Book Giveaway – Celebrating 100 posts on The Stacked Shelf!

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

After almost two years of blogging, this is my 100th post on The Stacked Shelf. I just wanted to say take the opportunity to say thanks to everyone who’s been reading, commenting and supporting this blog since it first started! To celebrate, I’ve picked two books from two of my favourite posts to give away.

Firstly, I’m so excited to be able to give away a copy of Graeme Simsion’s ‘The Rosie Effect’. The follow up to ‘The Rosie Project’, this book was released at the end of September and is a really great sequel! It’s hilarious and heartwarming and if it’s not on your TBR list, it should be!

Secondly, I’ve chosen a book from a slightly older post, but it’s one that I found really interesting to read. ‘Amity and Sorrow’ by Peggy Riley tackles some fairly controversial issues, looking at the effect that being raised in a polygamous religious cult has on children, and how they react when their carefully constructed world breaks down.

If you’d like to read either of these books, please enter the competition by following the instructions below!

What you need to do…

You’ll need to follow The Stacked Shelf either through WordPress or via email (if you don’t do so already!).

Then enter your details in the form below, letting me know which book out of the two you would most like to read, as well as recommending the best book you’ve read recently!

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Winners will be picked entirely at random, and rest assured that email addresses won’t be stored and will only ever be used as a way of contacting winners for this giveaway.

You have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 12th November 2014 to enter. It’s UK entries only I’m afraid, but if you’re elsewhere in the world, thanks so much for reading and keep your eyes peeled for future competitions.

The rules… (yes sorry, there are rules):

1. UK entries only
2. Entries will be checked against the entry methods specified above. Only entries that meet all requirements will be entered into the prize draw.
3. Winners will be notified by email
4. The winners have 2 weeks to respond with the address that they would like the prize sent to.
5. The prize will be sent out within 7 days of receipt of address.
6. Closing date: 12th November 2014, 11.59pm
Entry into the competition will be deemed as accepting of these T&Cs

‘Tigers in Red Weather’ by Liza Klaussmann

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

Cousins Nick and Helena have grown up together, spending long, hot summers on Tiger Island. Having themselves become wives and mothers, these summer trips remain a yearly tradition.

Captivating and enticing, Nick is also volatile, selfish and unpredictable, her marriage is troubled by secrets and things left unsaid. By contrast, Helen has always been the quieter of the two, the one more willing to bend to Nick’s will. But in the heat of the summers, long buried resentments, jealousies and frustrations are quick to come to the surface. Through the decades, a storm is brewing that threatens to destroy everything and to test the ties of family, love and duty to their absolute limit.

I really liked the way this book was written. The author manages to evoke an impression of life in post war America beautifully, and the heat and oppression of the long summer days are conjured up so vividly they are like a separate character all on their own.

However, for me it felt like this book was more style over substance. Continue reading →

James Patterson offers grants to independent booksellers

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

At a time when independent book shops are struggling to stay afloat, it’s fantastic to see authors showing their support for stores.

James Patterson, best-selling author of the Alex Cross and Women’s Murder Club novels, recently pledged to hand out grants totalling £250,000 to independent booksellers in the UK – and the first round of these grants have just been awarded.

This amazing opportunity was open to any store with a dedicated children’s book section and an idea for innovative ways to encourage children to read more. 73 independent British bookshops from all across the country have received funding so far, with another round of awards to come. The money will be spent on a whole range of new initiatives designed to encourage children to engage with books, including new displays and spaces, reading and activity areas and even mobile book vans to go out into rural areas.

Patterson has made no secret of his support for independent bookstores in the past – and has actively spoken out about the damaging effect that Amazon is having on the industry. While the retailer has the ability to undercut booksellers on price, bookshops offer a space to discover new books and to inspire a passion for reading that’s hard to replicate online.

He’s also done tons of work to promote children’s reading, including starting the ReadKiddoRead website, which is aimed at parents and full of top tips to get kids reading, helpful articles and book recommendations.

While the grants may not be enough to turn the tide around, this very public statement by one of literature’s most prolific and successful writers should help to draw some much needed attention to the issue in the mainstream press. Anything that helps to get children interested in books gets a thumbs up from me!

If you want to see the full list of bookshops that have received funding, they’re all listed in this article. If you spot one that’s near you, why not go along and show your support!

Emily Croy Barker’s ‘The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic’

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

Despite disliking the main character so much I almost quit halfway through, once you get stuck into this book it isn’t half bad!

The first part of this book is pure fairy tale. Our main character, Nora, stumbles upon a beautiful house and gardens deep into the forest. Soon, she’s drawn into the chanting and intoxicating world of Illisa and her friends. Caught up in a whirlwind of parties and swiftly married off to Illisa’s son Raclin, it’s only much later that she starts to regain her faculties enough to understand that she’s been enchanted from the second she clapped eyes on Ilissa, and that the Faitoren are much more than they seem. Desperate to escape their clutches, she flees and is rescued by the magician Aruendiel.

Away from the Faitoren, Nora finds herself in a world reminiscent of Medieval England. With no way to get back to her old life, she learns to adapt to life in his household. This brings some challenges in terms of how conceptions of power and gender are viewed compared to what she’s used to. Initially, Nora’s relationship with Aruendiel is fraught and strained, with her essentially being an initially unwelcome, dependant houseguest who has yet to prove her worth. Eventually though, they start to work out their differences after she persuades him to start teaching her basic magic. And when Ilissa and Raclin make a play to kidnap Nora back, they trigger the start of a war that’s been a long time coming. Continue reading →

‘The Golem and the Djinni’ by Helene Wrecker

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

In early twentieth century New York, a Golem wakes without a master and a Djinni is released from a bottle after years in captivity, bound in human form.

Created out of clay, the Golem has one single purpose, to protect her master and serve his needs. But when he dies crossing the Atlantic, she is left utterly alone and overwhelmed by the flood of human desires and emotions in the bustling city. Taken under the wing of a Jewish Rabbi who recognises her for what she is, the Golem struggles to overcome her instincts and to live a life disguised as a human within the tight Jewish community.

Elsewhere, in a Middle Eastern neighbourhood, a man repairing a metal flask is stunned by the appearance of the Djinni on his shop floor. The Djinni, having been trapped for thousands of years inside the flask and bound by iron cuffs that keep him assuming from his true form, is forced to take refuge as an apprentice at the metal shop in order to blend into his surroundings.

But even as they both adapt to their new lives, the Djinni never stops searching for a way to break his bonds and the Golem searches for answers and a way to be free to show her true self. Meeting by chance, they spend their nights wandering the city streets and parks, forming a friendship that helps them to get through the days they spend pretending to be human. Far away in Europe, a man sets out across the ocean. Dangerous and powerful, he threatens everything they have, but he might hold the key to setting them free. Continue reading →

‘The Vanishing Witch’ by Karen Maitland

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

Set in Lincoln in the 1380’s, Karen Maitland’s ‘The Vanishing Witch’ follows Robert Bassingham, a wealthy cloth merchant, and his family as he is pursued by the beguiling widow Catlin.

Blinded by her charms, Robert soon allows Catlin, along with her daughter Leonie and her son Edward, to worm her way into his life. Catlin has no qualms about pushing his existing family aside along the way, allowing nothing and nobody to get in her way. But the two families are haunted by a sinister figure that lurks in the shadows at their every turn. And after one too many unnatural deaths, suspicions and fears are rife and tensions threaten to come to an ugly head.

The book is set against the backdrop of the Peasants Revolt. Through Gunter, a punter on the River Witham, and his family, we get a glimpse into the hardships of life as a peasant, the hardships visited on the poor when they couldn’t pay their ever increasing taxes. Intimidation from royal enforcers was extensive and the demands unattainable. This story of revolution is woven throughout the book to create an atmosphere of general unrest and used as an interesting device to drive the main plot forward. It offers a fantastic insight into a period of history that I personally know very little about. Continue reading →

Top 5 books on my TBR list

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

Yesterday was Super Thursday, when the book world traditionally launches all of the heavyweight titles that it expects to top the Christmas bestseller lists. To mark the day, I thought I’d put together a list of the top five books currently on my ‘to-be-read’ list. I’m always looking for more ideas, so if you’ve read anything good recently – let me know!

Written in the Blood – Stephen Lloyd Jones
I’ve been lucky enough to have been sent a review copy of the follow up to ‘The String Diaries’, which I really enjoyed, and it’s sitting currently top of the to-be-read pile to be started this weekend!

City of Mirrors – Justin Cronin
The final iinstallmentin Justin Cronin’s epic fantasy trilogy, which started with ‘The Passage’, comes out on 22 October 2014. I loved the first two and I’m literally counting down the days until this is published!

The Good Children – Roopa Farooki
Following four brothers and sisters all the way from 1940’s Punjab through to present day, this is billed as unique family saga offering some great insights into the idea of family, tradition, immigration and prejudices. I’ve seen some great reviews of this and can’t wait to read it.

Almost English – Charlotte Medelson
I really wanted to read this when it came out last year and was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. I came across a copy at the second hand bookshop the other day and snapped it up.

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel
This is on my TBR list just in the hope that I’ll finally get around to reading it! It’s been sitting on my bookshelf for far too long. I’ve started it before, but abandoned it for no good reason a few chapters in. After all the hype, I feel like it has to be worth the effort of persevering.

Chrysler Szarlan’s ‘The Hawley Book of the Dead’

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

Reve Dyer and her husband Jeremy run a successful magic act in Vegas – until the day that a bullet trick goes horribly wrong, leaving Jeremy dead and Reve suspected of his murder. But as Reve attempts to comfort her grieving family, burned photographs of her and her three daughters going about their daily lives start to appear. Fearing for their safety, Reve flees home to Hawley Five Corners.

A village abandoned by its inhabitants during the 1920’s, Hawley Five Corners offers a safe haven. But Hawley Five Corners is haunted by secrets, rumours and unnatural disappearances, and being back in the place of her ancestors raises more questions that Reve isn’t yet ready to face. For the women in Reve’s family each possess a magical gift – an ability to find lost things, to heal or in Reve’s case, to disappear, temporarily slipping behind the veil between worlds. The more time that Reve and her daughters spend in the village, the more they start to understand their personal history and the mysterious powers of the Hawley Book of the Dead. Continue reading →

Joelle Charbonneau’s ‘Independent Study’

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Emma @ The Stacked Shelf

In the follow up to ‘The Testing’, Cia has made it to the University. Having taken the exams that will determine the future of their careers in the United Commonwealth, Cia and the other successful testing candidates now have a whole new set of challenges to face.

Cia’s memories of her first Testing have been erased, but as she prepares for her initiation into her class, disturbing flashbacks make her question the University and all it stands for. With her dreams full of suspicions about what happens to students that fail to live up to the University idea of its ideal candidate, she is thrown into a dizzying round of intense studying, ruthless initiation processes and cut-throat competition.

When she learns about a group of rebels working against the government officials in charge of the University, Cia has to choose whether to risk her life, and the lives of the people that she cares about, by joining their cause. But who can she trust? And who is doing everything they can to make sure she’ll fail? Continue reading →