Sunday, October 30, 2011

In My Mailbox #18


In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren where bloggers show what book they received that week, via mailbox, library, bought, borrowed or any other way. It's a great way to see who's reading what so make sure you head on over and join in! 

This week was great! Templar e-mailed me with a catalogue of all the books they will be releasing soon and I got to choose which oens I could read and review! How awesome are they?! 


Here are the books I got this week:

For Review
Forgive My Fins
Fins are Forever (ARC) by Tera Lynn Childs
I have really wanted to read these for ages, so I was delighted to receive them!


Frogspell
Cauldron Spells (ARC) by C.J. Busby
These look really fun! I can't wait to read them :)


Pendragon Legacy Book 1: Sword of Light (ARC) by Katherine Roberts
I haven't read an Arthurian-theme book before, but this sounds brilliant! 


Borrowed
Pretty Little Liars: Perfect by Sara Shepard (not pictured)
I love this series! I have already read and LOVED this book! I had to give it back to the person I had borrrowed it off, though so that's why it's not in the picture.


By the way, I am going away for a few days so I will not be able to reply to any e-mails or comments or anything-sorry! I'll be back on Wednesday though, so don't worry!


What did you get in your mailbox?

Friday, October 14, 2011

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz


Reader: beware. Warlocks with dark spells, hunters with deadly aim, and bakers with ovens retrofitted for cooking children lurk within these pages.
But if you dare, turn the page and learn the true story of Hansel and Gretel - the story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses and outwitted witches.
Come on in. It may be frightening, it's certainly bloody, and it's definitely not for the faint of heart, but unlike those other fairy tales you know, this one is true.


I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like this book or not. It is aimed at a younger audience than the age group I normally read books for. I thought it would just be an OK, quick read. But I was SO WRONG! I LOVED this book! It was just brilliant! It was witty, and fun and AWESOME! 

I liked the way that there was all these fairy tales all beginning with 'Once upon a time...' or 'Once there was a...' and so on, but there was still one big plot throughout the book. It was done fantastically, the way all of the story connected together! I haven't read Grimm's Fairy Tales, so I don't know how much of A Tale Dark and Grimm sticks to the original stories, and how much came from the author's imagination. But it doesn't matter because it's all brilliant anyway! 


This is really the full story of Hansel and Gretel, and I loved reading about all their adventures. The witch-that-tries-to-cook-the-kids  story, the one that we all know, takes up barely one chapter! My favourite story has to be the one about the Hansel and the Devil, which is called The Three Golden Hairs. It's so funny! And sort of terrifying...


Which brings me to this - the book is actually quite scary! At the start of the book, and nearly every chapter, the author warns the reader that it's going to be bloody, and scary, and that all the little children should be sent to bed before we read on. Which of course makes the reader want to read on even more! But anyway, I was actually kind of creeped out by this book! Not in a bad way though! It takes serious writing skills to make a reader feel scared, so good one Mr.Gidwitz!


Hansel and Gretel had many different parents and families throughout the story, and one of the best things about the book, along with the humour, the writing, and the way the authors talks to the readers, was the relationship between the two siblings. They had a strong brother/sister relationship, and went through years of tough but adventurous lives together. They were very close, and I thought their relationship was portrayed well.


A Tale Dark and Grimm is just amazing. It is a humorous, entertaining, addictive, scary and all round brilliant book! And if my review hasn't convinced you to read it yet, how about the first line...? 
'Once upon a time, fairy tales were awesome.'


Oh yeah.


                                               Rating: 5/5


Source: For review
Pages: 296
Age Group: Hmmm...it's a bit scary, so 10+!
Official Publication Date: 
4th August 2011
Publisher: Andersen Press
Author Website: www.adamgidwitz.com

Monday, October 10, 2011

In My Mailbox #17

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren where bloggers show what book they received that week, via mailbox, library, bought, borrowed or any other way. It's a great way to see who's reading what so make sure you head on over and join in! 


This week, I met....wait for it...wait for it...bom bom bommm...DARREN SHAN!!! WOOOH! (I am so excited because he is the first author I've ever met! But I think even if this wasn't the first time meeting an author, I would still be excited!) I was so happy! Darren is the author that got me into reading! Every single book he's ever written is brilliant! I knew I had to meet him at some point in my life. And so I was looking at his website, and he was doing a couple of  signings in Ireland, so I went to one of them! I was only lining up for about 30 mins, and he was really nice! He signed all *coughtwenty-twocough* of my books for me. I felt sorry for the people behind me...


I bought Darren's new book, Palace of the Damned, the third in the Larten Crepsley saga. He signed that too :) I asked him about the new series he has been hinting about on his website, and he told me he couldn't say anything yet, but he should be announcing it on his blog sometimes this week. So I'm uber-excited! But unfortunately, I forget to mention to him about my blog! Argh! I think I'm going to write him a letter though. I've been meaning to anyway! By the way, if you haven't read anything by Darren Shan yet, you must! I would recommend starting with Lord Loss, or Cirque Du Freak if you're not a fan of horror!


OK, so to the point! I just got two books this week. They are...


Bought                                                     






Palace of the Damned by Darren Shan
I love this series! I am really looking forward to starting this!












Borrowed






And By The Way... by Denise Deegan
My friend gave me this and told me it was brilliant. I'm been wanting to read it anyway, so I suppose I better give it a go!








So that's my mailbox! I might show some of the signed books next week, because this week, I couldn't be bothered taking a picture and uploading and going to all that trouble! I had a good week anyway! 


What did you get in you mailbox?

Sunday, October 2, 2011

In My Mailbox #16

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren where bloggers show what book they received that week, via mailbox, library, bought, borrowed or any other way. It's a great way to see who's reading what so make sure you head on over and join in! This week I got:


Library






Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
I LOVED The Lightning Thief so I was sooo excited to get this! I'm nearly finished it, it's brilliant!










I only got one book this week, but it's a great one!


What did you get in your mailbox?