#susan stokes chapman

[someonelookingpraediti]

Yearly Roundup Best Books of 2022

5. Pandora

This is the perfect mix of Greek retelling and modern storytelling. It's based on the Pandora myth, but she's not the original Pandora, she just happens to share the name... and have a cursed jar. The story was beautifully told, and delicately magical.

4. Skyward

This is my favourite Brandon Sanderson series so far! I much prefer his sci-fi to his fantasy. I can't wait until the series is finished, I'm dying to know how it turns out. This is one of the most well thought out sci-fi series I've ever read, and every character is so complex.

3. Cemetery Boys

This might be one of the most satisfying books I've ever read. It was sweet and emotional and fun. I was so gripped, and wanted so much for Yadriel to get his happy ever after. I recommend this book to everyone, and I can't wait to read more by the author.

2. Folk of the Air

I'm also sort of including the Modern Faerie Tales in here too, which are set in the same world, but if I had to choose, it would be Folk of the Air. I wasn't really expecting much from The Cruel Prince when I picked it up, but I'm so glad I did. Every character Holly Black writes is absolutely magnetic. Her faeries are simultaneously horrific and captivating.

1. All for the Game

This series is... mind blowing. I still can't believe how much this has taken over my life. I had no idea what I was getting into, and I could not have prepared myself for this. Don't get me wrong, it was horrifying and terrible and violent, but it was also hopeful. I'm in love with every character, and I'm even more in love with Exy. I can't wait to reread this several times in 2023!

And a shout-out to some of the other five star books that didn't quite make this list: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Regency Faerie Tales, Firstborn, and The House in the Cerulean Sea

And finally, because I'm a petty bitch, these are the worst books I've read this year: The Atlas Six, Gild, Lore, These Violent Delights, and Violet Made of Thorns.

[alegriavida]

Pandora || Susan Stokes-Chapman

Herein lies the fate of the worlds

[diesestsolispraesentia]

[the-weed-and-read]

The first haul of 2023, getting caught up on some titles

[freckles-and-books]

Currently reading.

Ignore the drips of coffee on the book. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I didn’t notice until after I took the photo.

[theliteraryadventuresofmsdeer]

"'Death surely has power over everyone,' Hezekiah whispers, desperate."

-Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

[inabooknook]

Pandora by Susan Stokes Chapman

This was such a surprising book. I didn't expect it to be so richly written and descriptive, and I was absolutely blown away by how wonderfully written it was. The story follows Dora, a young woman at the turn of the 19th century in London, whose parents owned a store that specialized in selling antiques or museum style objects. However, her parents died in an accident involving an archaeological dig to unearth some objects, and now Dora lives with her uncle who runs the store. The book seemed highly researched and interesting, and the history seemed very on point. In conjunction, the book was also highly enjoyable because the characters were realistic and relatable and the story was interesting. I highly recommend this book to anyone who already enjoys historical fiction, but wants something different.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[mercerislandbooks]

Book Notes: The Shadow Key

While it is always great fun talking with customers about our recent reads, it's even more fun to chat with my co-workers about the books we've finished lately. Whenever I work with Nancy Shawn, I always love checking in on what she’s reading. She has the special talent of making everything sound appealing. I rarely read one of her picks myself, but I mentally tuck away her reviews for just the right customer. Every now and then she reads one she thinks will specifically appeal to me and I definitely take notice. Such was the case with The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman. I picked up this historical fiction set in Wales with gothic vibes the other night and was half-way through before I knew it.

Dr. Henry Talbot is in need of a job after a mysterious disgrace in London, so when he is offered the position of private physician to Lord Julian on a remote estate in Wales, he’s not in a place to refuse. But an isolated community in late 18th-century Wales, dependent on mining and the "support" of the English gentry, is a hostile place for a young doctor from London, and Henry finds his patron enigmatic and the villagers resentful. And then there's Lord Julian’s eccentric niece, Linette, who runs the estate in Lord Julian’s frequent absences, and deals with her mother’s unbalanced mental state. When Henry discovers that his predecessor died in mysterious circumstances, all his instincts drive him to investigate, and what he uncovers will change the course of his life.

Susan Stokes-Chapman creates a wonderfully atmospheric novel, balancing the pastoral with the undercurrent of unease. In one scene Henry enjoys a deliciously described meal with Lord Julian after an exhausting journey from London and is then being shown esoteric "philosophical" texts with which Lord Julian is clearly enamored. I do love good food writing — creepy old occult books, less so. Henry and Linette develop a compelling camaraderie, and their partnership is grounding to both the plot and the mood of the story, even as more sinister motivations come to light. Despite the growing sensation that all is decidedly not well, I did trust in the goodness of the central characters, and I believed they would make it through. The Shadow Key is for the reader who likes a gently gothic twist to their spooky season reading!

— Lori

[evilpenguinrika]

I KNEW IT

I KNEW IT

CORNELIUS *DOES* HAVE A SECRET GAY CRUSH ON EDWARD

oh but i feel like he will not "get the guy"/his happy ending. I definitely feel like Dora and Edward will end up together, which I guess makes sense because they're the FMC and MMC

[dontdenymeshakespeare]

The Amazing Readathon Week Two

The Amazing Readathon is a readathon hosted by Brianna from Four Paws and a Book and co-hosted by many others in the BookTube and Bookstagram community. This one is based on the reality TV show The Amazing Race and it’s about spending the month of June travelling the world. There are prompts and ways you can get bonus points (LGBTQ+ author, team genre, etc.), but there are also a whole host of…

[someonelookingpraediti]

Currently Reading...

The Winter Spirits - various authors

Two years ago The Haunting Season was the first Waterstones special edition I bought, and the first book I owned with stencilled edges! I was just starting to discover books as collector's items, rather than just for reading, and in the two years since, my collection has grown to an unreasonable size.

So when this follow-up book was announced, of course I was going to order the matching special edition! This one has a lot of the same authors as the first, but it also has some new authors too, including Susan Stokes-Chapman. Honestly, I'd have bought the book just to read her story!

I did try my best, while reading these short stories, not to look at the author until I'd read each story, so my expectations weren't influenced by anything I'd read by the author before.

Host - Kiran Millwood Hargrave In the last book, I called this author's contribution "pleasant but unimaginative". This year's was a laborious read. It cut off too early, with no real resolution.

Inferno - Laura Shepherd-Robinson This author wasn't included in the last book, and I haven't read any of her other work. This was a good story, but incredibly predictable. It was a little heavy-handed, and probably would have done better if the plot had been more drawn out in a longer story.

The Old Play - Andrew Michael Hurley I liked this one - the plot was very obvious, but it was suitably suspenseful, and it ended in the right place. The was a nice surprise, as in the previous book, this author's story was one of my least favourite.

A Double Thread - Imogen Hermes Gower This one was an interesting read, because the characterisation was great, but again, the ending was very predictable, and felt rushed. This was what I was expecting, based on the author's story in the last book.

The Salt Miracles - Natasha Pulley This was one of my favourites - a great, creepy, religious story, which I was anxious to finish. And it ended brilliantly! In the last book, this author's story was also one of my favourites!

Banished - Elizabeth Macneal This was an okay read, it was quite nicely written. But there were no revelations or surprises, it was very obvious. Strangely, last year's story was really gripping!

The Gargoyle - Bridget Collins This one was weirdly nice?! It has an ending which could have suggested something sinister in the future, but is more likely just a nice, happy ending to a misunderstood monster. That's the ending I'm choosing to believe. I liked this one, which is interesting, because I didn't like the last book's story at all!

The Master of the House - Stuart Turton This is another new author. I wasn't expecting this one to make me cry! In fairness, I was already emotional. This one did start to trail off in the middle, but picked back up, and had a strong ending.

Ada Lark - Jess Kidd This was a lovely story! A nice friendly ghost, and a welcome break from the mostly sinister stories. I loved the way this one was written, and the author's contribution to the last book was also one of my favourites.

Jenkin - Catriona Ward Another new author. This was one of my least favourite stories. It was a really childish, fairytale-type concept. The ending was uninspired.

Widow's Walk - Susan Stokes-Chapman Another new author for this year, but an author I've read (and absolutely loved) before. This story was definitely one of my favourites. There were no hidden twists, but it was beautifully written and definitely creepy!

Carol of the Bells and Chains - Laura Purcell This one seemed fairly good while I was reading it, but actually was much less interesting on reflection. I would have expected more, as I loved the author's previous contribution, and have read one of her novels, which was brilliant.

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Pandora

By Susan Stokes-Chapman.

Design by Micaela Alcaino.

[shallicomparetheetolagrenouille]

2023 in books n. 17

The last book read in June!

And a great disappontment it was!

Though, to be fair, I had a suspicion it would be a superficial read by the synopsis, but I had hopes that it would be a pleasant silly read, that I would be able to enjoy but in which I could not expect to find great research or a groundbreaking character or plot machination or anything of the like. I had complete expectations to find a fun adventure in Georgian London loosely related to archeology and magpies. Something I’d want to reread in the future as a comfort book - but no, this was downright irritating.

The characters are as deep as puddles, at the end of the book I did not care about any of them, because I had not gotten to know any of them

Funnily enpugh, the only ones I had a grain of sympanthy for were the former prostitute and the brothers who retireve the vase - all helpers of the antagonist for most of the book, and characters who are not at all explored, but at least the feelings and opinions they showed, their actions, said something and I could base myself on them to have a picture of them as fully-fledged beings in my head

This did not happen with the main characters, who are just a collection of traumatising moments, clichés and not much else

A “fascinating love story” is mentioned in the description of the book: ignore that part, it’s useless, I felt nothing for or between them the whole time

This could have been set in any century and in any place, because the city and the time period are totally absent from the novel, you do not get a feel for what the characters are wearing, you don’t know what the political situation is, everyone lives in a bubble in which they know 3-4 people max and nothing else happens around them, some things are mentioned that do not at all make sense (buying a second hand dress? a magpie eating breadcrumbs? a shop owner mistreating his employees so badly that they die and get dumped in the Thames?? people carbon-dating Greek vases?? what??)

And all this is nothing compared to the construction of the plot:

The main event is the antagonist retrieving a precious ancient Greek vase from a sunken ship - the whole idea is that Pandora was an actual person and that the story of her vase was linked to actual non-magical events surrounding her - and there are things to note about the vase:

It is completely undamaged by time, excavation or sinking

It depicts Pandora’s tale (why would Pandora’s vase, given to Pandora by Zeus, spoil the whole myth on itself??)

It is carbon-dated at a certain point *sighs* by “The Society” and is found to be “older than time itself” which is the least scientifically sound description I’ve ever heard and also: the technique was not! invented! yet!

Is it actually magical? Its retrieval starts a whole series of misfortunes: the brothers who physically retrieve the vase start getting sick in various ways and the antagonist gets an injury that turns gangrenous

A mysterious old man appears at a certain point to let the male interest know where to find Dora (guess what it is short for) because in her shop he can find an item of interest to study and it is suggested towards the end that he might be Zeus (so Pandora was a real woman and the events about her tale were explicable in real-word terms but also.. ancient gods walking about?)

There are voices of sad women and mysterious flutterings of candles whenever it is moved or opened

The magpie does not like it

And the book tries to make you think that there might actually be something mythical happening in this story, except it is just so ill-constructed that the only effect is annoiance: because if it is a mythical vase containing all the evils of the world plus hope, what is the purpose of finding it now? The only consequences it has is gangrene for a sad, envious, lecherous uncle and a random girl marrying a random guy and finding the good artifacts excavated by her dead parents as an unexpected inheritance

A great vase from myth reappears! To be let as party decoration and be gawked at in an antiquity shop

The most irritating thing about it all, though, is in the acknowledgments, in which the author candidly says that she knows nothing about the historical period she chose or archeology or jewel-making or even magpies, clearly, she just had an idea about a girl wanting to become a jewel designer and fit all the other elements around it after a suggestion from her editor - and also tweaked historical events around her plot to make it more plausible (which backfired horribly because those things stuck out like a sore thumb).

This is just a mediocre read and the only thing I’ll regret when I inevitably donate it will be the pretty cover.

[sillypenguinwitch]

isaac's books in heartstopper s2

episode 1:

Tillie Walden: I Love This Part

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: Ace of Spades

episode 2:

Nina LaCour: We Are Okay

Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest

episode 3:

Ocean Vuong: Night Sky with Exit Wounds (the one he is carrying under his arm, I'm assuming that's his and not for the display?)

has read: Ritch C. Savin-Williams: Bi: Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid, and Nonbinary Youth

Emily Henry: Book Lovers

episode 4:

Victor Hugo: Les Misérables

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry: The Little Prince

Kate Chopin: The Awakening

Nina LaCour: We Are Okay (again)

episode 5:

Albert Camus: The Outsider

episode 6:

Martin Handford: Where's Wally? The Great Picture Hunt

Meredith Russo: Birthday

Jules Verne: Around the World in Eighty Days

Sara Pennypacker: Pax Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, Sophie Mas: How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are ? ? ? Damian Dibben: The Color Storm Alice Oseman: Loveless Susan Stokes-Chapman: Pandora Katy Hessel: The Story of Art Without Men ? Evelyn Waugh: Rossetti Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles A.O. Scott: Better Living Through Criticism ?: Then We Came to an End (?) Ruth Millington: Muse Dr. Jaqui Lewis: Fierce Love Charlotte Van Den Broek: Bold Ventures - Thirteen Tales of Architectural Tragedy ?

Richard Siken: Crush

episode 7:

Garrard Conley: Boy Erased

George Matthew Johnson: All Boys Aren't Blue

Samra Habib: We Have Always Been Here

episode 8:

Akemi Dawn Bowman: Summer Bird Blue

Angela Chen: Ace

bonus:

Truham school library pride display (seen in ep. 3 and 8):

top to bottom, left to right: Angela Chen: Ace Andrew Holleran: The Kingdom of Sand Mary Jean Chan and Andrew McMillan: 100 Queer Poems Scott Stuart: My Shadow Is Pink Lotte Jeffs: My Magic Family Tucker Shaw: When You Call My Name Ritch C. Savin-Williams: Bi - Pansexual, Fluid, Nonbinary and Fluid Youth Alok Vaid-Menon: Beyond the Gender Binary George M. Johnson: All Boys Aren’t Blue Mason Deaver: I Wish You All the Best Alex Gino: George Melissa

on top of shelves (left to right): Kevin Van Whye: Nate Plus One Xixi Tian: This Place is Still Beautiful Becky Albertalli: Leah on the Offbeat Mya-Rose Craig: Birdgirl Bernardine Evaristo: Girl, Woman, Other Connie Glynn: Princess Ever After Saundra Mitchell: The Prom

Charlie's choice at Shakespeare and Co (ep. 6): Allan Hollinghurst: The Swimming Pool Library

That's it for now.

Sorry about the ones i couldn't identify and sorry if i missed any! Might try and do some of the ones in Isaac's room later but that'll take a minute

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2023 📖 no. 150

The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights by Bridget Collins, Susan Stokes-Chapman, Imogen Hermes Gowar, etc.

“There was still old knowledge unforgotten. There remained things in the world that you should never invite in. Horned things that walked in the deepest dark of the year.”

[shy-fairy-levele3]

2023 Book List

Unbelievably I read a staggering 70 books in 2023! The most ever! My only disappointment is NOT finishing Dracula Daily, I came so close...

Wolf Brother Michelle Paver

Skin-Walker Michelle Paver

Be the Serpent Seanan McGuire  

She Who Became the Sun 

Soul-Eater Michelle Paver

Nona the Ninth Tamsyn Muir 

The Girl in Red Christina Henry

As yet Unsent Tamsyn Muir   

Outcast Michelle Paver  

Leonard Cohen: On a wire Philippe Girard

Oath Breaker Michelle Paver 

Ghost Hunter Michelle Paver   

 Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life Alan Cumming

M is for Magic Neil Gaiman

Silverwing Kenneth Opal 

Last Violent Call Chloe Gong

Malice: Malice Duology #1 Heather Walter  

Pandora Susan Stokes-Chapman

A Lady for a Duke Alexis Hall                                    

Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries Heather Fawcett  

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass Drew Hayden Taylor

Conventionally Yours Annabeth Albert  

The Unbalancing R.B Lemberg  

Stone Blind Natalie Haynes

The Winter Soldier: Cold Front Mackenzi Lee 

Ruby Nina Allan

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter Theodora Goss

Husband Material Alexis Hall

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason India Holton  

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix Kalynn Bayron

The Monsters we Defy Leslye Penelope

Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix Aminah Mae Safi

Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman Alan Rickman

Morgan Is My Name Sophie Keetch

Threads That Bind Kika Hatzopoulou

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman Theodora Goss

Feeling Sorry for Celia Jaclyn Moriarty

Daughter of the Pirate King Tricia Levenseller

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix C.B. Lee

Harley Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour Tee Franklin

Magic for Liars Sarah Gailey

The Story of Owen Emily Kate Johnston

The Brilliant Death A.R. Capetta

Circle of Magic: Sandy’s Book Tamora Pierce

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror Daniel M. Lavery  

Death's Detective- Malykant Mysteries #1-4 Charlotte E. English

The Salt Grows Heavy Cassandra Khaw

A Touch of Darkness- Hades & Persephone #1 Scarlett St. Clair

Mortal Follies Alexis Hall

Witch King Martha Wells

The London Séance Society Sarah Penner

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future David Attenborough, Jonnie Hughes

A Game of Fate- Hades Saga #1 Scarlett St. Clair

Immortal Longings Chloe Gong

Hooked Emily McIntire  

Foul Heart Huntsmen Chloe Gong

Signal to Noise Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Daughter of the Siren Queen Tricia Levenseller  

Starter Villain John Scalzi

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl Theodora Goss

Starling House Alix E. Harrow

A Marvellous Light: The Last Binding #1 Freya Marske   

A Restless Truth: The Last Binding #2 Freya Marske 

Thornhedge T. Kingfisher

What the River Knows Isabel Ibanez  

The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments Hadley Vlahos

Misrule: Malice Duology #2 Heather Walter

The Raven and The Reindeer T. Kingfisher

A Power Unbound: The Last Binding #3 Freya Marske

I started some series, and I finished some series. I found new favourite authors and revisited some old favourites. Please take them as recommendations, or if you have read any of the same books come talk about them with me!  

Reminder you can also follow me on The Storygraph to see what I am reading in real time, where I am simply shy_fairy   

Previous Years Reading lists can be found here: 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015