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!
Recent Reviews
"The Month I Finally Read John Green" – February/March Wind-up
In this month’s (double) wind-up: Jackson Pearce (surprisingly) doesn’t trigger my wolf!hater alarm, Ally Carter continues to be up to no good (but still in a really good way), and John Green ruins my life. Meanwhile, BEA beckons…
The Reads
Because of a super-intense exam season, my February TBR pile turned into my March TBR. Alas. Thank goodness everything I read was amazing, else I don’t think I would have made it through a single book! First off, there was Quantum Drop by Saci Lloyd (review). I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. It was high-tech sci-fi that seemed very “of the moment”. Up next was Sweetly by Jackson Pearce, which I was stunned by. I had no desire to read her book Sisters Red because I have serious issues with negative portrayals of wolves in literature/movies/life. It’s a serious issue for me – I even did my Masters dissertation on it! But Sweetly, despite having a few “wolf” mentions, didn’t hit any of my triggers. As a result: I could enjoy it as the great book it was! Then, breaking my habit of storing series I love for years upon years, I read two books in a row from Ally Carter’s Heist Society series (review of first book here): Uncommon Criminals and Perfect Scoundrels. I’ll be reviewing them both tomorrow, but “brilliant” will suffice for now.
Stitch finishes “The Fault in our Stars”
March will also go down in history as “The Month I Finally Read John Green”. I was utterly hooked by The Fault in Our Stars, even though I knew he was manipulating the hell out of me emotionally. I felt like a total masochist while reading this book, and oh-my-GOD I would totally do it again.
On the Blog and around the blogosphere
I’ve had a bit of a flurry of author interviews lately: Ally Carter, Saci Lloyd and Julianna Scott all stopped by the blog. My first Shelf Analysis of the year went up last month, covering typography on this year’s YA covers. Typography is kinda my new obsession and suddenly I am seeing it everywhere. If you’re a still in a rut about Google Reader’s demise, check out my post about where I’ll be headed next. Feedly seems to be the new “it place”, though it will continue to be tied to your Google Reader until July 1st. March also saw Amazon buying up GoodReads and I… am feeling iffy about it. I was ready to recommend Librarything as an alternative but, while putting this post together, have discovered that Amazon own 40% of them as well! I don’t hate Amazon at all, but I don’t like the monopoly they have on the online book business. Remember 2011 when Goodreads and BookDepository were the free peoples of the internet?! Sigh. Check out Shelf Awareness’ great post for more on the subject.
BEA Beckons!
That’s right folks: I’m going to Book Expo America! I’ve wanted to go forever, but could never justify the flight to all the way to the US. But my mother and I have wanted to go back to NYC for years (we went when I was a wee child) and when she suggested we do it this year I may have adjusted our flights to coincide with BEA. Mwaha! I know she’ll have a blast as well, but I for one cannot contain my excitement!!!
Interview with Ally Carter!
I am super excited to introduce the lovely Ally Carter, author of the Heist Society and Gallagher Girls series. The third novel in the Heist Society series (Perfect Scoundrels) just came out in the UK this month. If you haven’t read her books yet, what have you been waiting for?!
The lovely Ally Carter
Hi Ally! First off, I let me just say that I love your Heist Society series and Katarina (and not just because she shares my name!).
Yay! I dearly love writing about Kat, so it’s a joy to hear that she has fans.
Talk me through your writing a Heist novel: do you start thinking about a particular character or about the final heist?
Each book is a little different. I’m always trying to think about what I did last time and where I can go next. How do I push the characters? Where should their journeys take them? And perhaps most importantly, how can I write a very different book that gives the reader a very similar experience? That is one of the hardest things with series—making people feel like they are reading something totally fresh and new but still letting them feel like they’ve come back to a world and writing style that is familiar.
For Perfect Scoundrels, the story started with Hale. I’ve always known that Kat and her crew had it easy because of Hale and his vast resources. So I wanted to know what would happen if those resources went away. What would that do to the crew and how they operated? And, most importantly, what would it do to Hale and how would Kat cope with those changes?
I love how your novels have female characters taking on roles that are typically male. Did you set out to counteract the stereotype?
Probably not intentionally. I just don’t know any other way. I’m a woman. Most of my readers are girls and women. I certainly don’t think there is anything about my books that men and boys wouldn’t enjoy if they’d give them a chance, but I know how the world works. From this point forward in my career I will be known as a “girly” author, and so I will probably always write about girls. As to why I give the girls the fun jobs? Well…why wouldn’t I? It wasn’t a feminist statement. It was just the way I think it should be. Your main character should be the hero or heroine of his or her own journey, and that’s what I intend to write for the remainder of my career.
Will there be more books in the Heist series after Perfect Scoundrels?
I certainly didn’t set out to end the Heist series with Perfect Scoundrels, so if you see any reports of it being the third and final book in the trilogy, don’t believe them. That was never my intent. I’ve always seen the Heist series as being quite episodic. Maybe there will be three books. Maybe there will be thirty. I can say that I don’t have any more under contract at this time, but that certainly doesn’t mean the series is over. It just means I haven’t written a fourth one…yet. Will I? Only time will tell, but I’d really like to do that eventually.
I am hesitantly excited about the Heist Society movie (especially knowing that Drew Barrymore has signed on – amazing). Do you have any more news on the film front?
No. I’m afraid there’s nothing to talk about right now. Maybe there never will be anything to talk about. Or maybe a huge story will break tomorrow. That’s the way Hollywood works, I’m afraid.
You write books filled with espionage and white collar crime… you must get your inspiration somewhere! What are your favourite heist and spy books/movies/shows?
I’ve long been a fan of heist and con movies, going all the way back to watching The Sting with my father when I was a girl. I grew up on To Catch A Thief and How to Steal a Million. More recently, I’ve loved all the Ocean’s movies, The Thomas Crown Affair and The Italian Job. And what’s not to love about Leverage and White Collar? And there was a UK show called Hustle that I really enjoyed on DVD even though it never aired in the States (to my knowledge).
Thank you for answering my questions, Ally. 🙂
All about the author
Ally Carter writes books about spies, thieves, and teenagers. She is the New York Times Best-selling author of Heist Society, Uncommon Criminals, and the popular Gallagher Girls series, including I’d Tell You I Love You but Then I’d Have to Kill You, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover, and Only the Good Spy Young. She lives in the Midwest where her life is either very ordinary or the best deep-cover legend ever. She’d tell you more, but…well…you know…
Shelf Analysis: Typography in 2013 Teen Reads
It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Shelf Analysis – mostly because no YA cover trends have really stuck out for me. But while perusing my 2013 shelf on goodreads, I noticed something somewhat usual… typography!
To those of you who are a bit confused by the term, typography is basically the art of aranging types to make things look gorgeous. To put that in book cover terms: covers where the focus is on the print of the title or the author’s name, rather than an image.
Take a look at these upcoming YA books (this is a bit of a Waiting on Wednesday post, as well!) and you’ll see what I mean!
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Out on September 10th 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books – goodreads
The post-Google Reader era: here’s where I’m headed
So, unless you’ve been hiding under a blogger-rock, you’ve probably heard that Google Reader will be shutting its doors on July 1st, 2013. Needless to say, everyone is rather pissed.
But, the show must go on. And, to be honest, this shutdown doesn’t have me in a meltdown. There are a lot of Reader alternatives out there, if you know where to look! Here are a few suggestions for those of you still trying to decide:
My Feedly subscriptions, “magazine” style
Kick it old school: RSS feed readers
Back in the day (read: 2009), I used to use a great RSS manager called FeedDemon (read about its demise here). It was brilliant – like a bloggy newspaper. Then, Google Reader went out and bought them and, though they “kept” the original software, I ended up stuck in Google Reader somehow.
But now there are a bunch of new alternatives out there now: like Feedly and The Old Reader.
Personally, I am liking the look of Feedly. I was already using it on my iphone, and have since discovered that its Google Chrome and Firefox versions are just as super shiny. It is a super sleek, customizable way to read your feeds, and gives you lots and lots of reading-style options. Do you like your blogs magazine style? Image heavy? Text only? Feedly gives you those options. If you are interested in migrating over to Feedly, click here for a few tips!
The Old Reader is also pretty nifty. You do have to do a bit more clicking in order to get your google reader feeds imported into it, but it isn’t all that hard. You just need to export/import your RSS subscriptions, although there is quite a queue at the moment as we all start rushing about trying to find something new to use. Still give it a shot! I’ve been playing around with it and really love how “in control” of my feeds I am.
Bloglovin’ page for Dead Book Darling.
Go new school: Bloglovin’, pulse, Flipboard
But who knows – maybe it will grow on me.
* I feel like I may be wrong about that… correct me if I am?
We’re all still here!
Don’t hate me, but I’m actually kinda looking forward to the end of Google Reader. I am hoping it will help wean people off of GFC and Reader, and on to niftier platforms. I, for one, will be using Feedly and The Old Reader (I am still playing the field a bit). Whichever you choose, never fear – all your favourite bloggers are still here!
Review: The Holders by Julianna Scott
The Holders by Julianna ScottSeries: The Holders #1
Published by Strange Chemistry
Pages: 276
Genres: Fantasy YA, Young Adult
Source: Received for review from author
Add to Goodreads
Rating:
17-year-old Becca has spent her whole life protecting her brother - from their father leaving and from the people who say the voices in his head are unnatural. When two strangers appear with apparent answers to Ryland's "problem" and details about a school in Ireland where Ryland will not only fit in, but prosper, Becca is up in arms. She reluctantly agrees to join Ryland on his journey and what they find at St. Brigid's is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together information about their family's heritage and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they've been waiting for. But they are all, especially Becca, in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.
Thoughts: I have some mixed feelings about The Holders. There were some things I really enjoyed, but there was a lot that made me feel… iffy.
Let’s start off with the good, though. The Holders has a Harry Potter-esque vibe to it that I could totally get behind. Talented, magical kids whisked off to the British Isles? Say no more. Perhaps that’s a wee bit too referential for some, but I didn’t mind. I also really liked the fact that the book centred around a brother-sister relationship (I’m a Supernatural fan – siblings give me feelings).
That said, The Holders felt very much like a debut novel: there was a lot of tell with absolutely no show. The book was a series of conversations and half of the drama came from people not having the right conversation at the right time. Um, hello? That’s not drama, that’s stupidity. And add to that, you’re expecting me to believe that this girl will hop on a plane to Ireland with her brother and then wait weeks upon weeks to get all the info needed to make her final decision? Hell, even Harry Potter made sure to get all the juicy details out of Hagrid before he hopped on the Hogwarts Express. And he was eleven.
It was all just a bit too easy; it was all just a bit too simple. Maybe this book would have been better in the hands of a 12/13-year-old… someone who hasn’t already read this particular story. Especially if that kid is a girl – because, despite the somewhat rocky beginning, Scott managed to take a rather icky, non-feminist Universe and spin it on its head. Without giving away any plot twists, I do have to give a shout-out to Scott for the old-fashion “girl power” she snuck into this book.
Bottom line? Not bad but not great – don’t go in expecting anything too original.