The Overflowing Library

Another odd month for me reading wise. Nothing really this month has blown me away so I have started a rereading effort starting with Hunger Games in a bid to get myself excited and into reading again. Also I have pretty much annihilated my TBR pile. As I type this I am in the middle of Us by David Nicholls then I nothing left in the house unread. Read in October 173) The Light behind the Window by Lucinda Riley (British Books Challenge) 174) Beads, Boys and Bangles by Sophia Bennett (British Books Challenge) 175) The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail 176) Loyal Creatures by Morris Gleitzman 177) The Voices of Silence by Bel Mooney (British Books Challenge) 178) The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud (British Books Challenge) 179) I was here by Gayle Forman 180) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 181) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 182) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 183) The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare 184) The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell (British Books Challenge) 185)...

The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson Grieving, shaken, and feeling very much alone, Rory's life as a member of the Shades of London has changed irrevocably. It's only been a matter of hours since Stephen was taken from her, possibly for ever. Her classmate Charlotte is still missing, kidnapped by the same people who tried to take Rory. Rory is no longer a schoolgirl haplessly involved in the dealings of a secret government unit. She is their weapon in a matter of life and death. With hardly a moment to think for herself, Rory is back to work. Charlotte must be found -- as must Stephen, if he is even out there. Lines must be drawn and forces rallied. Something is brewing under London, something bigger and much more dangerous than what has come before. The Shadow Cabinet holds the key to everything, and it is up to Rory to unravel its mysteries before time runs out... I love this series I cannot wait for more of it. The door that led to where by Sally Gardn...

Synopsis On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future - and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents. My Thoughts A 21 st century fairy tale. What begins looking like a simple retelling of classic fairy tales ultimately delivers so very much more.   On the surface this certainly looks like any other classic children’s book, combining text and illustration to create an ensemble that is certainly visually appealing.   The story however is anything but a standard fairy tale (but then from Gaiman would you expect anything le...

One of the wonderful perks of being an author is the FREE BOOKS! It’s like supermarket sweep and makes me deliriously happy. This wonderful bunch of books is made up of some books that Pan Macmillan sent me and I bought myself. I devoured them all. I really loved The Interestings and Shotgun Lovesongs. This is one of my bookshelves. I’m actually packing up to leave Bali (sob sob) so I’ve already donated a ton of books to the school and library and to friends.   These are the ones I’m shipping because I can’t bear to part with them. I have a lot of Dave Eggars, who is up there with David Mitchell as one of my all time favourite authors. Night Film was a firm favourite last year, as was Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers which was recommended to me by some bloggers in Singapore when I visited. I read very eclectically - from YA through to literary fiction and memoir and would encourage anyone who wants to be a writer to do the same!  M...

Walker Books invites you to partake in the Magnus Bane Quote Vote to celebrate the forthcoming release of The Bane Chronicles in hardback We can’t think of a better way to celebrate Magnus’s many adventures than by hand-picking sixteen of his sassiest quotes and pitting them against each other in a battle to determine the warlock’s wittiest witticism. We strongly encourage you to have your say, starting on October 22 nd of this year. To get involved, simply follow #LoveMagnus @WalkerBooksUK on Twitter. And please, share this invitation – this is not an exclusive party.

The Maze Runner Film is releasing at the end of this week on 10th October I am particularly excited to see how the film has been adapted and see the lovely Will Poulter on screen (I met him very briefly last year at an anti-bullying event and he is lovely) When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he’s not alone. He’s surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade – a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they came to be there – or what’s happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything to try and find out. The Maze Runner  out now in paperback (£7.99, Chicken House) I read The Maze Runner back in 2010. You are dropped into a world where you do not know what is happening or why it is happening and I found it very confusing as a reader to start with but suddenly thin...

Susan's favourite books Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It is a stunning book. It isn’t long, but it brims with such poetry and tenderness that it stayed with me for months. I wish I could have written: I’m so grateful that Robinson has. Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund. It isn’t often that I am so thrilled and drawn into a novel as this. I took it everywhere with me, reading with every spare moment. It’s a clever, daring adventure story, but also a beautiful account of lasting human love against the odds. And what a heroine! Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I read this, whilst researching my latest book A Little In Love. It’s a huge, intricate, relentless tale – or many tales, woven into one – of life in revolutionary Paris. I was bewitched by it. A breathtaking book. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. A strong-minded heroine, a wild setting, a supressed passion, a devastating secret – and the flawed but enigmatic Rochester … I have loved this si...

I wasn't going to write this post. I've thought about it for a while but didn't want it to become a pity post or an outlet for me to moan but then after a lot of thinking I thought I would so those people who kindly send me books and read my little bit of the internet would know what is going on ... I  love reading. I love talking about the books I've read and that was the reason why I blog and why I've done so for the past 4 years however of late I'm not feeling it. I'm struggling with the books and as a consequence I'm struggling with the blogging and I can put it down to a variety of reasons 1) My reading time in the last month or so has got smaller and smaller as work has got tougher and tougher. New changes brought in by the government to change what I'm doing day to day at school are making the paperwork side of my job insane. Teaching is fine, the kids are fine but the paperwork is not. Nine years ago when I started this job I saw myself d...