Friday 24 December 2010

Merry Christmas

Image courtsey of vintageholidaycrafts.com

Merry Christmas to all my readers. I'll be back after Christmas with a blogoversary giveaway and some more fun stuff. See you soon x

Sunday 19 December 2010

Driftwood by Cathy Cassidy

Driftwood Hannah and Joey have been best friends forever - just the two of them. But when Joey's new foster brother, Paul, turns up, everything changes. First Joey falls for Hannah's brother, Kit. Then Paul complicates things - with some kittens, a chocolate bar and a stripy pink bicycle.
Hannah's world is turning upside down. Can you rescue a friendship when it's drowning? Can you save a friend in trouble - if they don't want to be saved?
My thoughts: Joey and Hannah are best friends at the start of the book, but when Joey starts going out with Hannah's brother, the two girls start to drift apart. In the meantime, Joey's foster brother Paul is struggling to fit in at school. He gets bullied because he's different and because he won't join in with football or swimming or anything like that.
The bullying part of this book really broke my heart. It was horrible reading about how Paul was treated when all he'd done was be himself. I'm glad that there was a friendship between him and Hannah.

This book tackles the difficult subject of bullying, and although it is quite light-hearted in places it was very sad in others, I was almost in tears at one stage.
I also think it was interesting that it was a boy who was being bullied because you sometimes forget that boys get bullied too.

Sunday 12 December 2010

In My Mailbox 26

I've been a bit absent this week, it's been my last full week at work and there's been all sorts of Christmas events and stuff to organise. But I'm back now, and as of December 16th I'll be blogging full time again.

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) My mailbox post looks a little sad this week, just one book arrived, and because I'm feeling lazy I've just used a cover pic rather than taken a photo of just one book lol.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. After reading and loving The Hobbit I decided to give the Lord of the Rings trilogy a try, so I got this book off bookmooch. I hope I can get into it, the movie of it sent me to sleep!

Well, that's all I got, what did you get?

In My Mailbox is hosted by thestorysiren.com

Sunday 5 December 2010

In My Mailbox 25

Hello everyone, hope you're all well :) What a week it's been here in England, we've had snow all week, which is nice to look at, but really cold and wet when you have to go to work in it. It's just about all gone now though.
I went to a Victorian Christmas Fayre on Friday, it was really lovely and there were some great looking stalls there, and the food smelled delicious. I would have taken some photos, but it was so cold that my camera didn't want to work properly!

Anyway, on to books... I received one book for review this week. 85A by Kyle Thomas Smith, I'm really looking forward to reading this.


The folder next to it is the press kit that came with the book.

It's a subzero Chicago morning on January 23, 1989, and Seamus is at his fighting best. Braving the bitter cold at the 85A bus stop, Seamus rails against his repressive environment in anticipation of his ''the-minute-I-turn-18'' move to London. Liberated by failure when kicked out of school for yet another late appearance, Seamus makes a break for London via an Amtrak to the mean streets of Late Eighties Manhattan. 85A tracks a watershed day in the life of an adolescent antihero. Foulmouthed with a capital F-word, Seamus embodies Johnny Rotten as a way of fending off the bullies at home, at school and in his whites-only neighborhood. Luckily, his mixed-raced friend Tressa opens him up to experiences that turn his worldview on its head. Through it all, Seamus basks in BBC dramas, dreaming of what life would be if only he could stow away to London. By the time Seamus reaches his last L stop, he will come to see that his 85A ride that morning was just the kickoff to an intrepid urban odyssey.
Goodreads
Author's Website

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Monthly Round-up November 2010

Another month is over, and winter is officially here. We've even had snow this month, not enough to cause any major disruption, but enough to make you feel like emigrating to Australia! lol

November News
The Greetings Card Exchange was open for sign ups all month, and not many people signed up, so I've decided it's best to just cancel it. Only three people signed up, and two of them wouldn't send cards out of their own country, so basically there was no-one to exchange with :(
I did an interview with Rachel Vincent, author of the Shifters and Soul Screamers series.

Books finished in November
My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
Beaver Towers by Nigel Hinton
Alpha by Rachel Vincent

My favourite book this month was My Soul To Take.

Books reviewed in November
A Catch of Consequence by Diana Norman
Whisper of a Witch by Suza Kates
Alpha by Rachel Vincent
Beaver Towers by Nigel Hinton
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon

Books received in November: 9
Added to wishlist: 12

What's coming in December?
At the moment it looks like after Christmas I'll be out of a job again, which sucks, but does mean I'll have more time to spend on my blog. And with both Christmas and my blogoversary in December there's plenty to celebrate so I'll be having a couple of giveaways. Also I might share some christmassy photos with you as there's some exciting christmas events going on locally.
I might also have a couple of author interviews to share. And as always there'll be book reviews :)