From the Review Pile (27)

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.

The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or if you don't receive review books, any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

I know that a lot of you have a huge pile of books that you want to read/review, but it understandably takes a while to get around to reading them all - here you can give a book (or two!) some of the publicity that it deserves, even if you haven't read it yet!

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This week, I'm going to showcase The Lost Christmas!

I only received this book a couple of weeks ago but I am desperate to read it!
I'm a sucker for a Christmas themed book, so I will be looking forward to delving into this one very soon indeed!

Lost Christmas by David Logan

Paperback, 289 pages

Published October 2011 (Republished 2012) by Quercus

When Goose's parents are killed in a car crash on Christmas Eve, his life changes utterly. Living with his increasingly senile Nan, his dog Mutt is the only thing keeping him sane. His only other friend is Frank, a former friend of his father. Frank's own life is falling apart and he has recruited Goose to help him carry out petty theft around the city. A year to the day since the accident that changed his life, Goose meets Anthony, a strange man who has forgotten who he is, but seems to know more about others than they know about themselves. When Mutt goes missing, Goose has no choice but to rely on Anthony to help find him. In an adventure that draws in Frank, who's lost his family, an old lady who's lost a precious bangle, an elderly doctor who's lost his wife and mother who's lost her daughter, Goose follows Anthony across Manchester. But at the centre of the mystery is Anthony himself: who is he, how does he know so much and can he help Goose and the others find what they're searching for?

Before I Die

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Paperback, 345 pages

Published  October 2008 by Black Swan

My shelves: books-i-own, contemporary, death, desperate-to-read, favourites, medical-conditions, read, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, really-good, title-appeal, young-adult

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

Before I Die is one of those books that I've wanted to read since I heard of it's existence. It was one of those books that I just knew I would love, that would be special to me. However, it's taken me years to pick up the book even though it's been sitting on my bookshelf. It may sound strange, but I always put off books that I really want to read, as you can only experience them for the first time once. I am so glad that reading this book lived up to, or perhaps even exceeded, my expectations.

This book tells the story of Tessa, a girl with terminal illness and a bucket list of things that she is determined to do, including having sex, taking drugs and breaking other laws, before she dies. Tessa is like a lot of teenagers, with the one difference being that she is terminally ill. Our main character is very thought provoking, super brave, sometimes a bit reckless, somewhat scared and a little confused. It is very easy to connect with Tessa as she is a very genuine character and one who I came to truly care for as the book progressed. As you can imagine, Tessa has a lot of mixed feelings about her illness and the end of her life and it is interesting to see how they changed as time went on. I have no idea how I'd react in Tessa's situation, but all I know is that Tessa's thoughts and emotions felt so real. 

A lot of relationships are explored in this book in a very touching way, all very impressive. Reading about Tessa's relationship with her close family was very poignant - I really loved her relationship with her brother which had the usual banter and fun of a brother/sister friendship with a serious issue behind it. Tessa's father found his daughter's illness understandably difficult and reacted much in the way as I probably would have in his situation - though he did try to keep strong, his sadness was very evident. I didn't find Tessa's mum to contribute to the book all that much, but perhaps that was because I couldn't relate to her family situation. I was a bit unsure about Tessa's best friend, Zoey. Although their friendship is written well, I am still not sure how I feel about Zoey as a character - Though I was glad she tried to get on with life and help Tessa do the same, I felt she lacked some sensitivity, however there is no doubt that, however dysfunctional their relationship was, Zoey and Tessa were firm friends. The other main relationship in this book was the romantic one between Tessa and Adam. I absolutely loved Adam's attitude and admired his devotion towards Tessa. With a book like this, it could've felt that a romance was just added as an extra, but this really added something to the book - something very special.

Jenny Downham has done an fantastic job of making this book feel real - all of the little added details and the strong, powerful emotions of each character had serious impact. The ending of this book is expectedly heart wrenching and I ended up in floods of tears, however, it felt right - it wrapped up well and though I knew what was coming, it hit me hard. I absolutely adored Downham's writing and look forward to seeing what else she can offer. I'd recommend this for both young adults and adults - it's a book I will be raving about for some time to come!

Stacking the Shelves & Showcase Sunday (26)

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Showcase Sunday is hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea.

These memes are a replacement of The Story Siren's In My Mailbox.

Stacking the Shelves and Showcase Sunday make a place to showcase your new books,

whether you obtained them through the post or otherwise.

 

I came home to find a rather large parcel on my doorstep yesterday! I received three very different books for review. One book was The Infernal Devices - Clockwork Angel which is actually a manga book and caught my eye straight away - I haven't read a book in this format before, but I look forward to trying it out! I also received Hidden and Struck by Lightening!

I'd also like to give my thanks to the author of 27 who sent me her book for review at the start of this week  - it looks very interesting and very appealing!

I actually got these books last week but forgot to include them in my post! I bought both of these on offer, Eighty Days Blue and Reflected In You. I haven't read the predecessors yet, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy those first!

From the Review Pile (26)

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.

The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or if you don't receive review books, any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

I know that a lot of you have a huge pile of books that you want to read/review, but it understandably takes a while to get around to reading them all - here you can give a book (or two!) some of the publicity that it deserves, even if you haven't read it yet!

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I'm sorry for the late post this week - I've been quite busy, so I apologise!

This week, I'm going to showcase The Witch of Turlingham Academy!

This is a book that has had fantastic reviews and looks like a promising quick read. I've been a little hesitant of reading it as it's aimed towards a younger audience, but I definitely want to give it a try!

The Witch of Turlingham Academy by Ellie

Paperback, 212 pages

Published March 2012 by Atom

It's not easy being the only day girl at Turlingham Academy: Sophie misses out on all the midnight feasts and late night gossip. And when new girl Katy turns up it feels like she's bewitching all of Sophie's friends! Katy's no witch, but there is a witch at Turlingham. Katy comes from a long line of witch hunters whose job is to stop evil magic. Sophie is going to help her - anything to get Katy out of her life and get things back to normal. But what she discovers means nothing will ever be normal again!