Book Review: ARC Swim The Fly

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Templar Publishing (1 Jun 2011)
• ISBN-10: 1848774532
• ISBN-13: 978-1848774537

Fifteen-year-old Matt Gratton and his two best friends, Coop and Sean, always set themselves a summertime goal. This year's? To see a real-live naked girl for the first time. But this mission impossible starts to look easy in comparison to Matt's other challenge: to swim the 100-yard butterfly and impress the gorgeous Kelly West.

I was recently given the opportunity to receive an advanced review copy of Swim the Fly by Don Calame. The blurb spoke of a YA novel for boys, full of laughs and surprising heart. I found a lot more in this book; a complex message hidden beneath glib dialogue and teenage drama.

This book is a must for any lover of the genre. It is a sure hit for boys, with characters they will no doubt be able to relate to and situations familiar. For the female persuasion, the book is a unique chance to peer into the inner workings of the teenage boy. And ladies, this is an invaluable opportunity.

The character of Matt is a sweet one, sincere if not a little misguided. With friends, Coop and Sean, Matt goes through a summer of firsts. The first girl he gets seriously interested in, the first strains of a previously unstrained friendship, the realisations that sometimes the truth is the better way, and of course, the determination to spot their first naked girl.

This book was reminiscent of American Pie. Horn-dog teenage boys and a sure-to-be catastrophic pact makes the story comic gold. I laughed out loud numerous times during this read, caught myself wrinkling my nose in disgust and inching closer to the pages as the male psyche had me intrigued.

It answered a lot of the age-old questions about boys: do they really think about sex THAT much? Are they really THAT disgusting? Do they really think THAT’S what it takes to get a girl? The answers are endless, but heed this warning well, not all the answers are ones we want!

What surprised me about this book was the big, beating heart at its centre.  I was warned about the softer side, but being primarily a book about three teenagers determined to get their first glimpse of a naked girl, I figured, hot soft could it be? Turns out, pretty soft. There was no mush, but a softer side nonetheless. It isn’t shoved in your face, more like lies underneath the surface, gently whispering what you realise you actually knew all along.

No matter your age or sex, you will go on a journey of discovery with Matt as he figures out not everyone will react the way you expect them to, and how to look beyond what was in front of you all along.

The hair-brained and disastrous schemes will have you rolling around in your seat, the cringe-worthy moments making you feel so mortified it was as if it was happening to you. But the happy moments will light a little warm fire in your belly that not even a thug like Tony Grillo can put out.  


Pxx

Gobble or Nibble?

Books are like a big, fat, gooey slab of cake. Maybe covered with cream. Thick cream. Cream so thick it’s a desert in itself. Maybe some ice cream, too. Oh, maybe it’s a hot chocolate fudge cake and the fudge is melting…okay, I’ve sufficiently given myself a serious cake craving, so I’ll get to the point.

You have that delicious cake in front of you. Do you dive right in, devour it as fast as your jaw can work…or do you take your time? Do you take small, delicate bites and draw out the experience as long as physically possible?

I asked one of my fellow wenches this question, and she told me it depended on the author. Stephen King she draws it out, so as not to miss anything, but Nora Roberts she gobbles whole.

I can’t deny that when reading a seriously, seriously good book, the urge to read so fast my eyeballs smoke is tempting. But the better the book the slower I want to go. The better the book the harder going slow is. I have conflicting emotions with wanting to make the experience last as long as possible, but needing to know what happens right now.

One of my favourite authors is Richelle Mead, and in particular her Georgina Kincaid series. Georgina is a succubus by night and a bookstore worker by day. She adores books, especially works by Seth Mortensen. In fact, she loves his books so much she only allows herself to read five pages a day, so she can make it last. After all, you only get to read a book for the first time once.

You only get to read a book for the first time once…

That is my mantra when I’m reading. How often do I live by it? Not as often as I’d like. Depending on the book, and the day, I can polish off a book in hours. One more chapter then I’ll turn out the light kind of books.

Sometimes when I finish I feel like I cheated myself out of something special. That I shouldn’t have rushed and the experience was over far too quickly.

However, I don’t beat myself up for long. If I’ve fallen in love with the book, I know I’ll re-read it. Some people find this bizarre. A lot of people I know won’t re-read a book the same way they won’t watch a movie twice, because they already know what’s going to happen. But re-reading something is like getting to fall in love with your husband all over again. How could you not adore that? Some of my favourite books I’ve read dozens of times. It’s because I re-read that my husband doesn't go made when I buy so many new books.

I’d love for you to tell me how you read. Devour or small nibbles?


Pxx

Wednesday Wonderings - Book Review: Room

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Picador (23 Dec 2010)
• ISBN-10: 0330519026
• ISBN-13: 978-0330519021
• Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2.8 cm
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (297 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
• #2 in Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

Jack is five. He lives in a single, locked room with his Ma.

I have written a lot of book reviews, and never before have I been more stumped on what to say. If anyone has read The Other Hand (recently re-released as Little Bee) by Chris Cleave, they will know from the jacket that there is no blurb for the book. All they say is it is a remarkable read, but they don’t want to say too much or it will spoil things for the reader.

This is the same case for Room.

Room is the most unique book I have read in a long time. It took my breath away. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas, with a young boy leading us through the story.

The character of five-year-old Jack was moving and sweet, head-strong and stubborn. A bit like any child, really. Except Jack isn’t like other children his age.

We get to see the world through Jack’s eyes – how simplistic things really are, and how complicated Outside can be.

The use of language in the novel is truly perfect – every word, every sentence, constructed as though by Jack himself. It pulls the reader into his world, and before you know it, you feel like you’re seeing Outside with brand new eyes, too.

I cannot recommend this book enough. But like the jacket for The Other Hand, I won’t say too much. I will say that Room will take you on a wild journey of emotions and can guarantee it will keep you up at night. You’ll see the best and worst of humanity, the scary parts of the world. And I dare anyone not to agree with Jack that a lot of the world is just a repeat. A truly haunting read. 

Sunday PicNic ~ Dreaming in English (Book Review)

Dreaming in English

by Laura Fitzgerald

Tamila (Tami) Soroush leaves a repressed life in Iran to find opportunity and freedom in the United States. Her plans to find a husband on a visitor’s visa change drastically when she desperately escapes an arranged marriage and rushes into a Las Vegas wedding with Ike Hanson; an American man she truly loves.

Uncertainties build as life in America becomes weighed down with stress and fear. She longs for her parents, who are dominated by fear and won’t leave Iran, worries about her sister’s high-risk pregnancy, is discomforted by her husband’s frustrations, and angered by her mother-in-law’s refusal to accept their marriage as one of love. To top it off, an ominous immigration interview is approaching with a mountain of evidence against her.

Through her struggles, Tami continues to appreciate the freedoms that are hers to grab, liberties never afforded her by Iran’s regime. Yet her dreams of starting a business and a family with Ike turn into a nightmare. She questions if she has the strength it takes to live out her dreams when she discovers living in the land of the free comes with a price and never without a fight.

PROS:  As an American, this book illuminates the things I too often take for granted. Walking in Tami’s shoes clarifies the dreams and struggles of those who weren’t born here. Being born into freedom is a gift we should cherish. Not only does this story demonstrate the struggles for freedom, but entices us to search within ourselves for our strengths, our passions, and our dreams… before it’s too late.

CONS: The story is good, but I found the dialogue tags very distracting.

Rainy Days and Mondays - Lost and Found

The other day I was searching for a blank piece of paper to jot some notes on, I had several phone calls to make and wanted lots of room to doodle on. Unable to locate any in the usual places, I started probing the back of my closet without much hope. Distractions of all sorts lay in wait for me there. The ballerina slippers I wore for my wedding, an envelope of random pictures that have yet to make it into an album, a box of jewellery I made years ago, and a spiral notebook.

After indulging in a brief side-trip down memory lane, I snatched up the notebook and flopped on my bed to see if it was full or not. It ended up being another jaunt into the past - it was my first notebook as a writer. Page one: poem – The Rules According to Mom and Dad – a fun poke at the crazy things your parents said to you growing up that you hated, that you now find yourself saying to your own children. Page two: short story – My Rapid Weight Loss Experiment – although this was a funny story, I found my shoulders hunching with embarrassment over the horrendous amount of SPAG (SPelling And Grammar) errors. Thank goodness I’m no longer writing long hand, and double blessings for the person who invented spell check!

Anyhow, at this point I figured I’d wasted enough time and curled the edge of my notebook back to let the pages flip until I could find the dreaded blank white page. Once located, I grabbed my phone and took care of business. It wasn’t until later on in the day I returned to the front of the notebook. Not really sure what prompted me to do so, perhaps a need to compare my original writing to what I do now. In any case, what I found there captured my imagination. A story, or rather the start of one. One I’d forgotten I’d even written. Fifteen-hundred words later, I was wondering why on Earth had I ever walked away from this very interesting beginning.

The characters, raw and unfinished as they are, call to me to tell their story. I can actually feel the potential for an entire book!

However, I must control the impulse - for now. I have a hot, historical romance on the burner and I must pay full attention to it before it slips away from me. I’m thinking this new one can simmer on the back burner until NANOWRIMO 2011. After all, it didn’t lose its appeal after all that time in the back of my closet ... or maybe ... nah ... I don’t know. Their voices are awfully loud.

So tell me, how many of you have fits and starts of stories tucked away in some forgotten file on your computer? Have lost notebooks hiding in your closets? Under your bed? Tossed into a junk drawer? If so, have you ever gone back to read them? Were you surprised by how much you really enjoyed or really disliked reading something you wrote? Do you revisit the worlds of your creation again?

Tell me your story.

Rain

Picture supplied by Dreamstime

Book Review: The Emerald Atlas

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Childrens (14 April 2011)
• ISBN-10: 0857530186
• ISBN-13: 978-0857530189
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 199,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

They were taken from their beds one frozen night, when the world was covered in snow. The silhouette of a tall, thin man has haunted Kate ever since.

Ten years on, Kate, Michael and Emma have grown up in a string of miserable orphanages, and all memories of their parents have faded to a blur. Arriving at Cambridge Falls, the children quickly realise there is something different about this place – and Kate feels sure she has seen the dark, crooked house before.

As they exlplore, they discover an old, empty leather book. The moment they touch it, an ancient magical prophecy is set irrevocably in motion, and the children are thrown into a dangerous alternate reality of dark enchantments and terrifying monsters. Only they can prevent the terrible event that will ruin Cambridge Falls – and stop the world from falling into complete devastation.

I was fortunate to receive The Emerald Atlas as an advanced review copy. The accompanying letter warned that the moment the first chapter was read, everything else would fall to the wayside. Never have truer words been written.

The opening chapter sets the perfect tone for the book, instantly upping the pace to get your heart racing and putting you on the edge of your seat, but also envelops you with a fierce sense of love and protection.

The Emerald Atlas is told through the eyes of abandoned children Kate, Michael and Emma as they bounce from orphanage to orphanage (though they shall fervently deny they are orphans) when an un-held tongue over a swan hat lands them at the home in Cambridge Falls. The moment the children arrive at the foreboding place, they know something is amiss; and not just because there aren’t any other children living there.

The characters of Kate, Michael and Emma are strong enough to lead the reader through the story, and in the process makes you fall completely in love with them. They are charming and sympathetic and I dare anyone not to chuckle at their brotherly and sisterly antics.

As the story evolves, so does the history. Stephens does such a good job of describing his fantastical lands you forget you are reading fiction, and instead believe it is a long-lost part of history that would certainly make our own more entertaining. He throws many sub-characters into the mix, heroic and stubborn dwarves, strong and handsome giants, beautiful and deadly witches.

The Emerald Atlas will haunt your waking thoughts, and possess your sleeping ones as you try (and fail) to keep one step ahead of the story and try to figure out what twist may come next. It has an essence of Lord of the Rings, with similar creatures and powerful objects, and a heart not unlike Harry Potter, finding three children desperately clinging to the ghostly memories of their parents as they learn they aren’t as ordinary as they once thought.

The book has its fair share of heartbreak, triumphs and exhausting battles. Almost without trying, it keeps readers attention and leaves them aching to know what happens next.

The first of three books, The Emerald Atlas sets the bar for which the other two books will need to measure up. I doubt the author will have any trouble in this and I am eager to see what adventure Kate, Michael and Emma will take me on next.

I believe The Emerald Atlas has earned itself a spot among the great literary works of fantasy. Adults and children alike can fall in love with its secrets and mysteries. This book can proudly sit aside the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling and C.S. Lewis.

Security Blanket

As mentioned in About Us, I’m at the stage in my writing where it is time for me to seek representation. My novel is so polished it could give a diamond a run for its money and I’ve confidence in my work. But just because the book is ready doesn’t mean I am. Time for homework.


The way I did mine was to stock up on the best publishing books, a copy of the Writer’s Handbook (or The Writer’s Bible as I think of it) and read query and synopsis tips till my eyes bled.

This isn’t a post on how to put together the perfect submission packet or how to write the feared and dreaded query letter. It’s about a question I haven’t been able to get out of my head since reading The Insider’s Guide to Getting Your Book Published by Rachel Stock.


Why do you want to publish your book?


Sounds an easy question, right?


Go on, answer it then.


It’s a question all agents and editors will ask you, and the answer you give in return is vital. Is it for money? Fame? Because your mum said it was good enough to be published? It would look nice on your desk? To have your work out there in the real world? For me, the answer was an odd one – one I didn’t even realise was true until the thought was there.

I want to be published because I want to be someone’s security blanket.

I can’t remember when I first read The Nanny by Melissa Nathan, but I remember how I felt. The warm, squishy feeling that comes with reading a deliciously romantic story, the spark of attraction with a hunk of a leading man, the awe from knowing I held something special in my hands.


Even now when I’ve had a bad day, feel blue, or just want to spend time with old friends, I pluck The Nanny from my over-crowded shelf and dive into Melissa Nathan’s charming and intoxicating world. That book is my only security blanket. I always know exactly where it is when I need it, as I inevitably do sooner or later.


And that is why I want my book published.

I want to evoke the same feelings in someone else that Melissa Nathan did in me. I want someone to close my book with a smile on their face – to gush on the phone about it, to insist their friends go out right now and get a copy. I want to make people happy. I want people to fall in love with my characters; smile when they smile, laugh when they laugh…hurt when they hurt.

Most of all, I want people to reread my book. To be unable to part with it. To pass it in a bookshop and smile, touch the cover and remember how they felt when they read it for the first time.

P xx