Book review: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

My edition: Paperback, published in 2012 by Razorbill, 357 pages.

Description: Seventeen-year-old Cammpbell doesn't believe in miracles. She's spent the last five years in and out of hospitals, so she can be forgiven if she's a little sceptical.

But Campbell's mother and sister won't give up on her, and they've heard rumours of a place in Maine where magical things happen: fish raining from the sky, purple dandelions, everlasting sunsents. A place named Promise. Yes, really.

Campbell may be cynical, but she still has hope. And so they head to Promise for a Summer by the sea, where Cam finally learns to believe in true love, in herself and maybe even in miracles.

Rating:

Book review: The Shaman in Stilettos by Anna Hunt

My edition: Paperback, published in 2012 by Penguin Books, 450 pages.

Description: When celebrity journalist Anna Hunt takes a break from her glamorous, high-powered and fast-paced job to live in Peru for three months, none of her friends take her seriously.

A burn-the-candle-at-both-ends 29-year-old with a love of stilettos, chocolate, fast cars and Sauvignon Blanc, she seems to have it all, including a wealthy boyfriend and a comfortable pad in Marylebone. How will she manage in a Third World country?

Anna's quest takes her from the wilderness of the Amazon jungle where she drinks ayahuasca, one of the most mysterious and potent hallucinogens known to man, to a passionate affair with Maximo Morales, a disarmingly seductive and charismatic shaman who offers her the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become his apprentice.

Anna embarks on what is to be an utterly exhilarating, life-changing journey of mysterious rituals and burning passion. Will she find the fulfilment and inner peace she craves? And how will she bridge her two worlds and bring the ancient healing arts home to 21st century London?

Rating:

Author event: Rachel Caine at Foyles

On 23 May, Foyles Charing Cross in London once again held one of their fantastic author events, this time with Rachel Caine, author of amongst others the Morganville Vampires and the Weather Warden series.

What makes the events at Foyles different is that they deliver something extra beyond an already exciting opportunity for fans to meet their favourite authors at signing sessions. On top of the signing there is a talk and Q/A with the author and more often than not Foyles also provides an extra gift to attendees, for instance an ARC of a debut novel.

This time we received a pretty Allison and Busby bag (the publishers of Caine's popular Morganville books) which contained a Morganville bookmark, luggage tag and travel card holder. Great stuff! Make sure to regularly check the Foyles calender of events for upcoming events.

The main event was of course getting a chance to hear Caine speak about her work (she even spoiled the attendees by reading a chapter from the upcoming 13th novel in the series; Bitter Blood, which includes the cool new aspect of "ID cards" everyone in Morganville is obliged to have) and giving the fans a chance to ask their burning questions.

I didn't write down the questions and answers beyond a few key words and it was some weeks ago, but I'll try to describe the Q/A to the best of my ability behind the cut.

Book review: The List by Siobhan Vivian

My edition: Hardcover, published in 2011 by Push, 332 pages.

Description: An intense look at the rules of high school attraction -- and the price that's paid for them.

It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn't matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.

This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, "pretty" and "ugly." And it's also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

Rating:

Book review: The Book of Summers by Emylia Hall

My edition: Paperback, published on 1 March 2012 by Headline Review, 372 pages.

Description: Beth Lowe has been sent a parcel. Inside is a letter informing her that her long-estranged mother has died, and a scrapbook Beth has never seen before. Entitled The Book of Summers, it's stuffed with photographs and mementos complied by her mother to record the seven glorious childhood summers Beth spent in rural Hungary.

It was a time when she trod the tightrope between separated parents and two very different countries; her bewitching but imperfect Hungarian mother and her gentle, reticent English father; the dazzling house of a Hungarian artist and an empty-feeling cottage in deepest Devon. And it was a time that came to the most brutal of ends the year Beth turned sixteen.

Since then, Beth hasn't allowed herself to think about those years of her childhood. But the arrival of The Book of Summers brings the past tumbling back into the present; as vivid, painful and vital as ever.

Rating:

Theatre review: Rock of Ages

Synopsis: Set in LA's infamous Sunset Strip in 1987, Rock of Ages tells the story of Drew, a boy from South Detroit, and Sherrie, a small-town girl, both in LA to chase their dreams of making it big and falling in love. Rock of Ages takes you back to the times of big bands with big egos playing big guitar solos and sporting even bigger hair! This five-time Tony Award nominated musical is now being made into a movie starring Tom Cruise.

Cast: Oliver Tompsett, Natalie Andreou, Simon Lipkin, Shayne Ward, Justin Lee Collins, Nathan Amzi, Jodie Jacobs, Rachel McFarlane, Sandy Moffat, Twinnie-Lee Moore, Zizi Strallen, Rohan Tickell. Ensemble: Grant Anthony, Scarlette Douglas, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Cordelia Farnworth, Ian McIntosh, Jamie Muscato, Andrew Spillett, Amy Thornton and Dylan Turner.


Rating:

Book review: Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

My edition: Paperback, published in 2011 by Black Swan, 384 pages.

Description: Memories define us.

So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?

Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love--all forgotten overnight.

And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story.

Welcome to Christine's life.

Rating:

Review: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

My edition: Paperback, published in 2010 by Penguin Books Ltd, 496 pages.

Description: Alice is twenty-nine. She is whimsical, optimistic and adores sleep, chocolate, her ramshackle new house and her wonderful husband Nick What's more, she's looking forward to the birth of the 'Sultana' - her first baby.

But now Alice has slipped and hit her head in her step-aerobics class and everyone's telling her she's misplaced the last ten years of her life.

In fact, it would seem that Alice is actually thirty-nine and now she loves schedules, expensive lingerie, caffeine and manicures. She has three children and the honeymoon is well and truly over for her and Nick. In fact, he looks at her like she's his worst enemy. What's more, her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her either. And who is this 'Gina' everyone is so carefully trying not to mention?

Alice isn't sure that she likes life ten years on. Every photo is another memory she doesn't have and nothing makes sense. Just how much can happen in a decade? Has she really lost her lovely husband for ever?

Rating:

Review: The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

My edition: Hardcover, published in 2011 by HarperTeen, 282 pages.

Description: Ginny Blackstone thought that the biggest adventure of her life was behind her. She spent last summer traveling around Europe, following the tasks her aunt Peg laid out in a series of letters before she died. When someone stole Ginny's backpack—and the last little blue envelope inside—she resigned herself to never knowing how it was supposed to end.

Months later, a mysterious boy contacts Ginny from London, saying he's found her bag. Finally, Ginny can finish what she started. But instead of ending her journey, the last letter starts a new adventure—one filled with old friends, new loves, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ginny finds she must hold on to her wits . . . and her heart. This time, there are no instructions.

Rating:

Review: A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

My edition: Hardcover, published in 2011 by Candlewick, 352 pages.

Description: Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew.

Now, her parents and her first love are long gone, and Rose— hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire— is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh.

But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes— or be left without any future at all.

Rating: