Not Being the Best, or my UKYABA Declination Speech
For a long time at school, I was the best. Not because I was particularly intelligent – I am, but not off-par with my peers – but because I was relatively studious. I’m lazy, and I learned early on that if I listened to teachers and lessons the first time round, I wouldn’t have to … Continue reading
His Dark Materials Anniversary Readalong!
A His Dark Materials readalong? Why, how marvellous! I hear you think. Well, quite. This coming March, I will be joining bloggers Michelle, Jo, Laura, Andrew and Stephen to host just such a spectacular event to mark the 20th anniversary of its publication. All five of us will be leading twitter-based discussions about both the … Continue reading
The #wikiYA Challenge
How many of us use Wikipedia? Everyone, I’d hazard – and I’d go further to say everyone, everyday. Wikipedia is one of the best resources to come out of the invention of the internet. It’s literally THE BEST. It’ll pretty much tell you everything about anything. That sudden interest you developed in fluid dynamics? You’d … Continue reading
The Brilliant Book Community Census 2015
Basically what it sounds like, this mega-survey is an attempt to gather some big data about the habits of book bloggers and booktubers. My hope is that it’ll be helpful for everyone involved and most of all that it yields interesting results – the our community is so GIGANTICALLY HUGE that it’s hard to ever … Continue reading
Celebrating William Nicholson’s Writing
You may not have heard of William Nicholson – he’s the sort of author who likes to stay under the radar and hasn’t succumbed to the timeslurp of Twitter, even though he’s played an important part in several huge films (Gladiator, Les Miserables to mention a few) and had his own successes in YA/MG genres … Continue reading
My Year in Books: 2014
2014 has been both a great and disappointing year for my reading. In many ways, it’s a year of quality over quantity, which is pleasing; yet I was hoping I could complete more than the 28 I did. I suppose completing my A Levels and working on a big theatre project didn’t help! This year … Continue reading
YA Book Prize Shortlist
The YA Book Prize (@yabookprize) is (yes, you guessed it) an award celebrating young adult, British fiction and it celebrates its inauguration this year. Below are the short-listed novels with links, where applicable, to my reviews (or Goodreads). All of the books are (of course!) fabulous – but which do you think you should win … Continue reading
The Next YA Trend: Science Fiction?
A few months ago I bemoaned on Twitter that there was not enough science fiction or space operas in young adult fiction: YA needs more hard sci-fi / space operas. Please. — Rhys (@FictionThirst) August 22, 2014 Of course, fiction publishing is full of speculation about the next genre people won’t be able to get … Continue reading
20 Questions: Non Pratt
Introducing 20 Questions, a new format for interviewing authors. Alongside in-depth, one on one interviews, 20 Questions aims to provide a more spontaneous opportunity for writers to talk about their lives and their stories. Non Pratt is the author of Trouble – a YA novel published earlier this year in the UK by Walker Books … Continue reading
8 Books Like The Maze Runner
If you’ve just come out of the cinema gasping after having seen The Maze Runner; well, here are some more books for you to consider that are similar to the Maze Runner trilogy; either because they’re bloody, thrilling or just plain epic. In no particular order: Red Rising by Pierce Brown – this recent sci-fi … Continue reading
I’m Going on an Adventure
In the tradition of all literary greats, I will be going on an adventure this year. My journey is not a quest to destroy the ring, like in Lord of the Rings, or a constant and hedonistic party road trip across America like in On the Road. It’s a little trip to Germany (I’m half … Continue reading
Seeing Kate Bush: a few thoughts
As a follow up to my previous post about seeing Kate Bush (KATE. IN THE FLESH), here is a quick post having just seen THE SPECTACLE. I don’t want to give a review of Before the Dawn – but I do want to spend a few words making a few observations. WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS. Kate … Continue reading
Kate Bush – My Favourites.
This post is a quick intermission between my regular, bookish posts. It’s no secret that I love Kate Bush, and it’s even less of a secret, if you follow me on twitter, that I’m seeing her LIVE IN CONCERT on Friday. Yes, I was one if those lucky ones (WE HAPPY FEW), and I feel … Continue reading
Publisher Pet Peeve: “Goodreads” Reviews
This is something that’s been around a while and that has equally annoyed me for the time it’s been around (I had hoped it would go away with time – it hasn’t) but I recently got a couple of emails where this had been done and I thought I’d finally write something about it, because … Continue reading
MESSENGER OF FEAR (Michael Grant) COVER REVEAL
If you’re a fan of Michael Grant and his books, you’ll no doubt be excited for his latest series, MESSENGER OF FEAR. Are you afraid? Not nearly afraid enough….here’s the official blurb: “I remembered my name – Mara. But, standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat … Continue reading
Panem Today, Panem Tomorrow, Panem Forever: The Mockingjay Teaser Trailer
Personally, The Hunger Games film franchises is one of my favourites: it’s just so brilliant (okay, so there are a few disappointing moments but thankfully these are really quite minor) and in my opinion surpasses the books. One of my favourite things about the films has been their viral marketing campaign, which has seen websites … Continue reading