Rebecca Crunden's Blog, page 20

Author Interview: Michelle Franklin

Introduce yourself!
I’m Michelle Franklin, or as I’m locally known “Fifth best living author Michelle Franklin”.
What’s the first book you remember reading?
Either Wind in the Willows or Arty the Smarty. I have entered the gates of MiddleAgeTM, so the details are hazy at this point.
Paperback, hardback, audiobook or ebook?
These days audiobook, as I have so little time to read and spend much of the early morning on my feet.
Pick a genre, any genre!
Fantasy, always.
What book shaped ...

#IndiePride2

Following on from last year’s first IndiePride (mostly on Twitter, but also here and on Goodreads), where we had lots of author interviews, promo posts, recs and a Goodreads list going around, this year we’re having daily prompts!

All the info is here on my Twitter page. Also on Instagram, Spoutible, Tumblr and BlueSky.

Do join us for the Pride Month fun! And please do tag me on Twitter if you’d like your post boosted.

The Goodreads list for #IndiePride2 is here.

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Book Review: The Guard of Woestynn (2023)

The Guard of Woestynn by E.M. McConnell

I had no idea what to expect diving into this one! I was kindly sent a few of the author’s books and just dove straight in. I think that works really well for this one.

It’s a very short little novella and follows Ford, a prison guard newly arrived on a dust ridden planet where the prisoners of the gravest crimes in the galaxy are dropped off and have to earn the right to be let inside the prison. The way to earn that right is by collecting ore a...

Book Review: Thinly Veiled (2023)

Thinly Veiled by Eliza Modiste

Escape. It was always a word that daunted me, but I supposed that was because it’s more of a relative term than anything.

I’ve been reading so much fantasy lately that it was nice to switch it up a bit with a modern day romance! I flew through it, too. A lovely read for a sunny day!

Thinly Veiled follows Claire and Zoey when they leave their hometown for a fresh start in Salem, Virginia. The lucky ladies manage to find jobs almost immediately and quick...

Book Review: Orphan Planet (2023)

Orphan Planet by Rex Burke

Dervla: most likely to discover aliens, if there are any out there.
Karlan: most likely to eat an alien.
Manisha: most likely to be eaten by an alien.
Poole: most likely to arm-wrestle an alien, no question.
Bryson: most likely to spot an alien and start running.
Dana: most likely to be an actual alien.

Oh my gosh this book is just very fun. It reminds me of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy meets Red Dwarf meets Avenue 5. We follow our listless, hapless and ve...

Book Review: Haiku (2023)

Haiku by E.M. McConnell

The world quiets slow
As the call to write beckons
Another world looms

I think this is my favourite of McConnell’s poetry collections so far! I really enjoy haikus and this collection had so many wonderful ones. It must also be noted that this book is just pretty. The little pictures placed on every section divider were so lovely and really helped situate each series of themes focused on by the haikus. I’m very big on poetry with aesthetics and I simply adored thi...

Nonfiction Book Review: The Bridge at No Gun Ri (2001)

The Bridge at No Gun Ri by Charles J. Hanley, Sang-Hun Choe, Martha Mendoza

An Associated Press reporter, flying overhead, reported that Yongdong “no longer exists as a city. It looks like Nagasaki after the atom bomb…. Yongdong has probably been here for 4,000 years—and never known such silence.” The fires raged into the night. (p. 136)

A harrowing, horrifying, heartbreaking event from the first summer of the Korean War. The brutality inflicted against innocents is simply shattering a...

Nonfiction Book Review: Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America (2002)

Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America by Ji-Yeon Yuh

This book reminded me of The Feminine Mystique, although it took me a while to realise why. Both focus on women during and after the 1950s and the changes that impact them in their daily lives. But where The Feminine Mystique focuses on women unhappy with their lives in the domestic setting, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown traces the lives and experiences of Korean women who married US military men and then bega...

Book Review: Sul: From Gold to Iron and Rust (2023)

Sul: From Gold to Iron and Rust by Jacqui Davis and Katy Grierson

They had to go, these strangers, before they dug their claws into Cydric’s land.

I got a hardback copy of this and it’s absolutely STUNNING. The design is lovely and the colours are rich and vibrant. There’s a lovely map on the inside and several coloured illustrations throughout. I really loved all the artwork. You get to see the various characters and the scenery and the creatures. I loved the drawings of Aysel especia...

Book Review: Gryphons Don’t Celebrate Shavuot (2023)

Gryphons Don’t Celebrate Shavuot (Loveable Monster Holiday Book #3) by Michelle Franklin

Just like Shavuot, Gryphons understand about having many different names. Shavuot is called ‘the festival of weeks’, ‘the festival of reaping’, and ‘the day of the first fruits’. Shavuot is also called Shavuos, which is just the word Shavuot but if you kicked the syllabic emphasis and the T about a bit*. Gryphons don’t mind which pronunciation you use, because they’re used to being called griffons, gr...