The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

As it was «Choose your own adventure» this week in terms of Let’s Talk Bookish hosted by Book Nook Bits , I decided writing about the pros and cons of historical fiction. Now, before I dive in, I just wanted to point out that I have indeed read a few historical novels over the years, in addition to having a minor in history when I obtained my Bachelor’s degree at university (majored in English), so my opinions is of course influenced a wee bit by these facts. While I do find historical fiction entertaining at times, the genre is not without fault. While it’s obviously fiction (just to quote Homer Simpson, “duh!”), it would be nice if a lot of the authors bothered to be a bit more historically accurate, especially considering that those of us who have enough knowledge about history to spot the inaccuracies. Let’s face it, if an author states World War II ended in 1983 (and the editor didn’t notice the mistake), there’s a chance some of us will have a proper facepalm moment as readers, j

I came across The Autumn Book Tag over at  Miss Maddy Chats and as I love both book tags and autumn, it was only fair that I participate in this one. Autumn Book Tag Rules! Thank the person who tagged you, link back to their post! Link the original creator (missmaddychats.com) Enjoy answering the questions Tag 5 friends who would love to join in the fun! The Questions Candles-Atmospheric Books To Read By Candlelight A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Coraline – Spooky Reads The Exorcist's House by Nick Roberts Cinnamon Rolls- Cute, Autumnal Reads The Hocus Pocus Magic Shop by Abigail Drake Haunted House – Books You’d Buddy Read Because You’re Too Scared Honestly, one of the few books I'm too scared to read is Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler because of his messed up mind. Pumpkin Spice Latte – Basic Tropes We Crave In Autumn You can't go wrong with the haunted house trope, so I would recommend The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates Sweater Weather – Binge Worthy

It's Wednesday and perhaps time for a new Top Five Wednesday post, courtesy of  the Top Five Wednesday Goodreads group and the theme of the week was supernatural creatures/settings. Here's my five picks. Fawkes by Nadine Brandes Description from Goodreads Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England. Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death. But what if death finds him first? Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites hi

A while ago I read the YA horror novel The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night. A dead girl walks the streets. She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago. And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan. Because the boy has a terrifying secret - one that would just kill to get out. The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as "Dexter" meets "The Grudge", based on a

A while ago I read the horror novel Ghost Mine by Hunter Shea and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Deep in a Wyoming mine, hell awaits. Former cattle driver, Rough Rider and current New York City cop Nat Blackburn is given an offer he can't refuse by President Teddy Roosevelt. Tales of gold in the abandoned mining town of Hecla, in the Deep Rock Hills, abound. The only problem-those who go seeking their fortune never return. Roosevelt's own troops are among the missing, and the President wants to know their fate - and find the gold. Along with his constant companion, Teta, a hired gun with a thirst for adventure, Nat travels to a barren land where even animals dare not tread. Along the way, they are joined by a Selma, a fiery and beautiful woman in search of her brother who was swallowed up by Hecla years earlier. Hecla is an eerie ghost town, its cemetery filled with crooked tombstones, the dusty streets scored by tumbleweed, the windows of the abando

The autumn is the perfect season to curl up with a good book and a giant cup of coffee or tea, especially if it's crappy weather outside. With that in mind, I created a short list of five underrated rainy day reads to pick up this autumn. Here's my five picks. She's Magic & Midnight Lace: Poems and Poetic Spells by Ann Marie Eleazer Description from Amazon Ann Marie Eleazer has always considered herself a bit ancient, haunted and otherworldly, who enjoys enchanted flights through the dark fairy tales and magical places she's been drawn to since childhood. She's Magic & Midnight Lace is a beautiful collection of poetry and prose, or as author, Ann Marie Eleazer says, Poems and Poetic Spells. Each page is filled with her writings that will charm you and leave you spellbound. " She's Magic & Midnight Lace has over 200 hand-selected pieces from the soul of the author that will lure you in, giving you a better understanding of the mystery of the dark

As a lot of us have heard about Titanic and the sinking, I couldn't resist reading The Deep by Alma Katsu and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Someone, or something, is haunting the Titanic. This is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the passengers of the ship from the moment they set sail: mysterious disappearances, sudden deaths. Now suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone during the four days of the liner's illustrious maiden voyage, a number of the passengers - including millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, the maid Annie Hebbley and Mark Fletcher - are convinced that something sinister is going on . . . And then, as the world knows, disaster strikes. Years later and the world is at war. And a survivor of that fateful night, Annie, is working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, now refitted as a hospital ship. Plagued by the demons of her doomed fi

It's Friday and perhaps time for another Let's Talk Bookish post, courtesy of Book Nook Bits . The theme of the week was reading seasonally and the further prompts was as follows. Do you read seasonally? Do you like a beach read in summer, a spooky book in the autumn and holiday themed ones in winter? What’s your favorite season? Do you have any favorite seasonal reads? Even though I'm not quite into the "standard beach reads", I tend to read a bit seasonally in the sense that I do love reading spooky stuff during the autumn, and an occasional holiday-themed book in winter. Those who know me well enough or have followed this blog for some time, probably knows that my favourite season is the autumn (heck, I even have an autumn-inspired tattoo on my upper arm). There's something about the autumn with the colours, crisp air, and "everything" related to autumn that I really appreciate. Oh, and if you're in search for some autumnal reads, feel free t

I came across the An Autumnal Book Blog Tag over at  A Little But A Lot and as I love both autumn and book tags, I wanted to participate. ARE THERE ANY BOOKS YOU PLAN ON READING OVER THE AUTUMN SEASON? I plan on reading Voodoo Dreams by Jewell Parker Rhodes, but apart from that, I', not sure. SEPTEMBER BRINGS BACK TO SCHOOL MEMORIES: WHAT BOOK DID YOU MOST ENJOY STUDYING? AND WHAT WERE YOUR FAVOURITE AND LEAST FAVOURITE SCHOOL SUBJECTS? A book I really enjoyed studying at university was Dracula by Bram Stoker. When looking back at mandatory school, my favourite subjects was Norwegian, English, and history, while my least favourite subject was math. Let us just say there's reasons why I ended up with a history minor/English major while obtaining my BA degree at university over studying STEM. OCTOBER MEANS HALLOWEEN: DO YOU ENJOY SCARY BOOKS AND FILMS? IF SO WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITES? I love scary books and films, even if I don't scare easily as I've become a bit

Recently, I read the horror/mystery novella Harkworth Hall by L. S. Johnson and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads “Ask him about his wives.” Caroline Daniels must marry, and marry well. But in her remote corner of England eligible suitors are few and far between, and none hold a candle to her closest friend, Diana Fitzroy. When Sir Edward Masterson arrives, he seems the answer to Caroline’s financial worries, though she instinctively dislikes the reticent, older merchant. Soon Sir Edward has set his sights on acquiring both Caroline and the decaying Harkworth Hall. Caroline’s future seems secure, save that his enigmatic secretary hints at a dark secret, and Sir Edward shows an unusual interest in tales of monsters … and the blood in Caroline’s veins. My Thoughts on the Book Although I liked the concept of the book, I didn't find it that spooky, even if it had some eerie elements. Also, I can't say I liked the trans-unfriendly language in the cross-dress

It's Tuesday and perhaps time for a new Top Ten Tuesday post courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl . The theme of the week was simple enough as it's books on my autumn 2022 TBR. My TBR is highly inspired by the spooky season, as well as the fact that I'm participating in  Black-O-Ween-Athon  next month, in addition to currently hosting an  Autumn Reading Challenge Here's my somewhat spooky ten picks for this autumn. White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson Voodoo Dreams: A Novel of Marie Laveau by Jewell Parker Rhodes The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass The Lost Village by Camilla Sten Ring by Kōji Suzuki Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble edited by Paul Cookson The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper Captive in the Underworld by Lianyu Tan

Earlier this year I read the novel Thin Air by Michelle Paver and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads In 1935, young medic Stephen Pearce travels to India to join an expedition with his brother, Kits. The elite team of five will climb Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest mountain and one of mountaineering's biggest killers. No one has scaled it before, and they are, quite literally, following in the footsteps of one of the most famous mountain disasters of all time - the 1907 Lyell Expedition. Five men lost their lives back then, overcome by the atrocious weather, misfortune and 'mountain sickness' at such high altitudes. Lyell became a classic British hero when he published his memoir, Bloody, But Unbowed, which regaled his heroism in the face of extreme odds. It is this book that will guide this new group to get to the very top. As the team prepare for the epic climb, Pearce's unease about the expedition deepens. The only other survivor

A little while ago, I read the horror novel Faithless by Hunter Shea and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads How do you survive hearing your family being brutally murdered over the phone? For Father Raul Figeuroa, all faith and hope are lost. Turning away from the priesthood behind, he retreats to his aunt's empty farmhouse in upstate New York, hoping to drink himself to oblivion. But he's not alone in the house. Something is trying to reach out to him. Or is he losing his grip on reality? When his childhood friend Felix comes to visit, things take a darker turn. The deeper they dig into the mystery, the closer they get to hell literally breaking loose. My Thoughts on the Book Faithless one of those books I read in one sitting, as I found it so engaging. The plot has a few twist and turns that makes you go "what the..." and the fact that Father Raul is drinking himself to oblivion, makes him pretty much an unreliable narrator as well (although o

Earlier this year, I read the splatter western Hunger on the Chrisholm Trail by M. Ennenbach and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads The first cattle drive of the season leaves Texas for Abilene, Kansas along the Chisholm Trail, but unforeseen terrors lay hidden in the natural beauty of the land. In the heart of Indian Territory lies the sleepy town of Duncan, a friendly respite from the dusty land. But something lurks in the untamed West - a powerful creature that hunts to satiate its horrifying hunger. The land will run red with blood, and only Karl Beck has a chance against this ancient evil. Second in the Splatter Western series from Death's Head Press. My Thoughts on the Book Sometimes, all I need is a fast-paced, gory and engaging read and Hunger on the Chrisholm Trail is one such book. There's a variety of interesting characters, from drunken pastors to peculiar artists, which makes the dynamics and interactions somewhat interesting at times. Hunge

Earlier this year I read the paranormal cosy mystery Crochet and Cauldrons by Nancy Warren and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Every family has annoying relatives; mine just happen to be undead. My Grandmother, Agnes Bartlett, used to own Cardinal Woolsey’s knitting shop in Oxford then died and left her shop to me, without informing me that she wasn’t actually dead. She’s a vampire and part of the world’s strangest craft circle – the Vampire Knitting Club. As you might imagine, this means she’s free to interfere in how I run the business that used to be hers. She’s trying to teach me to knit and it’s not going well. She’s also trying to teach me how to be a witch, since it turns out I’m from a long line of witches. Another tiny detail about my family that no one ever told me, along with the long-lost witch cousins I recently discovered. But I’m learning. I’ve got my family spell book, my black cat familiar, some powers that sometimes scare me, and an interest

I came across the Awesome Autumn Book Tag over at  Victoria Mann's YouTube channel and I decided to participate as I do love autumn and the tag looked like lots of fun. 🍁AWESOME AUTUMN BOOKTAG QUESTIONS🍁 1. Autumn is the perfect time to wear your favorite cozy sweater! Choose a book that comforts you. The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1) by Jessica Townsend 2. When the weather outside gets chilly, curling up by the fireplace is the perfect place to be! Choose a book that gets you heated. (ex: steamy in a sexy way or upset in a mad way) Come, My Pet by Keira Michelle Telford 3. Hot coco is the ideal treat for any brisk evening! Choose a book that’s indulgently sweet. Chocolat by Joanne Harris 4. The world around you is changing as the leaves make their way towards the ground. Choose a book that you read in the midst of change that helped you in some way. Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block 5. We’re all stuffed after eating our weight in homemade casseroles and pies with ou

It's Wednesday and perhaps time for a new Top Five Wednesday post, courtesy of  the Top Five Wednesday Goodreads group and the theme of the week was "the chosen one". Here's my five picks. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman 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. 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 i