It's time for another news roundup post to share some of the news I've seen over the last week or so.
First I want to let you know about the launch event for the second instalment in Will Hill's Department 19 series - The Rising. I've been lucky enough to have already read The Rising and can tell you right now it was amazing! If you're a fan of Department 19 you want to get hold of this one ASAP trust me (watch out for my review which will be up later this week). If you want the chance to meet Will Hill check out the details below for the launch event that is being held at Waterstone's in Kensington on the 29th of March. Tickets are £3 each but I'm sure you won't be disappointed - I've been told that the event will be the same as a secret launch I got to go to last month (my write up will also be posted later this week) and if that's the case you may even get to meet a couple of D19 agents and see a T-Bone!
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Bloomsbury have recently launched their new Hooked on Books Facebook page that will feature all the latest information about their YA titles. Make sure you keep an eye on the Facebook page and their Twitter account for all the latest extracts, news and even some exclusive giveaways!
The first book they are talking about is Burn Mark by Laura Powell which is being published on the 7th of June. This sounds like it will be a fantastic start to Laura's new series and I can't wait to read it! You can find out more at Laura Powell's website, her Facebook page or follow her on Twitter. In the meantime here is the cover and blurb - what do you think?
'I'll win or I'll burn - whatever it takes'
Glory is destined to become a witch. When she does, she is going to make sure her East End coven is one to respect and fear again.
But a dangerous mix of conspiracy and betrayal raises the stakes. And then Lucas Stearne - rich, privileged and a potential Witchfinder - enters her life.
Now Glory and Lucas must put aside their differences to form an uneasy alliance.
And fight for their lives.
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If you want to find out more about R J Palacio's debut novel Wonder then make sure you check out the live Facebook chat on Monday at 6pm. You can join in the chat on the Wonder Facebook page. I've heard fantastic things about Wonder and will be reading it very soon so keep an eye out for my review.
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Last year I really enjoyed The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (you can read my review here) so I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series The Madness Underneath. According to Amazon UK we have to wait until January 2013 before we'll be able to buy the book but Maureen did post the UK cover on her Tumblr account a couple of days ago so I thought I'd share it here. What do you think? I love the fact that it matches The Name of the Star cover so well but I think I like this one even more.
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I think that's all the book related news for this week but I couldn't resist including the latest Simon's Cat video for you. I love these videos :o)
It's time for another news roundup post but first I want to say happy World Book Day! I hope you have something bookish planned to celebrate and help spread the love of reading.
You can find out more about World Book Day and the fabulous books that are available for just £1 on the World Book Day website. You should also make sure you check out the FREE World Book Day App that works on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. It includes short stories by Malorie Backman, Neil Gaiman, Charlie Higson, Anthony Horowitz, Sophie McKenzie and Rachel Vincent so there should be something there to appeal to everyone and it also includes extracts from some fabulous 2012 releases.
While we're on the subject of World Book Day you might want to head over to your nearest Waterstones store and see if you can grab a bargain. They are selling copies of both Department 19 by Will Hill and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson for just £1 each!! These are both fantastic books (read my Department 19 review here and my The Name of the Star review here) so if you haven't already read them make sure you grab a copy.
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Now today is the UK release date for Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. It's no secret that I'm a massive fan of Delirium (read my review here) so I can't wait to read this sequel! Unfortunately Lauren isn't coming to the UK for the launch but she has recorded a special message for her UK fans which you can watch below:
Do you want to know if you're ruled by your heart or your head? Find out by taking the interactive quiz on the Delirium facebook page here and you could even win copies of both Delirium and Pandemonium! I'm going to be reading Pandemonium this week so keep an eye out for my review which will be coming soon.
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Now if you're between 10 and 16 years old and want to have a go at writing your own very short story have a look at Bloomsbury's new competition:
Bloomsbury’s VERY short story competition for young writers is back LOVING FICTION TWENTY-FOUR-SEVEN. CREATING STORIES IN 247 WORDS.
247tales.com is the online writing competition from Bloomsbury that challenges young writers to create stories using only 247 words or less. Now in its fourth year the competition is set to challenge even more young writers.
In 2012, the competition returns with a blog-style website, a dedicated Facebook page www.facebook.com/247tales and nine more inspiring themes. Each month a different Bloomsbury author will pen a 247tale on a given topic. It is then over to the UK’s budding young writers aged between 10 and 16 to create their own miniature masterpiece.
One winner will be chosen each month and they will have their 247tale featured on the website as well as winning a selection of books and a framed copy of their story. Ten runners-up will get a signed copy of the latest book from that month's featured author, and their story will appear in the 247Library section of the website.
The competition launches at 2:47pm on Thursday 1st March 2012 (World Book Day) with a 247tale from bestselling author Tony Bradman on the theme of The Ship. Details on how to enter can be found at www.247tales.com. Authors taking part include Anne Cassidy, Jim Eldridge, Sarah Crossan, A.F. Harrold, Laura Powell and Sue Limb.
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If you're a fan of Michael Grant and are free on Saturday the 17th of March then you might want to head to the Foyles store on Charing Cross Road where he will be signing copies of Bzrk, Fear and the whole Gone series from 2-4pm. This is one of my favourite London book stores - they host some fantastic events and always have a fantastic selection of signed books and US imports so it is well worth paying them a visit and what better chance are you going to get to meet this best selling author?
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Now I have a cover reveal for Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas. This is Stephanie's debut novel and will be published by Entangled Publishing on the 11th of September 2012. I don't know about you but I think it sounds fantastic and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!
My name is Beatrice. When I was born, I was blessed with the Sight. I was immediately removed from my parents and enrolled in the Institution. At the age of twelve, I had my first true vision, earning my raven’s wings. And when I turned seventeen, one of my visions came true. Things haven’t been the same since.
The Institution depends on me to keep the City safe from our enemy, the Dreamcatchers, but I'm finding it harder to do while keeping a secret from everyone, including my best friend Gabe. It is a secret that could put us all in danger. A secret that could kill me and everyone close to me.
But the enemy has been coming to me in my dreams, and I think I’m falling in love with him. He says they’re coming. He says they’re angry. And I think I’ve already helped them win.
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If you live in the UK and are 18 or over then you might want to have a go at entering the FutureScapes Short Story Competition. Stories must be no more than 3,000 words and the deadline is the 15th of March, here are the details:
Inspired by new stories by best-selling authors Michael Marshall Smith, Marcus Sedgwick, Kate Harrison and Lesley Lokko, readers can submit their own short stories, imagining the world in 2025. It’s part of a project called FutureScapes, which aims to get everyone thinking about what the world might be like in 2025. The competition winner will be published alongside our professional authors and win a Sony Tablet.
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If you're a fan of Paul Hoffman's The Left Hand of God then you might want to have a look at the new interactive game Penguin UK have created on Facebook (click here to play) to celebrate the release of sequel The last Four Things. You could even win yourself an iPad2! Here is a bit more info about the game:
The Facebook minisite features an interactive map of Thomas Cale's world, with embedded videos that take the reader on a tour around places including Tiger Mountain, Transvaaland and The Sanctuary. There is also an embedded game where users must build 3D equipment from the book. As readers progress through each 'level' within the map, they post to their Facebook wall to encourage all of their friends to participate too! Readers must complete all levels to unlock an Augmented Reality printout of the map which will result in a 3D version of character Thomas Cale, swinging his sword and talking to the reader. Thomas then says a word which will then need to enter to be in with a chance of winning an iPad2 preloaded with a copy of the The Last Four Things.
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So I think that's probably more than enough news for one post but hopefully something here will be of interest to you!
With the help of Rafflecopter I can now announce the winners of my Spooktacular giveaways. There was such an amazing response to the giveaways so thank you all for entering and helping to spread the word. I'm sorry if you didn't win but I have lots more giveaways coming in the future so I hope you'll stick around to enter those too. Congratulations to all of the winners!
Giveaway 1 - Signed ARC of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson:
I will be posting this book to the winner, you should have already received an email from me asking for your address, if I don't hear back from you within 48 hours then a new winner will be chosen.
And the winner is . . .
Blackplume(email address starting blackplum3@...)
Giveaway 2 - Ebooks from The Granite Lake Wolves series by Vivian Arend:
The prizes for this giveaway will be being sent out by Vivian Arend (thanks to Vivian for allowing me to host this giveaway for her). You should all have received an email from me asking for your preferred format for your ebook/s. If I don't hear back from you within 48 hours then a new winner will be chosen.
First winning the entire Granite Lake Wolves ebook series (Wolf Signs, Wolf Flight, Wolf Games & Wolf Tracks) is:
Rogier(email address starting rogcaprino@)
Now we have 4 more winners who each win an ebook of their choice from the Granite Lake Wolves series (picking ONE of the following titles Wolf Signs, Wolf Flight, Wolf Games & Wolf Tracks) and the winners are:
Congratulations to you all! You should all have received an email from me so if you think you're a winner and haven't seen it yet please check your spam folders. If you still can't find it you can email me using this address. If I don't hear back from you within 48 hours then new winners will be chosen so make sure you don't miss out on your prizes.
Last week I was very excited to go to an afternoon tea organised by HarperCollins to meet some of their authors - Robin Jarvis, Will Hill & Maureen Johnson - and to find out about some of their latest & upcoming books. We arrived at Les Deux Salons a little early so spent some time at the bar downstairs chatting with Robin & Will while Sarah was getting the room ready for us and then it was time to get started. I had asked Sarah & Rosi if it would be OK to bring some of my childhood books with me for Robin to sign (I was a massive fan of his Whitby Witches, Deptford Mice & Deptford Histories trilogies when I was younger and still had my original copies) so was very excited when I found out I was sitting next to him for afternoon tea! Hopefully I didn't come across as too much of a fan girl and embarrass myself lol.
We were well and truly spoiled with a feast of cakes and sandwiches!
Each of the authors had a chance to talk to us about their latest books starting with Robin Jarvis talking about Dancing Jax (that was released in HB earlier this year and will be available in PB in Feb 2012) and the sequel Freax and Rejex (which will be released in HB next February). Before talking about the books Robin told us that he used to make models & puppets for TV shows and has made them in the past of characters from his books to take on school visits with him. There was one rather embarrassing incident at a school with a puppet of a sea demon that had rather large claws - he pulled it out of his bag in front of a class of children to find the claws had attached themselves to a pair of underpants (luckily clean ones lol).
Dancing Jax is a story about a mysterious book written in 1936 by occultist Austerly Fellows. Anyone who reads the story is pulled into the world inside the book. Although the book was published it was decided that the world wasn't ready for it so the only copies were boxed up and kept in a basement, now in modern times the book has been found again by a group of teenagers and they are quickly sucked into this dangerous world. Robin described Austerly Fellows' book as Narnia on crack and said it's like pushing drugs on kids but in book form. Sequel Freax and Rejex is set 5 months after Dancing Jax, Austerly's book has been re-published and nearly everyone in the UK has read a copy and been taken over by the story. The rest of the world is watching in horror and trying to decide what they should do. Some children are naturally immune to the book and they are bullied by the people who have been taken over. As a publicity stunt they are taken to a holiday camp to prove to the rest of the world that they aren't being badly treated but things at the camp aren't what they first seem and not all of the children taken there will survive the experience. I haven't read either of these books but I have a copy of Dancing Jax and am really looking forward to reading it. I'll get a review posted as soon as I can for you.
Next up was Will Hill talking about Department 19 (released in HB & PB this year) and the sequel The Rising (releasing in HB in March 2012). I was lucky enough to meet Will at the launch party for Department 19 earlier this year so it was lovely to see him again. Department 19 was one of my favourite reads of the year so far (you can read my review here) so I can't tell you how excited I am about The Rising, I am itching to get my hands on a copy and it will be jumping straight to the top of my to read pile as soon as I do lol. Will told us that The Rising is a really, really long book that picks up the story straight after the ending of Department 19. Where the first book was a rescue mission the sequel is a fight for survival.
It took Will over a year to write the second book and where Department 19 was 135,000 words long The Rising is 191,000 (and that's after chopping out a massive 50,000 words!) so this is really going to give us something to get stuck into. Will would describe the series as epic horror / fantasy and confirmed that there is a little more romance in the sequel. He did say that The Rising should work as a stand alone story if you haven't read Department 19 but I would highly recommend reading D19 first - it's such a good book you really don't want to miss it!
Last but by no means least was Maureen Johnson talking about her newest book The Name of the Star. This is the first book in her Shades of London series and is a supernatural story about a copycat killer who is murdering victims in the style of Jack the Ripper. The Name of the Star is a great book (you can read my review here) and I'm really looking forward to reading more books in the series. Maureen said she was worried about the reaction from her UK fans because she knows they will spot any mistakes she has made about British culture, she can get away with errors with her US fans because they won't know that it's wrong. She had spent the morning at a signing though and had a very positive response which I'm not at all surprised about.
When asked about the inspiration for the story Maureen told us that she was on a historical tour and the guide told them that practically every building they visited was haunted. She was annoyed because it was supposed to be a historical tour not a ghost tour and she thought that the so called ghosts they kept mentioning were rubbish - just cold spots, doors closing by themselves and spooky feelings. It got her thinking about what would happen if there were more proactive ghosts. Maureen also told us that she has come up with the name of the sequel which she is currently working on, after a quick check with her editor Rachel (who hadn't heard the title before either!) she confirmed that it will be called The Madness Underneath and it will be released sometime in 2012.
After lots of book chat and we had all stuffed ourselves full of cake it was time to get our books signed. I already have signed copies of Department 19 and The Name of the Star but I was very excited to get my books signed by Robin - I'd brought him 10 books to sign for me so that kept him busy for a little while lol. He even drew a picture in one of them for me!
The copies of the Whitby Witches, Deptford Mice & Deptford Histories trilogies that Robin signed for me
The picture Robin drew inside my copy of The Alchymist's Cat
We were given a fab goodie bag from HarperCollins containing several books (Muse by Rebecca Lim, Slide by Jill Hathaway and Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda), a presentation of their upcoming Winter 2011 & Spring 2012 titles (watch out for a spotlight of some of these titles coming later this week) and a fab memory stick containing some exclusive sneak previews and snippets. I've not had a time to look at the memory stick yet but as soon as I do I'll try and get some of the content posted on the blog to share with you all.
After the event had finished several of us bloggers got to hang around in the bar with Will, Robin, Sarah, Rosi & Rachel. We had a few drinks, got loads of book recommendations and discussed everything from Will's ipad to comic books. I love being allowed to let my inner geek out at events lol.
I'd like to say a massive thanks to HarperCollins for a fab event and to all the authors who helped make it even more special. I had an amazing time & can't wait to read all the books we were talking about!
A few weeks ago I posted about a fabulous competition that HarperCollins were holding to celebrate the release of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. As the story is about a copycat who is killing his victims in the same way as Jack the Ripper they were organising a fan walk to visit some of the locations from the book - places where the real victims were found. I've always wanted to do one of the Jack the Ripper walks so I jumped at the chance of entering and can't tell you how excited I was when I found out I was one of the lucky winners. I even got to take a guest with me so I invited the lovely Sammee (from I Want To Read That) to come with me.
Sammee & I met up early for an afternoon of book shopping, coffee drinking and gossiping before making our way to Tower Hill for the walk. We were met outside Tower Hill by Sarah from HarperCollins and had time to chat with the other winners while we waited for Rosi to arrive with special guest Maureen Johnson. The walk we went on was organised by London Walks who host a Jack the Ripper walk every day from outside Tower Hill underground station (click here for more information) and our tour guide Oliver was great, he was very knowledgeable about Jack the Ripper and managed to tell us lots of gruesome details about the murders.
Our guide Oliver
We stopped at various different locations as Oliver told us about how each of the victims (Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly) were killed and where their bodies were found. Each of them had their throats slashed and most of them had internal organs removed, some were placed beside their bodies but other parts were never recovered (although one reporter received a particularly nasty package containing part of a human kidney along with a letter from someone claiming to be the killer!).
We walked through Mitre Square and some of the guests were unlucky enough to sit on the bench where Catherine Eddowes' body was found! I didn't realise how many women were forced into prostitution due to severe poverty. Job opportunities for women in the late 19th century were scarce and it is estimated that there were 1200 women working the streets so it is no wonder that Jack the Ripper found it easy to find his victims. A lot of the prostitutes used to gather outside St Botolph without Aldgate church waiting for customers.
We also discovered some fabulous old Victorian streets, they are very narrow, dark and atmospheric - it was like taking a step back in time! I had no idea you could still find places like that in London and I'd love to go back and explore them more thoroughly in the future. Maureen pointed out the building she based Wexford school on although she said she took liberties with the geography by creating the square around the school that doesn't exist in real life. She said the building was in the perfect location and she knew it was the school as soon as she saw it.
This is the building that Maureen based Wexford school on in her book
Here you can see the 3 windows from Rory & Jazza's room
I've never been to the famous Old Spitalfields Market before but I think it's somewhere else I'm going to have to visit again - this time when the market stalls are open & I can have a good look around. I'd also like to head over to the Ten Bells pub (where some of the Ripper's victims were known to frequent) for a drink.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Jack the Ripper walk and it was really interesting to see a different side to London. If you ever want to give it a try I'd definitely recommend London Walks for the tour & I'm sure I'll be trying out some of their other walks in the future. After our guide left for the evening we had time to chat with Maureen Johnson & get our books signed. She was absolutely lovely and spent ages talking to us before she had to dash off and catch a train to Manchester for the next stop on her tour. It really was lovely to meet her. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Rosi & Sarah at HarperCollins for arranging the event!
Me with Maureen
HarperCollins were filming during the tour so if you'd like to watch the video they made here it is:
Along with about 400 other bloggers I'm very excited to be taking part in this years Spooktacular Giveaway Hop being hosted by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Rhianna from The Diary of a Bookworm. That means there are aproximately 400 chances for you to win some amazing prizes! Check out the link list below to find all the other blogs participating. I'll be hosting 2 different giveaways, 1 young adult giveaway to win a signed ARC of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson and 1 adult giveaway giving you the chance to win the entire Granite Lake Wolves series by Vivian Arend. Please feel free to enter both giveaways if you want to or just pick the one you'd prefer.
Giveaway 1:
The first giveaway is for a chance to win a signed ARC of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. This is a great supernatural story based on the Jack The Ripper murders and makes for perfect Halloween reading. I really enjoyed this one & hope the winner likes it as much as I did (you can read my full review here)
Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux flies to London for the start of a new life at boarding school. But her arrival is overshadowed by the sudden outbreak of brutal murders in the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper.
"Rippermania" grabs hold of modern day London, and the police are stumped with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory has seen their prime suspect on the school grounds. But her friend Jazza, who was with her at the time, didn't see anyone.
So why could only Rory see him? And more urgently, what is he planning next?
Shades of London Series:
The Name of the Star
Future book titles and release dates to be confirmed
Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux flies to London for the start of a new life at boarding school. But her arrival is overshadowed by the sudden outbreak of brutal murders in the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper.
"Rippermania" grabs hold of modern day London, and the police are stumped with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory has seen their prime suspect on the school grounds. But her friend Jazza, who was with her at the time, didn't see anyone.
So why could only Rory see him? And more urgently, what is he planning next?
Shades of London Series:
The Name of the Star
The Madness Underneath (2012)
Review:
Rory has travelled from her home in Louisiana to spend a year at a boarding school in London and has all the usual problems you'd expect someone to face when starting at a new school in a new country. School soon becomes the least of her worries though, there is a Jack the Ripper copycat on the loose committing gruesome murders and Rory is the only witness. Can Rory help the police catch the killer before he strikes again?
The Name of the Star is the first book I've read by Maureen Johnson but it has definitely left me wanting to pick up more of her books. I really enjoyed her writing style and loved seeing London through the eyes of an American character. The setting is really well written and you can easily see yourself walking through London alongside Rory. Maureen has captured the feel of the area and visiting the old abandoned London Underground stations was incredibly creepy. The story itself is fast paced and manages to be both spooky as well as laugh out loud funny in places. I would have liked the supernatural element to have been unveiled a little earlier, I felt like I had things figured out long before Rory did but the author managed to throw in a few twists that still managed to surprise me.
Rory was a great protagonist and I loved her observations about London and the English way of life. I liked the friendship between her and her room mate Jazza and her interactions with Alistair. Although Jerome is a nice guy I didn't really buy into the romance between them, perhaps that will change as the series progresses though. Besides Rory my favourite characters were introduced about half way through the book (I love Stephen!), I don't want to say too much more about them but I'm confident that they'll have a big role in future books which has me very excited.
The thing I loved the most about the story was the connection to the original Jack the Ripper murders, I've read quite a bit about this subject in the past and like a lot of people am fascinated by the murders and who was behind them. I've always wondered why the killer stopped when he did and although the book obviously isn't able to answer that question it was still fun to learn more about the subject. The idea of a copycat killer is chilling and I was creeped out (but not surprised) by the Rippermania that takes over the population when the murders start happening again.
Overall The Name of the Star was a great read and one that I would recommend to fans of supernatural stories. If you have an interest in history - Jack the Ripper in particular - then you're sure to enjoy the story. I'm really looking forward to seeing where Maureen Johnson takes the series next.
Source: Received from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review
Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.
Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux flies to London for the start of a new life at boarding school. But her arrival is overshadowed by the sudden outbreak of brutal murders in the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific work of Jack the Ripper.
"Rippermania" grabs hold of modern day London, and the police are stumped with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory has seen their prime suspect on the school grounds. But her friend Jazza, who was with her at the time, didn't see anyone.
So why could only Rory see him? And more urgently, what is he planning next?
Shades of London Series:
The Name of the Star
Future book titles and release dates to be confirmed
To celebrate today's release of The Name of the Star by Maureen JohnsonHarperCollins have announced a competition with a fabulous prize. How do you fancy getting to meet Maureen Johnson? Do you like the idea of going with her on a tour of London stopping at the haunts of the famous murderer Jack the Ripper? Sounds like fun doesn't it! To be in with you chance of winning just check out the information below (I know I'm going to enter!)
JACK THE RIPPER FAN WALK
To celebrate the publication of Maureen Johnson's new YA thriller The Name of the Star, HarperCollins Children’s Books is offering 10 lucky readers the opportunity to accompany Maureen Johnson on a private Jack the Ripper walk in London on Thursday, 13th October 2011.
The walk begins at 5:00 PM and will carry-on for two hours into the night! Visit the haunting sites of Jack the Ripper and hear first-hand from Maureen how they inspired her new book The Name of the Star.
Disclaimer: Entrants must be 13 or over. Please ensure that you are available to attend the event on Thursday, 13th October from 5.00pm to 7.00pm before entering. Winners will be informed on Friday, 7th October, and will be provided with further instructions then.
