Last year I took a course on European history from the 16th-20th century and the professor who taught it, Neven Leddy, spent most of his researching time on the Enlightenment. So I thought hey, let's read a novel by someone during that era. Immediately I thought of Voltaire, I mean he was exiled so he should have something interesting to say, right? I won't lie, the cover of Voltaire's' Candide probably would have made me buy it anyway cause the book is essentially summed up in a comic on it, how cool is that? A comical tale of a young man's journey into manhood with nothing but the hope that this is the best of all possible worlds.
A customer recently went through my cash at Chapters and purchased this book, just then a light bulb went off in my head: Ding! I loved watching her reality TV show Kell on Earth maybe I should pick up her book? Later that day during my break I read the first chapter: Are You There, Babe? It's Me, Your Soul. and was instantly hooked. Even if you're not entering into a career in the fashion industry or PR Kelly Cutrone gives great advice on how to enter into the world as a strong woman and be successful.
The long awaited sixth novel in the Cal Leandros series is a thrill. One part bromance + one part comic relief + two parts kicking ass = a hilarious romp in NYC. Our favourite baddy battling trio of Cal, Niko, and Goodfellow are at it again but this time it's a little more challenging. As in Cal wakes up with amnesia, he can remember that he's a killer and that monsters exist but doesn't know who he is or that he has a brother. Enter an ancient Egyptian "goddess" named Ammut who sucks the life force out of living beings and we've got trouble.
A new twist on old, favourite nursery rhymes is the next stop on my Neil Gaiman marathon. Ever wonder what really happened to Humpty Dumpty, like how he really fell off that wall and why the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put him back together again? How about who the troll under the bridge is? Were you ever afraid of the jack-in-the-box found amongst your toys, maybe you should be? The way that Neil Gaiman is able to evoke a chuckle or a shiver is evident again in his writing of these short stories. With eleven short tales full of fun in this collection with one for everyone I give it a giant thumbs up.
The last book in the Howl Series, House of Many Ways was written almost two decades after Castle in the Air and more than two decades after Howl's Moving Castle so that there could be another adventure for Sophie and Howl in future, if we're lucky. Without a doubt I find this to be my favourite out of the three, solidifying Diana Wynne Jones as one of my favourite authors. If you yourself are a bookworm then you will find this book catered to you, I know I did. Along with Sophie and Howl there are many new characters, including Charmain our naive, bookworm protagonist, who add to the growing list of loveable characters in the series.