The Overflowing Library

A busy month for me workwise which has really impacted on my reading. Never mind next month it'll go crazy again! Read in June 98) Weirdos and Camel Toes by Natasha Desborough (British Books Challenge) 99) After Eden by Helen Douglas (British Books Challenge) 100) The Essence by Kim Derting 101) Every day by David Levithan 102) Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider 103) The Sound by Sarah Alderson (British Books Challenge) 104) Split Second by Sophie McKenzie (British Books Challenge) 105) All our yesterdays by Cristin Terrill 106) The Dark Judges by John Wagner (British Books Challenge) 107) the screaming staircase by Jonathan Stroud (British Books Challenge) 108) The boy on the wooden box by Leon Leyson Book events I went to a blogger's brunch at Simon and Schuster which was fab and brilliant. I got several fab titles to work my way through and got to meet Sophie McKenzie again and Candy Harper for the first time. I also got to hang out with some of

New York, 1963. Fashion, music and attitudes are changing, and there's nowhere in in the world more exciting. Sherry, Donna, Allison and Pamela have each landed a dream internship at Gloss; America's number-one fashion magazine. Each girl is trying to make her mark on New York and each finds herself thrown head-first into the buzzing world of celebrity, high-end fashion and gossip. But everything isn't as glamorous as it seems - secrets from the past threaten to shatter their dreams. They're finding out that romance in New York is as unpredictable and thrilling as the city itself. My Thoughts I really enjoyed gloss for a variety of reasons. I loved the time period it was set in and I did find myself absolutely as instead by the mindset of the girls in the book based on the world they had been brought up in. It was really telling when they were really worried about how they might be seen especially by men if they were out in the world earning a living fo

Dusk by Eve Edwards is a beautiful love story set against the brutal back drop of WWI. A love worth fighting for. When Helen, a young hard-working nurse, meets aristocratic artist Sebastian, she doesn't expect to even like him, let alone fall in love. But against the troubled backdrop of wartime London, an unlikely but intense romance blossoms. And even the bloody trenches of the Somme, where they are both posted, cannot diminish their feelings for each other. But Helen is concealing a secret and when a terrible crime is committed there are devastating consequences for them both. When lives are being lost, can true love survive? My thoughts I have really mixed feelings on this book In someways I really loved it. I loved the fact it was written about World War One. I loved the medical history stuff and the history geek in me was happily entertained by both of these things for the entire book. I loved the main characters who the story follows both the charming and el

Luke is the perfect boyfriend: handsome, kind, fun. He and Emaline have been together all through high school in Colby, the beach town where they both grew up. But now, in the summer before college, Emaline wonders if perfect is good enough. Enter Theo, a super-ambitious outsider, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film about a reclusive local artist. Theo's sophisticated, exciting, and, best of all, he thinks Emaline is much too smart for Colby. Emaline's mostly-absentee father, too, thinks Emaline should have a bigger life, and he's convinced that an Ivy League education is the only route to realizing her potential. Emaline is attracted to the bright future that Theo and her father promise. But she also clings to the deep roots of her loving mother, stepfather, and sisters. Can she ignore the pull of the happily familiar world of Colby? Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going? Sarah Dess

“Danger, dread, mystery, and romance” (Booklist) continue in the second book of The Pledge trilogy, as Charlie’s reign is under siege from the most unusual of enemies. At the luminous conclusion of The Pledge, Charlaina defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen’s Essence is fused to Charlie’s psyche, ready to arise at the first sign of weakness. Charlie is not weak, but she’s being pushed to the brink. In addition to suppressing the ever-present influence of Sabara, she’s busy being queen—and battling a growing resistance determined to return Ludania to its discriminatory caste system. Charlie wants to be the same girl Max loves, who Brook trusts, but she’s Your Majesty now, and she feels torn in two. As Charlie journeys to an annual summit to meet with leaders of nearby Queendoms—an event where her ability to understand all languages will be the utmost asset—she is faced with th

This is the first book in a major new series. "Lost" meets "Gossip Girl". I jump at the sound of a whispered voice over my shoulder. But when I turn round all I see is sand, and the towering, green wall of the rainforest. I guess it must have been the breeze, but I can't help shivering. I have the weirdest feeling that we're being watched. Grace Delaney and her fellow dance students are en route to perform on a South Pacific cruise-ship when a freak storm hits and they find themselves stranded on a deserted island. With the tropical heat rising, passions and tensions swell to breaking point. And the island itself is quietly steaming with a terrible secret... My Thoughts The press release for this is bang on when it describes this book as gossip girl meets lost. A group of teen dancers are shipwrecked onto a tropical and oh so slightly sinister island and the story follows them as they adjust to their new settings. The story is told from t

I glance at the three baby portraits in thick wooden frames. I feel a familiar prickling on the back of my neck. Because I know there's another picture somewhere - and the baby in that photo looks identical to the babies on the wall. Somewhere, there's a photo of the original. Ella, Betsy and I look like sisters: triplets, you might think. But that's not what we are at all. We are clones in hiding. We split our lives and exist as one person in the outside world. And we've always been happy. But now I've fallen head-over-heels in love . . . and that changes everything. Because, to let love in, I need to be allowed to be Me My Thoughts Just a quick review today on this one. Cat Patrick is one of those authors I always seem to enjoy and I find her writing style really suits me and I find myself devouring her books pretty quickly. To a certain extent this book was no exception. I loved the ideas and the characters and I couldn't wait to find out more about

The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey. After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up My Thoughts I'm going to say it ..... I did not get the hype at all that surrounds this book even though I wanted to dearly. I must say for me I found the who

I’ve been writing books for young people for 30 years, and people have frequently asked me, “do you have teenagers,” or “do you work with teenagers?”   When I reply “no” to both questions, they’re surprised, and they want to know how I can write for and about teens when I’m not around them on a daily basis.   I reply, “because I was a teen.”   I believe that teens today face the same problems I faced: a concern for how we look, how are bodies are changing, how we care about what others think.   Rebellion, peer pressure, sexuality, identity – these are all concerns of teens, today, yesterday, forever.         But I have to admit, there are differences between the world I lived in as a teen, and the world the teen today faces.   And that was my inspiration for writing Gloss – to show teens today that the teens of my time faced the same predicaments, but in a different world.         Different how?   Well, for one thing, in terms of technology.   We didn’t have mobile p

In the court of King Henry VIII, nothing is free-- and love comes at the highest price of all. When Kitty Tylney's best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head. My Thoughts I must admit I have been putting off reading this book for a while. I love historical fiction when it is good but I am always apprehensive in case particular stories aren't so I often find I need to be in the right mood for them. As it happens I am currently watchi

Abby Barnes had a plan. The Plan. She'd go to Northwestern, major in journalism, and land a job at a national newspaper, all before she turned twenty-two. But one tiny choice—taking a drama class her senior year of high school—changed all that. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Abby is stuck on a Hollywood movie set, miles from where she wants to be, wishing she could rewind her life. The next morning, she's in a dorm room at Yale, with no memory of how she got there. Overnight, it's as if her past has been rewritten. With the help of Caitlin, her science-savvy BFF, Abby discovers that this new reality is the result of a cosmic collision of parallel universes that has Abby living an alternate version of her life. And not only that: Abby's life changes every time her parallel self makes a new choice. Meanwhile, her parallel is living out Abby's senior year of high school and falling for someone Abby's never even met. As she struggles to

The hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller The Selection . Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea. America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide. Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at a

They'd love to have you for dinner . . . Sasha Savage is in love with Jack - a handsome, charming ... vegetarian. Which wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that Sasha's family are very much 'carnivorous'. Behind the family facade all is not as it seems. Sasha's father rules his clan with an iron fist and her mother's culinary skills are getting more adventurous by the day. When a too-curious private detective starts to dig for truths, the tight-knit family starts to unravel - as does their sinister taste in human beings . . . My Thoughts This book is an example of black humour at its best. The Adams family meets Desperate Housewives. I loved every page and will be highly recommending it in the future. Sasha's family are odd ... So odd that when Sasha gets a new boyfriend she isn't keen for him to meet them especially considering he is a vegetarian and her family are big meat eaters and she has decided to join him i