tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29091169266470791562024-03-14T03:22:05.772+00:00YA Reading Group@ YABluewaterYABluewaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15910583880428983488noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-14345174359525214422013-12-30T10:56:00.001+00:002013-12-30T10:58:37.565+00:00Book Club September 2013<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Good morning everyone,</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W9o6ZmX93jo/UsCXMt0qqDI/AAAAAAAAAD0/hL7bApmFkTg/s1600/andy+and+sean.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W9o6ZmX93jo/UsCXMt0qqDI/AAAAAAAAAD0/hL7bApmFkTg/s200/andy+and+sean.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean Cummings and Andy Robb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I do apologise sincerely
for pulling a Sherlock on you; I’ve been completely snowed under with work recently.
This is the blog post for our rather fabulous September get together with the
fantastical Andy Robb and Sean Cummings. And, no, fantastical may not be a
word, but it’s the only way that I could ever try to accurately cram the
personalities of those authors into one impossibly tiny word. This is mainly because
both of them are charming, funny, polite and immensely talented people that
know how to hold a good conversation. Almost more importantly, they can write a
good book (or two)!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On that note, we shall sashay onto the reviews… </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First up is the truly amazing ‘Poltergeeks’ by Sean
Cummings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gfSn839YgK8/UsFPsitDyuI/AAAAAAAAAEE/khJZ6f7gS50/s1600/Poltergeeks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gfSn839YgK8/UsFPsitDyuI/AAAAAAAAAEE/khJZ6f7gS50/s320/Poltergeeks.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The spooky cover for 'Poltergeeks'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being the daughter of a witch isn’t as dandy as it sounds,
something that 15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn the hard way.
When Julie and her best friend Marcus watch an elderly lady in their
neighbourhood fly out of her front door, Julie is sure that there’s a
supernatural origin to the scene. Poltergeist activity is spiking all over town
and it’s only a matter of time before it climaxes in a terrifying paranormal
assault on Julie high school that leaves her mother a victim of the ‘Endless
Night’ spell. With only days to save her mother’s life and untangle a sinister
supernatural web, the stakes are high and the consequences are unfathomable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where to start? ‘Poltergeeks’ is a book that just feels
right, for lack of a more adequate description. I can’t really explain it
properly, but it just made me feel warm and fuzzy inside and not in a nauseous
way. The plot was explosive and unpredictable, as good plots always are. Each character
was unique and well developed, with one of my favourite things about the book
being the way in which Julie grew wiser in her decisions over time. But perhaps
most important of all was that I simply adore the concept of this book and the
way that it turns cheesy stereotypes of the paranormal into something that’s
actually extremely enjoyable and at times, granted, quite scary. Overall, I loved
‘Poltergeeks’. Absolutely loved it. All of it, every single bit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then we have Andy Robb’s offerings, the marvellous ‘Geekhood’
books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s a blurby bit from Goodreads for ‘Geekhood: Close
Encounters of the Girlkind’, because I honestly don’t believe that I could sum
it up any better:</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vstbIWMDI3s/UsFP12F_PpI/AAAAAAAAAEM/la3xV-16pMw/s1600/Geekhood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vstbIWMDI3s/UsFP12F_PpI/AAAAAAAAAEM/la3xV-16pMw/s320/Geekhood.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the little Archie on the front!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">‘If you haven't
worked it out yet, girls don't do this. They don't come to the Hovel. They
don't like goblins and dragons. They don't paint miniatures. They don't play
role playing games or re-enact fictional battles. And they don't talk to Geeks
like me especially if they're pretty. And this girl is pretty. What do you do
if you're a fourteen-year-old Geek, and a Beautiful Girl has appeared in the
midst of your geeky world? And she seems to like you... For Archie, the natural
reaction would be to duck and cover ... run for the hills ... buy a new model
elf... Anything but risk stepping into the Real World. But even Geeks have to
put their heads above the parapet at some point. With his mum barely able to
contain her excitement that her son is about to join the human race, and his
step-father, Tony the Tosser, offering crass advice, it's time for Archie to
embark on a daring Quest to win the Beautiful Girl's heart and shake off his
Geekhood for good...’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ‘Geekhood’ books are amongst my favourites. Archie as
a character has a resonance that I think we can all relate to in some way or
another due to the experiences he shares with us and it’s nice to know that you’re
not alone. As well as that, his inner monologue is absolutely cracking! I was
laughing out loud at some points, not even the half-smile and exhalation of air
through your nose that happens when something is almost funny, actual
rib-tickling laughter. In terms of plot, the book was great and the characters
are extremely loveable too. One thing I found particularly interesting about
the book was the insight it gave you on the game ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, which I’ve
never played myself but now really want to because it sounds awesome. Like,
really awesome. Finally, the sequel, ‘Geekhood: Mission Improbable’, is just as
good as the first book, if not better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">See you next time,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rosie <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">P.S. There’s no smiley face because if you read ‘Geekhood:
Close Encounters of the Girlkind’ you will find that Archie/Andy Robb intensely
dislikes the misuse of punctuation to create sideways faces. Maybe next time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Title: Poltergeeks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Author: Sean Cummings</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Publisher: Strange Chemistry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">ISBN: 9781908844095</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rating out of five stars: ****</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Title: Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girlkind</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Author: Andy Robb</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Publisher: Stripes Publishing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">ISBN: 9781847152312</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rating out of five stars: **** and a half</span></div>
Roseberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03220455642979218136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-91916515919081231642013-09-20T20:29:00.001+01:002013-09-20T20:31:33.762+01:00Book Club August 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NtWb4KmSuvg/Ujyhi__ehgI/AAAAAAAAADc/msKhMXfmodg/s1600/undone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NtWb4KmSuvg/Ujyhi__ehgI/AAAAAAAAADc/msKhMXfmodg/s320/undone.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hi
everyone,<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This
is the, rather overdue, review for August’s book, which was the brilliant
‘Undone’ by Cat Clarke. My vocabulary has been rendered pretty much inadequate
by the feelings (Oh, the feels *dramatic sigh*) that this book has left me
with, so please bear with me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hazarding
a guess, because I wasn’t actually there, I’d say that the general consensus
for ‘Undone’ was a four star rating, which was definitely warranted. It was a
thought-provoking and enthralling read that, granted, did make me want to hit
something hard/scream/sob at times. But in a good way! The ending… Just... Gah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kai
and Jem were inseparable. Best friends practically from the moment that Kai
moved in next door, all those years ago. Back when Jem didn’t dye her hair
black and Kai hadn’t rendered Jem’s feelings for him impossible with the
revelation that he was gay. Back when Kai was still alive. Struggling to cope
in the aftermath of Kai’s suicide, a heart-wrenchingly devastated Jem swears
vengeance on the people that outed Kai online. Even though she knows there’s no
way to bring him back, nothing will stop her from finding those responsible for
his death and taking them down…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First
of all, I absolutely loved the way that you’re just chucked straight into the
middle of the events. The majority of YA books start off with a good few
chapters dedicated to hinting at strange goings on and changes in the
protagonist’s life before we’re hit with the real deal. This was not the case
with ‘Undone’. At all. I think that this approach really helped with building
Jem up as a character, because it was almost as if I got an insight into her
confusion and muddled feelings about what was going on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Then
there was the plot. No sigh or sob can sufficiently summarise my feelings about
this topic. I think that you can only begin to adequately define the words ‘frustration’
and ‘but’ after you’ve read this book. ‘Nuff said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally,
I want to talk about the lost star. For me, some of Jem’s actions seemed
extremely irrational towards the end of the book, but I don’t feel like I’ve
really got enough experience to call that judgement as, thankfully, I have
never lost a close friend. If I was in Jem’s mind-set and had had to try and
cope with what she did, I might not be saying the same thing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall,
it was a mind-bogglingly, heart-wrenchingly, brain-scatteringly brilliant read
that should be on your bookshelf, or at least your wish list.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bye
for now,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rosie
:P<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/cat+clarke/undone/9411157/" target="_blank">A handy link in order for you to check it out :)</a><br />
<br />
ISBN: 9781780870458<br />
Title: Undone<br />
Author: Cat Clarke<br />
Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc<br />
Rating out of Five Stars:Roseberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03220455642979218136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-78396868072731621922013-09-02T19:57:00.000+01:002013-09-02T19:59:26.390+01:00Strange Chemistry Book Launch by Rosie<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9MXKdicrdFQ/UiTeW0NhA6I/AAAAAAAAAC8/EQZHLgyTa6Q/s1600/bryony+and+kim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9MXKdicrdFQ/UiTeW0NhA6I/AAAAAAAAAC8/EQZHLgyTa6Q/s320/bryony+and+kim.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bryony Pearce and Kim Curran</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Salutations people of the
internet,<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now, this post is long
overdue, but better late than never, right? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A while ago the book club
was lucky enough to be invited to the Strange Chemistry book launch for
‘Control’ and ‘The Weight of Souls’ (which are both fantastic, I assure you)
down at Forbidden Planet in London. Not only did we meet the fabulous Kim
Curran and Bryony Pearce but we were blessed with some pretty awesome cake and some
marvellously munch-tastic cake pops. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The evening kicked off
with an introduction from Amanda Rutter, which was really nice and created a
brilliant atmosphere for the rest of the night. However, the highlight of the
evening for me was hearing the authors read out a chapter or so of their new books.
<br />
</span></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kim Curran’s tense and action packed chapter had the audience on edge, which
was followed by Bryony Pearce’s expressive and equally edgy introduction to
‘The Weight of Souls’. Afterwards, the signing bega<br />
n alongside some casual
feasting and a lengthy browse of the shop (Fangirl levels have never been
higher and neither have the shrieks).<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall, it was an
absolutely incredible night filled with fantastic people, brilliant books and
tasty treats!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Moving on to the reviews….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d6lUg-kGMtY/UiTdj2VhgcI/AAAAAAAAACo/m1Er0WqnFng/s1600/control+by+kim+curran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d6lUg-kGMtY/UiTdj2VhgcI/AAAAAAAAACo/m1Er0WqnFng/s320/control+by+kim+curran.jpg" width="209" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">First up is ‘Control’ by
Kim Curran, the highly anticipated sequel to ‘Shift’, which you can find the
review for </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://yabluewater.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/bookclub-january-2013.html" target="_blank">here</a></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Scott Tyler is a Shifter,
someone with the ability to undo any of the decisions that they’ve ever made.
Employed by the secretive government agency ARES that regulates Shifters, Scott
and his girlfriend Aubrey are on a mission to track down the last members of
Project Ganymede. Their investigation leads them to Frank Anderson, a figure
shrouded in mystery and secrets with seemingly no traceable past. As they delve
deeper and deeper in order to uncover the truth, Scott realises that he needs
to take control of his decisions, before the consequences mean losing the life
and the people that he loves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Quite often I’m
disappointed by sequels and only continue because of an innate sense of duty.
This is most definitely not the case with ‘Control’. Fast paced with an
intricate plot and gripping writing meant that I was hooked from the start. Not
only is it a great read, but the philosophical side to the novel really
intrigued me and made me think about the reality of a world with Shifters and
what having that power would be like. In comparison to ‘Shift’, the characters
have really matured and taken on more responsibility, which was an aspect of
the book that I really loved. Instead of continuing to make the same old
mistakes, they actually learnt from the past while simultaneously managing to
maintain that charmingly flawed element. To conclude, I enjoyed ‘Control’
immensely and the ginormous explosion of ‘Oh my God’ factor that Curran dropped
at the end of the book has made the wait for ‘Delete’ practically unbearable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KijmAiSz3og/UiTduQbx6tI/AAAAAAAAACw/cJxHKudpZew/s1600/the+weight+of+souls+by+bryony+pearce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KijmAiSz3og/UiTduQbx6tI/AAAAAAAAACw/cJxHKudpZew/s320/the+weight+of+souls+by+bryony+pearce.jpg" width="209" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last but not least is ‘The
Weight of Souls’ by Bryony Pearce, an absolutely cracking book that had me up
reading until dawn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Taylor Oh is cursed. If
the ghost of a murder victim touches her skin, it leaves a mark that summons
the Darkness to wreak revenge on the bearer. She has only a short amount of
time to pass each mark on to the killer, so that the ominous Darkness is
satisfied. But if Taylor fails to pass on the mark in time, the darkness will
come for her instead…. Taylor’s life is already complicated enough, what with
juggling exams, trying to hold onto her best friend, persuading her father that
the ghosts are real and keeping the Darkness in check, so when Justin, a prize
bully from the higher social circles at school, is murdered, matters get
complicated. Fast. He has no idea who murdered him and Taylor doesn’t even know
where to start. With the Darkness hot on their tails, Taylor must try her
hardest to reveal what really happened to Justin….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9MXKdicrdFQ/UiTeW0NhA6I/AAAAAAAAAC4/a5tPZZyJwFo/s1600/bryony+and+kim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">‘The Weight of Souls’ is
one of those books that turn you into a zombie. Responses are limited to one
syllable words, sleep is no longer necessary for you to function and your only
priority is the next page. Personally, I feel like Bryony Pearce has absolutely
nailed the recipe for a fast paced, riveting and absolutely downright fantastic
book. The characters were loveable and realistic, the plot was great and my
only complaint is that the sequel (Please let there be a sequel) isn’t out fast
enough!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Goodbye for now,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rosie :P<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
Check out <a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/kim+curran/control/9402053/" target="_blank">'Control'</a> and <a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/bryony+pierce/the+weight+of+souls/9813258/" target="_blank">'The Weight of Souls'</a> on the Waterstones' website.<br />
<br />
Title: Control<br />
Author: Kim Curran<br />
Publisher: Strange Chemistry<br />
ISBN: 9781908844156<br />
Rating out of five stars: ****<br />
<br />
Title: The Weight of Souls<br />
Author: Bryony Pearce<br />
Publisher: Strange Chemistry<br />
ISBN: 9781908844637<br />
Rating out of five stars: *****Roseberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03220455642979218136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-70427646218405499652013-08-06T18:14:00.001+01:002013-08-06T20:34:38.487+01:00Book Club July 2013<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey everyone!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pk7XYOaV6ZU/UgEtnipq3eI/AAAAAAAAABU/E0dzheyPyV4/s1600/The+5th+Wave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pk7XYOaV6ZU/UgEtnipq3eI/AAAAAAAAABU/E0dzheyPyV4/s320/The+5th+Wave.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fab cover for a great book</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A long time ago, in a
coffee shop far, far away, several members of the YA reading group gathered to
discuss <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 5<sup>th</sup> Wave </i>by
Rick Yancey. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This book certainly
deserves the 5 stars that we awarded it, and, in my opinion, it deserves enough
stars to make up the Cassiopeia constellation itself. It was a fantastically terrifying
read that had us teetering precariously on the edge of our seats whilst simultaneously
feeling the need to chuck the book in the freezer and run a mile.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The 5<sup>th</sup> Wave</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> follows Cassie Sullivan, a teenage girl alone in a desolate
world and on the run from Them. The ones who razed the cities to the ground, stripped
Earth of its inhabitants and killed its humanity. Survival is of the essence,
and when the choice is between giving up and getting up, Cassie Sullivan gets
up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the things that we
loved about this book were the intricacy (and complete awesomeness) of the plot
and the depth shown by the characters. Upon first reading the blurb, I thought
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 5<sup>th</sup> Wave</i> was
going to be a girl-meets-boy-they-beat-the-aliens-big-whoop-of-celebration kind
of book, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cassie feels like an actual person instead of
a cardboard cut- out masquerading as one. Her reactions and views are
reasonable in relation to the world that she’s in and she behaves, dare I say
it, normally. No brattish cries of, “I’m destined to save the world!” or
anything like that. One of my favourite moments in the book is about 150 pages
in, purely because of Cassie’s reaction to her situation. *Grins * The other
characters in the book were also as developed and well-rounded as Cassie, each one
loveable despite their flaws.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t go into detail about
why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 5<sup>th</sup> Wave </i>has such
an amazing plot because that would involve major spoilers. Instead, you’ll just
have to trust me when I say that at the end of this book you won’t be able to
form coherent sentences. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, we loved that
this book induced a flood of questions and conspiracies about what the heck was
going to happen in the sequel. There was many a fret about microscopic details
that could have huge implications for some of the characters. A while back some
of us actually met Rick Yancey (which took the word ‘epic’ to a new level) and
it was rather uncomfortably that we recollected his words about all of his
characters facing real danger and not being safe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So go, read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 5<sup>th</sup> Wave</i> and then join us
in the agonising wait for the sequel!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On another note, our pick
for next month is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Undone </i>by Cat
Clarke and we will be meeting on August 8<sup>th</sup> in Costa from 7pm-8pm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bye for now,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rosie :P<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/rick+yancey/the+5th+wave/9539427/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A
handy link so that you can look for yourself</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ISBN: 978-0-141-34583-3<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Title: The 5<sup>th</sup>
Wave<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Author: Rick Yancey<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Publisher: Penguin Books<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Rating out of five stars:
* * * * *<o:p></o:p></span></span>Roseberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03220455642979218136noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-65736078870356890832013-06-28T10:36:00.000+01:002013-06-28T10:36:19.145+01:00Out In the Wild<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi Guys!</span><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nAOPe09Z-H0/Uc1TxqgE6rI/AAAAAAAAAP8/7oy203i5_oU/s1296/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nAOPe09Z-H0/Uc1TxqgE6rI/AAAAAAAAAP8/7oy203i5_oU/s320/photo+2.JPG" width="239" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is a new slot I'm doing for the blog, you can probably guess what it is from the title there, but in case you can't, here's the run down. It's basically a post full of pictures of various books out in the wild! *ta-da!* I'll try and post one every few weeks or so and here is this weeks. Enjoy...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is shot of one of our displays in the Teen section. It's our Thrills and Chills bay and there are soooooo many good books on it. If you're looking for something exciting to read this summer, this is the place to look! You will notice a few of our monthly books on there too, we have been going through an action phase as of late and this will continue in July with The 5th Wave....</span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0zkJ0OHfZE0/Uc1Tz7EU9MI/AAAAAAAAAQM/2qup-LLwryI/s1296/photo+1+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0zkJ0OHfZE0/Uc1Tz7EU9MI/AAAAAAAAAQM/2qup-LLwryI/s320/photo+1+(1).JPG" width="239" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ha! Did you see what I did there? :p</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. It's published by Penguin books and is AMAZING!!!!! I can't wait to chat to the book group about it in a few weeks. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is set in the near future, mid way through an alien invasion. Not the kind you see in the movies though, this book makes those look tame! It is thrilling, scary and mind blowingly awesome! I really do recommend this to EVERYONE!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bjdf8YNxL_8/Uc1Ty3yGizI/AAAAAAAAAQE/yk6AtrsQLiY/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bjdf8YNxL_8/Uc1Ty3yGizI/AAAAAAAAAQE/yk6AtrsQLiY/s320/photo+1+(2).JPG" width="239" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is another book on the Thrills and Chills bay. It is Katya's World by Jonathan L.Howard, published by Strange Chemistry. This is another book that I highly recommend to people. It is fast, funny and packed full of action and suspense. It had me hooked from the very first page and I can't wait to get my hands on the second one!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, that's all for this post. Let me know what you think. If there are any book's you would like to see out in the wild, leave a comment below and I'll try and get some snaps of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span><br />
<br />
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</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-37994826966856743512013-06-27T18:46:00.001+01:002013-06-27T18:57:49.566+01:00ACID by Emma Pass: Review by Rosie Caveney<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2H6pNyNkRhU/Ucx51vOhKEI/AAAAAAAAAA0/t9PX34HL0aw/s680/ACID+by+Emma+Pass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2H6pNyNkRhU/Ucx51vOhKEI/AAAAAAAAAA0/t9PX34HL0aw/s320/ACID+by+Emma+Pass.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The awesome cover for ACID</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hey. How you doin’?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Okey dokey, this is my first ever post on this blog (*Cue
glitter cannons and spontaneous combustion*) and I’m kind of nervous about the
fact that I’m writing something <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that
other real, live, breathing humans can read. Also, the music that I’m listening
to is kind of dramatic/tense/awesome which probably doesn’t help. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Moving on! I’m going to review ‘Acid’ by Emma Pass, which
I read quite recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span><br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s the year 2113 and Jenna Strong lives in a world beaten
into shape by ACID, the most brutal, ruthless and controlling police force in
the history of the former United Kingdom. Careless comments can cost you your
freedom. Hugging someone who is not your assigned LifePartner can put you
behind bars. Murder means a life in Mileway, an intensely violent high security
prison in London- the place that Jenna’s story starts. Convicted for the murder
of her parents two years ago, Jenna has learnt to keep her mouth shut and her
wits about her if she wants to survive, especially when dealing with the
routine rowdy prisoners and riots. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
Jenna’s world shifts dramatically once again when a member of a mysterious
rebel group with questionable intent breaks her out of jail. With tense times
ahead, Jenna must use her smarts, her skill and her heart to help her uncover
the truth that her world has hidden from her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Firstly, I would just like to say that ‘ACID’ left has
left a bigger impression on me than I thought possible. It was one of those
really twisty novels with a generous helping of sharp, sudden shocks at points
in the plot that left me reeling and generally dumbstruck. I must confess that
I seriously underestimated how much I would enjoy it when I bought it and one
thing I completely loved about it was that it was a standalone novel, which
makes a real change in the YA genre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Secondly, I don’t
think that I’d survive for more than a few minutes in a world ruled by ACID.
For starters, they have no internet *Faints* They have none of that fundamental
and invisible substance that I live and breathe (That would be the great and
mighty Wi-Fi). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that’s not bad enough
already, reading material is strictly controlled by ACID *Gasps and flails* No
tantalising twists in plots, no characters worthy of a good fangirl attack and
everything is violence-free and ends with a happy ever after, which is just
plain boring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One thing that I didn’t like as much about the book was
Jenna herself. I found her to be one of those tough-guy girls that seems a bit detached
from human emotions. I understand that sometimes circumstances around us can
make us grow up faster, but it just grated on me that she seemed a bit like a
robot at times. However, and this is a bit of a contradiction, Jenna did fall
in love. With the first attractive guy that she laid eyes on. And continued to
harp on about her love for him for quite a while afterwards. On that front,
maybe she was a bit too emotional.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thank you for reading my brain splurge if you got this
far and I hope that everything stays shiny,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rosie :P</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/emma+pass/acid/9376741/" target="_blank">A helpful link so that you can check it out for yourself</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">ISBN: </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">9780552566148</span><br />
Author: Emma Pass<br />
Title: ACID<br />
Publisher: Corgi Children's<br />
Rating out of five stars: ****<br />
</div>
Roseberryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03220455642979218136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-35583475845121807592013-06-21T16:57:00.000+01:002013-06-21T16:57:05.530+01:00Wasted by Nicola Morgan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LeSzrdPK3ZQ/UcRxU1BmmgI/AAAAAAAAACk/wDta1KfhQfI/s1600/__Nicola+Morgan+Wasted(4).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LeSzrdPK3ZQ/UcRxU1BmmgI/AAAAAAAAACk/wDta1KfhQfI/s320/__Nicola+Morgan+Wasted(4).jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hello! So this is my first post on this blog and a lot of
thought has gone into which book I should review first. So I chose a book that
really made me think about how chance affects the events of our lives.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The boy follows the story of Jack, who is obsessed with
luck, and Jess, a singer who changes Jack’s life. They were bought together
through chance, but luck doesn't last forever.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As their chance and choices
unravel the stakes are raised higher and higher, and the danger of Jack’s game
becomes apparent. Each chapter two possibilities are pr</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">esented and the
characters flip a coin to decide their fate. But in the final chapter, as life
hangs in the balance, it is the reader who decides the fate of the characters
with, you guessed it, a flip of the coin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This book explores the concept of Schrodinger's cat,
exploring whether something can be both dead and alive because you don’t know
the outcome. In this story, Jack is the cat and as the story goes on we see
more that he has really handed his life over to luck due to several unfortunate
events. But you’ll just have to read it to find out more!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">This book is worthy of a place on book shelves because it purely
makes you think about how every tiny detail could be affecting your fate (if
you believe in that) and how your decisions could affect other people. I recommend this book to any one, wanting
something a little different to other books out there for young adults.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Thanks for reading guys and until next time,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Robyn</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Book Rating:</b></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">4.5/5</span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Book details</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-size: small; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="margin: 0.5em 0em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Paperback:</b> 304 pages</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0.5em 0em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Publisher:</b> Walker (3 May 2010)</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0.5em 0em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>ISBN-10:</b> 1406321958</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0.5em 0em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>ISBN-13:</b> 978-1406321951</span></li>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15942604175373013937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-67885723944128210292013-06-19T19:28:00.001+01:002013-06-19T23:02:49.100+01:00Book Club June 2013<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hi there guys!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We recently had out one year anniversary here at the #YABluewater blog, that means out book club has been meeting for one year!! *glitter canons*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To celebrate this we decided to chose an entire series of book, rather than just a single title. The series that held this honor was none other that The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness. </span><br />
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We all agreed that this was an amazing set of books and we gave them a whopping five out of five stars!! Yep, I think it's safe to say we liked them lol. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Here are some mini reviews for a few of our members, enjoy...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I approached this book with high expectations which were mostly exceeded.<br />The range of characters and the world in which they resided was not only likable but also extremely descriptive and believable, meaning I was drawn in quickly.<br />I found the constant running slightly monotonous at times but overall I loved this book and am looking forward to starting the next book in the series.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This series really made me think about all the “what ifs” of migrating to another planet. What if we could hear each other’s thoughts? What if something went horribly wrong in a fragile, new society? It really made me think of the importance of staying true to yourself and your beliefs and the importance of having friendship though the times when you’re not sure about the world you live in, or who you are as a person.<br />Overall, this series has got to be one of my top five as it is so different to a lot of current young adult books and is really worth a look at, even though some parts of the first book are quite slow. This is a series that could potentially change the way you look at people, so just give it a go.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In Prentisstown everyone can hear each others thoughts, there is no privacy, there are no secrets, just noise. Todd Hewitt is just thirty days away from his 13th birthday, after which he will no longer be the last boy in town, but a man. But when he stumbles across a small patch of silence, he starts to uncover the truth... Prentisstown has been lying to him. <br />Here he finds the source of the silence, a mute girl, now Todd must run if he is going to survive. <br />A fast paced, exhilarating novel that will take you on a white knuckle journey that will break your heart.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I really didn't think I was going to overly enjoy this book. I thought it was going to be a bit young for me if I'm honest. It took me 30 or so pages to get into the flow of things but when I did, well, I just couldn't put it down. I loved the pace and characters and the story was completely unique to me. <br />I LOVED Manchee even though I will never look at a dog in the same way again. I imagined him to be similar to the dog from Up! I have not suffered heartache from a fictional pet since Hedwig! I like Todd as well, the main character. I thought that for his situation he was incredibly realistic and I liked his innocence. I enjoyed watching his feelings for Viola blossom as well! The only part of the book I wasn't keen on was when Todd killed a Spak :'( I thought that the character Aaron was similar to a nineties serial killer! <br />This book kept me guessing and I loved that. I look forward to reading the other 2 books in the series.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Quite frankly, I loved it. I loved the way Todd changed throughout the series, from a boy to a real man, not just someone who kills.<br />I loved the way the mayor's character actually made you think, especially in the third book.<br />Viola was a good character she just felt unnecessarily annoying and pompous at times.<br />I LOVE MANCHEE this, as well as being a t shirt Idea is true. Manchee is the definition of a loyal dog, I is drinking fantastic. Angharrad too was a good character, crazy thought, MANCHEE reincarnated? But seriously for me this has surpassed almost everything I have ever read. Especially the last book. BEST ENDING EVER. BEST SERIES EVER. NOT BEST BOOK EVER. THAT BELONGS TO GOOD OMENS. OOPS I LEFT THE CAPS KEY ON. GOODBYE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Well I think that about says it all really!! lol</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Our book for next month is The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. I am SO EXCITED about this one!! We recently went to meet Rick at Penguin HQ and we loved him. We will be meeting on 11th July from 7-8pm in the Costa Coffee store behind Waterstones in Bluewater. Come along and meet the gang. I can promise they're all very nice!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">See you next post,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-86789691396363246372013-06-15T15:25:00.000+01:002013-06-16T16:27:09.221+01:00UnLunDun (Un London) By China Miéville - Review by Patrick<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Qz5eNO93CA/Ub3YMQzrU8I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/00CcUwHGJsw/s1600/Un+Lun+Dun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Qz5eNO93CA/Ub3YMQzrU8I/AAAAAAAAAPQ/00CcUwHGJsw/s320/Un+Lun+Dun.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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Um, hello! It's is my first ever blog/post/book review on the Internet thingie! (Insert yay's, whoo's and Go <br />
Patrick's here) So, I have decided to review one of my favourite books ever. It is, quite frankly, weird and beautiful with just enough ninja dustbins in it to keep interesting (yes, I did say Ninja dust bins) So, lets do this thing!<br />
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Zanna and Deeba are two ordinary best friends. They are ordinary girls and do ordinary things, they go to school, eat, drink, breath, have old umbrellas follow them, wait! What! Umbrellas! Following! Ahh yes, so our story begins. Zanna is being followed by an umbrella, as you do, and Deeba is quite frankly a little bit jealous but more frightened that she and Zanna are going to die.<br />
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One night the girls get curios and follow the umbrella through the murky streets of London, but they would not have expected to find a secret entrance, of all things, to a new place, this place is called Unlondon! (Get it) A wonderful world of bits and bobs full of old rubbish people had thrown away, it has to go somewhere and that somewhere is unlondon. Zanna and Deeba are flung in to a world of odd people and new things and are all but about to die when it turns out Zanna is the shwazzy, a prophesied legend who will rid the new world of the evil smog, a gas like being which controls its minions by inhabiting there body. Even worse, the smog can rain acid, bringing terror from the skies and destroying umbrellas! (Shock, horror, cries) and thus begins a dramatic tale of two young girls, fumigating in an unknown world and with a ninja dust bin by their side, heck, who could beat them? With big twists along the way, this story is no stereotypical adventure. One spoiler: is Zeeba, the Shwazzy, really the hero?<br />
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This book is amazing for many reasons, one of which is the way it translates to modern day London. The smog obviously represents the dangers that pollution and global warming present today and show how dangerous it could be if it allows to go on.<br />
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The characters, especially Deeba, are easy to relate too and jump of the page so they can slap you in the face. Furthermore the book is hysterical! It made me laugh every other page and is so well written you won't want to put it down baring for a long bit in the middle.<br />
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Try this book, it's something different and clever from an accomplished writer in other genre's.And hey, with milk cartons, ninja dustbins, half ghost boys, a needle man and a bear what more could you want?<br />
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Okay yeah, unicorns.<br />
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I have decided that every post I will include a quote, all be it funny or inspiring. This time, it's both...<br />
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left;">Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: left;">― <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/43244.Groucho_Marx" style="text-decoration: none;">Groucho Marx</a>, <i><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/969064" style="text-decoration: none;">The Essential Groucho: Writings For By And About Groucho Marx</a></i></span></div>
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See you next time mortals,</div>
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Patrick<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-27528624375907301042013-06-14T09:41:00.000+01:002013-06-14T09:44:24.401+01:00Zoe Marriott's The Night Itself Video!!!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi there everybody! *awaits reply*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today's post is going to be a bit different from the norm. I will be making a separate post about last night's book club meet an a day or so, for now though I have something amazing to share! :D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A While ago the lovely people asked me and a few other bloggers if we wanted advanced proofs of Zoe's new book, The Night Itself. Ummm YES PLEASE!!!! All we had to do was make a short video. To be honest, Hannah could have asked me to chew off my right arm and I would have done so for a copy of this book!! We each were given a section to read out and the whizz team at walker have turned our snippets into this video. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enjoy!...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The book is the first in The Name of the Blade trilogy and for one can't wait for the rest!! I will be posting a full review soon, definitely before the release date, which is 4th July. Keep an eye out for that!! It's an amazing book! You can find out more about Zoe <a href="http://thezoe-trope.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a> at her blog, or here on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1025280.Zo_Marriott" target="_blank">goodreads</a>. Go and add this to your to-read list, that's an order!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Hannah at Walker Books and to Zoe for letting be part of this. It was both terrifying and exciting!! Thank you :D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On a last note, there will me some exciting new changes coming to the YABluewater blog soon, you're just going to have to wait and see. *dun dun daahhhh*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-85742469862056215272013-05-12T13:09:00.000+01:002013-05-12T13:09:48.423+01:00Review - Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vCCGqMpRDiA/UJfNE00nRUI/AAAAAAAAAJc/8rBxtO8CoII/s1600/Emily+and+the+Hollow+World.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vCCGqMpRDiA/UJfNE00nRUI/AAAAAAAAAJc/8rBxtO8CoII/s320/Emily+and+the+Hollow+World.jpg" width="211" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/martha+wells/emilie+and+the+hollow+world/9402040/" target="_blank">Emilie and the Hollow</a><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/martha+wells/emilie+and+the+hollow+world/9402040/" target="_blank"> World</a></span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> by <a href="http://www.marthawells.com/" target="_blank">Martha Wells</a></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Published by <a href="http://strangechemistrybooks.com/" target="_blank">Strange Chemistry</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Released 4th April 2013</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Four out of Five stars **** </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi Guys, </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have literally just finished this book and I loved it! It is another great book from Strange Chemistry. I am continually impressed with the books that SC are releasing. Some of my most favourite reads of recent times have come from this imprint. Keep it up guys! I can't wait to see what else is on its way. I'd like so say thank you to Amanda, the editor of SC, for sending me a proof of this for review. So.... Here it is. Enjoy...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Okay, So here is the blurby bit from Goodreads.</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #b45f06;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #b45f06;"><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I'm not really sure where to start with this review. There where so many things that I loved about this book, and a few things that didn't do it for me. I'll start with those. There where two things really that got to me. The first was Emilie. As much as I loved her as a character, I found her rather passive. I'm not sure if that was because this book is written in the third person or not, though I'm sure that contributed. There where moments when I wanted Emilie to do more, to say more, to be more involved with what was going on around her. We spend a lot of time watching Emilie watch what is happeneing around her rather than watching Emilie take action and move the story along. It didn't detract from the book as a whole for me, this is only a small niggle, but it was enough for me to mention it here. The other thing that struck me was Emilie's age. I don't specificaly remember finding out how old she is, though other reviewers have said that she was fifteen, so I'll go with that. She comes across as both much older and much younger than that. Her actions and the way that she interacts with the other characters makes her seen younger than she is, where as her thoughts and internal dialogue suggest a maturity beyond her years. Again this did not detract from my enjoyment of the story as a whole, but I thought it was worth a mention.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Now on to the good things, of which there are many! Hmmm where to start? Even with what I said above, I LOVED Emilie! She is smart, strong, brave and I wish I was more like her. She is full of wonder for the things that she sees and has an astute outlook on what is going on around her. I found her a joy to follow through the pages of this story. I loved how capable she was, how fierce she could be and how relatable she was. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I was hooked from the first page! The plot starts right away, with Emilie trying to stowaway on the </span><i style="line-height: 19px;">Merry Bell, </i><span style="line-height: 19px;">a ship she hopes will take her away from her family and to a new life with her cousin. Only things don't work out that way and Emilie finds herself on the <i>Sovereign</i>, at the start of an epic adventure that is about to change her life. Emilie soon finds herself in a world that is rich with its own culture and people. The other characters in this book are not your standard secondary characters, each one is fully realised and fleshed out with their own quirks. I loved the two Cirathi characters, Rani and Kenar. They added an extra layer to this story that I really enjoyed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I loved the feel of this book to. It had a Steampunky aspect to it that totally appealed to me! I am a huge fan of ANYTHING Steampunk :) I am also a fan of the way that Wells has used the fantasy aspects of this book to tackle some important issues in a very subtle and non threatening way. Emilie at no point sits back and waits to be rescued, in fact she does a lot of the rescuing herself! lol There is a strong feminist message in this book but it's not in your face. As I said before it is subtle. Wells has used her strong female characters, and the way that some of the male characters view them, to explore the nature of sexism and inequality while showing that men and women are in fact just as capable as each other. It has been cleverly done and I think that both guys and girls would respond well to it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The other thing that I liked was the large and diverse cast. The North Menaen are described as fair with pale skin, while the South Menaen are described a having much darker skin, warm brown, with brown hair. Emilie herself is South Menaen. There are not that many YA books with a non-white MC, let alone YA fantasy books. While there are no racial tensions between the North and South Menaens, Wells still manages to tackle the issue of racism. She does it by using the interactions between the Menaens and the other races of people that they encounter in the Hollow World. Again this was done in a subtle and accessible way. It still got the message across without being obvious. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">This brings me nicely to the skill of Wells' writing. The way she used description was beautiful and made it easy to picture this strange world in your mind. The words flow wonderfully from page to page and had me on the edge of my seat at times. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I have jut looked on Goodreads and seen that there will in fact me a second chapter to Emilie's story and I for one cannot wait to see what happens next. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If you like fantasy books or if you're just looking for something new and different to read, then I thoroughly recommend this book!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">See you next post!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Kaylie :0)</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-4427766043380107392013-05-10T12:56:00.000+01:002013-05-10T12:57:40.220+01:00Book Club May 2013<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N05bJ6uHSVo/US3UK2jAYyI/AAAAAAAAAMI/sKBXyz7y1NI/s1600/The+Bunker+Diary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N05bJ6uHSVo/US3UK2jAYyI/AAAAAAAAAMI/sKBXyz7y1NI/s320/The+Bunker+Diary.jpg" width="208" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi guy's! *waves*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last night we had our monthly book club meet. We had chosen The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks as our book of the month. Overall we really enjoyed it. We gave it a 4.5 out of five stars. Some of us liked it more than others, and we ALL had an opinion about the ending!! lol</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Overall we really liked this book. All but one of us loved it and the one that didn't like still thought it was a good book, they were just let down by the ending. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ahh the ending!!! *sobs* the end of this book, for me, is what makes it special. A few others were in agreement. We differed in our interpretations of the ending, some choosing to look at it in a positive light and others... not so much! lol (You know who you are!) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gah! it's so hard to tell you about all the things we spoke about without giving spoilers! suffice to say, you can't really read this book and NOT have an opinion about it. We loved how tense it was and the pace of the book. We found it a really addictive read, and had a few funny stories to tell about trying to walk to/from work while reading it as we just didn't want to put it down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We felt that it was realistic, and given what's been happening in the news lately, it was certainly relevant to today's world. The coincidence between the plot and real life events is a little unsettling. It has the same shock factor to it, by which I mean it leaves you feeling a little uncomfortable.When you have finished you feel compelled to share the experience with someone. A lot of us had lent our copies to other people when we were done to try to displace some of the feelings the book left us with. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We also talked about next month. Next month is out one year anniversary!! Woop! *glitter cannon* *streamers* *flails* So, we decided to do something a little special. We are not just choosing one book for June, we have chosen a whole series! The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness to be exact. You don't have to read all three if you can't or don't want to. Most of us have read the first one already, and loved it, some of us have read them all. It's a great series, with lots to talk about, so I'm very much looking forward to next months meet! (I may even make some cake pops to celebrate!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There was also another thing that I forgot to mention last night. Waterstones, as a company, have a new campaign running at the moment called The Books That Made Us. It is basically all about books that have changed our lived or inspired us in some way. It is a national campaign and will be running in all of the stores. We are hoping to get the public evolved with this as well, to share their stories of books have impacted on their lives. That's where you guys come in. My boss, Tom, would like us to put together a display of the books that made you. You all have to pick one book that has inspired you, changed you or challenged the way that you think and tell us in a few sentences how it did. We will then set up a display somewhere in the shop to put your chosen books and explanations on for everyone to see. How cool is that?! I'm pretty excited by this, I hope you guys are too. I will explain all of this to you again at the next meet. But if you guys could have a think and pick your books and reasons beforehand that would be great. It also means we can have to display set up sooner rather than later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Okay, I think that's all for now. If you have any questions pop in or contact me through <a href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" target="_blank">Twitter,</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/yabluewater" target="_blank">Facebook</a> or <a href="mailto:yabluewater@gmail.com" target="_blank">email</a> me :D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-91355531514177199612013-05-09T10:42:00.002+01:002013-05-09T10:42:44.076+01:00Review - The Holders by Julianna Scott<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1u0HRRHDoDI/UYteSrCJEpI/AAAAAAAAAOY/7fr-mwH6Rt8/s1600/TheHolders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1u0HRRHDoDI/UYteSrCJEpI/AAAAAAAAAOY/7fr-mwH6Rt8/s320/TheHolders.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/julianna+scot/the+holders/9400708/" target="_blank">The Holders</a></span> <span style="color: #cc0000;">by Julianna Scott</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span class="infotitle" style="background-color: #fbfbfb; border: 0px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline; width: 150px;">ISBN:</span><span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;"> 9781908844422</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; line-height: 22px; text-align: start;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Published by <a href="http://strangechemistrybooks.com/books/the-holders-by-julianna-scott/" target="_blank">Strange Chemistry</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><b>Released 7th March 2013</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><b>Four out of five stars ****</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #191919; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">Hi guys!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #191919; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">So, I've been getting through books at a rate of knots the last few days. Here is the first of many reviews to come over the next week. I'm trying to get through my TBR\Review pile. Lucky for me that they all look like really good books. The only thing I'm struggling with is which one to pick! lol</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #191919; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">So here is The Holders by Julianna Scott. I really enjoyed this book. I gave it four out of five stars. Here is what Goodreads has to say about it...</span></span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><i><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">17-year-old Becca spent her whole life protecting her brother from, well, everything. The abandonment of their father, the so called 'experts' who insist that voices in his head are unnatural and must be dealt with, and the constant threat of being taken away to some hospital and studied like an animal. When two representatives appear claiming to have the answers to Ryland's perceived problem, Becca doesn't buy it for one second. That is until they seem to know things about Ryland and about Becca and Ryland's family, that forces Becca to concede that there may be more to these people than meets the eye. Though still highly skeptical, Becca agrees to do what's best for Ryland.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">What they find at St. Brigid's is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together the information of their family's heritage, their estranged Father, and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they've been waiting for. However, they are all--especially Becca--in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">She meets Alex, a Holder who is fiercely loyal to their race, and for some reason, Becca and Ryland. There's an attraction between Becca and Alex that can't be denied, but her true nature seems destined to keep them apart. However, certain destinies may not be as clear cut as everyone has always believed them to be.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /></span></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><i><span style="color: #660000;">Becca is lost, but found at the same time. Can she bring herself to leave Ryland now that he's settled and can clearly see his future? Will she be able to put the the feelings she has for Alex aside and head back to the US? And can Becca and Ryland ever forgive their father for what he's done</span></i><span style="color: #181818;">?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">As I said above, I really enjoyed this book. It took me a few pages to get into, as I was a bit thrown off by the cover. I know you should never judge a book by its cover, but I did! :p The cover makes sense now that I've read the book, but it gave me a very different idea about what this book would be like. I don't usually read any reviews or summaries before starting a new book, I like to be surprised and come at it with an open mind. So with this book I was expecting something like a more classic high/epic fantasy. I was not expecting it to be set in the here and now, I don't know why, but the cover has something </span><i style="line-height: 19px;">other-worldly</i><span style="line-height: 19px;"> about it. Once I started reading I got over that though. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I really enjoyed reading this book. The plot was good, if maybe a tad predictable, but it was the characters that really did it for me. Becca is brilliant!! She is smart, strong, independent, witty and fiercely loyal and protective. She was so much fun to follow and she felt very real to me. Her interactions with Ryland and Alex had me giggling many times. I love how she is very strong for her brother and would do anything to protect him, but she still has moments where we see how vulnerable she is. She is a refreshing character, in that she's not overly dramatic and in a state of constant crisis. She thinks things through but still has impulse control issues, mainly with her temper! lol She is not mopey and is very compassionate. I loved her!!!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I love the way that Scott has written this. Her words flow together and carry you through the revelations and plot twists with skill. She has captured the teenage spirit impeccably. </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"> The main theme in this book is relationships and Scott has covered most of them. Siblings, parent-child relationships and romance. I loved the way that Becca loves. She doesn't hold back, she gives you all she's got. She would do anything to keep her brother and the other people she loves safe. She is a protector by nature, which slots in very well with the plot.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">I am very much looking forward to the next one in the series. The only reason that I gave this book four stars instead of five, was that I didn't think enough happened in it plot wise. I loved everything else about it and I understand why it has been done, but I wanted a bit more from the ending. I am hoping that now all the characters are well established and the mythology is all in place there will be much more action in the next book!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">See you next post,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Kaylie :0)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-21858771335224410122013-04-24T10:43:00.000+01:002013-04-24T10:43:43.128+01:00Review - The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FRGlp3TCYXk/UXecgBKLdNI/AAAAAAAAAOA/Ynpt9uHu1v4/s1600/The+5th+Wave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FRGlp3TCYXk/UXecgBKLdNI/AAAAAAAAAOA/Ynpt9uHu1v4/s320/The+5th+Wave.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #660000;"><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/rick+yancey/the+5th+wave/9539427/" target="_blank">The 5th Wave</a></span><span style="color: #38761d;"> by <a href="http://www.rickyancey.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">Rick Yancey</span></a></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">ISBN -<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">9780399162411</span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Published by <a href="http://www.penguin.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">Penguin</span></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Released 7th May 2013</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Five out of five stars ***** </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi there guys :0)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the past few days I have been stuck inside the world of this book. This world that <i>is</i> our world, or what our world would be in the event of an alien invasion! It is so real and so atmospheric, that there were moments when I wanted to make like Joey from friends, lock this book in the freezer and run away! 0.O</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's what <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16101128-the-5th-wave" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> has to say...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><strong style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #274e13;">The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.</span></strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;">Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.</span></span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">This does not do the book justice! It is about so much more than Cassie and Evan. I mean Cassie doesn't even meet Evan until much later in the book. This book is not a romance book, it's not a love story, it's a story of survival. It's a story about the human spirit and how hard it is to break. It's a story about how far you would go to save the ones you love and how to keep your humanity in the face of annihilation. This book is EPIC!!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">It starts off with Cassie, who believes that she might be the last human left on earth. Through her we find out about the alien attacks on earth and what it's been like to live through it for the last six months. This is the part that freaked me out the most!! You see, to me, aliens are about the scariest things ever!! This really played on that little part in the back of your mind that *knows* that if aliens ever did attack, we would all be screwed. Yancey builds the tension one word at a time, layer upon layer until you just can't take any more. There were a few times when I had to put this book down because it was all a bit to much for me and my sensitive nature ;) I never left it for long though, as I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">As you would expect from the author of books such as The <span style="background-color: white;">Monstrumologist,</span> this book is dark. It's gritty, graphic and hardcore. It is not for the faint of heart, (or for younger readers IMO). It doesn't sugar coat things and it never shies away from the events that unfold. In places it was truly creepy!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I loved the way that this was written too. Yancey writes like a girl! lol By that I mean that he can and does write from a teenage girls POV very well. I love Cassie. She is strong and tough and a survivor but she also has doubts. She has weaknesses that are believable. She is flawed. You love her because she is flawed, that is what makes her so human, and in this world, it's being human that counts. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">There's not a whole lot more that I can say about this without giving spoilers. All I can say is this, I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I am very much looking forward to the next one. Bring it on!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If you are a fan of the action and pace of the Chaos Walking series then you will love this.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If you liked the tension and suspense of The Bunker Diary, you will love this! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If you can read, you will love this!! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">See you next post,</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Kaylie :0)</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-21118895283136486612013-04-17T22:48:00.000+01:002013-04-17T22:48:18.192+01:00Book Club - March/April 2013Hi there guys!<br />
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I seem to be having some techie troubles at the moment. That's why this post is so late! Blogger seems to be behaving at the moment though, so fingers crossed! :D Let's see if it will let me both finish and post this...<br />
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This will be a joint post for both March and April's meets. Let's hope I don't get myself all muddled up! lol<br />
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OK, so our March book was Pantomime by Laura Lam. I think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed this book! Overall we gave it 4 out of 5 stars. We loved the characters in this story, the twists and turns the plot takes and the revelations along the way. We were in two minds about the ending though. While some of us loved the cliffhanger, others were left frustrated and wanting to know more of Micah's tale. We all agreed that we would be reading the sequel though! <br />
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Another thing that a few people mentioned was the pacing. We enjoyed the way the story seemed to unravel slowly and grow in depth throughout the chapters. Some of us felt that the end was a bit "packed in". We felt it could have done with maybe fifty odd more pages, just to give the reader a bit of time to digest the rapid flurry of events that leads up to the end of this book. Those were really our only criticisms though.<br />
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This book gave us so much to talk about! I don't think we had time to cover it all. We spoke a lot about the Penglass and what we thought it might be, and the Vestige. We are hoping to see and learn a lot more about these things in the next book!<br />
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If you would like to know more about this book and what others though about it, check it out on Goodreads <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797050-pantomime" target="_blank">here</a>. You can also visit the Strange Chemistry site, <a href="http://strangechemistrybooks.com/" target="_blank">here</a>, to find other brilliant Sci-Fi/Fantasy YA books.<br />
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OK, so moving on to April...<br />
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I would like to start off by saying a huge thank you to Hannah at Walker Books, who sent 6 copies to us so that we could read and review this so close to the release date! We are all very grateful and are sending her squishy cyber hugs :D<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4cyBmSw-s1o/UW8TxhjJ5SI/AAAAAAAAANw/SGEOA0JMbKw/s1600/Hidden+Among+Us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4cyBmSw-s1o/UW8TxhjJ5SI/AAAAAAAAANw/SGEOA0JMbKw/s320/Hidden+Among+Us.jpg" width="208" /></a>Our April book was Hidden Among Us by Katy Moran.<br />
We gave this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. We enjoyed it and most of us would read the next one, but it was missing that special something that would have made this a great book. We found that we didn't connect to the characters as much as we would have liked.<br />
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There were plenty of things that we did like though. We liked the concept of the fairy/angel combination. It was well done and made this book different from many others that we had read. We also liked that this book wasn't entirely what it seemed to be either. I don't want give away any spoilers, but you really shouldn't judge this book by it's cover!<br />
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We liked Katy's writing style too. We found her very descriptive and her writing has a lot of potential.<br />
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Sorry that I've had to keep these quite brief, I'm surprised Blogger hasn't kicked me off yet! lol While I'm here I want to tell you about our plans for June. Seeing as it's our one year anniversary, I thought it would be cool to something a bit different. So we have decided that instead of picking one book, as we usually do, we have picked a series. The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness to be precise ;0) You don't have to read all three books if you don't want to, you can just read the first, but I figured seeing as most of us have read the first on and loved it, what better saga to pick, right? So that's what we are doing for June.<br />
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We also decided at Aprils meet that Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks will be our read May read. Most of you bought a copy lat week, but for those of you who haven't I'm pretty sure there are still a few left. I loved this book and I'm looking forward to talking to you guys about it next month. It's one of those books that forces you to have an opinion about it!<br />
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OK, well I think that's everything. Seriously guys, if this posts without a problem I will show you all my happy dance!<br />
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See you next post,<br />
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Kaylie :0)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-9518946952764240422013-03-07T09:18:00.000+00:002013-03-07T09:18:08.653+00:00Tide Blog Tour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Have I got a treat for you today! It's my turn to host a spot on the Tide blog tour, and for this Daniela Sacerdoti has sent me a character profile for Winter Shaw. I have to say that I've not had a chance to read this book yet, but I am chomping at the bit to get started! Winter sounds like my kind of character and I cant wait to meet her in the pages of Tide. So here you go. Enjoy...</span><br />
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<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #134f5c;">Character Profile of
Winter Shaw</span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></u></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Winter was seventeen. It was
the perfect sunny day, and she was on the beach with the seals, sitting among
them. They were lying in the sunshine, basking in the light and the fresh wind.
Winter was happy and relaxed, and for the first time in her life – the first
and last time – she took to her seal form without first making sure that she
could not be seen. It was a mistake.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Winter Shaw came to me
as she is – fully-fledged with her own looks, personality and name. She arrived
sudden and unplanned, and stole the show! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Half-human,
half-Elemental, she’s a creature of the sea and can change into a seal at will.
She is, in a way, my own interpretation of the Selkie, the mythical half-woman,
half-seal creature of Irish and Scottish folklore. To me, the myth of the
Selkie – a woman who must periodically leave her family and return to the sea
or she’ll wither and die – represents the physical and emotional need for
freedom and creativity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The
character of Winter symbolizes a woman free of convention and in touch with her
deepest soul. She’s generous, brave and naturally sunny in nature despite
having been through a lot because of the Midnights’ hostility towards her. Her
silver-haired beauty is mesmerizing, and she instantly captures the heart of the
ever-flirtatious Niall Flynn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite
Winter’s breezy and easy-going disposition, she harbours many harrowing secrets.
Her strong memories about the Midnights – particularly Morag, James and Stewart
Midnight – reveal much about the more sinister side of Sarah’s family, raising
questions and answering some of the long-forgotten dark mysteries of the
Midnight clan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All
in all, she may have arrived unexpectedly in my story, but Winter has become a
very important part of <i>Tide</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 150%;">Tide is the second book in the series, it follows on from Dreams and is </span><span style="line-height: 24px;">available</span><span style="line-height: 150%;"> now, in stores and online. You can find more information and the author, <a href="http://danielasacerdoti.com/en/" target="_blank">Daniela Sacerdoti here</a>. If you missed the other stops on the tour then follow the links below to get some other character profiles and other guest posts from Dani. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;"><a href="http://freshfantasyfiction.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/blog-tour-stop-tide-daniela-sacerdoti.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Fresh Fantasy Fiction</b></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.sisterspooky.co.uk/2013/02/blog-tour-character-profile-from-tide.html?spref=tw" target="_blank">Sister Spooky</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #93c47d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://themidnightreaders.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/the-tide-blog-tour.html?spref=tw" target="_blank">The Midnight Readers</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.yacontemporary.com/2013/02/friday-feature-daniela-sacerdoti-on.html?spref=tw" target="_blank">YAContemporary</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.serendipityreviews.co.uk/2013/02/tide-blog-tour-with-daniela-sacerdoti.html" target="_blank">Serendipity Reviews</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.readaraptor.co.uk/2013/02/tide-by-daniela-sacerdoti-blog-tour.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">Readaraptor</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://mrripleysenchantedbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/daniela-sacerdoti-tide-sarah-midnight.html" target="_blank">Enchanted Books</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36pt;">I'd like to say a huge thank to both Dani and Janne for letting me be a part of this tour, you guys are awesome!! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36pt;">If you have any questions, or want to leave a comment, you know </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36pt;">what to do ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-67614610678720830652013-02-27T10:12:00.000+00:002013-02-27T10:14:18.513+00:00Review - The Bunker Diary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/kevin+brooks/the+bunker+diary/9424068/" target="_blank">The Bunker Diary</a> by Kevin Brooks</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>ISBN - 9780141326122</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Published by Penguin</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Released 7th March 2013</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Five out of five stars *****</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I finished this book last night, and omg! It's going to be tricky to talk about without giving spoilers, but I'll do my best. First off, here's the blurby bit...</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Room meets Lord of the Flies, The Bunker Diary is award-winning, young adult writer Kevin Brooks's pulse-pounding exploration of what happens when your worst nightmare comes true - and how will you survive?</span></i><br />
<a name='more'></a><i><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I can't believe I fell for it.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">It was still dark when I woke up this morning.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">There are six little rooms along the main corridor.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">What's he going to do to me?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">What am I going to do?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">If I'm right, the lift will come down in five minutes.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">It did. Only this time it wasn't empty . . </span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I haven't read any of Brooks' other book before, but a fellow Book Seller recommended this to me while we were looking for possible Book Club books. I think that this would make an excellent choice for the Book Club! It would give us a lot to talk about. There are many ideas explored in this book that would make for great conversation and debate. Saying that though, I would be reluctant to recommend it to the younger end of the YA market; as there is a fair amount of swearing in it, and the concept itself can at times be a little unsettling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is a fast paced book, with the information coming at you in small chunks. There are some twists and turns along the way that will make your jaw drop! And the ending!! Oh my the ending! *sobs* </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I loved the style of the writing. It, as the name suggests, is written in diary form. We learn about what's happening in the bunker through Linus's stream of consciousness style diary entries. It is very one sided, but I loved that about it. We come to know Linus, and the other characters through his eyes and observations. We learn of his past and how he came to be in the bunker. It is an emotional book, and it had me sobbing and laughing both. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is not a new concept for a story, but I loved the way it was told and how connected to I felt. I could imagine everything clearly as if I were watching it as a movie. It would make a brilliant movie actually! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ahhhh! There is so much that I want to tell you about this book, but I don't want to spoil it for you, so I won't! :p What I can say though is that if there is one book you have to read read this year, it's this one! It's not out until 7th March, but please, please get your self a copy ASAP! You won't regret it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-23773843149865454982013-02-27T09:31:00.000+00:002013-02-27T09:31:26.314+00:00Reading Group Book for March 2013<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi there :)</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QNhYa_QAWGU/US3RBRGIaqI/AAAAAAAAAL0/wfeXSihTIJc/s1600/Pantomime-144dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QNhYa_QAWGU/US3RBRGIaqI/AAAAAAAAAL0/wfeXSihTIJc/s320/Pantomime-144dpi.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The next meeting is 14th March and we will be reading <a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/laura+lam/pantomime/9400706/" target="_blank">Pantomime</a> by Laura Lam. I LOVED This book!!! Hopefully you guys will too. There is definitely loads to talk about within its pages. Here's what <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797050-pantomime" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> has to say about it...</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.</span></span></i><br />
<a name='more'></a><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">So as I said the meet is 14th March at 7pm in the Costa Coffee behind the Bluewater Waterstones store. Come along and say hi! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">See you next post,</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">Kaylie :0)</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-11094563783104446112013-02-15T11:11:00.000+00:002013-02-15T11:12:42.334+00:00Book Club - Feb 2013<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi there!</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VLm_z-bgD4Y/UR4U5md6CxI/AAAAAAAAALg/jvrYawd5pT4/s1600/Dogs+of+Winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VLm_z-bgD4Y/UR4U5md6CxI/AAAAAAAAALg/jvrYawd5pT4/s400/Dogs+of+Winter.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A huge thank you to the members who showed up last night, despite the fact it was Valentines Day! We had a good time chatting about all sorts of book related things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our book this month was Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron. We gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Overall we loved it! It was so different from many of the books most of us had read before. Each of us connected with it it a different way. The mums in the group found Mishka's story heart wrenching. The animal lovers found the pack fascinating. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We all loved that it was a fictional story based on true events. We found ourselves thinking about what we would have done in a similar situation, or how our kids would have coped (not very well we have so say, they can barely get dressed without help!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The only thing that we found a little disappointing abut the book, was its ending. We wanted MORE! We felt it could have done with another 50\100 paged to really finish it off. It felt very sudden. We had all become attached to the characters in the story, and though we were happy to see Mishka well and looked after, we would have liked to find out a bit more about his new life. Saying that, we still gave it 4 stars, so we didn't mind too much! lol</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now in other bookclub news,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We have been lucky enough to have been given 6 copies of Hidden Among Us by Katy Moran by Walker Books. It will be our April book. 5 of the copies were handed out last night and they will be read and given back in the March meeting. The members who have not read the book will then get the chance to take a copy home to read in time for Aprils meeting. There are quite a few of us, so I would say that if you can, when you finish the book, if you could pop into the store and drop it off then I can pass it on to the next person. This means that everyone should get a chance to read it before Aprils meet. Also, Waterstones people, I have a copy already that Sam is reading first. She will pass it on to one of you when she is done with it. :D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That also means that Our March book is Pantomime by Laura Lam. I LOVE this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait for all of you to read it, and to finally be able to talk to people about what happens in it!! :D The next meet is on 14th March at 7pm. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you would like to know more about the Waterstones Bluewater Young Adult Reading Group then either leave a comment below, tweet us @yabluewater or drop me an email yabluewater@gmail.com and I will get back to you ASAP.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-18989003168687544952013-01-11T10:26:00.003+00:002013-01-11T10:26:52.561+00:00Bookclub January 2013<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hi there, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLx6vy17MPs/T_v_35op5tI/AAAAAAAAAC8/MN_B8FlVGyU/s1600/shift-kim+curran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLx6vy17MPs/T_v_35op5tI/AAAAAAAAAC8/MN_B8FlVGyU/s320/shift-kim+curran.jpg" width="296" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'd like to start off, as per usual, by saying thank you to all of those who came last night, and a huge thank you to <a href="http://www.kimcurran.co.uk/">Kim Curran</a> too! :D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last night we had our first meet of 2013, and what a good one it was! There was loads of chatting, laughing and tweeting! Yes, that's right, Tweeting! Our book this month was Shift by the awesome Kim Curran. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We were joined by Kim via twitter, for a Q&A session throughout our meeting. Here's what we asked her...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Hello! We are all sitting here and ready! </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Hey! So sorry I can't be with you in person. I just got in from work! But I'm excited to hear your questions. So shoot! </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">askkim</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> What's your day job?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> I'm a copywriter. Which means I write adverts, websites etc. I've done it for 15 years now! </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="font-weight: normal;"><strong>askkim</strong></b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> How did you think of the idea for Shift?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> It's one of those 'writer' stories you hear where the idea just landed in my head. I was on a bus on my way home...</span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> ...thinking about all the decisions people make in their lives. And at the same time I was thinking about a book... </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> on quantum physics I'd just read. And BAM! It arrived What if people could change their decisions in that quantum way?</span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Would you change anything from your own life?</span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> I have a few what I think of as 'Sliding door' moments. But when you start to pick at your choices, you realise your ...</span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><strong>askkim</strong></b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> life starts to unravel. Like, I wouldn't have married my OH if I'd gone to a different uni. So no. I'm happy as I am </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> although I did work at one company for about 3 years too long. So maybe that. </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">askkim</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> what can you tell us about the sequel?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> It's called Control. It follows Scott as he tries to work out who is behind the deaths of children of powerful people </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> I play around with the idea of shifting more. And introduce some interesting new shifters who have different powers.</span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> and I'm most excited about the ending. Which is, I think, a real kicker! </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Is there anything you guys would like to see in the sequel? </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #68c6f2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #a4dcf7; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> we really enjoyed the gory aspects, so more of that would be awesome!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #68c6f2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #a4dcf7; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Noted! Me too. :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">askkim</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> is there any book that you would recommend to us for one of our monthly books?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Ooo, you've read </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/tanyabyrne" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">tanyabyrne</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">'s Heart-Shaped Bruise, right? Maybe </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/LR_Lam" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">LR_Lam</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">'s Pantomime – out soon! Or</span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/tomhpollock" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">tomhpollock</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">'s City's Son</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Missed </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">askkim</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> off that last one. Sorry. Ran out of space!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Thank you </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KimeCurran" style="color: #68c6f2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #a4dcf7; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">KimeCurran</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> for the Q&A with us. We are being kicked out of costa now!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Thank you! Hope you had a good night and had plenty of cake!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Thanks to the wonderful </span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/yabluewater" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; text-decoration: initial;">@</s><b style="font-weight: normal;">yabluewater</b></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> and gang for having me (virtually at least) for their Q&A. I'm off to have dinner. </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23askkim&src=hash" style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;"><s style="color: #66b5d2; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">#</s><b style="color: #0084b4; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;">askkim</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There were a lot of conversations happening among us all about this brilliant book, so I didn't manage to catch all of what was said. We gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. So it's safe to say that we liked it! We loved the premise of the book, and went on to discuss the possibilities of Shifting and all the small things we would change. Although the idea of waking up to a completely different world is scary!! So maybe we wouldn't change anything! lol. I'm not going to do a full run down of what was said, because I would only be giving you guys half of it! lol It's hard to do that many things at once! What with all the convo's, and the tweeting, it was taxing on my poor brain ;) You can find a full review of <a href="http://yabluewater.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/review-shift-by-kim-curran.html">Shift here though</a>. From the sounds of it last night we were all pretty much in agreement, so it should cover most of what was said :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We have been reading a lot of Dystopian books lately, which is fine in itself, but I want to mix it up abit now and get us reading lots of different genres through this year. So we will be reading all kinds of books this year. I personally don't read horror books, not for any particular reason, it's just worked out that way. I figured that would be a good place to start this year. So our February book is from that genre. Its called The Dogs of Winter, by Bobbie Pyron. It has only been out for a couple of days, and looks to be quite intriguing. I will do a separate post about that as soon as the books have come in. We only had one in stock last night, so I have put in an order for some more. So make sure you keep an eye out, so you know when they have arrived. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We also had an email from a lovely lady at Walker books, asking if would like to read Hidden Among Us for one of our monthly books. We decided last night that yes, we would! So that is our March book (14th March) She will be sending us 5/6 copies of the book, so It ill be a names in the hat jobbie to see who will get one. That seems the fairest way to go about it. I already have a copy of the proof so my name won't be going in. So if you wont be able to make it to the Feb meet, but still want your name in the hat, leave a comment or tweet/email me and i'll make sure to add you :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well I think that about covers it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0) </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-67689531094844915492012-12-10T11:38:00.000+00:002012-12-10T11:38:30.708+00:00Best of 2012 - Abby<br />
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here comes our third take-over post, from our member Abby. Carry on reading to see what her best book of 2012 is...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Wither</span><span style="color: #a64d79;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b><span class="by smallText" style="background-color: white; line-height: 14px;">by</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span itemprop="name" style="line-height: 19px;">Lauren DeStefano</span> </span></b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This book is set in a future where girls only live to age 20
and boys to age 25. This is a result of scientists creating the perfect human
race free of all disease and illness, but they are now trying to correct the
short life span. The cities are overrun with orphans and girls keep going
missing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">16 year old Rhine Ellery is abducted by the Gatherers and
sold into becoming a bride to Linden to replace his dying wife, along with two
other young girls who become her sister brides.
The book follows Rhine and her desperate attempts to escape that life
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I love Rhine’s character because unlike some other YA
heroines she doesn't immediately fall desperately in love with the main male
character and it makes it more realistic. I think her character is well
developed and her relationship with her sister brides is built slowly and based
on their experiences together rather than just blind friendship because the
main character needs someone to communicate with. I like the way she is
objective and doesn't hate Linden just because he is the one she is forced to
be married to. She comes to her own conclusion about him and is really
sympathetic towards him because she can see things from his perspective too.
She understands everyone’s suffering around her, not just her own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Her relationship with Gabriel is built up over time and they
don’t immediately jump into anything and his character is not an overshadowing
hero to her heroine, which makes it more realistic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I think the world in the book is created in such a way that
it seems so real and you believe that it could really happen. She could have
gone down a completely different route with the idea of kidnapping young girls
to marry them off to have children and I think she has made it into an amazing
story of a strong young woman who has her own mind rather than focusing on that
factor. I also liked the small flashbacks in it which explain her life before
the abduction and life before the genetic engineering changed the world, which
helps to understand why Rhine is the way she is and why she makes the decisions
she does.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys
YA books, especially those who enjoy dystopian novels. I think it’s different
to any book I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are well
developed and I found myself really caring about what happened to the other
characters not just Rhine. Also the world around them is described well and you
have a complete picture of what is going on and why it all happened.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thanks Abby! :D What did you guys think? Have you read Wither? Let us know with a comment below. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-26212994792240153062012-12-06T09:45:00.000+00:002012-12-06T19:25:06.150+00:00Best of 2012 - Rosie<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is the second takeover post. This one comes from our member Rosie, enjoy...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> ‘Kyla’s memory has been erased, her
personality wiped blank, her memories lost for ever.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">She’s been Slated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The government claims she
was a terrorist, and that they are giving her a second chance- as long as she
plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla’s mind. Someone is
lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for
the truth?’</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>By Terri Terry</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Captivating, compelling and original. If I had to
choose three words to sum up Slated, it would be those three. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This book is seriously addictive, and the majority
of my spare time was consumed by it until it was finished. Even then, my mind
was left reeling for about a week, swamped with questions about what would
happen next, would everything be all right in the end, and, most importantly,
why couldn’t the sequel be released a bit sooner? (I’m still waiting-summer
2013 better hurry up!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kyla’s perspective of her world was unique and
insightful, and I found the concept of being Slated really intriguing. Each Slated has a Levo, which is a device that
looks a bit like a watch or bracelet and is fixed to their wrist. It monitors
their levels; if they are happy their levels rise, and when they are sad,
scared or angry, their levels drop. If their levels plunge too badly, Slateds
can black out or even die. Any attempt to move or remove a Levo causes
excruciating pain or death. The idea of Levos sent chills up my spine. I can’t
imagine anything like it, and any attempt to on my behalf makes me shudder.
Because of their Levos, Slateds are marked out and are treated like second
class citizens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having a Levo means being condemned to a life of
suspicion and isolation. Nobody really wants to go near Slateds because they
all, supposedly, have committed crimes, done bad things or have been
terrorists, like Kyla was said to be. This and their Levos meant that I did
really feel quite sorry for any poor fictional character who’d been Slated,
even though they could have previously been psychopaths or mass murderers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The world Kyla lives in is certainly fascinating,
and it felt a bit like a utopian society until Kyla and her friend Ben started acting
on their suspicions and digging around a bit. I can’t really say too much about
the plot because it might spoil it a bit, but I thought it was utterly
fantastic, and the twists and turns it took were, I thought, quite surprising
at times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I only have one teeny weeny criticism for Slated.
The dialogue at times felt a bit unrealistic and stunted the flow of the book a
bit because of its formality. However, this could just be me and my preferences
and the fact that most people speak very informally these days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Overall, I’m going to give Slated 5/5 stars, because
I do truly love this book to pieces. It’s one of those books that you want to
share with other people so badly, because you want to sing its praises and
lament over characters and just generally fangirl/boy about, but at the same
time want to keep locked up, like a secret that only you know. I just hope that
Fractured lives up to its predecessor…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rosie
Caveney </span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thanks Rosie!! This book is flying off the shelves of our Bluewater store, so pop in to get a copy yourself! lol If you have read the book, or have any questions for Rosie, leave a comment below :0)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post!!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :D</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-54046717331066064652012-12-03T20:53:00.000+00:002012-12-03T20:54:52.140+00:00Best of 2012 - Aimee<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So for the month of December we have something special here on the blog. We will be featuring post from our members all about their best reads of 2012. They will each be writing a mini-post about the best YA book they have read this year. These books don't have to have been released this year, just read and enjoyed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first one is by Aimee, who is 14, Here is what she has to say about her pick, <i>Beautiful Creatures</i>...</span><br />
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<b><u><span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beautiful Creatures<u></u><u></u></span></span></u></b></div>
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<u><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl.<u></u><u></u></span></span></u></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was probably the first book I read this year that I really really liked. It was set in the town of Gatlin County, in South Carolina (A fictional place, I assume. I’m not the best at Geography.) Ethan Wate is in high school when Lena Duchannes moves in… or back. She’s very unusual compared to the orange, skinny, high-heeled and blonde girls that usually own the school. She creates quite a spark among the town, as she is the niece of ‘old man Ravenwood’, basically the town weirdo. When Ethan begins to talk to Lena, he feels that he has already met Lena before. Ethan finds out Lena is a Caster, someone with magic. On her 16<sup>th</sup> birthday, she has to choose between the light and dark sides. <s>Come to the dark side!</s>(No, don’t do that.)<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I would say this is my favourite book of the year, because it is not your average love-triangle, high school teenage novel. It is written from the point of view of Ethan, which I like, because it is still very focused on Lena, but from his point of view. I loved the way they portrayed Lena as well, the description of her at the start really give a good idea of how she looks, and how it changes with her. A part of the beginning is the song ‘Sixteen Moons’ that is found later in the plot. In the next book (this may possibly count as spoilers, maybe?) they use the idea again, with the song ‘Seventeen Moons’. It’s only a small verse, a rhyme thingy, but I always try to imagine how it would sound, which is half the fun!<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I thought that the pace was very good, there wasn’t too much crammed into a chapter, so it didn’t really get boring. I loved the magic element, and it wasn’t to stereotypical magic and witches idea, it was really interesting how it developed. It was really well set up for the rest of the series and still cleared some things up so it didn’t just feel like and introduction. This series started in I think 2009, but I only read this one earlier in the year. I’m slowly getting into the rest of the series but I haven’t finished those yet.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Someone said to me once (actually, I think it was my mum) that you only bring a character in so that they can die, or if they’re important to the plot. To me, this is really accurate to the book as all the characters Garcia and Stohl have added all play parts that help to make it a great book. Some of them don’t really seem important, but then you get towards the end and BAM! they’re major parts again.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So, basically, I really love this book, and what I have read of the other books, and that if you like magic, the kind of romance-y bits but without the Twilight ‘era’ of romance/stalkerish stuff, then give it a go. It’s not really dystopian though, but if I was you, I’d read it anyways.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Thank you Aimee!! :0) </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What did you guys think of Beautiful Creatures? Leave a comment below to let us know. :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure you keep an eye on the blog over the course of December, as we will have lots more from our members.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-86800985626310268282012-11-12T12:16:00.000+00:002012-11-12T12:17:00.900+00:00Review - Pantomime by Laura Lam<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiYJycEiiw4/UKDccfpWYmI/AAAAAAAAAKE/qTC6npCpGgE/s1600/Pantomime-144dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uiYJycEiiw4/UKDccfpWYmI/AAAAAAAAAKE/qTC6npCpGgE/s320/Pantomime-144dpi.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/laura+lam/pantomime/9400706/">Pantomime</a> by Laura Lam</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>ISBN - 9781908844361 </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Published by <a href="http://strangechemistrybooks.com/books/pantomime-by-laura-lam/">Strange Chemistry</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Released 7th Feb 2013</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Five out of Five stars *****</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Well, where do I start?! I had no idea what to expect from this book. I listened to Laura read the first chapter at the Strange Chemistry launch. I was mesmerised and I knew this was a world I wanted to know more about! </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> I had received the first few pages in my goody bag from the launch, but</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> decided not to read them, as it would be a while before I could get hold of the whole book. That was back in August.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> I joined NetGally, last week, solely for this book. I was a bit worried before I started that I had hyped it up a bit to much in my mind, but I can honestly say, that is not the case. I LOVED this book!!! I say that a lot, lol, but I genuinely did :D I devoured every word, if I could have stayed at home to read it one sitting, I would have. Alas, I had to content my self with bus journeys and lunch breaks. It stayed with me during my day too. I found myself thinking of the characters throughout the day. What was going to happen to them? What choices would they make? Where were they going to end up? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's not often I get pulled into a world as completely as I did with the world of Ellada. The culture and people are reminiscent of the Victorian era, but with a fantasy twist. The Circus and all of it's inhabitants are a joy to read about, even in their darker moments. This book is a real character study of human behaviour and society in general. It's very insightful, without being in your face. I cannot wait for the second instalment! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here is what <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15797050-pantomime">Goodreads</a> has to say about Pantomime....</span></div>
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<span id="freeText8038928288050982204"><i><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.<br /><br />Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.<br /><br />But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada."</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The characters in this book are so real and well developed, that your heart goes out to them. I was more than happy to follow them through the pages, to learn about them and from them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I know I'm being a bit vague, but trust me, when you're reading this book you will thank me for it. There are some pretty significant events and revelations that I am bursting to talk about, but I won't. You will just have to wait, and find out for yourself what I'm talking about! lol ;) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'll leave you with some words from Bryony Pearce, that I feel sum up my thoughts on this book;</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 22px;">"Micah is the most wonderful, complex, brave and contemporary teenage hero I've read, facing issues of identity and responsibility that will resound with any reader who has felt like an outsider. Pantomime is loving in it’s detail but hints at so much scope to come, it feels like the set up for an epic sequel. I raced through this book, desperate to know what happens next. ‘Look out behind you’ Robin Hobb…”</span></i></span></div>
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<em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- <a href="http://www.bryonypearce.co.uk/" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: rgb(27, 50, 195); margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline;">Bryony Pearce</a>, author of Angel’s Fury"</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">See you next post.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kaylie :0)</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2909116926647079156.post-4748818852533236132012-11-09T10:37:00.002+00:002012-11-09T10:37:41.089+00:00Bookclub November 2012<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hi there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">At this months meet we managed to get quite a lot sorted out. I'll give a recap of the plans we made towards the end of this post, so that the people who couldn't make it this month know what going on. Now on to the review....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">This months book was Blood Red Road by Moira Young. Overall we gave it 4 stars. Most of us liked it, a couple just couldn't get on with it, more on that in a moment though...</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m08OAiOp6BI/UJzS2xLkfrI/AAAAAAAAAJw/OTNaoDM_0Y0/s1600/blood-red-road-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m08OAiOp6BI/UJzS2xLkfrI/AAAAAAAAAJw/OTNaoDM_0Y0/s320/blood-red-road-.jpg" width="209" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Overall we loved this book. We found it compelling and surprising, It takes you on a journey that you're not expecting. It's a very different kind of book, mainly due to the way that it's written. It had no speech marks, and it is written phonetically. That's where a couple of us had trouble. It was a struggle to read, because you had to assess everything as you read it, to see if it was what she was thinking and feeling or if it was actually the characters speaking. For those of us that struggled with it, it stopped us from even finishing the book. Which is a shame because this book has a kick-ass story line!! The rest of us took a while to settle into the book too, but once we had, we were in for the ride and really enjoyed it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">We liked Saba and Nero. In fact we REALLY liked Nero, I for one would now like a Crow! lol We found Saba to be tough and strong, and annoyingly stubborn! We didn't quite understand why she was always so reluctant to accept help when it was offered to her. We connected well with Saba though. I think that was as a result of they style of the writing. It was like having someone sit there in front of you, and tell you the story. It intensified the connection with Saba, and swept you away with her through the book. This did have a downside though. We felt that it created a distance/barrier between ourselves as the reader, and the other characters. Which is a shame as there are some pretty cool secondary characters in this book. Jack being one of them. Em, Saba's sister being another one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">We liked the way the relationship between Saba and Em changed throughout the book though. We felt very sorry for Em at the start, because Saba is just so <em>mean</em> to her! Most of us have younger siblings so we know how irritating they can be, but still, she was quite dismissive of Em. I think we felt quite protective of her, and I kind of just wanted to give her a hug! lol Things change during the course of the book though. By the end, Saba is just as protective towards Em as we were at the start. She grew to love her sister, and Em learnt to trust Saba. Ultimately it was story of trust, and we are looking forward to reading the next one :0)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">It wasn't all book chat last night though, we had a few plans to make for the coming Christmas season. Next month we are not having our regular meet, instead we are all going out to dinner! We will be meeting at the regular time and place, then moving on to Nando's for some nosh, chat and gifts! Yep, gifts :D We ran into a few logistical problems with the Secret Santa, so we decided that if we each pick a more general gift (no more than £5) then we will all exchange them at the dinner, a 'everyone-pass-your-gift-to-the-person-on-your-left' kind of thing. It should be fun and I'm looking forward to it. I do need to get a better idea of numbers though, so I can give the restaurant a heads up beforehand to expect a large party. So, if you weren't at the meet last night and want to come, then contact me on twitter (@yabluewater) or drop me a quick email (<a href="mailto:yabluewater@gmail.com">yabluewater@gmail.com</a>). Also guys, I have only been given one post so far for the December members take-over. *tuts* lol So if you can have them all emailed to me before the start of December that would be ace :D If you have any Q's then feel free to email me also.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">OK well that's just about it for this month. I will be doing a separate post next month about January's book and more details on our plans for that, so keep your peepers open!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">See you next post,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Kaylie :0)</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12610470428804000490noreply@blogger.com0