Tuesday 31 January 2012

Really Random Tuesday

Really Random Tuesday is a meme created by Suko at Suko's Notebook which is a way to post odds and ends--announcements, musings, quotes, photos--any blogging and book-related things you can think of. 
I can't believe I haven't done one of these posts since December! I have so much bookish news to tell you.                                                                          




Let's start with a fabulous trailer to get us in the mood. Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan and the interactive book cover. Apologies for not getting it in the center, it seems Blogger is being a little temperamental this afternoon. But do run your mouse over the cover, it is such fun to watch the water ripple!
For more exciting information about this book, check out Undercover from Walker Books. 
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Any aspiring YA speculative fiction authors who are in the throes of finishing their novels and about to look for an agent, read this first! A message from Strange Chemistry, the new YA imprint from Angry Robot.

'Last year our angry but adoable Overlords Angry Robot Books ran an Open Door month.
Which is what, you ask?
It involved AR relaxing the usual submission guidelines and allowing authors-to-be who were unagented to send in a manuscript.
It worked wonderfully well, with three authors signed up!
Why am I telling you this?
Because this year Strange Chemistry is jumping on the band wagon!
That’s right – we are looking for YA authors-to-be who have written any form of speculative YA fiction (fantasy, SF, horror, or some mash-up of the three!) to submit in the period between April 16th and April 30th.
Full details can be found HERE and we do advise that you read the WHOLE list of requirements!
In addition Angry Robot Books are asking for Classic Fantasy – high, epic, medieval, magical, etc – but only adult fiction. See their requirements here.'
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As many of you know I have been raving about Hollow Pike by James Dawson. Well I thought you might like to see the trailer for it. 

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Many of you may remember me raving about a certain mind blowing book called Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor last year. Well the title for the new book has just been announced!
Doesn't it sound fabulous? I can't wait. As I understand it, the book will be out in the Autumn.
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February 14th sees the launch of Piatkus Entice, our brand new eBook-first romance imprint. With new titles each month from authors including Eloisa James, Laura Wright, Sarah MacLean, Mariah Stewart and many more, Piatkus Entice will be a one-stop-shop for romantic fiction, offering readers everything from virile vampires to fairytale endings, ravishing rakes and so much more besides.
The website is now live at www.piatkusentice.co.uk. Have a look around the site, then follow us on Twitter andFacebook, or sign up to the Entice newsletter for the latest romance news straight to your inbox.
Piatkus Entice. Temptation at your fingertips.
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FABER AND FABER LAUNCHES THE SPARK - A PLACE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO SHOWCASE THEIR CREATIVE SKILLS
Faber and Faber has launched THE SPARK www.facebook.com/thesparkpage, a place for 13 - 16 year olds who have an interest in creativity and reading. During 2012 THE SPARK, hosted on Facebook, will invite young people to take part in some exciting projects around acting, film-making, writing and music, each linked to and inspired by a Faber Young Adult title. Whilst students aren’t obliged to read the books to take part, we hope that they will not only be inspired to produce some creative work, but will also be encouraged to engage with the related books, and develop a greater interest in reading generally. Our aim is that THE SPARK will become a vibrant community where young people who love reading and creating can meet, talk and share. We have been extremely impressed by the entries for our recent project, run in association with the GUARDIAN, to find a talented young artist to create a new, iconic cover image for William Golding’s LORD OF THE FLIES and we hope that we can discover a similar level of creativity in each of the new projects to be launched this year.

Find out more at www.facebook.com/thesparkpage. Follow THE SPARK @thesparkfeed
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I will keep showing this trailer everywhere till  everyone has seen this film. I am desperate to see it and hope hubby will take me this weekend! If you loved Free Willy, you will want to see this. 

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Also check out Lauren Kate's book cover coming to life!

The fabulous Carolyn and her gorgeous book blogging pal Laura have a fabulous read a long going on  over at Book Chick City. 
Each month throughout the year, the ladies will be reviewing a different book from the Sookie Stackhouse series. So that is one book every month in the series order. Now I am majorly tempted to join in with this one, as I like many I have most of this series sitting on my book shelves.   The lovely ladies posted their first review yesterday which you can see here, 
Now I have read the first book, which I reviewed here, and I hope to join in with the readalong for the second book in the series. If you want to be involved, then pop over and join in the discussion. 
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So there you are! Another round up of bookish news for you. I will be back soon with lots of other bookish gossip!

Challenge Me 2012 - January - A Madness Of Angels


As many of you remember I set myself a little challenge. I gave you the option to choose 12 books for me to read throughout the year 2012 - one book each month.
For January, I was to read A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffiths and I am here to hold my hands up and say I failed!
However there are reasons to my failure, so I want to explain myself and make myself feel better about the whole situation.
Firstly, when I began this project, I had aimed to begin reading the book chosen at the beginning of the month and read a little every day. January began and I forgot all about it until about two weeks ago, so I failed at the starting line.
Secondly, I did manage to read half of the book, but to be honest I really struggled with it. The first thirty pages of A Madness Of Angels, lost me completely. I really didn't have a clue what was going on - the main character constantly referred to himself as 'we' which left me really confused. I had to go on Twitter for an explanation and was relieved to discover I wasn't going mad and  that the main character Matthew Swift was sharing his body with the blue electric angels.
So I progressed a little further into the book and I enjoyed it a little more as I read it, but I found it just too hard going. This isn't a book that can be read in a couple of days, as it is so detailed and needs time to be digested.
As many of you know, I have been taking some seriously strong medication this week and even the thought of attempting to read such a detailed book actually put me off reading anything at all. So a couple of nights ago, I came to the decision to stop reading this book. At this moment in time, it wasn't for me, I wasn't enjoying it and I couldn't see any reason to continue with it if it wasn't working for me.
However, I do intend to one day attempt to read it again, when I am in the right frame of mind and when I can devote my reading time to it completely.
If you have read this book, I take my hat off to you, as I know one day I will fully grasp the greatness of this book. Unfortunately that time is not now.
Apologies for everyone who chose this book for me and all the people on Twitter who urged me to carry on.

I have downloaded February's book Benny and Shrimp by Katerina Mazetti and I hope to actually complete the challenge for February.

Monday 30 January 2012

Hot Books For February


This is one of those posts that nearly didn't get written. As you know, I am still recovering from back problems, so this post will basically show all the fabulous books I have discovered that are being published in the UK in February. If you click on each picture it will take you to either the Goodreads page or the Amazon page for the book. This month there are a few adult books included, so you won't just find YA. All the Piatkus books are adult in content.  Apologies before you start, if I add to your TBR lists!
Catnip Publishing
Hodder and Stoughton
Bloomsbury

 Orchard Books
Simon and Schuster
Oxford University Press
Random House Children's Books
Abrams and Chronicle
Indigo

Orion's Childrens Books
Atom Books
Chicken House
Electric Monkey
Templar
HarperCollins
Faber and Faber
Headline
Pan Macmillan

Walker Books
MIRA Books
Harper Voyager
Century
Piatkus



I imagine that some of you are looking at a few of these covers and thinking you might have seen them before, well a few have just been brought out in paperback so I thought I would include those as well. I hope you see something that you desperately want! Happy drooling!