Friday Finds

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at You Should Be Reading and you can find it here. MizB does a fantastic job with this meme every week, so do pop over and pay her a visit.


I have really missed doing Friday Finds over the last couple of weeks as it is definitely my favourite post of the week. I thought as it is Halloween tomorrow, I needed to include a spooky book that I found around the blogging world.


1)Jane - Emily by Patricia Clapp


I found this one over Kim's site Page After Page. I love the fact that this is a really old childhood favourite of many that has finally been released again after 30 years. It reminds me a little of a book called The Haunting of Cassie Palmer which I read as a child.
I absolutely love the cover.


Here is the blurb from Fantastic Fiction.

Emily was a selfish, willful, hateful child who died before her thirteenth birthday. But that was a long time ago. Jane is nine years old and an orphan when she and her young Aunt Louisa come to spend the summer at Jane's grandmother's house, a large, mysterious mansion in Massachusetts. Then one day . . . Jane stares into a reflecting ball in the garden - and the face that looks back at her is not her own. Many years earlier, a child of rage and malevolence lived in this place. And she never left. Now Emily has dark plans for little Jane - a blood-chilling purpose that Louisa, just a girl herself, must battle with all her heart, soul, and spirit . . . or she will lose her innocent, helpless niece forever. One of the most adored ghost stories of all time is available again after thirty years - to thrill and chill a new generation!

2) Boneshaker by Cherie Priest.

I found this book over at Chris's site Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of. This book really interests me as it comes under a genre called steampunk. What is that I hear you ask? Here is the description from wikipedia - 'The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.'

Here is the blurb from Amazon.

At the start of the Civil War, a Russian mining company commissions a great machine to pave the way from Seattle to Alaska and speed up the gold rush that is beating a path to the frozen north. Inventor Leviticus Blue creates the machine, but on its first test run it malfunctions, decimating Seattle s banking district and uncovering a vein of Blight Gas that turns everyone who breathes it into the living dead. Sixteen years later Briar, Blue s widow, lives in the poor neighborhood outside the wall that s been built around the uninhabitable city. Life is tough with a ruined reputation, but she and her teenage son Ezekiel are surviving until Zeke impetuously decides that he must reclaim his father s name from the clutches of history.

3) The Year The Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

I found this one over at Vasilly's site, 1330v. I love the cover and the story intrigues me.

Here is the blurb from Amazon.

With her passion for cooking, 11-year-old Eleanor, aka Groovy, dreams of becoming a professional chef. But her father, a compulsive gambler, bets away her inheritance from her great-grandmother, money she had planned to use for culinary school. At first Groovy is as angry as her mother, who has Groovy's father arrested, yet during the next several weeks she learns that broken dreams, and broken families, can be rebuilt. Debut novelist Fitzmaurice creates a sympathetic heroine in Groovy and an interesting sidekick in Frankie, whose estranged mother makes a sudden appearance shortly after Groovy's father is jailed.

So there are my book choices for the week. What did you find that you would like to read?

Amy & Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout

Pages - 304

Published by Simon & Schuster in 1999. This edition published in 2006

Challenges - Fall Into Reading and 100 books.


I picked this book up from the library a couple of months ago and it has taken me such a long to get around to reading it. I am so glad my library allows you to keep renewing books as I hate to take them back unread.

Amy & Isabelle is one of those books that progresses really quietly until the ending where all is revealed. It looks at the relationship between Isabelle, a struggling single mother secretly in love with her boss and Amy, a shy young girl, who embarks on an affair with her maths teacher. The book details the breakdown of their relationship over one summer as the affair comes to light. By the end of the book, their relationship has moved to a new level and you witness the journey they had to travel to reach it.

This book is about real life and real relationships and how people deal with the blows that life throws at them. The relationship between mother and daughter is such a difficult one and probably mirrors thousands of similar relationships around the world where the parent and child have such differing views of life.

I loved the character of Amy, as this book witnesses her coming of age. She goes from being a very shy girl who blossoms into a woman and realises what she wants out of life. Amy ends up doing some things that I felt she wouldn't be proud of, but I feel they were part of her journey in growing up and finding herself.

Isabelle learns a lot from Amy as the book progresses. When Amy's affair with her teacher is discovered and time passes, Isabelle begins to see parallels between Amy's life and her own. Isabelle changes her attitude towards the people around her and finally lets people into her life. The book follows the journey of two lonely people who learn to embrace life and the people around them.

I really enjoyed this book, as I found I could relate to both characters. Through Amy, I could understand the difficulty of those teenage years and dealing with the strong emotional feelings that occur within us all during that time period. Through Isabelle, I could see why she kept so many secrets hidden from pubic view,but they made her appear stuck up and aloof. I preferred it when she became more open with the people around her. I have always viewed myself as quite an open book and I have always thought that too many secrets can fester. Better out than in!

The minor characters within the book are interesting too. It is made very clear within the pages of the book that the grass is not really greener on the other side. Barbara Riley appears as the epitome of everything Isabelle would like to be. Yet as the book progresses, you find that Barbara's life is not an easy one and just like everyone else, she has her own problems to deal with.

If you like books that look at the relationship between mothers and daughters,then this one is for you. You will witness both mother and daughter finally coming of age.

Other reviews of this book

The Magic Lasso

Awesome Author Challenge 2010

Here I am rushing to finish all my challenges for this year and now I am already looking to join one for 2010. In my defence, this challenge includes books and authors I really wanted to read this year and just didn't get around to.

This challenge is run by Alyce by At Home With Books. If you click on the picture, it will take you directly to the post where you can join the challenge.

Here is the information regarding the challenge straight from Alyce's site.

The idea behind this challenge is to read works by authors who have been recommended to you time and again, yet somehow you haven't managed to read any books by those authors. These are the authors that everyone else tells you are awesome, thus the "Awesome Author Challenge" title.

The Rules:
The challenge starts January 1, 2010 and ends December 31, 2010.
Crossover from other challenges is allowed.
Choose the level at which you would like to participate, post about it and come back and leave a link to your post in Mister Linky.
Titles and authors do not have to be predetermined, and can change at any time.
Books can come from any genre or reading level, the only requirement is that you have heard great things about the author, but haven't yet read any of their works.

The Levels:
Easy: Choose three authors and read at least one title from each author.

Moderate: Choose six authors and read at least one title from each author.

Challenging: Choose ten authors and read at least one title from each author.

Over-Achieving: Anything over ten authors.

I am going for the moderate level and hope to read a book from each of the following six authors.

David Almond

A.S. Byatt

Charles De Lint

Agatha Christie

Jane Austen

Shirley Jackson

If you want to join in, then there is plenty of time as it doesn't start till January.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Pages - 397

First published in 1938

Challenges - RIP challenge and 100 books challenge.

I really should have written a review for this book before I went on holiday, as my brain seems a bit hazy about it nearly two weeks after. That will teach me to be more prepared.

Rebecca follows the story of a very young bride married to Maxim De Winter. The bride's name is never revealed throughout the book and this only adds to her transparent existence beside the first Mrs De Winter, Rebecca who is dead, but very much alive in the house and the memories of the staff in Manderley. This book follows the bride's struggle to take Rebecca's place. The more she tries to show her love for Maxim, the more the ghost of Rebecca haunts her and lays obstacles in her way.

I will be honest and say that I did not enjoy this book as much as I did Jamaica Inn. I thought it was good, but there were two points within the book which really niggled me.

Firstly, I found the relationship between the young inexperienced bride and the much older Maxim De Winter, extremely creepy. He was old enough to be her father and throughout the beginning of the book, he often treated her like a child. I don't enjoy reading about relationships like that. Marriage is about equal partnerships and this marriage irritated the hell out of me.

Secondly, I found the bride to be such a weak character for most of the book, that I could not warm to her. I felt she needed to toughen up in order to stand up to the ogre, Mrs Danvers. The most enigmatic character in the book was dead and I found that annoying.

These two areas spoilt this book for me. I know a lot of people say that this is Daphne Du Maurier's best book, but I really preferred Jamaica Inn.

Don't get me wrong, I thought this was well written book and it gave off a real sinister air, which I liked. Daphne Du Maurier was exceptional at writing Gothic story lines. There is all the terror and suspense expected in this type of novel, as well as the old, hauntingly sinister building. The atmosphere of the book was fantastic and believable and I did find myself jumping at the slightest noise surrounding me.

The characters in the book appear to have certain characteristics, yet by the end of the book you realise you have misinterpreted them and they are not what they seem. Rebecca's real character was quite surprising by the end and you can see why her demise would happen. Rebecca was very good at blinding and dazzling the people around her, then playing them as pawns in a game of chess. Even the evil, Mrs Danvers, who doted on Rebecca, was just another person to play with. Rebecca reminded me of a cat playing with its prey before it killed it.

If you love Gothic books, then do read this. I don't want to put you off with my particular points of views. I liked it, I just didn't love it and for me Jamaica Inn will stay in the number one slot for the best Daphne Du Maurier book that I have read so far. Bearing in mind, these are the only two I have read, I might not be the best judge of Daphne Du Maurier books.

Now I know a lot of you will probably moan at me, as this is one of your favourites. I don't mind you trying to change my opinion. So go ahead and let me know what you thought of it.

Other reviews of this book

Chaotic Compendium

Things That Mean A Lot

Monday Mailbox

Before I begin with Monday Mailbox, I just want to say well done to everyone who participated in Dewey's Read-a-thon. I never got the pleasure of speaking to Dewey, but she sounded like a wonderful person and I think it is lovely that the read-a-thon continues in her memory. I think you all did so well, reading for so long, I am very impressed. I know I would probably struggle with it as it would start at 1pm over here and I would struggle to stay awake all night and still keep going in the morning.

So onto Monday Mailbox. I picked up quite a few books last week, as I bought four from the airport. That was my treat to myself, as it was four books for three and they had all the latest hardbacks in paperback. So, as you can see I picked up the following books.

1) Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I have been desperate to read this one for ages. I just couldn't resist in in paperback.

2) The Resistance by Gemma Malley - I didn't realise until after I had bought it that this is the second book in the trilogy, so now I need to go out and get the first before I start. The first one is called The Declaration.

3)Shiver by Maggie Steifvater. I read this one whilst on holiday and loved it. Think Twilight but just with wolves. I can't wait until next fall to get the sequel. It really was fabulous and I hope to review it next week.

4)Evermore by Alyson Noel - I have heard so much about this one, I couldn't resist it.

The following two books I picked up at the book swap on holiday. They had a box of books where you could exchange books. I picked up Miss Smilia's Feeling For Snow by Peter Hoeg and While I Was Gone by Sue Miller.
When I arrived home from holiday, these two books were waiting for me.

1) Jewel by Bret Lott - I got this through BookMooch.

2) Saving CeeCee Honeycut by Beth Hoffman. I was sent this book by Beth Hoffman herself. She was trailing the Internet and found my blog post mentioning an interest in her book and sent me one of her own copies. Beth was over the moon that someone in England wanted to read her book and I am the first person in England to get my hands on it. So thank you ever so much Beth.

That is my book haul this week. What did you get?

Some piccies from my holiday.

You know how I like to share, so here are some piccies from my holiday. Be warned this post is definitely picture heavy.

As I mentioned yesterday, I had a fantastic holiday. We went back to a hotel, we had stayed in the previous year in Caleta Du Fuste in Feureventura. The staff are fabulous at keeping the children entertained, which allowed me to indulge in my favourite pastime - reading. Imagine just lying there all day with a book, in between quick dips in the pool. Absolute bliss.

First day and a brand new book which I picked up at the airport. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. An excellent read - imagine Twilight, but with just wolves.

This is one of my favourite pictures of hubby and one of my girlies strolling along.

Sunrise from the apartment. Every morning I managed to be awake to see it, which was amazing after all the late nights we had. There is something really beautiful about just sitting and watching the sun rise.

Here is a picture of the beaches at Caleta Du Fuste. The one at the back was a little bit too rocky, but the other two were really sandy. When you waded out into the sea, you found yourself surrounded by fish.

My girlies and me going out to dinner. We ate out every night as I absolutely refuse to cook. The rest of the family are happy to oblige as cooking is not one of my best talents.

The island is absolutely full of stray cats. I am sure it is one of the things that draws me back each year. Luckily there is a charity on the island that provides food and water for the strays. As you walk around the island you will see feeding stations provided for them. The little one in the picture arrived on my doorstep the first morning we arrived and loved nothing more than a cuddle. Every morning she would curl up on my lap, purring away. You cannot imagine how upset I was to leave her behind. If I could have taken her home in my hand luggage I would have.

Our holiday would not have been as wonderful as it was, without the superb Thomas Cook entertainment team at the resort. They work really long hours, but they always had time for all the guests. How they managed to remember every one's names I have no idea.

Dave was fantastic at entertaining both the adults and kids. An amazing singer too.

The lovely Aairon, the head of the entertainment team. What a fabulous guy.

A big thank you to all of the team for making our holiday such a wonderful experience and giving us memories we will never forget. Thank you Stevie Jo, Dave, Claire, Aairon and Laura.

So there you go, a whirlwind photo journey through our holiday. I hope you enjoyed the trip.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm Back!

I have returned from wanderings. I have had a lovely holiday on the island of Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands. It has to be one of the best holidays I have ever had in a long time and I am already looking at re booking the same hotel for next year.

I am now struggling to cope with a huge amount of ironing and washing, so I hope to be back to normal as soon as possible. I have had to mark as read all the posts I have missed over the last week and I feel absolutely awful about doing that. However if I start off being behind, I will never catch up with them. So I think it is better to start afresh and read all the comments from now on.

I hope you have all had a good week in my absence and look forward to reading what books you have been reading.

I hope everyone who is taking part in the 24 hour readathon has a fabulous day. I won't be around as I am on a course with the girls, so I wish you all the best of luck and hope you all read loads of books.

On Vacation

Hi folks,

Just to let you know I will be absent from my blog until 23rd of October, as I am off for a recharging of my batteries in a much warmer climate. I have a bag of books to keep my occupied and hope to come back fully refreshed. Have a great week and I will catch up with you all on my return.

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Pages - 425

Published in UK in 2006 by Simon & Schuster

Challenges - Fall Into Reading and 100 books.

Tally is a fifteen year old girl who just like any other girl can't wait to turn sixteen. Unlike anyone in our world, turning sixteen means Tally turns Pretty. All sixteen year olds undergo an operation to transform them from Ugly to Pretty, which then allows you to enter a world of fast living and high entertainment. Tally is desperate to get there and be with her friends who have already turned Pretty.

In the last couple of months before Tally turns Pretty, she makes a new friend Shay who isn't sure that being Pretty is the way she wants to spend the rest of her life. She would rather risk living on the outside and finding the rebellion who live in the Smoke. When Shay runs away, Tally is sent out to find her, knowing that she will never turn Pretty unless she returns with Shay. Once on the outside, Tally learns that being Pretty isn't just about looks.

I have to say when I started reading this book, I felt like I had been transported to Barbie World and I was expecting Skipper or Ken to jump out from behind every page. The Pretties are just so dull, yet beautiful to look at. They have no personality and just exist to party. I think I would rather take my chances as an Ugly than turn into a Pretty.

This book gives the impression that everyone is living in a Utopian society created after the mass destruction of our present civilization, yet as the book goes on you realise that it is definitely more of a Dystopian society, with the eyes of Big Brother looking over your shoulder and watching your every move. This book is about control and keeping society in its place, according to the ruling government's decisions.

At the beginning of the book, all the teenagers travel by hover board and I was reminded instantly of Back to the Future 2, where Marti goes into the future. Some of the descriptions in the book, could have been scenes in the film, they were so similar.

Do I sound like I didn't enjoy this book? That couldn't be further from the truth. I loved it, once I got past the first couple of chapters. It had all the ingredients of a Dystopian novel which I enjoy.

• A strong female character, always a must.


• Running - all Dystopian YA novels that I have read, have their main character, either running to or from something.


• Danger - keeping you on the edge of the seat.


• Conflicting love interest - always falling in love with the wrong person. The one who will eventually break your heart.


• The cliff hanger ending - making you spit feathers because you are unable to get hold of the next book.


• The strange world in which they live in. I take my hat off to the authors who create these believable worlds.

Tally becomes a fantastic main character, once she opens her eyes and realises that everything isn't as it seems. She takes on everything that is thrown at her, just like Katniss in The Hunger Games. Tally is strong, persistent and a real gutsy girl.

This book looks at a topic that would be of real importance to any teenager or even the tweenies. Having preteens myself, I am aware of how they view their appearance as important. Most teenagers I have met (not all may I add and mainly girls rather than boys) are so obsessed with the way they look and judge everyone around them by how pretty they are. Most have yet to learn that beauty really is only skin deep and that what you have on the inside is what makes you beautiful. Scott Westerfield has taken the image conscious view and distorted it, almost turning it upside down on it head. By the end of the book you are convinced that being Ugly is a major plus factor. Imagine if we all underwent an operation to look perfect, taking away the scars and irregularities that make us who we are and define our history. What a sad world it would be.

After the first few chapters, I found this book to be a real page turner and I struggled to put it down, distracting me from my real duties in life, like helping my children with their homework, or sewing their jazz trousers, or even putting their hair up for the fifth time whilst trying to eliminate the inevitable bumps when children have curly hair.

I think this book would definitely go into my top three of Dystopian novels along with The Hunger Games and The Knife of Never Letting Go. If you are a fan of Dystopian Young Adults trilogies, then I would highly recommend reading this one too.

Here are some other reviews of this book.

Parajunkee

Just Books

Bookgirl of Mur-y- Castell

Melissa's Bookshelf

At Home With Books

Monday Mailbox

I have been a bad girl. I think I may have been suffering from book buying withdrawal symptoms and the urge to trawl around charity took over. As you can see, my trawling was very successful. I picked up six books.

1) The first book is my first Persephone book, so I am really excited as I have heard such good things about this publisher. They reprint neglected classics by C20th (mostly women) writers. This one is called 'The Children Who Lived in a Barn' by Eleanor Graham. The book's preface is written by Jacqueline Wilson.

2) The Children of Charlecote by Phillipa Pearce (Tom's Midnight Garden) and Brian Fairfax-Lucy. I remember reading this about ten years ago and loving it. Phillipa Pearce took the memoirs of Brian Fairfax-Lucy and made it into a fictional book.

3) The Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. I have never read any of this author's books, yet I have heard such fantastic reviews of her books, so I thought I would try reading one.

4) Daughter of Fortune by Isabelle Allende - another book I have read rave reviews about.

5) The Famished Road by Ben Okri. This has recently been re released with lots of other Booker Prize winners.

6) Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery - this is the second Anne book in the series. I now only have to find three more books. Yippee!

Now these are not books I have purchased, but two that I have been lent by a friend.

1) Sleep, Pale Sister by Joanne Harris. At the beginning of the year I read quite a lot of Joanne Harris, so I am pleased to get my hands on some more. My friend said she thought this one would be ideal for me, as it scared the life out of her. It has Gothic overtones, so it is ideal for the RIP challenge.

2)Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva - my friend is always on the look out for new authors to try. She really enjoyed this book and offered to lend it to me to read.

So there are the books that entered my household this week? What books did you get?

Sexing the Cherry - Abandoned Book

It takes a lot for me to abandon a book. I will struggle through as much as possible and try to get to the end, just in case it improves along the way.

I managed to get half way through Sexing The Cherry by Jeanette Winterson and then I was just too disgusted to read anymore.

This book is really degrading to men. This book includes graphic descriptions of necrophilia after two men are brutally murdered and also forced bestiality. I was really upset and disgusted by this book.

It gives the impression that Jeanette Winterson has a real dislike of men. Does she really hate them that much, that she has to make them such pitiful creatures. I could see no reason why these scenes were included and how they benefitted the story.

I could not see how this book made the '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die' list.

I know a lot of people have really enjoyed this book, but I found it very confusing and I felt lost within it. Perhaps my attention was drawn more to these degrading scenes and other people were clever and skimmed over them. However, for me, it was too much.

I had really hoped to enjoy this book as I did like her most famous book 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit'. However, the book flicked between reality and magical realism without marking where one began and the other one ended.

If you have read this book, please can you explain to me why you like it. I hate to be beaten by any book and I hate to dwell on scenes that I found abusive. There is obviously something appealing within the pages of this book, that I appear to have missed.

Saturday Scrapping

Last Saturday was my scrap day at school and it was also my friend Elizabeth's birthday. One of the scrap girls, Sharon went to my favourite cake shop and bought back all these lovely cupcakes for Elizabeth's birthday. Now I did have a picture of me eating one, but for some reason it did not come out, so you will have to pop over to Anne's site Pretty to see us all tucking in. The picture can be found at the bottom of her post and I am the one on the left, not the right as I said earlier (thanks Dar). I have to say the cakes were utterly yummy.

I managed to create three layouts. Again these were for my aunt's album and now I only have four pages left to do. I am desperate to start making some of my own pages again.

This one of aunt as a teenager is definitely one of my favourites. I find it really strange to imagine my auntie as a teenager.

My auntie is an absolute nutter, so it was no surprise to come across this picture of her as Father Christmas.

My mum is actually is in this picture. She is on the far right, as this picture was taken when my parents went to Wales to visit my aunt. I am quite pleased with my rays of sun in this one, but not sure about the rest.

I am off now to start packing and getting things ready for our holiday, as my parents will be arriving in a couple of hours and I need to get ready before they descend. They will be living near me for good at the end of the month. I can't wait to actually be able to go out and have a baby sitter, as my husband and I have not been able to do this for five years!

Have a fabulous day.

Friday Finds

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at You Should Be Reading and you can find it here. MizB does a fantastic job with this meme every week, so do pop over and pay her a visit.

This was a really tough one to do this week, as I have been furiously writing lots and lots of new book titles in my little sparkly pink book that contains the list otherwise known as the 'TBR'. You are all so bad at tempting me with these wonderful books. I felt like Simon Cowell, on The X Factor, trying to reduce my six contestants to three. Trying to determine which books I should profile this week has been an immense struggle, but in the end a decision needed to be made.

1) Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman.

I found this book over at Lesa's Book Critiques and from what I can understand this book is billed as the next 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd, so if you loved that one then this is a book for you. This is the author's debut novel and will apparently be a hit with reading groups and book clubs.

Here is the description from Amazon.

Twelve-year-old CeeCee Honeycutt is in trouble. For years, she has been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille-the tiara-toting, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town-a woman trapped in her long-ago moment of glory as the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. But when Camille is hit by a truck and killed, CeeCee is left to fend for herself. To the rescue comes her previously unknown great-aunt, Tootie Caldwell. In her vintage Packard convertible, Tootie whisks CeeCee away to Savannah's perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricity, a world that seems to be run entirely by women. From the exotic Miz Thelma Rae Goodpepper, who bathes in her backyard bathtub and uses garden slugs as her secret weapons, to Tootie's all-knowing housekeeper, Oletta Jones, to Violene Hobbs, who entertains a local police officer in her canary-yellow peignoir, the women of Gaston Street keep CeeCee entertained and enthralled for an entire summer.
I am predicting that this might just be a big hit for the Southern Reading Challenge next year over at Maggie Reads.

2) Walking Through Walls by Phillip Smith.

This was one of Trish's choices for The Non Fiction Five challenge which she hosts every summer. If you are not a big non fiction reader and would like to read more, then I can highly recommend this challenge. It runs from May to September, so do look out for it next year.

Here is the book description from Amazon.

Walking Through Walls is Philip Smith's astonishing memoir of growing up in a household where seances, talking spirits, and exorcisms were daily occurrences, and inexplicable psychic healings resulted in visitors suddenly discarding their crutches and wheelchairs or being cured of fatal diseases.
While there are benefits to having a miracle man in the house, Philip soon discovers the downside of living with a father who psychically knows everything he is doing. Surrounded by invisible spirits who tend to behave like nagging relatives, Philip looks for ways to escape his mystical home life -- including forays into sex, surfing, and even Scientology.
By turns hilarious and profound, Walking Through Walls recounts Philip Smith's often bizarre but always magical coming of age in a household that felt like a cross between Lourdes and the set of Rosemary's Baby, and shows how he managed to map out his own identity in the shadow of a father who, truly, loomed larger than life itself.

Just to remind you all, Trish of Trish's Reading Nook is also responsible for the 100 mile fitness challenge, so if you are thinking of getting fit for Christmas, there is still time to join.

3) One Day by David Nicholls.

I found this book over at Michelle's site Fluttering Butterflies. It was lovely to see Michelle back to reviewing books this week as I find I always like the books that she picks.

Here is the synopsis from Waterstones.

'I can imagine you at forty,' she said, with malice in her voice. 'I can picture it right now.' He smiled without opening his eyes. 'Go on then.' 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY. From the author of the massive bestseller STARTER FOR TEN.

It reminds me of a film, which I cannot for the life of me remember the title, where they meet up on a certain day every year. Now I know it is an old film, so if someone can tell me the name of the film, I would appreciate it as it will stop me from winding myself up.
I really like the sound of this and from what I have read his first novel Starter For Ten is definitely worth a read too. Has anyone read Starter for Ten?


4) The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Now you know I am a sucker for dystopian YA novels, so I was totally captivated by this book when I saw it over at Kittling Books. It is the first book in a trilogy, so more exciting books to follow.

Here is the description from Amazon.
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.



Well there you have my selection of books for the week. I love the covers on all of them and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

What did you find this week?

The Ask and The Answer by Patrick Ness

Pages - 519

Published by Walker Books in 2009

Challenges - Fall into Reading and 100 books

The second book in the Chaos Walking Series.

First line

'YOUR NOISE REVEALS YOU, TODD HEWITT.'

After whizzing through The Knife of Never Letting Go, I was desperate to get my hands on this one. I was over the moon when the library got it in quite quickly for me.

This book carries on exactly from where the first book finishes. This means that I can't tell you hardly anything, because that would give away the ending of book one and if you haven 't read it, you really need to.

I will give you a little taster, just to make your mouth water, so look away if you don't want to know. Todd and Viola are now living in New Prentisstown, but they are living separately. Todd is with the men and Viola is living with the women. They no longer all live together and this gives off an uncomfortable whiff of blantant sexism, which I found quite difficult to read about. The women are treated so differently from the men, just because they don't have the Noise. The men feel threatened by their superior ability and this book becomes a war of the sexes. However, as a war breaks out, you become really unsure of which side is the right side to be rooting for as there is a very fine line separating their actions, that actually become blurry. By the end, I didn't know which side was right and which side was wrong.

I found this book ran at a slower pace than The Knife of Letting Go and that I found to be a good thing, as I was left breathless by the first book. I didn't think there were as many twists and turns in it either and where the first book is full of the unexpected, I didn't find that with this one.

I liked the book, I liked it a lot, but I don't think it was as good as the first book. However, I think this book is a bit like the lull before the storm, or similar to the eye of a twister, where time just stands still in silence. I imagine the third book is going to be the most powerful of the three and I do hope I am right.

I think the main thing I didn't like about this book was that Viola and Todd were separated for the majority of the book. I liked reading about the two of them together as I found their relationship to be quite powerful. Within The Ask and the Answer, there is such distance between them, you end up feeling a little disappointed. It reminded me of New Moon by Stephanie Meyer, which I thought was the least enjoyable of the four books, as the relationship between Edward and Bella was non existent throughout that book. Perhaps I am just a hopeless romantic, but when you witness a romance blossoming, you hope they will stay together until the end.

If you have read either of these books, then you need to. Start with The Knife of Never Letting Go for the roller coaster ride, followed by a slow carousel in The Ask and The Answer and be ready for the terrifying free fall ( I have my fingers crossed on this one, please don't disappoint me Mr Ness) of the next book, Monsters of Men which is not out until 2010.

Being a Helpful Book Blogger.

I am always keen to hear from authors and love to help out when it comes to publishing a new book. In this day and age, I really do think authors need all the help they can get to help get their book out there in the public eye. You never know when you might need a similar favour in return. So with this in mind, I was really keen to help Fiona Robyn.

Fiona Robyn is going to blog her next novel, Thaw, starting on the 1st of March next year. The novel follows 32 year old Ruth’s diary over three months as she decides whether or not to carry on living.

To help spread the word she’s organising a Blogsplash, where blogs will publish the first page of Ruth’s diary simultaneously (and a link to the blog).

She’s aiming to get 1000 blogs involved – if you’d be interested in joining the splash, email her at fiona@fionarobyn.com or find out more information here.

100 Mile Fitness Challenge

Sorry everyone for publishing two posts today, you know I don't like to overload your google readers, but this really needed a post of its own.

The fabulous Trish from Trish's Reading Nook has set up this brilliant challenge to help us all get fitter and slimmer for Christmas. The aim is to 'travel' 100 miles between now and December 31st. I just couldn't resist joining in and will also be contributing a few helpful hints and recipes on the challenge site too.

Here are the rules.

Here’s how it works:In order to complete this Challenge, you will need to “travel” 100 miles from October 1st through December 31st.

Here's how you calculate your mileage:*Running or walking 1 mile outside or on a treadmill equals 1 mile.*15 minutes of other workouts equals 1 mile (elliptical, swimming, weight lifting, workout video, workout classes, etc.).

A few "workout" stipulations:“Workouts” only include activities specifically done for the purpose of exercise. Shopping, house cleaning, walking to and from the parking lot, and other day to day activities should not be included.

Partial miles travelled on different days cannot be combined. For example, if you run 1.25 miles on one day, and .75 mile on another day, that does not equal 2 miles. It counts as 1 mile.Minutes accumulated on two different days cannot be combined. For example, if you workout 10 minutes one day and 5 minutes the next day, that does not combine to equal a mile.

1 mile on the bike does not equal 1 mile, etc. Only walking/running is mile for mile. Otherwise it would be too easy, huh?

I know this started on October 1st, but you can still join in. If you would like to join us on this 100 Mile Fitness Challenge, then click on the picture above.

Over the last two days I have already achieved six miles by riding my bike for 45 minutes each day. I am going to put up a little counter in my side bar, so that I can keep tabs on the miles I achieve.

So come on everyone, get your walking shoes out and get walking.

The Spellbound Hotel by Tom Eglington.

Pages - 246

Challenges - RIP, Reliquiae, 100 books.

Published by Piccadilly Press in 2009.

First paragraph.

To Bethany's eyes, there were many peculiar things in the village, but by far the most peculiar was the giant Stoames mansion that dominated the skyline and which she couldn't help think was growing larger day by day. It seemed no matter which street she turned down or which direction she faced, there was some part of the stately home staring back at her. Whether it was the rows of glinting windows, or the turrets and alcoves of its jagged roofing, or even the walls of lumpy masonry, the house was always there, always watchful. And since they had moved to Stagtree Knoll it felt as if it was there a little more every time she looked.

The story begins after Bethany's parents move to a village called Stagtree Knoll, where everyone has an unhealthy obsession with the local sausages and a local bizarre TV series called 'What About Dave?' Everyone in the village seems to be hypnotised, except Bethany.

Determined to find out what is going on in the village, Bethany sneaks into the mysterious mansion that dominates the view from all over the village. Inside the mansion, she discovers that the mansion has a special use, it is a hotel for ghosts and spirits and non material beings. After breaking into the mansion, Bethany discovers she cannot get out and is set to work in the hotel, along with the guests who can't pay their bills. Bethany begins to realise that something really sinister is at the heart of the hotel and she must break the spell to free the spirits, as well as the rest of the village.

I will be honest and admit that I really didn't like this book very much. After reading other reviews on this book, I am beginning to think my tastes may be slightly off the wall, as so many people seemed to love this book, where as I found it a little disturbing.

It started off well and it had my interest, but as the story progressed there were parts that just weird and I felt uncomfortable reading it. There is a sinister existence within the hotel which I just found to be really quite nasty.

I really don't like to be negative about a book, but I do feel this one just wasn't right for me. I am trying to think about what I actually liked about it. It was definitely well written and very descriptive, but I didn't really connect with the main character at all and that is such a big part of enjoying a book. Bethany really didn't hold my interest and I found that I didn't really care what happened to her. I was more concerned about the giant who provides all the energy within the hotel. The rest of the characters appeared very two dimensional to me and none of them seemed to show a balance in their characters. I felt you only saw their dark side shining through.

This story has lots of creatures merging together as one and I found that a little repulsive to actually visualise. I wouldn't want my children to read this book, as it really is a lot darker than it comes across in reviews.

I suppose it is one of those books that affects people in different ways, the reviews on Amazon are fabulous for it. However, I personally did not enjoy it and I am so glad I didn't buy it.

Have you read this book? Have you ever been really disappointed by a book that everyone else seems to love?