Amongst them is five-year-old Konstance whose curiosity for the planet they left, is becoming an obsession. I n an interstellar generation ship named Argos, eighty-six people are hurtling through space some six decades after Earth ceased to be able to maintain life. Synopsis of Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr Set in disparate locations and times, the only similarity between the three is the mastery of their storytelling.Ĭloud Cuckoo Land takes that mastery, adds wordsmith skills that the Bard himself would envy, and produces an epic tale spanning centuries and featuring seemingly completely unrelated characters interlinked with extracts from an 1800-year-old codex which has been translated by one of the characters. And none more so than Anthony Doerr.Ĭloud Cuckoo Land is the third of his novels I’ve read in as many months (luckily for me, Jack seems to be on a mission to read everything Doerr has ever published and is unable to walk past a bookshop without browsing by author under ‘D’) and each one has been wildly different. I’ve read many excellent books since returning to the UK and immersing myself in the magical world of paperbacks, and I’m immensely grateful to all those authors whose words have brought me such joy and transported me to different worlds through multiple eras. A nthony Doerr’s writing makes me want to give up any pretence at being a writer and find something else to do with my life.
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Vendetta in Gotham sees Dredd visiting Gotham ostensibly it seems to have a re-match with Batman and the two have an elaborate fight sequence similar to Family Guys Peter and the Chicken fights. Also he draws Anderson as a muscle chick which makes her look kinda gross when you see her in her skivvies. Simon Bisleys art might put you off - his figures can look ridiculously cartoony and exaggerated. Its not an amazing story but its more or less serviceable set-up as a vehicle for the two characters to show off their own strengths while kind of working as a team. The two tango before Dredd finally gets that Batman is a good guy and then they set off to stop Death and Mean Machine. Batman stops him (of course) and afterwards touches the belt thus transporting him to Dredds stomping ground. But how do these two disparate characters cross paths? Well, in the first story, Judgment on Gotham, Judge Death gets his claws on a transdimensional belt, allowing him to jump dimensions from Mega City One to judge the living in Gotham. The Batman/Judge Dredd Collection features all 4 crossover stories and, bizarrely, 1 crossover story featuring Dredd and Lobo. Holy Drokk, Batman! A crossover between the bat vigilante and the fascistic future policeman? Unfortunately its not as good as it sounds and somehow John Wagner managed to get four books out of this unlikely team-up. It has been so much fun being a part of Lindsay Currie’s Street Team for her new Middle Grade book Scritch Scratch. The boy from the bus wants something…and Claire needs to find out what before it’s too late. And the boy with the dark eyes starts following her.Ĭlaire is being haunted. The number 396 appears everywhere she turns. There’s something off about his presence, especially because when she checks at the end of the tour…he’s gone.Ĭlaire tries to brush it off, she must be imagining things, letting her dad’s ghost stories get the best of her. She thinks she’s made it through when she sees a boy with a sad face and dark eyes at the back of the bus. She’s a scientist, which is why she can’t think of anything worse than having to help out her dad on one of his ghost-themed Chicago bus tours. For fans of Small Spaces comes a chilling ghost story about a malevolent spirit, an unlucky girl, and a haunting mystery that will tie the two together.Ĭlaire has absolutely no interest in the paranormal. Light age tanning to the edges and the wraps have been covered in a protective transparent adhesive. 2013, A trade paperback copy in very good condition. It's a glimpse into a society that preferred to turn a blind eye to the fate of its most vulnerable members, only a century ago. Annie Cossins pieces together a dramatic and tragic tale with larger-than-life characters: theatrical Sarah Makin, her smooth-talking husband John, her disloyal daughter, Clarice, diligent Constable James Joyce with curious domestic arrangements of his own, and a network of baby farmers stretching across the city. This resulted in the most infamous trial in Australian legal history, and exposed a shocking underworld of desperate mothers, drugged and starving babies, and a black market in the sale and murder of children. In the weeks that followed, 12 more babies were found buried in the backyards of other houses in which the Makins had lived. In October 1892, a one-month-old baby boy was found buried in the backyard of Sarah and John Makin, two wretchedly poor baby farmers in inner Sydney. Jenkins's excellent storytelling skills, paired with fascinating American history, makes the narrative shine." - Library Journal (starred review) on Wild Rain "This book has all the hallmarks of Jenkins' fiction-meticulous historical research, a frank look at social conditions for Black people of the time, masterful pacing, and complex, likable characters.You shouldn't miss it." - Kirkus (starred review) on Wild Rain "Memorable characters and fun, if fraught, dialogue make the highly anticipated second book in romance star Jenkins' Women Who Dare series a refreshing and keenly innovative historical romance. It's the kind of excellent storytelling that keeps us coming back for more, again and again from Beverly Jenkins." - NPR "Jenkins (Rebel) continues her streak of writing sensual, hopeful historicals about people who often don't make it into the history books. showcases Jenkins's talent for writing intriguing individual stories that illuminate bigger historical themes." - New York Times "Wild Rain will linger in your thoughts for its remarkably likable hero, spirited heroine, beautiful horses, scenery, adventure, and romance. "A living legend." - Julia Quinn "The signature elements of Jenkins's work come together in spectacular form in Wild Rain, a boldly feminist narrative about a female rancher. I rewound that scene twice before moving on with the rest of the book What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Beat?Īvoiding Spoliers: Right towards the end, when Harry finds the perfect weapon against the baddies. Harry picks up some new bruises and sutures in this book too, but the whole tone of the story is lighter. Past Dresden books have been dark, with Harry just getting pummeled time and time again. Jim Butcher’s books are always peppered with humor, but between Butters, the almost full-grown Mouse, and a third plot point (that I will not spoil) this book was one guffaw after another. This book introduced Butters, a Chicago medical examiner, and a perfect foil to Dresden. Would you listen to Dead Beat again? Why? Review 1: Dead Beat audiobook by Dan I wish it was about 20 hours longer Here are the top 3 reviews and comments that readers love about this fascinating book. Harry is racing against time to find the secret before Harry spends a Halloween night waking the dead. Harry handed Kemmler’s Word of Power, he had no other choice. When a murderous vampire threatens the reputation of Special Investigations chief Karrin Murphy. Dead Beat is the 7th novel by author Jim Butcher. Like…if you mixed up their DNA in a vat and came up with some genetically engineered product of the pair of them, that’d be me. I relate to both Noam and Dara in different ways. What character do you most relate to and why? They end up being really different in the end, of course, but a lot of my books have that musical inspiration. I’ve written whole books just ‘cause I wanted to turn a certain song into novel form. Song lyrics are one of my biggest influences. I also may or may not have had this massive playlist of songs I’d listen to on repeat when writing. For me, I wrote this through the lens of being Jewish American (for Noam: Atlantian-Carolinian), but I think this is an experience a lot of different groups have shared. On the intergenerational trauma side, I wanted to write a story that touched on the experience of feeling like an outsider in your own country. Specifically, I wanted to write about what it means to face our trauma, and the way the world can demand that we “have” to confront our abusers in order for trauma to be viewed as legitimate. One of the main things I wanted to write about was the intersection of intergenerational and personal trauma. Victoria: That’s hard to nail down, because The Fever King is the amalgamation of a lot of separate initial ideas…and I actually wrote like six different initial drafts of this book trying to figure out what story I was actually trying to tell. Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel? Read along online and see the illustrations at .įor further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording.įor more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader, visit. As a result, it is a delight to read them aloud, and easy to memorise passages from them. Many of the stories are addressed to "Best Beloved" (they were first written for Kipling's eldest daughter, Josephine, who had died during an outbreak of influenza in 1899), and throughout they use a comically elevated style inspired by the formal speech of India, full of long and improbable-sounding words, some of them made up. The original editions of Just So Stories were illustrated with woodcuts by Kipling himself. Just So Stories is a collection of origin stories, fictional tales that explain why animals have certain characteristics and other themes akin to that. The stories, first published in 1902, are fantastic accounts of how various natural phenomena came about. Written by classic English author Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories is considered not only a quintessential childrens book, but one of Kiplings best works. LibriVox recording of the Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling. Ehrenreich is writing in a time of relative economic strength (a far cry from today’s environment), and she describes how the rich and poor compete over land or housing the more rich people there are, the more land they can buy up. The nation’s general increase in prosperity, moreover, is actually hurting the poor. She is led to conclude that a very simple, but serious, problem exists: rent is too high and pay too low. “I didn’t do half-bad at the work itself,” she writes, “but my track record in the survival department is far less admirable than my performance as a job-holder.” She concludes that “rent was the deal-breaker” it was simply too hard to find shelter for prices Ehrenreich could afford on her meager salaries. Ehrenreich considers how she performed, as though judging a stage-act. What scores here is the vivid yet precise prose. Readers relish the fact that clearly things are being set up for a fall. We can also add creepy neighbours, dodgy local history, couple with relationship issues… But often with such stories part of the fun is the fact that everything is as expected. Young couple with no social connections to those nearby – also check. Isolated house in the middle of nowhere -check. On our list of horror clichés you may find we’ve ticked a lot of them there. The new house seems ideal – modern, spacious, between a lake and some forest, neighbours near but not too near. James is trying to break bad habits – he has an issue with gambling – and Julie welcomes the chance to focus on themselves rather than their friends. It is the story of Julie and James, a young couple who decide to make a fresh start and buy a new home. This creepy tale is definitely one that does that. When a book arrives with a blurb recommending it from Jeff Vandermeer, you sort’ve know what to expect – expect weird. |