I've heard contrasting opinions about this book, but in the end l decided to get it.

I've read another book by Vo (Sirena Song), veereery strange. But l liked it for that very reason. So, let's see how it goes.

What do you think?
Have you read it?

#DraculaDay

Finished and absolutely loved it! 🤩

Classics are always a 'strange' experience. You never know what to expect. The story you think you know is never what you think, and there is always a level of modernity that hits me stronger than l expect

This is a book full of action, beautiful characters (l loved Mina!), emotions and feelings, darkness. The pace is great. The mystery totally gripped me.

Fantastic!

(pictures from the author's IG feed)

Just started this. I'm quite intrigued 😁

Really enjoyed it 😁

It's a very light-hearted read, yet there are some deeper reflections in the final part.
Sometimes l though the plot was a little unlikely, but then, it is a humorous take and it works like that.

I also enjoyed reading about the New Woman (one of my favourite historical topics) from a contemporary. Yes, the complexity of this figure dies come out.

I looked for other stories by this author, but he seems quite forgotten.

Happy Easter to all my fellow readers.
May this be a wonderful new beginning, full od stories, piles of books, tea and coffee and furry friends 😘

Time for this recommendation from a friend 😁

(couldn't find the right book in the database)

So... This is a strange one.
It's definitely a good book, very well written, with an interesting structure that lost me a bit in the middle (lots and lots of POVs) but came together in the end. The characters are exceptionally good. And there is a strong message at its heart.

It is gritty and rough, but the story demands it.

I can't say anything negative about it... Yet, it left me unsatisfied.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

Happy #HobbitDay 😁

#MedievalTolkien #FellowshipOfTolkien

I loved it! I loved the story and it was so frustrating to leave it as it was just beginning. All the characters were so intriguing.

I loved Christopher's commentary, though it was in places a bit too granular for my understanding.

I lived the chapters about the Silmarillion. It wasn't what l was expecting, because l noticed other, different relationships with Tolkien's work. I wanted more! ⬇️

(couldn't find the right title in the database)

I was so excited to start this cosy mystery. But I'm sure n chapter 5 and practically nothing has happened yet

I'm going to give it another chance today, and if it still doesn't deliver, it'll be a DNF.
Sorry.

#MedievalTolkien #FellowshipOfTolkien

I'm not so far behind.
It's unlikely that l will finish today, but I'm aiming to finish over the weekend 😁

@Daisey @wordslinger42 @BookwormAHN @BethM @TheAromaOfBooks @curiouserandcurioser @BarbaraJean @Susanita @AllDeBooks @Cheryl_Russell_BookNotes @AnishalnkSpell

It was a great read... Though l think it could have been even better.
It felt disjointed most of the time and up to halfway through l felt quite lost. What kept me reading was the easy style, the great historical setting, the most ntetesting pieces of history and the four main characters.

It's about the first women who could get a degree in Oxford, who entered university and n 1920. Plus, remembrance of the Great War and suffrage movements.

#MedievalTolkien #FellowshipOfTolkien

So, these are some of the images I've found when l googled 'Avalon Arthur'.
I had never realised before how much of the imagery of the Arthurian legends exists in Tolkien's world.

I enjoyed reading Christopher's comparison between Avalon and Numenor, which wasn't what l was expecting from bringing Arthurian legends and Middle-earth together.

#DeaculaDaily

I stopped listening to Dracula because of the very long section devoted to October 3, but l finally listened to it on a long bus journey.

May l say that Mina is a truly remarkable character?
I'm really, really enjoying her and l find her such a strong and at the same time gentle soul.
Never imagined her to be this good.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #MeduevalTolkien

I really, really enjoyed this chapter. My teenage me would have loved it, when she was trying to learn everything there was to learn about the Arthurian legends 😁

Considering Tolkien interest in the theme of the fall, I'm not surprised he was fascinated with these legends.
I particularly liked the one about Sir Gawain's revenge. I wonder why Tolkien decided to erase it 🤔

#FellowshipOfTolkien #MedievalTolkien

Well, this was seriously epic 🤩
Loved that contrast between Mordred's stormy night and Arthur's and Gewain's bright dawn.
Such a pity this poem never went further 🥺

I keep having Silmarillion vibes.
Can't read the chapter about it.

#FelloewshipOfTolkien #MedievalTolkien

Seriously, I'm quite intrigued by this Guenevere.
She seems very different from Tolkien's women, who generally carrie a strong creation energy.
This Guenevere seem to be rather on the other side of the spectrum. She seems to be quite the careless destroyer.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #MedievalTolkien

Only read two cantos last week. I admit I'm struggling with the poetic form, but I'm also enjoying the story.

And I'll admit I'm quite eager to read the essays, because l did hear strong echoes from Middle-earth 😂
I mean, come me on! Guinevere fleeing in the forest like that!

#FellowshipOfTolkien

So, this is my reading of the new Italian translation by Ottavio Fatica. I'm happy l read it because it's part of the history of The Lord of the Rings in Italy - but never again.

I lothed it.

There's a story saying that Fatica claimed not to get what readers find in this book. Some say this is a urban legend because that interview cannot be found anywhere.

I don't need that interview. ⬇️

#FellowshipOfTolkien

And this is the true end. The last chapter.
Or is it?
Because, like Sam, there are more pages for us to write.

I can read this ending thousands of times and it will never be with dry eyes.
But always, I'm grateful for Tolkien's gift. For his invitation to do as the Hobbits: not just witness the story, but bring it back with us, let her empower us and guide our action.

This is a powerful book.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

When l read LotR the first time, so many years ago, l didn't like this more ending. What did l care of the Shire? The true story was the epic one. Sauron had been destroyed. Nothing else was important.

Today l think this is one of the most important chapters in the book.
This is the reason why this story has been told.

Maybe, it's an invitation to bring this story back with us too, into our life. And use it powerfully.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

This chapter really has that feeling of homecoming.
After all the epic happenings, the story has to end here, where it started. In a place of common sense.
Tolkien masterfully brings us home. The atmosphere changes. The language changes. There's a different feeling to everything.
It's home... But not quite.

Our hobbits have changed, but the Share had not stayed still either.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

Sotell me something: how it is that you perseive the grand story has ended, and yet, the story is not over?
After two very different ending, you feel that there's more and that what's to come is important.

It's not Tolkien's trick to add some more pages. It's integral to the story and her heart.
And you want to know all abou it.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

I seriously love the love story between Faramir and Eowyn. It's a story of courage, strength and fortitude. And yet it is also about quiet, almost hidden actions. Decisions taken in the deep places of the heart.

These people who face the darkness not in front of the Black Gate, but on the bastions of their homeland are as much heros as the one who fought with the sword.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

And so yes. In the meantime, l quietly managed to finish.The Lord of the Rings 😜

They say LotR has many ends. If you consider the distraction of the Ring the first, tragic end, then this is the second. The happy ending that everyone wants.
It's the eucatastrephe, so of course Tolkien gave it to us.

A friend of mine always wants to stop reading here, but l think LotR is the masterpiece it is because it doesn't end here.

Just wondering. What do you think of the new #NetGalley file format?
I don't own a tablet, and I can't read from my pc, first, because it tires me, and second, because l mostly read on the tran these days 😂
So my dad nlynoption is my mobile phone 🙄
Not the most comfortable of solutions. But it looks like it's impossible to download the app on my Kobo reader.
How is everybody else feeling about it?

#MedievalTolkien #FellowshipOfTolkien

Late as always, but l have started this book 😜

But so, this is an original Tolkien?
Is it not a translation, like Gawain and the Green Knight?

@Daisey @wordslinger42 @BookwormAHN @BethM @TheAromaOfBooks @curiouserandcurioser @BarbaraJean @Susanita @AllDeBooks @Cheryl_Russell_BookNotes @AnishalnkSpell

So, may l say l was expecting more?
Surely, had l been into the series from the beginning, l would enjoyed the many episodes with the wider cast a lot more. But as it is, l found it distracting and unnecessary.
The mystery was barely interesting and l didn't like the conclusion at all.
I'm so disappointed. I had such high expectation for this book 😟
Anyone read and enjoyed the series. I'd love to hear about it 😊

#FellowshipOfTolkien #MedievalTolkien

Thanks so much to @Daisey for having created the schedule.
And sorry for being this late in posting it. I still hope some of you will be able to join..

Life has being quite hectic, but I'm working hard in getting back into reading regularly.
So here we go! 💪

What has everyone been up to? 😁

This is my first Verity Bright book... And probably it wasn't a good idea to come to the series on book 20 🙄

Anyone knows this series well?
I had very hight expectation about this, but I'm finding a lot of chitchat about the recurring cast e not a very strong mystery so far (I'm halfway through).

I'm kind of disappointed 🙁

#FellowdhipOfTolkien

@Daisey and l are planning to start a new #MedievalTolkien read, possibly at the beginning of February.

So, you know, l was an Arthurian legends fan before l became a Tolkien fan. Is this coming full circle? 😆

Pleas join us if you are a Tolkien fan, an Arthurian legends fan, a Medieval history fan... a reader 😁

#FellowshipOfTolkien

Happy Birthday, prof. Tolkien.

You words always inspire and confort me.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

Just finished and lived it as usual.
Always makes me sad that last melancholy letter. Tolkien wrote Christmas letters to his children for more than 20 years! It must have been sad, and kind of hard, stopping.

All the same, this is such a warming book. I'm always happy to read it in this season ☺️

#FellowshipOfTolkien

The way Tolkien describes Sam and Frodo's bond in this last leg of the journey, the most harrowing, makes me think he must have had a real-life example in mind. It's so realistic and involving that he can't have made it up.
I wonder if he saw this kind of comradery in the trenches of WWI. Soldiers developed a very peculiar, uncommon bond in those terrible circumstances. May Tolkien have had that in mind when he wrote this?

#FellowshipOfTolkien

The crossing of Golgoroth is terrible. Frodo and Sam are losing everything. Including hope, for Frodo. In the end, even Sam falters. And yet, somehow, Tolkien manages to keep hope alive.
The episode where Sam sees the star high above, between the clouds (could it be Eärendil?) is one of my very favourite passages in the book.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

This is one of my favourite chapters. Sam coming into his 'power'. I love it!
And my favourite moment in the chapter is when Sam sings and Frodo answers his song.
Something like this happens in the Silmarillion too, when Fingon is looking for Maedhros. Tolkien didn't know whether readers would ever read the Silmarillion, so I wonder whether he included this episode because he loved the concept so much. It is very touching.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas

Read three years today and caught up on Letters from Father Christmas.

Both the story and the drawings are so lovely.
Every time l read them l imagine how magical it must have been for Tolkien's children to keep this correspondence with Father Christmas 🥰

#FellowshipOfTolkien.#TolkienChristmas

Even in his children's stories Tolkien uses such poetic imagery.

Hi everyone!

Recently, I teamed up with a group of fantastic writers who all write stories set in the 1920s, like me. We created a Gift Guide with a collection of stories that will be the ruin of your TBR pile, as someone told me 😆
But we readers' mission is to ruin our TBR pile, right? 😂

Here the link to download it free.
Have fun and share as much as you want!
https://theoldshelter.com/historical-fiction-gift-guide/

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas

Late as usual, today l star this cutie 🥰

#FellowshipOfTolkien

I won't try to write a review of the Silmarillion. But l'd like to say something to those who are thinking about reading it and feel intimidated.

It is a beautiful, deeply thought-provoking and emotional book. It's a story to be absorbed. Don't try to keep track of anything when you read it the first time. Just follow the story, enjoy the journey. And maybe be willing to read it again.

On rereads that the magic happens 😁

#FellowshipOfTolkien

It Is amazing to read a single chapter on the Third Age and realise how small part of that story The Lord of the Rings covers.

What l hate about the texts of the Silmarillion Is that you can breath the air if Middle-earth and you feel there is so much more there that you will never know.

I sometime wonder how many other stories Tolkien had in his head and never came round to write down 🥺

#FellowshipOfTolkien

I fell in love with the Akallaneth the first time l read the Silmarillion and It Is still one of my favourite stories in this book.

It's an epic tale of rise and fall, of loyalty and betrayal, of greed and belief. But it is also a very human tale of vulnerability, and the way we humans handle that vulnerability.

It is beautiful and touching

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas

Thanks to @Daisey for the schedule of our traditional Christmas readalong 😁

I hope lots of you will join.
This is such a beautiful, heartwarming book, so perfect for this season.

Sorry guys, for not being present as l should, considering the readalong #FellowshipOfTolkien.
Thing is, I'm leaving my job and it is proving to be harder and more confusing than l anticipated.
But l hope that once this is all done and in the past, I'll be back (really back) here.

But you keep reading and sharing. I'll dive right back as soon as l can ☺️

#FellowshipOfTolkien

Loved the narrative way in which Garth I troduces this group of young men.
I already care abou them.

#FellowshipOfTolkien

Starting now 😁

#FellowshipOfTolkien #MecievalTolkien

All in all, l enjoyed Sir Gawain and these other poems.
I found Sir Gawain a little difficult to read, but l liked the story and l liked Sir Gawain as a character.
Pearl was my least favourite of the three, though l appreciated how it may have inspired places in Middle-earth.
And l really enjoyed Sir Orfeo, the lightest of the three in so many respects

Now, who has already started Tolkien and the Great War?

#FellowshipOgTolkien #MexievalTolmien

I really enjoyed Sir Orfeo. I also found it the easiest to read of these three poems. In fact, l appreciated it's simplicity.
I also enjoyed that echo of classic Greek mythology, not just in the story of Orfeo, but also that very gentle hint of Ulysses's homecoming.
Really liked it 😁

#FellowshipOfTolkien #MedievalTolkien

Can't say Pearl was my cup of tea. But in the last part, when the beautiful city is described, it reminded me of the seven gates of Gondolin, on the one hand, a d of the city of the Valar when Earendil arrived on the other.