The Book Whisperer

jottings, musings and recommendations of an incurable bookaholic

I’m back from NYC! December 21, 2009

Filed under: Alyson Noel,Cassandra Clare,Connie Willis,Gail Carriger,Joe Hill,Maggie Stiefvater,Paranormal,SciFi / Fantasy,The Victorians,Young Adult — The Book Whisperer @ 3:53 pm

I’m back in good ole Blighty, armed with brand spanking new  books (bliss!) and although I had the greatest time, it’s good to be home.

As I am a good law-abiding citizen I didn’t want to be arrested for committing the crime of not obeying the law of “YOU MUST BUY BOOKS - AND PLENTY OF THEM – ON HOLIDAY!”, and dutifully managed to pick up plenty of lovely new shiny things. I spent lots of time in Borders (I had to pay hommage now that my beloved Borders is closing in the UK – waaaaahhhhh!) and also Barnes and Noble ‘cos we don’t get that over here so it’s like being let loose in a new playground. I love looking at books in the States as they have different covers to us in the UK so it’s like there’s a million new books that I have never seen before to make me run wild like a kid in a sweet shop.

As well as shop for books we walked in Central Park (love that place) and walked over Brooklyn Bridge for some amazing view of Manhattan. We also did the Christmas markets Bryant Park which had some gorgeous things. Our hotel was a suite in the Doubletree Hotel right in the middle of Times Square so we had the absolute best view!

I also met up with Lori, my lovely friend from Goodreads (who runs the TNBBC group and also has her own blog on www.thenextbestbookblog.blogsptot.com). Lori lives a couple of hours from NYC and came over with her family and we met at the Rockerfeller Centre christmas tree. We went ice-skating which was such good fun and Lori gave me a pressie of Joe Hill’s new book Horns that is due out in March 2010 (thank you Lori!). It was so cool to meet up after we have been chatting on GR for the last few years.

Anyway, so this is what I got in NYC:

 

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 

 

 

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

 

 

 

Soulless by Gail Carriger

 

 

 

 

Lone Wolf by Kathryn Lasky

 

 

 

 

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

 

 

 

Ballad by Maggie Steifvater

 

 

 

 

The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain

 

 

 

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

 

 

 

Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeta Naslund

 

 

 

 

The Animal Dialogues by Craig Childs

 

 

 

The Ghost Huntress by Marley Gibson

 

 

 

Secret Lives (Darke Academy #1) by Gabriella Poole

 

 

 

 

Horns by Joe Hill (my gift from Lori)

 

 

 

So, a pretty successful trip there I think. I keep looking at my new toys and admiring them. I can’t wait to dive in and get started on them. I think I will be buried in books over the Christmas holidays!

 

Book Review: Evermore (The Immortals) by Alyson Noel December 11, 2009

Filed under: Alyson Noel,Paranormal,Young Adult — The Book Whisperer @ 9:26 pm

Evermore: The Immortals by Alyson NoelAlthough I am not a young adult (and haven’t been for far longer than I care to remember) I really did enjoy this book. Ever Bloom has survived a car accident that kills her whole family, including the dog and she is the only surviving member. When she awakes she is able to read peoples minds, know their entire life story, see their auras and not only that but her younger sister, Riley, who was killed in the accident is still very much around. Enter Damen, a drop-dead-gorgeous boy who joins her new school (after she is whisked off to live with her Aunty in California) who starts leaving her red tulips everywhere and confesses that he is an “immortal”.

When I first opened it I was determined not to make the obvious Twilight comparissons but I’m afraid that they just leaped off the page at me and I feel unable to avoid them: High school students, a girl with hardly any friends and wanting to be left alone, mysterious and gorgeous boy who can move at the speed of light, knows his school-work off by heart without even doing homework etc and never eats anything. That said, that’s where the comparissons end. The love story between Ever and Damen isn’t even close to that of Bella and Edward. There was no real “falling in love” or the romance of Twilight. In fact, some of the narrative felt very clumsy and verged on ridiculous.

That said, I still couldn’t put it down. I read it in less than a day and was glued to the pages. Ever’s sister, Riley, was a wonderful character and gave some great light relief. It says in the author interview at the end of the book that Riley is to get her own series soon – I shall be looking out for that, as I will the next 5 books in this series.

 

 
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