A World Book Night Special: My Reading Journey

I have always been a reader. It has defined me, shaped me, and created the person I have become today. If you had told me when I was little that at 17, I would be reviewing books on my own blog and on the Huffington Post, I would not have been surprised in the least. Ever since I was younger, I have always known that books and reading would play a huge part in my future. 

Reading was one of the first things I learned to do. The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker was the first book I read at about 6 years old, closely followed by Teddy Robinson Stories by Joan G. Robinson. After my parents had tucked me up in bed at 7pm, I would grab my torch and read these until I fell asleep. I used to think that reading was one of the naughtiest and secretive things you could do. After reading and re-reading these books, I would trace the illustrations and write my own versions (probably the earliest fanfiction!) and write my name in felt tip in the inside cover, so everyone would know that these books belonged to me. This has remained a constancy; I am not more possessive about anything else in my life more than my books. 


There has never been a moment in my childhood where I have not been reading. I can think of a few hundred books that I can say that I have loved, but few books have changed me. There have been books that have challenged my way of thinking, books that have made me cry, made me laugh, made me look at myself a little differently. There have been few books that have actually changed me as a person. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell has made me less scared of studying creative writing at university, If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch has made me treasure my siblings more, She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick has taught me that it is okay, and sometimes better to be different.

But the book that has changed me? Villette by Charlotte Brontë. It is by far not the most popular and widely-acclaimed Brontë novel, not by a long shot. But when I read it last summer, it taught me so many things. It taught me that it's okay to challenge, and be scared by, religion. It taught me that improving yourself, whether academically or your sense image, is completely normal, and it takes time. It taught me that when you feel your most alone, you will always get through it, and it isn't about someone else helping you, it is about you helping yourself. And finally, it taught me that unrequited love is one of the most painful and soul-destroying emotions to ever be felt by a person. Villette has taught me to challenge the world around me, to always ask questions, and to always have a firm grasp on what I want from life. There is nothing in life that is more important in life than having a sense of direction, and a purpose.


I would love to hear your reading journey. Share it below!

Visit the World Book Night page: http://www.worldbooknight.org

Until next time :)

World Book Night 2015

Happy Friday, readers! I apologise but for the rest of this week and most of next week I will be overwhelming you with posts... All very exciting, however! This year, I am fortunate enough to be involved with World Book Night 2015 (with The Reading Agency), a great project aiming to get the whole nation reading and loving what they read. It involves 20,000 volunteers from all over the UK handing out 400,000 free books they love to the public, and hopefully encouraging them to continue reading for pleasure. In conjunction with FmCM Associates, I will be writing some features all about World Book Night this year, including book reviews, author Q+As and even my own 'reading journey'...

The lovely Sanne from BooksandQuills has made a video about her involvement with World Book Night, and the book she has chosen to give away is Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. She has packaged them up into gorgeous little presents and has given them away, and left them in places where people will find them and pick them up.

Thousands of volunteers are doing the same thing all over country, and I am determined to do my bit to support this fantastic project! In my next few blog posts I will be spreading the world of World Book Night, sharing my favourites, and commenting on my own 'reading journey'. This year sees a sensational and diverse line up designed to bring reading and books into people’s lives. The list (featured below) covers a range of genres including crime, poetry, non-fiction, Quick Reads, fantasy and sci-fi, historical and contemporary fiction, and fiction in translation.

Appearing on the list are bestselling favourites, including Lynda La Plante’s Prime Suspect, David Almond’s Skellig, and Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The incredible Roddy Doyle is also featured with his first Quick Read title, the spooky comedy Dead Man Talking. Also on the list this year is TV and radio personality Karl Pilkington’s hilarious comedy, The Moaning of Life – a book which is sure to appeal to his fans and to tempt those who are not yet regular readers to try a book on World Book Night. As well as these amazing books, World Book Night is able to include a wonderful anthology of poetry on the list for the first time, Essential Poems from the Staying Alive Trilogy edited by Neil Astley.

World Book Night 2015 is focusing on reaching out to as many readers as possible from all parts of the country and many public participation events through partnerships with libraries, bookshops, communities and charities, will be taking place in venues and open public spaces in celebration.

Interested? Here are the 20 titles especially selected for 2015:

1. After the Fall by Charity Norman (Allen and Unwin)

2. Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M. C. Beaton (Constable, Little, Brown) 

3. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (HarperCollins)

4. Chickenfeed by Minette Walters (Quick Read) (Pan Macmillan) 

5. Custard Tarts and Broken Hearts by Mary Gibson (Head of Zeus)

6. Dead Man Talking by Roddy Doyle (Quick Read) (Vintage, Penguin Random House)

7. Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden (Pan Macmillan)

8. Essential Poems from the Staying Alive Trilogy, Neil Astley (ed.) (Bloodaxe)

9. Honour by Elif Shafak (Penguin General, Penguin Random House)

10. My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher (Orion / Hachette Children’s) 

11. Prime Suspect by Lynda La Plante (Simon & Schuster)

12. Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House)

13. Skellig by David Almond (Hachette Children’s)

14. Spring Tide by Cilla and Rolf Börjlind (Hesperus)

15. Street Cat Bob by James Bowen (Quick Read) (Hodder)

16. The Martian by Andy Weir (Ebury, Penguin Random House) 

17. The Moaning of Life by Karl Pilkington (Canongate)

18. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Transworld, Penguin Random House)

19. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (Two Roads, John Murray)


20. When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman (Headline)

There will be lots of posts coming up in the next few days all about World Book Night- I can't wait to share them with you!

Until next time :)

Ryan Graudin's 'Wolf By Wolf' Afternoon Tea (and Cover Reveal!)

Happy Thursday readers! Today I will be talking about a very exciting event I was lucky enough to be invited to on Sunday- an afternoon tea at Waterstones Piccadilly 5th View, with the one and only Ryan Graudin! A while ago I reviewed her amazing novel The Walled City here, and I also did the UK blog tour for Walled City when Ryan wrote a post about her top writing tips. So, as you can imagine, I was incredibly excited to meet Ryan, and chat to her with the other UKYA bloggers who attended.

The only thing I was looking forward to more than the DELICIOUS cake (that is always on hand during blogger events for some reason!) was being able to take home a proof of Ryan's new novel to be released in October later this year. Wolf By Wolf has been described as X-Men meets Inglorious Bastards meets The Book Thief- if you're not excited about this book then I don't know what's wrong with you! After some coffee and chatting to the other UKYA bloggers, we all gathered around the cake-stuffed table and Ryan introduced herself. We started with discussing Walled City (as most of us had been part of the UK blog tour) and Ryan told us a bit of her inspiration for writing it and some of the amazing travel experiences she had had. After this we moved on to discuss Wolf By Wolf, and Ryan read us the first chapter, leaving us all utterly speechless. The first chapter was dramatic, heart-breaking and left me and the other bloggers breathless. 

We were then told some very exciting news. We were the first people EVER to see the UK cover of Wolf By Wolf, so we did a cover reveal to let all of our followers know what the UK cover was going to look like. It was such an honour to be one of the small group of people chosen to reveal the UK cover (which is stunning, by the way!) See the picture here:

After some more informal chatting over tea and MORE cake, Ryan signed our copies of A Walled City and Wolf By Wolf and we all wrapped up our conversations. It was lovely to go out for coffee with Jim (check out his blog) and Lily (check out her blog) after, and talk some more YA! It was so great to meet both of them, when the content of our blogs are so similar, although theirs are a lot more advanced and professional than mine! 

A HUGE thank you to Fierce Fiction and Nina Douglas for organising this fabulous afternoon tea, all the UKYA bloggers who were so lovely and especially to Ryan Graudin, who gave up her time to come and meet us!

Check out Ryan Graudin's amazingly beautiful website here.

Check out Wolf By Wolf here.

Until next time :)

'The Minnow' by Diana Sweeney (*****)

*WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS*. I was sent a copy of The Minnow by FmCM Associates in exchange for an honest review :)

There haven't been many books that I have finished and had that period of silent reflection where I have thought woah. I flipping wish I had written this. There has to be that tenderness, that intensity, the pull you feel towards the characters that you can't help but get unconditionally drawn to. The Minnow was without question one of those books, for me. In my previous blog post, my interview with the author Diana Sweeney, I explored the idea of the coastal community, and how pivotal it was to the magical, watery atmosphere created in the book. When the setting is so contricted and the characters are confined to the small island that is, inevitably, their world, the stories that they tell intensify to the point of no return. 

The Minnow is a tragically beautiful story following fifteen-year-old Tom and her journey to regaining her sense of self after the tragic flood that devastated her whole world and killed her parents and sister, Sarah. Tom is an unquestionably strong character who has had wrong after wrong after wrong commited to her. Entrusted to family friend, Bill, after the flood, Tom is sexually abused and finds herself pregnant with 'the Minnow'. The events that follow will change her, and everyone else around her, forever. Alongside her best friend and loyal companion, Jonah, Tom realises that she is never on her own.

The Minnow is not only a story about tragedy, however. There is a persistent hopeful tone throughout, as Tom continues to look at the things in life she is grateful for. The childish, slightly broken-sounding Tom at the beginning is radically different from the young woman at the end of the novel, and the reader leaves the story with the feeling that things can only get better. The story is a journey; about acceptance, friendship, and most of all, about moving forward. Sometimes you cannot forget the past, but moving forward with it and changing it into a better future is often the best thing to do.

Tom's strength is infectious, and The Minnow challenges your misconceptions about everything in life. In a world where everything has been turned on its head, Tom remains persistently unwavering, for herself and her baby. The Minnow is a story that doles out misery and hope in equal measure, keeping with the message that nothing is better than the tiny pleasures in life. Family doesn't always come in the category of 'normal', but the family you shape for yourself is often much more important.

You can buy The Minnow here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Minnow-Diana-Sweeney-ebook/dp/B00ILVZ7RQ

Until next time :)

Interview with Diana Sweeney- author of 'The Minnow'

Hello, readers of my blog! Today, I have a very exciting post where I will be talking to the author of a very beautiful book, The Minnow, Diana Sweeney. There will be a review of this stunning book soon, but in the meantime, here is Diana talking about coastal communities, what inspired her to write the book and the importance of coming-of-age fiction...

What inspired you to write 'The Minnow'?

I was inspired by a strange dream that occurred midway through my PhD thesis. I realised (at the time) that I was feeling extremely stifled by the non-creative trudge of academia. The dream turned out to be the first chapter. 

Tell us about the importance of the coastal community in the novel.

There are some dream-like scenes on or near the coast, but the township is inland. This was important as it adds to the feeling of isolation.

How can you relate to Tom? 

Great question. My life doesn't mirror Tom's, but I've experienced things that enable me to relate to her pain.

The Minnow has been described as having the 'aching beauty of swimming underwater'. How did you set about achieving this effect in your writing?

I love fish and watery stuff - which fit perfectly with what was happening in the story - but during the writing, it felt as though it was coming from Tom, not me.

Were you inspired by a particular natural disaster to write about the flood that devastates Tom's life in the novel?

The Queensland floods happened during the early writing, and some of the images were extraordinary. Added to this, I was in Townsville just prior to the tsunami which devastated the town.

Why do you think coming-of-age fiction is so popular to both young people and adults?

Coming-of-age fiction is the real deal. We might grow and mature, but many of us still struggle with the raw emotions of our teenage years, and the YA genre speaks to that part of us. It doesn't presume to know the answer. It just says, "yeah, I feel it too". 

Thank you so much for being interviewed, Diana.

Check out Diana Sweeney here:  https://www.textpublishing.com.au/authors/dianasweeney

You can buy The Minnow here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Minnow-Diana-Sweeney-ebook/dp/B00ILVZ7RQ

Until next time :)

Interview with 'Salvage' author Keren David

Happy Easter, blog readers! I am sorry that I haven't been very active recently but there are lots of exciting titles coming out soon, as well as more author interviews and posts that I can't wait to share with you. There are also a few book events which I am attending in the next few months so I will be sure to write up posts on those for you.

Yesterday I finished reading the last book in the YA Book Prize shortlist, and I spent some time reflecting on how awesome and diverse the shortlist is! Although all the books come under the huge umbrella of 'YA' literature, the genres and styles of writing are so different yet they all fit together so beautifully. As well as your standard romances and dystopian (which is growing increasingly popular in YA literature as the years go on) I found myself enjoying new styles of books that I hadn't ever picked up before, for example horror and comedy. 

One of my favourite books in the YA Book Prize shortlist is a realist coming-of-age novel written by Keren David, called Salvage, about two estranged siblings Cass and Aidan, whose worlds collide when they are finally reunited after many years. This book was touching and tender and I found myself drawn to the two narrators Cass and Aidan, and relating to them at every moment. I was very grateful to get the opportunity to interview Keren for this blog and Huffington Post, all about writing, broken family relationships, and if she thinks that everything (as according to her title) can eventually be salvaged...

How/why were you inspired to write Salvage?

As someone who spent a long career working as a news journalist, I often get my ideas from news stories, and this was a report about birth families contacting adopted children through social media. I thought it was interesting, and would make a good starting point for a book, but did nothing about it because I had another book to write. Then, a year later I was watching my son play football and one of the other mums said, 'I know what you should write about,' and it was the same thing. It turned out that she was a social worker in the adoption field, so was able to brief me on the background. 

I loved the idea because it had so many different aspects and viewpoints -  a real minefield of emotions and ethics. 

What interests you about family relationships, especially 'broken' families who are reunited?

One theme of my books seems to be family secrets -  the way that things we don't remember and aren't told can affect us enormously.  In Salvage  I wanted to examine what we mean by family, how we create families and what remains when families fall apart.  I'm just fascinated by people, and families are so important in forming who we are. 

Where did the inspiration for Cass and Aidan come from, and what was it like writing from two different perspectives?

I wanted to contrast the lives of two siblings, one who was adopted and one who grew up in care. I knew that older boys often end up without an adoptive home, so that's why Aidan is the older one.  I saw them both as survivors who shared a chaotic early childhood, of neglect and abuse. Cass was adopted and her life changed completely to one of love and privilege, so I imagined her as a small girl, desperate to hang on to this new home, and suppressing feelings and questions to do so. Aidan was inspired by reading about children who have grown up in care and been badly treated, but also by the good that excellent foster parents can do.  He was very easy to write, Cass was far more difficult, I think because she was a mystery to herself!

What message were you aiming to put across through Salvage?

I don't think in terms of messages, but I hope that Salvage will make people think about families, about adoption and, above all, about how we should nurture, protect and care for children in care and care leavers. I think it's disgusting that so many of our social problems -  crime, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse -  involve people who have been let down by our care system. 

Who did you relate to more, Cass or Aidan?

Funnily enough, Aidan. Although Cass is much more like me as a teenager. I think it's because I find boys easier to write. 

What opinion do you have on the current state of Social Services? Do you think the system treats young people like Aidan well?

There are many wonderful people working with cared-for children, including social workers and foster carers, and I think we should be proud of them. But there are far too many children still being let down by the system, as recent court cases have shown.  Although rules have changed about children leaving care at 16, so that they can stay with foster carers, there is still the scandal of kids leaving care to live in hostels, flats and bedsits and fend for themselves. The current minister for children and families Edward Timpson comes from a family of foster carers, and I think he's done a good job, which I hope will be continued by the next government. Children in care should be a priority for politicians, not an afterthought. 

Do you think 'broken' relationships like Cass and Aidan's can always be 'salvaged'?

No, some people are so damaged by neglect and abuse that it may be easier to look forward rather than revisit the past. I tend to think that reunions between birth families and adopted children should be done with professional support, for both sides.  However, for many people, I imagine the chance to be reunited with a long-lost sibling is wonderfully healing and helpful. 

What did it mean to you for Salvage to be shortlisted for the YA Book Prize?

I was so happy and grateful. For several years I've been one of a few authors working hard to promote British YA books as a brand -  UKYA - to raise our profile alongside the American big sellers. I saw the establishment of the YA Prize (which is for British and Irish YA writers) as a huge step along that path.  Yp be shortlisted as well -  that was just brilliant. 

What other projects are you working on at the moment (that you can tell us about!)

I'm just finishing a historical  YA novel which I've been working on for a few years now. It's set in Canada in 1904 and 1994, and it hasn't got a publisher yet, so I'm hoping someone will like it. I've also just started writing my next contemporary YA book for my publishers, Atom. It's called Cuckoo and it's about a former child star who loses his way in life and finds an unexpected ally.  I'm also working on the script for the musical version of my book Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery which I'm writing with composer Paul Herbert and lyricist Andy Kaby. And in May my next YA  book comes out, This is Not a Love Story, which is about falling in and out of love and is set in Amsterdam.

Any tips for aspiring young writers?

Try and write a target amount of words every day, to let your story grow. Don't be too harsh on yourself, only the final draft has to be perfect. And switch off the internet! 

Thank you, Keren, for being interviewed! 

Check out Keren here: www.kerendavid.com

Buy Salvage here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salvage-Keren-David/dp/0349001375

Until next time :)

The YA Book Prize- Awards Ceremony

Hello readers! I am very sorry I haven't been that active recently- A-Levels haven't been that kind for my blogging life! On the plus side, I have almost finished the novel I am writing at the moment, so I hope to be in full editing mode by the summer. Obviously as the 'exam months' get nearer and nearer I won't be that active on here... but come summer and I will be blogging like craazzzzaaayyyyy!

Anyway, I thought it would be nice for my first post in a while to be about The YA Book Awards and the ceremony, which I was lucky enough to attend on Thursday evening in Foyles in Charing Cross. I have written a post on The YA Book Awards itself here, and for the past few weeks I have been reading all of the shortlistees like crazy. I didn't quite make it to reading all nine of the books but I only have two more to go, which was quite good for my reading speed. 

You might know that for the past couple of months I have been working with FMcM Associates, reading the lovely books they have sent me and blogging for them, and I was lucky to be invited to The YA Book Awards to meet some of the people I have only contacted from behind a screen. Although I turned up not knowing anyone, everyone there I spoke to made me feel extremely welcome and it was fantastic to meet so many bookish people. They say that getting into publishing and the fancy literary world is not about what you know, but about who you know, and events like these certainly help me to move into that bracket!


But enough of my rambling. The event itself (being the first YA Book Award!) was perfectly and thoroughly planned and set in the newly-renovated Foyles in Charing Cross, which I hadn't visited yet! As soon as I reached Foyles I saw LOADS of displays celebrating the Awards, which was really special. All the books were laid out for all to see, as well as some delicious YA cupcakes- there is not a book event I have been to without there being some form of cupcake! It was great to talk to so many awesome people; I was able to have some lovely chats with Sally Green (author of Half Bad), James Dawson (author of Say Her Name) and even more excitingly Louise O' Neil (author of Only Ever Yours and THE WINNER!) and they all signed my books, which was extra lovely of them considering they were holding glasses of wine and probably wanted to chat to more exciting people than a blogger/fangirl/over-excited teenager. 


Louise O' Neil was absolutely lovely and I was ecstatic that she won. Only Ever Yours was a beautifully haunting book that spoke a thousand truths, and I have recommended it to so many people already! The fan response both in the blogosphere and Twitter has been astonishing and I know that so many people love it and were rooting for it since Day One. Only Ever Yours is not only an electrifying YA dystopian but it gives out an incredibly important message in such a poignant way. 

At the end of the night I was also lucky enough to meet the fabulous Rosianna Halse Rojas (find her here and here) and safe to say I was just a tiny bit excited... I didn't fangirl at all. NOT AT ALL.

All in all, safe to say that the first ever YA Book Prize was an astounding success and the awards ceremony was beautiful and exciting. Thank you so much for inviting me, FMcM Associates, and thank you to everyone who made me feel so welcome.

I'm now going to go and stroke all of my signed books. And fangirl over meeting Rosianna. And re-read Only Ever Yours.


Until next time :)