SMILE - Fine?

From what I know, this is a screenshot from the US comedy, Two Broke Girls, so thank you TV.

But I saw this on Pinterest so thank you TV & Pinterest, my new home for SMILE. If you want more Smile posts, go to http://www.pinterest.com/pewterwolf/smile/!

#BondBrunch (Random House Blogger's Event)

How can I start this blogpost sound like a spy novel...?

At a top secret-ish location in London, a bunch of book bloggers met. Asked by Random House to see, chat and gush over books for their children's and YA list that will be published in the coming months. And I managed to tag along (thank you Luna's Little Library for allowing me to tag along)! So, I snuck in (under the alias of Regina - don't ask!) and after a good chat-up with all the other book bloggers (hello to you all!!!), we were split into four groups...

... to be "No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!"

I'm kidding! I'm kidding. Honest!

What the Random House team decided to do was to have a speed-dating type thing - a speed book date, if you will. There were four tables and each team had its own title. These four titles were:- Fiction to Make You Ponder (aka the table that will make you cry), Swoon (aka the gushy table), Things That Go Bump In The Night (aka the table of fantasy and scariness) and Fantastical Fiction and Action Packed Adventure (aka the table everyone wanted to visit).

Because there's a few books I want to chat about, let me pick one/two books from each table and skim over it (there's one book I am leaving till the end because... well... in the worlds of River Song...)

So, let's start with FICTION TO MAKE YOU PONDER. From the man who wrote The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (John Boyne), Stay Where You Are And Then Leave is a story set in the First World War about a boy whose father leaves for a reason he doesn't truly understand. Until he discovers a letter on a train platform... Touching on themes of Post Traumatic Stress and what happens to those who are left waiting, I sense this book will be very important and will have most of its readers sobbing.

And Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen is going to be an interesting book. A mutant plant is growing, forcing people to leave their homes. But one boy can't leave his tower block. His mother refuses to leave. Soon, they can't leave. But there are other who didn't leave... Though it sounds like an alien book, it sounds and feels more a story about family - the family we are born into and then the family we make...

There's one book I want to touch upon in SWOON and that is If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. This is because the movie is coming out (I will pop the trailer at the bottom of the post...) and because I REALLY want to reread this book. So, with this new film edition (I know, film edition covers are usually awful, but If I Stay seems to break that rule, no?) cover, Mia is in a car with her family. Then there is an accident. Her parents are dead, her little brother is touch and go and Mia... well, Mia is looking down at her body and she has no idea what to do... All her choices are gone, bar one. To live or to die. To stay or to go...

I was very lucky to be given a copy of this (I misplaced my old hardback edition to If I Stay) so a reread is HAPPENING! Not sure when but soon. And you will know when I'm doing it as I shall be tweeting about the feels/the heartbreak this book will give me!

I really want to talk about all the books from the THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT table. But the Lockwood and Co series by Jonathan Stourd sounds awesome and scary, and Nightmares! by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller sounds very interesting (a few of us decided that this book could be desrcibled/have the tagline of "Like the movie Labyrinth but without the awful sexual awaking". (See? I told you all that I would put this in the blog) but the one that I REALLY want to talk to you guys about is Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens. An Agatha Christie style murder mystery with a sense of humour, diversity and the sentence "I am much too short to be the heroine of this story, and who ever heard of a chinese Sherlock Holmes?". And bunbreaks! This book I went out after the event and bought. Yep, I HAD to have this book!

Now, the FANTASTICAL FICTION AND ACTION PACKED ADVENTURE table. I am going to talk about two because the third is the next paragraph. So, Dragons at Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett is a collection of short stories which contain dragons, fast cars, dinosaurs and cavemen. If you can, WAIT FOR THE COLLECTOR'S EDITION! There will a heck of illustrations and they sound yummy! And now, the book everyone gasped over - The Iron Trail: The Magisterium by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. Call has been told never to trust a magician and to never go to the Magisterium... You can guess what happens next, don't you?

And now, the reason for the event. Random House is going to publish Young Bond. They have a new author and the first book sounds AWESOME! And we were very lucky to have the author, Steve Cole, talk to us about Shoot To Kill. From the little he could tell us, this will be set in 1930s in Hollywood, where something very wrong is happening in Tinseltown and it looks like one James Bond might find himself in the middle of it.

Steve is one very funny and very passionate guy and, after the event, he came with us to the pub to chat books (aka our plans to set up a Book Mafia and how we were going to make Malorie Blackman to be the next Prime Minster [#MalorieBlackmanForPM]). I shall also put the book trailer for Shoot To Kill at the end of the post as well.

So, what do you guys thinks? Are they any books that you are very excited over to read? I have a bunch and it looks like my bank account will hate me...

Books And Their Theme Songs - Volume 24

Another day, another blog post about music linked to books. I hope you like all the songs mentioned! So, without further ado, off we go!!!

WE WERE LIARS by E Lockhart
"Pretty Little Head" by Eliza Rickman


THE WINNER'S CURSE by Marie Rutkoski
"Big Houses" by Squalloscope and "Holding Onto Heaven" by Foxes



SAPPHIRE BLUE by Kerstin Gier
"Noticed" by Mute Math

SMILE - A Friday Special!

THIS IS ME!!!

My thanks goes to Pinterest (again!). If you fancy scaring my SMILE board, go to http://www.pinterest.com/pewterwolf/smile/! Go and I ope you find random things that make you smile...

GoodRead - Midnight Crossroad

Before I can go any further with this review, I must thank Midas PR for allowing me the credits to review the lovely audiobooks from Audible.co.uk over the past few months. I feel like I haven't thanked them and I have got a few more audiobooks to go before I am free of audiobooks that are either on my iPhone or in my Audible library so thanks again.

Anyway, now all that's out of the way, let's get into the review of Midnight Crossroad (or, as I always called it, Midnight Crossing. No idea why, though...).

In Texas, there is a small town called Midnight. A town that, on the surface, looks like any other small town. But if you stay a while, you noticed that something doesn't feel right. No one asks questions - well, the right questions. Then two things happen to Midnight in very short space of time. A new resident moves into town and the body of a young woman who went missing three months prior is discovered on the town's first (and last) annual picnic...

And it looked like this woman had her own secrets to hide. But in a town where not asking the right questions is the norm, will the right questions be asked and will her killer come to light?

Before I go further, I do want to say this is a new series - a trilogy, I believe - and it's an odd trilogy at that. There are elements/characters/themes that come from Charlaine Harris's other series. So, we have vampires, witches, physics, etc that come from other series such as the Sookie Stackhouse and Harper Connelly (I believe from other people's reviews that Midnight does touch or hint at the Lily Bard and Aurora Teagarden series as well, but don't confirm me on that). So, if you have read any of her other series, you will see little Easter Eggs.

Ok, my reactions to the audiobook. I oddly liked it. I didn't love it, but once I found my footing with the story, I did enjoy listening to it. I like that this story was about the town of Midnight and its residents, rather than focusing on a group of people who live in this one town (if that makes any sense). For some odd reason, it reminded me of two things: Welcome To Night Vale and The Night Circus - and I'm not 100% certain why it did. I think both focus of a place rather than the people of that place. Again, am not sure if that makes sense but, in my head, it does.

And with the reader - Susan Bennett - once I got use to her voice, I fell into the story. She never felt annoying to me, and she fitted the style of the story with her Southern American accent (perfect for a book set in Texas).

However, I have two problems. One is linked the audiobook and the other is linked to the story.

My audiobook problem is that there was never any gapping between the end of a chapter and the start of the next chapter. Usually in audiobooks, there is a gap between them (abound 3 or 4 seconds). This is because most people would end their reading at the end of a chapter so, naturally, you would do the same with an audiobook. And yet, not here. It was as if the reader would read it in one breath (she wasn't), and yet there would be a pause after the chapter title and the start of the chapter. Why do leave a gap - a breather, if you will - at the start of a chapter but not the end?

My story issue is the killer. While it came as a shock of who it was, it was a "Wait, what?" moment as there was no clue to hint to that person. There was nothing, really. And that didn't satisfy me as someone who, every now and then, does read crime books and watch crime shows and usually gets who the killer is either very early on or just before the detectives get it. But this had nothing. And because of this, you wonder "Well, if I couldn't figure it out and the Police couldn't, how on EARTH did our main characters figure it out?!"

While it might not be the best Charlaine Harris novel out there, it's nice to read something new from here. I think I might try the next Midnight book when it comes out... maybe... But I won't be rushing to the shops to get it on its release date... 

GoodRead - Sapphire Blue

My first review I wrote/posted on my blog this year was Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier (my review for that is here). And I enjoyed it. It was fun, fast and addictive read, and I did make plans to read the second and third  in the trilogy, Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green. And, several months later, I finally went, after wanting to "try and save money", I manage to get the paperback edition of Sapphire Blue a little cheaper and more indie bookshop than via Amazon and Book Depository.

Picking up immediately after the events with Ruby Red, Gwen is trying to get to grips over what happenings. The time-travelling gene her cousin, Charlotte, should have gone to Gwen so she is unprepared. She is the Ruby, the last member to complete the Circle. But with everyone trying to keep her in the dark, Gwen has to figure it out for herself.

But with the weirdness of time-travelling, there's Gideon, the diamond of the Circle. Gideon who is cold one moment but warm the next. Who kissed her at the very end of Ruby Red. But this is he like this? Gwen wants to find out...

Very much like Ruby Red, this was fun and addictive read. It felt so easy to slip back into the book after several months. And with a new characters of Gideon's younger brother, Raphael, and Xemerius (a demon ghost in the form of a stone gargoyle - I know that sounds weird, but he is such a cool character. I love him and Gwen's best friend, Lesley!), it made the read have more humour than Ruby Red (and Ruby Red have quite a bit of humour, thanks to Gwen).

And this book doesn't try to make time-travelling simple. This is complex time travelling where things happen but not in the right order, and while this is very confusing (more on this in a sec), it felt refreshing to read a time-travel book that goes "You think time travel is easy, fun and makes sense? You think it's like Doctor Who? Ha!"

Saying that, though, this does make you go "Wait, what?" as this happens quite a lot. And as this series happens in a very short period of time (Ruby Red took past over a course of a week and this is the same with Sapphire Blue, if I did my maths right), you literally have to either go with it and accept what's happening or you have to stop every now and then to think it over and keep track.

And Gideon and the Court - I dislike and distrust the Court (am throwing that out there now) and Gideon... Ok, I have problems with Gideon in Ruby Red and while I warmed up to him a bit more, I still found it hard to accept that, within such a short amount of time, that Gideon and Gwen would have strong feelings for each other but, at the very start of the series, Gideon had feelings for Gwen's cousin, Charlotte. And yes, dramatic events happen within these books, but still... I find it hard to accept when I am not reading the books that Gideon can switch his feelings on and off like that...

But I need to know what happens next. I need to read the last book in the trilogy, Emerald Green. But I don't know whether to get the hardback edition now or wait till October for the paperback. Decisions, decisions...

My only word of caution is that if you do want to read this series, read this series back to back. A lot of things happen and if you take longs backs between books, you might get lost and a tad confused.

SMILE - SMILE!!!

SMILE!!! (I'm sorry, I saw this and I knew I needed to put it up as a SMILE one day...)

My thanks goes to Pinterest, my new home for SMILE. If you want more Smile posts, go to http://www.pinterest.com/pewterwolf/smile/!

GoodRead - The Winner's Curse

I'm not sure how I came across this. I think an author on Twitter that I follow mentioned it and, after a bit of snooping, I thought it sounded interesting. Not mind-blowing, but it had my interest. Then I saw it on NetGalley and requested it. I tried to read it, but something weird happened on it so I couldn't read it. Because of that, I requested a real physical copy. And because I'm an impatient person, when I saw this on Kindle for a super cheap price (It was less than £2!), I bought it and read it. And on the day I finished it, I received a physical copy.

Which is very pretty. So, if you are uncertain which version you want to buy (physical copy or ebook copy), go for the real copy. Your eyes may thank me later.

So, the story. As daughter of the empire's most powerful general, Kestrel's life has two outcomes: either join the military or get married. Great outcome for young women, huh?

The empire enslaves those who it conquer, so Kestrel sees Arin, a young slave for sale, she is startled. Startled by him and startled by herself for bidding for him. Bidding and winning. It's not long before Kestrel is trying to hide her growing feelings for him. But Arin is hiding terrible secrets, and before the book is through, Kestrel will realise that the price she paid was much higher than even she could have possibly have imagined...

Ok, let's talk about the cover before I go any further. When I first saw the cover, I liked it. It was very pretty. But my gut instinct was "It's going to be another Selection by Kiera Cass, isn't it?". If you have been a fan of my blog for a while, you know that I have read both The Selection and The Elite and, while they are fun summer reads, I have HUGE issues with them. So, of course, I went to this book fearing it.

And I was hugely surprised. It was nothing like The Selection (thank goodness!). It was highly enjoyable and highly addictive reading. I do have small problems, but I really enjoyed reading this book.

I think the reason for this was because it felt fresh and rich. Marie takes her time world building and adding layers towards it and the characters. Plus, she sets it in "high society" - something I haven't read before - so it was interesting to see Kestrel opening her eyes to the world around her. Then there is Kerstel and Arin themselves. Both characters were interesting to read. Neither felt dull and both grew and changed. Plus, the romance - it wasn't the driving force to the book - THANK GODNESS! Winner's Curse, to me, felt new and exciting and unpredictable at time. I thought something was going to happen or start to happen at the end of the book, but Marie throws it in the middle and I felt excited over that I didn't see this coming!

I did have problems with this book. The main was the amount of time Kerstel and Arin looked into each other's faces. By the end of the book, I get why these times were important, but at times, I was going "They had the same face as the last time you looked at them. Two eyes, a nose, a mouth, hair, etc!".

But I really enjoyed Winner's Curse, much to my surprise! Believe the pretty cover if you want to read a slow but well-written historical fantasy. Now, can I have the sequel now please?

GoodRead - We Were Liars

At the beginning of May, I asked my blog's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ThePewterWolf) what my next read should be. I gave eight choices (Prince of Shadows, Phantom Eyes, Vicious, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Uninvited, Say Her Name, The Queen of the Tearling and We Were Liars). And guess which one of them won? That's right, We Were Liars. Much to the delight of everyone on Twitter (oh, the joys of Hype!)

So, We Were Liars. How on earth do I explain this without revealing any spoilers? You see, it's one of those books where you have to very careful on what you say as you can easily slip up and reveal a spoiler and that's part of the fun with this read?

I could lie in this review - very tempting to lie. But let me be as vague as possible.

Cady has been suffering bad headaches for the past two years. Something happened she can't remember. But none of her family - the Sinclairs - will tell her.

And that's all I dare say. I fear if I write more, I will give away the twists.

I got addictive while reading this. Something about E Lockhart's writing reminds me on Maggie Stiefvater and Eowyn Ivey. It's the writing that made this book addictive! It was so interesting reading about a family and the ties that bind us - the good and the bad.

And the ending. I usually guess endings when there's a mystery/thriller element to them. But this book's ending - I never saw it coming.

I read this book so quickly and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This might split readers but I really liked this book. Maybe even loved it. It's the few books I read that, once I finished, I wanted to go back and reread it, just to see if I figure the story out.

SMILE - You Know Who Is Beautiful?

No idea where I found this, but THANK YOU WHOEVER/WHEREVER YOU ARE!!!

GoodRead - The Diviners

I am going to admit this here and now: I tried to read The Diviners once before. It was when the book was first released in hardback a few years back. Atom kindly sent me a copy and I started to read it. I got about 200 pages in and I just stopped. I couldn't bear the main character, the story was too slow for my tastes and I just couldn't face continuing onwards (which is rare for me but life, I have now decided, is too short to read crap books).

Fast forward two years and Midas PR, a company who is doing PR for Audible.co.uk, asked if I fancied doing a review of one of Audible's new releases. At the time, I picked James Patterson's Unlucky 13 (review here, by the way) and, on impulse, I asked if they had any details on The Diviners audiobook. And they kindly said that I could have a copy of this as well. So, THANK YOU MIDAS!

Evie O'Neil has been exiled to New York to lived to her uncle, and Evie is going to enjoy it. It's New York, it's 1926, perfect for a modern girl like her! Only snag is that her Uncle Will runs a museum of the occult and she has a secret gift that he must never find out about. But Will is asked by the Police is help them on a mysterious murder, Evie realises that her gift might be key to solving this murder. But with the body count slowly rising, Evie, her uncle Will and his assistant, Jericho, must work quickly.

But New York is one large city and there is always more than one story to tell. Evie's friend, Mabel, is sweet on Jericho (who barely knows she exists) and is sick of being in everyone's shadow. Jericho has a secret that no one must ever find out about. Pick pocket Sam Lloyd has his own secret and is looking for someone. Street runner Memphis is mourning not only is parents but his special gift. Theta smiles the brightest smile but is running scared. Henry, Theta's "brother" is hiding not only his gift but his sexuality as well.

And all the while, in the city that never sleeps, a terrible evil has risen. Be afraid, New York... Naughty John is on the prowl...

Ok, let's talk about the audiobook narrator, January LaVoy. I LOVED HER! She was a joy to listen to. I never felt rushed with her nor did I feel that January was just reading the book. It felt like she was living the book. This is a huge deal for me. So, for her, I can't fault her!

The story itself. Ok, I am going to split this into 2 parts. The first half and the second half. The first half was hardwork. It was just hardwork. This was that main reason I stopped reading the book. It was just HARD WORK. And it was VERY slow paced. We had the prologue - which I was hooked - and then getting to the story and start following Evie, and I begin to lose my interest.

I think the problem I have with part one is that Libba Bray is getting us use to the characters, their flaws and the world around them. Which is fine. This is the first book in a series. I get that. However, I wish the plot was a bit more pace-y within the first half of the book. Why couldn't we learn all this stuff but have the pace that this book kinda deserves? (When I was listening to the first half of the audiobook, I honestly thought there was paragraphs and chapters that could SO EASILY be removed).

However, part two of the audiobook. Once we got to the chapter "The Hotsy-Totsy" (or was it the chapter prior, "The House On The Hill"?), things suddenly went up a gear and I sped through. The pacing was fast, things fell into place much quicker, characters met and my opinion on certain characters changed (mainly Evie - when we first meet her, she is spoilt, selfish and, at time, thinks of no one's feelings but her own. After "The Hotsy-Totsy", she begins to realises that her actions affect others [but this only happens when her best friend, Mabel, explodes at her in an argument]).

I much prefer the second half of the story rather than the first. It felt like it had become the story I wanted to read! IT CAME AT LAST!

So, you guys must go "Wait, so you hated part one but you liked part two. What does this mean about the sequel, Lair of Dreams? Will you read/audiobook that?". And I am very torn of this. On the one hand, I wanna keep going. I want to know where Libba is going to take the characters - that last half an hour very nicely set things up for book 2. However, I am very worried about the pacing. I can't go back to the pacing that the first half of The Diviners was.

I know I am very much in the minority when I say I didn't love the book (I like it, but I will never love it). But I won't refuse outright listening to the audiobook of Lair of Dreams if I was offered it. But only on one condition: if January LaVoy is the reader. If it's someone else, then nope. Not gonna happen.

But I think this book is a book that most people will love and enjoy if you invest time into it. I have and it's not exactly my cup of tea. But maybe the sequel will be...

GoodRead - The Testing Guide

I try and put my posts in the order I read them (am writing this on the first of June) but with this one, as it was such a fast read, I thought I would quickly slot this in here.

Plus, this was a free eNovella. FREE! And you guys know how much I love a bargain!

In this prequel to The Testing, we follow Zeen (the older brother to the trilogy's lead's, Cia) on his gradulation day and he finds out if he has been accepted for The Testing and to go onto University like his father did before him...

Ok, am going to say this here and now. I am VERY glad this was free because if I bought this, I would have been quite angry. Because this is very short. VERY short. It's around 18% of the download. The rest is the first three chapters of The Testing. Which is fine by me as I still haven't read this trilogy yet and I have been interested in this trilogy but I can't seem to get my hands on a copy of any of the books (and I want the physical books as the UK editions are super shiny!).

And this trilogy sounds interesting. The Hunger Games or Legend by Marie Lu but with education being the vocal point rather than entertainment and revolution.

Anyway, the novella. It sets up the world in the trilogy nicely and, as I am interested in the trilogy, it did wet my appetite. However, it was such a short read and not much really happens that, if you were not curious about the trilogy and you solely read this, you might feel quite disappointed and not read further.

But I do want to go further with this trilogy and reading this got my use to Joelle's writing style. But we shall see if I actually get my hands on a copy of The Testing...

GoodRead - No Place Like Oz

Like most of bookish person with a blog, I have seen the online buzz over Dorothy Must Die and I have been itching for it to get a UK publisher or for it, become available on my Kindle or to buy a paperback copy super cheap online somewhere. So when, one evening when no one was keeping an eye on my spending, I saw that Dorothy Must Die and its prequel, No Place Like Oz, was on Amazon and I could buy both for my kindle, I bought both without a moment's hesitation.

No Place Like Oz takes place two years after the events of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (the book by L. Frank Baum, not the movie starting Judy Garland) when Dorothy turns sixteen back in Kansas, and we see that she now regrets her decision to return to Kansas and misses Oz terribly. When her sixteenth birthday party turns sour, Dorothy discovers a pair of ruby red slippers from Glinda, the Good Witch and, without thinking about it, she turns to Oz, taking her aunt and uncle with her.

But when returning to Oz, something doesn't feel right. It's not the Oz Dorothy remembers. The Scarecrow, who was placed King of Oz when she left, has been dethroned by the rightful heir, Princess Ozma. Glinda is missing and Dorothy can't shake the feeling that everything is too perfect...

But she is right to worry?

This is a prequel to Dorothy Must Die, so this is setting everything up.

I enjoyed reading this. It was fun fast read (read it on and off within a day) and it sets up Dorothy Must Die nicely. It pays respect to L. Frank Baum (within reason - I'm getting to it) by having characters and settings. And it got me excited to read Dorothy Must Die.

However, there are problems. Well, one HUGE problem and a few smaller ones. Let start small and work our ways up.

The first is if you are a fan of L. Frank Baum's work. While I have said it respects his words with characters, settings and details (in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book, Dorothy wore Silver Slippers, not ruby red), No Place Like Oz and Dorothy Must Die kinda ignores the rest of Mr. Baum's stories where Dorothy appears. In one of his works, Dorothy actually lives in Oz and so does her family (thank you Wiki for this detail). So, if you are a fan of his work, while you will enjoy the details dropped in, you have to kinda ignore the original source material at times.

My second is Dorothy herself. I thought, when I bought and read this, that this will explain why Dorothy becomes evil. In Dorothy Must Die, Dorothy becomes an evil dictator. But, while we see the start of her turning evil, she isn't. She acts like a spoilt and selfish brat and turns into a bit of a bitch (sorry for the use of language here). But she puts her own feelings and wants before anyone else - her aunt and uncle, the people of Oz (who are happy), Princess Omza. Once I saw this in another review on Goodreads, I couldn't stop thinking about it and go "The reviewer's right!"

My HUGE issue is that this series is linked by James Frey and his company, the Full Fathom Five. I discovered this fact near the end of No Place Like Oz (and after I bought Dorothy Must Die). Once I discovered this fact, there was always a bitter taste in my mouth while reading this. Now, I am not going to admit that I know a lot about the Full Fathom Five so am going to point you all in the direction of James Frey's Wiki, Bibliodaze and, most importantly, New York Magazine.

While I will be reading Dorothy Must Die, I'm pretty certain now that I will love it less because of the Full Fathom Five connection. But I shall try and be fair. I'LL TRY!!!

SMILE - Head Cannon

My thanks to whoever took THAT photo! I found it on Pinterest (and the gif on Highbury Approved tumblr). If you wanna follow me on Pinterest, it's pinterest.com/pewterwolf or you can just follow the SMILE board at pinterest.com/pewterwolf/smile/

My Independent Bookshop

As most of the UK Book bloggers know, a new social website was launched in May. My Independent Bookshop (http://www.myindependentbookshop.co.uk/) is a joint venture with Penguin Random House and Hive.co.uk where you open up your own "independent bookshop". When you do, you link it to a real independent book shop (through the Hive network).

Here is where the exciting bit happens. When someone visits your shop and buys a book through your shop, a tiny percent of the sale goes to the real independent book shop.

I love this idea. I think it's a great idea. A place where you show books you love/hate/are going to read/etc and it helps saves independent bookshops. It's a win win (but if you live near an independent bookshop, please shop there also).

And, as you can guess, I have one of these stores - http://www.myindependentbookshop.co.uk/PewterWolf - and my store is connected to Just Imagine in Chelmsford (their website is here and their Hive page is here). And I have plans...

If you go the "shop" now, you will see a few books I like/love. Just a few to hit the ground running. And I have plans.

Every now and then (maybe every month, maybe every now and then, who knows!), I'm going to change the shop shelves about. I want to do themes. Novellas, Christmasy reads, Scary reads for Halloween, Under the Radar, Books in my TBR pile, Fave Books Book Bloggers/Vloggers I Love (this idea I still to work out - I wasn't sure if this idea is worth following through as I would like to email everyone and go "What do you think?").

But one of my ideas involves you. You guys rock and you guys always seem to have good taste. So, I was think you guys can tell me which book/books you want me to highlight on the shop with a few words about the book. Then, in afew months time, I shall show them off.

So, wanna take part? All you need to do if fill in your first name, your Twitter Name, the book title (and the author) and a few words about the book. And that's it. I will tweet and blog about YOUR picks when I do it...

So, here's the form. Fill it in once. Fill it in a ton of times! I can't wait to see books you picks!

Win Audiobook from Audible!

SURPRISE!!! Am doing a small contest, with thanks to the lovely people at Midas PR and Audible.co.uk!

That's right! I asked if I could do a contest and they said yes! And I have a small treat for you!

Over the course of this month, I will be trying very hard to listen to three audiobooks (TRY being the word) and I want to give you guys the chance to win one of the audiobooks in question. Seeing as I am unsure of which will be my third and final audiobook, the winner gets to pick their chosen audiobook from the choice of four below:

MIDNIGHT CROSSROAD by Charlaine Harris
MR MERCEDES by Stephen King
THE SILKWORM by Robert Galbraith
DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS by Laini Taylor

If you want to be in with a chance of winning one of these audiobooks, all you have to do is fill in the form below. As this is with the kindness of Audible.co.uk, this is UK only. Also, if you are going to enter, please read the Audible's terms and conditions.

Now we have that out of the way, onto the form. The contest will close on Wednesday 18th June 2014 at 7pm. The winner will be picked at random by Random.org and the winner will be announced on Twitter and I shall email them, just to confirm their Audible log-in details so it goes to the right Audible account.

All I can say now is GOOD LUCK!!!

GoodRead - The Serpent House

As you are probably aware, last month, I had the author Bea Davenport on my blog, chatting about her book, The Serpent House as part of the Countdown to 5th June (which is such a cool idea! Please check out their website and their twitter!). If you haven't read her post, click here to read it. Read it? Ok, well, because of this, I was very kindly sent a copy from the publisher, Curious Fox.

And because of this, I made myself not find out ANY information about this book till I either started the book or when I had the book in my hands so I could read the blurb.

In 1898, Annie is taken away from her aunt by her brother to Hexer Hall, where he has found employment as a gardener. But when she's there, the lady of the manor, Lady Hexer takes an interest in Annie. An interest that makes Annie travel back in time to a 11th century leper hospital. A hospital which is ran by a strange doctor who has snakes. A hell of a lot of snakes! Lady Hexer demands a book that the doctor has, but the more Annie goes back in time, the more unsettled she is about the book...

I am going to admit this here and now. This isn't my typical read. I wouldn't normally pick this type of book to read. I mainly read YA (as you are probably aware), and this is more Middle-Grade (and oh, how I dislike that term. I'm not sure why, though...). And while I did like this read, this wasn't my cup of tea of a read.

I do like the ideas of the book - history, time travel, with a touch of darkness and snakes. But there are one or two points I wasn't thrilled over. There was one scene with a nasty character called Becky and I recoiled from it. It was such a horrible scene and I found it vile.

I think younger fans of Doctor Who with a taste for history will enjoy this read. But this wasn't my cup of tea read.

SMILE - What Do I Do?!

A BUTTERFLY LANDED ON ME! WHAT THE HECK DO I DO NOW?! 

(Thank you, CassJayTuck!)

RSM - The Return of Me

I'M BBBBBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!! Did you miss me?

Oh. That's a joke, right? You really missed me...

Oh. I see. Well, am going to annoy you with what I have been doing the last month.

So, why did I have a break? I had to go to a christening, celebrate my birthday (yes, I am one year older and my family are already plotting the horror that will be my next birthday - SAVE ME!!!) and just got my head round the weirdness yet fun over the last few months. And DVD binging! Mainly on Friends, Frozen (AT LONG LAST!) and Murder She Wrote (was given a boxset for my birthday. I asked for it, and I REGRET NOTHING!!!). Oh, and I bought the boxset of all 3 seasons and the movie for Veronica Mars (a show I have NEVER seen, but plan to correct soon...)

And this is me while watching them (or will be in Veronica Mars's case)...

So, in the next few months, my reviews are going to be either coming very fast or I will make myself a month or so ahead of the blog on my reading! So, we shall see! But I promise not to write blog posts on Murder She Wrote. Well, not unless you want me to...

But I'm back. And I promise not to leave the blog for a while. So, let's celebrate and I'll see you when I get back into the swing of it! PARTY TIME!!!

What am I saying! TO THE BOOKS!!!