Caragh Reviews // The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond

Publisher - Pan Macmillan
Published - June 2011
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - Evie Flynn has always been the black sheep of her family - a dreamer and a drifter, unlike her over-achieving elder sisters. She's tried making a name for herself as an actress, a photographer and a singer, but nothing has ever worked out. Now she's stuck in temp hell, with a sensible, pension-planning boyfriend. Somehow life seems to be passing her by. Then her beloved aunt Jo dies suddenly in a car crash, leaving Evie an unusual legacy - her precious beach cafe in Cornwall. Determined to make a success of something for the first time in her life, Evie heads off to Cornwall to get the cafe and her life back on track - and gets more than she bargained for, both in work and in love...

I came about The Beach Cafe in a long roundabout way. Over Christmas I was looking for short Christmassy reads. Partly because I wanted to get into the festive spirit and partly because it was a last ditch attempt to complete my reading challenge (which didn't exactly work out...). I came across a couple of short stories by Lucy Diamond which kind of sucked me in, and then I realised they were actually part of a bigger book!

The Beach Cafe begins with Evie Flynn having some kind of a crisis about the life she is living. Her favourite Aunt has passed away and amidst her grieving, she has to face up to the fact that her long term relationship with Mr Sensible just isn't working out. Evie makes the enormous decision to move to Cornwall and take over Aunt Jo's cafe.

Evie proves that no matter what stage of life you're in, change is always possible and can definitely be for the better. Of course, Evie's transition is far from smooth, but after facing crisis after crisis, she finally lands on her feet. It's not easy but with the right people surrounding you, anything is possible and everything can be overcome. It was definitely a big change from the usual YA that I read and was mostly featuring adults and "adult" problems. I use quotations because i'm no expert in who can experiences particular issues.

The Beach Cafe isn't a book that really stays with you and has some great meaning but I honestly really enjoyed it. It was a simple read and was definitely fun! I'd recommend it as a beach/holiday book for anyone who's already making summer TBRs.

Maria V Snyder's Shadow Study Tour!

Hey guys!
Eek, i'm so excited! Hopefully this post will at least be somewhat coherent. If you know me, then you know my unending love for Maria V Snyder's 'Study' series which currently comprises of Poison Study, Magic Study and Fire Study (not to mention a somewhat related, Ixia universe, spin off series).
It was announced a while ago now that Maria would be adding 3 more books to Yelena's story.

I think I applied for early review at least 3 different times and sadly, I didn't get accepted. Something good did come of it though!

Maria V Snyder is coming to the UK to celebrate the release of Shadow Study and is doing a book signing tour! The banner at the top of this post shows when and where you can find the woman herself if like me, you need to get those books signed.

In addition to the book tour, Harlequin/Mira Ink are holding an exclusive blogger event to kick it all off and I was lucky enough to be invited! On Wednesday, Brianna and I will be travelling to Surrey to meet Maria and hopefully lots of other bloggers. If any of you guys manage to meet her at one of the upcoming tours, please feel free to post pictures and comments as i'd love to share your experiences. Look out for my write-up of the event next weekend too as i'm sure there will be plenty to say.

Do try and see Maria - details below!

Thursday 24th March

Forbidden Planet, Covent Garden

Book signing and reading: 5.30pm

Thursday 26th March

Waterstones, New Street Birmingham

Book signing: 7pm

Saturday 28th March

Waterstones, Picadilly

Book signing: 1-3pm

Sunday 29th March

Waterstones, Manchester

Book signing: 1-3pm

Monday 30th March

Waterstones, Edinburgh

Book signing: 4:30 - 7pm

Monday 6th April

Waterstones, Bristol Cribbs-Causeway

Book event: 6-8pm

Caragh Reviews // All That Glitters (Geek Girl #4) by Holly Smale

Published - 26th February 2015
Publisher - HarperCollins
Format - Kindle
Synopsis- "My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek." The fourth book in the award-winning GEEK GIRL series. Harriet Manners has high hopes for the new school year: she's a Sixth Former now, and things are going to be different. But with Nat busy falling in love at college and Toby preoccupied with a Top Secret project, Harriet soon discovers that's not necessarily a good thing...

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

So far I've been lucky enough to get access to all of the books in the Geek Girl series and every time I'm so pleased! This series is genuinely heartwarming and hilarious for readers of all ages. The writing style is accessible to all without any 'dumbing down'. Though Geek Girl is clearly aimed at pre-teens and teenagers, don't for a second think that there is nothing an adult can't get out of this book! Harriet is a shining example of how work, education, friends and all types of relationships can have a massive impact on your life.

Harriet is not only of high school age, she is a fashion model with a broken heart. Any child or adult that has had to experience that 'first day' feeling can totally relate to this addition of Smale's series. After her American adventure, Harriet now has to face going back to her old school; but this time her best friends aren't there to help her. 

I will admit, in All That Glitters, Harriet started to make me twitch a little. And not in the good, exciting kind of way. I hate to say this but she was....annoying. But after a while I realised that it wasn't Harriet at all, it was the way I was perceiving her and in my opinion, that was Smale's point. Harriet is highly intelligent and prides herself on her knowledge. She has an answer for absolutely everything but when she begins to doubt herself, I at least began to realise that this was what actually made her special. One of the points of this book is that a person shouldn't have to change in order to make friends and be important - a lesson that people of all ages could do with remembering!

All That Glitters is full of heart-bursting moments and a barrel full of laughs. I'm so excited that this series is ongoing!

Things I Find Online #1

Hey blog readers!

I know i've hashtagged this, which kind of gives the impression that there's more to come but with Loaded Shelves, blog posts are always a surprise! You wait a year and then a bunch come all at once...*cough*

Maybe this will become a thing, depending on how often I actually find stuff online that I think should be shared. All book related, of course.

One of my last posts went into great detail about my new little book system and how i've taken the decision out of my hands regarding what book I should read next.
I had some positive feedback and so tonight whilst I was browsing the interwebs (okay i'll admit it, the sound the wind is making outside is freaking me out too much to sleep), I found a little something that could be useful!

So if like me, the idea of choosing your next book seems impossible because there's just too much to choose from, the following website might come in handy. Granted if there's 100 books to choose from it might take more time than your usual methods but i've heard there are sane people out there who generally only have a handful of TBRs to pick from.

This website allows you to write a short list of the things you need to choose from, click a button and hey presto! It picks one for you. I think i'll definitely be using this in future to make some quick decisions! Of course you can also use it for things like deciding what to eat, what to watch, even what to wear if you were so inclined. I hope someone out there finds it useful anyway :)

Random Thing Picker - I swear that's the actual name. Perfect!

Caragh Reviews // Girl Online by Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella)

Published - 25th November 2014
Publisher - Atria/Keywords Press
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...Penny has a secret. Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog. But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.

I knew going into this book that I wasn't going to like it, so perhaps it isn't really fair of me to review it. But since i'm trying to get back into the swing of things, i'll give it my best shot anyway.

As much as I love the YA genre, i'm really not a fan of this type of thing. I've been trying to step outside my genres in the hope that it will keep me motivated to read but 'real life' fiction has never been my go-to genre. I had heard positive reviews though and of course i'd heard of Zoella on YouTube and well, really it was just cheap on the day I happened to get my new Kindle Fire.  

Whilst I appreciate the undertones that run through the book, the overall thing just left me feeling flat. As soon as I finished the last page i'd already moved on to something else and never really had any intentions of bringing it up again. So what undertones am I talking about?

Internet safety. A book coming from a hugely influential YouTuber was bound to cover the internet topic wasn't it? I appreciated the fact that it raised awareness of how on the internet, you can never truly be anonymous. As much as we think of 'paper trails' being a physical thing, they exist here on the internet too. I'm sure more than one of you has discovered who *I* am just because I write this blog and i've never particularly divulged any personal information. It's just something you have to be aware of whenever you post anything online.

In addition to that though, I liked the fact that the book suggested writing as a cathartic exercise. I most definitely find this to be true for me, and many many people out there. This blog in itself is one. A way to share my thoughts and feelings (albeit about books) without too much being crammed into my head. I think there will be more than a few readers who were inspired to start their own blogs thanks to Girl Online. And of course, Penny uses her blog as a way to connect to people, feel more confident and face her fears. All of these are great things and I hope that Zoe's readers take all these things into consideration when reading Girl Online.

The problem with this, for me of course, is that I already knew these things and they were so jumbled up in teen crushes and over the top story-lines sprinkled with a handful of 'oh really, what an excellent coincidence' every couple of pages, that it was actually hard to push through and see what was underneath the words.

As a first book though, and I undoubtedly believe that it was aimed at a MUCH younger audience base (I'm talking 12-14 year olds here), it wasn't half bad. For me however, I don't think i'll be first in line for the planned sequel. A straightforward simple read that just didn't really have anything in it for me.

How do you choose?

Hello blog readers!

So as I've repeatedly mentioned over the last year or so i've been...less than focused on this blog and reading in general. 2014 was the first year in a long time that I didn't meet my Goodreads Reading Challenge and I was uncharacteristically upset about it. I was angry and miserable. Ever since I was a little girl, reading has always been the one thing that i've found time for and I all but gave it up last year. Well, i'm not going to promise that i'll do any better this year but I can promise that i'm going to try.

Fortunately/Unfortunately (however you see it), my lack of reading absolutely did not stop me from buying books. So what happens when you spend a year buying books and not reading any? Uh... well let's just say my bookshelves are a little unruly right now.

When 2015 hit with my uncompleted challenge, I found myself with a new challenge. With a house full of books and a pile of bookish gifts for Christmas, I was inundated with options. What genre did I want? What kind of style? Any particular author? Should I read new or old? Can I do re-reads? The internal questions actually had me fraught with doubt that i'd ever be able to pick up again.
Luckily, the lovely Jenna Burtenshaw (Author of the fab Wintercraft series) came to rescue without even knowing it. Her Instagram showed me the delights of having very little choice at all!
Armed with many little pots that I'd gotten for Christmas (Boyfriend and I recently moved into our own house) and a stack of post-it notes from a long lost era, I realised what I had to do.

As you can see in the picture above, I used 3 different jars.
1. To read
2. Read
3. To buy

To me at least, my system is flawless.
Now whenever I find a book on my shelves that I had forgotten about and still need to read, it simply goes in the 'to read' pot to await its turn. When the time comes for a book, all of the decision is taken away! I just pick one out and voila. In theory, I should never be disappointed with whatever comes out, because they're all in there for a reason :)
Same goes for the 'to buy' pot. Every time i'm feeling the itch to go book shopping - I can just take out a slip from the pot and buy a book that I've actually been wanting!
And the 'read' pot? - Well even I need a little visual encouragement sometimes :)
The aim is to have more slips of paper in the 'read' pot than any other by the end of the year. Exciting! I thrive on goals and challenges and i'm really hoping I stick with this one. So far i've read 9 books this year, 4 ahead of my challenge, all thanks to the new brightly coloured system.

So what I really want to know is this - How do you choose?
I'm sure like me, there are way more books than time and choosing a book to read can feel really daunting. Especially after a great read.
Let me know how you decide what book to read next and how you limit your own book buying.

Caragh Reviews // Mind Games by Teri Terry

Published - (Expected) 5th March 2015
Publisher - Orchard Books
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late? Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer. The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...

I received a free kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A few years ago I read the ‘Slated’ series, which I believe was Teri’s first publication. It quickly became one of my favourite series’ and I was so happy when Hachette approved me for her new book, Mind Games! The first thing i'll say is that I really don't think the synopsis for this book does it any justice.

The premise of Mind Games is quite difficult to try and explain. Luna lives in a world where the Virtual World is everything. All activities, education and well...everything is done whilst being plugged in to a virtual world created from the mysterious ‘void’ that features throughout the book.

What I loved about the book was that there was no big explanation at the beginning of the book; telling you how the world came to be; why the world is the way it is. It’s just the life that Luna lives in and therefore she doesn’t feel the need to explain it as she doesn’t know anything else. The reader is thrown straight into the book and your imagination can unfold.

No matter how many years pass us by, technology will always seem foreign and strange to the average person. The whole idea of an invisible world connecting us all together just blows my mind and this book plays heavily on that. Like Slated, this book was full of adventure and excitement from start to finish.

It definitely raises questions about ethics and society which is pretty much all you can ask for from a book like this. With Terry's running theme on extreme tech throughout her books - I can only wonder what her personal opinion is! A must read!

**Apologies for the lameness of reviews - i'm just getting back on my feet with this whole reading thing! I can barely remember how to do this thing.**

Caragh Reviews - It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Published - 1st May 2007
Publisher - Disney Hyperion
Format - Paperback
Synopsis - Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life - which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself. Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety. Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness.

I first heard of Ned Vizzini about 2 weeks before his tragic death just last year. After watching the movie version of this book just more than a few times, I decided to look it up online to happily discover that it was based on Vizzini’s novel. Though it took me a long time to actually get and then read the book, it had been on my mind for a long time.

Mental health is both an intriguing and familiar subject matter for me, having suffered with depression myself. However, books about mental health have always left me feeling disappointed. Not because they were badly written or because of the dissociation with the characters or anything, but because they never show an everyday normal view of the person in question. It’s not easy to write about mental health issues but I think it’s even more difficult to write a character with mental health issues without having to de-humanise the character.  The character should be a character, first and foremost. With human issues and feelings. The mental health issues are second but integrated.

The thing that I enjoyed the most about this book was that Craig’s problems weren’t judged in any way. So many teenagers out there suffer with mental health problems brought on by the stresses of school and everyday life and these should not be minimised or belittled, or compared to bigger issues. Whatever the reason for mental health problems such as depression – they are all as important and dangerous as each other.  Throughout Craig’s journey in the hospital we meet a multitude of characters with varying backgrounds, ages, problems, health issues – and they are all relatable.

Despite the perhaps dark subject matter of the book, there was a lack of heaviness that is often found in books of a similar subject and target audience. The read was enjoyable and comical throughout the book. It also felt like I was discovering a lot about myself as a person and as someone who has struggled with the effects of depression and anxiety. 

I also found it interesting how quickly the characters involved themselves with each other. Though Craig was only in the hospital for a short time, he made strong  connections to the other patients. I have seen in a couple of reviews that some people think this isn’t realistic but in actual fact – it really is. Anyone who has found themselves in a closed-up situation will more than likely have experienced this kind of ‘pack’ mentality. A group of people who are all in the same situation and only have each other for communication and daily living are more likely to bond quickly and strongly.  Especially when someone is looking for a way to escape and to feel ‘normal’. It’s not only a way to re-evaluate your place but it acts as a support group. In order to ‘survive’, you have to make yourself available, approachable and it again acts as a way to stop the dehumanising that often happens when someone is labelled with mental health problems. 

Of course we have to mention the parallels to Vizzini’s own life – who struggled with mental health problems severely and eventually took his own life. Vizzini personally spent some time in a hospitalised setting and I can really feel that through his writing. 

 

Overall it was an excellent book and I am anxious to read more of his writing. 5 stars.

Caragh Reviews - The Christmas Bake Off by Abby Clements

Published - 20th December 2012
Publisher - Quercus
Format - Kindle
Synopsis - With Christmas just around the corner, the residents of Skipley village are gearing up for the annual bake off, and tensions are high. Winning means a lot to everyone involved - talented cake-shop owner Katie dreams of baking stardom, Rachel wants to prove she's more than a stay-at-home mum, and John hopes his culinary skills will impress the woman he loves. But when the judges discover that some cakes have been tampered with, the villagers' loyalties are called into question - whose ambition would stretch to sabotage, and why? The Christmas Bake-Off is an exclusive short story from Abby Clements, author of Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. This ebook edition also includes bonus recipes for cinnamon cookies and vanilla and almond biscuits.

With the holidays coming (already!) I've been hunting the Kindle Store for quick festive reads. I can't remember if this one was free but even if it wasn't, it was dirt cheap! 

For a short story, it featured an array of characters, a little mystery and a burst of festive joy - which is all you really want from it. Personally I wasn't overly impressed but I always have this sense of unfinished business when I read short stories. I know that the point of them is to be brief and to the point but I always think they have so much more potential that just never gets given to us!

However, it was fun and cute, and this particular edition came with free recipes for Christmassy cookies which I genuinely am interested in trying! Also, be prepared to be absolutely craving big fancy cakes after reading this book.

Brief hello! I'm here to schedule!

I'm always afraid to check this website because I've left it abandoned and alone for so long.

23800 Views and 299 Posts...
For some reason those figures make me squirm. At least this post will make it 300!
I swear reviews are coming! I've got a few things scheduled for the near future to get this thing up and running again.

I'm still not reading a lot, therefore making this whole thing a little redundant, but who cares right? As long as I've got something to say, I may as well keep it going. I started this blog for me so I'm carrying on that way! I guess we'll see what happens but I'm excited to officially be back!