Book Review - The Whispering Road

Title: The Whispering Road
Author: Livi Michael 
Publisher: Puffin 
Release Date: 6 Jan 2005
ISBN-13: 978-0141317038

Synopsis
A moving and powerful story about brother and sister, Joe and Annie, who flee from a pitiful existence as servants. They embark on a tough and perilous journey to Manchester in search of their mother who was forced to leave them at the workhouse when they were very young. Their future is tainted by the horrors of their past and as Annie is increasingly troubled by spirits, Joe is forced to make a tough decision. Driven by the lust for freedom, he sells Annie to a fair owner who plans to use her as a medium, and sets about creating a new identity for himself on the streets of Manchester. But the voices of the past won't leave Joe alone and ultimately he finds himself gravitating back to Annie and their original quest to discover the whereabouts of their mother.  


My Review
I don't know what made me pick up this book, it has quite a nice cover, one that makes you look closer and the storyline sounded quite good. I actually picked this from the booksale at work about 18 months ago. I had seen it on the shelves before that but never taken it home so I decided to grab it now it was being gotten rid of. I looked at this a couple of times since, wondering if I should just put it back for the next sale but something made me hold onto it.
Earlier this week I wanted a quick easy read and spotted this in my locker. I decided enough was enough and I should just read it.
Set in 19th Century England, Joe and Annie have been sent to work on a farm. When they left the workhouse they thought they were lucky, but this is much worse - worked to the bone and violently beaten they know they need to escape. The pair make a run for it and decide to head towards Manchester, to see if they can find their mum, she always promised to come back and now is the time to reunite.
Along the way they meet a host of characters, some nice and others only want to use them, the pair must learn who to trust and how to survive.
Joe is a cheeky chap, not completely sure of his age but somewhere around 12-14. He likes to tell stories and has a way with words, he is close to his sister but finds her very hard work. Annie has always been strange and is some sort of Medium, able to see Ghosts. Very strange, and doesn't speak much but very dependant on Joe.
I liked the two main children, they had a good bond and I really felt for them. Annie was very odd, but I just wanted to hug her, her upbringing had been so tough. And the sad thing is, these things really did happen, children were sold as cheap workers, slave like and beaten or worked to death.
There is lots of mystery and a hint of magic in the story but it is namely a historical fiction, the scene is set well and I could clearly picture evverything, I really did walk down that road with Annie and Joe.
Joe ends up leaving Annie and gets involved with a street gang, the characters there are great, so diverse, a real jumble but all very real. I loved little Queenie, so tough and brave holding it together, the whole group was so diverse. 
There were moments in this book where I laughed out loud and others where I had tears in my eyes. For the most part I was hooked into the story and really enjoyed it. 
However, there is the chunk of the book where Joe is taken in by a wealthy man, this part of teh book takes on a rather more political angle, discussing the affects of poverty on people and what the best ways to stop the poor from 'spreading' would be. This was OK for a little while as it offered an insight of how the other half lived in that time, but for me it went on a bit too long and really slowed the book down. I found myself losing focus and scanning the paragraphs a little bit, when Joe finally left there I breathed a sigh of relief.
But that was only a small issue and I actually really did like this book. 
The language and setting of the time was right down and the characters captured my heart. I'm glad I decided to keep hold of this book to read.

My Rating

 

FF (58) & TGIF (41)

Follow Friday is an opportunity to discover and follow other book related blogs! Want to join? Check it out at Parajunkee.

This week's question feature is from Oh! For the Love of Books

Q: Activity!!! Take a picture or describe where you love to read the most…

My Answer: I would take a picture, but it's just gone 10 at night, I have 2 cats on my lap and my chair is a mess, so I will describe it instead.

I can basically read anywhere but I am most comfortable on the sofa/couch in our living/front room. I sit on the left end of the sofa so I have the arm of the chair on my left. It's a big green sofa and quite soft and squidgy, it's fairly old now so I sort of have my own groove. I sit with my legs curled up under or just to the side of me, with my left arm propped up on the arm of the sofa and the book lying on the arm. I tend to have the cats on my legs keeping me nice and warm :D

I have a chair next to the sofa that might as well be a table as it is piled high with books and papers and a drink of juice within easy reach. My own little nook. 

TGIF!

This meme is hosted by GReads!

This Friday's Question:

 

Required Reading: Which book from your school days 

do you remember reading & enjoying? Is there a book published now 

that you'd like to see in today's curriculum for kids?

 

My Answer: I never really enjoyed any of the books I read at school, they were all rather depressing stories or Shakespeare (I studied the same Shakespeare for 5 years in a row though so got very bored of that, Macbeth seemed to be the choice of every teacher. grr.)

But there was a play we studied that I found fascinating and that was 'An Inspector Calls' by J.B Priestley. It was spooky and mysterious and I never did work out how it was all meant to have worked, but I found myself engrossed. We even went on a trip to see it at the theater and it was fabulous there too. I loved the way everything connected and trying to work out who was responsible. Fabulous.

I think Harry Potter should be on the curriculum, also The Hunger Games, there are probably more but I can't think right now.

 

Happy Hopping, have a great weekend everyone!!!

Michelle Madow Title Hunt

Welcome to the Transcend Time Saga Title Hunt! The title hunt is the reveal of the title for the final novel in the Transcend Time Saga. Each of the bloggers participating in the hunt have been given a letter. Hop around to the blogs participating to hunt for the letters. (And remember that two of the letters are used twice, so the title is eight letters long.) 

Once you've unscrambled the title, go to Michelle Madow's blog and use the title name to enter the giveaway for a voucher for an advanced e-copy of the final Transcend Time novel! (She is giving away a voucher because the novel is planned to be released at the end of the year, and she hasn't finished writing it yet! This voucher will ensure that you will receive an advance e-copy once they are available). 

Also for all you lovely readers, the e-version of Remembrance is on sale for $0.99 until her USA tour ends in April

Here is the letter: T

We're supposed to write a little bit here about what we want to happen in the third book, but here you all gasp in shock as I confess I haven't read book 2 yet. I donated to Michelle Madow's book tour, where she was offering gifts for people who helped her, I gave enough to be awarded with a signed copy of book 1 and book 2, but she is not sending them out until after the tour, and I can't afford to buy another copy so I have to wait. I can tell you that waiting is driving me mad, I really want to know what happens next. 

So really, I want book three to be just as incredible as the others and I suppose for things to tie together nicely and answer some questions which I know will come up in book 2.

Good luck and happy searching

Here is a link to everyone else that is taking part:

Meeting Steve Cole

Today was the last day of our 'Children's Book Festival' but what an ending it was, we certainly know how to go out with a bang.

I got to the library this morning and furniture was once again being moved out of the way, and chairs set out, and cupboards were checked for tea and coffee supplies.
Today was going to be our busiest yet, but it was going to be awesome.

Author Steve Cole (pictured above) was due to arrive at 9.45, but I wouldn't be there to see him arrive. I had another Maisy Mouse event at a local Nursery group and had to leave at 9.15. I was gutted I was going to miss Steve and wondered if I could get back in time to see the last half, but it wasn't possible. I knew he had more sessions with us that day but I was convinced they were all out at local schools, so imagine my delight when I was told that his next session was actually in the library again. YAY!

The nursery event was great, there were 23 children there and only 1 was scared of Maisy. I arrived back at the library to see the class finishing up. I had missed Steve Cole's first session. :(  But it was OK, I had the next one to look forward to.

I wasn't down to be on the desk counter in the library for the next couple of hours, but I had some stock work that I could do at the desk so I carried a stack of books and barcodes and book jackets out the front and set up. This way I could still do my work but watch Steve at the same time.

Steve Cole is the author of many books from his 'Cows In Action' series, 'Astrosaurs' series, 'Slime Squad' series, Z.Rex, Doctor Who books and many more.

The kids filed in just after 11, it was a fairly small group but Steve made them very welcome and immediately lit the room up. Whoever said Libraries were quiet places clearly hadn't met Steve but we loved it. It's a great feeling to hear laughter and see the smiles of kids enjoying themselves and being interested in books.

During the next hour I hardly stopped laughing. Steve could be on stage, he is a great entertainer.
 I inwardly groaned every time someone came to the desk with books as it meant I had to divert my attention away from Steve to serve them. (should I admit that?) oh well.
Anyway, the kids had a great time and so did all the staff. I have never seen anyone with so much energy and a real spark for life and books. Some photos were taken but we haven't uploaded them yet. I am next in on Saturday so will do them then and see if I can use any on here and update it.

Anyway, he agreed to give autographs to the kids and I left for lunch with a smile on my face, but one regret was that I didn't get my picture taken with him. I couldn't stick around though as I had to eat so i could get back and get ready for the final Maisy Mouse event in the afternoon, there were 22 kids at that group, one of which kept holding my 'paw', think I made a friend. :D The kids all decorated mouse ears and attached them with a band round their head, so we ended up with our own group of mice. 

Steve had another session in the afternoon but this one was out at a school, to my delight he came back afterwards and asked for a group photo of the staff, three of us crowded under the display board with Steve and had our photo taken. It was done on his camera so I have to wait for him to upload it before I can get a copy, so I will be stalking his blog, which is here, if you want to read it too. (you should, go on!
UPDATE: here is the picture, and Steve's blog post featuring our library is here

Smiles all round!

I spent nearly all of today smiling. The furniture has now been put back and normality has returned, but we were all left on such a high of excitement, such great memories made. So overall it was a manic but very enjoyable day.
It's clear how much the kids enjoyed it when later in the afternoon we had some of them come back in with their parents to borrow his books to read. What a success!!!


So here ends our Library Festival fortnight and I can say it was a cracker, Magic Shows, Zoolab, Manga Workshops, Maisy Mouse on tour, Authors Knife & Packer, the wonderful Sarah McIntyre (see yesterday's post) and of course Steve Cole. Thanks to them all.
We even got to keep the picture Sarah Mcintyre did and one from authors Knife & Packer who visited earlier in the week, so we are going to get them specially laminated and displayed. 

Tag - you're it!

I've seen this around quite a bit but haven't been tagged :(
Anyway, Paper Dreams Blog left it as open, take part if you like, and she had good questions so I thought I would jump in.

Rules:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create ten new questions to ask the people that you have tagged.
3. Tag eleven people and link to them on your post.
4. Let them know you’ve tagged them!

Here are her questions & my answers:

 1. What is your favorite meme(ie. In My Mailbox, Waiting on Wednesday, etc.) to read or participate in?



I participate in 3 meme's, 'In My Mailbox', 'Follow Friday' and 'TGIF'. They are all awesome, I don't do IMM every week as I don't always have something to show, but I always enjoy looking at others. My favourite is probably Follow Friday as it's a great chance to 'meet' other bloggers and they always have great features and questions.

2. Do you judge books by their covers?



I want to say no, but I totally do. I will pick a book up from the shelves if it has a good cover and I've been known to believe the book will be Incredible because the cover is just 'Gorgeous!' (doesn't always work that way, so I do factor other things in). But to be honest I think everyone judges a book by the cover in some way, and anyone that says they don't. Well. I don't believe them :P

3. What is the most emotional book you have ever read?



Wow that's quite a hard question, depends what emotion. I take it you mean the weepy, heart-wrenching gut bursting emotion. I would probably have to say 'The Last Song' by Nicolas Sparks, I was crying my eyes out at this book. Could not stop - I mean full on noisy wails of tears, but it was so beautiful. Made my heart ache with love. Just incredible.

4. What were your favorite books/series when you were a kid?



Animal Ark series was a big hit when I was about 9. (My illusions were shattered just this week when I found out Lucy Daniels isn't a real person but a pseudonym for multiple authors, I am actually desperately disappointed.)
I also adored the 'Series of Unfortunate Events' by Lemony Snicket (I still love these actually and still have the entire set on my shelves.

5. What is your favorite genre & why?


I love Fantasy. I think because I like to read so I can escape and Fantasy books create a whole new world I can escape into. Something completely different where anything can happen, no limits.

6. What fictional guy/girl would you like to date & why?



I was never really into the whole dating fictional people, or movie stars, celebrities etc. But I must say I can sort of see the appeal a bit more. I would like to meet 'Sam' from the 'Wolves of Mercy Falls' series by Maggie Stiefvater. He is so sweet and caring and creative and cute.

7. What is your favorite blog to follow/visit?

I follow a lot of blogs and find more great ones everyday, but some of my must read blogs are:
- The Story Siren
- Down The Rabbit Hole
- Derek Landy Blogs Under Duress
- Parajunkee's View
- Girls Heart Books
- Annette's Book Spot

There are loads more but I can't list them all, Just know that if you think your name should be on there, then it should! I haven't missed you deliberately and I love you all.


8. Would you rather read standalone, trilogy, or series?




A bit of all of the above, but I will say I love a good series -as long as they don't go on for a ridiculous amount. In fact a lot of my favourite books are series. (Morganville Vampires, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson etc)

9. Who is your favorite author?



No way can I just pick one! That's just cruel. I will settle for a top 5


- Derek Landy
- J.K. Rowling
- Suzanne Collins
- Rachel Caine

- Maria V Snyder

10. What was one book that really surprised you (in a good or bad way)?

The Hunger Games- I never thought I would like it, the whole idea of it sounded positively barbaric and gruesome but once I had started I fell in love with it. I was swept up into the story, I laughed, I cried (boy, did I cry) and my heart connected with the characters. It's beautiful. Now one of my all time favourites, I'm totally obsessed with it. 

I'm not going to tag anyone either, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I will be totally honest here, I can't think of 11 people to tag and I'm too lazy to go through all the blogs I follow (don't judge me please, you know I love you all.)
Secondly I know not everyone likes these posts and being tagged can be an annoyance and I don't want to inflict that on anyone, so I'm saying if you want to do it, take my questions below and enjoy, link back to me in the post then then leave your link to your post in my comments below.

So here's my Questions:

 1) What are you reading right now?

2) Which book (if any) do you wish you could change the ending of?

3) If you could have dinner with 3 authors who would you pick and where would you go to eat?

4) Which book do you wish would be made into a film?

5) What is your favourite book/movie adaptation?

6) Do you buy or borrow?

7) Where do you do most of your reading?

8) Paperback, Hardback or e-book?

9) When choosing books what factors affect your choice? cover? author? publisher? reviews? etc.

10) Have you ever been to a midnight book launch? If so what book, if not, do you want to?

Meeting Sarah McIntyre! & Maisy Mouse

For the last fortnight we have been working hard at the library for our 'Children's Book Festival', it's been a lot of preparation but my goodness it's worth it!!!

Today we had the lovely Sarah McIntyre, illustrator extraordinaire.

Look what she drew for us:

How awesome is that.
Sarah did two class visits in the library with some 5 year olds, reading from the book 'You Can't Scare A Princess' by Gillian Rogerson (which Sarah of course illustrated)

This book has princesses and Pirates, so there were lots of "Arrrgh's". My goodness I love a good Pirate story.

Sarah was absolutely brilliant, the kids and staff loved her visit. She is also one of the nicest, coolest and funny people I have met. (Thanks for all the advice and help in writing Sarah, I'll let you know how I get on, if you're reading this. :D)

I had to miss one of the sessions to go to a local playgroup to do a Maisy Mouse storytime. We have hired a Maisy costume and are going 'on tour' with it to various groups, today was stop number two.
My colleague read them stories whilst I got dressed in costume and she sang some nursery rhymes, then I walked in:

(this picture is actually from yesterday in the library, but I wanted to show the full costume.)

I shook hands, waved, danced and wiggled my tail then got changed into normal human being and came back out to help the kids make their own mouse ears. 

Was fun, but my goodness that costume gets hot! :D

Strangely though I find it fun, got two more events tomorrow.

I got back to the library in time for a photo, unfortunately Sarah was taking the picture so I didn't get one of her, but look how happy all us Library people are!

That's it folks. My I love my job!!! 

If you haven't read/seen one of the books Sarah has illustrated, she also wrote 'Vern & Lettuce, then be sure to check them out. You're never too old!

Here is a link to her blog:

http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/

and Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/jabberworks

Stop by and say hi! :D

Book Review - The Jinson Twins, Science Detectives & The Mystery of Echo Lake

Title: The  Jinson Twins, Science Detectives & The Mystery of Echo Lake
Author: Steven L. Zeichner
Publisher: Createspace
Released Date: 2 Sep 2011 
ISBN-13: 978-1463700805

Synopsis
The Jinson twins, Joe and Debbie, decide to start a business during their summer vacation, hiring themselves out to do odd jobs. They find themselves in an odder job than they counted on when Mrs. Gray, who lives with her talkative parrot, the Captain, in an old house down off River Road, engages them to help clean out her basement. Aided by their friend, Mr. Benjamin, the proprietor of the Resource Recovery and Recycling Center (a.k.a. the junkyard), the twins use the clues that Mrs. Gray’s late husband, a former sea captain, left behind to figure out, using scientific principles, where the captain hid his enormous collection of antique Spanish gold coins. But some other people know about the treasure too and have no intention of letting an old lady who spends most of her time with a parrot, an old man who runs a junkyard, and a couple of kids get the treasure. 

My Review
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This arrived in my post yesterday and as I finished a book last night I thought I might as well start on this one straight away as it was only 175 pages I knew it wouldn't take me long and I was done in about 2 hours.
The Jinson twins, Debbie and Joe want something to do over summer and so advertise for jobs, when they get hired by Mrs Gray they start to rethink things, but then they get on the trail of some treasure and really get into solving the mystery.
This book isn't like anything I normally read, and I was slightly hesitant about it as I was never really into science at school, but this book is very cleverly done, it isn't too complicated or detailed, it makes the mystery fun and intriguing. 
The clue to find the treasure is a sort of riddle that involves echoes, sound distances, cricket chirps and temperature control, I know this sounds like an odd mix and a bit complicated but the way it's put together is genius.
Debbie and Joe are likeable characters and have a great connection with each other, I wanted them to succeed. Mr Benjamin is odd but likeable, he is the brain power behind the mystery and pulls the story on. Mrs Gray is very odd, slightly rude and very proper, but I quite like her quirky behaviour.
The plot was very well thought out and the pacing is really good, the story sweeps you along and I read this in one sitting.
Very cleverly done, a great book for young readers (8-12 years) mainly, but older ones may still enjoy it too. Think it would also be good for slightly younger kids if parents read it to them, they can work out the mystery together.

My Rating

Book Review - Eve Eden vs. The Zombie Horde

Title: Eve Eden vs. The Zombie Horde
Author: Suz Korb
Series: Bedeviled (Book 1)
Release Date: 20th November 2011
ASIN: B006BC5OR0

Synopsis
Eve has goals. She has dreams and ambitions that don’t involve staying in this weird, podunk town. When supernatural forces collide and drop her into the heart of England, she’s not exactly pleased. When Eve said she wanted to get the heck out of dodge, she didn’t mean getting transported into a torture chamber inside the dungeon of an actual castle.
Damned souls rising from the depths of Hell. Her body’s sudden ability to heal quickly from wounds. Resisting her inexplicable attraction to a vampire who’s been sent to kill her. Can life get any worse for Eve? Apparently it can, because just around the corner at Twin Forest’s cemetery… waits the zombie horde.


My Review
I was given an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I accepted this book I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but it sounded like it could be quite good, I was never one for zombie stories but I read a Steve Feasey book (Zombie dawn) and really enjoyed that, and I saw this one mentioned vampires too so I decided to give it a try, plus the author said she was a Derek Landy fan so that had to count for something!
I am really slow at reading e-books so I actually started this one a while ago but by the time I came back to it I had to re-read from the start.
The beginning of the book caught my attention and I was really getting into the story, I felt a connection to Eve and Kimi and wanted to know where the story was going to go. Perfect, I was hooked in. 
Things start to go a bit creepy for Eve, she gets given a strange necklace by her friend and she starts having strange dreams or visions. The pair dabble in a bit of magic and what seems like a game becomes very real, once again I was curious. I liked the disappearing locker and Kimi's hysteria. Made me smile.
The opening of the book is really well written and will instantly draw you in, fantastic. 


However after this point I felt things were a bit jumbled. Eve finds out her friends and family have all been training for years at some sort of fighting style and possible magic sort of like ninja's, yet she knew nothing about it. I just thought that if everyone disappeared regularly to train I would notice the times of absence, but Eve is completely oblivious. She then gets kidnapped by a vampire, somehow jumps through his past and dreams, ends up in the depths of hell with another character and her farting dog, ends up with an ancient clan of vampires who want to kill her, gets chased by a woman named Lucy who i think was supposed to be the Devil (Lucifer), she's atacked by minions, there is magic involved, then the zombies attack, people get possessed, they are ghosts and right at the end a hint at werewolves. This book literally has every paranormal aspect in it and to me it just felt like too much. I wasn't sure where Eve was or who she was fighting at various points. I couldn't remember who was good and who was not, I just got thoroughly confused. The author just put too much in. 
The zombies don't even appear until the last third of the story, I thought from the title it would be more centered on them, but to be honest more of it is focused on Hell and the demons after her from within. 

On the positive note, the actual writing itself was quite good, the pace flowed nicely and the conversations were realistic between characters, but the plot was just too busy for me.

If you are into a mix or full out action in a book then you would probably love this book, but for me it just had too much stuffed in that it left me feeling lost. I really wanted to like it but I struggled. 

My Review

 

Book Review - The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove

Title: The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove
Author: Lauren Kate
Publisher: Corgi Childrens
Release Date: 6 Jan 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0552563727

Synopsis
All it takes is one fatal mistake . . .

High-school beauty Natalie Hargrove has spent years plotting to become prom queen. She's got just what it takes: popularity, glamour and ruthless ambition. When someone threatens to overturn her perfect plan, Natalie needs to take control. But a critical error plunges her into a sea of secrets, shame and scandal. Because it turns out there's one thing even Natalie Hargrove can't command - and that's fate. 


My Review
I have had this in my locker at work for quite a while but never got round to it. As I read the other Lauren Kate books this week and I wanted a nice short book I decided to bring it home and read it. 
At approx 235 pages, it is really short and it didn't take me that long to read, but in some places it felt like it was taking a long time. I found it wuite hard to really get into the story.
Natalie has spent years working towards being crowned Princess at school, she has a boyfriend of 3 years and things seem to be going right, but she is hiding secrets from her past and she works harder at everything than anyone can imagine, But when a prank goes wrong and someone ends up dead she gets involved in Blackmail, lies and more and more trouble. Her past also starts to catch up with her.
To be honest I couldn't make myself care about Natalie, she was a nasty piece of work really and I had no sympathy for her at all, she never stops to think about other people, everything she does is for her own gain and she doesn't care who she hurts. There were a couple places where I think you were supposed to sympathise with her, bits that showed more of her situation and make you re-think, but it didn't happen for me, I just wanted to tell her to grow up.
As for her boyfriend, what is he a man or a mouse, he literally jumps through hoops for her, not 'My goodness woman you've killed someone, who on earth are you?', but 'sure, we should hide it all, nothing should stop you from being a princess, come on i'll help you frame someone else." I mean seriously? would that ever happen? I just don't know.

Saying that it wasn't all bad, the whole High school set up was god and I liked the descriptions of the 'Bambi's' and the way the cliques worked. Also Darla Duke was a nice little character, you weren't ever sure when she was going to pop up or why.
The writing is as usual descriptive and easy flowing which creates a clear image in your head of the scene and parts of the plot were quite good, I just didn't believe that she wouldn't be challenged more.
Also there is quite a lot of sex talk in this book, as I said it's quite a small book but the amount of references in it was shocking. Didn't think it was particularly needed either. Don't get me wrong, I don't completely object to a reference here or there if it is necessary to the story and isn't too detailed, but with this I was shocked by how much was in it. I'm quite innocent minded and these bits made me feel a little bit uncomfortable.

This review makes it sound like i totally hated the book, well I didn't. I wouldn't say it was amazing and I was glad I got it out of the library but there were bits I really enjoyed and there were some twists in the story that got me interested, so overall this book was a bit of a 'on the fence' book. Not great but not really bad. 

My Rating

In My Mailbox (6)

In My Mailbox is a weekly event over at The Story Siren, which showcases the books we've purchased, borrowed and received in the mail this week.

Hope you had a good book week, what did you get???