I love listening to Nikita Gill in audio. I would call this prose more than poetry. It was a neat experience to listen to Nikita tell Greek gods and gI love listening to Nikita Gill in audio. I would call this prose more than poetry. It was a neat experience to listen to Nikita tell Greek gods and goddesses tales after I loving The girl and The Goddess which is based on Hindu mythology. It would have been helpful for me to have a text copy of this book while listening because page breaks were impossible to tell in the audio version. Maybe next time!...more
T. Kingfisher’s latest novel, A Sorceress Comes to Call, is the perfect blend of humor, horror, coming of age and dark magic. It features on my 30 booT. Kingfisher’s latest novel, A Sorceress Comes to Call, is the perfect blend of humor, horror, coming of age and dark magic. It features on my 30 books of year 30. The story is about a 14 years old girl, Cordelia. Her mother, Evangeline, is a sorceress and one of the ways she punishes Cordelia for misbehaving or not meeting her expectations is by controlling her body. The book opens to a church scene where Cordelia is being made ‘obedient’ by her mother and the narrative describes her discomfort of not being able to swat away the fly on her skin. I found this to be a great hook to the story – it not only gave a glimpse of her mother’s powers but also the horrifying feeling of helplessness as Cordelia has to watch from within.
Cordelia’s father is not in the picture and her mother has always had a benefactor or another. Cordelia’s one friend is their horse, Falada. After the recent obedience, Cordelia decides to run away only to find out that the horse is her mother’s ally and not exactly who she thought he was. Falada is a familiar and Cordelia feels betrayed by the one friend she had confided her deepest thoughts in. Her hatred of her mother grows but she doesn’t know how to escape.
Evangeline’s goal in life has been to marry off Cordelia to a rich man so that they are both taken care of. When her latest benefactor does not work out, she decides to convince a Squire to marry her and through his connections, introduce Cordelia into polite society. I absolutely loved the regency setting of this book and the Squire’s sister, Hester, made this book an absolute blast. Her point of view added dimension to the story and complemented Cordelia’s. Past her middle age years, Hester is an unmarried woman and lives with her brother. The moment she sees Evangeline, her mind screams ‘Doom’. She does not know that Evangeline is a sorceress but her sixth sense tells her something is off about this woman and she must save her brother from her clutches.
Evangeline orchestrates a situation in which she and Cordelia come to live with the Squire. Hester is weary of Doom’s daughter but soon finds that Cordelia is scared of her mother and the two of them become good friends. Hester throws a party, bringing in her closest friends to help her get rid of Evangeline and influence her brother from not proposing. The household staff also support her endeavor as Evangeline does not treat them well. Every single character had an important role to play and the unpredictability of the plot made this book an easy one to stay immersed in.
Cordelia finds privacy for the first time in her life in the Squire’s house. Her maid, Alice, is able to say no to Evangeline and Cordelia is flabbergasted that being in such a household forces her mother to be on best behavior. She starts to open up to Hester and her friends and halfway through the book when her mother hurts someone with magic, Cordelia cannot take it anymore. She has to help her new friends.
A Sorceress Comes to Call shows Cordelia’s growth from a scared mouse to a strong girl who will fight for what is right. She has felt like a bystander in her life for a long time but with Hester’s encouragement and Alice’s help she is able to open up and become her own person. The book is based on the story of the Goose Girl and you might have seen a connection with the horse, Falada. The geese in this novel can sense evil and I enjoyed how they interacted with the strange horse.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy of this book for an honest review. So happy to have found it at my library too!
Women who think too much is a short book about overthinking. Though the techniques in this book are applicable to everyone, the focus of the case studWomen who think too much is a short book about overthinking. Though the techniques in this book are applicable to everyone, the focus of the case studies is women. Taking examples from various aspects of life – family, children, work, health and old age – Susan Nolen-Hoeksema offers a comprehensive look at how overthinking manifests in each of them and affects life. The main message of the book is that overthinking is not a friend. It does offer insights on our problems. Rather, it keeps us stuck in them. Engaging in positive interaction for 8 min interrupts of overthinking.
The author suggests having scheduled time to think and developing an inner stop sign that we can rely on when we find ourselves ruminating. She offers a list of questions to ask oneself when we find ourselves back in overthinking. She also encourages readers to reconnect with the parts of themselves that scare them and work through any negative self-image that they may have.
I liked the three kinds of overthinking and the causes of overthinking outlined in the beginning of the book. Based on my previous readings on the topic of overthinking, I did not find any new techniques in this book but I did find the discussion of the techniques through real world situations faced by women quite helpful.
Kriti | Armed with A Book
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