#nine goblins

[torpublishinggroup]

Nine Goblins by T. Kingfisher is out now featuring endpapers illustrated by the author and a foil case stamp😍

A troop of nine goblins is deep behind enemy lines. Between them and safety lies a forest full of elves, trolls, monsters, and the most terrifying of creatures…a human being.

[caenith]

REAL

[gcantread]

February 2026 reads

[loved liked ok nope dnf bookclub*]

The Swan's Daughter • Nine Goblins • Project Hail Mary • Son of the Morning • Operation Bounce House • Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter • The Mouse Mansion • The Story Girl • Witch and Wizard (DK Eyewitness)

February was a weeeeeird month. I pretty much forgot how to read after the first week. We had a very different flavor of depression from January's depression going on. Also I caught the flu and was in head-throbbing agony so bad I couldn't read a word for a few days there. When I recovered from my literal delirium long enough to remember books existed, I ended up DNFing two in a row, which is never encouraging. Then in the last few days I shocked my system awake with some children's books and cute shit, enough to restore my Book Equilibrium. So while February came in like a virus, March is coming in like my 50th Dayquil pill in the last 48 hours. Let's maybe, like, read an actual book in March @ me

The Swan's Daughter ★★★☆☆ - A cute one! I wasn't super into the central romance, but I appreciated the fairytalecore of it all and the way Chokshi actually has the skill to pull off a whimsical, Princess Bride-esque style. Read if you liked Tress of the Emerald Sea.

Nine Goblins ★★★1/2☆ - I didn't realize this was one of T. Kingfisher's first adult outings getting tradpublished for the first time! It holds up fairly well. There's something about this utterly silly jokey writing style juxtaposed with truly frightening and fucked up imagery that works here in a way that it notably doesn't in other books (looking at you, Operation Bounce House.)

Project Hail Mary ★★★★☆ - Depressed!me was in just the right mood for this, it turns out. I didn't always looooove the narrator's voice. But the premise is as solid as a weird little rock alien, I can't help but be charmed by Weir's "no problem is unsolvable" globalist optimism, and I look forward to seeing the movie this month. Blease I'll read/watch anything with a Little Alien Guy in it

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter [GR review] ★★★★☆ - I was endlessly curious whether this cozy little ghibliesque romp could possibly be as good as Emily Wilde. And it is not. But it's still decent and fun overall! I'll always have a soft spot for it because it brought me good luck: in this book, a cat named Juliette gets adopted, and the very DAY I read it, I met and applied to adopt a cat named Juliet and tl;dr now I have a little orange cat formerly named Juliet (she's since been rechristened Beatrice "Bee" because everyone was calling her "Bug" and "Honeybug." welcome home Beatrice Juliet Honeybug O'Lastname)

cat tax. pictured: the Bug

The Mouse Mansion [GR review] ★★★★★ - Found this children's book at the flea market and simply HAD to have it because it's all gorgeous photographs of a huge, elaborate Mouse Dollhouse. The text is whatever but who cares, we're here for the pictures. Apparently it's a whole German series, and yeah 5 stars because I desperately want to live in the Mouse Dollhouse. With the Jewish mice in their tiny mouse yarmulkes!!

The Story Girl ★★★★☆ - To close out the month I wanted a comforting read that I knew with 100% certainty I wouldn't DNF, and I knew that if nobody got me, Aunt Maud got me. The Story Girl did not disappoint—I love this punkass little gang of cousins and the weird shit they get up to such as preaching sermons about Hell for funsies and nearly dying of eating a cucumber + milk. [meme voice] you know I'm something of a Story Girl myself

Witch and Wizard ★★★1/2☆ - Another kids' book I got at the flea market, partially out of nostalgia for this DK series and partially because I just started participating in DnD and I thought it would amuse everyone to set this book out next to the player handbook (it did.) I love the way the photos in these books are labeled things like "STEREOTYPICAL WITCH."

DNFs: Son of the Morning and Operation Bounce House. Urrghh I really wanted to like both of these. But SotM forced me to admit that I might just not be a Romance person no matter how well-written it is or how much I like its tropes on paper, while OBH was so tonally all over the place that it was never going to butter my croissant

February superlatives: here

Next up:

I have The Poet Empress checked out from the library, we're reading The Secret Garden over in Bella's Book Club, and if I feel like treating myself I'll crack open This Inevitable Ruin. My sister is also campaigning for me to read The Blacktongue Thief (and the author is coming to town for an event) so we'll see if she succeeds

previous months:

2024: july august september october november december

2025: january february-june july august september october november december

2026: january

[ninsiana0]

Read NINE GOBLINS by T. Kingfisher if you're a stinking, slinking, filthy, sheep-stealing, cattle-rustling, hen-house-raiding, disgusting, smelly, obnoxious, rude, unmannered, and violent goblin, who's also cowardly & lazy, loves bears & kittens, is completely exhausted, and maybe saves the day.

No one knows exactly how the Goblin War began, but folks will tell you that goblins are stinking, slinking, filthy, sheep-stealing, henhouse-raiding, obnoxious, rude, and violent. Goblins would actually agree with all this, and might throw in “cowardly” and “lazy” too for good measure. But goblins don't go around killing people for fun, no matter what the propaganda posters say. And when a confrontation with an evil wizard lands a troop of nine goblins deep behind enemy lines, goblin sergeant Nessilka must figure out how to keep her hapless band together and get them home in one piece. Unfortunately, between them and safety lies a forest full of elves, trolls, monsters, and that most terrifying of creatures…a human being.

[a-ramblinrose]

“In his experience, people were usually people, even the ones who were four feet tall and lumpy, and if you treated them well, they mostly returned the favor.”

― T. Kingfisher, Nine Goblins

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

🎉 HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY 🎉

Nine Goblins by T Kingfisher

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

QOTD: Are there any books out this week that you’ve loved or are excited for?

I have four including this one!

[instagram]

Review below cut

Thank you Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me a copy of this one. All thoughts are my own.

This was such a fun read. It was riddled with Kingfisher’s signature humour with a host of loveable characters.

I adored Sings-to-Trees so much. His gentle nature was a really lovely contrast to the brashness of the goblin soldiers and his connection to the animals made me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy. The way he was so quick to help anyone who needed him, including enemy soldiers, was lovely.

Nessilka was a brilliant commander. Despite all the silliness that came with the goblins and their nature, she was really headstrong and smart about things. I loved her no-nonsense attitude.

Despite the high body count, I’d honestly call this cosy fantasy with a heaping side of humour. Absolutely wonderful.

[quillnqueer]

Interesting new book releases 21.01.2026

[drowninginabactatank]

Today's library reservation pick-ups are Witch Hat Atelier vol 7 by Kamome Shirahama, The Wonder Engine, Paladin's Grace and Nine Goblins by T Kingfisher 📚