December 2013 / Blogger's Bookshelf

Monday, 30 December 2013

How to Fall in Love | Cecelia Ahern | Review

Christine and Adam are thrown together one night, when she finds herself trying to save his life. She desperately waffles as much as she can, saying anything to try and stop him from jumping the Dublin Halfpenny bridge. She manages it, but only because she strikes up a crazy deal. She bets that she can make life worth living before his 35th birthday... which is in two weeks time.

It is no secret that I adore Cecelia Ahern books, I have raved about them numerous times before on this blog. However each time I read a new one I do try to stay neutral and not fall in love with the book simply because it's written by her. There have been some of her books that I haven't clicked so well with... this book was not one of those.

I think what draws me in most about her books is the written style, they have such an ease and flow to them, that it's almost impossible to not keep reading. But to make a book enjoyable there has to be something more, something in the characters or the plot to draw you in and make you desperate to read more.

This book has that something more. Lets start with the main characters, Adam and Christine. Christine has set herself an enormous task, she has to essentially save this mans life. She's going through an extremely messy divorce, living in a flat with barely any furniture, has little money and is only just about getting by herself. Somehow she manages to hold onto her spark, the spark that brings joy into others lives and positivity into her own and it is that spark that makes her likable and relate-able.

As always the story lines seems to hold that little bit of magic that is in every one of Ahern's books, trying desperately to get a man to fall in love with his life again - there would be no story line unless you had a little bit of belief in magic. Of course this is chic-lit so there is some romance along the way, I do however find that in this story it is a side plot rather than the main focus of the book.

A highly enjoyable read of which I'm sure I will go back to again and again. Recommended to any Ahern fans, chic-lit readers or anyone who needs a bit of a pick me up.

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

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Friday, 27 December 2013

Death Comes to Pemberley | P.D James | Review

Hello dear bookworms, I hope you have had a very good Christmas and are enjoying whatever time you have off. Today I'm reviewing Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James.

Death Comes to Pemberley is one of the sequels to Pride and Prejudice. In this story, it is six years after Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy's marriage and it starts at the evening before the annual Lady Anne's Ball at their beloved home in Pemberley. Everything seems to be running smoothly until later that night, a carriage races towards the mansion. When the carriage reaches the entrance, Elizabeth's youngest sister Lydia Wickham falls out of it and screams that her husband has been murdered.

This was the first sequel to Pride and Prejudice that I have ever read before and I have mixed thoughts about it. On the one hand there is a very good story which I think is a good follow up to the original story. At the very start there is a prologue which explains what has happened to each of the Bennett sisters since we read them last. I really liked that because some of the characters which we know and love in Pride and Prejudice do not make an appearance in this story and it's nice to know what has happened to them and why they aren't a part of this story.

However, I can agree with some of the people's reviews I've read both on Goodreads and on Amazon which mention that some of the things which the author talks about is very lengthy. I nearly stopped reading it because some of the language was hard for me to understand. There's also a lot of back story which the author has had to go through when bringing in new characters and to fill in the gaps that have occurred within the past six years since Elizabeth married the mysterious Mr Darcy. I found sometimes that it was unnecessary to add some of these bits on. The actual story was very good, but sometimes I felt the author was dwelling too much on the back story and going into a lot of detail instead of focusing on telling this story.

Even though some parts were lengthy and slow paced, I was still intrigued to find out what happened at the end and it was worth it. However I don't think it is a book which I will be reading again. I think this book deserves a three star rating.

If you are living in the UK (not sure about other parts of the world) there is actually a TV version of Death Comes to Pemberley which is being shown throughout this week. The first episode was aired last night and while it is very good, some bits from the book have been changed and that is something I'm not very keen on at all.

Happy reading chums!

This book was reviewed by regular reviewer Lucy. For more information, please click here!

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Thursday, 26 December 2013

Roomies | Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando | Review

Elizabeth and Lauren are both off to Berkeley college after the Summer and although they have never met they are about to become roommates. Roomies follows both girls on the adventures of their last summer before college and explores the friendship they begin to build.

When New Jersey native Elizabeth (or EB as she likes to be called) finds out she immediately shoots off an email to Lauren, excited about getting to know her potential new friend. Lauren however, never wanted a college roommate. She comes from a big family where she has always helped out her parents with all of her little brothers and sisters and was looking forward to having her own space for once. Although only moving across the bay from San Francisco, Lauren is still going through a lot of the same things as EB – family issues, boy drama and anxiety about starting college.

Each chapter alternates between the two girl’s stories, connected by the emails they send to each other, which are included within the text. After starting out with discussions about who should bring what for their room the conversation quickly becomes more personal and both girls end up finding that its much easier to talk to each other about how they feel than to those around them. Of course, even this solution doesn’t come without it’s ups and downs. Roomies provides a realistic depiction of how the tone of emails can be misinterpreted and the girls manage to hit a bump in their friendship before they’ve even met.

Roomies is a light and more realistic read, perfect for those who are about to start college/university themselves.

To read a free excerpt from Roomies click the banner below!

*Review copy c/o Netgalley
Image via Goodreads

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Monday, 23 December 2013

Little Women | Louisa M. Alcott | Review

*book cover via GoodReads

"Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without presents..."

Little Women follows the the four March sisters, in the middle of 19th Century New England, whilst their father is away at war.

There's the book's protagonist, second-oldest sister, Jo. She's a tomboy-ish, opinionated with a fire-ry personality but ultimately loves her family more than anything. The eldest March sister, Meg, is gentle, responsible and acts as the surrogate mother to her younger siblings. Beth is the third sister, the quiet centre of the story and similar in nature to Meg. Then there is the youngest sister, Amy, the artist, a little materialistic but a girl who appreciates the beauty in life.

The story follows their journey as they struggle with growing up in their society, love and loss, before ultimately learning and growing together.

So what's my verdict?

I read Little Women as a child and came across my old copy recently, I skimmed through a couple of pages and had started reading full on chapters without realising it!

Despite it's historical setting, Little Women still remains one of my favourite books of all time and the journey that the March sisters go through during the novel are easily translatable for the 21st Century. The March sisters themselves are so wonderfully complex, with each girl carrying her own positive and negatives traits, and it's great to read such fabulously strong female characters. What I love about the four of them is that they bring out the best and worst in each other, they fight and are definitely not perfect but what holds them together is their love for each other.

A must read and a classic that will keep hold of your heart for years to come!

Reading Soundtrack

Firewood: Regina Spektor; Sky: Joshua Radin; 1901: Birdy; Look After You: The Fray; Heartbeats: Ellie Goulding cover; Astonishing: Little Women Original Broadway Soundtrack; To Whom It May Concern: The Civil Wars

For lovers of

the works of Austen and the Bronte sisters, as well as Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden!

2 comments

Saturday, 21 December 2013

Group Collaboration | Favourite Reads of 2013!

We're nearly at the end of 2013, so this month's group collaboration has us looking back at those books we fell in love with this year!

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart, Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, Club Monstrosity by Jesse Petersen, Ketchup Clouds, Annabel Pitcher

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Quiet by Susan Cain, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, The Understudy by David Nicholls, Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace, A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

Wonder by R.J Palacio, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Cruel Summer by James Dawson

The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, One Step Behind by Henning Mankell, Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

Under the Never Sky series by Veronica Rossi, Allegiant by Veronica Roth, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Next month's post will be all about the books we vow to read in 2014! If you'd like to get involved please email bloggersbookshelf@gmail.com for details.

Contributors - Ria, Cat, Lucy, Anjali, Erin & Kath

All book cover images sourced from goodreads.com

3 comments

Thursday, 19 December 2013

2013 Reading Challenge | Final Update

Images via Goodreads
We last shared how we were all getting on with our 2013 challenges back in June and today we have the final update...

Ria... 35/30 books read, 4/5 books vowed to read

I've long past my reading goal for the year, which I'm so proud of! This year was all about upping my game and falling in love with reading books again so I'm really happy I've managed to hit above my original target. I'm also happy enough with completing 4 out of my 5 books I vowed to read for 2013 too. I really enjoyed challenging myself to read three classics (Fahrenheit 451, The Bell Jar and Brave New World), and have encouraged me to read more in the 2014! I'm also oh so glad to have gotten round to reading Harry: A History - especially as I got to compliment Melissa in person for writing such a fabulous account on the Harry Potter fandom at LeakyCon. The Mortal Instruments has been left by the wayside for now - I think the excessive amount of media coverage of the film put me off reading anything to do with the series - and I may have to give it another crack next year!

Anjali... 43/40 books read, 2/5 books vowed to read
I'm super proud of myself for finishing so many books, and the fact that I was finished with 40 in October. However, I'm not too pleased with the books I vowed to read. In the last update, I had read Daughter of Smoke and Bone (by Laini Taylor) and also Feedback (by Robison Wells), and I had just started the Twelve (by Justin Cronin). I actually got bored of Twelve, so, although I'm planning to come back to it, I haven't finished it yet. I haven't yet read the other two on my list, but I have bought one (Casual Vacancy, by J.K.Rowling), so I hope to read that soon. A couple of 'non vow' books I've really loved have been A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness; The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green; and the Under the Never Sky series, by Veronica Rossi.

Laura... 27/25 books read - Woo!

So I managed to achieved and surpass my reading challenge - I felt pretty confident I would although the last few books did seem to take me far longer than the previous ones. I however have no read anymore of my 'books I vowed to read' - only the same 3 I previously mentioned in our June update. I've really enjoyed having a reading target, it's kept me much more focused and was a gentle reminded to keep reading and not to let life pull me away from having a relaxing half an hour reading at the end of the day! I enjoyed all the books that I have read, there have been a few okay ones but there haven't been any that I didn't get some enjoyment out of.

Kath... 72/150 books read
I’m quite obviously massively behind on my reading goal this year, but I did set myself a really high challenge and I’m proud of how well I’ve done. My reading goal was based on my reading habits of last year, and unfortunately life just got in the way this year. My absolute favourite reads of the year have been James Dawson’s Cruel Summer and Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. A problem with having such a high challenge is that sometimes I've found myself reading for the sake of reading, but it has been wonderful finding new authors and diving in to new genres.

Niina... 21/35 books read

I'm definitely going to fail my reading goal the year! I've read 21 books so far and my goal was to read 35. I did pretty well in the first six or seven months of the year but I haven't been doing a lot of reading the last two or three months. My favourite books I've read since the last update is Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry and A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg.

Erin... 76/52 books read, 4/5 books vowed to read
Since our last update I have managed to complete my challenge as well as make good progress on the books I vowed to read. Although I did start the last book of the five, Neal Shusterman's Everlost, unfortunately I wasn't enjoying it very much and decided to give up for now. I still haven’t given out any 5 star ratings this year - I feel so mean! - but there have been a few more reads that I have really enjoyed including Cruel Summer (James Dawson), Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell), Ketchup Clouds (Annabel Pitcher) and Thin Space (Jody Casella).

Don't forget to check back next month when we'll be sharing our 2014 goals!

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Monday, 16 December 2013

Batpants! | Jeremy Strong | Review

Batpants is an orang-utan who is most definitely part of the family, she love to spit tomatoes, swinging through the trees and her pants. She lives with the Loveharts, Mrs Lovehart is a stunt woman and this book follows her and her family on her latest action film and the chaos that happens around them.

Jeremy Strong, I am starting to think that he can do no wrong (apologies for the rhyming!) But whichever book of his I picked up to read to my class they always seem to entertained and this was no exception.

His characters are always entertaining, funny and easy to relate too. In this case we have a normal family... well I say normal but what family is actually normal?! This is a family which most children can relate too because most of them see there brother. sister, Mum or Dad in one of these characters. The only difference being that instead of having a pet dog or cat... they have an orang-utan instead which only leads to more amusing antics.

We go on their adventure to the film set of their Mum's latest film, we meet movie starts with humorous names, love interests who aren't as they seem and some evil characters along the way too.

It however is not simply the characters or story line or witty lines that make this story amusing but also the illustrations to match. My class may already be in hysterics as I read this story but as soon as I turn the book around to show a pictures the laughter increases.

Another brilliant children's story from this talented author. I always give my children the choice of between a Jeremy Strong book or someone different, but there is no real choice. Strong wins every time.

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

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Sunday, 15 December 2013

Allegiant | Veronica Roth | Review

Okay, it's about time that we talked about it. You know what it is. The third and final installment of Veronica Roth's Divergent series: Allegiant. What an incredibly long wait this was! It was like I was waiting for the next Harry Potter all over again. I'm serious, it felt like that long. And yes, I base all my 'waiting for books' time against the agony that was the release of a new Harry Potter book.

If you haven't read Allegiant yet, then don't worry, I don't think this will ruin anything for you.

Allegiant carries on from where Insurgent left off, and we jump straight back into the action. Tris and Four/Tobias join a group of rebels called the Allegiant, and journey out of the city with an advance party from this group. They go to check it out, and to see if they can find the answers to all the questions that they have, and to find out who exactly Edith Prior (the woman in the video at the end of Insurgent) really is, or was. When they reach the other side, they discover a whole new world, and an organisation bigger than they could have imagined. The story follows Tris and Four/Tobias and their friends as they uncover enormous secrets, take part in a bit of explosion action, and ultimately find out the answers they were looking for (though not really ones that they probably hoped for).

Like Divergent and Insurgent, Allegiant is written in first person, but this time, it alternates chapters between Tris and Tobias. This was fine in itself, as it meant that we finally saw the world from Tobias' perspective, but I have to say that I found it rather difficult to keep up with who chapters were whose. I didn't find their two separate voices very...separate. I often got half way through a chapter and thought "Hang on a minute. I'm confused" and have to go back to the beginning to see whose chapter I was actually reading.

Other than that though, the story was good, and it had some new characters which were both cool and annoying at the same time. If you know what I mean. While the conclusion of this series did wrap up all the lose ends and gave us, as readers, answers to the questions and secrets in the Dystopian world that Roth created, the end was urgh! Don't worry, I won't say what happens, but even though I knew something like that was coming (why else would she have written x, y and z?), but my reaction was still a throw-the-book-out-the-window type reaction.

You'll notice that I only gave it 4 stars. With Divergent and Insurgent, I gave both of them 5, but there was just something a little disappointing with Allegiant. Don't get me wrong, I still loved it and thought it was a good end to the series, but, like I said, I think the confusion of whose perspective it was, and then the annoying ending took it down a star. Still a great book, and you should definitely read this series if you haven't done so yet!

1 comment

Friday, 13 December 2013

This is What Happy Looks Like | Jennifer E. Smith | Review

This is What Happy Looks Like is the story of seventeen year old Ellie O’Neill. Ever since an email was accidently sent to her, she’s been corresponding with a mysterious stranger, the two of them sharing their hopes and fears. Their relationship is not without its secrets though – there’s the truth about Ellie’s past… and her pen pal’s real identity. When they finally meet in person, things get much more complicated. Can two people, worlds apart but brought together by chance, make it against the odds?

This is What Happy Looks Like is very simply, a fun read. A book about a cute romance, a small town – it leaves a smile on your face. The plot is semi-unique and the book is full of entertaining characters which make this book intriguing and if you’re looking for a light-hearted read, the one to choose.

I did guess many of the plot twists and turns, but that didn’t make the story any less interesting. I absolutely loved the email exchanges between Ellie and Graham at the beginning at the book, and then at the start of each chapter. They were often sweet and had me smiling to myself. The book is written from alternating POV’s of both characters, which worked well for the story and allowed me to get to know the character and their motivations.

This is What Happy Looks Like is a cute story that managed to come to life on the pages. It’s funny and touching. If you like Jennifer E. Smith’s other books, such as The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight or are a fan of contemporary Young Adult romance than you’ll love this book.

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

1 comment

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Ketchup Clouds | Annabel Pitcher | Review

Ketchup Clouds tells the story of Zoe, a young girl with a big secret; she killed her boyfriend. Bursting with guilt and not knowing who to turn to Zoe starts to tell her story through a series of letters written to Stuart Harris, an inmate on Death Row.

As Zoe’s story unfolds we not only learn what happened to her in the months leading up to the mysterious incident but also get to know her as a person and begin to sympathise with her feelings of guilt. Zoe finds comfort in writing to Stuart, with each letter she writes helping her to cope with the way she feels as she begins to forgive herself for her mistakes.

As some of you may know I’m not usually a big fan of books with a letter or diary format however in the case of Ketchup Clouds it didn’t really bother me. The mystery was so intriguing, and the reason behind Zoe choosing to write to Stuart made so much sense that I found myself enjoying the format – something I never expected to say!

Story aside, I must also quickly mention the design of the book. From the cover design to the printed page edges and the simple illustrations found within the letters this book has a distinctive and memorable style.

The story of Zoe’s secret, told in this format was something very original to me and I really enjoyed reading it.

2 comments

Monday, 9 December 2013

Let It Snow | John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle | Review

In the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, the three stories of Let It Snow centre around the happenings in and around the town Gracetown.

Maureen Johnson's 'Jubilee Line' follows one girl as she tries to trudge through the snowstorm after her train breaks down, bumping into a hapless boy and striking up an unlikely friendship. 'Cheertastic Miracle' by John Green is the story of three best friends and their mad misadventures to get to the Wafflehouse in Gracetown, snowstorm or no snowstorm. Lauren Myracle's 'The Patron Saint of Pigs' wraps up this mini trilogy with some help from Starbucks, a teacup pig and a good ol' Christmas Miracle...