The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

Last year I recieved an ARC of the reverse harem fantasy novel A History of Hexing (Enchanted Academy, #2) by Evie Wilde through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads When there’s four of them, and one of me, we can’t have any secrets... I need to focus on improving my magic. And having four delicious men can make things… complicated. Especially when Kyler is distracted by Sonny, a mysterious friend from his past. Through Sonny we’re all learning Kyler’s secrets, some of which I wish I didn’t know. But as a group, we have bigger fish to fry. Archmage Edius is making moves, and if we don’t study hard, he’s going to best us. Maybe he already has. At the Fall Festival, a mass poisoning screams of his evil handiwork. No matter how strong I’m becoming, I need my men to strive for more so we can defeat him, for good. The chemistry between us is electric, now I just need my magic to follow suit. Oliver, Braeden and D...

A while ago I read The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown th...

It's Friday, which means it's time for a new Let's Talk Bookish post, courtesy of Eternity Books and Literary Lion . The theme of the week was how has blogging affected your reading? Blogging has certainly affected my reading, but I think that overall is has had a positive impact on my reading. Over the years, I've become more conscious in general on my reading picks, but I've also had the pleasure of discovering new authors and genres I wouldn't have done if not for blogging. Aside from a couple of Agatha Christie books, I've not read cosy mysteries before blogging and now I've read over a hundred. I've even picked up a few western novels (yeah, those historical cowboy books) and realized just why my late father loved them so much. Another aspect is that I've been reading a lot more diverse books due to blogging, whether it's BIPOC, LGBT+ or something else. As I'm bi myself, I know first-hand how important representation can be and tha...

As I read The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, I had to finish the trilogy by reading The Winter of the Witch. Today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads One girl can make a difference... Moscow is in flames, leaving its people searching for answers – and someone to blame. Vasilisa, a girl with extraordinary gifts, must flee for her life, pursued by those who blame their misfortune on her magic. Then a vengeful demon returns, stronger than ever. Determined to engulf the world in chaos, he finds allies among men and spirits. Mankind and magical creatures alike find their fates resting on Vasya's shoulders. But she may not be able to save them all. My Thoughts on the Book It's such a well written book and I almost felt like I was walking beside Vasya at times. The Winter of the Witch is heartbreaking at times, it even made me cry a couple of times. And honestly, I disliked Konstantin, the priest, almost as much as a certain Umbridge from the Harry Po...

As I was keen on finding out what happened next with Vasya after reading The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, I ended up reading The Girl in the Tower. Today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads For a young woman in medieval Russia, the choices are stark: marriage or a life in a convent. Vasya will choose a third way: magic... The court of the Grand Prince of Moscow is plagued by power struggles and rumours of unrest. Meanwhile bandits roam the countryside, burning the villages and kidnapping its daughters. Setting out to defeat the raiders, the Prince and his trusted companion come across a young man riding a magnificent horse. Only Sasha, a priest with a warrior's training, recognises this 'boy' as his younger sister, thought to be dead or a witch by her village. But when Vasya proves herself in battle, riding with remarkable skill and inexplicable power, Sasha realises he must keep her secret as she may be the only way to save the city fro...

It's Tuesday and time for a new Top Ten Tuesday post, courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl . The theme of the week was books that made me laugh out loud. Here's my picks. The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop by Abigail Drake How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper The Little Bookshop of Love Stories by Jaimie Admans The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald Endangered (Daughter of Hades - Book One) by Dani Hoots The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell Seven Kind of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi Aru Shah and the Song of Death by Roshani Chokshi

A while ago I read Seraphina by Rachael Hartman and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads In her New York Times bestselling and Morris Award-winning debut, Rachel Hartman introduces mathematical dragons in an alternative-medieval world to fantasy and science-fiction readers of all ages. Eragon-author Christopher Paolini calls them, "Some of the most interesting dragons I've read in fantasy." Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high. Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigat...

Det er på tide med en ny Smakebit på Søndag, som Betraktninger og Flukten fra virkeligheten har ansvaret for. Boka jeg vil ta for meg i dag er The Conjurer av Luanne G. Smith, som er siste boka i trilogien The Vine Witch. Denne boka forteller om Sidra, en djinn, som har blitt feilaktig anklaget for drapet på ektemannen, og må flykte fra svogeren. Hun flykter til en fransk landsby, berømt for sine parfyme-hekser, med vennene Elena og Yvette ved sin side. Her er smakebiten jeg vil dele, som omhandler leiligheten til Sidra i den franske landsbyen. Yvette picked up an orange and peeled back the skin. She didn't sit as she ate, which made the jinni nervous. Instead the girl wandered around the room, taking in the personal details of the apartment - the hanging brass lamps with colored glass panels, the woven tapestries on the walls in hues of red and blue and gold, the incense burner carved out of a stone still filled with bakhoor, and the man's robes hanging on a peg on the wall...

For lenge siden var jeg heldig nok til at jeg fikk tilsendt et leseeksemplar av fantasy-romanen Aru Shah og dødssangen (Pandava-serien 2) Roshani Chokshi fra forlaget. Jeg har nå lest den og i dag kommer omtalen. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Aru har så vidt vennet seg til tanken på at hun er en reinkarnert pandava og datter av tordenguden når panikken bryter løs i Andreverdenen. Kjærlighetsgudens pil og bue er blitt stjålet, og i tyvens hender forvandler pilene mennesker til nådeløse drapszombier. Med en sterk jente i hovedrollen og hinduistiske myter som bakteppe har Chokshi skapt et fargerikt, actionfylt univers med umiddelbar appell til slukeleserne der ute. Roshani Chokshi (f. 1991) hadde skrevet en rekke ung- domsromaner før hun kom med første bok i Pandava-seri- en. Aru Shah seilte rett inn på pallplass i New York Times og spås å være hennes store gjennombrudd. Chokshi er født og oppvokst i USA og har filippinsk og indisk bakgrunn. Mine tanker om boka Jeg hadde san...

It's Friday and time for a new Let's Talk Bookish post, courtesy of Eternity Books and Literary Lion . The theme of the week was are big TBR's a result of abibliophobia? I guess the fear of running out of books to read is there for a lot of readers to an extent, regardless of how big their TBR is. As I've got over 200 books (probably even over 300, if not more as I haven't counted) unread in my bookshelves, it's not like I'm afraid of running out of reading material anytime soon or it's exactly because of the huge number of unread books that I don't feel panicky. As I keep the unread books seperate from the ones I've read, it's fairly easy to figure out what to read next. If I don't have a reading challenge/readathon in mind or some kind of seasonal read, such as horror during the autumn, I tend to use a TBR jar for a random pick. That said, I might suffer a bit of tsunduko though, as I may have purchased a book or two in which I'm ...

I fjor var jeg såpass heldig at jeg fikk tilsendt et leseeksemplar av novellesamlinga ... som duften av en drøm ... (Kybernetiske fabler) by Bjarne Benjaminsen fra forlaget. Nå har jeg lest boka og i dag kommer omtalen. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Se på fuglene!, pleide far din å si. Den grove fingeren hans pekte på en sjøfugl i ensom majestet, svevende inn fra havet med en sprellende fisk i nebbet … Slik må også du la kroppen bære deg gjennom livet, sa far din. Men når så du sist en levende fugl … i trad.-virkeligheten? Du klipser 3V-brillene på plass foran øynene dine. Hvor verdifulle er sanseinntrykk av tapte naturlandskap? Hvem fortjener å dele ditt nervesystems innerste signaler? Hva kan meditasjon brukes til i den digitale hverdagen? Henger suget i bringen sammen med de elektriske uværene som herjer planeten? Og hva slags stoff er egentlig drømmer vevet av? I disse ti ”kybernetiske fablene” stilles vågale og skremmende spørsmål. Gjennom science fiction og fabelpr...

Last year I recieved an ARC of the fantasy novel Secret Legacy (The Windhaven Witches #1) by Carissa Andrews through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Family Secrets Shrouded in Death. An Ancestral Home with Secrets of its Own. And a Legacy of Power She Can’t Escape. When Autumn gets a full scholarship invite to the Windhaven Academy, an exclusive college meant for witches and other supernaturals, she thinks someone in the head office has clearly made a mistake. She’s a mundane human with no special abilities whatsoever. Or so she thinks. Ever since she moved into her dad’s ancestral home to give Windhaven Academy a try, strange things have been happening. There are weird, secret rooms in the house and her new friends keep urging her to learn more about her past in order to unlock her powers. When Autumn finally uncovers her family’s secret legacy, she wants nothing more than to turn back time or walk away. But fate h...

It's Tuesday and time for a new Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl . As it's Mardi Gras today, the theme of the week was purple, yellow and/or green book covers. Here's my picks. Chocolat by Joanne Harris Fatal Cajun Festival by Ellen Byron Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed Seraphina by Rachel Hartman Never Date a Siren by Byrd Nash Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta And Then They Were Doomed by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

Way back I was lucky enough to recieve a press copy of the fantasy novel Thief of Cahraman - A Retelling of Aladdin ("Fairytales of Folkshore": Book One) by Lucy Tempest through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads ONE MONTH. FIFTY CONTESTANTS. ONE PRINCE. AN IMPOSSIBLE HEIST. You have been summoned to Sunstone Palace to compete in our search for the future Queen of Cahraman. After years on the run, Adelaide thinks her lonely and dangerous life as a thief is finally over. But her world is upended when a witch steals her away to a faraway kingdom, to perform an impossible heist. If Adelaide fails, her newfound family would be sacrificed to a beast. To complete her mission, she’s forced to assume the role of a noblewoman and enter a royal competition. The prize is the hand of the elusive Crown Prince. Elimination means certain death. As the witch’s literal deadline approaches, Adelaide has one last ga...

Det er på tide med en ny Smakebit på Søndag, som  Betraktninger  og  Flukten fra virkeligheten  har ansvaret for. Boka jeg vil ta for meg i dag er en roman som er en blanding mellom fantasy og paranormal. Den omhandler Sam, som er halvt varulv og driver The Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore and Bar i San Francisco. Smakebiten jeg vil dele omhandler det private biblioteket til den britiske vampyren Clive. "We ended up in a two-story library that put the Beast's to shame. I stopped walking, just stopped. I couldn't get past the sheer number of books. His library had to be four times the size of my bookstore. I wanted nothing so much as the time and freedom to climb the ladders and scan the shelves."

I was craving reading Scarlet by Marissa Meyer earlier as I wanted to know what happened next and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner. My Thoughts on the Book It was really fun reading Scarlet, although I wish it was a...

I fjor var jeg såpass heldig at jeg fikk tilsendt et leseeksemplar av fantasyromanen Hulfeber: Jakten på Morrigan Kråkh (Nevermoor #3) av Jessica Townsend fra forlaget. Nå har jeg lest den og i dag kommer omtalen. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Tredje bok i suksesserien Ingenlund – universet du aldri vil forlate. Noe ondt brer seg i Ingenlund … og Morrigan står overfor sin tøffeste utfordring noensinne. Morrigan og bestevennen Hagbart er nå stolte medlemmer av Det vunderlige selskap, men livet er langt fra enkelt. Har Morrigan det som kreves for å bevise at hun hører hjemme i den eksklusive kretsen? Mine tanker om boka Jeg blir mer og mer sjarmert av Ingenlund-serien og Hulfeber er intet unntak. Det var noe med den potensielle muligheten for at frøken Munter og eks-kjæresten som jobber på et bibliotek kanskje finner tilbake til hverandre. Hvis en leser litt mellom linjene, ser en også visse paralleller mellom hvordan hulfeber ble håndtert og Covid-19. I tillegg forteller boka om rettigheter...

I came acrss the Disney Song Book Tag over at  The Book Dutchesses  and I decided to play along. Part of Your World – What book world would you change yourself for so you could be a part of that world?  The world in A Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor Let It Go- What book did you not want to finish because you loved it so much? Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend Beauty and the Beast- What book do you think is/will be timeless? Dracula by Bram Stoker So This is Love- What book were you hesitant to read at first but ended up loving? Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta Friend Like Me- Which character would you like to be your best friend? Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series Reflection- What book really made you think/changed the way you viewed things? Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

As I've read  The Vine Witch  earlier, I was excited when I recieved an ARC of The Glamourist by Luanne G. Smith through Netgalley. I've now read it and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads A spellbinding novel of bloodlines, self-discovery, and redemption by the author of the Washington Post bestseller The Vine Witch. Abandoned as a child in turn-of-the-century Paris, Yvette Lenoir has longed to uncover the secrets of her magical heritage and tap her suppressed powers. But what brave and resourceful Yvette has done to survive the streets has made her a fugitive. With a price on her head, she clings to a memento from her past—what she believes to be a grimoire inherited from the mother she never knew. To unlock the secrets of her past, Yvette trusts in one woman to help solve the arcane riddles among its charmed pages. Elena Boureanu is the vine witch of Château Renard, noted for its renowned wines. Even as she struggles with her own bloodline—and its ...

It's time for another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of  That Artsy Girl . As it was Love/Valentine's Day freebie this week, I decided writing a list of books with lesbian/bi love stories (the love plot may be just the sub plot in some cases). It's nothing wrong with straight love stories, but as I'm bi myself, I find it nice to see when it's a same-sex love story in one way or another. Here's my list. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters Wooing the Farmer by Jenny Frame Cassia by Lanette Kauten Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh Blood Born by Renee Lake Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan Ritu Weds Chandni by Ameya Narvankar Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron