Book Haul - 29th April 2011

Hi guys!

Here is my book haul for this week... 



I hope you all have had a productive week reading and otherwise.

Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - A Girl's Guide To Falling in Love with a Zombie by Richard Denny

Rebecca Willis is a 17 year old survivor of a zombie pandemic who’s still in love with her high school crush Lance Tanner, who just happens to be be a zombie. But when things begin to threaten her ties with Lance she must choose over saving her own life & the lives of her friends or saving her zombie. (With a pop of comedy, horror, romance & suspense! Debut Author Richard Denney takes you to a new zombie-level with the first book in the two part series!) 

I absolutely loved this book.  It had a fantastic combination of comedy and romance that I really enjoyed...

For a more detailed review, please see below.




Best wishes 


Debs

Tea Time gets Royally Romantic Giveaway

Mills & Boon® celebrates Royal Wedding with limited edition mug and bespoke Royal Tea from specialist tea blenders Yumchaa.

Further to my last post, I am very pleased to say that I am announcing a giveaway of a bespoke mug and loose leaf tea to celebrate the royal wedding hosted by the wonderful chaps at Mills & Boon to celebrate the Royal Wedding.


To complement the Wills & Kate mug, Mills & Boon have commissioned innovative tea shop Yumchaa to blend an exclusive loose leaf tea called Mills & Boon Royal Tea. The tea has been blended with bespoke ingredients that reflect aspects of the royal engagement. Ingredients include: Black Kenyan Tea to celebrate the couple's Kenyan engagement, Blackberries from Kate's home town of Bucklebury, Blue Cornflowers to represent the royal family, Silver Candy Balls and Red Candy Hearts for love.

The Royal Wedding tea and mug will be available from www.millsandboon.co.uk and www.yumchaa.co.uk. The mug retails for £5.99 and the tea for £7. Yumchaa will also be selling the limited edition tea and mug for a period of 6 weeks on their market stalls across London. You can find their stalls at Camden Lock, Old Spitalfields Market, Partridges Market, Portobello Road, St James' Church and Brick Lane Sunday Upmarket. 

If you would like to enter this contest, all you have to so is post a comment under this post to say that you would like to enter. It is that simple... The only downfall is that you have to live in the UK to be able to enter...  Giveaway closes on 6th May 2011.








Best wishes and Good luck

Debs

Book Review – The Problem with Josephine by Lucy Ashford

The Problem with Josephine is set at the start of the 19th Century and retells the romance between Napoleon and Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria: 

It's springtime in Paris and Emperor Napoleon is about to marry Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria. All around the city Napoleon's courtiers are preparing for the spectacularly lavish wedding. Everything must be just right… Ordered to remove all portraits of Josephine, the Emperor's first wife, seamstress Sophie has to track down a talented artist called Jacques. He promises to carry out the commission, but only in return for a kiss for every hour he works… 

I was very kindly given an ebook of this story to read and I am so glad I did. The style of writing was easy to pick up on and I was completely immersed by the second sentence... .. This story has the great mix of romance and history.


I especially loved reading and following the relationship of Sophie and Jacques, which from start to finish had the right momentum and never disappointed.


If you love a bit of romance in your reading, I would recommend you give this a go....


 To purchase this book or another book by Lucy Ashford, please click here http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/books/authorzone.htm?author=Lucy%20Ashford&text=interview

Mills & Boon Royal Wedding Facts

There have been 225 Mills & Boon romances written with the theme of a Royal Wedding since 1981 - the year of the marriage of Prince Charles to Diana Spencer.

The most popular Royal Wedding Mills & Boon to date is The Prince's Waitress Wife by Sarah Morgan, published in 2008 and reissued 75 times worldwide; the prince hero was a rugby player.

Mills & Boon author Sharon Kendrick based her most recent novel The Royal Baby Revelation on the relationship between Prince William and Kate Middleton. Written before the engagement was announced, Sharon predicted William would propose with his mother's engagement ring.

Mills & Boon® 

Mills & Boon have 200 authors in the UK alone, publishing a wide variety of romantic fiction each month with a range of heroes from sexy vampires to scrummy sports stars. Mills & Boon sell 130 million titles worldwide each year, in 26 languages and 109 countries. In the UK, a Mills & Boon book is bought every 4 seconds.

Best wishes

Debs

 

Book Review - Losing It by Valerie Bertinelli

Number of Pages :  288

Publisher :  Free Press


My Review - 8 out of 10

Valerie Bertinelli, then: bubbly sitcom star and America's Sweetheart turned tabloid headline and rock star wife. Now: actress, single working mother of teenage rock star, and weight-loss inspiration to millions.

We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli years ago when she was girl-next-door cutie Barbara Cooper in the hit TV show One Day at a Time, and more recently when she starred in numerous TV movies and co-starred in Touched by an Angel. From wholesome prime time in America's living rooms, Valerie moved to late nights with the hardest-partying band of the decadent eighties when she became, at twenty, wife to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Losing It is Valerie's frank account of her life backstage and in the spotlight: the ups and downs of teen stardom, her complicated marriage to a brilliant, tormented musical genius, the joys of motherhood, and her very public struggle with her weight.

Surprising, uplifting, and empowering, Losing It chronicles Valerie's journey as she finds new love, raises a terrific kid, and motivates other women to take back their lives.

This was a great book and definately very interesting to read about the highs and lows of her life although I had initially bought it thinking it was more about weight loss, which it does have in the book but this was definately more of a biography...

For a more detailed review, please see below.....



Best wishes  

Debs 

Book Review - The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E Pearson

Number of Pages - 288

My Review - 10 out of 10

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just awoken from a year-long coma—so she’s been told—and she is still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. But what happened before that? She’s been given home movies chronicling her entire life, which spark memories to surface. But are the memories really hers? And why won’t anyone in her family talk about the accident? Jenna is becoming more curious. But she is also afraid of what she might find out if she ever gets up the courage to ask her questions. What happened to Jenna Fox? And who is she really?

I absolutely loved this book.  It was a story that was completely different to what I have been reading and the writing was so easy to follow, I just couldn't put it down...  I also loved the way the chapters started as they were not they not like the usual chapter one, chapter two etc.

For a more detailed review, please see below - 





Best wishes


Debs

Double Book Review - Witch & Wizard (Book 1) and Witch & Wizard The Gift (Book 2) by James Patterson

Number of Pages - 368

Publisher - Grand Central Publishing

The world is changing: the government has seized control of every aspect of society, and now, kids are disappearing. For 15-year-old Wisty and her older brother Whit, life turns upside down when they are torn from their parents one night and slammed into a secret prison for no reason they can comprehend. The New Order, as it is known, is clearly trying to suppress Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Being a Normal Teenager. But while trapped in this totalitarian nightmare, Wisty and Whit discover they have incredible powers they'd never dreamed of. Can this newly minted witch and wizard master their skills in time to save themselves, their parents--and maybe the world? 

 
Number of Pages - 352

Publisher - Little Brown Company

When Whit & Wisty were imprisoned by the wicked forces of the totalitarian regime known as the New Order, they were barely able to escape with their lives. Now part of a hidden community of teens like themselves, Whit and Wisty have established themselves as leaders of the Resistance, willing to sacrifice anything to save kids kidnapped and brutally imprisoned by the New Order.

But the One has other plans in store for them: He needs Wisty, for she is "The One Who Has the Gift." While trying to figure out what that means, Whit and Wisty's suspenseful adventures through Overworld and Shadowland lead to a jaw-dropping climax and conclusion: the highly-anticipated fulfillment of the heart-pounding opening prologue of book one... The Execution of the Allgoods.

A good idea for a story and I did enjoy learning about the characters but, unfortunately for me, I felt that the story did not progress fast enough and by the end of the second book I did still did not fully understand the characters Whit and Wisty and what their powers were etc.

For a more details review please see below 

Best wishes

Debs

Book Haul - 23rd April 2011

Hi there!  

So it has been a really great week, the weather is finally nice and not only that but it is a bank holiday so even more chance to enjoy the wonderful weather!   So here is what I got this week:



Best wishes

Debs

What is your favourite paranormal YA series?

Well, I have to say that this is a very easy question or me to answer as I have only recently, within the past couple of years really got into paranormal/vampire/supernatural stories as well as young adult stories. Until about two years ago, the books that I was more likely to read were chick lit stories, Dan Brown novels and stories written by authors like Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult. It was mainly main stream authors that I would pick up.

So, I have to confess that I have not read a lot of paranormal YA series. In fact, from looking at my book collection right now, there is only one complete series that I have read all the way through from start to finish. That series is the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr, which completely rocked my book world at the start of this year. I absolutely loved this series and would recommend it to anyone.

As to the paranormal books that I have started but still waiting for more books to be released, those would have to be the Lauren Kate Fallen novels, the Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins, the Hollow trilogy by Jessica Verday and the Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick. I am not sure whether you would class all these as paranormal but each of them do certainly have paranormal elements to them.

So, if I were to pick now what my favourite paranormal YA series is, I would have to say the Wicked Lovely series, not because that is the only one that I have completed but because this one completely changed my way of thinking about those types of novels. The Wicked Lovely series is all about faeries and it was the first time that I had read a story with faeries in it. I certainly would not hesitate now in reading all about faeries in other stories.

If you have not read the Wicked Lovely series, I would definitely recommend it. Even if you have not read this sort of book before, it is certainly a great place to start.

So, how about you? What would be the series you would name as your favourite?

Best wishes

Debs

Book Haul for this week.......

Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Number of Pages - 217

Publisher -  Little Brown Books

My Review - 10 out of 10

 As children, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were both social outcasts. They were also one another's only friend. So when Cameron disappears without warning, Jennifer thinks she's lost the only person who will ever understand her. Now in high school, Jennifer has been transformed. Known as Jenna, she's popular, happy, and dating, everything "Jennifer" couldn't be---but she still can't shake the memory of her long-lost friend.

When Cameron suddenly reappears, they are both confronted with memories of their shared past and the drastically different paths their lives have taken.

Well, this book completely blew me away.  There I sat down and thought I was going to be reading a nice little lovey dovey chick lit style of story but was completely surprised when I discovered the main theme of the story, which was completely not what I thought it was going to be....  I loved this book...



Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Number of Pages - 256

Publisher - Harper

My Review - 10 out of 10


  A sumptuous new look for Tracy Chevalier's bestselling novel. Griet, the young daughter of a tilemaker in seventeeth century Holland, obtains her first job, as a servant in Vermeer's household. Tracy Chevalier shows us, through Griet's eyes, the complicated family, the society of the small town of Delft, and life with an obsessive genius. Griet loves being drawn into his artistic life, and leaving her former drudgery, but the cost to her own survival may be high. 

What a great and beautiful story.  This is one of the first historical fiction books I have read in a very long while.  I absolutely loved it and from page 1 I was immediately swept into this wonderful world and carried away by fantastic characters...



Best wishes


Debs

Book Review - Men at Work by Mike Gayle

Number of Pages - 96

Publisher - Hodder

My Review - 10 out of 10

Ian Greening loves his job at the Department of Work and Pensions. It might not be the best paid job in the world but it gives him lots of scope for fun. He loves his girlfriend, Emma, too. But when Emma is made redundant, and gets a temping job in Ian's office, he doesn't like it at all. Emma only knows Home Ian - and Work Ian is a different kettle of fish. Spending twenty-four hours a day together is too much of a good thing. But how can he tell her that without hurting her? Ian comes up with a plan to get things back the way they were. But it puts his relationship at risk and forces Ian to decide which really matters most: the job, or Emma. A sweet, funny novel about love and work.  


What a great book.  It had the great mix of funny and sad all wrapped up in a short story..... 



Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - At Home With Books by Estelle Ellis and Caroline Seebohm

Number of Pages - 256

Publisher - Clarkson Potter

My Review - 10 out of 10

Less a book about libraries, as its Dewey classification asserts, than an interior-design album, this lavish tome yet stresses the importance of books in the lives of even the rich and famous, even when they're not writers. Oh, some whose book troves appear do write for a living: for instance, poet Richard Howard, whose small New York apartment walls are near-totally covered with books. Others whose entire names are famous include designer Bill Blass and Rolling Stone Keith Richards, but of the rest, a few just have impressive surnames (Rothschild, Getty, Biddle), one has a title (the duke of Devonshire), and the remainder have monikers as discreet as their fortunes are large. A terrific browsing book, thanks to Christopher Simon Sykes' tasteful photos, helpfully concluded by a resource directory of tony rare-book dealers, book fairs, bookbinders, sources of library furnishings, etc

I absolutely loved this book from the first page to the last.  I enjoyed finding out more about books and people's libraries and even cured by nosy nature by being able to see other people's libraries too! 




Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Number of Pages - 480

Publisher - HarperCollins

My Review - 10 out of 10

John Smith is not your average teenager. He regularly moves from small town to small town. He changes his name and identity. He does not put down roots. He cannot tell anyone who or what he really is. If he stops moving those who hunt him will find and kill him. But you can't run forever. So when he stops in Paradise, Ohio, John decides to try and settle down. To fit in. And for the first time he makes some real friends. People he cares about - and who care about him. Never in John's short life has there been space for friendship, or even love. But it's just a matter of time before John's secret is revealed. He was once one of nine. Three of them have been killed. John is Number Four. He knows that he is next.

I absolutely adored this book.  It is the first time I have read a book like this and normally this would not be one that I would have chosen but I have seen so many reviews and book hauls with this in, I just had to get in on the action and give it a go and boy was I glad I did.



Best wishes

Debs

Bookshelf Tour - My To Be Read Books

Hi there,

Hope you enjoy -

Part One



Part Two



Part Three



Best wishes

Debs



Best wishes

Debs

Book Haul

Hi guys,

I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend....   Here is my book haul for this week..... 

I am catching up with my reading and watching videos today so I am very much looking forward to seeing that you guys got/reviewed etc....

This is the long version -



This is the short version -




Best wishes

Debs

What Book World Would You Like to Be Part Of

Hi guys,

This was a fun topic video that I had posted on my Youtube channel and I thought it would be fun to share it with you guys as well



I am looking forward to hearing what world you would be a part of...

Best wishes

Debs

Bookshelf Tour - Part One

This is part one of my bookshelf tour where I show you my new bookcases and the books I have read shelves....  Part two will be my to be read shelves, which will be coming soon....

Charity Shop Book Haul.... I have been finding some really brilliant books lately.....

Charity Shop Book Haul Part One

Hey guys!

I have had a whale of a time with finding great bargains at charity shops recently...  most of the books have been on my wish list for a while and I managed to get them for around £1.00...  BRILLIANT!!!!  So here we go.....







Best Wishes

Debs

Book Review - The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright

Number of Pages - 288

Publisher - Berkeley Trade

My Review - 9 out of 10


Their story begins with one letter on their wedding night, a letter from the groom, promising to write his bride every week—for as long they both shall live.

Thirty-nine years later, Jack and Laurel Cooper die in each other’s arms. And when their grown children return to the family B&B to arrange the funeral, they discover thousands of letters.

The letters they read tell of surprising joys and sorrows. They also hint at a shocking family secret—and ultimately force the children to confront a life-changing moment of truth…



Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Number of Pages - 222

Publisher - Soho

My Review - 10 out of 10

In 1910, the mystery novelist Gaston Leroux, working from scraps of history, theatrical lore, and his own fertile imagination, created a masterpiece in Le fantôme de l'opéra, the story of a disfigured composer who lives in the labyrinthine depths of the Paris Opera. After the breathtaking debut of Christine Daaé, the whispers of an Opera ghost seem to become reality as the young singer vanishes. As the Phantom strikes again and again, targeting foes from a jealous diva to a romantic rival, Leroux spins a thriller of obsession and violence with, at its center, a tormented murderer who awakens our deepest fears and sympathies. The inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical, Leroux's novel is still more riveting than anything Broadway could produce.





Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff

Number of Pages - 112

Publisher - Penguin


My Review - 9 out of 10


A dramatization of the American Helene Hanff's 20-year correspondence with a London antiquarian bookshop. 



Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Dash and Lilys Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Leviathan

Number of Pages : 272

Publisher :  Knopf Books for Young Readers


“I’ve left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the New York Times bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.





Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Number of Pages : 272

Publisher :Speak

My Review :  9 out of 10


In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time. 



Best wishes

Debs

Book Haul - 23rd March 2011

What books do you feel you missed out on?

What are your book confessions?

My Budget and How I Choose Books

The Great Electronic -v- Debate....

Hey guys,

Some of you may know that I also have a YouTube Channel and I saw a fantastic topic video the other day that I decided to give a go to and would like to share this with you guys.....   



I would love to hear what your thoughts are....

Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Hilserpent Academy (Part one) by Richard Denny

Owen Davinforth has been expelled from Hillserpent Academy for the last eight months & now he is permitted to return. But things have changed at the academy & not for the good, there's even a dark force working it's way into Owen's life and a new guy that Owen is falling for. Owen returns un-welcomed and shunned in most area's of the school and he also finds that a few students have gone missing... He doesn't have much time to figure it all out & stop whatever is after him before he comes face to face with a power stronger than anything he's ever known. What lies behind these gates? You will soon know.

My Review - 10 out of 10






Best wishes

Debs 

 

Book Review - Beastly by Alex Flinn

Number of Pages - 336

Publisher - Harper Teen

My review - 10 out of 10

A beast. Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright—a creature with fangs and claws and hair springing from every pore. I am a monster.

You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll stay this way forever—ruined—unless I can break the spell.

Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly . . . beastly.

I absolutely adored this book...  I liked the different style of 'chat room exerpts' it had in it which featered a mermaid and a frog and another creature, whch I thought was really funny...  This book really swept me away iin a way that I was not expecting.... I am really looking forward to the movie which comes out soon and hope that the story is similar to the book....

For a more detailed review, please see below



Best wishes

Debs

Recommendations.....

Hey guys,

I am in the process of sorting out my bookshelves and I thought it would be fun to go through my read bookshelf and make some recommendations on books that I have read which you may like. . I hope you enjoy....









I would love to read/see what you would recommend?  

Best wishes

Debs

Book Hauls.....

Hey guys!

Well I have had quite a busy booky time this past week..  I made an order with Amazon a while ago and the books seem to be coming in dribs and drabs.....  Below are a couple of videos I have made for the hauls that I have got this past week....  I hope you enjoy....











Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Jinx by Meg Cabot

Number of Pages - 288

Publisher - Harper Teen

My review - 10 out of 10

It's not easy being Jinx. 

Jean Honeychurch hates her boring name (not Jean Marie, or Jeanette, just . . . Jean). 

What's worse? Her all-too-appropriate nickname, Jinx. Misfortune seems to follow her everywhere she goes—even to New York City, where Jinx has moved to get away from the huge mess she caused in her small hometown. Her aunt and uncle welcome her to their Manhattan town house, but her beautiful cousin Tory isn't so thrilled. . . . 

In fact, Tory is hiding a dangerous secret—one that could put them all in danger. Soon Jinx realizes it isn't just bad luck she's been running from . . . and that the curse she has lived under since the day she was born may be the only thing that can save her life. 



Best wishes


Debs

Book Review - The Other Hand (Little Bee) by Chris Cleave

Number of Pages - 378

Publisher - Hodder & Stouton -Sceptre

My Review - 10 out of 10

We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn't. And it's what happens afterwards that is most important. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds. 



Best wishes

Debs

Book Review - Raising Demons (Demonglass) by Rachel Hawkins (may contain spoilers)

Number of Pages - 368

Publisher - Simon & Schuster


My Review - 10 out of 10

Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.

That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies). But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.

Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father. What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves. Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.

But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery. Her new friends? They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good. Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Acher to do it. But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore. Does she?



Best wishes

Debs 

Book Haul/In My Mailbox for this weekend 5th and 6th March 2011

Book Review - Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Number of Pages - 336

Publisher -  HarperCollins

My review - 10 out of 10


The Summer King is missing; the Dark Court is bleeding; and a stranger walks the streets of Huntsdale, his presence signifying the deaths of powerful fey. 

Aislinn tends to the Summer Court, searching for her absent king and yearning for Seth. Torn between his new queen and his old love, Keenan works from afar to strengthen his court against the coming war. Donia longs for fiery passion even as she coolly readies the Winter Court for battle. And Seth, sworn brother of the Dark King and heir to the High Queen, is about to make a mistake that could cost his life. 

Love, despair, and betrayal ignite the Faery Courts, and in the final conflict, some will win . . . and some will lose everything.
 
The thrilling conclusion to Melissa Marr's New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series will leave readers breathless.

WOW!  I love love love this series and this book...  I loved the way the viewpoint in this final book changed to different people at different times giving you many angles to watch the story from...  I liked the way the story unfolded and what I hoped would happen did happen with a few surprises spashed in as well..

For a more detailed review, please see below:



Best wishes

Debs