Bye Bye 2011 - Welcome 2012

Everyone seems to have made one of these posts, so I thought it only right that I put in my two pennies too!!

On a completely family level this year has SUCKED!!  Big time, everything that could go wrong seemed too.  I know it sounds bad but I have literally been wishing this year away.  I'm living in the very big hopes that 2012 will be far kinder to us than 2011 was.

 BUT on a blogging front this year has been pretty darn amazing.  I never in a million years thought anyone would want to know my views on anything, let alone books.  And yet somehow I have been embraced by the wonderful blogging community and I feel so lucky to have found you all - seriously you have made my life so much more, and I am so grateful to each and everyone of you!!!!

So THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Wishing you all a very happy New Year - lets make 2012 ROCK!!!!!

Festive Frolicks

Christmas time has kind of got in the way of my blogging time, so many apologies for that!!!  I shall be back to some proper blogging next week I promise!!!

Hope y'all have had an awesome Christmas so far!!!!

Leanne
xoxo

Review - India Dark By Kirsty Murray

"A story of secrets, lies and lost innocence. MADRAS, 1910: Posey Swift and Tilly Sweetrick are caught up in a scandal that will change their lives forever. Singing and Dancing across a hundred stages as members of a troupe of Australian child performers, they travel by steam train into the heart of India. But as one disaster follows another, money runs short and tempers fray. What must the girls do to protect themselves, and how many lives will be ruined if they try to break free?"

I was drawn to this by the blurb.  I'm kind of fascinated by the idea of historic themed books, especially with a theatrical plot.  I adored Ballet shoes and have been searching for another on those lines for a long time.  Now this story is very different to Ballet Shoes and so my comparisons to that ended pretty quickly.

For starters I want to say I love the page settings of this book.  The edition I had, starts with a program style page listing all the characters and their ages.  Its such an eye catching way to start and is also really helpful with trying to get to know the characters of which there are A LOT in this book.

You read from the perspectives of two characters - Poesy & Tilly.  Two quite different characters, that see things quite differently.  I did sometimes wonder who narrated things in the correct way, but I think it becomes more evident as the book concludes.

The book deals with Children being away from parents under the supervision of someone that to be honest is not up to the job.  You quickly get to read the losing of innocence the children have that is rather disturbing.  I felt a great sadness for the characters, particularly Poesy.

The story builds its suspense nicely.  I kept wondering how it was going to play out.  The book ties up nicely with an absolute resolution, that I was very satisfied with.

The only thing with the story that made me curious was that it sounds like some electrical things were used, that I wouldn't have thought would have been used back in 1910.  I of course am probably very wrong, I'm definitely no encyclopedia on all things.  I really need to look into it more now.

Rating 3 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Templar Books

Due For Release In The UK January 2012

This Can Be Pre-Ordered HERE and from good book retailers

My blog is taking part in the India Dark Blog tour, which kicks off in January.  Please Come back to hear from the author and the chance to win your very own copy of the book!!!!!

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (28) Daylight Saving By Edward Hogan

Waiting On Wednesday is a brilliant book blog feature hosted by Breaking The Spine   

Daylight Saving By Edward Hogan
Published In The UK By Walker Books
Due For Release February 2012
Amazon LINK
GoodReads LINK


"This is a brilliant thriller ghost story by a new name in teenage fiction. When Daniel Lever is dragged to Leisure World Holiday Complex for some "time away" with his depressed dad, his expectations are low. Daniel is overweight, he hates sport, and his father has brought along his beloved tomato plant. But soon Daniel spots a girl swimming in the fake lake. Lexi is elegant and smart, but very mysterious. Why are her bruises getting worse each time she and Daniel meet? And is her watch really ticking backwards? A dark figure stalks the pair, and as British summer time approaches, Daniel has to act quickly. Their souls depend on it."

I heard about the this from the author himself at Walker Books Christmas event.  It sounds very unique and fresh, I can't wait to read it!!!

Top Ten Books I Hope Santa Brings

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly blog feature hosted by the awesome people at The Broke and the Bookish 

Now this is tragic - I have kind of been told that I'm not getting many books for Christmas, I'm so sad!  I do sort of understand as I have a hell of a lot of books, but more are always appreciated!!!  Here's what I would love to get though....

1. Variant By Robison Wells
This sounds so scary but major exciting

2. A Discovery Of Witches By Deborah Harkness
I've been told this is a adult mix of Twilight and Harry Potter - that sounds very me!!

3. Revolution By Jennifer Donnelly
Another one I have been told great stuff about, I would LOVE this

4. Between By Jessica Warman
I have a fair amount of book lust for this.  I always ogle it in book shops.

5. The Woman In Black By Susan Hill
I know this has been out a while, but I hear this is quite a chiller and I'm eager to be chilled (in book form of course!!)

6. Mist By Kathryn James
This is super shiny and awesome looking - plus it sounds pretty cool too

7. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children By Ransom Riggs
I've been dying to get this for ages - looks like I'll have to wait a while longer

8. Eyes Like Stars By Lisa Mantchev
I've been longing for this for ages too, it sounds amazing!!

9. Eve By Anna Carey
This sounds fantastic - I need it in my life

10. The Near Witch By Victoria Schwab
I've heard many great things about this and Victoria is so lovely - I must get this ASAP!!

I hope Santa brings you all what you dearly wish for!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Exciting Lauren Oliver News

Super Duper exciting news for fans of Lauren Oliver today.  Just in time for Christmas a short story linked to the Delirum series has been released on eBook - YAY!!!  It'll cost you just 99p and is called 'Hana'  This story is centred around Lena's best friend, who just happens to have a few secrets of her own.  You can read more about this exciting story HERE

Now I know that you guys are probably just as desperate as me to buy this right NOW, but the people from Hodder have had this brilliant idea.  If we could all wait till Christmas eve to buy it, we may just be able to give Lauren the best present ever in an eBook at number 1 for Christmas.  I think I can hold off - how about you???

In My Mailbox (43)

In My Mailbox Is An Awesome Blog Post Idea Hosted By The Story Siren

Book links will take you to Amazon

What with Christmas coming up I have put myself on somewhat of a book buying ban.  I say that, but forgot I pre-ordered something a while ago - so it doesn't count really ;)

BOUGHT

Across The Universe By Beth Revis (US Paperback)

I already have a couple of editions of this to be honest, but this one is just a bit special as it has my name printed in the back as one of the early facebook fans!  Its the first time my name has been in print, so I HAD to buy it!!!  Its gorgeous too!!

What did you get this week??

Leanne

xoxo

Review - Cinder By Marissa Meyer

"A forbidden romance.
A deadly plague.
Earth's fate hinges on one girl . . .
CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.
Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.
This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget."

I heard about this recently and was instantly excited by the idea of it.  All girls grow up hearing the fairy tales of Cinderella, Snow White, etc.  We all know the stories so well, so finding out that the story is being retold but with a futuristic twist is beyond exciting!!  I wasn't sure when I was going to get the opportunity to read this, but looked through the UK Book Tours blog and found they were touring a copy - OMG I had to get on board with that and literally JUST finished reading it!!

The UK cover is still undecided I believe, but this cover seems to be the only one on show.  I really do hope it is picked as the UK cover as it pretty much is perfect.  It tells you exactly what you need to know about the book and is a great opener to the story.

I must admit when I started to read this, although I was really excited by it, I wasn't that keen.  It just felt too strange having the mix of fairytale and sci-fi.  But I was determined to carry on and I'm so glad I did, as I enjoyed it more and more.

I was a little concerned at the beginning of the story that this would go exactly on the same lines as the original fairytale, meaning that there would be no surprises.  Once again I am thrilled to say my concerns were unwarranted.  You don't lose any of the wonderfulness of 'Cinderella' but just get a whole load of new and fantastic parts that actually fit in with the original premise.  For me it just made this tale completely fresh.

You are left with somewhat of a cliffhanger, again this is really exciting.  I'm so eager to read what is going to develop, but also how the tales of Red Riding Hood, Snow White & Rapunzel are going to be woven in.

Rating 4 Out Of 5

This Is Published In The UK By Puffin

Due For Release January 2012

This Can be Pre-Ordered HERE and will be available from good book retailers

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (27) The Future Of Us By Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

Waiting On Wednesday is a brilliant book blog feature hosted by Breaking The Spine   

Cover not confirmed yet

The Future Of Us By Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Published In The UK By Simon & Schuster
Due For Release 5th January 2012
Amazon LINK


"It's 1996 and very few high school students have ever used the internet. Facebook will not be invented until several years in the future. Emma just got a computer and an America Online CD. She and her best friend Josh power it up and log on - and discover themselves on Facebook in 2011. Everybody wonders what they'll be like fifteen years in the future. Josh and Emma are about to find out"

I heard about this one recently and am so intrigued by the set up.  Its already got me thinking what I would have done if 12 year old me could have been reading facebook & what she'd think.  I guess the next best thing to finding out about yourself would be to find out about others in a book - and YAY we're given just that!!!  Cannot wait to read this!!

Top Ten Books I Want To Give As Gifts

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly blog feature hosted by the awesome people at The Broke and the Bookish 

I LOVE sharing books so this is a fun post!!!  I just wish I had the money to buy them all for loved ones!!

•  The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins

I would love to give this to quite a few people for its wonderfulness.  I'm gonna pick my cousin though, I think he would LOVE them

•  Divergent By Veronica Roth

Once again I loved this and I know loads of people that would love this too.  I'm going to pick my Mum for this one.

•  Delirium By Lauren Oliver

I've actually given this as a gift already and the person (my Aunt) adored it

•  Across The Universe By Beth Revis

This was a beautiful book.  I think I would give it to my brother as he liked Twilight and he likes sci fi, so this is the perfect mix

•  Harry Potter books By J K Rowling

I'd give these to my Dad - he reads no where near enough and if these books can't captivate a reader then nothing will

•  Paranormalcy By Kiersten White

The lead character in this is SO Buffy like, but does it in her own way.  I'd give this to any Buffy, although I can't think of any that haven't already read it

In My Mailbox (42)

In My Mailbox Is An Awesome Blog Post Idea Hosted By The Story Siren

Book links will take you to Amazon

This week brought what I believe is my last bookish event for the year - sad times!  But feeling very excited for all the amazing books we have to come in 2012 - we are being spoilt!!

WON

Anna Sui Paper Dolly Parade Note Card Set

This I won in the fabulous Abrams & Chronicle facebook advent giveaway - anyone that is expecting notes from, you now know what the staionary will be!!!

GIVEN

 I got these Fantastic bits from the WALKER event this weekend, I'm particularly thrilled with my tote bag!!

Blink & Caution By Tim Wynne-Jones

Sounds very different to my usual reads

Shadows On The Moon By Zoe Marriott

I've been wanting to read some Zoe Marriott for ages, so very excited to start this one!

Long Reach By Peter Cocks

I'm very intrigued by this one, particularly because it is set all around where I live!!  The bridge on the cover is about 5 minutes from my house.  I'm thinking it may unsettle me some!!

 Simon & Schuster sent me this gorgeous 2012 calender, featuring art work from some of their picture books - I'm in LOVE with it!!!

Now let me know what goodies you got!!!

Leanne 

xoxo

Review - Clockwork Prince By Cassandra Clare

Although I have tried my hardest this is a follow up book and some spoilers are possible

"In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends. With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?
As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart."
 I was sent this a few weeks ago from Walker Books.  I cannot express to you the excitedness I felt at seeing it.  I ADORE Cassie's writing & Clockwork Angel has to be one of my favourite books, making this one of my most anticipated reads of 2011.  She did not let me down one little bit.

The cover is amazing.  Keeping within theme of the other book.  I really like how different characters are getting the special limelight.  This cover features the wonderful Jem - When I first saw it, I felt his head looked a little super imposed but on seeing the final book, its just gorgeous.

This picks up near to where we left off which is always fantastic in my opinion.  I hate when you are left feeling a chunk of the story has been cut out.  Not the case with this one!!

Having just a few months ago read City of Fallen Angels, which is the same world as Clockwork Angel / Prince, but separated by well over 100 years, there are certain aspects that you can see do not change.  Like the Clave.  They seem to try and get things right, yet always have someone that wants to stir things up.  Kind of made me think of the governments today.

I love how Tessa has these wonderful self conscious traits.  Something that seems to be a timeless trait & something that is very relate able today.

From reading it is so evident how much research Cassie put into the setting of the book.  I could so picture how she portrays London in the book, especially in this historic era.  Everything felt extremely accurate!  I think we should crown Cassie an honorary Brit!!!

One character I'd never really thought of before but have ended up loving is Sophie.  Her development has been amazing.  She is funny and quite feisty at times.  I hope her character continues to grow in the next instalment.

I'm still completely torn on the love triangle of Tessa, Jem & Will.  I would both love and hate to be Tessa.  It would be great to have these two guys battling for your heart, but torture to just pick one!!  I think I will stick to my Team Lover Of All, status for now.  Although I do feel I know where Tessa's heart truly lies!!

This book is action packed like its predecessor.  Still bringing out some great shocks.  It concludes with an awesome climax, that once again left me thinking WHAT NEXT??

I read the UK Collectors edition of the book, which also contains a letter wrote by Will and a short story from Jem's Point Of View.  Both were brilliant additions, that just give you a little more insight into the characters and their thinking.  Definitely worth getting this version if you can!!!

Rating 5 out of 5

Published In The UK By Walker Books

Goodreads Link

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from good books retailers

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (26) Unrest By Michelle Harrison

Waiting On Wednesday is a brilliant book blog feature hosted by Breaking The Spine   

Unrest By Michelle Harrison
Published In The UK By Simon And Schuster
Due For Release April 2012
Amazon LINK


"Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn't slept properly for six months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Now he is afraid to go to sleep. Sometimes he wakes to find himself paralysed, unable to move a muscle, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. According to his doctor, sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless - but to Elliot they're terrifying. Convinced that his brush with death has opened up connections with the spirit world, Elliott secures a live-in job at one of England's most haunted locations, determined to find out the truth. There he finds Sebastian, the ghost of a long-dead servant boy hanged for stealing bread. He also meets the living, breathing Ophelia, a girl with secrets of her own. She and Elliott grow closer, but things take a terrifying turn when Elliott discovers Sebastian is occupying his body when he leaves it. And the more time Sebastian spends inhabiting a living body, the more resistant he becomes to giving it back. Worse, he seems to have an unhealthy interest in Ophelia. Unless Elliott can lay Sebastian's spirit to rest, he risks being possessed by him for ever, and losing the girl of his dreams..."

I heard a fair bit about this, this weekend at Simon & Schuster bloggers event and it sounds incredible.  It sounds very creepy and haunting - just my style!!

Sadly no cover art has been released yet, but as soon as it is I shall be posting it here!!!

Atom Bloggers Event

Back on the 23rd November Atom books held an event for bloggers, to introduce them to their upcoming books for 2012.  Imagine my shock when they sent me, yes ME an invite!!  I nearly bit their arm off with excitement.  Hell Yeah did I want to go.  I really do thank Atom for re-invigorating my love of books with the help of Stephenie Meyer. 

Before I go any further check out Atom's review of the evening HERE

I started my day off by meeting my regular partner in crime Laura from SisterSpooky: Book Fangirl.  We got a little bit of christmas shopping in first & by Christmas shopping I mean buying things for myself - whoops!!!  I did find a Northanger Abbey comic though!!!

Eventually we made our way to the destination, but far too early so we got to have a well earned Starbucks with our third amigo Andy from The Pewter Wolf.  Laura and I had been having excited fits throughout the day where we would just do a happy dance that we were going to Atom.  This just got worse once meeting up with Andy.  Atom really didn't know what they were getting themselves into by inviting the 3 of us together, once again I am SO SORRY :D
We were then joined by the lovely Clover from Fluttering Butterflies.  It was the first chance I had to meet her, so my excitability probably made me look rather strange!!

We waited as long as we could contain ourselves to go over to the offices.  We tried to look kind of cool, but that was never going to happen.  We walked into the building which is gorgeous and I let out a loud squeal at seeing the Little Brown sign - Not cool Leanne!!!

Atom guys giving their presentation

We made it up to the office which was already fairly full of bloggers - obviously we weren't the only excited ones!!!  My jaw hit the floor at seeing an array of Atom's YA books all over the tables.  I was in book heaven & even got to take a couple that I didn't have.  That was like Christmas day for me alone!!

We got name badges as we got there, as they were going for a back to school theme.  There were some school style nibbles that were YUM!!  But not so school style was the delicious wine they had, it was gorgeous.  Sadly I had to limit myself to one glass as I am not a big drinker and that one glass went straight to my head.  I didn't want to go and make a bigger fool of myself than what I could easily do without any alcohol!!

We were then taking through to the meeting room, where they had placed a folders for all of us to check the new books that were to come.  We took to our seats and were first shown a couple of book trailers and then a cool PowerPoint presentation on all the books.  Here's whats to come......

Night School By C.J.Daugherty
"When everyone is lying, who can you trust? Allie Sheridan's world is falling apart. She hates her school. Her brother has run away from home. And she's just been arrested. Again. This time her parents have finally had enough. They cut her off from her friends and send her away to a boarding school for problem teenagers. But Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. It allows no computers or phones. Its students are an odd mixture of the gifted, the tough and the privileged. And then there's the secretive Night School, whose activities other students are forbidden even to watch. When Allie is attacked one night the school begins to seem like a very dangerous place, Allie must learn who she can trust. And what's really going on at Cimmeria Academy"
 We were lucky to meet Christi there!!  She told us a bit more about the book and how she got her idea.  I'm so excited for it!!

Trapped By Micheal Northrop
"The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive . . . Scotty and his friends are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision . . ."
This sounds rather chilling and yet oh so intriging.  Looking forward to giving this a go

The Book Of Blood & Shadow By Robin Wasserman
"It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and a boyfriend she adored. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands. Chris was dead. Adriane couldn't speak. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also-according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone-a murderer. Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora's determined to follow the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. But Chris's murder is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life."
How cool does that sound??  This has been described as The Da Vinci Code meets Die For Me - what an awesome combination, very eager to read this one!!

Under The Never Sky By Veronica Rossi
"Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.
As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.
They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers abarbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY" We ALL Ohhh'd when this one came up.  I'm mega excited for it, just as everyone else seems to be.  I need to read this NOW!!!

Bunheads By Sophie Flack
"On-stage beauty. Backstage drama. As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet. But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah's universe begins to change and she must decide if she wants to compete against the other 'bunheads' in the company for a star soloist spot or strike out on her own in the real world. Does she dare give up the gilded confines of the ballet for the freedoms of everyday life?"
I've never really read anything set in the dance area so this will be a very different read for me.  Sounds rather awesome though!

172 Hours On The Moon By Johan Harstad
"Three teenagers are going on the trip of a lifetime. Only one is coming back. It's been more than forty years since NASA sent the first men to the moon, and to grab some much-needed funding and attention, they decide to launch an historic international lottery in which three lucky teenagers can win a week-long trip to moon base DARLAH 2-a place that no one but top government officials even knew existed until now. The three winners, Antoine, Midori, and Mia, come from all over the world. But just before the scheduled launch, the teenagers each experience strange, inexplicable events. Little do they know that there was a reason NASA never sent anyone back there until now-a sinister reason. But the countdown has already begun. . ."
Once again this is a different read for me, but I was instantly captivated by the sounds of it.  I have very high hopes for this one!!

Adorkable By Sarra Manning
"Jeane Smith is seventeen and has turned her self-styled dorkiness into an art form, a lifestyle choice and a profitable website and consultancy business. She writes a style column for a Japanese teen magazine and came number seven in The Guardian's 30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing The World. And yet, in spite of the accolades, hundreds of Internet friendships and a cool boyfriend, she feels inexplicably lonely, a situation made infinitely worse when Michael Lee, the most mass-market, popular and predictably all-rounded boy at school tells Jeane of his suspicion that Jeane's boyfriend is secretly seeing his girlfriend. Michael and Jeane have NOTHING in common - she is cool and individual; he is the golden boy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. So why can't she stop talking to him?"
Again Atom brought in the lovely Sarra to tell us more about her upcoming book.  This has a great sound to it.  I love all things dorky, so am thrilled by the sounds of Adorkable

8 - 12 years books

The Witch Of Turlingham Academy By Ellie Boswell
"It's not easy being the only day girl at Turlingham boarding school: Sophie misses out on all the midnight feasts and late night gossip. Things take a turn for the worse when a new girl - Katy - shows up and all Sophie hears is Katy, Katy, Katy from her friends. It's like she's put a spell on everyone. Katy's no witch, but there is a witch at Turlingham. Katy comes from a long line of witch hunters whose fate is to stop evil magic once and for all. Sophie is going to help her - anything to get Katy out of her life and get things back to normal. But what she finds out means nothing will ever be normal again!" 
This is kind of Worst Witch sounding, which I think is quite exciting.  There is also a hint of Enid Blyton to them, which sounds fab!!

Creepover By P J Night
"During a round of Truth or Dare, Abby Miller confesses her crush on Jake Chilson. The only people who know her secret are her friends at the sleepover - and whoever sent her a text message in the middle of the night warning her to stay away from Jake...or else! But Abby isn't going to stay away from Jake, especially not after he asks her to the school dance. As the night of the dance comes closer, some very creepy things start happening to Abby. Someone definitely wants to keep her away from Jake. Is it a jealous classmate or, as Abby begins to suspect, could it be a ghost?"
These are Ghostbumps sounding but aimed more at girls - hooray!!  Girls like a bit of a scare too sometimes!!  There are a few titles to come in the new year - worth a check out I think!

Goddess Girls Series By Joan Holub & Suzanne Williams

"Athena The Brain: Athena has always been above average. She has never quite fit in at Triton Junior High, but who would've guessed that Athena is actually a goddess? Principal Zeus's daughter, to be exact.
When she's summoned to Mount Olympus Academy, Athena thinks she might actually fit in for the first time in her life. But in some ways, school on Mount Olympus is not that different from down on Earth, and Athena is going to have to deal with the baddest mean girl in history: Medusa!"
This sounds a fab series.  Telling a modernised tale of how the greek goddesses got their powers and made it to their future destinations.  Sounds like a really cute, fun new take!!

After the amazing presentation we were led back out to the main meeting room, where we were each given a House of Night tote bag that had more goodies inside.  We all got copies of Night School, Trapped, 172 Hours On The Moon & The Witch Of Turlingham Academy.  More sqeauling occured I am afraid to say.  I just get so excited by books!!

We went back to mingling and major geeking out about the books we love.  Christi came over and we had a really fun chat with her about our love of caffine - we are all self confessed addicts!!!
Christi kindly signed our books - she said it was her first time signing things for fans so we were all thrilled to be her firsts.


We had a bit more chatting and basic excitedness and then sadly had to make our way home, but not before the Atom guys took this awesome picture of some of us bloggers - Awwww!!!

Many Thanks to everyone at Atom for making this such a special evening for us all!!


(book synopsis' taken from Amazon And Goodreads)

In My Mailbox (41)

In My Mailbox Is An Awesome Blog Post Idea Hosted By The Story Siren

Book links will take you to Amazon

 Had another great book week.  Got to go to another publishers event & also got some exciting ARCs in the mail.  Its just what to read first???

RECEIVED

 From Simon & Schuster

A Beautiful Evil By Kelly Keaton

I've not actually got the first of this series yet, although it is on my wishlist.  Hopefully I'll get it soon!

Everneath By Brodi Ashton

I've heard wonderful stuff about this & am really excited to start it

 From Indigo / Orion

Dark Parties By Sara Grant

This sounds AMAZING!!!  Very excited for this!

 From Simon & Schuster Event

The Hunt By Andrew Fukuda

This sounds Incredible & isn't due out till May.  Plus look at the guy on the cover....Mmmmm!

These were given to me by the lovely Carly at Writing From The Tub

Beautiful Days By Anna Godbersen

I LOVED Bright Young Things, so excited for this

Glow By Amy Kathleen Ryan

This has been on my wishlist for ages, eeeeee I have a copy :D

BORROWED

 This I have borrowed from the awesome UK Book Tours

Cinder By Marissa Meyer

Sounds like a great twist on a classic fairy tale, enjoying seeing how this develops

What was in your mailbox??

Review - Hunting Lila By Sarah Alderson

"17-year-old Lila has two secrets she's prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she's been in love with her brother's best friend, Alex, since forever. After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust - her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they've found them. In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone - there are others out there just like her - people with special powers -and her mother's killer is one of them..." 

I very luckily won this a while back, but I must admit I hadn't heard too much about it before I got it.  I thought the blurb sounded pretty cool and so I decided to join this book world for a while!!

The cover is pretty eye catching.  I don't think it tells you what kind of  genre it is just by looking at it and so maybe will have greater appeal to more people.  Once you actually read the book, you can see how the cover fits in.

The book kicks off with a huge revelation and then goes on to tell you all the back story you need to know in the first chapter or so.  I found this a fantastic way to get you in their world and let you know all the details you need to.

I have to say the story felt somewhat disjointed for me to begin with though.  There were certain parts of the story that just didn't work out right & also a big mixture of different style stories in one that confused me.  I can very happily say though that everything rightens itself and makes so much more sense by the end.

I did find Lila's character quite frustrating and annoying at times, but I have to admit I would act much the same as she does, so maybe she was just a little too like me?!

Now the love interest in this - OMG so dreamy!!!  I so wish my brother had a best friend like the gorgeous Alex.  But sadly no such luck, so I'm gonna have to carry on borrowing Alex for the time being.  He really is a dreamboat and I really want to see what more can happen with him & Lila.

The book concludes rather dramatically.  It seriously had my heart pounding and just leaves me thinking WHAT NEXT???

Although this was a bit of a struggle for me at first, I ended up adoring this book and can't freaking wait to see what happens next

Rating 4 Out Of 5

This Is Published In The UK By Simon And Schuster

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from good Book Retailers

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (25) Struck By Jennifer Bosworth

Waiting On Wednesday is a brilliant book blog feature hosted by Breaking The Spine   

US COVER

Struck By Jennifer Bosworth
Published In The UK By Doubleday Books
Due For Release 1st March 2012
Amazon LINK
Goodreads LINK

"Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.

Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities, populated by millions of homeless. Downtown is a wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the attendees drawn to the destruction by a magnetic force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power in the wake of the disaster, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing prophecies. They know she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the worse storm that is yet to come.

Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but he’s hiding a more sinister truth. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must unleash the full horror of her strength to save them all."

I've had quite an obsession with freak weather and apocolyptic scenarios for sometime now (I'm still 50 / 50 on whats going to happen in 2012 - Just saying!!)  So this really fits the bill.  Also throw in a guy with a sinister secret - sounds AWESOME!!!  
The UK Cover Hasn't Been Released Yet, So For Now Here Is The US Art Work

Top Ten Books On My TBR List For Winter

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly blog feature hosted by the awesome people at The Broke and the Bookish

I have so many books that are on my TBR pile full stop, so this will be tricky listing just 10.  To make it slightly easier I am just listing the books I already own.....

1. The Night Circus By Erin Morgenstern
This looks and sounds stunning.  I just need to find a good chunk of time to dedicate to it

2. Blood Red Road By Moira Young
This has been on my shelf a while, so eager to read it

3. Night School By C.J.Daugherty
SO excited for this!!

4. Ultraviolet By R.J.Anderson
Another one I have had for a while, but sounds fantastic

5. The Other Life By Susanne Winnacker
Heard some great stuff about this

6. Arcadia Awakens By Kai Meyer
Excited by the sounds of this one

7. Crossed By Ally Condie
SO Excited for this!!!

8. Birthmarked By Caragh O'Brien
Had this one for a while, and so eager to read it

9. 172 Hours On The Moon By Johan Harstad
This sounds very different to my usual reads but very cool

10. Desires Of The Dead By Kimberley Derting
I LOVED the Body Finder and am uber excited to get on to the next part

In My Mailbox (40)

In My Mailbox Is An Awesome Blog Post Idea Hosted By The Story Siren

Book links will take you to Amazon

I had the most Incredible week!!  I got invited to my very first blogger event (Squee) with the lovely guys at Atom Books.  It was just the best night & a full report on the evening shall follow soon.  For now here are the books I got this week.....

WON

Ashes By Ilsa J Bick

I won this from the lovely Laura at Sisterspooky: Book Fangirl  I've been wanting to read this for a while now, so am thrilled to have the chance

 From ATOM Books

They really did spoil us!!  We got to take any books that we wanted from a selection on tables and we were all given ARCs of some of their new titles

 Hades By Alexandra Adornetto

Breaking Dawn By Stephenie Meyer

Quarantine By James Phelan

Lost In Time By Melissa de la Cruz

Guardian Of The Gate By Michelle Zink

Circle Of Fire By Michelle Zink

 Pretty Little Liars 2 - 5 By Sara Shepard

House Of Night Tote Bag

Night School By C J Daughtery

172 Hours On The Moon By Johan Harstad

Trapped By Michael Northrop

The Witch Of Turlingham Academy By Ellie Boswell

Hoping you all had great weeks too?!!

Leanne 

xoxo

Review - The Scorpio Races By Maggie Stiefvater

"Stay alive, stay astride, stay out of the water... Every November, the Scorpio Races are run beneath the chalk cliffs of Skarmouth. Thousands gather to watch the horses and the sea that washes the blood from the sand. The mounts are capaill uisce: savage water horses. There are no horses more beautiful, more fearless, more deadly. To race them can be suicide but the danger is irresistible. Sean Kendrick knows the dangers of the capaill uisce. With one foot in the ocean and one on land, he is the only man on the island capable of taming the beasts. He races to prove something both to himself and to the horses. Puck Connolly enters the races to save her family. But the horse she rides is an ordinary little mare, just as Puck is an ordinary girl. When Sean sees Puck on the beach he doesn't think she belongs. He doesn't realize his fate will become entwined in hers...."

UK Cover

I've had an ARC of this for quite sometime now, thanks to my lovely friend Jenny at Wondrous Reads.  She knows what a huge Maggie fan I am and how eager I was to get this book.  I finally got round to reading it!!

I LOVE the UK cover.  It goes in really well with Maggie's other UK books, but still keeps its individuality.  I approve greatly and bought the book as soon as it came out partly for its prettiness!!
The US cover is also beautiful and has much more of an adult look to it.  Quite a great cover for adults to have a sneaky read of YA!!

At first I did have some difficulty connecting with the story.  I had never read or even thought of rabid / zombie / evil horses from the sea before and so took me a while to grasp the idea.  I did get there though and enjoyed it when I did get there.

I was kind of expecting to read this epic story set in an American style landscape, so I was suprised to discover it definitely wasn't in America.  You are never really told when it takes place, but I felt the names were very Yorkshire like so my mind kept taking me there.  I've since read some of Maggie's notes and think she was going for more of Irish / Scottish style.  I was kind of close!!

US Cover

There are so many relationships in the book and I loved reading of the developments.  Even the human / animal relationships were beautifully formed.  As an animal lover this was something I could really relate too.  Feeling isolated, but finding friendship with a faithful companion.
I even began to think of Puck's horse Dove like I do my dog (Tilly) She like Dove is small and sweet and rather scared.  I began to feel even more worried about Dove because of that.

This had your usual villan.  I HATED this character!!  I seriously wanted to inflict pain on them.  This either shows I am rather violent minded or Maggie is just THAT great a writer.  I'm going for the latter!!

I loved that this book had kind of short chapters.  For me it really built tension and made me want to devour the book even quicker.

I was so happy with the outcome of the story.  It was wonderful to know that this is a standalone story and so no more harm could come to characters I had become so fond of.  I felt really heartwarmed and satisfied!! 
This is a great new tale from Maggie and hope Shiver fans will give this a go, even though it has a different theme.

Rating 4 Out Of 5

This Is Published In The UK Scholastic

This Can Be Purchased HERE and from good book retailers

Books That Make Me Go Oooooh (24) Tempest By Julie Cross

Waiting On Wednesday is a brilliant book blog feature hosted by Breaking The Spine  

Tempest By Julie Cross
Published In The UK By Macmillan Children's Books
Due For Release 5th January 2012
Amazon LINK

"Jackson Meyer is hiding a secret. He can time-travel. But he doesn't know how he does it, how to control it or what it means. When Jackson, and his girlfriend Holly, find themselves in fatal danger, Jackson panics and catapaults himself two years into his past, further than he's ever managed before, and this time he can't find a way back to the future. All the rules of time-travel he's experienced so far have been broken and Jackson has no choice but to pretend to be his younger self whilst he figures out a solution. Jackson is tearing himself apart with guilt and frustration, wondering if Holly survived. He's also become the target of an unknown enemy force and it seems even his dad is lying to him. Jackson is racing against time to save the girl he loves, but to do that he must first discover the truth about his family and himself.

And stay alive"

I actually heard about this from Becca Fitzpatrick, who was going to have a book of the same name but in the end changed her title.  

This made me check the book out and I have to say it sounds amazing!!  Have already heard some other people talking about it too and that has me even more excited.  Bring on January!!!

Top Ten Authors I'd Love To Have At My Thanksgiving Feast

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly blog feature hosted by the awesome people at The Broke and the Bookish

Well this is an interesting list for me not being American.  Sadly I have never got to celebrate a thanksgiving, but if anyone would like to invite me at sometime, I'm so up for that!!!
I guess I'm just going to do a list of authors that I'm thankful for and so would quite like to hang out with them.....

•  J K Rowling

Does this need an explanation??  She is my hero and would be on my list for nearly every feast I could think of!!

•  The Bronte Sisters

Their lives totally fascinate me and I'm hugely Thankful for the impact they have had on my life!!

•  William Shakespeare

This guy is a legend.  He has done so much for the literary world and we should all be totally thankful for him!!

•  Jane Austen

Another great - I love her books, even if her stories were all basically the same.

•  Enid Blyton

Everyone has been told at least one of her stories in their life.  She helped form us all

•  Roald Dahl

He is one of the masters in Children's book writing.  I'd love to hear more of his life stories!

•  Cassandra Clare

Having just attended one of her talks, I can say she is awesome.  I'd like to hear more of her tales

Cassie Clare Event At Foyles

On 26th October I was one of the very lucky attendees of the Cassie Clare talk And signing at Foyles bookshop in London.  It was the only event Cassie was doing in England this year and was also the first opportunity I was getting to meet her.  I HAD to go and very luckily the awesome Laura at SisterSpooky: Book FanGirl managed to book us tickets EEEEE!

My Pretty mask!

Our day of awesome started with me meeting Laura at her local train station and making our way to London.  We did our usual mad rush to Foyles, there we met up with the awesome Andrew at The Pewter Wolf.  We had a major fan session over all the pretty books in the YA section - we all worked out that we want more than we can afford & also have time to read Eeek!

From there we made the epic journey up to the top floor.  This walk really makes you realise how unfit you are.  I was somewhat puffed out I am sad to admit!!

Upstairs we had to join the long queue of people to get in the events room.  We had about a half hour wait so gave us great opportunity to geek out some more, with talks of everything teen that we love!!

Cassie during the talk

Just as they started to lead people in to the room the wonderful Becca arrived - YAY!  We now had a full party and so could get really excited, if a more excited state was possible!!

We got to the events room were all told to pick ourselves out a scary mask from a big box.   I picked myself a rather beautiful witches mask (my dog didn't think it so nice though)
A little later we were told to look for a coloured dot in the mask - if you had a colour you won some stuff, sadly all of ours were colourless :(  But we did get to pick up some free book swag at the end, so no complaints!!

Sarah looking rather pouty

We took to our seats and waited for everyone to be seated.  Literally the room was PACKED!!  You could easily tell how popular this event was.
Cassie was then led out with her interviewer and also fab author friend Sarah Rees Brennan!  Cassie and Sarah seemed equally as excited as all of us.
They started off with Sarah just asking Cassie some basic questions and then went on to a pop quiz where members of the audience got to win bits related to Cassie's work.  This made me realise I have a terrible memory and need to study harder when going to events.  I mean we should all be able to name the cats in the Tmi series right?!!!
Next up Sarah picked questions that the audience wanted answers for.  There was some talk of mangoes that went right over my head!!  Still unsure of that one!!  But subjects like South Carolina were easy to pick up on - Cassie has some saucy minded fans!!!
We then went on to a speed round of questions where everything was done very fast and very short.  Cassie shocked us all with her epic speed and quick thought up answers.  She knows her stuff!!
The talk lasted around an hour and was just fantastic, so entertaining and filled with laughs.

 Next up we had to journey back down to the main floor and joined another big queue.  This time for the signing.  To add to the excitement Sarah was also signing which was fantastic as I had a couple of books that needed signing from her too.
This queue did take quite a while, but that is completely down to Cassie having written so many great books.  We were all more than happy to wait our turn.  I had about 6 books that I wanted signed, some people had even more.  Luckily for us Cassie was more than happy to sign everything and chat with us all.
Cassie asked me if I was team Will or Team Jem, which I had to say I'm really not fussy!!  Both are such awesome characters.  I ended up saying I was team lover of all - I think that suits me well!

Cassie and Sarah kindly had a photo with me, which I adore - this needs to go on my wall of awesome I think!!

Cassie, Me & Sarah

This was such an incredible event which I would love to thank Cassie, Sarah, Foyles & Walker Books for making it so special