My girlfriend adores the Lord of the Rings, the entire world that Tolkien created, any book relating to him, his life and Middle Earth is immediately bought. The beautiful, soft leather-bound books written by David Day are amongst her favourite. Actually, I think it's just David Day that she adores!

The Battles of Tolkien was the first David Day book she suggested and I can see why - it's beautifully presented, complete with battle maps and artistic renderings of key characters and moments, and Day's writing is concise, interesting and educational. Never before had I realised just how many influences Tolkien drew on.

It certainly requires a deep love for the Lord of the Rings to truly appreciate this book. Or maybe just buy it because it is a beautiful book and part of a beautiful series that will look gorgeous on your bookshelf. If you're a fan of Middle-Earth then read this (and Day's entire series I'm guessing) - it succinctly summarises every text Tolkien wrote, as well as bringing in other myths and legends that have similarities.

I found this book really useful for my MRes dissertation and it certainly explores some fascinating topics. My issue is that for a ‘Pacific’ literature text it focuses mainly on Māori writing when the title could easily be amended or other Pacific works could have been added.

Ultimately though, it’s a brilliant book for exploring post colonial Pacific writing and has provided some interesting avenues for both my current topic and any future topics.

Really enjoyed the 4th instalment of the Women’s Murder Club. It focused more on Lindsay Boxer than the previous novels, but was a welcome change. Somehow Patterson finds ways to remain original and continue to surprise fans of crime novels. Brilliant book in a wonderful series.

This debut novel is the very definition of weird and wonderful. It’s like Harry Potter meets Deadly Education with Dante’s Inferno thrown in just for fun. Using Christianity as the basis for the mythology, Brookes builds a school for special dead children.

Tom was having an ordinary day until he died. And then things started to get weird. He found himself near an extraordinary large tower, shown in by a towering figure shrouded in black and enrolled in a strange school.

There were a few parts that made me think of Harry Potter: the make-up of our central trio are two males and a female, then there’s 3 houses with their own traits and obviously the whole school setting. But Brookes’ school is a little darker, has a lot less magic and a lot more angels. There’s a lot of religion in this and I feel like it does help to have a good grasp of Christian conceptions of heaven, hell and purgatory. (Thank you Supernatural!)

Despite the relatively dark moments, there’s a lot of ‘normal’ teenage stuff going on. Tom finds himself torn between two girls: the pretty one and the weird one. With a YA book this romance was kind of expected, though I will say the presentations were a little stereotypical at times. I felt the characters behaved like normal teenagers would and the drama helped balance the serious issues at the centre.

There’s also a fair bit of humour in this book and a whole lot of references to popular culture throughout the ages. The teachers at the school are all renowned specialists in their field: literature taught by Oscar Wilde, science with Isaac Newton… You find yourself wanting to attend the school for dead children! The world-building is so exquisitely done that you truly feel like you’re there with the characters, experiencing everything alongside our protagonist Tom.

I’m super excited to read more of this series and follow Tom’s antics. I want to explore more of this magical school – for me it ended far too quickly and I desperately want to find out more.

This book is hilarious! The writing style is essentially a sci-fi Terry Pratchett and when is that not a good thing? The characters are adorable with our protagonist comically naive.

There’s also so many other issues dealt with beautifully. We see bullying, PTSD, trans-issues and dealing with a difficult diagnosis. I loved how easily they cropped up and the natural (yet still funny) way Coolwood dealt with them.

I cannot recommend this book enough honestly!

Full review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNVXOYQrNXo/?igshid=cmxymx5rd5q4

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a brilliant book! This inspirational history of the international LGBTQ+ movement will teach readers to accept and have pride in themselves and others, however they identify.

This is one of the books we have at @theliteracyhubs for the children to read - it’s bright, colourful and easily accessible. Though the topic is heavy at times, dealing with homophobic murder and other crime, it does so cautiously. It is certainly suitable for children, though discretion should be used concerning age.

I learnt so much from this book. Not just about the history behind the LGBTQ+ movement, but about people from across the world who were queer. It was inspiring to read about how people stood up for queer rights, with many giving their life. Without their blood, sweat and tears, I couldn’t marry my girlfriend or hold her hand in public.

This book has made me want to do more for queer people. I’ve decided to start supporting more queer owned businesses - so please fire any recommendations my way. I’ll start using my voice more to stand up for queer rights like those before me have done. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s a must read for everyone.

This was beautiful and haunting. Such a powerful read! Highly recommend this prose book to anyone ☺️