Making It Up

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read52

Gracefully Grayson

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What if who you are on the outside doesn’t match who you are on the inside?

I’m not sharing the blurb for this book, beyond the question above, because it’s a bit of a spoiler to say the least. Grayson is a lonely boy. He lives with his aunt, uncle and cousins, after his parents died in a car accident when he was young. He doesn’t feel like he fits in, and each day, mentally, he turns his clothes into girl’s clothes in the mirror, and tries to hold on to that memory all day.

It’s getting harder and harder for him to do that, and he’s increasingly isolated. The story unfolds simply and indeed, gracefully, exploring what it might mean to just not match up externally with how you feel inside. With the interests you have, with the people you want to be with. Grayson is shown to us gently, as he stretches his boundaries by auditioning for the first time ever for the school play, and for a very unexpected part. What his classmates, teachers and stand in parents do in response to all of this tells us more about each of them than it does about Grayson.

Not that we aren’t learning about Grayson, who is learning about himself, his past, and possibly, his future. Most of the focus is on appearance rather than identity, but there’s more exploration of deeper ideas towards the end.

The book reminded me of Wonder in some ways – school based, diverse characters, good guys and bad. It’s more tightly focussed and less moralistic than Wonder though, and I suspect, more approachable. I do intend to hand it to the two older children to read so that we can have a family book group discussion of it, as I think that first of all, it’s really good to read, and secondly, there’s a lot to learn from it. When that’s happened, I’ll feed back again.

Have I given you enough, but not too much? No over the top spoilers, but enough teasers? This is a book to read with an open mind and then think about for a while afterwards. And if you do, when you can as it’s not out for a little while yet, let me know how it goes?

If you’d like to link up what you’ve been reading, please feel free. And if you want a badge, there’s one on the Read52 page.

The girl with all the gifts

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Book description from Amazon:

NOT EVERY GIFT IS A BLESSING

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class.

When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. But they don’t laugh.

Melanie is a very special girl.

Emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end, THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS is the most powerful and affecting thriller you will read this year.

I’m a little confused as to why this is described as a thriller. It’s SF to my mind, post apocalypse adventure. I really enjoyed it, though I’m not sure about the affecting bit. Certainly for a couple of days afterwards it stuck in my mind, although I was slightly distracted by a couple of continuity errors – when I first read it I thought it must be a pre publication copy (I was reading via Netgalley), but no, this is available right now. I’m guessing most people won’t pick up on them – they aren’t huge, just slightly irritating if you’re as pedantic as I am.

So, if you enjoy a good post apocalyptic story with strong characters, a fair bit of gore, danger, death and maybe a spot of romance (yes, it’s all in there) this one is for you. For all of that, it didn’t feel stereotyped, and is certainly a step away from the YA dystopians I’ve been reading. Refreshing change in fact.

I did debate the ending with myself somewhat. It wasn’t where I expected the story to go, although it had a central coherence to it, so did feel plausible. (I hate it when books have endings that feel they’ve been tacked on. Or don’t end at all, just kind of stop.) I wasn’t sure whether it was where it *should* have gone though, if you know what I mean – and I’ve been continuing to consider alternatives. That’s probably a sign of a good book, isn’t it? That you’ve bought into the set up, the environment, the characters, so well that you’re still working with it long after you’ve finished reading.

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I’m pondering a new review policy, similar to that I’ve seen other book bloggers following, in which I will only write up books I recommend. Doesn’t feel entirely authentic though, so I’m still working on the full details. Anyway, if you’ve book reviews or reading challenge posts you’d like to link up, please do.

Read52 – a catch up post.

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A reading challenge from https://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup

It has been a very long time since I’ve shared a Read 52 update. For that I apologise. I have been reading, but I haven’t been keeping my reviews up to date. Oops. (Let’s not even go near the languishing 300 Picture book list Sad smile )

So, where were we? I last updated my list a very long time ago. Which means I now need to try to remember what else I’ve read since! Aargh.

Let’s see, there was a whole pile of Rainbow Rowell books. Landline. Eleanor and Park. Fangirl. I’ll probably do them a review post of their own.

The girl with all the gifts was a netgalley read. Great book. Couple of continuity errors that irritated, but still excellent overall. (What? I’m precise, OK?) full review forthcoming.

Station 11. Loved that. Proper review to follow.

Something or other about Getting Sh*t done. Didn’t like it. Describing people who don’t process in the standard way as flakes got my back up. Doubt very much I’ll review it any further

All the colours of the sunset – a kingdom of silk book. These are excellent. Someone a while back was asking about fostering/ adoption books – these should be top of the list.

7 titles. Not sure that’s everything to be honest. Will have to check the kindle, and scour the bedroom heap. However, I think that does put me very nearly on track. Am currently reading Unravel, having rapidly reread the second half of Linked.

Ah, a Song for Issy Bradley. (Which appears to be in the same post as a Landline review. Oops. Still, means one less from those above.) so that makes 29 altogether this year I think.

So, if you’ve been doing any better than I have, and you have actual book reviews to link up, here’s the linky. You can grab the badge from the page 🙂

My fictional world.

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The Reading Residence

I’ve been tagged by Jocelyn at The Reading Residence to tell you all about my fictional world. I can’t resist a book related meme, and although I have read a book this week, it’s one that I’m going to be blogging about as part of a book tour, so I thought this would make an ideal Read52 post. If you’d like to be tagged, yell and I’ll happily put you in – I hate putting people on the spot though, so while I’ll find a couple of people to mention, I won’t be heartbroken if you don’t do it!

What were your favourite reads from your childhood?

Mr Galliano’s Circus, which I read and reread, but skipped the chapter with the crash in it so often I’d forgotten it was in there. Secret Island – the number of times that I planned to run away. Wizard of Earthsea – probably my first introduction to fantasy, and what a great one to start with! Wrinkle in Time – is that fantasy? SF? Dystopia? Setting the scene for the type of books that I love now though.

There are always those books that defined your teen reads and stay with you – what were yours?

Probably the Pennington Trilogy by KMPeyton, all the Chalet school books I could get my hands on, Homecoming and Dicey’s song, and Lord of the Rings. Eclectic, right? Ooh, ooh and the Saint books. I was even a paid up member of the fan club with a badge and everything.

Who are your favourite authors currently?

Aargh! That’s hard. I’m loving a lot of YA dystopian at the moment – Emma Pass, Teri Terry. And SF – can’t wait to get my hands on the third Earth Girl book from Janet Edwards. I’m also going to mention Rachael Lucas and Imogen Howson, because it’s so majorly cool to have actual friends who are actual real live published authors. (I knew them before they were famous 😉 )

Which 3 genres do you gravitate towards most often?

SFF (which I’m going to claim includes YA dystopian, so as to give myself an extra genre 😉 ), crime/ mystery, books about life/romance/stuff. (The kind of thing that is often called chicklit, but quite frankly I think that’s an awful term, and I’m not going to use it.)

old-mans-warCan you choose your top titles from each of those genres?

Aargh.

Um. Anything I’ve already mentioned, obviously.

For SFF, anything by Ursula K Le Guin and Lois McMaster Bujold. Also the Old Man’s war series by John Scalzi and Little brother by Cory Doctorow.

Crime – I did love Agatha Christie but it’s been years since I’ve read any. Ditto Dalziel and Pasco. I sort of want to put Tanya Byrne’s Follow me Down into this category, although I think it’s more often labelled YA. It’s both though, really.

Stories about life/love/romance: 100 pieces of me (love it!), anything by Jennifer E Smith (again, probably labelled YA romance.)

And your least favourite genres?

Horror. Can’t abide it. Have read some Stephen King and James Herbert, and I get very cross if anything marketed as SF turns out to be horror. Hunger games comes close to crossing the boundary in some ways.

Of the many, many fictional and fantastical worlds, where would you most like to visit?

I’d love to visit Taan. The warriors of Taan, by Louise Lawrence is an absolutely marvellous world where women are no longer second class citizens, there’s much more of a balance to it. Or I’d like to pop to the San Francisco of Starhawk’s Fifth Sacred thing.

Everyone loves a villain, right?! Who would make your favourites list?

Snape. Although is he really a villain? I think he isn’t, but he’s wonderfully evil alongside his heroism if that makes any sense.

Share the books that have had you sobbing?

Signs of Life. Lots of children’s read alouds. The fault in our stars. (You have been warned. Don’t let it stop you reading it!)

And let’s end on a high! Which books leave a smile on your face, and maybe elicit a few laughs?!

I don’t go in for much humour to be honest, but I like feel good romance, like Jennifer E Smith’s statistical probability of love at first sight. Oh, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books can make me giggle.

Jocelyn finishes with: So that’s a bit about my reading preferences, now I’d love to hear yours. As well as being nosy and wanting to know, this meme will also give me a reading bucket list, that I’ll keep over on Pinterest. I trust your literary recommendations, like to try new genres and books, so if you’re telling me you loved it, I’ll give it a try!

Likewise, I’d love to hear what you love, and one of the ways you can tell me is by sticking your reading posts in my lovely Read52 linky below. This isn’t only for people who’ve challenged themselves to 52 books in a year, any reading will do, though obviously if you are doing my Read 52 and would like the badge I’d be very happy for you to grab it from the challenge page. Alternatively, if you’d like to do this meme, I’d love to hear your answers to the questions 🙂

Tagging: no one until they tell me they want to be tagged!

ETA as requested tagging Nickie from I am typecast and Becky from Lakes Single Mum

(I’d love to hear from Child led chaos, Edds not dead and mamacrow amongst others….)

Here’s Katherine’s post., one from Mamacrow and Eddsnotdead

A hundred pieces of me Lucy Dillon Read 52 book 6

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100 pieces of meRead 52, book 6.

A hundred pieces of meiconby Lucy Dillon will be described, no doubt, as chick lit, or women’s fiction. Because it’s about women’s things. Lives, illnesses, love, death. It’s also about men, and relationships, and a dog. It’s about careers, and houses, and work.

It’s glorious, and moving, and heart breaking, and even, amazingly, life changing.

Yes, I actually mean that. Physically, literally, life changing. I read it. And then a day or two later I found myself in the kitchen, hauling all the mugs out of the three cupboards they were spread across, and downsizing our motley collection. I put this squarely down to the effects of reading this book.

Which *is* about decluttering. Sort of. It’s about recognising what is important, and what isn’t, and having a life where you can’t quite turn around in your kitchen for all the things that don’t fit into your cupboards because they’re stuffed with mugs you never use is not quite how I saw my life. So, time to change.

(It’s not just about decluttering things. It’s about decluttering your mind, emotions, memories. But if I go into too much detail, I’ll blow the whole plot.)

Try the blurb.

As heart wrenching and life-affirming as One Day or Me Before You, A Hundred Pieces of Me is a story about what it means to finally live life to the full. Letters from the only man she’s ever loved. A keepsake of the father she never knew. Or just a beautiful glass vase that catches the light, even on a grey day. If you had the chance to make a fresh start, what would you keep from your old life? What would you give away? Gina Bellamy is starting again, after a difficult few years she’d rather forget. But the belongings she’s treasured for so long just don’t seem to fit who she is now. So Gina makes a resolution. She’ll keep just a hundred special items – the rest can go. But that means coming to terms with her past and learning to embrace the future, whatever it might bring

The story is cleverly told. Present life interweaves with object inspired flashbacks as Gina moves on from the end of a relationship, and works her way through the backlog of her life, now stored in (lots of) boxes. There are past climaxes and present ones, if that makes any sense as significant events from her history, still influencing the present are gradually unfolded before us.

It’s emotional, but never mawkish, and the strands come back together to a finely balanced but highly charged ending.

I can see me recommending this book to people left right and centre. And pressing it into people’s hands. Particularly anyone who hoards.

Now, I wonder which wall I can cover with a list?

I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading this week. Feel free to stick it in the linky, and grab the badge if you’d like.