Take a look at my TBR shelves!

I recently saw on Jodie's blog, Books For Company, she'd posted pictures of her TBR shelves and piles. Now, I ADORE seeing other people's books, I really do. And for lack of any better idea for what to post today, I thought that I would share with you MY shelves and piles of unread books. (I have separate shelves for unread adult books!) Here we go...

First up we have my bedside table.  I find the bedside table to be a weird place.  Mostly because I pick a stack of books that I think I'd like to read next ... and then when it comes to choosing my next book, I go to my shelves and pick something there! Ha.  The bottom half of this pile consists of some light-hearted summer reads and the top 3 I picked up the other day and it was easier to dump there than to put them away properly!

A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburon
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare
Fly on the Wall by E Lockhart
Dramarama by E Lockhart
Airhead: Runaway by Meg Cabot
Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

This is a fairly messy section of my bookshelves that live in my garage.  I thought it'd be easiest to take pictures first of the piles in the front and then show you what's behind them.  This two shelves are predominantly books by British authors.  I really want to plough through these books this year.  That started during June's British month, but as I never finished, I didn't get very far into these piles.  There's a third UKYA pile somewhere as well.  I'm currently reading What's Up With Jody Barton? by Hayley Long.

Blackwatch by Jenna Burtenshaw
The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney
Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz
My So-Called Life by Joanna Nadin
Hunted by Sophie McKenzie
The Rescue by Sophie McKenzie
Paparazzi Princess by Cathy Hopkins
Catwalk Queen by Cathy Hopkins
Hostage by Sophie McKenzie
Model Behaviour by Jo Cotterill
The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
Gladiator: Street Fighter by Simon Scarrow

Zom-B by Darren Shan
What's Up With Jody Barton? by Hayley Long

Waves by Sharon Dogar
Rani and Sukh by Bali Rai
The Swan Kingdom by Zoe Marriott
Drive By by Jim Carrington
Illegal by Miriam Halahmy
The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastman
A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler
There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
Sister, Missing by Sophie McKenzie
Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve
Numbers 2 by Rachel Ward
Lottie Biggs Is Not Tragic by Hayley Long

These two piles are a mixture of books.  The pile on the left seems to cross all genres, but the pile on the right is my zombie/dystopian/post-apocalytpic pile.  Sorry for the blurriness of this photo :( The lighting isn't great in my garage and I was using my camera phone.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert
The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells
Shatter Me by Taheri Mafi
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater
Creepover Truth or Dare by PJ Night
Scars by Cheryl Rainfield
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Angel Fire by LA Weatherley

Partials by Dan Wells
Battle Royale by
Starters by Lissa Price
Ship Breaker by P
Crossed by Ally Condie
The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
Six Days by Philip Webb
Pure by Julianna Baggott
The Dead by Charlie Higson

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts
The Tomorrow series by John Marsden

And yet more piles! The top pile looks to be all books sent for review from different publishers.  The bottom pile (I believe?) is yet another UKYA pile (with the exception of Jennifer Donnelly).

Shift by Kim Curran
Blackwood by Gwenda Bond
Rapture by Lauren Kate
Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby
Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer
Black Arts by Prentice and Weil
Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Dear Dylan by Siobhan Curham
Body Blow by Peter Cocks
Numbers 3 Infinity by Rachel Ward
A Hen in the Wardrobe by Wendy Meddour
My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece by Annabel Pitcher
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
1.4 by Mike Lancaster
Turf by John Lucas
We Can Be Heroes by Catherine Bruton
Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale

From these photos, I can tell you one thing for sure. I definitely need more shelf space.  Most of my books appear to be in piles! Ahhh.  I think this stack of mostly review books were books I wanted to read sooner rather than later.  But of course that term could apply to most of my books!

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Frostfire by Zoe Marriott
Tall Thin and Blonde by Dyan Sheldon
Dreamless by Josephine Angelini
Devilish by Maureen Johnson
Forgive My Fins by Tera Lyn Childs
Snow White and the Huntsman
Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer

Struts and Frets by Jon Skovron
Swim the Fly by Don Calame
Take Me There by Carolee Dean

It is a little bit ridiculous, isn't it, that I only really have two shelves for my TBR books! I need more space desperately!  I will admit, I try to keep these books (piles on the end aside!) in roughly alphabetical order but I'm not too fussy it actually being in alphabetical order.  I'm lazy and sometimes just shove them in somewhere.  Pile at the end is another UKYA pile.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker
Taken by Storm by Jennifer Lyn Barnes
The Stuff of Nightmares by Malorie Blackman
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
Verity Fibbs by Cathy Brett
The Selection by Kiera Cass
John Belushi Is Dead by Kathy Charles
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti
A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley
Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
Burned by Ellen Hopkins
Catching Jordan by Miranda Keneally (Have since read!)
The Ballad of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnhert

Candy by Kevin Brooks
Oliver Twisted by JD Sharpe
One Seriously Messsed-Up Week by Tom Clempson
Itch by Simon Mayo
Beads, Boys and Bangles by Sophia Bennett
Blood Ties by Sophie McKenzie
Blood Ransom by Sophie McKenzie
Velvet by Mary Hooper
My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick
Mondays are Red by Nicola Morgan

Finally! The end, hurrah.

Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Huntress by Malinda Lo
Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty
Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
by Jaclyn Moriarty
Becoming Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty
Ten Things We Shouldn't Have Done by Sarah Mylnowski
Saving Zoe by Alyson Noel
Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
Alanna by Tamora Pierce
When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle
Everlost by Neal Shusterman
Skinned by Robin Wasserman
Love and other Drama-ramas by Sarah Webb
Pink by Lili Wilkinson
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

So these are the books I own and haven't yet read.  I'd love to see what are on your shelves!

REVIEW: Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian

I really wanted to love Not That Kind of Girl by Siobhan Vivian ... but mostly I was left confused about how I felt when reading the story and also confused about the messages being sent out.  I just didn't get it, I don't think.

When I started, I was thinking that Not That Kind of Girl was about feminism.  How Natalie was on one side waving her girl power without men flag.  She's a little bit judgemental towards other girls wearing revealing clothes or having sex but she has some good ideas about being known for hard-work and diligence and intelligence.  Natalie has high expectations for herself, hoping to be student council president and to not distract herself by people of the opposite sex.  But of course things don't always go to plan when she finds herself falling for the exact type of boy she was hoping to avoid. 

And then there's the younger Spencer who has different ideas.  She's all about expressing her sexuality and has no qualms about admitting she likes the attention boys give her and that she has needs too.  I really wanted to cheer at a lot of Spencer's beliefs and behaviours especially about the anti-slut shaming, but her story arc is the one that leaves me the most confused. I'd have liked to have seen things work out differently for Spencer. 

I did mostly enjoy the book. I thought Natalie's love interest, Connor, was absolutely lovely and it was nice getting to know a decent boy in this story when it's populated by mostly jerks.  And I think Siobhan Vivian had some great ideas about teen sex and changing up people's perceptions about good girls and bad girls.  But it all felt a little judgemental from Natalie's point of view and everything felt a little bit muddled, which restricted me from enjoying this book more than I did.

REVIEW: Losing Faith by Denise Jaden

I picked up Losing Faith by Denise Jaden awhile back but by the time I got around to reading it, I wasn't entirely sure what it was about.  I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about it except that it is a story of a girl grieving the death of her sister.  And in my head, I didn't quite expect this story.Because while it is very much a story of grief and of a family recovering from a major trauma, it is also the story of something else. 

When Brie's sister, Faith, dies, Brie and everything in her life from family, friends, boyfriend seem to go off-kilter.  Nothing is the same and nothing really fits anymore.  And understandably Brie is more than a little curious about the events and the confusing information she learns about Faith's death.

Faith reportedly falls from a cliff one evening but Brie has questions about why she'd be anywhere near the cliffs at all, as Faith was meant to be at church group.  As Brie digs deeper, she finds a lot more conflicting evidence that really highlights how little Brie really knew of her sister and also of the things she'd been involved in before her death.  I really didn't imagine this story going where it did, but I think Denise Jaden did a decent job of pulling off the amount of religion in this book as well as the slightly weird turn of events.

It took me awhile to warm to Brie as a character.  It takes a really serious event for Brie to realise that she's surrounded herself with some really crappy people, mainly her best friend and her boyfriend, both of whom do horrible things that leave Brie in a worse situation than before.  But luckily Brie isn't a character that would just roll over at the hardships thrown her way and instead of wallowing, she picks herself up and moves on.  She befriends the goth girl, Tessa and home-schooled hottie, Alis, who both end up helping Brie unravel the mystery of Faith.

There's a lot going on in this story and while it isn't at all what I expected, I did enjoy it.  I will certainly be looking out for future books by Denise Jaden!

REVIEW: Insatiable by Meg Cabot

Oh I do adore Meg Cabot.  I was all set with my skepticism over Insatiable, Meg Cabot's adult book which is the first in a series about vampires.  But I don't know why I was doubting, it's Meg Cabot, so I found the story and the characters to be funny and strange and completely unexpected.

There is a lot of people completely tired of vampires.  Those people include Meena Harper, dialogue writer for a very popular and ongoing soap opera.  Meena Harper has a very special gift, one that allows her to know when other people are going to die.  This is a gift she hides from most people because no one ever believes her.  Instead, she goes out of her way to help strangers on the subway and gives subtle advice, hoping that the people she comes into contact with listen and are able to save their own lives.

But something Meena has never been able to do is see into her own future.  Which is why she isn't prepared at all for Lucien Antonescu, the prince of vampires that Meena quickly falls in love with. 

I've always enjoyed Meg Cabot's novels.  It took me awhile to get into Insatiable and I found myself frustrated in the beginning with the multiple perspectives because I couldn't quite see how Alaric, the vampire hunter, fit into the storyline.  I didn't care for the suddeness of both Meena and Lucien declaring love for each other, though I'm sure that was intentional.  I thought the ending went a bit far and I was left open-mouthed in shock.  But still, I couldn't put the book down for anything.  And despite my misgivings about certain aspects of the book, I'm still determined and intrigued to know where this story will go! 

I found Meena's character (as well as several of the other supporting characters) to be really funny, and I loved the inclusion of soap operas into the storyline.  I hope that continues, though it seems unlikely.  There's some brilliant references to other popular vampires in literature and television that made me smile.  I ended up forgiving Alaric for his shaky start into the story and I think Lucien has some hidden depths that I wouldn't mind exploring more in the next book. 

Really, I just think that I'd read and love most anything by Meg Cabot! I loved the mixture in this book of romance, humour and plenty of action.

REVIEW: Shift by Em Bailey

Shift by Em Bailey has a great cover that is what initially attracted me to the story.  But as soon as I started reading I was instantly hooked by the story and by its characters.  Psychological thrillers are my new favourite, especially after reading really wonderful stories such as Shift!

I will always be drawn to stories of mental health, and I loved the way in which our main character, Olive, questions her own sanity throughout the course of the novel and the way in which that uncertainty plays a role in what happens.  I thought it was done beautifully.

Olive is a character that I connected with very easily.  She used to be popular at school but after 'the incident' in which she finds herself in a mental institution, things haven't been the same at school with her friends or at home with her family.  Everything, including Olive seems to be that little bit broken.  Now, Olive only has the one friend, Ami, and she mostly sticks to herself and tries to stay unnnoticed at school.  But things begin to change when two new students appear at school, the hot new boy Lachlan who seems to see Olive for who she really is, and Miranda the girl who is rumoured to have killed her own parents.

What follows is disturbing and emotional and sweet.  On the one hand we have Olive, who is slightly paranoid and mentally fragile who is the only one seeing this destructive relationship that begins between Miranda and Olive's ex-best friend, Katie.  Miranda begins to imitate Katie, the way she speaks and moves and does her best to worm her way into Katie's life completely.  Only Olive and Ami can see Miranda for what she is, a parasite intent on taking over Katie completely, but will it be enough to save Katie? or Olive herself?  At the same time as the scary stuff is going on between Miranda and Katie and Olive, there's also the sweetest story of first love between Olive and Lachlan that made my heart melt!

What goes in Shift is creepy to say the very least.  But what I loved so much about this book is how I was completely left guessing as to what is going on.  I was completely at the mercy of Em Bailey as she spun this tale that bordered on the paranormal but also of identity and friendship and romance. 

There's all kinds of craziness going on in this book, dangerous, creepy craziness.  And I loved every page of it.  Highly recommended!

REVIEW: Desert Angel by Charlie Price

Desert Angel by Charlie Price isn't at all like I expected it to be, but still enjoyable.  I did think when I first started it, that it would be a psychological thriller of one young girl in the desert trying to stay alive and evade her evil step-father.  And it is, but instead of this being a survivalist story, Angel has a fair bit of help.

In fact, she's passed around by several families and hidden in out of the way villages.  And at first, I was a bit disappointed in this turn of events, but in the end I think I preferred it.  It was quite interesting to read of a community willing to risk their safety and lives to help a stranger, just because it's the right thing to do.  I liked that.  And the relationships that Angel makes during the course of this slim book is really what kept me reading.

At the start of this story, Angel is fourteen and she's living with her mother and her mom's latest abusive boyfriend, Scotty.  When Angel comes home to find her mother dead and Scotty intent on killing her, Angel flees for her life but she knows it's only a matter of time before Scotty catches up to her.

I really felt for Angel.  She's pretty young and already she's gone through quite a bit.  With a neglectful mother, she's had to look out for herself from an early age and there was no support or safety from the abuses of current and past boyfriends.  Angel is a pretty tough character but it can be a bit heartbreaking to read of the things that have happened to her.  Luckily for her, she stumbles onto a string of wonderful people willing to step in as the family Angel has never had.  Despite immigration concerns and threats to personal safety, Angel is able to find a band of good people who have nothing and are still willing to share.

The danger surrounding Scotty was really interestingly done.  There is a real sense that Angel is fighting a losing battle against this evil hunter who has the patience to wait her out and has Angel is no position to run or hide.  It was very tense reading in certain places.  A lot of this book did feel very bleak though, the writing style, the circumstances, the desert setting.  This isn't a book that everyone will love, but I did enjoy it.

Update

I just wanted to write quickly to say that I'm postponing the rest of British month to some other time.  I feel like it was too big of a leap, going from total blog slump into doing a themed month.  Especially without any outside contributors!

So, I'll be posting more reviews and blog posts supporting British authors soon, but for now, it feels like too much! Normal blogging will resume from tomorrow however.

And congratulations to Claire for winning my UKYA giveaway, I promise an email will be with you shortly! :)

On my UKYA wishlist

Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson - I absolutely fell in love with Hunting Lila when I read it last year.  I loved the gift that Lila has and struggles with, I loved unraveling the mystery that surrounds her family but especially I loved the tension and chemistry between Lila and her brother's hot best friend, Alex.  The plot was very twisty-turny and swoony and I have very high expectations for this sequel.  Bring it on!





A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton - I think the first book in the series, A Witch in Winter, was completely unexpected for me.  It wasn't anything at all like I was expecting it to be and I love the newness and refreshing nature of reading a book unlike others in the same genre that I will always be excited to read more.  I found the characters likeable and I'm interested in their relationships and seeing where this story will take them and what decisions and choices they will make.



Frostfire by Zoe Marriott - This book is a bit of a strange one to be included on this list as it is the sequel to Daughter of the Flames, a novel which I have but have not yet read.  Even so, I'm very much looking forward to reading DotF and then following that book up with this one.  I think it has a gorgeous cover and I have put all of Zoe's books on my must-read list after the strength of Shadows on the Moon, which was one of my favourite books read in 2011. 



Rebel Heart by Moira Young - It has only JUST occurred to me that every one of my choices on this list are sequels.  Huh.  Either way, I really enjoyed Blood Red Road by Moira Young and I'm looking forward to seeing where her story leads.  Judging by the man on the cover of the book, I'm guessing there will be a lot of Jack's story here.  I like that idea.  Since thinking about which books would be on my wishlist, I keep hearing the guy from the Blood Red Road trailer in my head saying Jack's words .. 'You're in my blood, Saba, you're in my head. You're in my breath, you're in my bones.' AHH. I want to read the next book now.

Which UKYA books are on your wish lists?

Confidence, blogger events and World Book Night

Let me interrupt my bookish British month by writing something a little more personal today.  Don't fear, there is a small book-related thing at the end!

I was talking to a friend recently about shyness.  She'd heard somewhere that using the word 'shy' to describe people (especially children) becomes sort of self-fulfilling.  And it had me thinking.  I'd always thought of myself as shy, ever since I was a little girl.  And that one comment made me reconsider it all. Or at least see things in a different light.

Another unrelated day, I was walking to pick up Eldest from school, and I had my music blaring through my earbuds, I was strutting along, nearly dancing in the street -  and for some unknown reason, I flashed back to myself as a high school student, walking home from school.  I remember it clearly: my shoulders would be hunched, my head fully down looking at the ground.  I wouldn't look at anyone.  I'm not the most self-aware person so when I compared the two it hit me all at once.  That a lot of my 'shyness' through the years has been more a lack of confidence than anything else. 

Because while I'm not fully comfortable in certain social situations and I do have a problem with worrying about what other people think of me, there are lots of times when I'm not shy at all.  Like at blogger events.  There's something really wonderful about the UK YA book blogging community.  It's wonderful to go to events and have those bookish conversations that I so crave and am missing in my normal every day.  I have almost no problems, when in a comfortable environment like that, in initiating conversations, speaking to strangers. 

And I haven't talked about it on the blog as yet, but I took part in World Book Night this year and it was an amazing experience.  There was a slight nervousness beforehand, but I think that feeling was more of a habit than anything else.  Because WBN was brilliant. 

I really wanted to share books with people this year, having missed out on it last year.  I looked at the (really great) list this year knew I wanted to give out a YA book.  I'm passionate about young adult fiction and really wanted to share that with the parents and carers of my son's primary school. 

Of the three (I believe? was it three?) YA titles on the list this year, I really wanted and was thrilled to have been chosen to give out How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff.  I am, as always, keen to celebrate British authors (even when they are originally American like Rosoff!) And it is an incredible book.  The best part of the whole event was speaking to people I'd not spoken to before.  There were several women I spoke to who told me to pass the books along to other people, as they are voracious readers already.  Others I spoke to about making time to read with young children, finding the right type of book to keep you interested after a long, tiring day. 

It brought me back to my days of bookselling.  Those were the best, the days I miss the most as a stay-at-home mother.  That interaction with other people about books and authors and reading.  I do miss it. 

Sorry this post has been a bit all over the place, but I just found it interesting that at the ripe age of nearly 30, I've finally found my confidence, for whatever reason.  And I couldn't be happier about it.  And I wonder if some of it can be credited to you, my lovely blog readers, who have given me the confidence through your wonderful support and encouragement.  Either way, thank you. 

REVIEW: Unrest by Michelle Harrison

Unrest by Michelle Harrison is the first book I've read by this author.  I'll admit what initially attracted me to this story is the really eye-catching cover.  I just couldn't resist.  I also love the idea of reading more YA books from a male perspective which this book does as well as the creepiness that comes with a book about the spirit world and of out-of-body experiences.  Already I had high expectations before reading. 

And Unrest is a really good book, one that didn't disappoint at all.  Despite reading this book during a busy time for me, every time I put the book down I'd be looking forward to getting back into it.  The story and the characters were really interesting and I was always left wanting more!

I really felt sorry for Elliott.  Months ago, he was involved in a car accident which left him clinically dead for several minutes.  Ever since then, he hasn't been sleeping well.  He's been experiencing some terrifying things when asleep - out of body experiences in which he's disconnected from his physical body, able to see ghosts, sometimes being paralysed.  In order to combat Elliott's feelings of fear relating to these episodes, he decides instead of avoiding the problem to place himself in a position of more terror.  Thus, he gets a job at a reportedly haunted museum so that he can tell if what he's seeing and feeling is actually real or all in his mind like his father and his doctors believe. 

I thought it was pretty gutsy of Elliott to go towards the scary ghosts and put himself more in danger at new job, Past Lives.  I thought the idea of being part of a living museum like that would be a pretty awesome place to work just in general, never mind a haunted museum.  And I was officially creeped out several times during this story.  It makes me shudder even now the idea of leaving your body and having some thing else take over it.  And while Elliott is trying hard to find out more about psychics and mediums and ghosts and any sort of defense mechanism he can in order to keep him safe, there is also another sort of mystery going on with Past Lives and its employees.  I love the mixture of both storylines and the rather sweet relationship that Elliott begins with Ophelia.  There's a genuine build up here, and you can see actual friendship and reason for them to be with each other.  I absolutely loved it.  There's a slightly spoilerish quote that I'll add at the end which make me go 'AWW' when I was reading. 

This book is utterly creepy and engrossing.  It's fascinating the information about ghosts and spirits and like I said, I just didn't want to put this book down.  I really recommend it!

I want the girl who wants and interesting portrait, not a beautiful one. I want the girl who's crazy enough to pull a fake gun on her enemies, who starts fights she knows she can't win. Who doesn't fall at someone's feet the minute she meets them. The girl who dances like she doesn't give a toss what anyone else thinks.

REVIEW: Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet

Review by Carrie from teabelly

At its core, Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet is a love story set in the 1960s, between a working class boy and the daughter of a wealthy landowner, and their need to keep their relationship a secret. But it is also so much more than that. The book spans many years, beginning with the end of the Second World War and ending almost at the present day. Not only do we learn about Clem and Frankie’s relationship, but we’re told about his mother and father’s, and his grandparents, how they all met against a backdrop of world wars, and Clem’s own birth story is a delight.

War and the fear of destruction is very much central to the story. The main part of the love story is set in 1962 during the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Having it hanging over their heads would have been one thing, but Peet gives us more, taking us into the discussions between Kennedy and his advisers, back to the beginning of the conflict, to little scenes that had a big impact on the world.

The writing in this book is just wonderful. It’s my favourite kind, and so I should be able to describe it better, but I don’t know if I can. The language is beautiful and yet not too convoluted. It sucks you in immediately with its storytelling and imagination. It gives you such a clear picture of the time it’s describing; I could see and feel everything. It’s told in such a way that, while being narrated by Clem, he’s given almost god-like powers, knowing things he couldn’t know and so filling in the gaps as he sees fit, all with a wonderfully dry sense of humour. But you can also feel sadness coming through.

As the story went on though I did find myself enjoying it less. I found the history lessons in the book to be both immensely interesting and frustrating at the same time. It began to feel like two stories had been pushed together, rather than them complementing each other. I think Peet has some very important things to say about nuclear weapons, and chose to say them through fiction, but it did take away from the main story, for me anyway. It began to feel a little heavy handed, and a little preachy. Yes, nuclear weapons and the mad men who wield them are bad. I don’t think I’m the person you need to convince about this. I just wanted Clem and Frankie’s story, without so many interruptions. I was invested, and then I kept being taken out of it.

I was also disappointed by the ending, which felt incredibly abrupt. Again, I think this was done on purpose, but I was left wanting more, just something nearer to closure. I think bookending the story as he does is incredibly clever and it is affecting, and it is true to the themes running through, but it didn’t live up to the expectations I had when I started it. And I’m not really sure why it’s billed as a Young Adult book, as it seems much more general fiction to me, and I think it would be enjoyable to most ages.

Those niggles aside, this is a very lovely, brilliantly written book.


Thank you so much for that Carrie!

Julia Donaldson (Awesome Women)

Now that E is getting a bit older and starting to read more on his own, I'm feeling a little nostalgic for all the old picture books that we used to love and read together all the time.  Obviously we still read lots of picture books and will still for awhile yet, but it feels like the beginning of the end. 

And as many great picture books there are out there, Julia Donaldson has always been a firm favourite in our house.  So today, I thought I'd write a bit about her but also about the effect her books have had on the boys and me. 

I actually really love the sound of Julia Donaldson's life so far - growing up in a house full of family in London then going off to university.  Spending time busking with her husband in different places.  Which leads to a career in song-writing and writing books. It sounds such fun and very creative.  Until June 2013, Julia is the current Children's Laureate, championing libraries and reading aloud.  She encourages children to act out stories and perform, as well as linking music with books.  

For our family, it started off with One Ted Falls Out of Bed.  When I was expecting E, we went out and started buying children's books.  We'd read somewhere about babies recognising voices when they are still in the womb, so N took to reading the bump a story every now and then.  One of the first books he read was One Ted Falls Out of Bed and now I'll always associate this book with a baby E.  It's still a book we return to quite often. 

Then of course, is The Gruffalo.  It is a favourite of both boys.  They love the rhyme that comes with a Julia Donaldson story and I find the illustrations by Axel Sheffler to really stand out.  The Littlest had a Gruffalo birthday cake recently, we've all sat and watched the BBC adaptation on the telly (of both The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child) and both boys can recite The Gruffalo by heart.  I love that.  The Gruffalo character really seemed to inspire E.  In the same way that he's been interested in Roald Dahl's books and Dr. Seuss' books, E was first excited and inspired by Julia Donaldson.

There's a local theatre company who regularly puts on plays based on children's books and a few years ago we took the boys to see their production of Room on the Broom and it has quickly become MY favourite of her books.  It's just so much fun to read.  I'm not normally one for putting on different voices for different characters (that's N's speciality!) but even I get into the spirit with this book and put on a voice for the dragon as he decides to have witch and chips for his tea.  It was a wonderful thing seeing this book performed live and I don't know why we haven't thought about acting out more of our favourite stories with just our little family.  It'd be lots of fun!

The book of Julia's that seems to get the most reading time in our house these days though, seems to be Night Monkey Day Monkey.  The boys STILL giggle at some of the things each of the monkey is confused with.  And somewhat embarassingly, it was only the other day that I realised that when one of the monkeys is explaining about 'the fireflies that wink and blink in the night' that they actually meant fireflies.  I always just thought they were mistaking the stars for fireflies.  Ha! One of the things I particularly like about this book is that the rhymes are very easy to notice and the boys love it when they figure out which word comes next and chimes in. 

I always have great fun reading her stories. We have nearly all of them, A Squash and a Squeeze, Tiddler, Charlie Cook's Favourite Book, and on and on and on...

To find out more about Julia Donaldson, please visit Julia Donaldson's official website. 

Do you have a favourite Julia Donaldson book? Or a favourite picture book? 

British month Giveaway! (INT)

I love the idea of more people reading and falling in love with new books by British authors, so I'm hosting a giveaway! What I'll do is find the largest envelope I have and cram as many books from the list below into the envelope and send it off to one lucky winner. (I'd imagine that would be 5-6 books?)

Adorkable by Sarra Manning
Dead Time by Anne Cassidy
Naked by Kevin Brooks (ARC)
Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (ARC)
Kill All Enemies by Melvin Burgess (ARC)
The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne (ARC)
Dads, Geeks and Blue Haired Freaks by Ellie Phillips

Seeking Crystal by Joss Stirling (ARC)
How to Keep a Boy as a Pet by Diane Messidoro
Fated by Sarah Alderson
The Look by Sophia Bennett
Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie
A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne (ARC)
A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton
Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt
Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers
Million Dollar Mates by Cathy Hopkins
Hollow Pike by James Dawson

Giveaway is open internationally.
Giveaway closes on 16th of June and I will be contacting winner via email.
One entry per household please.
You do not need to be a follower of this blog, though that is always appreciated.
Good luck. 

Favourite recent books by British authors

I've been reading some amazing books recently by British authors. It's partly the reason why I decided to do another British month on the blog, there's just too many wonderful books to highlight.  

In no particular order...

The Look by Sophia Bennett

I really, really loved The Look.  I thought it was a wonderful story about sisters and modelling.  It's a really sweet story of a girl very insecure of her image who falls into modelling almost accidentally and continues with it to please her sister who has been diagnosed with cancer.  This book made me smile and then cry and then laugh again.  I love how our main character really grows in confidence throughout The Look and begins to accept her appearance.  This book is a great story about sisters and fashion and modelling and is one not to miss.

Kiss Date Love Hate by Luisa Plaja

 There's nothing I love more than a new Luisa Plaja novel.  There's always some really great characters, a really delicious love story and some interesting aspect of identity to work through.  With Kiss Date Love Hate we have all of that plus there's a really nerdy video game twist which plays with our characters' images and personalities.  I adore the element of film-making involved and how fun and funny this book is.  It's also sweet with some loveable characters and some great friendships and relationships.  It touches on things more serious towards the end which made me stop and reconsider.  I loved the mixture of all of this and cannot urge you to read this book or any of Luisa's books strongly enough!

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt

Skin Deep came out of nowhere and completely surprised me.  Laura Jarratt has brought us something really beautiful here with this love story between two people struggling with very different issues.  We have Ryan, the traveller, who is used to being stared at and treated differently every where him and his mother go.  He's so responsible, looking after things and his mother, but all he'd really like is to settle down.  Then we have Jenna, who is dealing with the loss of her best friend in a car accident recently which also left her face permanently scarred.  Jenna has kept herself indoors while her face is healing and doesn't like going out in public, with everyone openly staring.  Both Ryan and Jenna stole my heart almost immediately.  I needed both of them to be okay and I loved the pair of them together. 

 Adorkable by Sarra Manning

 What I'm beginning to realise from writing this blog post is that I really, really love books involving image and identity.  And the main character of Adorkable, Jeane Smith, is using her unusual and quirky image and lifestyle to make a brand name for herself.  Using her blog and Twitter, she is able to forge this place for herself, and for others, that says it's all right to be different and to celebrate each others' differences.  It wasn't always easy to love the characters in this book, but they also felt very realistic and believeable with their ragged edges. I'm such a big fan of Sarra Manning and of this book! Read it, you won't be sorry.

Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne

I haven't yet reviewed Heart-Shaped Bruise, mostly because I haven't yet found the words to describe how emotional this book is.  I picked up this book knowing almost nothing about it and I was instantly hooked by the voice of a broken and disturbed girl in a young offenders institute.  She's grappling with the loss of her identity after finding out her father isn't who she thought he was her entire life.  And as she tells her story, I ended up falling deeper and deeper into her head and into her life.  I felt sorry for her and understood her and everything felt so raw and beautiful and honest that I couldn't help but fall head over heels for this book.  How is this Tanya Byrne's debut novel?  Easily my favourite read of 2012 so far.  Highly recommended!

What is your favourite book by a British author that you've read so far this year?

REVIEW: How to Keep a Boy as a Pet by Diane Messidoro

It has been a long time since I loved a book as much as I loved How to Keep a Boy as a Pet by Diane Messidoro!  This book is adorable and funny but also incredibly heartfelt and emotional.  Right from the first page I fell in love with this beautiful book and I really cannot recommend it enough!

I quite enjoy a story told through blog posts, especially as I have an interest in blogging myself! Circe Shaw, our main character, is fabulous.  She starts this blog in order to document her plans for the summer. Unfortunately those plans have been somewhat derailed when her two best friends, Tash and Ben, start going out and do a considerable amount of snogging, leaving Circe to be third wheel. 

What Circe really wants is to be a successful journalist ... and to have a boyfriend.  She doesn't understand boys at all.  And with a little help from her only blog reader, Circe is on her way to taming a boy.  Even if it might be the Rudest, Most Despicable Boy Ever. 

Honestly, this book.  It had me in fits of giggles.  I even took it with me on the school run, desperate to read more, and I ended up actually laughing out loud.  This book is so fun and funny.  Circe is the most adorable character ever without being annoying.  She's relatable and believable I fell in love with her instantly.  I loved how she took the advice of others and somehow managed to ponder the concept of what type of party she as an individual is and how dating boys is like being around wild animals. 

But there's also more to this story that goofy attempts at dating (I loved these bits though! Rufus and Circe are so cute!).  A lot of the story seems central to Circe gaining more self esteem and confidence in herself. Especially after some incident in the past that is only hinted about through Circe's blog posts.  There seems to be more going on with Circe's nemesis, Portia, than Circe would lead us to believe and there's also a lot of baggage and questions that Circe carries around concerning her father.  I love the ways in which Diane Messidoro handles each of these aspects and I cannot wait to read more of Circe Shaw and her adventures...

WWYD? Cheating

What Would You Do? is a semi-regular feature in which a question will be posed based on a character or story line in a book I've recently read.  I'd love if you would take part and share in comments just what YOU would do in a similar situation! 

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I'm a huge fan of Sarra Manning.  So it was with incredible excitement that I picked up her latest adult read, Nine Uses For An Ex-Boyfriend.  I haven't reviewed this one yet, but I did enjoy it after I let the story and the character's decisions sink in a little bit first. 

I've written before that I don't enjoy story lines that involve cheating and I still don't.  I think it's a horrible thing to do to somebody and it would be awful to find out that your partner had cheated on you.  It just brings up horrible feelings of anger and betrayal but also on inadequacy and all of those emotions combined is a story line that I would generally avoid.  But as it is Sarra Manning, I really wanted to give this book a try. 

It's the story of Hope Delafield who finds out at this horrible dinner party that her boyfriend (of 13 years!) is cheating on her with her best friend Susie.  The rest of the story is of Hope dealing with this betrayal and trying to define for herself of how much can she forgive?  Is it okay for her to take her cheating boyfriend back if it's just a drunken kiss? Can she move on with this relationship if it's more than that? If it's love? 

I really felt for Hope being in this impossible situation.  Obviously I wanted Hope to stick up for herself more, to kick this guy out and move on.  But I could also see how hard it was for Hope to walk away from a relationship that has lasted for such a long time.  Walking away means the end of a thirteen year relationship as well as an end to the future that she had planned with him.  It's scary and hard and I don't envy her position and her decision at all. 

I think it can be really easy to sit on the sidelines on this one and say very clearly that personally I wouldn't accept cheating in any of the forms, and I'd hope that I'd have enough willpower and think enough of myself to get out of any relationship that would involve cheating.  But I think that Hope's story is pretty realistic in the way that it shows how much of an effect it does have on different areas of Hope's life.  I finished this book and I found myself questioning my own thoughts on opinions on the topic, and I quite enjoyed that reevaluation! So now I'd like to hear from you...

What would you do?

Interview with Phil Earle, author of Saving Daisy

Today I'm very pleased and honoured to have Phil Earle stop by for an interview! 

Just as Being Billy was one of my favourites reads of last year, so Saving Daisy is one of my favourites of this year.  Phil's books are emotional and can be painful to read, but they are also raw and honest and beautiful too.  I've absolutely loved the characters and the stories that Phil Earle has brought and I look forward to reading more.  Over to you, Phil... 

To find out more about Phil Earle, or Saving Daisy, please visit the following websites:

Phil Earle ... Phil's Blog ... Phil on FaceBook ... Phil on Twitter 

Hello! I'm so pleased to have you here on the blog.  First, how would describe Saving Daisy to anybody who hasn't yet read the book?

I’m terrible at summing up my books in a sentence, which is ironic as my day job involves doing just that about other peoples books.

To put it in very simple terms, I guess you could say that it’s sort of a mixture of ‘Before I Die’ meets ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’ They are certainly two things that influenced it anyway…

There's been a lot of talk in the past year or so regarding books for teenagers that deal with dark or difficult themes (#YASaves), how important is it to you that teens have access to books about self-harm or depression?

It’s a really difficult question to answer, as to me there’s nothing more off-putting to a reader than having a book flashed before you that screams ‘ISSUE BOOK’!!! Dealing with depression and anxiety, or fighting the compulsion to self-harm are incredibly personal experiences: no two people will ever have the same reasons, so I’m wary of saying ‘This is how it is…my book is the answer’.

What ‘Saving Daisy’ is, is a fictionalised account of my experiences with depression, and if readers recognise elements of their own experiences in it, then that’s fantastic. What I think is more important, is that books like ‘Daisy’ have hope, as again, that’s my experience of depression. It’s a terrible, isolated, terrifying illness, but it can be beaten. That’s one of the messages I really wanted to get across.

Daisy's favourite film in the book is The Shawshank Redemption in which she talks about her reasons very beautifully, what is your favourite film and why?

One guess…Yes, it’s probably ‘Shawshank’ too. If I ever find it on the telly, I can’t go to bed until the final credits roll. It mirrors how I feel about books with hope. Andy goes through decades of pain in the film, yet he never gives up. He chips away at that prison wall for decades, never letting go of the idea of life outside the walls.

I'm curious about what research was involved in writing Saving Daisy? 

None. As with ‘Being Billy’, it was all inspired by kids I worked with. I first worked with young people who self-harmed in my twenties: it was an experience that never left me. I found it difficult to understand what drove them to do it, especially as their reasons were so varied. I’ve found that I write to make sense of things in my life. It’s over a decade since I worked with these girls, yet their stories never left me. 

When I was a teenager, I read a book about self harm which saved my life, has there even been a book which had a similar influence in your own life?

There are definitely books that I return to for comfort. Novels like ‘SE Hinton’s ‘The Outsiders’ or David Almond’s ‘Skellig’. I think I choose them because they have such enormous heart. That’s the most important thing to me in any book. Without heart, a book’s an empty experience for me.

 My absolute favourite character in Saving Daisy is Adebayo, I'd love to know more about her?

One of the greatest things about ‘Daisy’ being published, is that people have loved Ade. It makes me grin every time people mention her, as she is based on someone very important to me. I didn’t set out to write about my dalliances with depression, it kind of happened half way through, but when it did I went with it. Ade is based on the psychologist who I saw when my head fell apart. His name is Jonny John-Kamen, and he has become a really important part of my life. All the ideas that Ade employs with Daisy, Jonny used with me: in particular, the constant use of logic that gradually beats the guilt out of her head.

Jonny is a great, great friend now, so much so that our first son carries his name. I love the fact that the book became something of a love letter to him.

There were a lot of really emotional scenes in this book and Daisy really goes through a lot, was there any particular scene that you struggled to write or kept returning to?

Not really. The fact that Daisy is female built a safe distance between me and her. I really put her through the wringer, but I think it’s really important that writers do that to their characters. You have to love them, but you also have to make them suffer. Without that suffering, it would be a pretty bland read…

One of my favourite aspects of Saving Daisy (and also with Being Billy) is the kernels of hope that your characters have to hold on to, either in their relationships with other people (Ronnie, Adebayo) but also figurative like with the window that Daisy's mum makes.  How much hope is there for children like Daisy and Billy going through similar experiences?

There is hope for these kids, but sometimes it’s hard, or seemingly impossible, for them to find it. They have faced such atrocious things in their short lives, that it’s hard for them to build trusting relationships with adults.

What I know, because I’ve seen it first-hand, is that these young people have more resilience and bravery than 99% of people who had a ‘normal’ upbringing. I would have curled up in a ball if I’d faced the trials they had. But not them, they stood up and told the world to keep on coming. That’s why I love these kids, and that’s why I wanted to write about them. They set an example to us all.
 
 

REVIEW: Saving Daisy by Phil Earle

I read Saving Daisy by Phil Earle at the start of the year and I've found it very difficult between then and now to put how I felt about the book into words.  Reading this book felt like such an emotional experience.  My heart absolutely ached for poor Daisy, who goes through such terrible things throughout this novel, but I'm really happy to have ended the book smiling through my tears, as this book is also filled with such hope.

We first meet Daisy in Phil Earle's previous novel, Being Billy.  But Daisy's story begins before she meets Billy so it isn't necessary to read one before the other, though I definitely do recommend both.

I really loved Daisy right from the start, there was something about her that I could easily relate to.  She's never really known her mother, and she lives with her father, who while doing the best he can, can't really speak about Daisy's mother.  That pain and grief seems to be too close to the surface still, and it's as if Daisy takes those feelings and makes them her own. She blames herself for her mother's death and that guilt is eating up at her from the inside leading her towards anxiety and depression and self-harm.  Added to her guilt, Daisy's vulnerability attracts unwanted attention and sets off a terrible set of circumstances that find Daisy alone and in the care of a therapeutic community.  With the help of Daisy's key worker, Adebayo, she is able to take those first steps towards letting go of her guilt and fears as Adebayo assures Daisy that it isn't her fault the things that have happened. 

I do so love Daisy.  I thought her relationship with her father to be quite sweet, especially their love of movies that they shared.  I wanted the best for Daisy, for her to be happy and to believe that she deserves love and happiness, even after the horrible things she's been through.  I felt so many things while reading this book, sadness and grief mostly.  But while Saving Daisy isn't the easiest book to read in many ways, the emotion that has stuck with me after so many months, is the shining ray of hope and love in the form of Adebayo.  This book is both devastating and beautiful to read and I can highly recommend it!