BOOK BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT | Meet Chelle from Tales of Yesterday!

Hello readers, and happy Wednesday! After having a week off, we are back to the book blogger spotlight feature - one that is proving immensely popular with you lot - so thank you for reading! Today I am spotlighting one of my favourite all-time bloggers: Chelle Toy, blogger at Tales of Yesterday. She is my favourite blogger not only because her blog is a fantastic read and she recommends great books, but also because she is genuinely one of the loveliest people I have ever met! I was lucky enough to meet Chelle at YALC last year, which was amazing since we had been speaking on twitter for about a year before that, so it was great to meet her in person! Chelle blogs about a wide-range of topics, all revolving around books of course, but she also does write-ups of events, book reviews and author Q&As plus much, much more.

BLOGGER BIO 

Hi, I’m Chelle and I have been running my book blog - www.Talesofyesterday.co.uk since November 2014.  I read lots of books and review them on my blog and also love to feature guest posts, Q&A’s amongst others things from authors as well as other bloggers or publishers.  I always feature anything I enjoy or find fun and basically want to know the answers to! I am helpdesk / resource planner team leader for a service company by day and an avid book reader / book blogger / serial tweeter / twitter addict by night and on weekends!

I am the organiser of #DrinkYAMidlands and #PicnicYAMidlands where everyone is welcome to meet up for bookish chat and fun!  I also host a nostalgic #PointHorrorBookClub on the 13^th of every month where we read and discuss a Point Horror book which were all the rage and loved by myself in the 90’s – do you remember them? I am often known to be a little bit clumsy and I am always laughing at something or another and have a bit of a chuckle laugh (one of my managers calls me chuckles).

I live with my husband, Kevin, who I have known since I was 4 and I have an 11 Year Old son, Corey, who is as much of a book lover as me! I also have 3 cats, Skittles, Patch and Louis who enjoy clawing at my curtains and 2 rabbits, Smudge and Clover who pinch all my vegetables! I am a book loving (obsessed), theatre loving, slasher horror film loving csi geek! I’m often seen on twitter embarrassing myself and tweeting about books a lot using @chelleytoy.

Today I am lucky enough to have Chelley on my blog to discuss all things books, the YA blogging community and her award-winning blog!

Hi Chelle! So, what’s the best thing about being a book blogger?

Starting a book blog seemed to be a natural step for me and something I wish I had done years ago!  I LOVE talking about books and sharing my thoughts and experience of a book with people and sharing my thoughts through reviews on my blog.  Books in general excite me.  I love getting lost within the pages of a book.  Feeling what the characters are feeling or experiencing and going on a journey with them.  

This may sound cheesy but for me the best thing about being book blogger is getting to know new supportive people who all love books and the community just as much as me.

I have met the most wonderful people and made some lifelong friends in my journey so far whether this be other book bloggers, authors, publicists or just people who loves books!

I have also loved the chances I have had to meet authors or have authors appear on my blog and learn more about their lives, writing, books and the publishing industry.  I always feel truly honoured when an author agrees to appear on my blog.

I also love being asked for recommendations especially by children and then being told how much they love the book…this makes me so happy.  I also love sharing books with my son and having reading time with him every night.

What’s the most difficult/challenging thing about being a book blogger?

The most difficult/ challenging thing I find as a book blogger is time!  I need Hermione's Time Turner!  I want to spend ALL my time with my family and friends, read ALL the books, put more time into my blog and write that book that’s inside me, but time is restricted sometimes.  It can often be a challenge sometimes although maybe I should not spend all my spare time on twitter and be a little bit more productive.

What’s been your highlight in the time that you’ve been a book blogger?

I think a highlight for me is the opportunities and experiences that I have been lucky enough to have been given since starting my book blog.

One of the most over whelming experiences has been winning a UKYABA award in March 2015 for Champion Newcomer which in turn gave me the honour of speaking on a book blogging workshop / panel at YALC which was mind blowingly amazing and scary all rolled into one big ball of fun!

This year I have recently won four #AwardUKYABBloggers including Best Adult Blogger which are voted for by other bloggers etc and it really made me cry.  I was so overwhelmed.

I have also been pushed out of my comfort zone completely this year as well and have been lucky enough to chair two author panels at Waterstones Birmingham, answer questions on blogging at Foyles Birmingham and have been asked to host a workshop at YA Shot 2016!

So many unbelievable highlights!

Name one author you would love to meet, and one blogger you would love to meet in real life!

I feel I have been very lucky to meet a lot of my favourite amazing authors already, but for me this would be John Green or James Patterson…..two authors I adore who I would be honoured to get a chance to meet in real life!  In fact I think it would render me speechless which would be a miracle in itself!

Again I have been lucky enough to have met some wonderful bloggers who are all amazing!  One blogger I would love to meet (and hopefully will have met by the time this post goes live) is Rachel ( @_sectumsemprah ).  She does such a fantastic chat called #SundayYA and always gives us hugely exciting and interesting topics to discuss.

What advice would you give anyone who wants to start a book blog?

I would love to have known how wonderful and awesome the community is before I started!  I have made some lovely friends through blogging and it genuinely brings a tear to my eye to think about it.  When I think back to a time in my life where I felt quite lonely and scared (I had my family of course) if I had known that book blogging would introduce me to genuine wonderful people I would have done it sooner.  I love the community so much.  Everyone is so supportive and lovely…it’s amazing!

Oh and your TBR is always going to be huge!

Thanks so much, Chelle, for being on my blog! 

Check out Chelle's blog here: http://www.talesofyesterday.co.uk/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChelleyToy

Until next time :) 

 

BOOK REVIEW | 'Caramel Hearts' by E.R. Murray (****)

Hello readers, and happy Tuesday! Today I am very excited to be able to share with you a review of Caramel Hearts by E.R. Murray, published last month by Alma Books. I met a few of the people from Alma Books at London Book Fair and they very kindly offered to send me some of their YA and children's summer titles to review! I jumped at the chance as I love reading books from interesting and unique publishing houses, as they always seem to publish the most special and intriguing books.

There will be a few Alma Books reviews coming up in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out!

But first things first, I am going to share my thoughts with you about YA contemporary novel, Caramel Hearts, written by E.R Murray. Caramel Hearts follows the life of fourteen year old Liv who lives with her sister Hatty and, when she sporadically returns from therapy, her alcoholic mother. Liv has never met her father, and blames herself for his leaving the family home, as her mother so often reminds her it was her fault. One day, when Liv discovers a recipe book written by a younger and happier version of her mother, she thinks she knows just what it takes to stitch her family back together. But just like any fourteen year old, Liv faces many dilemmas along the way, and discovers that doing the right thing isn't always as easy as it seems.

Sound intriguing? Read the blurb here...

Liv Bloom’s life is even more complicated than that of your average fourteen-year-old: her father walked out on the family when she was young, her mother is in a recovery centre for alcoholics, and her older sister is struggling to step into Mum’s shoes. The only person she can turn to is her best friend Sarah, who gets out of scrapes at school and is a constant source of advice and companionship. One day Liv discovers a book of recipes written in her mum’s handwriting, which sets her off on a journey towards self-discovery and reconciliation – but a theft, a love rivalry and a school bully are just some of the many obstacles on the way.

Structured around real cake recipes, Caramel Hearts is a coming-of-age novel about love, disappointment and hope, and discovering the true value of friends and family, no matter how dysfunctional they are.  

Sometimes there's nothing better than a good, simple coming-of-age story, and that's what Caramel Hearts undoubtedly is. The character of Liv was realistic, flawed and complex, and I enjoyed her character development throughout the story. At times I found her frustrating and the decisions she made questionable to say the least, however it's definitely important in YA to showcase realistic teenagers and their confused brains, and E.R Murray certainly did this. I also really enjoyed reading about the realistic, imperfect sister relationship between Hatty and Liv. Hatty was a great character and I thought she was really well developed. As a sibling myself I completely understood her frustrations at Liv, especially since she had to come back home from university to look after her younger sister, who happens to be too young to really understand the sacrifice her older sister was making. 

I also adored the character of Sarah, and I really wish we could have learned more about her. She was such a good intrinsically good character and I really despised the way that Liv treated her at the beginning of the book. In Caramel Hearts I felt like the bad characters (Maddie, for example) were much more developed than the good characters, which obviously can easily happen, although I wanted much more space in the book to be dedicated to Sarah, Jack and Mrs. Snelling. Mrs. Snelling's dead son was mentioned in passing, and I thought it would be much more interesting for the story if he had more of a presence in Liv's moral dilemma. 

I very much preferred the second half of the book to the first, especially when Liv makes the trip to London. Outside of her small town, I felt like I grew to know her character so much more, when she was stripped away from everything and everyone she knew and was used to. This was a section of the book of real self-discovery, and it drove the story forward brilliantly toward its conclusion.

I really liked the use of narration in the first person, and E.R Murray gave us an in-depth and realistic glance into a teenager's brain. The recipes sandwiched between the chapters helped to build the story and made me hungry every single time I read them! It also gave us a special insight into what Liv was reading, and the kind of person her mum was. I also enjoyed the flashbacks to the weekend that the family spent by the seaside - in these sections in particular the writing was beautifully detailed, eloqent and emotional. I felt as if more flashbacks into the girls' childhood would have given the reader a better insight into the emotions they were feeling, and would have given the reader an emotional depth of understanding into the way the story was unfolding.

Overall, I really enjoyed Caramel Hearts and I would definitely recommend it as a summer read that everyone will enjoy. It is a light and easy read, peppered with discussions of important issues such as growing up, alcoholism and bullying. If you haven't checked out E.R Murray before, I would recommend that you check her out!

Buy Caramel Hearts here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caramel-Hearts-R-Murray/dp/184688392X

Check out E.R Murray here: https://ermurray.com/

Until next time :)  

YA SHOT BLOG TOUR | Q&A with Rosie Rowell and GIVEAWAY!

Hello readers, and happy Monday! Today I am SO excited to share with you my post for the YA Shot 2016 tour! 

I have never taken part in YA Shot but I have seen the hashtag on twitter so many times so I thought this year I would bite the bullet and apply to take part. 

If you're unsure about what YA Shot is about, read the below information taken from the YA Shot website :)

YA Shot is an author-run, author-led Young Adult and Middle Grade festival that raises the money and resources to run a year-long programme pairing libraries and schools for free author events to foster a love of reading, inspire a passion for writing, and encourage aspirations to careers in the Arts. We believe in equal access to books and opportunities for all – YA Shot brings UKYA and UKMG authors together to pursue that goal, supporting libraries and young people across the country. At present, we’re a not-for-profit organisation but we’re seeking to become a charity.
YA Shot is a one-day annual festival based in the centre of Uxbridge (London). The 2016 festival will take place on Saturday 22nd October 2016. Around 70 authors are involved in a programme of workshop, panel and ‘in conversation’ events (plus book-signing sessions) in the Uxbridge Civic Centre, Waterstone’s Uxbridge and Uxbridge Library. There is also a programme of fantastic blogging and vlogging workshops. YA Shot is run in partnership with Hillingdon Borough Libraries and Waterstone’s Uxbridge.

I am so excited this year to be hosting two YA Shot posts - today's Q&A with author Rosie Rowell and coming up in September another Q&A with authors Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison!

But today I am ecstatic to have Rosie Rowell on my blog to talk all things South Africa, her writing process and the wonder of YA!

Hi Rosie, and thanks for being on my blog! Could you tell us a bit more about Leopold Blue and Almost Grace?

Both Leopold Blue and Almost Grace are set in South Africa and both are essentially coming of age stories, but other than that they are very different. Leopold Blue is set in 1993, against the backdrop of the political tensions in the country leading up to South Africa’s first democratic elections. It tells the story of Meg, who lives in a tiny village and feels that she is never going to escape her boring life. It is a book about friendship and first love and looking at yourself and those you love with different eyes.

Almost Grace is the story about a group of friends who have just finished school and are on their first ‘parent-free’ holiday. The main character Grace meets a mysterious drifter-surfer character. Their friendship has dramatic consequences for everyone. It’s also about being on the threshold of a new phase of life and how this can sometimes be as scary as it is exciting.

Both your books are set in South Africa. Do you take inspiration from places you knew as a child or do you travel for research?

I am South African and therefore it felt natural to set both books there. Leopold Blue grew out of being a bit homesick and I wrote it with a fair bit of nostalgia, which I think comes through in the book. Almost Grace is more autobiographical. In both cases I very much wanted to capture the places as well as the characters.

Having said that, the book I’m writing at the moment is set in London and I’m loving the change of location and the different energy that produces.

Tell us a bit more about your writing process. Where do you get your ideas from?

My writing process is very much character-led and as a result I’m quite a slow writer to begin with. Generally a couple of characters will take up residence in my head and begin talking to each other. Most of my ideas begin with snatches of dialogue, which I expand and build around. I know my writing is going well when my characters start refusing to do things I want them to because it’s a sign they are well formed and complex - even if it makes my life more difficult!

What do you love about YA?

I love that YA literature is so inclusive – there are no rules, no expectations – other than a cracking story! I find that very liberating. I also love the honesty that you find in YA writing. Young adults are refreshingly intolerant of phoniness and it makes for wonderfully complex, true-to-life characters.

Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring writers?

Read as much as you can, and read across genres. You learn a lot by reading books that you wouldn’t naturally pick up, because when you’re not zipping along with the story, you notice so much more about how the writer has chosen construct the book. Also, analyse why you think something is good or not – that kind of mindful reading teaches you a great deal about technique. And of course write! Write for yourself, write because it makes you happy. A piece of advice I found helpful was to write the book that you’d like to pick up and read. Don’t judge your work as good or bad because that’s the quickest route to killing your creativity. The only way to improve your writing is to write; unfortunately there are no short cuts!

Thank you so much Rosie for a fantastic Q&A! Make sure you check out Rosie's books, and the rest of the YA Shot posts. 

Also, over on my twitter there is a GIVEAWAY for three winners to win a copy of both Leopold Blue and Almost Grace! Head on over to my account and look at the pinned tweet at the top of the page, and all you have to do is simply follow and retweet :) Good luck!

Until next time :)