Pastime Pleasures #8 – Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo

Posted May 30, 2014 by Charlotte in Pastime Pleasures / 0 Comments
Pastime Pleasures #8 – Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo

Welcome to my  feature, Pastime Pleasures, posted every other Friday. Today is the turn of Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo.  I will look at books that have given me great pleasure in the past. These are books I can read over and over again. The only rule is that the book must have been published five or more years ago. Morpurgo manages to weave a lovely story that mixes fiction with reality, giving an insight into the effects of being far away from home, while maintaining a sense of hope for the future. Alone on a Wide Wide Sea also shows that aftermath of war and how its repercussions are ongoing. This book shows the importance of family and how you should follow your dreams. In the beginning of the book Arthur receives a key from his sister Kitty showing the family bond but also the door you need to unlock so that you can achieve your dreams. Written in from two perspectives – the father as he grew up as an orphan in the Australian outback to […]

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Review: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Posted May 28, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 1 Comment
Review: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff on November 30, 2004 Genres: Dystopia, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult Pages: 194 Format: Paperback Source: Own Copy Buy on Amazon Goodreads “Every war has turning points and every person too.” Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy. As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way. A riveting and astonishing story. Written in the first person perspective, How I live Now is told as if Daisy is […]

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Review: The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick

Posted May 24, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 0 Comments
Review: The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick Published by Picador on January 1, 2014 Genres: Contemporary, Fiction Pages: 304 Format: E-Arc Source: Netgalley Buy on Amazon Goodreads Pendant trente-huit ans, Bartholomew Neil a vecu seul avec sa mere… jusqu’au jour ou la maladie l’emporte. Comment vivre sans elle? Ainsi commence la quete de notre heros pour se construire une nouvelle famille. Un pretre defroque, une bibliothecaire agoraphobe, un acolyte survolte rencontre en analyse, une psychotherapeute borderline, sans oublier Richard Gere, auquel Bartholomew est persuade d’etre uni par un lien cosmique… Tout ce petit monde s’embarquera dans une Ford Focus de location, a la recherche d’un mysterieux Parlement des Chats, et de bien plus encore…Best-seller international, Cher Monsieur Richard Gere est en cours de realisation par Dreamworks. Matthew Quick est aussi l’auteur d’un roman adapte au cinema sous le titre Happiness Therapy, un film recompense par huit Oscars.Merveilleux et extravagant, bourre […]

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Review: The Lost Boys by Lilian Carmine

Posted May 21, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 0 Comments
Review: The Lost Boys by Lilian Carmine

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The Lost Boys by Lilian Carmine Series: The Lost Boys #1 Published by Ebury Press (Fiction) on October 24, 2013 Pages: 512 Format: E-Arc Source: Netgalley Buy on Amazon Goodreads Fate has brought them together. But will it also keep them apart? Having moved to a strange town, seventeen-year-old Joey Gray is feeling a little lost, until she meets a cute, mysterious boy near her new home. But there’s a very good reason why Tristan Halloway is always to be found roaming in the local graveyard… Perfect for fans of Stephenie Meyer and Lauren Kate, The Lost Boys is a magical, romantic tale of girl meets ghost. While it says in the blurb that The Lost Boys is ideal for Stephenie Meyer fans, do not let this put you off reading this book.  Yes there is forbidden love, just exchange a vampire for a ghost, and a girl who has lots of friends she […]

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Review: Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan

Posted May 17, 2014 by Charlotte in Reviews / 2 Comments
Review: Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan Series: Millennium’s Rule #1 Published by Orbit on May 13, 2014 Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Pages: 553 Format: E-Arc Source: Netgalley Buy on Amazon Goodreads In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, unearths a sentient book called Vella. Once a young sorcerer-bookbinder, Vella was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been collecting information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen’s world faces. Elsewhere, in an land ruled by the priests, Rielle the dyer’s daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows she has a talent for it, and that there is a corrupter in the city willing to teach her how to use it — should she dare to risk the Angels’ wrath. But not everything […]

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