Monday Funday – February 5, 2018

Happy Monday, friends! It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share some of the titles you’ve been enjoying, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.

I’ve shared a number of great books in the past few weeks, so do be sure to check out those posts if you missed them! William’s Winter Nap is a beautiful rhyming bedtime book, Molly & Mae is a charming celebration of friendship, Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas is a deliciously diverse holiday picture book, The Field is perfect for for soccer fans everywhere, Now I Know my Avocados is an alphabet book with a twist, and Now You See Them, Now You Don’t blends beautiful illustrations, fascinating facts and lyrical poetry into a winning package.

This week in adult reads, I’ve been diving deep into the beautiful writing of Canadian fantasy master, Guy Gavriel Kay. I came by my love of fantasy honestly – my mum is a long-time fantasy reader (as is the Raincity Software Engineer), and Guy Gavriel Kay is an author that all three of us love. One of my favourites of his is The Last Light of the Sun, an absolutely breathtaking novel inspired by European history. I like to think of Kay’s work as taking place in a sort of alternate history, one that’s based clearly in history, but which elements of magic or fantasy.

I’m currently reading one of Kay’s most famous and best loved works, Tigana. 

Tigana is the magical story of a beleaguered country struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the dark sorceries of the tyrant king Brandin that even the very name of their once beautiful home cannot be spoken or remembered. But years after their homeland’s devastation, a handful of men and women set in motion a dangerous crusade—to overthrow their conquerors and bring back to the world the lost brightness of an obliterated name: Tigana.

Against the magnificently realized background of a world both sensuous and brutal, this masterful epic of a passionate people pursuing their dream is breathtaking in its vision. A spellbinding novel in which myth comes alive and magic reaches out to touch you.

This truly is a magical book. Kay’s characters are brilliantly realized, and his worlds are breathtakingly complex. The writing is lyrical and spellbinding. I’m about half way through, and already I cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you’re a fan of epic fantasy that’s grounded in history, as well as magic.

In the world of kidlit, I’ve recently discovered and fallen in love with the spunky, delightful imaginative Japanese-American heroine Jasmine Toguchi.  Jasmine is a sweet, intelligent, enthusiastic girl whose big ideas sometimes get her into trouble, but she always manages to find a way to making things right. Jasmine has a big heart and a wonderfully loving, supportive family, and I really enjoyed the series’ many references to Jasmine’s Japanese heritage. Elizabet Vukovic’s illustrations are utterly charming, and I’m sure this is series is going to become a modern classic.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week, and be sure to check back in during the week for more great book reviews!