I Was Born For This Blog Tour Music Alert!

As you guys know, I love listening to music while I read. Sometimes, that perfect song comes along that just click with the book in one form or other: the story, the characters (or one in particular). 

So, when I was asked if I wanted to be involved in the I Was Born For This blog tour, I jumped at the chance. Books and music! And I am a little obsessed with Alice's Heartstopper (if you haven't read it, YOU MUST). I mean, HOW COULD I REFUSE?! 

I don't want to say too much about I Was Born for This as I am playing to read this book sometime this month and I want to go in as blind as I can, but it has music, fandom, friendship and facing up to reality. 

And, to celebrate this book release, there's a blog tour where Alice picks a song that has a connection to I Was Born to This and we bloggers have to pick a song that links to reading, fandom or this book. I've gone with fandom and reading (why not). So, Alice's song choice is first and mine second... 

Before I throw you over to Alice, I wanna thank Alice for doing this and letting us snoop into her music (she's even created a Spotify playlist so, if you just can't wait, CHECK THIS OUT!!!) and Nina for organising this tour! It's been a blast to follow and discover new music and some old music I forgotten about. Now, onto the good stuff!

#VisitOtherworld - Extract and Contest!

I am thrilled to be part of the #VisitOtherworld blog tour to celebrate the release of Otherworld, written by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller.

Welcome to life 2.0. There is no screen or controls. You not only see and hear this world - you can touch, taste, smell... In this new reality, there are no rules to follow, no laws to break, where you can indulge in every one of your desires... so, why would you ever leave...?

To celebrate this book, I am allowed to share an extract for you. And if this wets your appetite, I am hosting a tiny contest to win a copy! All the details of the contest will be on the Google Form so check them before you enter.

Now, with that out of the way, ONTO THE EXTRACT AND THE CONTEST!

Book Review - Grave Matter

As you guys know, I was away the past two weeks on holiday/blog holiday. So when I came home from the Lake District and getting ready for the second week of holidaying, I got this book through my letterbox and got excited. A creepy/ghosty story by Juno Dawson and it has illustrations by Alex T Smith. Sign me up to put down Dan Brown for an hour so I can read this!

Since the crash, Samuel is lost. Eliza is dead and he wants her back. Overwhelmed by his grief and his need to see her again, Samuel remembers his Aunt Marie and her healing powers. But remembering this takes him down a dark path of Hoodoo and making a pact with the Milk Man. A pact he might live to regret...

I'm going to admit something to you guys right now: I'm not sure how I feel about it. Am torn over my feelings.

On the one hand, this is a fast, addictive read. I read this in practically one sitting. I couldn't put this down. I liked that this book tried to tackle issues such as grief and, very VERY briefly, feminism. I like that this written and laid out in a dyslexia-friendly way. I liked the illustrations by Alex T Smith, which added something extra to the story.

And yet... And yet, I can't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed. It just wasn't creepy enough for my tastes. I know, I am a huge wuss so me saying that is a bit of a contradiction, but bear with! I have read Juno's other works and I know she can crank up the creepy factor. But with this, we had hoodoo and the dead so I expected something to creep me out or gasp, but it never came. It felt like it always just missed being creepy and spine-tingling. Maybe it's because I was expected so much from a 140-ish page novella and it was never going to deliver - maybe reading Juno's other works have spoilt me a little...

While this wasn't creepy enough for me, I hoovered this book and I expect several of you will devour this on dark, snowy, moonless nights....

Freshers Stop Here!

Am back from my mini blog break! DID YOU MISS ME? ...no? Rude.

Anyway, am back and, to kickstart, I would love to welcome Lucy Ivison and Tom Ellen onto the Pewter Wolf. Lucy and Tom are co-authors of several books, such as Lobsters and Never Evers. And their latest has just come out!

Freshers follows Phoebe and Luke as they start uni. Phoebe can't wait! And with Luke, her secret crush there, it's going to be exciting. But Luke is still reeling over his break-up with his ex. When their worlds do crash together, they have to navigate new friends, parties, social media crisis. But with all this going on around them, will they find themselves and each other?

Now, as today is my stop on the tour, I wanted to do something a little different and talk music, mainly music that Lucy and Tom listened to while at uni themselves. Plus, to give it an extra twist, am adding a song choice of my own that reminds me of my college days (I was a bit of a wuss not going to uni! Let's not get into that can of worms.)

Before I show off their music choices, I want to thank Lucy and Tom for allowing us to snoop into their uni days and their music and Nina for asking if I wanted to be involved in the tour! Now, let's go back in time thorough the timey-wimey thing known as music!

Book Read - My Name is Not Refugee

This has been sitting on my TBR shelves for a while. It was one of those books that, as soon as I read Nina Douglas email about it, I wanted to read it. But when I got a copy, I was a bit hesitant over how, in a picture book aimed for younger readers (aka the tiny humans in your lives) was going to tackle the issue of refugees.

The story follows a small boy who is told by his mother that they have to leave their home, because it's no longer safe. There, we follow their story as they leave, travel, wait and then find a safer place to stay and live.

This book explains the refugee crisis in a simple, very child-friendly way. Almost with an innocent outlook of a young child which shows that, while this is scary and "...a bit sad but quite exciting too" (taken from one of the earliest pages).

On each page, the book asks the reader questions - what would you take? How far could you walk? What's the strangest food you've ever eaten? - while showing images of his journey, simple but powerful.

I get that some parents and teachers won't want to read this to young people, but I think this will help some youngsters understand the very basic of the refugee crisis and should be more readily available.