Magical Book Bingo

Hi Ink Drinkers!

Welcome to my Magical Book Bingo!  This little beauty was part of my newsletter bundle for spring.  I offered prizes to my newsletter subscribers.  If you're interested in joining, my newsletter is free, it comes out quarterly, and freebies are offered from time to time.  Sign up on my website: https://tigrix1.wixsite.com/stephanievanorman  However, I'll let all of you see the card if you're looking for your next big read.  

Now I'm going to give a sneaky little peek into each book, which means I'll leave a synopsis but a grouchy one like an Honest Trailer (but shorter).  Enjoy!

Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen:  This is the first book of a trilogy.  The first book really got me.  It's about an opera singer who is dragged under the mountain to be the bride of the troll prince.  I have tried to read other books by this author and it hasn't worked out for me, but this book kills me.  Overblown romantic stuff always makes me howl with laughter and this is it.  It gets very warlike in the later books, which was a pity.  Eventually, it takes itself very seriously.

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa: This is the first book of a trilogy.  It's fun.  It's like reading an adorable anime.  There is a great deal of combat.  However, it's not oppressive and is generally a fun read.

The Singular and Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath by Ishbelle Bee: So far there are two books in this series.  This book earns the highest rating from me, in that I feel it might be inappropriate for younger readers as it might scare them.  However, I fell for Mr. Loveheart in a way I have rarely fallen for a fictional character.  I loved him so much I'd switch out the o in loved for a heart.  May as well use a heart for the v as well.  I L❤❤ed him!  Very violent book.  I have rarely enjoyed anything so much.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson: This is a stand-alone and I wish there were more books like this.  It is a fanciful romance novel.  I went on to read her other book, Sorcery of Thorns.  It was weird because the author had obviously grown so much as a writer, as there were many aspects that were improved in Sorcery of Thorns, but she completely blew the romance.  It was such an incredible let-down for me.  Try this one instead.

Foundling by D.M. Cornish: What are you still standing around here for?  If you haven't read this series, you're failing at life.  This is the first book of a trilogy about monster hunting and though that doesn't sound very thrilling, I have a story about this book. I leant this book out to six adults and had them all return the book with the following review: "It was boring.  I only kept reading it because it was short."  At which time I said, "Well, then you didn't understand it."  I was then accused of being a literary snob (which is true... you can't say horrible, true things to me and expect me to get ruffled).  So, I took them through the plot of the first book and pointed out all the hints they missed and when I reveal what is actually happening, the person I'm talking to is stoked and they've taken the next book, which may be three times as long.  Very excellent.  Top marks.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare: This is a stand-alone about witch hunting.  It's also quite old.  It may be the oldest book I'm recommending.  The reason I'm recommending it is that it was one of my favorite books when I was a teenager.  The other day, I got a new copy of it.  It has aged very well.  

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle: This is a classic stand-alone.  This was my favorite cartoon as a child.  I used to trudge through the snow to my grandma's house to watch the movie rather than go home.  The book is even more enchanting then the film.  

Heap House by Edward Carey: This is the first book of a trilogy and you're going to need a strong stomach.  It's about a boy who is an aristocrat who lives in a collection of mansions in the middle of a landfill.  I got it from the 9-12 section at Indigo.  I also read the first bit of the second book to a class full of sixth-graders and scared the hell out of them.  It's one of my fondest memories.  

Howl's Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones: This is the first book of a trilogy.  The second book, Castle in the Air, is really charming.  Since the Studio Ghibli film, I imagine most of you know all about this.  I put it on as an easy square for my readers.  I argued with myself that perhaps I wanted to recommend Fire and Hemlock instead.  If you're looking for a unique read, and you've already read Howl, go for Fire and Hemlock.  It's more romantic and left a feeling of wistful longing inside me that still hasn't been blown away.

Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer: This is a stand-alone that is a re-telling of the story of Cupid and Psyche.  As some of you may know, I am a complete sucker for Cupid and Psyche.  I will buy anything on that subject and give it a read.  This was an interesting retelling and it's less academic than Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.  I am on a never-ending search for the book that fixes the fact that the story gets really boring once she discovers he's Cupid.  This book doesn't fix the problem, but none of them do.  I'm not sure how to fix it myself.  That's why I always want to buy the next book where someone else has tried to conquer the problem.  

Mort by Terry Pratchett: This is sort of a stand-alone and sort of part of a series.  It's a comedy about a guy who becomes Death's understudy.  There are tons of Terry Pratchett books to enjoy.  If you haven't gotten started yet, this is a great one to get the ball rolling.

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier: This is a stand-alone about a girl and her crippled younger brother looking for work.  They get jobs working at a house that has a tree growing through the middle of it.  It might scare the living daylights out of you, or it might tug at your heartstrings so hard you never stop crying.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy: This is the first book in a trilogy.  I read books like this all the time and of the many series' of fairytale/fantasy parodies, this one stood out to me as the most enjoyable.  This is the youngest of the books I'm recommending, as in this is really geared toward a younger audience.  It's about the princes in fairytales and how they don't get any screentime.  Hilarious.  Really stupid.  Go get it.

The Promise by Monica Hughes: This is the second book in a series and I've never bothered to read the first book.  I recommend you skip it too.  This book is probably the most meaningful to me personally of all the books on my Magical Book Bingo.  It's a straight-up story about a princess who has to learn to become a desert hermit.  It really got me... in the feels... At the very least, it is very short if it's not your jam.

Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara: This is the first book in a two-part series.  It follows the rules of writing a book in odd ways, so it gets top marks.  It's about a girl who is supposed to choose a husband at a festival and ends up getting hauled off to marry the God of Light, only for things to go completely mental.  TOP MARKS.

Enjoy!  If you have any thoughts on any of these books, I'd love to hear them.  Bite back.