February & March's Monthly Recaps

I didn't have much to share in February, so I thought instead I would post a recap that covered both February and March.

Review: The Night that Changed Everything by Laura Tait & Jimmy Rice

The Night that Changed Everything by Laura Tait & Jimmy Rice (proof) - Rebecca is the only girl she knows who didn't cry at the end of Titanic. Ben is the only man he knows who did. Rebecca’s untidy but Ben doesn’t mind picking up her pieces. Ben is laid back by Rebecca keeps him on his toes. They're a perfect match.

Nothing can come between them. Or so they think.

When a throwaway comment reveals a secret from the past, their love story is rewritten.

Can they recover from the night that changed everything? And how do you forgive when you can’t forget?

The Night That Changed Everything is a funny, feel-good and bittersweet story, told in alternate chapters by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice. From Goodreads.

Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (borrowed) - Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. From Goodreads.

Review: How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne

How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne

I was sent this proof for free by Usborne for the purpose of providing an honest review.

All Amber wants is a little bit of love. Her mum has never been the caring type, even before she moved to California, got remarried and had a personality transplant. But Amber's hoping that spending the summer with her can change all that.

And then there's prom king Kyle, the guy all the girls want. Can he really be interested in anti-cheerleader Amber? Even with best friends Evie and Lottie's advice, there's no escaping the fact: love is hard. From Goodreads.

Five Books That Changed My Life

As a blogger, I have read more books than I would ever like to try and calculate. Because of this, some books get forgotten or become a vague memory of enjoyment. But there are also those that will always stick out in my memory, not just because of how good they, but because of how they have affected me. Lucy of Queen of Contemporary did it. Then Gracie of Almost Amazing Grace did it. So I thought I'd join them, and talk you through five books that changed my life. Without these books, I wouldn't be who I am today, or be doing the things I do.


Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Yes, Twilight. It gets a whole lot of grief, but I really enjoyed this series. Not just that, but it opened my eyes to both urban fantasy/paranormal romance, and to YA.

Before Twilight, I was reading high fantasy exclusively. You wouldn't catch me reading anything else. But when I took a module in Young Adult Fictions at uni, Twilight was one of the books on our recommending reading list. I read it, and fell in love. Maybe a bit too in love, because I bought the next two books in the series, New Moon and Eclipse, and for a several months, they were the only things I read, over and over.

Review: Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff, Translated A.A. Prime (bought) - Maresi came to the Red Abbey when she was nine, in the Hunger Winter. Before then, she had only heard rumours of its existence in secret folk tales. In a world where girls aren't allowed to learn or do as they please, an island inhabited solely by women sounded like a fantasy. But now Maresi has been here for four years, and she knows it is real. She is safe.

Then one day Jai tangled fair hair, clothes stiff with dirt, scars on her back arrives on a ship. She has fled to the island to escape terrible danger and unimaginable cruelty. And the men who hurt her will stop at nothing to find her.

Now the women and girls of the Red Abbey must use all their powers and ancient knowledge to combat the forces that wish to destroy them. And Maresi, haunted by her own nightmares, must confront her very deepest, darkest fears.

A story of friendship and survival, magic and wonder, beauty and terror, Maresi will grip you and hold you spellbound. From Goodreads*.

Story Time (1)

Occasionally, I'll be sent picture books to review, and sometimes, when out shopping, I'll see a couple that I adore. Story Time is a new feature here on Once Upon a Bookcase to highlight some of my favourites. Click images to enlarge.

Your Hand in My Hand

by Mark Sperring & Britta Teckentrup
(5th March 2015, Orchard Books. Paperback. Review copy.)


Your Hand in My Hand is a cute story of a parent and child out discovering the world together. It shows the bond between Mother/Father and Child, and the parent taking the child out on an adventure, and also encourages parents to nurture their child-like sense of wonder of the ordinary - to see the world through their child's eyes. The two little mice are adorable, and the illustrations are really cute, in a almost collage style. This is such a lovely story!

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (review copy) - 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.

Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other.

Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive – when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana.

As Scarlet and Wolf expose one mystery, they encounter Cinder and a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen, who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner... From Goodreads.

ETA: Since reading the book, I have discovered that Cinder is problematic when it comes to setting and the lack of or incorrect Asian culture through reading other posts, and therefore - although I haven't changed my review for the purposes of transparency - I can no longer recommend this book or series.

Do read these posts for more:
Review of Cinder on The Book Smugglers.
Review of Cinder on A Novel Toybox.
Posts reblogged on Fuck Your Racism.

On Multiple Editions of Books

Every now and again, books will get new covers. This can be annoying if it happens in the middle of a series, and your covers end up not matching. But that has been spoken about a number of times. What I was to talk about is when covers change once the series has finished.

I can understand why publishers decide to do this. Time goes by, and they want to introduce new readers to the series - readers who were perhaps several years too young when they were first published. Like Harry Potter, for example. This makes sense to me.

What doesn't make sense is when publishers choose to release new editions within a very short space of time. Let's take The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Retellings Reading Challenge 2016: Link to Your March Reviews

Welcome to the Retellings Reading Challenge 2016 March link-up! A little late time time round - sorry! How are you guys doing with the challenge so far? I have managed three, and I'm currently on my fourth, so I think I'm doing pretty well!

Please post the links to your reviews from March in the link-up below. But before you do...

• You must sign up for the challenge before you post links to your reviews. Links from people who haven't signed up will be deleted. Sign up for the challenge here.
• Make sure your links go directly to your reviews, not to your blog/Goodreads page/youtube channel. Those of the latter will be deleted.
• To count, books must be read in March. Only books read at the very end of February will count for May if posted at the very beginning of the month. Otherwise they won't count.
• When you link to your reviews, in the "Name" field, please include the title of the book, the author, and your blog name. For example: Wicked by Gregory Maguire @ Once Upon a Bookcase.

Review: Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy (review copy) - Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart. From Goodreads.