It's that time again...

  Mmmmm, the joy, the excitement, the savouring of special moments. The counting down, the anticipation, the desperate hope that you'll get what you want  in the end and the underlying-and increasing- anxiety that maybe you wont...

Christmas?

 Nooo - Am having another book crush.

*Cue fanfare* My Winter TBR Pile(s)

Da da da da da da daaaahhhhhhhhh! 'Tis December, the first month of winter and the season of goodwill. With this in mind, I present to you this fine day, my Winter TBR pile(s). I'll have to warn you it is a bit of an odd one, but with bear with me -there is method in the madness. For once…

The pile looks like this;

OK. There are two. I knew I couldn't sneak that past you. Please just go with it for now. All will become clear.

In detail they are, to the right;

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt (YA) 

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigagalupi (YA) 

Screwed by Joanna Kenrick (YA) 

This is Push ed. David Levithan (YA anthology) 

Starter for ten by David Nichols (Adult

I love New York by Lindsey Kelk (Women's fiction)

Vivien's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements (Women's fiction)

Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan (Women's Fiction)

The Chalet Girl by Kate Lace (Women's Fiction)

And then there is the pile on the left;

The Book of Unholy Mischief by Elle Newmark  

Carnevale by M.R. Lovrie  

The Venetian Affair by Andrea di Robilant

Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb

The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin

The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich

Still to come is Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (YA)

Now obviously this pile(s) is clearly not my usual YA fest. In fact there are only 5 YA books in there, which is less than 30% (Yay, I done maths again). What is afoot?

Firstly, two things that I am currently working on are Chicklit, so I am feeling the need to bathe myself in Women’s Fiction.

Secondly, this pile covers January, which is the month of change, resolutions and good intentions. I already have my dietary practice, and I am not remotely interested in going the exercise route, so I am dedicating the month to getting through some of the books that I have accumulated and that always get overlooked.

Currently my bookshelf looks like this, so some will have to go, and I hate turfing books out before I have read them. Therefore all the books to the left are in fact part of this scheme, but they have been selected very specifically, as I felt a plan was needed. Last January, I spent a fabulous long weekend in Venice (Hello Liz!). This year I'll be taking a reading trip through the city. ALL those books on the left are set in Venice.

So let’s call this a housekeeping pile to get me through the winter.

What are you reading this Winter?

(PS, Can I just apologize for the formatting bun-fight going on in this post. My computer is clearly having a paddy with fonts and spacing and stuff. Being Amish, I can't work out how to sort it. Sorry)

Autumn '13 Gut Reactions

 I feel like I've belted through books this season. I had 14 in the schedule, but I've read 31. And as usual, here's my gut reaction summary (Nooo, no reviews as such. You know that isn’t how it works here.)

So, to recap the autumn pile looked like this:

The additional books were

How we met and other stories by David Levithan

Awaken by Meg Cabot

Abandon by Meg Cabot

The Other Typist  by Suzanne Rindell

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

The Sentinel by Holly Martin (MG)

Unsticky by Sarra Manning (Adult)

9 Uses for an ex-boyfriend  by Sarra Manning (Adult)

Connectivity by Aven Ellis (Adult)

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald (Adult)

Vixen by Jillian Larkin (YA)
Ingenue by Jillian Larkin (YA)

Diva by Jillian Larkin (YA)

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (MG)

Debutantes  by Cora Harrison (YA)

Debutantes in Love by Cora Harrison (YA)

The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jensen (YA)

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory (Adult)

The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (Adult)

The Clockwork Prince – Manga Version – Cassandra Clare

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness (Still reading) (Adult)

Star of the List goes to;

The Dream Thieves. I’ve fangirled about Maggie Stiefvater often enough, but I felt that she stepped up a gear here with great word choices and turns of phrase. Mmmm. I preferred it to the first book even. How often can you say that with the second in a series? And yes there was a cliff-hanger, as there often is in second books, and amazingly I didn’t mind.

A close second to this was Sarra Manning's Unsticky. The  eagle-eyed of you will notice that this wasn’t in the original pile, but I had another of hers in there, where I enjoyed the voice so much that I immediately got hold of all her others. Manning’s books, adult and YA, are bold , honest and funny, and if I aspire to anyone's writing voice, it is currently hers.
Unsticky had two flawed, at times awful characters, but who I still rooted for. Clever. I read it twice.

The Sentinel by Holly Martin.  A fab adventure debut. I know Holly personally, so I might be biased, but honestly the action is unrelenting and a great choice if you are looking for a gift for a 12 year old girl.

How We Met and other stories, was just a perfect anthology of YA short stories. I already have another David Levithan related anthology on the shelf ready for the next pile. (See now, did you notice how I managed to write that without gushing about how much I love him? …Oh…)

Marie Louise Jensen seems to write books about places where I go. (OK, so I suppose it is possibly- probably- coincidence, but it amuses me. Small things, right?) Her debut Between Two Seas was set in Skagen, Denmark, and The Girl in the Mask was focussed on Bath, where I have a close friend and in fact was last weekend. I saw the streets she named. It makes a real difference when you know a place you are reading about.

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robin Schneider. Really this book should feature below, as in “One of these books had an ending that disappointed me to the point of doing this.” However, up to the end I had been loving it. I bought it because the quote on the front said it was for peeps who like John Green and as we know, I would read his shopping lists. I'm not sure I would draw the same comparison, but it was an ace read, none the less. Until the end, when not so much.

The Heist. Janet Evanovich is a blast. She is funny, she can plot and she has a great set of characters in her Stephanie Plum series. This was a new scenario with an FBI agent and thief, and while it was fun and I'll read the sequel, I still prefer the Plum series.

The Ides of April by Lindsay Davis. This is a new series as a spin off from her Falco series. And a good start it was too. Sure, I saw the twists coming, but it was a fun journey.

Jenny Downham’s You against me, underlined her great YA Contemporary writing, after the brilliant Before I Die. The ending was a little rushed, or perhaps just needed a little more of something, but I’d get more of her books without hesitation.

I feel the same way about Laura Jarrett's writing. By Any Other Name was a s strong as her debut Skin Deep. Jarrett and Downham together are exciting new writers on the UK YA Contemporary scene

The Great Gatsby- I got it this time!

 And as always, the other thoughts;

• One of these books felt like it was the last in a three book deal which should perhaps been a two book deal.
• One of these books should have got a Brit to Beta read it
• Three of these books, I skipped to the end as I got bored.
• One of these books I picked up because I had read somewhere that the first proper kiss is amazing. And indeed it was nice, but I started getting bored soon thereafter...
• One of these books has won prizes, and I can see why, but it didn’t rock my boat.
• Two of these books are by an author I like, but I felt meh about them. I didn’t like the MC. She was just too self obsessed.
• One of these books I still don’t get the title

Anyone read any gems or turkeys this season?

Tripping

 I'm conscious of things having gone a little quiet in the recent months- it's a mix of lack of inspiration for blogs, trying to get 1k words down every day on a new first draft and essentially just not having enough hours in the day to do everything. Why hasn't some science bod sorted that out by now?

That said, I'm currently I'm on a trip. Not geographical travel, but book travel. 

 I briefly blogged about a form-based trip I'd been on here, which was in fact a tangent from another book trip where I was pottering around in World War Two, the least likely of destinations for me, but an ace trip none-the-less. It included Elizabeth Wein's fabulous Code Name Verity and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, so enough said. 

On this trip I am being lead merrily around the US of the1920s, relishing the flappers, the gangsters and the illegal drink.

Here is the route so far:

   The Other Typist - Suzanne Rindell (The story didn't do me, but I got swept up in the setting.)

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (Yes. Yes that is a Classic. A Classic that I have read and finished. Small miracles, right? In fact I've read it twice now. It is so much better when not being speed-read as part of a Uni reading list at 19...)

Vixen- Jillian Larkin (YA)  (This series is so much fun, and really brings the prohibition scene alive)







                                     Ingenue - Jillian Larkin (YA)

Diva - Jillian Larkin (YA)

 And from there I am about to pop back across the pond to read Cora Harrison's Debutantes books.

 Only two of these books were included in the Autumn TBR pile, but the theme seems to have a plan of its own and who am I to argue? Sometimes, you just need to go with the flow.

My trip is almost up, given the new TBR pile being due next month, but there might just be time to get a recommendation in if you have one. Let me know.

Meanwhile, is anyone else travelling at the moment?

Good Luck, Good Luck, Good Luck..

...to all you NaNoists out there. I still think you are bonkers, but admire you greatly none-the-less.

 If you are having second thoughts this morning then fabulous Chuck Wendig has words of wisdom for you here. 

In the meantime, here are some cheers for you to sail off into the wordy sunset with.

Get the chocolates in and  to it!!!

Drum roll please for The Sentinel

My friend Holly Martin has just released her first book The Sentinel, a YA Adventure.

The lovely Holly and I met through the Sunlounger shenanigans, where she won the competition. You can learn more about Holly here and on her blog here.

In the meantime, here's the blurb and some fabulous praise:

When Eve is rescued from a horrific coach crash by her teachers, she is shocked to discover they possess super strength and speed.  But what happens next is even more harrowing.  

In the aftermath of the crash she discovers that everyone in her life from neighbours, doctors, dentists, teachers, shop keepers and even her family and friends are actually super strength Guardians sent to protect her.  They all have one thing in common, a single minded ferocity that she must be kept alive at all costs.

However, she is surrounded by secrets and lies.  Those in the know deny all knowledge of what happened that fateful night.  Everyone else carries on as normal, seemingly unaware of the new strange world that she has stumbled against. 

With the help of Seth, her best friend, Eve discovers the prophecies surrounding her true identity and the super strength she too holds. With her Guardians pledged to protect her, her closest friends ready to die for her, her own hopes and dreams are put on hold whilst she battles to control the amazing powers she has been bestowed with. 

But those that seek to destroy her move ever closer.  Will the Guardians be enough to protect her when so many are prepared to stop at nothing to see her dead? And will she be strong enough to fulfil her destiny when the time comes?

A fast paced fantasy adventure for young adults. 

With high speed car chases, airborne fights, amazing stunts and super powered beings, this is a story of loyalty, friendship and love.

Praise for The Sentinel
It’s a book you HAVE to read, because it’s incredible. An outstanding book that has left me bereft its finished. I wished I’d savoured it for longer. This book was one of those that once you started it was impossible to come away from. It was fast paced, exciting, full of suspense and action that had me gasping in shock at twists I never imagined could happen. It’s a story of courage and adventure. And no matter how dark it gets, there’s always love and hope. – Victoria Loves Books Blog

It's really hard to find the words to describe how amazing this book is.
This is definitely the best debut I've read this year! I just love this book, I want you all to read this book, in fact you all need to read this book! - Love of a Good Book Blog

Holly Martin throws Eve in at the deep end, subjecting her protagonist (and readers) to a torrent of drama right from the off. - Jack Croxall (Author of Tethers and X)

It's a supercharged, superfast, superhero story with great characters that you'll want to gobble up in one sitting. – Sharon Sant (Author of Runners, The Sky Song Trilogy and The Memory Game)

Happy Publication Holly!

Crazy Lunatic Writing

Being October it means it is almost November, (see, that's a university education, right there...) which for some means it it is nearly Write-Like-a-Crazy-Lunatic month, aka NaNoWriMo. (I just looked at the site, there are 72,998 of them/you signed up already with two weeks to go. )

 No, I’m still not doing it; I’m sticking to my same sorry list of excuses as I mentioned last year here. I am however not a complete lazer at the moment and am two weeks into my own quest of writing 5k words a week until Dec 20, in the hope of giving birth to the majority bulk of a 1^st (verbal vomit) draft on something new. So far there are indeed words accumulating, although they are pretty sketchy, but hey, you can’t fix empty space, can you?

 Anyways, back to NaNo. Here are a couple of links for anyone considering it, from YA Stands and also sage words of wisdom from the ever entertaining Chuck Wendig.
My own advice is obviously still to get good chocolates in for rewards and incentives, but the planning idea is probably a winner too.


Anyone mad enough? contemplating it?