Book Review: The Legend of Podkin One-Ear (The Five Realms #1) by Kieran Larwood

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Title: The Legend of Podkin One-Ear

Author: Kieran Larwood

Genre: Childrens Fantasy

Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

The Witcher, The Name of the Wind and Game of Thrones meets rabbits.

In this book, the world is populated by rabbits who live in warrens with one person leading as the 'chieftain'. However, their peace is interrupted by an impossible enemy. We follow Podkin and his brother and sister through a tough journey filled with grief, hardships and love. 

This book is marketed as a children's book but let me tell you, I cried multiple times. This book represents grief, fear and hope so well. There are multiple quotes that had me sobbing. 

The characters felt so realistic and well-developed. The plot was incredible and I couldn't tell where it was going or what would happen. I loved how the book had little interludes where the person telling the story was asked questions and we found out more about the world and the lore. 

The illustrations sneaked in throughout were beautifully done, full of character and added to the story so well.

This book was such a lovely quick read. There was so much action which catapulted me through the story. There were paragraphs of description where needed which fleshed out the scenes but not too much as to lose my interest. There was always something happening or a goal to get to.

I absolutely loved this book. It was a perfect fantasy book filled with emotion and I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series! I want everyone to read this book. If you like fantasy, read this!

My rating: 5/5 stars

Thank you to my Ko-Fi members!~

Jill Horton- check out her book! Amazon.com - Amazon.co.uk

Chronic Illness Guest Post by Tylluan Penry

I have lived with chronic illness for years now, but still it is not my friend. We tolerate each other and that is all. People often claim that all we need to defeat Covid is a ‘strong immune system.’ I could weep for them, I really could, because my problem is just that, I have a very strong immune system, it is doing its best to kill me. And the best treatment on offer is to suppress it, using the sort of drugs used to prevent transplants from being rejected.

The most interesting theory I can come up with for this state of affairs, is that stress has a lot to answer for. Almost everyone in a similar situation to myself has cited stress as a possible cause for the immune system going into overdrive. I can’t prove it of course and at the moment health professionals aren’t interested in exploring this idea. I’ve even suggested they should bottle whatever is wrong with me as a sort of ‘cure-all’ but I don’t think they will take me up on that.

There were clues that something was amiss long ago, but the most devastating and unexpected symptom was losing my sight. I’d driven about 50 miles to Hay on Wye, and suddenly, in a bookshop, I thought it looked very dark. It turned out that a wide horizontal band of vision in my left eye had disappeared. Just like that. Over the next few days it got worse and worse. It eventually returned, but with some colours, especially blue and yellow, so bleached that they were meaningless. I’d had optic neuritis, and I had more bouts of it in the ensuing years, each leaving its own, dirty, frightening mark.

Book Review: Kodi by Jared Cullum

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Title: Kodi

Author: Jared Cullum

Genre: Graphic Novel

Buy links: Book Depository - Waterstones - Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com

Kodi is a graphic novel about a girl who finds a bear and it is a story of love and friendship and just how far will one being go to find their friend?

Kodi is an absolutely adorable book. The story is told in beautiful watercolour pictures and the emotions of the characters really bounce off the page. It felt like I was reading a script for a children's animated film, reminiscent of some Disney classics. I laughed and I felt sad. This book made me feel so many emotions. 

I loved the plot of the story, as well as the characters who felt well-developed and realistic. The story had multiple levels to it and I feel that the author did this really well.

The only issue I had with this book is that I wish that we had been given more insight into Katya's home life and family situation. It is hinted at within the book but we are never really told what has happened. 

I would highly recommend everyone to read this book! It's a short read but one that will leave your heart feeling warmed and your mind grateful that you read it.

My rating: 5/5 stars

Thank you to my Ko-Fi members!~

Jill Horton- check out her book! Amazon.com - Amazon.co.uk

Book Spotlight: The Fast Little Fox (The Fast Little Fox & Friends book #1) by Jill Horton

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Title: The Fast Little Fox (The Fast Little Fox & Friends book #1)

Author: Jill Horton

Genre: Children's picture book

Available on: Amazon.co.uk - Amazon.com in paperback and on kindle (Also free on Kindle Unlimited!)

Add it on Goodreads

Synopsis:

Have you ever wanted to go on an adventure through the forest? Follow the fast little fox as he discovers more than he can imagine along the way! What will he learn? Can he make it home in time for supper? Read on to find out!

Editorial review:

"Jill Horton's picture book story, The Fast Little Fox, is a sweet, charming story about a little fox with a little too much energy. Yes, Freddy has a lot to learn, and this story leads young readers through Freddy's riotous romp of discovery. The language is simple to appeal to young readers and the illustrations are spectacular and certainly help move the story along. Beautifully told and presented." -- Readers' Favorite

Author bio

Learn more about the author here: https://www.jill-horton.com

Jill is currently working on book 2 in the series, so stay tuned for updates on her social media/website!

You can also find Jill on:

Pinterest

Instagram

Twitter

LinkedIn

Ko-fi

Books on my Wish List: January 2022

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I love books. Reading allows me to escape from physical and mental symptoms and it makes me feel happy and relaxed. As people recommend me books, I am adding them to my wish list! I have set my Goodreads goal at 200 this year. I am eager to read as much as I can this year. I am getting books from Scribd and my library and using the books on my shelves too. But there are some books that I either can't get from Scribd or my library, or I would just really like a physical copy of. I am really preferring to read books physically, especially because I seem prone to migraines these days. I am listening to biology-based audiobooks though! So here are some of the books that are currently on my wish list:

The Afterlife of Holly Chase

The Secret Dragon

The Mapmakers

Monthly Book Club Buddy Reads Announcement

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Hi everyone! I recently opened the monthly membership option on my Ko-Fi. This is like Patreon but you can pay anything you want to support me and you get exclusive rewards. One of these is a monthly book club buddy read.

Why I opened Ko-Fi membership:

• I wanted to create a community where we can chat & have somewhere to go
• I wanted to have a place to talk about books as much as we like
• I currently can't do things I used to do & things are uncertain so this would give me something concrete

The rewards

• A shout-out at the end of every blog post, including your name and website or author page link (you can opt out, this excludes book spotlight posts)
• Access to an exclusive Discord server to chat about books, health, games, writing/content creation etc.
• Regular reading sprints by message on a dedicated Discord channel
• Vote/contribute to upcoming content e.g. helping me decide my next read, blog post or topic to write a poem on
• Sneak peaks into any upcoming plans
• Monthly book club: help choose our book and chat about it on Discord 
• An individual shout-out on Twitter once a week 
• A shout-out in a monthly supporters blog post which can include your links and work and this will be shared on social media
• Regular updates from me about books, life, health etc. 
• Direct message me to request blog posts and tweets and if possible, I will try to create them

About the book club:

We will vote on a book to read every month, this could be a middlegrade fantasy, YA fantasy, manga, graphic novel, non-fiction book or something else. If we choose a short book we can choose a secondary read too. 

There will be a channel on the Discord server where we can discuss the book as we read it!

Some of the books may come from my TBR but members can suggest books to read too!

Hopes:

I would love to have Ko-Fi members as a space where we can chat and hang out and just have our own fun and supportive community. 

If you're interested in joining, please check out my membership page.

Thank you:

I just want to take this moment to say thank you so much to everyone for all of your support this year, everything is appreciated and valued so thank you.

The Realities of Pre-Diagnosis Chronic Symptoms

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Hi everyone. So I have felt reluctant to write a post going into too much detail about my symptoms and my life right now but I feel like chronic symptoms are something that a lot of people don't really know much about and I want to bring more visibility to this and help those who may be in a similar boat to me, feel less alone. 

For a long time I have been dealing with fatigue and dizziness. I would wake up still tired, not feeling refreshed or rested at all. I would struggle with work and when I came home I would just be too tired to do anything. I've also been dealing with costochondritis for years which is inflammation that causes pain in the ribs and chest area.

This year, I began having pain in different areas of my body that would be intense and last a long time and then re-occur. It got to a point where my body just couldn't function anymore. 

For months, I have been dealing with pain, aches and stiffness all over my body, fatigue, migraines, headaches and dizziness that has been so debilitating that I am unable to do things that I used to do. 

My symptoms fluctuate within the day and from day to day so I will have periods where the fatigue is more prevalent or a migraine or body pain. 

I'm on medication to help with the symptoms but it doesn't take them away or make them a lot better. It just means that I have less times of being in agonising pain where I want to cry but can't because I'm in so much pain.

I'm waiting to see a specialist so that I can get a diagnosis and effective treatment.

The future feels so unknown to me right now because I don't know how much better I will get and what I will or won't be able to manage, which isn't great when you already have anxiety. But each day I am trying not to let my anxiety take over my day and to try to have a positive mindset. To focus on what I can do and not what I can't. To celebrate allowing myself to rest without feeling bad about it. Because I literally can't do things like I used to do. There are limitations. Depending on how I feel, I can do small tasks but the more I do, the worse I seem to feel later on. 

I'm getting better at pacing, a technique that some people with chronic illness use where you rest between activities and don't give yourself too much to do. It's hard because I want to be able to do a lot of things but I just can't. Activities I can do can make my symptoms worse, especially when it involves something physical. Similarly, I have a lot of times where I feel like I can't think. 

Living with chronic symptoms isn't easy. Especially when society conditions you to be a working, productive person and doesn't include those who simply cannot. I pushed my body for so long that it just couldn't anymore. 

If you deal with chronic symptoms, please feel free to DM me on Twitter. If you would be interested in writing a guest post for my blog please email me at lucyisreading@gmail.com.

I hope this post helps.

Lucy~

Support me via Ko-Fi- here you can join my Ko-Fi exclusive book club, request content, join our Discord server and more!

My 2022 Goals

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Hi everyone! I love setting goals and planning things. Here are most of my goals for the following year. In 2022 I am going to put my physical and mental health first, look after myself and do more of what makes me happy.

• Read lots of middle grade & children's fantasy
• Listen to non-fiction audiobooks (particularly biology)
• Do mindfulness colouring books
• Complete at least one jigsaw puzzle (bookish themed)
• Learn and revise all of French on Duolingo
• Play games more 
• Get a diagnosis for my chronic symptoms (this is more of a strong hope)

Wish me luck with these! Do you have any goals for 2022?

Support me via Ko-Fi- here you can join my Ko-Fi exclusive book club, request content, join our Discord server and more!

Join my little community on Ko-Fi!

Hi everyone, this is just a quick post to say that I have set up a monthly membership option on my Ko-Fi page. You can choose to support me from £2 a month up. You will get:

-A shout-out at the end of every blog post, including your name and website or author page link (you can opt out, this excludes book spotlight posts)

-Access to an exclusive Discord server to chat about books, health, games, writing/content creation etc.

-Regular reading sprints by message on a dedicated Discord channel

-Vote/contribute to upcoming content e.g. helping me decide my next read, blog post or topic to write a poem on

-Sneak peaks into any upcoming plans

-Monthly book club: help choose our book and chat about it on Discord

-An individual shout-out on Twitter once a week

-A shout-out in a monthly supporters blog post which can include your links and work and this will be shared on social media

-Regular updates from me about books, life, health etc.

-Direct message me to request blog posts and tweets and if possible, I will try to create them

If you'd like to support me in this way, thank you so so much, I have no words but it is really appreciated and it will really help me. I hope that anyone who joins this little community will have a lot of fun and feel like it is a safe space to chat and hang out. If you'd like to join, check out my membership page here. Thank you for all of your support in any way- comments, sharing posts, retweets, kind words. Everything means so much to me.

Where to Get Free Audiobooks & Ebooks!

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I love audiobooks and ebooks. I find them really helpful for reading more and audiobooks are great for reading whilst doing other activities. Here are places where you can get free audiobooks and ebooks!

Libro FM

Libro FM is an amazing website where you can get audiobooks and support independent bookshops at the same time. It is the same price as other audiobook services which is great because you can also support indies at the same time. 

Libro FM are currently offering a free audiobook when you sign up for a membership, so instead of one audiobook credit, you get two.

Scribd

Scribd is an awesome app where you can access a ton of audiobooks and ebooks! If you use my referral link you can get 60 days free and you can cancel anytime. If you like audiobooks and ebooks and you read a lot, I would recommend continuing with the paid membership once the free trial is finished.

Libby/Overdrive

If you have a library card, it is very likely that your library has the Overdrive or Libby app where you can read audiobooks and ebooks for free. The range varies depending on your library.

Audible

You can get a free trial for Audible if you haven't already got a membership. They also run regular deals on paid membership which is great.

Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited is brilliant if you read a lot of ebooks. There are especially so many indie books available on Kindle Unlimited for free. You can get a free trial of Kindle Unlimited to start with and then if there are a lot of ebooks you are interested in, you can continue with a paid membership.

Do you use any of these services or would you like to?