Exciting yet Scary News!

I am excited, yet apprehensive, to say that I have finally taken the plunge and transferred my blog to WordPress. I thought it was about time I created my own domain and shook things up a bit. Having focused on books for so long, I was keen to branch out and blog about some other elements of my life that I know will be useful to others. For example, my new obsession with planning/organising.

I will be sad to leave Blogger as it has served me well over the years and has done better than I had ever expected. For first-time bloggers it is the perfect tool into the blogging world with it's user-friendly interface and manageable coding. 

However, the time has come to say goodbye. Just to let you all know - I currently have NO IDEA what I am doing over on WordPress and am predicting countless hours spent pouring over instruction guides and self-help books. 

While I try my best to deepen my geekability please check out what I have created so far. All my book posts have been transferred and you can still expect the usual eclectic book recommendations. And you never know, you might just find another amazing product or idea you weren't expecting. (FYI, these will always be related to well-being and happiness). 

Thank you all so much for following me here and I hope to see many of you over at my new domain :)

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Read. Rest. Relax

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January Wrap Up

With one of my New Year's Resolutions being to make more time for reading/writing I have decided to post a monthly wrap up each month. Many other bloggers put me to shame by reading 20+ books each month but, being a full time teacher, I unfortunately do not have time for this. 

However, I am proud of my own personal achievement of reading five books this month. Who knows, maybe in February (with half term on the horizon) I can increase this to ten. I also attended Scholastic's YA and Children's Book Blogger Feasts this month and have, consequently, added even more amazing books to my TBR. 

What I Read This Month

  




Just In Case by Meg Rosoff - Review Here

 



Trouble by Non Pratt - Review Here

















The Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire - Review Here

 I received 'Jedi Academy' at the Scholastic Blogger Event and picked it up one evening for a quick, easy read. Having never seen any of the Star Wars films (shock horror) I was able to follow the plot with relative ease. 
Jedi Academy is the tale of Roan, a young boy who, more than anything, wishes to follow in his father's footsteps and earn a place at Pilot School. Unfortunately, this wish does not come true and Roan fears he is doomed to attend 'Plant School' until, one day, he receives a letter detailing his acceptance into Jedi Academy. At Jedi Academy, Roan learns how to use 'the force' and enters into a light saber tournament. 
This book has a quirky, cool layout involving comic strips, posters, emails, report cards and pages from Roan's exercise books. The pages include scribbles, drawings and crossings out which all help to make the reader feel that it is a young child directly telling his story. I read this book in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed the ride through Star Wars heaven. 

February TBR

Having, thankfully, discovered Jeff Lemire this month I asked my sister (who is an avid comic fan) if she had any of his other work. One day later this arrived at my door and I couldn't be more excited to dive right in. 



 

My January into February read will continue to be 'The Bell Between Worlds' by Ian Johnstone. I am not really a lover of fantasy novels, however I am persevering with this one as it has been compared to the likes of J.K Rowling's Harry Potter. Comment below if you have started 'The Mirror Chronicles Series' and let me know your thoughts. 










   
I also MUST read 'The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury' this month as I am hearing great things and the cover is to die for! I was lucky enough to meet Melinda at a blogger event and enjoyed hearing the inspiration behind her novel (plus a recount of her 'Dino Snores' stay at The Natural History Museum).




There are a few books that have been on my TBR for a long time and, fingers crossed, February is the month to tick them off. These include...

How to get the best out of reading with children

How to get the best out of reading with children

As winter nights draw in , Mark O’Donnell, the new headmaster of St Martin’s Ampleforth, the prep school at Ampleforth College has provided some top tips on reading with young children.

Mark says, “Unlocking a child’s imagination through reading enriches their vocabulary and gives them the opportunity to form opinions and articulate their thoughts.

“Recent research undertaken at Harvard has highlighted the significance of reading to and with children before asking them about what they have read and discussing the ideas, context and relationships that stories provide. 

“By encouraging children to articulate their ideas you are providing them with opportunities to gain new insights and develop their ability to form opinions and to think ever more effectively.”

Mark’s tips based on nearly 20 years’ experience teaching ages 3-12:

1. Make reading a part of your family life – Always encourage reading, whether it is on the back of a cereal box at breakfast, or road signs on the way to school.
2. Indulge their interests – Children are more likely to stay engaged if the book is on a topic they are interested in, it also helps to see what topic they are most enjoying at school and find a book to match it. 
3. Get comfortable! – A quiet, cosy environment is perfect for some independent reading so your child can concentrate, as well as reading together.
4. Be sure to ask questions – To keep them interested in the story and encourage them to reflect on what they’re reading, ask your child what they think will happen next or where you got to the previous night to make sure they’re engaged.
5. Read again and again – It’s important that you encourage your child to re-read favourite books and poems to help build up fluidity and confidence.
6. Rhyme and repetition – Books and poems which include rhyme and repetition are great for encouraging your child or children to join in and remember the words.

Mark adds: “There are also marked benefits for the parents when they read with their child. It reminds them of how they enjoyed being read to and sharing this time together further strengthens the bond between a child and a parent. It also allows parents to become very aware of their child’s social, emotional, and intellectual development.”

Scholastic Blogger Event plus Exciting 90s Kid News

This weekend I had the privilege of being invited to not one but two of Scholastic's Blogger Book Feasts. I had an amazing time, met some lovely people and was introduced to some brilliant new titles coming out next year. I was very lucky to come away with proofs of many of these titles and my problem now lies in what to read first.

I also had the opportunity to meet some of the authors and listen to their first hand experiences of how they got into writing and what sparked their ideas. Both Liz Pichon (the author of Tom Gates) and Cerrie Burnell (from CBeebies) were charismatic and informative and have almost inspired me to write my own book! 

The rest of this post will take you back to the old school.

 

First up is Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials series. I was shocked to hear that Northern Lights, was first published in July 1995. (Wow that makes me feel old). To celebrate 20 years of these incredible books, Scholastic are re-releasing these beautiful paperback editions in March 2015. 

My next piece of 90's nostalgia news is hugely exciting and almost made me wee a little bit when I found out. GOOSEBUMPS IS BACK! Not only is there a film coming out in 2016, starring Jack Black, but Scholastic in the UK and USA are teaming up to promote a re-release of the books. With five titles out in March, and many more to follow, I couldn't be more excited. The covers have been given a fresh new look set to scare a whole new generation of kids. I was lucky enough to be given a copy of 'Stay Out of the Basement' which I will be devouring in due course. There will also be a biography detailing the life and works of R.L Stine and some film tie-in editions out in March 2016.

 So, READER BEWARE, YOU'RE IN FOR A SCARE!

When your TBR list becomes OUT OF CONTROL (blog update)

After an amazing (but busy) Christmas, New Year and birthday weekend I finally had some spare time this weekend to read and update my blog.

With a love of reading I decided to start a blog in 2013 as a way of sharing my love of books with others. Soon this became more than just a hobby and authors/publishers very kindly started sending me shit tons of free books in the post. Believe me, for a reading lover, receiving free books in the post is like Christmas coming round time and time again.

However, I am now finding myself with a TBR list that is becoming OUT OF CONTROL. 

Being a full time primary teacher (and head of year), it is difficult to find time to do anything other than work. The life of a teacher is HARD and, in the Winter months, I find myself becoming more and more exhausted to the point where I can literally go to bed at 8pm and sleep through till my alarm goes off at 6am the next morning. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching, but the work/life balance controversy that is so often debated in the media is becoming a real issue for many of us teachers out there. 

For this reason, I have neglected my blog recently but my New Years resolution is to make time for things I enjoy doing and one of those things is reading and sharing this passion with you guys. This year, I have set myself the goal of reading 70 books and I hope to upload reviews of as many of these as I can.



Exciting Book Related Stuff

Scholastic have kindly invited me to their Book Bloggers Feast next weekend. I recently attended my first bloggers event at Walker Publishing House and had a great time listening to snippets from this year's upcoming YA titles. With many publishers now organising their events on a Saturday it means I can attend lots more book blogger functions. :)




I would also like to say a massive THANK YOU to Harper Collins who recently sent me a10th anniversary hardback edition of Looking for Alaska by John Green. Not only is this copy GOLD but it includes an author's introduction and deleted scenes. My original review of Looking for Alaska ca be found here but I will certainly be re-reading this bad boy at some point this year. 

Become an Ava Advocate

To become an ‘Ava Advocate’ and help The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton take flight, email Walker Books at marketing@walker.co.uk with your name, age, and tell them your answer to this question:

If you were born with wings like Ava, where would they take you?

The selected advocates will receive two paperback copies of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton, one for you and one for a friend, as well as some beautiful feather bookmarks to share and help Ava fly.

You can read an extract here, or visit Wattpad to read an extended part of the story.

BookTube-A-Thon Catchup

So I kind of epically failed with the BookTube-A-Thon challenge reading 4 of my 7 chosen books. However, I am now on summer holidays so the good news is I have weeks of reading time  ahead of me!

I really enjoyed The Year Of The Rat by Clare Furness which I would give four out of five stars. This book tells the story of Pearl and her sister Rose, who Pearl refers to as 'The Rat'. Clare Furness writes beautifully and explores Pearl's grief following her mother's death over the course of a year. During these twelve months, Pearl sees, hears and speaks to her deceased mother as she slowly comes to terms with what has happened. Blaming her new baby sister for her mother's death, Pearl struggles to bond with 'The Rat' - a concept that Clare Furness deals with delicately. This book is both funny and heart wrenching and will leave you captivated throughout. 



I also managed to read The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. Unfortunately, I watched the film before I read the book. The two are soooooo different and, as expected, the book is a million times better than the film. I won't say too much about the differences as I don't want to give away any spoilers. This book is excellent and explores the theme of mental health exquisitely. Both the relationships between Pat and his father and Pat and Tiffany made the book a real success and the story entirely believable. If you have yet to read it please please please do so without seeing the movie first.  


 
My graphic novels I devoured very quickly and will upload separate reviews ASAP.
As soon as I finished Saga I rushed out to buy the next two episodes in the series. This series is amazing and a must read for all lovers of sci-fi and fantasy fiction. 




One thing I have learned from attempting BookTube-A-Athon is that I don't like audio books. I downloaded the audio version of Mockingjay from my local library service and could not get past the first chapter. The narrator's voice was whiny, mono-tone and dreary and hurt my ears!! I will definitely give another audiobook a try but this experience has certainly put me off for the time being!!

BookTube-A-Thon

Book Tube-A-Thon has arrived!! 

I am sure many will agree I am crazy for even attempting to take part in BookTube-A-Thon as, being a full time primary school teacher, I am still at work next week. However, I hate to miss out on a challenge so I am going to attempt to read as much as I can. Seven books in seven days... Never gonna happen. Unless I cut out sleep. Who needs sleep?

So this year Aerial Bissett (creator) has set seven challenges for the BookTube-A-Thon.  Here are my choices. Please comment below if you are reading/have read any of the following and let me know what you thought. 

Challenge 1: A Book With Pictures

For this challenge I have chosen Through The Wood Stories by Emily Carroll. This is a graphic novel made up of five short horror stories. The pictures are AMAZING and I love scary shit so this is right up my street. This also ticks off challenge 3: A Book With Red On The Cover.

Challenge 2: Start & Finish A Series

As explained above, I am going to have very little time to complete this read-a-thon in a week therefore I have made the genius decision to choose the MockingJay audio book as my finish a series challenge. I have loved both the books and films in the Hunger Games series and it is about time I read the final instalment. Also, having never listened to an audiobook, I am looking forward to trying this out. My audiobook edition was downloaded free of charge from my library's Ebook service. 

Challenge 3: A Book With Red On The Cover

See challenge 1.

Challenge 4: A Book Someone Else Picks Out For You

For this challenge I have chosen And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. This wasn't so much chosen for me but recommended by a friend. The Kite Runner is one of my favourite books of all time so I hope this novel by Hosseini lives up to expectations. 

Challenge 5: A Book From The Genre You've Read Least This Year

Ok I'm kinda cheating with this one because I have chosen a dystopian and I ALWAYS read dystopians. However, it can also be classed as a classic and it is this genre that I do not read enough of. George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four has been on my TRL for a very very long time and I am pleased that BookTube-A-Thon is finally forcing me to read it. 

Challenge 6: A Book To Movie Adaptation

This is the challenge where you read the book then watch the movie (the way round it should always be because the book is always better than the film). I have watched some fantastic move adaptations recently including The Fault In Our Stars and Divergent. For this challenge I have decided to read The Silver Linings Playbook purely because it has been on my shelf for ages and I have yet to see the film. Nothing to do with Bradley Cooper being in it I promise ;)

Challenge 7: Read Seven Books 

The final challenge was to read seven books. I have added The Year Of The Rat by Clare Furniss to the mix based on the fact I am already reading it and need to return it to the library soon. I have also included Saga Volume One which I need to finish ASAP. This graphic novel is BRILLIANT and I can't rate it enough. Check back soon for my Saga review. 

So that's it. Seven books. Seven days. Seven challenges. Wish me luck! 

Through The Woods by Emily Carroll

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

The Year of The Rat by Clare Furniss

Saga by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

MockingJay by Suzanne Collins

So Many Books! So Little Time!

Half term has arrived!

Everyone who knows me knows that I put 100% effort into everything I do. That couldn't be more true of my job and teaching 30 children everyday is hard work believe me!

So, like many other teachers out there, I am thrilled to say that half term has arrived. My blog has been somewhat neglected recently and my stack of review books is growing ever larger by the day. 

I am hoping to read and review as many as I can over the next week, as well as taking part in some Halloween antics and film/tv immersion. While I am on the topic of films - I have seen two absolute winners recently so if you haven't already been to see these then make sure you go!!

The first was Prisoners - a thriller about the disappearance of two six year old girls. At two and a half hours, this was a long film but I enjoyed every minute. It was A-MAZ-ING. 

                                        

The second film I rate is.... TURBO! Yes I'm 26. Yes it's for kids. But animation films are sooo good and I even shed a tear for Theo/Turbo the snail. Go and watch it! And if you need any more convincing then... SNOOP DOG IS IN IT. Enough said. 

                  

I digress... 
Here are some of my recent purchases and review copies with reviews to follow...

 Review Copies

      

Recent Purchases

                                     

 

Bout Of Books August 2013

Bout of Books 

Being a blogging virgin, I only found out about Bout Of Books yesterday via Twitter. So I am a day late and VERY busy this week with a trip to Thorpe Park and a wedding in Manchester (3 and a half hours drive away for me). However, I like a challenge and I love reading so I decided to take part in the read-a-thon anyway. Who needs sleep ey?

I have set myself a target of 5 books and I am going to allow myself an extra day (seeing as I started late). 

I am starting with a review request, Wild Water by Jan Ruth, and then moving onto the following...

                           

I know lots of you will be reading this shaking your heads in despair that I have not read these bestsellers yet but give me seven days and BOOM I will be part of the Divergent/Mortal Instruments/Hunger Games fan club (hopefully). I have heard really great things about them! As for War Horse, lots of people tell me the play/film is amazing and it's only 182 pages so I was kind of cheating with that one! 

Bout Of Books Challenge

Wild Water by Jan Ruth

City Of Bones, The Mortal Instruments Book One by Cassandra Clare

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Catching Fire, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Divergent by Veronica Roth

90's Kid Favourites!

So my goosebumps post got me reminiscing about the books I used to read when I was younger. Thanks to my mum and a good education I have grown up with a love of reading and, working as a primary teacher, I am able to pass this love on to the children I work with too. I remember being on holiday in America with my parents (around the age of 12) and being told off in the hire car for reading instead of taking in the sights. I did, and always will, have my nose in a book!

However, they don't make children's books like they used to!! I am a hardcore 90s kid... I loved the toys, I loved the TV shows, I loved the books! Check out some of these bad boys and then tell me you don't agree...

 

The Rainbow Fish was one of my all time favourites so imagine my excitement when my Year Three teacher told me I was going to play the part of 'octopus' in our class assembly. Some black Lycra and four pairs of stuffed tights later and there I was, in the best performance of 'The Rainbow Fish' the world has ever seen. I always will be jealous of the kid that played the rainbow fish.

I remember being very good at reading in primary school and progressing to the top set. Yes you heard right... The top set! *Takes a bow*. These absolute classics were then at the top of my reading list. Oh how I wish I had kept them!!

                

I can't mention 90's books without reminding everyone of these!
Hours of my childhood were spent squinting and going cross eyed in a desperate attempt to view a 3D picture. If only we knew that in 10+ years we would have 3D films and television at our fingertips. Pretty embarrassing really.

Calling all you scientists out there! PLEASE invent a time machine and take me back to my youth. I want to be a 90's kid again!

                  

Dystopian Novels

I LOVE LOVE LOVE anything dystopian whether it be novels, comics, films or television series. I particularly enjoyed the last couple of seasons of 'Black Mirror' by Charlie Brooker and if you guys haven't seen it yet make sure you check it out. Seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix and are amaaazing. Particularly the speech by the guy at the end of 15 Million Merits (season 1). Anyone who knows me knows I love a good speech, my favourites including Timo Cruz at the end of Coach Carter and Optimus Prime at the beginning of Transformers. 

I was recently reminded by someone about the epic classic 'The Handmaid's Tale.' I remember reading this for my English Literature GCSE and will make sure I read it again very soon just for fun. 

The following books have also been recommended and I will add them to my 'To Read' list and post reviews ASAP.