feather_ghyll

The Enigma Game: Elizabeth Wein Bloomsbury, 2020

In the author’s note at the end, Wein herself describes her books as World War Two thrillers, I suppose I’d just add the descriptor ‘young adult.’ This is the fourth book in the Code Name Verity Cycle, following ‘The Pearl Thief’ chronologically, and about events that precede ‘Code Name Verity’ and ‘Rose Under Fire’. I don’t believe you have to have read all the others to appreciate this, but knowing about various characters and relationships mentioned in passing and what’s coming for some of the characters added depth to me. Also, if you have read all those (excellent) books, you will know that the ‘game’ in the title is a misnomer, really. ( Read more... )

Speaking From Among the Bones: Alan Bradley. Orion, 2014

It’s been a while (I checked, and it’s been over seven years), but I have returned to the Flavia de Luce murder mystery series. My motivation was that I'd bought other books from later on in the series second hand, so I thought I’d better get and read this. This, the fifth book is set during Easter (fun to read just after Christmas.) Our heroine is ( Read more... )

The Sword Bearer (Book 3 of the Archives of Anthropos): John White, Minstrel, 1989

As hinted in the last few books in this series, ( Read more... )

A Small Light - 1.7 What Can Be Saved

The events of this episode ( Read more... )

Manners & Mutiny, Finishing School Book the Fourth: Gail Carriger. Atom, 2015

And so the finishing school series ends, ( Read more... )

I've changed the style of the journal. Who knows if it will stick, although I can be very lazy!?

A Small Light - 1.4 The Butterfly

( Read more... )

A Small Light - 1.1 Pilot

Telling a familiar story from a different perspective, and apparently based on a book, this TV drama, now on UKTV Play, focuses on Miep Gies, Otto Frank’s secretary and her role in helping hide him and his family, including, of course, Anne Frank. ( Read more... )

The Quiet Girl
Original title: An Cailín Ciúin (2022) Rated: 12A
Written by: Claire Keegan, Colm Bairéad
Directed by: Colm Bairéad
Starring: Catherine Clinch, Andrew Bennett, Carrie Crowley

This is a rich, character-driven film that was quite recently up for a Best Foreign Language Oscar, as it’s mainly in Irish Gaelic, ( Read more... )

The Swallows’ Flight: Hilary McKay. Macmillan, 2021

This book mainly follows four humans and a dog. We are introduced to ( Read more... )

The Star of Kazan: Eva Ibbotson, Macmillan, 2004.

I didn’t remember much about this book (only the fate of Rocco the horse, really) so rereading this almost felt like reading a new book, except it had that sense of things proceeding as they ought as so much of Ibbotson’s writing does, and some of that came from some dim memories of first reading it. (This was the my post about it at the time, which also discusses ‘Blue of the Sea’ by L.T. Meade.)

This is the story of ( Read more... )