My 2017 Reading Challenge

This year, I’ve chosen 38 books that I want to read. Some of them are quite hefty, so chances are I won’t get through the lot, but if it ends up being a longer challenge, so be it. I shall also do a Goodreads challenge, where I select a number …

My Top Ten Reads of 2016

I didn’t count exactly how many books I read this year, but it was probably around 70. This year, I’ve been focusing on reading both fantasy and also books from other indie writers. And my top ten for the year includes a great selection of both! (Numbers are not indicative of …

BBCs Big Read – next instalment 94-91

This is the next post reviewing books in the BBCs Big Read challenge that I participated in many years ago. For details of the overall challenge, see this post. 94. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns …

The Elements of Steampunk

In my last post on Young Adult fiction, I mentioned the relatively new genre of Steampunk and thought it would be fun to talk about. Steampunk is a sub-genre of either science fiction or fantasy that incorporates steam-powered technology. It’s a kind of alternative history where the internal combustion engine was …