It seems to me that ‘these days’ we can’t leave a good thing alone. Suddenly a Snickers has almonds it, pizza’s gone tandoori, TV shows need a film release, films need a sequel—and now a prequel, and successful young adult books must be trilogised. The fact is that Suzanne Collins’ first book in the Hunger Games series, The [...]
Archive for the ‘fantasy’ Category
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Posted in Books, Books and Film, dystopia, fantasy, fiction, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Reading, Suzanne Collins, young adult, tagged adventure tales, comparing books and movies, following a series, hitting people with books, postaweek2011, teen romance on 2 June, 2011 | 6 Comments »
N is for New York
Posted in Books, Cassandra Clare, Clary Fray, fantasy, Reading, young adult, tagged following a series, hunters and demons, magical worlds, teen romance on 3 December, 2010 | 5 Comments »
I’ve been feeling a lot of pressure of late. To be in the loop. To be in touch. To be up to the same goddamn Mad Men episode as everyone else. And to be honest, at this near-festive time of year, it’s all becoming a bit much. I’m close to announcing that ‘The Mortal Instruments’ will [...]
K is for a Kingdom of Keys
Posted in Arthur Penhaligon, Books, children's, fantasy, Garth Nix, tagged adventure tales, am i too old to be reading this?, following a series, habits, holiday reading, magical worlds on 25 September, 2010 | 2 Comments »
I’ve been known to be a creature of habit; a little routined, a tad rehearsed, a titch regulated. Whether it’s going through a familiar sequence at my desk each morning, re-packing my handbag each night, or falling for the same type of unattainable bloke again and again, I can sometimes tick along like a well-wound clock. [...]
I is for Instructions
Posted in Books, Charles Vess, children's, fantasy, Neil Gaiman, tagged fairy tales, following instructions, picture books, thing lust on 17 August, 2010 | 2 Comments »
We all know life doesn’t come with a manual. It’s a case of trying things out and muddling through; making mistakes, learning from example, following paths and occasionally chucking it all in a dumpster and starting again. In those take-a-deep-breath times it often feels like it would be easier if existence did come with a [...]
H is for Hunger
Posted in Books, dystopia, fantasy, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Reading, Suzanne Collins, young adult, tagged adventure tales, am i too old to be reading this?, following a series, reading overcommitment, teen romance on 7 August, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Despite not being able to describe myself as a ‘young adult’ – I recently turned 30, but who’s counting? - YA fiction still appeals to the reading-me. Is it because I’m hopelessly immature? Borderline illiterate? Has moving back to my parents’ house led to some kind of mental and/or emotional regression? Or are there things about teen novels which make them more [...]
A is for… Ashes
Posted in Books, Cassandra Clare, Clary Fray, fantasy, Reading, young adult, tagged hunters and demons, ick-factor, magical worlds, teen romance on 17 February, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Rising from the murky mists of strep throat (yes, yes, I know it’s a ‘kissing disease’ – move on, people) finally we come to the official start of the Pile o’ Books year with the letter ‘A’. Bienvenue, as they say at the Olympics. And we begin the official program with Cassandra Clare’s City of Ashes [...]
Book 30: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Posted in Books, Cassandra Clare, Clary Fray, fantasy, young adult on 8 December, 2009 | 7 Comments »
You know you’re in trouble when reading a novel and you can’t decide which of the male adolescent characters you’re more in love with… and no I am not referring to the blood-suckers books, though having just watched New Moon for a bit of a laugh and having never had much interest in reading the [...]
Book 19: Superior Saturday by Garth Nix
Posted in Arthur Penhaligon, Books, children's, fantasy, Garth Nix, Reading on 22 September, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Like a bower bird to blue milk-bottle tops, put some sparkle on a book cover and you’ll hear me exclaim ‘Ooh, shiny!’ from across the room. Mind you, with the ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ series, ‘Ooh, Garth Nix’ would also have been heard, but the metallic-y covers sealed the deal. Superior Saturday is the sixth [...]
Book 13: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Posted in Books, children's, fantasy, Neil Gaiman, Reading on 23 June, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Good ol’ Terry Pratchett reckons Coraline is a masterpiece. Or at least he was happy enough to have that praise attributed to him on the book’s cover. But you know what? He was right. Coraline by Neil Gaiman is an almost perfect little story. And I say almost perfect just because I don’t think anything [...]
