This is just a quick reminder that my current giveaway ends on Wednesday 12 November.
Time’s running out, so if you want to be in with a chance of receiving a copy of either ‘The Rosie Project’ or ‘Amity and Sorrow’, click on the link below and enter your details.
https://thestackedshelf.com/2014/10/29/book-giveaway-celebrating-100-posts-on-the-stacked-shelf/
You can read my reviews of both books featured in the giveaway by clicking on the links below. Both are fantastic reads!
I’m so excited to announce the very first author interview on The Stacked Shelf. The amazing and lovely Joelle Charbonneau, author of the fantastic THE TESTING series (links to my reviews of the first two books here and here), has kindly agreed to chat about writing, her inspirations and some exciting future projects! Read on to find out more…
I hope you all enjoy reading this and gaining an insight into the workings of a writer as much as I did, and thanks again to Joelle for agreeing to take part!
Tell us a bit about your background – how did you come to be a writer?
I went to college and to graduate school for music and theater and for the next several years performed in operas, musicals, children’s theater and lots of other crazy acting and singing kinds of things. It wasn’t until about 8 years after college that I started writing. I was the only person in my dressing room for the show I was doing that didn’t make the next show and I suddenly had an opening idea for a book in my head. And for some crazy reason I decided to write that book. It was a bad book, but I decided that I loved the challenge of telling a story and kept going.
What inspires you?
EVERYTHING! Honestly, I am inspired by great stories, by music, by my voice students, by my son’s laughter and by the kindness of the people I have met throughout my life. The world is filled with inspiring things and I find something new to be amazed by each and every day.
Your ‘The Testing’ trilogy is set in a dystopian future, where do your ideas come from?
The idea for THE TESTING series came out of my work with my voice students. I work one on one with teenagers on their singing. Many of those teens decide they want to go to college for singing or acting and then I work with them on their college auditions. The process is stressful and the stress can often overwhelm them. One year, I found myself wondering how the process could become more stressful. I wanted to know under what circumstances the world would turn the process of getting into college into something that could mean life or death. And the Testing was born!
Cia is a great character – she’s strong, smart and balanced. How did she develop throughout the trilogy? Is she based on anyone you know?
One of my students at the time I came up with the idea for The Testing is 5’2″ and has dark hair. So, I guess Cia’s outward appearance is probably based on her. But Cia’s starting point for her journey is really based on all of my students. They are all optimistic about the world and their future. Most of them come from good families. I wanted Cia to represent them. I also wanted her personal character growth to reflect what I see in my students as they go off to college and learn that the world is more complex and harder than they originally thought. They become more balanced and more confident. They also experience a lot of painful growing moments and come out the other side a little less happy, but a whole lot wiser.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
The middle! The middle of every book is really tough. The beginning of books are always interesting and engaging and the idea is fresh and new. The end of books are exciting because you’ve scaled the mountain. There is no better feeling than THE END. But the middle is where your doubts and unhappiness creep in. The middle (no matter how fast a writer writes) is always long and scary and filled with uncertainty.
What book/s are you reading at present?
I am reading Jason Reynold’s WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST. It’s awesome.
If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is still quite possibly my favorite book and the one that taught me to believe that anything is possible!
As a writer, what’s the one thing you can’t live without?
Diet Pepsi…honest! I need my Diet Pepsi.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently working on proofing my next book which is a young adult thriller called NEED, which involves an elite social networking site that allows anonymous users to say what they need and offered them a chance to get it. I’m also writing a brand new stand alone YA thriller that has the working title of MASKED. I’m closing in on the middle section. Wish me luck!
Published in 2012 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the Pendle Witch Trials, one of the most well documented examples of witch hunts in English history, this novella combines established facts and records with a rich imagined backstory to help brings events to life.
The book focuses on Alice Nutter, one of the eleven people accused of witchcraft and tried in the August Assizes in 1612. Alice was unique in the fact that she was a gentlewoman and relatively wealthy compared to the rest of the accused.
Jeanette Winterson creates an atmosphere that evokes the culture of 17th century England – one of fear and fanaticism, complete with a paranoid King intent on destroying both witches and Catholics. It’s gritty and grim and bleak and it doesn’t romanticise poverty. There’s no scrimping on the details when it comes to hygiene, health or squalid living conditions. Grave robbing, torture and corpse mutilation all feature in their turn and at times it’s quite hard to read.
She uses the known facts and the details of the trial to give her characters motivations, backstories and personalities. The Idea of witchcraft is portrayed in numerous very different ways. For the most part, ‘witchery’ is something that people were accused of out of fear or anger. It’s also something of a religion to some of the poorer people, who out of desperation may believe in anything to help them survive. To the village healers, it’s a profession. To Alice Nutter and her companions, in this story at least, it’s something more real, dangerous but full of potential. Continue reading
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!
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
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
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!
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
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
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
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.
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