Winners! Is it you?

Time to announce the winners of my Kate Morton give away. I loved reading your replies about who you read and why, and now I have more authors books to devour myself. Yay! These books arrived yesterday and they are beautiful. I cannot wait to read one myself. Please email me at feistierkel @ gmail (dot) com with your address if you are named below. Thank you again to the wonderful onions at Allen & Unwin for giving us all an early look at a fantastic book.

Belinda H (from her tweet reply)
Lib
Truly Blessed Life
Atticus

Love books? Love to #win? Looky here!

My favouritest (is so a word :P ) book publishers in Australia, Allen & Unwin, have kindly allowed me to give away some copies of The Secret Keeper. The new and not-even-on-shelves-until-November book from Aussie author Kate Morton. Kate has 3 bestsellers under her belt already, and The Secret Keeper will be no different.


In a bucolic English summer at the end of the 1960s, a young girl witnesses a shocking crime. Fifty years later, she sets out to find out the truth, uncovering layers of mystery and deception. Moving from London during the Blitz to the present day, this is classic Kate Morton: a compulsively-readable, entrancing mystery with a long held secret to be uncovered at its heart.

1961: On a sweltering summer's day, while her family picnics by the stream on their Suffolk farm, sixteen-year-old Laurel hides out in her childhood tree house dreaming of a boy called Billy, a move to London, and the bright future she can't wait to seize. But before the idyllic afternoon is over, Laurel will have witnessed a shocking crime that changes everything.

2011: Now a much-loved actress, Laurel finds herself overwhelmed by shades of the past. Haunted by memories, and the mystery of what she saw that day, she returns to her family home and begins to piece together a secret history. A tale of three strangers from vastly different worlds - Dorothy, Vivien and Jimmy - who are brought together by chance in wartime London and whose lives become fiercely and fatefully entwined.
Shifting between the 1930s, the 1960s and the present, The Secret Keeper is a spellbinding story of mysteries and secrets, theatre and thievery, murder and enduring love.

I don't know about you, but that's enough to have me completely drawn in. Cannot wait to devour this one. Want to join me and win your own copy? I have 4 copies to give away! Simply comment and tell me your favorite Allen & Unwin author/s  and why (click through to a list!) Don't forget to like my facebook page here. Good luck!

Note: Open to Australian residents only

Book time - Don't Breathe A Word

Am not very good at reviews but had to write about this book I just read. It's called Don't Breathe A Word and is by Jennifer McMahon. The first clue to how good it is, is that I read the entire thing in less than 24 hours, despite continuing my usual errands and whatnot. It was painful every time I had to put it down. It kept begging to be picked up again.

The book is creepy. Quite unsettling, yet fascinating and the mystery is really well written. Right to the very last word.

I won't include spoilers, but the blurb reads:


On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn't fear the dark and doesn't have bad dreams--who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam's hardheaded, realistic view of the world. As they question their reality, a terrible promise Sam made years ago is revealed--a promise that could destroy them all.


Really. I don't tend to read anything like this, fairies and whatnot are not really my thing. I don't know what compelled me to even read this, I think the crime element? Regardless, I will now be reading all of her other books stat. Loved it. Have a very definite book hangover now, and will struggle to pick up the next on my to-read list, without thinking about Sam, Lisa, Evie, Phoebe... And Teilo, The King of the Fairies.

/Shiver.

Book happy

I have read some great books recently, so thought I'd drop the names so those on the hunt have somewhere to look!

Firstly, I read Red Queen by Honey Brown. It's an Australian book, which always gets bonus points from me, and not a bad one at that. It's about 2 brothers, hiding out in the bush after a virus is wiping out the world, and how their hideout is infiltrated by a strange woman...

Next up, Room by Emma Donoghue. Have been meaning to get to this for months and months and finally nabbed it. I loved this book, just so well written and with such beautiful characters.

Nora Roberts - The Witness. I like her stuff, dead easy to read, sort of chicklit crime mix. This was another good read, and this was her 200th book. 200. That blows my mind. I guess she's doing something right!?

I also read Jodi Picoult's Lone Wolf. This was a while ago and I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, it was not bad. Typical Picoult, but nothing out of the box for me.

My new favorite author - Jojo Moyes. I mentioned in an earlier entry her book called Me Before You and because of it's power, I tried another by her called The Last Letter From Your Lover. She has a way of writing that just takes a simple story but crafts it into something more. They are not just love stories, they are truly poignant and lovely. Just beautiful writing. I adore her work.

Allen & Unwin again asked me to take part in another read-a-long with Bree. This time the book was called The Unfinished Journals Of Elizabeth D by Nichole Bernier. I loved this book, I tried to stop at the first break for the discussion but I couldn't put it down, I had to keep reading. I identified with the exploration of an individual as opposed to their role as 'Mother' or 'Wife' and that wanting something more, and what was going on... The characters were so real, they had flaws, they were uncertain, they had more than one dimension. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Another of my favorite authors has a book out and I didn't realise so I quickly grabbed it on kindle when I found out. Liane Moriarty's The Hypnotists Love Story is just as good as her previous works that I also love. Another Australian author, her writing is so easy to get lost in. I loved this book, amazing that I could empathise with all the characters, even the whacky Saskia. Love lost and relationships starting... all relevant to me and so I enjoyed that about it too.

Also mentioned in my last post was Jennifer L Armentrouts Lux series. Book 2, Onyx, came out last week and I immediately got into it. I really love Katy and I like where things went with she and Daemon in this book. I love that Katy is independent and strong for a YA female protagonist. We need more like her! Mind you, my kindle told me I was at 93% and just as it got super exciting... The End. The rest was a sample chapter etc. I almost cried! Now I have to wait until December for book 3! GAH!

Finally, last night I finished If I Stay by Gayle Forman. This was pegged as an emotional book that would have me in tears. Nup. I actually felt a bit robbed to be honest. I felt like there was opportunity for the author to really get into an emotional place with this and ravage the emotions... But she didn't get there for me. Not a bad book, simply okay.

That's a wrap!


Picture credit: http://weheartit.com/entry/35296248#

Books. Good ones.

So I might have stepped on a few toes lately on Facebook with my perpetual links to snarky critiques of the horror that is 50 Shades Of Grey. To be clear, it's not horror genre, it's horror writing. It's a horrible, painful stringing together of words that frustrates me beyond belief. As someone who wants to write, who loves to write, who appreciates excellent writing - I found it frustrating. Maybe even angering. But I won't be dedicating a post to that pile of steaming excrement.

Instead, I am going to direct you to some stuff that is REALLY worth reading. This is the best way to fight back against shite writing - really good writing. Since I begged Allen & Unwin for an ARC (Advance Release Copy) of Susan Johnson's My Hundred Lovers, they hooked me up with a blog that does these reviews all the time. Bree's blog, All the Books I Can Read is a book review blog that I am so excited to have found. It's certainly enriched my life, as has Bree herself, providing me with recommendations via twitter, as well as reviews on her blog. Books! Wonderful books!!!

Before getting to Bree's stuff, and after enjoying My Hundred Lovers so much, I asked Allen & Unwin on twitter, what else they currently felt was a good read. They suggested two books that Blew. Me. Away. Firstly, I read The J.M. Barrie Ladies' Swimming Society by Barbara J. Zitwer. I loved this book, because the characters were so well drawn, they just engaged me and were different enough to the same old same old to fascinate. The story was well written too, and I enjoyed how easy it was to read. Bliss after the pain of 50 shades.

Next up was Nicole Trope's The Boy Under The Table. I don't know if I can find the words for this one. It was brilliant. The writing was brilliant. The characters were brilliant. The emotion was palpable, and I literally could not put it down, finishing it in a mere two sittings and reading into the wee hours. I haven't done that in a long while. I loved everything about it. If you're going to choose just one of these books to read, make it this one - you won't regret it.

(They also recommended The Taliban Cricket Club but I haven't got to it yet).

After these two I was a bit lost, wondering where to next after two good books... There is nothing worse than the feeling of finishing a good book, it is a loss, for real. This is where Bree has saved the day! Her first suggestion for me, was Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. Oh. My. God. This is up there with Trope's book. I sobbed when I finished it, and it's been a long time since a book reduced me to tears. This is such a beautiful book, it's masterful. I adored it.

Then I read her suggestions of Sophie Kinsella's I've Got Your Number (awesome chick lit, readable, fun and a gorgeous protagonist as always in Sophie's books), and Trish Doller's Something Like Normal - quite a heartstring tugger about a young marine who comes home for leave from Afghanistan after seeing his best friend killed. It's a love story with a new angle, I really loved it. These were followed by two books from Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series - Obsidian and Shadows. I liked Obsidian for a few reasons, but the most impacting was reading of a young adult female protagonist that was not a simpering, blithering idiot turned to mush by a good looking guy. In fact she tells him to bugger off often for being a jerk, despite wanting to just crumble and be with him. Take THAT Bella Swan and Anastasia Steele. YES!

I have started Fiona Higgins The Mothers Group too, but being in such a non newborn or mumsy headspace at the moment (which sounds quite terrible for my kids but it's not really, I swear!) I haven't got into it properly yet, I will though.

Next up on my kindle waiting for me to dive in are these 2 -


Red Queen by Honey Brown. 

Unravelling by Elizabeth Norris.

If all this looks familiar, it's because it basically follows all Bree's reviews on her blog, lol. Her reviews make me want to buy and read and read and buy... She's bad for my bank account but I love it!!!

Before I go, I need to mention again how desperate I am to read Everything Left Unsaid by Jessica Davidson. I've sent an email to her publicist, who has assured me of an ARC, so fingers crossed it arrives soon because the official release date is still a month off. Comeeeee Onnnnn!

A plug

For a great book, by a wonderful new author.

Have a read of What Does Blue Feel Like? by Jessica Davidson.

Enjoy! :)