The Overflowing Library

November what did you do to me?? This month has been pitiful from a reading point of view. I'm really not finding anything at the moment to sink my teeth into and get excited about reading. I actually worked out I haven't read a five star book since April which is really sad. So here is my tiny little reading list for this month Books Read 188) Captive by AJ Grainger (British Books Challenge) 189) It's not me, it's you (British Books Challenge) 190) All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven 191) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks 192) Serenity Leaves on the wind by Zack Whedon 193) Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercey I'm dying to read some new UKYA. My wishlist is primed and I'm hoping rather desparately that some of them start arriving at my door sooner rather than later. Book of the month I had two YA wise it had to be AJ Grainger's Captive. If you like Sophie McKenzie you'll love it Adult wise it was Mhairi  McFarlane ...

I must admit some of my favourite books are slow-burners so I’m willing to overlook a so-so opening chapter, providing there’s a hint of promise to come. Having said that, you can’t beat an opening that absolutely knocks your socks off and begs you to keep reading. The hard bit for the author is keeping up that momentum to the final page. All the books below not only have great openings, they’re great books full stop. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen An oldie but a goodie, this chapter tops lists as one of the best openings in literature for excellent reason! Witty and hilarious from the word go, it opens with Mrs. Bennet breathlessly informing her husband of the eligible new tenant at nearby Netherfield Park and the possible implications for her ‘girls’. I adore the power play in Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s relationship and it’s established beautifully here. Just perfect. We Were Liars by E Lockhart Stylish, poetic and economical, this moody one-pager is a thing...

So I was tagged by one of my Bookish besties Sarah from Feeling Fictional to take part in this Reader Problems book tag and I couldn't resist joining her. If you want to read Sarah's answers you can find them HERE and mine are below. 1. You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next? I have a confession. My book TBR pile is actually quite small. I blame a broken leg, 4 months off work and a lot of alone time that came with the first two things ... Either way I decide on what to read next at the moment completely by mood and what I feel like reading next. I tend to be caught up enough on my review copies that I don't need to worry about when I get to them because it is usually in time. I keep a pile next to my bed of unread books and take my pick from there. 2. You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed? I am the queen of giving up on books. I can give up on something after ...

Another month and another pile of books I can't wait to get my hands on Read me like a book by Liz Kessler Ashleigh Walker is in love. You know the feeling - that intense, heart-racing, all-consuming emotion that can only come with first love. It's enough to stop her worrying about bad grades at college. Enough to distract her from her parents' marriage troubles. There's just one thing bothering her . . . Shouldn't it be her boyfriend, Dylan, who makes her feel this way - not Miss Murray, her English teacher? I have had this on my wishlist for a long while and I was excited to see the cover go up online earlier this month. It just sounds like it is going to be awesome. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen Peyton, Sydney's charismatic older brother, has always been the star of the family, receiving the lion's share of their parents' attention and—lately—concern. When Peyton's increasingly reckless behavior culminates in an acci...

Fifteen-year-old Frankie Landau-Banks has grown up a lot over the summer. She's no longer daddy's little girl - and almost immediately after starting the new semester at her highly prestigious school, she bags goofy-but-gorgeous Matthew Livingston as her boyfriend. They get along great but then Frankie discovers that Matthew is a member of a boys-only secret society that specialise in 'hilarious' pranks. Which hardly seems fair... especially when Frankie knows she's smarter than any of its members. And to prove this, she's going to teach them a lesson. Impersonating lead member Alpha by using a fake email account is surprisingly easy, and soon Frankie is setting the boys up with all sorts of ridiculous schemes and sending them on wild goose chase after wild goose chase. Alpha's not prepared to lose face and admit it's not him sending the emails - but the fun can't last forever, and soon Frankie will have to choose between what she t...

This post has been a long time coming. I've had it typed out for the best part of 18 months and never felt happy enough to post it online. I suppose because it talks about something I have never really spoken about to anyone except in snippets here and there. Largely because I've never wanted to come across as a victim to anyone and also because I think I spent a great deal of time over the last 15 years blocking the experiences out. However because it has been Anti-Bullying week I have decided to finally put it out there possibly in part to let it go at long last. It has certainly been a long time coming. Like thousands of teenagers before and after me I had a miserable time at High School. I was reasonably clever, loved my lessons and learning. As a result I came out of school achieving decent grades enough to allow me to go on to university. Yet whenever I think about school the experience of being bullied is all that I think about. I never suffered bullying befor...

Warning below are pictures that bookshop lovers will fall completely Head over Heels in love with. They are pictures of some of the beautiful bookshops featured in The Bookshop Book I have five copies of The Bookshop book to giveaway to my readers. If you would like to enter leave a reply on here with your twitter handle so I contact you if you win or tweet me to enter @overflowingklc with the phrase "I want to win The Bookshop Book"

Synopsis Ever wondered about the enigmatic, mysterious warlock Magnus Bane? The only character to appear in every Shadowhunter book, Magnus has a past even more shrouded in mystery than his present. I’ve teamed up with acclaimed YA writers Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan to create the Bane Chronicles, the back (and front) story of Magnus told in ten linked tales. Look for short stories like Vampires, Scones and Edmund Herondale; The Rise and Fall of the Hotel Dumort; Saving Raphael Santiago and What To Buy The Shadowhunter Who Has Everything (And Who You’re Not Officially Dating Anyway) My thoughts   I am a fan of both of Cassandra Clare's series set in the Shadowhunter world and am eagerly waiting the next books she writes in these world but for me something about this book just didn't do it for me.   Granted I am not one for short stories and the historian in me like reading things in chronological order so this series of stories really messed me up...

I've made no secret of the fact that I am struggling at the moment to read. Its come to the point where I've decided to do something different to get me back into reading and that something is rereading my favourite books. I have a list on goodreads of about 35 books which I love. Some of them I have read since blogging and some not. I am therefore for the time being focusing reading those I haven't read since I started blogging along with their sequels if that applied. Simply because Mockingjay is out soon I decided to start with rereading the Hunger Games trilogy and I must say I loved every second of reading them to the point that I have it has ruined me a little bit again when it comes to reading something new. Not really the point of the exercise but nevermind I'll just have to start rereading something else. So what did I think rereading them? The Hunger Games I loved rereading this book again. I loved Katniss all over again and her strength as a chara...

Over the course of the last few weeks there has been a lot of debate, often quite intense, about book reviews and what they should or shouldn't do. I don't think there is ever going to be a magic answer plucked out of the air that will keep everyone involved happy but I wanted to put down my thoughts on the matter so I can be done with thinking about it. For me things came to a head this weekend when a prominent author made the comment on twitter "There is too much positivity in the book world. Esp in book blogs and on Youtube. Books can't all be good can they?". This statement led to lots of bloggers and authors weighing in with their opinions on the whole matter. Let's break it down "There is too much positivity in the book world" The first part of this statement I didn't object to. I am taking this statement (and the author's further tweets) to say that reviewers should be writing both positive and negative reviews. I don't see a...