Discussion: Comparing Books Within Trends

Comparing Books Within Trends

There's something I want to discuss, and it's to do with YA trends.

I don't have a problem with YA trends. Most of the time, I can really get into them. I loved the dystopia trend, I loved the paranormal romance/urban fantasy trend. I love reading all these different books on a similar theme or topic, and discovering new authors this way.

But there is something I have a problem with. When a certain book within a trend is successful, and then every other book in that trend is then compared to that successful one - either by reviewers or by publishers themselves.

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Review: Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander (#Ad)

Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander 

I was sent this review copy for free by Entangled Teen for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he’ll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck.

The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy.

By the time he learns she's ill—and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms. Finch from Charlotte’s illness—Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared). From Goodreads.

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Top Ten Books I'd Love To Read If I Had a Book Club

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I'd Love To Read If I Had a Book Club. I don't have a book club, nor is it really my thing. However, the books I've picked are books I talk about a lot, want to talk about more, or want to hear other people's views on.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Nevin - Because this book blew me away. SO heartbreaking. And I just need to talk about it, especially the fact that it's loosely based on true events.

Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill - Because I will never stop thinking this book is incredible, and how scary the screwed up dystopian world is. How can you now talk about this book?!

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Review: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (review copy) - Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the 'natural wonders' of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It's only with Violet that Finch can be himself - a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who's not such a freak after all. And it's only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink. From Goodreads

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Review: Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid (#Ad)

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

I was sent this review copy for free by Mira Ink for the purpose of providing an honest review.

One girl could change four lives forever…

Mysterious Leila, who is on the road trip of a lifetime, has a habit of crashing into people’s worlds at the moment they need someone the most.

There’s Hudson, who is willing to throw away his dreams for love. And Bree, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. Elliot who believes in happy endings…until his own goes off-script. And Sonia who worries that she’s lost her ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. But Leila’s trip could help her discover something bigger — that sometimes, the only way to find what you’re looking for is to get lost along the way… From Goodreads.

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Discussion: Why the UKYA Blogging Community is So Awesome

On Sunday, when showcasing last week's First Class Post, I mentioned how I was longlisted for the UKYA Blogger Awards, and just how incredible this is. I am over the moon.

There are 33 UKYA bloggers nominated for awards, but there are so many more of us, and you know what? We're pretty amazing. Yes, I will blow our own trumpet.

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A Novel Cover Up: Emma Byrne on Finding a Voice by Kim Wood

A Novel Cover Up is a semi-regular feature that looks at how covers are made. Thanks to O'Brien Press, I have been fortunate enough to interview Design Manager Emma Byrne about how she designed the cover for Finding a Voice by Kim Hood - one of the shorlisted titles for the YA Book Prize 2015. Other than the cover, all images in this post are copyrighted to Emma Byrne and used with permission, and can be clicked to enlarge.

Can you tell us about the cover for Finding a Voice? What do you hope it tells readers about the story?

I hope it attracts the reader in an intimate way to the fragile world that Jo inhabits. If it does that, its enough to get the reader in – to discover more.

How did you come up with the idea for the cover?

I had several approaches (see below) but in the end it was felt that the current one was the strongest for the book and the market. The cover is the first two paragraphs of the book. It is a powerful account of Jo’s state of mind, and gives us a glimpse of her world, her fears and vunerability:

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Top Ten A Novel Cover Up Posts

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is a freebie, so I'm going to do a bit of shameless blog promo here - hope you don't mind!
On my blog, I run a feature called A Novel Cover Up, where the wonderful people behind the awesome covers we see on our shelves talk us through the process that led to those final covers. It's been quite a while since this feature has graced the blog, but I'm trying to bring it back to life again. Before I do, I thought I would share my top ten book covers I've featured so far, in no particular order.

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Review: Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills - "This is Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, on community radio 90.3, KZUK. I'm Gabe. Welcome to my show."

My birth name is Elizabeth, but I'm a guy. Gabe. My parents think I've gone crazy and the rest of the world is happy to agree with them, but I know I'm right. I've been a boy my whole life.

When you think about it, I'm like a record. Elizabeth is my A side, the song everybody knows, and Gabe is my B side--not heard as often, but just as good.

It's time to let my B side play. From Goodreads

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Discussion: Reading Pressure

Discussion: Reading Pressure

I want to talk about pressure we put on ourselves when it comes to reading. This is not about blogging or reviewing, just reading.

I've previously talked about how I feel really bad about the fact that I don't read classics. I would love to read some of the classics in English Lit, but I really struggle to understand the language. Put them on TV, and I'm there, but in book form, I just can't get my head around it, and it annoys the hell out of me.

This is something I have come to accept though. I will be getting Sparks Notes versions or similar at some point and educate myself, but until then, I've accepted my limitations. What's bothering me at the moment right now, though, is the pressure I'm putting on myself to read diverse books.

Hold on, wait, let me explain...

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Review: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga (proof) - Aysel and Roman are practically strangers, but they've been drawn into an unthinkable partnership. In a month's time, they plan to die by suicide - together.

Aysel knows why she wants to die: being the daughter of a murderer doesn't equal normal, well-adjusted teenager. But she can't figure out why handsome, popular Roman wants to end it all....and why he's even more determined than she is.

With the deadline getting closer, something starts to grow between Aysel and Roman - a feeling she never thought she would experience. It seems there might be something to live for, after all - but is Aysel in so deep she can't turn back? From Goodreads

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Review: Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (review copy) - It's 1959. The battle for civil rights is raging. And it's Sarah Dunbar's first day of school, as one of the first black students at the previously all-white Jefferson High. No one wants Sarah there. Not the Governor. Not the teachers. And certainly not the students – especially Linda Hairston, daughter of the town’s most ardent segregationist. Sarah and Linda have every reason to despise each other. But as a school project forces them to spend time together, the less their differences seem to matter. And Sarah and Linda start to feel something they've never felt before. Something they're both determined ignore. Because it's one thing to be frightened by the world around you - and another thing altogether when you're terrified of what you feel inside. From Goodreads

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Top Ten 2014 Releases I Meant to Read But Didn't Get To

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is 2014 releases you meant to read but didn't get to.

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Review: The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson (proof/reading copy) - Two boys. Two secrets.

David Piper has always been an outsider. Her parents think she’s gay. The school bully thinks she’s a freak. Only her two best friends know the real truth – David is a trans girl.

On the first day at his new school Leo Denton has one goal – to be invisible. Attracting the attention of the most beautiful girl in year eleven is definitely not part of that plan.

When Leo stands up for David in a fight, an unlikely friendship forms. But things are about to get messy. Because at Eden Park School secrets have a funny habit of not staying secret for long… From Goodreads, edited to correct misgendering.

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Review: Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb

Blood of Dragons by Robin Hobb - 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.

The legendary dragon city of Kelsingra has been discovered. But most of the dragons now lack the strength for the final hazardous river crossing, and the mythical silver wells they need to survive are nowhere to be found. In a desperate attempt to unlock the whereabouts of the wells, the keepers risk "memory walking" _ immersing themselves in the drug-like memories of long-deceased Elderlings. The magic of the city and the final secret it conceals present their only chance of survival, not just for the queen dragon Tintaglia but for Malta and Reyn's infant Elderling son as well.

To make matters worse, time is of the utmost importance. The Duke Of Chalced has dispatched his forces to the Rain Wilds with a compelling mission: slaughter a dragon to stave off his own demise. The tide of history is about to turn on a life-and-death battle that will ultimately decide the dragons; fate. If they win, the regal serpents will rule the world once more. And if they lose, they will vanish from the world forever. From the blurb.

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