Introducing Past on Paper...

First off, apologies. I'm sorry I haven't been around much of late. Real life getting in the way again, as it has an annoying tendency to do so on occasions. And that has a knock on effect on my reading, unfortunately. But I'd like to mark my return after a bit of a temporary reviewing hiatus by introducing you to this new sort-of feature. I was planning on cramming this all into one month, but I'm terrible a sticking to time-limits and all that so I've decided to have it as an ongoing thing that I will just add to as and when I please. Pretty much like the rest of this blog then...

So, let me explain.... at the moment I'm attempting to write a contemporary YA of sorts and that should be finished in maybe a decade or so if my current work ethic is anything to go by. But my thoughts have already turned to what I might attempt next. Up until last year, whenever I thought about 'historical' fiction, my mind conjured up all the old, old stuff, the sort of thing that involved lots of corsets. Which has never really appealed, to be honest. But a few books I read late last year/ early this year got me interested in the whole idea of twentieth century-set historical YA and I'm in the very early stages of planning a book set in the late 1960s. I might tell you all about it one day....

So here's what I'm going to do with this feature - every now and again I'll focus on a different decade of the twentieth century and see what I can dig up in terms of YA set in that era. And also with (hopefully) the odd author and blogger interview thrown in too. AND for extra treats, a potential To Be Written post with Jo. Huzzah! *bites nails*

So let me know what you think and if you want to get involved...and any recommendations for what you think I should be reading too, of course...

Friday Book Bargains #8

I’ve been struggling to think up a theme for this week, but you pleased to hear I managed it finally. I was sifting through some sites and a few things struck me. Ok, one thing struck me – I noticed there’s a new cover for Code Name Verity. So I thought I’d look for a few other old favourites as well as a few that are on my wishlist. So that’s an old favourites and wishlist theme then. A bit broad but so be it…

So I found this WH Smiths voucher code that has up to 75% off. And this is where I noticed the different Code Name Verity cover. Not quite sure how much I like, but I was never that big a fan of the first one. The bookon the other hand….anyway, it’s only £5.99, reduced from £7.99. And talking of revisiting old classics (because Code Name Verity is sure to be a future classic), all this Tiger Eyes movie stuff is making me think it’s time to pick up the book again as it was one of my absolute favourites when I was actually a teenager. So I did a little search and WH Smith have it for under a fiver! I hope it’s as good as I remember it.

Moving onto Waterstones discount vouchers, which are always a welcome treat – I found two that are on my TBR list at the moment on price cut. And those two would be the much-anticipated Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O’Porter which they’ve got for £5.99 (was 7.99). And also The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey for the same price. I’ve read so many brilliant reviews of this and it’s making me get excited about dystopian books, which hardly ever happens.

And finally, I think in my last post I mentioned The Works as they had The Hunger Games trilogy at a great price. Well, we’ve still got a The Works discount code that saves 10% but that’s not the only thing – I had a quick look at their other YA offerings and found these three little beauties for only £1.99 each – The Future of Us (have wanted to read for ages), Adorkable (bloody brilliant) and Koh Tabu (I have this waiting to be read to fuel my need for historical fiction that’s not too historical). Lovely stuff….

YA REVIEW: 'The Reece Malcolm List' - Amy Spalding (Entangled Teen, 2013)

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much. L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love. But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything? (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Recently, when I was supposed to be working, I was in fact half-listening to a radio interview I had on in the background. A film director was talking about his latest project (I can't remember who it was or the film - I did say I was half-listening), but a point he made really caught my attention - he said that in real life our relationships with our friends are never black and white and that people we like often do annoying or bad things but it doesn't stop us being friends with them because everyone is slightly muddled, but that you can't really convey this on film, because things tend to need to have a stronger message. Or something like that. I don't think I necessarily agree with his point, but this kind of describes the thing I loved most about The Reece Malcolm  List - that fact that people aren't perfect and their characters can sometimes be a bit murky and annoying but that's what friendship, and relationships are all about. It's not the main plot of the book, but it's the one that sticks in my mind the most.

I do apologise. That was a very long-winded way of starting a review.

Anyway, this was one of those books that I kept reading until about two in the morning. Which I wasn't expecting in the slightest when I first started it. On the face of it, this has very similar elements to a lot of contemporary YA - death of a parent, trying to fit in with new surroundings, fancying the pants off seemingly unattainable bloke, you know the drill. I was expecting mild diversion rather than a full-on kindle-clutching fest.

But the writing really elevated this - Devan's voice is spot on. I'm always a bit sceptical when I know the main character is a shy and awkward type because so often this veers into annoying and self-pitying territory and I end up shouting 'GROW A PAIR!' at the book. Even though I use to be a shy and awkward teen myself. But I loved Devan - just the right balance of wariness and hidden determination. I was a bit worried about how a self-styled 'fashionista' and belter of show tunes could also be a bit of a mouse, but I guess it's testament to the quality of the writing that I ended up being utterly convinced by her. And the eponymous Reece Malcolm - another triumph of a very guarded woman trying to do her best in an unusual situation.

There were a few irritations, one being the love interest. He was alright, I suppose. And I'm always a fan of the expectation of the kissing, and there was a lot of that here. But he was just a bit too needy and whiny for my liking. And this brings me onto another conundrum - I'm never sure quite how much I like an author to describe a character's appearance, because I ended up getting a bit confused with this one - he's described by someone as like Disney's Aladdin - all good, but in my imagination, I had to tone down the hair somewhat. But then someone else says he has big hair. And now I'm all confused again. And then he's unexpectedly toned, but I had him pegged as lean because a T-shirt 'hangs on him like the shirt had fulfilled its sole mission in life.' In the end, I couldn't get the image of a tall but overly-muscle bound bouffanted boy out of my head. CONFUSION. Some things are best left to imagination.

But like I said before, for me, this was all about the realistic depiction of friendship and how much it means to teenagers. Muddled relationships are the way forward! 

YA REVIEW: 'In Darkness' - Nick Lake (Bloomsbury, 2012)

In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital: thirsty, terrified and alone. 'Shorty' is a child of the slums, a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime, and who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Soleil: men who dole out money with one hand and death with the other. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him and a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost five years ago. And he is marked. Marked in a way that links him with Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian rebel who two-hundred years ago led the slave revolt and faced down Napoleon to force the French out of Haiti. As he grows weaker, Shorty relives the journey that took him to the hospital, a bullet wound in his arm. In his visions and memories he hopes to find the strength to survive, and perhaps then Toussaint can find a way to be free ... (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Sometimes it's the books that are the most difficult to catagorise or pigeon-hole that are the ones worth seeking out. I wouldn't describe this as either contemporary YA or historical YA, yet it contains elements of both and manages to fuse them to make something quite unique. It annoys me when people sometimes describe UKYA as 'gritty', maybe because what is perhaps intended to come across as edginess only ends up sounding forced and might as well have  LET'S TALK ABOUT ALL THE ISSUES plastered across the cover. But not only could this be described as 'gritty' (I wouldn't use that word personally), but reading it almost felt like I was picking bits of the grit from open wounds. This is a good thing, by the way. 

I'm struggling to think of a YA book I've read that's come close to this in terms of unflinching power. Emotion, yes, but it's the combination of subject matter and the unapologetic way it conveys it that's pretty damn amazing. Put it this way, anyone who thinks of young adult fiction as 'fluffy' needs to read this - it's about as fluffy as heavy-duty sandpaper.  And the prose is just so skilled - switching between the two completely different voices of Shorty and Toussaint and remaining utterly convincing with both, for example. Sometimes, when I'm reading a book, I think along the lines 'oh, that's fantastic writing, I can see what they did there' which is great, but the whole point of fantastic writing is, in my opinion, for it to completely submerge me in a book so I shouldn't even notice these things. And, for the most part, this book did just that...eventually...

Which brings me to the downside of picking up such a powerful read, and I think this probably is more a criticism of my reading habits than the book itself. I've talked about this in previous posts - my concentration when it comes to reading isn't quite what it was and it's very rare that I actually get the opportunity to sit down and lose myself in a story. I think this book requires that of the reader to fully appreciate it. I kept having to dip in and out and as a consequence, the impact was a bit lost. It was only when I was getting to the last third that it really took its hold.

Like I said before, I think he really nailed the two voices of Shorty and Toussaint perfectly, but for me, sometimes the switching back and forth slowed down the action, especially in Shorty's tale. As much as I loved the story behind Haiti's independence, it was Shorty's struggle in the aftermath of the earthquake and the recounting of the loss of his innocence that had the real emotional pull for me.

So if you're thinking about reading this one, set aside a few hours without interruption and let these words consume from the inside out. That's much more appealing than it sounds.

Oh, and tissues. Don't forget tissues. You will need them. Plenty of tears and snot. Nice.

FRIDAY BOOK BARGAINS #7

So, you know the drill by now – every second Friday, I do a hunt through my work site for some book discounts and this week is a bit of a bumper haul, you might be glad to hear…

Flipping ages ago, I wrote a My YA Confessions post abouthow I’ve never read The Hunger Games. Well, I feel I need to update this post. Or not. Because I STILL haven’t read it (stifle that gasp of horror people). I’m not sure why – I have it on my kindle, but I think it’s that whole heap of expectation that’s piled on before I attempt a big read like that. THE PRESSURE. Anyway, the reason I’m bringing it up again is because I found a something that might encourage me to start it finally – I’ve long been attracted to this set of covers , and now even more so, because I saw them on The Works site reduced to £7.99 for the lot, AND I saw that we have a The Worksdiscount voucher  so I can get 13% off when I spend £20. Which I’m sure I can without too much trouble.

Secondly, I’ve read a few mixed reviews about this one, but the premise is very intriguing, so I’ll still give it a go, I reckon. Using this Waterstones voucher offer, I found The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr reduced to £5.59. Another confession – I’ve never read any Sara Zarr books. Not doing too well today, am I?

And now I’m saving the very best for last. You’ve probably already heard about the new jackets for the Chaos Walking Trilogy. If you’ve read my reviews for those books, you might know that I’m a bit of fan, so buying the new editions, complete with NEW SHORT STORIES is a bit of no brainer (sorry, but that just deserves caps). So it’s May Day weekend and The Hive Store have aspecial bank holiday discount coupon where you get 15% off and free delivery, but only until 7^th May mind. Now, I really like The Hive Store – they act as a means for local independent bookstores to get sales, so you now know where I’m going for my Patrick Ness shopping spree as soon as I’ve finished typing this post…

I Need to Get Out More #3: Scottishness

*WARNING: CONTAINS HOLIDAY SNAPS*

So I was mulling over what I could write about for this feature, seeing as I haven't been to any writing or reading-related events recently. And then it dawned on me that I have been somewhere. Somewhere that involved going a bit further than a few stops on the tube (this a rare occasion these days).

Pebble tossing: it never gets old

Yes, you may have already guessed that this post is about a land north of the border. But it's not going to be just me waffling on about what we got up to on our jollies (eating fish and chips for the most part, in case you actually are interested). No, I'm going to attempt to link this into my writing a bit and and also a few things I've been thinking about recently. I don't think I've talked much about my WIP before, only because I live in fear of sounding like a right twonk if I start, but here goes....

Nice chest

My story is set in west London. I live in west London and I love living in west London, but it does have it's downsides, the main one being the cost. And most of my family live in Scotland, relatively near to a very beautiful part of Scotland. So you can imagine that thoughts have turned to the possibility of moving there. However, whenever I travel to places that I love, or that I imagine I will love, it always gets me thinking about where I consider to be home and why I consider it to be home.

In my WIP, I'm trying to explore this - trying to explore a teenager's ties with her home and why these bonds can't always be put into words and no matter how much we desire to go see the world, certain things that we can't always put our fingers on will always draw us back or maybe even prevent us from leaving in the first place.

WHEN THE SKY FAAAALLLLLLLSSSS.....

I've lived in this part of London on and off for the last ten years and we've tried moving away. As far away as possible, in fact, but we're are always drawn back. Personally, I don't consider the town where I grew up as home at all. I barely even give it a second thought and I certainly don't miss it (it's not in Scotland by the way). But I can understand the idea of a place getting under someone's skin and leaving it's mark. Hopefully I'll be able to convey this in my writing, and my recent visit to Scotland emphasised this even more - no matter how beautiful and breath-taking a place is, no matter how strong your ties are with the people who live there, home is home is home.

So London is where we shall remain....

FRIDAY BOOK BARGAINS #6

Bit of a mixed bag this week….

If, like me, you might find it a bit of a pain in the bum when you really DON’T want to order through a certain very convenient online book supplier ALL of the time, but most of the time you’re a bit strapped for cash and it’s just unavoidable. Of course, the lack of money never actually affects the purchasing of the books at the end of the day. Because the thought of NOT buying books is one that I just can’t bring myself to face. So, I had a look through the old book voucher codes to see if there were any decent sales that brought paperbacks in line with certain attractive prices…

And I found out that WH Smith have a sale on at the moment! And I also found out that The Diviners is reduced to £5.24, as is Butter by Erin Jade Lange – a book that I’ve been wanting to read for a little while now.

Now, I know these aren’t YA, but I feel the need to tell you how much I love these books. If they’d been around when I was the same age as my kids are now, I’d be writing about them in nostalgia-themed blog posts a-plenty. Everyone has heard of The Gruffalo, but I need to give a special mention to Tabby McTat and Stick Man by the same author and illustrator collaboration – Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Anyway, they’re beyond brilliant. And there also in the same sale.

You might remember me banging on about bookish wall art a few weeks back. Well, I think it’s still well worth me mentioning the same 15%off deal from AllPosters.co.uk because they have this rather fetching The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes print which I adore. Along with about a million and one other gorgeous bookish prints….