Wednesday 2 July 2014

Readathon Update

So the #YALCreadathon finished at midnight on Sunday. Here' sweat I managed to read:

Fangirl by rainbow Rowell
Tinder by Sally Garner
The Third Doctor: The Spear of Destiny by Marcus Sedgwick
The Fifth Doctor: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness
She is not Invisible by Patrick Ness

Not bad considering there was a funeral, a parents evening and a mini-festival going on that week as well! 

Plus, I finished sewing the book bags for me and my friend to take to YALC with us, ready to stock up on lots of lovely signed books and goodies. As you may have noticed, I'm getting pretty excited about next weekend. But first, I have to go and see my all-time favourite human being THIS weekend... 

Ladies and gentlemen, Mister Neil Gaiman! Neil will be reading 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Hills' accompanied by a string quartet and artwork by Eddie Campbell. It's going to be a-maz-ing. More on that in a few days' time.



For now, I will be tucking in to Holly Bourne's Soulmates. Look out for more reviews on http://literary-loves.blogspot.co.uk in the next couple of days.

Until next time x

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Readathon Day 3

So last night I finished Fangirl - read my review here: Literary Loves: Fangirl (started a proper book blog after I'd already signed up to YALC Readathon with this one).

I've also managed to finish listening to the audiobook version of Tinder by Sally Gardner - a review will be going up at some point in the next 24 hours.

I'm picking up a copy of Phil Earle's Heroic tomorrow, so tonight I will either be listening to She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick or reading a Dr Who short story by one of the other YALC authors, as several of them appear in this lovely anthology:


I was excited to see that there's a 'Regenerating the Doctor' talk as part of YALC, and will definitely be after tickets for that - sadly Malorie isn't on the panel (why, Malorie, why?!) This book is also going to be my book-signing secret weapon: 5 author signatures on one book = more room in my book bag for more new books! Genius!



Tuesday 24 June 2014

Readathon Day 2

Just a quick update - literally just finish Fangirl! Loved it. Will write a proper review tomorrow because, right now, I'm off to Bedfordshire. Nighty night x

Monday 23 June 2014

YALC Readathon: Day 1

With just 18 days, 13 hours and 43 minutes until the UK's first ever Young Adult Lit Con, I am on a MISSION to read books by as many of the author's attending before the big weekend.

So far I've managed 11 books by attending authors, but this week I'm making a concerted effort to reduce my 'to read' list! 

I'm nearly half-way through Fangirl by my new favourite lady, Ms Rainbow Rowell, and on Chapter 22 (of 34) of Sally Gardner's magical, creepy, Hans-Christian-Anderson-inspired Tinder.

I like this readathon... I feel like I'm doing important preparatory work now, and not just skiving off, reading a book!

YALC Readathon is being hosted by 4 prolific bloggers, who are posting special something's each day of the challenge:

Jess at Jess Hearts Bookswho today had a guest post from one of the YALC organisers, Katerine Woodfine;

Carly at Writing From The Tub, who featured a guest post by one of the authors, Beth Reekles;

Vicky at Books, Biscuits, and Tea had a guest post from Marcus Sedgwick, another of the authors that will be appearing;

And Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies wrote a really interesting and exciting post about her top five authors attending YALC. This last post may have altered my highlighted and annotated copy of the YALC schedule, as she's really rated a couple of writers in there that I, at present, know little to nothing about.

Needless to say, I've been reading plenty of authors' twitter-feeds, and am getting well and truly in the mood for what is going to be an AMAZING weekend! Hopefully, I'll be able to get 3, maybe 4 book reviews up this Readathon week - wish me luck!

On that note, I have started a separate blog for bookish things: http://literary-loves.blogspot.co.uk (there's also links to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Goodreads on the site... Go look!) This is basically my bid to become a professional reader, in readiness for my future career as a highly influential bookseller! I'd really appreciate it if you could read some of the posts, chip in on the comments, follow on other social media and/or share with your friends. Some of you already have, and for that I am very grateful.

I must go now and READ, READ, READ!

Thursday 12 June 2014

YALC Readathon

With just 30 days to go, I am in full reading-flow getting prepared for the UK's first ever Young Adult Literature Convention, happening at Earl's Court this July. You can check out some reviews of books by authors that will be appearing in my previous blog posts.

Until the schedule for the weekend was published yesterday, I had also been doing a fair bit of trawling the internet, desperately looking for things with YALC hashtag to get glimmers of information about what might be happening. I may also have badgered some authors on Twitter to find out what they would be up to, but they were quite accommodating!  One thing that I did come across, was this lovely blog by Jessica - Jess Hearts Books. Along with some other bloggers, she is running the #YALCReadathon, which will take place between the 23rd-29th June 2014.

I will definitely be doing this. I'm not sure where I'll be up to by then, but my to-read list is currently:

  • She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
  • Tinder by Sally Gardner
  • Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon
  • Undone by Cat Clarke
  • Trouble by Non Pratt
  • Hello Darkness by Anthony McGowan
  • Geek Girl by Holly Smale
And at the moment, I'm reading Geekhood:Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb and How I live Now by Meg Rosoff. Phew!

So expect more book reviews soon... lots of books!

Also, check out some awesome reviews by students in my Carnegie Award shadowing group here.

Sunday 8 June 2014

Review: Say Her Name by James Dawson

Do you remember those Point Horror books from when you were at school? James Dawson does, and he has a whole part of his website dedicated to them, so I'm going to steal his format for reviewing his latest fright-fest inspired by the mythology of Bloody Mary.


What's it all about?
A group of seven teenagers are hanging out on a stormy Halloween night, in the grounds of Piper's Hall School for Young Ladies, telling ghost stories. Determined to up the scare stakes, Sadie dares the others to summon the ghost of Bloody Mary by saying her name five times in front of a candlelit mirror at midnight. Three of the gang take up the challenge: Bobbie, the slightly nerdy protagonist; Bobbie's best friend, the gorgeous and wise-cracking New Yorker, Naya; and Caine, a boy from the local comp, who's snuck into the posh boarding school with his friend, Mark. 

It's all a bit of a laugh, until the next day when the gang reunite in town. In the graveyard. In a shady, abandoned bit that no one visits, obviously. Suddenly, Naya starts having a horrendous nosebleed, quickly followed by Bobbie and Caine. The others think this is a carefully orchestrated stunt to freak them all out after last night's shenanigans, but the trio claim otherwise.

Creepy messages?
You bet! After a hair-raising experience in the shower, Bobbie receives a message written on the steamed up bathroom mirror: "FIVE DAYS". Naya receives the same message, written in a scratchy hand, on her planner. Bobbie and Caine also start to have the same hot and heavy, but decidedly creepy dreams - is Mary trying to show them something? 

The Girl
Bobbie (Roberta Rowe) is the daughter of an actress somewhat past her heyday and an anonymous sperm donor, affectionately referred to as Spermy!  Consequently, with her mother's theatre rehearsal and touring commitments, Bobbie has to board at Piper's and often stays on during the holidays. Dawson describes her as "happy to fade into the wallpaper", the opposite of her drama queen mother, but she has a quiet confidence the grows as the story progresses and she has to act with more urgency.

The love interest
Caine. He's the "cuter" of the two bit-of-rough boys from the local high school, mixed-race, and comes with an interesting family history: "It's just families, ain't it? They're all messed up. My mum left my dad for my uncle and then my dad tried to stab 'em both". Caine is originally from Croyden, by the way. Ah, but he's not all that he first appears to be, and beneath the hoodie, he's a sensitive "creative" type. Perfect bit of stuff for a YA novel, and I think Dawson may have based him on a personal crush, as there were a few very appreciative descriptions of his physical appearance!

Dialogue disasters
Well, there weren't any, to be honest. This is one fast-paced, frightner, and the dialogue really helps shape the characters and gets the action going. What I did love about the dialogue were the little references to other media texts - I spotted at least 3 references to Clueless in there! 

That's way harsh, Tai.


Body count
4 definitely, but more implied...

Did the best friend do it?
No, although there were times where I thought she could be involved - there were physical similarities between her and the perp.

Some mild peril?
You will want to remove all mirrors from your house. Also, do not read this book in the bath (lesson learned the hard way). You will read certain bits of this book, and only when you get to the end of them, will you realise that you stopped breathing!

Is it any good?
YES YES YES! Having grown up reading Point Horrors, this is so much better - genuinely chilling, but with a solid teen back story. I'd love to see this made into a movie - it had me desperate to re-watch classics such as Heathers and The Craft! Needless to say, I will be picking up copies of Dawson's other novels, Hollow Pike and Cruel Summer, and cannot wait to see what he'll be doing at YALC. Now, go read this book... Mary would like it if you did! 




Thursday 5 June 2014

Review: Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne

This is an intriguing story, revealed in the form of a hidden notebook found in the psychiatric wing of a young offenders institute. It has been written by Emily 'Krazy' Koll, the daughter of a notorious London gangster, who has been incarcerated for an act of violent revenge. Clue #1 "Don't believe everything you read".  Quite what that act is is not revealed until the very end of the novel, and believe me, you will turn those pages quickly to find out!

However, be warned - an unhinged 17 year old girl is definitely not a reliable narrator - how much of what Emily writes is true? She's been living a double life and I think this has definitely taken it's toll on her and how she remembers the events that are unfolded in the pages of her notebook. Clue #2 who's writing in the notebook?

Emily knows nothing of her dad's criminal activities, until he murders the policeman leading an investigation on him, and the policeman's daughter - Juliet Shaw - stabs Emily's father in self defence.  Then, her whole world falls apart: has her entire life been a lie? What happened to her mother? Bent on revenge, Emily sets out to unpick Juliet's 'perfect' life, one thread at a time until there is nothing left. Clue #3 pay attention to things that go missing.

I have a theory about what really happens in this story, but for now, I'm going to keep that to myself... If you read this book, then we can talk. This was an engrossing read, and Byrne expertly keeps you guessing right up until the end (and beyond!)

"You want to know what happened, why I did it. That's why you're reading this, right?" 

'Yes!' I screamed in my head, 'YES!'. I'm hoping that when Tanya Byrne is at YALC I'll be able to try out my theory on her and get some answers! In the meantime, you should totally read this book!