Circe by Madeline Miller

August 5, 2019 by Christina

Fiction – print. Little, Brown and Company, 2018. 393 pgs. Purchased. In Homer’s The Odyssey, Circe is a witch living on a remote island who changes Odysseus’ men into pigs. In Miller’s retelling, we are introduced to the complicated backstory to this seemingly minor character, the daughter of the sun god Helois who is perceived as a threat to the fragile dominion of Olympus over Titan. Banished to the island by Zeus, Circe must confront the unintended consequences of her […]

Categories: 2019 Reads, 20BooksofSummer, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: Madeline Miller

Children of The Cave by Virve Sammalkorpi

March 20, 2019 by Christina

Fiction – print. Translated from the Finnish by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah. Peirene Press, 2019. Originally published 2016. 176 pgs. Purchased. In 1819, Iax Agolasky travels to northwest Russia as the research assistant to a well-known French anthropologist and explorer named Jean Moltique. The goal of Moltique’s exhibition is to locate lost or ancient tribes in the region, and their search leads them to a cave in the Russian wilderness where a small group of children live. Moltique believes […]

Categories: 2019 Reads, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, Finnish, Peirene Press, Russia, Translated • Tags: Emily Jeremiah, Fleur Jeremiah, Virve Sammalkorpi

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

November 11, 2018 by Christina

Fiction — audiobook. Read by Davina Porter. Recorded Books, 2007. Originally published 1993. 43 hours, 46 minutes. Purchased. The third installment in Gabaldon’s Outlander series picks up with the aftermath of the events of Culloden, where Jamie planned to stand in battle with the Mackenzie and Fraser lcans, and Claire stepping back through the stones to her life in post-World War II. In the twenty years since that moment, Claire has reunited with her first husband, Frank Randall, and traveled to […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Audiobook, Caribbean, Chunkster, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, United Kingdom • Tags: Davina Porter, Diana Gabaldon

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

July 31, 2018 by Christina

Fiction — print. Roc, 2016. Originally published 2015. 341 pgs. Library copy. Irene is a librarian; she retrieves books from alternate worlds that are unique versions or hold prominence in another culture. After successfully completing a mission, she returns to the Library — a mysterious, shadow organization that straddles worlds — planning to enjoy a cup of tea and a good book. Her plans at shot immediately, though, when her supervisor informs Irene that she must leave immediately to retrieve […]

Categories: 2018 Reads, Book Club, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, United Kingdom • Tags: Genevieve Cogman

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

December 15, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – audiobook. Read by Jim Dale. Listening Library, 2007. 21 hours, 45 minutes. Library copy. Rather than return to Hogwarts for his seventh and final year at the wizarding academy, Harry Potter decides to finish Albus Dumbledore’s quest to find and destroy Voldemort’s horcruxs in order to vanquish the Dark Lord once and for all. The task was entrusted to Harry and Harry alone, although Dumbledore gave him permission to Ron and Hermione, and Harry refuses to include the members of […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Chunkster, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, Juvenile, United Kingdom • Tags: J.K. Rowling, Jim Dale

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

November 21, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – audiobook. Read by Kenneth Branagh. Listening Library, 2013. Originally published 1955. 3 hours, 57 minutes. Library copy. Two young children named Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer decide to explore the connected attics their family’s homes in London during the summer of 1900. During their exploration, the two children stumble across Digory’s Uncle Andrew, and Polly is convinced by Uncle Andrew to touch a yellow ring, which causes her to immediately vanish. Horrified, Digory learns that his uncle has been playing with magic and […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Juvenile • Tags: C.S. Lewis, Kenneth Branagh

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince By J.K. Rowling (Reread)

November 20, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – audiobook. Read by Jim Dale. Listening Library, 2005. 18 hours, 31 minutes. Library copy. Returning to Hogwarts for his sixth year, Harry Potter is horrified to learn that Severus Snape, potions master and a Death Eater that Harry’s beloved headmaster claims to trust with his life, has now taken over the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. Harry is convinced Snape’s true allegiances lie with Voldemort rather than with the Order of the Phoenix and, as such, is  playing Dumbledore […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Chunkster, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, Juvenile, Reread, United Kingdom • Tags: J.K. Rowling, Jim Dale

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

November 18, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – audiobook. Read by Davina Porter. Recorded Books, 1998. Originally published 1992. 39 hours, 28 minutes. Library copy. This sequel to Outlander begins in 1968 with Claire Randall returning to Scotland from her home in Boston with her twenty-something daughter, Brianna, in tow. Now that her husband, Frank, has passed, Claire is determined to explain her past – how she traveled through the stones of Craigh Na Dun to the 1700s, married a Highlander named Jamie Fraser, and eventually […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Chunkster, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, United Kingdom • Tags: Davina Porter, Diana Gabaldon

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

April 30, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – audiobook. Read by Jim Dale. Listening Library, 2003. 26 hours, 32 minutes. Library copy. Now that Lord Voldemort has returned, Harry is desperate for any kind of news – Muggle or wizarding — during yet another miserable summer with the Dursleys. His so-called friends keep sending him owls with evasive answers, hints to something really important going on, and promises to tell him everything when they all return to Hogwarts in September. Harry tries to listen to the […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Chunkster, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, Juvenile, United Kingdom • Tags: J.K. Rowling, Jim Dale

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

April 6, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – audiobook. Read by Jim Dale. Random House Audio, 2001. 20 hours, 30 minutes. Library copy. Beginning like the previous three novels towards the end of summer vacation, this novel finds Harry Potter in slightly better conditions than the previous three summers because the Dursleys are terrified he will report them to his godfather, an escaped mass murderer named Sirius Black. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia aren’t exactly hospitable to Harry forcing the skinny boy into abiding by his […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Chunkster, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, Juvenile, Reread, United Kingdom • Tags: J.K. Rowling, Jim Dale

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

April 3, 2015 by Christina

Fiction – audiobook. Read by Davina Porter. Recorded Books, 2006. Originally published 1991. 32 hours, 30 minutes. Library copy. In 1945 following the end of World War II, former nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall and her husband, Frank Randall, travel to Inverness, Scotland for a second honeymoon before Frank begins his tenure as a professor of history. Frank spends most of his time with a local vicar by the name of Wakefield tracing his lineage back to the nefarious Captain Jonathan […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Chunkster, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, United Kingdom • Tags: Davina Porter, Diana Gabaldon

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

February 28, 2015 by Christina

Fiction — audiobook. Read by Jim Dale. Random House Audio, 2000. 11 hours, 48 minutes. Library copy. Third-year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are allowed to visit Hogsmeade, a town that looks like it came right out of a Christmas card, provided they have permission slips signed by their parents or guardian, of course. Uncle Vernon refuses to sign Harry’s permission slip after a disastrous incident where Harry Potter inflates Aunt Marge, but Harry figures the permission […]

Categories: 2015 Reads, Audiobook, Europe, Fantasy, Fiction, Juvenile, Reread, United Kingdom • Tags: J.K. Rowling, Jim Dale