“a Witch is born out of the true hungers of her time (…) I am a child of the poisonous wind that copulated with the River on an oil-slick, garbage infested midnight. I turn about on my own parentage. I inoculate against those very biles that brought me to light. I am a serum born … Continue reading
Filed under History & Lore …
Tea and Book Pairing: Roasted Kukicha with The Witch of Duva
Kukicha tea is made from the stems, stalks and twigs of tea leaves that are roasted over an open fire. Composed of parts of the tea plant that are typically discarded in other tea blends, it tastes woodsy, like the fruits of gathering herbs and leaves from the forest floor. There’s a subtlety to this … Continue reading
Russian Fairy Tale by Raquel Aparicio
Prins Lindorm by Alvaro Tapia
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
I’ll admit I’m not usually that in to contemporary stories. I typically gravitate towards historical, or otherworldly fictions, perhaps because the distant setting provides another element of escape to a supernatural story. In fact, when I picked up The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, I thought it was a historical novel, hah. I was … Continue reading
Happy All Hallows’ Eve!
Halloween: A Romaunt by Arthur Cleveland Coxe “Tis the night—the night Of the grave’s delight, And the warlocks are at their play; Ye think that without, The wild winds shout, But no, it is they—it is they!” Have a wonderful Samhain, when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest!
Reading in the Stacks by Thawing
Ironskin by Tina Connolly
Ironskin by Tina Connolly crept under my skin and sent a chill to my bones. It had all the ingredients of a traditional, spine tingling gothic novel, but with sensational new twists that made it something fresh and unexpected. The story opens right after a Great War has been fought against the fey, a haunting … Continue reading
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Wow. This book. was. wonderful. Epic, really. I found a used (and signed!) copy of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, while I was trading in a bunch of dusty tomes at Half Price Books. In the back of my mind, I remembered that there was a lot of buzz when it was released in … Continue reading
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
Mary Robinette Kowal’s Shades of Milk and Honey was a beautifully crafted tale that melds fantasy and historical fiction, a combination I’d love to read more often. I was certainly intrigued with the description of this book: “Jane Austen + Magic” but my attention was held by the heroine and her singular presence. Jane Ellsworth, … Continue reading
