A few changes and a request!

Aft'noon all I just wanted to do a quick post and let you know about some things that you may have only noticed if you were staring at my sidebars yesterday and also to ask you lovely people for some assistance.

First off, as most people know this weekend is Bloggiesta but as you can see by the lack of update posts I am not officially signed up, *however* I have been doing a few housekeeping tasks about the Library in the spirit of Bloggiesta. Nothing too major like layout change because I am very much attached to my header and the whole rigmarole of finding another design that I really love and installing it properly would be rather tedious.

I've got all my reading lists up-to-date with links to reviews and you can find them either by looking at the Pages section just at the top of the left sidebar (I would love to have them across the top of my blog but alas there is no tab functionality with this design), or by scrolling down past the list of favourite authors (now with links to the author's websites) where there's a simplified list of the books I've read so far in 2011.

On the opposite sidebar I haven't done much, just added the button to the third reading challenge I've signed up for - British Books Challenge and down-sized my blog roll to just the UK bloggers I follow although I will add a list of some of my favourite International Bloggers at some other time.

One thing I want to announce is that I shall no longer be accepting awards on this blog. Although I am very grateful to all the people who have left me comments telling me I have an award over on their blogs, I simply don't have the time or energy to scour through my blog reader finding umpteens more blogs to pass them on to. I've not actually done an awards post in months but I thought I'd best make it official so that folk know not to pass them on to me anymore.

Another thing I want to announce is that I'm thinking of putting myself on a book buying ban for at least 3 months and making a feature out of it during February with the tentative title of Frugal February. Basically I want to not buy any books be they new or second-hand for at least a whole month and dedicate myself to reading only from my bookshelves since my TBR pile has probably crested 200 books now. So I'm making a plea for Guest Bloggers to contribute their plans for keeping to their book buying bans, reading Off the Shelf, or just budgeting themselves wisely enough to be able to buy the essential books.


So if anyone wants to contribute to this feature then please email me with a possible post subject to libraryofladyviolet(at)gmail(dot)com. I would love to have 3 or 4 people sharing their opinions on book buying bans and I want to make this feature actually last the whole month (unlike my Favs Fortnight :S)

That's all for now folks!
LadyV

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Book Review - Shade

I'm beginning to worry that I'm inundating you poor folk with all these reviews and since I'm sure the quality is varying wildly I do apologise - it's taking a bit of getting used to and what I mention is mainly what stood out when I read it and I'm pretty crap with the whole critical analysis stuff. But I'll do my best to make *some* sense.

Title: Shade
Author: Jeri Smith-Ready
Date: 16/1/2011 PM
Source: Borrowed from Library
Description: Love ties them together. Death can't tear them apart.

Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last. Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone. Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan's violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost. It doesn't help that Aura's new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart...and clues to the secret of the Shift. (Description taken from Goodreads)

My Review

I'd been a bit on the fence about buying a copy of this since I worry slightly about how much YA Paranormal fiction I read. I don't wanna reach a saturation point where I've basically seen almost every plot type, creature or relationship setup. But I was intrigued enough about the concept of a whole generation that can suddenly see ghosts, to pick this book up from my local library. (It's getting pretty good in the Teen section)

Aura was a pretty cool gal who had a hell of a lot of stress to deal with after Logan her boyfriend dies. It has to be incredibly hard to move on from the guy you loved when he has the ability to pop into your bedroom like a perverted purple glowstick whenever he likes. To be honest I think Logan was a bit of a prat, when you know that your girlfriend wants to hand over her v-card to you after the most rocking night of your life it is *really* bloody stupid to get blindingly drunk because how the hell are you even gonna manage getting upstairs let alone doing the deed? And to top off a particularly brainless evening by actually taking drugs... *doh!* Logan my friend you are a plonker of epic proportions. Aura I reckon you're better off.

Now this is where I could ramble on, as soon as I read "Scottish exchange student" my attention was firmly fixed onto Mr Zachary Moore. Now I don't know how weird this makes me but whenever Zach was speaking I felt the need to read aloud in my somewhat-passable Scottish accent. I am sure people will understand how heart-meltingly lovely a Scot can sound (Particularly if he happens to be David Tennant *swoon*) so who wouldn't want to listen to them talking? But anyway Zach is so sweet and deliciously flirtatious that you can't blame Aura one bit for getting a bit flustered around him. He's also such an enigma that you really wanna know how he, Aura and the Shift are linked.

I really liked the idea of the Post-Shifter children being able to help out in legal cases because they can see and hear the ghosts who may have been murdered or just need justice for some reason or other. It is a very cool concept that as this generation of children come of age that a whole new type of job sector opens up- one that specialises in dealing with ghosts. Although as is apparent in the book there is massive potential for these children to be exploited by adults who don't know fully what they're dealing with.

Despite the title being Shade (as in the rather scary beings that normal ghosts can turn into) there is not a whole lot of them to be seen in this book and we don't really know why some people who seem good can turn Shady. What's even more puzzling is the significance of Aura in relation to the Shades. But the biggest mystery that we all want the answer to is what the fandazzle caused the Shift? All the cool stuff about the megaliths and ancient astronomy was really interesting and dang it if I wouldn't love to be out in an empty field stargazing with yummy scotty Zach!

This was a really enjoyable read and while it ends with some closure to the main plot arcs there is massive "Qu'est-ce que fook?" moment on the last page which makes me really ruddy anxious to find out what happens next and how the hell it even happened at all! Jeri Smith-Ready you are messing with my mind!

I foresee things getting vair complicated in Shift...

My Rating: 4 out 5 Stars

The second book in this series SHIFT is coming out in the UK on the 9th June 2011 and I might just have to buy myself a copy when it comes out although I'm sorry but it'll have to be the US edition as the cover on the UK one is fecking dire I mean look at it yeesh it's hideous!

But anyway I'll now leave you to thoughts of bonnie Scottish lads :P

LadyV

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Book Review - Across the Universe

*Eep* I'm falling behind! Must catch up!!

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Date: 15/1/2011 AM
Source: Bought
Description: Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming. (Description taken from Goodreads)

My Review

With all the furore and excitement surrounding this book I could not wait until March when the UK paperback edition came out to read it. Plus I *so* wanted the awesome hardcover with the insanely cool reversible dust jacket that I "slipped" onto The Book Depository and it happened to "fall" into my basket :P

This has to be the first YA Science Fiction book I've read- I know some dystopia books I've read have been set on spaceships or other planets but they are more about the people and society whereas Across the Universe focuses more heavily on the ship itself and its journey through the stars, ergo it's more Sci-Fi. 

First off I loved the alternating POVs of Amy and Elder as you really see the differences between their views of the world - Amy found everything so alien while Elder found *Amy* to be strange and new whilst still intriguing at the same time. The reader feels very much like Amy trying to understand how life works on Godspeed and ponder on how the society became structured like it did.

I thought that the murder mystery aspect of the story wasn't all that difficult to figure out but I wasn't too concerned as there were plenty more surprises which I didn't see coming at all. The relationship between Amy and Elder was curious because she was still pretty hung on the guy she'd known on Earth before she was frozen so even though it'd been 250 since she left it still only felt like the other day for her - confusing much?

Elder was a really interesting character since for all his intelligence and the fact that he was the future leader of Godspeed he was incredibly ignorant about what actually went on in the ship- albeit thanks to the rather tyrannical rule of Eldest which was challenged wonderfully by Elder's rebellious curiosity.

Amy was a fantastic disruption to the previously smooth running of the ship. Her attitude and belief in choice and free will were the perfect ingredients to shake-up the docile populace aboard Godspeed. I thought she dealt marvellously well with the drastic changes she had to face although it's easy to understand her frustration at being trapped in a ship, unable to be with her family because she got woke up too soon.

The book sped by nicely and by the end we have had some questions answered but there is still much that I want to know. I am fascinated by the ship itself (in my nerdy way) and I really want to know more about the actual mechanics of it. There is a whole universe of possibilities for what could happen next and I know I'm not the only one who's dying to know!

Beth Revis has done a stellar job of creating the world on Godspeed with so many different facets despite it all being encapsulated within the comparatively small spaceship. It provides a most intriguing look into what our future could look like were we to ever stuff a load of people onto a generation ship and launch it into the unknown. A truly magnificent debut - I am now waiting impatiently for whatever she writes next.

This is not just a Sci-Fi story, this is a *YA* sci-fi story :P (all the awesome with none of the mind-sploding science jargon)

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

I really hope that this book is the start of a trend of YA science-fiction stories since I really love the genre but most adult Sci-Fi books scare the pants off me because of the uber hard-core physics concepts they bandy about. Having stories about generation/cryo ships etc. where the character development isn't neglected would be *so* fabulous.

Godspeed folks

LadyV

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British Books Reading Challenge!

Although I had kinda said to myself "don't sign up to loads of reading challenges cos you'll only put pressure on yourself to complete them" I still thought I ought to sign up for this particular challenge what with being British and all.

The British Books Challenge is being hosted by The Bookette

The idea behind the challenge is simple, for those home grown Brit folk like myself the aim is to support our marvellous authors by trying to read 12 books by British Authors in 2011. The books can be new or old and from any genre you like.

If you need more motivation to sign up then never fear! The Bookette has had loads of support from several Fab UK publishers and there will be awesome prize packs chock full of goodies that BBC participants can win during the year (a la The Debut Author Challenge).

My Brit Books Reading List

I'm a tad late to start this challenge but I've already read a couple of books by Brits so it's not too bad. I don't want to pick out a set list of books I want to read since I'll invariably end up not wanting to read them when it's an obligation.

1. The Radleys by Matt Haig - Review

2. Stolen by Lucy Christopher - Review

I'll update reviews on this post as the year goes on and hopefully I can smash the 12 book target to smithereens since I have multiple works by non-YA authors such as Elizabeth Chadwick and Daphne du Maurier which I really need to read.

Toodles folk!

LadyV

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Book Review - The Queen of Attolia

It's typical that as soon as I get caught up on reviews I suddenly have a reading binge and end up 4 behind again! *grumbles* ah well I'm determined to stick to this reviewing resolution as best I can so here we go!
**Warning!! Description contains fairly important spoilers for The Thief so Beware!!**

Title: The Queen of Attolia (Queen's Thief #2)
Author: Megan Whalen Turner
Date: 13/1/2011 AM
Source: Bought
Description: When Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eugenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered...she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge. 
Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times. 
When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph, and his greatest loss, comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago... (Description Taken from Goodreads)

My Review

After thoroughly enjoying The Thief when I read it late last year I bought the 2nd book with some of my christmas vouchers and then devoured it in one sitting last week. I'd seen some comments that people said they found this book predictable but I honestly couldn't see that. I find that Eugenides surprises me all the time and I can never really anticipate what crazy thing he might do next.


In this book we see a completely different side to Gen since in the Thief he was rather cocky and brash about his ability to steal anything but now we see how vulnerable he can really be. Very early on in the book he is punished harshly by the Queen of Attolia (the rival Queen to Gen's Queen) and he has to adapt to life with this injury. I didn't realise in the first book how young he was but I believe that he can't be much more than 20 years old which makes him even more impressive and yet it's kind of tragic what he has to go through.


I liked all the political intrigue in this book although we don't see much of the actual fighting between the three main countries in this world (Eddis, Soumis and Attolia). I also love it whenever Gen gets up to one of his schemes since they're always wonderfully entertaining and I definitely didn't expect the direction of his plans but then he is rather good at keeping things close to his chest. 


It was good to learn more about the Queen of Eddis and the difficulties she had to overcome because of being both young and female in a fairly male-dominated world. She's the kind of no-nonsense person you'd like to keep on good terms with or you can bet that things won't end well for you. Her sort-of brotherly relationship with Gen was also really interesting to read about.


Overall a very enjoyable and solid sequel to the Thief. I'm looking forward to reading the third book King of Attolia and seeing what will happen next to Gen and co. Megan Whalen Turner has created a wonderfully rich world and is written so that each volume ends well despite there only being 350ish pages long. If you like Tamora Pierce then I reckon this series would be right up your street.


My Rating: 4 out 5 Stars


If anyone knows of any other fantasy series that are similar to this one then please give me recommendations in the comments below!


LadyV

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Book Review - Stolen

*puffs* Nearly There! Only one more review after this and then you're caught up! *keeps plodding*

Title: Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher
Date: 12/1/2011 AM
Source: Bought
Description: Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. This wild and desolate landscape becomes almost a character in the book, so vividly is it described. Ty, her captor, is no stereotype. He is young, fit and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back? The story takes the form of a letter, written by Gemma to Ty, reflecting on those strange and disturbing months in the outback. Months when the lines between love and obsession, and love and dependency, blur until they don't exist - almost. (Description Taken from Amazon)


My Review
When I heard the premise of this book I knew it was going to be one of those books that really blurred the lines of what is right and what is wrong. The topic of abduction is no laughing matter yet it is possible to smile at this book. Kidnappers are portrayed in real life as evil, cruel people yet I could see a very human and vulnerable side to Ty. Boy this is gonna be a tough review.


I really loved the format of this book as a 2nd person letter written by Gemma to Ty, her thoughts and emotions from those months with him come across so vividly and beautifully that you're almost expecting to rub your eyes and find them full of red dust from the Outback. You can't help but be affected by the kaleidoscope of emotions Gemma goes through, from terror, confusion, and fury to resignation, acceptance and even sympathy. Lucy Christopher does an outstanding job of portraying how a kidnap victim would feel in that kind of situation.


Ty is an enticing yet horrifically disturbing character. As you discover the degree of planning that went into his kidnapping of Gemma you become more repulsed by him yet as you relive the time in the Outback along with Gemma you are met with the conflicting images of him taking honest pleasure in the upkeep of the shack and outbuildings to allow them to survive in the wilderness. You can really see how happy he is in that environment although the nagging feeling of how *wrong* the situation is never leaves you.


I spent a good deal of time worrying about how the book would end as with a story like this there can be no happy ending. You feel intensely concerned about both Gemma *and* Ty even though you know that what he did was completely and utterly wrong on so many levels. There is a strange beauty to him that attracts you despite the sensible part of your mind screaming at you in warning and you can really understand the contradictory feelings that Gemma has for him.


Overall this a powerful, heart-wrenching read and I'm awe-struck that this was a debut novel, Lucy Christopher's writing is so gorgeous and the characters are wonderfully complex. I shall be most eager to read her second book Flyaway and whatever else she may write in the future if they're all as excellent as Stolen.


My Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5


Man I'm on a reviewing roll right now! If I can keep this up all year then I will produce a *lot* of reviews - of course whether they're good reviews remains to seen.


Good day to you all *tips hat*
LadyV

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It's Monday What are you Reading (26)

Hello chaps! Isn't it crazy to think we're nearly 3 weeks into 2011? I have a feeling that this year will be speeding by just as quickly as 2010 did. But right now I have other concerns, firstly being that it's Monday and therefore I have books to tell y'all about.

It's Monday What are you Reading? Is a weekly bookish meme where we get together to share what books we've read in the past week, what books we're currently reading and what new books we're planning on reading in the coming week along with any reviews or interesting posts. It's hosted by Sheila @Book Journey

Books I read Last Week

The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson (Review Here)

The Radleys by Matt Haig (Review Here)

Stolen by Lucy Christopher (Review Here)

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (Review Coming Wednesday)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis (Review Coming Friday)

Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (Review Coming Saturday)

Books I reviewed Last Week

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (Review Here)

Books I Plan on Reading This Week

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld - I feel the need to read something other than YA Paranormal & Contemps so I fancy mixing in a bit of steampunk.

The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks - I still have a few of his books to read in my collection and I have a craving for one since I watched the film of A Walk to Remember with my sister.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins - I will probably read this and the other two library books I have out currently.

So that's the basic list of what I want to read but depending on my mood and how busy I am it could be more or less than what I plan.

Also in case you didn't see it yesterday - the 16th Jan was my first Blogaversary and to celebrate I'm running a contest where two people can win one of two books- Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead and Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick. Click HERE if you want to enter- it's INTERNATIONAL dontcha know?

So that's What I've been Reading, What are *you* reading this week?

LadyV

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