Welcome to Pen & Sword, a blog by two fans of all things reading and writing.
Join us for updates twice a week as we ramble about our favorite reads, bemoan the struggles of being an aspiring author, and discuss anything else related to the lovely world of literature.
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Book Recs for Classic Fantasy Creatures
I read a lot of fantasy, and most of them feature some sort of magical creatures. Faeries, vampires, dragons, you name it. I figured that today, I’d give some book recommendations based on the inclusion of particular fantasy creatures, either… Continue reading
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Yesteryear: Overhyped or Literary Masterpiece?
If you’re anywhere in the literary zeitgeist, you’ve seen this book mentioned somewhere, probably multiple times: Now, while I do like to follow along with new releases from my favorite authors and publishers, I’m not specifically the kind of reader… Continue reading
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My Fantasy Pet Peeves
(If you read this article when it was auto-published before 9pm on the 9th, oops! I forgot to finish it before I went camping. But it’s all finished now. Enjoy!) For a long time, I’ve had some articles brewing. Ones… Continue reading
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How I Hacked My Writing Productivity with A Basic Excel Spreadsheet
When you have as many novel projects as I do, sometimes sitting down to write can feel overwhelming because you just can’t pick a project to sit down with for the day. There’s guilt for wanting to work on a… Continue reading
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Book Bracket: Ranking 32 Magical Reads p.3
Welcome to the third and final installment of this series! Check out parts one and two if you need to. Let’s just get this bad boy finished so my suffering can end! Here are the results as they stood at… Continue reading
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Obsessed with “You”: Discussing All Five Books (And Some of the Show)
I know what you’re thinking. “Ava, you know this show is like ten years old and way past its relevance, right?” First off, why are you being so rude? Second, this post is culturally relevant now- like a month after… Continue reading
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Oops, All Standalones!
I’ve been having some serious series burnout lately. Usually, I will greedily devour a series, binging all of the released books and welcoming a new hyper fixation. It’s one of the best ways to read books. But lately, I’ve found… Continue reading
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Oh God, It’s Ava and Her Book Bracket Again
God damn it, guys. I forgot how much I hate doing this. Alright, I guess it’s that time of year. Last year at the halfway point of 2025, I put my favorite reads so far in a tournament-style bracket to… Continue reading
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Book Bracket: Ranking 32 Magical Reads p.2
Guys it’s part two time! If you missed it, check out part one here, which has all the context and background info. We’re just going to jump right in here, starting with the state of the board where we last… Continue reading
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I Randomly Binged The Conjuring Cinematic Universe: Part 2 of 2
If you missed last week’s article, I started a re-watch/dissection of all the Conjuring movies and their related films. I’m continuing with my reviews this week, beginning with 2021’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. I’m going in… Continue reading
