Book 34 of 2012: A Hat Full Of Sky

I’d almost gotten caught up on the reviews for the books I’d read so far this year, and then one way or another I’ve ended up a month behind again. A Hat Full of Sky, by Terry Pratchett, was my 34th book this year; this one is the second in the Tiffany Aching series within the Discworld books. Having rescued her brother from the Fairy Queen, Tiffany is now ready to go off and train to be a witch, unfortunately something is roaming the land and Tiffany Aching proves to be a useful host; it’s up to the Wee Free Men and Granny Weatherwax have to bring her back to herself.

It took me a long time to read this for several reasons. Firstly, I realise that the copy I was reading was a signed first edition and so I instantly became paranoid that I was going to damage or spoil it somehow. I avoided taking it to work to read in my breaks and just read it at home (note to self: make sure you pick up a cheap paperback copy for next time you want to read it). I also started reading it on the day that we picked up Tara so the five days I spent reading it were also being spent getting to know our new pet; being woken up in the early hours of the morning by a puppy wanting to use the bathroom isn’t really conducive to late nights spent reading.


Perhaps for this reason I found it harder to get through than I’d expected. Obviously, there was a lot of stopping and starting. In one way, that’s why I’m glad to have my Kindle now. I have some lovely books that are just to inconvenient for reading out of the house; numerous copies of Lord of the Rings, the Clan of the Cave Bear books (yeah, yeah, I know after the first one they do rather go downhill) which I inherited from my Grampy, The Complete Illustrated Works of Lewis Carroll. There’s no way I’d get rid of the books, but having them in electronic format makes them so much more portable.


I really don’t like having to stop and start when I’m reading. It’s the reason for countless late nights, large attractive bags under my eyes, and probably my ridiculously pale skin (which has led to me being cast as a ghost in no less than three separate productions). When I start a book, especially if it’s one that I really get into, I want to keep reading it without stopping. If I have to keep picking it up and putting it down, I find myself getting frustrated and start struggling to follow the story. It’s especially frustrating if it’s a short book which shouldn’t take me more than a few days to read. Anyway, back to my thoughts on A Hat Full Of Sky…

It reminded me a bit of Equal Rites, because Granny Weatherwax plays a bigger part here. She’s typical Granny Weatherwax, sending Tiffany off to learn how to be a witch with a woman who has two bodies. It’s wonderfully twisted and weird, just as you’d expect from the Discworld.

However, I didn’t quite like this one as much as The Wee Free Men. The story was good, but I would have liked to have seen more of the Wee Free Men. One of the things I loved about The Wee Free Men was their interaction with Tiffany, but Tiffany and the Clan’s stories ran more parallel to each other in this book. But I’m still looking forward to the next of the books in this arc, one of which, I Shall Wear Midnight, I actually managed to pick up a copy in a charity shop in Dunoon the same day that I started A Hat Full Of Sky. I have a funny feeling I’ll enjoy that one a bit more, Tara is settled in now and I’m not going to be quite so worried about damaging this copy.

“IS THIS YOURS? Death asked Tiffany. The voice was heavy and all around her, like thunder.
‘No. Er… he’s his.’
I WAS NOT EXPECTING A NAC MAC FEEGLE TODAY, said Death. OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE WORN PROTECTIVE CLOTHING, HA HA.”Page 309