Surprise discovery in the bookshop!

I was very lucky to be given a lovely National Book Token - I do think they are the loveliest of presents. The idea that you can take a piece of paper (or plastic nowadays) into a bookshop and buy whatever book(s) you want is just wonderful. So, I took some time and had a good browse and bought an Agatha Christie and a new undiscovered author, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett. It was brilliant; so creative, funny, quirky, unexpected. I didn't want to put it down and I didn't want it to end. It is about a scholar who travels to another land, which sounds similar to Scandinavian countries to continue her masterpiece - the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. She is a meticulous researcher and she already has written so much of it, but she wants to find out more about a particular type of faerie - the Hidden Ones. There are some really great characters including her academic supervisor who arrives unexpectedly to "help" with her discoveries, and the sad changelings. There are some amazing descriptions of different types of faeries, how to meet them and please them, and the magical environments in which they live. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was so refreshing and original, and I am looking forward to the next one!