Blog Tour: WIN a copy of Lisa Thompson's Goldfish Boy

Lisa Thompson's brilliant debut, The Goldfish Boy, is a mystery that you won't be able to put down. 

Matthew suffers from severe OCD. He hasn't been to school in weeks as he refuses to leave his bedroom and his hands bleed from too much cleaning. He passes the time by observing his neighbours from the safety of his bedroom window, but when the toddler next door goes missing it quickly becomes apparent that Matthew was the last person to see the little boy alive. But solving this mystery may involve him breaking out of his safety zone - can he do it? 

Enter to win a copy here!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

• UK only.
• Closes 13th January 2017.
• Prize will be send out by Scholastic UK - I have no responsibility for the prize once the winner's details have been passed on to Scholastic. 

Good luck!

Sophie

2017: Reading Goals

It’s time to dramatically declare all of the ambitious reading goals I want to achieve in 2017 and then wrap them up in December and realise I’ve failed most of them - I love it! Without further ado, this is what I want to achieve reading-wise over the next twelve months.

• Read ‘War and Peace’

I have a plan. Reading only 7 chapters a day (around 50 pages) will get this behemoth finished in two months. I loved Anna Karenina last year and people I trust have said that War and Peace is even better. Bring. It. On.

• 125 books

• Continue to diversify – short stories, poetry, literary fiction, classics, and more!

• 24 classics

Two classics a month is 100% achievable if I keep up the pace I set last year.

• Read the Russians

As well as reading War and Peace this year, I'd really like to tackle a few more Russian classics. I have Crime and Punishment, The Master and Margarita, Dead Souls and Eugene Onegin on my TBR.

• 12 non-fiction

This is a challenge that I very nearly conquered in 2016 as I managed 11 non-fiction books, so I’m hoping I’ll finally manage it in 2017.

• Get some chunky classics under my belt

I have a fair few on my list for this challenge, but I’m going to leave it open. These are a few I’m considering: The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Muskateers, Vanity Fair, Moby Dick and Crime and Punishment.

I’d love to hear all about your reading goals for 2017!

Sophie

Most Anticipated: January to June 2017

January

Wing Jones, Katherine Webber (5th, Walker)

A Quiet Kind of Thunder, Sara Barnard (12th, Macmillan)

Margot and Me, Juno Dawson (26th, Hot Key Books)

Waiting for Callback: Take Two, Perdita & Honor Cargill (28th, S&S)

Caraval, Stephanie Gerber (31st, Hodder)

February

Unconventional, Maggie Harcourt (1st, Usborne)

Traitor to the Throne, Alwyn Hamilton (2nd, Faber)

All About Mia, Lisa Williamson (2nd, David Fickling Books)

King’s Cage, Victoria Aveyard (9th, Orion)

Silver Stars, Michael Grant (9th, Electric Monkey)

History is All You Left Me, Adam Silvera (9th, S&S)

Heartless, Marissa Meyer (9th, Macmillan)

Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, Stephanie Burgis (9th, Bloomsbury)

Dawn Study, Maria V Snyder (9th, HQ)

We Are Okay, Nina LaCour (14th, Dutton)

The Night Spinner, Abi Elphinstone (23rd, S&S)

March

The Scarecrow Queen, Melinda Salisbury (2nd, Walker)

Optimists Die First, Susin Nielsen (2nd, Andersen Press)

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life, Benjamin Alire Saenz (7th, Clarion Books [US])

Following Ophelia, Sophia Bennett (9th, Stripes)

The Ship Beyond Time, Heidi Heilig (23rd, Hot Key Books)

Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor (28th, Hodder)

Just an Ordinary Day, Shirley Jackson (30th, Penguin Modern Classics)

April

Always and Forever, Lara Jean, Jenny Han (6th, Scholastic)

Gem & Dixie, Sara Zarr (4th, Balzar & Bray [US])

Cream Buns and Crime, Robin Stevens (6th, Corgi)

Naondel, Maria Turtschaninoff (6th, Pushkin Press)

The Upside of Unrequited, Becky Albertalli (11th, Penguin)

May

Windfall, Jennifer E Smith (4th, Macmillan)

A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J Maas (4th, Bloomsbury)

One Italian Summer, Keris Stainton (4th, Hot Key Books)

The Last Piece of My Heart, Paige Toon (18th, S&S)

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2), Cassandra Clare (23rd, S&S)

June

The Names They Gave Us, Emery Lord (1st, Bloomsbury)

Spellbook of the Lost and Found, Moira Fowley-Doyle (1st, Corgi)

Once and For All, Sarah Dessen (6th, Viking [US])

Midnight Jewell, Richelle Mead (27th, Razorbill [US])

What are your most anticipated reads from the first half of 2017?

Sophie

2016: A Year in Review

Bookish

I celebrated my seventh blogoversary in January.

I attended the ‘Be True to Yourself’ panel at Waterstones Piccadilly featuring Jandy Nelson, Sara Barnard, Alice Oseman, Lisa Williamson and Katherine Webber.

YALC!

I went to the World Book Day 2017 announcement where I was in the same room as Jacqueline Wilson!

YA Shot!

I got to interview Lauren Oliver at Carmelite House.

I went to a 2017 preview at David Fickling Books.

I got to be in the press pen at the European premiere of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ – I was a metre away from JK Rowling!

I started to really work on my bookstagram and I’m really proud of how far forward I’ve pulled it in the last few months. I’d LOVE for you to have a look: https://www.instagram.com/solittletimeforbooks

Bookish Stats

(as of Taste of Darkness)

I read 207 books in 2016:

46 contemps,

20 adult novels,

18 debuts,

40 UKYA novels,

15 short story collections,

36 classics,

10 LGBT novels,

11 non-fiction books,

26 series openers,

30 fantasy novels,

38 audiobooks,

22 DNFs,

7 poetry collections

4 graphic novels.

My favourite books of 2016

Personal

I saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Part I & II twice.

I started working at Maximum Pop! Books in January as a volunteer writer and I’m now the Books Channel Manager.

I was a bridesmaid for my big sister in May.

I went to see Bring Me the Horizon at The O2.

I saw Dirty Dancing at the Phoenix Theatre.

I saw the Peter Pan panto at The Hawth Theatre.

How was your 2016?

Sophie

2016: Reading Challenge Wrap Up

It’s here. The end of 2016 is finally nigh and while it’s been a dumpster fire for the world, it’s been a pretty decent year for me. But how did I fare with my ambitious reading goals and challenges for 2016?

- Read 125 books.

Smashed it! I read over 200 books in 2016.

- Read 1 classic a month for the #2016ClassicsChallenge.

I smashed this one too! I became a little obsessed with classics in 2016 and I read 36. Audiobooks definitely helped with this!

- Read at least 6 adult novels.

I’m so proud of completing this challenge! YA has absorbed my life for a really long time so managing 20 adult novels alongside YA review copies and expanding my reading into on-fiction and classics is a real achievement for me.

- Keep expanding my reading – adult, literary, classics, short story collections, non-fiction, plays, sci-fi, high fantasy.

I did it! I read poetry, memoir, short story collections, classics, literary fiction, mystery and fantasy.

- Read 10 books from BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) authors.

Though I did better in 2016 than I had in the years before, I still didn’t achieve this goal - I only read 6 books by BAME authors.

- Keep striving to read diversely, especially when it comes to #ownvoices.

This is the same as BAME authors for me. Though I think I did okay, there’s always scope to do better and it’s a goal I’ll continue year after year after year.

- Read the YA Book Prize longlist.

I’d read 6 of the 10 titles shortlisted when the list was announced and I was totally happy with that - the rest I didn’t own and didn’t hugely want to read.

- Read the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist.

Heh, nope. In my defence, when the shortlist was announced there were only actually 2 or 3 titles that I actually wanted to read. So I bought them, but they’re actually still sitting on my shelf...

- Tackle my Extended Reading Project – more info here!

I began this well, but after switching out Metamorphoses for a more modern translation I still couldn’t find the love for it I had while I was at university. I was happy to leave this to the side.

- Finish The Princess Diaries.

Total fail. I’ve only read the first two books...

- Finish Artemis Fowl.

Another total fail. I didn’t pick up a single book from this series in 2016...

I achieved a lot, but not everything I intended to - I’ll take it!

Keep an eye out for my 2017 goals coming soon!

Sophie