Reviews coming soon trailer!

Enjoy!

Isme

Guest Post & Giveaway: LUISA PLAJA

I'm an avid reader, especially of contemporary and humorous teen fiction, but until recently it didn't occur to me to collect quotes from my favourite books, in the wonderful way that many people do on Goodreads and other reading sites.

I only began to do this after listening to audiobooks a lot. Suddenly, I found myself stopping the recording to scribble bits down. Maybe I did this because of the difference between print and audio stories. I can re-read an amazing sentence again and again for as long as I want, but when I listen, the words float past and are gone quickly - too quickly – so I feel the need to capture them. Or maybe I'm just discovering the joy of quotes.

Unfortunately, at the moment, my note-taking method is far from foolproof. Some of my notes make sense, and others... don't. For example, here are some of my most recent scribblings:

"Maybe girls need an island to find themselves. Maybe they need a place where no one's watching them, so they can be who they really are." - Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

"Why is it always easier..." 4:32 - listen again! - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

As you can see, I don't always manage to transcribe quotes, probably because I'm too distracted by my need to get back to the story. And my recent notes from print books aren't that much better:

"I didn't care who kissed you first as long as I kissed you last." If We Kiss by Rachel Vail (Check!**)

"He smiled. God, I hate his smile, I love it so much." You, Maybe by Rachel Vail (Check!**)

 (**I have since checked the quotes above, and they're accurate!)

When I was a student, I spent some time at a university in Central Italy, in a town called Perugia which is famous for its chocolate "Baci" (kisses). Inside the wrapping of each one is a love-related quote translated into various languages. When I first wrote the story which is now called Cool Cats and Melted Kisses (and which can be found in the Truth & Dare anthology edited by Liz Miles), I made up a small collection of quotes for chocolates and I settled on a pivotal one for the story. It sounds so "quote-like" that I'm now not entirely convinced it didn’t already exist, but I've searched high and low and as yet I haven’t found it anywhere else. Maybe I should eat vast quantities of chocolate to make sure...

Do you have a favourite quote from a book (or a chocolate)? I'd love to know.

In the meantime, if you'd like to win a copy of Truth & Dare, please leave a comment below and The Book Slooth will draw a winner. (Giveaway open internationally.)

Thank you very much for having me here, Isme!

Luisa Plaja
http://www.luisaplaja.co.uk

  

Truth & Dare edited by Liz Miles contributors:  Jennifer Boylan, Sarah Rees Brennan, Cecil Castellucci, Emma Donoghue, Courtney Gillette, A.M. Homes, Jennifer Hubbard, Heidi R. Kling, Jennifer Knight, Michael Lowenthal, Liz Miles, Saundra Mitchell, Luisa Plaja, Matthue Roth, Sherry Shahan, Gary Soto, James St James, Shelley Stoehr, Sara Wilkinson, Ellen Wittlinger, and Jill Wolfson

Baci photo: Some rights reserved by Jerine http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerine/

COMPETITION INFORMATION:

OPEN INTERNATIONALLY

To enter, simply comment on this post, a winner will be drawn at random!

COMPETITION CLOSES: Thursday, Nov 10, 2011.

If you would like to spread the word, feel free to use the button (left) or the poster (above).

Good Luck everybody, and a huge thank you to Luisa!

If you would like to learn more about Luisa Plaja, Truth & Dare or Chicklish, you might find these links useful:

Truth and Dare @ Luisa Plaja.co.uk

Luisa Plaja.co.uk

Chicklish

 

REVIEW: Bounce by Natasha Friend

Evyn's had enough problems in her life, starting with her mother's death when she was young. But now her father's thrown a whole new batch her way. Not only is he marrying a woman Evyn hardly knows, but he's uprooting Evyn and her brother to go live with this woman... and her children. It's a lot of adjustment to make at once. And, quite frankly, Evyn has no desire to adjust. She wants her old life, her old friends, and her old house. She knows she's supposed to bounce along with the changes...but what happens if she doesn't?
blurb from Goodreads

Funny, insightful, enjoyable and memorable. Bounce by Natasha Friend is one of those books that you remember. 
For the unique story set in the real world, the mood of relaxed storytelling and the warmth that it brings.  

At first, I was attracted to Bounce by it's funky purple spine and simplistic cover, but I found that the synopsis was what got me to read it. 
Bounce is a great story, it is emotional - and, like many of Friend's other books, it confronts issues that may face teenagers of today. 


I may not have been able to pinpoint exactly what it is that I like about Bounce, but there's definitely a spark in there somewhere.
I think that if you're a girl from 11-14 years, you will really enjoy this book.


If you do read it, tell me what you think!

Elliot Allagash - Cover to Cover

I loved the book Elliot Allagash by Simon Rich and I thought that the cover was relevant to the content of the book, however, it made it seem as if it was for a younger market.

I also found the other covers, and although I liked them, I though some of them gave the wrong impression about the book.

Read the review here.

Bright Young Things Website

 Curious about The Bright Young things series (BYT) I looked it up and found the wonderful website for Anna Godbersen's two series, BYT and The Luxe.

I was delighted when I found These lovely profiles on each of the three main characters, I think it is a great idea, and I think that more authors should do this sort of thing.
On the website, besides these profiles, there was a dictionary of twenties slang, a BYT inspired playlist and a beautiful blog with teasers about the books.
I suggest that any fans of Anna Godbersen make sure that they check it out here. 

Read the Review of Bright Young Things here

REVIEW: Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Every morning at 4:33am, London Lane's mind resets. Everything from the past is gone forever, and she only has glimpses of her future to cling to. She knows that her best friend Jamie and her will go on a trip to Mexico, but she can't remember that they had a fight yesterday. The only person she remembers is her mother - a guide to her past. 
But questions are stacking up about her past as her future reveals glimpses of a shattered past. 
What really happens at the funeral that she keeps dreaming about?
What happened to her father? Why is her mum keeping secrets from her?
But what happens when she meets the guy of her dreams and she can't remember him from her past, or see him in her future?


Lured to Forgotten by hype about it in the blogosphere, and the field of poppies on the cover, I am glad that I picked up a copy of Forgotten.
Although Forgotten may seem like the 2004 movie 50 First Dates Forgotten is not everything that you would expect from what the description tells you. 
With many layers to the plot-line, Patrick has cleverly crafted this novel to make you feel like the main character London, wondering what you don't know about her past. 
Multiple sub-plots are sprinkled throughout the novel, keeping you guessing about what the truth really is. 
I really enjoyed Forgotten, and I think that it appeals to many age ranges, girls from 13 up. Although this is a YA novel, in my opinion, even adults would enjoy Patrick's witty writing and enticing plots. 

Nothing... Except my genius.

I am currently reading a few of these books and others I have just bought and am admiring.... ahhh...
Anyway,  I thought I would share these with you and some teasers from a few of them...
Oh, and I had fun taking pictures of the books too!

As I was attracted to this book by its cover, (yes, I know what you are thinking!)
I thought that instead of putting the blurb underneath the picture, as tradition goes, I would let you read it how I saw it. 

To read the blurb, click on the picture above for a larger view. 

And last, but definitely not least...

Nothing Except my genius, the wit and wisdom of Oscar Wilde. 

Reading the chronology at the beginning of the book - which is a collection of quotes - I was surprised to learn about his theatric past, including being imprisoned in gaol for two years - during which he wrote a series of poems and published them after his release under the pseudonym of his cell number: C33,   many of his works being unsuccessful with the public, writing many essays, letters, plays, and short stories. 

Now, down to business, some quotes...

And, of course, his famous last words, uttered while he was on his death bed (literally) at the Hôtel d'Alsace in Paris on November 30^th, 1900.

Congratulations: soulunsung!

Soulunsung, please contact me at thebookslooth@gmail.com  to claim your prize :)


Thank you to all of those who entered,

The Book Slooth