#IBW2016 Tag

I'll be honest, 2016 hasn't been a good year so far for reading. However, having just watched some of the Independent Bookshop Week Tag videos though (including the original, here, by Vintage Books), I feel very inspired by lots of new titles. I thought I would have a go myself because who doesn't love a good tag.

IBW 2016 is happening from 18th-25th June, so get involved and do the tag if you wish!

1. What book(s) are currently in your bag?

Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse has been my bag now for longer than I care to admit. I've just got the part where the main character, Hannah finds a thread of possible truth about her husband which might explain why he didn't return home from his business trip to New York. This was my 'post-interview' book a few months back, and it even featured when one of the interviewees asked me what I was currently reading. Despite all this, I'm still only about half way through it. As I said... not a good book year. 

2. What’s the last great book you read?

As already stated a few times in this blogpost (if this were a CV or a cover letter, it would have been thrown in the dustbin by now for careless repetition), I haven't been reading much in 2016, so I just found my 'Notes' App on my iPhone where I have listed all the books I read in 2015. There were some corkers, but it's a toss up between Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (because it's impossible to deny that it isn't a great book) and The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Therialt. 

 


3. What book have you gifted the most?

As Will from the original Vintage Books video said, I don't think there's one book that I tend to give as a gift. It very much differs from person to person. In my family we tend to put book wishlist on Amazon so that we get the ones that we're really after, so it really depends. Saying that, I've had some great ones bought for me which weren't on there. (Side note: I still haven't quite gotten used to this whole 'using the word 'gifted' as a verb' thing!). 

4. What’s your favourite independent bookshop?

I'm going to cheat and pick two...

The first is the Minster Gate Bookshop in York. It's all about the setting for me; picture an old creaky building living in the shadow of York Minster with stairs that somehow keep producing rooms upon rooms of books. This bookshop is a wonderful escape from the busy streets of York. They sell new and old books on everything and even prints, pictures and old maps. 

The second is Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I first visited here on a school art trip to Paris years ago and fell a little bit in love. Every square inch of this place has a book crammed into it, I'd never seen anything quite like it! It feels like a little, intimate den of possibilities. With a piano on the second floor, the occasional Parisian (or tourist) will play to you while you float through the shop with delight. When I saw this shop in the film Before Sunset, I was so excited! Ask for any books that you buy to be stamped whilst you're at the till. It's just what you have to do! 

Shakespeare and Company featured in Before Sunset

Yep, I got mine stamped!

5. What’s been your favourite book recommended by a bookseller (or fellow Booktuber)?

I had to think about this one for a minute, but I think my favourite book recommended by a Booktuber was Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman, recommended by Just Kiss My Frog. The way Leena talks so passionately about all the books she's read just makes me want to rush out and buy every single one. I have chosen this one because for me, it was a gateway drug to everything else Caitlin Moran ever wrote. Upon finishing this book I went into a sort of mad frenzy. I was addicted; watching every interview on YouTube, reading every column in The Times and buying everything she had previously and subsequently written. Thanks Leena, thanks Caitlin Moran, I can now say with confidence that I am a feminist!

6. What’s your favourite bookshop memory?

Meeting the YA Book Prize winners in 2015 at Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross. This was one of the events I attended when I worked in publicity, and I was so lucky to spend the evening with some wonderful and insightful authors including Louise O'Neill and Sally Green! I met some fabulous people that evening, some of whom I am still in touch with now. I even wrote a blog post about it, which is available here. 

YA Bookprize Shortlistees

7. What do bookshops mean to you? What do you love about them?

Bookshops are a place for wonder and discovery. I love meandering around the tables at the front of Waterstones, looking at all the books that I've caught discussions on or seen in the Bookseller list. This excitement was heightened when I used to work in publicity and a number of them were ones I was working on! I love gazing in awe at the beautiful cloth-bound Penguin Classics. I love letting my eyes be drawn in by interesting covers (everyone knows that books really are judged by their cover, at least initially!). I love the feeling that you might find something that can speak to you in a way that nothing ever has before.  

8. What are the books that made you? Which books have most affected or influenced you?

I know I just talked about this one but I've been thinking long and hard and I have to choose How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. She has single-handedly identified everything that is unfair/unequal/annoying about being a woman today and even laid it out very kindly in handy chapters! 

9. What book do you recommend readers gift for Father’s Day?

If I knew the answer to this, I'd be a very happy lady!

10. What book is currently at the top of your TBR pile?

Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin. 

6 Great Podcasts

Is it me or are podcasts 'back'? Everyone seems to be starting a podcast or talking about new podcasts, which is great because I love them! Fashionable or not, I thought I would share a few of my favourites with you. Equally if you have any recommendations, I'd love to hear them in the comments! 

Answer Me This! 

I had to start with Answer Me This! because I've been listening to it every week (and subsequently fortnightly when host, Olly Man got busy) since before, what feels like, the dawn of time. Since January 2006, Helen Zalzman and Olly Mann have been wittily and hilariously answering questions submitted by their listeners. The format is simple, but the outcome is brilliant. Complete with great banter, catchy jingles and an educative element, I would recommend this to anybody!

Podcast Length: Newer ones are 40 mins, older ones were 30 mins
Frequency: Bi-monthly, though they are on a break at the moment because Olly Mann has just had a baby
Hosts: Helen Zalzman, Olly Mann and Martin the Soundman (appears on the podcast in an echoey voice!)
Audience: Everyone!

Graham Norton 

Once again throwing caution to what may or may not be cool, I can honestly say that I am unashamedly very much in love with Graham Norton and his Saturday morning 'Mumsy' BBC Radio 2 programme. This podcast, or 'podload' as he mysteriously calls it, is a condensed version of this morning show. He chats to celebrity guests (with admittedly a lesser general popularity that those on his Friday night BBC1 chatshow) but my all time favourite feature of the podcast is 'Grill Graham'. Alongside Maria McErlane, Graham does his best to play 'agony aunt' with his usual dose of irrepressible caustic humour. In fact sometimes I scroll past the interviews and just listen to this!

Podcast Length: Around an hour
Frequency: Every Saturdays
Hosts: Graham Norton with Maria McErlane
Audience: If you like the BBC1 chatshow and appreciate his sense of humour, you would most likely get on with this

Women of the Hour with Lena Dunham

I discovered this podcast recently by accident and couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I'd sought out everything on the internet with even a passing reference to Lena Dunham, but I was wrong! Lena explores and examines everyday life topics such as work, love & sex and the body with a diverse range of guests. If like me, you could make a career of sitting on Youtube watching her speak, then you will know what to expect: plenty of very frank, raw and sensitive discussion, often relating to feminism.

Podcast Length: About an hour
Frequency: There are currently 5 podcasts which were made last year
Host: Lena Dunham
Audience: I would say that this would most likely appeal to teen girls to women in their thirties, but if you enjoy this and you're outside those brackets then that's great!

Oxford Brookes University Publishing Podcasts

This one is a bit niche but if you're interested in pursuing a career in the publishing industry then I would definitely recommend it. Oxford Brookes University run a prestigious Masters course in Publishing. The department broadcasts talks with well-established professionals in the publishing industry on topical issues such as 'eBooks in Schools', 'Becoming the New Publisher' and 'Managing Change in Publishing'. It also tackles relevant topics for students or graduates hoping to get their foot in the door, including 'Building a Career in Publishing' and 'Career Options in Publishing'.

Podcast Length: Usually under an hour
Frequency: A wealth of podcasts exist from 2006-2015, however there haven't been any posted this year
Hosts: Various
Audience: Anybody seeking advice about entering the publishing industry

Woman's Hour Daily Podcast

Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour presents reports, interviews and debates on health, education, cultural and political topics aimed at women. Woman’s Hour claims to be a 'powerful advocate for women’s empowerment'.  I like to pick and choose which podcasts I listen to based on which guests they have and what issue they are discussing, but because they are daily, there is regularly something of interest.


Podcast Length: 45 - 55 mins
Frequency: Monday - Saturday
Hosts: Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray
Audience: Women (and Men!)

The Listening Project

The Listening Project seeks to capture the nation in conversation to build a unique picture of our lives today to preserve it for future generations. I find listening to the thoughts, opinions and worries of others strangely cathartic and very insightful and I like the fact that they're short.




Podcast Length: 13 - 14 mins (yes, it's very specific and I applaud the production team!)
Frequency: Weekly
Host: Fi Glover
Audience: Anybody

Books for Christmas

I thought I would do a very delayed, last day of January post about the books I got for Christmas. I usually use my birthday and Christmas as a time to ask for new books that have been on my want-list for a while and I just haven't got around to buying. This year was no different.

1). The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 

I am so very late to the party with this book, but having really gotten into thrillers/crime last year, I can't wait to get hooked into another one.

2).  Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry is my spirit animal. His sharp wit, charm and self-deprecating Britishness is endlessly entertaining, and his style of writing is genuis. Very excited to dip in and out of this autobiography.

3).  The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo

I didn't ask for this one...I think someone is trying to tell me something. I have yet to delve into to this, however perhaps it will help me clear my room before its redecoration this year! Here's hoping.

4). Literary Listography: My Reading Life in Lists written by Lisa Nola, illustrated by Holly Exley

Again, not on my list, but I love these kinds of books, so this was right up my street. It is full of pages to fill in, like 'Fictional characters I'd go on a date with', 'Books I read in high school' and 'Words I love and hate the sound of'. I'm considering doing occasional blog posts as I fill this in to document my lists. 

5). The Ladybird Book of Dating by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris 

If you haven't seen any books in this series yet, get yourself to a bookshop near you; these will make you giggle! 

So that's my little list of Christmas books (I told you I like lists)! 

I aim to be better at blogging in the New Year yada yada yada...time will tell! 

xx

A Book-Lovers Paradise

I'm breaking my blogging hiatus (sorry about that) with a post inspired by a YouTuber called Rhiannon Ashlee. For the first few videos of Vlogtober she's been in Scotland, and it reminded me of the mind-blowing bookshop I visited when I was on holiday in the Scottish Borders, called Barter Books in Northumberland.

Barter Books is one of the largest secondhand bookshops in Britain and it's based on a swap system. The magnificent setting for the bookshop is the Victorian railway at Alnwick, stuffed with shelves on every topic and packed with perfect little corners to sit for hours upon end if you wish.

With its electric toy train encircling the first room of books, to its numerous quotations linking bookcases and its majestic sun-shaped light display on the wall the bookshop has a charming and unique character, that had me constantly looking upwards in awe. Enjoy open fires in the winter and the Station Buffet, a delightful café ideal to sit and read in.

This magical bookshop is well worth a visit if you're in the area. Let me know if you have been and tell me what you thought!

Part I: Half Bad Trilogy Review - Half Bad

***Spoiler Alert***

SYNOPSIS

If you're into gripping beginnings, Half Bad does not disappoint. We find Nathan locked up in a cage being treated like an animal by Celia, a white witch. With years of abuse, Nathan manages to escape, but the world outside his cage is an unpleasant one. His mother is a white witch whilst his father, Marcus, is a nefarious black witch and is known for heartless murdering. Nathan is a 'half code', half-white and half-black. The white witch Council make their hatred known for half codes, and with Nathan's father notorious for the brutal murder of white witches, he is top of the hit list. Nathan is constantly on the run from the militant force sent out by the Council, the hunters, meanwhile desperate to receive his three gifts from his father before his seventeenth birthday in order to become a proper witch. He is forced to run from white witch, Annalise, the girl he loves as their love is condemned by her horrible white witch brothers. Marcus arrives just in time to give Nathan his gifts, but disappears again, leaving Nathan alone and still on the run from the hunters. 

REVIEW

I never would normally have picked out Half Bad as 'Witchy YA' is not usually my thing at all. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Half Bad is fast paced and exciting. I was totally caught up in Nathan's struggle, being trapped in a world that doesn't accept him. This was definitely helped along by the strong first-person narrative, almost stream of consciousness style in parts. 

Having watched all the videos reviewing the Half Bad series, one thing that lots of people are saying is that the romance between Annalise and Nathan is improbable and one that seems to 'stem from nowhere'. I disagree. She doesn't judge Nathan regardless of his situation and offers him a place of comfort and escape in their weekly meet-ups. I think naturally he would fall for her. Plus there's the whole 'forbidden romance' thing. It's classic! Comparatively we don't spend much time on Annalise in the novel, and perhaps her character isn't developed too much, and that's why people find it's quite hard to warm to her character (it doesn't help that her brothers torture Nathan!). 

The chapters are very short and the prose is very easy to follow. The narrative is interspersed with lists and bullet points and symbols. I really like that this is feature of Sally Green's writing, as it just creates a little extra point of intrigue when you read the story. 

Something I take from this book (and indeed its sequel, Half Wild) is Nathan's ability to be positive in any given awful situation. Through being captured and beaten in the beginning, he trains his mind to get through it. The book starts with a quote from Shakespeare's finest, Hamlet: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so". I think that's a fantastic life lesson!

I'm rating this one 4/5. A great read, available on Amazon here. 

Watch this space for Part II of this review, for Half Wild, which will be along shortly. 

   

Dear Stranger: Letters on the Subject of Happiness

I first came across Dear Stranger through an extract published in The Times. Published by Penguin in partnership with the mental health charity, Mind, Dear Stranger is comprised of 'letters' written by various authors, journalists and bloggers on the subject of happiness (including Marian Keyes, Rachel Joyce, Alain de Botton, Caitlin Moran). The extract was Caitlin Moran's letter. That was enough for me to decide to put this book on my birthday list, because I have a full-blown obsession! Observe the brilliance of the below quote from Caitlin Moran's letter.

"...you must not treat yourself any less courteously than you would a loved one, or a team-mate. You cannot spend days bitching at yourself, saying 'You are worthless', 'You said a stupid thing', 'You always make these same mistakes, and your knees are fat. Indeed the mistake you keep making is to have fat knees. You are a terminally fat-kneed clown.'

You would not stay silent if you saw someone being so repeatedly vile to someone else - if someone spoke to your brother, or sister, like this. You would find them. You would ride into battle on a horse against them. And yet, look at all the things you are saying to you."

Most of the letters are just two to three pages of thoughtful snippets about mental illness, depression, recovery and happiness, each providing food for thought on the subject. I love reading something that I know will stay with me long into the future, and this book certainly provides many sentiments that will do that.

Also contributing to the book is the illustrator of Alfie childrens' story books, Shirley Hughes, childrens' illustrator, Nicholas Allan and Private Eye cartoonist Tony Husband, with thoughtful insights given in picture-form.

The letters in the book are set out like chapters, one for each contributor, which makes it easy to flick through and read them in any order that takes your fancy. It's not necessary to read them consecutively as they appear in the book, though of course you could if you wanted to. This would be a great book to read alongside a novel (I know some people hate this idea), because reading a few pages really isn't at all taxing.

The last thing I will say about Dear Stranger is that I was rather disappointed that Stephen Fry didn't appear in the list of contributors. As the President of the Mind charity, I would have thought this would be a no-brainer for him, and I think he could have done something really interesting, but no such luck. His autobiographies serve much the same purpose, I suppose.

All profits from the sale of Dear Stanger (at least £3 per copy sold) will be donated to Mind (a registered charity, number 219830), available on Amazon here and through Waterstones here.

Goldsboro Books: Crime in the Court

Due to technicality issues involving not having a working laptop in London for about three months, there haven't been any blog posts for a while, but I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

I am late to the game to write about this, but I went to Crime in the Court last Thursday (June 25th), an event held at Goldsboro books, which is a lovely independent bookshop just off Leicester Square which specialises in signed first edition copies.

This was the fourth annual Crime in the Court event, which takes place in the lovely space outside Goldsboro bookshop. Crime writers of all sorts attended the event as well as fans, publishers, publicists, agents. As the publicity agency I work for was responsible for the PR for four of the authors there, it was great to all have an informal chat and a glass of wine.

I have listed the authors who attended below: 

Rebecca Whitney, Elizabeth Haynes, Terry Stiastny,

Susan Wilkins, Clare Mackintosh, Antonia Hodgson,

Louise Millar, Christobel Kent, Kate Rhodes,

RC Bridgestock, Charles Cumming, SD Sykes

William Shaw, V.M.Giambanco, Ali Knight

Elly Griffiths, L.C.Tyler, Dreda Say Mitchell & Tony Mason,

Elena Forbes, Julia Crouch, Mick Herron,

Colette McBeth, T.R.Richmond, Vaseem Khan

Jenny Blackhurst, Robin Blake, Sabine Durrant

JS Law, Clare Carson, Erin Kelly,

Jane Lythell, Stuart Prebble, Simon Toyne

Anya Lipska, Fergus McNeill, SJI Holliday,

Helen Giltrow, Claire McGowan, Eva Dolan,

Mark Billingham, SJ Watson, Sharon Bolton,

Renee Knight, David Hewson, Emma Kavanagh,

Sarah Hilary, Alison Joseph, Cal Moriaty,

Saul Black, Diana Bretherick

I highly recommend any crime fans to go next year as it's always great to meet authors whose books you have enjoyed. I even got my copy of The Insect Farm by Stuart Prebble signed  - definitely a highlight!