A Casual Vacancy

Hi

Yes the book worm strikes again and I just finished the new J K Rolwing book A Casual Vacancy. The book was published on the 27th of September and is Rolwing's first adult novel. As you could probably guess I was super excited about this and had it on pre-order even if it did cost me £12 I really wanted to read it badly and was super excited. Now I was under no illusion that this book was anything like Harry Potter or even about a similar topic but I love J K Rolwing's style of writing and started the book the day it was released.

Keep It Vacant 

The story is set in the west country in a place called Pagfold, a sleeping little everyone knows everyone else kind of place. The story starts with the death of Barry Fairbrother a parish councillor. The main back drop for the story is the residents of Pagfold and the fight for Barry's old Parish Council seat. The main themes are one of class and the difference between Pagfold and the 'Feilds' (A massive council estate) that fall into the parish boundary. The 'Feilds' are where Barry came from and he had fought for years that it should remain within the boundary to much opposition from other councillors.


Over all I didnt enjoy this book and I think thats why it took me so long to read it. The story line is to drown out with to many characters that I found hard to keep up with and had to re-read sections to remember who everyone is. The best way to describe this book is a very long episode of Eastenders but more middle class. I find it hard to believe that is book is described as a tragic comedy and even though the ending is sad I can honestly say it wasn't funny in the slightest for me. I was very disappointed with this book and if I was you I would give it a wide birth. If your unlucky enough to have already started reading it, do finish it because the end is the best bit unfortunately.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you enjoyed The Casual Vacancy

Fallen

Hi All

As you might have noticed I'm a book warm and am in the middle of a teen reading faze. Basically after I finished reading Jane Eyre I wanted something easy and picked up a couple of fantasy teen reads.

This one I wasn't so sure about by the back but I downloaded a sample to my kindle and after reading that I really want to find out what happened next.

So the book in questions is Fallen by Lauren Kate which is actually a few years old but I'm just finding out about it. It is a part of a 5 book series but at the moment I've only read the first one.

The story revolves around a young girl called Lucinda Price who has been sent to a reform school after being accused of killing her boyfriend at her last school by setting him on fire. The difference with Lucinda is she can see shadows that follow people when something bad is going to happen, or is it the shadows that make bad things happen.

The main part of the story revolves around Lucinda and another student Daniel, The dark hansom boy she is drawn to the first time she sets eyes on him. However as it is in most teenage fantasy novels its not that simple, there is a love triangle between Lucinda, Daniel and another amazingly gorgeous boy 'Cam'.

Over all I enjoyed this book but I can't say it was the best of this type of book I've ever read.  It seems to start really well but pause in the middle where nothing happens for quite a while before goes out with a bang. This is quite a good holiday book if your looking for one and if your a Twilight fan this might be one for you, involving forbidden love and fallen angels. 

Have you read the Fallen books? what did you think let me know.

Thanks for reading

The Book Made For The Freezer

Hi All

How are we did you have a good weekend? unfortunately I've been working all weekend so no exciting day trips or drunken nights out for me. I thought I would do another book review for you guys if your looking for a none stop thriller to keep you entertained.

Like me you will be able to relate so much in your life to a friends episode. Do you remember the one where Joey and Rachel swop books and when Joey is scared he puts his book in the freezer, Well that how I feel with this book.

The author John Connolly is one of my favourite and I always can't wait for his books to come out. Most of his books are from the Charlie Parker series, a private investigator in the State of Main. 

Charlie Parker's wife and child where murdered when he was a New York city cop and the first book is him hunting down their murderer. The best thing about these books other then Charlie's best friends Louis & Angel, the gay hit men couple who are hilarious but the underlying tones of the fantasy. There is always a super natural element to the books that make them totally terrifying. 

I read this book whilst on holiday and actually totally freaked myself out but not in an awful way but in a anticipation, page turning, butterflies in the stomach kind of way. 

If you fancy getting into the Charlie Parker series even though its good to read them in order its not totally necessary. If you fancy a little bit of John Connolly without devoting yourself to the series try Bad Men. 

Bad Men is a stand alone book which is under the same lines of the Charlie Parker and is just as amazing.

If your into thrillers your going to be into this, I highly recommend them all. 

Have you read any of the John Connolly books, what do you think? 

A Nine Book Mission

Hola

How are we all?

I thought I would add to my little book review collection that I've got going on with this rather large series of books called The House of Night by P.C Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast.

Not My Picture, Kindles Don't Photograph Well

Its actually a ten book series so far following the journey of 16 year old Zoey Redbird who is newly marked by a Vampire Tracker and starts to undergo the change into a fully fledged vampire. To go through the change successfully fledgling vampires must be around adult vampires at one of the House of Night schools.

I love these books for several reasons, the first being that the books are set so the world knows vampires exist and goes through some of the family turmoil these fledglings go through once they are marked.
The second being its such an easy but addictive read, think twilight but less of the Bella I feel so sorry for myself and think kick as heroine but still with very attractive teenagers going through normal teenage dramas.

Yes OK it is a teenage read but technically Harry Potter is for kids and there my favourite books to read again and again.

Zoey mostly narrates the first few books but as you get further into the series character development stars to build with the twists and turns in the story.

There are plans for a film which I pray and hope they do well and not to cheaply as this could actually become a film series that could rival twilight. For those who do read all ten books like I have in oh I don't know a month! you will become gripped and I cant wait till the next ones out.

Thanks for reading and let me know what your reading at the moment.

Back To Classics

Hi All

Hope your all well, If you have read a few of my other book review posts you can see that the literally classics are not necessarily my type of book. However me and the boy where watching a cheesy film called Defiantly, Maybe which by the way is actually quite a good film. In the film one of the main characters is looking for a copy of Jane Eyre her father gave her before he died with an inscription in the front.

The inscription reads  

"The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed; The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, Whose charms were broken if revealed"

This is a quote from the book that I fell in love with but I have never read it. A few people I have spoke to studied this in school but we did of Mice and Men and felt like I was missing out on something. To make things even better it was free on my Kindle as its out of copy-write. 

Now before I even started this book I fell in love with the idea of what I thought it was going to be about. I had images of the moors and wild attractive men with side burns, young women swept up in love the amazing balls and the romantic hardships of the time. 

Not My Own Image As I have a Lovely But Unattractive Kindle

Ok I wasn't far off and yes its what I think of an astonishing love story with twist and turns with all the romance of the times.

The story for those who don't know is written about Jane Eyre by Jane Eyre, an orphan who is brought up by her cold and cruel aunt. She is punished unjustly and sent to live in a boarding school run my a preacher who is cruel, hypocritical and an abusive man. Jane spends most of her life in hard ship and doesn't know love until she goes to work as a governess for a wealthy man Mr Rochester. Now I don't want to go into mass of detail here but you can kind of guess some of the rest but it isn't as simple as that. 

I really enjoyed this book but it isn't a light read, it took me a good few weeks as the language used it quite intense and I did have to reread a few pages to take in the meaning.

I defiantly will be reading more of the literally classics but ill be giving my brain a rest for a few weeks and get some light reading. 

Thanks for reading

Chapter 3 Love...... From both sides.

Hi guys

I've recently re-found my love for reading and started devouring books at an astonishing rate so I think I'm going to start a book club on my page. Let me know if your interested and if I get enough interest I'll get it up  and running in a few weeks. Don't worry when I say book club I mean more of a forum where we can discuss books we're reading and recommend books to one another.

On my recent posts you may have seen that I've read all the 50 shades of grey books followed by the hunger games books. I think all six books took me about 4 weeks which means I obviously enjoyed them and was on the hunt for my next one.

After reading these types of books for a while, I mean thrillers and adventure not the erotic type. I decided a change of pace was necessary and go against my usual type of book and go for a romantic comedy. Now let me stress I am no way interested in most romantic comedies in the sense that I tend to hate anything that has soppy love story written all over it.

However this is what I ended up reading, Love......... From both sides by Nick Spalding.

Here's the back of the book to get a god overview of the story without me spoiling it.

Sometimes, the hardest part of finding love is keeping a straight face...

For Jamie Newman, being a single guy isn't proving to be much fun, especially when confronted with a sexually belligerent divorcee and a goddess so far out of his league she might as well be a different species. 

Mind you, being a girl in search of love isn't a bowl of cherries either. Just ask Laura McIntyre, who's recently contended with a horny estate agent on a quest for light relief and a rabid mountain bike enthusiast with a penchant for displaying his genitals. 

When Jamie and Laura bump into one another (quite literally) it looks like their luck may have changed - but sometimes finding the right person is only the start of your problems... 

Based on real-life tales of dating disaster and relationship blunders, Love... From Both Sides is a warts-and-all romantic comedy for everyone who knows how tricky (and occasionally ridiculous) the quest for love can be.

Now you know a book is funny when pictures this. I'm in the middle of chapter and the boy wants to go to sleep, ie lights out, but I am that kind of a person who will need to end the chapter as it feels wrong to leave it half way through. 

So not to disturb him and make a happy middle ground I took out my little book light and turned the other way so we are back to back. 

After a few minutes and I think he's a sleep he suddenly turns to look at me complaining the bed is shaking from me having silent fits of hysterics! and he can't sleep. To make matters worse since I'm already mid laughing fit the sight of his little face peering over me just cracks me up and I cant stop and then insist I read a chapter to him to explain why I'm in such a sate. As you can imagine he wasn't impressed and if I didn't stop I would be banished to the spare bed. I never did get to finish my chapter! 

The best thing about this book has got to be that it is literally written from both sides and has some ridiculously first date esc stories. It is definitely the kind of dry witty human that I love to have with my friends and I'm positive that you will find it as funny as I did. And the best thing about this book the lucky people including myself who own a kindle can own it for the very reasonable price of 99p.

To summaries this book, it has to be the funniest book ive ever read. It really is that cheesy line you hear from film reviews 'A laugh minute'

Thanks for reading I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

 

Chapter Two: The Hunger Games

Before we begin let me say that at this stage I haven't watched the film, strange I know as Ive read all the books but the day we went to watch it was the day that it finished in all cinemas near me. I have now got a long wait for it to come out on DVD and I'm actually excited about it and this is why.

I have defiantly been late with catching up to with these books but in a way I'm glad because if I had read them in sequence waiting for the next one the anticipation may have killed me

The story is in three parts,

The Hunger Games, Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she was forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to deather before-and survival, for her, its second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever....


The is a fast paced book that gets live and kicking within the first two chapters. I was under the impression this book was on the same page as the twilight saga but oh no its something completely new. It looks like to will be all action but there is a really good 'human' story behind all that. I'm not sure the best way to describe the type of book this is but teenage reading seems a good label to use. Don't get me wrong when I was looking for something to read this was exactly what I needed, easy reading but gripping and exciting all in one. You will be fighting side by side with Katniss as she tries to survive making the right choice of who she can and can not trust.

Catching Fire, Katniss survived the Hunger Games. Now the Capitol wants revenge. Its payback time, and her chance of survival is even slimmer than ever.... After winning the brutal Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta have returned to District 12, hoping for a peaceful future. But their victory has caused rebellion to break out - and the Capitol has decided that someone must pay. As Katniss and Peeta are forced to visit the other districts on the Capitol's Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. Unless they can convince the world that they are still lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying. Then comes the cruellest twist: the contestants for the next Hunger Games are announced, and Katniss and Peeta are forces into the arena once more.....

The second book really does start to give you the feeling that its loosely based on the fall of civilisation and the rebuild after a civil war. All of this hints at things that have already happened in real life or scenarios that could easily be true looking into the future. But back to the actual story, you will fall in love with the characters, willing them along as they embark on their journey trying to foul everyone. The action only gets started half way through but its intense and has twists and turns you will never see coming.

Mockingjay, Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made it out of the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not the people of District 12.


The final book and the conclusion to the story, I really don't think this has left any room for another book which I'm glad of really it doesn't leave you hanging. This book is different to the first two as it focuses on the  human story much more and really shows the struggle of trauma on the characters. The pace is much slower but will have you feeling ever emotion that the characters feel, Suzanne Collins is great at making you feel a part of the story.

I really give all of these books a ten out of ten as each one is different then the next and keeps you guessing. I think my favourite had to be Catching Fire but only just. All three would be a great holiday read the only problem for me is I could read them all in a week their that addictive!

Please let me know if you read this books I don't think you'll be disappointed!
Thanks for reading!

Liz xxx

Chapter One

Hi guys! You may have noticed I've been absent the last two weeks or so, the boy has been away with work and I had soooo much planned so much to blog about but it didnt happen so now braise your self for continues blogger for the next few days.

Anyone that follows me on twitter and please do if you can since my twitter has been suspended for no reason. You may know why I've been absent but if not here is the reason.

My life has literally been revolving round Mr Grey since a week last Sunday and oh my has it been exciting!! Yes that's right I became obsessed with 50 shades of grey and all thanks to my friend at work.

I'm not sure if I've already told you but I'm an avid reader and usually read si-fi fantasy type books and once I start something if it's good it takes over my life. I am the proud owner of a kindle and couldn't live without it! The boy always says I love it more then I love him and oh boy I'm sorry I do, it goes gizmo kindle boy.

Many of you might of already heard about these books (there are three) as at the moment everyone I talk to (even my mum) is talking about them.

So lets start with what type of books these are, i would personally say its an erotic love story. Yes i mean erotic! so if you blush easily then maybe you should find another type of book. Ive never read this type of book before as i usually think of periode books set in some distent land aimed at women of a certain age but trust me this is not like that at all.

The story is basically set in america were a university graduate falls for a multi millionaire who has erm specific tastes in the bedroom department lets say. One word of warning with this is that since everyone is reading it don't be surprised if your reading it in public to get a few funny looks.

The books are broken down into the three stages of thier relastionship and i would pleed that you read them in order otherwise you just wont get the story in full. The first book is definatly a scene setter and quickly moves into the racy bits. The second i think is my faviourte as theres a little more story in this then in the first, and the third should i really tell you, will it spoil it. Well lets just say theres a nice mix of excitement and thrills.

I dont want to go into to much detail about the story as i dont want to spoil it but im giving these books ten out of ten and a must read!

I hope this has been helpful and I think ill do a few more book review blogs if you like this one

Thanks for reading

Liz xxx