Follow Friday

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

This week's question is: Do you have a favorite series that you read over and over again? Tell us a bit about it and why you keep on revisiting it?

Harry Potter is my go-to series. I'm not sure how many times I've actually read the series but it's a lot lol. I've actually just started the series again, having just completed the first book. As to why, I think a lot of it is because it's one of those series' that every time you read you find something you missed and the entire thing is laced with clues to the rest of the books. It's fun to find mentionings of things that crop up later.

Also, the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is another that I've read a lot. They never fail to make me laugh. I like that I can pick them up at random, open a page to read and know exactly what's going on.

Read My Review is a chance for book bloggers to share new and old reviews, related to a theme. It is hosted here at A Trillian Books. Make sure you leave your SCHOOL reviews on the current linky and also visit some of the awesome reviews already there.

Booking Through Thursday: In Public

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading. This weeks question is:


Do you carry books with you when you’re out and about in the world?
And, do you ever try to hide the covers?

I always used to carry a book around with me. Now I have my kindle so that's nearly always in my bag, even if I'm just running to the shop or something. I don't think I've ever tried to hide a book cover but then if it was something I didn't want to people to see, I probably wouldn't take it out with me. Obviously it's not a consideration with a Kindle.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others.
* Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Deception (Haunting Emma) - Lee Nichols

Truth was, now there was no going back, no denying that I was part of this world - a world made of fear and wraiths and lies. I could pretend that I was a normal girl with parties and friends and a date to the school dance. But it wasn't the real me.

It's Monday - 19/9/11

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event to celebrate what we are reading for the week hosted at Book Journey, Post the books completed last week, the books you're currently reading, and the books to be read this week. Please comment or leave a link to let me know what you're reading this week!

I've hardly blogged or commented or read much this last week as I've been really busy and my internet has been a bit iffy. Hopefully I'll catch up some this week.

Completed last week




Undead - Kirsty McKay

Currently Reading



Deception (Haunting Emma) - Lee Nichols
Deviant - Adrian McKinty
A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin

Up soon





Naked - Kevin Brooks
Bleeding Hearts (The Drake Chronicles) - Alyxandra Harvey

Reviews


Undead - Kirsty McKay

Books Received

In My Mailbox

Review: Undead - Kirsty McKay

Title: Undead
Author: Kirsty McKay
Format: Uncorrected Proof
Pages: 294
Genre: Young Adult, Zombies
Published: 1st September 2011 (Chicken House)

Being new at school bites. But at least it doesn't kill you. Mostly.

Bobby thinks she might well be on the School Trip from Hell. Too bad she's a noob, too bad her classmates don't rate her weirdo accent and too bad that Scotland is having the worst blizzard since the Ice Age. Looks like she's going to be on this school bus for a quite a while; could things get much worse?

Yep. They could.

Inexplicably, her classmates start dying...and then they come back to life again...and what's more, they're very, very hungry.

With nowhere to run and no contact with the outside world, Bobby is thrown together with a raggle-taggle group of survivors at a roadside café. There's indie kid drop-out Smitty, the class beauty queen Alice, dweeby Pete and two near useless adults: a half-conscious bus driver and a volatile petrol station attendant.

The frenemies struggle to stay alive - through explosions, deadly battles and a breakneck chase through the snowbound wilderness. Somehow they have to make it to safety - and get some answers - no matter what the cost.

Can they survive the Undead? And each other?

British-born Bobby has returned to the UK after years of living in America. Thrown into a school skiing trip before she's even started her new school, she's finding it tough to make friends with her new classmates. When the bus stops for a comfort break, she hides out onboard instead of going into the cafe with the rest and doing so saves her from becoming one of the undead. The only other survivors are Smitty, the school rebel; popular girl, Alice and geeky Pete. Together they must work together to try and stay alive.

The start of this book was pretty much as expected for a zombie-survival type story: a reasonably simple set up for four of the teens to miss out on becoming zombified. It's after this that all the fun and action happens. One thing that slightly bugged me at the start was that neither the blurb or the book told me whether Bobby was a girl or boy. The book is written in first person as well so obviously no 'he' or 'she' to help either. Now, bare in mind I was reading an uncorrected proof so this may not be the case in the final version, but it made it really hard to visualise the scenes. To start with I thought I'd just missed it, then I wondered if I wasn't supposed to know. Fortunately before I got too annoyed with it, it became clearer that it was a girl!Bobby.

With that issue settled, I started to like the characters more and more. Of course Alice was a little annoying because she was all "I'm not going outside, I'm staying here where it's safe and warm" and Pete was the same but as this was fitting to their characters it was fine. I didn't like them as people but they were good characters. Smitty was everything I like in a male, potential love interest and bad boy character. He was a little bit risky and crazy but his guts and bravery got them through a lot of the tough stuff. The growing relationship between him and Bobby was cute, totally believable and there banter gave some light relief to a dark situation.

There's plenty of action throughout this book, some great end of chapter cliff-hangers and some unexpected twists, all keeping you turning the pages long after you sould have gone to bed. Also - zombie stories really aren't the best cure for insomnia.


Undead

In My Mailbox - 17/9/11

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books received this week and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. What books did you get this week?

For Review (from publisher unless stated)





Glow (Sky Chasers) - Amy Kathleen Ryan (Macmillan)
The Lady of the River - Philippa Gregory (Simon & Schuster)
The Women of the Cousins' War - - Philippa Gregory (Simon & Schuster)
Touch of Power - Maria V Snyder (Amazon Vine)
Doctor Who: Blackout [Audio] - Oli Smith (Amazon Vine)

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly event exploring the books received this week and is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren. What books did you get this week?

Just a couple of charity shop bargains for me this week

 

Cocktails for Three - Sophie Kinsella writing as Madeleine Wickham
The Wedding Girl - Sophie Kinsella writing as Madeleine Wickham

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer @ Crazy for Books. It's a chance for book bloggers to connect and share the book love. Check out Crazy for Books (click on the button) for more details and to find the links of some awesome blogs.

This week's question is:
Many of us primarily read one genre of books, with others sprinkled in. If authors stopped writing that genre, what genre would you start reading? Or would you give up reading completely if you couldn’t read that genre anymore?

I tend to read mostly YA Fantasy and Sci-fi so I suppose I'd just move to reading more adult Fantasy and Sci-fi, which might be cheating a little. I'd also probably read more historical fiction.

Follow Friday is hosted by Parajunkee. Just click on the banner below to see the rules and to join in.

This week's question is:
Have you ever wanted a villain to win at the end of a story? If so, which one??

A little part of me always wants the bad guy to win lol. Mostly just for the unexpectedness, unpredictable side of things. It would have certainly been an interesting twist on things if Voldemort had triumphed over over Harry in Deathly Hallows.

Read My Review is a chance for book bloggers to share new and old reviews, related to a theme. It is hosted here at A Trillian Books. Make sure you leave your SCHOOL reviews on the current linky and also visit some of the awesome reviews already there.

Review: Beautiful Days - Anna Godbersen

Title: Beautiful Days
Author: Anna Godbersen
Format: Paperback
Pages: 358
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Published: 1st September 2011 (Razorbill)

For the bright young things of 1929, the beautiful days seem endless, filled with romance and heartbreak, adventure and intrigue, friendship and rivalry.

After a month in New York, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are small-town girls no longer. They spend their afternoons with Astrid Donal at the Greys’ lush Long Island estate and their nights in Manhattan’s bustling metropolis. But Letty’s not content to be a mere socialite. She is ready at last to chase her Broadway dreams—no matter the cost.

Cordelia is still reeling from the death of her father at the hands of Thom Hale, the man she thought she loved. Now she is set to honor Darius Grey’s legacy . . . and take her revenge.

Promised to Cordelia’s half brother, Astrid is caught up in a world of dazzling jewels and glittering nights—and the sparkle is blinding. Charlie Grey is a gangster playing a dangerous game; and for Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty, the stakes could be deadly.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe comes the second book in an epic series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.

Cordelia and Letty have settled nicely into their new lives in New York, spending their days with new friend Astrid, lounging around in the afternoons and partying at night. Soon though, the girls realise they want more. Cordelia is keen to be part of her late father's business, helping her half-brother Charlie in opening a Speakeasy; Letty is pushing to start her on stage career and Astrid just wants a ring on her finger.

I really enjoyed the first book of this series and this one certainly lived up to it. One of the things I like best - apart from it's set in the 1920's and has gangsters, which is awesome enough in it's own right - is that each of the girl characters has their own. Too often in books with groups of friends, they all act exactly the same but in Bright Young Things series each of them is very different. And as such, they have their own individual problems and responses. My favourite of the three is definitely Cordelia; she's a strong young woman, very determined and independent for the era the story is set in.

It wouldn't be a YA book if there wasn't some kind of love interest and fortunately there's plenty. Each of the girls has a guy she likes and the share of problems come with it. Of the boys, I really liked Charlie because he appeals to my bad boy thing. I particularly loved the part where he gets all angry with Astrid because she put herself in danger.

I recommend this book even if you're not usually a fan of historical fiction because while the setting is an important part of the story, it's the characters that make it so good.

It's Monday

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly event to celebrate what we are reading for the week hosted at Book Journey, Post the books completed last week, the books you're currently reading, and the books to be read this week. Please comment or leave a link to let me know what you're reading this week!

Completed last week

I got into Pottermore this week so I've been extremely busy brewing potions and getting house points for Gryffindor. Unfortunately this has made me a little behind on reading.

 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling (reread)
Beautiful Days - Anna Godberson


Currently Reading

 

Undead - Kirsty McKay
Game of Thrones - George RR Martin

Up soon






Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling