You guys probably know that Google Reader is closing. This sucks because it means you can't keep in touch with all your fave blogs as easily. And because we're all losing all the followers we worked so hard (well, hardish...) to get! But fear not about that - I'm setting up a Bloglovin' account. Follow me and never miss out on anything!! And help me feel slightly better about myself... I'm insecure. Sue me. ;)
I'm also on Google+. I don't really know if that's useful but I might as well mention it... Can you follow people on Google+? Man, sometimes my tech-know-how is quite terrifying...
And also keep in touch via Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads. I may also be joining Tumblr. More on that at a later date...
But please, don't abandon me now! I promise to keep on badgering you with IMMs and WOWs and reviews and random stuffs and also Fortnight of Guests 2013 (really, Month of Guests...) is coming up people! We have a whole bunch of awesome bloggers and awesome authors and I am SO excited and really don't want y'all to miss it!!
Ok, I'm going to leave you now because I'm beginning to sound a bit pathetic and crazy... But I hope to see you on Bloglovin'! :D
Ok, since On My Wishlist has gone now, I've decided to do my own version. It shall be called The Book Addicted Girl Wishes For... The picture below is a super quick edit; I'll make a better one later! :D
There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.
They call it the Heist.
Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.
Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?
I've seen loads of really really mixed things about this book. It seems to be like Marmite: love it or hate it. I love Marmite so I think I'd like to give it a go...
Well, that's my wish. What are you wishing for today? :D
Now, The Moon and More is brilliant. Obviously. It is written by the incredible Sarah Dessen. And you want to know something extremely exciting? Sarah Dessen will be taking in the awesome #PenguinChats in two days time along with the equally brilliant Cathy Cassidy! For more info on that, check out my posts: here!
If you can't be bothered with that, here's the basics: Ok, so #PenguinChats is back! Yay! For those of you who don't know what it is, here's the basic idea: it's to connect us bloggers and readers with some of our fave YA authros on Twitter for a 30-minute chat, using: @PenguinUKBooks and #PenguinChats. This time we get to interrogate chat with SARAH DESSEN AND CATHY CASSIDY!! Yay!!
And like I said, it's almost time... :D The chat is Sunday 30th June 2013 at 6pm BST and all you've gotta do to take part is use the trend #PenguinChats. To get you in the mood, Penguin has launched an awesome blog tour which is - you guessed it! - stopping by here today! Yay! :D
But onto the blog tour... Sarah has whipped up an awsome playlist for The Moon and More - enjoy! :D But before you enjoy, remember these super important words:
1. “Emaline,”
Ben Folds Five. When I start having ideas for a book, the name of the narrator
comes first. Sometimes, it’s instantly perfect, but others I have to figure out
spelling and how I think it would be pronounced. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to
spell Emaline’s name until I found this song by Ben Folds Five. And I just
knew.
2. “Free
Girl Now,” Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. A lot of this book is about
breaking free of expectations and other things that might limit what you can,
and do, end up accomplishing in this life. Plus this is a great kiss off song,
and you can never have enough of those.
3. “Walk,”
Foo Fighters. Another great song about
starting over and making changes. Plus no one rocks like the Foo Fighters.
4. “Shake
It Out,” Florence + The Machine. I started writing The Moon and More in the
winter of 2011, then had to set it aside to go on tour to promote What Happened
to Goodbye. Traveling and meeting my readers is always so fun, but it’s hard to
be away from my family, and there were certain times I was just exhausted and
homesick. This song was my therapy for MONTHS when those feelings hit, and I
still put it on when I need to remember “it’s always darkest before the dawn.”
It always does the trick.
5. “The
Church of Everybody Else,” Ben Lee.
I love all things Ben Lee, but the title of this song is what really got me.
Like Emaline, I’ve spent too much time worrying about what other people think
of me and my choices, but it’s also scary to decide not to worry about other
people’s opinions, because then no one is accountable but you. It’s about a
balance between the two, and like Emaline, I’m still trying to find it.
6. “Leaving
New York,” R.E.M. A great song about coming to realizations
about what a person can do for you, as well as finally getting the things they
just won’t be capable of, no matter how much you wish things were different.
7.
“Daughter,” Loudon Wainwright III. Emaline talks a lot in this book about the
difference, in her mind, between her father and her dad. This song sums up
parenthood to me, especially that sense of wonder I still feel at times about
my own little girl: “That’s my daughter in the water/Who’d have ever thought
her?”
8.
“Silver, Blue & Gold,” Bad Company. I listened to so much classic rock when
I was in high school: it was the soundtrack to my entire experience. I was
driving one day and this song came on. I hadn’t heard it in years, and it just
brought back SO much, especially my senior year, when I went through a really
brutal breakup (read: I got dumped). My heart was just broken and hearing this
song after all those years---“Don’t forsake me, cause I love you”---brought
back all that pain in one big wave. I was dealing with some sad stuff in
Emaline’s story as well, and it just made me get it that much more. Music has
that kind of power. Thank goodness.
9. “Dreaming,”
Blondie. The chorus says it all: “Dreaming is free.” Emaline’s limited by a lot
of things in this story---money, family, people who aren’t who she wishes they
could be---but in the end, I think she still ends up in a good place. You can’t
stop hoping and wishing and just thinking things will and can happen. What’s
the harm in it? After all, it doesn’t cost anything.
Yay, thank you so much, Sarah! It's been great having you here - I love all these songs! I've just downloaded a whole bunch of Ben Lee - I loved that song!! :D
Now all of you - don't forget to check out the #PenguinChats on
Ok, so #PenguinChats is back! Yay! For those of you who don't know what it is, here's the basic idea: it's to connect us bloggers and readers with some of our fave YA authros on Twitter for a 30-minute chat, using: @PenguinUKBooks and #PenguinChats. This time we get to interrogate chat with SARAH DESSEN AND CATHY CASSIDY!! Yay!!
And it's almost time... :D The chat is Sunday 30th June 2013 at 6pm BST and all you've gotta do to take part is use the trend #PenguinChats.
To get us all excited, Penguin are holding a blog tour that starts today over at So Many Books, So Little Time!! YAY! Make sure you drop by everyone's post - especially here on 28th! :D
I'm going to shut up now and leave you to watch these awesome Cathy Cassidy and Sarah Dessen related videos. But before I do, don't forget these four very important words:
Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and it's a weekly meme all about the books that are coming out soon that we really can't wait to read.
I was flicking through a Goodreads Listopia and came across this one. I was intrigued instantly and am now waiting for...
Or so Athena thought. But then the feathers started sprouting beneath her skin, invading her lungs like a strange cancer, and Hermes showed up with a fever eating away his flesh. So much for living a quiet eternity in perpetual health.
Desperately seeking the cause of their slow, miserable deaths, Athena and Hermes travel the world, gathering allies and discovering enemies both new and old. Their search leads them to Cassandra—an ordinary girl who was once an extraordinary prophetess, protected and loved by a god.
These days, Cassandra doesn’t involve herself in the business of gods—in fact, she doesn’t even know they exist. But she could be the key in a war that is only just beginning.
Because Hera, the queen of the gods, has aligned herself with other of the ancient Olympians, who are killing off rivals in an attempt to prolong their own lives. But these anti-gods have become corrupted in their desperation to survive, horrific caricatures of their former glory. Athena will need every advantage she can get, because immortals don’t just flicker out.
Every one of them dies in their own way. Some choke on feathers. Others become monsters. All of them rage against their las
t breath.
The Goddess War is about to begin.
Goddesses. Greek mythology. Kendare Blake, author of the amazing Anna Dressed In Blood. What girl doesn't wanna read this?! It looks sooooooo good!! :D
So, that's what I'm waiting for! What are you waiting for this Wednesday? :D
Ok, so #PenguinChats is back! Yay! For those of you who don't know what it is, here's the basic idea: it's to connect us bloggers and readers with some of our fave YA authros on Twitter for a 30-minute chat, using: @PenguinUKBooks and #PenguinChats. This time we get to interrogate chat with SARAH DESSEN AND CATHY CASSIDY!! Yay!!
And it's almost time... :D The chat is Sunday 30th June 2013 at 6pm and all you've gotta do to take part is use the trend #PenguinChats.
To get us all excited, Penguin are holding a blog tour that starts today over at So Many Books, So Little Time!! YAY! Make sure you drop by everyone's post - especially here on 28th! :D
I'm going to shut up now and leave you to watch these awesome Cathy Cassidy and Sarah Dessen related videos. But before I do, don't forget these four very important words:
Ok, I don't know if you guys remember, but back in January Penguin launched an awesome new project called #PenguinChats (site: here). The idea is that us bloggers get to pester some of our fave YA Penguin authors with questions on Twitter for 30minutes, using: @PenguinUKBooks and #PenguinChats.
You remember? Awesome.
Cause it's back once again and bigger than ever! This time we get to interrogate chat with...
CATHY CASSIDY AND SARAH DESSEN!!!
I'm a little excited, if you haven't gathered. :D
Anyways, the event will take place Sunday 30th June at 6pm BST.
And to get us all excited about it, Penguin are also launching an awesome blog tour that starts on 22nd: check out the banner!! And yes, it will be stopping by here to celebrate on 28th. So exciting - don't forget to drop by!!
I'm going to go now and leave you to read these extracts. But before I do, don't forget these four very important words:
Ok, since On My Wishlist has gone now, I've decided to do my own version. It shall be called The Book Addicted Girl Wishes For... The picture below is a super quick edit that was done in a rush to get this post ready to go up. I'll make a better one later! :D
Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.
Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.
When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them.
This one looks really cool - and I just love that cover! I've heard loads of good things about it and am always on the look out for an awesome fantasy book! :D
Well, that's my wish. What are you wishing for today? :D
Contains:Violence, Torture, Alcohol and Smoking References
No Drug References
“It was a bright cold day in April, and
the clocks were striking thirteen.”
Winston
Smith works for the Ministry of Truth in London, chief city of Airstrip
One. Big Brother stares out from every
poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he
discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new
possibilities. Despite the police
helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question
the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy.
Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent – even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they
invented Room 101…
Nineteen
Eighty-Four is George Orwell’s terrifying
vision of a totalitarian future in which everything and everyone is slave to a
tyrannical regime.
Review:
Imagine a world where everything is
controlled. And I'm not just talking the Nazi or Soviet kind of control.
I'm talking control of EVERYTHING. Media,
books, language, actions, thoughts, history –
what people know and feel. It's terrifying because it’s happened before
to some extent. It could happen again... And I guess it would start
small and get bigger and bigger until... Bam. Hello, Big Brother...
Now don't forget:
"Big
Brother Is Watching You..."
All the time. Everywhere. No
matter why you are doing.
This is the world Winston Smith lives in.
This totalitarian state where every single thing is monitored and
recorded - even thoughts. Where history and memories can be rewritten to
fit with the ideals of the Ingsoc - the English Socialism Party.
Free thinking is not acceptable – not ever.
It is the worst crime you can commit.
And yet this is what Winston is doing –
thinking his own thoughts. And then he falls in love with Julia.
Even with spies everywhere, they find
themselves drawn towards rebellion, towards conspiracy.
Bu nothing gets past Big Brother.
Can Winston hold onto his love and
freethinking through the tortures the Ministry of Love inflict on him?
Through Room 101, where your worst
nightmares come to life...?
And never forget:
“WAR
IS PEACE
'FREEDOM
IS SLAVERY
'IGNORANCE
IS STRENGTH.”
When I was younger, adults would say things
like: "oh, it's like Big Brother is watching you" or
"well, that would be
in my Room 101..." As a child, I didn't get it. It wasn't
until the start of my AS Level English Lit that I finally understood it all.
Sure, I'd heard of 1984,
but I didn't realise that it was the book about Big Brother. So when my
English teacher recommended reading it as an additional text, I was instantly
intrigued. 1984 is seen as
a literary classic and after reading it, I most certainly know why. It's
mind-blowingly amazing and so very scary it's untrue. I can't recommend
it enough!
Now, dystopias are always scary. There's always
the whole 'what if?' side of them,
the feeling of foreboding you can't quite shake. 1984 is literally the king of all dystopias.
It is scary as hell, probably because every single thing about it felt
really like it could all happen tomorrow. Like a Big Brother is just
round the corner. Or is here already, for all we know… Orwell has
captured everything everyone fears most and turns it into a scary-as-hell story
and world that is so real you could almost touch it, taste it, feel it.
And I know characters aren't the big point
of this book – being scared out of your mind might be, though – but I did
really like Winston: he was a refreshing change in a world that pretty much
lacked morals and free thinking. But what this book shows perfectly is
that even the strongest character, even the ones with hatred and love and resolve
inside, must struggle with everything they have to resist or fight back against
the psychological control of a totalitarian dystopian world – and that not all
will be successful…
Speaking of, this dystopian world is the
scariest I've come across. There were no laws, but if you did
something they didn't like,
you could be killed or sent to work camps. And someone was always
watching you through various kinds of technology. And the children - God.
They were terrifying. Did you know there was this kid in Nazi
Germany who snitched on his own patents and was held up as a hero? Well, all the kids in 1984 were always listening, ready to turn their parents into Big Brother
for some little treachery or another. Patents were scared of their own
kids. Get why I was scared to death?! And the idea of Newspeak, the
language that gets smaller over time, fascinated and horrified me. We
live in a world where we can speak our minds and where we have so, so many
words to choose from. But if all the dangerous, revolutionary words were
taken out of our vocabulary, if we were restricted to certain words, how can we
think for ourselves? How can we fight back when there aren't the words to
do so? It's terrifying and intriguing all in one. Pure, terrifying
genius.
On a negative note, we know Winston
can remember all the past – the bits before they were written from history and
the people who disappeared, but I wasn't sure about everyone else - did they
just know it all and keep quiet out of fear? Or did it all somehow get
written out of their heads as the papers were rewritten? And if so, how?
Damn these questions – they bugged me for ages. Still bug me, actually...
But Orwell's writing was obviously amazing.
The writing was beautiful and haunting, if a little heavy at times.
Nonetheless, I could see everything so, so clearly in my head. And
the plot was so very gripping its untrue. It was intense, suspenseful –
the kind of plot where you could feel all that suspense building and building
and building, waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. It was
intense and terrifying. And oh so addictive.
Some books are called classics even when
they don't seem like them. 1984
was most definitely worthy of the title. It was psychologically
terrifying, mentally challenging, totally and completely beyond words. 1984 was an amazing, powerful book that
left me shaken up and reeling. Classics are classics for a reason, my
teacher told me when I mentioned how brilliant it was. And in the case of
1984, it's a classic for a million and more reasons. It is
most definitely a book everyone must read, a book I can't recommend
enough.
WARNING: This
Is The Rambling Review Of A Fan-Girl. I
Apologise In Advance…
#1 New York Times Bestseller
Despite
the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has
never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon
diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot
twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s
story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw,
The
Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and
heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic
business of being alive and in love.
Review:
“As he read, I fell in love the way you
fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”
Hazel is dying of cancer. Sure, the
medication – or, as Hazel prefers to call it, the chemical poison – that has
been pumped into her body has bought her some time, but she's going to die
anyway.
To add more crap to her already craptastic
life, Hazel's mom thinks she's depressed and sends her off to Support Group for
kids with cancer.
Hazel isn't best pleased.
Until she walks in to find a gorgeous guy
with brilliant blue eyes staring at her. His name is Augustus Waters.
Things start to look up.
And then her life is changed forever, as
she is swept up in Augustus and led to seek out the dreams she'd never thought
would be possible.
Her fate is rewritten.
But can it be escaped?
I am so behind on reading The Fault In Our Stars it's almost
untrue. Everyone else seems to have read it millennia ago and then
there's me, the idiot, who left it so, so long, missing out on so, so much
without even knowing. My stupidity and slowness is enough to make me cry
sometimes. Because I really am both, for waiting so frexing long to read TFIOS, which is, quite frankly, a modern
classic. Or at least, it should be. There was a debate of
Spinebreakers about whether or not John Green was a legend. I was firmly
in the Hell Yeah side of the argument, as I'm sure anyone who has read any of
his books will be. Because only a legend can have me fall totally and
instantly in love with characters, make me laugh one moment and cry the next,
make me feel unable to put the book down. So yeah. John Green is a
total legend. Don't believe me? Read the rest of this review.
And then read his books yourself, if you haven't already.
Hazel was someone I loved instantly.
She had the most amazing personality: Quirky, funny, but not overly
sunny, y'know? She, to quote herself, "devoted quite a bit of [her] abundant free time to thinking about death".
She just really made me laugh. She was also so caring and
loving, so real, like someone you could meet in the streets, which made her
story even more emotional and stronger and harder, yet at the same time, easier to read. She was just
perfect, really: the perfect, imperfect character for the story. And I loved
her.
And Augustus Waters: I am totally in love
with him. I fell for him instantly. He was amazing.
Wonderful. Perfect. So sweet and funny and bonkers. He
always had something to say that would make me smile or laugh. I, like
Hazel, "have an Augustus Waters
fetish."
The relationship between Hazel and Augustus
– oh it was so perfect! So utterly believable and real and adorable and
so, so perfect. All I wanted was for there to be some miracle so they could
be together forever and ever.
The characters – God! Green just
writes the most amazing characters. They are all so real and unique and
so not conventional. I loved that – how everyone was their own person.
I loved that. Some of my favourite characters, other than Augustus
and Hazel, were Isaac – he was brilliant – and Hazel's parents – I adored them:
they were so loving and amazing and my heart broke for them. And then
there was Peter Van Houten, who was a complete "douchepants" but killed me anyway.
The writing was just stunning. Hazel
and her voice just instantly got inside my head and my heart. Some had me
laughing and some had me on the verge of drowning in emotions and tears.
All stuck inside my mind. John Green, well, he just has this insane
talent for dialogue, for totally believable and natural voices. And it
has so many quotes that just still in my mind, so many I just had to write down
so I could read them over and over.
Now, the plot could be called pretty simple
overall - there are no Stormtroopers or a guy killing someone every other word.
It's all very much rooted firmly in reality. And that the devastating
knowledge that what these kids are going through is happening to so, so many
people everywhere is what makes TFIOS so hard-hitting and potent and
emotional. And then The Event (as I shall call it)... Oh. My.
Freaking. GOD. I mean, break my heart more please!
And the emotions... Just, my God. It was like drowning in
feelings, this could. I could be laughing one minute and have all my
heartstrings tugged the next, eyes welling up with tears. Sometimes, I
was laughing through my tears, something that doesn't happen often. And,
by the end, my heart ached and I was physically exhausted. And I loved
it.
I found I could really relate to Hazel.
I haven't had cancer or anything life-threatening, but I do have an
illness and I got the whole illness and dealing and the "Professional Sick
Person" side of the book. And Hazel also sounded much
older than she was at times, something I also do. The whole maturity that
comes with having to cope with being not only sick but different. So I
really found parts of this book touched me in ways I'm not sure everyone would
get, like parts of it were meant for me.
There are no words to describe this book,
no words that can do it justice. Sometimes it's just that way: you read a
book and what you feel is just so strong you simply cannot find the ways to
express it. You just can't find the words that would even begin to
describe your insane emotions towards it. All you can say, in the end, is
that you loved it. You loved it so, so, so much it physically hurt.
You loved it so much you put aside other amazing books to gobble it up in
one go, you turned away food and water and NCIS
to finish it. You read it all in one go and were left breathless, without
words. And you can't recommend it enough. You honestly cannot
recommend it enough, even if you rambled on for a million years. You just
look at everyone you meet and you want to say 'Hey, random stranger, have you read TFIOS? No?! OMG, read
it! Like, now. Right, right now. As in, go to that
Waterstones and just buy it. Ok?' That is what TFIOS has made me wanna do. Who
knows, next time I'm in town, I might just do it: accost people in the bookshop
and force the book on them. In the meantime, I'm going to do it slightly
less aggressively and weirdly to you: If you haven't read this yet, I am
begging you - actually begging you - to read it. Even if you hate
contemps or think reading about cancer is too depressing or whatever, please,
just read The Fault In Our Stars.
Sure, it's sad and real and it will make your heart ache in ways you
didn't think a book could, but it's also beautiful and funny and witty and
stunningly brilliant. John Green: you are so a legend and you deserve a
place in some kind of Bookish Wall of Fame. Hey, that’s an idea...
Maybe I should get started on that...
But I digress. And I ramble.
And my point is:
The
Fault In Our Stars is breath-taking and a
book everyone, everywhere should read.
TFIOS will suck you in, have you hooked and will take you on a
rollercoaster ride. IT will make you laugh and cry and will break your
heart. And you will love every second.
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