Review - Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Title: Norse Mythology

Author: Neil Gaiman

Synopsis:

The great Norse myths, which have inspired so much of modern fiction, are dazzlingly retold by Neil Gaiman. Tales of dwarfs and frost giants, of treasure and magic, and of Asgard, home to the gods: Odin the all-father, highest and oldest of the Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, more beautiful than the sun or the moon, who spurns those who seek to control her.

From the dawn of the world to the twilight of the gods, this is a thrilling, vivid retelling of the Norse myths from the award-winning, bestselling Neil Gaiman.

My Thoughts:

Yes, I've read another Gaiman, because the man is a master storyteller. That's a fact. If you haven't read any work of Gaiman yet, do yourself a favour and dive into one of his books. They are magic.

Norse Mythology is not an exception. The book contains 15 short stories about the Norse gods, each usually featuring one god as the 'hero' of the story. Odin, Thor, Loki, Heimdall, Frey, Freya and lots of lesser known gods are spotlighted in these tales.

Giants and dwarves appear too and it actually occured to me while reading this collection that Mr. J.R.R. Tolkien must have taken inspiration for his novels from the mythology of the north. The atmosphere of these stories and the creatures present in them show similarities with what we find in the world of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. (it's possible that everyone knows about this connection and I was a bit slow to realize it... If it is so, please forgive my ignorance.)

Mr. Gaiman clearly has a soft spot for Loki (I don't blame him), so be prepared for a lot of Loki if you pick up Norse Mythology.

My favourite story was Freya's Unusual Wedding simply because it was hilarious! So funny, there are no words. But then there are quite dark ones as well, that include murders, mutilation and torture. I guess every mythology has some nasty bits here and there but I think Norse mythology outdoes most. 

It was great to discover all aspects that northern mythology has in common with other countries' mythologies or folk tales. The tree that grows between worlds for example is present in the old Hungarian beliefs as well, only our ancestors called it 'life tree' or 'world tree'.

I recommend this book to all those who'd like to learn more about Norse mythology, Marvel/Thor fans and anyone who feels they need to take a break from novels.

 Goodreads | Amazon

Weekend Wrap-up #10

The Sunday post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you have received.

This was my last week of training at the workplace, so from Monday I'm on my own. Hopefully everything will go well.

Yesterday we went to the bath with my best friend. We swam so much, I was extremely tired by the end of the day, but it was so good to take advantage of the summer at last. We didn't expect we'd have nice weather but in the end I looked like a tomato because of the sunburn. I still do, I have to apply a thick layer of creme on my face, shoulders and chest to reduce the pain a bit.

Yesterday I finished reading Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf, my review is coming on June 27th.

I'm currently reading Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca for the Timeless book club, The Lucy Preston Literary Society.

I'm planning to start Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf next week.

I'd really like to put my review of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman up on the blog next week too.

Recent posts on the blog:

Sunday: Review – Clowders by Vanessa Morgan

Wednesday: WWW Wednesday #16

Friday: Book Beginning and the Friday 56 #18 – featuring Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that makes it possible to share with other bookworms what books you added to your shelves – physical or virtual – during the week. 

Physical books:

Title: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Goodreads

I know, I'm a little bit late to the game but I'm curious what the hype was about. I'll watch the movie after reading the book and will decide if I want to do a comparison post or will stick with a review. I'm glad I've got to own this book at last and that I have a chance to pick it up soon. 

Title: East of Eden

Author: John Steinbeck

Goodreads

I've been planning to read East of Eden for so long now. It's one of my mother's favourite books. I've read Of Mice and Men from Steinbeck, I know he was an incredibly talented writer and so I can't wait to start this epic family story of his.

Title: Hold Your Own

Author: Kate Tempest 

Goodreads

A poetry collection at last. A sequence of poems about the prophet Teiresias to be exact. The gender change that happens in this work interests me a lot, not to mention I've wanted to familiarize myself with Kate Tempest's poetry for some time know. It will be a wonderful ride I'm sure.

ARC:

Title: The Oddling Prince

Author: Nancy Springer

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads

I saw this book on many other blogs and the reviews usually say good things about it. My request on NetGalley got approved in 10 minutes which is a new record, haha. 

Please leave  link to your weekend post below so I can go and visit your blog. Enjoy the weekend!

Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 #18

Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56 are weekly memes hosted by Rose City Reader and Freda's Voice.

Rules: 

Book Beginnings: Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. 

The Friday 56: Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in you eReader. Find any sentence (not spoilery) and reflect on it if you want.

 

 

The book in the spotlight today is:

 

Mrs Sherlock Holmes

by Brad Ricca 

Synopsis:

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes tells the incredible true life story of Mrs. Grace Humiston, the New York lawyer and detective who solved the famous cold case of Ruth Cruger, an 18-year-old girl who disappeared in 1917. Grace was an amazing lawyer and traveling detective during a time when no women were practicing these professions. She focused on solving cases no one else wanted and advocating for innocents. Grace became the first female U.S. District Attorney and made ground-breaking investigations into modern slavery.

One of Grace's greatest accomplishments was solving the Cruger case after following a trail of corruption that lead from New York to Italy. Her work changed how the country viewed the problem of missing girls. But the victory came with a price when she learned all too well what happens when one woman upstages the entire NYPD.

In the literary tradition of In Cold Blood and The Devil in the White City, Brad Ricca's Mrs. Sherlock Holmes is a true crime tale told in spine-tingling fashion. This story is about a woman whose work was so impressive that the papers gave her the nickname of fiction’s greatest sleuth. With important repercussions in the present about kidnapping, the role of the media, and the truth of crime stories, the great mystery of the book – and its haunting twist ending – is how one woman can become so famous only to disappear completely.

 

 

Book Beginning:

 

Prologue:

 

Pushing through the water, the massive steamship Olympic, sister of the lost Titanic, docked at New York City carrying passengers, thousands of sacks of mail, and the mind of the world's greatest detective.

 

A little game for you: can you guess who arrived to NY or this particular steamship?

 

The Friday 56:

"It doesn't matter so much when a man dies as how he dies." Bell said. "When he dies as a craven spirit he dies forever, but when he dies like a hero he lives forever." 

 

Bell then invited all those in the audience who had sons or relatives in the service to meet him up on the stage. As people filed up on the wooden riser and crowded forward, he shook their hands, sometimes two at a time.

 

"The world was on fire," these fighting men were told.

I don't think these worlds could actually comfort those who lost relatives to the war. The sentiment is very noble but those who were gone were still gone...

How's your reading week going? What are you reading at the moment? 

Please leave your Friday link for me below.

WWW Wednesday #16

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words. 

WWW stands for three questions:

What are you currently reading?

I'm still reading Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf. My review of this novel is coming a bit later than I planned, expect it on June 27th.

Mrs Sherlock Holmes

by Brad Ricca

Synopsis:

Mrs. Sherlock Holmes tells the incredible true life story of Mrs. Grace Humiston, the New York lawyer and detective who solved the famous cold case of Ruth Cruger, an 18-year-old girl who disappeared in 1917. Grace was an amazing lawyer and traveling detective during a time when no women were practicing these professions. She focused on solving cases no one else wanted and advocating for innocents. Grace became the first female U.S. District Attorney and made ground-breaking investigations into modern slavery.

One of Grace's greatest accomplishments was solving the Cruger case after following a trail of corruption that lead from New York to Italy. Her work changed how the country viewed the problem of missing girls. But the victory came with a price when she learned all too well what happens when one woman upstages the entire NYPD.

In the literary tradition of In Cold Blood and The Devil in the White City, Brad Ricca's Mrs. Sherlock Holmes is a true crime tale told in spine-tingling fashion. This story is about a woman whose work was so impressive that the papers gave her the nickname of fiction’s greatest sleuth. With important repercussions in the present about kidnapping, the role of the media, and the truth of crime stories, the great mystery of the book – and its haunting twist ending – is how one woman can become so famous only to disappear completely.

I'm reading this book for the Timeless Book Club on Goodreads, The Lucy Preston Literary Society.

What did you recently finish reading? 

Norse Mythology

by Neil Gaiman 

My review is coming soon!

What do you think you'll read next?

Winter Eternal by E. Thomas Joseph is still the next one on my list.

Please don't forget to leave your WWW links below! Happy reading!

Review - Clowders by Vanessa Morgan

Title: Clowders

Author: Vanessa Morgan

Synopsis:

Clervaux, Luxembourg. This secluded, picturesque town in the middle of Europe is home to more cats than people. For years, tourists have flocked to this place – also known as “cat haven” - to meet the cats and buy cat-related souvenirs.

When Aidan, Jess and their five-year-old daughter, Eleonore, move from America to Clervaux, it seems as if they've arrived in paradise. It soon becomes clear, though, that the inhabitants' adoration of their cats is unhealthy. According to a local legend, each time a cat dies, nine human lives are taken as a punishment. To tourists, these tales are supernatural folklore, created to frighten children on cold winter nights. But for the inhabitants of Clervaux, the danger is darkly, horrifyingly real.

Initially, Aidan and Jess regard this as local superstition, but when Jess runs over a cat after a night out in the town, people start dying, one by one, and each time it happens, a clowder of cats can be seen roaming the premises.

Are they falling victim to the collective paranoia infecting the entire town? Or is something horrible waiting for them? Something unspeakably evil.

Aidan and Jess' move to Europe may just have been the worst decision they ever made.

I received a free ebook copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Thoughts:

I was expecting a thrilling tale going into Clowders but unfortunately I closed the book in the end fairly disappointed. The plain truth is: I was a lot more bored than thrilled while reading it and I kept waiting for a turning point that would have changed my opinion but the real rush of fear never came and I was eventually left with an empty feeling regarding the book.

Clowders tells the story of a family who moves to a small town in Luxemburg that is famous for its high cat population. Aidan and Jess, who take their 5 year old daughter Eleonore with them too, soon realize that people in the town act strangely, especially when a cat's life is in danger. They learn about a legend that keeps the townspeople in fear and that makes sure they treat the cats of the town well. When a cat dies in an accident and a mysterious feral creature starts stalking Jess and Eleonore, the legend turns out to be real. The only question is whether the family can escape from the crazy cat town in time to avoid the gruesome fate they can expect after being involved in the incident.

More than half of the novel is about Aidan and Jess trying to patch up their broken relationship. I confess I didn't like these characters at all. Aidan is the one who wanted to move to Europe, he basically dragged Jess and his little girl with him because he wanted some adventure in his life again. Almost as soon as they arrive to Clervaux he starts an affair with with a horrible woman who likes playing around with (sometimes married) men just for fun. Aidan doesn't give a fig that Jess hates their new home, that she's slowly becoming depressed because she has nothing to do all day.

I didn't like Jess mostly because she was very slow to understand what was going on around her (just like Aidan, actually) and because she complained too much about things rather than doing something to solve them. She didn't like driving Eleonore to and from school for expample, but at the same time she was always going on about how she didn't have anything to do all day. Partly I understand why the situation was tough for her but many times she annoyed me with her utter helplessness. Even when Eleanore was around, she just put the kid in front of the telly rather than playing with her. They hardly ever did anything together, mother and daughter, which was kinda strange to me.

The half-human half-cat creature wasn't scary enough for me because for the longest time it didn't do anything at all other than stalk people by standing in their bedrooms at night. It didn't attack anyone unless a cat had been killed and even then, she made a quick job of getting rid of the guilty party. What made the whole thing creepy (and why I gave it two stars/pineapples in the end instead of one) was the town's reaction; they worked together with this monster/catgirl, they actually helped the creature eliminate the cat killers. Clervaux was a little bit like the village in the movie Hot Fuzz (only that movie is waaay better than this book).

No one tried to stop the creature. Like... what?? I'm not kidding. People tried to escape but they didn't try to fight. They accepted without question that it cannot be defeated and the only thing they tried was to outrun it. 

I didn't feel like I was entertained, I asked the question why??? a million times while reading the book and in the end I didn't understand why this story had to be told. It's a shame, the premise was excellent. It could have been so much more than what it became.

Goodreads | Amazon

May Wrap-Up, June TBR

Summer is here folks and I'm wishing for fall (the weather is too hot for my liking already). But let's not jump ahead so fast. I'm hopeful that this is going to be a really good summer, filled with events and trips that I'm already looking forward to. 

In the month of June my focus will probably solely directed on work though. Since I'm new at the company I'll have a lot to learn this month, but hey... you gotta start somewhere.

I'm still trying to figure out a reading routine that could work now that 8 hours are taken from my day. During the training weeks I'll probably have some extra studying to do at home too, but I'll do my best to be efficent and I'll make sure to leave myself time to relax with a good book after the hard work.

I really hope I can finish at least 4 books this month too. One of these books will be a play (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee), which makes my life easier because I usually fly through plays. 

I'm very excited to join my fellow Clockblockers in a read-along of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca. Some people had the amazing idea to start a Timeless book club (in which we read books that are related to the tv show in some way) and this is the first title that we'll discuss. I can't wait to learn more about Grace Humiston, badass female detective of the 1910s.

Here's a summary of May on Paradise Found:

I've finished four books:

Nothing But Sky by Amy Trueblood – Review

The Stolen Girl (The Veil and the Crown #1) by Zia Wesley – Review

Clowders by Vanessa Morgan – My review is coming soon

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman – My review is coming soon

Other posts on the blog in the month of May:

Book Tour (Excerpt) – Succubus Lips by Lina Jubilee

5 Genres of Fiction I'd Like to Read More Of

Weekly Memes:

Goodreads Monday (May 7, May 21) 

Tell Me Something Tuesday (May 22)

WWW Wednesday (May 9, May 23, May 30)

Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 (May 4, May 11, May 18, May 25)   

Weekend Wrap-up (May 5, May 12, May 26)

Plans for June

I'd like to read the following books in May (in no particular order):

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf 

(For book tour)

Winter Eternal (The River That Flows Two Ways #1) by E. Thomas Joseph

Mrs Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca 

(For the Timeless Book Club. Join here if you're interested: Lucy Preston Literary Society)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edwards Albee

Did May treat you well? Please leave a link to your monthly wrap-up post if you'd like me to read it! :)

Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 #17

Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56 are weekly memes hosted by Rose City Reader and Freda's Voice.

Rules: 

Book Beginnings: Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. 

The Friday 56: Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in you eReader. Find any sentence (not spoilery) and reflect on it if you want.

  

My current read is:

Bring Me Their Hearts

by Sara Wolf

 

Synopsis:

Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly.

Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum; if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy her heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.

Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him – every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him – until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The Prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat.

So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all.

Winner takes the loser’s heart.

Book Beginning:

"King Sref of Cavanos watches me with the deadened eyes of a raven circling a corpse – patient, waiting to devour me the second I let my guard down."

King Sref seems to be a dangerous fellow. And this is a very powerful first sentence.

  

The Friday 56:

"The prince studies me, or rather, my mask. My eyes behind the mask. It feels as if he's trying to peel away the layers of my defenses, my secrets, like a bird of prey peeling back skin and muscle from a kill." 

 What is it with this book and birds? Haha :)

What are you reading this week?