I am delighted to be sharing my review for The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christine Lefteri. I have decided to include this one in the # 20 Book of Summer reading challange, this makes numer 5 of 20.
Let us have a look and see what it is all about…
In the midst of war, he found love In the midst of darkness, he found courage In the midst of tragedy, he found hope
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
What will you find from his story?
Nuri is a beekeeper; his wife, Afra, an artist. They live a simple life, rich in family and friends, in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo – until the unthinkable happens. When all they care for is destroyed by war, they are forced to escape. But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind, and so they must embark on a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece towards an uncertain future in Britain. On the way, Nuri is sustained by the knowledge that waiting for them is Mustafa, his cousin and business partner, who has started an apiary and is teaching fellow refugees in Yorkshire to keep bees.
As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss, but dangers that would overwhelm the bravest of souls. Above all – and perhaps this is the hardest thing they face – they must journey to find each other again.
Moving, powerful, compassionate and beautifully written, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit. Told with deceptive simplicity, it is the kind of book that reminds us of the power of storytelling.
The synopsis does a great job of explaining what this story is all about. The story of a man and his wife escaping their war-ravaged home in Aleppo, Syria and their journey to Britain as asylum seekers.
Nuri and Afra had a wonderful life, him a beekeeper and her an artist. The tensions in Syria gradually get closer to their home and they decide to leave, not an easy decision to make but one that becomes necessary if they are to survive.
The story flits back and forth telling of their lives in Aleppo and their journey to the UK. A hard journey that has no guarantee of survival or that when they arrive that they will be allowed to stay. Nuri and Afra are luckier than some as they have funds and can pay for certain things that are denied others. Some will start their journey and get no further than some of the refugee camps, some will die on the way, some will never leave their homes.
This is a heartbreaking read at times as I read about various people that Nuri and Afra meet along their journey. This is where the author uses her experiences of helping in refugee camps to help with her story. She has spoken to people in the camps, listened to their stories and created a novel that has some of its roots based in fact.
There is a great deal of emotion with this book, from anger at the way people are treated to compassion at the way people will help. It is heartbreaking as well as the story that the author has crafted around Nuri and Afra is slowly revealed.
I cannot imagine having to take such a journey that is so full of uncertainty but also necessity and for that I count myself very lucky. This is a beautifully written story that I simply could not put down. I had to know what happened to Nuri and Afra and also learn more of these interesting characters.
It is a story that I would absolutely recommend.
Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx
I am delighted to share my thoughts on The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike. This is a Young Adult book that is full of magic and that this Adult Reader enjoyed as well!
Let’s have a look and see what it is all about…
A stunning fantasy debut, enter the unique world of the Spell Breathers.
Spell Breathing does not come naturally to Rayne – she loathes the hours of practice, the stacks of scrolls, and the snapping mud devils that cover her mothers precious spell book.
But it is spell breathing that keeps her village safe from the dreaded monster curse that plagues their world. It is ancient powerful magic, but as Rayne learns to her horror . . . it is also fragile.
In one clumsy move, the magic that keeps them safe is broken, her village is plunged into danger, and an incredible adventure begins . . .
12 Year old Rayne is learning to be a Spell Breather and is an apprentice to her mum. They live in Penderin, a village hidden behind an invisible barrier that keeps them hidden from the world outside. The world is one where monsters roam. Raynes mother has to make a journey out of the village and leaves Rayne in charge of the Spell Book for safekeeping. It is not very long before there is an accident, the only person to help is her mum. So Rayne decides she will have to go after her.
This is a wonderful story that Older, as well as Young Adult Reader, will enjoy. The author has built up a magical story with an array of goodie and baddies and has a nice balance between the good and evil in the story. Magical is a pertinent word for this story as there are spells that are woven and spoken, being cast on the breath of the speaker. The spells are used to help people in their ailments, problems and also to provide protection, or at least that is what Rayne’s mum uses them for! On the flip side of this is what happens when the spells are used for self-empowerment.
The pacing of the story is good, the story flows nicely and it meant I wasn’t rushing the reading to find out what was going to happen next and still kept me turning pages eagerly.
There is a good range of characters, some good, some bad and some that left me which side they were on! Enough to provide a depth to the story but without being confusing trying to remember who was who and what role they played. They added diversity to the story that at times felt like a fairy tale.
I liked the focus on the words themselves that are included in the spell making. Not only using alternative words but also including the feeling a certain spell should feel like. It is a way of accessing feelings for younger readers. At the end of the book, the author has a great few pages about words and how you would create a spell. Using a thesaurus to find different words and then putting them together. I liked this inclusion because it encourages the younger reader to use their imagination and also learn new words at the same time. This is something that would have really appealed to me as I began my reading journey as a younger reader.
A great story that I, and older reader, thoruoughly enjoyed and would highly recommend.
Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx
Hello once again to another weekly wrap-up of the books I have read this week. I seem to be on a roll this week with books!
So I have to mention the weather! While everyone has been roasting in scorching temperatures, down here in Cornwall we have had some cooler weather. Still warm but not the roasting that others have had to struggle with.
So, down to what I have read…
Clear My Name by Paula Daly…
This is the last Blog Tour Book until September and it was an absolute corker. Carrie is imprisoned for murdering her husbands mistress. Tess works for a charity that deals with cases that deal with false imprisonment. Is Carrie guilty or is she innocent? Look out for my review next week!
The Last Spell Breather by Julie Pike
This is a Young adult book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Full of magic, spells, good and evil. I liked the way the author approached this story and also at the end adds encouragement to youner readers to help their vocabulary and also feed their imagination. It is a book I would have loved as a younger reader!
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christie Lefteri
I won a copy of this book a few weeks ago, or it could be a couple of months ago!!! I’m really not sure! Anyway, this is a stunning story that follows the story of Nuri and his wife Afra from war torn Aleppo, Syria to the UK. A beautiful yet heartbreaking story that I am gutted that it took me so long to get to. Review will follow.
Sunshine and Sweet Peas in Nightingale Square by Heidi Swain
What an absolutely wonderful book, so wonderful I read it in one sitting! A story that left me wishing I could live with the fabulous characters in Nightingale Square. A story that completely hooked me from the very first page and wrapped me up completely. A story of friendship and smouldering romance. A perfectly ideal summery read.
Before the Rains by Dinah Jeffries
This is a stunning historical fiction set in 1930, Rajputana, India. A story of a photo-journalist Eliza, a widow. Her status does not sit well with the more traditionalist residents of the Royal Palace. Even more so the fact that she is a British woman. She has many things that could go against her and her friendship with the Prince is definitely one that may cause problems. A story that has emotion, history and culture that is another fabulous and immersive read.
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey – Audio Book
I was looking for something a little more lighter to listen to and this seemed to fit. Annie is a complete and utter rom com film fan. She is unlucky in love as she waits for the perfect man who will fit into what she believes will be her perfect life. She thinks love should be like love that is seen on the big screen. The perfect moments, the perfect man, the perfect life… A fun listen that I enjoyed and was a good escape book.
What I am currently reading and listening to…
Hudson’s Kill by Paddy Hirsch – I am currently half way through this historical fiction / crime book.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman – Audio via Borrowbox. This is a full cast dramatisation of a story I really enjoyed. Just started this book and I am loving the actors on this already…
I am delighted to be sharing my review with you today for David Mogo, Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. My thanks to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for accepting my request to join the tour and for arranging a copy of this book.
Let’s have a look and see what it about…
Nigerian God-Punk – a powerful and atmospheric urban fantasy set in Lagos.
Since the Orisha War that rained thousands of deities down on the streets of Lagos, David Mogo, demigod, scours Eko’s dank underbelly for a living wage as a freelance Godhunter. Despite pulling his biggest feat yet by capturing a high god for a renowned Eko wizard, David knows his job’s bad luck. He’s proved right when the wizard conjures a legion of Taboos—feral godling-child hybrids—to seize Lagos for himself. To fix his mistake and keep Lagos standing, David teams up with his foster wizard, the high god’s twin sister and a speech-impaired Muslim teenage girl to defeat the wizard.
David Mogo is a godhunter. He is quite well placed to do this job and he has an advantage as he is a demigod. Set in Lagos, Nigeria, this story is one of gods, demigods and wizards. The area is embrioled in a battle after the gods fell to earth and try to carve out their own home, pushing people out or taking them over.
David himself is quite a complex character, well you would be if you were a demigod surely! Trying to work out who he is and finding a place to fit in. He would rather be human than part god. In some ways this story is like a two sided one, yes there are the battles, confrontation, and power struggles but there is also David’s story. Finding where he belongs and who he is and it runs alongside the gods taking over story well.
I did find this book challenging at times for a couple of reasons. There is quite a dark and disturbing section set around a character called Fati. The conversational language took me a little getting used to, though it is not used all the time in conversations. But that being said it sort of adds something to the story.
This is a book that is quite fast-paced and has a reasonable sized cast. I have to admit Papa Udi was by far my favourite, even though it was his speech that caused me to scratch my head working out what he was saying!
The setting has not been glamourised at all, the author paints quite a picture of the more destitute people in his story. Now I don’t have much knowledge of Nigeria, or it’s culture, traditions or religion. What I did find with this story was that these things came through very nicely through the story. This led me on an interesting interent search of the various Nigerian dieties mantioned.
This book is one of those that will divide readers, but for me it was a chance to read a book about a different culture to my own. A chance to broaden my reading horizons and dicover a new to me author.
It is a book I would recommend.
Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a Nigerian writer of science fiction, contemporary and dark fantasy, and crime fiction. His work has appeared in Lightspeed, Fireside, Podcastle, The Dark, Mothership Zeta,
Omenana, Ozy, Brick Moon Fiction; amongst other magazines and anthologies. He is an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona, and has worked in editorial at Podcastle and Sonora Review. He lives online on Facebook, tweets at @IAmSuyiDavies, and blogs at suyidavies.com. His urban fantasy novel about gods in Lagos is forthcoming in 2019.
See what other Book Bloggers on the Tour thought….
Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be great 🙂 xx
I am delighted to be one of the Blogger kicking off the Blog Tour and to be able to share my review for Battleground by Rachel Churcher. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the Blog Tour and for arranging an e-copy of this book.
Let’s see what it is all about…
Sixteen-year-old Bex Ellman has been drafted into an army she doesn’t support and a cause she doesn’t believe in. Her plan is to keep her head down, and keep herself and her friends safe – until she witnesses an atrocity she can’t ignore, and a government conspiracy that threatens lives all over the UK. With her loyalties challenged, Bex must decide who to fight for – and who to leave behind.
The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.
This is a dystopian story that is aimed at Young Readers, and I have to say this Older Reader really enjoyed it as well. Living in the UK for Bex and her friends is different, there are tensions about which side should be supported. Misinformation and fake news make it difficult for the friends to know which is the right side to be on, or even if there is a right side.
There is the side of the Government, surely they have the nations best interests at heart. But then the terrorists are fighting for the people as well! Bex, Dan, Margie, Saunders and others have to decide who they will join up with. The weight of their decisions emerges throughout the story.
Some elements could be seen as relevant in today’s society. This for me is a good thing as it is something a YA reader can relate to. Fake new or propaganda as it used to be known is everywhere in society. Manipulation of the truth leaves you wondering who to trust. For Bex and her friends, it gives rise to discussions and arguments as they believe they support the better side. It leads to the friendship fracturing as they are taken from their school to a Training Camp.
This has been an enjoyable read with a well-paced flow to it. There is plenty of action to keep the pages turning. I like a good amount of conspiracy in my reads and this has a level that felt right for the intended audience. I think YA Readers would really enjoy Battleground, I certainly did.
It is one I would recommend.
Rachel Churcher
was born between the last manned moon landing, and the first orbital
Space Shuttle mission. She remembers watching the launch of STS-1,
and falling in love with space flight, at the age of five. She fell
in love with science fiction shortly after that, and in her teens she
discovered dystopian fiction. In an effort to find out what she
wanted to do with her life, she collected degrees and other
qualifications in Geography, Science Fiction Studies, Architectural
Technology, Childminding, and Writing for Radio.
She has worked as
an editor on national and in-house magazines; as an IT trainer; and
as a freelance writer and artist. She has renovated several
properties, and has plenty of horror stories to tell about dangerous
electrics and nightmare plumbers. She enjoys reading, travelling,
stargazing, and eating good food with good friends – but nothing
makes her as happy as writing fiction.
Her first
published short story appeared in an anthology in 2014, and the
Battle Ground series is her first long-form work. Rachel lives in
East Anglia, in a house with a large library and a conservatory full
of house plants. She would love to live on Mars, but only if she’s
allowed to bring her books.
I am delighted to be able to share my review with you today for The Secret Cove in Croatia by Julie Caplin. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for my spot on the tour and for organising a e-copy of this fabulous book.
Let’s have a look and see what it’s all about…
Sail away to beautiful Croatia for summer
sun, sparkling turquoise seas and a holiday romance that’s forever…
When no-nonsense, down-to-earth Maddie Wilcox is offered the chance to work on a luxury yacht for the summer, she can’t say no. Yes she’ll be waiting on the posh guests… But island-hopping around the Adriatic sea will more than make up for it – especially when Nick, her best friend Nina’s brother, is one of them.
Sparks fly when they meet on board and Maddie can’t believe self-entitled jerk Nick is really related to Nina.
But in a secret, picture-perfect cove, away from the real world, Maddie and Nick discover they might have more in common than they realise…
This is the 5th book in the Romantic Escapes Series, and I can see what it has been such a popular series withother readers. I have not read the previous books, but I can say I really want to now!
If you could sail away on a luxury yacht on the beautiful Croatian coast, would you? This is exactly what Maddie Wilcox did! She doesn’t mind that she will be part of the crew waiting on the posh guests that have hired the yacht, after all, she will get the chance to meet her best friends brother. At least she will know someone that she can chat to, right…?
If you are looking for a superb summer read then this one should be on your radar. The guests seem shallow and with no real substance, but the real star of the show is Maddie. Like me, she got a real eye-opener to the way that fame has gone to the heads of some people. Thank goodness that other guests can remember where their roots are and how to treat people!
Nick and Maddie should get on because he is the brother to her friend. While they don’t exactly hit it off there is a good amount of cheeky tension and a spark or two between them. Nick is on board with the willowy model Tara, and he is a sheep farmer. Along with these two guests, there are others who are memorable for all their own reasons. Some were fabulous and others, well, the least said about them the better!
The author really has done a stunning job of describing the setting, the beautiful arbours, markets, food and, scenery, they are full of vibrant details.
The author has included some near misses, misunderstandings and erm a yucky moment that just fit wonderfully into the drama of her story. A story that I was completely able to immerse myself in and I adored every sun-kissed moment.
It is one I would definitely recommend.
ules
Wake announced at the age of ten that she planned to be a writer.
Along the way she was diverted by the glamorous world of PR and
worked on many luxury brands, taking journalists on press trips to
awful places like Turin, Milan, Geneva, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam
and occasionally losing the odd member of the press in an airport.
This proved fabulous training for writing novels as it provided her
with the opportunity to eat amazing food, drink free alcohol, hone
her writing skills on press releases and to research European cities
for her books.
She writes
best-selling warm-hearted contemporary fiction for HarperImpulse.
Under her pen
name, Julie Caplin, her twelfth novel, The Secret Cove in Croatia
published in ebook format this July.
Another week has come and gone, how the hell does time go so fast! Another week and a bit and it’s August…unbeeleeivable!!!
I have spent quite a bit of time this weekend stalking on Facebook 😉😂 I loved looking through the photo’s that people have been posting of Harrogate, jealous that I still have not go to an amazing festival but more determined that I will get there one day!
So last on last weeks bookish catch-up post I mentioned not having much concentration for reading and I was only reading in short bursts. Well this week I have read 4…YEP! FOUR WHOLE BOOKS!!!! And one was 780 pages long…Woohoo…oops having a moment there… sorry about that…NOT! 😂😂
Let me show you what I read!
Fisrt up was…
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig… This is fablous and I loved, loved, loved every single one of the 780 pages. I have a feeling this will feature in my Top Reads of the Year list.
This is a sci-fi story as such, but it definitely didn’t feel like one because it had an air of possibility about it. There are some wonderful characters who become memorable for the part they play. Whether they are good, bad or indecisive, you will make your own mind up. A story that has heart, a story of family, loyalty, doing the right thing and also of fear, anger, extremism, society breakdown, and an apocalyptic, end of days message. It is a fabulous story that I was hooked into immediately and flew through. It is a thriller in some ways, but also of family.
The Secret Cove in Craotia by Julie Caplin… I enjoyed this story a lot and the author did a fantastic job of transporting me to the sun, sea and super yachts of this gorgeous sounding are. A wonderful story that I will review as part of the Blog tour.
Here’s what the synopsis says…
Sail away to beautiful Croatia for summer sun, sparkling turquoise seas and a will-they-won’t-they romance you won’t be able to put down!
When no-nonsense, down-to-earth Maddie Wilcox is offered the chance to work on a luxury yacht for the summer, she can’t say no. Yes she’ll be waiting on the posh guests… But island-hopping around the Adriatic sea will more than make up for it – especially when Nick, her best friend Nina’s brother, is one of them.
Sparks fly when they meet on board and Maddie can’t believe self-entitled jerk Nick is really related to Nina. But in a secret, picture-perfect cove, away from the real world, Maddie and Nick discover they might have more in common than they realise…
Next I read…
Battleground by Rachel churcher… it is a novella for the series and is a really good read. It has plenty of action and is a fast paced book that is a dystopian story. Again you will be able to see myreview later this week.
Here’s the synopsis…
Sixteen-year-old Bex Ellman has been drafted into an army she doesn’t support and a cause she doesn’t believe in. Her plan is to keep her head down, and keep herself and her friends safe – until she witnesses an atrocity she can’t ignore, and a government conspiracy that threatens lives all over the UK. With her loyalties challenged, Bex must decide who to fight for – and who to leave behind.
The Battle Ground series is set in a dystopian near-future UK, after Brexit and Scottish independence.
Then I read…
David Mogo – Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa… an urban fantassy read set in Nigeria. David is a demi god and hunts gods who have fallen to earth. This is an interesting because there is a good amount of Nigerian culture that is included, and I will have a review later in the week as part of the Blog Tour.
Here is the synopsis…
Nigerian God-Punk – a powerful and atmospheric urban fantasy set in Lagos.
Since the Orisha War that rained thousands of deities down on the streets of Lagos, David Mogo, demigod, scours Eko’s dank underbelly for a living wage as a freelance Godhunter. Despite pulling his biggest feat yet by capturing a high god for a renowned Eko wizard, David knows his job’s bad luck. He’s proved right when the wizard conjures a legion of Taboos—feral godling-child hybrids—to seize Lagos for himself. To fix his mistake and keep Lagos standing, David teams up with his foster wizard, the high god’s twin sister and a speech-impaired Muslim teenage girl to defeat the wizard.
That’s my books for the week. I have one more to Blog Tour Book to read and then I no more until September. I am planning on spending time reading books for my #20 Books of Summer. I have made some changes to my original list just because I can.
Non Bookishness this week involved a trip to my favourite local spot. It is a little gem owned by the National Trust and a little off the beaten track, but to be fair almost anything in Cornwall is opff the beaten track.
Godolphin House is a small but beautiful little place, with lovely gardens and grounds. Whenever I go there I grab a coffee, a cheese scone and grab one the picnic blankets that are available to use. It is where I go to unwind, relax, and just generally chill out. Here are a few pics…
I am excited to share my review for Wanderers by Chuck Wendig. My huge thanks to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for my spot on the tour and organising a copy of this book.
Let’s have a look and see what it is all about…
A decadent rock star. A deeply religious radio host. A disgraced scientist. And a teenage girl who may be the world’s last hope. In the tradition of The Stand and Station Eleven comes a gripping saga that weaves an epic tapestry of humanity into an astonishing tale of survival.
Shana wakes up one morning to discover her little sister in the grip of a strange malady. She appears to be sleepwalking. She cannot talk and cannot be woken up. And she is heading with inexorable determination to a destination that only she knows. But Shana and are sister are not alone. Soon they are joined by a flock of sleepwalkers from across America, on the same mysterious journey. And like Shana, there are other “shepherds” who follow the flock to protect their friends and family on the long dark road ahead.
For on their journey, they will discover an America convulsed with terror and violence, where this apocalyptic epidemic proves less dangerous than the fear of it. As the rest of society collapses all around them–and an ultraviolent militia threatens to exterminate them–the fate of the sleepwalkers depends on unraveling the mystery behind the epidemic. The terrifying secret will either tear the nation apart–or bring the survivors together to remake a shattered world.
Wow! Wow! Wow! This was such a brilliant read. It’s a genre I enjoy but, don’t read that often. A story that surpassed my expectations by miles and one that I would like everyone to read. This is a book that will quite possibly feature in my Top Reads of the Year! Yes,I loved it!
The basics are that, some people have mysteriously joined up in a sleepwalking state, they are unaware of their condition, they cannot be woken and, bad things happen when they are restrained. They just walk. Towards where and why is not evident until you get further into the story.
While the world ponders the sleepwalkers, there is something far bigger looming on the horizon, a threat, that is unseen initially. But there is of epidemic of extreme proportions. This epidemic and the sleepwalkers’ fuels fear misunderstanding and extremist reactions as the world falls into disarray and society starts to collapse.
This is a book that has so many things that I love in a story and, the fact that it has a scarily possible realness to it adds something to the tension it exudes. We are all aware that antibiotics don’t always work, that we have superbugs and things are evolving. Add to this global warming, a reliance on technology, politicians that seem to have their own agendas! These worrying trends are something that the author touches on to create a completely addictive read.
In amongst the various themes, he has incorporated many social viewpoints. Conspiracy theories are always a favourite of mine in books and several theories are banded around in this book at the start of each chapter. Other society viewpoints show people in fear of the unknown or believing in a higher purpose. Some of the views are political, religious, racist and range from a basic comment to a more extreme stance.
With so many ideologies, ideas and theories included, I found myself thinking that here is an author who has really thought this book out and from many different angles. In doing this he has created a story that moved and evolved the further I read.
This is a story of a group of people have been brought together. They have family and loved ones who are distraught by what is happening. The families walk alongside those who are afflicted, they care for them as best they can, they do what they can. They form their own group. The main focus of the story is Shana because her sister is the first of the walkers. There are obviously many other characters and some play a far bigger role than others. This is a big story but so very easy to follow. There are some science, tech and abbreviations included and they are explained in terms that I could understand.
By the end of the book, I was stunned, in a good way! I worried about how a big story like this would end, which way the author would go. There could have been various way of ending it, and the way he did, worked so well for me. It felt right as it came to a satisfactory conclusion.
This is a sci-fi story as such, but it definitely didn’t feel like one because it had an air of possibility about it. There are some wonderful characters who become memorable for the part they play. Whether they are good, bad or indecisive, you will make your own mind up. A story that has heart, a story of family, loyalty, doing the right thing and also of fear, anger, extremism, society breakdown, and an apocalyptic, end of days message. It is a fabulous story that I was hooked into immediately and flew through. It is a thriller in some ways, but also of family. It really did not feel like 780 pages at all.
Wanderers by Chuck Wendig is a book I would Absolutely and Highly Recommend!
Chuck Wendig is a novelist, a screenwriter, and a freelance penmonkey. He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).
He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter’s Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.
Chuck’s novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.
He’s written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.
See what other Book Blogger think by following the Blog Tour…
Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be great 🙂 xx
I am delighted to welcome you all to my review for the Audio version of The Hat Shop on the Corner by Marita Conlon-McKenna.
Let’s see what it is all about…
A gloriously warm-hearted novel about wonderful hats, the people who buy them – and their remarkable stories.
Hats! Hats! Hats! Upbrims, sidesweeps, silks, ribbons and trims all become part of Ellie’s life when she inherits the little hat shop on Dublin’s South Anne Street. But the city is changing, and Ellie must decide if she wants to follow the hat-making tradition of her mother or accept a generous offer to sell the shop.
Encouraged by her friends, Ellie takes on the hat shop, and her quirky designs and tempting millinery confections soon attract a rich assortment of customers all in search of the perfect hat.
Creating hats for weddings, shows, fashion and fun, and falling for the charms of Rory Doyle along the way, Ellie is happier than she has ever been before. But as her fingers work their magic she discovers a lot can happen in the heart of a city like Dublin….
Ellie inherits a hat shop on the corner of South Anne Street in Dublin. After some thought, she decides that she will take on the running of the shop and continue in her mothers’ footsteps. Using her own experience and knowledge to create millinery masterpieces fit for any occasion.
This is a lovely story to listen to and the narrator Caroline Lennon has the perfect tone to her voice to make the story come alive.
This is obviously a story about hats, the making of them, the different materials used and all manner of other things. The author has the balance of the millinery world just right. Giving enough information to keep my interest without overburdening me. It compliments the story of Ellie and her customers. There are also other different things going on this this story. The street where the hat shop is situated is underthreat, not just Ellie’s shop, but also other retailers, from a large development.
I am going to go back to the hats again, well the customers actually. Each customer that comes into the shop wants a bespoke hat. This involves Ellie finding out what the occasion is and then also a little bit about each customer. This means I got to know more characters and their own stories, some are sad, some happy, some nervous, some shy but all want a hat. I got to know their likes, dislike and preferences. Whether they were willing to take a chance on something they wouldn’t normally pick or knew exactly what they wanted.
This was such a lovely story to sit and listen to. It’s one I would recommend to those that like a gentle, heartwarming story about people in their everyday lives. It has also left me wanting to now go and read the book as well.
This is book 4 out of 20 in my #20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge.
Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be fabulous : xx
I am very excited to welcome Stuart Reid onto my Blog today, I hope you are ready for bogies, snot, bottomburps and bums…I kid you not! If I say that this author has described as the “Billy Connolley for kids” that should give you some indication of how this post today is going to go!
Stuart is an author of the Gorgeous George books for Children, he is a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and tours schools bringing his books to children everywhere. . I admit I had great fun writing up this post. I hope you all enjoy it…
I don’t know about you, but for me I love Book Covers! Want to have a look at a couple of Stuart’s? (I apologise for reducing the synopsis for each book!)
Gorgeous George and the Zigzag Zit-Faced Zombies
Sneezing, sniffing, snoring and snots! Zombies, zebras and zits!
Must…..have….bogiieeeeeeeeeeeeeees!
Bogies, baddies, bagpipes and bums! Farting, false teeth and fun!
A must read for children (and anyone else) who love crude, rude, exciting, silly, sometimes smelly and humorous books.
I must admit the kid in me is sniggering sssoooooo much 🙂 🙂
Okay now for the Q & A (aka – author interrogation!) – make yourself comfy…
1.When was the moment that you realised you wanted to write children’s books?
I’ve always loved writing. When I was 16, becoming a sports journalist would’ve been my dream job (basically being paid to watch football) but I studied Business Management instead because I thought it was sensible. After 25 years in business, I was running a 300-bedroom hotel in Dubai; I had a large house, a maid, a gardener, a swimming pool and two 4×4’s and I realised that I wasn’t happy. Work was unfulfilling and the credit crunch made things much harder. My wife persuaded me to start writing again… anything that would make me happy… and I began writing about people, situations and weird stories that I laughed at when I was 9 years old. I regressed back into my childhood and have never been happier.
I think being happy is your work is important, but still WOW…
2.Where did the idea of taking your books direct to your audience come from?
In 2009, I decided to give up my job… along with my salary, my car, my house, my healthcare and my pension… to start writing children’s books, so my family and I returned to Britain where I finished my first book. I was luckily enough to find a small publisher who agreed to publish the first book but he said “You’ll never make any money being a children’s author” so I started working as an area manager in retail again (which was soul-destroying). I realised that my target market meet together five days a week, forty weeks of the year… if I could tick the education box for the teachers, the reading inspiration box for the parents and the enjoyment and excitement boxes for the kids, then I might have a product that schools could benefit from. Six months after my first book was released my diary was so full with bookings from schools, libraries and book festivals that I was able to give up my proper job again and become a full-time children’s author. Since then, I have hosted over 1,500 events throughout the Uk and Ireland, as well as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, India, Hong Kong and Australia.
Finding your target audience was obviously important!
3.Is there a special standout moment from your books or from your performances?
Yesterday I was boarding a flight in Australia, returning from the Adelaide Festival, when an Emirates check-in staff member asked for my ticket and passport. She looked at the passport and then asked, ‘Are you the author? Were you performing at the Fringe? You asked my husband up onto the stage to be a lady elephant!’ – I nearly wet myself laughing. I also hosted an event in the Middle East with a group of boys from a royal family and almost started a riot. After one of my Edinburgh Fringe events last year, one of the parents described me as ‘Billy Connolly for kids’ – which is a massive compliment but one which I felt wholly inadequate to justify (didn’t stop me putting on my posters though). Writing scenes in my books where kids can help me bring the stories to life is great. Young volunteers help the audience visualise certain chapters by throwing false teeth at me, becoming snot zombies, enacting the water and the mountains and the tents around Justin Bieber’s campsite, as well as unleashing the two cheeky chimpanzees that amuse the crowd and terrorise the elephants.
Audience participation appears to be a key factor and also increases the fun!
4.Its obvious children love these performances from the video. I also noticed the adults loved it as well. Is this something you expected?
The more I’ve toured, and met mums and dads and teachers, the more I’ve found that most people still hold onto their inner child… the little person they once were that enjoys silliness, that laughs uncontrollably and helps them realise that it’s okay to have fun. Life can often be challenging but people need to laugh more, to enjoy life as much as possible and never take themselves too seriously. We’re only on the planet for a visit!
Yep, I have many silly, hysterical moments, and thats all I am saying about that lol
5.As I am a lifelong bookworm, I have to ask what were your favourite childhood books?
When I was about nine, I was hooked on a mystery series entitled Alfred Hitchcock’s The Three Investigators, where my love of an abstract adventure came from. Before that, the first book I remember reading by myself was Roald Dahl’s The Twits, and loved the monkeys gluing the furniture on the ceiling and Mr Twit pulling off the birds’ legs (which sounds a big gruesome nowadays). I also remember a hilarious book called Fungus the Bogeyman, as up until that point, I never knew you could put bogies in a book! And as a teenager, To Kill A Mocking Bird was the first book I ever read twice.
I remember The Twits and have heard of but never read Fungus.
6. And because I am nosy, what are your favourite books as an adult?
I am obsessed with Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series, and have recently started another Stephen King phase. My two teenager daughters are brilliant at recommending books too. I’ve just finished You by Caroline Kepnes, although it was a wee bit rude so I will be having words with that daughter! I couldn’t put John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars down, and it was the first book where I’ve actually cried buckets. Me Before You was very good and I shed a tear or two with RJ Palacio’s Wonder. I still enjoy reading children’s and young adult books, as I need to be aware of market and like to recommend books to little readers and their teachers.
Never too old to read children’s books!
7. And yes, I’m very nosy! What are your interests and hobbies away from books?
I love cooking and will always be experimenting in the kitchen – creating new tapas dishes is my favourite thing right now. My wife and I love to travel, so if she’s not joining me on my book tours, we try to squeeze in a cheeky wee holiday or weekend break every couple of months. And although my stage shows are quite energetic, and my fitness levels are okay, I don’t play football anymore, as I’m scared of breaking my leg and not being able to perform on stage. Playing FIFA on the PS4 is the best sport I can manage these days.
8. Apart from bringing stories to a younger readers, what are your future aims or dreams for your books?
If I was to allow myself to have a dream for my Gorgeous George books,it would be a movie or television series, with a young Rupert Grinch playing George, an older, balder Robert Carlisle wearing an enormous ginger moustache would play Grandpa Jock. A younger version of Letitia Wright (from Black Panther) would be Barbara and Allison would be played by the Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams, if she had a time machine go back to being a kid again. The adventures would be a mixture of live action, bright animation and full-on CGI, with Simon Cowell as the villain in Giant Geriatric Generator. We’d need a cast of hundreds for the Zig-Zag Zit-faced Zombies story and Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright and Woody Harrelson would have feature too, with time-warp trouser trumpets, aliens, Loch Ness monsters, piles and piles of pink poo, a parody of A Christmas Carol would need to be the festive adventure and there’s also a love story for Grandpa Jock too. But to be honest, I haven’t really given it much thought.
Oh I agree no thought at all hahaha
9. If I could wave a magic wand what would you wish for?
Wow… you mean apart from the last answer? Well, I suppose I want every kid in the world to see one of my live events, and to feel inspired enough to want to read more books, more often. And not just my books, but any good book. And to learn to love reading, and to share that love of reading with their own children. My books are yucky… they are about boogers, bums and big bottom burps and my characters will never grown up… but I know that every little reader will, and they’ll leave Gorgeous George behind and read other books, better books and more intelligent books but I’d love it if my books were the inspiration for that. Oh, and world peace.
My love of reading started as a child and has been with me ever since!
10. Now the 3 W’s – What is next? Where Will it be? And When will it be?
It’s already shaping up to be another busy year. My diary is full for months with a short tour of N.Ireland, followed by my first gigs at the Brighton Fringe, then the launch of Book no.8 Gorgeous George and the Incredible Iron-Bru-Man Incident in July. My sixth year at the Edinburgh Fringe is in August with 60+ appearances there, more school events, Book Week Scotland and my first tour of schools in Qatar. There is also the possibility of hosting events in Australia again with Perth Fringe in January 2020 and back across to Adelaide again in February. It’s great to be so busy… I think I have the best job in the world!
Wowsers…very busy and I wish you all the very best. I agree, it does sound like you have the best job!!
Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be appreciated so much 🙂 xx
Metal Sculptor based in Long Bennington, Lincolnshire, using recycled materials to create sculptures for your garden or indoor decoration. Sculpture's can be viewed & safely collected, delivery may also be available. Contact for details.
Yvonne - Me and My Books 