The Black Hat, Jacaranda Books, Social clay and Books, Books, Books

I have a bad habit of not writing on this blog for a while (though I still post on Facebook), reviving it, apologising for my absence, going great for a while, and then it happens again. It is an unhealthy cycle that leaves me feeling deeply guilty and unhappy, so I am going to stop the cycle.  I have to accept I am not the kind of blogger who updates daily, post a few book reviews a week, get the news before the news. I admire bloggers like that, and I love this blog and will continue writing it, but the way I write posts means this isn't the kind of blog that will get updated once a day or even once a week necessarily; for regular short snippets I use the Facebook page.

I AM sorry if I made anyone think I could be that sort of super blogger, I wanted to, but the nature of my journey in publishing as self-employed has been one of constant change and discovery and excitement, so  that when a new experience, opportunity, project comes up I often get so into it that all else stops. That is what has happened a few times since my last post...

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.

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?

Reflecting on the Old Year & Welcoming the New Year

It is 2011 and if you are like me, you've been in a pensive mood, thinking on how to make this year better and more successful than the one we have just left behind. Personally, I want this year to be a far more spiritual, tranquil and focussed year, purged of all lingering negativity and redundancy. This has meant having a close look at relationships with others and with my environment over the last few weeks, and doing my best to put things in order. I think one of the best ways to prepare for a better year is to reflect in detail on the previous year, as I have been doing.

2010 has been a year of important changes for me, graduating and then starting the journey towards my career.  I have been so blessed the last few months, having met incredible people through social networking, events, and work experience,  people who have all, in their own way, contributed to me achieving my goals. To everyone on Twitter and Facebook, and to those who follow my blog, that includes you, too, as well as my Goodreads, BookRabbit and BookArmy buddies. Also, to all those from whom I won my first ARCs, thank you to opening my eyes about just how much fun my love of reading could provide me; starting this blog has been one of the highlights of my year. I had a brilliant, eye-openng time with Holland Park Press and I am, of course,  greatly indebted to the publishing teams at Transworld, Pan Macmillan, Headline, Hodder and Stoughton, and Simon and Schuster UK for having faith in me and giving me an opportunity to learn more about the industry. I have met wonderful, like-minded people who have really helped focus my search and pushed me forward. Of all the people I have met, I have to give special mention to Suzanne Collier of BookCareers.com, who gave me my very first work experience opportunity with regards to publishing, and who really gave me the encouragement and guidance I needed.

So, what have I learnt from all this? Well, most importantly it has made me determined to surround myself with positive, like-minded people and stay away from anyone or anything that would divert me from my goals. These last months have been intense and have thrown me right into the heart of the world I wish to inhabit, and as a result I am really moving forward and overcoming obstacles, learning, growing and enjoying myself. I have also learnt the importance of being true to oneself; when I was younger my reading obsession didn’t exactly make me popular. I carried on regardless because I was that addicted, and because my Mum made reading so incredible, but I wish I had known then just how amazing things would all turn out to be the year that I graduated. When you love something you just have to be true to it and, whilst it is always compulsory to assess your own aspirations and actions, and wise to consider the advice of others, at the same time we cannot allow other people’s doubts and negativity or random opinions cause us to doubt ourselves.

I have also come to realise these last few weeks that this blog is important to me in so many ways, not just for the books I get to review. It is my voice to the world, and that is something I cherish and adore about it. I have been able to discuss such important issues with this blog as well as learning so much through the blogs of others.

I suppose what I have learnt overall is that there is too much good in this world for us to allow ourselves to be swallowed up by the negativity. We are so much more and so much better than that, and if you know what you want and you believe that you can achieve it, and you are willing to do what it takes, then anything is possible. The world can always be positive; if you don’t get exactly what you want, then there is an alternative out there for you, something better, so many opportunities to discover.

Make 2011 a year of positivity, be happy, be patient, believe.

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…