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It’s Time Travel Thursday! Hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog, this is where you get to take a look back at what you were reading this time last year (or the year before or the year before that…) and get to relive those bookish memories!
This time last year I was reading:
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard
In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.
Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.
Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she’s a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden – lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult’s true powers are hidden even from herself.
In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls’ heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.
My thoughts: I loved the author’s Something Strange and Deadly series, and I thought I’d like this one too but I ended up being very meh about it. I continued with the second book in this series and didn’t like it either, and decided not to finish the rest of the series. It’s quite disappointing.
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Have you read this book? What did you think of it? What were you reading this time last year?
A former slave fighting for justice. A reclusive warrior who no longer believes it exists. And a dark magic that will entangle their fates.
Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.
Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organizations of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.
The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. But even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.
But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.
Even if it means wielding death itself.
Fans of epic romantic fantasy like Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy will devour this tale of dark magic, passionate romance, vengeance, and redemption.
Everyone has been talking about The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, so of course I was intrigued, but there’s a long waitlist for that book and this one by the same author happened to be available on audio, so I thought I’d try it.
The Quotes
“Men want power because it makes them feel good. Women want power because it lets us do things.”
“Did you know that when caterpillars make a cocoon, their bodies totally dissolve? They become nothing, before they become something else.”
“We had carved out these small, intimate spaces for each other in our lives, and by some miracle of human denial, neither of us had thought about what that would inevitably mean. Now, for the first time, I realized the breadth of the gaping absence we would leave in each other.”
“It’s easy to die for someone,” I said, “but it is so much more valuable to live. I do not give you permission to fail if I fail.”
The Narrator(s)
Dan Calley and Esther Wane. They were fine. I like Esther’s narration but there were parts where I couldn’t hear her properly and missed certain details. Dan’s narration had a bit of an annoying inflection, for me. I feel like I maybe would’ve liked the book more if I’d read it rather than listen to it.
My Thoughts
I liked the story, and I loved Max and Tisaanah, the whole power up montage for Tisaanah, the way they got to know each other. I’m a sucker for slow burns, vulnerable conversations, and I love how they try to protect each other. However, I feel like my enjoyment was marred a little by the narration. Maybe. I feel a little disconnected to the story and the characters, and I feel like it’s probably because of the narration. I feel like I might have missed some important details in some parts, and also the narrators’ inflections and interpretations of the voices and events influenced my thoughts about them. Objectively, I thought it was a great story, but there was just something missing somehow, and that makes me kind of ambivalent about continuing with the series.
My Feels
I think I could’ve loved the story and the characters. I think I could’ve really loved Max and Tisaanah’s love story, but I just feel disconnected. I could try again in print, but there are so many other books out there so I feel it’s really okay to let go and move on. I am still going to read The Serpent and the Wings of Night, but I’m going to make sure I read it in print!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.
And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.
“Assassins are a monstrous breed. Either they attack when you are at your worst, or they are having a go at you on your birthday. I have never known a more dishonourable profession.”
“I’m afraid I have not gotten over my resentment of him for saving me from the snow king’s court in Ljosland earlier this year, and have made a solemn vow to myself that I shall be the one to rescue him from whatever faerie trouble we next find ourselves in. Yes, I realize this is illogical, given that it requires Wendell to end up in some dire circumstance, which would ideally best be avoided, but there it is. I’m quite determined.”
“The problem is not the packing, I admit; I simply dislike travelling. Why people wish to wander to and fro when they could simply remain at home is something I will never understand. Everything is the way I like it here.”
“One of the guiding principles of dryadology,” I said, “is this: do not cross the sort of Folk who make collections of human body parts.”
The Characters
I still love Emily and Wendell, and of course Shadow too. I was very happy to see more of Poe as well. Other than that, I didn’t connect with the characters in this book as much as the ones in the first book. Professor Rose grew on me, but I didn’t love him. Ariadne seemed like an afterthought, and the rest of the cast were mostly forgettable.
My Thoughts
Despite the characters not being as memorable as the ones in the first book, I still very much enjoyed this book. I love the way the relationship between Emily and Wendell is progressing. I feel like they know each other and are very comfortable with each other, and that’s everything. The story itself is interesting and I think my favorite part was discovering the doors. I also love the journey into Wendell’s kingdom and getting a glimpse of it. I’m excited to see more of it in the next book.
My Feels
I love this book because it’s a continuation from the first book and features characters I fell in love with, but I didn’t love it as much as the first book and I’m a little dissatisfied with how the rest of the characters were written. The characters in the first book were so vivid and alive, but the ones in this book felt like cardboard cutouts.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. Still good, but I need better written characters!
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Some people think foxes are similar to ghosts because we go around collecting qi, or life force, but nothing could be further than the truth. We are living creatures, just like you, only usually better looking . . .
Manchuria, 1908.
A young woman is found frozen in the snow. Her death is clouded by rumors of foxes involved, which are believed to lure people by transforming themselves into beautiful women and men. Bao, a detective with a reputation for sniffing out the truth, is hired to uncover the dead woman’s identity. Since childhood, Bao has been intrigued by the fox gods, yet they’ve remained tantalizingly out of reach. Until, perhaps, now.
Meanwhile, a family that owns a famous Chinese medicine shop can cure ailments, but not the curse that afflicts them―their eldest sons die before their twenty-fourth birthdays. Now the only grandson of the family is twenty-three. When a mysterious woman enters their household, their luck seems to change. Or does it? Is their new servant a simple young woman from the north or a fox spirit bent on her own revenge?
New York Times bestselling author Yangsze Choo brilliantly explores a world of mortals and spirits, humans and beasts, and their dazzling intersection. The Fox Wife is a stunning novel about a winter full of mysterious deaths, a mother seeking revenge, and old folktales that may very well be true.
I first read The Ghost Bride by the author years ago, and I was hooked. I loved The Night Tiger as well, and when I found out this book was coming out, of course I had to read it.
The Quotes
“For all stories have an ending as well as a beginning. But a beginning is where you choose to plant your foot, and the ending is only the edge of one’s own knowledge.”
“I exist as either a small canid with thick fur, pointed ears, and neat black feet, or a young woman. Neither are safe forms in a world run by men.”
“Dusk is the most dangerous time, according to Bao’s nanny; the blurred gap between day and night when creatures who resemble humans appear. They exist on the very edge of society, at the tipping point of madness where dreams and nightmares come true.”
The Characters
Snow, the titular fox wife. Bao, the human lie detector. And various other characters. Interestingly, I just realized that I’m not able to give a run-down of many of the characters without going into spoiler territory, so we’ll just keep this brief.
My Thoughts
As a story, I think I might love this one even more than I loved The Ghost Bride, and I loved The Ghost Bride a lot. What I loved about The Ghost Bride was that it made me feel such a connection to the life and times of my own family experiences. It was set in Malaysia in the early 1900’s and showed a lot of our traditional Chinese customs. I also loved the story itself. But here, with The Fox Wife, it feels more whimsical and magical, and I’m just completely transported to a different time and place. I feel like I also love Snow as a character more; she’s such a interesting paradox, and with such human flaws.
For my notes and reactions on the book – with SPOILERS – check out Notes & Reactions | The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo. This post has SPOILERS and assumes you have already finished the book. It is password-protected to prevent accidental spoiling. Password is “SPOILME0003”. Proceed at your own risk.
My Feels
I loved this story so much! I love that it was so mysterious. Even as we got new clues and kept guessing at it, we never really get confirmation for anything until much later. I love the characters and how vibrant they are. To be clear, there aren’t very many good people here, but even the bad people were just great as characters! I love the storytelling, the unfolding of the story. I love both Snow’s POV and Bao’s POV, and I love how Bao’s perspective was able to give us more insight into Snow. I love the relationships and the connections made in this story, I love the portrayal of those relationships, it fills my heart!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. A new favorite!
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Jack Tamerlaine hasn’t set foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind; plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instil fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack’s childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard’s music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.
As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.
I had this book on my TBR, but I moved it up the list because my friends were doing a buddy-read for it and I was enticed!
The Quotes
“I once thought home was simply a place. Four walls to hold you at night while you slept. But I was wrong. It’s people. It’s being with the ones that you love, and maybe even the ones that you hate.”
“There is no failure in love, and I have loved without measure. In this, I am complete.”
“Our hands can steal, or they can give. They can harm, or they can comfort. They can wound and kill, or they can heal and save. Which will you choose for your hands Torin?”
“You have become more to me than mere words spoken on a midsummer night.”
The Characters
Jack, Adaira, Sidra, and Torin. These are the main characters, and I love them because of how interesting they are to the story, not necessarily because they are lovable characters. Sidra is my favorite out of them all because I find her to be strong, mysterious, and just fascinating. I love that she’s so strong in her beliefs and convictions, I love that she’s independent, and how connected she is with nature and the spirits. I also love her character arc and the lessons she learns.
The other characters are interesting too, but not necessarily characters I love. I love their roles in the story and the parts they play. I love their arcs too, and the lessons they learn. This is a duology, so I expect that there’s more to come, and I’d like to get to know all of them better and see them grow.
My Thoughts
The start was a little slow for me, and I found it difficult to get into. It didn’t hold my interest and every time I put it down, it was hard to pick it back up. I kept going because it was a buddy read and that motivated me. The second half was a lot better, more exciting, and it went a lot faster. I had some problems with the plot, I felt like it could’ve been done better, and I didn’t really like how things were resolved in the end. However, I realize it’s a duology and there’s more to come.
The saving grace here is the characters. I am a character-driven reader, and while the plot bothered me, the characters and their stories were interesting enough to keep me invested. They aren’t the best characters, mind you, but they are interesting, and I love seeing them navigate their world and their roles in it.
My Feels
My favorite parts were seeing the relationships between the characters. Not just the romantic ones, but also the familial ones. It was heartwarming to see how the different relationships developed, and the communication they had with each other.
My Rating
3/5 stars. I really like it, but it doesn’t quite hit the spot.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid–a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.
I’ve been seeing so many recommendations for the Murderbot Diaries everywhere, and always in conjunction with a few other books I’ve loved. Everyone who talks about it says how much they loved it, and it just got to a point where it seemed like everyone has read it except me. So I got on the bandwagon!
The Quotes
“I liked the imaginary people on the entertainment feed way more than I liked real ones, but you can’t have one without the other.”
“Yes, talk to Murderbot about its feelings. The idea was so painful I dropped to 97 percent efficiency. I’d rather climb back into Hostile One’s mouth.”
“You may have noticed that when I do manage to care, I’m a pessimist.”
“All right,” she said, and looked at me for what objectively I knew was 2.4 seconds and subjectively about twenty excruciating minutes.”
The Narrator
Kevin R. Free. He did a great job! No complaints there. My only issue with this being an audiobook is that I often don’t get the characters’ names, and/or location names, mission names, etc., but that’s a common issue with scifi and fantasy and made-up names. I heard the series was good on audio, so I’ll continue it on audio, but I might check out a print copy just to see the names written out.
The Characters
The Murderbot – I don’t think we ever find out its name, unless I missed it. But I love it! It may be a murderbot, but it’s one of the funniest, most relatable characters I’ve ever read about, and ironically, so humanly-flawed! I love it!
The other characters are interesting too, or rather, have the potential to be interesting. Their personalities are quite distinct, but we don’t find out a lot about them. Some readers have criticized this aspect of the book, saying that the characters fell flat, but to me, it seemed like a deliberate decision. We see the story through the Murderbot’s POV, and the Murderbot tells us repeatedly that it doesn’t care to know anything about the other characters. I thought it made perfect sense.
My Thoughts
I’ll be honest and say that half the time I had no idea what was going on in terms of plot. The beauty of this book is in the Murderbot’s thought processes, and again, the Murderbot admits it has no interest in information about the crew or their missions, or anything to do with why it’s there, and it certainly shows through how the story is told. I think that it’s just brilliantly written, how Martha Wells managed to write a story where we don’t get a lot of clear information, but we get to know the Murderbot, and how invested we can become in a story like that.
My Feels
I want more. I started the book knowing that it’s the first book in a series, and I think I might not like it as much if it stopped here because while I enjoyed getting to know the Murderbot, I feel like this book was just an introduction and I need to see its character develop and grow. So I’m looking forward to the next books!
My Rating
4/5 stars. I’m hooked, but I need more!
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Covers/Titles with Things Found In Nature
Most of these are books I’ve read, but there are a couple that I haven’t yet read – The Priory of the Orange Tree, and The Fox Wife. All the ones I’ve read are books I’ve loved, and I have high expectations for the two I haven’t read.
Top Ten Covers/Titles with Things Found In Nature
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher – This is probably the most recent book I’ve read out of this list. I love T. Kingfisher and I love fairytale retellings, this one is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – I have not read this one. I have been wanting to, but the size of it is daunting! One of these days, though!
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper – This is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi stories. It’s been a while since I read it, so it’s probably time for a reread, but I remember being fascinated by the alien world, alien beings, and the incredible world-building.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – A heist story, a group of people with different skills brought together, found family. How could I not love this?
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black – Holly Black is one of my favorite authors. Her stories are so good, so simple, and yet so rich. This book is about the fae, the changeling, but told from a different POV.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway – Some have said that this book is boring because it’s only about a man fishing, but for me, it’s thrilling because I used to go fishing with my father when I was young, and there’s nothing like the thrill of having a fish caught on the hook but not yet landed. This book describes that feeling so vividly and I love that it was able to put into words what I never could.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – Neil Gaiman is another one of my favorite authors and I would read anything he writes. I read this book for the second time a couple of years ago, and it was so much better the second time around. It was much scarier, and more horrifying, and so wonderful.
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel – This is an old book I haven’t revisited in a while. There have been some new books in the series since, but I haven’t read them. It’s probably time to reread from the beginning. All I can say is that I loved the story, and the wonderment of discovering things along with the characters.
The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo – This is the newest book on this list, and that’s the only reason I haven’t read it. It was just released two weeks ago, and I’m impatiently waiting until I can read it! I’ve loved the author’s two other books, and I expect to love this one too!
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi – This book is set during WW2, and it’s one of the most heartbreaking books I’ve read. I probably read it around 20 years ago and I’ve forgotten most of the details, but that feeling of heartache still lingers even after all these years.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Benny is so nice they feel compelled to destroy him, but he has a friend who should scare the hell out of them.
Benny Catspaw’s perpetually sunny disposition is tested when he loses his job, his reputation, his fiancée, and his favorite chair. He’s not paranoid. Someone is out to get him. He just doesn’t know who or why. Then Benny receives an inheritance from an uncle he’s never heard of: a giant crate and a video message. All will be well in time.
How strange—though it’s a blessing, his uncle promises. Stranger yet is what’s inside the crate. He’s a seven-foot-tall self-described “bad weather friend” named Spike whose mission is to help people who are just too good for this world. Spike will take care of it. He’ll find Benny’s enemies. He’ll deal with them. This might be satisfying if Spike wasn’t such a menacing presence with terrifying techniques of intimidation.
In the company of Spike and a fascinated young waitress-cum-PI-in-training named Harper, Benny plunges into a perilous high-speed adventure, the likes of which never would have crossed the mind of a decent guy like him.
I haven’t read a lot of Dean Koontz, but I’ve liked the ones I’ve read, and I thought the premise of this book was interesting.
The Quotes
“Many of your friends will be fair-weather friends, Benjamin, but I will be there in bad weather, in worse weather, in any weather.”
“Fantasies can become realities. There’s no reason that craggles couldn’t be as real as trains and cranes and girls named Jane. That is a conclusion to which the discoveries in physics over the past century lead us if we have the imagination and courage to think through the evidence.”
“Charismatic people were born with charisma; it wasn’t something that could be learned or ordered from Amazon.”
The Characters
Benny Catspaw is the protagonist, Spike is the bad weather friend, and Harper is the love interest. I loved all of them in the context of this book, but I have to be objective and also admit that they seem more like caricatures than real people. In fact, even the side characters all seem like caricatures. It doesn’t take away from the story though, it’s just what it is, and it works for the story.
My Thoughts
I expected a somewhat sinister horror story, but this is basically a fairy tale and I still loved it. I’m quite amused because not long ago Stephen King, known for horror, wrote Fairy Tale, and now Dean Koontz, also known for horror, has written a fairy tale as well. I’m not complaining because I love Stephen King and everything he writes no matter the genre, and I haven’t read a lot of Dean Koontz so I’m totally open to whatever story he wants to throw at me.
To be fair, if we’re comparing Stephen King’s Fairy Tale to Dean Koontz’s The Bad Weather Friend, Stephen King definitely did it better. Fairy Tale has got more depth and substance, and The Bad Weather Friend stays very much on the surface. As I said before, the characters seem like caricatures, the story feels very black and white, each quest/adventure is neatly wrapped up, and there’s even that Disney princess instalove element.
My Feels
I enjoyed it for what it is and I even like the caricaturistic quality of the characters in the context of the story. It was wholesome and heartwarming, and there were lots of funny moments that made me laughed, but it’s not a book I’ll come back to or think about very much. Still an enjoyable read.
My Rating
3/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.
If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone.
But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.
Everyone keeps saying how great it is! I do sometimes get apprehensive about a book that might potentially be overhyped because I don’t want to end up disappointed, but I felt certain that I would like this one somehow.
The Quotes
“Things don’t have to stay as what they started out as.”
“His eyes widened. “Well, shit. Milky bean water. I’ll be damned.” He took another, longer sip and burned his tongue.”
“I was just thinking that you don’t have to forget who you were … because that’s what brought you here.”
“You’ve found a very peaceful place here. A special place. You’ve planted something, and now its blossoming. Very nice. A good spot to rest. My thanks to you for letting an old-timer shade under the branches of what you’ve grown.”
The Characters
Viv is the main character in this book, but every single character in this book is what makes the book! It’s the perfect ensemble cast; there are the core important characters to Viv, and to her cafe, and there are the supporting characters who are just so vibrant and unique in each of their own ways. Every single one of them were brought so vividly to life. I love them all!
My Thoughts
I loved the story from beginning to end! For a high fantasy novel that focuses on building a cafe business rather than embarking on a perilous quest to kill dragons, it’s surprisingly engrossing! I guess it makes sense, whether you’re killing dragons or serving coffee, the interesting parts of a story is in how you solve the problems, and with Legends & Lattes, it was wonderful watching Viv and her friends navigate the issues surrounding the running of a cafe.
My Feels
I don’t even know where to begin to talk about my feels. First of all, we all know I love found family stories. And I loved it here too, so much! It was so heartwarming to see how Viv made friends, the kind of person she was, the kind of people she drew to herself – because of the person she was. I loved how some enemies became friends. I loved how she protected her friends and her friends protected her. I loved the development of all the friendships she made since moving to Thune, not even a few months in a new place. I loved everything about it, and my only wish is that there was more!
I know there’s another book out, a prequel, and you can bet I’m going to read it too, but seriously, there needs to be a whole bunch of books in this series. I need more of them!
My Rating
5/5 stars. I love it, and it’s going into my Favorite Books of All Time Hall of Fame!
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
This beloved story -first published more than fifty years ago- introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond.
For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .
Lydia says, “The Phantom Tollbooth was excellent.”
Sarah @ Exploring All Genres says, “The Phantom Tollbooth is one of my favorite books from when I was younger. I still have a well-loved copy on my shelf.”
Nicole @ NewBookCatsReads says, “I read the Phantom Tollbooth when I was fifth grade! What a fascinating read!”
Felice says, “The Phantom Tollbooth was one of my favorite books I read as a kid! I hope whenever you get to it, you enjoy it!”
Cindy @ Cindy’s Book Corner says, “I HIGHLY recommend listening to The Phantom Tollbooth on audio. It was fantastic. My husband read the book and didn’t see why me and my kids thought it was so good…until he listened to it as well. He didn’t catch some of the humor. It’s also not a genre I would normally pick and only listened to it because of my kids. I have lost count how many times we have listened to it on road trips.”
So I listened! Thank you all for the enthusiasm for this wonderful book! There were so many endorsements, and I hope I didn’t miss anyone, but it definitely put The Phantom Tollbooth at the top of my list. I listened to it on audiobook because of Cindy’s endorsement, but I also flipped through my physical copy while listening, so I could look at the illustrations as I go.
The Quotes
“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.”
“Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.”
“The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.”
“You must never feel badly about making mistakes … as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”
The Narrator(s)
Rainn Wilson, and a special appearance from Walter Wilson (his son) as the voice of .58! I loved it. Rainn Wilson is a wonderful narrator and I loved that Walter Wilson made an appearance too. It was just perfect the whole way through.
The Characters
There are so many interesting characters in this book with such distinctive personalities. I loved them all! Milo is the main character, however, and we see things through his perspective.
My Thoughts
I cannot believe this is the first time I’ve ever read this book! Where has it been my whole life? I don’t know how I would’ve felt as a child reading this, but as an adult, it was just delightful and it brings me back to innocent days of childlike wonder and imagination. There was a lot of simple wisdom in this book, and it reminds me that we are never too old for magic.
My Feels
It makes me feel young again! It makes me feel like nothing is impossible, and that the world is filled with infinite possibilities. It makes me feel like I am one of those infinite possibilities. I love it!
My Rating
5/5 stars. Is this book the secret to the fountain of youth?
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
