A very bookish week... Events wrap up!

Last week turned out to be a very bookish week for me and so instead of doing each event separately I decided I would post a kind of bookish events wrap up where I talk about each of the events separately.

The first bookish event I attended was the Random House Summer Blogger Brunch. I always look forward to these events at random house as they are tailored for us bloggers, we get to hear about all the fab new books coming out, see some wonderful guest authors and always get to take away some awesome books at the end of the brunch. 

This brunch had a bond theme to it, which I have to admit didn't really float my boat but it was exciting to have some bond theme film cases to take away filled with sweets and some lovely non alcoholic cocktails in martini glasses to sip on. We were introduced to the new Youn Bond author Steve Cole. He seemed like a really lovely guy, very charismatic and funny and I felt a bit like I might like to read the novel because of what I knew about his research and his personality. It features young Bond in Hollywood in 1934 and so I'm sure it'll be all glamour and action, maybe something new for me to try. 

As well as the bond intro, we also did a kind of speed dating of the new book they had. We chose which table to sit at first and then were told about each of the books on the table. I was in a group with Kate and Rob from the fabulous podcast Adventures with Words and Sana from booktube channel books and quills. It was just as lovely to be able to chat to them as it was to be able to chat about the books.

The first table we went to featured 365 Days of Wonder, a spin of from Wonder feature 365 of Mr Browns precepts. I think this sounds great and will definitely be getting a copy of this when it's out. We also talked about The Boy in The Tower which is a debut novel about when a boy becomes the only remaining resident in a tower block in an estate with his mum when all the other blocks have been attacked by Killer plants. I have a copy of this hardback and it's lovely so expect a review very soon. We moved onto a table which featured new books by Johnathan Stroud and Jason Segal. These are kind of horror type books and not really my cup of tea, but all sounded like they were full of action and there was a good mix of middle grade versus young adult books. The next table was the kind of fantasy table. This included the new novel by Casandra Clare and Holly Black and we each got a copy of this. Now this has been compared to Harry Potter because it followes children through school years and is a five part serious. I know there are a lot of people who will be very excited about this one! This Taney also featured a series of short stories by Terry Pratchet. Again this was a middle grade book and I think it would be a great introduction for someone like me who hasn't read any terry Pratchet before, so keep your eyes peeled for that. 

The final table we went to was the swoon table which featured the next novel in the teardrop series by Laren Kate, Waterfall and If I Stay by Gayle Forman which is going to released as a movie in August. I definitely want to read this novel before I see the film so I will be buying that one soon! The one I was most excited about was the new novel by Beth Reekles, Out of Tune. I loved Beth's previous novels The Kissing Booth and Rolling Dice and so I actually started reading this one on the tube back from the event! We were also lucky enough to be given a copy of Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by a John Boyne which I will be seeing if I can use when learning about World War I in school because it sounds great! 

The second event I attended last Saturday was Anthony Horrwitz and Meg Rossoff in conversation in Foyles. Thanks to Jim for the tcikets to this. I haven't actually read any books by either of these authors. I am aware of Horrowtiz's Alex Rider series and some of Megs books but these authors were so funny and so interesting. They seem to live and write in completely different ways and so to hear them comparing their working lives was really interesting. I loved the bluntness of a Meg Rossoff but unfortunately Horrowitz came off looking a little arrogant, but then he HAS written 42 novels so I suppose he's allowed, we got free t shirts as part of the event which again, will be going straight into school as prizes! The authors took questions and signed their books at the end of the chat.

Then on Monday night, the lovely Chorleywood bookshop put on a fab event with Mark Kermode. He talked to us all about Film critics and their future and told some of tales and anecdotes that feature in his new book Hatchet Job. The book seems to be written in exactly the same style that he speaks and so given how funny he was, I really can't wait to read it! He talked about standing behind his reviews and the fact that so many online reviewers don't have anything to loose and so they're maybe not as trustworthy as someone who's livelihood and job rest on their reviews and their opinions. He also said that he never sits on the fence because then he really isn't doing his job properly. Each questions from the audience as answered fully and each had another story attached to it. It was a really fun evening and I felt really motivated to go away and make sure that I stand by the reviews that I write because I know I am honest and critical about every book that I blog about on here! He signed copies of his book afterwards and asked me to link my review when I write it-no pressure then! 

Thanks to Chorleywood Books, Foyles and Random House for such fab events and allowing me to have such a book-filled week! 

Independent Booksellers Week: Chorleywood Bookshop

Today marks the end of Independent Booksellers Week. A week when we can all celebrate our love of books and Bookshops and support our local independent Bookshops. There have been fab events going on all week to celebrate. One of my favourite Bookshops is Choleywood bookshop. I first found out about these guys when they supported author Jackie Marchant when she came into my school. They were the booksellers that sold her book Dougal Trump on both of the days that she visited my school. Since then they have been back into my school several times with a range of fabulous authors, including the lovely Laura Dockrill. I've also been to events they have put on in the local community featuring authors like Bill Bryson and Jaqueline Wilson!

They are a small bookshop in Chorleywood with another branch in Gerrards Cross but they provide a vital service to the local community. The events they hold are always massively popular and they use local schools and halls to hold them which means that they can have a greater capacity. They have a fabulous knowledge when it comes to books and if they don't have sometime that a customer is lookng for, they can have it there for them the next day. 

Since they've visited my school, whenever I pop into the bookshop or see them at one of their events, they always greet me by name and thank me for tweeting and blogging about them and their events. It is so lovely to get such a great personalised service and something you don't get anywhere else other than an independent bookshop. 

As parts of Independent Booksellers Week, there was a bookshop crawl yesterday where people had to visit as many independent Bookshops as they could supporting them by buying a book. I had a very busy day yesterday but I did make the journey to a Chorleywood books and bought a book. This is what I bought...

Bookshops had stickers to give to people who supported them during independent booksellers week, unfortunately the stickers were no longer in the shop as they had been taken to another fabulous event that the bookshop had on yesterday afternoon. Instead they gave me some bookmarks and some of the signage from the shop door that they had with the independent booksellers logo on it, to prove that I had indeed visited them and bought a book. 

I also supported them this week by attending their event that they had on last Monday with film critic mark kermode who talked about, and then signed, his latest book Hatchet Job. This was a fab night and I will be bringing you a post about that event soon. 

The general message of this post is that I've enjoyed supporting independent booksellers week and if you don't know who your local independent bookseller is then seek them out, you may find a real hidden gem like I did who can provide you not only with books, but also fabulous events and a cheery welcome whenever you pop in! 

Blog tour! The Atlas of Us

I am very lucky to be part of The Atlas of Us Blog Tour today. For my stop on the tour I am privileged enough to be able to bring you an extract from this anticipated summer read which is released on July 3rd!

This extract has definitely got me desperate to read the book as I'm sure it will you too! Thanks to Tracy Buchanan for this extract...

‘My mum’s been travelling aroundthe islands over Christmas,’ I say to thewoman now. ‘She’s not tried to call anyone to let us know she’s okay. We’rereally worried.’

‘Oh, poor luv. You’ve come out hereall alone?’

‘Yes. I’m all my mum has. We’re veryclose.’ I don’t know why I lie.

‘That’s lovely. You’re very good tocome out here for her.’ Or stupid. That’swhat Will had called me when I’d woken him in the early hours to tell him Iwanted to fly out here

to find Mum.

Maybe he was right. Maybe I ambloody stupid to leave the girls withtheir dad and come alone to a countrymore alien than I’ve ever known. I cansmell the foreignness in the scorchedspicy air drifting in through thewindows; see it in the wires that hangprecariously from the pylons; hear it inthe strange urgent accents of the Thaipeople outside.

I feel my chest start to fill withapprehension but quickly swallow itaway.

‘Have you been putting photos ofyour mum up on the notice boards?’the woman asks.

I nod. ‘Yes.’

‘Strange, isn’t it? All those smilingfaces?’

She doesn’t say why. I know whatshe means though. Strange to thinkhalf of them might be dead now,bloated corpses laid out in a templelike the very one we’re heading to now.

What if Mum’s one of thosecorpses? Oh God.

‘Did you check the patient list at thehospital?’ the woman asks.

I clear my throat, trying not toshow the fear building inside. ‘Yes, Idid.’ I’d gone into the hospital too,waving my mum’s photo in the facesof harassed-looking staff whose accents made my head buzz withconfusion, the phrase book I’d boughtin a hurry at the airport useless.

‘You never know, someone mightcall,’ the woman says, looking down ather mobile clutched in her plumphand. ‘The embassy photocopied thepicture we brought of our son. So niceof them. I’m sure it’ll all be fine.’ Herhand flut- ters to the small cross aroundher neck. ‘I’m sure we’ll . . .’

Review: A Gift to Remember by Melissa Hill

Discover the magic of Melissa Hill this Christmas... Darcy Archer works in a small bookstore on Manhattan's Upper West Side. A dreamer who secretly wishes for true love similar to that in her beloved novels, Darcy refuses to settle for anything less than being swept off her feet by the perfect man.

One day, when cycling to work, Darcy accidentally crashes into a sharply dressed man walking his dog. He is knocked unconscious and rushed to the hospital, but his dog gets left behind. Wracked with guilt over the accident, Darcy resolves to care for the dog and reunite him with his owner. But the dog is not the only thing that's been left behind and when she finds a small beautifully wrapped package - suspiciously shaped like a book - she becomes curious. She decides to try and figure out all she can about this man, and make the delivery herself. Darcy gradually becomes drawn into his life; one that she soon discovers is filled with books, travel, adventure and all the wonderful things she's ever dreamt about. It doesn't take long before Darcy builds up a picture of this man's lovely life, and feeling an immediate kinship towards him, tries to make things right.

It might be a challenge but doesn't she owe it to him to try? But does fantasy match reality? And what happens when he finally wakes up?

Review: wow, I literally devoured this book. It was just the right amount of light-hearted loveliness that I needed at the time and I actually could not stop listening to it! I actually downloaded this book on audiobook because I was moving house and I could listen to this whilst unpacking boxes. I was hooked into this book right from the word go, I think this was becaus main character Darcy worked in a bookshop and loved books so I could wait to see what bookish tales she was going to tell us and what adventures her books would take her on next! This book had a good amount of mystery involved, but not so much that you didn't know what was going on the whole time. The mystery kept you wanting to turn pages and find out how everything was going to come together in the end. 

I loved the character if Darcy. She was such an optimistic person, something which is a rarity nowadays and she wanted to please everyone and make everything right. It was exciting waiting to see where this desire to please was going to take her next and indeed much of the storyline revolves around her trying to make a situation right. She didn't expect anything or assume anything and I think I was willing things to go right for her because of this! Aiden is the main make character in this book and a lot of the mystery in the storyline revolves around him. For this reason we really don't know a lot about him and so it is hard to form an opinion of him as a character. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it does make him a little unrelatable. Despite the fact that there are chapter narrated by him, designed for us to get to know him, we find out details about his life but not really about his character or his personality. I really liked the structure of this book, the way these chapters were dropped in every now and then though! 

This book has it all, a great mix of characters, an interesting storyline and a great New York setting. I actually preserver red the beginning of this book to the ending. I think this is because I liked the thrill of the mystery and not knowing and so when everything was tied up neatly at the end, I had a reached a natural stopping point anyway! Although this book is set predominantly at Christmas, it's definitely something that will entertain you and pick you up at any time of year! I'm definitely going to go away and read some of of the fabulous Melissa Hill novels that are sitting on my shelf now! 

Review: The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell

In the early hours of an April morning, Maya stumbles into the path of an oncoming bus.

A tragic accident? Or suicide?

Her grief-stricken husband, Adrian, is determined to find out.

Maya had a job she enjoyed; she had friends. They’d been in love.

She even got on with his two previous wives and their children. In fact, they’d all been one big happy family. 

But before long Adrian starts to identify the dark cracks in his perfect life.

Because everyone has secrets.

And secrets have consequences.

Some of which can be devastating…

Review: first of all can I say how much I love the cover of this book, I actually began reading this book on kindle and then the lovely people at Random House gave me a hardback copy and I just couldn't stop stroking it, and the wonderful thing is that it gives absolutely nothing away about what is in the book-fantastic! 

I honestly don't know how Lisa Jewell manages to come up with so many different and original ideas for novels, it's amazing, just when you are looking for something different, that will challenge your ideas, something entirely unpredictable, along she comes with something fantastically different...just like this book! The moment I began reading this book I was hooked right in and couldn't put it down. I read it before work at my desk, in bed at night, in the garden when I should've been unpacking, over lunch, whenever I could grab a spare minute. It has drama and intrigue and mystery and yet not too much of any one of these things just the perfect amount of balance. Now I am not normally a fan of too much mystery in a book but I found myself so drawn into the case of Maya and the questions surrounding her death that I was willing to book to give me more, just enough to keep me satisfied for now, not enough to spoil the mystery altogether, and that is exactly what it did. 

Adrian is the main character in this novel, he is the guy with the three wives, his children play an integral part in the novel too, as do his wives and another mystery woman. As a main character, I wouldn't say he is entirely likeable. He wants to be liked and thinks he is liked and is making everybody happy when Infact he is not. I found him very hard to get on with, but that didn't take away anything from the story for me. He spends a lot of time contemplating his own existence when really, he has five kids, he should be more involved in all of their lives. He should be able to see how he has affected each of his three wives and he should be moving on with his life with due care and attention to those around him. He is an interesting character though and the lynchpin that holds the whole book together.

The other characters in this novel are a lovely mismatch of children and wives and yet somehow they all fit together and the story wouldn't not be the same if even one of them were removed. I really like the fact that each of the other characters have their own secret as well and all their secrets come to fruition in some beautiful, quite heartbreaking letters at the end if the novel. The settings covered I this novel provide additional characters to the storyline. Maya and Adrian's flat, Caroline's Islington Townhouse and Susie's cottage in hove. They are all beautifully described and as a reader, you felt like you yourself were moving between each of the dwellings with Adrian and his children. I loved the sound of all of them to be honest.

One of the best things about this novel is that I think it will appeal to such a wide audience. It isn't overly romantic or sentimental and so those who aren't normally fans of 'women's fiction' would be able to take a great deal from this book. There is enough mystery for fans of that genre and yet not so much that it puts people like me off. The writing is beautiful and the storyline so well constructed that you will be able to loose yourself in this world. If this is your first Lisa Jewell novel then you are in for a treat and if you are already a fan of this fabulous author then you definitely won't be disappointed, this needs to be your next read! 

An evening with Lisa Jewell!

I was very lucky last Thursday to attend an event run by My Indie Bookshelf & Penguin Random Hoyse to celebrate the Launch of Lisa Jewell's new novel The Third Wife. There were 3 other fabulous readers, one of whom had won a competition to be there, Lisa's lovely publicist Najma and of course, the fabulous Lisa Jewell!

The event took place at the very swanky Groucho Club in Soho and featured copies amounts of cocktails and nibbles which were all absolutely delicious. The conversation was fabulous, any time you get people together who can enthuse about books the way we can, it's going to be a winner. We talked about Lisa's books and what she's read this year so far. We talked about her love of a good ending (not necessarily a happy one or an unpredictable one). The subject matter of The Making of Us came up and we discussed how the film rights for 31 dream street had been sold and what the process of that was like. 

The perils of writing books that in lauded song lyrics was also discussed, as was the difficulty of getting boys into reading. Of course there was general chit chat too and it was so lovely to speak to all of these people about their lives, their careers and of course, their love of books. I've loved listening to Lisa talk when she's been on author panels in the past and so to be a be able to have my questions answer by her then and there was just amazing! 

Of course we all received copies of the book which, I'm sure you'll agree is just beautiful and Lisa was also generous enough to sign my copy, so that is now sitting proudly on my signed shelf. From what I've read of the book so far it is a seriously compelling read and has completely drawn me in! I was also recommended to read A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray and Dream on Amber by Emma Shevah, both of which I am hoping to get my hand on very soon-I will keep you posted! 

Thanks to Penguin Random House, My Indie Bookshop and of course Lisa Jewell for a fabulous evening and expect my review of The Third Wife to be appearing very very soon! 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Classic Books 1/7/14

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

A couple of years ago, I made it my New Years resolution to read more classic literature. I managed to squeeze in quite a few but interestingly, none of the ones I read appeared on my list here. The ones on the list here are ones I read when I was much younger. To be perfectly frank and honest with you I don't really enjoy reading classic literature all that much, which Is why I struggled with this list and ended up putting quite a few children's titles on here. As a reader, as I've told you before, I like reading things which I can definitely relate to, and so these tales set in the past and involving people with tons of cash don't really float my boat. The ones on this list won't be a shock to anyone but let me know in the comments, anything you think I should definitely pick up and try this year! 

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

2, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

7. The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Graham

8. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

9. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

I think I'll leave it at 9 this week just as a reflection of my lack of love for the classics. It's such a terrible thing for a book lover to say but if you can help me out with anything you think I'll love, then let me know!