The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

Earlier this month, I read the novel Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas, which combines paranormal and historical fiction, and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda. As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago. Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind. When the United States attacks Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together...

A little while ago I read the horror novel The Plague Stones by James Brogden and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads From the critically acclaimed author of Hekla's Children comes a dark and haunting tale of our world and the next. Fleeing from a traumatic break-in, Londoners Paul and Tricia Feenan sell up to escape to the isolated Holiwell village where Tricia has inherited a property. Scattered throughout the settlement are centuries-old stones used during the Great Plague as boundary markers. No plague-sufferer was permitted to pass them and enter the village. The plague diminished, and the village survived unscathed, but since then each year the village trustees have insisted on an ancient ceremony to renew the village boundaries, until a misguided act by the Feenans' son then reminds the village that there is a reason traditions have been rigidly stuck to, and that all acts of betrayal, even those committed centuries ago, have consequenc...

Earlier this year, I read the novel The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads They say the thirst of blood is like a madness - they must sate it. Even with their own kin. On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community. Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts. They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate... My Thoughts on the Book Personally, I found the book a bit lacklustre to say it the least. While there were a few well-written descriptions here...

I read the fantasy novel Fawkes by Nadine Brandes earlier this year, but waited to publish my review until today, as it's Bonfire Night and probably the most fitting day to publish the review. 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 him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it...

Earlier this year, I read the splatter western novel Dust by Chris Miller and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads 1879: An unknown and timeless evil descends on East Texas. John Dee, bestowed with knowledge from beyond, moves through time and space, pursuing age-old horrors and ending their reign. As he seeks the hidden town of Dust to continue his lifework, another is hot on his heels, and will stop at nothing to rip the divine knowledge from Dee. As these opposing forces collide, Dee becomes both hero and villain in his quest against the Elders. He doesn't have time to be sorry - THERE ARE GODS TO KILL. My Thoughts on the Book Dust is one of those fast-paced and engaging books that's fun to read. I enjoyed the easy narrative style of the author, but a thing that put me off a wee bit was the slang/dialect given to Denarius, the black character of the book. Even if the setting (1879) is pretty crappy for black people, it would be nice treating...

Earlier this year, I read the historical horror novel The Haunting of Las Lágrimas by W. M. Cleese and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads Argentina, winter 1913. Ursula Kelp, a young English gardener, travels to Buenos Aires to take up the role of head gardener at a long-abandoned estate in the Pampas. The current owner wishes to return to the estate with his family and restore the once-famous gardens to their former glory. Travelling deep into the Pampas, the vast grasslands of South America, Ursula arrives to warnings from the locals that the estate is haunted, cursed to bring tragedy to the founding family of Las Lágrimas. And soon Ursula believes that her loneliness is making her imagine things – the sound of footsteps outside her bedroom door, the touch of hands on her shoulders when there’s no one there. Most strangely of all, she keeps hearing the frenzied sound of a man chopping down trees in the nearby forest with an axe, when all her staff ...

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...

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 ...

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...

A while ago, I read the novel Blood Countess (Lady Slayers #1) by Lana Popović and today I'll post my review of the book. Description from Goodreads A YA horror novel based on Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the infamous, real-life inspiration for Countess Dracula. In 17th-century Hungary, Anna Darvulia has just begun working as a scullery maid for the young and glamorous Countess Elizabeth Bathory. When Elizabeth takes a liking to Anna, she’s vaulted to the dream role of chambermaid, a far cry from the filthy servants’ quarters below. She receives wages generous enough to provide for her family, and the countess begins to groom Anna as her friend and confidante. It’s not long before Anna falls completely under the Countess’s spell—and the Countess takes full advantage. Isolated from her former friends, family, and fiancee, Anna realizes she’s not a friend but a prisoner of the increasingly cruel Elizabeth. Then come the murders, and Anna knows it’s only a matter of time before the Bl...

A while ago, I read Dread Nation by Justina Ireland and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland's stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar—a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet. Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern...

For Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon in April, I read The Story So Far by Jane Eklund and today I'll post my review. Desription from Goodreads It's 1977. A 22-year-old finds herself ensconced in a place of dust and history: the archives room of a second-rate college. She's re-shelving Victorian etiquette books when the door opens and in walks a fabulous, seductive, larger-than-life writer of historical romances--and the young woman's life will never be the same. Set against 25 years of cultural evolution, the love between the two women--the younger librarian and the grande dame of cheesy literature--outlasts a 28-year age difference, romantic dalliances, illness, and the confines of the closet. Along the way, the librarian ponders the nature of life, death, religion, and philosophy with the help of the imaginary counterparts of Socrates, Hildegard of Bingen, and Suzanne Pleshette; samples casseroles with names like Vegetables Psychosis and The Tubers Karamazov; and forges...

Tidligere i år leste jeg krimromanen Slagmark av Roar Ræstad og i dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Krigen er snart over, men det blir bare fred for Gabriel Navarseth om han velger riktig vei ut. Mai 1945. Gabriel Navarseth og forloveden Anna Rhone kjemper seg gjennom det krigsherjede Europa. Hva fikk dem til å forlate Trondheim og legge ut på en livsfarlig reise gjennom Europas slagmarker nå som krigen er så godt som over? Roar Ræstad har levert en imponerende slutt på den storslåtte sagaen om dobbeltagenten Gabriel Navarseth. Mine tanker om boka Selv om jeg kanskje likte de andre bøkene i serien hakket bedre, er ikke Slagmark nødvendigvis en dårlig bok. Det er nok spenning og action til at den er engasjerende, og karakterene har en viss dybde. I tillegg til at forfatteren kan en ting og to om historie, som gjør at det er noe kjekkere å lese for oss som faktisk er historie-interesserte.

A while ago I read Pharcel - Runaway Slave by Alick Lazare. As the author is from Dominica, I could finally cross of that country for my World Literature Project. Today I'll post my review of the novel. Description from Goodreads Pharcel, a runaway slave, is heavily sought by all the political forces on the small island of Dominica-the white English colonists, the revolutionary French, and the rebellious mulattos-for his role in the slave uprisings. Torn between loyalty to his race and a strong personal desire for freedom and acceptance by the colonial powers and the rising mulatto influence, he walks a razor's edge of duplicity and ambivalence until his natural rebelliousness is pitted against the full force of colonial power. In the end, he succumbs to an irresistible and nearly fatal attraction for the wife of a French planter. But in a fit of ruthless rage, Pharcel sets the colony ablaze. Can he rescue her from the hands of his archenemy? My Thoughts on the Book ...

Earlier this year, I read the historical novel I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé. As Maryse Condé is from Guadeloupe, I could finally cross off that country in my World Literature Project. Today, I'll post my review of the novel. Description from Goodreads At the age of seven, Tituba watched as her mother was hanged for daring to wound a plantation owner who tried to rape her. She was raised from then on by Mama Yaya, a gifted woman who shared with her the secrets of healing and magic. But it was Tituba's love of the slave John Indian that led her from safety into slavery, and the bitter, vengeful religion practiced by the good citizens of Salem, Massachusetts. Though protected by the spirits, Tituba could not escape the lies and accusations of that hysterical time. As history and fantasy merge, Maryse Condé, acclaimed author of TREE OF LIFE and SEGU, creates the richly imagined life of a fascinating woman. CARAF Books: Caribbean and African Literature Translated...

A little while ago, I read the historical mystery novel Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads New York City, 1899. Tillie Pembroke’s sister lies dead, her body drained of blood and with two puncture wounds on her neck. Bram Stoker’s new novel, Dracula, has just been published, and Tillie’s imagination leaps to the impossible: the murderer is a vampire. But it can’t be—can it? A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won’t rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister’s death. Unfortunately, Tillie’s addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she’s taking more and more laudanum…and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied. Tillie can’t bring herself to believe vampires exist. But with the hysteria surrounding her sister’s death, the continued vampiric slayings, and the opium swirling through her body, it’s becoming increasing...

En halv gul sol av Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie har vært på leselisten min en god stund. Til slutt har jeg lest den og i dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget En sterk episk fortelling om kjærlighetens kraft, svik og forsoning gjennom Biafrakrigen. Olanna og Kainene er så ulike som to tvillingsøstre kan bli. Olanna har arvet sin mors skjønnhet, er vennlig og imøtekommende. Kainene er innesluttet og hard og bestemt på å gjøre egen karriere. Mens Olanna flytter sammen med sin store kjærlighet, den politisk orienterte Odenigbo, møter Kainene engelskmannen Richard. Men det er vanskelige tider i Nigeria. Snart blir det slutt på sene aftener med klirring i glass og svak musikk fra radiogrammofonen i stuen, og når krigen bryter ut blir selv de privilegerte ofre for grusomme hendelser som sakte kommer til å slite i hjel livene deres. Familier og hjem splittes, og idealer og lojalitet testes og ødelegges for alltid. En halv gul sol er en sterk episk fortelling om kjærlighetens ...

Siden jeg allerede har lest  The Underground Railroad  av Colson Whitehead, ble jeg fristet til å lese Nickel-guttene, spesielt siden boka er inspirert/basert på virkelige hendelser fra Dozier School for Boys. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Colson Whitehead følger opp "Den underjordiske jernbanen" med nok en knallsterk roman basert på virkelige hendelser fra de mørkeste kapitlene i svart amerikansk historie. Elwood Curtis elsker Martin Luther King-LP-en han har fått til jul. Han tror sterkt på at han er like mye verdt som enhver hvit gutt, at han kan skape seg en bedre fremtid bare han arbeider hardt nok, og at hat må møtes med kjærlighet. Men for en svart ungdom i sørstatenes tidlige sekstitall, er en uskyldig feil nok til å ødelegge et liv. Elwood blir dømt til et opphold på forbedringsanstalten Nickel, hvor urettferdighet og sadisme er satt i system. På Nickel møter han den garvede Turner, som synes han er håpløst naiv, men som likevel blir en trygg venn. Sammen gjør de et ...

A while ago I read the novel The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads A clever, romantic novel based on the true story of a girl who disguised herself as a boy to sail with the infamous pirates Anne Bonny and Calico Jack—and fell in love with Anne Bonny. There’s no place for a girl in Mary’s world. Not in the home of her mum, desperately drunk and poor. Not in the household of her wealthy granny, where no girl can be named an heir. And certainly not in the arms of Nat, her childhood love who never knew her for who she was. As a sailor aboard a Caribbean merchant ship, Mary’s livelihood—and her safety—depends on her ability to disguise her gender. At least, that’s what she thinks is true. But then pirates attack the ship, and in the midst of the gang of cutthroats, Mary spots something she never could have imagined: a girl pirate. The sight of a girl standing unafraid upon the deck, gun and sword in hand, changes every...

For noen år siden var jeg såpass heldig at jeg fikk tilsendt et leseeksemplar av romanen Trikset av Emanuel Bergmann fra forlaget. Jeg har nå lest den og i dag kommer omtalen av boka. Beskrivelse fra forlaget Trikset er en hjertevarm roman om en liten gutt som tror alt er mulig, en gammel mann som ikke tror på noe. Tidlig på 1900-tallet vokste den unge jødiske gutten Moshe Goldenhirsch opp i en leiegård i Praha. Da Moshe er i tenårene, slutter han seg til et omreisende sirkus, blir tryllekunstner og får ære og berømmelse som Den store Zabbatini rett før krigen i Europa bryter ut. Når det blir oppdaget at Zabbatini er jøde, er den slitte kofferten med tryllesakene hans eneste håp om å overleve når han sendes til konsentrasjonsleir. Los Angeles, 2007: Foreldrene til Max skal skilles. Det eneste Max ønsker seg, er at familien skal holde sammen. Da han oppdager et opptak med Den store Zabbatini der han nevner et triks som garanterer evig kjærlighet, oppsøker Max den gamle mannen o...