...spine cracking controversy

SPINE-CRACKING – that’s right! I said it!

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, spine-cracking is the controversial, often misunderstood act of cracking the spine of a book the second you begin reading it, breaking it in as you would a new pair of shoes, so that it no longer feels stiff and uncomfortable to wear.

Some frown upon this much disputed approach to book-reading. I understand their confusion. The deliberate act of spine cracking can easily be misconstrued as an act of readers blasphemy, but any true-hearted reader knows it's actually a form of genuflection - a reverent bending of the knee in acknowlegement of an incredible piece of literature. I appreciate it the only way I know how - CRACK!
Spine-cracking is the ultimate way to demonstrate appreciation of a novel, and shame on anyone who thinks otherwise. I firmly believe that when you find a book you love, not only should you crack its spine, but you should bend the cover, scribble in the margins, correct the spellings and grammar that was missed by self-published authors or poor editing, stuff the book into your coat pocket when it's clearly too large to fit; drop it in your bath water because the duration of a bath is too long to wait to discover the fate of the character who's just run head long into a battlefield in the book you’re currently reading, then spend the next week trying to dry that book out on the radiator in the middle of summer and sweating yourself into oblivion in the process; dog-ear the pages to mark your place when you can't find your bookmark, dog-ear more pages to mark a passage of writing that you want to reflect upon later; stuff it under you pillow at night in hopes of absorbing some of the magic emitted from its pages, drop it in shock multiple times when you realise the author has just killed off yet another of your favourite characters (I’m talking to you, J.K Rowling).

How will your book know how much you appreciate it, when it looks all shiny and new and like you wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole for fear of wrinkling the cover? This comment I direct to my brother, who no longer cares to borrow my books owing to the supple, flexible comfort of their well-loved covers. He prefers to buy his own copies, the covers of which he will preserve and protect from the likes of me. Tut, tut. He doesn't know what he's missing.

However, I make one exception to this constructive destruction of literature, and that, of course, is VINTAGE LITERATURE! Beautiful old volumes that look like they belong on the set of a film. These books should be handled with care and preserved. Strictly no spine-cracking/dog-earing/coverbending allowed! No direct sunlight that’s going to bleach the colour out of the covers, no damp windowsills being substituted for bookshelves. No letting your cats find the ribbon that hangs down in them to mark the pages (apologies to my copy of Sense & Sensibility that nearly perished in the paws of my cat - I'll never leave the ribbons hanging out again!)

I hope I've made my case. Love your books to death, unless they're old! Then keep them from dying...

I'll be back with another blog next Monday! Until then, you can find me across social media @zuzuspages
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Zuzu 🖋

...it's just another manic monday

A couple of weeks ago I blogged that I was stuck in the forest of writers block. I'm no longer stuck, though I am still tramping the edges, wearing a dent into the grass and looking longingly past the branches to the fields beyond, because I just can't justify taking time to write at the moment. It's like having a itch you don't have time to stop and scratch. Pretty darn irritating, but bearable for now.

Until I have the privilege of calling myself a published author, I've realised that there are other things I have to prioritise during lockdown - like securing an income! I'm a performer by trade, and lockdown has been detrimental for all art related industries. Obviously, performers are not key workers, and besides that everywhere that I previously performed is closed to the public. Work is non-existent and so, I've been rallying online to try and keep myself in the public eye.

As someone who's considered old-fashioned in their embrace of technology, I never thought I'd become so reliant on the internet to do business. I spend all day, every day on my laptop or phone. What has become of me? My eyes lament for the days when they weren't bombarded by glowing blue-light.

Although I'm not able to write at the moment, I'm making time to read.
Words are a balm to my brain, and books are so soothing to get lost in. The ultimate form of escapism. I'm 21 books into my self-inflicted 50 Book Challenge of 2020. Lockdown is aiding and abetting my already out of control reading addiction. My TBR pile has never been so small. What's normally a mountain has reduced to a mere tower.

I attribute my shred of remaining sanity to books. So many people are struggling mentally in lockdown, and reading gives me an allotted hour (at least) when I can stop, snuggle up with a cup of tea and the susurrus of a purring cat, and let my mind slow down enough to slip into the other worldly pages of a book.
Currently, I'm residing with the Larkin's in The Darling Buds of May by H.E Bates. Such a feel-good story, perfect for bringing comfort.


I'm going to keep this blog short, because I'm multitasking through this Monday, but you can find me across social media in between blogs: Facebook Instagram Twitter

Until next week,
Zuzu 🖋

...(book review) the spirit in the crypt by alexander lound

Ever wonder how it feels to speak to the dead? When fifteen-year-old Jonathan Roberts goes out with his friends on a summer night, he doesn't expect to be forced to enter a crypt by Francis Everton. To be forced to look at skeletons decaying in their graves.

To hear the voice screaming at him. Screaming into him mind. Commanding him to leave. 

What the voice in the crypt belongs to he can only wonder. A demon? A ghost? It gives him nightmares for weeks afterwards. Of skeletons strangling him. And then, bizarrely, of a girl from his school, making the long walk across the graveyard and entering the crypt. Never to come out before his waking. 

When he returns to school in September, he never expects to learn that something awful has happened to the girl, turning his fear to panic. Panic which will force him to unravel the mystery of the crypt, and in doing so, many mysteries about himself.

THE SPIRIT IN THE CRYPT by Alexander Lound (Jonny Roberts Series Book 1)

Published: 2020

Genre: Teen/YA Paranormal Fiction

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Spirits of the past, move among us. Be guided by the light of this world and visit upon us."

Many thanks to Alexander Lound, the author of The Spirit in the Crypt, who provided me with an eBook of his debut novel in exchange for an honest review, which I was all too happy to provide! I'm so glad he did since it was an introduction I might not otherwise have received into this fast paced, YA paranormal fiction. In other words, this ghost story! Easy to read and full of mystery.

Generically, YA novels target the 12-18 age group. The main character is 15 years old and this is a pretty accurate gage for the reading age in respect of this book, I would say, though could be enjoyed by younger or older readers based on personal preference. I enjoyed it!

"His soul had departed, had gone into storage while other spirits used his body."

The supernatural elements of the novel are well thought out and obviously researched, but somehow felt slightly unpolished in places, particularly the dialogue between characters used to convey this information. This was not enough to put me off reading however, and did not confuse me or distract me from the story. It might even go unnoticed by another reader - but having grown up in quite a spiritual household, I have some insight into the subject matter that other readers, understandably, might not. For example, twice the burning of sage is mentioned to protect and ward off evil, but it's strongly suggested through the way the book's worded that the sage being used might be fresh, where typically it should be dried for this purpose. I only mention this a nod to small missing details.

I ploughed through this book in a little over a night, compelled by the characters and their motives. All very engaging and relatable, even the Spirit, initially considered evil, is cast in a complex and revealing light that means there are many times when I found myself empathising with it and feeling its sorrow.
I loved the character of Jonny, and the paranormal world he's forced to confront whist juggling the trials of being a typical teenage boy, maintaining friendships, facing bullies and playing Xbox!

The book ends by sneaking us a preview of the sequel The Burned House which has intrigued me. The author has also gifted me the sequel, so I'm excited to see how the story continues to unfold.

The Spirit in the Crypt is the first in the Jonny Roberts Series by Alexander Lound. Do check it out, particularly if you've got teenage kids to your name! It's available as a paperback or eBook from Amazon, and you can follow the author on Instagram @aloundauthor


Until next week, find me across social media. Zuzu's Pages on Instagram Zuzu's Pages on Facebook Zuzu's Pages on Twitter

Zuzu 🖋

...(book review) the strange and beautiful sorrows of ava lavender by leslye walton

To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel...

Pain in love is the Roux family birthright. For Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is key to her fate.

Ava traces the lives and loves of the Roux women as she tries to understand what has made her who she is and what she will become.  On the night of the summer solstice, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air and Ava's fate is revealed.

THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER by Leslye Walton

Published: 2014

Genre: YA Fantasy Fiction. Magical Realism.

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There is no way I can describe this book without repeatedly indulging in the words strange and beautiful since they do it such incredible justice. The title was aptly chosen.
Ava Lavender (to abbreviate a long and intricate title) by Leslye Walton, is a dark, delving investigation into what it truly means for a woman in the Roux family to love deeply and entirely, and what it costs them. "Love makes us such fools." The affects of their heartbreak reveal themselves through physical traits. It can turn you into a yellow canary, or a fading ghost of the person you once were; it can cause you to carve out your own heart so as never to be troubled by it again. It can cause you to enter a loveless marriage to avoid even the possibility of such tragedy. "Emelienne silently promised to be good to her husband as long as he didn't ask for her heart. She no longer had one to give."

The magical realism of this book is potent and irresistible. It combines the impossible, the improbable and the actual into a uniquely dark and haunting tale, interwoven with beautiful articulate language and a sense of foreboding that climaxes at the end of the book on the day of the summer solstice.

This generational saga is told from Ava's perspective, beginning by recounting the circumstance of her birth, later remembered for the peculiar affect it had on the birds. Then delving into her family tree, unravelling the general misfortune of the Roux family before her, but stopping to focus on the lives of Emelienne Roux (Ava's grandmother) who married Connor Lavender. Their daughter Viviane Lavender (Ava's mother) before finally returning to Ava herself, and her twin brother Henry, who was born without wings but remains mute for much of his life.
The characters in between are real and colourful, whether they appear throughout the book or merely live their life on a single page. Each one's significant, and fascinated me, in most cases even more so than Ava herself - who interestingly wasn't my favourite character, despite being the centre of the story.

There is so much beauty and innocence in this book, and to delve into it too deeply is to spoil it for those as of yet unenlightened by this heart wrenching tale. But there is sorrow too, as the title suggests, which is what makes it feel real and well rounded, despite it's obviously fictional genre.

As always, I recommend this book thoroughly. I am only sorry I haven't relayed my admiration for this author before now. I first read this book last year, though it was the author Leslye Walton's first novel and was published in 2014. I have a tendency of finding beautiful books long after they're written, but I believe I find them at precisely the right time and therefore enjoy them more.
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a YA fiction that I know anyone would enjoy from teens to adults. Please indulge in this unusual story and pass it on if you enjoy. Spread the gospel of incredible literature!

Until next week, find me across social medial Zuzu's Pages on Instagram Zuzu's Pages on Facebook Zuzu's Pages on Twitter for more updates of books, and writing!

Zuzu 🖋

...writer's blockdown

Unwittingly, I've stumbled into the forbidden Forest of Writer's Block, where the trees cast inky shadows that stain the ground and stick to your feet as you walk - shoes are not permitted in the forest. I don't make the rules. I'm not sure anyone does...
There's no clear path to follow. The leaves that obscure the floor are as copious as discarded pages from a notebook. Empty inkwells clink mockingly from the boughs of trees, providing a disjointed melody to walk to.

I've been in this forest before; it's dull and uninspired. The words engraved upon the trees are as nonsensical as a Lewis Carol poem. Who ever heard of a Jabberwocky? Maybe he came across one here in the Forest of Writer's Block... Maybe it was this creature that set him free.

The conventional way out: wait for inspiration to strike. A tedious and often frustrating pastime. Though when it does, I guaranteed you won't expect it. It will appear with the suddenness of a storm, glowing purple and flashing bright enough to reveal the previously concealed path's between the trees.
Ink will pour from the sky, articulate as a sonnet, filling the clattering inkwells and gathering in glossy puddles, just waiting for you to dip your nib in and begin to write...
One eloquent phrase is all it takes to set you free! Pity it's so unattainable while you wait in vain for the storm to arrive.

Indeed, I am stuck in the forbidden Forest of Writer's Block. I blame lockdown for failing to provide enough inspiration to fuel my imagination. It's been snuffed out like a candle. I condemned myself, I think. When lockdown began 42 days ago, I chose to focus on the positive, which was of course the glorious gift of time! Time to write, time to create, time to reside in the kingdom of my own invention, where THE BLOOD DRAGON so forcefully governs. I intended to roam it for a month or two, exploring to see where a sequel may lead me.
Thus far however, I've not even tripped into the realm of a title for my second book. I'm beginning to fear it will have to be known biomidically as THE SEQUEL forevermore. Not my best work, I grant you.

Never have I longed so much for a storm to clear the stagnant air from my mind and to bring with it a fresh breeze of perspective. Maybe a title will blow in with it, or better yet, a story!

I'll keep this short given that this communication is reaching you from a faraway forest in the hidden depths of Whoknowswhere. Please send help...and books...actually, just send books!

Until I return, stay safe everyone, I hope to have a less obscure blog for you next Monday...if I escape...

Zuzu 🖋

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