasaki as a woman, author, and courtier of the era.<\/p>\n<\/a>First published in 2017 by Dutton Penguin.<\/p>\n<\/a>The Travelling Cat Chronicles<\/em> by Hiro Arikawa; Translated by Peter Gabriel — Contemporary<\/h4>\nThe Gate of Ivory<\/em> by Doris Egan — SF-Fantasy<\/h4>\n
<\/a>First published in 1989, by DAW. Nominated for the Locus Award for best First Novel.<\/p>\n<\/a>The Tale of Murasaki<\/em> by Liza Dalby — Historical Fiction<\/h4>\nThe Incredible Journey<\/em> by Sheila Burnford — Children<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Incredible-Journey-102x150.jpg\")
<\/a>First published in 1961; latest re-publication 2018.<\/p>\n