Top Ten Tuesday | Comic Comic Comic Comic Comic Chameleon

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'All about the visuals', so I'm going to share with you the graphic novels that are on my TBR!

The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg: I read Greenberg's The One Hundred Nights of Hero (reviewed here) and really enjoyed it, so I'm interested in checking out more of her work.

Ladycastle by Delilah Dawson and Ashley Woods: This is a retelling of the Arthurian legends with women at the centre. Yes please.

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki: I read the Tamakis' other graphic novel, Skim, a couple of years ago and loved it, so I'd like to check out this one too.

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler, John Jennings and Damian Duffy: I'm fascinated to see how this story has been adapted into a graphic format, and even though it's harrowing I'm totally drawn in by that cover.

Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh: Despite only being a few years old this feels like one of those classics I should have read by now. It really doesn't seem right to me to leave out that extra 'u' though...

Fun Home and Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel: I haven't read any Alison Bechdel yet and that's something I need to change, especially as she's the creator of the Bechdel Test. Fun Home is something of a classic, but I really like the sound of Are You My Mother? too.

Baba Yaga's Assistant by Marika McCoola and Emily Carroll: This looks so fun, and I feel like I haven't actually read many stories featuring Baba Yaga. I liked Emily Carroll's Through the Woods a lot, so I'd like to see more of her illustrations and I love the colours on the cover.

Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton: How have I not read this yet? I love Beaton's Step Aside, Pops so I need to read this one, too.

The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins: I've yet to hear a bad thing about this graphic novel. It's just so huge (the book that is, not the beard).

Which books made your list this week?

What's Up Wednesday! | 11/03/15

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly feature created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

Since last week I've read The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman, The Ice Dragon by George R. R. Martin, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll and The Great God Pan, The Shining Pyramid and The White People by Arthur Machen.

I'm still reading Relic by Renee Collins, Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland - not because any of them are boring, but just because I've found myself with barely any time to read, still not entirely sure why, so I've been reading shorter reads in between. I also started Kindred by Octavia E. Butler which I'm reading for Week 2 of my Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge.

What I'm Writing

I'm still working on my short story 'Piranha' for the Mslexia Short Story Competition, and I've also started writing another short story, 'Stars Over Talsarn', which is set in 16th century Wales. I've been really into short story writing the past few months, I think mainly because I want to get more of my work out there, and also because reading My True Love Gave to Me over Christmas has awakened my love for anthologies and the more short stories I read the more I want to write.

What Works For Me

Reading. I feel like I'm cheating because I've said this plenty of times, but reading other people's work really inspires and motivates me.

What Else Is New

The weather was gorgeous at the weekend, like spring is finally on its way, and on Saturday I went shopping. I bought some new shoes for the warmer weather - they're really cool - and I picked up a few paint samples. I want to redecorate my room, but I can't decide what colour I want my feature wall to be. It's very frustrating.

On Sunday I found out that one of my flash fiction stories, 'Coffee Break', will be up on Flash Fiction Magazine on the 25th March, so that's exciting! And tomorrow I'm off to a new writing and reading group. A friend of mine introduced me to this fantastic site called MeetUp where people can find groups and activities in their local area and meet new people. There don't seem to be that many groups down where I am - I keep getting recommendations for groups in Bristol. I live in South Wales, why the hell would I travel all the way to Bristol?! - but this group is fairly new, the meeting I'm going to is only their second one. I'm hoping to meet some new people. I miss my friends from uni a lot and it gets pretty lonely down here.

At the start of the week I was very sad to hear that IdeasTap will be closing. For those of you outside the UK, IdeasTap is a charity which focuses entirely on helping people in the arts. Every year they collaborate with Sky and offer £30,000 to three artists (that's each, not between them) so that for an entire year they can work on a project they're passionate about and not have to worry about how they're going to pay their rent or where their next meal is coming from. Many people also use the money to travel; if a writer decides to write a novel set in Africa, they can afford to go and do their research in Africa.

It's also fantastic for its articles on creativity and inspiration, as well as for the events and scholarships it promotes and the jobs it advertises. For people looking to get a job in the arts in the UK, it has a brilliant job search that allows you to look for arts jobs by area or salary or arts sector.

Basically it's an amazing charity and I'm gutted it's closing. I'm hoping someone will give it the funding it needs before June. #SaveIdeasTap

What's new with you?

2015 Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge! | Week 2

It's the Week 2 of the Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge! This week's challenge is to read a book with a non-white protagonist, and just like last week I've compiled a list of suggestions for any of you who're not sure which book to pick up.

Keep everyone updated with what you're reading with the hashtag #2015FHRC and don't forget to enter my giveaway!

The Orenda

by Joseph Boyden

The Queen's Secret

by Victoria Lamb

The Ghost Bride

by Yangsze Choo

My Fair Concubine

by Jeannie Lin

China Dolls

by Lisa See

Kindred

by Octavia E. Butler

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

Wench

by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Beloved

by Toni Morrison

Philida

by André Brink

Happy reading!

Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge | My TBR

Next week brings with it the start of my Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge, a four week challenge get people reading more diverse historical fiction! I'm partnering up with the lovely Amy @ Passages to the Past to bring this challenge to you, so for those of you taking part in Amy's Historical Fiction Reading Challenge anything you read for this challenge will count towards that one, too.

For all the information about this challenge, and to sign up, head over to my announcement post here!

So today I thought I'd share with you my TBR for the challenge. The books I choose may change - though I'm adamant I'm going to be crossing Kindred and Fingersmith off my TBR - but these are the four I'm planning on reading!

Week 1 - Read an alternate history book

Temeraire by Naomi Novik

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors ride mighty fighting dragons, bred for size or speed. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes the precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future – and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. 

Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

Week 2 - Read a book with a non-white protagonist

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

Week 3 - Read a book with an LGBT protagonist

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...

Week 4 - Read a book that is NOT set in Europe (including Britain) or North America

The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

In a city full of thieves and Communists, danger and death, spirited young Lydia Ivanova has lived a hard life. Always looking over her shoulder, the sixteen-year-old must steal to feed herself and her mother, Valentina, who numbered among the Russian elite until Bolsheviks murdered most of them, including her husband. As exiles, Lydia and Valentina have learned to survive in a foreign land. Often, Lydia steals away to meet with the handsome young freedom fighter Chang An Lo. But they face danger: Chiang Kai Shek's troops are headed toward Junchow to kill Reds like Chang, who has in his possession the jewels of a tsarina, meant as a gift for the despot's wife. The young pair's all-consuming love can only bring shame and peril upon them, from both sides. Those in power will do anything to quell it. But Lydia and Chang are powerless to end it.

Are you taking part in the Forgotten Histories Reading Challenge? What are you reading?

Top Ten Tuesday | Historical Fiction I Can't Believe I Haven't Read Yet!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I Haven't/Want To Read From X Genre'. As you all know by now, I love my historical fiction, but there are still a lot of historical fiction books, including some historical fiction staples, that I haven't read yet. That's something that needs to change!

So, without further ado, here are my top ten!

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel: I love the Tudors, and I love my historical fiction set during this period of history, but I still haven't gotten around to reading this yet. I'd like to read it soon, though, so I can watch the BBC adaptation!

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: This book is a bit of a beast, which I think is why I still haven't read it despite having owned my copy for over four years. Oops!

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: I'm desperate to read this - I've heard amazing things about Fingersmith - but for whatever reason I've just never gotten around to it. That's going to change very soon, though!

Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman: Considering I live in Wales I haven't read many books set in Wales, and I definitely haven't read any historical fiction set in Wales. Here Be Dragons is based on the story of Joan, Lady of Wales, a real figure from history. She was the illegitimate daughter of King John who was married to Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (also known as Llylwelyn the Great) in the early 13th century, at a time when England and Wales were not the best of friends.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón: If there's one thing I need to read more of it's books that weren't originally written in English. In fact I need to read more books that aren't written by British or American authors in general. This is another book I've heard amazing things about, and another I just haven't gotten to yet.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Why I haven't read this yet I really don't know, because it involves two of my favourite things: history and female friendships. I need to read this soon!

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray: I used to pass this book all the time during my teens, back when Borders was still around (R.I.P Borders, forever in our hearts), and for some reason I just never bought it, but I was obviously interested in it because I'd pick it up and read the blurb every time I saw it. I finally bought myself a copy last year, and I'd like to read the entire Gemma Doyle trilogy this year!

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler: Kindred is both historical and science fiction, because the main character actually ends up time travelling back to the Antebellum South, which isn't all that great for a young black woman. I've heard amazing things about it, and I really want to check it out for myself.

Temeraire by Naomi Novik: Unlike the other books on this list, Temeraire is a piece of alternate history. It's the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. Why wouldn't I want to read it?

The Falconer by Elizabeth May: I've heard mixed things about this book, but I still want to check it out for myself. Not only because I haven't really read much involving faeries, but also because I follow Elizabeth May on Twitter and I love her feminist rants.

Which books made your list?