#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView
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1. The tagged book
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2. Cold weather! I‘m Scottish I am not built for this relentless heat 😂 Plus October is my birthday month and I love everything about spooky season 🎃

I set myself a challenge to read 10 King books this year and this was number 9 so I‘m more than happy with my progress. I‘m thinking of reading Christine or Bag of bones next, which would you recommend?

This was incredible! A dual timeline novel about The Ormen, a ship which has been abandoned with the crew missing and never found. So dark, gothic and claustrophobic while also being touching and sad with elements of folklore. The writing is sublime with the cold atmosphere of Iceland perfectly captured so you can feel the chills. One of the best books I‘ve read this year
5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc

Thoroughly enjoyed this tour around the magical places in Britain and the history behind them

I dnf lots of books now, I used to try to push through but I‘ve got thousands on my tbr so I won‘t spend time on books I‘m not enjoying. I give up as soon as I‘m not liking a book and I know what doesn‘t work for me
When do you give up on a book?

‘A mind-blowing murder mystery on a ship full of magical passengers. If Agatha Christie wrote fantasy, this would be it!‘

Do you need to know anything else 🤷🏼‍♀️

#netgalley

She likes to read, she reads all the time, and she prefers to be reading several things at once, she says it gives endless perspective and dimension.

Happy birthday to Agatha Christie!

Do you have a favourite of her books?

Such a beautiful book but so hard to read
4 ⭐️

I‘ve waited a while for my hold on this book, hoping for good things. Have you read this one?

A book I‘ve been meaning to read for years.
Tell me a book you‘ve been meaning to read for a long time?

It‘s too hot to do anything but sit at the fan and read today so I‘ll be finishing this dark thriller. What are you reading today?

Been excited to read this one for a while! Always appreciate a Scottish narrator as well 😊

Currently listening 🎧

An outstandingly good retelling of Medea with such good pacing and plotting that it was quite the page turner. I loved every minute of this and devoured it in two days!
5 ⭐️
#netgalley #arc

Todays audiobook 🎧

🎧 currently reading 🎧

Phew 😮‍💨 It‘s taken me many many weeks to get through this chunkster, at almost 900 pages it was very dense but so interesting and I felt like I learned a lot I didn‘t know about the British empire. The author made it easy to understand and broke it up nicely so the chapters weren‘t too long. A depressing read at times but I‘m glad I read about an important part of history which we don‘t get taught in school but should

Mine is cosy mysteries, particularly if they have a magical or paranormal element. What‘s yours?

An absolutely wonderful and magical work of historical fiction, totally engrossing from start to finish

5 ⭐️

It's the fossil-fuel companies that have created this mess, funded climate denial and murdered activists on the front lines.
It's every government that has acted in the interests of these multi-billion dollar companies, rather than for the people. It's the super-rich; the billionaires; the one hundred companies. It's overconsumption, capitalism and white supremacy.

A short read based on a woman‘s lie that she is pregnant because she‘s sick of doing all the menial jobs at work that her male coworkers don‘t get asked to do. This was a buddy read with my son and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it

"consorting with spirits" was once the name of a crime. The assumption at that time was that spirits were fully formed and independent beings who existed in their own realms somewhat adjacent to ours.

I found this really disappointing!

I absolutely loved this mythology retelling which is based around Medusa and her lesser known sisters Stheno and Euryale. The prose was gorgeous while the story flowed so well that it was hard to put down
4⭐️

#netgalley #arc

🪴 A lovely book for any plant lovers 🪴

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The head of Orpheus turned up as a half grapefruit and in a absent minded moment I ate it”

So brilliantly absurd, I had a great time with this one!
4 ⭐️

“In a time of huge controversy about the legacy of empire, racial justice and the future of museums, what does the future hold for the Bronzes?”

A fascinating look at the history of Britain and their taking of the Benin Bronzes. The audiobook and narration were excellent while the content was easy to understand by those with little knowledge of the subject. I thought this might be a bit dry but it was really interesting from start to finish

Which door would you open and why?
I would have to go to Narnia to make my childhood dream come true 😁

I was so excited to get this NetGalley ARC as Natalie Haynes is such a fantastic author and speaker. As always she didn‘t let me down.
In this book she examines the roles of the goddesses in Greek myth with her usual brilliant storytelling and humour while making it really easy to understand for anyone
Highly recommended

"I daresay the Scottish wish for enchantments too Mrs. Gamble. Isn't that why you weave magical creatures into your clothing and make little amulets to carry in your pockets?"

Loved this book so much! 4 ⭐️

August brings a gentle energy of completion, as if encouraging us to savour the last few drops of summer sun and the abundance of colour before the leaves turn to gold, red and brown. There is a sweetness in taking time to savour and honour what has been given.

💖 Welcome August 💖

The author has put his life at risk many times by going undercover around the world to get into far right groups so as to understand their mindset
I found this an interesting but difficult read as I will never be able to understand how so many people spend all their time filled with hate for anyone who isn‘t like them as well as pushing dangerous and false conspiracy theories
Frightening at times but well written and informative

It‘s not surprising that a connection has been made between witchcraft and the fight for change and social justice, because witches have always been on the fringes and viewed as outsiders.

Annie marries widower Edward and moves into his home on the Yorkshire moors where his medium sister Iris still lives. Things get dark and mysterious very quickly when Annie goes to one of Iris‘ seances.
With nods to Rebecca this was beautiful, gothic, atmospheric and dark.

4 ⭐️

#netgalley

It wasn't easy, in that moment, for me to think like a scholar again. To think at all, really. How was it that I suddenly had faerie kings, plural, demanding to marry me?

Finished this one in a day as I couldn‘t stop listening! A woman goes back in time to stop her son committing a crime. This was such a clever thriller with fast pacing which will keep you turning the pages

I can quite easily suspend my disbelief with thrillers but this was utterly ridiculous! I didn‘t like anything about this and ironically giving it 1 ⭐️

I feel attacked 😂😂

Written with humour, this takes you through a day in the life of a Victorian, from getting up to going to bed and everything in between.
Lots of fun as well as educational it was never boring or dry. I enjoyed this from start to finish
4 ⭐️

We had fallen through a crack in the world. This is where we had come as children and wandered for a month. A place of the dead. What had happened to us here? Why had we stayed so long?

Weekend reading 🎧

If a story does its job, it doesn't ever end. Not really. But it can change. This is the nature of folktales. They shift to fit each teller. Take whatever form suits the bearer best. What begins as a story of sorrow can be acknowledged, held like a sweetheart to the chest, rocked and sung to. And then it can be set down to sleep. It can become an offering. A lantern. An ember to lead you through the dark.

I wasn‘t sure how interesting this would be but it was fascinating to read about the history of colours and the stories behind each one. Recommended!

I never tire of mythology retellings and this was one of the most beautiful and engrossing that I‘ve read
4 ⭐️

🖤 Spending some time looking through this one today, one of the many I forgot about. Looks great so far 🖤