WWW Wednesday: ARC Edition (Sep 30)

Rather than do WWW with allll the books I’ve recently read/am reading/am planning to read, I’ve decided to just do it for the ARCs that I’m currently working through. Because there are so many, buds.

The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking On A World of Words.

CURRENTLY READING

Add The Witching Stone on GoodReads

Fun fact + Fair warnings: The Witching Stone is published by UCLan Publishing, which is the independent for-trade Childrens/YA publishing house that is attached to my university! As I’m doing my MA in Publishing at UCLan, I do have a fair bit to do with them.

I started reading The Witching Stone last night at… 2am and then was like ‘um, possibly not the BEST idea’, since it is fairly creepy from early on. I really like some of Danny Weston’s other books, so I’m really looking forward to how this measures up.

RECENTLY READ

FIVE STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Children’s writers,” said Merlin.” Dangerous bunch. They cause us a lot of trouble.”

A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.

I loved this book! Vibes I picked up on: Doctor Who, Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunters, Neil Gaiman, Tamora Pierce, Holly Black… Lots of good stuff. There was was enough genuine British humor in it that I briefly thought Nix was British (turns out he’s Australian, but has lived in London!).

Within the first chapter Nix introduces love interest Merlin, a deeply attractive boy who is ‘considering becoming a girl’, which… I love. I love that right away Garth Nix has a trans character in such a key role. I love that the protagonist, Susan, the girl with the buzzcut and The Clash t-shirt, rolls with it completely. I really like their developing attraction to each other, and how it’s very much secondary to the life-or-death problems going on. And if you were wondering: yes, Garth Nix believes that trans women are real women.

I read it all in less than 24 hours and I’ve added it to my Wish List of books that I’d like to own and reread. I’m also definitely going to be looking up Garth Nix’s other books, as I definitely feel like I’ve been missing out.

Add The Left-Handed Booksellers of London on GoodReads

📚📚📚

FIVE STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Gripped tightly in the Thunderbird’s claws was a huge whale, plucked out of the distant ocean.

From the West African fable of Anansi the Spider, to Michabo, the magical hare who rebuilt the world and Tanuki, the sweet but troublesome raccoon-dog of Japanese folklore, Mythopedia is an encyclopedia of mythical creatures that covers legends, tales and myths from around the world.

Beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL. The illustrations are PHENOMENAL, and I want it, oh my god. The stories are well-chosen and culturally diverse, some of them charming, others a little disturbing, all of them colourful and surprising. I love that it has multiple creation myths, too.

10000% recommend this for anyone who loves beautiful books, or mythology books. I’m not actually sure what age range this is aimed at, but I feel like it could be appreciated by any age. Because colour! And short stories! And pretty!

Add Mythopedia on GoodReads

UP NEXT

Once I’m finished with The Witching Stone, I don’t have any ARCs coming up until mid-November. SO I’m going to try and blast through a few of my backlist ARCs, starting with the ones listed since they should all be quick, fun reads.

Right now I’m watching Bernardine Evaristo in conversation for the Goldsmith Prize and it’s honestly so, so great to listen to! If you’ve missed her this time, she’s also doing a talk online on October 30th. After that I will go hit up WWW posts!