Goodreads Monday! #5

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners and all you need to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re excited to read!

Native by Akala

This is a book I’ve had on my tbr for just over a year now. It discusses racism in a squeamish Britain that prefers to deny its history. This sounds like such an important book and I’m so excited to add it to my shelves (it’s on my Amazon wishlist and I just might have to treat myself for my birthday in October!) Check out the synopsis below:

From the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was white, to his first encounters with racist teachers – race and class have shaped Akala’s life and outlook. In this unique book he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today.

Covering everything from the police, education and identity to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives speaks directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain’s racialised empire.

This sounds absolutely fantastic and the focus on British denial is one that is sorely needed. As a Brit I can confirm half of the country likes to be very proud of our past, the other half like to pretend it never happens. Neither attitude helps us move forward. I’m hoping this will make me think a lot more about my life!

Goodreads Monday #4

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners and all you need to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re excited to read!

I love volcanoes! So as soon as I saw this one I added it straight to the tbr! Check out the synopsis below!

Volcanoes are capable of acts of pyrotechnical prowess verging on magic: they spout black magma more fluid than water, create shimmering cities of glass at the bottom of the ocean and frozen lakes of lava on the moon, and can even tip entire planets over. Between lava that melts and re-forms the landscape, and noxious volcanic gases that poison the atmosphere, volcanoes have threatened life on Earth countless times in our planet’s history. Yet despite their reputation for destruction, volcanoes are inseparable from the creation of our planet.

A lively and utterly fascinating guide to these geologic wonders, Super Volcanoes revels in the incomparable power of volcanic eruptions past and present, Earthbound and otherwise—and recounts the daring and sometimes death-defying careers of the scientists who study them. Science journalist and volcanologist Robin George Andrews explores how these eruptions reveal secrets about the worlds to which they belong, describing the stunning ways in which volcanoes can sculpt the sea, land, and sky, and even influence the machinery that makes or breaks the existence of life.

Walking us through the mechanics of some of the most infamous eruptions on Earth, Andrews outlines what we know about how volcanoes form, erupt, and evolve, as well as what scientists are still trying to puzzle out. How can we better predict when a deadly eruption will occur—and protect communities in the danger zone? Is Earth’s system of plate tectonics, unique in the solar system, the best way to forge a planet that supports life? And if life can survive and even thrive in Earth’s extreme volcanic environments—superhot, superacidic, and supersaline surroundings previously thought to be completely inhospitable—where else in the universe might we find it?

Traveling from Hawai‘i, Yellowstone, Tanzania, and the ocean floor to the moon, Venus, and Mars, Andrews illuminates the cutting-edge discoveries and lingering scientific mysteries surrounding these phenomenal forces of nature.

I’ve barely read any books about volcanology, which was my area of study, so I definitely need to get my mitts on this and give it a read!! I know this is most likely not all that interesting to most of you, but if you’d give this one a chance let me know! Volcanoes are cool!! 🌋🌋🌋

Goodreads Monday #3

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners and all you need to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re excited to read!

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

This was gifted to me by my uncle and since then I’ve heard some really good things about Zen Cho and Black Water Sister, which is another one of her books. I’m excited to delve into this fantasy world and see what I think of her as a writer!! Check out the synopsis below:

Magic and mayhem collide with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut.

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

Have you read Sorcerer to the Crown? Or anything by Zen Cho? Please let me know what you thought! I need more opinions on her books!!

Goodreads Monday #2

Goodreads Monday is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners and all you need to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re excited to read!

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

I’ve listened to the first five books in the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde and absolutely loved them! This is a tangent series, set in the world of fairy tales, and I just had to pick it up and see if I like other works by Fforde! I 100% recommend the Thursday Next series if you like books about books and fantasy worlds, and for this book? Check out the synopsis below!:

Dead bodies never look like this.

It’s Easter in Reading – a bad time for eggs – and the shattered, tuxedo-clad corpse of local businessman Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty III has been found lying beneath a wall in a shabby part of town. Humpty was one of life’s good guys – so who would want him knocked off? And is it a coincidence that his ex-wife has just met with a sticky end down at the local biscuit factory?

A hardened cop on the mean streets of the Thames Valley’s most dangerous precinct, DI Jack Spratt has seen it all, and something tells him this is going to be a tough case to crack…

This tag is just reminding me of the potentially amazing books I have on my tbr that I need to get to!!

Goodreads Monday! #1

Inspired by Lisa’s Book Gems and Tarot I’ve decided to take part in Goodreads Monday! This is hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners and all you need to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re excited to read!

This is book 2 in the Dust Lands series! I read book 1 quite a long time ago now and I’ve just not had the chance to get around to the rest of the series! Because this is the second book, and I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, I’ll be putting the synopsis of the first book below:

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That’s fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba’s world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she’s a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization…

I should probably bump this sequel up my tbr!!