I stared across the room as a shape emerged from the darkness. A figure, its head covered by a long, black shroud. Slowly, a set of pale fingers appeared from beneath the table, pulling away the material to reveal a crown of dark hair, parted at the scalp as if scratched into the air with …
Continue reading Book Review: The Spirit Engineer, by AJ West
"Rawblood. Home. It sounds like a battle, like grief, but it’s a gentle name. ‘Raw’ from ‘Sraw’, which means ‘flowing’, for the Dart River that runs nearby. ‘Blood’ from ‘Bont’, a bridge. Old words. The house by the bridge over flowing water. It has been in my family since I don’t know when. Rawblood is us and we, the Villarcas, are Rawblood."
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?”
"However modern the Church was now, whatever the bishop’s thoughts about logic and Sherlock Holmes, there was still old knowledge unforgotten. There remained things in the world that you should never invite in. Horned things that walked in the deepest dark of the year."
"Nothing can change her back now from something made out of newsprint into a person. But she was, and she hurt. More than any of us probably know, she hurt. And so I’m sorry and I hope it was good for her, that prom. Until the terror began, I hope it was good and fine and wonderful and magic…"
We have reached the mid-way point of the year, which for many of us means warm weather and reading in the sunshine! I have read around 50 books so far this year, some new, some new-to-me, and some that have been lingering on my shelved (both physical and virtual) for far too long! Looking back over what I've read so far this year, I thought I'd share the ones that I consider my five-star reads (or, in the style of this blog, five cats...)!
“The willingness, no, beyond willingness, the desire, to put in the effort to learn is more important than knowledge, more important than youth, vigor, all the rest. The desire to learn, which at its root, is nothing more than a desire to observe — that is the trait, above all, which is central to all superlative criminal investigators.”
"I don’t think people should live by the ocean. It’s too big to understand."
“I leant into him with my flank. He picked me up in shaking hands. His breath made roads in my fur. I purred against his cheek. The air began to calm, the electricity subsided. Ted’s breathing slowed. I rubbed his face with mine. His feelings flooded into me. It was painful but I could take it. Cats don’t hold onto things.”
I’ve read 85 books this year, and all have had something to enjoy in them; so narrowing down my favourites has been tricky! A top 10 proved too hard, so I have put together a top 15 that I particularly enjoyed reading this year, and which represent my favourite genres — mystery, crime, historical fiction, literary fiction and a dash of fantasy and horror!
Books, Cats, Etc. 