In My Mailbox 52

This meme was started by the fabulous Kristi who was inspired by Alea. Check out their blogs for more information. All summaries are from the book jackets.

For review:

Solace of the Road - Siobhan Dowd

I put the wig on and I thought myself into Solace. I was Solace the Unstoppable the smooth-walking, sharp-talking glamour girl, and I was heading into a red sky, thumb out and fag in hand.

Holly is sick of being told what to do. She’s ditching her old life and she’s heading off. She puts on her blonde wig, blows herself a kiss and flutters her eyelashes. And now she’s ready. She’s Solace, Solace of the road.

I didn’t like the other book I'vs read by Siobhan Dowd, A Swift Pure Cry, but I might give this a go one day. If only for the beautiful cover!

Won:

Castle of Shadows - Ellen Renner (signed)

“No clue about why the Queen vanished had ever been found. Until now…”

The day Charlie discovers a scrap of paper that could solve the dark mystery of her mother’s disappearance, her world changes. Forever.

Charlie and her friend, Toby, must race against time on a dangerous mission too uncover the sinister truth.

But in this shadowy world of secrets and lies, there is more to fear than they can possibly imagine…

I won this in a contest at the fabulous Chicklish. It sounds like another brilliant UK debut. Thanks, Luisa!

Sophie

Signing Report: Richelle Mead

Last Friday I went up to Harrods to meet Richelle Mead where she was doing a stock signing during her week-long UK tour.

Luckily I got there early so there weren’t many people in the queue and she was able to personalise one of my books and sign her name in the other five.


Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I couldn’t take any photos, and it didn’t occur to me to use my phone. I know, stupid, right?


While Richelle was signing my books I asked her how many more books there are going to be in the Vampire Academy series. This is what she told me:


- After Spirit Bound, there’ll be one more book starring Rose.
- Then there is going to be a spin-off series of another six books.
- Richelle is keeping the main star a secret as she doesn’t want to give away who lives and who dies! I was panicked after she said that!
- She did give away that one of the characters will be Sidney who made her first appearance in Blood Promise.


After meeting Richelle I’m even more excited to read Spirit Bound!

Sophie

Hunger: A Gone Novel - Michael Grant

Hunger: A Gone Novel - Michael Grant

Pages: 586
Publisher: Egmont
Release Date: 4th January 2010

Other Books in the Series: Gone (my review)

An uneasy calm has settled over Perdido Beach. But soon fear explodes into desperation as starvation sets in and the mob look to place blame. For the ‘normals’ the buck must stop somewhere - with the ‘freaks’.

More and more kids are developing strange powers and, just as frighteningly, so are the animals in the FAYZ: talking coyotes, swimming bats and deadly worms with razor-sharp teeth are just the beginning.

For Sam Temple the strain of leadership is beginning to show and he’s got more than just dwindling rations and in-fighting to worry about - Caine is back with the psychotic whip hand, Drake, by his side.

And in the background lies the greatest danger of all - and he too needs to be fed.

Hunger is the fantastically intense sequel to Gone. I completely loved it.

I felt really sorry for Sam in the second instalment of this excellent series. The pressure of being Mayor of Perdido Beach , the mutations and powers developing in the FAYZ and the rising troubles between the ‘Freaks’ and the ‘Normals’ really started tog et on top of him. He really seemed so much older than fifteen and I truly felt for him throughout Hunger. Because of all of the things on Sam’s shoulders we didn’t get to see much very much development in Sam and Astrid’s relationship. This is one of my only complaints about the novel.

The only other thing I disliked about Hunger was just a passing comment from Sam, something inconsequential, but something that stayed with me throughout my reading of the novel. Everybody in Perdido Beach is beginning to starve and Mary has become bulimic and has lost a lot of weight. A lot of weight. Sam notices and comments on how good she looks. I know it’s nothing major but it struck a nerve with me and I felt it a little irresponsible of Michael Grant to be portraying that message.

But, regardless, the positives far outweigh the negatives in how I feel about this book. Hunger is written in third-person, with all of the characters having the spotlight. As one of my favourite writing formats, Hunger was sure to be a hit with me. But that wasn’t the only thing that made me love it as much as I did. The constant suspense put me on edge and very often panicking about the situation in Perdido Beach and the safety of the characters.

As well as being full of panic-inducing suspense, Hunger is a terrifying dystopia that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The reality of what happens to a group of teens and children where there are no adults or authority figures, when food is running out, powers are emerging in the kids and a potentially fatal divide is falling between the kids of Perdido Beach is incredibly disturbing. Because it could happen in that situation. And it probably would. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes a good dystopia.

I loved Hunger and even though there wasn’t a cliffhanger, I can’t wait to see how Sam’s story continues in Lies.

For my 2010 100+ Reading Challenge

Sophie

Contest: The Uglies Series (CLOSED)

A couple of weeks ago I received the first three books in Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series for review from Simon and Schuster as they have been reprinted in gorgeous new covers. As I already own the series I thought I'd give someone else a chance to win some of my favourite books.


Summary for Uglies: Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?

Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become Pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from a repellent Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

I couldn't figure out the Google Docs thing so I'm doing this the old fashioned way!

+1 Leave a comment with your name and email address so i can contact you.
+2 For being a new or old follower
+2 For each place you mention the contest (Twitter, sidebar, blog post, etc.) Mention what you've done in your comment/email


If you're not comfortable leaving your email address in the comments, email me at solittletimeforbooks@googlemail.com

This contest is open to everyone in Europe (sorry! Three pretty substantial books will cost a fortune to send!) and ends on Monday 8th March at 11:59pm GMT.

Good luck!

Sophie

Featured on Friday: Sally Nicholls

Sally Nicholls debut novel, Ways to Live Forever, won the 2008 Waterstone‘s Children’s Book prize. Season of Secrets is her sophomore novel.

1. Is there a specific time or place that you do your best writing in?
If I'm struggling, I'll go and write in a different place - this stops me getting too stale. I work best in the evenings, but have to train myself to write during the day, otherwise I'd never have a social life.

2. Who were your favourite authors as a teenager? Are they different to your current favourites?
As a teenager, I read a lot of science fiction - Terry Pratchett, Isaac Asimov, Anne McCaffrey, John Wyndham. As an adult, I have more favourite books than favourite authors

3. If you were only allowed to take three books to a desert island, what would they be?
Ooh ... hard question. The Norton Anthology of English Literature (both volumes), because it would take me ages to get through it and I'd hate to be stuck with nothing to read. And a big blank pad of paper (and a pen) so I could do some writing while I was there.

4. Is there a novel that you wish you’d written? Why?
Loads! Homer's the Iliad - because it's such a great story, so violent and descriptive, and because I'd love to write something which lasts that long. And Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle, because it's so funny and clever and Cassandra is such a great character.

5. I loved all of the myths and legends in Season of Secrets. Was it hard to weave them into the story?
No ... the hardest part was working out what Molly was going to DO when she met the green man. And what to do with my villain! All the other stories were fairly easy, because I'd just finished writing Ways to Live Forever, where Sam is always telling stories, so it made sense for Molly to do the same.

6. Both Ways to Live Forever and Season of Secrets deal with loss in some form. Why is this such a prominent theme in your novels?
I like strong emotions, and I think young people do too - I certainly did when I was a teenager. I like big themes too - and death and loss are two of the biggest themes there are.

7. How did you tap into a child’s mindset so perfectly?
I have a good memory! And a small shoulder demon aged about ten who complains every time I put something unrealistic in there.

8. Are you working on anything at the moment? Can you tell us anything about it?
The book I'm writing at the moment is set in Yorkshire in 1349, at the time of the Black Death. It's very gruesome and - I hope - sad. I'm learning a lot of medieval England!

Sally also asked me to say hello to all my blog readers, so, ‘Hello!’ from Sally!

Thank you very much, Sally! You can visit Sally at her website here and read my review of Season of Secrets here.

Sophie