Interesting New Fantasy Series

The Girl Who Belonged to the Sea: the Azantian Trilogy, Book 1 by Katherine Quinn

3.5 stars

Margrete is kidnapped on her wedding day by an attractive, non human, pirate and is whisked away to a mythical island where she learns that there are magical forces within her world and within herself.  It has been a while that I have been as into a fantasy read.  I really like the story and the world.  At times it veered a little into being overly dramatic but I enjoyed the interactions between all of the characters.  I think this is listed as Teen and YA but it is fairly explicit with its love scenes so it felt more New Adult.  I thought this an interesting first book so I will definitely check out the next in the series.  I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Sweet Historical Romance

The Brightest Star in Paris by Diana Biller

Publication Date - October 12, 2021

4 stars

An American Civil War veteran and a Parisian ballet dancer have a brief romance before he returns home and she is thrown into a violent city.  Over a decade later, Ben returns to Paris and seeks out Amelie but the trauma of what she has endured makes her defensive and cautious.  This is a sweet romance with fantastic side characters and a lot of heart.  There is an additional element to this book that I won't spoil because if I had known in advance I might not have read it, and it ended up being my favorite part of the book.  This is a great fall and winter read.  Received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Land Destroyed

Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson

4.5 stars

I was in the mood for a meaty story and that is exactly what I got with this book.  It centers around a logging community in the seventies as they desperately try to hold on to their way of life while grappling with environmental destruction, chemical poisoning and small town mindset.  The characters in this book are complicated and the plot constantly contains an eerie sense of foreboding.  The setting becomes a character on its own and the descriptions of big tree forests are beautiful and make me feel as if I know this place in which I have never visited.  As with any book, there are flaws but overall this was a satisfying reading experience.  I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

A Walk in Strange Lands

Outlandish by Nick Hunt

Publication Date - October 26, 2021

3.5 stars

The author visits areas within easy distance of his home that are other worldly and don't seem to belong to the locale.  An arctic tundra in Scotland, a desert in Spain and more are the places he walks through.  This is nature writing at it's best, however, you do need to be in the mood for it and unfortunately I wasn't at the time.  I did enjoy his assertion that climate change makes it less desirable to take planes to visit far away areas when you can enjoy the extreme closer to home.  The writing is beautiful if a bit too detailed in parts.  If you are in the mood for a slow, picturesque examination of geography then this is a great book to dive into.  I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Preparing for the Apocalypse

The Next Apocalypse by Chris Begley

Publication Date - November 16, 2021

4 stars

The author is an archaeologist and instructor of survival classes who uses his expertise in both to discuss the future apocalypse, what it will look like and how we can prepare.  From the very beginning, Begley insists that any sort of societal collapse isn't going to happen overnight and might even take hundreds of years and we won't know that we are in the stages of an apocalypse until we are looking back in hindsight.  And we will look back, because by studying past events, he asserts that there will be survivors. They will survive, not by owning bunkers, firearms and individualistic attitudes but by living in a community and adapting to the new world. This felt to me like a realistic take on how apocalypses happened in the past and how they might happen in the future.  At times, this book became very repetitive and even for a short book, I think it could have been cleaned up a bit.  It is also very critical of far-right politices so may not be for everyone, however, I really appreciated the tone and the message that it conveyed.  I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.     

Search for the Third Pole

The Hunt for Mount Everest by Craig Storti
Publication Date - October 5, 2021
4 stars

I have read so many (so many) books about attempts to climb Mount Everest but this book actually delves into the fact that they had to find the tallest mountain before they could climb it.  While surveyors could see the high peak and assume that it may be the world's tallest, they couldn't actually get to it because the countries it borders, Tibet and Nepal, were closed to foreigners.  This book details the politics of the region, the early expeditions to survey and climb the Himalayas and the interesting characters involved in the process.  This ends at the end of the 1921 Mallory expedition which means that it covers the history that I have never read about before. Overall this was an incredibly interesting read.  I received a digital ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Graphic Novel Fun

Oddball (Sarah’s Scribbles #4) by Sarah Andersen
Publication Date - November 30, 2021
4 stars

I enjoy the “Sarah’s Scribbles” graphic novels.  They are quick to read and always incredibly relatable.  These books are a lot easier to read digitally, too, than many other graphic novels because the pages usually have just four boxes.  I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.