BBC Thursday – 25th of February

I’ve got some nice voices for you this week. Some you might miss, some you might like. Add to that interesting stories and you’ll have a good set of radio dramas to listen. This week though I’ve got only the reads that I haven’t really tried myself yet, but they sound interesting and I do intend listening to them.

 

1. Hood

England, 1201: King John reigns and Phillip De Nicholay, Sheriff of Nottingham, is in trouble. The treasury is empty, looted by his former friend; his position and hopes of marrying the Lady Marion are in danger. His only hope is to recover the money. To do that though, he’ll need the help of the notorious outlaws of Sherwood Forest. Phillip is about to learn that his actions will be the making of the man they will come to call Robin Hood.

 

BBC Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 – coming soon

Day left: 18
Duration: 75 min | 4 episodes aired weekly on Sunday

I haven’t started listening to this one yet, but it’s on my list because I do like Robin Hood stories :).

Top 5 Wednesday… I was going to write something else…

Hello guys, today’s topic was supposed to be “Worst love interests”, but I’m not really in a mood for it, so instead, since it’s supposed to be a negative topic, I’m going to make this post a bit more graphic and I’ll talk about some of the worst covers of my favorite books. I hope you won’t mind. And maybe we’ll even have a little discussion?

Just a few words of warning… there will be a lot of complaining here. It wasn’t at first but then I’ve started writing this post… I’ve decided to add this message to warn you 😉

5

Howl’s Moving Castle

I was going to give this place to a different book, but then I’ve seen this cover… Seriously, what was the author thinking? This story isn’t a horror or a dark fantasy, it’s a light read for children. Plus the image has nothing to do with the books. Nothing! Do you see this castle moving? Do you even think it would be possible? And the description of the “castle” in the book is so much different. I actually like the one from anime, it came closer, although still not close enough.

Mystery in shadows

Let me ask you one thing – why is everyone saying it’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling? Yes, there’s an element of that, him being a demon and all, but it’s rather a story of Rumpelstiltskin with all the deals and looking for his name. I’ve checked few reviews on Goodreads and they all mention only Beauty and the Beast and mythology. Why?

Now that I’m done with whining, let’s move on to the review 😉

Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe #1) by Rosamund Hodge

My rating: 

Goodreads | Amazon US

I have somewhat mixed feeling about this book. I liked the way it was written, I liked the characters and the little plot twists, I liked the darkness and the fairy tale elements, but somehow I still didn’t love it. I was expecting something more.

Goodreads blurb:

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Schedules and coloring

Today I have for you a little something that will not only help you relax but will also keep your schedule – a calendar with 52 illustrations you can color throughout the whole year.

I couldn’t find a worldwide edition of it, so I’m adding a scanned cover of my book. It seems my scanner has some messed up color setting and it changed the colors to more vivid, but you’ll get the idea. The graphics included in this calendar were all created by Marica Zottino. You can check out her coloring books here.

2016: 52 Weeks With Drawings That Inspire
Author: Marica Zottino

Goodreads | Amazon US

Overall rating: 

The size

22.5 x 17.5 cm

Yes, it’s not big, but it is a calendar, it was meant to be carried around, so I find this size perfect. It manages to combine just enough space for your weekly schedule on one page and a lovely graphic you can color on the other. And there are even two extra pages for your notes at the end.

The page count

I’m guessing you already know the amount ;). The good thing is – the images are only on one side, so if you’re not that much into keeping your notes clean, you can color the images with whatever medium you want.