Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day by Gayle Forman (review copy) - Allyson Healey’s life is exactly like her suitcase—packed, planned, ordered. Then on the last day of her three-week post-graduation European tour, she meets Willem. A free-spirited, roving actor, Willem is everything she’s not, and when he invites her to abandon her plans and come to Paris with him, Allyson says yes. This uncharacteristic decision leads to a day of risk and romance, liberation and intimacy: 24 hours that will transform Allyson’s life.

A book about love, heartbreak, travel, identity, and the “accidents” of fate, Just One Day shows us how sometimes in order to get found, you first have to get lost. . . and how often the people we are seeking are much closer than we know. From GayleForman.com

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First Class Post (53) & Weekly Highlights

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Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Far From You by Tess Sharpe (proof) - Nine months. Two weeks. Six days.

That's how long recovering addict Sophie's been drug-free. Four months ago her best friend, Mina, died in what everyone believes was a drug deal gone wrong - a deal they think Sophie set up. Only Sophie knows the truth. She and Mina shared a secret, but there was no drug deal. Mina was deliberately murdered.

Forced into rehab for an addiction she'd already beaten, Sophie's finally out and on the trail of the killer - but can she track them down before they come for her? From Goodreads

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Review: Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Wonder by R. J. Palacio (review copy) - WONDER is the funny, sweet and incredibly moving story of Auggie Pullman. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, this shy, bright ten-year-old has been home-schooled by his parents for his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the stares and cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, Auggie is being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. The thing is, Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?

Through the voices of Auggie, his big sister Via, and his new friends Jack and Summer, WONDER follows Auggie's journey through his first year at Beecher Prep. Frank, powerful, warm and often heart-breaking, WONDER is a book you'll read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page. From Goodreads

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First Class Post (52) & Weekly Highlights

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Review: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton (review copy) - Foolish love appears to be a Roux family birthright, and for Ava Lavender, a girl born with the wings of a bird, it is key to her inheritance. In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to join her peers, Ava ventures away from home, ill-prepared for what awaits her in a world that does not know whether to view her as girl or angel.

Ava's search and her family's saga build to a devastating crescendo until, on a summer solstice, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava's fate is revealed. From the blurb.

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Review: Meet the Parents by Paul Bently and Sara Ogilvie

Meet the Parents by Paul Bently and Sara Ogilvie (review copy) - Yes, parents are bossy, but they also have their perks. Discover the best of them in this lively picture book from two Roald Dahl Funny Prize favorites!

It might seem like parents spend an awful lot of time telling kids what to do. And, well, that's true! But there's so much more to them: Parents are towels for wiping your grime on. They're whirlers and twirlers and tree trunks to climb on. Parents sort out all your messes and muddles. And best of all, parents give cuddles!

This funny and affectionate look at all the things parents do is a blast to read aloud. From Goodreads

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Review: I Love Mum by Joanna Walsh and Judi Abbot

I Love Mum by Joanna Walsh and Judi Abbot (review copy) - An adorable, sunshiny book which shows how, no matter what, there's just no-one like Mum.

Some smiles are sun smiles, run for miles smiles
But no one's smile is wider, brighter, than my mum's smile.

Follow two little tiger cubs as they enjoy a fun-filled day with their loving mum. From Goodreads

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Cover Reveal: Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer

I am delighted to be taking part in the cover reveal for Sacrifice by Brigid Kemmerer, the fifth book and final book in the Elemental series. Regular readers will know just how much I adore this series, so as awesome as it is to be revealing the US cover, it's so sad that the series is going to be ending! :(

Anywho, here is the cover:

One misstep and they lose it all. For the last time.

Michael Merrick is used to pressure.

He’s the only parent his three brothers have had for years. His power to control Earth could kill someone if he miscalculates. Now an Elemental Guide has it out for his family, and he’s all that stands in the way.

His girlfriend, Hannah, gets that. She’s got a kid of her own, and a job as a firefighter that could end her life without a moment’s notice.

But there are people who have had enough of Michael’s defiance, his family’s “bad luck.” Before he knows it, Michael’s enemies have turned into the Merricks’ enemies, and they’re armed for war.

They’re not interested in surrender. But Michael isn’t the white flag type anyway. There will be blood on the ground tonight… From Goodreads.

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Review: Bird by Crystal Chan

Bird by Crystal Chan (review copy) - 'Grandpa stopped speaking the day he killed my brother, John. His name was John until Grandpa said he looked more like a Bird with the way he kept jumping off things, and the name stuck. Bird's thick, black hair poked out in every direction, just like the head feathers of the blackbirds, Grandpa said, and he bet that one day Bird would fly like one too. Grandpa kept talking like that, and no one paid him much notice until Bird jumped off a cliff, the cliff at the edge of the tallgrass prairie, the cliff that dropped a good couple hundred feet to a dried-up riverbed below. From that day on, Grandpa never spoke another word. Not one.

The day that Bird tried to fly, the grown-ups were out looking for him - all of them except Mom and Granny. That's because that very day, I was born.'

Twelve-year-old Jewel never knew her brother, but all her life she has lived in his shadow. Then one night, on her birthday, she finds a mysterious boy sitting in her oak tree. His name is John. And he changes everything. From Goodreads

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Review: Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

Secret by Brigid Kemmerer (eProof) - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Nick Merrick is stretched to breaking point. He's trying to keep his grades sky-high or he won't get in to college. He's trying to keep his brother's business afloat or the Merricks will be out on the street. He's trying to keep the secret of where he's going in the evenings from his twin brother Gabriel - or he fears he'll lose his family. And he's trying to keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who is his 'girlfriend's' partner.

And then Quinn takes to hanging around his sworn enemy, and an Elemental Guide is counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. Storms are brewing. On all sides.

SECRETS IN THE WIND. DANGER IN THE AIR. From Goodreads

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First Class Post (51) & Weekly Highlights

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Review: No Matter What by Debi Gliori

No Matter What by Debi Gliori - A fabulous bestselling picture book about unconditional love

A little fox is in a big bad mood, and is worried that its mother won’t love it forever. In this beautiful and lyrical picture book we see a clever and resourceful mother prove to her child that a parent’s love is limitless — no matter what! In this reassuring and warm picture book the hugely talented Debi Gliori manages to treat the familiar subject of childhood worries in a very fresh, original and inventive way. From DebiGlioriBooks.com

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Review: Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin (review copy) - WARNING! Some might consider this review to have minor spoilers (though I don't really think so).

Max Walker: blue-eyed boy or girl next door?

To the outside world, Max Walker is a golden boy: a loving son and brother, the perfect student, captain of the football team and every girl's dream boyfriend.

But Max was born intersex - neither fully boy nor fully girl. Now something terrible has happened to him, the consequences of which have left him questioning his true identity.

Can the people around him - his girlfriend, his classmates, his ambitious parents - accept him for who he is? Or will Max's secret life tear his world apart? From Goodreads

**I reveal the terrible event in my summary below, and continue to discuss the consequences of it in my review, but as it happens very early on in the novel, and is really the start of the story, I don't think it's too spoilery. However, you may not wish to read my review if you don't want any aspect of the book spoilt for you.**

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Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (review copy) - WARNING! Some might consider this review to have minor spoilers (though I don't really think so.)

Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life.

Without Wren Cath is completely on her own and totally outside her comfort zone. She's got a surly room-mate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words ...And she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible ... From Goodreads

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Desperately Seeking Romance

Of the novel kind, that is.

I'm thinking of trying to dive in to more adult romance/"chick-lit" this year, however, I don't really know where to start, so I'm hoping you could recommend some titles to me.

I'm heading more towards the romance, but I don't want novels that are light and fluffy, I want ones that will have a profound affect on me - that will touch me, that will make me think, that will take my breath away, rather than just being sweet and entertaining. I don't mind crying, either. I want to be moved. Though I have no interest in recs for erotica or paranormal romance. I can do rom-coms, if they're still going to touch me.

In regards to "chick-lit", again, I want to be moved. But I'm not really looking for books to do with women and their relationship with their kids - grown up or otherwise. More like books to do with a woman's relationship with herself. That's going to mooooove.

ETA: This would be contemporary romance/"chick-lit". I'm not really a fan of historical.

So, do you know of any books that might be what I'm after? Please mention them in the comments below! Thank you! I'm thinking of setting myself a personal reading challenge, so I would like some books to go looking for. Cheers!

Get-a rec'ing! :)

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First Class Post (51)

First Class Post - because this post is first class!

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