liaweneryniel's reviews
496 reviews

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

adventurous inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Mortal Monarchs: 1000 Years of Royal Deaths by Suzie Edge

informative medium-paced

5.0

 

I stumbled upon Suzie Edge’s TiKTok in 2020 – a video about Oliver Cromwell’s head nonetheless :-D I started following her because..well, I’m a history nerd okay! Nothing to be ashamed of! 

 

When Suzie Edge announced that she was writing a book about the Monarchs, I was excited! I couldn’t wait to get even more info on all the mortal monarchs and open more coffins with her  

 

Once the book was available for preorder, I preordered it and then it came and I had so much to do that it went onto my TBR pile and remained there. At the beginning to 2023, I vowed that I would read most books on my TBR pile and I started with Mortal Monarchs. With the Queen having died in September of this last year, I was interested to learn more about the monarchs of Britain. 

 

The book follows all the kings and queens from Harold Goodwinson to Elizabeth II’s father George VI. In her usual fashion Suzie Edge “opens the coffins” of the deceased monarchs and gives great insight in the medical reasons how and why the monarchs died. Sometimes it is quite clear: a red hot iron poker to the rectum while on the toilet (Edward II) or beheading (Charles I)while others remain a mystery to this day because nothing is left except the bones. 

With the passing of the centuries I find it greatly interesting how the illnesses and ailments change. Especially in the last couple of hundred years, the causes of death shifted from diseases that are easily treated today to ailments associated with their lifestyle. Monarchs are neither dying gruesomely on the battlefields anymore nor are disposed and subsequently killed, but they are navigating the modern times and trying to do what is best in their opinion, dying of diseases everyone from commoner to king and queen knows. 

 

If one thing has become undoubtedly clear while reading this book, it is that in death we are all equals. No matter who you were in life, in death we are the same. Give instructions to be carried out after your demise but you cannot be sure that they are going to be fulfilled. And one more thing: I knew that history is written by the winners but in the various descriptions of the deaths of hated or not so well-liked kings, it becomes even more clear that how we see a monarch is rather dependent on how their death is portrayed. 

 

I loved the writing style in this book. Starting with the family history and giving a rough draft about the reign of the discussed monarch was very short so that the rest of the chapter one could focus on the way the monarchs met their ends. Sometimes the medical words were complicated for me, as English is not my native language, but thanks to modern technology, no questions remained  

 

All in all, this book was a great first read for 2023 and I am certainly going to use parts of this book and also probably some of Suzie’s videos in my English lessons. My students are going to be so happy :-D 

 

I would recommend this book to history and medical nerds all the same. The description of the ailments is great and sometimes I was trying to figure out what the sickness was before Suzie explained it. I was more wrong than right, but oh well, I’m not a doctor  

 

Thank you, Suzie Edge for writing this book. I immensely enjoyed and I might have written my own post scripture at the end because well, things have changed since this book was published in August 2022. 

 

Without wax, 

Liawèn 

Manga Shakespeare: King Lear by William Shakespeare

4.0

I love you Shakespeare's plays and I love Manga. So one should think that this is the perfect mix for me.
It was but nevertheless the setting was quite upsetting.
Seeing Lear and Cordelia drawn as native Americans and Goneril and Regan not was quite something. The names didn't fit the setting either and what the French have to do with native Americans and Cowboys is lost to me^^

But all in all I liked it. It's a new take on Shakespeare's plays.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

3.0

Und damit bin ich durch.
Ich muss sagen, ich bin etwas enttäuscht. Ich hatte mir vom Klappentext ausgehend mehr erwartet. Das Buch ist gut und die Idee dahinter ist genial, aber irgendwie fühlt sich das Buch unrund an. Shadow ist ein toller Charakter und sein Seelenleben und die innere Ruhe tragen zum ruhigen unaufgeregten Ton des Buches bei, aber irgendwie bleibt er dabei flach. Die Tatsache, dass er Odin's Sohn ist, hat mich auch nicht überrascht, es ist eher ein Klischee.
Und die Auflösung des Krieges zwischen den alten und neuen Göttern hat mich nicht im geringsten überrascht. Es war mir ziemlich schnell klar, dass Loki eine Rolle spielt und das Odin und Loki zusammenarbeiten. I mean...Odin's Lieblingscons sind Two-man-cons...da riecht man sofort, dass irgendetwas faul ist an der ganzen Sache.
Ich fand tatsächlich die anderen Götter, wie Mr. Ibis oder Mr. Nancy stellenweise interessanter als den All-father selbst.
Und ich hätte mir gewünscht, dass man nicht so lange in Lakeside gewesen wäre. Ich hätte lieber erfahren, was Mr. Wednesday getrieben hat und welche Götter er noch versucht hat für seinen Plan einzuspannen.
trotzdem gibt es drei Sterne. Es hat Spaß gemacht es zu lesen und die Idee dahinter ist echt genial. Ich mag Gaiman's Schreibstil. Die Atmosphäre kam für mich immer wunderbar rüber.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

5.0

To this day my favourite play. I'm a sucker for happy endings. But quite honestly, if it weren't#t for the merry war of wits and Don John and his companions, the play would be pretty dull.
I just cannot take Claudio seriously nor Hero, because who on earth would take an arsehole like Claudio back...
Anyway, I'm going to read the Arden Edition too and then King Lear and compare Don John and Edmund. It's very interesting to investigate illegitimate sons as the penultimate villains in Shakespeare :-)

My Lady Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows

5.0

I can't. This book is perfect.
It has my favourite kings and queens: The Tudors
It has magic: E-the-uuns
It has researched rewriting of the English history.
It is funny.
It is one of the best books I read all year. The people in the tram think I'm stupid. I laughed out loud more than once :-D

Thanks Andrea for recommending it and lending it :-)

Harley Quinn Anthologie: Ein irrer Trip durch die Comic-Geschichte by Paul Dini, Terry Dodson

4.0

I loved every minute of it and the comics by the different artists were amazing. I learned so much new about my favourite villain ❤️ my only negative point is that I would’ve liked to see more concept art and maybe have a comparisons of all the outfits side by side to really see he change. I found myself flipping back and forth to compare the different outfits and concepts.

My favourite comic was the one with all the different artists drawing Harley differently every few panels^^ I loved it 😊♥️♠️🃏

Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Askaban by J.K. Rowling

5.0

I love this book. It's my favourite in the whole series. I love Remus and Sirius.
Hermione is badass and Malfoy gets his ass handed to him more hab once.
I love McGonagall losing it during the Quidditch match and Dumbledore having everything planned out as usual.
It's the last of the books that seems carefree and not too dark. It's going to change soon and the tone will be much darker but we have to remember to turn on the light. So, off I am to the fourth book 📚😊

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

4.0

The only thing I would have liked it to be longer and with more detail.
Otherwise it was good. The most important parts were in it I think and it is a great introduction to the Norse mythology. I’d like to read more now and learn all about Loki‘s schemes and Thor‘s thirst for battle.

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

5.0

After reading the first book in the series, I love Mary Poppins even more. She’s so different from the 1964 movie and I can see how they changed her movie character for Mary Poppins returns.
The magic and the adventures are just great. The Zoo story was my favourite because of all the different animals and Mary Poppins at the centre. I like the idea that special things can only happen at special times. That’s what makes them special.
Although Mary Poppins was always cross with the children, they loved her and I was equally sad when Mary left them in the end but as she said ‘au revoir’ we all know that she will be back. Hopefully, Mrs Brill and Zellen are able to take care of the kids in the mean time. Mrs Banks seems to be doing even less for her children than in the movie version at the beginning. And Mr Banks is basically not there at all. I missed him a bit. His role in the movie is so funny.