WWW Wednesday: 28th March 2018

I’ve just received a notification to say that I’ve posted 50 posts on here – rather exciting! Thank you to everyone who follows snailycanflyy and for all the support!

What are you currently reading? 

So I got my dates wrong. Wingbound by Heather Trim is actually OUT NOW! What I’ve read is so so good, and as soon as I’m in the mood for a fantasy read I know I’m going to love this one! I also started The List of Real Things by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald.

What did you recently finish reading?

I haven’t really read much this week at all…I’ve read lots of articles on the impact of tourism on the environment for my French essay. Oh the joys! At school I’ve read a couple of Read Write Inc books (they’re dire!) and I also read Triangle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen!

What do you think you’ll read next?

Sam and Ilsa’s Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan and Lady Mary by Lucy Worsley are two books coming out on the 5th April so I really hope to get to them this week; I’ve only got one morning left of my current job before I’m off for just over a week so hopefully I can catch up on my reading! Once I’ve got my French essay done. Ugh! In addition to those, I HAVE A COPY OF LEGENDARY BY STEPHANIE GARBER AND I AM SO EXCITED TO READ IT! Slightly jealous of people receiving beautiful physical proofs, but I still did a happy dance when I got my eBook copy!

WINGBOUND – Heather Trim

4/5 so far

Full review to come.

“Ledger is supposed to fear and despise the Sky People of Ellery. When an Ellerian girl named Alouette with beautiful, white wings sneaks into his village, everything changes. With his village at war with the winged people who live on the floating island that circles their world, he does the unthinkable: he befriends her. 

In Ledger’s seventeenth harvest, Ellery returns empty. The Sky People are gone, Alouette is missing, and Ledger must make a difficult choice—continue life as usual in the blacksmith workshop or board the island against the elders’ wishes and find her. 

From debut author Heather Trim comes a vibrant fantasy where following the rules isn’t always the right thing to do when you were born to be the exception.” – Goodreads

Okay, so I was very lucky and was asked if I would like to review a new Young Adult fantasy book from debut author Heather Trim. It sounded right up my street fantasy book-wise and the reviews already are fantastic – I couldn’t wait to get my review out there too! You may have noticed me talking in the past-tense and that this is very different to my usual style of review; I haven’t actually read all of this book *hangs head in shame*. However, what I have read is so good that I simply didn’t want to DNF it just because I’m not in the mood for fantasy books at the minute! The past month or so has seen me have lots of uni assignments to do, become very unhappy in my current job and so getting a new job and lots and lots of book releases that I had copies of via NetGalley, so, as you can imagine, it’s been very hectic! The books I have read have all been contemporaries – it’s my favourite genre and has been what I’ve needed to read to keep me sane so fantasies and historical fiction have really taken a backseat.

But I really want to raise some awareness about this exciting new book!

So, from what I have read, with Wingbound you are guaranteed a fast-paced book with some fantastic world-building and characters. Heather Trim’s writing style is so easy to get into and she doesn’t fall into the trap that I’ve come across so often with debut authors of being overly descriptive of everything. She gives just enough detail to create a vibrant image in your head which is perfect for me! Going on other reviews and my reading experience so far, what’s to come can only get better!

I fully intend to continue reading Wingbound as soon as I’m in the mood for fantasy and life settles down a bit, which hopefully will be soon!

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Thank you very much to Shayla and Heather for sending me an eBook of Wingbound!

Six for Sunday: 25th March 2018

Hello and happy Sunday, even though that means it’s the day before Monday and back to work boo! You can find the prompts for S4S here. This week’s is:

Characters you think wouldn’t want to be friends with

This is actually trickier to think of than it seems; there are villains in so many books that it’s hard to narrow it down, but then there’s also the question of in a contemporary YA book for example it may just be a character that you wouldn’t be friends with in real life. I’m going to go for characters from the latter.

1. Danny Wells (The Exact Opposite of Okay)

2. Bryce Walker (Thirteen Reasons Why)

3. Ethan (More Than We Can Tell)

4. Brandon Fitzsimmons (The Truth About Alice)

5. Elaine O’Dea (The Truth About Alice)

6. Kelsie Sanders (The Truth About Alice)

If you’ve read any of these, I hope you can see why I wouldn’t want to be friends with any of these! Do you agree or disagree with any I’ve chosen? 

 

Feelings about Bookshops

I actually got to go into my local bookshop yesterday and spend more than an hour in there before I felt anxious and it was wonderful. I could walk around with my arms full of books, take my time deciding what I was going to get and see all the new books that have come out.

So, a little backstory. As a bookworm, why does my local bookshop fill me with such anxiety? I’d like to point out that it’s not all bookshops; just Waterstones. I love Foyles and indies and feel perfectly content in them. Put me in a Waterstones, however, and my heart rate swiftly increases. Put me in my local Waterstones, and you’re lucky I don’t have a panic attack. I am a very unhappy ex-employee – I was treated disgustingly by the management to the verge of a mental breakdown. So yes, I hate the shop, which in turn made me hate the company. I have a six page grievance letter that doesn’t even cover everything that was going wrong! Long story short, I’m disgusted at the way the staff are treated.

This breaks my heart. 

From a young age, my dream job was to work at Waterstones so imagine how happy I was to get a job there! It was my safe place. So, to have lost that is devastating. But yesterday I decided to overcome my fear, albeit a little bit easier because I knew that there were no managers in and my best friend still works there, and I spent at least an hour in the shop browsing books to my heart’s content!

Bookshops are amazing and such a necessary part of the community, but I think that we all need to support smaller businesses and show that the reason we go to bookshops is for the warmth they bring and the staff loving their job which I feel you don’t always get in a chain bookshop. But at the same time, you can’t compete with the prices of the supermarkets and online. Once upon a time, I was so loyal to my local bookshop that I would save my money and spend more to buy books from them, but now I’d rather be able to afford more books and purchase them elsewhere. I don’t get that incredible service, the managers aren’t in it for the love of books and I know that they don’t value their customers so why should I shop there?

I don’t really know why I’ve written this! But I just felt like I need to put out there that I did it – I went into a place that nearly destroyed me and I didn’t freak out!

What are your thoughts?

WWW Wednesday: 21st March 2018

It’s been a whole week since I posted anything – I did intend to, but it’s just been one of those weeks unfortunately! I’ve not really read anything either, although I have bought lots of books…lots.

What are you currently reading? 

Because I haven’t read much, I’m still on Wingbound. Considering I’m really not in the mood for fantasy at the minute I think I’m doing okay with this one. I still hope to have it finished and reviewed for next week when it comes out though!

What did you recently finish reading?

…I’ve read a lot of synopses if that counts? I went into a bookshop for the first time in forever and got to properly browse and read lots of blurbs whilst deciding what to get. I’ve also been checking in with NetGalley to see what’s on there…SUCH AS LEGENDARY BY STEPHANIE GARBER. I’m very excited to read that one!

What do you think you’ll read next?

The List of Real Things by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X R Pan are still on my TBR, and I also want to get to Lady Mary by Lucy Worsley; March has gone so quickly and I need to start on my April books!

WWW Wednesday: 14th March 201

I’ve barely been reading this week; just been one of those weeks where I’ve felt so unmotivated to do anything and I’ve got my French essay to do so reading’s had to take a bit of a backseat unfortunately! I still have a WWW Wednesday post to go though; it’s one of my favourite posts to do!

What are you currently reading? 

My current read is Wingbound by Heather Trim – a YA fantasy. I was sent a request to review this one and couldn’t resist; it sounded just like my kind of fantasy with a world that’s carefully crafted yet similar to our own. It’s quite unique for me in that it’s told entirely from a male point of view which I don’t find very often; usually it’s a stabby heroine’s perspective! Once I got used to that, I’m finding it really enjoyable and can’t wait to carry on reading and really delve into this world.

What did you recently finish reading?

I haven’t read too much this week – I finished St Grizzle’s School for Girls, Geeks and Tag-along Zombies which was okay. I also re-read Ada Lovelace for my review and that was really good; I love the Little People Big Dreams series and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. It was nice to go back to it and really take in all the information.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I have two more wonderful sounding books to read this month: The List of Real Things by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald and The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X R Pan, so I definitely need to get to them in the next couple of weeks!

Six for Sunday: 11th March 2018

You can find the prompts for S4S here. This week’s is:

Characters you wouldn’t like to be stuck in a lift with

The opposite to last week! It’s slightly easier to think about who you wouldn’t want to be stuck in a lift with, just tricky remembering which characters I loathed so much that I wouldn’t want to be stuck anywhere with them, let alone in a lift!

1. Tamlin (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

2. The Sea Queen (To Kill a Kingdom)

3. Danny Wells (The Exact Opposite of Okay)

4. Bryce Walker (Thirteen Reasons Why)

5. Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

6. Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter)

Do you agree or disagree with any I’ve chosen? 

ADA LOVELACE – Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Zafouko Yamamoto

5/5

The latest title in the gorgeous Little People, Big Dreams series.

What other rating could I really give a book in this series? They’re beautiful books that are filled with the life stories of inspirational people, and Ada Lovelace is no different!

Packed full of lovely illustrations, Ada Lovelace tells the story of the little girl who would go on to become the world’s first computer programmer and created the code that we use in computing today. The book is just detailed enough to give an overview of her life and why she’s such an important historical figure without being too much for younger readers to digest. I do like, however, that there’s a more detailed text at the back and a selection of books for further reading.

This is definitely a title to add to your collection!

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Thank you to Frances Lincoln Childrens via NetGalley for the eBook of this title!

 

ST GRIZZLE’S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, GEEKS AND TAG-ALONG ZOMBIES – Karen McCombie

2.5/5

A humorous take on the classic boarding school style of book for younger readers.

St Grizzle’s isn’t your average boarding school; more like a modern St Trinian’s, there is a lack of structure and it’s like one big dysfunctional family. This is the third book in the series, but it was still easy to get into and follow the story.

I do feel a bit let down by this title; it was fairly good to begin with but then just felt a bit lacklustre. I don’t know whether if I was a younger reader I may have enjoyed it more; my main issue was just the lack of story and silliness of the whole thing, but, at the same time, I still adore stories about boarding schools and feel like so much more could have happened.

That all said, Karen McCombie is a good author and her writing style is very easy to get into. I think this would appeal more to reluctant readers in the 9-12 category due to the nature of the story and it not being too challenging a read.

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Thank you to Stripes via NetGalley for the eBook of this title!

MORE THAN WE CAN TELL – Brigid Kemmerer

4.5/5

A unique and highly enjoyable contemporary despite some heavy topics.

I adored Letters to the Lost, so I was super excited to see that Brigid Kemmerer’s latest title was set in the same town and featured some of the same characters! It has been a while since I read the Kemmerer’s first book, although I remember how much I enjoyed it, so I wasn’t sure how easy More Than We Can Tell would be to get into, but I was happy to find that it was like revisiting an old friend and I settled into this book very quickly.

More Than We Can Tell is a dual narrative book that tells the stories of Rev and Emma, who, despite leading very different lives, find that they have a lot in common. It’s a typical teen romance style book in a lot of ways, but it also carries a lot of important messages. For example, this is probably the first book I’ve come across that tackles the issue of internet safety which was a refreshing idea. It also dealt with child abuse and is the first book containing this that I didn’t feel uncomfortable reading; it was dealt with sensitively and effectively, unlike many books which can make for very unpleasant reads.

Kemmerer’s writing style is so effortless, making this a really good read that I’d definitely recommend for fans of YA contemporary novels, and for people who enjoyed Letters to the Lost, of course!

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Thank you to Bloomsbury via NetGalley for the eBook of this title!