It was only last year that I read Orwell’s 1984 and it scared the bejesus out of me. I knew that Orwell had written Animal Farm, but I didn’t know enough about it to read it. Younger me thought it was a book for children. How wrong I was! It was only when I spotted…
I don’t often read self-help books, but as an ‘Anti-Guru’, Sarah’s books seemed to have an edge to them that set them apart from others. The third in the series, You Do You: (A No-F**ks-Given Guide) how to be who you are and use what you’ve got to get what you want, came out last…
This book was sent to me by the lovely people at Hideaway Fall in exchange for an honest review. Drift Stumble Fall is the newest book from M. Jonathan Lee. As I really enjoyed Lee’s previous book, Broken Branches I was looking forward to reading Drift, Stumble, Fall. I can’t say the blurb gripped me,…
In July this year, I will be finished studying for my Publishing MA. I still have a lot of work to do and it’s strange to know that it’s coming to an end. I’ve had the time of my life studying for MA and I will be sad to finish. As well as offering a…
I had seen this book everywhere on Instagram and Twitter and really liked the premise. Despite them scaring the bejesus out of me, I really like dystopian novels and this one sounded excellent. Just by chance I logged back into my Netgalley account one day and lo and behold, it was there! I was so…
I have long been a huge fan of Matt Lucas and his work. When Little Britain came out I was an instant fan. I religiously watched every episode. I was only nine when the series aired on tv so a lot of the jokes went straight over my head, but I loved the show and…
Stephen King is one of those authors that I had always meant to read but never quite got around to him. I read It last year and absolutely fell in love with King and my collection is growing and growing. I’d always avoided short stories, I’ve no idea why, I guess I’d rather spent my…
I’ve been making my way through a batch of dystopian novels lately. I’d just finished The Circle and was so affected, so scared by what I read, I needed more. It’s like dystopia is a form of horror for me. The Handmaid’s Tale had been on my radar for a while and I thought since…
Interview with The Vampire is considered to be classic vampire fiction. It’s been a major inspiration for other vampire fiction writers, such as Stephanie Meyer. For example, both sets of vampires live from animals and abstain from human blood. The novel is about Louis de Pointe du Lac as he tells his life story to…
The Miniaturist came out in 2014 and was the subject of a publisher’s bidding war at the London Book Fair the year before. It came up in conversation at uni and we remarked at how beautiful the cover is. I saw on a visit to HMV and bought it there. I regretted it soon after…
Last year, David Fickling Books published The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman. It’s the first in a new series called La Belle Sauvage and it’s a prequel to the His Dark Materials series. I took one look at it and I thought the cover was beautiful, I had to have it. I hadn’t actually…
We studied children’s books for my MA and it’s really reignited my love for them. The first time I walked back into the children’s section of the library, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. I was reminded of all those hours I spent at the library looking at every single book until one…
The Power came out in 2016, but it’s only recently gained popularity. It won the Baileys Prize for women’s fiction and it’s to be turned into a tv series. It very nearly missed out on my book of the year. Had I not read Northern Lights, this surely would have won, but NL enthralled me…
2017 has been one of the best years of my life so far and I am actually sad to see it go. It’s been a memorable year for many reasons. The highlight of the year was my trip to Italy to present at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The whole trip was unforgettable. I’ve finished…
While it may have been a while until I read Dracula, I was by no means unfamiliar with the story. Van Helsing is one of my favourite films. Another favourite is Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring the uniquely talented Gary Oldman. It came out in 1992 so it’s only just older than me. It stars Keanu…
A Thousand Lives 