First Class Post - because this post is first class!
Books Purchased:
Physical copies:
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu (21st September 2017)
I've wanted to read this one for so long! And it was SO good! Bringing feminism to school! I loved it, see my review linked below.
Don't Bet on the Prince by Jack Zipes (15th November 1986)
So this book is older than I am, huh. I've wanted to read this book of feminist fairy tales since reading about it in Deidre Sullivan's piece on fairy tales for the Irish Times (linked below). It sounds really good, and I'm so looking forward to reading it!
Books Received for Review:
Books with an * are reading copies I received as a book seller.Proofs:
Landscape with Invisible Hand by M. T. Anderson* (1st February 2018)
This book sounds so interesting! Aliens come to Earth, but not to invade, but to share with us their technology and cures for all illnesses. This can only be a good thing, right? Wrong, when technology replaces employees, and people struggle to buy food, water and the medicine. The book follows Adam and his girlfriend Chloe as they try to survive in this world.
This story is about three girls who try to fight for justice for a girl who was gang raped, and start The Nowhere Girls, where girls fight sexism and support and help each other. It is so incredible. Blew me away. You can find a link to my review below.
Finished Copies:
Notes on My Family by Emily Critchley (15th November 2017)
This is published by a small, indie publisher. I don't really know how to summarise this one quickly. Check the Goodreads link. The main character is on the Autism Spectrum, and there's an extract on the author's website that was really intriguing. Looking forward to giving it a go!
All the Ways the World Can End by Abby Sher (27th July 2017)
I was sent a copy of this to read for Mental Illness in YA Month, a blog event I'm holding next year. About a girl, Lenny, who researches every night about things that could cause an apocolypse for a sense of control, while her Dad is dying of cancer. This is an #OwnVoices novel that features OCD.
The Hippos at the End of the Hall by Helen Cooper (2nd November 2017)
This sounds like such a cute book - magic and mystery and intrigue - and it's so beautifully illustrated! Looking forward to reading it!
eARCs:
Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher (16th November 2017)
This sounds really good! An adult contemporary (maybe romance?) about a woman who's boyfriend ends it with her after ten years together, and how she decides to figure out who she is without him, and try different things along the way.
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart (7th September 2017)
I don't know too much about this book, as the description does't give anything away. But it's about a girl who constantly reinvents herself, pretending to be people she's now. It's by E. Lockhart, so it's bound to be brilliant!
The Toy Makers by Robert Dinsdale (8th February 2018)
This sounds so interesting! It's historical fantasy set during First World War, about a toy shop and it's life-like toys, and the family that runs it who take a homeless girl in. It sounds so good!
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (25th January 2018)
This is the sequel to The Bear and the Nightingale. I'm still yet to read it, but it does sound awesome, so I'm glad to now have the sequel to read, too!
Everless by Sara Holland (4th January 2018 - 2018 YA Debut)
A high fantasy novel where time is a commodity in people's blood, and you can sell the days of your life: the rich live long, the poor live short lives. It centers around a girl who becomes a handmaiden at Everless Estate, and finds herself caught up in a rivalry over the secret to immortal life. Sounds SO intriguing!
Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed (16th Jauary 2018 - 2018 YA UK Debut)
An #OwnVoices novel that deals with Islamophobia; how the only Muslim teen in town is treated after a terrorist attack happens in America, the suicide bomber sharing her surname. It sounds incredible, and I'm so excited it's being published over here in the UK!
Thank you to Walker, Everything With Words, Hot Key Books, Atom, David Fickling Books and Micheal Joseph, Ebury, Hot Key Books via NetGalley for the review copies.
Check out mail memes: The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves on Tynga's Reviews.
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On the blog:
Reviews:
- A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars by Yaba Badoe - The story was kind of disappointing - I expected more - but it also uses harmful, offensive language for little people, so I can't recommend it.
- Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu - I really loved this one! Such a wonderful feminist novel that will impassion and inspire people. Incredible!
- Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan - This collection of dark, feminist is absolutely wonderful. The darkness comes from the reality of how women were treated when these stories were originally told, which Sullivan includes, creating slightly different tales than we would expect. With their prose, they are as gorgeous as they are disturbing, and I absolutely loved it!
- The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke - This book was such a disappointment. I loved the history, but the story itself was such a let down. I know nothing about the characters, I didn't understand the magic system, and nothing much happens for such a long time. Just didn't work for me.
- Follow Me Back by Nicci Cloke - This book was SO good! So much mystery, and tension, because no-one knows what's happened to Lizzie - it's not like other mysteries where a murder is committed at the beginning of the book. Lizzie is missing and anything could be happening. It's really messed up with characters who make the worst decisions, but it's gripping, and kept me guessing right until the end! Loved it!
- My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick - I was pretty disappointed with this book. It had potential, but it just didn't really work for me. I didn't feel the chemistry once Lizzie and Jase got together, and I didn't like the decisions she made towards the end, among other things
- The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed - Oh my god, this book is incredible. The most important, most powerful book I've read this year. I just want to give this book to everyone.
- The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter - I was kind of disappointed by this. The problem, mainly, is that it's a literary book, and I'm not great with them. It was interesting, but not as amazing as people led me to believe.
- Diverse Books are Realistic Because Marginsalised People Exist - After an author tweeted that she didn't want diverse books, she wanted realistic books, my anger led me to write this post.
Other News:
This happened:
Your reviews are so beautiful and thoughtful, Jo— Lydia Ruffles (@lydiaruffles) October 8, 2017
Lydia Ruffles is the author of The Taste of Blue Light, which I reviewed last. Here, she is commenting on my review of Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan. It amazes me that an author took the time to read a review I wrote about a book which is not her own, to like that review, and then tweet me to say the above. It's bizarre. I don't generally think about authors reading my reviews - unless I tweet positive reviews of books to their authors - so it's weird and awesome to think they do, and actually like what I write. I'm a little bit thrilled.
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What I've Been Reading Online:
Cover Reveals:
- Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert (+ Q&A) on Novl.
- Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert on Happy Ever After - USA Today.
- These Rebel Waves by Sara Raash (+ Raasch on her book) on Bustle.
- The Girl and the Grove by Eric Smith (+ US Giveaway) on YA Books Central.
- Always Forever Maybe by Anica Mrose Rissi (+ Rissi on her book) on Barnes & Noble.
- Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (+ Jackson on her book) on Barnes & Noble.
- Contagion by Erin Bowman on Happy Ever After - USA Today.
- The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross (+ the process of how they got to that cover) on Hodderscape.
- A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman on We Need Diverse Books.
- The Official List of Harper's Summer 2018 YA Cover Reveals on Epic Reads.
- These 9 Dystopian Novels About Women's Rights Might Just Be the Next 'Handmaid's Tale' on Bustle.
- Graphic Novel 'This One Summer' Tops 2016 Most Challenged Book List on NBC News.
- 10 of the Best Young Adult Novels About Outcasts on BookRiot.
- LGBTQ YA by the Numbers: 2015 - 2016 on Malinda Lo's Blog.
- Books By Muslims to Support Instead of Reading American Heart on BookRiot.
- 2018 Books by Authors of Color/Native Authors on The Book Voyagers.
- Nnedi Okorafor and the Fantasy Genre She is Helping Redefine on the New York Times.
- Fairy-Tales' Success: What Draws Us to Old Stories? by Deirdre Sullivan on the Irish Times.
- 17 New Authors of Color Writing Much-Needed Stories for Kids on Read Brightly.
- 12 Women of Color and Native Authors Open Up About Why They Write About Mental Illness on Bustle.
- Survivors: Alex Flynn on Thriving as a Long-Time, Actively Publishing YA Author on Cynsations (Cynthia Leitich Smith's Blog)
- Cait of Paper Fury's Debut Novel will be published in 2018!
- Inclusive Children's Publisher Knights Of Launches on The Bookseller - also, follow them on Twitter, and check out Books Made Better.
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