The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin

The Obelisk Gate, by NK Jemisin

Title: The Obelisk Gate
Author: NK Jemisin
Genre/ issues: Fantasy.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

This has been the book that Jacob has been reading to me over the past month and a half. If you’ve read any NK Jemisin, you’ll know just what an impressive feat that is – for him, I mean. I got to lay in bed and listen to him expertly navigate the narration of Jemisin’s complex, detailed fantasy creation.

Anyway, The Obelisk Gate. It’s hard to adequately review this in terms of content, because you run the risk of either underselling it, or completely overshooting the bounds of the text allowed by Instagram. This is book 2 in the Broken Earth trilogy, a wholly unique, captivating, and mind-blowing fantasy series. I read a comment recently that this book forces you to become a smarter reader, and I wholly endorse that sentiment. It’s not an easy read, but it’s fascinating and wonderful, both for the complexity of the world building and the depth of the characters. Book 1 blew my mind last year. This is equally as good. I’d say I can’t wait for book 3, but I think we are going to, because our brains are the best kind of mush right now. Brilliant. Thanks for being my favourite narrator, #JacobReads.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 190/2021

Happy reading,

November 28 2021

Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett

Reaper man, by Terry Pratchett

Title: Reaper man
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre/ issues: Fantasy. Discworld.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“Was that what it was really like to be alive? The feeling of darkness dragging you forward?

How could they live with it? And yet they did, and even seemed to find enjoyment in it, when surely the only sensible course would be to despair. Amazing. To feel you were a tiny living thing, sandwiched between two cliffs of darkness. How could they stand to be alive?”

Death isn’t alive. He’s an anthropomorphic manifestation of one of the two inescapable realities of life. (The other is taxes, which is way worse, because it harasses you every year, whereas Death only comes once.) Death, however, appears to be developing a personality, and this just won’t do. So, he’s given a life timer, and the sand is running out.

Meanwhile, with no one to reap them, when people die they just, kind of, don’t. This is most inconvenient, especially for Windle Poons, who as a Wizard had expected Death to show up to reap him personally. He now finds himself not alive, not really undead, and trying to solve the mystery of the globe-like eggs that are appearing around Ankh Morkpork with his new friends from the Fresh Start Club (an undead-rights activists group who I love with every fiber of my being).

This is book 11 of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, and has been one I’d been looking forward to revisiting. Clever, funny, and profoundly insightful.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 189/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Audiobooks, Book chat, Serious Adulty Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 14 2021

This is how you lose the time war, by Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Title: This is how you lose the time war
Author: Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Genre/ issues: Sci-fi. Romance. Timeslip.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“I keep turning away from speaking of your letter. I feel to speak of it would be to contain what it did to me, to make it small. I don’t want to do that.”

This quote completely encapsulates how I’m feeling after reading this piece of utter perfection on paper, This is How You Lose the Time War, by @amalelmohtar and @max.gladstone.

Red travels through time, visiting threads of alternate realities to carry out the orders of the Commandant, at war to secure the best possible future for their technological Agency. Her rival agent Blue does the same, working to ensure that the Garden wins this war. But when Red finds a letter, which says “Burn before reading”, these rivals strike up an unlikely correspondence. At first taunting, their letters move through an exchange of ideas and experiences, and become something greater – epic, romantic, and threatening to change both the past and the future. If either of them are discovered, it will mean their deaths – and the war is still going on. So, someone has to win – right?

Dual perspectives. Breathtaking love letters. Time travel and sci-fi, with a focus on deeply personal relationships. This novella is short (around 200 pages) but had probably impacted me more than anything I’ve read in a long time. Sending it directly to my love because I need him to read and experience it asap so we can talk about it. The fact that we fell in love over emails and messages, separated by time and distance, makes this book even more perfect and powerful. Warning, Jacob: if you don’t love this book, I’ll be very sad. But I know you will.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 188/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Book chat, Serious Adulty Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 12 2021

Moving pictures, by Terry Pratchett

Title: Moving pictures
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre/ issues: Fantasy. Film industry. Comedy.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it’s as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues.”

Sir Terry Pratchett was a genius, and this is particularly evident in his Discworld books which more closely parody our real life. Moving Pictures examines the development of the “clicks” in Ankh-Morpork. The alchemists have figured out how to harness the power of tiny demons painting a series of pictures to make movies. They set up their industry on Holy Wood, an abandoned area outside the city with the perfect climate. But, in true Discworld style, Magic gets involved where it shouldn’t be, and things quickly get out of control. What follows is a barrage of both subtle and in-your-face Hollywood film, character and trope references, including my favourite – when a giant celluloid woman carries the orangutan librarian up the side of a building. It’s a hilarious and insanely clever examination of the rise of the film industry, and the way it is viewed, idolised and idealised in society. So much fun, and the audiobook was brilliantly narrated as always by Nigel Planer.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 187/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Audiobooks, Book chat, Serious Adulty Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 9 2021

The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Natsukawa

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

Title: The cat who saved books
Author: Sosuke Natsukawa
Genre/ issues: Fantasy.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“I think the power of books is that – that they teach us to care about others. It’s a power that gives people courage and also supports them in turn.”

When you have a ginger cat, and a book cover like this, you’re obligated to take a photo of them together, right? If only Sweeney was more cooperative!

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa is a lovely quick read about finding courage, friendship, and the power of books. Rintaro lived with his grandfather, and spent his free time in the tiny second-hand book store his grandfather ran. But when his grandfather dies, Rintaro is alone, and may have to close Natsuki Books.

But then, a cat appears. A talking tabby named Tiger needs the help of a booklover, to help rescue books from people who have imprisoned, mistreated and betrayed them. Rintaro discovers much about himself and the books around him after these magical journeys, and then finally has to face one more rescue alone.

A beautiful allegory for book lovers, especially those who hold a special place in their hearts for second hand books, and for rereading old favourites.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 186/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Book chat, Serious Adulty Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 6 2021

Aurora’s End, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Title: Aurora’s End
Author: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Genre/ issues: YA. Sci-fi.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“I will see you in the stars.”

This is going to be an intentionally vague post, because this book is incredibly new and I know some of my followers/ friends are planning on reading it, so I want to keep it as spoiler free as possible.

I love @amiekaufmanauthor and @misterkristoff’s work, and Aurora’s End is, for me, and incredibly satisfying end to an action-packed series. The Aurora Cycle so far has given us a lot to ponder – who left the gifts for squad 312? Why were some of them so handy whilst others were seemingly useless? And how on Terra are the squad supposed to get out of the messes that they were in at the end of book 2? We were left with an earth-shattering cliffhanger at the end of Aurora Burning, and that suspense is basically carried throughout this entire book, with multiple narratives and timelines weaving together to form a very satisfying conclusion. Found family is my favourite trope, and this extends beyond the normal bounds of “a few ragtag rebels get together to save the galaxy” with Squad 312. Great characters, complex and interesting plot, and a fab mix of gripping action and emotive prose reflecting on the nature of family, love and relationships – totally worth the read.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 185/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Book chat, YA Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 2 2021

Other Words For Home, by Jasmine Warga

Other Words for Home, by Jasmine Warga

Title: Other Words For Home
Author: Jasmine Warga
Genre/ issues: Middle grade. Verse novel. Refugee/ migrant issues.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“Hoping,

I’m starting to think,

might be the bravest thing a person can do.”

Other Words for Home is a breathtaking verse novel for middle grade readers, written with sensitivity, heart, and a beautiful lyricism that carries you from page to page.

Jude loves her family and her best friend in Syria, but when things in her hometown become volatile, she moves with her mother to live with relatives in Cincinnati. It doesn’t feel like home – it’s too fast, too loud, and the language is too different. But she finds hope in unexpected places – her ESL class, her new friends, and the school play that she might try out for. Jude finds her way in a new and unfamiliar place, trying to figure out whether home is where she has come from or where she is now. And as she finds home, she might also find herself.

@jasminewargabooks explores some heavy topics, such as racism, identity and belonging, and this book balances the depth and darkness of these experiences with a light and gentle touch. A beautiful story, beautifully written.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 184/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Book chat, Children's Books, Poetry | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 31 2021

A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin

The Earthsea Quartet, by Ursula Le Guin

Title: A Wizard of Earthsea
Author: Ursula Le Guin
Genre/ issues: Fantasy

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“But need alone is not enough to set power free: there must be knowledge.”

I don’t know why I’d not read any Ursula Le Guin before now, and delving into A Wizard of Earthsea this week has been a pure delight. We follow the life of Sparrowhawk, whose true name in the Old Language is Ged, and in the magic world of Earthsea true names have power. By knowing the true name of a creature or a thing you can enchant it, or control it.

As we follow Ged from childhood through troublesome adolescence, to his apprenticeship with the Wizard Ogion and his tutelage at the School of Wizards on Roke, he finds himself on a quest to defeat the shadow that has plagued him since an I’ll-advised magical pissing contest with a fellow student unleashed it into the world. And the shadow knows Ged’s name.

This book is wonderful. A short read at just 161 pages in length, it has deceptively simple linear narrative, and magnificent world building that sucks you in to Earthsea, with its archipelago of islands, complex and highly functioning trade routes, and deep respect for magic and the role of wizards. Whilst we see many villages as we travel with Ged, the inhabitants are largely left to do their own thing in the background, and our protagonist is one of only 3 characters that are given the space to grow in this right and deftly written masterpiece.

And, speaking of the writing … woah. Much of the action takes place on a boat, as you would expect from a land of tiny islands amidst an expansive ocean. This felt appropriate, as there’s a flow and a lilt to Le Guin’s prose that carries you along with it, occasionally caught in a rip as you get pulled in unexpected directions … wherever her words took me, I was happy to go.

I borrowed this book from @penrithcitylibrary, and I’ll be buying myself a copy to add to my collection, because once I’ve read the rest of the Earthsea quartet this is definitely a world I’m going to want to revisit.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 183/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Book chat, Serious Adulty Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 28 2021

Zenobia, by Morten Dürr and Lars Horneman

Zenobia, by Morten Dürr and Lars Horneman

Title: Zenobia
Author: Morten Dürr and Lars Horneman
Genre/ issues: Graphic novel/ picture book. Refugee issues.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

“I whisper: Find me!

But I only whisper it to myself.”

Zenobia by Morten Dürr and Lars Horneman is an incredibly sobering and powerful read. There are few words, but the pictures convey a story that’s heartbreaking to the extreme. Amin’s is on a boat – crowded, afraid, and not fit for the journey it’s taking across the open ocean. As it’s hit by a giant wave, she’s thrown overboard, and as she floats downwards in the salty water, she remembers how she got here. The salty dolmas her mother made, just before her parents disappeared. The quietness of her village before the tanks arrived, and her uncle came to take her away. The tears as he used the last money he had to get her on a boat to freedom. From hiding as a child playing hide and seek at home, to being invisible in a world which doesn’t see her … this is a deeply personal individual story about Amina, which shines a spotlight on the devastation and despair of the Syrian refugee crisis.

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 182/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Book chat, Graphic Novels, Picture books, YA Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 25 2021

Hometown Haunts, edited by Poppy Nwosu

Hometown Haunts, by Poppy Nwosu

Title: Hometown Haunts
Author: Poppy Nwosu
Genre/ issues: Short stories. YA fiction. Horror stories.

Shop local where you can: For Australian readers, you can find this book on Booktopia, or support your local independent bookstore. US readers, check out Bookshop.org.

I don’t really read horror.

Yes, I know I’ve read a lot of horror in the past month or so, but that’s the exception, not the rule. It’s October, right?

Oooh, it’s got such a pretty cover though … that’ll look lovely on my bookshelf!

Wait, Wai Chim contributed to it? And Alison Snevans??? Sigh. Fine, I’ll read it. It’s YA horror … how scary can it be?

Famous last words, Past Tamara – it can be pretty damn scary! Damn, Hometown Haunts #loveozya horror tales anthology is good! A stellar list of contributing authors, including some of my faves and some who have succeeded in scaring the pants off me in such enjoyable ways that I’ve added them to the list of people to check out. A few highlights – Slaughterhouse Boys by @redscribed made me simultaneously shudder and cry in their story about enjoying a good steak and the social construct of masculinity. @talltales_poppynwosu broke my heart with her beautiful tale of loss and disolving people, Nature Boy. @alisonwritesthings – eyes. Shudder. Such a brilliant story about bodily change through puberty with a body horror twist that still makes my skin crawl when I think about it. And, thanks to @project_lectito and @sarahepsteinbooks I’ll never again use either an Olympic swimming pool or a roadside rest stop, so thanks for that.

I feel a little remiss not mentioning all the stories individually, because there wasn’t a single one that I didn’t – well, “enjoy” might be the wrong word? But they’re all excellent. Special mention to Emma Preston’s It’s Quiet Now, a thought-provoking short comic about what happens on the streets when people are in lockdown.

Hometown Haunts is a fantastic mix of humour, wit, and thoughtfulness in 12 short stories and 2 short comics, all guaranteed* to make you shudder.

(*not a legally binding guarantee)

#TamaraReads #2021readingchallenge 181/2021

Happy reading,

Category: Book chat, Short stories, YA Books | LEAVE A COMMENT

Tamara Reads ….

and talks about books, authors, education and stuff.

The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin

Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett

This is how you lose the time war, by Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Moving pictures, by Terry Pratchett

The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Natsukawa

Aurora’s End, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Other Words For Home, by Jasmine Warga

A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin

Zenobia, by Morten Dürr and Lars Horneman

Hometown Haunts, edited by Poppy Nwosu