Good morning! I saw the 10 bookish questions tags around the blogosphere and thought it might be fun to share my answers. OK here we go. 1) What book is on your nightstand now? A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. This is the second in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. I’m only a few pages in, but to be honest, so far it’s not really grabbing my attention. I know that’s probably an unpopular opinion right now, but personally I’m far more engaged in Maas’ Throne of Glass series. I’ll probably continue to give it a go, though. 2) What was the last truly great book that you read? I’m currently also leafing through George R.R. Martin’s A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, inspired to do so mainly by the TV show. I’m reminded just how deep and complex Martin’s characters are, and how beautiful his writing is, a trait that is, sadly, not always shared by the show. The show is wonderful in its own way, but Martin’s books are a whole different ball game. Incidentally, I have been swapping chapter by chapter from Feast and Dance, which works remarkably well. …
Hello and welcome to my reading roundup for this week. I have read/listened to a couple of books about which I’d like to tell you. [book-info]The first of these is Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Now, you won’t find this in the stores yet; it was one of the Advance Reader Copies I picked up at BEA and it won’t come out until January 2017. I won’t say too much about it – I’ll post a full review nearer the time – but let me say you have a treat in store. Garber has created a wonderful, whimsical world in Caraval with lots of mysteries, red herrings and weird characters. I have the feeling that this first book is only starting to scratch the surface of what we will find out about this world. This is a definite five out of five for me. [book-info number=1]I wasn’t nearly so happy with the second book I listened to, which was The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi. This is a retelling of the Persephone/Hades story and unfortunately, it failed to grab my attention. I kept falling asleep while listening to the audiobook. I forced myself to finish it, but it was a…
Here we go for the third and final post in my BEA 2016 book haul series. Thank you for sticking with me. The first book I’d like to talk about, and the obtaining of which was one of my highlights of BEA is Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven King. This is the fourth and final volume in the The Raven Cycle of which I have read 1.95 books. (I’m just finishing off The Dream Thieves.) I loved having the opportunity to meet Maggie and discuss book hangovers with her, and she has said her aim with The Raven King is to leave her readers with the book hangover to end all book hangovers, so I can’t wait! The Raven King has already been published. Next up is First Blood by Elly Blake. This was another of the ARCs available in a roll the dice game. This is a YA fantasy about a young woman who has fire magic which is a challenge when living in a kingdom controlled by frostbloods, with ice magic. It sounds intriguing and I look forward to reading it. First Blood will be released in January 2017. The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett is a YA mystery,…
Welcome back to the second part of my BEA 2016 book haul. There are lots of exciting books still to come! The first book I’d like to mention is Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Kay Kristoff. This is the sequel to last year’s awesome YA sci-fi thriller Illuminae. Like its predecessor, Gemina’s formatting plays an integral part in the story, and this is a cool looking ARC. I plan to re-listen to Illuminae in audiobook format to refresh my memory before starting Gemina – the audiobook was fantastically well done and actually won an Audiie at this years Audie awards. Go Team Illuminae! Gemina was another of the hot books at BEA, with people starting to line up hours in advance of the ARC drop. I was one of the last people in line to actually get one, and I was so happy. You can pick it up for yourselves in October 2016. One Paris Summer by Denise Grover Swank is a young adult contemporary about a young woman who spends a summer in France after her parents’ divorce and father’s remarriage. I’m hoping it will be in a similar vein to Stephanie Perkins’ Anna and the French Kiss which…
Hello, and welcome to the first of three posts detailing all the books I picked up at Book Expo in America last week. It was a wonderful time and I picked up some amazing books. There’s a lot to get through, so let’s get started. Of the ARCs I picked up one of the ones I’m most excited about is Caraval by Stephanie Garber. I was able to snag a ticket to get it signed about which I was very happy. This is the first in a YA duology by a debut author, and it is certainly getting a lot of buzz. The tagline for the book is Before you enter the world of Caraval, you must remember that it’s all a game . . . This sounds really intriguing and it will be one of the first of the ARCs I picked up that I will read. It is next on my list after finishing Maggie Stiefvater’s The Dream Thieves. Caraval will be published in January 2017. Another book I picked up was Aaron Safronoff’s Sunborn Rising: Beneath the Fall. This is a YA fantasy book in which Barra and her two friends must work to prevent a blight of…
So, as I’ve mentioned in my blog before, this year I attended BEA (Book Expo America) in Chicago. As my books are being shipped, this is not my official BEA book haul – expect that one in a week to ten days! This was the first time I have attended, and I was both a little nervous and excited. Although I’ve heard it described as San Diego Comic Con for booklovers, it is a trade show for those in the publishing industry as well as those involved in promoting books through blogs. Now, I’m passionate about books, but this blog is pretty small fish compared to some and at first, I admit I felt somewhat overwhelmed and, to be honest, a bit of a fraud. I found myself thinking, I don’t work in publishing should I really be here getting all these free books? That lasted for about two hours! It was a great experience meeting some fantastic authors, checking out all the awesome upcoming releases and chatting with like minded bookworms. Note to self: when waiting in line to meet famous authors, take the time to Wiki their last book if it’s been more than a few months since I…
The Trials of Apollo Book One The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan is the start of a new Greek mythology series from middle grade staple Rick Riordan. This new series centres around the god Apollo, who has been stripped of his godly powers by his father, Zeus. Naturally, adventures and shenanigans ensue. For me this read a little younger than the Heroes of Olympus series, more in line with Percy Jackson. Apollo’s human persona is aged 16, but he spends a lot of time hanging around with 13 year old Meg which naturally makes the feel of the book somewhat younger. Also, there is no emphasis at all on romantic relationships. What I liked Riordan’s writing style. After many series including Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Riordan’s light, witty style should be familiar to most readers. If you enjoyed the earlier books, you will certainly enjoy this one. They are very funny. I breezed through The Hidden Oracle in an afternoon. While it is not necessary to have read the earlier series, I would strongly recommend doing so before picking up this latest one. There are many references to characters…