Saturday 30 April 2011

Pretty Souls by Julie Patricka + author interview

Head over to Cem's Book Hideout, where I've reviewed Pretty Souls and interviewed the lovely author Julie Patricka! It's Young Adult involving shape shifters!

Ondine by Ebony McKenna


April 2010, Egmont
304 pages, Paperback
Review copy 

Young Adult, fantasy 

Magic, spells, family life, family business, bond of sisters, deceit, treasure, health inspector, business & family reputation, friendship, a ferret, growing up, fortune telling, teen romance

Summary from Egmont 

One girl. One boy. One spell to be broken.
Ondine de Groot is a normal fifteen-year-old who lives with her family in the European country of Brugel. She has a pet ferret called Shambles. But Shambles is no ordinary ferret. . . He’s Hamish McPhee, a boy cursed by a witch. A witch who happens to be related to Ondine
When Shambles turns back into Hamish temporarily, Ondine knows that she has to help him break the spell. He is the most gorgeous boy she has ever met and her one true love! He just can’t remain a ferret forever. Can he?


Nayuleska's thoughts
The first thing I liked about Ondine was the cover. It's pretty! It's magical, feels warm (emotionally - it is the same temperature as everything else) and really captures the essence of the book. The second thing I liked about Ondine was Ondine. The name is beautiful and unusual - hopefully I'll learn the origins in my forthcoming interview with Ebony (hopefully posting on May 14th). 

Ondine herself is likeable. She's a sweet girl, very hard working. Although there are the usual family mishaps, she loves her sisters dearly. She cares for the family business, which is why she works her socks off when its reputation is threatened. If that plummets, so too could their source of income. I enjoyed watching Ondine and her family pull themselves together, trying to meet deadlines. As the story intensifies, Ondine who is normally sweet natured finds herself blurting out how she really feels about matters. Initially that causes friction between her sisters, but it does all work out for the best in the end. 

Not that Ondine would necessarily agree with that: thanks to Shambles appearing on the scene, her aunt descends upon her with wisdom (and a lot of laughs). Shambles is cute as a ferret. He's quite useful with information gathering. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding his transformation into a ferret, and how he tries to become human again. The results will have a strong impact on Ondine. As for the Duke and his family - they are evil!!! Well, they do the odd good, necessary deed, but they are greedy money-and-status-hungry so-and-so's. They are fitting opposition for Ondine and Shambles. Although Shambles would say that Ondine's aunt is the real villain of the story. 

Final conclusion 
If you're after a light read, which delves deep into emotions, but is chock full of laughs, definitely read on to watch Ondine's life unravel as she juggles the family business, dealing with the emotions of a teenager, and finding more about the transformed ferret. I give this a 10/10 

Be sure to check out more about Ondine's world on Ebony's website.

Suggested reads 
Knife by R J Anderson, This involves fairies living in their own world, but includes a lot of humour, emotions and transformations. 


Eyes like Stars by Lisa Mantchev, more fairies, magic laughter and mayhem (and a business threatened) 



I, Coriander by Sally Gardner, magic mixing with reality, focuses on family life and with lots of humour. 


Friday 29 April 2011

Guest Blog Post: James LePore

For today's blog post I'd like to welcome James LePore, author of A World I Never Made (link to follow)

Photo acquired from James's website

Here are James's thoughts on his stories, and the connections between them. 


I knew when I was writing A World I Never Made, my first novel, that in-depth character development would have to give way to pace and plotting, the two key elements of the suspense/thriller genre. I did not know that I would get the chance, after the final draft was handed in, to expand on my characters in the trio of short stories that ultimately came to comprise Anyone Can Die. When I was given that chance, all of the non-essential thoughts and notes and back stories that I had relegated to a sort of literary limbo over the twelve months it took to write A World I Never Made, began suddenly clamoring for my attention. An attention I was happy to give them.

I turned first to Lorrie Nolan, who died at the age of twenty—twenty-nine years before the novel begins—while giving birth to Megan and leaving her twenty-one-year-old husband Pat (World’s two central characters) devastated, so devastated that he pretty much abandoned Megan until she was a teenager. Lorrie is only mentioned in passing in the novel, but she is flesh and blood in Till Death Do Us Part, on her honeymoon with Pat—raw and wildly in love—in New Mexico. My purpose in writing the story was to give the reader a deeper understanding of Pat’s loss, and therefore of his motives, both in abandoning Megan when she was a child and in desperately pursuing her across Europe as World unfolds.

It was my love for Megan Nolan, not an elucidation of motive, that drove me to write God’s Warriors. Though she would deny it, Megan’s heart was not all black, not completely hardened by the cards life had dealt her. Her decision to help a young girl who has been terribly abused, but to absent herself completely from the girl’s life while doing so, will give the reader an insight into the things buried in Megan’s heart, the things that force their way out when she has to make much more momentous decisions—life and death decisions—in the novel.

Max French, an eccentic FBI agent, also pursues Megan across Europe in A World I Never Made, falling in love with her, from a distance, along the way. What made him so quirky, and why did he fall in love with the women he pursued without ever really meeting or getting to know them? The answers are to be found in the two events in Max’s early life around which Anyone Can Die’s third story, Max, revolve. Max is a man with a past, and a big secret; to my mind exactly the kind of flawed but fearless soldier we want in the front lines of the post-9/11 battles we are fighting at home and all over the world.


Thank you James for revealing more about the characters in A World I Never Made - the more the reader can learn about them the better! 

You can find out more on James by visiting his website

Thursday 28 April 2011

A World I Never Made by James LePore


March 2010, The Story Plant 
262 pages, Hardback 
Review copy 

Thriller

Suspense, terrorists, hunters & the hunted, Europe, gypsies, father-daughter bond, love, fear, survival, occasional very strong language, occasional strong romance, moderate violence gore (not that often)

Summary from The Story Plant 

Pat Nolan, an American man, is summoned to Paris to claim the body of his estranged daughter Megan, who has committed suicide. The body, however, is not Megan’s and it becomes instantly clear to Pat that Megan staged this, that she is in serious trouble, and that she is calling to him for help. This sends Pat on an odyssey with Catherine Laurence, a beautiful but tormented Paris detective, that stretches across France and into the Czech Republic and that makes him the target of both the French police and a band of international terrorists. 

Juxtaposed against this story is Megan’s story. A freelance journalist, Megan is in Morocco to do research when she meets Abdel Lahani, a Saudi businessman. They begin a torrid affair, a game Megan has played often and well in her adult life. But what she discovers about Lahani puts her in the center of a different kind of game, one with rules she can barely comprehend, and one that puts the lives of many—maybe even millions—at risk.


Nayuleska's thoughts
Mostly publicists only have to whisper the word 'thriller' and I'm there like a shot. Having read thrillers before that evolve around complicated family circumstances, I was eager to see how this one panned out. Pat's had a tough life, mostly abandoning his daughter because she survived and her mother didn't. Guilt can do strange things to you. The key point is that in the end, he's there for Meghan when she needs him the most. He places himself in a lot of danger to unravel the mystery surrounding her fake suicide. Authorities are after him - and yet one of their own helps him in his search, which proves invaluable. There are also distinctly evil and dangerous people after him and also after Meghan. Pat protects both Catherine, who he forms a relationship with, and also Meghan as much as he can. He's definitely putting right the errors of his past. 

The past is what got Meghan into trouble. Her past has led her on the run. I really enjoyed how her story was mixed along with Pat's. Little by little I learned more of the truth, and it got more harrowing as the story went on. I could see why Meghan made the choices she did, even if I don't agree with her reasoning. There were several occasions where I was convinced she'd end up in deep trouble, but the people she befriends (and who aren't arrogant, evil people) help her out. Sometimes the help arrives too late, and that's when you'll need a tissue. 

I actually worked out a few of the plot twists way before they happened, so it was fun to find out my suspicions were correct. Some parts of the story surprised, but this was mostly the smaller details. I definitely got swept away in the story, and was quite attached to the characters. I have to say that Lehandi is a real piece of work. He is arrogant, he abuses the power he has, he is up to no good. I wanted to do many things to him just for what he did to Meghan. To top it all he was a right moron and had me seething when upon offering Meghan marriage he said that Islam is restrictive for women! I know politics/religion/sport are the 3 taboo subjects because they are all subjective, but grah he's such a chauvanistic so-and-so. He's the type of Muslims who don't practice the equality of social position for both men and women (which doesn't necessarily mean they both do the same jobs), which seems to be the type who are suicide bombers. Nutcases, the lot of them! (Apologies - I can't stay quiet when it's a topic I feel strongly about. 

Final conclusion 
A must read if you love danger mixed with family relations and extremely dangerous hunters. 

Be sure to check out more about James's work on his website

Suggested reads
Pursuit of Honour by Vince Flynn, another thriller with Islamic terrorists, who thankfully are dimwitted compared to Lehandi.


The Truth of the Matter by Andrew Klavan, a fast paced thriller for younger (and older) readers. 


Tuesday 26 April 2011

Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden


March 2011, Quercus
286 pages, Paperback
Review copy 

Children's, thriller, dystopian 

Invasion, soldiers, horrors of warfare, solidarity, living off the land, fugitives, fear, love, friendships forged and strengthened, tragedy, loss, determination, some humour, teen romance, tissues are needed

Summary from Quercus
When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight high school teenagers band together to fight. Seventeen-year-old Ellie Linton wants one final adventure with her friends before the school holidays are over. Packed in Ellie's parents' land rover they drive to the famously isolated rock pool Eden dubbed 'Hell' by the locals. Returning to their home town of Wirrawee, the seven teenagers realize that something is seriously wrong. Power to the houses has been cut, pets and livestock have been left dead or dying, and most alarmingly of all, everyone's family has vanished. When the hostile armed forces discover that the teenagers are lying low in the vicinity, Ellie and her friends must band together to escape, outwit and strike back against the mysterious enemy that has seized control of their town and imprisoned their friends and loved ones...

Nayuleska's thoughts
War. It happens. We all know that. I've read a few stories about the second world war, or involving a few of the other wars. War is a fact of human life that seems permanent. This book is about war, but on a different scale. It really makes you think about life. I mean, who would think that Australia could be overtaken by a mysterious enemy? Ellie didn't dream of it. Neither did her friends. After all, doesn't war only happen in troubled nations?

To say it came as a shock to them is an understatement. They had the sense to stick together when they came back from their camping trip to find disaster had struck. The scenes in the novel get quite graphic - not for the weakhearted. Ellie and her friends make mistakes which nearly cost their lives. But in a strange way that's what makes their lives so fascinating: they weren't trained to fight in a war, but they use their collective intelligence to keep themselves safe and to come up with an action plan. At the end of the book they have an idea of what they want to do. However, life throws up an unexpected challenge which forces them into taking a slightly different form of action. 

This book is built primarily on Ellie and her friends' relationship with each other. If they hadn't trusted each other, they wouldn't have worked together as a group, and in turn they wouldn't have survived. There were times of uncertainty, where they didn't know which emotions to follow. Ellie is clear in setting out how she felt about situations - most of the time she is muddled. She likes things to be clear cut. But one of her friends teaches that life is varying shades of grey. Their life has never been so tough, and yet they get over their differences and stick together. They grow stronger, they improve their ingenuity, their ability to survive without  the luxuries they'd all taken for granted before the invasion. These are qualities I love in dystopian books, and this is turning out to be an incredible, moving start to an interesting series. 

Final conclusion 
For a book which keeps you on the edge of your seat, your hand on a tissue box, your heart alternating between joy and sorrow, where you witness the best and worse of humanity, delve into Ellie's journey with her 7 friends in the start of a harrowing experience. 

Check out how prolific John Marsden is with all his books on his website.

Suggested reads
Auslander by Paul Dowswell, the life of a young Jewish boy at the time of the second world war 


The Tomorrow Code by Brian Faulkner, where the fate of the world lies in the hands of two friends. 


Time Riders by Alex Scarrow, as if history wasn't scary enough, try dealing with someone who goes back in time and makes life even more horrendous than it was the second world war. That's what a group of children who are thrown together have to stop, with the help of time travel. 



(Oh - I probably won't be watching the film. Unless it transforms into an anime. Books turned into films are a tricky area. Give me the books any day!) 

Monday 25 April 2011

One Liners: An Avid Reader and Father Time Compromise #6

"One Liners: An Avid Reader and Father Time Compromise"....is the place where my love of books meets a busy schedule and in lieu of passing up the chance to share the book with you, I'll share the book(s) read in brief; enough to pique your curiosity without over indulging. Sound good? Here goes....
 
 
 
 
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: Now you See Me.... by Tish Rabe
Release Date:  March 2011
 Publisher:  Bantam Children
32 pages
 
Picture Book
 
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Summary from Bantam Children:
 
Nick and Sally are playing hide and seek but Nick’s just too good, he always finds Sally wherever she’s hiding. Luckily the Cat in the Hat is there to show them how become the best hide and seekers ever!

This rhyming adventure is perfect for young first readers who are just learning to recognize words, basic vocabulary and short sentences. The Cat in the Hat knows all about that!

 
-------------------------------------
 
Nayuleska's Thoughts:
The brightly coloured pictures, and the large print (not too much on a page) is perfect for early readers. It helps teach about cameoflage, introduces the concept of animals being able to blend in with their environment. It shows how fun playing can be, especially hide and seek (although sadly unlike Nick & Sally we can't blend in to our surroundings that well).



Rating:
I give this 8/10




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 




The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! How Wet Can You Get? by Tish Rabe
Release Date:  March 2011
Publisher:  Bantam Children
16 pages

Picture Book

-------------------------------------

Summary from Bantam Children:

Sally and Nick are playing in the rain—and getting really muddy! So when the Cat in the Hat offers to show them how animals get clean, the kids are keen to find out. But can Sally and Nick really get rid of the mud by taking dust baths, like a sparrow? Or by licking themselves, like a lion? And where are they going to find an oxpecker to pick it off them, like a hippo has? (Besides, oxpeckers tickle!) Maybe there's a better way for kids to get clean? The Cat in the Hat knows all about that!


-----------------------------------------

Nayuleska's Thoughts:
Judging by the size of writing, I think this might be aimed more at older readers. The rhyming verse will be easy for children to learn when they re-read the book. It's interesting because Nick & Sally learn how different animals clean themselves, and why those methods aren't the best one for children. The 17 stickers are of the characters in different poses which match up to the story.


Rating:
I give this 8/10



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Astrosaurs Academy: Space Kidnap! By Steve Cole
Release Date:  March 2011
Publisher:  Red Fox
144 pages, Review copy

Children's 7+

--------------------------------

Summary from Red Fox:

The final exciting adventure in Steve Cole's hit spin-off series.


After years of training they’ve finally done it! Teggs and his classmates at Astrosaurs Academy are all set to become real space-exploring astrosaurs!

But first they must pass one final challenge. A mission into outer space, more dangerous than any they have faced before . . .


-----------------------------------------


Nayuleska's Thoughts:
I continue to love this series - it's a shame it comes to an end but the story of what happens after the academy is told in the series Astrosaurs! This tale proves that cheaters never prosper, and that at times of great peril, something eventually saves the day. There are some hair raising moments, as well as a lot of humour. I particularly like the collector's cards - they are of some of my favourite characters!


Rating:
I give this 9/10
 
 

What are you reading? #64

What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Home Girl's Book Blog where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.

Books I've read this week



The Devil's Triangle by Mark Robson
Children's
(I always knew the Bermuda triangle was evil...an edge of the seat read with a big surprise element in the story.)




 


Pretty Souls by Julie Patricka
Young Adult Paranormal
(Perfect if you like shapeshifter & vampire stories.  There will be an interview to follow!)






 
Lex Trent: Fighting with Fire by Alex Bell
Young Adult Fantasy
(Lex's has to deal with someone who is as sneaky in another Game which makes for an entertaining read.)






The Real Rebecca by Ann Carey
Children's
(Follow a girl as she sets up a band with her friends -- without knowing how to play the drums!  My review...)






Lily Alone by Jacqueline Wilson
Children's 9+
(Think camping's fun? Try doing it with your siblings to escape people asking questions about your mother - a compelling read!  My review...)





The Longest Whale Song by Jacqueline Wilson
Children's 8+
(A touching tale about a girl who has to learn to love her step father while her mother's in a coma in hospital, after giving birth to her son.  My review...)






Outside In by Maria V Snyder
Young Adult, Sci-fi
(This is a sequel that is more explosive and gripping than the first one! Go sheepy, go!  As well as a review, there will be an interview with the author!)






The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!: Now you See Me.... by Tish Rabe
Picture book
(A series which stands the test of time from my childhood with new material for the 21st century children...)





The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! How Wet Can You Get? by Tish Rabe
Picture book
(Like the above, only better - it has stickers!!!)
 
 
 
 

Sunday 24 April 2011

Lily's Journey by Tania Crosse


July 2010, Allison and Busby
528 pages, Paperback
Review copy

Historical, Romance, fiction

Family saga (of sorts), tragedy, family secrets, feeling unwanted, the horrors of war, strange goings on at night, life post World War two, sense of belonging, humour, 1 adult scene,

Summary from Allison and Busby

Lily’s Journey is a 1950s saga set in Dartmoor. 

When fifteen-year-old Lily Hayes loses her mother, she is sent from London to live with her estranged father in the wilds of Dartmoor. In a remote cottage, Lily struggles to adjust to her new life with the dour Sidney Latham. As his gruff manner slowly thaws, Lily learns some of the secrets of her family’s past: the woman she grew up with was her grandmother, and her real mother and two brothers were killed in a bomb-blast. 

But Sidney has more secrets to tell, ones which will devastate the young girl who no longer knows who she is. Though Lily’s life has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, there are some things she is grateful for – the fact that she has met the handsome and charming Edwin Franfield being top of the list. But heartbreak is not far away, and a stranger with troubles of his own becomes her surprising saviour.


Nayuleska's thoughts
As I read the blurb, I was pretty excited, because it sounded like a girl's version of Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian. It might be a bit unfair to compare it, because they are different genres. But Lily's father is so grumpy! My word, if Lily had been a quiet girl she wouldn't have sat it out. From the very first sentence I could feel the fiery nature of Lily, which matches her hair colour.  Not that you'd want to tell her that! I loved how backwards Sidney's place was - I mean that in the kindest of ways. Lily had the same reaction as I would have done to using a chamber pot, she is a girl on a mission when her father says he'd be surprised if she could master the oven (or whatever they use for cooking - I've forgotten the name of it). Not only did Lily persevere with that, she persevered in trying to forge a relationship with Sidney. That time when she knew nothing about Sidney was an innocent one, for the secrets really do tear her world apart.

With one thing and another Lily moves out and becomes quite attached to a local family. It was a bit predictable that she'd develop a crush on one of the sons, as was the consequence of that crush (sorry for the spoiler, but it really was obvious!) I don't think it was intended to be funny, but recognising where that plot thread was going had me laughing quite a bit at Lily's naievity. It was easy to work out who she ended up with too. The predictability doesn't take anything away from the story, it was fun anticipating how Lily would react next as the story continued.

There is a romantic element, which is mostly very mild. I don't know whether I've got the wrong idea of what the 1950's were like, but I was a bit surprised when Lily was allowed to look after the sick male (I'm not saying who) on her own. I was equally surprised that they took their relationship further before marriage, especially knowing other factors in Lily's life.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'm going to treasure it. It might be one I recommend to some in my family and for my friends. There are a lot of dark moments, but I can relate to that, which is what makes Lily so appealing, as well as her attitude which is similar to my own. Being able to connect to the protagonist is important in every book. It's not just the characters, but the also the setting of the book. I love hearing about lives which aren't dominated by electricity, which use older methods of cooking and cleaning. I was fascinated with learning more on the rationing that was still in place, how they had a bath (or not!), how they viewed learning to drive.

Final conclusion
Lily's mostly sensible head and her bubbly nature will let you into the lives of post war England, which wasn't as free from the memories of war as some would like. Lily gets to learn she's not alone, that life can be really harsh, but those moments are soothed a little with compassion and love.

Make sure you check out Tania's website, where there is information about all her other books.

Suggested reading
For a story full that is full of family secrets and twists of fortune, try The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim. 



One book that I love for the details of the era is Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli



Although they are about different eras, and in different countries, both these books have strong willed heroines, who suffer and manage to come out the other side smiling. 

Saturday 23 April 2011

The Real Rebecca by Ann Carey


February 2011, O'Brien Press 
256 pages, Paperback
Review copy 

Children's, 

Music lovers, highs & mediums of friendship, doing something different, parental embarrassment, writers, dealing with the world knowing stuff, rumours, lots of laughs

Summary from Frances Lincoln 

My name is Rebecca Rafferty, and my mother has ruined my life. Again.
I didn’t mind her writing boring books for grown-ups. But now she’s written one about an awful girl my age called Ruth and everyone thinks it’s about me! Including the boy who delivers our newspapers, aka Paperboy, aka the most gorgeous boy in the whole world. Oh, the shame. And if that wasn’t awful enough, now the biggest pain in my class wants to use my 'fame' to get herself on the reality show 'My Big Birthday Bash'. I’ve got to show everyone the real Rebecca. But how?


Rebecca and her friends form a band, and write a song that starts "my mother wrote a book...."! Will their first gig, in the Battle of the Bands, go well? And, more importantly, what will the paperboy think?


Nayuleska's thoughts
This is a lovely, light hearted book. It definitely has the feel that Rebecca's at the age where anything her mother does will be embarrassing. We all go through that stage. What's worse for Rebecca is that the entire world (mostly in the area around her home) presume that she is precisely like the character her mother created. There are similarities, but there are a lot of differences. Rebecca is far nicer than her counterpart. She has people at school who wish to abuse her second-hand fame, but in the end she doesn't let them get away with it. 

Starting a band is a great project for friends, it can really bring them closer together. How the band started for Rebecca was funny. I was impressed at how determined they were to make it work, even though not all of them had been musical. It was such a pleasure to read when Rebecca was enjoying it, she described the same emotions that I get for some of my hobbies. It didn't matter that it wasn't perfect. She had experience of people who aren't good at losing, people who are too focused on the end goal to enjoy the whole process of getting there. When she messed up she picked herself up and kept going. That's a prime example of true inner strength. 

I was laughing throughout most of the book. I like reading books like this because it's interesting to view them from an older perspective (I'm over a decade older than Rebecca), having had some of the same feelings myself (I remember how the world used to 'end' almost every day, anything going wrong was a catastrophe). The relationship with paperboy is mild - I'm hoping for a second book because Rebecca still hadn't found out an important detail about him by the end! 

Final conclusion 
A story that anyone who has dreams will enjoy, because the road to achieving dreams is long and hard, but it can be fun, especially with the support of loved ones. Also if you know a writer: beware - at some point they are bound to use at least one tiny aspect of your life for the stories. It is inevitable.

Suggested reading 
Another music themed, fun filled book: Seriously Sassy: Crazy Days by Maggi Gibson


Friday 22 April 2011

Lily Alone & The Longest Whale Song by Jacqueline Wilson

Head on over to Enduring Romance (some content not suitable for children - paranormal romance genres etc) for my reviews of Lily Alone and The Longest Whale Song. Fun and moving reads.

No! by David McPhail

For a deep and meaningful picture book, check out David McPhail's No, reviewed by me over on CEM's Book Hideout.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Fourth and Final part of The World of Happy by Giles Andreae reviews

Head on over to Cem's Book Hideout where I've posted the fourth and finale part of Giles Adnreae's World of Happy series. Here are the books I reviewed. In the review itself there are links to all the other books in the series.





Tuesday 19 April 2011

West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish

Due to an unexpectedly busy afternoon (I knew it would be busy, but thought I'd be home earlier and in time to write a review), I'm pointing you all in the direction of Cem's Book Hideout where I've got my review of the awesome fantasy involving trolls and other creatures, West of the Moon.

Monday 18 April 2011

What are you reading? #63

What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Rachel at Home Girl's Book Blog where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.

Books I've read this week
 
 
 
Inside Out by Maria V Snyder
Young Adult, Sci-Fi
(This is an awesome book from one of my all time favourite authors. I've re-read it in preparation for Outside In which is next on my TBR Pile!!!)






 

Viola in Reel Life
Viola in the Spotlight
 by Adriana Trigiani
Young Adult
(I love books about life at school - which is true for the first one, although VitS is more about her time with her friends. ViRL was a re-read in preparation for VitS, which really builds on what I know about Viola in the first book.)







Astrosaurs Academy: Space Kidnap! by Steve Cole
Children's
(Last in the series - and it's a grand finale for the brave cadets!)






West of the Moon by Katherine Langrish
Children's, Fantasy
(Trolls are in this one - by the dozen! Including troll royalty. As well as normal humans who are exceptionally brave.)






Extra days off work mean potentially more reading time (which I have made more time for in my day), so next week will have some more awesome books.
 

Saturday 16 April 2011

EVENT CLOSED Win a copy of Ebony McKenna's ONDINE: THE AUTUMN PALACE, International, ends 12pm 14th May

It's competition time! I'd heard a lot about Ondine, so when the opportunity arose for me to read it, I volunteered. Through one thing and another I ended up with a spare copy, which I would like to give to one of you. The only way to do this is through a competition!



The rules: You don't have to be a follower to enter (although that would be preferable, but I'm not a mean tyrant), you do have to fill in this form. Please make sure you've checked out my competition policy.
Competitions HAS ENDED. 
Who can enter: Anyone. This is international, so wherever you are in the world, I'll get the book delivered to  you.

Get entering! Over the next few weeks I'll be posting up reviews of both Ondine books as soon as I've read them.

A few reviews!

This is only a little bit of cheating on today's review post. Here are the links to reviews over on Cem's Book Hideout which I put up this week. (I promise there will be a review here tomorrow. Check out the next post for a cool competition!) 

The Amazing Mrs Pepperpot by Alf Proysen and Hilda Offen 


A childhood favourite with new stories! 


More tales (or should that be tails!) inspired from true stories. 

Take Me Home by Melissa Wareham



This one has lots of furry friends, but it focuses on Melissa's career. 






At long last we have cat stories in the Battersea series! Yay!