Book Review - The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar.

I picked up this book in a wonderful little bookstore that stocked an eclectic mix of sic-fi, fantasy and graphic novels in Edinburgh. it was up a little cobbled street and the book shop owner was very quiet and book-wormish, I am a confessed bibliophile so I rationed myself to just one book! After a couple of laps around this little shop this caught my eye. I love anything to do with fairies and when I spied that the introduction was my Neil Gaiman my excitement grew. The deal was clinched when I read on the back that "It is a book for every girl with home-dyed hair and fairy wings...". Well for anyone who doesn't know I have fairy wings tattooed on my back and well this may be a shock but I am not a natural red head.

I picked up this book this morning and didn't put it down until I had finished it this afternoon. This book is a real gem, it characters are a mix of fairies and humans that are loveably flawed. The book is set in New York to a backdrop of run down apartments and the main human characters trying to make ends meet. I loved the juxtaposition of the grimy surroundings and the touching goodness of the fairies, even though the kindness is very well hidden at times under lashings of whiskey and bad language. I really enjoyed the hint of dark smut that was sprinkled throughout the pages as well as it gave it a real delicious edge. 

I am going to give this book 4 stars out of 5. This is because I loved this book and I thought the little details that helped to thread the plot together were really well thought out. The Fairies of New York is a surprising book and at times I was left thinking that Martin Millar must have had help from the fairies to manage to entwine all of the characters and events together in such a satisfying and diverse way. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because, even though I enjoyed all the characters and their relationships I didn't feel too sad to leave them behind, when I closed the last page of that book. But maybe that is down to Martin Millar tying everything up beautifully. So you'll just have to read it and decide for yourself.

Honeymoon in Edinburgh.

Ed and I decided to honeymoon in Edinburgh, Scotland. We wanted to visit somewhere that neither of us had been before, so we could adventure and discover somewhere together. I am so happy that we chose Edinburgh because it really is an amazing place, full of atmosphere and history. 

These were all snaps that I took when we were on an open top bus tour of Edinburgh, it took us all around the old town and the new town. 

We love going on ghost tours, we try to hunt one out in the larger places that we go to. So we decided to go on this one which is run by Auld Reekie Tours. Oh my, I have never been so terrified in all my life! This was by far the scariest, spookiest tour that I have ever been on. It takes you are a few places in Old town and then the tour guides leads you into the vaults. They were originally built for storage space for tradesmen but it was so damp down there that it spoilt most of the stock. The tradesmen moved their stock out and this was when a lot of the homeless moved in, then the criminals proceeded so there are a lot of bad things that have gone on down there. If you are ever in Edinburgh and you want to be chilled to the bone I would definitely go on this tour!

Ed headed back to the hotel to have an afternoon nap so I decided to go and visit the Blackfriars graveyard because I wanted to try and find the monument to Greyfriars Bobby. This is a really beautiful graveyard (or Kirkyard), burials have been taken place here since the late 16th Century. 

Edinburgh has a rather gruesome history of bodysnatching (as made infamous by Burke and Hare). This iron mortsafe was placed over the grave to prevent grave robbers digging up the body to sell to the autonomy classes in the medical school. 

This was a rather morbidly beautiful carving of a Memento Mori. It refers to a genre of artwork that was created to remind people of their mortality.

AND FINALLY... I found him! The monument to Greyfriars Bobby. It took me quite a while as the map in the graveyard was a little confusing. Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier who guarded his master's grave for 14 years, until he died himself. I think it is such a touching story and this monument to him is really lovely. 

Photo an Hour - Our Wedding Day.

So yesterday Ed and I tied the knot and what a perfect day it was. I thought I would like to remember the day by taking a photo an hour, so here they are.

7am - Ed surprised me with a whole bag of Lush products and a new Swarovski charm for my bracelet. What a way to start a day!

8AM - I do my make up and my hair.

9AM - I finish off preparing the post wedding lunch.

10AM - It was raining, but we didn't let that stop the fun.

11AM - This is my lovely friend Ali and I loitering outside the venue before for the ceremony starts.

12AM - The ceremony is done... We are man and wife!

1PM - We all get back to our place ready for a spot of lunch.

2PM - Having fed everyone, it is time to quickly pack and get on the road.

3PM - We have a long way to go and it is all motorway so far.

4PM - Still on the boring motorway.

5PM - Still on the motorway...

6PM - I was so excited to see the Angel of the North.

7PM - The coast roads are far more exciting than the motorway.

7:30PM - We are so close now!

8PM - We made it and wow Edinburgh is absolutely stunning!


We can't wait to get out and explore today! Hope everyone is having a fun day too.