Nollaig

Seems you and me largely agree on The Silence, I had the same issues with it. Haven't read Gurnsey yet but its on my tablet. Can't say I'm in any more of a rush to read it after your review hehe I haven't picked up Station Eleven yet despite all the good I've heard about it because it seemed like a hefty read and very complex, which isn't something I've been looking for lately, but you've made it sound very interesting, so maybe...

Today I wore my Kingdom Hearts tshirt over my usual denim skirt, leggings and flat shoes. I change up my tops more than anything

I've started watching Mr. Robot. So far, so awesome.

I think I only randomly came across The Lie Tree on Goodreads, then checked out her other stuff and decided to pick up Fly By Night as I was intrigued by it. I wasn't sure it would be my thing, as I'm so fussy about fantasy, and it was a bit draining at times but I'm actually dying to go back and re-read it now that I know all the twists! I should probably just move onto the sequel though... I have no idea how she's gone under everyones radars all these years, she's such a talented writer. The two I have now read by her are extremely different from each other, so The Lie Tree may be even more different again, but I'll be reading it shortly myself!

Wearing my red Ylvis t-shirt - it has 8-bit chibi pictures of Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker and their 'sidekick' Calle Hellevang-Larsen. I love this shirt. Nobody but me knows it's me fangirling over Ylvis, and it looks nerdy coz 8-bit. Just wearing it over a denim skirt, black leggings and cardigan.

My housemates never seem to be in the house in the evenings anymore. I have no idea why, but its great

I have The Lie Tree ready to go. I adore her. She's such a unique writer, and I'm going buying as pretty a hardback of Fly By Night and its sequel as I can find online this weekend after payday. Congrats on finishing that book with the crazy writing in half of it Was it worth it?

Today I wore my charcoal dress with yellow, aqua and pink birds all over, with my salmon-ish coloured knitted cardigan. Tights and boots, because WIND AND RAIN.

Fly By Night - Frances Hardinge Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Mosca Mye hasn't got much. Her cruel uncle keeps her locked up in his mill, and her only friend is her pet goose, Saracen, who'll bite anything that crosses his path. But she does have one small, rare thing: the ability to read. She doesn't know it yet, but in a world where books are dangerous things, this gift will change her life. Enter Eponymous Clent, a smooth-talking con man who seems to love words nearly as much as Mosca herself. Soon Mosca and Clent are living a life of deceit and danger -- it would be exactly the kind of tale Mosca has always longed to take part in, until she learns that her one true love -- words -- may be the death of her. *** Review: Wow. Just, wow. I have never read anything by Frances Hardinge before, but I now want to read everything she's written including her shopping lists. I have rarely been so spoiled by the pleasure of such beautiful writing as can be found in this stunning little curiosity of a novel. Designated a children's book at every turn, I am genuinely surprised it is considered so. At approximately 500 pages of poetic prose it is not a light read, even if it is a wholly immersive one. I feel like it's a childrens' book in the same way that His Dark Materials is a childrens' series - on the surface, maybe, but if you delve deeper into what the stories really have to say, there is so much in here for people of all ages to enjoy. This review is going to be little more than me endlessly singing Hardinge's praises, so for balance I will admit it's a tiny bit convoluted and probably doesn't need to be as long as it is. That, however, is as much as I can say against it, and you can see it's not enough to knock any marks off because the whole rest of the book is so wholly unique and accomplished. I can't believe it was her debut. The characters are phenomenal, the writing is sharp and endlessly quotable, the plot is intricate and has so much to say on the topic of free speech, the power and beauty of words and the press, herd mentality and independent thinking, and it has a few choice comments on the topic of religion to boot. It is set in a historical context, imbued with just enough fantasy to make everything magical. The settings are so beautifully evoked by Hardinge's mastery of words that I am immensely relieved to hear there is a sequel because I am not ready to let go of this world. I don't want to spoil a single thing about it, but I also want to convince everyone to pick it up and read it. The more I reflect on this book, the more I fall in love with it. It is an absolute must for all true lovers of storytelling, books, and words. Rating: 5/5

The Donor - Helen Fitzgerald Synopsis: Will Marion has two perfect kidneys. His daughters aren't so lucky. Question is: which one should he save? Will's 47. His wife bailed out when the twins were in nappies and hasn't been seen since. Just after the twins turn sixteen, Georgie suffers kidney failure and is placed on dialysis. Her type is rare, and Will immediately offers to donate an organ. Without a transplant, she would probably never see adulthood. But then Kay gets sick. She's also sixteen. Just as precious. Her kidney type just as rare. Time is critical, and he has to make a decision. Should be buy a kidney - be an organ tourist? Should be save one child? If so, which one? Should be sacrifice himself? Or is there a fourth solution - one so terrible it has never even crossed his mind? *** Review: One thing I've learned about Helen Fitzgerald from her other books is that she loves to turn thriller conventions on their heads - in another of her novels, The Cry, she revealed the twist very early on. In this one, she reveals the apparent twist right at the outset. The result for me was that the vast majority of the book read more like a drama (definitely heightened by the impending teenage deaths, which is a common theme in YA drama/fiction novels). Ultimately, Helen actually went even further than just telling you the twist at the beginning, and I have to admit I was completely and utterly thrown - even confused, for quite a few pages. It's one of those things people are either going to cop the second the possibilities even arise, or is going to leave people baffled, like it did me. She did a great job of making all the possibilities apparent, and then blowing them out of the water. As per both of her previous novels that I have read, the writing is fantastic - the author has an uncanny knack for rendering such life-like characteristics in the people she writes. Everything is always just complex enough to make it seem life-like, but also always just crazy enough to keep it exciting and to keep the pages turning. I have to admit, however, that this is my least favourite of the three I read, possibly because of the aforementioned drama feel. Additionally, it is told in two perspectives (as her books often are), one third person and one first person. The first person perspective is Georgie, the more delinquent of the teenagers, and I can't honestly say I cared much about her at all. I felt the first person perspective totally overshadowed Kay, who I would have liked to read much more about. I couldn't stand Cynthia, Will was okay, and probably the most interesting (but least credible) character was the young private detective. All in all, I found the characters pretty underwhelming, and wasn't too fussed what happened to any of them. That said, I still tore through the book in a couple of days due to its immense readability, so it's definitely worth picking up. Just maybe don't take it as your introduction to the author. Rating: 3.5/5

Whoops only saw this now. I've read three of those four, so on those grounds alone I might go for Where We Belong next. I loved Jumpstart, but wished it was much longer, and I also loved Don't Let Me Go, so she's still doing great even with a miss on Chloe.

I quite enjoyed it, I wasn't too keen on the plot but the writing and portrayal of dementia I thought was excellent. I hesitated about halfway through Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge, but I'm glad I pushed on because it didn't quite go down the route I expected. It is incredibly original and so multi-faceted, it's wonderful. Hoping to finish it tonight, and I must get on and review both I've read by her.

The weather is nuts today. One minute, gorgeous clear blue sunny skies, the next, absolutely torrential rain and wind. Luckily I didn't get caught in the rain, and I don't have to go out for the whole rest of the day!

Brighter and drier today than it was yesterday, but still very changeable and overcast at times.

First day of student orientations today - our section has to give them IT Workshops and tell them about their student accounts/email/wifi/printing etc. Luckily I didn't have to give any of the workshops this year, as it's not actually my job anymore, but I had to mind the student ambassadors while they did it. Came home with a stress headache, but that went away after a couple hours sleep. I also got forwarded the job spec for a vacant position with Marketing & Comms in the uni - a woman I worked with on a project this summer from that department had said I should apply, and she sent it on today. I don't think I'm really qualified - I'm going to meet her next week for a chat about it. But if I were somehow to weasel my way into it, it would be a 5 year contract and 28k a year. Which is more financial/job stability than I've ever had in my life, so it would be quite a life-changing job. But we'll see.

I had never heard of The Language of flowers, but a lot of people seem to have heard/said good things about it and it sounds really unusual. Think I'll stick it on my wishlist

It didn't stop raining all morning here. I had to walk over to the university and ended up having to go in the rain because it wouldn't let up even for five minutes! It did stop for when I was walking home at least, so that's something. Raining again now. It's like November, but still very humid!

I'm reading Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge - I don't like it as much as Fly By Night but it's still very original and interesting. Also halfway through The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster - very funny in places, but not really my thing.

I'm going to finish it because I'm halfway through, but it's not the kind of thing I like either I'm afraid. The wordplay is very funny, and very clever in parts, but it feels like a bunch of random stuff has been written solely for the purpose of wordplay rather than that the wordplay arises from any kind of coherent plot. I guess it's too whimsical for me, I prefer (even childrens books) that are a bit darker and more mature. It has made me laugh a few times though, and I'm happy to finish it

Nope, and having just looked her up, she seems to have a bit of a variety. Recommendations?

Finished Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge. It was a bit convoluted and I got lost a couple of times, but it's a fantastic book. Definitely gonna read another one by her soon, but might put something else in the middle first because she writes fantasy and I'm not sure my brain can handle two fantasies in a row.

I don't know, I just grabbed it and dived in! I'll be a bit more discerning about my next choice of hers

Birdy - Jess Vallance Synopsis: Frances Bird has been a loner for so long that she’s given up on ever finding real friendship. But then she’s asked to show a new girl around school, and she begins to think her luck could finally be changing. Eccentric, talkative and just a little bit posh, Alberta is not at all how Frances imagined a best friend could be but it’s not long before they are inseparable. Frances could not be happier. As the weeks go on, Frances starts to examine their friendship more closely. Is it, perhaps, just too good to be true? *** Review: For some reason, I got it into my head that this was going to be a vaguely supernatural thriller, maybe something along the lines of Wilson Wilson by Poe. It isn't, it's an out and out thriller, albeit one that is largely wrapped up in a YA drama. For the most part, it's a very well written book, but I think the combination of my own misguided expectations combined with the sudden introduction of the the thriller element towards the end, resulted in my ultimately underwhelmed response. Very little occurs in this novel outside of what is directly relevant to Birdy and Bert, and I feel the novel would have benefitted from being a bit more fleshed out - or at least from more happening to Birdie and Bert. Still, I liked both characters well enough for them, in conjunction with the well-written settings and secondary characters, to make it a worthwhile read. Looking back, I feel like I should have seen the signs of what was ultimately coming, and I think it might even be worth skimming the book a second time now that I know the twist. It's a pretty great twist, and while it didn't come out of nowhere, I was just so wholly unexpecting anything like it that it kind of fell flat for me. It took me a while to register that what was actually going on - I had initially put it down to poor writing. I think this could be an enjoyable novel if the reader goes in expecting a solid thriller, but sadly I think my own expectations spoiled it for me. Rating: 3.5/5

I'm reading her kids/YA novel 'Fly By Night' at the moment. It's the first book I've read by her and even though it's fantasy I'm absolutely LOVING it. Have you read it or any others by her?