To conclude my “Forays into Fairyland” themed month, I will be reviewing an exciting new bestseller by Holly Black.
When I saw that there was a new fairy-themed book out by Holly Black, beloved author of the Modern Faerie Tales series that I adored as a wee teen, I nearly jumped up and down. I don’t follow Black on Twitter, so I had no idea that she was cooking up another faerie series. I brought the book home a few days later, practically vibrating with excitement.
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As you may know, I’ve been on a faerie (fairy, faery, faerie, fairie, whichever spelling floats your boat) book review kick this month. This particular book is by no means a new one--Bones of Faerie, by Janni Lee Simner, is the first in a trilogy first published in 2008. I don’t remember what year I picked it up from a shelf in a bookstore and decided to buy it, but it was probably relatively close to that publication date.
I don’t think I even read the first page of this book after I bought it—if I had, I definitely wouldn’t have let it gather dust on my shelf for 8+ years. Every so often, I’d see this book’s spine on my shelf, and wonder why I never bothered to read it. Finally, I decided enough was enough, and I read it in less than a week. As I was cleaning up the kids’ section of the bookstore I work at the other night, smiling at a few beloved, familiar novels, something that’s been on my mind a lot struck me.
Most people who know my reading habits and my writing tendencies could probably tell you that I have a certain preferred…aesthetic. You can probably sum up my personality by listening to Florence and Machine’s entire discography. I’m drawn to magic, myths, fairytales, and glitter. Always have been. It really shouldn’t have surprised me that somehow, I ended up unintentionally choosing to read three different books in the last two months that all transported me into worlds infused with magic, faeries, and darkness.
Man, it was fun. Writing can be hard. Really, really hard. It’s easy to feel isolated and discouraged when it’s just you, Microsoft Word, and that ever-flashing tab reminding you that words are not going to type themselves, no matter how hard you glare at the screen. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the eleven or so years that I’ve spent dreaming up, writing, and often abandoning stories, it’s that finding a writing community is a great way to stay motivated. Participating in a writing workshop is one fantastic way to get a group of focused and passionate people to collectively improve their writing skills and offer constructive, critical feedback of each other’s work.
I Am I Am I Am: Seventeen Brushes With Death by Maggie O’Farrell is a collection of interconnected personal essays—described by O’Farrell as an attempt to “write a life, told only through near-death experiences.” Write a life she does. Each chapter, titled with a body part related to a cause of near-death, weaves together different moments in O’Farrell’s life that shaped her into the person she has become.
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AuthorWriter, reviewer, bookseller, book nerd extraordinaire. Fiction reader at Waxwing Magazine. Archives
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