A-Z Authors - N

I found out about this through Phanee from funny wool and is hosted by Heather at Proud Book Nerd. I thought it looked quite fun so this month, I shall be doing a post every day (except Sundays) where I shall tell you about amazing authors that have surnames beginning with that letter. I hope you enjoy and tell me if you know any more with that letter and I'll add it to the post! Thanks.

NOTE: As I am doing my exams at the moment, I may miss days so shall combine letter together, I'll say if I do in the title - Thanks.

Here we go....

N

Patrick Ness

I actually love and cherish this guy. He is also one of the nicest authors I have met. I met him last year at a book launch for 'Losing It' in which he had contributed a mini-story to. I was introduced to his books by two of my best friends who being reading junkies like me, told me about them and REALLY recommended them - like 'Read now or we will hate you' recommendation. So I did. I had seen the books but I had never approached them - they looked too boyish and action packed for my girly liking. Anyway I'm glad I did. I fell in love with the characters, the setting, the story - everything. They are the type of books people I know kind of see and walk away from, not sure what they're like. But READ THEM if you see them. He makes you love Todd and Viola. Hate the Mayor and the other baddies. He makes you sad, happy, angry in one book and he writes really well and like Todd or Viola is talking directly to you. My friends and I all agreed that he makes you feel like their characters are your personal friends and you're going through the plot with them. And that's what I love about reading books.

His Books: The Chaos Walking series - The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, Monsters of Men, The New World. A Monster Calls

Other Honourable Mentions: 

- Jandy Nelson

QUESTIONAIRE - Please tell me your thoughts.

*This takes some time to load*

I hope this works first of all.

I have seen a few of these throughout the blogosphere recently and done some myself and it got me thinking about what do my followers think about my blog? I would really like to know what you truly think and how Rebecca-Books can be improved. Please be truthful and honest because I would like to know.

I really appreciate your thoughts and feelings and I'll publish the results when I get enough.

THANKS!

Here goes...

You will have me back soon - And some help PLEASE

I know it's been a while but

HEY GUYS!


Sorry, I am a bad blogger. You have been given Tuesday Top Ten's, A-Z Authors and the occasional review. I am very sorry but you were warned.

I have done 14 exams of my 15 GCSE's and the last one, Statistics, is in under two weeks with a trip every day next week to see my wonderful Maths teacher for revision. Oh joy.
Although, after that, my summer begins!
One of my close friends has her birthday the day of the Statistics exam so is having a party that evening. Then, I have a Leavers Lunch where I get the yearbook and see lots of people a couple of days later and then at the end of the week, I have Prom.

Yes Prom. Not so big-limo-fake-tan-big-dresses-with-poofy-skirts-and-sleeves American style prom but a nice dinner and dance afterwards with my fellow students and teachers. Which I thought was nice and I'm looking forward to it. I shall post a picture of me and my prom dress which I can truthfully say have been DYING to tell the world about but I've been keeping it in apart from a picture on my phone to the selected few.

Anyway, not many things in the way of bookish things really. Although I am planning something special. I am also going to have a poll/questionaire once I figure out how to put Google Documents on Blogger after 2 tries already. PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO DO THIS AND I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER.

I am so excited for this summer, it's unbelievable and I will of course keep you all updated, if you care or not.

One last thing of this ramble, ANYONE RECOMMEND A GOOD FOUNDATION preferably in powder form that's on the High Streets and at a reasonable price.
I need some for Prom and I don't normally wear it so I'm a bit clueless. And also ANYONE RECOMMEND ANY EYELINER THAT STAYS ON FOR HOURS AND DOESN'T SMUDGE - again I shall love you for life.

Oh, and read this - I cannot believe this either. That is so horrible and shouldn't have been allowed:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2000281/Headteacher-bans-17-children-taking-vital-GCSE-exam-turn-wrong-SHOES.html

A-Z Authors - M

I found out about this through Phanee from funny wool and is hosted by Heather at Proud Book Nerd. I thought it looked quite fun so this month, I shall be doing a post every day (except Sundays) where I shall tell you about amazing authors that have surnames beginning with that letter. I hope you enjoy and tell me if you know any more with that letter and I'll add it to the post! Thanks.

NOTE: As I am doing my exams at the moment, I may miss days so shall combine letter together, I'll say if I do in the title - Thanks.

Here we go....

M

Gemma Malley

Dystopia fiction never used to appeal to me really. I thought the ideas were great and original but they never used to make me think 'Wow. I want to read that!' at all. Until Gemma Malley. 

I had seen her book dozens of times in the shops but it was only when I had seen a review for the second book in The Declaration series that I actually started to pay any notice to them. Then, about a week later, I was at my friend's house and noticed the first copy of the book, asked what she thought and after her sister saying it was really good, I borrowed it from her. And the rest, they say, is history. 

I love her writing because it makes it modern and understandable even with all the foreign words and scientifical words laced in. It's easy to read and I love the characters of Peter and Anna in that series. She also plays with tension and timing well making you find things out at the last hour or make you think something else is going to happen. She is always keeping you guessing which I liked and I think really is the essence to books like this to make it interesting and I think that's where Numbers failed the other week ago.
I need to read more books of hers but if there is one series that I would recommend certainly, it would be this one. They are really good and really put another take on what the future might actually be like.

Her Books: The Returners, The Declaration series - The Declaration, The Resistance, The Legacy,

Tuesday Top Ten: 'Awww' Moments (#12)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish

This week's theme is those moments where you have shout 'AWWW!' to no-one in particular

*NOTE* All my moments I could think of would have given the plot away so I'm going for a list of books that contain 'AWW!' moments with the characters in it. If you would like the little details on what happened in those 'AWW' moments, comment below with an email and I shall tell you!

1. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen - Eli and Auden

2. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen - Macy and Wes

3. Last Chance by Sarah Dessen - Colie and Norman

4. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness - Todd and Viola

5. The Betrayal by Mary Hooper - Lucy and Tomas

6. The Other Countess by Eve Edwards - Ellie and Will

7. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin - Naomi and Will

8. I was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison - Jenny and Captain Williams

9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Elizabeth and Darcy

10. Lady Grace Mysteries: Haunted - Grace and (I can't remember his name - the Earl of something I think...)

A-Z Authors - L

I found out about this through Phanee from funny wool and is hosted by Heather at Proud Book Nerd. I thought it looked quite fun so this month, I shall be doing a post every day (except Sundays) where I shall tell you about amazing authors that have surnames beginning with that letter. I hope you enjoy and tell me if you know any more with that letter and I'll add it to the post! Thanks.

NOTE: As I am doing my exams at the moment, I may miss days so shall combine letter together, I'll say if I do in the title - Thanks.

Here we go....

L

Suzanne LaFleur

She was kind of the only author I could think of that was beginning with L and I had read and that no-one might have heard of. I didn't think Love, Aubrey was going to be good but I was so surprised. You are simply only following a young girl's life and I thought it might seem too young, too simple as it's classed as Young Adult. However, it isn't. She successfully makes it interesting and deep yet keep that child like innocence throughout and it made me enjoy it incredibly. It made me think about my own childhood and about what if my life was like that myself, thankfully nothing like that has happened to me or in the near future shall not, hopefully. It really does make you think about yourself and the world around you and the things people have to suffer with these days as children. I liked that moral. 

Her books: Love, Aubrey, Eight Keys

A-Z Authors - K

I found out about this through Phanee from funny wool and is hosted by Heather at Proud Book Nerd. I thought it looked quite fun so this month, I shall be doing a post every day (except Sundays) where I shall tell you about amazing authors that have surnames beginning with that letter. I hope you enjoy and tell me if you know any more with that letter and I'll add it to the post! Thanks.

NOTE: As I am doing my exams at the moment, I may miss days so shall combine letter together, I'll say if I do in the title - Thanks.

Here we go....

*You know, K is so hard...

K

Judith Kerr

I read 'When Hitler Stole my Pink Rabbit' quite a few years ago so I don't really remember what it was like, what it was about etc. All I remember is I enjoyed it a lot especially as it was about a hard hitting subject that not many young children understand or know already. I think I sensed that Nazi Germany was wrong but didn't quite understand how and why until I learned all about it for History two years ago. I think it's amazing that she can do this and make children understand that it is wrong but not be gruesome or pretentious. I liked that. And I think I am going to try and find this again at my library and read it again to remember it. 

Her Books: When Hitler Stole my Pink Rabbit, The Tiger who came to Tea, One Night in the Zoo

A-Z Authors - I, J

I found out about this through Phanee from funny wool and is hosted by Heather at Proud Book Nerd. I thought it looked quite fun so this month, I shall be doing a post every day (except Sundays) where I shall tell you about amazing authors that have surnames beginning with that letter. I hope you enjoy and tell me if you know any more with that letter and I'll add it to the post! Thanks.

NOTE: As I am doing my exams at the moment, I may miss days so shall combine letter together, I'll say if I do in the title - Thanks.

Here we go....

*DOING J NOW because it's my Dad's birthday tomorrow so I won't be online so here weee 

goooo.*

I

Eva Ibbotson

She is another one of my favourite authors of all time. I discovered her a year ago and even though I had heard of her before, I never knew how good her Young Adult books were. They aren't everyone's tastes but like Sarah Dessen, she has some really good ones and some not amazing but still good books. I really do enjoy her books a lot and her books always leave you with a favourite. She has some lovely settings abroad in both England and Austria, some amazing characters and some interesting story lines with twists and turns throughout the whole way. She is a real Historical writer and writes her romance not over the top but not too understated either. She is a real well rounded author, although sadly she died late last year. I hope she will be remembered for her great books.

Her books: The Secret Countess, A Song For Summer, A Morning Gift, Company of Swans, Magic Flutes

J

Marie-Louise Jensen

Amazing Historical Romance books. The one I read last year was so enjoyable and interesting that I'm looking out for more books by her. The cover has a beautiful girl with curly brown hair and I knew straight away when I saw it that I would like it and I would love it A LOT. I love her writing, her characters, her humour, the romance, the content, the story line. I really do love the books of The Lady in the Tower. This is another understated author that historical fiction fans SHOULD read. This one was also based on a real story which really brought it to life.

Her Books: The Lady in the Tower, Between Two Seas, Daughter of Fire and Ice, Sigrun's Secret

Numbers - Rachel Ward

I don't know quite what to write about this but it is going to be short and sweet. I'll explain below.

Synopsis: Whenever Jem meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. 

Burdened with such an awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships. Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. But while they’re waiting to ride on the London Eye in Central London on the day before Jem will be sent back to a care home, Jem notices that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem's world is going to change 

(From Goodreads.com)

Review: A couple of years ago at Christmas, I saw this in the bookshops and thought it looked so interesting with a synopsis with that. So when I saw it in my local library, I jumped at the chance to read it, picking it up along with the other books without a second thought.

Hmph. 

This is one of those books that gets so much hype and then makes you deeply disappointed when you read it yourself. It's another Annexed. The story is so unique, well thought out and just sounds so interesting to read about and thinking people could be like that....but the execution brings it down.

I admit I didn't finish the book. I got to page 180 and gave up. It was just SO boring and tedious. 

From the blurb, it looks like it's all about Jem and living with the Numbers thing but it's more about Spider and her relationship with him. There are also times where it's like 'They did this, then they did this, then this happened' which got incredibly tedious. 

I have read other reviews on this book as I always do and a lot of people seem to love this book, thinking it's so action filled and tense. This may be just my opinion but, erm, really? It was a really slow pace for me which was fine to start off with and made it boring. Jem has a voice that makes you interested but, although they sounds snobbish, it's very casual and colloquial and made me start not to like her at all. I really didn't like at all. It also took me this time of those 180 pages to work out that Spider was black and a few pages to find out that Jem was a girl. That may be on purpose and even so, it wasn't obvious.  

Also, there was this mixture of what the message of the book was. First, it was the numbers thing, then what it's like to be in poverty and when I ended the book, it suddenly started mentioning on most pages about discrimination still against black people in the UK still. I don't mind any of these things but it was just so miss matched and confusing.  Also, the constant references to Spider's body odour (which I am quite aware how guys might forget a shower at least every day) made me feel quite nauseous  not great when I'm feeling sick from a History exam already. Not nice.

There is also the problem that both of these people are fifteen years-old and in Year 11 so about my age and going around smoking, drinking, taking drugs, doing dodgy jobs, sex, stealing cars, knives. All at the same time.

I would like to say now that there is such a small percentage of people that actually do these things. I know a handful of people who have had sex, and even then with their boyfriends - not any old person, and smoked. Although, there are people out there that do that. All the other stuff no-one does, around my area anyway. I'm not naive, I know it happens but so much less than ANYONE makes out. 

In this book, it's constant. That may be because of the poverty thing but I can tell that older people will read this book and make assumptions. Just saying, it's not true and it annoys me when people do say that like they know what they are talking about. They probably don't.

On a positive side, I got into this book straight away for the first few chapters and then by Chapter 6, I'm off. There are some good characters in there that are great such as Spider's Nan and the Nutter. They made me think of people I know now. The book becomes an account of how they fight for survival and get away from something where they are completely innocent. It really nicely shows the development of Spider and Jem's relationship with one another and goes hint at the end if you don't make it until then like me. It shows how you can be thrown together and made to cooperate with each other and get along. It was interesting from that part, if nothing else. 

This book could be amazing with this kind of weird, supernatural plot and some original characters but although, there are some good bits, there are also some not that great bits in it too. And the overall effect makes it very boring and tedious and monotonous and made me just give up to hopefully read a more interesting book. This really isn't one I would recommend unless you're alright with reading things like this. Your decision.

Good idea, bad execution - sorry. 

I give it 3 out of 5

*This will not be added to my challenges as I didn't read the whole thing.*

Author's Website: http://www.rachelwardbooks.com/

Pages: 304

Publisher: Chicken House

A-Z Authors - D, E, F, G, H

I found out about this through Phanee from funny wool and is hosted by Heather at Proud Book Nerd. I thought it looked quite fun so this month, I shall be doing a post every day (except Sundays) where I shall tell you about amazing authors that have surnames beginning with that letter. I hope you enjoy and tell me if you know any more with that letter and I'll add it to the post! Thanks.

NOTE: As I am doing my exams at the moment, I may miss days so shall combine letter together, I'll say if I do in the title - Thanks.

Here we go....

SORRY FOR MY LACK OF DOING THIS IN THE PAST WEEK. I have been so busy with revision, exams, being out, getting food etc but here it is now!

D

Sarah Dessen

She is amazing. I am not kidding. She is the best or at least one of the best writers I have ever read and has remained a favourite for about 3/4 years. I am yet to see/meet someone who doesn't like her novels. There are ones less good than others but they are all better than some other novels that are out there. She is always consistent and although critised for having the same plot every time, they all seem different. You know what to expect from Sarah Dessen in the plot but they are always so original in characters, settings, other events. The characters are such unique people that you kinda wish were real and that you learn to love a lot.

Her Books: The Truth About Forever, Just Listen, Along for the Ride, What Happened to Goodbye, This Summer, Someone Like You, Last Chance (or Keeping the Moon), Dreamland, Lock and Key, This Lullaby.

Paul Dowswell

I have only read one book by this guy but Auslander was amazing. It has a boy as the voice and normally, I find they aren't as good with a guy voice but this was fantastic and really helped me with my History GCSE - it put it all into perspective for me and helped me understand it all while doing my favourite thing of reading. He is such a good author that not many people give credit or know about at all. 

Other Books: True Stories of WWII, Adventures of a Young Sailor, The First World War, Escape.

E

Eve Edwards

Wow. I love this woman. Sometimes books are just Historical or just Romance and sometimes having both of those together is hard to pull off without being too much of the other. However, The Other Countess series have been amazing. So interesting with this perfect fascinating mixture of genres with the most funny, enjoyable characters. I just love her books and make me love History so much more. She is a writer a lot of people should pick up. 

Her Books: The Other Countess series - The Other Countess, The Queen's Lady, The Rouge Princess

F

Gayle Forman

I have only so far read her first book in the If I Stay duo. I have the other but not yet read it. I thought the book was going to be boring. But I found it wasn't. It wasn't perfect for me but I really liked it and the way it was written and how different it was to other novels out there that are similar to this one. I really liked her overall and I REALLY NEED TO READ THE NEXT ONE.

Her Books: If I Stay, Where She Went, Sisters in Sanity

G

Anna Godbersen

She is again in my category of best Historical Romance authors. I love the fun, happy side to her books and then also, the serious side to them that changes suddenly and makes you think. They are a real type of YA book but not too heavy, yet not too silly and ridiculous. These are good books and I love the different characters that after The Luxe series with 4 books, you start to think as of family a little and really get to know them inside and out. All of hers are set in New York at different periods of time which is so interesting to compare from the historical side. She successfully has fun/serious books with a nice balance. 

Her Books: The Luxe Series - The Luxe, Rumours, Envy, Splendour, Bright Young Things

H

Mary Hooper

Not many people have heard of Mary Hooper and that may be because she's an English writer and more known over here but I love her writing. She also writes historical and you can tell from reading that there is so much detail put into it. She covers many periods of history with some characters that reflect what people were like then and now. There are bits of romance but I like them with and without. I don't know what it is about this one but I just love her writing - but I can't say why. She is also the one that got me into Historical fiction and when I met her at a book signing last year, she was so friendly and it was like I known her years!

Her books: The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose, Fallen Grace, Newes from the Dead, At the Sign of the Sugar Plum, At the House of the Magician, Megan, Amy, Holly

Cora Harrison

I fell in love with her writing when I read the first chapter. It wasn't the typical Regency language but I liked that. Made it easier and more enjoyable to read. I loved all her characters, the cover, the romance, the playful look on life and the way she can make a unique character seem like someone you know or a simple situation, one you can relate to. I love how she made Jane Austen a real and lively person, someone my age that I could learn more about and make her feel like a friend. 

I really do love her books. I think it's her first bit for YA looking on Goodreads but she should keep it up!

Her Books: I was Jane Austen's Best Friend, Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend, My Lady Judge, The Montgomery Murder