Happy #BookBirthday! 31 Aug

Happy Thursday! This week there is ONE book publishing on our lists.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

The bloody plague is finally past, but what fresh horror lies in its wake?

Princess Imogen of Goslind has lived a sheltered life for three years at the boarded-up castle—she and the rest of its inhabitants safe from the bloody mori roja plague that’s ravaged the kingdom. But Princess Imogen has a secret, and as King Stuart descends further into madness, it’s at great risk of being revealed. Rations dwindle each day, and unhappy murmurings threaten to crack the facade of the years-long charade being played within the castle walls.

Nico Mott once enjoyed a comfortable life of status, but the plague took everyone and everything from him. If not for the generosity of a nearby lord, Nico may not have survived the mori roja’s aftermath. But does owing Lord Crane his life mean he owes him his silence?

When Lord Crane sends Nico to search for more plague survivors in the castle, Nico collides with a princess who wants to break out. They will each have to navigate the web of lies they’ve woven if they’re going to survive the nightmares that lie ahead.

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received SIX books - and we've read THREE of them (and, unusually these days, posted a review on one!)

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

In Between Worlds by Nicola Pierce

In 1849, the Thomas Arbuthnot set sail for Australia.

Onboard were 194 Irish girls.

I heard the emotion in Sarah’s voice as she asked, ‘Will we ever come back?’

‘Come back where?’

‘Home,’ said Sarah. ‘Do you think we will ever see Ireland again?’

Maggie and Sarah are on their way to Australia. Their homes and their lives have been devastated by famine, with death coming to so many. Even when they sought refuge in the workhouse they found horror and heartbreak there.

When the girls are given the chance of a new life on the other side of the world, they know they have to say yes – no matter the price.

On board ship, they are caught in between worlds. How will they find the courage and strength to build new lives in a strange land?

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We've had a fraught week here, but with some scrambling and rearranging we still managed to keep to our posting schedule.

Yours From the Tower by Sally Nicholls

Tirzah, Sophia, and Polly are best friends who’ve left boarding school and gone back to very different lives. The year is 1896, and Polly is teaching in an orphanage, Sophia is scouting for a rich husband at the London Season, and Tirzah is stuck acting as an unpaid companion to her grandmother. In a series of letters buzzing with atmosphere and drama, the friends air their dreams, hopes, frustrations, and romances. Can this trio of very different young women—one industrious, one artful, and one in exile—find happiness and love near the dawn of the Edwardian era?

Dropped! by Alice Kuipers

Dex is dropped onto a deserted tropical island to be a player in a social media competition. Dex is one of six contestants on Dropped! , an internet reality show. He’s glad to escape his real life after being dumped by his girlfriend, Lola, and destroying his social life. He and the other contenders have to spend five days on a deserted island, and the person who gains the most likes and followers will be the winner. The prize is a ton of money and status as an influencer. Keeping people watching is the challenge, and Dex will do whatever it takes. He needs to win―it’s the only way to get Lola and his popularity back. But on the island, away from his ex, he finds himself flirting with the gorgeous and popular Amina. When Dex keeps placing behind Amina, he realizes he has to be more daring to get the engagements he needs. But how extreme will he need to be? And is it worth it to win?

Happy #BookBirthday!

Happy Thursday! This week there are TWO PLUS ONE books on our lists publishing!

People to Follow by Olivia Worley

Ten teen influencers come to a remote island to star in a reality show, but when one of them winds up dead, they realize that this time, the price of being “cancelled” could be their lives.

A reality show on a remote Caribbean island. Ten teen influencers. One dead body.

Welcome to “In Real Life,” the hot new reality show that forces social media’s reigning kings and queens to unplug for three weeks and “go live” without any filters. IRL is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, watched closely by legions of loyal followers. But for these rising stars--including Elody, an Instagram model with an impulsive streak; Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Logan, a disgraced TikTok celeb with a secret; and Max, a YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators—it’s about to turn into a nightmare.

When the production crew fails to show up and one of their own meets a violent end, these nine little influencers find themselves stranded with a dead body and no way to reach the outside world. When they start receiving messages from a mysterious Sponsor threatening to expose their darkest secrets, they realize that they’ve been lured into a deadly game…and one of them might be pulling the strings.

With the body count rising and cameras tracking their every move, the creators must figure out who is trying to get them canceled—like, literally—before their #1 follower strikes again.

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received THREE PLUS ONE books - and we've read THREE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?

In New York City, bookseller Cassie Andrews is living an unassuming life when she is given a gift by a favourite customer. It's a book - an unusual book, full of strange writing and mysterious drawings. And at the very front there is a handwritten message to Cassie, telling her that this is the Book of Doors, and that any door is every door.

What Cassie is about to discover is that the Book of Doors is a special book that bestows an extraordinary powers on whoever possesses it, and soon she and her best friend Izzy are exploring all that the Book of Doors can do, swept away from their quiet lives by the possibilities of travelling to anywhere they want.

But the Book of Doors is not the only magical book in the world. There are other books that can do wondrous and dreadful things when wielded by dangerous and ruthless individuals - individuals who crave what Cassie now possesses.

Suddenly Cassie and Izzy are confronted by violence and danger, and the only person who can help them is, it seems, Drummond Fox. He is a man fleeing his own demons - a man with his own secret library of magical books that he has hidden away in the shadows for safekeeping. Because there is a nameless evil out there that is hunting them all . . .

Because some doors should never be opened.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! It's terrible weather here, so we are curling up with some lovely books.

Creeping Beauty by Andrea Portes

Bitsy is no one’s ideal princess.

She’s heard it all: that it’s a shame she’s so plain, so lacking in grace. That the best thing for her to do is simply wait (and wait some more), and hope some prince will grant her a happy ending.

Then Bitsy pricks her finger on a spindle and falls down, down, down.

Into a world where cutthroats and con artists are more common than curtsies. Where no one ages and everyone is beautiful. Where an inscrutable evil rests at its core.

A land where Bitsy’s fate and her future are solely in her own hands—and neither are what she expects.

The dark and deadly world of Heartless meets the empowering twist of Cruel Beauty in this thrilling, unpredictable, multigenre retelling of one of the most beloved fairy tales: where instead of falling asleep to await her prince, this sleeping beauty finally wakes up.

Tag, you're Dead by Kathryn Foxfeld

When teen reality star Anton Frazer unveils his latest stunt - a live-streamed, citywide game of Tag in which the prize is to be one of his live-in acolytes - his fans go wild. The whole world is watching.

The contestants are kitted out with body cams, GPS trackers and pressure sensors that, if activated by a competitor, will send them out of the running. They venture into night-time London to hunt each other down.

Four contestants in particular have alternative motives for being there, secret reasons to want to win despite the risk: money, revenge, obsession, and fame. And one of them will stop at nothing to be the victor at the end of this adrenaline-and-fear fuelled night...

Happy #BookBirthday!

Happy Thursday! This week there are FOUR books on our lists publishing!

Blog tour: L Ron Hubbard presents Writers of the Future Vol 39

 

The Best New SF & Fantasy of the Year

L. Ron Hubbard; Kevin J. Anderson; S. M. Stirling; Lazarus Chernik; Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Samuel Parr; Spencer Sekulin; L. H. Davis; Devon Bohm; Arthur H. Manners; David Hankins; David K. Henrickson; J. R. Johnson; Elaine Midcoh; Marianne Xenos; Jason Palmatier; and T. J. Knight

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received SEVEN books - and we've read FOUR of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

The Bear Behind by Sam Copeland and Pippa Curnick

Meet Ivor, a little boy in a big world, who absolutely, categorically, definitely does NOT like any sort of attention. So it’s more than a minor catastrophe for Ivor to discover on his first day of school that he has a great big . . .

BEAR BEHIND!

And as the bumbling bear begins to cause chaos and calamity, Ivor’s hope for a normal first day at school quickly fades . . .

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We had a good week on the blog, with a #BookBirthday after the last two weeks of not having any!

Double Trouble at the Dead Zoo by Alan Nolan

Dublin, 1859

Bram: Boy seeking adventure (and things to write about)

Molly: Part-time sneak thief and full-time Dublin legend!

When Bram and his best pal Molly meet a lonely boy called Sanjit in Dublin’s Natural History Museum, they can see he needs some friends. So they, along with Molly’s gang, The Sackville Street Spooks, take him under their wing.

Sanjit tells them the tale of the dread (and very dead) pirate, Captain Lamprey and his links to the Museum. Soon the new shipmates find themselves outwitting vagabonds and villains, hot on the trail of a mysterious long-lost treasure … the Rajapur Ruby!

But little do they know that not everyone they come across is who they claim to be!

Where CAN that ruby be?

The Snow Girl by Sophie Anderson and Melissa Castrillon

I wish the snow girl would come to life. Then I would have a friend, a real friend I could trust, and I wouldn't feel so alone.

When Tasha builds a snow girl with her grandpa, all she wants is for her to be real. If only wishes on snow could come true... Then Tasha meets Alyana, a friend made of wishes, starlight, snowfall and magic. But when your best friend is made of winter, what do you do when spring comes?

Happy #BookBirthday!

Happy Thursday! This week there is ONE book on our lists publishing!

The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan (Major spoilers in review)

In this queer YA psychological thriller from the author of Some Girls Do , perfect for fans of One of Us is Lying and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder , the sole surviving counselors of a summer camp massacre search to uncover the truth of what happened that fateful night, but what they find out might just get them killed.

“Shocking, captivating, and utterly chilling. A delicious thriller that will have you tearing through pages to get to the end, where you won’t be disappointed.” —Jessica Goodman, bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us

Sloan and Cherry. Cherry and Sloan. They met only a few days before masked men with machetes attacked the summer camp where they worked, a massacre that left the rest of their fellow counselors dead. Now, months later, the two are inseparable, their traumatic experience bonding them in ways no one else can understand.

But as new evidence comes to light and Sloan learns more about the motives behind the ritual killing that brought them together, she begins to suspect that her girlfriend may be more than just a survivor—she may actually have been a part of it. Cherry tries to reassure her, but Sloan only becomes more distraught. Is this gaslighting or reality? Is Cherry a victim or a perpetrator? Is Sloan confused, or is she seeing things clearly for the very first time? Against all odds, Sloan survived that hot summer night. But will she survive what comes next?

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FIVE books - and we've read FIVE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

The Name Drop by Susan Lee

When Elijah Ri arrives in New York City for an internship at his father’s massive tech company, Haneul Corporation, he expects the royal treatment that comes with being the future CEO—even if that’s the last thing he wants. But instead, he finds himself shuffled into a group of overworked, unpaid interns, all sharing a shoebox apartment for the summer.

When Jessica Lee arrives in New York City, she’s eager to make the most of her internship at Haneul Corporation, even if she’s at the bottom of the corporate ladder. But she’s shocked to be introduced as the new executive-in-training intern with a gorgeous brownstone all to herself.

It doesn’t take long for Elijah and Jessica to discover the source of the they share the same Korean name. But they decide to stay switched—so Elijah can have a relaxing summer away from his controlling dad while Jessica can make the connections she desperately needs for college recommendations.

As Elijah and Jessica work together to keep up the charade, a spark develops between them. Can they avoid discovery—and total disaster—with their feelings and futures on the line?

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We've had a pretty quiet week - no #BookBirthdays again, but everything else is as normal!

Puzzle House by Duncan Ralston (mild spoilers in review)

Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will. Among them are the deceased's widow, who'd already begun divorce proceedings, a virologist troubled by actions in his past, and a convicted murderer on day release. The potential beneficiaries will split Vasiliev's $150M fortune if they participate in his last great work.

The choice is leave the house with nothing or continue in the hope of solving the six interconnecting escape rooms within this house.

Once there, the participants soon discover Puzzle House is far deadlier than it appears, and that making their way through the rooms may be a matter of life and death. Someone is watching their every move, toying with them, turning them against each other. With their lives on the line, they are forced to wonder, is it all just a deadly game created by a gleeful sadist, or something far more sinister?

Lotus by Jennifer Hartmann

To the rest of the world, he was the little boy who went missing on the Fourth of July.

To me, he was everything.

My heart hasn't been the same since he disappeared, but I've learned to build my life around that missing piece.

Twenty-two years later, the last thing I expect is for that missing piece to come back.

His name is Oliver Lynch, and this is his story.

This is our story.

The Library of Shadows by Rachel Moore (Major spoilers in review, seriously do not read if you want to be unspoiled, you are officially warned)

Radcliffe Prep. The third most haunted school in the country, where a student disappearance isn't uncommon and no one dares stay in the library after dark. And Este Logano enrolls with the hopes of finding her dead father.

Not literally, of course. She doesn't believe in ghosts. Going to her dad's school just seems like her best hope at figuring out who he was.

But then Este meets Mateo, who is maybe-probably-definitely-a real ghost. And an annoying one at that.

When Mateo frames Este for the theft of a rare book from the library's secret spire and then vanishes, Este will have to track him down or risk being expelled and leaving Radcliffe early just like her father did.

Except following her father's footsteps might be more dangerous than Este ever anticipated. As she investigates the library with its secret passageways, hidden tunnels, and haunted halls, she learns that the student disappearances aren't just myth. And if she isn't careful, she'll be next.

Reminder, there are SPOILERS below this cut, this is your very last warning!

#Bookpost

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received THREE books - and we've read THREE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

If I Have to be Haunted by Miranda Sun

Your first love will always haunt you...

The most haunting, heartwarming debut of 2023. Perfect for fans of strong female leads and supernatural stakes in Buffy, with all the sweetness and romance of To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

Cara's just trying to stay on top of all her classes, excel at her extracurriculars, and prepare for college - which means not speaking to the dead, an ability she inherited from her grandmother. Ghosts are trouble, and Cara doesn't need to add their problems to her own.

But then she stumbles upon the body of Zach - the super popular but very newly dead high school golden boy - in the woods, and guess what? He wants her to resurrect him.

Cue trouble.

Miranda Sun's debut touches on the power and conflicts in a mother-daughter love, first romance - and finding your place in the world while honouring your culture. Full of heart, humour and thrills, If I Have to be Haunted will put a spell on you.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! It's been cold and rainy most of this week - all the better to curl up with a book!

Eve by Cat Bohannon

How did wet nurses drive civilization? Are women always the weaker sex? Is sexism useful for evolution? And are our bodies at war with our babies? In Eve, Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, she covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Bohannon's findings, including everything from the way C-sections in the industrialized world are rearranging women's pelvic shape to the surprising similarities between pus and breast milk, will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens have become such a successful and dominant species, from tool use to city building to the development of language.

Gwen and Art are Not In Love by Lex Croucher (spoilers in review)

Gwen, the quick-witted Princess of England, and Arthur, future lord and general gadabout, have been betrothed since birth. Unfortunately, the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other. 

When Gwen catches Art kissing a boy and Art discovers where Gwen hides her diary (complete with racy entries about Bridget Leclair, the kingdom's only female knight), they become reluctant allies. By pretending to fall for each other, their mutual protection will be assured. But how long can they keep up the ruse? 

With Gwen growing closer to Bridget, and Art becoming unaccountably fond of Gabriel, Gwen's infuriatingly serious, bookish brother, the path to true love is looking far from straight ...

Wings of Glory by Dermot O’Leary and Claire Powell

It's 1940, and the world is at war. Linus, a swift, has always dreamed of flying with the Royal Bird Force and making a name for himself as a squadron leader. So when he and his sister, Ava, have the opportunity to volunteer, he jumps at the chance.

But it's a dangerous journey, and Ava goes missing before they manage to reach the airfield for training. Now, Linus has two missions: help the war effort and find his sister.

Linus will face bomber planes, arrogant falcons, and a spy who's determined to take him down...

He is brave and fast and kind - but can Linus prove that helping win the war is more about the size of your heart than the size of your wings?

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FOUR books - and we've read FOUR of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

Red River Seven by A. J. Ryan

A man awakes on a boat at sea with no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. He's not alone - there are six others. None of them can remember their names, but all bear the scars of recent surgery.

When a message appears on the onboard computer - Proceeding to Point A - the group agrees to work together to survive whatever is coming.

But as the boat moves through the mist-shrouded waters, divisions begin to form, and the group is plagued by questions. Who is directing them, why have their memories been wiped, and what are the screams they can hear beyond the mist?

Weekly roundup

 Happy Sunday, all! I hope you're all keeping well and that the weather in whatever part of the world you're in isn't too terrifying right now.

Aftershock by Gabrielle Prendergast

A massive earthquake forces Amy and her estranged half-sister to work together to survive.

Amy is happy it’s the last day of school...until a huge earthquake hits. She’s surprised that it’s Mara, her half-sister, who finally comes for her, since they hardly know each other. There’s no word from any of their parents, and their homes have been destroyed. So Amy and Mara set out on a perilous journey from their suburb into the city to search for their parents. As they walk day and night, the scope of the horrific destruction becomes clear. Have their parents survived the disaster?

365 Poems for Life by Allie Esiri

Discover the comfort of poetry with 365 Poems for Life, an uplifting collection from curator Allie Esiri.

This nourishing poem-a-day collection offers readers a brief moment of escape from daily life through some of the warmest words in the English language. Whether you’re searching for wisdom or looking to boost your wellbeing, dip into this anthology to share with others or enjoy a quiet moment of calm every day of the year.

Explore a wide range of poets, including Ocean Vuong, Maya Angelou, Kae Tempest, Raymond Antrobus, Carol Ann Duffy and many more. The perfect gift for poetry lovers and newbies alike, this beautiful anthology brings a moment of solace every day of the year.

Happy #BookBirthday! 20th Jul

Happy Thursday! This week there are THREE books on our lists publishing!

Daughter of Winter and Twilight by Helen Corcoran (mild spoilers in review)

Magic was dormant - never dead

To some, Emri - the adopted heir and daughter of two queens - is a living reminder that her birth father tried to usurp the Edaran throne. But as she grapples with a diplomatic visit from her estranged cousin, Melisande, the two girls are attacked by a magical force and spirited away. They must put their differences aside when Emri comes face to face with a goddess she's always considered a myth: Lady Winter.

Trapped deep within a mountain temple alongside other young royals, they face a race against time to complete Lady Winter's trials ... or die.

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FOUR PLUS ONE books - and we've read THREE and reviewed ONE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

I'm Not Here to Make Friends by Andrew Yang (mild spoilers in review)

When Sabine Zhang is picked for Hotel California, a teen reality show with an all-Asian cast, she jumps at the opportunity. As one of few Asians at her high school in the Midwest, she’s always felt as if she was playing a side character in someone else’s story. But on this show, she’ll finally have a chance to step into the spotlight.

All Yoona Bae wants is to get away. The girls at church think she’s mean, her mom thinks she’s a troublemaker, and she’s tired of fighting against her unearned bad reputation. So when she’s invited to appear on Hotel California, Yoona sees it as an opportunity to chill out, make some friends, maybe even get a tan.

But life on the show isn’t all sunshine and self-actualization. The producers want drama at all costs, even if it means pitting Sabine and Yoona against each other. With the season finale looming, can the girls figure out a peaceful way forward, before they lose control of their own narratives?

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We had a fairly normal week on the blog, with just one extra post.

Feature: Becoming Flawesome by Kristina Mänd-Lakhani

 

Non fiction

Date Published: July 10, 2023

Publisher: Hay House Publishing

Overcome perfectionism and self-doubt by unapologetically embracing your fully awesome self—flaws and all—with the co-founder of Mindvalley, a global school that delivers transformational education for all ages.

It’s odd to think that we can simultaneously be living as ourselves without ourselves. As life happens, we fall in love with the idea of who we could be instead of with who we actually are—leaving parts of ourselves behind and losing sight of what and who is truly important within ourselves.

 

By sharing revelatory personal anecdotes and reflection prompts, Kristina Mänd-Lakhani, co-founder of Mind Valley, helps to guide you toward:

 

• Finding your own truth despite the external and internal critics
• Transforming from the Perfect You into the Real You
• Embodying a life where no one needs fixing

 

Reclaim your happiness as your gift to the world and take the first steps to living truthfully within your flawesomely beautiful reflection.

 

OverEmotional by David Fenne

Sometimes, emotions can be a little too powerful . . .

Seventeen-year-old Steven has a big problem . . . Whenever he feels intense emotions, weird things happen. Like when he kissed a boy for the first time, and the boy's head literally exploded.

Fleeing to the miserable town of Grunsby-on-Sea, Steven is determined to not hurt anyone else - but he doesn't count on his best friend Freya, her boyfriend Marcus and American friend Troy following him. And when agents from the mysterious DEMA organisation show up talking about "neutralisation", Steven realises that Grunsby-on-Sea might not be the safe haven he'd hoped for . . .

Accountable by Dashka Slater

From the New York Times- bestselling author of The 57 Bus comes Accountable , a propulsive and thought-provoking new young adult narrative nonfiction book about the revelation of a racist social media account that changes everything for a group of high school students and begs the What does it mean to be held accountable for harm that takes place behind a screen?

When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew.

Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults―educators and parents―whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse.

In the end, no one was laughing. And everyone was left Where does accountability end for online speech that harms? And what does accountability even mean?

Award-winning and New York Times –bestselling author Dashka Slater has written a must-read book for our era that explores the real-world consequences of online choices.

Happy #BookBirthday! 11 Jul

Happy Thursday! This week there are TWO books on our lists publishing!

The Never Ending End of the World by Ann Christy (mild spoilers in review)

Station Eleven meets The Last of Us in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic from USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author Ann Christy.

Coco Wells hasn’t seen another living person since she was a teenager. All of Manhattan is reliving the same few seconds, minutes, or hours on a loop… and they have been for years. Everything looks normal from a distance, but up close it’s a nightmare.

Coco is a survivor. She scavenges for food, reads, and—most importantly—avoids loopers. They ignore her, but only as long as she’s silent. She’s learned the painful lesson that a broken loop can mean death.

After eight years of solitude, learning to survive and precisely timing the loops that weave around the city, Coco wonders what lies beyond New York and what has become of the rest of the world.

As she leaves home for the first time, one question haunts her above all:

“Am I the only one left?”

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FIVE books - and we've read TWO of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

Flight Plan by Eric Walters (mild spoilers in review)

When all technology breaks down and he’s far from home, thirteen-year-old Jamie learns he’s stronger (and braver) than he thought he was in this dystopian adventure.

Thirteen-year-old Jamie’s plane is just taking off when something goes terribly wrong. The lights go out, communications halts and the engine stops. After a bumpy landing, Jamie realizes it’s not just his flight. All the other planes have been grounded too. And every car on the road has stopped in its tracks. And no one’s cell phone is working. Technology has shut down, and no one knows why. 

Soon, it becomes clear that this disaster is anything but local, and people begin to panic. Jamie is now stranded 1,200 miles away from home and the world is in chaos. With the help of the plane's flight crew, a group of fellow passengers and a rescued dog named Godzilla, Jamie must make the long, perilous journey home.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We've had a nice week here on the blog, with some great books coming and going.

You Could Be So Pretty by Holly Bourne

“The Doctrine exists to make us believe we are less than, so we don’t have the strength to overthrow everything. Masking, and Ceremonies, and Chosen Ones – how we’re all groomed to worry constantly about what we look like – it’s a deliberate pressure. It’s designed to keep us down. To limit us. Divide us. Masks…Beauty…it’s all about weakening and dividing us.”

Belle Gentle follows the rules of The Doctrine to the letter and is so close to Having It All. She’s the highest Pretty in school, A Chosen One in her spare time, and she’s about to win The Ceremony and fulfil her destiny. So why does she feel so suffocated by her perfect life?

Joni Miller is an Objectionable and hated by everyone for her repulsive looks. But Joni doesn’t care. She just needs to win the Scholarship to The Education, so she get the power to overthrow The Doctrine and wake everyone up. The only person standing in her way is the prettiest girl in school.

Set in a dystopian world, of normalised sexual violence, and where girls are expected to maintain impossible beauty standards of beauty, You Could Be So Pretty explores what happens when two enemies are thrown together.

How to Die Famous by Benjamin Dean (mild spoilers in review)

London-born Abel has landed the role of a lifetime for an upcoming blockbuster. On the face of it he’s Hollywood’s latest teen star, but below the surface he’s an undercover journalist on a mission to expose the ‘squeaky clean’ entertainment industry and the part they played in his brother’s ‘accidental’ death.

As Abel steps into the spotlight alongside fellow actors Lucky, Ryan and Ella, he soon discovers that beneath the glittering surface of fame and riches lies a darker world of secrecy, scandal and murder. Nobody is who they seem when the cameras are off, and everybody has something to hide. But who’s next in line to die famous?

Drawing on his previous career as a celebrity journalist, Benjamin Dean examines the dark underbelly of showbiz, leaving no stone unturned.

Happy #BookBirthday! 6 Jul

Happy Thursday! This week there are THREE books publishing on our lists.

Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

To hell with love, this goddess has other plans...

Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.

The real story is much more interesting.

Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.

Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.

But consequences can be deadly, especially when you're already in hell . . .

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday! This week we've received FIVE books...and we've read THREE of them!

As always, you can click on the cover to learn more about each book.

The Slug and the Snail by Oein de Bharduin and Olya Anima

An illustrated own-voices fable about self-acceptance and pride from a member of the Irish Traveller nomadic ethnic minority 

Drawn from the Irish Traveller oral storytelling tradition, DeBhairduin’s tale is a gentle allegory about difference, self-acceptance and different ways of seeing the world. Two slugs travel happily together as brothers, until they meet a crow who shows them that they have no home. Ashamed, one of the slugs decides to make himself a home, and calls himself snail. The brothers grow apart and become suspicious of each other. The slug with no shell-house feels ashamed until he learns to see that the very road he travels is his home, and so he shall never be homeless. The happy slug no longer sees himself through the judging eyes of others, but proudly asserts his place in the world and the two brothers travel happily together once more.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We had a normal week on the blog...except that one of our posts was our 1500th! ::drum rolls:: Now obviously that isn't 1500 reviews as we have our weekly three features, but it's still pretty impressive, I think!

Swarm by Jennifer Lyle

Sixteen year-old Shur is one of the first to see the creatures. While staring out the window in history class, she spots one floating over the soccer field. It looks like a monarch butterfly—but it's huge. Within minutes, her classmates' phones are buzzing with emergency alerts. These things are everywhere, and though nobody's exactly sure why the alerts are telling them to take cover, Shur knows it can't be good. It's only when she's left school and headed home that she learns what the creatures do: they attack.

By the time Shur, her two brothers, and their two best friends make it back to her house, it's clear the five of them must survive whatever comes next on their own.

As the "butterflies"—new hybrid creatures thought to be created by climate change—multiply and swarm outside, anxiety-prone Shur focuses on what she can control: boarding up windows, stocking food, and preparing a shelter in the basement. They lose internet and power while vigilantes create terror outside. Meanwhile the creatures begin to fulfill their ultimate purpose: multiplying via parasitic load, and before long, the butterflies aren't the only thing trying to get in. To protect her family and survive the invasions, Shur must find the strength to protect their sanctuary at any cost.

My First Book of Irish Bugs

Ladybird, butterfly, snail, grasshopper, spider, fly.

Introduces the youngest readers to the tiny creatures that creep, crawl, wriggle and fly all over Ireland!

Happy #BookBirthday! 27 Jun

Happy Thursday! This week there is ONE book on our lists publishing!

The Girl who Grew Wings by Anna Waterworth

In the citadel of Appollis, the Gods bestow single gifts on a chosen few. Icari has always known she's a Healer, while her twin sister, Sephie, is cast as an Embalmer, despite showing early promise as an Alchemist - a secret the sisters keep to themselves for possessing two skills is punishable by death.

While Sephie learns how to wrap the dead, Icari eases the suffering of others, including a charismatic enemy prisoner called Caszeil. And it's to Caszeil that Icari turns when demons rise up from the Underworld and kidnap her sister. With his help, perhaps she can rescue Sephie. Even if this means growing wings - and flying in the face of the devil himself . . .

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we have received SEVEN books...and we've only read FOUR of them!

As always you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

You Won't BeLIEve Me by Cyn Balog

Willow is alone, confined to a bed with restraints. She can't remember how she got there...or how long she's been there.

An old lady appears in her room to feed her twice a day. Granny doesn't talk, but Willow can hear thumping from somewhere beyond her door. It's not Granny's shuffling steps. It's too loud to be Granny's cat. Is it someone? Something?

Then Granny's cat dies in Willow's room. And Granny follows a few days later. Willow will do anything to survive. But freeing herself from her bed is only the beginning... Because there is someone else in the house. Who is this mysterious teen who calls himself Elijah? And is he the reason she's hostage or the key to her escape?

Weekly Roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We've had a good week this week, with a blogtour and our usual reviews.

Blogtour; The Fight for Midnight by Dan Solomon

It’s been a rough year for Alex Collins. In the past twelve months, he’s lost his best friend, become the target of the two biggest bullies at school, and been sentenced to community service. But on June 25, 2013, he gets a call for help from Cassie Ramirez, the prettiest girl in school. At last, he feels like his luck might be changing.

Cassie is at the Texas State Capitol to protest Wendy Davis’s historic filibuster of the abortion bill HB2, and she’s rallying everyone she knows to join her. Until today, Alex didn’t know what a filibuster was, and he’d never given a moment’s thought to how he felt about abortion. But at the Capitol, he finds himself in the middle of a tense scene full of pro-life “blueshirts,” pro-choice “orangeshirts,” and blustering politicians playing political games as Wendy Davis tries to run out the clock at midnight.

Alex may have entered the Capitol looking to spend time with Cassie, but the political gets personal when he runs into his ex-friend Shireen in an orange T-shirt and quickly realizes that when it comes to an issue like abortion, neutral isn’t an option. Over the next nineteen hours—as things get increasingly heated both on the Senate floor and between the two sets of protesters—Alex will struggle to figure out what side he’s on, knowing that whatever choice he makes will bring him face-to-face with his past mistakes.

The Prince & The Apocalypse by Kara McDowell (one slight spoiler in review)

Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly-planned itinerary is in tatters. There's only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right.

The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there's a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent who looks remarkably like the errant Prince Theo, on the run from the palace and his controlling mother. When Wren helps him escape a pack of tourists, the Prince scribbles down his number and offers her one favor in return. She doesn’t plan to take him up on it—until she gets to the airport and sees cancelled flights and chaos. A comet is approaching Earth, and the world is ending in eight days. Suddenly, that favor could be her only chance to get home to her family before the end of the world.

Wren strikes a bargain with the runaway prince: if she’ll be his bodyguard from London to his family’s compound in Santorini, he can charter her a private jet home in time to say goodbye. Traveling through Europe by boat, train, and accidentally stolen automobile, Wren finds herself drawn to the dryly sarcastic, surprisingly vulnerable Theo. But the Prince has his own agenda, one that could derail both their plans. When life as they know it will be over in days, is it possible to find a happy ending?

Happy #BookBirthday! 22 June

Happy Thursday! This week there are FIVE books on our lists publishing!

The Launch Party by Lauren Forry

THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME. YOU'D DIE TO BE THERE.

Ten lucky people have won a place at the most exclusive launch event of the century: the grand opening of the Hotel Artemis, the first hotel on the moon. It's an invitation to die for. As their transport departs for its return to Earth and the doors seal shut behind them, the guests take the next leap for mankind.

However, they soon discover that all is not as it seems. The champagne may be flowing, but there is no one to pour it. Room service is available, but there is no one to deliver it. Besides the ten of them, they are completely alone.

When one of the guests is found murdered, fear spreads through the group. But that death is only the beginning. Being three days' journey from home and with no way to contact the outside, can any of the guests survive their stay?