Sunday 11 April 2010

Giveaway- Cinema Twilight Poster and TMI Bookmarks





What better way to gain followers than to host a giveaway? :)

I have a cinema sized double sided Twilight poster to giveaway that a friend who worked in a cinema at Twilight release time gave to me. I also have lots of The Mortal Instruments bookmarks to giveaway courtesy of Walker books.

This competition to open to Worldwide and closes on April 20th. Entering is easy: Just follow my blog and leave your e-mail address in the comments of this post. One person will win the poster and many more will win bookmarks!

Saturday 10 April 2010

In my Mailbox (2)



In my Mailbox idea from The Story Siren :)


Bought:

I bought two books this week- The Easter bunny brought me book money instead of chocolate.... ok chocolate too.... perfect combination. Click the link to buy/ wish for from Amazon!

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld- I *HAD* to buy this straight after reading Uglies as I needed to find out what happened to Tally next. Without spoiling the end of Uglies for anyone who hasn't read it- it ends on an amazing cliffhanger- you'll be running to the nearest bookshop to buy pretties!

Girl who kicked the Hornets nest by Stieg Larsson.
- This isn't a kids/ young adult book, quite the opposite but it's an amazing crime thriller, even for people who don't like crime fiction!

Wednesday 7 April 2010

Waiting on Wednesday- Shadow Wave by Robert Muchamore





After stupidly dismissing these books as 'boy fiction' I forced myself to read the 1st Cherub book The Recruit because so many people had recommended them to me. I am so glad I did! Now after 11 books I can safely say I'm addicted! Come on September! Book no.12 is needed now!!

From Amazon: After a tsunami causes massive devastation to a tropical island, its governor sends in the bulldozers to knock down villages, replacing them with luxury hotels.

Guarding the corrupt governor's family isn't James Adams' idea of the perfect mission, especially as it's going to be his last as a CHERUB agent. And then retired colleague Kyle Blueman comes up with an unofficial and highly dangerous plan of his own.

James must choose between loyalty to CHERUB, and loyalty to his oldest friend.

Children's Authors websites.

A blog I love is Anabel's Children's Literature Blog. Anabel is a librarian at the University of Strathclyde responsible for children's literature. She posted a link to a great website and I thought I would share it too. Pickabook is a fantastic site which gives a list of loads of children's authors websites as well as giving a list of recent book awards.

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Curse of the Wolf Girl- Martin Millar

Curse of the Wolf Girl

Curse of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar- Piatkus Books (5 Aug 2010)

I can't wait to read this and it's going to be a very very long summer of waiting! I have been looking forward to reading this since I finished Lonely Werewolf Girl last year. Hurry up August!

From Amazon: Scottish teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is in London trying to settle down and live a normal life. Her new friends support her as she goes to college to learn to read and write, but her old enemies won't leave her alone. Many powerful werewolves want Kalix dead, and the Guild of Werewolf Hunters is still dedicated to wiping out the entire MacRinnalch werewolf clan. Life might be easier for Kalix if her werewolf family were able to help, but her sister the Enchantress needs all of her sorcerous powers to locate the perfect pair of high heels, her brother Markus is busy in Scotland organising an opera, and her cousin Dominil is engaged in her own merciless vendetta with her enemies. Kalix must carry on alone but she's finding it difficult enough to pay the rent and cope with her anxiety and depression, while struggling with werewolf hunters and exams at the same time...

Monday 5 April 2010

Review- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Product Details


5 out of 5 stars.

From Amazon: Tally lives in a world where your sixteenth birthday brings aesthetic perfection: an operation which erases all your flaws, transforming you from an 'Ugly' into a 'Pretty'. She is on the eve of this important event, and cannot wait for her life to change. As well as guaranteeing supermodel looks, life as a Pretty seems to revolve around having a good time. But then she meets Shay, who is also fifteen - but with a very different outlook on life. Shay isn't sure she wants to be Pretty and plans to escape to a community in the forest - the Rusty Ruins - where Uglies go to escape ' turning'. Tally won't be persuaded to join her, as this would involve sacrificing everything she's ever wanted for a lot of uncertainty. When she is taken in for questioning on her birthday, however, Tally gets sent to the Ruins anyway - against her will. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she could ever imagine: find her friend Shay and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. What she discovers in the Ruins reveals that there is nothing 'pretty' about the transformations...And the choice Tally makes will change her world forever.

This is not the first time I have tried to read Uglies. I tried to read it three or four years ago but I soon abandoned it as I wasn't a fan of Sci-Fi books and I couldn't seem to relate to it. Since then I have read Leviathan by the same author and loved it so much that I was desperate to read more of his work.
Uglies has not disappointed me this time- I literally raced through it. Tally, the main character, is immediately engaging and relatable. She is a rebel but still follows the rules of being ugly without coming across as being feeble. She is apprehensive about her upcoming operation to become pretty but she accepts it as a part of growing up. Teenagers reading this could relate to the feelings of uncertainty that turning 16 (and thus being grown up) brings and having more freedom is not quite as great as it first seems!
Uglyville and New Pretty Town are described with such detail that it's very easy to imagine being there with the characters. For some reason I envisioned it as being Brooklyn vs Manhattan, I think it was just the description of the Bridge and looking out towards the skyscrapers of Pretty Town!
Uglies has now been re-jacketed in a CCTV Big Brother style which I feel is a lot more modern and eye-catching than the old barbie doll in a surgical dish, which although it was important to the story, gave it a rather dull look.
I will be purchasing the rest of this series soon- I need to find out what happens to Tally next!

Sunday 4 April 2010

In my Mailbox (1)

Thanks to The Story Siren for the In my Mailbox -awesome idea :) All credit goes to her! All links are from Amazon.

This week I got two books.

Bought:


The dead tossed waves by Carrie Ryan. I am so excited to read this- I have been checking in bookshops for months, just in case it was published early..... and it was! well by a week ;)

For Review:

Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK's Kid's team! I won this via their facebook group- please join :)


Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Re-packaged this year and I can't wait to get the rest of the series- they are so pretty and a day after receiving it I am 3/4 of the way through! Reviewing in the next few days as I need other people to talk to about this fantastic book!