Giveaway Update - More Prizes & Another Winner Added - GIVEAWAY CLOSED

*UPDATE - THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED - Winners announced here*

Just a quick update to say thanks to the lovely Tiffany from Harper Collins I am adding an extra winner to my Rook Hastings giveaway.

Tiffany has kindly sent me another set of these books so now 2 winners will each receive copies of both Nearly Departed and Immortal Remains.  The first winner will receive brand new copies of both books & the second winner will win my read once (but in very good condition) copies. 

The contest is still international & if you've already filled in the form to enter then you don't need to do anything else.  If you haven't entered yet then click here for more information & for a chance to win.

Thanks so much to Tiffany and Harper Collins for sending these books to add to the giveaway!

Review: I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett

"I'm feared for the big wee hag..."

Tiffany Aching is a witch.  And she thinks she's doing a good job for the people of the Chalk.  Even if the job does seem to involve a lot of bandaging legs and cutting old ladies' toenails and not much, well, magic.

Or sleep.

But somewhere - some time - there's a tangled ball of evil and spite, of hatred and malice, that has woken up.  And it's waking up all of the old stories too - stories about evil old witches.

Suddenly Tiffany isn't so sure she's doing the right thing.  And her tiny allies - the fightin' Nac Mac Feegles - are only making things more difficult.

Things are supposed to look better after a good night's sleep.

But they won't.

They're about to get a lot, lot worse.

And a witch has to deal with what is in front of her...

Discworld Series:
The Colour of Magic (Rincewind book 1)
The Light Fantastic (Rincewind book 2)
Equal Rites (Witches book 1)
Mort (Death book 1)
Sourcery (Rincewind book 3)
Wyrd Sisters (Witches book 2)
Pyramids
Guards! Guards! (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 1)
Eric (Rincewind book 4)
Moving Pictures (Industrial Revolution book 1)
Reaper Man (Death book 2)
Witches Abroad (Witches book 3)
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies (Witches book 4)
Men at Arms (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 2)
Soul Music (Death book 3)
Interesting Times (Rincewind book 5)
Maskerade (Witches book 5)
Feet of Clay (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 3)
Hogfather (Death book 4)
Jingo (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 4)
The Last Continent (Rincewind book 6)
Carpe Jugulum (Witches book 6)
The Fifth Elephant (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 5)
The Truth (Industrial Revolution book 2)
Thief of Time (Death book 5)
The Last Hero (Rincewind book 7)
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
Night Watch (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 6)
The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching book 1)
Monstrous Regiment (Industrial Revolution book 3)
A Hat Full of Sky (Tiffany Aching book 2)
Going Postal (Moist von Lipwig book 1) (Industrial Revolution book 4)
Thud! (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 7)
Wintersmith (Tiffany Aching book 3)
Making Money (Moist von Lipwig book 2) (Industrial Revolution book 5)
Unseen Academicals (Rincewind book 8)
I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching book 4)
Snuff (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 8)
The World of Poo
Raising Steam (Moist von Lipwig book 3) (Industrial Revolution book 6)
The Shepherd's Crown (Tiffany Aching book 5)

Discworld Related books:
The Discworld Mapp - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Colouring Book - Paul Kidby
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Imaginarium - Paul Kidby

Visit Terry Pratchett's website for more information

Review:
Tiffany is now 16 years old and has finished her witch training, she has been given her own steading and has been the official witch for The Chalk for a year now. As we have already learnt from the previous books in the series this involves a lot of hard work and a lot less magic than you might expect. It isn't easy going back to the area where everyone knew her as a child and being the one everyone comes to with their problems but Tiffany is more than capable of taking up the challenge. But something strange is happening, people she has known all her life are starting to look at her differently and instead of giving her respect they are becoming suspicious and scared of her. Something out there is spreading malice wherever it goes and, as the general public are becoming more and more anti-witches, it is up to Tiffany to stop it - before the witch hunts begin again.

I Shall Wear Midnight is the 38th Discworld book and the 4th & final book in the Tiffany Aching series. You don't have to have read all of the Discworld stories to enjoy this one but I would definitely recommend reading the whole Tiffany series in order (starting with The Wee Free Men). The series is a great stepping stone to introduce young adults to the Discworld series but I'd also recommend it to adults who are already fans of the series.

If you've read any of my other reviews for the books in this series you'll already know that I love Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegles so I couldn't wait to read this book. I Shall Wear Midnight didn't disappoint and although it is by far the darkest book in the series it still contained the humour and witty real life insights that you can expect in any of Terry Pratchett's books. The themes covered in the story include child abuse, miscarriage, hatred and prejudice but it is also an inspiring story as we watch Tiffany become an adult. We have seen her character grow a lot throughout the series, she has always been intelligent and caring but we now see even more the potential she has to become one of the Discworld's greatest witches.

We see quite a lot of the older witches in this one - old favorites like Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg but also some new but powerful characters we hadn't come across in this series before. I loved the fact that we get to visit Ankh Morpork with Tiffany and catch up with some of the city watch (Including Carrot, Angua & Vimes). I found it interesting seeing Tiffany out of her element in the big city and the Nac Mac Feegles manage to cause chaos while they're there as you might expect if you've ever met them before. I still love the humour provided in the form of the Feegles and it was great to see Wee Mad Arthur again.

If you're a fan of the previous Tiffany books then I'm sure you'll enjoy this last instalment. If you haven't started reading them yet but are a fan of humorous fantasy then what are you waiting for? Get your hands on a copy of The Wee Free Men asap!

Source: Thanks to RHCB for giving me an ARC of this book, I also have a signed hardback from the signing I attended.

Other Reviews:
Nayu's Reading Corner
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.

Author Signing: Terry Pratchett - 1st September 2010

When Clare from RHCB sent me an email about a London signing with Terry Pratchett for his newest book I Shall Wear Midnight I knew I had to go.  My Dad & I have been massive Terry Pratchett fans for about 15 years now so I got our tickets as soon as they went on sale.  I absolutely love the Tiffany Aching series - The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith and the final book I Shall Wear Midnight (click on the links to read my reviews) - Tiffany and The Nac Mac Feegles are some of my favorite characters in the Discworld series.

The event started at 11pm but as we weren't too sure where we were going & how easy parking would be we left home at about 8:20pm.  I'm glad my Dad offered to drive & that we had sat nav as I don't think we would have made it through London otherwise but in the end we had quite an easy journey & managed to get parked less than 5 minutes away from Waterstone's.  We were there early so had time to browse in Waterstone's before it closed (both of us were very restrained & didn't buy anything though!) and I was able to say a quick hello to Clare & Corinne from RHCB.

The contents of my goodie bag

We joined the queue outside just before 10pm and were obviously just in time as there were only 7 people in front of us & it didn't take long before there were loads of people in line behind us! We were allowed into Waterstone's at about 10:30pm & handed a lovely goodie bag with our copy of I Shall Wear Midnight, a pen and a badge. Lauren from RHCB was handing out drinks, I'm not a wine drinker so I was happy with water but Dad had a nice glass of red. Dad stopped to write down a couple of questions for Terry so by the time I'd found him again & encouraged him to hurry up we ended up further back than I was hoping considering how close we had been to the front of the queue.

As the shop is long and narrow we ended up with quite a few people in front of us & didn't have a fantastic view but we were still a lot closer than most of the people there.  They had arranged chairs on the stage for Terry and Tony but they did the whole interview standing up to give people near the front a better view.  I thought this was very nice of them as we wouldn't have been able to see them from where we were standing otherwise.  It wasn't easy to get good photos as we weren't allowed to use the flash but I managed to get a couple that weren't too bad, especially when we got to the front to get our books signed.

Dad with his copy of I Shall Wear Midnight

Before the signing Tony Robinson (best known for presenting Time Team and for playing Baldrick in the Blackadder TV series) interviewed Terry Pratchett.  You could tell they are good friends and they bantered really well together - I really enjoyed listening to them talking.  I can't hope to capture the humor of their conversation or tell you everything they mentioned in their 45 minute chat but I'll bullet point a few of the things they talked about that stuck in my mind (any mistakes in the list are due to my poor memory but I've done my best to get things right!).

Tony Robinson & Terry Pratchett

• The book that Terry would like to be remembered for is Nation (I loved this book, you can read my review here).  He thinks that this is the best book he has ever written but he said his best writing is in his children's books.  He believes that this is because he has to think about things in more detail to make sure children will be able to understand them.
• When asked at what point in his career he started his best writing he said that he is expecting that to happen sometime within the next year.  I think he was just making the point that there is always room for improvement and I really do think that his books get better with every new release.
• What is the difference between his adult and YA Discworld books?  The advance - he earns more for the adult books but enjoys writing both.
• I Shall Wear Midnight is the last book in the Tiffany Aching Series but he did say that Tiffany will probably be making appearances in future Discworld books.
• His favorite characters to write are Vimes and Tiffany who both seem to write themselves.
• When asked which character was most like him Terry wished he could say Vimes but said he would probably have to go with Rincewind.
• Where do the victims of the luggage end up?  Elsewhere
• Advice Terry's older self would give to his younger self would be to have more sex while you can!  A more child friendly answer would be to start his writing career earlier but he doesn't regret the way his career has turned out.  He worked as a journalist for years which allowed him to see people with their trousers down (& I'm guessing gave him lots of details for his writing).  Journalism taught him how to both listen and talk to people which improved his skills as a writer.
• When asked what books he would recommend Terry confirmed that he doesn't tend to read fiction often any more as he has both read & written so much of it over the years.  He reads more non-fiction books these days and often finds they will give him the beginnings of a story.  One he mentioned was about moving blocks of ice across North America in the 70's and from the way he was talking I wouldn't be surprised to see this appear in a future story.
• Asked if he was a precocious child Terry wasn't able to say but he did mention that growing up as an only child his mother spent a lot of time talking to him which he thinks had an important impact in his life.  He did grow up with a group of neighbourhood friends his age & remembers their parents organising measles parties whenever one of them was ill to make sure they all caught it at the same time & got it over with.
• Although he has been happy with all of the TV adaptations for the Discworld series Going Postal is his favorite - it had a bigger budget so they were able to spend more money on the little background details like posters.
• Terry explained that he doesn't tend to plot the story for his books in advance, he lets the story evolve as he's writing and sees where the characters will take him.  He often doesn't know what the ending will be until he actually starts writing it.
• I was very excited when Terry mentioned that he is currently writing his next adult Discworld novel, he did mention the name but unfortunately I can't remember what it was (I'm sure it started with the letter S though!)

Terry Pratchett

I could have listened to Terry & Tony talk for hours but the signing was due to start at midnight so they left the stage at about 11:45pm for a quick break.  When Terry re-appeared just before midnight he was ready for bed in a tartan nightgown and matching nightcap.  He posed for some press pictures before the signing started.  We were lucky to be near the front so we didn't have long to wait before getting our books signed.  With over 300 people in the queue (most of them behind us) I think the people at the back probably had a very late night!

Terry got ready for bed before signing our books in his nightgown!

After getting our books signed I had a quick chat with Clare from RHCB who asked me if I would be willing to give an interview about the event for a video they were making to go on Terry's website.  I almost ran from the building at this point - I hate having my photo taken let alone being filmed LOL - but instead I volunteered my Dad for the task.  Luckily he isn't as shy as I am & was happy to answer a few questions!

Dad giving his interview

We headed home not long after Dad gave his interview and actually made it to my house by 1:30am which is a lot earlier than I was expecting.  This was the first author signing that I've ever been to but we had a lot of fun and I'll definitely be going to more in the future.  It would have been nice if we had been able to pose for pictures with Terry but with the number of people who were there I can understand why there wasn't time.  My signed copy of I Shall Wear Midnight will definitely be taking pride of place on my bookshelves though!

I'd like to say a massive thank you to both RHCB & Waterstone's for organising the event and of course to Terry & Tony for such a lovely talk.

*Update - 10th Sept*

With thanks to RHCB I've been able to post a video with footage of the event - including a snippet from Dad's interview & Terry actually signing my book!  Click here to see the video

August 2010 Recap

Here is the list of books I've read in August. (The links will take you to my reviews)

1. Playing Easy To Get - Anthology
2. Forbidden - Tabitha Suzuma
3. Destined for an Early Grave - Jeaniene Frost
4. Shadow of the Vampire - Meagan Hatfield
5. Cape Storm - Rachel Caine
6. Trash - Andy Mulligan
7. Kiss Me If You Can - Carly Phillips
8. The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett
9. Texas Tangle - Leah Braemel
10. Shade - Jeri Smith-Ready
11. Conspiracy Game - Christine Feehan
12. Almost True - Keren David
13. Dangerous Games - Keri Arthur
14. A Hat Full of Sky - Terry Pratchett
15. Silver Borne - Patricia Briggs
16. Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett
17. Immortal Remains - Rook Hastings
18. Sex Magick - Laura Stamps (Short Story - review to come soon)

Here is a quick update on the challenges I'm taking part in this year:

100+ Reading Challenge - Read 160/200

Young Adult Reading Challenge - Read 55/75

Support Your Local Library Challenge - Read 66/75

Terry Pratchett Challenge - Read 4/12
L.J. Smith Reading Challenge (Vampire Diaries) - Read 0/5
Thriller & Suspense Challenge - Read 11/12
2010 Summer Romance Challenge - Read 16/16 COMPLETE
New Author Challenge - Read 50/50 COMPLETE
Awesome Author Challenge - Read 20/20 COMPLETE

Paranormal Reading Challenge - Read 50/50 COMPLETE
Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge - Read 24/24 COMPLETE

NAC April Mini-Challenge Battle Royale - Read 5/5 COMPLETE

Giveaway: Nearly Departed & Immortal Remains - Rook Hastings - GIVEAWAY CLOSED

*UPDATE - THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW ENDED - Winners announced here*

I really enjoyed the first 2 books in the Weirdsville series by Rook Hastings so I'd like to offer one of my readers the chance to win both of these books.  This giveaway is for my copies of the books so they have been read once but are in nearly new condition and I hope that the winner will enjoy them as much as I did.  Here are the descriptions for both of the books, if they appeal to you please see below for information on how to enter the giveaway.

"I've seen a ghost," said Emily.  "Well, not seen one exactly.  Heard one.  At least, I think I have..."

Woodsville is not like other towns.  Night falls a little earlier there, the shadows are darker and denser, and everyone knows it's a place where strange things happen.  Even if they won't admit it.

Bethan would prefer to be anywhere but here.  Jay has his theories, but isn't ready to share.  Hashim sees more than he'll say, while Kelly's demons are all too flesh and blood.  But Emily's freak-out brings them out of denial and face to face with the supernatural.

Anywhere else, Friday night would be date night.  But not in Weirdsville...

"You see, the girls that died - it wasn't by accident.  They were cursed, every one of them.  Cursed to meet a horrible death..."  Charlotte swallowed.  "And I'm going to be next."

Four freak accidents.
Four mysterious omens.
Four signs of trouble.

Shadows are getting darker and the town of Woodsville is getting creepier by the hour.  Something is coming, something old and evil.

For more information about Rook please visit her page on the HarperCollins website here



Giveaway Details:

• I have one copy of each of these books that will both be sent to one winner.  These books have been read once but are in good condition.
• This giveaway is international so anyone can enter.
• You don't have to be a blog follower to enter (although of course I'd love it if you were LOL)
• If you follow me on Twitter or are my friend on Goodreads you can get extra entries but this is not required.
• You can get extra entries by spreading the word but again that isn't required
• You can also get extra entries by commenting on Rook's guest post here, my review of Nearly Departed here or my review of Immortal Remains here. 
• To enter please fill in the form below
• You have until the 17th September to enter the giveaway and I'll announce the winner soon after. I will email the winner as well as announcing it on my blog and you will have 48 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen.
• The books will be posted to the winner as soon as possible after they have sent me their address, I will obtain proof of postage when I send the parcel but I can't be held responsible if the book is lost in the post.  If the winner is international I will use the cheapest method of postage so it may take a while for the books to be delivered.

*UPDATED* (8th Sept)

• Thanks to the lovely Tiffany from Harper Collins I now have a second set of these 2 books to include in the giveaway.
• There will now be 2 winners, the first person picked will recieve a brand new copy of each book and the second winner will receive my copies of the books that have been read once but are in good condition.
• If you have already filled in the form to enter you don't need to do anything - you will still be included in both draws.
• Please don't enter more than once - you won't gain anything as all duplicate entries will be deleted before winners are selected.
• The giveaway is still international and all other rules remain the same as above.

Author's Animal Antics - Rook Hastings

Author's Animal Antics is a new regular blog feature here at Sarah's Book Reviews where I'm very excited to have some fantastic authors come and chat to us about their pets.  I'm thrilled to introduce the lovely Rook Hastings as my guest today...

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I'm not a cat person, I do love cats but I am sadly very allergic to them. So allergic, in fact, that when a ghost cat rubbed itself around my legs, it brought me up in hives.

I'm even allergic to cats from beyond the grave!

But mainly I'm a dog person and have been since I was two-years-old and climbed into a litter of collie cross puppies and refused to go home until I was allowed to take one with me. That was my first dog, Merry.

My current dog, and much loved family member, is Polly the Poodle, named by my daughter when she was two. Polly is a standard (large) poodle, and although she is approaching seven, she is exactly like the unruly puppy I brought home. She has a fondness for bread, can open the fridge and once ate an entire packet of After Eight mints, leaving a neat little pile of the wrappers by her paws.

Polly is quite a good guard dog, in that having a big black dog sitting by the window would put most criminals off. But in reality, she is a shocking coward, having been chased by a cat and frightened by balloons. If there is a knock at the door, she gets me to go first, peeping round my legs to see who's there.

On the bright side, she is very sweet natured and great with my children, who climb all over her and tug her hair, which she puts up with very well.

I don't have her cut in the fancy poodle style, she's too much of a rough-and-tumble dog for that. Her favourite thing to do is to chase the intercity trains than run alongside the canal tow path where I walk her. I swear she could beat a grey hound any day, she is so quick.

Polly lies on my feet while I'm writing and if I'm stuck, stroking her often helps. Although, she can get a bit over keen and once deleted half a book with one fell swoop of a paw!

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Thank you so much for visiting today Rook!  Rook Hastings is the author of the fab young adult horror series.  The first book Nearly Departed was released earlier this year and the second book Immortal Remains released in the UK today.  I really enjoyed both of these books & would recommend them to anyone who enjoys a good ghost story.  You can read my reviews by clicking on these links - Nearly Departed & Immortal Remains.  I'm going to be hosting a giveaway for both of these books later today so make sure you check back later for a chance to win!

Find out more about Rook at the HarperCollins website here

For more information about the Author's Animal Antics feature click here

Review: Immortal Remains - Rook Hastings

"You see, the girls that died - it wasn't by accident.  They were cursed, every one of them.  Cursed to meet a horrible death..."  Charlotte swallowed.  "And I'm going to be next."

Four freak accidents.
Four mysterious omens.
Four signs of trouble.

Shadows are getting darker and the town of Woodsville is getting creepier by the hour.  Something is coming, something old and evil.

Weirdsville Series:
Nearly Departed
Immortal Remains



Review:
I really enjoyed Nearly Departed so I was looking forward to revisiting Woodsville and the characters in Immortal Remains.  I was expecting a creepy read but Rook Hastings outdid herself and Immortal Remains was positively scary in places.  If you're a fan of ghost stories then I'd highly recommend this series but you might have to sleep with the lights on afterwards!

We were already introduced to the main characters in Nearly Departed but we get to know them even better in Immortal Remains.  Hashim is still the popular, sporty teenager he was before but he is struggling to deal with the events of the previous book.  He sees ghosts everywhere he goes but is living in denial and has stopped speaking to the others because he just wants to forget everything that has happened.  He doesn't want to think about the reality of the events that are taking place in Woodsville and I can completely understand how he feels.  He is a likable character but features less in this story - although he still has an important part to play - and I'm hoping we get to see more of him in future installments to the series.

Kelly is one of the popular crowd who used to bully other members of the group.  She was the character who I wasn't expecting to like at all when I started reading the first book but she quickly became my favorite character in Immortal Remains.  We already knew she has a tough home life but we get to find out more about her life in this story and you can't help but feel sorry for her.  Since starting to hang out with the others she is being ostracised by her former friends and is losing her popularity, this is difficult for her to deal with but I was pleased to see the way her feelings changed throughout the book.  Kelly is tough and she has attitude - she had me laughing out loud on several occasions with her snarky one liners.

Bethan is the goth girl with blue hair and a ghost blog that everyone at school loves to tease.  She has never really fitted in before but seems to be finding her place within the group.  When she is contacted by Charlotte (a pupil from the local posh school) via her blog Bethan is the one who gets the others involved.  Four of Charlotte's friends have died in mysterious circumstances and Charlotte believes that they were all cursed after playing on an Ouija board - she thinks that she will be next.  She asks the friends to help her but will they be able to free Charlotte from the curse?

Jay seems to be the glue that holds the group together, without him I get the feeling that the others would drift apart and head in opposite directions.  Jay was very much the geek in the first installment but he is starting to shed his nerdy image and I'm curious to see if this continues in the next book.  All of the characters are very lifelike and remind me of people I was at school with.  It is very easy to relate to each of them and I think the story is more frightening because it reminds me so much of being a teenager and the things that used to give me nightmares when I was younger.

I would highly recommend this series to any fans of a good ghost story - if you enjoy a spookily good read you'll love both of these books.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Rook Hastings comes up with next.

Source: Received for review from publisher HarperCollins

Other Reviews:
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.