Tales from Fraggle Towers

Posted in Book Review, books, FujiX-T2, macro, PhotographyTagged , , , ,

It’s being a quiet weekend here at Fraggle Towers. The Hub is on nightshift Friday, Saturday and Sunday so he is asleep all day. This is one of those pro’s and con’s situations. A con is that I miss talking to my best buddy, a pro is I can’t do much housework as it’s too noisy. A con is we don’t get to do movie night, a pro is I’m in charge of the remote control. A con is we don’t do stuff together, a pro is I get to read a book in the day, a lot!  

One of the nice things that happened that I didn’t realise would when I started blogging, is ‘meeting’ people who review books, and music, and movies.

I’ve seen movies I’d never have seen if it wasn’t for Jay & Sean and Vinnie and Pete , read books I would never have known about if it wasn’t for Nicole (thank you for Christopher Moore) Kim (thank you for Carlos Ruiz Zafon) and Dani  . 

I am also privileged to have proper writers in my little universe, Pete is a master of short stories and serials, Theo writes detective novellas incorporating time travel and alternative universes, April who writes medieval historical fiction and posts her fascinating research, as does M.B Henry, with her adventures tracking US Military history.  It’s a joy to read their blog posts. 

This past week I’ve been reading books by a lovely blogger, Teagan , who’s blog I’ve been following a while now.  Teagans imagination is bonkers, and she writes steampunk, she writes magic, she writes about the roaring twenties.  Her stories are compelling and her characters memorable. I was so enamored of her blog serials that I decided to try her Atonement in Tennessee novel, and really loved it. I don’t do book reviews so no spoilers here, all I’ll say is Teagan takes a chunk of ancient Welsh mythology, and weaves it into the modern day, with a few diverse nods to Jewish mysticism, Shakespeare, and Batman!  The cherry on the icing is that a fair bit of the story is seen through the eyes of a calico cat called Lilith, and I’m a sucker for clever cats. The story doesn’t end at the end of the book, so on I went to the second novel in the series, Atonement in Bloom, which, in spite of not having my favourite character in it, does have magic pigs. Magic pigs are not anything I ever considered myself reading about, but the whimsy here is quite addictive. I can only hope there’ll be a third installment as I’m very hooked. In the meantime I saw that there’s an accompanying short story collection set in Atonement, so I got that too, and it is a must-have if you are contemplating entering the completely batshit world of Atonement, Tennessee. I would love to photograph that place! 

As well as being as quiet as a mouse reading Teagan’s books, I’ve also been doing some macro photography, for the Monday Macro group I’m in. The theme is ‘soft’ so I decided to use my feathery stuff, but I can’t decide which one to use,

Whaddya think? 

I want to mention a film I saw in the week, it’s called, They Shall Not Grow Old, it’s the reality of WW1, and was made by Peter Jackson, he of Lord of the Rings fame. I hope Pete reviews it at some point, as I know I cannot do it justice, but there’s an explanation here  that’s worth reading.

Finally (yay) we had a gorgeous sunset one night this week, I forget which one in particular, and that’s a nice way to end this post.

29 thoughts on “Tales from Fraggle Towers”

  3. I like the middle feather best, but they are all good.
    Teagan’s writing is a blast. Who doesn’t want to know about magic pigs? And she’s a great blogger too.
    I will probably review the Peter Jackson film when it comes out on DVD. Not everyone is able to view it at the moment. To be honest, I am still more than a little overwhelmed by it. It changed an entire genre. Outstanding!
    Best wishes, Pete. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  4. Oh Fraggle… I’m a horrible person! I only just found your wonderful. beautiful review of my books… I’m miffed at WordPress for not sending a notice (as they are meant to do when you so kindly included a link to my blog… but the blame is mine.
    OMG and you read all three. I’m such a heel. I am not worthy, I am not worthy… (Pardon my Wayne and Garth moment.)
    By the way (I don’t openly talk about it on my blog but) I’ve been getting ready to drain myself out of the DC swamp these past several weeks. I’m so desperate that I’ll take an early retirement and hope to get a part time job to make ends meet.
    Meanwhile I’ve been sorting all my belongings to donate everything, to avoid the expense of moving it.
    I’ve been negotiating and picked a little cottage. Friday the bank finally did the “full” approval on my loan and the closing is Dec 20th. So early next year I’ll be moving to the quirky little town of Alamogordo, New Mexico.
    Oh, and they have a giant pistachio.

    Now that’s quirky.
    So you see I’ve been busy. But I’m still a heel for not finding this delightful review. Sharing everywhere!
    Hugs on the wing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      2. Pete, the cottage actually has a small cactus garden in back. 😀 They were surprisingly hard to get when I lived in Albuquerque. The locals wouldn’t have anything to do with digging them up (where they grow wild). Apparently even the roots are prickly), and landscape stores didn’t carry them.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. You are not a horrible person silly! You’re just really busy a lot 😂 I loved all three books so much. I hope your move goes smoothly, exciting but stressful I should think, but with a less stressed life at the end of it. I am so jealous that you have a giant pistachio!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Haha. I think that was what “closed the deal” on me choosing that location — the pistachio made it quirky enough! The cost of housing and living is remarkably low there. Small town away from big cities, but still has the infrastructure for utilities. A bonus that I didn’t know until after I chose, the University of New Mexico has a campus there. I’m looking into getting a part time adjunct professor position there eventually.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Pingback: Tales from Fraggle Towers | Teagan's Books

  7. I love your photos, great use of a macro lens/feature. I fully understand your reaction to Teagan’s books. I wouldn’t normally think “her imagination is bonkers” would be a compliment but it is, and it’s so well deserved. Great post!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. Hehe yes, they are! think you are in a distant country called Peru in another side of the world and that box, those feathers and those colors are something like you would only see in movies or chronicles from travels to distant countries. I suspect my country would look exotic to you too ^_^

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Pingback: The Armadillo Files, Episode 2 — Featuring Fraggle – Teagan's Books
  10. Pingback: Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 6, Featuring Fraggle – Teagan's Books

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