4 Podcasts I Am Loving

My life has been really busy lately. I'm planning a wedding, looking for somewhere to live, and starting a new job in 9 days time! When I'm overloaded, I sometimes find that books, rather than being an escape, can feel like an extra thing To Do. It was getting to the point when I would get on my morning train, get out a book, and then spend the next 20 minutes staring out the window!

Fortunately, to stem that gap before I get into reading again, I have discovered podcasts. Now, I know that it is really really late to jump on this bandwagon, but I can't help it. Technology does not come easily to me! I've been listening to 4 different podcasts, and though I know I am only scratching the surface when it comes to the medium, I'm really enjoying having a little window into a world I haven't seen before.

1. This American Life
I initially was going to listen to Serial, which is The Thing Everyone Is Talking About, at least on the internet. But I got a bit turned off by all the hype, and plus I'm not really into true crime, and OK the real reason is that I got spoiled and I already know the ending. Anyway! This American Life is kind of the parent podcast of Serial. Each week they pick a different theme and tell a few stories based around the theme. They can be really topical, like this one about race relations between police and the black community. Or just interesting and fun to listen to, like this one, Amateur Hour, about being completely unqualified for a situation, but going for it anyway. I learn something every time I listen, and the narration always make me feel like I'm on a journey with the presenters.

2. Bookish Blether
This is a much more home-made podcast, it's basically recordings of conversations between Holly and Nicola, friends who love books. I like it because it reminds me of the original idea behind this blog - Feli and I chatting about what we love and what we find interesting. I like hearing what they're reading, particularly as they definitely have their ears a bit more to the ground in the bookish world than I do! They also chat about reading habits and I am particularly jealous of Holly's spreadsheet 
where she charts everything she reads!

3. Reading Lives
Another bookish podcast, this one is run by Jeff O'Neal, the Editor of BookRiot. It features interviews with 'interesting people who love books'. How could I resist? It basically charts their reading lives from childhood to present day, and it's always fascinating hearing what people read at different stages of their lives. I always pick up a tonne of recommendations every time I listen. My favourite episode so far has probably been an interview with Mahvesh Murad, a book critic and voice artist who lives in Pakistan. She spent part of her childhood in the UK so it was interesting to see where her experience connects with mine and where it differs.

4. Kermode and Mayo's Film Review
Basically just two men bickering about films, this is the podcast version of a show on BBC 5 Live, all about new film releases. It's been going for some ridiculous amount of time so I am very late to the party, in fact some friends who love films have been trying to get me to listen for ages. I have finally succumbed! I love the chatty style, and Mark Kermode has a massive brain full of films so every review feels like a history lesson. They also feature a lot of listener reviews so you get to hear a lot of different opinions on each new release.

So those are my current listens, but I would love to hear any recommendations! What are you listening to?

In the Suitcase (Vol. 3)

Here's another edition of In the Suitcase. For some reason I have been EXTREMELY book hungry this past month so this is a big one!

Top Ten Tuesday: Popular Authors We've Never Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme run by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week they give us a title for a list and we give them some answers!

Check out this week's top ten after the jump!

In the Suitcase...

Lately I've really been making use of my local library. I've been trying to branch out in my reading, you know, move away from the young adult section just a tiny bit. Here are my latest reads:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (actually a re-read but it's SO GOOD)

Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (I read this post on her tumblr about being judged because she wrote fan fiction and it made me want to read her books)

Silas Marner by George Eliot (I wanted to catch up on some classics and Eliot was my choice)

Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott (I read another book from this publisher - Text Classics - and it was so good that now whenever I see that yellow spine I pick them up)

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney (I actually got this as part of a Melina Marchetta Valentines project on tumblr - it was very exciting to get through the post!)

The Circle Opens by Tamora Pierce (I'm gradually working my way through Tamora Pierce, she's written so many books in so many universes that it's usually just down to luck as to whether I've found them in a bookshop or library)

Utopian Dreams by Tobias Jones (This is part of my branching out - into NON FICTION. Deep breaths are needed. I find non-fiction really hard to get through but this one sounds like there'll be a lot of narrative running through so we'll see how it goes!)

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld (Evie Wyld gets the BEST covers. I LOVED her other novel After the fire, a still small voice so I've been hanging round the 'W' section in the library waiting for this one to come back in. And it worked!)

The Curse Workers by Holly Black (series review)

Check out my review after the jump!

Waiting on Wednesday: Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow

'Waiting on Wednesday' is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we pick the book we just can't wait to get our hands on next.

Check out this week's pick after the jump!

Waiting on Wednesday: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

Sorry everybody, we've been pretty terrible bloggers lately, but in our defence, real-life stuff has been happening at double speed. New cities, new countries, new jobs, you name we've done it! So here's a lovely WoW to ease us back in. 

'Waiting on Wednesday' is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we pick the book we just can't wait to get our hands on next.

Check our this week's pick after the jump!

Little Fish by Ramsey Beyer (review)

Photo by Stefan Freyr on Flickr 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 - solid recommend, but get a physical copy!
Source: ARC from NetGalley (thanks Houghton Mifflin!)
Synopsis from Goodreads: Told through real-life journals, collages, lists, and drawings, this coming-of-age story illustrates the transformation of an 18-year-old girl from a small-town teenager into an independent city-dwelling college student. Written in an autobiographical style with beautiful artwork, Little Fish shows the challenges of being a young person facing the world on her own for the very first time and the unease—as well as excitement—that comes along with that challenge.







My life is in a lot of transition right now: I’ve just moved down to London, started a new job, I’m meeting a lot of new people, so Little Fish seemed like the perfect thing to read to reflect that. Although I’ve obviously finished Uni and come out the other side, I could really relate to Ramsey’s journey in an almost nostalgic way as she moves from her tiny town in the Mid West to an art college in Baltimore. I really liked hearing about the differences between her life there and growing-up in Pawpaw: from the difference in size, to the contrast between the harshness of the winters. I felt like I’d had a real insight into growing up in a small town, the remoteness of which you can’t really replicate at all in the UK. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the distances that you have to travel just to go to the nearest big city.

I also loved the list format. It created a slower pace than I’m used to (I’m a self-confessed speed reader), but I really appreciated the need to slow down and mull over the changes in the lists, watching how Ramsey gradually developed in confidence and got to know herself better. It’s actually made me write more lists. I use them a lot of work already but I think I’m more likely to use them for more abstract things now after reading Little Fish.

I enjoyed the illustrations a lot, I’ve had barely any experience of reading graphic novels but I felt like this one was a great one to start with as the artwork was quite simple and classic. Like a very developed cartoon strip in a way. Unfortunately I was reading it on my eReader - this is one instance where I really wished I had a physical copy in order to appreciate the book to its fullest.

Little Fish is a cute, reflective read perfect for those about to embark on a big life change, or those who have already struggled through one. But definitely go and support your local bookshop and get a physical copy - it’ll be worth it! #BooksAreMyBag

Have you read Little Fish? What did you think? What about graphic novels in general, are they your thing or are you hesitant about trying them?

Hand Luggage Reviews (#2)

      Hand luggage is a feature where we give quick, 30 second reviews of books we've been reading. They're short, (hopefully) sweet, and the perfect way to check a book out before you dive in! This time Caroline is reviewing The Pool Theory by Alexa Nazarro and Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple.

The Pool Theory by Alexa Nazarro

Source: Netgalley (Thanks Two Pigeons Press!)

Rating: CNF - Could Not Finish
Goodreads

I just couldn’t like The Pool Theory. So much so that I couldn’t finish it. At least, I couldn’t properly finish it. I was kind of intrigued as to what happened so once I’d got about a third of the way through I just skipped to the last 2 chapters. Extremely unacceptable behaviour I know. There were a couple of reasons that meant I didn’t get on well with The Pool Theory but they pretty much just boiled down to one: Completely unlikeable characters. Normally this isn’t a problem for me, “Unlikeable” is often just a mean way of saying “complex” or “three-dimensional” (especially when it comes to female characters), but with this book I just couldn’t get past how completely horrible the protagonist, Kyle Penton, was! He’s a teenage boy who has just found out a girl he slept with once is pregnant, so I’d say it’s pretty fair enough if he comes across brattish and self-centred in the beginning. He is after all a teenager, that’s pretty much the job description (no offence actual teenagers, I’m talking about the stereotype here). My problem was he just didn’t get any better. As far as I read, there was no character development, no willingness to deal with the consequences of his actions, unless pushed. Some people might say this just makes him realistic, for me, it just meant I wanted to spend as little time with him as possible, so I put the book down. Obviously, if you read the whole thing you might get a different impression, so if you fancy tackling a pretty challenging portrayal of teen pregnancy from a male perspective then by all means give this one a go!

Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Source: Bought from Waterstones

Rating: 4 out of 5, highly recommended

Goodreads

Happily, I enjoyed this one much more! Where'd You Go Bernadette is a really fun, entertaining story, with surprising emotional depth. I love reading stories told through a variety of media (Jaclyn Moriarty is a particular favourite), so I enjoyed delving through this novel as if I was a detective looking for clues. Bee is a great protagonist, fiery, intelligent and fiercely loyal to her mum Bernadette, who everyone else is convinced is crazy. Bernadette is also fascinating to learn about, through her emails to her private assistant in India, and also second hand from the other mothers at Bee's school. Semple keeps you guessing all the way through so I'll definitely be re-reading this one to see if I could have figured out the ending myself if only I'd been reading hard enough! P.S. I love all the slightly different versions of this cover, it's such a striking design. 

Katya's War by Jonathan L. Howard (review)

Sea texture found via onlyalice on Flickr

Rating: 3.5 out of 5, recommended
Source: ARC from Netgalley (Thanks very much Strange Chemistry!)
Synopsis from Goodreads: The battle lines have been drawn. The people of Russalka turn upon one another in a ruthless and unwavering civil war even while their world sickens and the deep black ocean is stained red with their blood. As the young civilisation weakens, its vitality fuelling the opposing militaries at the cost of all else, the war drums beat louder and louder. 

Katya Kuriakova knows it cannot last. Both sides are exhausted – it can only be a matter of days or weeks before they finally call a truce and negotiate. But the days and weeks pass, the death toll mounts, and still the enemy will not talk. 

Then a figure from the tainted past returns to make her an offer she cannot lightly refuse – a plan to stop the war. But to do it she will have to turn her back on everything she has believed in, everything she has ever fought for, to make sacrifices greater even than laying down her own life. To save Russalka, she must become its greatest enemy.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, (Katya’s World: Russalka Chronicles #1), but I felt like the world as a whole needed development. In the second book in the series you get a tonne more development, whilst also watching Katya grow as a character, until she becomes absolutely awesome. I loved reading about her moral dilemmas throughout this book, as she wrestles with the difference between right and wrong and between friend and enemy. There’s less about her technical proficiency, which was A BIG DEAL in the first book, and more about her internal strength. Her ability to know the risks and consequences of her actions, but still carry on because it’s the right thing to do is something I admired hugely about her. I also LOVE the fact that there is no romance. Katya has got a job to do, her entire world is in danger, and I adore Jonathan L. Howard for not throwing a love interest in to the mix for extra ~tension. Instead he relies on the strength of the plotting and the tension of the narrative to carry the book.

My favourite character from the first book, Tasya Korevna, otherwise known as the Chervotka or sometimes the She-Devil, is back with a vengeance, and also the tiniest hint of a conscience, which does nothing to stem her badass-ery. My one criticism would perhaps be that the other secondary characters aren’t developed as much as her or Katya. There’s a lot of plot to get through so mostly Howard focusses on racing you through the story, rather than giving you deeper insights into the other personalities on Russalka.

Russalka itself made more sense to me after this novel too, perhaps just because I’ve spent more time there now, well, in a book sense... urgh you know what I mean. The whole concept of a planet whose population spends all their time underwater was a little difficult to grasp at first, but I suppose it’s a lot like living on a space station, except, underwater. There were a few classical, Russian myth references that I recognised as being references but was unable to actually understand! This was more intriguing than annoying however as none of them were integral to the plot, and it just made the book as a whole more layered. Plus what a cliffhanger to hand on! I can't wait for the next one.

All in all, Katya’s War is a worthy sequel to Katya’s World, in some senses surpassing its predecessor. Definitely worth a read if you enjoy strong female protagonists and/or science fiction!

Katya's War is released in the UK on November 7th 2013 by Strange Chemistry. 

Have you read Katya's World? Are you excited for the next one in this series?

Top Ten Tuesday: Best. Sequels. Ever.

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme run by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week they give us a title for a list and we give them some answers!

Check out this week's Top Ten after the jump!

Our Summer Reads Recap: Caroline

From top to bottom:

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster 

Status: Still not read.

Verdict: Argh, not a good way to start, I still haven't got to this one. But it's a classic, so it'll still be good whenever I get to it. That's my reasoning anyway. DON'T JUDGE ME. 

Source: My parents' bookshelves

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder 

Status: Read!

Verdict: This one took me SO LONG to read. I'm kind of an all or nothing reader, so either I gobble a book up in hours or I read a few chapters, put it down, and never pick it back up again. I was trying to be self-disciplined with this one though as there is so much going on that I didn't want to rush through it. I definitely enjoyed it, although it did mess with my mind sometimes. 

Source: My parents' bookshelves

Wedlock: How Georgian Britain's Worst Husband Met His Match by Wendy Moore

Status: Still unfinished.

Verdict: Maybe I'm just not a biography reader. I always pick them up with so much excitement and hope, only to get bogged down in historical descriptions and lose the will to carry on. Who knows, maybe I'll make it to the end one day!

Source: An Oxfam in Bath

Oryx and Crake by Maragaret Atwood

Status: Finished!

Verdict: It's a good 'un. My enjoyment of this book stemmed not so much from the plot itself but from the way the dystopian world was crafted by the eponymous Crake. I really want to read the 2 follow-ups, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam. 

Source: An Oxfam in Bath

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness 

Status: Read!

Verdict: You can read my (very complimentary) review here.

Source: Bought (and signed) at Bookslam in Bristol

Maya by Jostein Gaarder

Status: Currently reading.

Verdict: After finishing Sophie's World, I decided to carry on to Maya. It's interesting so far, if a little slow. Lots of information about the creation of the world...

Source: Borrowed from a friend

So all in all a little disappointing, maybe I should add the ones I missed to my Christmas reading list!

How did your summer reading go? 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (review)

Levi is a Nebraska farm boy so he wears a lot of plaid. Swoon. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 - Really highly recommended
Source: Bought the eBook from Amazon Kindle

Synopsis from Goodreads: Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Find out why I gave Fangirl 4.5 after the cut!

Waiting on Wednesday: She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

'Waiting on Wednesday' is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we pick the book we just can't wait to get our hands on next.

Check our this week's pick after the jump!

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman (review)

Rating: 4.5/5 - A must read

Source: Library

Synopsis from Goodreads: Two young people are forced to make a stand in this thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternate society.

Sephy is a Cross -- a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a Nought -- a “colourless” member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood, but that’s as far as it can go. In their world, Noughts and Crosses simply don’t mix. Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum -- a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger. Can they possibly find a way to be together?

In this gripping, stimulating and totally absorbing novel, black and white are right and wrong.

Find out why I loved Noughts & Crosses after the cut!

Falling Hard by Megan Sparks (review)

Rating: 3/5 A fun, light read

Source: ARC from NetGalley (thanks Capstone Press!)

Synopsis from Goodreads: When Annie moves from London to a small town in the midwest, she struggles to fit in. She gets off to a bad start when she makes an enemy of her school's queen bee, Kelsey. But she discovers a new passion, the exciting sport of roller derby, and makes friends with the cool and quirky girls on her team, the Liberty Belles. She also meets Jesse, the friendly boy who works at the roller rink, and Tyler, a cute, all-American sports star.






Check out my review after the jump!

Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil (review)

Rating: 4/5 - There whenever you need a pick-me-up
Source: Copy from NetGalley (thanks Peachtree Publishers!)

Synopsis from Goodreads: Sam Kinnison is a geek, and he’s totally fine with that. He has his horror movies, his nerdy friends, World of Warcraft – and until Princess Leia turns up in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to worry about girls. 

Then Sam meets Camilla. She’s beautiful, friendly and completely irrelevant to his life. Sam is determined to ignore her, except that Camilla has a life of her own – and she’s decided that he’s going to be part of it.

Sam believes that everything he needs to know he can learn from the movies ... but now it looks like he’s been watching the wrong ones.

Check out my review after the jump!

4 to 16 Characters by Kelly Hourihan (review)

Rating: 4.5/5 Go get it!
Source: An ARC from NetGalley (thank you Lemon Sherbet Press)

Synopsis from Goodreads: Fifteen-year-old Jane Shilling’s best friends don’t know her real name. In fact, they don’t know anything about her at all. Jane’s life has collapsed in the last few years; following the death of her mother, her father turned to drinking, and Jane is reeling from the double blow. To escape, Jane devises a number of online personas, each with a distinct personality, life history, and set of friends. But things become trickier when she finds herself drawing close to some of her online friends, and winds up struggling with the question of how to maintain a real friendship while masquerading as a fake person. With the help of Gary, a socially awkward classmate and competitive Skeeball player who is Jane’s only offline friend, and Nora, her therapist, Jane begins to sift through her issues. The only catch is that that involves taking a long, hard look at what her life’s like when the computer is shut off, and that’s a reality she’s been fighting for years.

Check out my review after the jump!

Hand Luggage Reviews (#1)

      Hand luggage is a feature where we give quick, 30 second reviews of books we've been reading. They're short, (hopefully) sweet, and the perfect way to check a book out before you dive in! This time Caroline is reviewing Sia by Josh Grayson and The Pentrals by Crystal Mack. 

Rating: 1/5 Not good guys!

Source: Received an ARC from NetGalley

Goodreads

There’s not a lot of good to say about Sia I’m afraid. The premise - girl wakes up in a park and has no idea who she is, spends a week homeless before being found by her ridiculously wealthy parents - sounds intriguing, if a little clichéd. Unfortunately, the book sticks with the cliché and gets rid of the intriguing. Everything in the plot is telegraphed from the word go, so much so that it’s probably one of the most predictable books I’ve ever read. Every plot point that comes up, like Sia’s mother being an alcoholic, is resolved within a couple of chapters. There’s just no conflict anywhere.

When she goes back to school, Sia is confronted with with the horrible person that she was before, which sparks a desire to change herself. That’s a really noble goal, and maybe a book about Sia being woken up to her faults without needing to go through traumatic amnesia (the reason for which is never fully explained) would be worth reading.

That’s before I’ve even got to the fact that every POC in the novel, from Carol the friendly homeless african america, to Beatriz, the mexican housekeeper, is basically just a stereotype, a foil there to help Sia on her journey. Although, to be fair to the writer, so is every other character. In short - I wasn’t a fan!

Rating: DNF
Source: Received an ARC from NetGalley
Goodreads

Next up is another novel from NetGalley, this time I didn’t even finish it! The Pentrals again has an interesting premise, narrated by a young woman’s shadow, it follows the story of Violet. And that’s about as far as I got. I just couldn’t handle the narration by Antares, Violet’s shadow; it was just SO BORING. So many descriptions of what it’s like to be a shadow, and how she had to adapt to being a shadow on different surfaces...... no thanks.

I’m kind of disappointed because the synopsis sounded so interesting, but I just couldn’t handle any more. I used to feel very guilty about not finishing books but somehow reading it on Kindle makes it easier to just click out, and not click back in again. Sorry!

Have you read either of these novels? What did you think?

Wonder by R.J. Palacio (review)

Source: The library

Rating: 4.5/5 Loved it!

Synopsis from Goodreads: 
        
I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?



Read my review after the jump!