New Reading!

(OK I wrote this a week and a half ago, so imagine I know how to back date posts...)


It's been a week and a half since I started at a different publishing house - I've been reading through a mountain of recent and upcoming titles to try and get my head around a whole new list and it's been SO MUCH FUN. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on what I've read so far...

The Carrie Diaries: Summer in the City

by Candace Bushnell

I snatched this one up as soon as I could - The Carrie Diaries was the first ever book I owned in proof form and I am a SATC nerd so I couldn't wait to read this one. This book was just as fun as the first prequel, with the added bonus of being set in NYC and all the glamour that brings! The storyline gives one or two satisfying references to Carrie's future in the city, but it's clear Bushnell wants to provide her own ideas of the characters' past. However, Carrie is very much the girl she becomes later - she's high maintenance and naive in her relationships, keen to seek advice from friends, and definitely after the best party invites. But she's also incredibly bubbly and has her particular morals and ideals.

Department 19

by Will Hill

I had been seeing this book LITERALLY everywhere earlier in the year and had been super jealous of the campaign surrounding it. I'd heard it billed as a hyper-violent weapon fest, which I wasn't too sure about, but as soon as I started reading it I was totally hooked. As a major Buffy/True Blood fan I could see this was was bringing vampires back from the current sparkly incarnations and there was a real minimal focus on romance. It draws you in right away and despite how gory it is, I couldn't stop reading. There are several links with literary monsters and vampires which I loved and hinted at so much more back story yet to come from this series. I'm so excited that I get to work on this book and read more in the series!

The Name of the Star

By Maureen Johnson

This is another really fun YA title - super chilling and creepy! After reading D19 and then this straight away I was slightly worried for my life on the streets of London though! This book focuses on Rory, who has just moved to London to attend a slightly eccentric boarding school (and who doesn't love a boarding school story?) but as she arrives, she finds herself witness to a media frenzy. Around London, grizzly murders seem to be mirroring those of Jack the Ripper. Rory is drawn in by the story but soon finds herself closer than she would like to the murders. The story keeps you guessing with the supernatural elements and had a real Scooby Doo side to it. The best news is that's there's more to come from Maureen in the Shades of London series!

The 13th Horseman

By Barry Hutchison

I won't say too much on the plot for this one as it's not out until next March, but sufficed to say this is exactly my kind of book. I'm a huge fan of the kind of dry British humour Barry uses in this book and the storyline is completely genius! I always used to hand my Terry Pratchett books on to my dad and I'm definitely going to be posting him this one back home for him to enjoy. It's one of those books you instantly want to pass on to someone to give them a good laugh - and believe me for the next 5 months I'm going to be telling a LOT of people to read it!

So that's all my reading so far - I'm onto Slide By Jill Hathaway now - only a few pages in, but love the concept of an American high school girl who has narcolepsy - but when she falls asleep she "slides" into other people and can see what they see - lots of potential for Goosebumps style murder mysteries! Hm.. Must stop using references to my teenage reading as a way of understanding modern YA books!!

Thanks for reading - and I'll try and keep the posting up here on my new shiny blog!!