Book Review - Shiver

Synopsis
Grace is fascinated by the wolves in the woods behind her house; one yellow-eyed wolf in particular. Every winter, she watches him but every summer, he disappears. Sam leads two lives. In winter he stays in the frozen woods, with the protection of the pack.n summer, he has a few precious months to be human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. When Grace and Sam finally meet they realize they can't bear to be apart. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human - or risk losing himself, and Grace, for ever 






My Review
I had heard a lot of good reviews about this book and seen it on the shelves at work and so had to pick it up. This was a few months ago now, but as part of 'First Come Second Served' Month, i wanted to read Linger, and so felt a re-read of Shiver would be a good idea.

This is the ultimate Love story, Grace loves to watch the wolves, one wolf in particular stands out, she spends her days watching for the wolves.

Sam is that wolf and spends his days watching Grace from the edge of the woods at the back of her house. They are separated in a way they cannot control, and both wonder if they would ever be able to be together.

When Grace meets Sam, a nice young boy with striking yellow eyes that look really familar, she falls in love. The pair fall into a whirlwind romance, counting down the days until they will be cruelly pulled apart, but as winter draws in, Sam tries to stay himself, and stay with Grace, his true love.

I loved this book, it is well written and fast paced, i like how it switches between Grace and Sam's point of view. I really get a feel for the characters and find myself hoping with them, wishing they will find a way to make it work.

i found Grace a little hard to get along with at first, she is so obsessed by the wolves, but rarely shows emotion about anything else, whereas her friend Rachel is totally hyper, but the more you learn about her, the more i understood why she would be that way.

This book has a host of great characters, i love Olivia and her free spirit, Jack is the guy you love to hate, and all the wolves personalities are great. I loved the idea of weather controlling a wolves shift and not the moon or any of the traditional legends, it was totally believable and rather enticing.

The plot is exciting and i never got bored, even reading it for the second time, i still felt interested and drawn in.

A great book to read, and i would highly recommend it, once i had finished, i could not wait to grab Linger, in fact it took me about two minutes to have it in my hands. 

My Rating
i would give this book 9.5/10 a must read!

FCSS - Linger Playlist

Run - Leona Lewis
listen to it here
(I love the woods in this video too, reminds me of the woods where Sam and the wolves live, and i think the lyrics fit perfectly)

I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry

My Heart Beats for Love - Miley Cyrus

listen here

I've been stranded on a lonely street
Got lost in the shadows
Fell hard in the battle
Heard the cries and the suffering
I walked through the darkness
Left broken and heartless

I'm calling out, can you hear my voice?
I'm gonna find you through all the noise
Ooh whoa
You know there's nothing that I wouldn't do
So shine your light as I reach for you

My heart beats for love
My heart beats for love
It's the sound that I hear, tells me not to give up
It breathes in my chest and
It runs through my blood
My heart beats for love
My heart beats for love

And I've been told at least a thousand times
It's not worth the struggle, the hurt or the trouble
I keep running up to these front lines
No I won't surrender
I'll wait here forever

Fix You - Coldplay
hear it here

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace

Hope you like my song choice, any other suggestions? What do you think?

Book Blogger Hop: December 17th-20th

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books and is an awesome way to for book bloggers to interact and find each other. Such a wonderful idea! There's a new question every week that all the participating blogs have to answer. 

This week's question comes from Alex who blogs at Geek on the Brink:

 

 "What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?"

  

My answer: Of course a book has to have a good plot to entice you to read it and keep your attention, but then you have to have good characters to hold that. You have to have realistic characters that the reader can connect with otherwise even the bet plot will flop. The plot sets the stage and scene but the characters are the actors that bring it to life. 

 

The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don't have time to Hop today, go back later and join the fun!  This is a weekly event!  And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added

If you've stopped by my blog from the hop, welcome, it's great to have you here, please feel free to look around, and follow. I will then visit you in turn. :D   

 

FCSS - Giveaway!!! Fragile Eternity WINNER Selected!!!

I held a Giveaway to celebrate 'First Come Second Served' Month and reaching 50 followers.
I was offering a brand new paper back version of 'Fragile Eternity' by Melissa Marr and 'Skulduggery Pleasant: Faceless Ones' by Derek Landy.

I was so excited by the amount of entries and visits to my blog. Thanks to all the entrants!
Now for the bit you have been waiting for - the WINNER:

I used a random number generator to pick the winning number, and it picked Number 5!:

So congratulations to Heather who blogs over at 'Prue's Book Blog'

The winner has been e-mailed and has until midnight Sunday 19th December to respond, if not another number will be selected.

Thanks again to everyone that entered. :D

FCSS - Teaser Tuesday Linger

TEAser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, just do as following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include any spoilers so as not to ruin the book for others!

Make sure to share the title and the author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR piles!

My Teasers:

 

"This was not real life. This was life watched through a window. Life watched on television. I couldn't remember When I hadn't hidden from this."

Page 63

"I didn't mention it to her again. Because she was right: the only person who could talk me into it or out of it was me."

Page 264

What's your teasers?

FCSS - Linger Fantasy Cast

My Linger by Maggie Stiefvater Fantasy Cast.
I actually found this one quite hard and am not entirely happy with my choices.

 Grace - Emma Watson
 I think she would be amazing in this role.

Sam - Steven R McQueen

 I struggled to find a Sam, and this is the closest i could get.

Rachel - Alexis Bledel

Olivia - Dakota Fanning
She is one of my favourite actresses and i think she would play the part well.

 
Isobel - Hayden Panettiere

Beck - Johnny Depp
 Think he would be a good Beck, if not maybe Ulrick?

Cole - Alex Pettyfer
I would upload a picture, but my computer seems to have given up by this point.


That's my Linger Cast, what do you think?
Any suggestions

Book Review - The Puppy That Came For Christmas

Synopsis
When Megan and Ian got married, they wanted to start a family. But their desire to be parents ended up bringing one furry bundle of fun after another into their lives. At the same time as embarking on difficult and traumatic fertility treatment, Megan and Ian became involved with a charity which provides helper dogs to people with disabilities. And into their home one day came Emma, a soft, sweet-natured puppy with whom they fell instantly in love. However, after six months Emma had completed her training and was given to someone in need. To get over their broken hearts, Megan and Ian took in another pup: Freddy. And fell in love all over again . . . only for Freddy to move on too. Megan and Ian didn’t know if they could keep taking in these adorable puppies and giving them away later. It was getting too hard, too painful. But then, one Christmas, little Traffy came along . . . 



My Review
The author of this book is apparently quite local, and so we requested her book at work to see what i thought and if it would be good for her to come into the library to do a talk to our reading groups. As i love animals and read quickly, i was given this tasks. The book is not very long and only took me a couple of hours to read.
I found the book interesting, it tells you more about how dogs are trained for disabled people, and the process they go through to become a helper dog. It also gave an insight into the amount of work the 'puppy parents' have to do and all the paperwork they get stuck with. Training these puppies, even for the short six months their 'parents' have them seems to become like a full time job. The bond formed between the 'parents' and puppies is also lovely and heartbreaking as they have to part at the end of six months so the dogs can go into further training. 
This book documents a year in the life of the author, her journey with two dogs and her struggle to get pregnant and start a family. There are some definite 'aww' moments and some funny ones to.
This book would be good to dip in and out of, and nice for a lazy day in. As I had to read it and had a deadline, i sat and read it basically in one session and at some points got a bit fed up with it, but through perseverance and determination i plugged on and was surprised by how much i enjoyed it overall.
It is written more in a story format, and so in some places I had to remind myself it was actually a true story and not something made up, but in some ways this is good, as it meant it flowed well.
I don't really read much non-fiction, but this was enjoyable and I would read others like it.

My Rating
I would give this book 8/10. A nice easy read, with some gorgeous puppy pictures included. 

FCSS - Week 2 Introduction

This is week two in the month of 'First Come Second Served' a month celebrating sequels.
My next read is 'Linger' by Maggie Stiefvater

In SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in LINGER, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ... and figuring out a way to survive the future. But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

I absolutely loved book one 'Shiver' and cannot wait to read this one, it's going to be a great week :D

What are you reading at the moment?

Twas The Night Before Christmas Re-write

I run a Book Group for Children at the Library and we meet once a month.
Last week i had a Christmas special session and we looked at the Poem 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.'
We read it through, discussed some of the words they didn't know and talked about the poems origins, as it was first written in 1822 there were some bits they didn't understand or didn't like.
I set them the task of re-writing it in modern English. I told them they could keep it similar, or change it into a rap or song or do whatever they wanted with it. I got some really good results.
They took their poems home with them so i can't put them up here, however i joined in with the activity and wrote my own version.
I am quite pleased with my result and thought i would share it with all of you. Considering I had to keep stopping to help the Children and keep them quiet etc, I only really had a total of ten minutes to write it, but i'm still proud. Let me know what you think

"On the night before Christmas, all round the house,
all was quiet, no screams or shouts.
The presents were laid under the tree,
with mince pies and milk for Santa to see.
The kids were asleep dreaming of fun
Parents were snoring till the morning sun.
I heard a loud bang and hoof beats on the roof
My dog started barking with a loud WOOF!
I opened my window and looked out on the world
I saw a big sleigh with runners that curled.
The garden was covered with a light snow,
I noticed a man who could be a foe.
His reindeer was pawing the ground
He turned to them and called, his voice a booming sound.
"Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Prancer and Vixen,
On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen."
With his twinkling eyes and big beaming smile
I knew a visit form him would be worthwhile.
With his sack full of toys and a giant bound,
He came down my chimney, hardly making a sound.
I ran down the stairs to see what he would do
And all at once I knew just who,
Saint Nick or Santa was in my front room
His clothes were bright red under the soot from the flume.
He had big black boots and a fluffy beard so white
He finished the milk and mince pies in one bite.
He left lots of presents and fled with a zoom
Back up the chimney, straight out of the room
Up to the roof and the cold winters bite
Back to his reindeer's as they jumped into the night
And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Hope you enjoyed that, here is the original for any who don't know it:

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"


Merry Christmas Everyone :D

FCSS - Week 1 Wrap Up.

This week I have been reading 'Fragile Eternity' by Melissa Marr

Sunday -Introduction
Monday - Fantasy Cast
Tuesday - Sequel Special Teaser Tuesday
Wednesday - Sequel Special Waiting on Wednesday
                   - Fragile Eternity Giveaway
Thursday - Sequels I Love
Friday - Playlist
Saturday - Review


Please check out my posts, and enter my Giveaway.

Next Week I will be looking at 'Linger' by Maggie Stiefvater.