Last week, the day before I had to get up SUPER early for a mini weekend-break, I was kindly invited to Gollancz with a bunch of other bloggers, booksellers and bookish people to see a preview of Gollancz upcoming titles, plus a handful of others from Gollancz sister imprints such as Trapeze, Orion and a few others.
Now, I have to be honest, there is no way I can write a small thing about every single one of these titles. There was, to my appalling note taking hand-writing, over 20 titles. OVER 20 TITLES!!! And I think if I sat down and wrote them down, you all would be bored stiff and go “You want to talk about this? Seriously, Andrew?”. Plus, some of these titles are hugely well known. For example, the first adult fantasy novel, Angel Mage, by Garth Nix (WHO I LOVE SO OF COURSE, I WILL BE READING, AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ HIS OLD KINGDOM SERIES, I WOULD BE UPSET! Go read Sabriel as it is wonderful) or Leigh Bardugo’s first adult fantasy, Ninth House (I mean, does she really need an introduction? I haven’t read her Grieshaverse and even I know about her and am super curious on this one!). So yeah, gonna be buying these!
I can easily talk about Victoria Aveyard’s Broken Kingdom, a collection of novellas set in her Red Queen world (I might try to read this series again… maybe…) or talk about Stephen Chbosky’s Imaginary Friend, his first novel in 20 years after his hugely successful Perks of Being A Wallflower. Or maybe the sequel to Branden Sanderson’s Skywards, Starsight. Or The Sky Weaver, Kristen Ciccarelli’s third book to be set in the Last Namsara world, known as Iskari.
My point is there is so much I can talk about and trust me, I have video and photos to share on my Instagram and Twitter so they are about!
But let’s chat about some other titles that catch my eye that could be seen as flying under the radar, And believe, there is a few I REALLY want to talk about.
So, in no order, let’s get this book party started!
I have to apologise in advance if this write-up isn’t as fully in depth compared to others. I did have a notepad and pen for once. With my laptop. But I made no notes WHATSOEVER so I am winging it/remembering from my photos and everyone else’s Twitters and Instagram feeds.
So, where do I begin?
On Saturday, I made my way to London for the Scholastic Book Feast, a blogger event where Scholastic show off some of their most exciting titles for the rets of 2019 that they think we are going to love. I drove to London due to the maintenance work on the trail lines (why do they always do maintenance work on Saturdays I have to go to London for blogger events?! And yet, to other bloggers who were coming to London for this one event and was on the train at 5 in the morning, I can’t complain!), got the tube and managed to get there on time for a chin-wag with some cool, exciting bloggers.
And then the event begun. Now, this Blogger Event was done a little different compare to others. Normally at these things, publishers chat about several of the books they want us to know about, get authors to talk about them and maybe read a tiny extract and then we get together and chat with authors, publisher people and bloggers over food, tea and books (as book bloggers are vultures!)
But Scholastic did things a little different. They decided to chat about the titles first, get the authors to do mini talks about certain subjects and then a little quiz at the end of the event. So… let’s see how awful my memory is over what the talks were…
Alexander Shepherd chatted about being a debut novel and writing. Alice Broadway and Sue Wallman chatted about how they writing in their genre (fantasy for Alice, thriller fo Sue). Simon James Green, Laura Wood and Paula Rawsworth chatted about romance. Alexander with Beth Garrod and Melinda Salisbury chatted about feminism and PM Freestone chatted briefly about her debut, Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom but spoke more about perfume and the layers within perfume. And the cover designer of Shadowscent chatted about how he created the cover.
Ok, I think I got the talks rights. And all were interesting and, if I was better prepared, I would have recorded some and put on all the social medias. But I didn’t. But you’re not here for that. You’re here for the book news so, let me chat about a few (ok, nearly all barring Riverdale and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I need to watch these shows, don’t I?)
First, there is no point me talking about Melinda Salisbury, is there? You all love her (and rightly so. She’s a badass!) so no point me chatting about Song of Sorrow. I did pick up a copy of State of Sorrow, the first in the duology (My copy’s gone! I think I lost it in the house move last year!) and you guys all have said I gave up on it too soon. So, going to try again as I love Mel and I feel like a bad human if I didn’t.
Nor am I going to talk much about Scar, the final book in Alice Broadway’s Ink trilogy. I haven’t read this trilogy (THE SHAME!!!) but I do have copies of book 1 and 2 and I know you all will scream if I don’t attempt to read it soon or put it on one of my “Pick My Next Read” polls throughout March/April so keep eyes peeled for that!
Not going to to talk much about Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom by PM Freestone. For the purely selfish reason of I want to read it and want to go in as blind as I can! From the little I got that made me go “YES!”, imagine a fantasy-ish version of the Hunger Games but with perfume. It’s sounds deliciously dark and messed-up and I am here for that!
Under a Dancing Star by Laura Wood is a bit of gear change for me, but I am intrigued this. Imagine a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, set in 1930s Italy and you have an idea what you’re getting in. Now, I haven’t read A Sky Painted Gold as I gave my copy to my Other Half’s little sister and we bloggers were given a little sneak peek of Under A Dancing Star and I am a little furious that I don’t have either books in my possession! DAMN IT LAURA!
Best way to describe Paula Ratsworth’s newest novel, The New Boy, is imagine a mix of two Netflix shows - Black Mirror and You. Imagine these two shows having a baby and you have this. It tackles the issues of privacy, social media and romance and whether romance is romance when one person in the relationship is faking it…
As you know, I love Simon James Green. I’m scared he’ll think I want a relationship with him due to his books. So, of course, his newest - Alex in Wonderland - is going to be an auto buy for me. Alex has got a job in the rundown seaside theme park, Wonderland, and when news comes that the park might close down, can Alex and his friends help save the park while falling in love? I have been promised kissing so am all over this when it comes out. Sorry in advance everyone!
We all know about Oh My Gods by Alexander Shepherd but, if you have missed it, growing up is hard. And for Helen, it’s harder. She is half Greek Goddess, hiding her identity in Central London and feeling as if she doesn’t belong anyway. This sounds like the perfect beach read so get this read for your Easter break!
The Love and Lies of Rusksana Ali by Sabina Khan follows Rusksana as she tries to balance her life and her secrets. She only has a few months before she can stop as she will be off to college and can be open about who she is. But when her parents discover her kissing her girlfriend, Ariana, they send her to Bangladesh where Rusksana is thrown head first into a world of tradition and arranged marriages. But as she gets friends and unexpected allies, can Ruskana find the courage to take control of her future the more she learns about her family past?
I was going to tell you about Sue Wallman’s latest, Dead Popular, but I can’t. Not really. As I wrote no notes whatsoever. But from the author of Lying about Last Summer, what do you think this is going to be about? And with that title…? (We got a sneak peek of the cover and it’s very teen Karen Slaughter. I like hugely!)
Take a Chance on Me is gonna be perfect for you ABBA fans. From Super Awkward Beth Garrod, TACOM follows a girl who goes to a Greek island and find herself, awkwardly, in the middle of summer romance with three suitors. Hmmm… where have we seen that before? This is going be Mamma Mia, but not as you know it…
Last title in my notes is Becoming Jo, a modern day reimagining of classic Little Women from the mind Sophie McKenzie, and with a movie adaption coming out at the end of the year staring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Timothée Chalamet and Meryl Streep, interest in the world of March sisters.
And that is it. I have no other titles to report on! And reading my GP handwriting on non-exist notes was hard work. I do want to leave this post off to say thank you to Scholastic for hosting this event and I can’t wait to get involved in these titles, via blog posts or preorder! This reading year, so far, is gonna be fab!
Yesterday was a bit of a manic day. First Saturday off in a while and was going to London for a blogger event. My first ever Stripes Blogger Event (this is their third or fourth, I believe) so I was excited and a little unsure of myself. Yes, I know, I’m in my thirties, I have been for over 8 years this October just gone and still I am worried about going to blogger events because a tiny voice in my head is still telling me “They’re going to find out your not meant to be here…” for the first few minutes.
Anyway, after turning up and bumping into cool bloggers of Beth, Jen, Layla, Stacey, Michelle, Steph, Janay and a ton of others (who are far too cool for me to list (You know who you are. And you know my memory sucks), the event began.
As this was Stripes #Equalitea, the five books they showed us has a cool connection with diversity.
The first is one you might have seen on the Pewter Wolf as the author did a tiny guest post which is Whiteout by Gabriel Dylan. Gabriel explained how this story came into being (aka how he always wanted to write and then, one school ski trip in his early teacher days, he and his class got snowed in and he wondered “What if something is out there in the snow drift and it doesn’t want us to leave…?”). And that question is a the bases of Whiteout. Now, Whiteout is part of Stripes’s Red Eye range so it’s horror (Point Horror for the modern age - anyone remember Point Horror?) and, while I am not a fan of horror, I really want to read this. Whiteout follows Charlie and his classmates who go on a school skiing trip. This is perfect as Charlie is having an unhappy home life of late. But when a snow storm cuts off the resort from the rest of the world and strange things begin to unfollow at an alarmingly rate, Charlie and his classmates realise that something is out there in the storm, watching… waiting…
And now, the main reason for the event: PROUD. This is getting a lot of buzz and noise so, hopefully, you guys are aware of this collection. If not, let me explain super quick. This collection is a mix of poems, shot stories and art that all tackle the theme of Pride within the LGBTQIA community. With authors and illustrators ranging from Simon James Green, David Levithan, Tanya Byrne, Moïr Fowley-Doyle, Alice Oseman, Priyanka Meenakshi, Fatti Burke and many more, this is going to be a hugely important book. The collection, also, has four stories from 4 previously unpublished authors - Kay Staples, Cynthia So, Karen Lawler and Michael Lee Richardson. Three of these were at the event (Michael couldn’t come due to him living in Scotland) and the three chatted about why they decided to write their stories, what Pride meant to them and read a teaser of their stories: a modern-day Pride and Prejudice retelling, teens on the run (and hiding in their local Travelodge) and a Chinese-inspired fairytale about phoenixes. You guys are going to love these!
So, Saturday was fun. Not only was the England game against Sweden of the World Cup 2018 gripping the nation nor that London Pride was happening (one year, I will go to this!) nor did the UK seemed to be gripped by the fiery thing in the sky (I loathe Summer. Heat, hayfever, lack of sleep, do you really want me to go on? but I was invited to a book blogger event!
It’s feels like years since I’ve been to a book blogger event (was it the the beginning of this year my last? I miss being with my people!)
Anyway, after since I had moved house the previous week and managed to get a Saturday off work (sadly meaning I have to do a six-day week the following week…), I decided to go. And wow, I forgot what London was like in summer. Plus, with Pride happening, I kept seeing sickeningly attractive people around…
I wasn’t staring!
Anyway, onto the books. Once at the event, there was drink, Pride cupcakes, pizza at the halfway point and books! Delicious and wonderful books. And after Orion chatted some titles (I am going to talk about a handful that sound delicious [to me and I wanna read] and I totally want to read! Stay with me, folks!), two lovely authors chatted about that it was like to write the dreaded Second Novel - Catriona Ward and Ed McDonald (just so you know as I didn’t till they talked about to Catriona wrote Rawblood and her second novel is Little Eve while Ed wrote Blackwing and its sequel, Ravencry. Now I need to go forth and read them as these 4 books sound dark, twisted and I love dark ’n’ twisted! I will touch on both their novels in a tick). After that, quick pizza break (aka snoop into the free books - we bloggers are vultures. But I had to go to the bathroom so I didn’t get my hands on any, till the lovely Sarah from FeelingFictional gave me her copy of Little Eve by Catriona Ward, saying that this sounds more up my street than hers - “It’s more crime and dark and much more twisted than what I’m used to”, and the author very kindly signed for me. Thanks Sarah! After that, Orion talked about two titles that won’t be published till early 2019, both of which sound good.
Ok, enough of this. We know why we’re here: the pretty books that caught my eye. So, where should we begin…?
I should be watching Riverdale as I write this late last night. I promised Scholastic, several bloggers and authors that I will be watching one or two episodes as I write this.
But, I have so much to tell you guys and I know this is going to take some time (and I have been playing on my phone/YouTube for over several hours and stressing about being a grown-up so I need to focus and get this done).
Saturday just gone was my second blogger event of the year - and I had to make plans with my work so I can go (I work some Saturdays - hence why I was staring at my phone most of the day as even though I muted WhatsApp, I could sense the messages piling up and I don't know how to remove that little red circle that pops up on the corner of the app!). So, after driving to train station near my work (work was borrow my mode of transport till I can afford a car and because my regular train line is a replacement bus service for the next few weekends), I was whizzed to London one cold, wet Saturday. And after going "OOOH!" over Tower of London (it was right next to Fenchurch Street station - plus am audiobooking Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness!) and taking my time to get to event, I got to Scholastic and MY BLOGGER FAMILY WERE THERE!!!
Oh, blogger family, I missed seeing you. And for some of you, it's been too longer!
I should go and reference them, shouldn't I? But there was too many - but more on that and them a little later as I have plans with one or two of them and am planning to steal some of their instagram pics.
Anyway, once we were all in the conference room, the lovely ladies at Scholastic started the presentations of some of their titles that are coming out this year. And most/all of them caught our attention in one form or another and made us go "We need to buy this as soon as it comes out!". Now, I'm not going to reference them all (there is going to be a load of pics/blog posts/vlogs about this, me thinks) so I am going to talk to you guys about the titles that caught my attention and made me sit up a little straighter (even though my TBR is currently hating my guts and going "WHY AREN'T YOU READING ME YET?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!")
The first title is Shell by Paula Rawsthorne. Now, I have the proof for this since the end of last year and it came wrapped in bandages so I know it's going to be interesting. Lucy is diagnosed with terminal cancer. You don't survive that. Expect Lucy does. She wakes up one morning to find herself cancer-free. But there's a big catch. She's no longer in her own body. While she slept her brain and eyes were removed out of her body into someone else's, and now she is no longer Lucy. In this modern nod to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (published 200 years ago this year), Lucy begins to wonder how far you go for the people you love? And if there's a line you must never cross...
Second is State of Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury. This is the first book in her new duology and I have already got this on preorder (and Scholastic knows that nearly every blogger in the room wanted to read this) so this is going to be fun. Deliciously dark with complex fantasy world-building, we enter a kingdom which is still grieving for Sorrow's older brother who died days before she was born. She has the govern this kingdom and, when it gets too much, find comfort in the arms of the boy she's in love with. But when a stranger comes forward and claims he is her dead brother, Sorrow is taken aback. This boy wants to claim the throne, but is he really her brother or an imposter? And what is she going to do - stand aside or fight for the throne, even though it's the last thing she wants to do?
Another preorder book that was talked about here was Noah Could Never by Simon James Green. Sequel to Noah Can't Even, I was bouncing when this popped up on the screen and tried not to bully Simon since I finished reading Noah Can't Ever with tweets such as "There's going to be more kissing, right Simon?" or "If you hurt my babies, I swear to Lucifer!". (There is more kissing in the book, Simon said there was in the presentation and practically pointed me out by going "Him! Blame him!"). Taking place around two months after Noah Can't Even, Noah and Harry are dating (hooray!). But Noah is struggling to see what Harry sees in him. He's nothing compared to the sexy French exchange student, Pierre Victorie, who has his eye on Harry. Plus, the police are monitoring Noah, but he's not exactly sure why. Because of his dad and his secret half brother trying to steal his Gran's fake diamonds? Because of his PE teacher who's getting mysterious payouts? Or because drag queen Bambi Sugapops is hiding out at Noah's house while in the midst of a bare-knuckle, knock out drag feud? And when you throw in the mix Noah wondering if he's ready to take the next step in his and Harry's relationship, it's going to be a funny, cringey and warm story (it's better be!)
Your Turn to Die by Sue Wallman. Ok, I haven't read her last thriller (IT'S ON MY TBR!) but Sue is a wonderful author and I adore her, so I have to mention this. Plus, this book sounds AMAZING! A dark and twisty thriller, this follows the teens of three families who, every New Year, go on holiday together in an old countryside house. But the teens discover a terrible secret - a deathbed confession led the police to a body of a teenager who went missing 50 years ago. As the teens begin to dig up the past, strange accidents happen round the house. If they're not careful, this new year will simply be their last...
Speaking of thrillers, Night of the Party by Tracey Mathias is getting a lot of buzz as the "Brexit thriller of the year". Set in the near future when the UK leave the EU, we meet Ash who is grieving the lost of his sister. When he meets Zara, he falls her fast and hard. But Zara has secrets. Secrets she can never tell. Not only is she an "Illegal" - a person who wasn't born in the UK, meaning her and her family would be arrest and deported without question - but she knows the truth about how Ash's sister died. To tell would put her and her family in danger, but staying quiet could ruin everything between her and Ash. With an general election looming, it will either save them or bring disaster in its wake...
I have another thriller for you. Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl is a hard one to explain but it sounds so messed-up, I'm going to try. Five friends reunite a year after graduation, but during a night out, they narrowly avoid a collision with other car. When they get back to one of their houses, a mysterious man knocks on the day and tells the something that shatters their world. The friends must make a choice: one of them will live and others must die. And it must be unanimous. Then the mind games of Neverworld Wake begin...
Let's chat one more book as you all are probably screaming at me "WHY HAVEN'T YOU MENTIONED THE SURFACE BREAKS BY LOUISE O'NEILL?!". So, The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill is the feminist reimagining of The Little Mermaid. There's not much else I can say. I think most of us are intrigued over how Louise is going to write this and what she does... Will have to wait till May to find out...
And, of course, I could go on and mention the other jaw-droopingly yummy books I think you guys will love: The Light Jar by Lisa Thompson (a hopeful middle-grade touching on some dark issues), Tender by Eve Ainsworth (who I am ashamed to admit I have never read, but her books are topical and this is no exception, tackling the issue of young carers), Spark by Alice Broadway (sequel to Ink, which I haven't read yet! I only just got a copy of it today!), Twister by Juliette Forrest (mainly because of the cover. It's divine!), Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood (imagine I Capture a Castle meets The Great Gatsby and you got it!), the sequel to Hayley Barker's Showstopper (I can't remember if the title was revealed or not but I haven't read Showstopper - you can blame me DNFing another fantasy book set in a circus for putting me off reading this. But I feel ready to hunt down a copy again) and A Storm of Ice and Stars by Lisa Lueddecke (prequel to A Shiver of Snow and Sky - again, another book I have but not read. Wow, I suck at this book blogger lark, don't i?!) And there is probably a ton more that I missed or I can't read my appalling handwriting to
But it didn't end there! Oh no! After that, we had Simon James Green, Laura Wood and Lisa Thompson read tiny extracts from their upcoming novels and we all went "OOOOH!" over them. The editors and designers chatted about their jobs and how the process of the job. And then, we had a panel with all the authors - Alice Broadway, Paula Rawsthorne, Traey Mathias, Eve Ainsworth, Sue Wallman, Simon James Green, Lisa Thompson and Laura Clarewood - all chatting about how they write, why they write and advice they give to aspiring authors. And, after that, a tiny quiz to put our YA book brains through our paces (and to highlight that I haven't read Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses... but by the year of this year, I will damnit!)
And after that, it was time to leave (though I was dragged out. I was trying to make Simon James Green and Eve Ainsworth co-author a comedy horror together and trying to hide in the corner, going "Shhh. If they don't know I'm here, Scholastic will have to give me a job!"), and once was given a goodie bag (which I always feel odd about taking. I feel like I just turn up to steal books!) which contained a beautiful new edition of Philip Pullman's Northern Lights and a proof of Neverworld Wake (and I was kindly given a copy of Alice Broadway's Ink and Juliette Forrest's Twister as well).
And once we were kicked out of the building, a bunch of us bloggers decided to have lunch at a nearby Nandos (we're a classy lot. But, if you ever want us, bribe us with books and food, and we'll love you). If I can find photos on other bloggers's Instagram, I will embed in this post.
I can't explain the pout in that photo. I was trying to be funny and I look like a camp goldfish...
Now, before I go, I just want to thank everyone at Scholastic for the event. It was wonderful and I had such fun. Plus, it's always a lovely thrill/honour to be invited. Thank you - and I am sorry for the email you're going to get in the next few days...
Or, as it's subtitle, Chicken Kiev or (my fave at the time of writing this) "WOLF!!!"
Tuesday night, I attended a blogger event for Walker Books and hear some upcoming YA titles that will be publish sometime this year. I wasn't 100% sure I could come to this due to my recent job change but I figured out very quickly that I could go so HOORAY!!!
Anyway, after getting to London a little earlier to snoop round Tottenham Court Road (mainly Foyles [I bought a book, EVEN THOUGH I AM ON A BOOK BUYING BAN! And for those of you wondering, Eragon by Christopher Paolini - not a grown-up fantasy that my recently book buying has taken me but I'll take it] and drool over some West End shows I would love to watch or rewatch - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Aladdin, The Mousetrap, Wicked - it's probably a good thing am going to see Hamilton in the coming few months), I made my way to a pub in near Farringdon for wine, books and a good ol' catch-up with bloggers and vloggers. I have been very out of the loop.
And my sense of direction kinda failed me a little. I got to Euston/King's Cross and thought "I'll walk there. It won't take that long..." OH, PAST ANDREW, YOU ARE STUPID. Walking and you are not friends...
Side-tracked, but once I got there (after getting a Pret Hot Chocolate), caught up with the lovely bloggers, vloggers and peeps at Walker (who are beyond wonderful. I love our little community and how positive and hopeful we try to be with this passion of ours) (plus, It's been a while since I've been to a last blogger event as Dani from Dani Reviews Things wondered when we met last. We think it was around 2 years ago [real life sucks at times] and met some new bloggers and vloggers (one came up to me - Amy from YA Under My Skin - and said "Due to you and my passion/hyperness with Laura and Michelle when we did a panel at YALC in 2015, I started my own blog" - which is a lovely but surreal. Plus, I discovered new bloggers that I've started following but didn't realise I was chatting to them till a few minutes into the conversation [Olivia from That Fiction Life is a good example. How did I didn't go "OH MY GOD, IT'S YOU!" to her face is anyone's guess!)
But you don't want me to talk about us book bloggers and vloggers chatting about books and the looks of shame I got when I said I STILL haven't read Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking trilogy or The Hate U Give (one of these I said to an EDITOR OF WALKER without realising it - but Chaos Walking has a huge following and am scared of reading it, only to not like it! I DON'T WANT TO BE THAT GUY!), you want to know the titles they mentioned. Well, I'm going to mention a few as these caught my attention and made me go "OOOH!"
The first title is How To Hang A Witch by Adriana Mathew. Ok, this doesn't grab me in the way I hoped, but I think you guys might like this. Having a feel of Lauren Kate's Fallen series (no idea why), this book follows Sam who moves from New York to Salem with her stepmother after her dad is hospitalised. But her homecoming is far from warm. Sam is related to Cotton Mather, one of the men responsible for the Salem Witch Hunts and some teens in her new school won't let her forget it. As their bullying tactics being to unnerve her and begin to parallel the witch hunts, Sam finds herself in a weird love triangle, between the boy next door and the angry ghost who haunts her bedroom. And now, with a centuries old curse now being rekindled, Sam find herself at its centre. History is going to repeat itself if she doesn't try and stop it...
Scythe by Neal Shusterman has been doing the rounds on US Booktube and, I don't know much about it, but I love the cover. So, when Walker announced that they going to publish the first book next month and the sequel in August, I was excited. Plus, the idea behind it is good. Dark, but good! Imagine a world where disease, crime, homelessness has been cured, the only way to die is to be "gleamed" (randomly killed) by a Scythe, a professional grim reaper if you will. Citra and Rowan don't want to be scythes - which makes them perfect to be apprentices and learn the fine art. But the Scythedom is corrupt and with only one of them going to become Scythe Apprentice, Citra and Rowan discover that whoever becomes the apprentice must gleam the runner up...
Earlier on, I admitted that I still haven't read Chaos Walking trilogy. Hopefully, this might changed as Walker is going to rejacket the series to co-inside with its ten year anniversary and the movie being filmed (starring Tom Holland and Dairy Ridley). We will have a black cover and sprayed edges. I hope that I will try and attempt to read this trilogy later this year/next year. I feel ready! Plus, with Release coming out in paperback this year and with his newest, And the Ocean Was Our Sky, rumoured to come out later this year, you are going to be busy if a Patrick Ness fan!
This is a little clean-teen for me but Flying Tips for Flightless Birds by Kelly McCaughrain does yummy and I will pop this on here and I sense I will need something light compared to my heavier reads. Debut set in Northern Ireland, we follow twins Finch and Birdy who are stars of the flying trapeze at their parents's circus. But when Birdy is hurt, Finch teams up with new kid, Hector Hazzard, to save he circus. But along the way, they have to high wire friendship, homophobic bullying at school, finding themselves and falling in love for the first time... all under the big top.
I still haven't read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I'VE PYSHED MYSELF OUT OVER IT! I mean, I have been so excited for this book for so long but since I have the advance reader copy, I've been terrified to read it in case it doesn't live up to my unnaturally high expectation. But I know I will read it in the coming months as Angie's second novel, On the Come Up is coming out in June. Set in Garden Heights, we follow an aspiring teen rapper who goes viral online. Record labels want to sign her up, but people are also ready to abuse her success to get what their want. What happens when you get everything you thought you always wanted?
And now, the big mama! The reason for the blogger event - White Rabbit Red Wolf by Tom Pollock. Now, I was planning to go into this book knowing nothing, but a few elements of this story was revealed and I still want to read it. Maybe more. It's a thriller - with maths. STAY WITH ME HERE! Peter is a math prodigy and suffers from crippling panic attacks. But when his mother gets stabbed at an award ceremony and his sister disappears, Peter finds himself being dragged into the world of espionage where state and family secret emerge and blur...
And Tom Pollock was at the event. You might know him because of his Skyscaper Throne trilogy, but this is his first YA book. He chatted about what made him want to write this (the three stool legs for this book were "Spy novel inspired/fear/maths". He also read a tiny snippet from the start of White Rabbit Red Wolf (which was both funny, gripping and also a little heartbreaking). And some of us drooled over his arms (don't just us!). I mean, HAVE YOU SEEN THEM?!
Am saying nothing. Also, it didn't help that while I was doing some tweeting, Tom was talking about mental health (he is an ambassador for TalkLife) and he yelled "WOLF!", making me jump out of skin, think there was a wolf in the bar and then wonder if this was a gay term I wasn't aware of (You have bear, otter, daddy, DILF... maybe wolf was a new one. Or what Tom was calling his arms. Ok, will stop that now...)
After all the book were talked about, there was more chatting, more wine and food. Which was good as book bloggers/vloggers are a hungry lot. And once all that was done. I had the joy of trying to get home before midnight...
Anyway, I did get home (only to have my cat be super hyper and find my foot was a great toy for his very sharp claws! Hence why I have plastics on my right foot) and I want to thank everyone who was at the event. It was a wonderfully fun evening and I can't wait to sink my teeth into these stories and to see you all soon!!!
