Hi there! I’m Kay: an opinionated book blogger enamoured with the world of novels. Reader of Speculative Fiction (the posh word for Sci-Fi/Fantasy) and Young Adult novels. Believer in the many uses of the towel, the science of deduction and other fandom in-jokes.

This blog has been closed since early 2016. To the publishers and writers: thanks for all the support over the years. To my readers and fellow bloggers: keep in touch!

 

 

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Recent Reviews

Magic Burns by Ilona AndrewsAurelia by Anne OsterlundUprooted by Naomi NovikShadow Study by Maria V. SnyderThis Shattered World by Amie Kaufman, Meagan SpoonerUnited We Spy by Ally CarterAll Fall Down by Ally CarterEve and Adam by Katherine Applegate, Michael GrantHex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

The 2010 Debut Author Challenge (YA)

by | Dec 25, 2009 | | 0 Comments

Kristi over at The Story Siren is hosting an amazing challenge next year – the YA Debut Author Challenge.  It is going to be super interactive: with lots of reviews, competitions and discussions.  I was reluctant to join a challenge that would require me buying even MORE books to add to my groaning shelves, but this one just looks to fun to resist!
The objective is to read at least 12 YA books from debut authors published next year.  You can sign up for the challenge here, but make sure to read through the guidelines before you do!
Here is my read list, according to release dates!
I have also created a Debut Author tag over on LibraryThing for the books that I am definitely getting/have already bought! Since I use LibraryThing to rate my books and keep track of my reading – it is there that you will find all my ratings for the Debut Author Challenge.

As I am still considering which books I will be getting for this challenge, I have also made a Debut Author Shelf over on Goodreads for a bunch of authors that I am still considering on buying.  (These are just the ones that look great to me – there is a much bigger list already on GoodReads!)

31/12/2010 – Nine out or twelve debut novels read in 2010.  Not too bad, but I didn’t meet the challenge – there’s always next year!

    Waiting on Wednesday – Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw

    by | Dec 23, 2009 | | 5 Comments

    “Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that are being eagerly anticipated.

    Anxious Hearts by Tucker Shaw
    Young Adult – May 1st 2010 by Amulet Books

    “Evangeline,” he repeated, calling at a whisper. “Evangeline.” He was not calling that she may hear, he was calling that somehow her soul might know that he was devoted entirely to her, only to her. “Evangeline, I will find you.”

    Eva and Gabe explore the golden forest of their seaside Maine town, unknowingly tracing the footsteps of two teens, Evangeline and Gabriel, who once lived in the idyllic wooded village of Acadia more than one hundred years ago. On the day that Evangeline and Gabriel were be wed, their village was attacked and the two were separated. And now in the present, Gabe has mysteriously disappeared from Eva.

    A dreamlike, loose retelling of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous love poem “Evangeline,” Anxious Hearts tells an epic tale of unrequited love and the hope that true love can be reunited.

    To be honest, I only want this for the cover! Isn’t it just gorgeous??

    Lord of the Rings Readalong

    by | Dec 22, 2009 | | 0 Comments

    lotr readalongThere are a lot of challenges starting up for 2010 – but this is the one I am most excited about!

    Starting January 1, 2010, we’ll be reading one book from the series (including The Hobbit) each month with a goal of finishing all four books in April. We’ll be taking turns hosting the readalong, so you can follow our intrepid fellowship of readers around the blogosphere. Here’s where you’ll find us each month:

    I have only read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring – and that was years ago.  I had a lot of trouble getting into the rest of the books – despite a fierce desire to!  The films are some of my all-time favourite (I consider them “comfort films” as they never fail to cheer me up!) but the books have always seemed rather inpenetrable.  Hopefully this challenge will help me get through them!

    Sign up over on Shelf Love to join in the action!

    Shelf Analysis: Ivy vs. Tantalize

    by | Dec 21, 2009 | | 0 Comments

    I have purchased two books over the past few weeks that have something in common.  It won’t take you too many guesses to work out what!

    Ivy by Julie Hearn
    Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

    Is it the exact same stock photo, or did they just use very, very similar models?  Who knows.  But it is worth noting that that is the UK cover for Ivy – the US one is totally different.  Why change the book cover to make it look identical to another?  Yet another publishing mystery never to be resolved!

    In My Mailbox (Dec. 20th, 2009)

    by | Dec 20, 2009 | | 8 Comments

    In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren ( inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie) and explores the content of your mailbox!  Or bookbox, as they should now be called.

    I went shopping over at the Borders closing down sale.  I felt guilty about it, as I LOVED the Borders on Charing Cross Road.  I wasted many hours at their Starbucks, flicking through books. Am really sad to see them go… I guess Waterstone’s and Blackwells are all that is left for me now.

    Young Adult Books:

    Tithe by Holly Black

    A gripping tale of a teenage girl finding out how different she is – and how she must use her ingenuity to survive, and save her friends. A teenage girl goes back to her childhood home – the place where she used to talk to faeries. Coming up to Hallowe’en, she meets her old friends – and Roibin, who tells her his true name. Discovering the truth about herself, she agrees to go along with a plan to disrupt the human sacrifice that binds her faery friends to unkind masters. But she is to be the human sacrifice, and not everyone has been telling her the truth…

    My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

    She doesn’t see dead people, but…
    She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.
    Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who’ll be next…

    Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

    Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever. Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses — or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?

    Urban Fantasy:

    Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow

    Not everyone can take on the things that go bump in the night.

    Not everyone tries.

    But Jill Kismet is not just anyone.

    She’s a Hunter, trained by the best – and in over her head.

    Welcome to the night shift…

    Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge

    The first book in a thrilling, addictive new series by a talented new voice in dark fantasy. Welcome to Nocturne City, where werewolves, black magicians, and witches prowl the streets at night…

    Among them is Luna Wilder, a tough-as-nails police officer whose job is to keep the peace. As an Insoli werewolf, Luna travels without a pack and must rely on instinct alone. And she’s just been assigned to find the ruthless killer behind a string of ritualistic murders—a killer with ties to an escaped demon found only in legend…until now.

    But when she investigates prime suspect Dmitri Sandovsky, she can’t resist his wolfish charms. Pack leader of a dangerous clan of Redbacks, Dimitri sends her animal instincts into overdrive and threatens her fiercely-guarded independence. But Luna and Dimiri will need to rely on each other as they’re plunged into an ancient demon underworld and pitted against an expert black magician with the power to enslave them for eternity…