Katabasis: A Novel by R. F. Kuang: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

 

Today's Featured Book: 

Katabasis: A Novel

by R. F. Kuang

Genre: Fantasy

Published: August 26, 2025

Page Count: 560 pages

Summary: 

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

The wind bit, the sun hid, and on the first day of class, when she ought to have been lecturing undergraduates about the dangers of using the Cartesian severance spell to revise without pee breaks, Alice Law set out to rescue her advisor's soul from the Eight Courts of Hell.

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

Every day she stared into that empty cubbyhole and tried to convince herself that all her perceptions were wrong; that if she only stared hard enough, a thick purple envelope would materialize amidst the dust...

She felt so stupid now. Of course it hadn't gone to her.

R. F. Kuang talks about Katabasis at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August of this year here.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

September 5th - 11th - Do you seek out new authors to read, or do you tend to stick with the same ones? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Review)

I am always on the lookout for new authors. 

In the last few years, I've loved the work of Émile Zola, R. F. Kuang, Naomi Shihab Nye, Percival Everett, Ryan Holiday, and Clare Keegan.

What new authors have you have run across lately that you recommend to me?

Children's Picture Books About Jobs

True stories of people with various occupations

Lives of the Athletes: Thrills and Spills by Kathleen Krull 

Born Hungry: Julia Child Becomes the French Chef

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle

So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George

Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White

Nellie vs. Elizabeth: Two Daredevil Journalists' Breakneck Race Around the World by Elizabeth Hannigan

In Her Hands: The Story of Sculptor Augusta Savage by Alan Schroeder

The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau (Oceanographer)

One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Story of Charles Darwin (Naturalist)

A Librarian from Basra by Jeanette Winter

Preaching to the Chickens: The Young Life of John Lewis (Activist)

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakeable Mathematician Sophie Germain

What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan

The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership, and Legacy (Judge)

Hello, Neighbor! The Kind and Caring World of Mister Rogers (Children's Advocate)

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade

Monsieur Marceau: The Man Without Words (Mime)

Fiction stories of people with various occupations:

How I Became a Pirate

The Little Barbarian 

The Storyteller

Ada Twist, Scientist

Doctor De Soto by William Steig (Dentist) 

Are You My Mother? by P. D. Eastman

The Toughest Cowboy

Knight Owl

The Water Protectors (Environmentalists)

The Last Zookeeper 

And, because these are children's books, don't forget this occupation...

Professional Crocodile by Giovanni Zoboli

These are all books I've read and I recommend, though I didn't add links to my reviews.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.    

The Sunday Salon: Visiting My Sister in Waco

 

Welcome! I am delighted that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

My sister and I in Waco, in 2024.

I'm just returning home after spending this week with my sister and her husband in Waco.

What I Read Last Week:

Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America by Robert B. Reich

What I'm Reading Now:

An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Good Things!

The Sunday Salon: Hackberry Emperors and Pipevine Swallowtails and Limpkins and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

I finished up two of my summer challenges:

When Cathy of 746 books announced last year that she would not host 20 Books of Summer this year after ten successful years, Emma of Words and Peace and Annabel of AnnaBookBel both volunteered to take it on. Summer reading IS the 20, 15 or 10 Books challenge to all of us.

• The #20BooksofSummer2025 challenge runs from Sunday June 1st to Sunday August 31st
• The first rule of 20 Books is that there are no real rules, other than signing up for 10, 15, or 20 books and trying to read from your TBR.
• Just enjoy a summer of great reading and make a bit of space on your shelves!

Here are my 20 Books of Summer:

James by Percival Everett.     The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. 

Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson.    The Love Haters by Katherine Center.

The Mirror Crack'd by Agatha Christie.    Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt.    A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor.    The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves.

Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton.    Aflame: Learning from Silence by Pico Iyer.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.     The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger.

A Bakery in Paris by Aimee K. Runyan.     The Swish of the Curtain by Pamela Brown.

The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison.   Sanditon by Jane Austen.

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang.     Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome.

20/20

The idea behind this reading challenge is simple: Use the ease of summer to tackle a Big Book (400+ pages) or two or ... however many you want! You set your own goals. And if it is the start of winter where you live, then it's your Big Book Winter Challenge. Everyone is welcome to participate.

The Details:

• Anything 400 pages or more qualifies as a big book.
• The challenge runs from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend (May 23 this year) through Labor Day (September 1 this year).

What kind of books "count"? All kinds! Middle-grade, YA, graphic novels, classics, all genres, all types--as long as they are at least 400 pages. Yes, e-books and audio books count, too--just check online for the number of pages in the print edition.  

My big book reads this summer:

• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry - 964 pages 

• The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang - 545 pages 

• Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty - 505 pages 

• Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt - 955 pages 

• Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome - 548 pages

• Mark Twain by Ron Chernow - 1200 pages  

• The Crow Trap by Ann Cleeves - 560 pages  

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 590 pages  

• Dream Count by Chiamamanda Ngozi Adichie - 474 pages 

• Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America by Robert B. Reich - 416 pages

Ten books for a total of 6,757 pages!

It is unusual for me to read so many big books.

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things...all memories...

My sister and I, with our husbands, have been on many adventures together.

Good Thing #1:

The four of us on a Colorado trip (1983)

Good Thing #2:

Hiking together in Utah (2021)

Good Thing #3:

Together in Paris (2023).

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.