My Favourite Childhood Book

Cleaning my room the other day I stumbled across my all time favourite book from childhood. It was a lovely surprise and I was grateful for my sentimental ways that force me to keep everything that holds a memory for me!

My favourite childhood book? See it for yourself!

I'm not sure how popular this was when I was younger, considering no one has ever spoken to me about it, ever, I'm assuming it wasn't very. But for me, this will always be the book that I remember when I think of my childhood. This, plus Spot and of course The Very Hungry Catapillar - but those pretty much go without saying!

The book includes various stories about the adventures of a little boy called Tom and his stuffed monkey: Pippo. Doesn't sound all that relevant considering I was a little girl but I loved Tom and Pippo for many reasons. Firstly, this book was one of the reasons I carried a teddy bear - my best friend and confidant - around with me until I was 12. (Don’t get me wrong, Marshmallow was so small she fit right into my palm! She used to fit snugly into one of my pockets, although I did have a traumatic experience in which I lost her once. If you’re wondering, yes I do still have her!) I loved Pippo a ridiculous amount - I made a song up about him that's how far my love went! So of course I attempted to re-create Tom's relationship with Pippo with my own companion.

Marshmallow :)

Tom and Pippo was given to me by one of my older sisters, who used to read stories to me when I was still too young. I’ve had it since.. I’m not sure. I remember using the name Pippo for random inanimate objects that I liked before my little sister was born, so I’ve probably had it since I was less than 5 years old. :)

I haven’t read it in a long time though. You'd think that I'd want to open it up and remember everything all over again, but I don't think I'm ready. It might seem odd, but I think there are some things from the past that should only be opened/looked at when you're completely ready. From what I do remember, there's one story about Pippo getting filthy and being shoved into the washing machine and hung on a washing line. I remember it the most because for years I couldn't wash my bears or dolls because I thought it might upset them. :)

Questions for you:

• What's you're favourite/most memorable childhood book?
• Why is it your favourite/what makes it your most memorable childhood book?

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My Free Romance Novel from Mills and Boon - Three Weddings and a Baby by Fiona Harper

Remember the free romance novel offer Mills and Boon were doing? Well my book arrived a week ago and I finally got the chance to read it! :)

I was originally expecting Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger by Heidi Rice which is what the website had told me I would be getting but I was pleasantly surprised to find a different book altogether.

Instead, I received Three Weddings and a Baby by Fiona Harper!

When three is most definitely a crowd… Do you believe in love at first sight? Jennie Hunter and Alex Dangerfield did, and they married just a few weeks after they met! But when Alex disappeared on their wedding night Jennie was left alone – and angry – in her honeymoon suite. A month later, and Jennie has given up hope of ever seeing her runaway husband again. Then Alex returns – with his toddler in tow! Shocked to learn Alex has been married before, her first instinct is to run. Her second instinct – well, even a hard-headed businesswoman can’t turn away a tiny girl who needs a nappy-change and a husband with sheer panic in his eyes… Compared to umpteen clients, one small kid will be a doddle…right?

The blurb is pretty misleading in my opinion but I guess they're just trying to sell the book.

The story is about Jennie Hunter - an events manager and socialite - and her newly wedded lawyer husband Alex Dangerfield. Alex leaves Jennie alone for a week during their honeymoon because of an emergency and because of this and his lack of communication, Jennie is heartbroken and runs away. She avoids all contact with him and continues to be heartbroken until Alex forces himself back into her life. 


It was a really light read - I managed to finish it in 2 hours whilst taking a break from an essay haha - and I enjoyed it quite a bit.


The story alternates between the perspective of both Jennie and Alex which is something I think it handles really well. We get to sympathise with both characters (perhaps more so with Alex) as we see what they're holding back from each other. We see how and why misunderstandings form and develop not only within their relationship but in man and woman relationships in general. It gives you a lot of perspective :)


On the other hands, there were some pages that I ended up skimming through because there wasn't much happening and they were a bit repetitive. Apart from that, the romance was adorable! I loved the added story that the baby brought in too!


Rating:  

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Jessica Spotswood's December Giveaway

To celebrate the two-month mark before her book, Born Wicked, is released, Jessica Spotswood is doing a giveaway!

She's giving away 5 of her favourite fantasy books, including a signed arc of Born Wicked, to one lucky winner! Other books include: Chime by Franny Billingsjey, The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab, Kat Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis and Renegade Magic (the second part of Kat Incorrigible) also by Stephanie Burgis.


To enter, just leave a comment on this blogpost. Giveaway ends Wednesday 14th December and ends at noon. Read the blogpost for more details! :)

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Book of the Month: November

My favourite book for November is Wicca: Book of Shadows by Cate Tiernan. Without giving too much away, the series is about Morgan and her journey through her teenage years, studying Wicca. Of course there's romance, magic and all that fun stuff but I loved reading about Morgan's real life teenage problems.

I've owned Wicca: Night's Child - the last book of the series (which I bought and read first like the teenage genius I was) - and recently decided to buy the previous books. Book of Shadows is the the first of the series and I loved every bit of it. The series reminds me of myself when I'd just entered my teenage years. Mainly because I read my first book of the series around that time, but also because books and series' like this one are the reason I fell in love with reading - but more on that in another blog post!

Reading this book to me felt like I was reading the prologue of Night's Child. Of course I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day and moved on to the next book! It was interesting that my mind still remembered details from Night's Child, but it was even more interesting when I remembered wrong and got surprised by the book!

The Wicca Series was written and published between the '90s - early '00s so there are a lot of references to old things that aren't really used/talked about anymore - which I love! (I'm talking about you Hanson!) On the flip side, the books are harder to find because of this. If you're interested in buying, I've been buying mine off Amazon and eBay :)

Rating:     

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Reviewing and Book Reviews

I've spent the past few weeks researching book review blogs and I've noticed a number of things.

1. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of book review blogs on the web.
2. A lot of people don't know how to review books - in my opinion anyway.

(The first I hadn't realised at all. There's a whole community of book bloggers out there to look forward to! But back to my main point which is the lack of real reviews on some of these blog sites.)

Generally speaking a review should examine or assess something; giving you the good, the bad and the amazingly awesome. As an avid reviewer, I expect the person writing the review to give me some sort of personal response too e.g. their favourite part about the something and their least favourite part. Granted sometimes that something needs to be explained because it might be new and a bit difficult to understand.

That being said, I think the worst thing you can do in a review is just sit there and only explain something. That's not a review at all. Now in terms of book reviews, I don't expect to search for a book review about a book that I may be thinking of buying only for the website I've stumbled upon to tell me everything that happens in the book. That is not a review, that is a recap; and those are two very different things. I understand the need to sometimes refer directly to the plot, aka spoilers, (I have spoilers in my blog posts but I always give a warning before and after it!), but to spend 90% of your blog post telling the story does not make your blog post a review.

It bugs me even more when it's popular websites and even more so when the person has been given the book for free by a publisher. Not only does it give readers a bad impression of book review blogs, but it also encourages aspiring book reviewers to follow in these footsteps by posting recaps labelled as reviews.

Questions for you: 

• What do you think should make up a book review?
• How often do you read book reviews before buying a book?
  Personally, I prefer to read book reviews after I've read the book so then I can see other people's opinions and thoughts. :)

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Book Review: K. J. Wignall's "Blood"

For a book called "Blood" I have to say, the contents aren't so bloody...

I was given this book by my sister a couple of weeks ago and didn't expect much. Sure the cover looked interesting, but Vampire fiction is so common these days I didn't even bat an eye. This is another quick read which I managed to finish in less than a day. Once I'd finished it, I felt conflicted. At some points Wignall's writing was like a breath of fresh air, at others I was asking myself why I was still reading.

I liked..

The fact that the main character is written well. The smaller extracts written from Will's perspective are probably my favourite parts of the whole book. I felt like I could understand him and relate to him a lot easier because of them. :) There were a few times when I forgot that he was living in the body of a sixteen year old and had to remind myself. But I don't mind: I  like that Will doesn't try to act like a regular teenager.

Another thing I liked about the book was the fact that not everyone can be made into a Vampire. I'm so sick of reading books where the male Vampire is fighting his girlfriend to make sure she stays human when she really wants to be a Vampire like him. Although the book does use this idea as a plot point, to my delight it doesn't last for long! :)

Superficial point but the cover is awesome. Especially when you're taking a picture of it with flash! ^^

Look at how much the title stands out. It looks friggin' awesome.

Okay so I used a cool camera app, but even with a regular camera + flash the title stood out the most.

I didn't like so much:

The fact that the story line reminded me a lot of Prophecy: Child of Light. It's familiar - at the end of the day both books hold common ground: Vampires - but familiarity was not what I wanted. But I guess that's what happens when a mass of authors write about the same thing - ideas get recycled. On the other hand, if you've read and like either of these books, you'll most definitely like the other one. :)

Another point to note, is that nothing really happens. 288 pages and I'd say 150 of those pages contained anything significant. On the other hand, the book is easy to read so it's easy to read it all fairly quickly. The fact that nothing happens means the book is easy to forget. I'm straining to remember what happened in the book even now and I read it a week ago.

I also feel like the romance between Will and Eloise is a bit forced. It isn't written as naturally as it could have been.


[SPOILER ALERT] Especially their first kiss.. seriously, what was that? From what I can see Wignall is aiming for a fate/meant to be love story but their relationship comes across more like teenage lust for the majority of the book. Even when Will holds her hand and describes their relationship as fate, I felt like the whole scene was really artificial. [END SPOILER]

Lastly, I really really really wish the book had been written completely from Will's perspective. The small extracts written in first person are so much better than the mass of it written in third person. I honestly believe it had all been written from Will's perspective I would have enjoyed reading it a lot more.

-

To conclude, I am very conflicted. I liked reading the book but I'm glad I didn't pay for it myself. Yet, I probably will buy the rest of the series to see what happens because I've already read the first book. It's expensive at RRP £6.99 (definitely not worth that much!) so I'll be buying the next book(s) from Amazon which has it for almost half the price!

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Win a Signed Copy of "Something from Tiffany's"

To celebrate the launch of Something from Tiffany’s by Melissa Hill, Hodder & Stoughton are giving away 10 signed copies! There are various terms and conditions to the giveaway including the fact that you must be eigtheen and over as well as a UK resident.

Doesn’t every girl dream of getting … something from Tiffany’s 

It’s Christmas Eve. And on 5th Avenue in New York City, two very different men are shopping for gifts for the women they love. 

Gary is buying his girlfriend Rachel a charm bracelet. Partly to thank her for paying for their holiday-of-a-lifetime to New York. But mainly because he’s left his Christmas shopping far too late. 

Whereas Ethan’s looking for something a little more special – an engagement ring for the first woman to have made him happy since he lost the love of his life. 

But when the two men’s shopping bags get confused, and Rachel somehow ends up with Ethan’s ring, the couples’ lives become intertwined. And, as Ethan tries to reunite the ring with the woman it was actually intended for, he finds it trickier than expected.

Does fate have other ideas for the couples? Or is there simply a bit of Tiffany’s magic in the air?

Something from Tiffany’s is available to buy now.

The book sounds interesting, so if you're interested in chick lit and do qualify enter by filling out this form!

Competition ends 10th December and the winners will be contacted by 15th December.

Good Luck! :)

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Book Review: Jodi Picoult's "Second Glance"

Before I get started I just wanted to mention that, I bought the hardback of the book and I honestly don't like the cover at all. I'm not really sure who the girl on the front is supposed to be (Lucy?) but even so, I think it was a poor choice. I took the paper cover off whilst I was reading so it wouldn't spoil and I was pretty surprised since the plain blue seemed a lot nicer to look at in my opinion.

ON TO THE REVIEW!

The book is just over 450 pages long and it took me just less than a week to finish this book. I would have finished earlier if it wasn't for the fact that the first half of the book had me awake at night in fear. I don't often tend to read thrillers much less books about ghosts so to begin with, this wasn't a good book for me. I was tempted to drop it simply out of fear, but I really wanted to know if Ross would ever meet Aimee so I stuck around. So if you like being scared for entertainment purposes, this might just be your cup of tea.

The books is made up of 3 parts and I really enjoyed reading part two which was strictly about Lia. Whilst reading it I kept thinking "it all makes sense now!" "I remember that through Ross' perspective!" "Oooh they're explaining one of the clues!" I think it was well written on Picoult's part and she did a good job maintaining the suspense by using this technique.

I also loved that all of the characters were so easy to empathise with. None of them were perfect and all had flaws. Most importantly, there were no real "bad guys". Okay, so you could probably argue against that but I think Picoult justified everyones actions in a way that allowed us to understand their motives. As far as I can see, (name removed to avoid spoilers)'s actions aren't selfish - inhumane maybe - but not selfish as he tries to look for the "greater good". I mean we all have our flaws, some people lack confidence and others find it difficult to draw the line between good and bad.

If I had to pick favourite characters, I'd pick Lia and Ross for sure. Personality wise, they're a pair of downers. But I can't help but love the way Picoult describes their pain and anguish. Neither character is able to deal with death and loss in a healthy way and the result is an ache that I found oddly familiar.

As much as I enjoyed reading this book, there were some things that I disliked. I liked being able to empathise with the characters, but I found it easy to empathise too much. It reminds me of something one of my lecturers said about people committing suicide because of their intense empathy whilst reading The Sorrows of Young Werther. Not that Second Glance made me want to commit suicide at all, I just found myself feeling extremely sad and depressed in real life whilst I was reading this book.

Which brings me on to another thing I disliked: I felt like the book dragged a lot of things on unecessarily. Ross' depression in particular began to annoy me by the last part of the book. I felt like jumping in and slapping him out of it towards the end. As horrible as this might sound, there's only so much of a downer that I can take before getting fed up. I feel like all the excess time she spent on his depression could have been put to better use. More time spent on the ending or the whole novel would have been useful. The conclusion was written rather and sloppily and felt rushed. I feel like most of the things that took place just happened for the sake of tieing up all the loose strings.

I could suggest alternative endings... but it's been a long day.

If asked, I'd recommend this book to someone looking for an emotional book to read or someone who likes reading thrillers and isn't afraid of ghosts! I don't recommend it for anyone who is overly emotional and overly empathetic *cough* like me *cough* :)

Originally written and posted on 10/09/2011 @ Novel Nerds

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Order a FREE Romance Novel from Mills and Boon

Mills and Boon are offering a free book to anyone over the age of 18 living in the UK for a limited time.

All you have to do is pop over to this website and order one now by signing up! Once you've done that, you are given the option of downloading an eBook or of having the paperback sent to you.

Additionally, you're given the chance to win £500! Once you've read the book you can sign back into the website and rate your "date" with Mills and Boon. Which is essentially just a review of your impression of the book and Mills and Boon overall. :)

Adorably, the first question looks like this:

I'll admit, it was a bit of a confusing sign up and I'm not exactly sure if you get to pick your book or not. The email they sent me referred to my "chosen book" but I'm not sure if I somehow chose it or if they chose it for me. Lol.

But I did somehow manage to order Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger by Heidi Rice which looks like it'll be entertaining. I do love taking a break from complicated plots, settings and characters sometimes to read cheesy romance novels  and Surf, Sea.. definitely sounds like it fits!

I love a free book, don't you? :)

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Book Review: F. E. Heaton's "Prophecy: Child of Light"

After receiving my kindle I decided to find myself a nice cheap eBook on Amazon to test it out. At the time, I was about to embark on a week of writing essays to meet my final deadlines at uni. The book I would choose would of course be read after it was all over so when I saw Prophecy: Child of Light I was sold. It was cheap (69p!), from the fantasy section and above all about vampires: it was perfect.

The majority of the blurb, the rest that got cut off:

Prophecy: Child of Light is part one in an epic tale of love and war that is sure to capture your heart and leave you craving more.

“A vampire unlike any other" and an "epic tale of love of war": fighting words if I’ve ever seen any (coming from a blurb anyway..) At this point, the blurb alone leaves you full of expectation. Luckily for me, I didn't care too much for the blurb and went in expecting nothing. So when I reached 100% read on my kindle and Heaton had failed to live up to the hype of the blurb, I wasn't surprised.

Prophecy is unique to her world alone; in the real world, Prophecy is just one of many. Vampire novels not only run in abundance in book shops worldwide, within the past few years hundred of authors have spewed out even more following the "vampires are cool" bandwagon. As a result, a unique vampire book had to be something new for even the averagest of joes. My own love (bordering on obsession) of vampires was at it's peak during highschool. So, to me Prophecy’s story felt very familiar and predictable. Heaton like many other authors recycles general plot and story points. As a result I found myself able to prophesise (haha I couldn’t help myself ^^) what would happen next.

The book is written from the perspective of the main characters: Prophecy and of Valentine. Despite being the protagonist of the novel, I couldn’t relate to Prophecy at all. Sure, she’s a vampire and I'm a human so there's not much to relate to at first glance, but any good protagonist (whatever the species) should be able to draw the reader in. I found her to be an annoying character and only continued to read the book because I was rooting for Valentine. His past and history seemed much more interesting than Prophecy's story. I can’t help but wonder how much better the book could have been if written entirely from his perspective.

On a positive note, I did find myself moved slightly by our main couple’s passion towards each other. I wouldn’t call this much of a feat though considering that I’m a pushover when it comes to fictional romance.

All in all, the book fulfilled the task I had for it: it was an easy read. It’s not a must read and in no way is it a must own but if you’re looking for something to simply pass the time, or you want a mindless read to take your mind off a heavier book –perhaps a classic or better yet, a real epic– it’ll do the job.

Originally written and posted on 30/07/2011 @ Novel Nerds

Rating:  

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A Day at Penguin :)

Last Thursday I attended Penguin's "Getting into Publishing" open day at their head office in Strand. I applied for a place after receiving a mass email from my university career's er.. lady (I'm not sure what her official title is but that's what I refer to her as haha). I was pretty damn excited once I'd found out I'd been offered a place considering they'd had over 400 applicants!

Finding the office was a bit of a task in itself since I hadn't printed out the map, there were no signs and Google Maps was of no help to me either (it kept telling me that some sort of clothes shop was my destination). But when I finally stopped and asked for directions I couldn't believe my eyes. It was love at first sight. I wish I'd taken a picture but I'd wanted to get in as soon as possible. The building itself had me spellbound so you can imagine how elated I felt during the day there.

We had breakfast upon arrival and then spent the entire morning listening to various members of staff discuss their job roles and how they'd got there (I'll admit that I was disappointed since the moment I discovered the Twinings box and made myself a green tea and cranberry [which I had no idea existed by the way, would totally recommend it to anyone who likes green tea!] it was time to go in). It was so fascinating as I was introduced to the many other job roles that publishing has to offer, especially since I had only ever considered myself in an editorial role. The talks gave me some perspective and since then I've been wondering where I think I'd fit in well in publishing. I know I want to be there, but where exactly at this point, I'm not sure!

In between the talks we had a refreshment break where not only did I get to make myself another tea, I also got to talk to a few of my fellow publishing job seekers. Everyone that I spoke to was lovely and friendly and I have stayed in touch with one person since. :)

After everyone was done speaking we were given the opportunity to network with the Penguin staff whilst having a yummy and totally free lunch together. I have to admit, it was my first time networking so I went into it just asking questions as they came to me. I spoke to a handful of the staff and managed to even get contact details from a few who were particularly interesting. I call that success!

We were also given an awesome goody bag to take home which included a free book!

Everything inside the goody bag, the goody bag itself and my visitor name tag :)

My favourites from the goody bag!

I especially love the back of the actual goody bag/tote! ^^

Later on in the day I had an interview at Foyles bookshop. The interview went really well and it was probably the most comfortable interview I've ever done. Sadly, they had hoped I could fill a full time position but being at University makes that impossible. They did offer to keep me in their records for any future part time jobs that may become available though, so keep your fingers crossed!

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Win a Signed first edition of 1Q84!

I don't actually own 1Q84 yet (although I want it and am envious of my sister who has the limited edition versions all three!) but if you're a Haruki Murakami fan this competition might just be the one for you! :) Bluestone Books are giving away 10 signed first editions of 1Q84!

To enter you need to send a "Top Ten List" inspired by Murakami's writing which they will then post on their website!

Additional information from the Bluestone Website is as follows:

Sample ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• 10 jazz pieces you could actually listen to while running
• 10 writers that Murakami has not translated (but we wish he would)
• 10 film actors who would be great at playing Murakami characters
• 10 best cat names inspired by Murakami novels 

Ten winners will be selected based on creativity, and the level to which we’re jealous we didn’t think of the idea ourselves. Each winner will receive a a signed first edition of 1Q84, published by Knopf. 

(We don’t have to tell you the lengths a Murakami fan will go to for a signed book. When the galleys arrived, we were so nervous about them disappearing, we hid them where we thought no one would look: behind a 1961 etiquette guide.) 

Please note: we promise not to collect any of your customers’ e-mail addresses for our own random-ish promotional purposes. 

You can send your submissions to us at bluestone@randomhouse.com.  The deadline is November 22nd and the fine print is here.

Since I know nothing of Haruki Murakami this competition is one I'll be sitting out, but it seems like something fun for anyone who is a real fan! ^^ Good Luck! :) 

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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!

Welcome to Digesting the Words. This is first and foremost my literature blog but also my written (or typed if you want to be specific!) record of my journey into the Publishing world.

A little about me for anyone that's wondering: my name is Farhana, I'm 19 and I study English Literature at University. I aspire to work in publishing (I'm currently trying to decide between Editorial, Publicity and PR) and I also live in Greater London. That's all for now, but I'm sure you'll find out more as time goes on.

I can't guarantee to always be up-to-date with my reading (my degree means a lot of my reading time involves pre-21st Century novels) but I will try to update with interesting information and events as often as possible. :)

And so it begins!

Currently Reading:

• Matched by Alley Condie
• Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
• What Maisie Knew by Henry James
• Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

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