First Lines Friday #13

It’s time for another First Lines Friday! Hosted by Wandering Words!! It might be Christmas day but book blogs stop for nobody!! (and this was prescheduled in November, so sue me)

What if, instead of judging a book by its cover or its author, we judged the book by its opening lines?

Here is how it works:

– Pick a book and open to the first page.

– Copy the first few lines without revealing which book it is.

– Reveal the book!

So… do these first lines entice you?

On the day King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, Billy Williams went down the pit in Aberowen, South Wales.

The twenty-second of June 1911 was Billy’s thirteenth birthday. He was woken by his father. Da’s technique for waking people was more effective than it was kind. He patter Billy’s cheek, in a regular rhythm, firmly and insistently. Billy was in a deep sleep, and for a second he tried to ignore it, but the patting went on relentlessly. Momentarily he felt angry; but then he remembered that he had to get up, he even wanted t get up, and he opened his eyes and sat upright with a jerk.

‘Four o’clock,’ Da said, then he left the room, his boots banging on the wooden staircase as he went down.

Scroll down to reveal the book!

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

A first for my first lines fridays! All the other books I’ve mentioned so far I’ve not started, but I’m actually around 100 pages into this book. But… I’ve been 100 pages in for well over a year… Right look it’s a big boy. My edition is 851 pages long and a girl gets intimidated! But I am still really interested in this book and series. It’s a historical fiction with the first book being set during the Great War, the second being through WWII and the third in the Cold War (which I know the least about cause I’m British and we barely study it in school haha). I definitely plan on getting my butt in gear and reading this one, but it’s just pushing myself on through!

First Lines Friday #12

It’s time for another First Lines Friday! Hosted by Wandering Words!!

What if, instead of judging a book by its cover or its author, we judged the book by its opening lines?

Here is how it works:

– Pick a book and open to the first page.

– Copy the first few lines without revealing which book it is.

– Reveal the book!

So… do these first lines entice you?

Hushflowers always bloomed when the night was longest. The whole city celebrated the day the bundle of petals peeled apart into rich red – partly because hushflowers were their nation’s lifeblood, and partly, Akos thought, to keep them all from going crazy in the cold.

That evening, on the day of the Blooming ritual, he was sweating into his coat as he waited for the rest of the family to be ready, so he went out to the courtyard to cool off. The Kerseth house was built in a circle around a furnace, all the outermost and innermost walls curved. For luck, supposedly.

Scroll down to reveal the book!

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
GIF taken from: http://thepewterwolf.blogspot.com/2016/11/carve-mark-event.html

This wasn’t the beginning I expected from this book! I’m not entirely sure what I expected, probably something more violent and action packed. But this definitely intrigues me, I wanna know if this flower matters to the story, why Akon doesn’t seem to care about it and where they live that is so damn cold!

Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe – a review

I was so incredibly excited when I heard that the other books in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi were going to be translated into English! I adored the first book and it was my absolute favourite read of 2019, I even thought about it replacing The Gift as my favourite book! That’s how much I loved it! So of course when NetGalley had the arc available I requested it and was lucky enough to get it!

Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot, Tales from the Café continues to follow the staff from Café Funiculi Funicula, some familiar faces, and some new to us. Yet again this book tells the tale of individuals who need to face their past in order to move on with their future, and leaves the reader, or at least me, asking what I would change if I could travel back in time.

This is quite a short book, so it’s hard to say much about it when trying to avoid spoilers, but yet again this book just filled my soul. I adored the atmosphere Kawaguchi created around the café, how he expanded on the lore of the café itself, as well as on the history of those who work there. On top of this beautiful exploration we are also introduced to new people and are absorbed into new tales. Throughout this book, whilst I was reading it I really felt a sense of peace, of beauty. I cried, as with the first one, when I finished reading it. It’s such a touching and well written plot. And I love the path that Kawaguchi went down for this book.

I’ve already bought myself a physical copy of this book (and it’s signed!) and I’m also already excited for the 3rd and final book to be published in English! I wish that this was a longer series, but if I can’t have that then fingers crossed more of Kawaguchi’s works will be translated into English. If not then you might find me learning Japanese!

Dark Purpose by A.B. Endacott – a review

Yet another amazing book from Alice, I’m so close to finishing off her entire published works with one book left after this one! Dark Purpose is the second book in what I’m calling the “Dark Trilogy” that follows a healer Freya, who is of the Pious faith which is banned in her country. As tensions rise across the Third Country, Freya must decide who she must be in order to fight for the world she wants, even if that means turning away from everything she holds dear.

After the abrupt ending to the first book I was so excited to delve back into this world and read about which direction Freya was going to go in this battle for power. Having read about her character in Queendom of the Seven Lakes I obviously know a little about where she ends up but following this story from before that time is incredibly interesting and Alice has written this uprising beautifully.

There are so many different intricacies which would go into planning an uprising and Alice manages to hit on them so well. We aren’t shown them all, as Freya isn’t involved in every aspect, but they are alluded to as well as having Freya mention certain aspects and this detail really adds depth and realism to these events.

Freya’s active participation in the uprising in this book is so much fun to read about, she has so many reservations whilst also guiltily revelling in her power. Something that I believe we would all do if given this gift! I also really enjoyed how her work at the hospital developed and played a key part in the story.

I wasn’t so keen on how Symon’s character developed in this book. This isn’t against Alice, just more that I really don’t want poor Freya to have to deal with this! I can already envision some of the basics of what’ll happen in Dark Heart (the next and final book in the trilogy) and noooooo!!!!

Have you read this series, or anything from A.B. Endacott for that matter? She is an amazing Australian, self-published author and I adore her writing so so much. I will read everything she ever publishes!

First Lines Friday #3!

This is quickly becoming a new weekly feature here and I love it! As always Wandering Words hosts this tag.

What if, instead of judging a book by its cover or its author, we judged the book by its opening lines?

Here is how it works:

– Pick a book and open to the first page.

– Copy the first few lines without revealing which book it is.

– Reveal the book!

So… do these first lines entice you?

I forget everything between footsteps.

‘Anna!’ I finish shouting, snapping my mouth shut in surprise.

My mind has gone blank. I don’t know who Anna is or why I’m calling her name. I don’t even know how I got here. I’m standing in a forest, shielding my eyes from the spitting rain. My heart’s thumping, I reek of sweat and my legs are shaking. I must have been running but I can’t remember why.

‘How did –‘ I’m cut short by the sight of my own hands. They’re bony, ugly. A stranger’s hands. I don’t recognise them at all.

Scroll down to reveal the book!

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

This book sounds like it’s going to be right up my alley but it’s also so big that I’ve been putting it off! I’ll be surprised if I read this before 2021. Have you read it? Let me know what you thought of it!

Tales from the Cafe, Before the Coffee Gets Cold Book #2: a review

The first book in this series, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, absolutely broke my heart and I adored it. I knew I needed more instantly. When I found out that there were 3 books already published in Japanese I immediately went to see if translations were going to be made! Thankfully they are doing so and Tales from the Cafe is the second book in this beautiful series!

Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5

Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot

In returning to Café Funiculi Funicula we get four more tales. Four more life stories which explore in even more depth the grief and regret these characters feel. I enjoyed that in comparison to each other and also to the first book, each individual had a different reason for sitting in the fated chair. Each of them had a different story leading up to this point, leading them to want to explore another time. Although the overall base themes of regret still run throughout each tale, as is expected when the subjects are wishing to play with time, the reasonings behind each feel unique and personal to them.

We do get to learn more about characters we have already met in the first book. I don’t wish to give too much away on this point, as I personally enjoyed discovering this for myself, but seeing some of our repeat characters get their turn in the chair as well as learning more about how their lives have progressed and developed was another aspect of the story I loved. It really adds to the overall feeling that the Funiculi Funicula presents to the reader and fleshes out the world around this impossible chair.

As with the first book the writing is very slow and intentional throughout. Also as with the first book, however, I read through this book so quickly and was loath to put it down when I had to! The pacing is very methodical and purposeful which leads one story into another. I have seen in another review someone stating that they did not like the repetitive nature of the rules each time. For me, personally, these repeated instructions add more texture to the world of the café, as I’m sure those words have been said within it many times. It also is part and parcel of the process. Just as in Doctor Who, the Doctor races around the TARDIS pressing buttons and flicking levers, just instead this method of time travel is more certain and informed. You know what to expect, as much as you can, and you know the rules laid out for you and the consequences if they aren’t followed.

I am incredibly excited for the third book to be translated! I already know that I will be so sad when there are no more books for me to read from this little series. I can’t wait to learn more about… well let’s just say the last character mentioned (I don’t want to give anything away!) as well as seeing the café family develop and how they react to new time travellers. I really do recommend picking this series up, there’s a reason that Before the Coffee Gets Cold was such a hit and I recommend diving into this beautiful and meditative world.

_{^{Thank you to NetGalley and Picador for a free eCopy of this book in return for an honest review.}}