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where our team of writers love to talk all things books, sharing reviews, features, lists, interviews and more.

Getting lost in a book is escapism at it's finest and it's what everyone who contributes here thrives on.

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Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Under The Never Sky | Veronica Rossi | Review


“And in life, at least her new life, chances were the best she could hope for. They were like her rocks. Imperfect and surprising and maybe better in the long run than certainties. Chances, she thought, WERE life.” - Veronia Rossi, Under The Never Sky

Somewhere, sometime in a dystopian or post-apocalyptic world Aria lives in a safe and protected life inside a dome. She's happy and content with her life inside the dome until one day when her mother goes missing. While searching for her mother But in this dangerous place she gets help from a outsider called Perry,who's also searching for someone he has lost.

Under the Never Sky kind of sounded like a lot of young adult dystopian stories to me. But the fact that the Internet is filled with reviews raving about this book made me interested enough to pick it up! And to be totally honest with you, Under the Never Sky is a lot like many other young adult dystopian novels. There's an emotionally withdrawn but pretty girl, a mysterious but romantic guy and then there's always some mean people that are out to get them! But there's also something different about this book. 

First of all I actually felt like the love story was somewhat believable (I'm not going to go as far as saying that it's totally believable, but it's believable enough). I'm usually not the one that picks up a dystopian novel for the love story, I only go there for the action and excitement But I did enjoy reading about the development of the relationship between Aria and Perry. For once it's a relationship that forms over time instead of some dystopian kids falling head over heels for each other in three days. I also felt that the world building and story-line was somewhat unique and original (I'm using the word somewhat again because I wouldn't say it's totally unique but you get the point!)

So , I thought the story-line was a bit different and I kind of enjoyed the love story. What else? I guess you've guessed that I mostly enjoyed Under the Never Sky. I thought it was a fun and well-written dystopian YA novel and I liked the character development. But the problem for me was that it took me ages to get through this book! I'm not quite sure why! Help me! I seriously don't know why!? My first thought was to give this book 3 stars because it was a good book but it took me millions of years to read!. But then I thought about it again and thought that there was really no obvious reason for me not to really like it. And to be honest, I did! I think there was something missing to make it perfect but it was overall good enough to deserve 4 stars/5 stars. Under the Never Sky is definitively a good dystopian/post-apocalyptic read!

This post was written by regular reviewer Niina, get to know her here.
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A Heat of the Moment Thing | Maggie Le Page | Review

Monday, 6 May 2013

A Heat of the Moment Thing | Maggie Le Page | Review


Becky Jordon is giving up on men, she’s had enough of bad relationships and has decided to stop choosing Mr Wrong and concentrate on her career. Luckily it’s currently on the up as she has landed her dream job, she is determined to make this her soul focus – that is until she can’t stop thinking about her gorgeous, steamy and determined boss. Oh dear….

Becky Jordon is an instantly like-able character, who manages to get herself into some of the strangest (and rather amusing) situations. She is the first reason I got carried away reading this book, she’s young, energetic and strong (unless her sizzling-hot boss is around). I had an instant liking for her and was one hundred percent behind her new ‘no men’ lifestyle change (that was until I decided she HAD to get with her boss or I might through the book across the book).

The story line follows the traditional chick lit plot; fall for a guy, things go up the shoot, you desperately hope they get back together again and then… I won’t give it away!. This is second reason why I couldn't put this book down. The plot is pacey, a little unpredictable and leaves you desperate to find out what is going to happen next. If I could however find one fault with this book, for me, it was that the end seemed a little rushed. We merrily going along with the story like then suddenly wam bam it’s ended and over. I felt like I'd only just finished the middle and suddenly there were not more pages left.

That one little fault however did not stop me from reading this book in 2 days (Yes 2 days!), 2 extremely late nights mid-week and 2 very hazy days at work. I was completely hooked and completely swept away with the how story. Maggie Le Page has certainly set the bar high for her first book. 5/5 stars

The book is available for Kindle here or here

* Copy received for review c/o Maggie Le Page: Although I received a copy of this book free of charge this has not influenced my opinion and my review, as always, is 100% honest

This post was written by regular reviewer Laura, get to know her here.
Image from Goodreads
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Sunday, 5 May 2013

Features | Quicksilver Book Launch | Oxford, England









Yesterday I posted a review of RJ Anderson's book, Quicksilver. I also mentioned that I went to the book launch for it, and that I was going to tell you all about! So here we go!

Have you ever been to a book launch? I hadn’t. I didn’t really know what to expect other than books…and the author being there. But it was really nice! It was on Tuesday 23rd, in Oxford, England (which is only about an hour or so from where I live), and that was perfect because my mum was making the trip there that evening anyway. I was a few minutes late, after missing one of the buses where Mum dropped me off, but not by too much. When I snuck in the book store (Waterstones), I grabbed a seat at the back of a group of about 10-15 people and hoped I hadn't missed out on too much. I hadn't. Anderson was just talking a little about Ultraviolet, reminding us, I guess, what had happened in that book.

She then introduced Quicksilver, giving a brief description of what it was about, and then read a short excerpt from one of the first couple of chapters. It was really cool to hear her read from her own story, no mistakes or slip ups (as would have happened if I were reading anything aloud), and it was nice to actually be read to. I know that sounds silly, and like I should be a 2 year old being read Where’s Spot? or something, but there’s just something nice about not having to think, and only listen. I guess you get that with audio books, though I've never listened to them. After she read for a little while, she answered some questions from the audience. It was really cool to hear how she went about writing her stories. 

One of the questions asked was something along the lines of ‘Do you have the entire plot thought out, or do you just go with the flow and see what happens?’. To this she answered (something along the lines of) that before she started writing Quicksilver, she had the title in her head already. She had no idea what Quicksilver meant, nor what it was or what it was going to be, but she knew that that was the title. She also said that she knew that she wanted to tell the story from Tori’s perspective (the main character of Quicksilver), rather than stay with Alison (the main character in Ultraviolet, the book previous), because she felt that Alison’s story had already been told. When I went to the book launch, I didn't actually realize that Quicksilver wasn't really about Alison, so when I heard this I was a little taken a back. I guess I hadn't thought that it wouldn't be from Alison’s perspective, but, as I mentioned in the review yesterday, after a page or two into Quicksilver, I realised that I didn't mind that it wasn't a continuation of Alison’s part of the story – it was time to hear from someone else.

I'm pretty sure she also said (though don’t quote me on this! R.J., if you’re reading this, please confirm!) that while writing Quicksilver she didn't have the whole plot outlined, that she had some idea of where things were headed, but more went with the flow of things. Being someone who likes to write, and have had tried to write novel-length stories (I'm getting there), it was really interesting to hear a little bit about how a real live published author went about writing a book, and their thoughts, ideas and processes that went with it. Very cool. There were a few more questions asked, but to be honest I can’t remember them. That was the one that stuck out to me the most.

After answering questions, she thanked us all for coming, and then signed books. I introduced myself, we had a quick ‘it’s a pleasure to meet you’ and then I had to rush off to make sure I didn’t miss the bus again and then miss my Mum and get stranded in Oxford. But if you have the chance to go to a book launch, I highly recommend it. It was a great opportunity, not only to get a sign copy of the book (yay!), but also to put a real live face behind the words I had been reading and the story that I loved. Go to a book launch. You won’t regret it. 

Own image.
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Saturday, 4 May 2013

Quicksilver | R.J. Anderson | Review



Two weeks ago I posted about a book called Ultraviolet, by R.J. Anderson. I also mentioned how I had a Twitter conversation with the author, and ended up going to the book launch of the sequel, Quicksilver. So! With that in mind, today’s post is a review of Quicksilver, and then tomorrow I'll be letting you know how the book launch went. Sound okay? 

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If you remember back to when I wrote about Ultraviolet, I raved about how awesome it was. It really was amazing. Quicksilver was just as good! I absolutely loved them both. If you haven’t read the review I did of Ultraviolet, do go and have a read before you keep reading this. That will give you a little background into this one.

In Ultraviolet, the main character is Alison, a girl with synaesthesia who believes that she killed a classmate of hers called Tori Beaugrand. It turns out she didn’t…and Quicksilver is Tori’s story. The novel takes place a few months after the events of Ultraviolet. Alison is still in their home town of Sudbury, Sebastian Faraday (the leading man in Ultraviolet) is nowhere to be seen, and Tori and her parents have moved across the country and have changed their names. Now ‘Nikki’, Tori is trying to lead a normal life, devoid of aliens and freaky space hoo-haa; just a teenage girl working at a supermarket and trying to finish school. But what kind of story would this be, if that was all that happened?

Enter Milo Hwang, a guy who works with Tori. They become friends. Enter the mysterious Sebastian, back from outer space (did that song just get in your head!? “So you’re back…from outer space…” Sorry), once again filled with secrets and lies. Unfortunately, Milo is there when Sebastian materializes out of thin air, and Tori and Sebastian have to create a story about an underground organisation called Meridian in order to avoid telling Milo the truth: they aren’t from this world. Dun dun dun. The person who was out to get Tori in the first book is still hunting her, and, along with Detective Deckard continuing to investigate why Tori went missing back in Ultraviolet and a medical unit looking into her abnormal genes, this is a great read. It’s full of action and road trips, friendship and betrayal, technology so advance that it blew my mind and at times I had to really slow down to understand a few things, and a good deal of ‘what could possibly happen next?’

It was interesting to read of the same characters as before, in Ultraviolet, but looking through the eyes of someone different. I really, really liked Alison's story because she was a synaesthetic - the language and the descriptions of the things that she experiences were really amazing and beautifully written. But after reading a little bit of Tori's voice and her perspective, I realised that I didn't actually mind that it wasn't full of these great sensory descriptions. It wasn't about Alison, after all  it was about Tori, and she was a completely different character. 

If you haven’t read Ultraviolet, read it. And make sure you read Quicksilver afterwards. Both are great books, and although they are labelled ‘teen’, they aren't all sappy and full of the usual teenage drama that you get in a lot of teen novels, and I think that that’s one of the reasons I love these books so much. That and they’re subtly about aliens…duh.

Image from GoodReads
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Being A Book Blogger | Interview With Laura aka The Book Habit

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Being A Book Blogger | Interview With Laura aka The Book Habit

Today we have another book blogger interview for you in our Being a Book Blogger series, and this time we're chatting to Laura who runs lovely blog The Book Habit. Here's what she had to say about being a blogger...

TBH profile

BB: For those who don't already follow The Book Habit could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Absolutely! My name is Laura and I am a postgraduate student studying in London. Fortunately, I also get to balance the city life with a little bit of countryside cliché, commuting in from a tiny English village where I also work part-time as a tour guide in a stately home. Aside from my obvious book addiction, I also have an excessive love for:

  1. Vinyls and my monstrous record player. I am so behind the times it’s ridiculous.
  2. Shakespeare. I have a Hamlet quote written on my living room wall. No lie.
  3. Marmite. Because I like to be controversial.

The Book Habit was started as a step onwards from my somewhat bizarre addiction to writing book reviews in an old notebook. The blog is an eclectic mix of reviews, literary lifestyle posts, and my general ramblings. I created it hoping to guide other readers to books that might interest them (both old and new), while also chronicling my addiction to all things bookish.

BB: As well as writing reviews you also have an interesting series of posts named 'Literary Excursions', could you tell us a little bit more about how you came up with this idea?

I have always been fortunate to have people around me (family and friends) who are happy to indulge my literary addiction. Being lucky enough to live just outside of London, I have a huge number of literary hotspots within an easy distance and spend quite a lot of my free days taking myself off on a variety of adventures. The ‘Literary Excursions’ series was created to show readers just how many opportunities there are to explore the worlds inhabited by favourite authors. As a book addict, I absolutely love to walk in the footsteps of writers. It is, I think, the best way to get a feel for what inspired them.

BB: We're always looking for new books for our TBR piles - which 3 books or series would you recommend our readers pick up?

Oh my goodness, narrowing down to three is tough! I’m going to give you a couple of newish reads and one old favourite.

  1. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. One of my absolute favourite recent reads and one of my first blog reviews. A complete treasure, truly unique, and a real must read!
  2. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. This one is actually on the list for World Book Night UK and is definitely a book for the fiction fan. Clever and hilarious, there really isn’t any other book quite like it.
  3. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. While I would be hard-pressed to decide on an all-time favourite novel, this one would probably beat out other choices. Beautiful and tragic, it is magical on every level.


laurainterview 

BB: Now for a couple of fun questions.... If you could invite 5 fictional characters to a dinner party who would you choose and why?

Full disclosure: I thought abut this question for at least 30 minutes. Here’s the result:

  1. Professor Dumbledore (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling) – I don’t know that this requires lengthy explanation to anyone who has similarly manic levels of love for the Harry Potter series. Mostly I just love the beard though.
  2. Celia Bowen (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern) – One might think that, with Professor Dumbledore present, I wouldn’t need the Cirque des Rêves’ great illusionist. But who wouldn’t want to see those two face-off as some light dinner entertainment?
  3. Hamlet (Hamlet by William Shakespeare) – for the laughs.
  4. Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl) – Because he would bring dessert.
  5. Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen) – Again, no explanation required (particularly if you already follow my blog and have picked up the excessive number of Colin Firth shout-outs). Needless to say, it is likely a jug of water would find itself accidently spilled all over this particular guest as the evening progressed.

I recognise that my guest list is fairly male-dominated. Mostly purposeful given the presence of one Mr. D. However, with J.K. Rowling’s revelations about Dumbledore’s love interests, I realise that his invite may be a bit of a risk to my scheme.

BB: If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose?

Ah that’s really tough. Mostly because I’m worried that saying Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory will make me look excessively greedy. So instead I will say that I would love to live in the Cirque des Rêves (‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern). Truly the most fantastic place I have had the pleasure of escaping to through my literary addiction! Although some way of combining the two with a sort of chocolate circus would obviously be ideal.

BB: Last but not least, which fellow book blogs would you recommend to our readers?

I really love About Happy Books- a seriously eclectic mix of book reviews. As someone with extremely diverse taste in genres, it is a great source of information!

I’m also a big fan of the ladies over at Literary Hoarders. They write some fantastic reviews that I’ve always found really helpful in picking out new reads.

You can find Laura's blog here

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I'd like to say a huge thank you from all of us here at BB to Laura for taking part in this interview.
If you are a booktuber or book blogger and would like to be featured in a similar post we'd love to hear from you - just email us at bloggersbookshelf@gmail.com for information!

Interview & post by Erin  
Book cover images from goodreads.com
4 comments

Wednesday, 1 May 2013

Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore | Robin Sloan | Review



"Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan, 2012 (288) “The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone—and serendipity, sheer curiosity, and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey has landed him a new gig working the night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days on the job, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests.” Source

Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore follows Clay Jannon, a young unemployed web-designer living in San Francisco who stumbles upon a job working the night shift at a quirky 24-hour bookstore. Clay quickly discovers that there is something different about Mr Penumbra’s store, the customers are sparse and those who do visit never seem to buy any books. Instead they use the store like a library ‘checking-out’ all sorts of unusual books with their membership cards. With a little research Clay discovers that they are all part of a secret society with an intriguing code to crack and begins roping in his friends to help him figure out what is really going on.

As a narrator Clay told his story with humour and a likability that really made me invest in the mystery of the bookstore and the adventure, or rather quest, that followed. He is joined along the way by a host of likable secondary characters including Google employee Kat, prop creator Mat and of course Mr Penumbra himself. The interactions between Clay and Mr Penumbra were probably the most interesting as initially there was a great contrast between the modern and traditional ways of problem solving. It was nice to see as the book progressed how these ideas could come together and prove that there is a place for both technology and tradition in the modern world.

The book is set out in three parts, separated by the different locations, followed by a short epilogue. Within theses parts there are smaller chapters so although I would consider this book a quick read it is also easy to read at a slower pace if that is what you prefer. Sloan’s writing style flowed well with humour throughout and was very easy to follow.

Although for me it doesn’t quite hit the mark of Ready Player One geekiness I’m really glad that I decided to pick up this book. Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is a book for book lovers, but also a book for technology & typography lovers. If you are any of those things then this is the book for you! 4/5 

Photo © Erin Elise 

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