Tag: Folklore

Books

Book 866: Under the Whispering Door – T.J. Klune

Geoff W

Book cover of "Under the Whispering Door" with Amazon Affiliate linkAfter loving everything I’ve read by Klune so far it was obvious I was going to read this. And then, when it appeared on NetGalley AND I was approved, I had to sit on it for SO. MANY. MONTHS.* It was 100% worth the wait.

Having not read any of Klune’s “adult” books, this one feels more mature than his superhero books (The Extraordinaries and Flash Fire) or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Most of this is directly because there are no young adult characters and this deals so much with the topics of death and grief. And it brings up so many philosophical ideas about life and death that I’m sure I still missed plenty.

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Books

Book 835: Legendborn (Legendborn Cycle #1) – Tracy Deonn

Geoff W

Book cover of "Legendborn" with Amazon Affiliate linkI was on hold at the library for months to get this one! I vaguely remember it being released, but didn’t realize it’s connection to UNC Chapel Hill (my undergrad) until I saw the cover and Deonn in one of the alumni newsletters and then of course immediately had to read it, but was stifled by the long hold times :’-(

I wasn’t only drawn to it because of the UNC connection, but also because of the modern retelling of Arthurian legends. I knew this was going to be a fascinating take on them with a Black protagonist, southern history, secret societies, and the first public university in the country, how couldn’t it be!

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Books

Book 575: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) – J.K. Rowling

Geoff W

I have avoided writing this since I finished it back in the middle of September.

Each time I re-read these, it’s harder to say goodbye. The next time I re-read them I either won’t blog about them, or it’ll be to retire this blog (or after it’s retired). This re-read reiterated how I absolutely would be in Ravenclaw and yet would probably sit outside the common room a lot waiting for someone to come along and solve the puzzle.

“The deserted Ravenclaw common room was a wide, circular room, airier than any Harry had ever seen at Hogwarts. Graceful arched windows punctuated the walls, which were hung with blue-and-bronze silks: By day, the Ravenclaws would have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars, which were echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. There were tables, chairs, and bookcases, and in a niche opposite the door stood a tall statue of white marble.” (242)

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Books

Book 574: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) – J.K. Rowling

Geoff W

I wish I knew what took me over a month to write my response to this book. I’ve read it at least 10 times, if not more. I’m 95% certain not writing my response is non-book related and totally real world/job/life related, but there’s still that little bit that every time I re-read this series (and blog about it twice now) it could be the last time I read it. I didn’t realize it had been SIX years since my last read. It doesn’t feel that long!

Similar to all of my other re-reads of the series, I found myself focusing on different things. For some reason I got super stuck on the history of magic and how Hogwarts was founded in 990 A.D. and is somewhere in on a loch in Scotland and yet Scotland and England were basically at war (Wikipedia) from the mid-900s to the late-1500s give or take a few years and a few quiet periods and even today are jostling for independence! How did the magical communities work around this, were they impervious to it?

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Books

Book 573: The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories – Susanna Clarke

Geoff W

Susanna Clarke is one of those others where readers have to ask what in the hell is she doing that she can’t publish another wonderful book like her masterpiece Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? She’s in the same line of George R.R. Martin (for pretty much the whole world) and Jamie O’Neill for me. Each of these authors have written works that have profound affects on individuals/societies and then sort of wander off and do other things or seem to disappear completely in O’Neill’s case.

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