Summer Reading Challenge:
try to read (or listen to via audiobook) as many books as possible over the summer and get friends/family to sponsor you per book that you manage to read, all in order to raise money for my urgent neurosurgery. So for every book that you read over the summer, others can sponsor you a certain amount of their choosing, or an overall total amount to sponsor you. They can either donate straight onto the fundraising page (https://gofundme.com/savejenny or you can print out the Summer Reading Challenge Sponsor Form below for them to fill out, and then you collect the money from them when you’ve completed the challenge, and donate it.

Book recommendation videos that I’ve made for you to help you out as you embark on your Summer Reading Challenge:

• My 14 favourite non-fiction books of all time: https://youtu.be/dmWVvyfu0Qs

• My top 25 book series, all in 30 seconds: https://youtube.com/shorts/htSOxZx1Gig (genres: fantasy, dystopian, science fiction)

• 5 children’s books that are so good that you’ll genuinely enjoy them as an adult: https://youtube.com/shorts/lWfI1cyERD0

• If you like Pride and Prejudice, I think you might enjoy this book: https://youtube.com/shorts/dRO1cL4PL78

• A recent discovery of a phenomenal fantasy book: https://youtu.be/jnrvrfX2FO4

• Review of an incredible sci-fi story, as well as my “Story Time” on my science background: https://youtu.be/WGKsbx8u0OU

Links to my re-edited and significantly shortened YouTube video explaining why I’m fundraising and what for:

• explaining the situation with my neck, how to fix it, and what I go through every day: https://youtu.be/4XbNiqMCMns

You can follow me on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube for more book reviews and bookish content for extra ideas for your Summer Reading Challenge, at these links:

TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@jennyrowbory

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jennyrowbory

YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@jenny.rowbory

Summer Reading Challenge Sponsor Form:

 
My fundraising page: https://gofundme.com/savejenny

<p>The post Summer Reading Challenge first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

NB: I’m only able to listen to audiobooks; I’m unable to read physical books or ebooks because of my neck (to find out more about what’s wrong with my neck and also the neurosurgery I’m fundraising for, go to GoFundMe.com/savejenny)

‘The Penguin Lessons’ by Tom Michell (non-fiction)

A delightful memoir of the author’s time working in South America after he rescues a penguin that washes up from an oil slick on the beach. It’s fascinating to see what a penguin coming to live with him (at a boarding school where he works in Argentina) unlocks and changes in all the people around him. The penguin reveals what was around him all along. It’s a lovely account of his time with the penguin and the friendship that they develop. I thoroughly recommend this book; I think that most people would enjoy it.

‘The Accidental Soldier’ by Owain Mulligan (non-fiction)

Marina Hyde from ‘The Rest is Entertainment’ podcast recommended this book. Although not something that I might have usually listened to, she made it sound compelling. It was!

It’s an honest account of the author’s time in the army in 2006 in Iraq. He has a talent for seeing the comedic in the everyday. Although faced with both the brutal and the mundane, the author has a dry wit and a talent for writing (he casually uses words like ‘Stygian’!). It is interesting to find out what it was really like at that time for British soldiers in Iraq. There are both humorous and touching moments, and it’s a snapshot of that time and the futility of it all.

I enjoyed the book. The only thing that I’m left wanting to know is what his motivations were. Although he hated his job as a teacher before joining the army for a while, it’s not as if the only two jobs in the world are either teacher or soldier. He could have done anything else. Why on earth would he put himself in that much danger? He could easily have been killed. He never says why he specifically chose to do it.

‘Super Powereds’ by Drew Hayes

I had never heard of this series before and had never heard it talked about, which is relatively unusual because I listen to quite a few booktubers with similar taste in books to me. Thank you to Paul Hennell for recommending it!

The books are set in our world except that, as well as ordinary humans, there are two other types of people: ‘Supers’ who have a superhuman ability or two and are in control of it, and ‘Powereds’ who also have a superhuman ability but are not able to control their power so their lives are a nightmare. Both humans and Supers regard Powereds as lower than them.

The series starts off with five eighteen-year-old ‘Powereds’ being given a secretive pioneering procedure by a mysterious company to turn them into ‘Supers’. They then get enrolled into a university where they attend normal classes but also the ‘HCP’ — Hero Certification Programme — where aspiring Heroes (only Supers can become official Heroes) go to train to try to become Heroes.

This series follows these five characters as they learn to control their powers. I really enjoyed their training progress, growth and increasing control of their powers throughout the four book series (though it isn’t so evident in book one); this part is very satisfying.

These books are fun and just pure entertainment. They’re not deep but they’re enjoyable. If you haven’t got much cognitive energy, these are an easy read (or ‘listen’ in my case!). In the first book and maybe the second too, the author makes the mistake that many male authors make when describing women’s looks, which is unfortunate, but by book three, that disappears and it feels like the author progresses and improves as a writer as the series goes on.

The first book is enjoyable but basic. It doesn’t really start to touch on the mystery surrounding the procedure, the differences between the groups of people or the mystery about the Class of Legends. By the time you get to books three and four though, you’ll be hooked. The mystery deepens and the world expands. Book three is the highlight for me. Very exciting.

At the end of book four I was left bereft because I felt like the characters had become my friends! My only complaint would be that after everything that the characters go through and all their training and competition with each other, after the Big Battle at the end, we don’t get to see their graduation or how they end up ranked; the text just jumps ahead in time to give us the epilogue. I would have really loved to see the culmination of all we had been building to in the university course HCP: the final exam, the graduation on stage and if Roy ever got to the top spot that he was hoping to finally reach. Still, this series is great fun.

‘Oathbound’ by Tracy Deonn

This is the third book in the Legendborn cycle, which puts a imaginative, contemporary twist on Arthurian legend. The first book is incredibly enjoyable, and it feels like a full and satisfying story in itself, even knowing that there’s space left for more to come in the sequels. The second book’s plot isn’t as strong and cohesive as the first but still has exciting, memorable moments and character interactions that sizzle. The first two books both have powerful and profound things to say about grief, injustice and racism that had me bookmarking quotes.

This third book ‘Oathbound’ is the weakest of the three books so far but is still worth the read (or ‘listen’ in my case) and is enjoyable. It puts new combinations of characters together (which is disappointing in contrast to the second book, which throws together the four most interesting characters; their dynamics are electric and fun). I am glad that Nick is gone for most of book two because the most boring part of the book is always Nick and Bree’s relationship. It seems obvious that Bree and Sel should be together. Nick is dull and annoying.

In ‘Oathbound’, the author seems to be on a mission to get us to like Nick again and trying to re-inject some charisma into him. It feels forced but it’s moderately successful; he’s more interesting than in book two. The auction is fun and Bree losing her “memories” of people works well as we see her interact with Nick again as if for the first time. But Nick just doesn’t compare to Sel and how compelling Sel is as a character, and the chemistry that he has with Bree. The author does a great disservice to Sel in this book.

Also, my favourite character (Alice) is in a coma for the whole book, so that didn’t help with my increasing grumpiness with the book. Given Bree’s decision at the end, I don’t know if we’re ever going to get Alice back. I hope we will. Bree is the least annoying in this book out of the three books so far; up until now she has seemed petulant and immature at times. [SPOILER WARNING] Ironically this change in character turns out to be because she has lost part of her soul, not because of any character growth, so I don’t know whether she’ll go back to how she was before, now that she’s got the missing part of her soul back.

The ending is a bit confusing regarding how we’re left about which deals/bargains have been fulfilled with the Shadow King and which debts still have to be paid. All the plans went out of the window in the showdown with the Shadow King and it all gets muddled. And don’t get me started with the revelation about Sel. Is he being set up to be Bree’s enemy? Is that why the author has been trying to rehabilitate Nick’s image with the readers/listeners in this book? Nick and Bree together in a relationship feels like the author is trying to force it too much; Sel and Bree are more natural together. I really thought that Sel’s mother would find a way to help him and I still hope that they’ll be able to crack how to get Sel back to being himself.

I’ll still be looking forward to the next book. Although this book is the weakest of the series, it’s still better than most books out there. However, there are no lines that stand out to me this time as profound and no quotes to bookmark, which is a let down in overall quality.

‘I who have never known men’ by Jacqueline Harper

This book has a similar feel in the first part of it to ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (the book, not the thriller-like TV series). It has a quiet intensity and also an accuracy of what it’s like when your world is shrunk and what happens to the human mind when the body is trapped and a person is isolated. It makes me wonder if the author has any experience of either being seriously ill and confined or if she just did a lot of research or if she just imagined herself into that mindset. The way that she depicts, in the main character, the worlds that your mind creates when it has nowhere else to go, is uncannily true to life.

The book starts with a group of women in an underground bunker, caged together in a small space, with guards constantly patrolling around the cage. Unable to escape, the women have been there for a very long time, without discovering anything.

Ultimately though, the ending is frustrating and unsatisfying. I want to find out the mystery, what really happened and how the women came to be there. We are never told. I know that’s the whole point. Personally, I did enjoy the book but some might find it rough-going, slow and claustrophobic.

‘The Ragpicker King’ by Cassandra Clare

This is the second book in the ‘Chronicles of Castellane’ series. It is set in a world where magic has been destroyed (or so we are led to believe at the beginning of the first book) and only a “lesser” sort of magic is left, but only the Ashkar people are able to practice it, but they are outcasts wherever they go and have no home anymore.

The first book ‘Sword Catcher’ (which I re-listened to, in preparation for the sequel) follows two main characters: Lin, an Ashkar girl, and Kel, an orphan boy who is plucked out of his orphanage to be the prince’s ‘Sword Catcher’ . A sword catcher stands in for the prince for occasions that are considered too dangerous for the prince himself, and the sword catcher is also expected to protect the prince, putting his body on the line for him (taking arrows for the prince etc.)

The first book focusses on Kel and Lin’s stories and is from their two points of view. In ‘The Ragpicker King’ however, the two main points of view (written in the past tense) are interspersed with other characters’ points of view that are written in the present tense, which I found jarring and unnecessary.

It’s an enjoyable and well-written fantasy series. This second book isn’t as good as the first one; it is filled with frustrating miscommunications and misunderstandings between characters, which only seems to serve as a lazy device for the author for certain events or relationships either to happen or not happen. Despite this, the characters and plot are still compelling and I’ll be looking forward to the next instalment.

‘Assassin’s Apprentice’ by Robin Hobb

This is the first book in a well-known and beloved fantasy series. Up until now, I was put off from starting the series by the narrator of the audiobook, who isn’t to my taste. Everyone always raves about Robin Hobb’s books though so in the end I resigned myself that there wasn’t going to be a re-recording of the audiobooks with a new narrator any time soon so I finally decided to put up with him!

The book isn’t what I was expecting. It is a lot slower paced than the books that I have been listening to recently. It’s an epic fantasy though so sometimes it takes a while to adjust to being introduced to a world slowly. I struggled at first to get into the book at all; the writing style feels a bit dry (though is of good quality). There are points in describing the history and politics of the world where it almost feels like an encyclopedia entry. I’m not a fan of when a story is being written down by a character looking back on their life (I loved ‘The Kingkiller Chronicles’ *despite* this also being done in those books, not because of it).

This book gradually builds and builds, slowly but surely, to a satisfying climax at the end. The book didn’t blow me away but I’m going onto the second book in the series immediately, since I have a suspicion that this series is just going to get better and better. It must do surely, since everyone loves it so much. Do I just have to be patient?

Here are the video reviews that I did on YouTube of four of the books that I’ve read this year:

‘Wind and Truth’ by Brandon Sanderson:

 
‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros:

‘Iron Flame’ by Rebecca Yarros:

 
‘Onyx Storm’ by Rebecca Yarros:

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Links to my previous Audiobook Adventures:

My Audiobook Adventures #1
My Audiobook Adventures #2
My favourite books (this is essentially My Audiobook Adventures #2.5!)
My Audiobook Adventures #3
My Audiobook Adventures #4
My Audiobook Adventures #5
My Audiobook Adventures #6
My Audiobook Adventures #7

<p>The post My Audiobook Adventures #8: thoughts on the books that I read from January to April 2025 first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

 
I’m inviting you to participate in my Valentine’s fundraiser: ‘Do Something You Love’ to raise a little bit of money for my fundraiser. It’s self-explanatory! Just do something that you love that will raise as much as you can. It can be something small or something big. Here’s a video that you can use to explain to people what you are raising money for and why it’s so urgent that I get the neurosurgery as soon as possible: https://youtu.be/j09KuknjrXY

For my own ‘Do Something You Love’ challenge, I have made two videos. I love The Stormlight Archive books by Brandon Sanderson (I can’t read physical books or ebooks because of my neck but I can listen to audiobooks); ‘Wind and Truth’, the 5th book in the series came out in December and was an instant #1 NYT Bestseller. So:

The first video that I’ve made is of my thoughts and predictions for the new book ‘Wind and Truth’ BEFORE I listened to it, which you can watch on YouTube here:

My second video is me reacting to ‘Wind and Truth’ as I listen along to the audiobook for the first time. It’s very exciting! This is the one of which I’m most proud!:

At the end of each video, I ask anyone who has enjoyed watching to take a look at my fundraising page and consider donating. So hopefully that will raise a little bit of money. Please share these videos, especially with anyone you know who enjoys the Fantasy genre of fiction! I’m hoping that the author will eventually see them.

I look forward to seeing you ‘do something you love’ during this Valentine’s week to raise a bit of money towards this fundraiser. Thank you!

Fundraising page: https://gofundme.com/savejenny

<p>The post ‘Do Something You Love’ – a Valentine’s week fundraiser first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

Audible has sent my listening statistics for the first half of the year! I’m going to give out some awards of my own below to certain books since I’m too ill to review each book properly. However, I have been able to give mini reviews for some of them!

NB: I’m only able to listen to audiobooks; I’m unable to read physical books or ebooks because of my neck (see About Me for more details).

MY BOOK AWARDS:

Most important book to which I’ve listened:

– ‘The Lasting Harm’ by Lucia Osborne-Crowley:

Every adult should read this book. Although it is both harrowing and healing, it should be essential reading for everyone. The journalist and writer Lucia Osborne-Crowley tells the accounts of several of the victims of Epstein and Maxwell.

At the end, the book widens to detail the beginnings of how the law and trials need to change in order for the courts to start to issue a modicum of justice for survivors of all sorts of abuse and how not to keep re-traumatising them. Each account illustrates the wider issues, how public consciousness needs to increase of:
• the decades of lasting harms that childhood abuse causes
• how grooming works
• the science behind traumatic memory (and how it differs from normal memory) and the need for proper expert witnesses

Everyone needs to be equipped with the knowledge in this book, especially anyone who might ever serve in a jury. They need to know that the things that are often used to cast doubt and aspersions on the credibility of victims, their memories and their characters are actually, according to the neuroscience, the very things that make their testimonies more credible.

I can’t underscore enough how important this book is and the courage of both the journalist who wrote it and the women who entrusted her with their stories. It’s a dangerous book to write and is an exacting indictment of many institutions and systems in our society. It also underlines how the wealthy and powerful are using defamation laws to crush and silence women. The journalist wasn’t even allowed to publish many stories and names of abusers due to the publishing company’s fear of defamation law suits, even though it is all true. She is not going to rest until it is all able to be brought to light. I have nothing but admiration for her.

This book obviously comes with a trigger warning and it’s intense but it’s sensitively written and measured; you will be riveted and filled with potent anger both at what was done to these women and how they were then treated in court. Anger that will hopefully fuel change.

Two series of books that have been personally joyful:

– ‘The Song of the Lioness’ quartet and ‘The Protector of the Small’ quartet, both by Tamora Pierce:

I first read these books when I was 12-14 years old. They were a very big deal to me and meant so much. I even remember exactly where I was in Lowestoft library when I first found the books. They are finally FINALLY available as audiobooks in the UK and it’s been a joy, but also emotional to read (listen to) them for the first time since I was a mid teen.

Along with a few other books, these were the start of my great love of the fantasy genre. I revelled in identifying so strongly with many aspects of the female main characters in both series, who were unlike anyone I had come across in fiction at that point in my life.

As a young teen, ‘The Song of the Lioness’ quartet was my favourite and listening to it as an adult, it did hold up well and brought back so many memories and joy. But it was actually the second quartet ‘The Protector of the Small’ that stood out to me as an adult as the better story, with more nuance to the characters and writing. Alanna will still always hold a special place in my heart though.

Engaging and compelling memoirs:

– ‘A Very Private School’ by Charles Spencer:
important to bring these things into the light

– ‘Rebel Rising’ by Rebel Wilson:
loved learning about life in Australia when she was young.

– ‘Making It So’ by Patrick Stewart:
fascinating. I actually found the insights into what life was like in Yorkshire when Patrick was young to be more interesting than the ‘becoming famous’ parts!

– ‘Back Story’ by David Mitchell:
a surprisingly unguarded and honest (as well as amusing) memoir

Five star adult fiction that I thoroughly enjoyed:

– ‘The Women’ by Kristin Hannah:
on paper, this is something I wouldn’t usually listen to because it contains three areas that I avoid because I don’t tend to enjoy them: historical fiction, the armed forces, and medical personnel. But this book was the exception to the rule and I loved it. Never boring, great characters and plot, moving, well-written and accurate to the trauma experience. The story is about someone who goes to the war in Vietnam as a nurse.

– ‘The Escape Room’ by L.D. Smithson:
excellent, very entertaining

– ‘The Close’ by Jane Casey:
my favourite book in the ‘Maeve Kerrigan’ detective series so far

Good in some parts but a bit of a slow slog in others:

– ‘The Spear Cuts Through Water’ by Simon Jimenez

– ‘Wool’ by Hugh Howey

– ‘The Atlas Complex’ by Olivie Blake

Great Young Adult sci-fi and fantasy stories:

– ‘Defiant’ by Brandon Sanderson:
the final book of a truly awesome sci-fi series. Just as great for adults as Young Adults. I highly recommend the ‘Skyward’ series.

– ‘SkyWake Endgame’ by Jamie Russell:
Satisfying final book to a fun sci-fi trilogy

– ‘The Memory Thieves’ by Dhonielle Clayton:
an exciting sequel in this magical middle grade fantasy series. Sooooo much better with the new narrator.

– ‘The Jasad Heir’ by Sara Hashem:
a tiny bit too heavy on the romance for me but a decent fantasy book all the same. Very enjoyable. Looking forward to the next in the series.

A rather ridiculous, very “teen”, fantasy/romance series with an annoying main character but an easy listen and it wasn’t boring:

– ‘Once Upon a Broken Heart’ by Stephanie Garber:
well, I listened to all three of them so that must mean something?!

All sorts of problematic:

– ‘Kushiel’s Dart’ by Jacqueline Carey:
Very problematic in many ways. Will not be continuing with this series.

What have you been reading lately? Let me know in the comments. I love to hear from you. Have you got any recommendations for me? Thanks to the gifting from a very generous friend of a friend, I have 12 Audible credits to use up!! I love dystopian, fantasy, sci-fi, detective, apocalyptic and memoir; if you have any recommendations for any of those genres (or any other really good books in other genres) please leave a comment. I prefer stories with lots of plot (I enjoy well-written characters as well of course but without good plotting to keep my mind engaged, I get too bored). I also prefer books where you get into a character’s thoughts and feelings, otherwise I feel too detached from the book.

The last three and a half months have been a horrific nightmare, as you will know if you’ve been following my social media. Dealing with what is happening is taking up every moment of our time and non-existent energy. We hope to get back to the even-more-urgent fundraising soon but we would always appreciate any help in that department, if you would like to run your own fundraiser to help raise money towards my essential surgery (gofundme.com/savejenny). Thanks.

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Links to my previous Audiobook Adventures:

My Audiobook Adventures #1
My Audiobook Adventures #2
My favourite books (this is essentially My Audiobook Adventures #2.5!)
My Audiobook Adventures #3
My Audiobook Adventures #4
My Audiobook Adventures #5
My Audiobook Adventures #6

<p>The post My Audiobook Adventures #7 and book awards! first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

Here are all the books to which I listened in 2023 (click on the image and zoom in to see all the books):

Have you read any of these books? I’d love to hear your thoughts about them in the comments. What were the best and worst books that you read this year? Let me know.

I haven’t been able to do my usual individual reviews of each audiobook this year, due to my deteriorating condition, but the following should give a broad overview of my year in books.

NB I’m only able to listen to audiobooks; I’m unable to read physical books or ebooks because of my neck.

What was my favourite fiction book of the year?

‘The Will of the Many’ by James Islington. It was very satisfying and, from a pure enjoyment/entertainment standpoint, it was brilliant. At first when I read the synopsis, I thought that maybe it was just going to be a rip off of ‘Red Rising’ but I actually enjoyed it more than the first book of ‘Red Rising’ (though, for me, ‘Red Rising’ only properly blossoms in the second and third books).

In so many books we’re told that a character is clever but then that person does lots of annoying things or makes stupid mistakes that prove otherwise, whereas in ‘The Will of the Many’ the character genuinely felt clever and cunning. His gradual improvements and advancement in the rankings, the tactics of the maze, his friends etc. – I just loved everything about it.

I thought that I roughly knew where the book was heading but then…
…no spoilers from me (well, maybe a teeny tiny clue)… let’s just say that I thought that the audiobook had glitched at the end there. I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series and I hope that the author is able to keep this level of momentum and knows how to steer the story to progress satisfyingly instead of fizzling out, which sometimes happens in multi-book series.

Best book I’ve read in ages.

Any honourable mentions in fiction?

I finally took another run at ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle’ books by Patrick Rothfuss. This is a highly regarded fantasy series but I first tried them a long time ago when I was only beginning to listen to audiobooks and hadn’t acquired the patience needed for audiobooks yet so I didn’t get very far. I’m very glad that I have given them another chance all these years later because this time around, I loved them. However, I had thought this was a duology. Alas! It turns out that it’s an unfinished series with no sign that the author is going to finish the next book any time soon. I want the next book!

What was my least favourite book of the year?

‘The Dog of the North’ by Elizabeth McKenzie. My foray into literary fiction (this book was on the longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction) did not go well. It felt directionless and nothing was resolved in the end. I do realise what the author was trying to achieve with this but I just thought that it was terrible. Although not a personal fan of unresolved endings and unanswered questions, some authors can just about keep me on board when they do it, but not this one. I hated it. It was both pointless and not enjoyable.

What were my favourite non-fiction audiobooks?

Usually, it’s fiction that’s the highlight for me but this year there were five standout non-fiction books, which I highly recommend to everyone:

• ‘A house in the sky’ by Amanda Lindhout. Amanda tells about her kidnapping in Somalia and time as a hostage. It is well written and fascinating. This seems a strange thing to say but I really love reading memoirs of hostages (my favourite is ‘Taken on Trust’ by Terry Waite) because, due to my unusual and extreme situation, I can often strongly identify with their stories and I experience some of the same things. It makes one feel less alone. When Amanda went through terrible things, she went to ‘a house in the sky’ in her mind. The human mind is amazing and reacts in ways to help you survive horrific situations. I go to a castle/palace in a city and kingdom that I call Camelot; I’ve lived hundreds of different lives there.

• ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel. This is such an important and compelling book. Although it’s technically a novel, ‘Night’ is also an autobiographical account of the author’s own experiences in Nazi Germany’s death camps.

• ‘Hiroshima’ by John Hersey. This book tells the stories of six survivors of Hiroshima. It recounts their day on 6th August 1945, when Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a city: it follows what they were doing before, during and after. One has to keep reminding oneself that this isn’t fiction because as one experiences that day along with them, it doesn’t feel real. It feels like fiction because it’s so outside of the realm of human experience. This is another important book, especially in the year that ‘Oppenheimer’ was released, a film in which no experience of any Japanese person was included.

• ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ by Bessel Van Der Kolk. Essential for anyone wanting to understand trauma.

• ‘The Silk Roads: A New History of the World’ by Peter Frankopan. Highly recommended and eye-opening.

Any additional comments on the year’s reading (listening)?

As you can see from the image of all the books I read this year, there is a large chunk of James Patterson books and a few Harlan Coben books that I’ve listened to this year, but it was mainly due to the fact that I didn’t want to have to constantly trawl through Audible to find books that I might like (I’m picky). I found a decent enough series (the ‘Alex Cross’ books) that I could just binge my way through, which didn’t require much brain power and didn’t require work to find the next book to read. They weren’t the best but they were good enough to keep my interest and keep me entertained. I did get sick of them eventually and stopped listening to the series. I did enjoy Richard Osman’s ‘Thursday Murder Club’ series more than the James Patterson and Harlan Coben books, but I still haven’t found any crime books that are as good as the crime TV series that I used to be able to watch. Still searching.

As you can also see from the image, I re-listened to many books that I love, some in preparation for the release of the next book in a series.

What’s next up on my reading list?

For Christmas I was given the following audiobooks so I’m looking forward to them:

• ‘Defiant’ by Brandon Sanderson
• ‘SkyWake: Endgame’ by Jamie Russell
• ‘Making it so’ by Patrick Stewart
• ‘Tom Stoppard: A BBC Radio Collection of 14 full-cast dramas’
• ‘The Memory Thieves’ by Dhonielle Clayton

___________________________

Links to my previous Audiobook Adventures:

My Audiobook Adventures #1
My Audiobook Adventures #2
My favourite books (this is essentially My Audiobook Adventures #2.5!)
My Audiobook Adventures #3
My Audiobook Adventures #4
My Audiobook Adventures #5

<p>The post My Audiobook Adventures in 2023 – Audible Stats Day first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

Usually I blog my audiobook adventures approximately once every three months but in October last year, my Dad suddenly died. My thoughts were completely full of Dad and only Dad; my brain was in a shocked and traumatised paralysis. I wasn’t able to listen to any audiobooks again until mid-December when I comfort-listened to all the Harry Potter books. I enjoyed them even more than usual, though the deaths in those books have a whole new impact when you’ve lost someone you love. Towards the end of December, I was able to start listening to new books again.

Due to increasing neck damage from not getting the neurosurgery that I desperately need, the things that I have to do medically to stay alive take longer. As a result, my “day” has turned into a 48-hour period of time instead of a 24-hour one. This leaves me constantly in a state of extreme sleep deprivation, which greatly alters my cognition and thus my ability to write reviews. It has taken me months to write this blog post, tiny bit by tiny bit. It’s an act of defiance, saying I’m a human being and I’m here. I have thoughts and opinions. I exist.

These reviews have come to mean a lot to me. I know that nobody else cares much about my reviews but I don’t mind; I do them for myself because I enjoy writing them so much, even though I don’t have the cognitive capacity for them often.

It’s going to be difficult to press the ‘publish’ button on this blog post because it will be my first batch of reviews without my Dad here to read them. I loved getting his thoughts and reactions to what I wrote.

I continue to decline and we’ve been desperately trying (and failing) to think of another fundraising idea for my life-saving surgery (GoFundMe.com/savejenny ). Mum and I are working hard to stay afloat and keep me alive but that takes up more time than we have as it is. Really we need some people to help with fundraising, now that Dad is gone and Mum is having to effectively do two people’s jobs.

I hope that you enjoy the reviews below. Let me know your thoughts about them in the comments. Leave a comment telling me what books you have been reading/listening to lately; I’d love to hear about them. I always love getting more book recommendations too, as long as they’re available on Audible.
If you’ve read any of the books that I review below, do you agree with my assessment of them or do you have a different opinion?

NB I’m only able to listen to audiobooks; I’m unable to read physical books or ebooks because of my neck.

REVIEWS:

‘Spectacles’ by Sue Perkins

 
Before this, my experience of Sue Perkins was from her stellar performances on ‘Just A Minute’, her travel documentaries (the Mekong River, the Ganges and Japan), as well as ‘Thronecast’ (the live aftershow discussion of each episode of Game of Thrones as it aired), so I was curious to find out more about her in this memoir. The book was indeed sufficiently diverting and interesting but it didn’t go all that deep or feel like she was properly opening up to lay her soul bare, which is fair enough. As a reader, we were also jumped around in time quite a bit; I would have preferred a more linear approach instead of going haphazardly back and forth in time. It was chatty and an easy listen though (and it’s impossible not to like Sue Perkins, isn’t it), which is sometimes just what one needs.

‘Midnighters’ by Hana Tooke

 
This is a charming and quirky story set in an alternative Prague in the late nineteenth century. Ema is the youngest of twelve children. Her parents and older siblings are academics and scientists from a young age and she is expected to follow in their footsteps and find her own field of study, her passion. She starts off as a curious child, full of questions, but gradually this spirit gets eroded over time and her questions are discouraged and silenced. When she starts noticing peculiar things about herself, this ‘Ema Enigma’ is the mystery to which she wants to devote her studies and scientific rigour. However, all these peculiarities are dismissed by everyone else and she is effectively gaslighted. Ema retreats into herself, scared of most things, especially herself, and desperately tries to do whatever she thinks will bring her parents’ approval and respect. In her futile endeavours to try to please them, she ends up feeling like a disappointment and failure by her twelfth birthday.

Being the last child left at home, Ema has to go and stay with her estranged uncle when her parents leave on an expedition. Here she meets Silvie, a mysterious girl, who, bit by bit, rekindles Ema’s curiosity and nudges her to overcome her fears and lack of self-belief. In the end, this is what builds her up and gives her enough confidence when, in order to potentially solve a murder, she faces what she thinks might be a choice between either the approval of her parents *or* accepting who she is, being herself and using her unique abilities to determine the murderer (but potentially earning the disappointment and disapproval of her parents if she fails). An unusual and well-paced story with a great message and a murder mystery included to boot.

‘The Sword of Kaigen: a Theonite War Story’ by M.L. Wang

 
This is a heartbreaking, unique fantasy story set in ‘the sword of Kaigen’, which is the name of a peninsula in the Kaigen Empire. The world is Japan-inspired, with elemental magic. The audiobook can be a bit disorienting at first because each person’s name seems to change to have different endings depending on the familiarity of the relationship between the people who are addressing each other. Also, there are some words that I have no idea if they are a made-up language for the book or if they are Japanese. I was hoping that there might be a glossary at the end of the audiobook but there wasn’t; you could deduce their meaning from the context for the most part though.

At the heart of the story is a mother and son, Misaki and Mamoru. Although the rest of the empire has developed to a modern level, the sword of Kaigen peninsula is mostly cut off from that and still has a traditional, old-fashioned warrior society, which is deeply sexist, oppressive and patriarchal. Mamoru’s world is changed when a northerner comes to his school and challenges his whole world view and what he has been led to believe to be true. He learns of the propaganda that his people have been fed and is shaken to the core.

Mamoru gets to know his mother more as a result. She went to school outside of Kaigen so hasn’t grown up with such a cloistered, blind view of the world. She already knew the truths that Mamoru is only just realising. Although her spirit has been beaten down over the years by her abusive father-in-law, oppression and relentless sexism, she finds the courage to speak a little to Mamoru, in a society where it is not considered her place to speak to him, in a society where her children are considered to belong to her husband but not to her. She is able to secretly teach him a little with the fighting skills that she learnt at school abroad, even though women are not allowed to fight in Kaigen.

But then disaster strikes. I don’t want to give away any spoilers because it’s an amazing story. It’s also very unusual in structure. In the middle of the book, one finds oneself at a climax that would usually come at the end of a book. You will probably cry! The rest is the devastating aftermath of the event.

I thought that this was the start of a series because the world is so rich and deep. I thought it was going to be a series about the people gradually banding together and rising up against the ruling power of the Emperor. Plus a new storyline and mystery is introduced towards the end of the book of an enigmatic new enemy, kidnapping children, to build an army with a mix of different types of magic. So I was utterly stunned to find out, after finishing the book, that this is a standalone. The author leaves lots of questions unanswered and the baffling new mystery that is introduced at the end.

The villagers decide to stay alive and survive rather than rise up and potentially run the risk of being gradually killed off by assassins of the empire. They just want to live their lives. I wanted them to rise up and overcome! They thought it was pointless and would result in more death. But they had all the strong families with secret bloodline techniques and could have banded together with others like them; they have the most powerful warriors and magic. They could have created a better world.

Some people will find the ending realistic but I was hoping for it to be only the beginning of an incredible new series. It’s still meaningful and thoughtful but I wanted more!

I hated the redemptive arc of the loathsome husband. His attitude, behaviour and sexism are barely changed by the end yet the author wants us to believe that he is now a noble character. It feels like the author is forcing it and justifying things that can’t be justified. The double standards are galling when the author not only holds Misaki just as responsible for the problems in the marriage as her husband, but also she has to perform all the emotional (and physical) labour to redeem her husband, wake him up from his coldness and indifference and bring about the change in him. It’s forced down our throats that it’s her duty as a wife to do so. Yes, both husband and wife have been mistreated by the same person, but Misaki has also been subjugated by her husband’s demand for her obedience and the systemic sexism that exists in the culture. The two can’t be compared. She was forced to give up her whole life to this arranged marriage; if she had married the man that she loved instead, she would have been shunned and never seen her family (whom she loved dearly) ever again.

It also feels odd that Misaki, who has clearly been shown to be a skilled teacher and fighter, is not allowed to play this role but her husband, who is a terrible teacher and communicator, ends up the one teaching. Much as the author wants to push the idea that this marriage has ended up a team effort, the inequality is still obvious; Misaki would have been much happier with Robin and they would have been far better suited.

‘SkyWake: Battlefield’ by Jamie Russell

 
This is the sequel to the brilliantly fun ‘SkyWake: Invasion’, to which I relistened before embarking on the follow-up. It introduces us to Casey, a 15-year-old girl who loves video games, especially ‘SkyWake’, which is the new phenomenon sweeping the gaming world in this story. Teenagers across the world gather in various cities for a gaming tournament of SkyWake. The only problem is that Casey has been pretending to be a boy to her online friends in her SkyWake team so that she doesn’t experience the sexism and offensive comments that are so common over the headset chatter in the online gaming world. That’s the set up and I highly recommend you read/listen to it before reading this review any further, in order to prevent any spoilers. It’s a story of first contact (sort of) with aliens and the real purpose and “people” behind the SkyWake game. It would be a great book for reluctant readers or as a starting point to introduce a young person to science fiction. There isn’t a single moment where it’s possible to be bored; it’s fast-paced and fun.

Jamie Russell is the king of the cliffhanger and although both books have satisfying, contained stories of their own, each one ends with the kind of massive cliffhanger that leaves one doing an uncannily accurate impression of Veruca Salt in our desire to have the next book in the series, singing*: “DON’T CARE HOW, I WANT IT NOW!”
*(in the film ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory’ (1971))

In ‘SkyWake: Battlefield’, Casey has to learn to trust herself when everyone else thinks she’s going crazy (with insidious comments from the awful Xander (oh I hate hate hate that manipulative boy) getting into the heads of Casey’s team and little brother to make them think that she’s losing the plot.

In the end, Casey has to make a decision when there are no good options, when she has to choose the least worst option. Something that I’ve become very familiar with over the years. When there are no choices that are acceptable, what does one do? That’s the question that this book asks.

A hugely enjoyable, action-packed, fast and fun adventure.

‘The Books of Babel’ series (‘Senlin Ascends’, ‘Arm of the Sphinx’, ‘The Hod King’ and ‘The Fall of Babel’) by Josiah Bancroft

 
This has rocketed into my top 10 favourite series. I was going to give it a rave review…until the ending. So, almost a rave review. The ending wasn’t terrible by any stretch but it wasn’t great either. Considering how much I’d enjoyed the series, it felt lazy and a bit of a cop out not to give us all the answers that we wanted. Some people might like this more open style of ending but I prefer the author to have figured out and plotted meticulously so that we’re given a more satisfying end. Again, it wasn’t a bad ending, I was just hoping that we’d finally find out everything.

The first book was the weakest of the series but still good, however the story really deepened and blossomed in the next two books. I gradually got used to the rhythm of the pacing and appreciated it increasingly more as it went along. There were periods of what seemed like more slow, plodding story but actually those times were cleverly and intricately developing character and building different strands of plot, which then would all of a sudden come together in a thrilling and exciting period of action and activity. This pacing pattern happened repeatedly and one would find oneself getting more and more excited about what was to come as it built towards the next big occurrences.

I loved the family of characters that gathered together around Senlin (Iren was my favourite) and the series is a masterpiece. It’s a sort of steampunk dystopia, starting with a very ordinary and naive man coming to the mysterious Tower of Babel for his honeymoon, only to have to start on a journey, up through the ringdoms of the tower, to find his new wife (who has gone missing), discovering the shocking realities of the tower along the way.

It’s hard to say anymore without giving away spoilers (stop reading now if you don’t even want a small spoiler) but I thought the wrong two people ended up together and there should have been more of a change and revolution in the ways of the tower.

Still, these four books were outstanding and I would highly recommend them.

‘Amari and the Great Game’ by B.B. Alston

 
This is the sequel to ‘Amari and the Night Brothers’. I loved the parts relating to the time freeze and Amari (and her friends’) investigations into it to find who was responsible. The Supernatural Congress was vivid in my mind’s eye and I loved those scenes in that circular room with the stairs leading down to the sunken centre. I thought the final answer to the mystery of who caused the time freeze to be rather ingenious. That was cleverly done.

On the whole, I wasn’t quite so keen on ‘The Great Game’ parts of the story. I usually relish any sort of competition within a story so I was surprised that the challenges were some of my least favourite bits. They felt a damp squib and repetitious, with not enough substance to them. I wanted more of Amari having to figure things out, like in the second challenge when she had to figure out Alexander the Great’s clue, instead of Dylan just flinging fireballs at her and generally only popping up to be the designated villain. And Cosmo was infuriatingly annoying, which I guess was his part to play.

In the final challenge, an interesting philosophical point is raised, when for a moment Amari has a chance to pull out certain memories of Dylan’s from his head to make him “good” again, taking away all the bad things that had happened to him. The memories went back into him after all so we didn’t get to explore the topic, but I don’t think simply forgetting the memories and the choices that he made would have made him “good”. She would have essentially been taking away from him the person who he had chosen to be. He had chosen to go down a dark path and even though we may wish that people would choose differently, we can’t change their decisions and the consequences of what they have done. Lots of people have bad things happen to them; only a few choose to go down an evil path as a result.

I enjoyed the friendships and Lara’s redemptive arc within that. That was fun. The prejudice that magicians face within the Supernatural world continues to be a powerful allegory for racism. This book adds ‘Unwanteds’ to the mix, with a certain group of people being targeted and deported, which is particularly relevant and astute. The whole group are held responsible for any bad action of any single person within that group of people. Sound familiar?

I’ve noticed that so many fantasy stories, when the main character is female, often end with that main character losing her powers or abilities as a result of some great sacrifice for the greater good or to save someone else or to save the world. So I wasn’t pleased when this one ended the same way but I’m hoping that, since it’s only the second book in the series, Amari will get her magic back. I know that the point being made is that Amari is still just as special without her magic and that her power is not in her magic but within herself, but I do get disappointed and frustrated repeatedly in fantasy literature when a girl or woman’s power is taken away from her.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, though I didn’t feel it was as strong as the first one. However, it felt more of an ‘Empire Strikes Back’ middle of a trilogy, setting up what is to come. So I’m definitely looking forward to the next book, hopefully with the euphoric victory of ‘Return of the Jedi’ in the end.

‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’ by Matthew Perry

 
Matthew Perry holds nothing back in this book, which is certainly what one wants from an autobiography. It’s raw and honest, accurately depicting how addiction can ravage a life.

As a two month old baby, he wouldn’t stop crying so his parents took him to a doctor who prescribed a barbiturate that would always knock him out cold immediately. The effect of such a strong drug at that stage of a baby’s brain development would have been profound and it’s sobering to think what path his life could have taken, if this hadn’t happened. Did it lay the foundations of addiction?

I don’t know how to feel about this memoir because Matthew doesn’t hide all the worst parts of himself; I admire the honesty and him not giving up but in showing those awful parts, it makes it hard to warm to him at times (although I did feel an instant affinity with him when when he says that he’s never slept more than four hours straight in his life and I immediately liked him tonnes more because, well, I hate people who are able to sleep (😛)). However, he admits at the end that he’s spent most of his life only thinking of himself and never giving a thought to others; he’s been narcissistic and selfish. He treats women terribly. Repeatedly. The amount of money that he wastes and throws away is obscene and makes one feel sick. The thing is, he’s very self-aware and realises all this, yet this awareness rarely brings about any change.

Throughout his life he’s seldom been able to stay sober for long, whether it’s alcohol, pills or cigarettes. Even though he’s in a good place when he writes this book, the fact that he’s never stayed sober for long makes one worried about him, especially when he says he’s hasn’t got another detox in him. He says if he falls off the wagon, that’s it. His desire for alcohol and drugs has gone now though because he developed such a tolerance that they no longer have any sort of desired effect on him. It’s coming off cigarettes, of which doctors say if he doesn’t stay off he’ll die in his 60s, that seems to be the bigger problem.

He does mention ‘Friends’ a certain amount but I would have liked to hear more on this topic. It was fascinating how one of his best friends was offered the part of Chandler first but was also offered the main part on another show and he took that role instead. Everything so nearly went another way.

It’s taken him a long time in life to realise that he was chasing after all the wrong things. To realise that he is enough. To begin to believe that he deserves love. He now wants to spend the rest of his life helping others, which is a worthy ambition.

‘Stellarlune’ by Shannon Messenger

 
I love the ‘Keeper of the Lost Cities’ series; it’s unadulterated enjoyment. When you’re first introduced to the Lost Cities with their colourful crystal buildings and ridiculous clothes, you might begin to think that the books might not be for you or that they’ll be too silly but you’d be wrong. Soon the characters will feel like family, the exciting plots will transport you away and you’ll just be having fun.

‘Stellarlune’ is the ninth book in the series. This is the first time in the series where the plot is a bit too meandering and loses its way. It feels a bit bogged down, with several scenes going on for far too long; it needed more editing.

There’s still plenty to enjoy here, with Sophie coming into her own (finally!) and showing the beginnings of leadership, though still often too impatient and impulsive. It’s also gratifying to watch the clues be deciphered. Plus, we get a sweet scene for which I’m sure many readers have been waiting for ages; it was a long time coming. The author was ostensibly holding off on it as long as possible because the two characters in question are obviously endgame material and should be together so it couldn’t have happened too early on in the books. It had reached an absurd level of delay though so I’m glad it finally happened.

‘A Heart That Works’ by Rob Delaney

 
Since Dad died, I’ve been seeking out memoirs dealing with grief, to find people who “get it”. You think that nobody could possibly understand your own level of pain and love but you seek out others’ stories anyway to see how they got through their own personal End of The World. Although everyone will experience grief differently, there will be plenty of similarities and commonalities too, which it’s comforting to hear as you recognise them (and there were indeed plenty in this book).

‘A Heart That Works’ is about the life and death of Rob Delaney’s young son. He writes to communicate and because he wants people to understand, even though he realises most people won’t, not completely. There will be particulars of each person’s grief that no others can understand but Rob Delaney makes a raw, eloquent and unflinching stab at trying to connect and bring others into a sliver of what it’s like. It’s something that words will always fall short of being able to describe but this is a powerful and honest book.

The only thing with which I had a problem was that Rob thinks it’s harder and worse when your child dies than when anyone else you love dies. I’m sure most parents would agree with him. They probably think that I don’t understand because I don’t have a child of my own. I don’t want to get into a Suffering Olympics because that’s something that nobody wants to win. But people who don’t have children can love as hard and as strongly and it can be just as devastating to have anyone you love to that extent die, no matter their age. Don’t minimise it.

‘Bloodmarked’ by Tracey Deonn

 
It was always going to be difficult to create a sequel to rival the revelation of the twists at the end of ‘Legendborn’, the first book in this series, and the euphoric moments in the cave when everything came together. This series is a modern retelling of Arthurian legend in an imaginative and unusual way.

The powers that Bree discovers to be hers in the last book, one might expect to be empowering and freeing but Bree finds herself more trapped, powerless, deceived and violated than ever throughout this book, with forces from both without and within fighting for control of her. Tracey Deonn brings us as readers into this build up of injustices, of choice being taken away, of being stifled and silenced until we are boiling with frustration and rage along with Bree. Although Bree’s actions may sometimes be petulant or immature (she’s only 16 though so that’s understandable), she’s dealing with an awful lot!

There weren’t staggering revelations or surprises in this book but it was still immensely enjoyable, though not as cohesive a plot as the first. I’m glad that Nick was gone for most of the book, since his and Bree’s relationship is the most boring part, and I was gleeful to find the four most interesting characters thrust together, travelling together. Those relationships were always going to be more stimulating and zingy. We weren’t let down, with three sizzling scenes in particular stealing the show of the whole book (the sealing up of Sel’s bandage in the bathroom at the safe house scene, the scene in the corridor waiting while Alice is in the toilet at the crossroads bar, and the scene in the clearing by the waterfall). The whole book is worth those three scenes between Sel and Bree! Alice is still my favourite character though.

There were also so many powerful and profound quotes that I found myself wanting to write down to remember them. They are even more impressive in context but still are incredible by themselves. Here are a few that particularly stood out to me:

‘The unsaid thing about funerals is that directly after the communal mourning for someone you love, after everyone is gone, […], comes a solitude beyond imagining, a great gaping nothing, where a whole person and life and future used to be. The other side of a funeral is abyss.’

‘I do have an idea. But grief isn’t a competition. It’s not an identical pain that we all meet one day when death finds us. It’s a monster, personalised by our love and memories to devour us just so. Grief is suffering, tailored.’

‘Half a heart is not enough to live a whole life, is it. The clawing grief reaches for me all over again, even though I thought I’d escaped it, the fear of death hunting me, searching for the remainder of the heart it’s already broken and who it will take from me to get it.’

‘You don’t believe history is true. You won’t even admit it’s possible’
– this quote is from a potent scene that’s talking about racism and violence. Even when the truth is right in front of them and Bree is the very evidence that the events in question happened, it’s not treated as fact. It can be applied to so many different circumstances; anybody who hasn’t been believed, who has experienced people saying that something hasn’t happened when it has, that it’s impossible that what you say is true, will relate to this and punch the air.

‘Since when has a man’s title prevented his brutality instead of further emboldening it.’

‘Wanting something fiction to be fact, and having the power to convince other folks of the same; that’s how power stays put.’

‘Fairy Tale’ by Stephen King

 
This is the first book by Stephen King that I’ve ever read. Horror is the one genre that I won’t read under any circumstance so I didn’t think his writing was for me but ‘Fairy Tale’ is a fantasy story so I decided to give it a go. Ironically, it was the non-fantasy parts of the book that I really enjoyed. The characters, relationships and atmosphere were built up skilfully in the first third of the book (this first portion of the story didn’t really have any fantasy elements to it), and I came to genuinely care about Charlie, his father and the elderly man and his dog up the road with whom Charlie makes friends.

The writing was cinematic in the vividness of the world it conjured in one’s mind’s eye. One never felt lost during all Charlie’s travels and one had an accurate depiction of the world and the direction one was moving through it.

This book doesn’t feel like a typical fantasy novel. There aren’t lots of complicated plot threads coming together, with surprises and thrilling revelations. When it reaches the fantasy portion of the book, it’s a portal fantasy, a simple enough journey, with a series of action sequences throughout. It’s more like a thriller than a fantasy. I did really enjoy it though.

Plus, Stephen King annoyed me into looking up the definition of two words by repeatedly using them when I had no clue as to what they meant! So I’ve added two words (‘mephitic’ and ‘eldritch’) to my vocabulary, which is a bonus.

There are a few problematic themes involving disability, disfigurement and villainy, but Jen Campbell covers this topic in stories really well here:

 
This is the sequel to ‘The Atlas Six’. I actually enjoyed this book more than the first; in my opinion it was paced a lot better. The first half of ‘The Atlas Six’ was unbearably slow before properly kicking into gear, whereas the author’s progression as a writer in ‘The Atlas Paradox’ is apparent both through it being more evenly paced and also cutting down on overly long philosophical waffle. The main six characters are still resolutely unlikeable. All of them. I know this is on trend and meant to show “realistic”, three-dimensional characters but come on! Give me someone to root for please. They don’t all have to be relentlessly repulsive people. It would be more realistic if one of them showed a sign of even one redeeming characteristic. Somehow it was still enjoyable though; maybe it was returning into the minds of familiar characters that was comforting.

The ensemble of voice actors continued to be grating. Both the British accents sound fake (it definitely sounds like Americans attempting British accents rather than real British accents). At least they were understandable though; the vocal fry of the voice actor narrating Parisa occasionally made a few words unintelligible. She also didn’t enunciate well enough; I appreciate that this may have been in service of an acting decision to embody the character as being laid back and seductive but all it did was irritate me when I missed phrases here and there.

Overall, it was worth reading and I’m interested enough to listen to the next book in the series but it wouldn’t be among the first books that I’d recommend to friends.

I did however love the following reference popping up near the end of the book (‘it was ultimately a test of who could outman, outlast and magically outgun’) as a nod to George Washington’s line from ‘Hamilton’ (‘we are outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, out-planned’). That was a fun Easter Egg and made me smile. I love Hamilton.

The first 3 books of ‘The School for Good and Evil’ series (‘The School for Good and Evil’, ‘A World Without Princes’ and ‘The Last Ever After’) series by Soman Chainani

 
These may be the silliest books I’ve ever read! If you think about any part of them (plot, concepts, characters) for more than a couple of seconds, it all falls apart. Best to disengage the brain if you just need a bit of escapist fluff. It’s never a good sign when a little way into a book you think ‘this was definitely written by a man’. Sure enough, I looked it up and the author is a man. It’s full of things that girls/women would never do or say. There are lots of lazy stereotypes too and some inappropriate descriptions of girls.

Most of the children who are sorted into The School for Good almost all seem to be awful people – vain, vacuous bullies – who are terrible to Agatha. It makes no sense that they’ve been deemed “good” compared to the children who have been sorted into the School for Evil, many of whom are loyal friends and far better people. Hester is the best character in the whole series.

The books seem to rehash the same things over and over (is Sophie good? Is she bad? Is she good? Is she bad? On and on and on). It’s obvious to the reader from the start that Sophie is not a great person; she’s unbelievably selfish and willing to use people then discard them. It’s utterly bizarre that after she murders a whole bunch of wolves and fairies (who are actually humans who have been turned into these creatures) at the end of book one, it’s basically never mentioned again and has zero consequences. I know Agatha is a faithful friend but there’s no reason why she would continue on insisting that Sophie is Good, after these murders and all her betrayals.

It’s clear that there shouldn’t be a division into Good and Evil. At the end of book one, Agatha gives a speech about how nobody is fully good or evil but that everyone has both good and bad inside them. Finally some sense…which is then entirely disregarded and forgotten as if it never happened for the rest of the series.

In the second book, the author is clearly trying to say something about feminism, or at least his warped idea of what it is. The second book seems to be a weird, derisive view of what the author thinks that women think of as empowerment and equality. It’s a truly bizarre read. He definitely seems to be saying something, I’m just not entirely sure what that something is. I don’t think he knows either.

It only gets more creepy, when in the third book, a two hundred-year-old man (who conveniently has changed to look like a teenager) is cast as the supposed “true love” of Sophie, a young teenager, whom he first picked out and kidnapped when she was twelve years old. Twelve.

I don’t know why I’ve continued to listen to this rubbish. There are three books left in the series. If you’ve read them, does it get any better? Does the author finally work out what he’s trying to say? Does the story arc around and redeem itself at all?

___________________________

Links to my previous Audiobook Adventures:

My Audiobook Adventures #1

My Audiobook Adventures #2

My favourite books (this is essentially My Audiobook Adventures #2.5!)

My Audiobook Adventures #3

My Audiobook Adventures #4

<p>The post My Audiobook Adventures #5: August 2022 – February 2023 first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

The longer that I’m left without the surgery I need, the more damage to my neck occurs. As we continue to try to fundraise the money needed for the life-saving surgery and air ambulance flights (I’d be grateful for any donations: GoFundMe.com/savejenny), I have to fight harder and harder to stay alive as the situation deteriorates every day. It is relentlessly unbearable. Nobody should be left like this.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and who has helped spread my story and fundraising link on social media. We’ve still got a long way to go but I’m very grateful for the generosity and kindness of so many.

My poetry book ‘We Are The Winter People’ is raising money towards my surgery and is available to buy as a paperback, audiobook and ebook here: https://mybook.to/WinterPeople

Thank you to family and friends who gave me the audiobooks below for my birthday (though a couple of them were still left from Christmas!). Audiobooks are all that I have left and they keep me going. I love writing my opinions of them here in my Audiobook Adventures. It’s increasingly hard for my brain to function as my neck becomes more damaged without the surgery to fix it, and a lot of the time I’m unable to understand/process words and sentences. I’ve managed to gradually cobble together the reviews below in the times that I am more ‘with it’. I can only hold my phone up to my eyes (it’s too dangerous to move my neck so I can’t look downwards to see the screen of my phone so I have to lift my phone above my head at eye level to see the screen) for roughly 30 seconds at a time so it’s taken a long time to gradually write these. Writing brings me great pleasure though so I consider it worth it. I love the thought that I might bring someone else joy if they read a book that they enjoy as a result of one of my reviews.

Thankfully, with Audible, you can slow down the speed of the narration. Due to my brain being impaired, I can’t listen at the normal speed (x1); I have to listen to these audiobooks at 0.7 or 0.8 speed.

I always need more book recommendations so please leave your favourites in the comments (remember they have to be available on Audible for me to be able to access them)! What books have you been reading recently? I’d love to hear in the comments. I’m in the mood for some dystopian fiction or science fiction (ultimately with happy endings please) and memoir, if you have any recommendations for those three genres. As you’ll see below, I’ve read a lot of fantasy recently and it would be nice to have more of some other genres thrown in the mix.

REVIEWS

‘Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow’, ‘Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow’ and ‘Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow’ by Jessica Townsend

I ended up loving this series of books and can’t wait for the next one in the series to come out. It’s often compared to Harry Potter but actually the thing that I found most similar about the two series is the feeling that you get by the end of reading them. The feeling of home and cosiness, with a world and cast of characters that become so familiar and loved that you sink into them with a contented sigh, feeling like you’re snugly wrapped up in and hugged by a thick squishy duvet.

The first book (‘Nevermoor’) was a bit slow getting started; I know that the characters and world were being established but I was impatient to get to the Wundrous Society and the trials already! A lot of unnecessary time seemed to be spent faffing about at the Hotel Deucalion and it was odd that they basically were waiting a whole year, without schooling, just to see whether they would get into the school (or ‘Wundrous Society’). But I would encourage you to wait it out; stopping reading this book before you get to the WunSoc, would be like giving up on Harry Potter before you reach Hogwarts! You do have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit more than with other fantasy, what with the wunimals and such, but if you allow yourself, it becomes a gloriously fun story. I loved the trials. The second book ‘Wundersmith’ is my favourite in the series so far; I loved all the mystery, discoveries, figuring out the Tricksy Lanes and Morrigan finding out more about her powers. The plot of ‘Hollowpox’ reminded of the film ‘Zootropolis’ (‘Zootopia’ in other countries) but that didn’t change how wonderfully enjoyable it was. Thoroughly recommend this series! So fun.

‘The Fifth Season’ by N.K. Jemisin

Given how beloved, award-winning and well-regarded this book is in the fantasy genre, I was anticipating it to be a new favourite. Unfortunately, I didn’t get on well with it at all. It felt like the slowest-paced book in existence and it was a struggle to force myself to keep going. I kept thinking that surely surely it was going to “get good” soon…but no.

As a reader (listener) I felt incredibly distanced from the characters and plot, which I don’t think was caused by the parts that were written in the second person (I actually didn’t mind the second person at all). The whole thing was strangely emotionless and detached; we were never properly let into the thoughts and feelings of the characters. As a reader (listener), you need a way in, and we just weren’t given one. For me the characters had no flair or charisma; they were dull. And oh, it was so sooo slow.

I understand the appeal; the world is unique and the concept is truly original, which is difficult to come by in any genre. I did find myself thinking about the story long after I finished the book, along with the big themes it subtly deals with, but that wasn’t enough to rescue it for me. I have no desire to continue the series at this point (unless someone tells me that it gets a lot better). I enjoyed the last eighth of the book or so but unfortunately I’d guessed ridiculously early on in the book what I assume were meant to be big reveals and surprises nearer the end, which was disappointing because I like being surprised and having ‘wow’ moments.

I don’t know if it was the actual narrator of the audiobook or just the narrative style of the book at the beginning, but I found the tone unbearably smug and annoying in the prologue especially.

The part that I enjoyed most was Damaya at the Fulcrum.

Lots of people love this book and it has won awards so don’t let my subjective opinion put you off reading it if you’re curious about it! You might love it, especially if you enjoy literary fiction. It just wasn’t for me. If you’ve read it, let me know your opinions in the comments!

‘The Atlas Six’ by Olivie Blake

This was another very slow-starting book but this time, it was actually worth wading through the first half and the twist at the end was good. I’m a sucker for any sort of competition in a storyline and six of the most talented magicians in the world are competing for five spaces in a magical secret society. The story is told from six different points of view…unfortunately none of the characters are remotely likeable. I know that it’s the trendy thing for characters to be unlikeable and “realistic” but surely it would be more realistic that at least one of them would have at least one redeeming quality. It would have made the book far more enjoyable. The ending made the experience worth it; overall I would say that the book was alright but not one that I’d be excitedly urging my friends to read to share the experience.

‘The Song of Achilles’ by Madeline Miller

I wasn’t bored once in this book, which is unusual for me! It’s a flowing, well written and compelling story set in the mythology of Ancient Greece, focussing on the growing friendship of Achilles and Patroclus (I won’t say more than that because…spoilers!) and later their part in the Trojan War.

Having studied the (Ancient) Greek language at GCSE and A-Level, a lot of the joy of this book for me was recognising all sorts of characters and names from the passages of text that I used to translate (Agamemnon! Menelaus! Clytemnestra! “I know them!” my brain would shout happily as they popped up). It brought back happy school memories and also the thrill of racing to be the first one to translate a piece of text.

I usually don’t read books with sad endings but I was at least a little insulated from that because I knew roughly what was going to happen, so could prepare myself.

I’m planning on listening to ‘Circe’ by the same author too. Is it as good?

‘A Gift Upon the Shore’ by M.K. Wren

As a teen I hoovered up any book in the genre of what I call ‘nuclear fiction’ (‘Fall-out’ by Gudrun Pausewang, ‘Children of the Dust’ by Louise Lawrence and ‘Brother in the Land’ by Robert Swindells): any story involving either nuclear bombs or accidents at a nuclear power station and the immediate aftermath from them. I love that stuff. This book focuses on the friendship of two women in the U.S., the narrative alternating between the present and the past – before, during and after the nuclear bombs fall. It thus should have been more exciting than it turned out to be. I still enjoyed it but it was more of a slow, thoughtful and philosophical read (listen), though there were some exciting parts. But the nuclear aspect of it was rather anti-climactic and underwhelming.

‘Sabriel’, ‘Lirael’ and ‘Abhorsen’ by Garth Nix

I hadn’t read this fantasy trilogy since my mid teens and was eager to be able to listen to them again. They held up well, which isn’t always the case. I definitely had got a few things mixed up in my memory though! It was a joy to come back to them again. I still loved the character of Sabriel, though this time around I appreciated Lirael more too. Sabriel is sort of perfect and you always know that she’ll do what’s needed. Lirael is more relatable, struggles more and hasn’t got everything sorted; I don’t think I appreciated the value of that the first time around. I’d forgotten about the Disreputable Dog and how much I liked her; I’m glad to have got reacquainted! If you’re into fantasy, this might be an enjoyable series for you.

‘The Marvellers’ by Dhonielle Clayton

This audiobook narrator is the worst I’ve ever come across. It’s like she has never encountered words before. Her voice sounds like a screen reader – as if she’s just reading individual words with no sense of them in the context of a sentence. She pronounces some words so bizarrely that they’re unrecognisable and you have to guess what the word is from the context. And for a few words, she pronounces the exact same word in a different way each time. I’ve never encountered an audiobook with this poor a standard of narration; you would have thought a producer would go back and re-record any glaring mistakes but no.

So it’s quite something when I say that I can’t wait to read the next book in the series when it comes out! It was really fun. Just please please please get a new narrator! I nearly gave up on the story many times because of the narrator.

I love me a magic school setting though! The main character is interesting and has a really hard time of it, starting at the new school, with teachers and students being hostile and against her admittance to the school for having “bad” light as the source of her magic. The book deals with themes of prejudice and discrimination well, appropriate for the age range at which the book is aimed.

‘Morning Star’ by Pierce Brown

This is the third book in the original dystopian sci-fi ‘Red Rising’ trilogy. In my review of the first two books of the series in my last Audiobook Adventures, looking back, I think that I was overly harsh on the first book. This trilogy has made it into my top 10 series of books. Yes, it may be brutal and the author kills off more beloved characters than George R.R. Martin, but you won’t find many books out there more thrilling and exciting. It’s very hard to talk about without giving away spoilers so I’ll just say that the ending is genius. Absolutely euphoric. Definitely recommend, though with the warning that it’s brutal.

‘This Is Not A Pity Memoir’ by Abi Morgan

I really don’t know what possessed me to listen to this. Given the medical incompetence, abuse and trauma I’ve experienced, it wasn’t the wisest decision. The concept of someone waking up from a coma thinking that his wife is an imposter and not his “real” wife was just too intriguing , I guess. But just the mention of the ‘d’ word (doctor) or ‘h’ word (hospital) is too much for me these days and the flashbacks and trauma are too great. I did finish the book and I’m sure many people will find a lot of meaning in it. It just wasn’t for me at this point in my medical history. I found lots of it deeply problematic too in terms of ableism, especially as the story is being told by the loved one looking on, as opposed to the person actually going through the ordeal.

As an aside, from a throwaway sentence in this book, if any nurse tells you that a relative in hospital is “refusing to eat”, don’t take it at their word or assume that your relative doesn’t want to eat or is being difficult. Often a plate of food is just left on a table to a patient that is not able to feed themselves or doesn’t have the strength to lift cutlery or cut up food themselves. When the food is left uneaten, instead of deducing that the patient needs help with eating, nurses often tell relatives that the patient is refusing to eat. Always check. Make sure your relative is getting the help they need instead of being left to starve, being too weak to communicate their needs.

‘Letters From Brenda: Two Suitcases. 75 Lost Letters. One Mother.’ by Emma Kennedy

Out of all the books above, this was my favourite. It’s a stunningly written memoir. Living under a rock, I had never heard of Emma Kennedy before but this book is absolutely fascinating, about her life and her mother’s life, inextricably intertwined. Her mother’s issues are complex but she’s a mesmerising character. This book deftly, sensitively and also, very amusingly, brings together the complicated picture of her mother.

The audiobook is wonderful, with Juliet Stevenson reading the entertaining letters written by Brenda, Emma’s mother, with interjections and notes from Emma. It perfectly captures the different facets of her mother’s character and the backstory shows how she came to be the way she was.

I’ve already made my Mum listen to this book! I’m sure I’ll be evangelistic about it to others too. When I enjoy something, I want others to share in the pleasure! It’s an irresistible book. Only an incredible writer could have the talent to accomplish something of this scope and nuance. A great read (listen).

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Links to previous reviews:

My Audiobook Adventures #1

My Audiobook Adventures #2

My favourite books (this is essentially My Audiobook Adventures #2.5!)

My Audiobook Adventures #3

The more eagle-eyed among you will notice that my intro for Audiobook Adventures #3 is the same as my intro for this current Audiobook Adventures #4. Apologies! I’m just not up to writing a different introduction this time around as I have worsened quite significantly.

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Other things to which I’ve been listening:

• Podcasts:
The Friendship Onion, Sounding The Shallows, The God Journey, and Best Worst Movies

• the Swimming World Championships:
one of the things that makes me most happy is listening to the swimming commentators Andy Jameson and Adrian Moorhouse. When they are together, they are magic; not only are they incredible at the professional part of their job (so much so that I don’t even feel like I’m missing out by only being able to listen, not watch, the swimming, because they describe it so vividly, accurately, with such enthusiasm and with such a wealth of knowledge of the sport) but also they’ve been friends for so long that their chat is natural and I love it when their friendship overflows to us when they can be wonderfully silly between races too, making each other, and us, laugh. Unfortunately Adrian wasn’t at the World Championships so Andy had different commentating partners (though he was still brilliant) but I’m looking forward to listening to the swimming at the Commonwealth Games when Andy and Adrian will be back together: the dream team! Just the thought of the joy that I know it will bring me makes me smile. I love them! I much prefer their funny chatter instead of the repetitive waffle of the presenters in the studio, so I always try to find the BBC stream that’s dedicated solely to the swimming (which is 100% Andy and Adrian commentating), as opposed to the BBC main channel, where there are presenters on camera (whom I don’t enjoy nearly so much and they go on and on talking rubbish), with some races being missed out in favour of listening to them. Or sometimes, they’ll switch to another sport while there’s still swimming going on. Rude!

<p>The post My Audiobook Adventures #4: March-July 2022 first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

Thank you to everyone who has donated and who has helped spread my story and fundraising link on social media. We’ve still got a long way to go but I’m very grateful for the generosity and kindness of so many.

There’s going to be some exciting fundraising news coming very soon on this website. Watch for a new page to be added to the main menu in the coming weeks. It’ll be announced on my social media accounts too. It’s something completely different to everything we’ve tried so far in terms of fundraising. Fingers crossed.

You may know me for my poetry (my poetry collection ‘We Are The Winter People’ is raising money towards my surgery and is available as a paperback, audiobook and ebook here: https://mybook.to/WinterPeople) but my first love as a writer is actually prose (fiction). I do love writing poems but it’s out of necessity that I lean in that direction because I am physically and cognitively unable to write something as long as a novel. During the 17 years I’ve been ill, I’ve imagined, plotted and planned out two full novels in my head. If I can get my neck fixed enough that I’m able to type out my two books, then I’ll be the happiest person alive. That’s the dream. (They’d become best-selling phenomenons, obvs.)

Thank you to my family and friend who gave me the audiobooks below for Christmas. Audiobooks are all that I have left and they keep me going. I love writing my opinions of them here in my Audiobook Adventures. It’s increasingly hard for my brain to function as my neck becomes more damaged without the surgery to fix it, and a lot of the time I’m unable to understand/process words and sentences. Often I don’t feel like ‘me’ anymore, especially when I become so cognitively diminished. But I’ve managed to gradually cobble together the reviews below in the times that I am more ‘with it’. I can only hold my phone up to my eyes (it’s too dangerous to move my neck so I can’t look downwards to see the screen of my phone so I have to lift my phone above my head at eye level to see the screen) for roughly 30 seconds at a time so it’s taken a long time to gradually write these on my phone. Writing brings me great pleasure though so I consider it worth it, even if it’s not up to the standard that my perfectionist self would like. I love the thought that I might bring someone else joy if they read a book that they enjoy as a result of one of my reviews though.

Thankfully, with Audible, you can slow down the speed of the narration. Due to my brain being impaired, I can’t listen at the normal speed (x1); I have to listen to these audiobooks at 0.7 or 0.8 speed. Also, bear in mind that because I’m only hearing the words, not seeing them, I’m unaware of how names and places are meant to be spelled! I’ve just used my best guesses.

My Audiobook Adventure Reviews:

‘Miss Benson’s Beetle’ by Rachel Joyce

This is a delightful story of an unlikely friendship between two women. At first glance they appear to be polar opposites but as the friendship grows, they push each other out of their comfort zones and they grow immensely. Eventually they bring out the best in each other.

I’ve been fascinated by entomology since I was young (I used to love the enthusiasm and passion of entomologist George McGavin, who was part of a team of experts of various specialisms in the documentary series ‘Lost Land of the Volcano/Jaguar/Tiger’ and ‘Expedition Borneo’; watch them! They’re great). I’m also a sucker for a story that involves surviving in a jungle (‘The Explorer’ by Katherine Rundell is my favourite jungle story; I highly recommend checking it out). ‘Miss Benson’s Beetle’ combines those two interests of mine as the women travel across the world to look for a particular golden beetle in a far off island jungle. We gradually learn more about the two women and their backstories as they get to know each other.

What I didn’t enjoy were the parts of the book from the point of view of Mundic, a veteran who becomes Margery’s stalker. I would have just edited out all of those bits of the book. The story already has sufficient peril from Enid’s past catching up with the two women so the Mundic subplot was unnecessary and frustrating. At first I was angry because it felt like the author was giving a voice to a perpetrator and being an apologist for this sort of crime, trying to excuse or explain it with the veteran’s trauma and mental health issues. This is insulting to most of the other people in the world with trauma and mental health problems; they don’t go around stalking people or hurting others. But then I realised that the author was maybe doing something more clever than that. I don’t know if I’m correct but I think she might have been trying to demonstrate that as women, if we have a gut instinct that a man is dangerous, we often then dismiss it and think ‘oh, I’m just being silly, it’s probably fine’. The first gut feeling we have about this Mundic character in the book is ‘he’s dangerous; he’s going to end up hurting someone’ but what the author then does by having snippets from his point of view, is gradually erode that feeling and I even eventually found myself wondering if he was actually going to end up helping or saving the women in some way. This erosion mirrors what we often do to ourselves in our minds as we gaslight ourselves. But, of course, we were right to begin with. He is dangerous and it has tragic consequences.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, even if some parts seemed unrealistic and too convenient. The ending was too sad for me. However, there were a few times when a sentence or paragraph was incredibly powerful or resonated with me deeply; I found myself wishing that I were able to write it down to remember the quote. That’s a sign of a talented writer.

‘Want To Play?’ by P.J. Tracy

When I was still able to watch television, there were so many crime TV shows that I loved (White Collar, Castle, Rizzoli & Isles, Elementary, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, Sherlock, Person of Interest, The Rookie, Psych, Hustle) but I’ve found it difficult to find crime books that are any good, let alone ones that are up to the standard of those television shows. The contemporary crime novels that I’ve tried so far, struggle with pacing (nothing happens for most of the book and then everything suddenly starts moving at the very end so you spend most of the book bored out of your mind) or they focus on being “atmospheric” (yawn) instead of having much of a plot or they have bland run-of-the-mill male protagonists. I tend to favour plot-heavy books with twists and surprise reveals, as well as great character development and unusual personalities, so I’m often left disappointed.

But huzzah! I’ve finally found a decent crime book. ‘Want to play?’ is an engaging story. I don’t want to say anything about the plot because the fun of crime novels is all about trying to figure out the mystery before the detectives in the book do! This novel is excellently paced and develops well. I didn’t want it to end. I must have liked it because I subsequently listened to the next four books in the series in succession. Fair warning, it was first published in 2003 and there are a couple of offensive words that aren’t acceptable and I’m sure those words wouldn’t get past publishers now. That doesn’t change that it’s a really good story.

I’d love any recommendations of brilliant contemporary crime novels that aren’t dull or detached, preferably with a female protagonist.

I gobbled up all of Agatha Christie’s books in my early teens so I don’t think there are any of those left for me to read! Plus I’m in the mood for something more current.

‘Cytonic’ (book #3 of the Skyward series) by Brandon Sanderson; ‘Sunreach’, ‘ReDawn’ and ‘Evershore’ (novellas #1, #2 and #3 of the Skyward Flight series) by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson

No matter what genre of book you usually like or dislike, the Skyward series transcends these usual preferences in a similar way to how Harry Potter and The Hunger Games do. Unless you embark on them deliberately determined to dislike them, you are going to love them because the stories are just that good. So I recommend that you give Skyward a try, even if science fiction isn’t usually your thing. It’s nigh impossible not to enjoy it.

I wrote about how much I loved the first two books in the Skyward series in My Audiobook Adventures #2. I have since read the next books in the order that they were intended: Sunreach, ReDawn, Cytonic then Evershore (i.e. the first two novellas, then the actual book 3 of the main series, then the third novella). I’m so glad that I did; I definitely recommend reading them in this order.

I was surprised that what I loved most was the opposite to what I was expecting. I thought that I was going to be blown away by the book of the main series but that I wouldn’t be quite so keen on the novellas; the reverse turned out to be the case. These novellas are awesome, especially Sunreach and Evershore. They are brilliantly done and the individual plots are incredibly satisfying and exciting. All three are worth it on their own merit and also for their place in the overarching narrative. The strength of the Skyward series is in the friendships, tension, warmth and humour within Skyward Flight; it feels joyful and like coming home to be back with those characters together (apart from Spensa, of course, who is off on her own). I’d really missed them.

In Sunreach and Evershore, I especially love the parts when the characters are figuring out things about the taynix, the different types, what they can do, and the growing understanding and relationships with the creatures. Those slugs are the best; I can’t get enough of them. They’re so original, unique and interesting.

The novellas each build beautifully into well-earned and thrilling culminations. As always with Sanderson, the plotting is masterful, rich and intricately fits together.

‘Cytonic’, like the previous two books in the main series, is from Spensa’s point of view. As much as I love Spensa, I miss her being with the rest of her Flight (I missed this in Starsight as well but I thought it was only going to last for that book). I know that the plot requires her to be off on her own but I can’t help feel that the books are weaker because of it. But comparatively, compared to most other books in existence, Cytonic is still brilliant; it’s just that Brandon Sanderson has set the benchmark so high that it’s not quite as good as the stunning first book of the Skyward series.

I don’t find the fragment landscape of the belt of the Nowhere as interesting as I think we’re meant to find it. Annoyingly we keep on being told, through Spensa’s enthusiasm, that it’s an exciting adventure to explore this place but the journey across the different biome fragments feels like filler and boring ‘waiting room’ time between finding out the juicy stuff – the things we really want to discover – in the memories of the ancient cytonics in the portal stones. I got impatient at the extended stay with the Broadsiders and the fuzziness of losing memories and personality. I didn’t expect that the whole book would be spent in the Nowhere and was disappointed that it wasn’t until the very end that everyone was reunited.

I’m avoiding the main spoilers and revelations because I don’t want to ruin the books for anyone. That also means, however, that I can’t comment on the best parts of the book!

Before these four books, M-Bot was my favourite but he became a bit irritating. I like the slugs best, plus FM and Rig too. They’re my favourites now.

If you’ve read these books, I’d love to know your thoughts on them in the comments. Do you agree/disagree with me? How did they compare with your expectations?

I truly believe that Brandon Sanderson is one of the greatest writers ever to have lived, what with his incredible imagination and writing ability. In my opinion, his fantasy series ‘The Stormlight Archive’ is his masterpiece; you can read how much I loved and admired it here in My Favourite Books. Each book in that series is a whopper in length though and requires quite a commitment. The ‘Skyward’ series is more accessible in terms of length and immediacy so it might be a better place to start as an introduction to his work if you haven’t read any Brandon Sanderson before. Lots of people prefer the ‘Mistborn’ trilogy, which I did enjoy too, but I personally prefer ‘The Stormlight Archive’ and the ‘Skyward’ series. If you’ve fallen out of love with reading, Skyward might just be the ticket to get you back to enjoying books again.

‘Acting Up: Me, Myself and Irene’ by Lynne McGranger

This autobiography zips along with Lynne McGranger’s dry self-deprecating wit and exuberant, chatty style so that you don’t even notice time passing. The audiobook is wonderful because it’s narrated by Lynne herself so that you hear her inflection and tone, which can change the way you perceive the meaning. Plus it’s nice to hear her distinctive and familiar voice.

Although the voice is familiar, the person behind it is something new and unexpected (in a good way). Obviously I knew that Lynne would be a different personality to her character Irene in ‘Home & Away’ but it was interesting to get to know the real person behind the character a little. Her vibrancy and liveliness shine.

It was absorbing to hear about her experiences growing up in post-war Australia, her relationship with her parents and her journey to becoming an actor. People and cultures are endlessly fascinating to me and I enjoyed learning how she came to be the person that she is now and all the struggles that she has faced. Lynne is refreshingly honest, touching and down to earth when discussing her grapples with an eating disorder, an abortion, drugs, a miscarriage, God and grief.

I started watching ‘Home & Away’ in 2007 and didn’t miss an episode all the way until my disastrous surgery in January 2020, after which I wasn’t able to watch television anymore. I miss my daily Summer Bay fix (if anyone knows where I can legally listen to audio described episodes of Home & Away in the UK, preferably dating back two and a quarter years so that I can listen to all that I’ve missed, let me know!). I enjoyed getting the lowdown of how ‘Home & Away’ is filmed and Lynne’s account of some of the behind-the-scenes action.

I recommend this book, especially if you’re a ‘Home & Away’ fan, but also if you’re just interested in other people and their stories.

‘Red Rising’ by Pierce Brown

My very favourite stories are those where a character has to stand up against an evil regime that governs with a controlling and cruel grip, and that character has to work against them in the hopes of overthrowing them and making a better, fairer world. ‘Red Rising’ falls into that genre but with a science fiction setting.

After a bit of a slow start, this book really gets going after the Truman Show-sized revelation that the main character’s life and everything that he’s ever known is a lie. Once we get past that and realise that he’s going to have to infiltrate The Society and be accepted to the Institute, I became very excited for what I thought was going to come (a school-esque learning setting where he would have to befriend his enemies and rise up the ranks). I enjoyed the process of him learning the accent, speech and etiquette of the people he is about to infiltrate.

On the first night at this Institute however, the students are removed from that location. Things get turned on their head and the story becomes a whole different beast. They are taken to a valley and the “school” is a bit like surviving in the arena in the Hunger Games but with students divided into different teams (houses), each with their own base castle, with the victor being the team that conquers the others. What follows is pretty unstructured, brutal and chaotic but we get to know a whole cast of characters. I’d have preferred to see the main character develop and devise an interesting and proper strategy. The bits I enjoyed most were when he and the other characters made a clever play to win another team’s base.

The ending is exciting but, again, it’s more a result of force than any clever strategy.

Overall, it’s very entertaining but it could have been even better, I think. I was genuinely devastated when a certain character died so the author definitely did something right. It’s still better than most books out there and worth a read/listen. I’m looking forward to listening to the next two books in the series and seeing whether the main character is successful in creating a better world in the end.

[Update from future Jenny: I am currently listening to the second book in this series and it’s brilliant. I now LOVE this series. This book (‘Golden Son’) is incredible and expands so much; it’s rich, thrilling and cleverly plotted. Looking back on the first book now with hindsight, it was building a platform from which this series could soar, developing the characters and establishing the world. I definitely recommend this series – read it! But woah, this author is worse than George R.R. Martin in killing off characters.]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

My parents read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to my brothers and me when we were very young (I was 6 years old maybe?). Although my brothers loved them, I wasn’t quite so enamoured, which was unusual because fantasy was my favourite book genre throughout my childhood and teens. At that young age though, there were some bits of Lord of the Rings that I found a bit dry and slow and I probably got distracted with doodling/drawing while listening. When the first film came out when I was 15, I had forgotten most of the story and was mainly excited on behalf of my brothers when we arrived at the cinema. The excitement displayed itself, not annoyingly at all *cough*, by me nudging them about twice every second right up until the film started.

But oh. It was the best surprise when my socks were knocked off in the most spectacular fashion. I was in a speechless sort of hallowed shock afterwards. I had never seen anything like it before. I was awestruck and loved it so much.

My brothers and I watched the DVDs over and over and over and over, as well as watching all of the hours and hours and hours of extras. I knew the films off by heart and I eventually decided not to rewatch them for a long time so that they would regain their specialness.
Then I became ill and ended up not rewatching the trilogy until 2019! It was surreal to see it again. Not only was I emotional at the momentous occasion but it was added to by the fact that the last time I had watched it, I had been healthy, physically strong and sporty. Watching it transported me right back to that time and it was overwhelming: all the ghosts of all the hopes and dreams that I’d had at that age, which were stolen by illness.

Then a few months ago, I found out about ‘The Friendship Onion’ podcast, which is made by the actors who played Merry and Pippin in the films. I went back to the first episode and binge-listened to all the episodes! It was like coming back to old friends. I remember them so clearly in the DVD extras, being funny, all the stories they told and the camaraderie of the cast. So I’ve been loving listening to that podcast weekly. It also reignited my interest in the books. I barely remembered them and hadn’t ever given them another chance. So I proceeded to listen to them all (the Andy Serkis-narrated audiobooks).

I was pleasantly surprised by them. I wasn’t expecting to be. I assumed, from my childhood remembrances, that the books were dry and boring.

I loved finding out what “really” happened and was fascinated by the differences between the books and films. These were the ones hat struck me most:

• The time scales were a lot different all the way through (there were 17 years between Bilbo’s party and when Frodo left! Frodo was in his 50s!) and they spent a lot longer in some locations.
• Merry didn’t start out from Hobbiton with the other three!
• Farmer Maggot was a force for good!
• Weathertop wasn’t the hobbits’ fault!
• Arwen has next to no role in the books. Frodo was on the horse by himself being chased up to the Ford before Rivendell.
• Rivendell is basically just a house in a valley!
• It was Aragorn who pushed to go through the mountains and Gandalf who was pushing to go through Moria, not Gimli!
• Galadriel has a husband, who seems to have been erased in the films!
• “The world has changed, I feel it in the water etc” – those were Treebeard’s lines, not Galadriel’s!
• A lot of the Ent/huorn content was taken out in the films. The huorns were the ones who saved the day at Helm’s Deep! No elves/Haldir came (what a random thing to add to the films).
• Eomer was at Helm’s Deep from the start of the battle; Gandalf fetched other riders of Rohan, not him.
• Eowyn and the other women and children of Rohan didn’t travel with the men on the way to Helm’s Deep; they evacuated separately to a different place.
• The battle at Minas Tirith/Pelennor fields seemed a lot bigger deal in the books than Helm’s Deep, which felt the reverse in the films!
• The army of the dead didn’t go as far as the Pelennor fields, only to the boats; they didn’t seem as powerful, only being able to strike fear into people, which caused them to drown or run away, but not directly kill them. It wasn’t them who saved the day!

Sam and Faramir were revelations in the books and became my favourite characters. This was very different from the films, where Aragorn, Gandalf and Pippin had been my favourites. In the books, Aragorn felt more remote and detached; it was hard to connect with him. I felt distanced from him as a reader (listener). Sam was the most relatable character and provided the way ‘in’ to connect with the story; he was the only character that Tolkien let us in to hear his internal monologue, especially towards the end. I liked being inside his head for all his thought processes (which were often quite amusing) and decision-making, always thinking he would make the wrong choice. All the bits with Faramir were some of the most interesting and enjoyable. I liked Pippin a lot too. I actively disliked Aragorn by the end; they definitely made him a lot more likeable in the films. I hated how condescending and sexist he was towards Eowyn and the way he treated her in general.

My favourite part was probably from the bottom of Mount Doom onwards, as it all got too much for Frodo and as Sam came into his own. I loved all the dramatic bits as Sauron realised what was happening, the struggle with the ring, Mordor being torn apart when it was all done and the eagles coming. I also liked when everything was restored in the Shire with Sam’s gift from Galadriel.

The landscape descriptions were…not…my favourite. I don’t like descriptive writing; it doesn’t hold my attention or concentration. Also, suddenly Tolkien would say a compass direction and I realised that I had visualised the directions/locations incorrectly and I was facing the wrong way and I had to reimagine landscapes and places in the correct direction and reposition myself before restarting along my journey! If I’d been able to look at a map of Middle Earth I think that might have helped me get my bearings more rather than relying on descriptions. I think I did pretty well all in all though and figured it out.

The bits in Hobbiton, both at the beginning and very end were some of my favourite parts too.

A random thing that I noticed was that Tolkien used the word ‘amaze’ several times in this kind of context: “he stared at it in amaze.” I wonder when the word ‘amazement’ first came into use and presumably it existed alongside ‘amaze’ before taking over in popularity. I wonder if ‘amaze’ was considered more proper or more grammatically correct for a while.

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Congratulations if you’ve made it this far to the end of these reviews! I still have a few audiobooks left that I was given for Christmas, including ‘Leviathan Wakes’ and ‘The Fifth Season’, but I’m always looking for more recommendations of books to read (though make sure they’re available as audiobooks first!). Leave a comment below telling me about a book you love, what you’ve been reading or if you have opinions about my reviews above!

<p>The post My Audiobook Adventures #3 first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

I have to spend 18 hours a day straining to hold my neck and head in a certain position so that a certain small pinprick of a spot on my neck gets pressed down on by the pillow, which allows a bit more blood through, and, after 18 hours like this, of this spot staying relatively unblocked (and never being able relax because if I don’t strain to hold that “magic” position, then I slip off that spot, which also causes things to “break/snap” and/or sublux in my neck and/or hardware, causing more damage), then I get back just about enough blood to be able to feel my tongue, throat and inside of my mouth a little bit, in order to be able to swallow to eat. Next, I have to eat a day’s worth of soft nutrition in one go (raising the angle of the hospital bed to as low an angle as possible but not so low that I’d choke on food but even so, a combination of my vertical neck instability and hardware looseness means that my skull sinks, rotates and slips into my neck and gets stuck while eating. And extra subluxations occur).

Afterwards I have work for hours trying to pull my skull out and untangle it all in order to get into a position where I might be able to sleep. When I do sleep, it’s only for a very short time because when I sleep, my neck relaxes and pings back into a position which cuts off blood more and everywhere regains its numbness. Then the 18 hour process of trying to get enough blood back to eat starts all over again. I’m getting 20-80 minutes sleep per every 30 hours or so. I’m out of my mind with sleep deprivation (I’ve only been able to write this blog post gradually over a long period of time while I struggle to remember words and construct sentences, holding the phone up to my tiny field of vision in bursts of 30 seconds every few days, which is risky because it takes my concentration away from my neck and I can easily wobble into another “break”). I do sometimes black out but I don’t know if that’s the sleep deprivation or the lack of blood to the brain. Or both. I have seizure-like episodes too, as well as short periods of temporary paralysis.

I can’t describe how desperate I am to get to America for the operations I need. If I move even a millimetre in the wrong direction, extra damage happens. If I touch the wrong part of my neck or skull to the pillow, extra damage happens. All of which means it takes even longer to get enough blood back to be able to eat (it didn’t use to take 18 hours; it’s worked it’s way up to that amount of time as more damage (and therefore blockage) has occurred). I’m always in respiratory distress as my airway is increasingly obstructed.

So please please please, spread the word about my fundraising attempt. If you need a concise well-written description of why I need surgery and what I need it for, this link is a good one to use for sharing with others: www.jkrowbory.co.uk/about-me/ and the donation page is gofundme.com/savejenny. Buying lots of copies of my poetry book ‘We Are The Winter People’, which is raising money for my surgeries in the US and the Medevac (air ambulance) to get there, as Christmas presents for people would be very helpful too. You can buy it on this website or on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3C1ZXum

In the meantime, I’m able to listen to audiobooks sometimes during those long 18 hours, though it’s getting harder as the sleep deprivation increases. Audiobooks have been keeping me sane (well, sort of. 🤪) and sharing my opinions about books is something that I really enjoy and thought could be helpful if anyone is looking for gift ideas for Christmas.

So here are my reviews of the books to which I’ve listened recently:

‘Skyward’ and ‘Starsight’ (the first two books of the Skyward trilogy) by Brandon Sanderson

The best science fiction I’ve ever read (admittedly I don’t have as broad an experience with sci-fi novels as I do with fantasy or dystopian novels but I’ve still read a fair few). Just really fun and enjoyable. As usual with Brandon Sanderson, you get both deep, masterful plotting with unfolding secrets and mysteries AND excellent character growth and development. As a result, you get deliciously drawn into their world, minds and hearts. I especially loved the training of the characters in flight school (school-esque settings are always fun to read), their growing friendships and how we see their learning progression as they gradually become starfighter pilots (to aid in their world’s desperate attempt to defend themselves from the aliens trying to destroy them). But is everything as it seems? You’ll have to read it to find out 🙃. Lots of perilous, heart-stopping moments too. I’m really looking forward to the release of the third book in this series in November.

‘Dear Mrs Bird’ and ‘Yours Cheerfully’ by AJ Pearce (The Emmy Lake Chronicles)

Utterly charming. These books provided a welcome refreshment after coming out of a series where each book had a listening time of over 45 hours each (it was an exceptional series but I needed a bit of a switch up to something completely different afterwards)! Historical fiction is usually something I avoid because I don’t tend to enjoy it but there are always exceptions and this is one of them. These books shine and are delightful. Dreaming of becoming a daring war correspondent, Emmy Lake accidentally falls into a job as a typist at a women’s weekly magazine for the Agony Aunt page called ‘Dear Mrs Bird’ but finds herself taking matters into her own hands when Mrs Bird turns out to be a rather unpleasant editor who refuses to help readers with any real sort of problems. But what will be the consequences if she is discovered? As we build towards the denouement, I loved Emmy’s relationships and interactions with an eccentric cast of characters that you come to love, all set amongst the horror and constant peril of the Blitz, with Emmy working part time on the telephones for the fire service as bombs fall. Who will live and who will die?

(Thank you Ruth for recommending ‘Dear Mrs Bird’ to me. Thoroughly enjoyed it.)

‘Fireborn’ by Aisling Fowler

This is a passable read but overall a disappointment. A bit of a simplistic, unoriginal fantasy story that never rings true. When children’s and YA fantasy is done well, then it makes great reading for both adults and younger readers but this book is not one of those. Maybe children encountering a fantasy book for the first time might enjoy it but compared to others in the genre, it’s basic and does not stack up. I’m also not a fan of the let’s-go-on-an-unnecessarily-long-journey-and encounter-foe-after-foe type of story; I get bored! The main character is one of the dime-a-dozen “tough girl who’s great at fighting” that we see lots of these days, who has a rivalry with an entitled, sneery boy. The characters do grow but nothing feels fleshed out. It all seems artificial and forced. Plus it was jarring to have, for instance, a character yell “CONSTANT VIGILANCE” like Mad-Eye Moody famously does in Harry Potter. This weirdness was added to by the creature called a Grim, albeit a totally different entity than the one in Harry Potter (and obviously JK Rowling didn’t invent Grims), but it was just the two together that made it feel odd and lazy. I liked the squirrel though.

Fantasy books that I’d recommend instead for the same age group at which this book is targeted: the Wind on Fire trilogy, Alanna: the First Adventure, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, the Old Kingdom trilogy, The Dark is Rising sequence.

‘Flowers for Algernon’ by Daniel Keyes

It’s hard to say anything about how I feel about this book without giving away the ending. What I will say is that it’s an addictive, affecting story that is powerful, thought-provoking and will stay with you.

I think this would have been very different to read as opposed to listen to because the story is told in diary-style progress reports by the main character who is taking part in an experimental surgical procedure to increase his intelligence. From the sounds of the audiobook, I imagine the spelling and grammar gradually change as the effects of the surgery emerge; we don’t get to properly sense this change in his writing as listeners. I definitely recommend this book though.

‘Circle of Friends’ by Maeve Binchy

This book almost has a sort of Anne of Green Gables feel to it (there can’t be a much higher compliment than that, can there). It’s a lovely, gentle story in a small community, set in Ireland and follows the friendship of two girls from age 10 ‘til age 20 (1949-1959). An unexpected delight, totally different to my usual fare. The audiobook is wonderful and adds to being immersed in the setting with its Irish accented narrator (she is the daughter of the author). I’d never read anything by Maeve Binchy before. Would love to know your recommendations for other books by the same author; are they all this good?

‘A Funny Life’ by Michael McIntyre

Exactly what you want (and more) from Michael McIntyre’s autobiography. Entertaining and funny but also touching and surprising in places. Despite loving ‘Michael McIntyre’s Big Show’ on TV, I knew next to nothing of his backstory and struggle to make ends meet for a long time before his success. The glimpse into the behind-the-scenes first appearances he makes on panel shows and the cut-throat world of comedians and entertainment is fascinating. It’s also interesting to learn of his thought processes, his crippling self-doubt and lack of confidence. His relationship with his, now late, agent is moving and captivating; his agent is the sort of person who almost seems fictional because they’re so larger-than-life. The book is dedicated to him.

I particularly loved the audiobook because it’s read by Michael himself and there are a few asides that are only in the audiobook, not in the print book (not many, but still, a few).

It’s strange the random things you remember as sticking out in your mind about a book when coming to write a review. One thing is what Michael regarded as a near career-ending incident at the BAFTAs and the effect it had on him, another thing is Michael describing how his wife has to give almost a little funeral when throwing away household objects, due to the memories and nostalgia attached to them. Thus I automatically like his wife because I’m similar in this way; if I find out that Mum has got rid of something (for example, her tasselled bag that I strongly associate with her throughout my childhood), I’m all “but…but I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” Now I know that some other people are like this too!

‘Where the Light Fell’ by Philip Yancey

I remember reading a book by Philip Yancey when I was 16. My family and I were staying in the house of a church friend while we were looking for a house to rent and didn’t have anywhere else to go. It was an uncertain time and I had just started at a new school for sixth form. I found ‘The Jesus I Never Knew’ by Philip Yancey on the bookshelves of the room I was staying in and buried myself in it, escaping everything else. I only have a very vague memory of enjoying it now but when I saw that Philip Yancey had written a memoir, I recalled enough about him to know that it would be well-written, honest and fascinating (spoiler: it was).

I felt an affinity with him early on in the memoir when he mentions in passing that he hates tomatoes. That shows very good judgment.

Philip’s father dies when he is a baby and he grows up poor with an abusive, fundamentalist mother. He is also very honest and up front about the racism and the narrative of the civil war that he is raised on, living in the South at that time in history. It’s a fascinating and horrifying personal window into that period of time. He doesn’t hold back from confronting his own racism, which, as an avid reader, begins to be challenged in his teenage years when he reads books by black authors, and then how he feels after the staggering violence he witnesses at a political rally.

It’s compelling to see historical events from an individual point of view. It becomes more real when living it through an alive person’s story instead of in a dry textbook. His experience of the Kennedy assassination is so interesting because of seeing it through his eyes.

His rollercoaster journey with religion is absorbing to read about, growing up in church but never truly encountering God. Then in college, searching for what is real and what is fake (something with which I’m very familiar) before finally having an experience that brings him to faith.

This is a stunning and profound memoir. I haven’t even touched upon his brother’s story. But this book is well worth reading and I thoroughly recommend it.

I am always desperate for more recommendations of audiobooks. Please leave your book recommendations in the comments! In my current state, my brain can only cope with either fiction or autobiography so I can’t handle any other non-fiction at the moment. On BBC Sounds, I also enjoy The Birthday Cake Game (thank you again, Ruth, for the suggestion) and, of course, Just A Minute. I listen to Adrian and Bridget Plass on their podcast/YouTube channel ‘Sounding the Shallows’ every Friday and also the podcast ‘Witch, please’. Let me know in the comments if you have any other suggestions for fun things to listen to.

Click to see my favourite books

<p>The post My audiobook adventures #2 (plus a little update) first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>

It will be hosted by Paul Kerensa (co-writer of BBC hits ‘Miranda’ and ‘Not Going Out’, comedian, author of fabulous books and wonderful human being).

Exclusive content of the book launch:

• The acclaimed composer Janet Wheeler has created an incredible piece of choral music using the words of one of Jenny’s poems. This piece will be premiered at the online book launch.

• Elliott Frisby of Monkeynut Audiobooks will be in conversation with Angharad Price (the narrator of the audiobook) about why they wanted to publish this book.  

  • Wayne Jacobsen (Who is Wayne Jacobsen?) performs a reading of his favourite poem by Jenny  

‘We Are The Winter People’ is being released as an audiobook, ebook and paperback on 8th September 2021. This book is the next big push in Jenny’s Herculean fundraising attempt for life-saving surgery in the US, which is not available to her in the UK.

About the book:

We Are the Winter People is the collected poems of Jenny Rowbory. The diverse range of poetry deals with love, loss, imagination, memory and the poet’s ever-changing relationship with faith. Despite the struggles depicted within the work, it is an ultimately empowering collection, filled with strength, determination, and hope.

We Are the Winter People contains poems to ‘come alongside you and hold your hand’ and will offer you compassion and company in your times of struggle. Beautifully written, sometimes playful, and sometimes painful, the poetry speaks to our souls as we try to navigate this life together.

Buy the Book

There are print, ebook and audiobook versions of We Are The Winter People. The paperback and ebook are available through Amazon. The audiobook is available through all the usual places where you buy audiobooks (Google Play, Audible, iTunes etc.). The audiobook and ebook will also be available to buy here on this website (more money will be raised if you buy them directly from this website as that means there won’t be distributors taking a certain percentage of the money).

About Jenny Rowbory:

Jenny Rowbory was born in 1986 in Ashford, Middlesex, and currently lives in Wales. She is a published poet (‘Rainbows in my eyes’, Longman, 2009). During her first year at university in 2004, she became ill with a virus that caused severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord), causing Jenny to become bed-bound and acutely ill for the last sixteen and a half years.

In May 2015, after genetic testing, Jenny was also diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. This genetic disorder causes the body to produce faulty collagen. The biggest problem for Jenny is that the faulty collagen causes the ligaments and connective tissue in her neck to be lax, which means that it can’t support the spine or skull. So the vertebrae and skull move around and subluxate (subluxation is like dislocation) and blood flow is severely reduced, causing increasing numbness.

This neck instability became life-threatening and Jenny had to have an operation in January 2020 to try to fuse her neck in place to save her life, as well as a decompression surgery for Chiari Malformation. Unfortunately the fusion surgery was not a success and Jenny became a lot more disabled and it’s too dangerous for her to move her neck or head at all.

The only neurosurgeon in the world who specialises in fusion (and fusion revision) surgeries and invasive bolt traction testing to determine the correct fusion position for highly complex Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome patients, is in the USA. Jenny is clinging to life by the skin of her teeth and has been trying to hang on for over a year while trying to fundraise enough money for the three surgeries that this neurosurgeon has said Jenny needs to have a hope of staying alive and regaining some sort of quality of life.

The money raised by the sales of We Are The Winter People will go directly towards this goal of getting Jenny to America to have the life-saving surgeries she desperately needs. If you would like to donate further, you can do so through her fundraising page, which is gofundme.com/savejenny. Jenny would very much like to stay alive and is very grateful for any donation you’re able to give.

Jenny hasn’t been able to move her head off her pillow since the unsuccessful fusion surgery. She can’t look down, up or side to side. She can’t be washed or have her pyjamas or bedding changed because if she moves her neck even a tiny bit in the wrong direction, she does massive extra damage to her neck and blood flow is reduced further. Any extra bit of damage could very easily kill her. Nurses have tried and failed to wash her or change her clothes without seriously harming her neck further. The subluxing vertebrae have moved the neck into a structure that obstructs her airway quite a lot and she is always in respiratory distress. There is nothing more any doctor in the UK can do for her. So she has been left in this condition until she can raise the money needed to be treated by the surgeon in New York.

Only a patch of ceiling directly above Jenny is within her field of vision. The only part of her body that she’s seen since the operation are her hands, which she can raise to her eyes to see but she can’t look down to see anything else. She’s rarely able to look at the screen of her phone, even though she tries to hold it up directly above her head to put it in her field of vision, because doing so damages her neck more. So she has been completely cut off from the world and from other people. Her only solace has been audiobooks. So the fact that an audiobook will be helping to raise the funds for her surgeries is particularly fitting.

<p>The post You are invited to the online book launch of ‘We Are The Winter People’ – the Collected Poems of Jenny Rowbory: 7:30pm BST 8th September 2021 first appeared on Jenny Rowbory.</p>