Saturday 30 June 2012

Upcoming Releases

Hello everyone!

I'm Zoe, and this the first of many posts by me that will be appearing on the YA Bluewater blog. As you can tell from the title, this post is to inform you about upcoming young adult books that are available for pre-order from Waterstone's.

For each book, and there are 3, you can click the *Waterstone's link* underneath each book's information to find the pre-order button and a description.

All publication dates are for the UK.



#1
Title: Foretold (Demon Trappers #4)
Author: Jana Oliver
Genre: YA Paranormal-Romance
Publisher: Macmillan
Release date: 2nd August 2012
Price: £4.69
*Waterstone's link*

#2
Title: Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)
Author: Josephine Angelini
Genre: YA Fantasy-Romance (Greek Mythology)
Publisher: Macmillan
Release date: 5th July 2012
Price: £4.54
Yes, Josie had an animated version made for online!
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC from Josie earlier in the year, and I can tell you that this book is a must-read!

#3
Title: Destined (House of Night #9)
Author(s): P.C Cast & Kristin Cast
Genre: YA Paranormal-Romance
Publisher: ATOM
Release date: 17th July 2012
Price: £4.19
*Waterstone's link*


Obviously, each of these books are part of a series. If you find them interesting, you may want to look at buying the first of that series so that you can follow the characters from the beginning.

I'll be back at the end of July with more upcoming books!

Till next time,

Zoe Harrington x

Friday 29 June 2012

D is for Dystopia...

Here is the first of Darran's posts fo us! I thought I'd get it up early, as I just can't wait to share it with you all. Enjoy!!





There’s a new word on the lips and on the pages of an awful lot of Young Adult and Teen Fiction at the moment, both snaking through the blogs and zapping from person to person in good old fashioned word of mouth. That word is Dystopia, and whilst it may not be a new idea, thanks to Suzanne Collins’ success with her Hunger Games books, it is looking to be a big thing.


Most customers give me a bit of a wary look when I mention something being “Dystopian”, and more than a few have asked what on Earth it means? Once I’ve explained, turns out nine times out of ten, they knew exactly what a Dystopia was, they just didn’t know there was a word for it. Soooo, I figured I’d write a short(ish) blog piece, explaining this new and frightening genre, and throwing in some recommended reading as I go.

So, Webster’s Dictionary defines… Haha, no, maybe not that cliché, but I think to first truly understand the idea of a Dystopia, you must first understand that it’s an opposite of a much more familiar word: Utopia. Neither are new ideas, and for players of video games or readers of science fiction, this article is probably painfully obvious, but they’re both pretty new to the world of YA/Teen lit. So, a Utopia, or Utopian society is basically the perfect society, where poverty, crime, war and suffering have been erased, either

Introducing Darran

Here at the YABluewater blog we have a new face. Say a big hello to Darran Stobbart!! He will be doing some regular posts for us, the first of which will be posted in a few days. It's called D is for Dystopia, so make sure you check back in for that because its awesome!!
Here is a bit about Darran, that he has written to introduce himself....


Hi there!
My name’s Darran, I’m 24 years old & I’m the children’s bookseller for a branch of Waterstones in Northallerton, which is a small markettown in North Yorkshire, a job I love passionately. Which I have been in for just over a year and a half, after starting as a Christmas temp in 2010. I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, and this has been greatlyinfluenced by my family from a very young age, especially my Mum who got me reading anything and everything as early as possible.
For me, my love of Young Adult and Teen fiction has always been a huge proportion of the books I read, but ever since I first read Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series (still to my mind the GREATEST three books ever written), I’ve been hooked for life. I enjoy science fiction, horror & fantasy genres particularly, both within books and in film format too! I’m also a big fan of comic books, a pretty dedicated video gamer and a very passionate musician, playing in several bands over the years.
I keep my own blog at www.shinraalpha.wordpress.com,and can also be found on Twitter as @ShinraAlpha, and I’m always ready for questions and queries! I’d like to thank the YaBluewater blog for letting me offload some ramblings and reviews from the North!

Thank you Darren!! I very much look forward to reading your future posts!

See you next post,

Kaylie   :0)

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Our New Look!!


I would like to say a HUGE thank you to Zoe over at Zoe's Corner for the amazing job she has done on making this site look brilliant!!! You had been awesome and I am very grateful for all that you have done!

Zoe will be one of our regular guest posters, so keep an eye out for her.

Please leave a comment below to let us know what you think of the new look, or if you have any Q's for us leave those too.

See you next post :0)
Kaylie x

Members Post - Michelle Moore

Michelle is one of the members of Y.A.R.G here at Bluewater. She is also in charge over at The Bookclub Forum, so make sure you check that out!

 Here she is to tell us why she loves YA and what started her love of the genre.....


So here I am, fast approaching 40 (shh!) and I’ve developed a love of the YA genre. Why? Well, first of all, they were sadly lacking when I was a teen. My local library was a big one, with a large children’s section, but a teeny teenage one. I soon worked my way through, and moved onto the likes of Stephen King. So, it’s nice to go back and read what was missing then. Also, I started off looking at YA books with a view to picking the good ones for my children.

However, once I started picking up some YA books, I realised what they had to offer. Despite popular views, YA is not childish, simplistic or dumbed down. Nor is it only about teenage angst or sparkly vampires!


Saturday 23 June 2012

Guest Post: SisterSpooky!!!


Here is another brilliant guest post by Laura over at www.sisterspooky.co.uk
It's her best YA books of the year so far. So sit back, read on and you might find a few books that haven't read yet...


My Top 10 YA books I've read in 2012 (so far)

So I read a lot of books and I thought I'd let you in on what I'd consider my Top Ten YA books that have come out in 2012 and I just simply LOVED.  They are in now order but if you have smart head on your shoulders then you'll buy 'em all!

Dreams by Daniela Sacerdoti

A really interesting story about secret and lies in a family in Scotland that hunt the demons and evil in the world.  After Sarah Midnight's parents die she's left alone and in danger of being killed herself.  Who can she trust when her life has been forever about hidden truths.  A fantastic read and a super steamy couple.

Emma hearts LA by Keris Stainton*

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Lauren Kate Book Signing!!

Want to meet Lauren Kate??

Well if you come into our Bluewater store on July 7th at 12.30pm then you can!
That's right, Lauren Kate, the bestselling American author will be making a rare UK book signing appearance for 'Rapture'. Don't miss out on having a signed copy of the captivating conclusion to her 'Fallen' series.

If you are unable to make it on the day, then signed copies can be reserved. Although they may not carry dedications and cannot be guaranteed. Pop in store before hand, or call us on 01322 624831 to talk to a Bookseller about reserving your copy!

We look forward to seeing you there!



See you next post,
Kaylie x

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Member Post- Samantha Cooper

Here is the first of our Member Bio's for all you lovely people. I plan to have one from each of our members over the next few months. So here you go....

Name.

Samantha Louise Cooper.

Age

26 and a half.


What was the first YA book that you read?

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. I read a review about it in Bliss or Sugar magazine and I thought it was about time I read something that wasn't written by Enid Blyton!


If you could be any YA character who would it be and why?

Emmett from The Twilight Saga.

Monday 18 June 2012

Exciting news!

We have some exciting things coming to the blog soon. We will be lucky enough to have some guest posters! They will be posting about their best YA reads and why they love YA fiction! I cant wait :D
If you are a YAblogger and you would like to gen involved with us; send me an email at yabluewater@gmail.com 

Saturday 16 June 2012

Thank you!!

I would like to start off by saying a huge thank you to all of those who came to the reading group last night.

Thank you!!!

We had a great time talking about all the things we love about YA fiction, in particular this months book Divergent by Veronica Roth.
The group raised some interesting points about the similarities and differences between this book and other YA titles. We all agreed that the way Tris and Fours relationship was portrayed was one of the the things we loved most of all. The way that it grew and developed throughout the story felt authentic and true to life. If you haven't read this book yet then you must stop right now and go and get your self a copy! I promise you that you wont be sorry you did. If you have read it but couldn't make it to our meeting last night why don't you tell us all about it in the comments below. W would love to hear your thoughts on Tris and Four. Or maybe what faction you think you would have chosen.

We also chose our book for next months meeting.....

Tuesday 5 June 2012

Only 8 days to go!

I can't believe there are only 8 days to go until the launch of the Y.A.R.G I'm so excited! We have had a lot of great feedback in the store for this group, as well as online. As stated in the previous post the first book will be Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is an excellent book and I can't recommend it enough! It is also still part of our buy one get one half price deal deal at the moment. Along with the second book of the trilogy Insurgent.