The Overflowing Library

One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.   Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.     Bronwyn,  the brain,  is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.      Addy,  the beauty,  is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.      Nate,  the criminal , is already on probation for dealing.     Cooper,  the athlete , is the all-star baseball pitcher.     And Simon,  the outcast , is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.   Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy rev...

I've borrowed a silly amount of books from the library over the course of April. I was off work for my Easter holidays and managed to get into the city to pick up titles from the Millenium Library which is much bigger than my local branch and far too exciting for this bookworm. Below are a selection of my favourite reads borrowed from the library this month. The Witch Finder's Sister by Beth Underdown 1645. When Alice Hopkins' husband dies in a tragic accident, she returns to the small Essex town of Manningtree, where her brother Matthew still lives. But home is no longer a place of safety. Matthew has changed, and there are rumours spreading through the town: whispers of witchcraft, and of a great book, in which he is gathering women's names. To what lengths will Matthew's obsession drive him? And what choice will Alice make, when she finds herself at the very heart of his plan? I actually reserved this book a while ago and luckily it came in whilst I wa...

Today I am very excited to host a cover reveal for one of Cat's backlist titles. Cat's newest book Girlhood is out in May and Cat's publishers have given all her backlist titles brand new covers to match it. Here's the new cover for Undone. Jem's best friend is gone. Now she wants revenge... A thrilling story of love and death for fans of Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott and Jandy Nelson. Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend. Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it. Then the unspeakable happens. Kai is outed online ... and he kills himself.  Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back. But she wants to know who was responsible. And she wants to take them down.  A searing story of love, revenge and betrayal from a bestselling author. Cat's song recommendation to listen to whilst reading Undone Make Me Wanna Die – The Pretty Reckless (acoustic version). This may be embarrassingly literal, but hey, li...

All’s not well at the Hummingbird Creek wellness resort. No one can see in. No one can get out…  New from the talented author who brought you Lying About Last Summer: a psycho-chiller to wake up your darkest phobias. If you got to live in a luxury hotel with world-class cuisine, a state-of-the-art sports centre and the latest spa treatments, would you say ‘yes please’?  Well, that’s kind of what Hummingbird Creek is like. No wonder Mae feels lucky to be there. It’s meant as a rich-kid’s sanatorium, but she isn’t sick. Her dad is the top psychiatrist there. But one day Mae breaks a rule. NOT a good idea. This place is all about rules – and breaking them can hurt you… I did enjoy this book on the whole it was good but felt like it took a long time getting there at points. For me what this book does well is it leaves a lot unsaid which keeps you guessing. You know something is wrong but you're never certain why things are like they are. The main character lives in an institu...

Every storm breaks in the end… Jake never meant to fall for a girl that night. But plans change and soon Jake and Hannah are together, inseparable. That is, until Hannah gets an opportunity that will take her away, where Jake could never afford to follow. Then the storm comes, bringing with it an extraordinary discovery, something that could turn Jake’s life around. But the gifts of the sea can be cursed, and the great wave that is forming may break Jake and Hannah’s world – and their hearts… I get to a certain point in the year when I start to crave books about surfing and/ or Cornwall and this book nicely filled that craving. I read Chris Vick's Kook last year and it left me very excited for this as soon as I heard it was about to be published. Storms is the story of Jake and Hannah. I loved them as a couple and found myself rooting for them from the outset especially as they face so many obstacles in their relationship particularly around money as Hannah comes from a weal...

Sophie Winter lives in a self-imposed cocoon - she's a single, thirty-one year old translator who works from home in her one bedroom flat. This isn’t really the life she dreamed of, but then Sophie stopped believing in happy endings a very long time ago, when she was fifteen years old and tragedy struck her family. Her grief has left her scared of commitment and completely risk averse, so she plays it safe and keeps everyone at arm’s length. Sophie understands she has a problem, but recognising it and knowing how to fix it are two entirely different things.             One night a serious fire breaks out in the flat below hers. Sophie is trapped in the burning building until a random passer-by, Ben, luckily happens to spot and rescue her. Suddenly her cocoon is shattered - what will be the consequences of this second life-changing event? I really enjoyed this book. However I am struggling to k...

I love a boarding school book and always have done therefore I had to have a goodreads shelf with them all on. To date my goodreads boarding school book shelf has 101 titles on it but as that is loads I'll just talk about a few I adore St Clare's series by Enid Blyton I have my mother's very old battered editions of this series. I don't really remember a time before I read Enid Blyton but I do know St Clare's was my first boarding school book and I loved it. I read through this series and the Malory Towers series more times than I'd care to guess and loved them. Yes I know they are a bit twee and terribly outdated now but they'll always have a little space in my heart Harry Potter by JK Rowling Yes another one that's an obvious choice but I couldn't leave it out. Harry Potter got me back into reading books after those teen years in the wilderness where I didn't read much or know what to even read. In the days prior to YA being a thi...

Science geek Meg is left to look after her little sister for ten days after her free-spirited mum leaves suddenly to follow up yet another of her Big Important Causes. But while Meg may understand how the universe was formed, baby Elsa is a complete mystery to her.  And Mum’s disappearance has come at the worst time: Meg is desperate to win a competition to get the chance to visit NASA headquarters, but to do this she has to beat close rival Ed. Can Meg pull off this double life of caring for Elsa and following her own dreams? She’ll need a miracle of cosmic proportions … Fans fell in love with the warmth, wit, romance and fierce friendships in Flirty Dancing, Love Bomb, Sunkissed and Star Struck, and Stargazing for Beginners has all that and galaxies more. This is the best kind of real-life fiction – with big themes and irresistible characters, it goes straight to your heart. I love Jenny's books. I came to expect an awesome read that was full of heart when I was working my w...

Sometimes I feel like everyone else was handed a copy of the rules for life and mine got lost. Grace has Asperger's and her own way of looking at the world. She's got a horse and a best friend who understand her, and that's pretty much all she needs. But when Grace kisses Gabe and things start to change at home, the world doesn't make much sense to her any more.  Suddenly everything threatens to fall apart, and it's up to Grace to fix it on her own. Whip-smart, hilarious and unapologetically honest, The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas is a heart-warming story of one girl trying to work out where she fits in, and whether she even wants to This book is just perfect and a wonderful example of everything I love about UKYA. I loved this book because I got to meet Grace. Grace has Aspergers and it was very interesting to see how that affected her life day to day and I felt like it gave me real insight into how someone with Aspergers deals with day to day life and t...

A road-trip story about following your dreams and embracing the unexpected. Megan knows what she wants out of life and she intends to get it, whatever her parents say. Elliott has given up on all his plans for the future – but then Megan bursts into his life with a proposal that could change it forever. Together they embark on a road trip to escape their hometown and chase their dreams. But life is a journey and not even Megan can control where theirs will lead… I loved Katy's previous YA offerings so I was very excited to hear about this book and I'm pleased to say to lived up to all expectations. And then we ran is the story of Megan and Elliot both of whom are desperate to get out of the situation they are currently in and willing to go to desperate lengths to do it even if it means following through on a crazy scheme to run away and get married at 16. I loved this book for several reasons. Firstly who doesn't love a good roadtrip book? I love a good roadtrip ...

Another month, another pile of books I cannot wait to get my hands on ... Always and Forever Lara Jean Lara Jean’s letter-writing days aren’t over in this surprise follow-up to the New York Times bestselling To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You. Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding. But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and le...