Psych Major Syndrome | Alicia Thompson | Reviewed by Christina

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Psych Major Syndrome | Alicia Thompson | Reviewed by Christina

Psych Major Syndrome is a fun contemporary about Leigh, a student who has just started Uni (or College, since the book is American) studying Psychology. In a long-term relationship with her high school boyfriend, Leigh begins to see that he isn't all he's cracked up to be and strains start to show within their relationship. 

This book is a typical college romance story packed full of clichés (it was published by Disney Hyperion, after all) but it was really really fun to read. Studying psychology myself, I enjoyed that towards the beginning there was mention of some main theories/aspects of psychology but these slowly tapered out as the book went on. Each chapter had a heading and that heading would be a psychological term suitable for the events that would unfold within the chapter. I thought this was a really fun way to incorporate psychology throughout the book without making it boring. The characters within the book are all either lovable or hate-able and they were very clearly written that way, it was obvious who we were supposed to grow attached to and who we were supposed to dislike, which worked within this book since it isn't to be taken as a great piece of literature or anything, it's just fun to read. 

The story focuses very heavily on the dying relationship, developing romance and friendship between Leigh and her roommate. All of these aspects worked together in my opinion and I sped through this book within a few hours, dying to know what was going to happen. Admittedly, it was quite predictable so don't go into this book expecting major twists and turns because there isn't any, it's just a super fun, quick read and I'd recommend you pick it up if you like those kinds of books. 

This post was written by regular reviewer Christina, get to know her here. 


Image from Goodreads

Read more »

1 comment

Features | 5 Ways To Choose Your Next Read

Monday, 9 February 2015

Features | 5 Ways To Choose Your Next Read

1/ Goodreads Recommendations - a simple one to kick off with, the recommendations page on Goodreads is a great place to start looking for your next favourite book. Selecting titles based on each of your shelves Goodreads allows you easily to scroll through and read the synopsis of each one. It also details why you have received the recommendation in the 'Because you added...' section, and similarly on each book's page there is a 'Reader's Also Enjoyed' section - very handy if you're looking for a similar read.

2/ What Should I Read Next? - although there are now several of these next read generator style websites out there, What Should I Read Next? has to be my top pick. It's clean and simple design is easy to use and will provide a long list of books based on tags and lists created by other readers.

3/ The TBR Jar - this one is for those of you who can't resist a book haul! If like many readers you have a whole host of unread books sitting on your shelves or e-reader why not write down each of the titles on a strip of paper and add them into a jar so you can pick out your next read at random. It's perfect for those who aren't 'mood readers' and love a surprise (although you could even create multiple jars, one for each genre), plus it's a brilliant way to cross some titles off of that long TBR list.

4/ #bookbloggers - the weekly book bloggers Twitter chat, which takes place every Tuesday at 7pm UK time is another brilliant way to connect with other readers and find out what they've been enjoying lately. Along with many other book-related social media hashtags (#currentlyreading, #whattoread, #mustreads, #bookstagram etc) it's also the perfect way to discover more book blogs which are full of reviews and recommendations that may inspire you to pick up something new.

5/ The YA Flowchart - if YA is your thing this colourful interactive flowchart could be your new BFF when it comes to choosing your next read. Whilst it may not provide and endless wealth of suggestions there are twenty-two YA titles to choose from, some more well-known than others, hopefully including one or two that even the biggest YA fan may not have discovered yet.

How do you usually choose your next read?

This post was written by regular reviewer Erin, get to know her here

Read more »

2 comments

Being A Book Blogger | Interview With Sophie aka In Her Good Books

Saturday, 7 February 2015

Being A Book Blogger | Interview With Sophie aka In Her Good Books

Welcome to another edition of Being A Book Blogger. Today's post features In Her Good Books, a lovely blog written by Journalism student Sophie, which we discovered after Jennie recommended it to us! Here's what Sophie had to say about her love of books, favourite covers and the perfect crime solving duo...


BB: Hi Sophie! For any of our readers who aren’t already following In Her Good Books could you tell us a little about the girl behind the blog?

Hello! I’m Sophie, a book blogger, journalism student and part-time bunny cuddler (that may not be part of my job description, but it’s pretty great being able to do that every day). I started blogging in January 2013 but only started book blogging a few months ago, and I’m really enjoying it so far! I love watching films, the odd glass of white wine and constantly have too much month at the end of my money.

BB: Where does your passion for reading come from and how did you get into reviewing?

I was constantly reading as a child, and my older cousins would always give me their old books as hand-me-downs when they grew out of them. We had a library a five-minute walk from where I lived which was great; there was a downstairs section full of children’s books – and a lot of beanbags too – so I always had a lovely time there.

Having only discovered booktubers and book blogs around six months ago, I decided I wanted to be a part of the community, as I wanted to share my thoughts on certain books – and get ideas of books to add to my ever-growing to-read list!

BB: We love a good recommendation here at BB - which five books are at the top of your TBR list right now?

Just five?! Well I’ve only just started The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, so I’m going to cheat and choose that first. Two chapters in and I’m really enjoying it. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins is next on my TBR list– the fact people are calling it ‘the next Gone Girl’ has really got me excited, and I can’t wait to start reading it!

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler is also on my list – which I only bought today actually! I’ve been recommended it multiple times over the last few weeks, so knew I’d need to pick it up.

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey and Daughter by Jane Shemilt are the last two that make up my list. I’ve been waiting to read Daughter since last year, so that may be one of the next ones I read, and Elizabeth is Missing is another one that’s had great reviews so I’m hoping I enjoy it as much as I hope I will!


BB: How do you usually go about choosing your next read?

It completely depends, really. In order to choose The Rosie Project I pretty much did an ip-dip-dip and landed on that one! If there’s a book that I absolutely can’t wait to read, though, I’ll usually just start reading straight away and put everything aside until I’m finished!

BB: You recently posted about Literary Listography, a book which encourages you to make lists about all your favourite reads. If you had to list 3 of your favourite book covers which ones would make the cut?

Despite the fact that I didn’t enjoy the book – I didn’t even manage to finish it, actually – The Circle by Dave Eggers has a lovely cover. I love the cover for Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell too; it’s so simple but absolutely gorgeous. My third favourite would have to be We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler – it reminds me of a Jack Johnson album cover; that’s the only reason I have!

BB: Just for fun - which two fictional characters, from different books/series, would you like to see appear together in a new story?

Ooh, great question! Despite the fact they’d have to do some major age-changing, I’d choose Sherlock Holmes and Cormoran Strike - I’m sure they’d be able to solve crimes in no time!

BB: Finally, which other book blogs or YouTube channels would you recommend to our readers?

I’ve been loving The Book Journal recently. Jennie has a lovely writing style and gives a real insight into books – something which I absolutely love.

And, of course, Sanne’s booktube channel, Books and Quills is a favourite of mine. Hers was the first booktube channel I ever subscribed to, and I love the way she’s so passionate about the books she reads!

Where To Find Sophie Online:
Blog - In Her Good Books
Twitter - @inhergoodbooks
Goodreads 


Images c/o Sophie
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to say a huge thank you from all of us here at BB to Sophie 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!

Read more »

No comments

Guest Review | The Historian | Elizabeth Kostova

Thursday, 5 February 2015

Guest Review | The Historian | Elizabeth Kostova

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'The Historian' is a bit of an epic ride, and it took me three weeks to finish! My copy was 704 pages, so it's definitely not a quick read.

The narrator of the novel tells us that she is going to relate her father's story to us. In his library she finds some letters beginning "My dear and unfortunate successor...". When she asks her father about them, so begins the sprawling tale of his search across Eastern Europe for a legend. It is no great spoiler to tell you that the story is about Dracula. The narrator's father, Paul, is introduced to the legend of Dracula/Drakulya when he finds an antique leather-bound book on his desk at the university. The pages are all blank apart from a distinctive design in the centre. Paul is confused by the discovery until his talks to his advisor, Bartholomew Rossi, who confides that he, too, found one of the same books among his personal items, and embarked upon a journey of a lifetime. We end up following the journeys through the East, the reign of the Ottomans and Turks, of Rossi, Paul, and the narrator's mother.

The story is, as another reviewer remarked, "a slow burner". It took me several hundred pages to become really interested in the novel, and to feel like I wanted to find out what was going on. The majority of the book is made up of other people's accounts of their travels and research into Dracula. However, I did not find it difficult to keep up with whoever was telling their part of the story. I knew that the main story was told by Paul, and that any other parts were told by other characters, until the narrator herself rounds off everything she learned from the various sources.

There is a good sensation of suspense and apprehension throughout the final half of the book, I'd say. The characters in the story become some involved in their search and completely intertwined with Dracula's journey that the reader cannot help but become absorbed with them. Their search is compelling. Each new discovery, each seemingly-unrelated piece of information comes together slowly slowly, until there is a physical chase for the vampire himself.

I was not completely in love with this novel. I think its length didn't help the situation. I often start to think "hurry up, this is taking too long!" when a book is lengthy. I long to get to the end just to finish it, not only out of a desire to know where the story goes. Though I must say that once I got caught up in the adventure, I longed for my next chance to read it. I know that this is a paranormal, fantasy story, but I really believed that all of the discoveries and occurrences were things that could have happened. The characters are all convincing historians with a thirst for knowledge, and the sense of danger is ever present. I really liked the author's obvious familiarity with Eastern Europe, the Balkans. Judging from her surname, I'm guessing she is Eastern European in origin, and she presents all of the places featured in the novel with an attentive eye for detail and culture.

This review was written by guest blogger Jemma
Image via goodreads.com

Read more »

1 comment

Guest Post | Falling Back In Love With Poetry

Wednesday, 4 February 2015

Guest Post | Falling Back In Love With Poetry

 

I don’t know about you but my thoughts on poetry when I first started reading it were pretty bland. Most of my memories consisted of boring English GCSE lessons spend over-analysing each individual line of a poem to the point where I couldn’t even remember what the poem was about in the first place.

Fast forward to 2015 and somehow I’ve fallen back in love with this form of writing again and I believe you can too. For me poetry is very much like art, where you’re drawn to pieces you genuinely find interesting rather than being spoon fed the text in a school setting. Everyone finds their love for something in different ways, so I thought I’d offer some tips on how to fall back in love with poetry again.

1. Get hooked on slam poetry

For me this was the key way I got back into this genre. I, like some people, spotted some of the better known slam poetry about feminism and racial equality on Youtube and got hooked. The topics were captivating, contemporary and more importantly it was p o w e r f u l. It’s an super easy way to work your way back in and requires very little effort to watch and enjoy.

2. Pick up a poetry anthology

Instead of focusing on an author, how about focusing on a theme? If there's a particular topic you're interested in, check if there's an anthology of poem that surrounds it. You're more likely to read it if it's something you would read anyway

3. Read poetry out loud 

There's an ebb and a flow to the words in a poem, and the natural rhythm of this form of writing lends itself to being read aloud. Discover the power behind the words and have a play with reading it in different ways. If you have the chance, attend a poetry reading, like slam poetry it's an easy way to digest the text.

4. Don't reach for the classics just yet! 

I think there's a pressure, like with any art form to reach straight for the likes of Blake or Ginsberg. But just because they're considered 'classic' doesn't mean you will necessarily enjoy them. Delve into the genre and discover what makes you tick. That may be poems by Wordsworth or it may even be writing by up and coming 21st Century poets.

So there’s four easy ways to ease your way back into reading poetry again. 

Have you got any tips?

This post was written by regular reviewer Ria, get to know her here

Read more »

2 comments

The Bookshop Book | Jen Campbell | Reviewed by Erin

Monday, 2 February 2015

The Bookshop Book | Jen Campbell | Reviewed by Erin

*Review copy c/o Netgalley

The Bookshop Book is the perfect guide for bibliophiles everywhere – it will make you want to visit every bookshop mentioned, open your own… or most likely, both!

This clever little guide showcases the world’s best bookshops from those you may have heard of to the hidden gems, featuring profiles on amazing bookshops from every continent. Alongside these are interviews with authors and bookshop owners, related facts and even some of Jen’s personal stories from her experience as a bookseller, which were fun additions to this informative coffee table title.

Having received an ebook copy (which considering the subject matter felt a little strange!) I am now keen to pick up the paperback as I think it would be a great reference book to have around for a little book buying inspiration. As I made my way through each chapter I found myself reaching for a pen and paper to make note of the locations of the shops I’d most love to visit as well as some of the fascinating ‘bookish facts’ – a sure sign this is one to add to my collection.

I really enjoyed reading The Bookshop Book and learning just how many amazing independent stores are still out there just waiting to be discovered by bibliophiles. At a time where more people are buying their books online than ever before The Bookshop Book is the perfect reminder of just how awesome bookshops really are!

 

Read more »

2 comments