Guest Post: Department 19 by Will Hill + Competition

Possibly one of the biggest fans of Will Hill and Department 19, KamzKool is a young school-aged blogger and motoring fanatic. Will Hill's novel instantly captured him, and his super-fan-status was sealed when he was able to attend the secret event to celebrate the second book in the series, The Rising.  KamzKool has been kind enough to share on EBT a few words on his favourite book and the event he loved so much. Also there's a competition at the end to WIN YOUR OWN COPY!

Review: Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty + Giveaway

Feeling Sorry for Celia
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
Published by Macmillan Children's Books, Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9780330397254 (2010 Paperback Edition)

Visit Jaclyn Moriarty's Website
Feeling Sorry for Celia on the Pan Macmillan website

"Dear Ms Clarry,
It has come to our attention that you are incredibly bad at being a teenager.
Yours sincerely,
The Association of Teenagers"


It isn't just the story, but also is the pleasure of reading this book due to how it was written, that makes this book wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I want to share it with you and have included a giveaway at the end of this review.

Feeling Sorry for Celia is a beautiful story about being a teenager, looking at friendship, family, love and school life. It is fun to read, for the most part non-judgemental, and most of all it shows that real life and real people are just not perfect. It was a real pleasure to read: funny, heart-warming and very honest. I think many people will recognise some part of their teenage self in this book and its characters.

Shelf Clearance: YA Giveaway

This competition is now closed and the winner has been announced at the bottom of this post.

If you're reading this, it hopefully means that you have seen my blog post all about my shelf clearance mission in an attempt to bring back some sanity to my life. If you haven't read it yet and are interested, then head over to my article Shelf Clearance, Kindle and Giveaways, but if you just want to win some stuff and don't really care why, keep reading.

I have this bundle of books to give away, which includes Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shephard, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer (both published by Atom), Bite Club by Rachel Caine (published by Alison and Busby), The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff, and Raising Demons by Rachel Hawkins (both published by Simon and Schuster UK):

Review: Dr Yes by Colin Bateman

Dr. Yes
by ' Bateman
Published by Headline
ISBN 9780755378616 (Paperback)

Buy Dr. Yes from Headline
Buy Dr. Yes from Amazon
Buy Dr. Yes from The Book Depository

Visit Bateman's website
Follow Bateman on Twitter

Dr Yes is the first novel that I have read by Bateman, and I cannot believe that I had not read one of his novels before, because it is pure genius! Seriously, it is so good, so witty, and different to other crime fiction books I have read. Here is the blurb:

You don't say no to Dr. Yes, the charismatic plastic surgeon on the fast track to fame and fortune. But when the wife of obscure and paranoid crime writer Augustine Wogan disappears shortly after entering his exclusive clinic, the Small Bookseller with No Name is persuaded to investigate. As fatherhood approaches, our intrepid hero is interested only in a quick buck and the chance to exploit a neglected writer, but he soon finds himself up to his neck in murder, make-up and madness - and face to face with the most gruesome serial killer since the last one.

I could tell you what I love about this book in a single word: everything. However, that would make for a really dull and lazy review, so I will pick out a few elements that really stand out.

Review: Pariah by David Jackson

Pariah
by David Jackson
Published by Macmillan, March 2011
ISBN 9780330530569


Buy Pariah from Pan Macmillan
Buy Pariah from The Book Depository
Buy Pariah from Amazon

Visit David Jackson's website
Follow David Jackson on Twitter

Pariah is the debut novel from David Jackson. It is written like a Hollywood movie whilst combining the overall feel and structure of hit US crime dramas like CSI, Criminal Minds or Law and Order. So, if you like a good action movie or crime drama, you'll want to give this book a try.


Here is the blurb:

It’s a bad enough day for NYPD detective Callum Doyle when his cop partner is murdered. It’s about to get a hell of a lot worse . . .


When the dead man’s replacement is also brutally killed, suspicion falls on Doyle himself. Then he receives an anonymous message. This is just the beginning, it says. Anyone he gets close to will die – and that includes Doyle’s own family. The only way to keep them alive is to stay away. For good.


Doyle is desperate to find out who is responsible, but when his every move puts others in danger he is forced to back off. With the investigation getting nowhere and his isolation deepening, Doyle has to ask himself an uncomfortable question: just how low is he prepared to sink in order to get his life back?

Review - Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

Doubleday (Transworld Books) 28^th April 2011

ISBN-13: 978-0857520173

Hardback 368 pages

£12.99

I have been raving about this book for so long that it is long overdue for me to write this review. Sometimes you can just sense that you will like something or someone. That is what happened when I first encountered S. J. Watson on Twitter last year and heard about his debut novel. In what I can only call fate, our paths would continue to cross in various ways.  However, the most remarkable event of all would be when I finally got my hands on a gorgeous proof of his novel, Before I Go To Sleep; the book did not meet my expectations, it surpassed them by far. Here is a brief synopsis:

As the result of a tragic accident, Christine Lucas suffers a rare form of amnesia; not only has she lost all her memory, but she is unable to hold new memories for any longer than 24 hours. Every time Christine falls asleep at night, she forgets all over again. Her husband, Ben, is her only source of information, and it is through him that she discovers who she is and what has become of her life.

However, when a Dr Nash calls around and gives Christine a journal which she has apparently been keeping, Christine realises that there are things about her life that Ben has been hiding from her. But why? Is Ben sparing her, and himself, the pain of relating all the things she has lost, and forgotten, everyday of both their lives? Or is there something more sinister at hand?

Inheritance by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

Inheritance 

By Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
 Pan Books 1st October 2010
 ISBN 9780330513265

Glamorous lives, family ties and wicked lies...

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first saw Inheritance by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. I am not much into celebrities and far too often find that their book sales have very little to do with content. I was lucky enough to read the press release and blurb and became curious to know more. After reading the Prologue I knew I’d read it all, and glad that I had not chosen to judge this book by its cover. Here is the blurb for you:

Notorious party-loving ‘It Girl’ Lyric Charlton has it all – the lineage, the looks and the lifestyle. A moneyed upbringing at the heart of one of the upper class’s most well-connected families, a finishing school education and an address book bursting with the world’s most powerful and high-profile people has crowned her the glamorous poster girl for the aristocratic glitterati.

But when her doomed relationship with suave boy-about-town Ralph Conway means she takes the good times too far, she is packed off to rehab by her worried parents, and the public shame and private humiliation that follow means Lyric’s only option seems to be to retreat into sober obscurity.

But what no one can predict is the dramatic chain of events her exile sets in motion. For Lyric’s treatment is the start of much more than a life as an ex-addict. It’s the catalyst that exposes a complex web of deceit and betrayal – and leads Lyric on an increasingly dangerous quest to find the final missing piece of the jigsaw of her life…

Review - King of Tuzla by Arnold Jansen op de Haar

King of Tuzla, by Arnold Jansen op de Haar, is the tale of Tijmen Klein Gildekamp, a soldier with the UN sent on an aide mission to Bosnia. It describes Tijmen’s physical and psychological journey through the former Yugoslavia, as well as showing snippets of the lives of others who Tijmen and his comrades pass along the way. It is told with the silent, humble authority of an author who has firsthand knowledge and experience of the scenes he has chosen to describe.

The novel is divided into five sections. The first three sections have Tijmen as an active soldier, awaiting and then partaking in his duties. The final two serve as a reflection of his final months in Bosnia after his return to his homeland in the Netherlands.

In the first section Tijmen is with a reconnaissance team in Bosnia awaiting a definitive mission, and we are intriduced to the sitation on Bosnia. Not only are the feelings of frustration and concern of the soldiers displayed, but also we are given glimpses of the civilians of both sides of the conflicts, of how their lives have changed, in the first of what I have coined the digressions. In various points throughout the novel the author jumps from the main characters, Tijmen and the soldiers, to other characters, to the inhabitants affected by the war. Starting with Galib Prolaz the Yugoslav, throughout the novel we briefly glimpse the lives of Lucia, Jasmina, Vlado Duric, Lazar Zekic, Ejup Delalic, and Hadija Ibrahimovic, real people on both sides of the conflict; real experiences that are not sensationalised nor glorified. We are allowed a glimpse into how it felt to be a soldier and a civilian in that war.