Legendary Ladies Contest

I'm BACK!!! Did you miss me? No? Rude!

Anyway, to kickstart my return, I have a small contest for you guys! And it's celebrate badass women  and goddesses!

Legendary Ladies: 50 Goddesses To Empower and Inspire You looks at goddesses from mythology round the world - such as Artemis from Greek mythology, Mazu from Chinese, Kali from Hindu and Oshun from Yoruba among others - to inspire and make readers channel their Inner Goddess (and not in the Fifty Shades of Grey way!).

To celebrate this blog tour of Legendary Ladies, I am hosting a small contest, all thanks to Faye Rogers PR and Chronicle Books. I am giving away a copy of Legendary Ladies, a copy go Bad Girls Throughout History and some Bad Girls stationery!

And all you have to do is fill in the form below!

Ok, the boring stuff. This contest will close this coming Friday (20th April 2018) at around 7pm. The winner will be chosen at random by Random.org and once chosen, the winner will be announced on Twitter. I will email the winner for their postal address so the publisher can send their winnings to them.

With all that out of the way, good luck to everyone who's going to enter and may the odds be in your favour.

Mini Book Reviews - My Lazy Cat & I Am A Cat

If you guys know me, I love cats. I own a cat - Bagheera (he's not all black, sadly, to make him look like a panther), have a tonkinese cat patronus, according to Pottermore, and I sense I will be a cat in my next life...

Plus, I am a little addicted/obsessed to BBC One's Big Cats series (which is ending tonight and it's NOT FAIR!).

So, today seems to be the perfect time to review these two cat-themed picture books: My Lazy Cat by Christian Roussey and I Am A Cat by Galia Berstein.

My Lazy Cat follows a little girl and her cat, Boomer. Boomer is lazy, but she isn't. She does judo, yoga, swimming, biking, rugby, she has things to do. But one day, Boomer accidentally keeps the little girl from getting out of the door and she decides to stay with Boomer that day and enjoy herself at his pace...

I Am A Cat follows Simon, a house cat who encounters some big cats: Lion, Tiger, Panther, Puma and Cheetah. When he says he's a cat, the big cats laugh and say he's can't be a cat as he's too small. But as the story goes on, Simon shows the big cats that he's just like them...

I adore both of these pictures books. They are very different from each other and yet, both were simple and fun to read. Yes, I know they are picture books but I like the illustrations in both (My Lazy Cat looked like a young child has drawn it, which will make it relatable while I Am A Cat is crisp and strong, showing the cats off). Both stories are perfect for adults to read to child and, when they are older, for the children to read to themselves (though I Am A Cat might be easier to read than My Lazy Cat due to words per page and font).

Plus, the meaning behind each story is important. With My Lazy Cat, it shows that no matter how busy you are, it's important to have time to stop and take it easy. And with I Am A Cat, it shows that we have more in common then at first glance and celebrates individuality and community. And with everything that is happening in the world at the moment, both messages are hugely important.

Out of the two, I think I prefer I Am A Cat, but I think both books are perfect for the tiny humans in your lives.

Mini Book Review - Professional Crocodile

When I was asked to read this by Chronicle Books, there was one reason why I said yes. The cover. I mean, LOOK AT IT! IT'S A CROCODILE PICKING OUT A TIE TO WEAR FOR WORK! A CROCODILE WEARING A TIE!!! That's all. Nothing else. I had to read this because of the crocodile and him deciding what tie to wear today!

Anyway, moving on, Professional Crocodile is a wordless picture book that follows a crocodile's morning. He gets up, brushes his teeth, eats a slice of toast and makes his way to work. Where he works might surprise some readers...

This was wonderful. There is no other way to describe it. It was charming. The story was simple and very everyday (which makes it more wonderful) and the illustrations were the highlight of the book.

Children will love this book and will be looking at people on their travels, trying to spot the crocodile going to and from work.

To prove my point, let me show you some of my fave illustrations...

ALSO, if you do ever see a hardback copy, take off the dust jacket. It reveals what the professional crocodile dreams of and it's possibly my favourite illustration!

Book Review - The Art of Moana

I had this book for quite a while - thank you Chronicle Books. But I wanted to read this after I saw the movie. Whenever I have read these types of books (which I love - if you backtrack far enough, you see that I have read a few - The Art of Finding Dory, The Art of Up, The Art of Frozen to name a few...) before watching the movie, there are little spoilers about the end of the movie so, as much as I wanted to devour the beautiful art designs in this, I wanted to see the movie first.

In this, we see the art designs and ideas for the art that went into creating the world of Moana, a Disney films most of you guys love.

Now, because it took a while to read this after I watched the film, I was surprised about the lengths the directors and art departments went to get this right - spending a long time researching Polynesia and the Pacific Islands, with the people, sounds, rituals, plantations and other things to make the story ring true and respect the region of Oceania, while telling Moana's story with its magical twist.

And this book, like the other The Art of books I have read (or need to read - I was recently given another for review which I will do nearer the movie's release date, me thinks...). This shows the art and the process it took from starting idea to final design. For example, very early in design, Maui was drawn being bald, but it was changed after the team chatted to their Mo'oera consultants and they were told that they envisioned Maui having a Sampson-like hair, long like a lion's mane. And seeing the different start points to the Te Kā and Te Fiti made an interesting "oh!" moment.

I do like these types of coffee-table books and I think older Disney fans who enjoy how Disney created the film from its starting idea drawings... And because I feel like I can show you, let me show you one or two images I think you will like!

Nathalia Suellen Chats RoseBlood Cover Art

Today is my stop on the RoseBlood tour - my first blog tour of 2017! And I am so happy to welcome  Nathalia Suellen to the Pewter Wolf. Nathalia is a well-respected artist who created the cover art of A.G. Howard's RoseBlood. 

RoseBlood is a modern-day reimagining of The Phantom of the Opera. The story follows Rune, who has a voice of an angel but a strange affliction that leaves her sick after every performance. Her mother, out of desperation, sends Rune to a French arts school - RoseBlood conservatory - which connections to Phantom of the Opera. But once there, Rune starts to believe that something otherworldly is afoot. But is it in her head, or is there a Phantom lurking at RoseBlood? And if so, why is watching Rune?

Now, before I hand over to the Q&A with Nathalia, I would like to thank Nathalia for taking time out to answer these questions about creating the cover art. I would, also, like to thank Jessica at Abrams & Chronicle/Amulet Books for setting this up and allowing me to be involved in this blog tour.

If you want to check out Nathalia's work, you should check out her website http://www.nathaliasuellen.com or check out her Twitter at @nathaliasuellen. Now, over to the Q&A!

Book Review - Boo! Haiku

It's the spooky month! Halloween is round the corner. So is me taking my blog break for 7/10 days-ish and going out of the country! You guys must be thrilled over the quiet you're going to get!

But before that happens, let's me do a tiny write up on Boo! Haiku.

In this picture book, we have a collection of Halloween haiku on who we will meet on Halloween. A witch, an owl, a skeleton and more.

It's very hard to discuss a picture book, but I love how this is introducing poetry to younger/preschool readers. And with it being haiku, it's an easier way to get young ones into poetry.

I love the illusions within these pages (done by Bob Shea). I'm not sure about the last page which explained what a haiku is and explaining what a syllable is (should this have been at the front, one wonders...?), but there's a trick that, because the book is meant to be fun, cover up the middle line to help little ones figure out who is on the next page...

I think this is a good entrance for little ones to read and understand poetry and to get them in the mood for Halloween.

Book Review - The Art of Kubo and the Two Strings

What is it with me and art books linked to films? Am a complete sucker for them. I have no shame in admitting that.

So, when I received a copy of The Art of Kubo and the Two Strings from the lovely people at Abrams and Chronicle, I was very surprised. They know I enjoy these types of books, but to receive this without me talking about the movie or asking was a nice surprise. I mean, I only discovered a trailer for this movie about three or so months ago. Am very new to discovering this.

Kubo looks after his mother in a cave by a fishing village. But when someone from her past appears, his mother sends Kubo to safety using magic Kubo never knew she had. Because of this, he must search for his fallen father's armour to face his family's dark secret to set himself and his mother free...

This is an arty book. No story in here. But what I love about these type of books is the level of detail and research that goes into these story. This story is set in Japan so the research and the detail that the production company went into - looking at pictures from The British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum, learning about culture and history, understanding and learning origami, costume design and textile research - I found very interesting. And seeing the illustrations of the movie - concept art, statues, photos, origami/paper statues, etc - it was a lovely insight to how this movie was made.

I would say, like all of these The Art of [Insert Movie Title Here] books, buy or read this after you've seen the movie. There are a few spoilers about how the movie will end and a few things that would be considered spoilery. And we don't want to spoil you if you are going to watch the movie now, do we?

But I enjoyed myself reading this and drooling over the art. And, as in a good mood, will show you some of my favourite pages...

GoodRead - Most Beautiful Universities In The World

Tina from Abrams and Chronicle emailed me a while ago over a few titles that Abrams and Chronicle  are publishing over the next few months. It was a mix bag of books and several catch my eye. And this was one that caught my attention and held it. When I saw it, it made me go "This would be very different read for me and my blog" and that excited me. I have never read a coffee table book and it focused on photography - something I love looking at (have you not seen my Pinterest?!).

In this book, we have photographs of over 20 universities from 15 different countries. This ranges from the oldest universities in the world - University of Bologna, Oxford, Sorbonne, Cambridge - to much newer universities - National School of Fine Art, Yale, Rolex Learning Centre.

What's wonderful about this book is that, while there is a tiny write-up of each university, it's the photographs that sell the book. It's the photos that do the talking and that is what makes me like this book. I dip in and out of it and I feel like I discover something new in each photograph, which are lush and glorious.

So, I'm not gonna write up a typical blogpost. Am going to take some photos and show them to you.

GoodRead - Goodnight Darth Vader

I forgot I asked to review this, if truth be told, dear readers. I asked Tina at Abrams and Chronicles for this a while ago, but completely forgot I asked so I was very surprised when a mystery parcel was on my doorstep containing this! I read it very quickly after I ripped it out of the envelope and then read it, more slowly and carefully, a few days later... 

It's nighttime in the Star Wars universe, and it's time for Darth Vader to put his twins, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia to bed. But the children want a bedtime story... 

It is a very cute story. A story I think most parents or family members who have done babysitting duties would get and smile over. 

For some reason, I always thought this had the similar feel to Go The F*** To Sleep by Adam Mansbach. I'm not sure why I thought this, but both have a tongue-in-cheek feel that parents will love and "get". And Star Wars fans will be delighted with this. Fans old and new, I think, will like this new twist on the franchise. 

And I know someone who would love this so will give this to them in the next few days... 

GoodRead - Unhinged

After Emma from Book Angel Booktopia introduced to the first book in this series, Splintered (review here, by the way!), I have been very much excited for this, the second book in the series. I got so excited over this book, I applied for this on NetGalley and Tina from the UK publisher, Abrams and Chronicle, sent me a proof. Thank you Tina and NetGalley (though Tina more as I read the proof version rather than the eProof).

A year after Splintered and Alyssa is torn between the two worlds she belongs to: the human world and Wonderland. She's trying to balance them and trying to keep secrets from her father and her boyfriend. But when her untrustworthy guide of Wonderland and childhood friend, Morpheus, suddenly appears in the real world, both worlds are colliding and Alyssa has to figure out what to do now...

I tried to read this over the Christmas and the New Year weeks - and failed to get halfway through. So, one day, I blitz through the book and went through a mix of "Ooooh!" and "what's gonna happen now?" and "Are you kidding me?!"

I really enjoy AG Howard's writing. It's one of the main reasons I wanted to read Unhinged. Her writing just sucked me in and I actually enjoyed taking my time to read the first part of the book. And I enjoyed the story of Alyssa trying to come to terms with the events of last year and her seeing her two worlds crashing into each other.

And AG manages to keep Unhinged as dark and punky as did Splintered. That's always a bonus. Don't you hate it when you read a sequel to a book you enjoyed reading and it just doesn't feel like the same author wrote it? Or that it doesn't feel like the right sequel? (I doubt this is making sense, but some of you might understand what I mean, I hope)

While I did enjoy reading this twisted tale, I have two tiny faults.

My first is Morpheus. In Splintered, I found Morpheus a character I most enjoyed reading as I never trusted him. And while in Unhinged, I still didn't trust Morpheus but there were little things that made me go "Are you not seeing this, Alyssa? How are you not seeing this?!". I wonder if it's because I read The Moth In The Mirror (which is one interesting novella as it hints a scene that becomes very useful and important at the end of the book) or if I had become so aware that Morpheus is a character to watch that everything he does, I was always analyzing it for double meaning...

My second fault is... well, I have to admit this but this is a me issue. It's nothing to do with the book, but this is an issue I always have when I read books, watch films and things if this happens. But here it is. When I got to the end, I suddenly thought "This is a set-up for book 3". Some readers will be ok with that. Some won't. I found it annoying, but the more I think about it, the more I thought "Ok, maybe this was the only way to go..."

Barring that, I did like the book (maybe not as much as Splintered) and I am a little curious on how AG Howard is going to write Ensnared after ending Unhinged the way she did...

GoodRead - The Moth In The Mirror

With the second book in the Splintered, Unhinged, coming out in a few weeks times, A G Howard has released a short novella to get us ready and to hint at what's to come... 

Morpheus has a rival for Alyssa's affections: Jeb. So, to figure him out, Morpheus decides to know his enemy better and uses Jeb's memories of his time in Wonderland. What he finds might surprise Morpheus...

Now, when I was reading Splintered, I never trusted Morpheus and, with this, I fear that I won't trust him in Unhinged, because by the end of the story, you get his gameplan of what he might do in book two. But it was interesting to see both the "bad boy" and the "good guy" (Morpheus and Jeb respectively) and it was interesting to see scenes and interactions that was hinted at in Splintered that wasn't shown as Alyssa wasn't there to see them, but on her quest to save Wonderland...

My only regret with this novella is that I wished it was a little longer. It felt like we only skimmed the scenes rather than go in depth. 

Now I have read this, I can not wait to read Unhinged. 

GoodRead - Splintered

I blame Emma from Book Angel Booktopia about this. She has been going on about this book to me via Twitter for quite some time. And seeing as she and I have very similar taste in books (and Emma has a good taste in books) and seeing as I love fairy tales retellings/reimaginings (as you all might know, I adore Once Upon A Time and Disney), I bought it and read it after my mad one-day read of The Selection by Kiera Cass.

Alyssa have been hearing flowers and insects talk for the past few years. She hides it as she doesn't want to become her mother: locked up in a mental institution. Madness runs through her family, and seeing as she's a descendant of Alice Liddell, the Alice that inspired Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, it looks like Alyssa is slowly going down that road. 

But what if Wonderland is real? What if Alyssa isn't going mad? What if...?

To break the curse of her family's insanity, Alyssa must find the rabbit hole and right all the wrongs that happened due to the originally Alice. But Wonderland isn't like the Wonderland we all know and everyone isn't who they seem to be. Not even Alyssa herself. 

I really liked this book. I have a thing for retellings/re-imaginings and I like them when the story goes dark and twisted. And Splintered is very much a dark and twisted retelling. There was a gothic, punky edge to it and I loved that side of it.

One of the things I liked about this book is that all the characters in here are broken and don't fit your stereotypical YA charcter. Even the main characters of Alyssa and her real-world crush, Jeb. Both of these characters have dark backstories - Alyssa with her mother and Jeb with his father. Even a small character like Taelor isn't perfect with the tiny hints of her backstory. You can't really pigeon-holed these characters into YA stereotypes and that was refreshing. 

And as for Morpheus - a character who we don't really met till chapter 9 and who really picks up the story (the first few chapters have a good pace but when he came it, it went up a gear) - he isn't the typical ... well, I'm not sure what to call him, exactly. He's a third point in the "possible" love triangle, but he didn't fit that label. He was one of those characters that I never trusted, but I adored reading him. Throughout the whole book, I could never figure him out. And every time I thought I did, he would surprise me by doing or saying something that would always put me on the back foot. But he's a character I am the most intrigued over and am so glad we are going to get a sequel to as I want to know more about him and understand him. 

Another thing I really enjoyed about this book is that this book, not matter how warped and mad it got, still had a plot and had reasons. In one of the later chapters when the "endgame" (if you want to call it that) was revealed and explain, it made perfect sense. There was no "Wait! What?" over it. The clues were in the story and it made sense, no matter how weird the story got several chapters back. How A G Howard kept up, I have no idea. 

And now, faults. I will always find faults in book so SORRY BOOKS OF THE WORLD. The only real fault I have is how convenient certain things were explained. Like how Aylssa accepted that she has been friends with Morpheus for years through her dreams so quickly or the fact both she and Jeb knew what a confirmateur was (it's a device used by hat makers to help customize hats to fit specific head shapes). Sometimes, it worked but other times, it never sat well with me.

But saying that, I really liked this messed-up book. I would love to see someone try and turn this into a movie or a TV show. I could very easily imagined it (if it' a movie, I demand Tim Burton to be the director!). And now I have to sit and wait for the sequel, Unhinged, to come out early next year. And it better have loads of Morpheus scenes in it. Just saying. But, until then, I'm not sure I will look at plants and bugs in the same way again... Again, Emma, I blame you.