Tag Archives: books

The Winter TBR pile

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The last months of the year are my favourite: Halloween, Christmas, great opportunities to get pretty pictures… And the perfect weather to curl up on the sofa with a blanket, tea, and a book! (:

A couple of weeks ago I sorted out some books I want to get around to reading the soonest, and books I think will be the best to curl up with leading up to Christmas. Some are by favourite authors, and some are books I’ve heard great things about and really want to try out. I’ve picked nine (One is split into three volumes), which may be a little over-ambitious as I have lots of ARCs too, and homework… But I’m very excited about reading them all, if I can manage to!

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IMG_2397I’ve owned all of the books I’ve picked for quite a while but haven’t gotten around to them, mainly because the majority are hardbacks or very big books that I can’t carry to school and back. I can’t wait to curl up with these, though! Most of what I’ve picked are fantasies and adventure novels, for the pure escapism. I’m probably the most excited for Fahrenheit 451 at the moment, as it’s a classic I’ve been meaning to read for ages – and my copy is a really gorgeous Folio Society edition.

What do you recommend I read first? What books will you be curling up with over the last weeks of the year? (:

British Books Challenge 2015!

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Ever since I started blogging, I’ve seen things on lots of blogs centred around the British Books Challenge. The aim is to read twelve books by British authors over one year; A goal I hope is achievable next year, as I’m always on the lookout for more great UKYA, and it’ll be a great new challenge to try.

The lovely Michelle @ Fluttering Butterflies is hosting the challenge in 2015, and I’m really excited about it. For this Sign-Up post, I’ve picked a handful of books that I’d like to read for the challenge. (Maybe not the specific ones I’ll end up reading first in 2015, because I always reorder my TBR… It’s chaotic!)

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#1: Boys Don’t Cry by Malorie Blackman

This is definitely a modern contemporary classic, and a leading title in UKYA – I have no idea why I haven’t read it before, actually! I love Malorie’s books and would love to read this for the challenge not only because it fits into the category, but because the follow-up book is out very soon.

#2: The Manifesto on how to be Interesting by Holly Bourne

I attended the Young Adult Literature Weekender at the Southbank centre last month. I really enjoyed it, and undoubtedly the best panel was the Gender In YA panel, which included Holly. I’ve read great reviews of her two books and TMOHTBI sounds brilliant.

#3: Before I go to Sleep by S J Watson:

This is an adult title! I’ve been interested in reading this ever since my dad first received his proof copy, before it was released and when he was blogging. I remembered that the author is British so decided this should definitely be on my challenge TBR – I’d also love to read it before the DVD of the film comes out!

#4: The Bubble-Wrap Boy by Phil Earle:

I love Phil Earle’s books – he’s a fantastic contemporary fiction author whose books should be more recognised, I think! This is his latest book and it’s been on my TBR pile for a while – this will be a good excuse to read it (:

#6: My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick:

I’m a very big fan of Marcus Sedgwick’s books, but this is one of his older titles that I haven’t yet read. I would love to read this (as well as maybe some other Marcus Sedgwick books, like Ghosts of Heaven!) for the British Books Challenge.

Good luck to any body else who is doing the challenge! If you’re a blogger or booktuber, and you’re interested in signing up for 2015, click here to go to Michelle’s submissions blog post.

Book Review: The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman, Illustrated by Chris Riddell

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Published October 23rd 2014 by Bloomsbury.

IMG_2394Goodreads Synopsis: On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.

My Review: Chris Riddell and Neil Gaiman are a brilliant storytelling pair – as I knew from reading Fortunately, the Milk, their children’s book. Neil Gaiman’s writing is always gorgeous and Chris Riddell’s illustrations always bring to life his characters in an unforgettable way. Consequently, when I found out about The Sleeper and the Spindle, I was really excited about reading it!

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The book is one of the most beautiful editions I’ve ever come across. The cover made me want to start reading straight away (Which I did!) and the minimalistic colour palette of black, white and gold makes the beautiful illustrations stand out. I fell in love with the look and feel of the book before I’d even started the story! I know it’s a book I’ll treasure.

I’ve been a fan of Chris Riddell’s work for years but I think his illustrations in The Sleeper and the Spindle are my new favourites – especially the two-page spreads and the endpapers! The character depictions are all so beautiful.

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I was aware the story would be a retelling of Sleeping Beauty – but didn’t realise that the clever twists would draw in Snow White too. The only reason I was a little nervous about reading it was that I wasn’t sure how I’d find it because it was a rewritten classic – would it stand out enough? There’s quite a big market in fairy tale re-tellings. I’m not sure why I thought that; Neil Gaiman’s spin on the well-known stories was fantastic, and I didn’t want to pull myself out of the story.

What I loved the most was how the classic story is there, but the stereotypical stock character’s aren’t. There’s no prince charming. Instead, the protagonist is Snow White, who leaves her land, delaying her marriage, to awake the ‘sleeper’ in her castle, while the sleeping plague sweeps over the land. It’s so fresh and different! I really liked the ending too, which left the story at a point that left me wondering about the character’s unwritten futures.

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Overall, The Sleeper and the Spindle definitely lived up to my excitement, though at just under seventy pages I do wish it was a little longer – I fell in love with the story so much. It’s a wonderfully fresh take on Sleeping Beauty – and a clever continuation of Snow White as well! The illustrations that accompanied the writing were gorgeous, and I think they fitted the story perfectly. Definitely recommended – The Sleeper and the Spindle will appeal to readers regardless of age.

My Rating: 

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I received a copy of The Sleeper and the Spindle form the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

 

DIVERSITY IN YA: Book recommendations!

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I was sitting at my computer, procrastinating by scrolling through my twitter feed, last Friday night. I was completely stuck for blog post ideas: I’ve been so behind with blogging because the first term at school has been hectic, to say the least!

I’ve been very aware of the inspiring, brilliant #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign on Twitter since it launched, but seeing tweets from that evening’s #SupportWNDB talk were the deciding factor that led to me making this post. Also, that I haven’t done a infographic post in quite a while. I hope you enjoy it!

There were a lot of books to pick from to fit onto this quick graphic, but picking out of my recently used Goodreads shelves… I honestly didn’t actually find it difficult to narrow it down, to pick only a few titles with diverse characters; of colour, a different cultural background, an LGBT* identity or disability. I think that proves that a) I really must seek out more diverse books, and read those sitting on my TBR, and that b) the WNDB campaign is so necessary: I’m so glad it’s encouraging and publicising books that otherwise wouldn’t be as visible.

Anyway, I’m aware I’ve rambled on a bit, and this post was meant to be just an infographic… (:

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I hope you liked the infographic! I would love to take any recommendations on books similar to these (or completely unique ones of course!) and hear what you thought of these titles. There’s a lot of amazing sounding YA/MG fiction that’s out next year also, like Lara Williamson’s The Art of Being Normal (A very hotly anticipated one!) – are there any titles you are looking forward to reading?

YALC: Event recap and book haul!

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I can’t believe I was lucky enough to be able to spend a day at YALC, on Sunday! If you haven’t heard of the Young Adult Literature Convention, it’s the first ever of its kind on such a large scale in the UK, and was organised largely by Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman. I’m not sure if a second YALC for next year has been officially confirmed (But I really hope there will be another!), but this year it took up a section of the main hall for the London Film and Comic Con. It ran over Saturday and Sunday, hosting panels, workshops, talks and signings, and the list of authors attending was unbelievably exciting!

I’ve been excited about attending YALC for months, ever since Malorie Blackman announced the event online. I’ve been to quite a few blogger’s and author’s events over the last few years, but not a convention entirely based around books. So I was basically trying not to jump out of my train seat and I was trying to stop myself from squealing as I travelled up to London. I arrived earlier than the normal standard entry, to join a blogger’s breakfast with some other bloggers and booktubers – plus authors Matt Haig, Holly Black, Non Pratt and BoyQueen James Dawson. Thank you to the people who organised this pre-YALC event – it was so fun to get to talk to so many lovely bloggers, meeting new people and talking to friends I’ve met previously again! (Shout out to Alix Long who I talked to most, and is super awesome).

I won’t go over all of the panels I went to in detail as I’ll babble on a lot. Here are some (very blurry) pictures from events I went to, below! I did also attend a How To Get Published panel with Sally Green & Phil Earle, but was too far back / too short to get a good picture. I also caught the last few minutes of Crossover: Not Just for Kids panel, but didn’t include a picture below as I wasn’t really there for much.

Top two, Blogger’s breakfast; Third, I’m too sexy for this book; Fourth, Sisters doing it for themselves; Fifth, Sally Gardner and Holly Black in conversation.

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Also, below are pictures of the majority of authors I met at signings, and talked to in between events. It was so amazing to be able to meet so many brilliant authors in one place! I loved Lucy Saxon’s (Take Back the Skies) cosplay. It was also brilliant to finally be able to meet Holly Smale (Geek Girl), as not only am I a huge fan, but I’ve also tried to get to at least three of her past events, every time having to miss it for various reasons. Thank you to every one for signing my books!PicMonkey Collage Authors1‘Scuse me in some of the pictures, being generally un-photogenic / having my eyes closed half of the time 😛

Basically, YALC was fantastic. I enjoyed the day so much – I got to meet so many authors and bloggers. The day went so well and I think the panels were all really interesting, thought provoking, and a lot of them were hilarious (eg James Dawson & the I‘m too sexy for this book panel). I only wish there was more than fifteen minutes between each panel – I ended up missing quite a few parts because fifteen minutes was too little time to get my books signed during the signing slots that overlapped, for me.

At the end of the final panel with Holly Black and Sally Gardner in conversation, YALC announced that there would be a huge book giveaway- of all of the books that had been hanging on the awesome book wall, plus more stocks from various places. So, I spent the last… half hour, maybe, of the convention getting some really awesome books. At the end of the giveaway, when most was gone, staff said you were allowed to take multiple books at a time. And also, of course, I bought books earlier in the day. So overall, this was the YALC book haul… *deep breath*

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I’m really looking forward to reading everything! There are quite a few books I managed to get at YALC that I’d love to read asap over the summer. I’m hoping to make a Summer TBR post soon, so a few titles may reappear there.

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Finally, to wrap up – I loved YALC (and LFCC as a whole!) and I love all of the people who made it possible. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever been to, and I’m so grateful I was able to go and see so many people! It was really nice to meet lots of great bloggers, though I’m sad I missed some bloggers and authors. And, of course, thank you to all of the authors and interviewers who hosted some really memorable panels. The day I spent there was great, and I’m sure the Saturday there was just as amazing. I really hope YALC comes back next year!

 

Independent Booksellers Week: The #bookshopcrawl

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Independent Booksellers Week is run by IndieBound, and essentially celebrates and publicises independent bookshops annually! Most indie bookshops host events and things throughout the week. I love hearing about things for IBW as I love that it gives a lot of publicity to independent UK bookshops – as sadly there are fewer than 1000 in the UK now.

when I heard about this year’s big event, the #BookshopCrawl, I knew I had to take part! One day, visiting as many indie stores as possible? Yesssss.:D  I really wanted to go up to London to check out some stores I’d never been to, but eventually my mum, brother and I stayed relatively local, visiting four bookshops in four different towns nearby. It was such a fun day!

For the Bookshop Crawl, there’s a competition to make a blog post or video about the day – but I realised I can’t actually enter, as no bookshops I went to seemed to be giving out the IBW2014 BookshopCrawl stickers… (Though I’m not sure if you had to ask for them, I assumed they’d be on the counter, idk:D) 

So, this blog post gives me no chance of winning the prizes, but I really wanted to make a recap of the day anyway, as it was really fun. (: Enjoy!

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Guest Post: Faye Bird, author of My Second Life

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I received a copy of My Second Life, Faye Bird’s debut novel, a few days ago in the post. I’m so excited for it! It sounds incredibly chilling and thrilling. I was so pleased when I was asked to host a guest post by Faye on my blog, on her inspirations for the novel. I found it really interesting – enjoy!

The books that inspired My Second Life by Faye Bird

23 Fiction - My Second Life Front CoverThere are two books that were really influential for me in the writing of My Second Life. The first was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Although I have to admit I nearly put it down 10 pages in. I was so horrified by the description of the murder at the outset; seeing a murder from the victim’s point of view, a child’s point of view, was almost an unbearable read. And yet once I got past the murder I was completely entranced.

And what I was entranced by was this continuing perspective of the now dead narrator. It wasn’t the heaven scenes – Susie Salmon’s new reality – that entranced me, but rather the view she now had of the world without her in it. It was such a special and particular view. Here was a compelling murder story, and here was a brilliant narrative voice with this unique perspective and well, I was in awe of the writing.

I wondered whether there was another way one could find a similarly unique perspective in a story – one that absolutely encompassed life and death – but specifically for a teenage reader. And that’s what brought me to the idea of writing about a girl who has lived before, which in turn, led me to a book called Old Souls by American journalist and author Tom Shroder.

Old Souls charts a number of journeys Shroder made alongside Dr. Ian Stevenson, a medic, biochemist and psychiatrist, as part of Stevenson’s research investigating reports of children who remembered past lives. Shroder is the journalist cynic and Dr. Stevenson is the strangest of things – a respected scientist who believes in second lives and who sets out to prove it using scientific methods.

Certainly Stevenson provides some compelling evidence whilst Shroder provides the reason and rationale to counterbalance it, Faye Bird_websitebut what is fascinating is that what you are ultimately left with in the reading of this book is an intriguing account of the power of possibility. There are some things that just cannot be explained.

And of course all narrative begins with the power of possibility, and as a writer the power of that possibility sits firmly in your hands. The children Dr Stevenson met in his research were all simply telling their stories – what they knew of life and death and living again – and it is this simple honesty that I hope I have brought to the way Ana tells her story.  As she says herself, “…there is no explanation for what I know – ” I just hope as the author of her story that whether we believe in the possibility of living life again or not, we will at least see the value in living life well.

My Second Life by Faye Bird is out now. Read the first chapter online now at www.usborne.com/readmysecondlife. Follow Faye on Twitter @faye_bird. You can also search for #mysecondlife on Twitter, Facebook and Instragram.

 I hope you enjoyed the guest post! Thanks to Usborne for letting me host it and for sending me a copy of the book. Review up soon, as I’m hoping to start it asap(:

New Books! #49

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A huge thank you to the publishers who mailed me some of the books in this haul- I’ve been really excited for all of them for literally months, so I really can’t wait to get reading & reviewing them!(: Below I’m talking about a couple of titles that I’m most excited for:

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Trouble by Non Pratt: I finally managed to buy a copy of this at the lovely A Bundle of Books in Herne Bay! (I stumbled across the store when I was visiting the village, and if you’re nearby, it’s definitely worth checking out- it’s a really gorgeous Children’s & YA exclusive bookstore.)  Non Pratt will be at a Young Adult Literature Convention event I’m (hopefully!) going to later this year- So this has gone straight to the top of the TBR so I can read it by then!

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson: One of my really awful book habits is that I’m often put off by huuuuge-looking fantasy novels… But this sounded completely amazing, and after reading about it on Ruby’s blog Feed Me Books Now & Ruby recommending it to me, I decided I’d buy it! I’ve wanted to read a book by Sanderson for a while now and so I really can’t wait to get around to this. 

The School For Good and Evil: A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani: Eeeeeep! I completely fell in love with this new MG/YA fantasy world when I read Soman’s debut last year, and I’ve been eager to read the sequel ever since I knew there would be a second book set around Agatha! Thank you so much to Harper Collins for this title- I’m really looking forward to starting it… and the cover is so beautiful!

Mila 2.0- RENEGADE by Debra Driza: Basically what I wrote above applies to this book, too! When I finished Mila 2.0 last year I knew I needed to read the sequel, asap. It was such a brilliant action novel. Thanks to Harper Collins again, for sending the sequel- Again, I’m looking forward to reviewing it! (:

 

 

Book Review: The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler

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Published April 24th 2014 by Random house.

18160169Goodreads Synopsis: Alice always thought fairy tales had happy endings. That–along with everything else–changed the day she met her first fairy…

When Alice’s father goes down in a shipwreck, she is sent to live with her uncle Geryon–an uncle she’s never heard of and knows nothing about. He lives in an enormous manor with a massive library that is off-limits to Alice. But then she meets a talking cat. And even for a rule-follower, when a talking cat sneaks you into a forbidden library and introduces you to an arrogant boy who dares you to open a book, it’s hard to resist. Especially if you’re a reader to begin with. Soon Alice finds herself INSIDE the book, and the only way out is to defeat the creature imprisoned within.

It seems her uncle is more than he says he is. But then so is Alice.

My Review: The Forbidden Library series is bound to be the next big children’s fantasy sensation. The concept was really original and fun- I really recommend this is you’re a fan of The Chronicles of Narnia!

As soon as I’d started, I knew I was going to really like it. I was drawn in straight from the start; I really liked the quiet, hard-working protagonist Alice, and felt like crying with her after she finds out about her father. I was really absorbed in the story as she finds herself in a new, strange house with a relative she never knew she had.

After enjoying about a third of the book, I don’t know why, but I lost interest a little… I thought maybe I was just in the mood for another genre, so I read a couple of books  in-between. It took me a while to get back into the story. I really, really did love the concept and the magical books idea, it was so awesome, but for some reason up until the last hundred pages or so, I found myself just reading and not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. I’m really not sure why!

Django Wexler’s writing really is great, it felt so descriptive and fun.I did find bits a little fast paced…. But it’s definitely worth a read, though, if you love fantasy; it ticks all of the boxes.

I really liked Alice, for the most of the story. She was a really relatable girl. She’s a bit lonely,but very adventurous. And, of course, she loves reading. 😀 A little way into the story, though, her personality just suddenly seemed to change. She was really… quiet sounding at the start, though very inquisitive, and then once the supporting character is introduced she suddenly seemed a lot different, I can’t quite put a finger on why… she just seemed randomly snappy? I couldn’t quite get my head around it. I’m not sure if that was just because I’d been dipping in and out of the story, though!

Overall, The Forbidden Library is definitely worth reading if you love fantasy books. I’m sure it’s going to be the Next Big Series for middle grade readers! I really did love the concept of the story… it’s a book about books, how can you not love that? 😀 Mostly, I was really absorbed in the story. It did take me a long time to read, and I was mixed a little about the protagonist, but I will most definitely be looking out for more from Django Wexler in the future!

My Rating: 

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I received a copy of The Forbidden Library from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.