The Prophecy of Bees by R.S Pateman

            

Published : November 2014

Publisher: Orion

Format: eBook

A Copy was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

This is all I can think of at the min:

"Or what? You'll release the dogs, or the bees? Or the dogs with bees in their mouths and when they bark, they shoot bees at you? Well, go ahead! Do your worst!"

I almost stopped reading this. It had everything I hate about YA:

1) A whiny teen
2) A whiny teen moving house
3)A whiny teen moving house who hates her mother

and her name is IsaBELLA! 

Not a good start!

I'm sort of glad I stuck with it...sort of. I really wasn't interested the drama between Isabella and her mother. Or her pining over her goth ex boyfriend Cosmo ...*shudder* He was in a band! Isn't that so kewl!

I did love then superstition in book. Pateman did a great job of translating the old world fear that comes with sometimes comes with small towns full of older people.

The big downfall in this book is it's lack of suspense. In a book like this you need to keep the reader on the edge of their seats. You need to constantly keep them guessing. The characters just weren't interesting enough for me so ultimately I didn't really care what happened to any of them.

However...the ending..now that took guts. Not many authors would have the balls to do that so that earned this book an extra star. 

Rating:

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

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Fed up

Warning! Rant ahead! 

I'm fed up. Really really fed up. For those of you asking "why is she talking about feeling full?" Its a word we used for bored, frustrated..etc..

I'm fed up with reading

I'm fed up when I'm not reading

I turn on the TV and get fed up because there's nothing on

I'm fed up in work and on my days off

But mostly I'm just fed up with pain!

I've never had great hips but I've always ignored it. Being a bit sore after a long walk up the mountains or a long day at work, that's normal right? Apparently not. About a year ago the pain started to get stronger and more frequent. Then almost over night it got so bad I was unable to get up off the sofa because of the pain.

After weeks of suffering (stupidity on my part) I eventually went to see the doc but I still thought I was going mental to be honest. Many doctors visits, an X-Ray and an MRI later showed degeneration in the joints so the doc loaded me up with every pain killer imaginable and booked an appointment with a specialist.

After months of waiting I finally got a date for the appointment but in the mean time, if I stand for too long I ache but if I sit for too long either I'm in bits! 

This part was the hardest for me because I used to love sitting in my big comfy chair for hours at a time with a good book. This pain has really put me off reading :( 

This time next week Ill be that much closer to a diagnoses...which will more than likely be degenerative arthritis. Did I mention that I'm 27 and not 77? 

Anyway that's enough ranting. I've just re read this and it makes me sound like such a whiny bitch!

Hopefully when I get a more effective method pain relief I'll be back to posting on a more regular basis.

For now I'm off to get drunk and stand on my head or whatever else I have to do to get comfortable!

The Wraith by @joe_hill

                     

Published: August 2014

Publisher: IDW publishing

Format: Digital Graphic novel

A copy was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

I loved everything about this graphic novel. It was brilliant!. I haven't read NOS4A2 so I thought this would be a good introduction to Charlie Manx and his world.

3 prisoners are being transferred when they decide that this would be the

perfect time to escape. However everything doesn't go exactly as planned and they end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. Not to worry though. One of them has a favor to call in from Charlie Manx. He has a knack for making people disappear..

Charlie takes them to Christmas land. The land where all of expectations and broken promises of his youth are undone. A place where all the wrongs are righted. Here Charlie and his children are happy. Here they will never be tricked or humiliated...They rule this world.

 Here he and his children are free to frolic and play delightfully gruesome games such as "scissors for the drifter."

The problem is that there is only one way in and out of Christmas land. The wraith holds the key to Christmas land and Charlie holds the key to the wraith.

What follows is nothing short of a bloodbath! The Story comes full circle in an ending which could easily stand on its own as a separate story. 
I loved the artwork. It was just as prominent ( if not more so) than the text. The erratic use of line and limited color palate really added to the creep factor. 
This is certainly a must for all Horror fans. I can't wait to get into NOS4A2 now!

Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

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FF:Future Suggestions

This meme is hosted by Parajunkee & Alison can read

Question:

Suggest a question! We need questions of the week for future FFs. Any ideas?

Suggestions:

1) If you could re write a book which one would it be and what changes would you make?

2) Name a movie you would have loved to read as a book ( That is not a book already obviously)

3) If you could write a book what would it be about?

4) Questions related to publishing news like the Amazon Hachette debate

5) Self Published vs Traditional - Your views

6) Tips for new bloggers

7) Book looks - Your favorite fashions from the books you've read

8) Do you prefer books with real or imaginary worlds?

I preffer GFC or Bloglovin follows but you can follow any way you please. Just make sure you let me know which way you choose so I can follow back!

The Pink Pepper Tree by Muriel Bolger @HachetteIre

Published: July 2014

Publisher: Hachette Ireland

Page count: 400

Format: Paperback

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A copy was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.


I really loved this book. It was so easy to get lost in. Perfect for summer. Plus I am just a little bit in love with the cover.

Jane has her whole life planned out. She has a loving boyfriend and a bright future. Together they are planning a huge re opening of they're award winning restaurant "The Pink Pepper tree" June notices that Peter seems to be drifting. Jane is the type to see the positive in everything so she puts it down to him just being distracted by the renovations.

He is distracted alright....but not by the renovations ( the fecker)! She thinks time away with her friend will give him some space and that all will be back to normal when she returns.


This was my turning point towards Jane. Rather than confront her problems she seems to just ignore them and hope they'll just go away. If you have troubles in your relationship you work at it you don't swan off on holidays!!

While on this holiday she experiences a life altering event (well for most it would be but again she sort of glosses over it and ignores it) . I felt this was a little unrealistic?


**Spoiler Warning**
While on holidays she is raped but she just passes it off as she has no proof. She was drinking but I still felt it was something that any woman would address. Or am I wrong? Would any woman really just faf off the fact that she was raped by aborting the pregnancy and never mentioning it again? I don't really know as I have no personal experience, thankfully

**Spoiler Ends**


After returning home Jane realizes that everything isn't just going to slot back into place, that moving on is incredibly hard but that moving on is sometimes the only way of finding happiness.


The Pink Pepper tree is a wonderful story of love and friendship. Highly recommended.

For anyone, who, like me was wondering what a pink pepper tree looks like here you go: 

Gorgeous!

Rating:

★  ★  ★  ★  ☆

Shark by @wself : Exclusive cover reveal and extract @PenguinUKBooks @BirdontheGreen

Shark is a mind-bending novel, centering around an incredible real event – the largest ever shark attack in human history, when nearly 600 men were killed after the sinking of the US naval vessel that delivered the bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima.

WeTransfer will be showcasing the book’s striking cover in a unique still life photograph that will link to retail partner Waterstones.com where people can pre-order the title a month ahead of its official launch this September.

Nalden, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-founder of WeTransfer, said: “Striking imagery has been a mainstay of WeTransfer; showcasing the work of exciting artists is an integral part of our user-experience. Likewise, Penguin has continuously enlisted adventurous designers with a strong vision to bring its publications to life, showcasing that printed books are still a canvas for creativity.


“As design enthusiasts ourselves, Penguin is a company we have always admired, not only for their timeless designs but also their innovative approach to digital communication. One of the previous covers we displayed achieved more than 25,000 clicks to Penguin’s online store in 27 days, so whilst we’re delivering stunning imagery on our platform, we’ve shown our global user-base obviously enjoy these books covers as much as we do.”

The launch of artwork for Will Self’s latest novel is just the latest in a series of projects between Penguin Books and WeTransfer, which aim to bring together print and digital creativity.

Celeste Ward-Best, Campaigns Executive at Penguin Books UK, said: “We’re delighted to partner with WeTransfer to unveil the daring cover of Will Self’s, Shark. WeTransfer is one of the most exciting and progressive online businesses out there and we’ve long admired their commitment to showcasing timeless and innovative design.”


To read the first excerpt made available from the book, please visit:
http://www.penguinblog.co.uk/extracts-2/read-an-exclusive-extract-of-shark-by-will-self/  
enter the Password wetransfer . No sign up or personal information is required

Free wallpaper. Click to download the full size version.

Thanks to Penguin and Fishburn for choosing Go Book Yourself to host this event!

Working stiff by @drjudymelinek and @TJMitchellWS . @ScribnerBooks

Published:  August 2014

Publisher: Scribner

Format: eBook

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Working Stiff was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review

This book was fascinating! I have always had a love for anatomy and physiology. When studying Veterinary Nursing it was one of my favorite topics. In another life to be a coroner would have been  a dream job. A little weird but I love the thought of being given the answer and having to work your way back to the beginning.

As the title suggests, this book documents Judy's journey through the 262 bodies that made her a medical examiner. 

The bodies on Judy's table find their way to her in very different ways from suicide to accident to murder. Each chapter is dedicated to a different body and how that body was able reveal the story of how the person met his or her end. I really admired Judy's ability to write about the deceased in a respectful way. Books centered around this subject matter can often be very cold but this wasn't the case here. Working still has the perfect balance between emotion and science. I was particularly impressed with her ability to deal with loved ones. Especially loved ones who seemed to have trouble coming to terms with the cause of death. I've met many scientists and doctors who are seem to be void of empathy. She seemed to have time for everyone. she even took the time to lay out bones in a funeral style so the family could see them before the burial,  allowing them some sense of closure. 

As for the autopsies themselves they are incredibly well detailed. She thoroughly describes the process from start to finish. This may be slightly off putting for the more squeamish reader but I loved it.

I learned so much from reading this book. For example: contrary to what crime fiction and documentaries would have us think, medical examiners are not in and out of court every other day. Only on rare occasions was Judy asked to give evidence in court and most of the time she never learned the final outcome as she was just so busy! The majority of deaths are natural causes or accidental. 

The final few chapters take saddening turn as Judy is called on to help identify bodies after the attack on the twin towers. The profound effect this had on her really came through in the writing. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be faced with hundreds of body parts and to be responsible for trying to identify a body from a ring or a polished fingernail. She really is an admirable person.

I found this book utterly engrossing. If you're interested in science, the human body and what really happens on the autopsy table then this book is for you!

Rating:

★★★★★

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