The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan

I've wanted to read this book for ages - maybe since it first came out? Then, when I got the chance to buy it first time round, I was a bit put off by how like the title story was to a very short story that I once wrote. I hate it when I've written something that I think is really neat, only to find that someone else got there first.* And then I started reading The Gracekeepers, which was too close to The Night Circus for me to enjoy.**

But I came across the book in the charity bookshop where I work sometime last year and thought that for £2.99 I could take the chance. And I'm really glad I did. I enjoyed Logan's stories, and the way they wind themselves to their conclusions. The are all delightfully queer and often unexpected. Logan never uses her words or metaphors in the way we've come to expect a writer would. 

The stories were all, with one exception, spot on. I won't say which story that exception was, as I don't want to ruin the experience for another reader by pointing out the things that I didn't enjoy, but the voice itself wasn't to my liking. The title story I obviously liked. I also enjoyed the story which closed the collection. 'Una and Coll are not friends' and 'Witch' were two more favourites. The biggest surprise was 'The Gracekeeper' which I actually really enjoyed. Enough to make a second attempt at the novel? Only time (and my ridiculously long 'to read' list) will tell.

*Doesn't stop me from shamelessly promoting myself though. Go read my story, it's really short!

**Not that I enjoyed The Night Circus that much, either, which was probably the main problem. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had read it first, or if every single review of it ever didn't draw that same comparison. Maybe.

This counts the UK for the European reading challenge. It also counts for the Mount TBR challenge.

Stand Still Stay Silent vol. I by Minna Sundberg

I received Stand Still Stay Silent vol. I as a present from my boyfriend last month, and started reading it on New Years Day exactly. I had never heard of the comic before, although as a language enthusiast with language-enthusiast friends I had naturally seen this page before.

I loved the comic. It strikes a perfect balance between cute and scary - not something I ever thought I would say before! The story in the first volume shows the first outbreaks of the mysterious 'rash illness' and it's spread across the world. The particulars are kept quiet, and we are thrown 90 years into  future where much of the world is either uninhabited/uninhabitable or purposely forgotten (often both). The first volume charts the set up and a few of the adventures of a group of explorers on a mission to learn more about the 'silent world'.

So, a good story line and absolutely gorgeous art. Each page is truly breathtaking, with a lovely attention to detail and fabulous colour work. Each chapter contains information pages, such as the one linked above, which give the world more colour and more depth. They're all really thoughtfully done and make lovely additions to the story. The characters are all rather over the top. My favourite is the extremely withdrawn Finn, Lalli. His backstory and arc looks very promising, too. Although the characters often seem like caricatures of themselves, I felt it really fit in with the story and the artwork, if that's even possible.

The print copy is a Lovely Thing in and of itself. It's a solid hardback in a large format, although smaller than A4. The paper is high quality as is the print itself - bright, crisp and clear. It also comes with an extra short story and insight into Sundberg's page creation process. I could continue reading online, but a good part of me wants to hold off and treat myself to the second book instead.

Minna Sundberg is Finno-svensk (and there was more Finnish in this book than any of the other Nordic languages) so I will be counting this as Finland for the European reading challenge. This book also counts for the Mount TBR challenge.

New year, same old reading goals!

 It's been a while, again. I don't even know where t begin. I have a new job (in a bookshop, yay!) and am finding that whole 'work life' balance thing reeeally difficult. This is not the entire reason for me dropping off the face of this blog, but I'll do my best to pretend that it is! Yeah!

I read something like twenty books last year, and failed all my challenges. But, as they say, if at first you don't succeed...

This year I will certainly be attempting the Rose City Reader European Reading Challenge once again. I'll aim for five books and in my heart will hope for more. My countries will be:

• Finland (Stand Still Stay Silent vol. I by Minna Sundberg)
• UK (The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan)
• Sweden (Nyckeln by Mats Strandberg and Sara Bergmark Elfgren)
• Germany (Steinernes Fleisch by Cornelia Funke)
• Hungary (Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb)

I've already read the book for Finland, so four to go. I can't say for definite which book I'll read for the UK and the others are, naturally, subject to change and my fickle, fickle whims. I'll link to the reviews here :)

Otherwise, I will also try once again for the Mount TBR challenge hosted at My Reader's Block. I've got a new rule this year: two out, one in. As I have more than thirty books to buy before March... I foresee myself breaking and/or bending this rule pretty quickly! I will stay humble and aim for 'Pike's Peak', listing books and linking reviews here as I post them.

• Stand Still Stay Silent vol. I by Minna Sundberg
• The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan
• The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
• Don't Try this at Home by Angela Readman

Other than that, I would like to read fifty books this year (two down, forty-eight to go!). This will be a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, a mixture of English, Swedish, German, French and (dare I even hope?) Finnish. They can be teeny tiny or massive tomes - although my money is on the former. What counts is that I actually read them. Whew! Wish me luck!