September Wrap Up

I have never done one of these posts before, but I have decided that it is something I should try - I post to Instagram when I start reading a book, and I update Goodreads with my reviews, but I thought maybe sharing my thoughts on another platform wouldn't hurt!

So here goes... September has been quite a slow month as far as reading goes for me, so it seemed a good place to start so as not to overwhelm anyone!


I started September off with VOX by Christina Dalcher, a new release from late August and loved every single page!

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Silence can be deafening.

Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just one hundred words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through her veins.

Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you're a woman.

Almost overnight, bank accounts are frozen, passports are taken away and seventy million women lose their jobs. Even more terrifyingly, young girls are no longer taught to read or write.

For herself, her daughter, and for every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. This is only the beginning...

[100 WORD LIMIT REACHED]

~~~

A radical idea, and one that scares the heebie jeebies out of me - anyone who knows me, knows that I love to talk, and a lot - so the idea of being limited to only 100 words a day was incredibly scary. The story is phenomenal and Dr McClellan is a worthy main character that deserves every word on the page.

Check out my review here...



Next up was Uprooted by Naomi Novik, an older publication from back in 2016.

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Agnieszka loves her village, set deep in a peaceful valley. But the nearby enchanted forest casts a shadow over her home. Many have been lost to the Wood and none return unchanged.

The villagers depend on an ageless wizard, the Dragon, to protect them from the forest's dark magic. However, his help comes at a terrible price. One young village woman must serve him for ten years, leaving all they value behind.

Agnieszka fears her dearest friend Kasia will be picked at the next choosing, for she's everything Agnieszka is not - beautiful, graceful and brave. Yet when the Dragon comes, it's not Kasia he takes.

~~~

This was recommended to me by a friend because of the other books that I love, and I am not sorry for taking her advice - a beautiful book that deserves a place on every fantasy lover's book shelf.

Check out my review here...



I squeezed in Amelia Fang and the Unicorn Lords by Laura Ellen Anderson one night too, before reading the new book released this week.

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Amelia Fang is the biggest hearted vampiress you'll ever meet. In this adventure, she and her friends Florence the yeti (DON'T CALL HER BEAST), Grimaldi the Death and Prince Tangine (reformed spoiled sprout), along with her pet pumpkin Squashy, must brave the journey to the terrifying Kingdom of the Light to try to find Tangine's missing mother, Queen Fairyweather. But with unicorns, fairies and angel-kittens lurking around every corner, who can they trust? And will they finally uncover the real villain keeping the kingdoms of Light and Dark as mortal enemies? Join Amelia on her latest adventure. She won't bite!

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Snuggled up with hot chocolate and biscuits on the sofa with my other half, I devoured this book in only two sittings. An excellent read for 5-8 year olds, but a story that older children and adults alike will enjoy!

Check out my review here...



As if planned - the third Amelia Fang book showed up in the post for me the day after reading the Unicorn Lords, so I devoured Amelia Fang and the Memory Thief by Laura Ellen Anderson the following night before bed.

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Amelia and her friends are taking part in a competition to visit Pumpkin Paradise Park - the most bloodcurdingly brilliant theme park ever! All they have to do is sell as many cookies as possible. But the creatures of Nocturnia have begun to act very strangely . . . No one can seem to remember anything - including their own names or even Amelia's big birthnight party! Where have everyone's memories gone? And how can Amelia save them when they have all forgotten who she is?

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I believe every child should read this series, and many adults too - It's a quirky little thing and has you smiling from cover to cover! 

Check out my review for book three here...



I also squeezed in this beauty in the last couple of days too - what started out as a slow month soon caught up with me!! Fierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill - a stunning collection of fairytale retellings with a feminist twist!

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Feminist Fairytales for Young and Old.

Reimagining traditional tales, this empowering collection of stories, poems and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations gives Once Upon a Time a much-needed modern makeover.

Gone are the gender stereotypes of obliging lovers, violent men and girls that need rescuing. Instead, lines blur between heroes and villains and you'll meet brave princesses, a new kind of wolf lurking in the concrete jungle and a courageous Gretel who can bring down monsters on her own.

'Await no princes to save you
through their lips touching yours
whilst you are in unwilling slumber.
Wake each other up instead.'

~~~

I started this one at work with my breakfast and found myself so excited by the touching poetry and short stories that I had to tell someone about it - that someone was my store manager who smiled at me in that way that only another book lover can because he understood my passion behind it! 

Check out my review here...


Not a bad month to say I started slow... It all happened in the last few days!! I have started a new one, but will save that to start off next month's post as I think I may keep this up!!

Till then,

My name is Vanessa and I am a Book Addict!

Your Zodiac Soul

This a bit of a weird one, as I wrote some of this post back at the beginning of July and then finished it off after I had read the book...

I began reading Your Zodiac Soul by John Wadsworth back at the end of June as he was due in Waterstones to do a reading and a book signing. His book intrigued me, and as he was coming I thought I'd give it a whirl! The book's aim is to help you work with the zodiac wheel in order to find harmony in your body's natural rhythm's - check out the blurb below for a better description - taken from back of book!!

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Working with the Twelve Zodiac Gateways to Create Balance, Happiness and Wholeness.

Your Zodiac Soul is the brand new and revolutionary twelve-stage programme from leading astrologer, John Wadsworth.

Life is a wheel that turns through time. Drawing on over two thousand years of astrological tradition, Your Zodiac Soul guides you on a journey through the zodiac signs to clear energy blocks, and keep your wheel turning in harmony with the seasons and your body's natural rhythms.

Through this simple but life-changing plan, you will soon be able to identify where your own wheel gets stuck, be it around personal relationships, money, health, career or self-worth.

This unique programme reveals why life's challenges all have their place in the zodiac order, and by addressing our underlying fears and self-defeating behaviour patterns, we can restore meaning and fulfilment to our lives.

So, step through the twelve zodiac gateways and follow the zodiac path to balance, happiness and wholeness. Embrace the life you were born to live.

~~~

After reading the intro, it suggested reading the chapters (each entitled the signs of the zodiac wheel) in order and in time with the cycle, either of the annual cycle of the sun (which would have meant starting at the spring equinox), or maybe using the lunar cycle as this is more realistic in terms of time! So, I checked out the cycle and found that the moon was due to move into Aries on the 5th July, meaning I had to wait to start the chapters, but I felt like reading it in time with the meanings would be beneficial.

The moon moved into Aries at 4.49am on Thursday 5th July. I read the Aries chapter that day, whilst sitting in the conservatory in the sunshine and eating my breakfast! Wadsworth suggests, in his introduction, that you should keep a journal as you read through the book in order to track your Alchemical journey and to get the most out of what you learn. Each chapter poses questions for you to answer about yourself and challenges to look at for the stage of the zodiac wheel you're in. Obviously I bought myself a pretty notebook just for this - and of course it had to be related...


Reading the book chapter by chapter, and trying to fit them into the two day window for each sign as the moon moved through the cycle was easy to begin with, but seemed to get harder as the days rolled by. I managed to keep up, just, right up until the last two signs, where I fell behind and just read them when I had time. I filled out my journal each time, answering the questions and thinking about the suggested tasks for each sign. I have to admit, I found the ideas fascinating, and can see how it would help you to reacquaint yourself with your body and its needs. However, I'm not sure that the Lunar cycle was the right way to go about it - so, I have kept the journal, and have every intention of rereading the book and working with the Zodiac cycle next year, starting at the spring equinox.



I will also be suggesting it as a read at work, and plugging it in time for readers to sign up to the journey ready to start reading at the start of Aries next year!!

Until then, just listen to your body, the moon does have an effect, as do the Zodiac signs throughout the year, listen, get in the zone and respond to what your body is trying to tell you - I promise you'll feel better for it!!

Autumn Equinox and new beginnings...

Wow, so the Autumn Equinox is here - the official start to the end of the year! I can't believe that the year has moved so fast, it seems like only yesterday that we were filling in out New Year's Resolutions and starting the new journals. Did anyone manage to keep up their resolutions or journals? I know I didn't... I lost interest in my bullet journal around April time - it just wasn't for me!

Instead I bought a lovely planner from personal-planner.com which I use to organise my author side of life, and I love it - you can choose the layout and design of your planner to suit your needs! I will definitely be getting another one for next year! For my personal and work life, I use the calendar in my phone - it's easy and it's always with me to check or add to... I used a diary for so many years but always found flaws with it - like not having it on you when someone wanted to make plans...

Anyway, I digress. The equinox brings with it a new start - the trees show us that loosing yourself is only a way to start again, and I don't think that this is an unhealthy way to view life. Too many people worry about staying on form and ensuring that they are always on top of everything - I am never on top of everything - I try to do so many things in life that I can never keep on track; recently it is my reading schedule that is all up in the air... I am in the middle of sorting myself out where that is concerned; I need some structure to my bookshelves! It's okay to sometimes lose the plot a little, or step back and breathe, in order to work out where the next step is and then take it.

My new beginning starts with a job promotion to Events Manager for Waterstones' Orchard Square branch - which will involve a move to the Sheffield store in the next couple of weeks! I am so excited that it is unreal still. I think once I make the move and get stuck in it will soon come crashing down and I may re-evaluate my earlier statement about keeping on top of everything. But for now, I have so many ideas that I can't wait to get started. I bought myself a 2019 diary to schedule events in and keep a track of big publication days. I also bought a lovely notebook for keeping my ideas, to-do lists and contacts in. I've even packed my pencil case with new coloured pens to take with me! I'm such a nerd!

The move brought up travel issues - obviously no one wants to park in town all day every day, so I have been for a test run on the park and ride tram at Halfway - who knew?! I've never used it before, having had my car, I've always used it - who wouldn't. But it makes too much cost effective sense to use it, so I went and parked up, paid my tram fair and got on the tram - one way from the stop, always good - means I can't get on the wrong one! I have a forty minute journey to the Cathedral, which means a bonus hour and twenty minutes reading time a day! It was awesome - then a short walk to the shop... On the way home, I had the hysterical realisation that my tram was taking me back to Halfway, which was the end of the line... Now that's true irony!!

So, watch this space for news and events coming up - I hope to see some familiar faces at the events I will be planning! There are some great books due out in 2019 and it's going to be my job to make sure that Sheffield is the place to be!! I am so excited!!

Vanessa x

Pages & Co

So, as a lot of you probably already know, as a bookseller, I have access to some books pre-publication! I can read what's called a 'proof copy' - which is an unfinished copy of the book while it is still going through edits and what not, and sometimes we get 'pre-sale copies' - which are finished copies of the book, but we get our hands on them before they are published and released into the world! This is so that we can read them, review them and know what they're about so that we can talk about them to our customers! And of course, recommend the great ones!

Now I am slowly building my collection of proofs etc and have enjoyed reading the stories pre-publication. I like to be able to talk to my customers about books that I have already read, as I find it better to be able to recommend a book on personal preference and enjoyability, rather than being able to tell them that it sells well, or has great reviews, which is what I often have to fall back on.

Well, this book was one that I picked up as a proof copy when I went to a Harper Collins event back in June! They had lots of proofs and pre-sale copies of their upcoming books, and some back titles to help boost authors with new books out. This particular book caught my interest as just an idea when the lady who worked for Harper Collins was talking about it, and I just had to get a copy. I walked away with a spiral bound paper copy as it hadn't even made it to printing yet, and I have to admit, I didn't get around to reading it. However, when the paperback proof showed up in the post a couple of weeks later, I read the first few pages right then and there, and that was it for me! I read the rest of the book in less than forty-eight hours, around two full working days and a life at home! It was absolutely amazing!!

It kills me that I have had to wait this long to be able to get excited and really shout about this book, because up until now it has only been available for pre-order which is great, but no where near as cool as me now being able to say that you can get your copy today!!!

Tilly and the book wanderers is the first book of Pages & Co, a children's fiction age 9-12 title that explores the idea of books as a portal to their worlds. Now although this title is technically children's fiction, I urge all book lovers, specifically those that have always loved books, to go out and get a copy and read this! I promise you that you won't regret it! Anna James has written Tilly's story, which you will soon learn is a story that every book lover wished was theirs. It is filled with the dreams you had as a child when you were reading your favourite stories - wishing you could enter their worlds and talk to your favourite characters.

Check out my review here, and don't forget to go and buy your copy - you'll find it on the shelves of every book store, and online of course!