*waves 2011 bai bai*

So everyone is saying their goodbyes to 2011 and a big high five to 2012 and I'm not one for making resolutions (mainly because they always seem to be the same year on year and never get completed so why set yourself up for failure)

Instead I just like to think of things I hope to do in the coming year....aside from the traditional lose weight, find a boyfriend, sort out life etc

So in 2012 I hope to meet more lovely bloggers that I've gotten to know online and some of the cool ass authors too.  Hopefully I'll try and do some more work on the blog like an actual button and header with a funky logo and such.  More regular giveaways and pre planned theme weeks etc.

I really hope to do more blog tours because I always find them so fun to do and to be part of sharing some great up coming books.  

Maybe try and make my reviews less like an English report and more informal.  I think if you know me on twitter you can see I curse like a sailor and can be a bit of a donut sometimes and think my reviews need more of that.

So for now I say So long and Good night to 2011 and Get Up and Go to 2012!!

Review: The Extraordinary Secret Lives of April, May and June by Robin Benway

Good Reads Summary


April, the oldest, can see the future. May, the middle sister, can disappear. And June, the youngest, can read minds. At the time of their parents' divorce, the three sisters recover these strange and magical powers from their childhood, powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls must come together to save the day-and their family. But in the process they learn that there's one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.


Review


Having siblings is probably one of those love hate things when you're growing up because you love your family but you just hate having to be around them.  Espicallly when you're sisters and all around the same age.  So when April, May and June discover that they have "superpowers" not only does it bring them together as sisters in a good way but it also drives them potty at the same time.  What teenager wants their younger sister to hear what you're thinking about the guy sitting next to you and what big sister wants visions of her baby sister getting drunk at house parties.  Plus being the ignored middle child that can be literally invisible sounds good when you need space but it can be awful as May proves.  


The Extraordinary Secret Lives of April, May and June was both funny and bags of fun.  I loved the balance of the average teen problems that were blended with the super hero stuff and how the two can cross over.  It's a fine balance between being a teenage girl and wanting some normality and being a teenage girl with superhuman powers and trying the be normal so no one can guess your secrets.  Cleverly written and sprinkled with a dash of pop culture references (Judge Judy and America's Next Top Model are so good I must say) is what makes this book the joy it is to read.  It makes the super hero stuff sound like the least of their troubles when the girls have boy trouble, school work, high school drama and family to contend with.


Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the sisters so you can really get inside the mind of each girl.  Plus it reminds you that this is the story of 3 individual girls that all have a different perspective; something that the girls think no one else realises.  Being sisters so close in age means that they often get lumped into a certain category: the baby sister, the weird sister, the smart older sister.  It was a nice touch to see them as April, May and June and not "the sisters".  Everyone deserves their chance to be heard.  Plus it you kinda get a chance to feel like you're part of the family too and are one of the other sisters.  


I loved the characters and the story was both exciting and fun though sometimes i wished there was more superhero fun but that's probably my love of X-men and such so my brain immediately goes 'oh disappear and then go get some bad guys' rather than 'oh disappear and  steal the answers to the history quiz'.  Sparkling humour, sassy characters that make this family of surprising super heroes make you want to go crime fighting and then shopping or a movie.  


Rating: 8/10


Published by Razorbill and is available now from here

Book News: Trailer for Tempest by Julie Cross

So I just read a copy of Tempest in the last week and it was a really great read with fun, action, drama and romance.  Then I see there is a trailer just come out via the My Kinda Book website.  It's so clever too because you can pick your own ending; just like Jackson in the book.  Go back in time and change things or stay and see what happens no matter how awful things may turn out....but will changing things make them better??

Check it out

Plus my review for Tempest is up pretty soon so keep an eye out for that too!

GIVEAWAY: Best of 2011

So after making my list of my favourite books that I've read in 2011 I decided to hold a giveaway.


So can win ONE book and it can be any of the books on my Top Ten Reads of 2011!  Cool eh?


So to remind you what books I picked here is the list once again.  I recommend them all

Revolution

Rockoholic

One Seriously Messed Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite

The Pledge

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Audrey; Wait!

Torn

Shadows on the Moon

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Divergent

So all you have to do is fill in the form below and click send!  You MUST be a follower but it is an international contest so long as Book Depositary delivers to your country.  You can check this here.


Contest ends a week today (5th of Jan)

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favourite Books I Read in 2011

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can't come up with ten, don't worry about it---post as many as you can!

I've read a ton of amazing books this year but I wanted my list to be either made up of debuts/stand alones or starts to series so they are a good place to start for anyone that wants to pick up an amazing book to read and not worry about missing out what's happened before

Revolution

Rockoholic

One Seriously Messed Up Week in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite

The Pledge

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Audrey; Wait!

Torn

Shadows on the Moon

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Divergent

Keep a look out in the next day or two for a contest on my blog where I'll be giving away ONE copy of any book on this Top of 2011 list!!

Review: The Witch Of Turlingham Academy by Ellie Boswell

Amazon Description


It's not easy being the only day girl at Turlingham boarding school: Sophie misses out on all the midnight feasts and late night gossip. Things take a turn for the worse when a new girl - Katy - shows up and all Sophie hears is Katy, Katy, Katy from her friends. It's like she's put a spell on everyone. Katy's no witch, but there is a witch at Turlingham. Katy comes from a long line of witch hunters whose fate is to stop evil magic once and for all. Sophie is going to help her - anything to get Katy out of her life and get things back to normal. But what she finds out means nothing will ever be normal again!




Review


I knew as soon as I got this ARC given to me at the ATOM event that I had THE perfect person that could both enjoy it and review it for me.  One of my bosses has a granddaughter called Issey who is 10 yrs old (turning 11 in Jan!) and she loves to read.  Whenever she comes to visit at work I love to hear about what she's reading and books she likes and currently its been Harry Potter but I know she was nearly finished with those so I thought that this would be something she'd love.  It was sold to me like a modern day Worst Witch series which I read at Issie's age and thought they were the bee's knees.  So Issey was given the book and all i've heard back is how much she just loved it.  So much so that I asked around my lovely book blogging family for more books to recommend to her to try and now have a long list that should keep her going for quite some time.  Issey hand wrote me this review and I've written up what she's given me so you can read exactly what this awesome reader thought in her own words!

Issey:


A brilliant page turner


When new girl Katy arrives it's like Sophie is invisible to her friends, but when her grandma sends her weird letters saying 'I love you but just a warning; witches are real.' Sophie thinks its Katy [that is a witch] but how wrong is she!  When at the start of term Sophie finds a ring addressed to her from her grandma [you'd think it] isn't strange enough;  then you might be surprised with what jewellery can really help do.


I give this book a 5 star rating for it is a great mystery/thriller!


I can't thank Issey enough for review this for me and i'm just so pleased she liked it too!  She even said it was better that The Worst Witch books so I kinda wished I'd read it before I passed it along!  Never mind! So there you have it;  a top rated book from the main audience for Atom Books new young reader's publications.  I know that Issie will be hooked on this series as soon as the rest are published over 2012 and beyond


Rating [from Issey]: 5 stars!


Published by Atom Books and is available here and all good book retailers from March 2012

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

No IMM this week because it may be Sunday but it's also Christmas Day and so instead I just want to wish all my followers and friends and very Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful day today filled with lots of chocolates, cake, books and family festive fun!


As a gift is my top 3 favourite Christmas songs...no real order but I just love them all!

My Chemical Romance - All I want for Christmas (cover song)

Bob Dylan - Must be Santa (this is seriously weird but it gets stuck in my head)

Wizzard - I wish it could be Christmas everyday

GLITTER!!!!

IMM: In My Mailbox [49]

In My Mailbox is an epic feature run by The Story Siren and my links go to Amazon UK but other book sellers are out there too!

So I thought that I would do my IMM but a day early for this week and then next week will be mega sized as it's after Christmas

Received

Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Thanks to Rosi from Harper Collins for sending me this.  I loved the first one in the series so looking forward to the next one

Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan

MEGA thanks to Edward himself for sending me this one and signing it *beams*  Just reading the summary makes me excited to read it!

Gifted

Not exactly a book but a book bag!!! One of my friends made this for Xmas for me.  It's a blue book bag with my initial sewn from buttons on the front and my blog addy hand stitched on the back.  

AMAZING!  Also another mate Leanne knitted me a book mark.  how cool!

Plus another buddy got me this but I totally forgot to post it a few weeks ago!  She's demanding i read it

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Book News: Trailer for 15 Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins

So even though I've already been lucky enough to read this book I was still excited to see the trailer.  Just to see what would be in it and what secrets in the book would be left for the reader to discover

It's very simple and to the point and doesn't go on over kill with all the flashy stuff which is just like the book.  It's an honest account of some really crazy 15 days in the life of a boy and his younger brother in some extreme and odd situations.  I like it.  Check out my review here and keep your eyes on Dave's blog for news on the book release and more book news

Review: Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott

GoodReads


A powerful tale of magic, love and revenge with a strong female lead set in fairy-tale Japan; this is "Cinderella" meets "Memoirs of a Geisha". Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old Suzume is able to recreate herself in any form - a fabulous gift for a girl desperate to escape her past. But who is she really? Is she a girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother's new husband, Lord Terayama, or a lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama's kitchens, or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Whatever her true identity, Suzume is destined to capture the heart of a prince - and determined to use his power to destroy Terayama. And nothing will stop her, not even love. 


Review



Shadows on the Moon is one of those stories that comes along once in a while and totally moves you in your core and makes that little butterfly in the pit of your belly flutter around like a crazy lady.  This is one of those books.  Trust me.  I was pretty much warned that this would be the case when I started reading this book but I doubt you'll believe me until you've read it yourself.  It's like a love story about a whole culture as well as a brilliant tale of revenge, love, betrayal and hope.  I gush a lot but I think that i've only ever really overly gushed about a select few this year and this is definitely one of them.


I've always had a love affair with Japanese and Asian culture and so reading this book was a double joy for me because not only is it full of kick ass characters and a cracker of a story it's like falling in love with a whole other world that really exists.  It reads like a fantasy tale because it's a culture that is so out of sync and distant from my own that you can't help but delight in the details.  


It's starts with Suzume as a young and high spirited girl that has her world violently torn about and turned on it's head when her father and cousin die in front of her.  She survives in hiding with the help of one of her family's servants and when her mother returns to find her alive and the rest of the household destroyed they go to live with a family friend that takes them into hiding and they leave behind their names and past.  We follow her life as it changes and she grows up and learns her place in the world and as a Shadow Weaver.  She is able to deceive those that see her and bent her appearance to hide or reveal what she wants.  It can both save her life and hide it from others and it's with the help of the few other Weavers she meets that she is able to discover her talent and also herself.  


If this book was food it would be a double chocolate chip homemade cookie because it's made to be enjoyed and is almost too delicious for it's own good but you can't help but want to gobble it all up in one go.  Oh and speaking of things too delicious for their own good I'd like to point out Otieno for you lovely followers and say PWOAR.  LOVED HIM.


My heart broke for Suzume and the struggles she has to go through just to survive and to live.  She's such a brave soul and I don't know if i could even cope the way she did.  She has troubles along the way and even finds some solace and salvation in the company of others but  her heart and mind don't go undamaged at the hands of those that wish to do her harm.  She's the kind of character you'd want young girls to read about and to see her strengths as something to aspire too and see her flaws and understand her mistakes to try and avoid them in their own lives.  This is seriously writing at it's best.


Treat yourself with this book ASAP



Rating: 10/10


Published by Walker Books and is available now from all good book sellers and from here online

Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can't come up with ten, don't worry about it---post as many as you can!

I want these all so bad because they look awesome, i've heard excellent things about them and some I've already read but I just want my own special copy of it!

Hunting Lila

All these things I've Done

Anna and the French Kiss

Shatter Me

Revolver

Beautiful Chaos

Outside In

The Pledge

Passion

Book Tokens: because if in doubt that way I can buy whatever I like and whenever I want!

Review: Skid Out by Ann Marie Frohoff

GoodReads

A novella prequel to the Heavy Influence Trilogy about young, reckless love between a rising rock star and his younger muse. Follow their journey through temptation, deception & forbidden love.

17 year old high school senior, Jake Masters, front man of a rising rock band, finds new interest in his younger freshman next door neighbor Alyssa Montgomery. Their relationship breaks hearts; stirs jealousy and band infighting. When they’re brought to new found awareness of body and soul, will rightful boundaries be crossed? Will the right decisions and choices, which are detrimental to the band and its future, be made through the haze of infatuation? Will Jake’s absences on the road lead to another filling his shoes? Jake and Alyssa’s lifelong friendships are strained and tested; secrets are kept, admitted and shared. Family bonds are broken, as others grow stronger. Who knew a first love could cause so many problems? Then again, in their eyes, there are no problems as long as they’re together. In the end, will his new found muse bring down everything he’s worked so hard to achieve or will she inspire positive creative change; that will carry him and his band to stardom.

Review


I love my music.  I can't go a day without having music surround me and it feels physically wrong not to have my MP3 player in my bag along with a book.  So when I got this email from the author of Skid Out directly about her book and including this teaser called Skid Out and an MP3 to go along with it I was sold.  Plus it helped that it was recommended to me by my personal Book Angel Emma who totally gets my reading and musical tastes so it had a big old seal of approval on it too.  Skid Out is a teaser like I say so it isn't a complete story and thus why my review is fairly short.  All I can say is that I want to read more and almost felt cheated when I got to the end of the 56 page PDF and found out that there wasn't a page 57.  Well there is a page 57 but just not in the teaser.  For that you have to wait for the full novel in the Heavy Influence Series


I loved the 2 characters Jake and Alyssa and how their background is built up and in less than 50 pages I've already got a fictional crush on Jake.  He's hot, cool, funny, nice and is in a rock band.  DREAMBOAT!    I really enjoyed how Ann doesn't just tap into the love of music but the lifestyle and world that surrounds it as well.  It paints a realistic picture of what it's like not just to play music or listen to it but to be consumed by it and have it as part of the person you are.  From this teaser I can say that this seems like a rock 'n'roll coming of age story that hints are the blooming romance between characters and music as Jake and Alyssa find out who they are and who they want to be.


I hope that the full trilogy comes out fairly soon because I don't know how long I can wait and keep playing the free MP3 on a loop.  The book is influenced by the reality of being a lover of music and growing up at the same time.


Rating: 7.5/10


Available as an e-edition and on Kindle.  Check out The Heavy Influence Trilogy on Facebook

IMM: In My Mailbox [48]

In My Mailbox is an epic feature run by The Story Siren and my links go to Amazon UK but other book sellers are out there too!

Received

Got this on the UK Book Tours. SO EXCITED!!!

Tempest by Julie Cross

Sorry for the appearance in the photo...just washed my hair and in a rush! lol

Next week is Christmas so I'll be skipping my IMM and just posting a Christmas message for one and all

HAPPY READING

XOXO

YA Book Club!

So I love YA as this blog is a testament to this fact and the best thing that's come out of blogging about YA is all the other bloggers and YA fans that I've met or have spoken with about books. It's like a huge book group about all the books I love.

Now here is some exciting news for you: Foyles in London (possibly one of my favourite places on the planet.  I literally can't go past without going in a swooning over their YA and teen section) is starting their very own YA Book Club.  They know good books and excellent YA and it's being organised by the awesome Neil at Foyles who definitely knows his YA genre so if you live in or around London you should check out the group and consider signing up.  I have and I don't even know if I can attend the meetings because of work but it's such a great idea I wanted to support it if I could.

The first meeting is 28th Jan and is being held on either the 3rd or last Saturday of each month and the 1st meeting will have Sally Gardner, author of The Double Shadow, in attendance to talk about her book. COOLNESS!

For more information and to join email ya@foyles.co.uk and have a gander at the poster below for more information

Operation: Occupy North Pole

This is a small aside and personal post that i'm making in relation to my thoughts on the season.  They say that "Tis the season to be jolly" and i say to you BAH HUMBUG and no no no.


I'm not down on all Christmas stuff.  I love giving gifts and seeing all my family and my brother coming to visit and us visiting my nan, cousins and aunt & uncle to eat a lot and then laugh a load as we play board games and Wii etc.  I love most of the cheesy Christmas songs and specials on TV (OMG DOCTOR WHO SPECIAL EEE!)


What I do not like is people's sudden lack on manners in shopping areas and being someone that works in retail myself I see it on a daily basis both in person and emails.  Everyone thinks they are special and thus should get special attention over all the other hundreds (I literally mean 100s of orders...there are 3 of us doing the work of 30 really) of orders.


I have to grit my teeth when I see rude people that think I'm grumpy and being a Scrooge for not being all fa la la la la - ing about Christmas.  I love Christmas; just not the weeks the proceed it and seems to drive people potty.  Along with my buddy over the pond and writing Yoda Dennis Upkins and the lovely JesterWitch have banded together to stand up for the Bah Humbug people of the world and say

I AM A GRINCH AND I'M PROUD OF IT

I want sanity returned to the public and then maybe I'll have some of my day returned to me so I read and review stuff rather than having to work 11 hour days to keep up with the orders.


I can't wait till Christmas Eve and not because it means presents.  It means reading time, sleep and real hot meals again

Book News: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Eleven minutes might as well be eternity underwater. It only takes three minutes without air for loss of consciousness. Permanent brain damage begins at four minutes. And then, when the oxygen runs out, full cardiac arrest occurs.  Death is possible at five minutes. Probable at seven. Definite at ten. Delaney Maxwell was underwater for eleven minutes. And she’s alive.

Coming out 5th Jan 2012 is Fracture by Megan Miranda from Bloomsbury and if that teaser hasn't tempted you enough then feast your peepers on the trailer below!  It's creepy and edgy and has me totally hooked!

Find out more about Megan at:

www.meganmiranda.com

www.twitter.com/@MeganLMiranda

Also if you 'like' the Facebook page you can be kept up to date about cool competitions and news on the book throughout January:

www.facebook.com/FRACTUREBYMEGANMIRANDA

Top Ten Books I Want To Give As Gifts (and to who...even if you won't actually give them!)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can't come up with ten, don't worry about it---post as many as you can!

Revolution

A brilliant book that I'd gladly share with anyone and everyone

Rockoholic

I'm already planning to actually give this to at least one person for realz

One Seriously Messed Up Week

Everyone needs this in their lives after the madness of family Xmas dinner etc just to bring laughs back into their days

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I got my mum to read this book so if she was interested enough to read it then I think it's pretty much certain that everyone will love it!

Dark Inside

Like scary; Like horror: like YA? then you neeeeeed this book

Noughts and Crosses

I think this is a must for all YA readers because it's a gloriously written book and a wonderful story

Poison Study

I was unsure about these books at first because I'm not a usual fantasy fan but I adored them and think they'd sway anyone to give fantasy books a go at least once!

The Hunger Games box set

The movie is out next year and everyone needs this set on their bookshelves if they don't already

Forsaken

I LOVE THESE BOOKS!!!!

National Book Token

If in doubt then the gift of tokens means someone can buy books they love too