Our focus book this week is Taking Wing by Clemency Crow (Picture) Taking Wing is a gripping fantasy adventure, written for middle grade readers but enjoyed by adults too! Published in 2019, it was rejuvenated in 2025 when the sequel Doorway to the Sunset was published. Humans were once protected by guardians...with feathers. Twelve-year-old Freya enjoys karate and is the only one in her class who’s trusted with a part-time job. But everything changes when she meets a boy with yellow eyes. She learns about the guardians, and how an age-old fight has prevented them from fulfilling their purpose. Freya finds new friends in the Crow tribe, but not everything in the castle is blissful. A destructive shadow lies within her and all she needs to do to release it is close her eyes. But as the guardians’ war rages on, Freya realises that, although the shadow’s power can be useful, it can’t create peace. To do that, Freya and her friends must solve the mysterious crime that began the...
#HistFicThursdays - Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (1st Earl of Minto) - The Burden of Bridging Eras
While the technological advancements of the past century have been so rapid we've all been left with a bit of whiplash, the late eighteenth century was also a time of significant change in western Europe. For many in that generation who lived across events such as the French Revolution, they saw their understanding of the world upturned, and had to quickly learn to adapt to this new world. Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound was one such individual. At first glance, Elliot appears to have been one of those members of the upper class for whom everything naturally fell into place. Born to a baronet, educated to the highest standard, given post after post by those in power. But, delving a little bit deeper, there was more to him than first meets the eye... Friendships he formed in his youth were to be shattered in later life, and he became the champion of failed attempts. The French Revolution saw him torn between early friendships and patriotic duties, and his attempts at command were ...