ParchmentDragon

 I feel like I only post five-star reviews at the moment, and I apologize if that bores anyone, but I'm afraid here comes another one😅. I already adored the first book in the Demon Cycle, The Painted Man,  and had high hopes for this sequel. And I was definitely not disappointed! The Desert Spear  was another five-star read for me, I loved every single page I read and I'm now really sad that it's over. If the series continues like this, it might turn into one of my favourite fantasy series, on one level with Robin Hobb's books, and that is saying something, because I love those to bits! As this is a second book, I advice you to read the first book before you read this review. I'm going to try and avoid most spoilers for the second book, but I can't talk about it without mentioning things that happened in the prequel. So, as I took quite a lot of notes while reading, let's quit rambling and get into the actual review! There are four central points

This beautiful book was a bit of an ambivalent read for me, and I ended up rating it three out of five stars. Nineveh and Babylon  is an account of Layard's expedition to said archeological sites in the late 1840s. The book follows his second visit to the ruins of ancient Babylon and Nineveh, and Layard not only describes the process and the results of his second excavations, but also what he experiences while traveling from Turkey to the site of Babylon. Thus, the book is about far more than archeology, it also encompasses geology, politics, history and sometimes even philosophy.  I know you are supposed to begin by saying what you like about a book, but I would like to get the negative out of the way first. As you can see in the pictures, the book is very long. It is pretty much exactly 600 pages and full of information on all the topics mentioned above. At first, I didn't mind that at all, but after the first half, it became a bit too much for me. The latter half

                                                                         Yes I know, this tag is quite old already and the Gilmore Girl Revival came out a while ago. But I recently rewatched most of the show on Netflix and was looking for a fun tag to post, so this one seemed perfect. Gilmore Girl is one of the view shows that I really enjoy. The later seasons and the revival did go a bit downhill, in my opinion, but I still really like it. It's so comfortable and relaxing to watch, for some reason! Rory' and Richard's love of books really speak to me 😬  My absolute favourite scene of the whole show is Richard taking notes of Rory's bookshelves, in order to get her the books she is missing. I wouldn't complain about that! I would have liked to link the creator of the tag, but that video seems to have been removed. So, without anymore rambling, let's get into the questions! :) 1. A character with a witty or sarcastic sense of humor  Scrolling thro

The Painted Man is the first book in the Demon Cycle series by Peter V. Brett, and as I'm currently reading the second book, I thought I might as well review the whole series and hopefully get one or two people more to read it. This was honestly amongst the best high fantasy novels I've read this year! Although it has been several months since I read this first book, it's still quite fresh in my mind and I still have to think back on it often. The story was incredibly gripping and engrossing, I never wanted to stop reading. It only took me a couple of days to get through this book and I enjoyed every single page of it. So now let me tell you whait is about and why I enjoyed it so much! In this first installment we follow our protagonists, Arlen, Leesha and Rojer, who live in a world that is invaded by demons every single night. They rise from the Core as soon as the sun is gone and only go back to the centre of the earth at first light. Due to this in

The Essex Serpent  has been out quite a while now, and has received a lot of buzz since publication. It has been listed for, and won, several prizes and was Waterstones Book of the Year 2016. It was also very hyped on booktube, so I was at first not very interested in picking it up, as too much hype makes for very high expectations that are often disappointed. But when I heard, after the hype had died down a little, that this book was about confronting new ideas and discoveries and how to cope with fast changing times, my interest was peaked after all. I love books that not only offer an interesting plot, but also deal with specific topics and attempt to send a message and make the reader think. And this book definitely had me thinking a lot. I am genuinely sad that I didn't pick it up sooner, because it was simply fantastic. So far, I might even say that it is my favourite book of the year (excluding certain re-reads 😁). Well, let's begin at the beginning and tel

Beware: this might turn into a longer review.. Now that you've been warned, let me begin: I don't quite know why I chose to pick up this book. I guess the rainy weather here in Germany made me feel like picking up an autumnal read, but since I rather disliked this novel the first time I read it, I can't say why I immediately turned to this. It was probably time to give this a second chance and see if there might not be more to it than what I noticed on my first read. And let me tell you: there is. It has been several years since I first read it, and I remember feeling utterly bored by it and being very put off by it being written completely in diary entries, letters and telegrams. My reading tastes seem to have changed a lot since then, because these were exactly the factors I now liked. This format allows you to really experience the narrated events, you not only get the plot but also the emotions and thoughts of the characters. I especially enjoyed reading Dr. Sew