Luna's Book Log 2025

[lunababymoonchild]

1 minute ago, Madeleine said:

That's a lovely edition, I'd just want to keep stroking it and looking at it!

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing. It’s got illustrations as well!

[Madeleine]

Even better!

[lunababymoonchild]

Another Shiny book!

 

 

 

[Hayley]

Two absolutely gorgeous books! I really want Halloweird too

[Madeleine]

That's gorgeous, another one to sit and stroke!

[lunababymoonchild]

19 hours ago, Hayley said:

Two absolutely gorgeous books! I really want Halloweird too

They absolutely are. I’m reading Halloweird right now and it’s amazing! One of those books I rarely get: the paper is high quality, as is the print, the end papers are pretty and all that’s missing is the ribbon marker. It has poems in it too! I learned by reading this that Rabbie Burns has a Hallowe’en poem that I didn’t know about. It’s long and in his special (difficult!) dialect. I had to read it out loud and take a break half-way! It’s very wonderful!

 

16 minutes ago, Madeleine said:

That's gorgeous, another one to sit and stroke!

As I read it 🙂

I paid a lot for this book but it is totally worth it. 

[lunababymoonchild]

Halloweird, Classic Stories from the Season of Samhain, edited by Johnny Mains and published by The British Library.

 

I became aware of this book as a result of BooksDoFurnishARoom mentioning it at the end of his last review.

 

I’ve already described the physical properties of the book, so I shall concentrate on the content, although I’m sure that BooksDoFurnishARoom will provide a more erudite review.

 

The book starts with four poems, all of which I have never heard of, by three poets that I’ve never heard of. The poet that I have heard of is Rabbie Burns, the national poet of Scotland. His poem, "Halloween," is nine pages long and is written in the dialect spoken at the time. I took to reading this out loud to try and make some sense of it, and had to stop for a break. It was glorious, though, and I will be rereading all four.

 

I found the short stories absolutely absorbing and was very pleased to see a short story within the book by one of my favourite authors, Edith Wharton. The stories range from 1884 to 1976, and I would say that they are ghost stories (although at the time some were classed as horror stories), and each one is prefaced by a short, one-page biography of the author. The British Library specialises in re-printing material that “brings forgotten stories and original non-fiction to new audiences.” British Library Publishing Home page - and has many volumes to choose from, both e-books and paper.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

[lunababymoonchild]

Empire of the Vampire, Jay Kristoff

 

This is the first book in a trilogy and at 725 pages is absolutely epic. It is also a different take on vampires.
 
The story begins with a man, introduced as a murderer, who is being held against his will in a castle and is certain to die. His jailer, who claims to be a historian, has been sent by a superior to document the captive's life story. The purported reason for this is to discover what happened to the Holy Grail. It quickly becomes apparent that both characters are vampires, but of different kinds and on opposing sides. The prisoner is aligned with good, while the vampire historian is on the side of evil.
 
As the narrative unfolds—told in a non-linear fashion—we learn about various types of vampires and the fate of the Holy Grail, more or less. The writing is excellent, and the characters are believable, provided you are open to the existence of vampires. The plotting is excellent. 
 
There is some swearing and profanity, but it doesn’t get in the way of the characters or the story, and there is also criticism of the Christian-like religion that those, like the prisoner, follow.

 

The book also has illustrations in it, specifically, drawings
 
If you like epic and long stories, if you like vampires, if you don’t mind swearing (which is in keeping with the story), and can take a little criticism of the Christian-like religion, this is for you. I loved it!
 
Highly recommended.

[lunababymoonchild]

Heartbeats, Björn Borg

 

It’s difficult for me to write about this book. I’ve let it sit with me for a while to see what I can make of it, and I’m no closer to a resolution.

 

For those who don't know, Björn Borg was a professional tennis player and is a childhood hero of mine.

 

Björn Borg dictated this book to his (third) wife, Patricia, and it took three years. He doesn’t say if he dictated it in English.

 

His whole life is here, from his childhood to the present day. And yet, I’m no closer to understanding the man he is. It’s all so dispassionate and lacking in feeling, as he appeared when he played. It’s also, in my opinion, surprisingly short for a biography of a man who travelled the world as an elite athlete.

 

He has certainly lived a full life, but I got confused more than once. He stated several times that he was uncomfortable in crowds, yet he spends a lot of time remembering partying with his many friends. He also states that he can’t stand to be alone and always had a girlfriend (or two) so that he didn’t get lonely. He makes much of his discomfort at being the centre of attention and positively hated being subjected to press and fan attention when he was at Wimbledon – he was as famous for this as he was for his unbelievable tennis talent. He was the first man to win Wimbledon five times in a row, and he did it with the old-fashioned, nowadays, wooden racquet and only his coach. In today’s game, players have a whole team to help them, and bigger racquets. He lost to John McEnroe in the final, bidding to win for the sixth time in a row, and not long after that, at the age of 26, he retired from competitive tennis. A great deal happened to him after that, but it’s all related without any emotion. It’s very difficult to describe.

 

One for the fans, I think.

[lunababymoonchild]

Laszlo Krasznahorkai, A Mountain to the North, a Lake to the South, Paths to the West, a River to the East

 

Another one that's difficult to review.

 

It's a short book, some 130 pages long, and describes a Buddhist Monastery and its surrounding area. And that's pretty much it. There is no story to speak of, nothing much happens, and it might be a study in something symbolic for all I know - I'm not good at reading symbols in creative writing. The prose is lyrical in some parts, and despite the lack of story, I was absolutely captivated. I also learned a lot.

 

Krasznahorkai is one of my favourite authors, so I'm probably biased.

 

I would recommend this, since it's short. But it will stretch you.