I love the way this haunting memoir blends personal experience, literature, and folklore into an enchanting commentary on the relationship between women and the sea. I was swept away by the lyrical prose as Runcie ushered me through ocean landscapes and mythic stories. Beautifully written and researched, Salt on Your Tongue explores issues like pregnancy and motherhood as it introduces readers to artistic and scientific explorations of the sea. Its shape, which is divided into sections named after the stars in the Pleiades, ebbs and flows like the tides. I loved it!
'An ode to the ocean, and the generations of women drawn to the waves or left waiting on the shore' Guardian
In Salt On Your Tongue, Charlotte Runcie explores what the sea means to us, and particularly what it has meant to women through the ages. In mesmerising prose, she explores how the sea has inspired, fascinated and terrified us, and how she herself fell in love with the deep blue.
This book is a walk on the beach with Turner, with Shakespeare, with the Romantic Poets and shanty-singers. It's an ode to our oceans - to the sailors who…
I love Shveta Thakrar’s use of descriptive imagery as she weaves the contemporary young adult world into the enchanted forest realm of the yakshas. This book, which is full of fairy tale imagery and steeped in Indian mythology, brings readers to the Night Market, a magical place where the Fae sell their wares. The main character, Ridhi, creates natural perfumes, and Thakrar’s writing is so immersive the pages smell like spring rains and bouquets of wildflowers. Divining the Leaves is a beautiful exploration of folklore not often circulated in Western culture, and it lingers like a favorite scent!
"Filled with beautiful and dangerous magic, this book swirls around you like irresistible perfume." -Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop
From critically acclaimed author Shveta Thakrar comes a beautifully imagined contemporary fantasy about two teens, one a believer of magic who yearns to belong, the other a skeptic searching for an escape, who find themselves embroiled in a twisty world of court intrigue when they venture into a forest ruled by yakshas, mysterious woodland spirits drawn from Hindu and Buddhist folklore.
Plant-loving Ridhi Kapadia and popular Nilesh Batra were friends once.
I love Juliet Marillier’s combination of gorgeous writing and exciting storytelling in The Amber Owl. The protagonist, Stasya, a young woman with a special connection to animals, goes to great lengths to save the Heartwood Forest, and her adventures are both heartbreaking and inspiring. A perfectly paced book that explores the need to protect nature, the complexities of good and evil, and the power of storytelling all while taking the reader through unpredictable plot twists and poignant, emotional scenes. I couldn’t put it down!
Stasya lives in an isolated farming village on the edge of the mysterious Heartwood Forest with her unusual dog for company. Thought odd by the locals, she is tolerated for her rare gift with animals. Engaging with her fellow humans is difficult, with one goatherd Lukas, who shares her love of storytelling.
The peace of Heartwood is shattered when a group of soldiers descends, under orders from the Ruler of the Northlands. Their to hack a path through the forest and find the fabled treasure said to lie deep within. Under the grueling decree, Stasya's village falls into chaos. The…
We are all surrounded by darkness. And we are all drawn to the light.
The Orkney Islands north of Scotland are steeped in stories of selkies, seal folk who swim in cold ocean waters and shed their skins to sing and dance on land. One young girl named Isla uses legends of selkie brides to understand her parents’ troubled marriage and navigate her strained relationship with her mother. As Isla comes of age, she confronts the sacred points of transformation found between sea and land, nature and civilization, and past and present, uncovering the key to her identity.
Selkie Moon is a novella for all those who believe stories can illuminate the deepest and darkest waters of the human soul.
