Blog Tour: The Night that Changed Everything by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice

Title: The Night that Changed Everything
Author: Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice
Published: 24th March 2016
Publisher: Corgi

Hello booklovers! Today on the very final Thursday of the month, it's my stop on the blog tour for The Night that Changed Everything by the incredible Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice. My stop today is me sharing my thoughts on their latest book. Don't forget to follow along with the tour below.




When Laura and Jimmy's first book, The Best Thing that Never Happened to Me, first hit the book scene, I fell completely in love with this writing duo. You can therefore imagine my joy when they were back with their second book The Night that Changed Everything.

This isn't your stereotypical women's fiction book, it isn't a love story per se, it's more about the perfect couple realising that they may not be so perfect for each other after all. However do not think that has given the game away, as this still may not be what you expect. Even though this is something that happens so often in real life, I had never read a storyline about it before, and it definitely achieved that 'different' factor in a women's fiction story and I can honestly say that I liked it. I think author Julie Cohen's description is actually spot on for this in calling it an anti rom-com. It does make such a difference from the usual boy meets girl stories and was actually a refreshing change.

Although the overall story to this was sad and I could keenly relate in places, it still had lots of funny and uplifting moments.  I guess you could say it's bittersweet in it's storytelling. Laura and Jimmy are great at creating wonderful characters and the relationships between them feel so genuine and life-like.  There is actually so much you can take from this book and I know it's got me thinking a bit. It's about learning to forgive and not taking anything for granted; living life the way you want to live it and making it count. I wasn't expecting to come away from this learning so much, but it definitely gets you thinking.

Their debut still remains my running favourite, but The Night that Changed Everything didn't disappoint. I really think Laura and Jimmy work as an excellent writing pair. Their writing and storytelling is just spot on. It's always so easy to get swept up in their books and I am hoping they have another one in the pipeline.



     








Book Event: Spring Blogger Evening with Books and the City


A couple of weeks ago, I had the absolute pleasure of going to Books and the City Spring Blogger evening at their lovely offices in Farringdon. I got to leave work a little bit earlier and headed up on the train to the city lights of London, where the amazing Books and the City team had a brilliant evening waiting for us along with some of their fabulous authors Paige Toon, Holly Hepburn, Juliet Ashton and Penny Parkes.




As is true to my nature, I did manage to get a bit lost on my way there, but I was still in plenty of time and once there I was greeted by the wonderful team there and SJ and got to mingle with other bloggers and have some nibbles before it was time to go in for a presentation with the wonderful authors.

Sara welcomed us all and then handed over to Claire Hey (Editor), who then introduced to each of the authors in turn. They each then read a little extract from each of their latest books and their writing process. They had us all laughing so much and it fascinating getting a little insight into their books. (You will have to forgive the quality of my photos as I forgot my camera)



First up was Juliet Ashton telling us about her book, These Days of Ours. I have seen this beautiful looking book all over twitter. Kate and Becca are all set to marry their childhood sweethearts, but then Kate finds out that life doesn't always turn out the way you expect it too.




Then we had Holly Hepburn whose third instalment of The Star and Sixpence which is Summer at the Star and Sixpence is coming out at the end of April. This is another gorgeously summery cover and has had me hankering for summer now. If you have been keeping up with this series, the third part answers a question you might have been waiting for.



Next up we had Paige Toon speaking about her book The One We Fell in Love With. This was the first time I had ever seen Paige in person and I was a little starstruck. I am so intrigued about her latest book as it is about triplets, Phoebe, Rose and Eliza and the one man they fell in love with, Angus. I have a feeling this is going to be Paige's best yet and I can't wait to read it.



Lastly we had the lovely Penny Parkes reading an extract from her book Out of Practice which has sexy doctors in it. Enough said, I'm sold. But seriously this sounded like such a funny read and I am looking forward to diving in.




Not before long, we heard corks popping and we went to have another mingle and eat some of the most divine cupcakes I have ever had the pleasure of eating!! I need to get myself some of these.





Not long after this we all gathered to grab an amazing goody bag and get our books signed. I truly had a brilliant bookish evening and I cannot thank Sara and the team enough! I also now have a new favourite pencil too (it has a crown on it!). 


 

Week in Review - Week 13

2016 in Review

Random Thoughts

I continue with my trend to have way too many books on the go and feeling like I am not finishing anything. I think my only goal I have been working on is to not have any unread graphic novels in my house by the end of 2016. This morning I have been reading some of the comics I purchased through Humble Bundle, so you will see those on my post next week. Those comics really suffer from 'out of sight, out of mind' and I discovered there were some goodies that I really wanted to read and forgot I had! This week is also the week where Scribd stopped being the Netflix of books. You get three regular credits and one audio credit a month. There are still books on there that are credit free, though, and there are 'unlimited' editors picks each month. I am not sure what I think.

Graphic Novel Year

Lantern City (Issues 1-7)
Fairest - Volume 3: The Return of the Maharaja

Currently Reading

Weekly Reading

Lantern City (Issues 1-7) - Scribd - I think I read what works out to Volume 1 and part of Volume 2, but I couldn't find a record of what was included in each volume. This is told from the point of view of Sander Jove and shows the struggles of the lower in class in the Steampunk world of Lantern City.  He finds himself moving up in the world thanks to a chance encounter and in a desire to keep his family safe. In a way nothing too different from the usual class struggle-type works, but still enjoyable. Recommended!

The Last Slice of Rainbow - Scribd - My read a short story or two every morning project continues. I have read Joan Aiken before, but it was a long time ago. I heard that her short stories were really well done, so when I finished Led Astray, I decided to move on to this one. The stories collected were fun and I enjoyed the addition of the artwork. I need to read more Joan Aiken! Recommended!



Fairest - Volume 3 - The month is almost over and I am still not finished this series. I am enjoying it, but this is the last of my unread Fables and I am a little sad to reach the end, I guess. This collection follows Prince Charming and the female lead is Nalayani. This is the first time a character has played such a key roll and I don't remember her from the series before... I might just not remember, though. Another enjoyable addition to the series. I look forward to what happens next! Recommended!

A Short History of Fantasy - e-book - My poor, neglected e-book library. It was time to read something from it and I have been curious about this book for a while! And, I must say, I learned a lot! I know a lot of fantasy authors, but this book told me how much more reading there is out there for me. I have quite the extensive wish list, now... If I had to pick one complaint, it is that I wish they would update this book. It goes up to 2009 and a lot has changed since then. Maybe in 2020, they will release a new version? Strongly recommended!
A Princess of Mars -  Scribd - One weakness of mine is that I neglect classic science-fiction. Look at me, I actually read one! I have so many others that I want to get to... John Carter, a native of Virginia, wakes up naked on Mars in 1866 and starts off a string of adventures that include a princess. Some of the ideas in this book are really interesting including how air and water is managed, but otherwise it is an adventure/romance novel that you will find very readable. Recommended!

New Additions

Nothing, actually.

Weekly Pictures











Cover Reveal: Like a Virgin by Paige Nick



Hello fellow bookish people. It's Easter and we have four days off! Woohoo! To kick start your Easter, I have a very lovely cover reveal for you to feast your eyes over and this is for Like a Virgin by Paige Nick. Hope you like.








Like a Virgin is out in ebook on 7th April.






Book Review: The Woman Who Upped and Left by Fiona Gibson

Title: The Woman Who Upped and Left
Author: Fiona Gibson
Published: 25th February 2016
Publisher: Avon





Having read Fiona's book As Good as it Gets? last year, I honestly was very excited to see that she had a new book coming out. The cover also looked absolutely gorgeous and I was looking for a fun lighthearted read after reading quite a dark book.

This story wasn't quite the story I was expecting sadly. The title itself did also lead me to expect a different kind of tale, thinking that protagonist Audrey really was going to get away from it all, but this wasn't quite the case. This isn't to say that I didn't like the story at all, it did have a interesting premise and there was quite a lot of it that I liked, it was just the way that it was put together, it just seemed a bit messy or rushed in places and sometimes it even seemed a bit random. There was one particular part that I would have liked to have read more about, but it was suddenly over too quickly.

Another bugbear I had with this was that Audrey did seem just that little bit too much of a pushover and her son, Christ don't even get me started! He has got to be the most horrible, ungrateful, lazy teenager I have ever had the misfortune of reading about. He literally made my blood boil and I found myself fuming at a lot of the book. This wasn't quite the reaction I was expecting to have whilst reading.

I know fiction is exactly what it is in that it's not real, but when you read women's fiction you do kind of expect it to be close to real life.but a lot of The Woman Who Upped and Left just seemed a step too far on this scale.

Although a fairly light and quick read, I was left a little disappointed with the overall story. 


    







A Day in the Life of... Me...

A Day in Life

I chose to record a typical Sunday in my household... 

7:00 AM | I am attempting to sleep, but in my half asleep state I acknowledge a dog is in my face hoping I am awake. He is pretty good about going back to his bed when I don't acknowledge him, but I am awake now.


7:10 AM | Decided to just get up. My routine is pretty simple to start out the day: Grab whatever books I plan to read, open all the blinds, turn the coffee maker on and unplug my phone, let the dog out, feed the cats while the dog is out, let the dog in, feed the dog and give him water, and then finally make coffee. This weekend was special because is was the one following St. Paddy's and I always buy Bailey's to have in my coffee.


7:30 AM | Settle in to read with my coffee. I am pretty sure my dog and Sheldon are related because when I sit on the couch to read... I am in his spot. It took me a while to figure out that his issue is that I am in his spot and not that he wants petting or to be let out. So, the dog sits on me. Have you seen my dog? He is not a lap dog. We attempt to get comfortable so I can see my book. (No picture because my phone was not in grabbing range.)

8:00 AM | Dog out for his second bathroom break. I am hoping he will stay out for a while so that maybe I can read.

8:05 AM | Get settled in once again with my book... Dog wants in. Go let the dog in, wipe his feet (one day I will video this because pictures do not do it justice), and give him his treat that another human has taught him to expect upon coming in the house.


8:10 AM | Settle back in with my book. I am bouncing through some books at the moment, but I was reading A Short History of Fantasy and adding a million books to my wish list... Or, so it seems.


8:15 AM | Dog is trying to take my spot again. Only I consider the situation and move over... Dog climbs up and goes to sleep in HIS SPOT. I tell you, Sheldon... (I am writing this post on Tuesday and I attempted that before work this morning, he jumped up on the other side, so I had random good luck...)


9:00 AM | Pee break. Decide to throw some laundry in the washer.

9:15 AM | Back to reading. Mackie has not moved. 

10:00 AM | Move the laundry to the dryer. Clean the litter box. I normally do this first thing, but I was lazy this morning... Casey immediately has a desperate need to go so I basically wasted my time. But, it was clean for that brief moment!

10:10 AM | Blogging! I visit blogs, which I am doing rather well with, and update my own blog for my Week in Review. I also drink more coffee.

11:00 AM | I am hungry. Go upstairs to see if other human is awake... He isn't... (Don't even get me started on this.) Decide to start food anyway. Make food and yell to other human that it is ready. He woke up for food. Eat and and clean up the kitchen. As I am doing this I am sneaking snippets of the comic book I am reading, Lantern City.

12:00 PM | Shower time. While I am having a shower I spend 90 percent of the time closing the curtain because the dog is trying to drink the water off the side of the tub and coming out of the shower head...  Get dressed and all that other jazz. 

12:30 PM | While I wait for the other human to get showered and all that jazz, I am reading... Oh, no, wait, dog has to go out... Only to come back in... The neighbour a couple houses down have a dog now and Mackie likes to go out to see this dog.... Even if only from a distance. (I am really not sure how they would take to me going there to introduce their dog to mine? I don't know them at all and it is not like this is kids...)

1:00 PM | Nothing really planned so I am determined to read for a bit. Read for an hour and the dog bugs someone else. Yay!

2:00 PM | Decide that I want to go a bit of a road trip, which we typically do on Sundays, and today I am good with that being the second hand book-store. Plus, Mackie can come so that gets him out of the house, too.

3:00 PM | Arrive at the book-store. (It took some time getting the dogs harness on, he is going through a stage where he hates it, and then it is a 45 minute drive to the book-store.) It is busy at the book-store on Sunday's apparently... Find a bunch of goodies and since I have credit... Spend nothing. YAY!


3:30 PM | The guy' son lost his wallet and we still have it. Drop it off to him, but have to wait for him to finish a rehearsal for a musical he is in at his school... Mackie and I take a walk where he pees on trees, rocks... Whatever he feels needs his scent.

4:00 PM | A very excited dog gets to see another human he knows and then we head home.

4:45 PM | Home. We really do nothing memorable for the next little while... I fed the dog and the cats in this time frame. And Mackie drank enough water for a desert trip.

5:30 PM | I decide to make supper. We eat and all that. My eating consists of teaching the dog that begging is bad, but my freaking cat (Casey) will follow me everywhere looking for food... She sets a bad example for the young'un. He will give up before the cat does. I am pretty sure the dog wouldn't beg if the cat wasn't such a bad example. I don't know how to break this cat of this horrible habit. 

6:00 PM | Mackie and I decide to head upstairs for some quiet and reading time... Sunday is my reading day, can you tell? 

7:00 PM | Decide maybe to be social and head downstairs for a bit. There was something on TV that I really didn't pay any attention to...

8:00 PM | Sunday tradition... Head out to the local pub to have a beer and chat for a bit. This is a no-phone zone and just a chance to have some uninterrupted time together... It doesn't happen every Sunday, but it has for many Sunday's off and on. The pub had a fire the weekend after I broke my ankle and this is their first week back in the old place after all the renovations. The staff comes over to see what we think of the changes...

9:00 PM | Home again. Let the dog out. He didn't get enough food apparently and he goes to 'his spot' to imply he is hungry. I am nice and give him some food. We used to feed him 3 time a day instead of twice, but I switched to twice and sometimes he seems hungry at night.


9:20 PM | Go upstairs to read with Mackie.

10:00 PM | I am tired and end up turning in early... 

... And that is my day... I almost didn't post because a) it is boring and b) I didn't really take any pictures... But, well, here you go anyway.

To see other, more exciting, days head to Trish's blog for the link-up.

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