This is my fourth blog post of the year! I feel I needed a couple of weeks off work to detach from reality a bit. I still find myself doomscrolling now and then but I’m trying to redirect my attention into more productive things, like writing blog posts and sorting out the move to WordPress.

On My Radar: January
Review: The Mask Falling
Afrofuturism On My Shelves

I’ve also read three books so this year. Go me! The first was Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, the first in a YA mystery series. It took me a while to get into it, the historical bits weren’t that engaging but I loved Stevie and the friends she makes at Ellignham. I’m looking forward to reading the rest, just have to find challenge prompts to squish them into!

Just before Christmas my Fairy Loot edition of How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories turned up and OMG it’s gorgeous, with shiny gold edges against a purple cover and beautifully illustrated by Rovina Cai. I sort of liked the stories more than the main books, just because I thought each and every one of the novels had pacing issues (but with great endings, so I kept reading). I found out that Holly Black shares my zodiac sign so that has ticked off that annoying Popsugar prompt early too!

Finally I read my review copy of Mrs Death Mrs Death by Salena Godden (thanks Canongate!). It’s a mix of poetry and prose on the subject of death, without much plot but I liked it. It’s a bit sombre for this time of year though, I’m not sure what they were thinking choosing to publish it this month. I will have a full review up soon.

Here’s a photo of Ms Scullychops with mud all over her face, because being clean is for wimps.

New books acquired:

The Once and Future Witches by Alix Harrow (ebook)
[gifted] The Unbroken by C.L. Clark (Orbit)
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole (ebook)