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tess burton @ tesscatiful

a book blog, and then some

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  • Professional Services

    by tesscatiful

    Are you looking for a media specialist to help with your professional brand? I now offer my services as an independent contractor in design, marketing and content creation. With an eye for visuals and a mind for words, not only am I an ideal consultant to optimise your brand’s look and appeal, I can also put these ideas into action.

    January 21, 2018
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author update - recent news

August 2, 2018

This is why I write

Some useless dude once told me I should give up on writing. “You really should stop,” he said. “What’s...

by tesscatiful
Comments 4
June 3, 2018

What I learned over the course of a ninth draft

Draft nine of my heart-project has taken me three months of raw, no-shortcuts, hard work. I have never reached...

by tesscatiful
Comments 0
May 2, 2018

Goodreads and my many emotions

#TYVOT has officially landed. Well, on Goodreads at least! It’s finally listed, in all of its semi-finished glory, a...

by tesscatiful
Comments 7
March 9, 2018

#WriterLife Update: I’m Exhausted

Years. Actual years of editing. So many drafts I’ve forgotten to celebrate when I finish one. But this week...

by tesscatiful
Comments 4

MY 5 FAVOURITE READS OF LOCKDOWN #1, 2020

by tesscatiful

As we careen gracelessly into Lockdown 2 here in the UK in the year of our Lord 2020, I see a lot of people pledging to use their newfound free time to engage with their hobbies. Reading is definitely up there as a top pick, which had got me feeling reminisce-y. So I thought I would look back on some of the cracking reads I devoured during our first 2020 lockdown, and maybe give some of you out there a few ideas of what to pick up. So, what did I read in Lockdown 1? Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill Was it, in hindsight, a great idea in the current climate to purchase a post-apocalyptic novel where humans are extinct and the robot race who destroyed them are following in the footsteps? Yes. Yes, it was. Sea of Rust packed a punch – with a likeable, ballsy robot protag and a very unique setting. I was drawn in by the world and the social commentary. I stayed for the bants. More lighthearted...

November 2, 2020
Comment 1
Featured News, HAVEYOUSEEN, Listicle

on writing / publishing

May 4, 2020

IT’S OKAY TO COVET EXTERNAL VALIDATION

Every day, my brain tells me that my stories are rubbish. Every damn day, my brain tells me that...

by tesscatiful
Comments 3
April 17, 2020

DISSECTING THE TRASH FIRE THAT WAS MY FIRST QUERY LETTER

17th December 2015: the fateful day I decided to begin my querying journey. Why did I chose to start...

by tesscatiful
Comments 3
November 17, 2018

WHY I WON’T BE HOSTING A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY

This is perhaps a bold statement, seeing as I do not yet have a publisher and have no idea...

by tesscatiful
Comments 0
April 3, 2018

AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPHS, A NOT-SO-EVIL NECESSITY

Just as we have a tendency to literally judge a book by its cover, we humans subconsciously judge an...

by tesscatiful
Comments 5


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NEW ON THE BLOG

January 1, 2021

MY FAVOURITE READS OF 2020

December 31, 2020

MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2021

December 13, 2020

Review: The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

November 2, 2020

MY 5 FAVOURITE READS OF LOCKDOWN #1, 2020

October 15, 2020

Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

October 9, 2020

5 AMAZING BOOKS TO HELP YOU TEACH YOUR CHILD ABOUT RACISM

September 7, 2020

Review: Why We Eat (Too Much) by Andrew Jenkinson

July 12, 2020

Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne ...

June 21, 2020

Review: The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita ...

June 14, 2020

UPCOMING 2020 LGBTQIA+ SPECULATIVE FICTION I CAN’T WAIT...

May 12, 2020

5 BOOKS I PANIC-BOUGHT DURING THE PANDEMIC

May 4, 2020

IT’S OKAY TO COVET EXTERNAL VALIDATION

SONG OF THE WEEK

https://tessburton.files.wordpress.com/2020/06/kigw.m4a

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WHAT I'VE BEEN READING

★★★☆☆

Review: The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon

Welcome to book four in The Bone Season series, bringing us new territory, new emotions, and all-in-all, an exciting change of pace. After the last two instalments, which had...

December 13, 2020
Comments 0
★★★★☆

Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

➽ “And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.” The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue is the most enchanting release...

October 15, 2020
Comments 0
★★★★☆

Review: Why We Eat (Too Much) by Andrew Jenkinson

This is quite possibly my favourite Health book of all time. A bold claim, but the scope of this book, everything the author delved into and how brilliantly he...

September 7, 2020
Comment 1
★★☆☆☆

Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Mere months ago, it was announced that the highly, highly anticipated prequel to The Hunger Games was to star none other than the prick that (basically) started them: President...

July 12, 2020
Comments 0
★★★★☆

Review: The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

“There would be bad days, there always would. But she’d collect these good days, each one illuminated, and string them together until they glowed brightly in her memory like...

June 21, 2020
Comment 1

RECOMMENDATIONS

April 22, 2018

Review: White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht

March 13, 2018

Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

January 17, 2018

Review: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

10 YEARS, 10 BOOKS: BEST OF THE DECADE

by tesscatiful

Switching it up this year! Instead of posting a yearly round-up (because, to be honest, I haven’t had the most fulfilling reading year in 2019!), let’s talk about my absolute favourite books published in the last ten years. That I have read. Obviously.   The Girl with Ghost Eyes by M. H. Boroson This book was everything I didn’t know I wanted; a proper...

January 2, 2020
Comment 1
Listicle, Starred

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE?

January 1, 2021

MY FAVOURITE READS OF 2020

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue What better way to lean into a lockdown than to pick...

by tesscatiful
Comments 0
December 31, 2020

MY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2021

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo I love a different feel of Fantasy, and The Chosen and...

by tesscatiful
Comments 2
November 2, 2020

MY 5 FAVOURITE READS OF LOCKDOWN #1, 2020

As we careen gracelessly into Lockdown 2 here in the UK in the year of our Lord 2020, I...

by tesscatiful
Comment 1
October 9, 2020

5 AMAZING BOOKS TO HELP YOU TEACH YOUR CHILD ABOUT RACISM

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white...

by tesscatiful
Comment 1


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