I am uncertain who first started the #FlastbackFriday hashtag on social media and/or on our blogs – but over the years I’ve been a book blogger, its morphed itself into a bit of a way of journalling the stories we’ve read in the past or the memories we want to revisit. In this respect, I’ve chosen to tackle this tag this particular May in a celebration of the stories I’ve adventured inside during past #WyrdAndWonder’s inasmuch as a continuing way to feature what I’ve been showcasing via #bookstagram.
Join the Convo via: #FlashbackFriday
About: *Wyrd & Wonder*
Wyrd and Wonder is an annual celebration of the fantasy genre. Sign up to join the party as we explore worlds of myth and magic, re-imagine traditional tales, cheer on heroes (prefer villains? Sure, we won’t judge you) and discover the secret doors that lead from familiar streets to adjacent realms where a discourtesy or a misstep may land you in hot water.
This year we’re focusing on all things magical, whether that’s magic users, magical creatures, magic systems, or things that raise the hairs on the back of your neck (in a good way). As always, you’re free to read and post outside the theme – we love low fantasy too! – but magic will be the theme for our banners and prompts this year.
We’ll be reading books, watching movies, playing games and sharing our thoughts online through blog posts and social media with as many like-minded adventurers as care to join us – there’s always room by the fire for a newcomer with a tale to share.
(Paraphrasing official 2022/23 blurb) : visit Imyril’s Announcement for Y6
This particular year, as we embarked into #WyrdAndWonder, I was apprehensive about how my month would get on this year, as I had recently relocated, and it was not the kind of relocation that you can plan to execute for months on end and have a seamless transition on the day of the move itself. No. Unfortunately for me, it was the kind of move which took all my energy and even my spirits took a bit of a nosedive as well. I didn’t feel fully recovered from all the upheavals either by the time May began because I was still at sixes and sevens trying to put my room & shelves back together again. As I mentioned on my announcement post, I was just grateful to have my Fantasy shelves back together as they felt like long-lost friends who had arrived just in the nick!
Although – mentally, I wasn’t quite in the right frame to re-settle into stories. Try as I might, my readings of our RAL “Howl’s Moving Castle” has been trudging along at a very slow clip. Even as I’m composing my thoughts for this post, I am still within the first four chapters (and it’s the 27th of May!) – and still, I am hopeful I’ll make more enroads as I truly am enjoying the narrator’s approach to telling the story. She makes you feel enveloped in Sophie’s world and that is what won me over the most.
I had it in mind to preface my #bookstagram posts with blog posts to help route those who follow me into the posts we’re all sharing on our @WyrdAndWonder Insta feeds, but you’ll have to forgive me. The joy of blogging was a bit of a rough road for me to re-attain and it is only now in the waning hours of the month, I’ve found my passion for blogging again. I’ve chosen to use the last days of the event itself to back-blog those adventures I had in creating the graphics and why I selected the stories to feature within the posts themselves. I also learnt that I’m a bit too chatty on Insta and that is a work-in-progress to rectify as I sort out how to write shorter blurbs to run alongside the graphics themselves.
And, now without further adieu, let us discuss my favourite series celebrating the FAE:
