New Job!

I'm super excited to be able to announce that I will officially be a Fatty, having just accepted the position of Key Account Manager at Fat Media in Lancaster!

 

There's a Friends quote for everything, and this little gif totally sums up my excitement!

The Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delany

I started reading the Wardstone Chronicles a few years back when my brother loaned me book one: The Spooks Apprentice. Although a book seemingly written for older children / teenagers, I was gripped! But then again, I'm a fan of the Potter books, Hunger Games etc....

This series is written by Joseph Delaney, a Lancashire man born and bread (this is where I live), and the locations and tales found in the series are loosely based on Lancashire and its legends.

The Wardstone Chronicles follow Thomas Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, who is apprenticed to John Gregory to become a Spook. Tom soon discovers that most of John's apprentices have failed for various reasons, including being killed in the process of learning how to be a Spook. As the series progresses the focus shifts from Tom to other characters such as the assassin Grimalkin, and develops the plot line of Tom being destined to either save the world or destroy it.

I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and found the plots of these books made for swift reading, if a little scary for younger readers. But they do all come with a warning 'Not to be Read after Dark'.

The series itself consists of 13 books that follow Tom's apprenticeship, with two additional books running alongside it - Witches and The Spook's Bestiary. 2015 will see a movie adaptation based on the series, watch the trailer here.

Anyway, having just finished the final part in this series, I thought I would give it a quick review!

The final installment is called...

The Spook's Revenge

 Everything ends.

The final battle with the Dark approaches.

"He's the seventh son of a seventh son. His name is Thomas J. Ward and he's my gift to the County. When he's old enough we'll send word. Train him well. He'll be the best apprentice you've ever had and he'll also be your last."

These were the words of Tom's Mam to the county Spook some years ago. As Tom, the Spook and their allies prepare to battle with the Fiend on a huge scale, to finally enact their revenge, it now remains to be seen whether Mam's declaration will come true.

As with the twelve books before it, this final part is almost impossible to put down. Tom must battle against the dark in order to finally defeat the Fiend, but once again this involves forming unusual allegiances for a Spook.

Alice must delve into the Dark in search of a sword that could potentially kill her as part of a ritual to finally destroy the Fiend. Will Tom be able to go through with the ritual? Will Alice continued dabbling in the Dark turn her into a fully-fledged Malevolent Witch? Answer to these questions can be found in this book!

The Spook's Revenge is a fantastic culmination to this series, and I'm excited that it's not the end of the story. A new series entitled 'The Starblade Chronicles' will be next on Delaney's to do list, with at least three books, and a sneak at the first chapter of the first book is available at the end of The Spook's Revenge!

If you enjoy gritty stories about witches, magic and things that go bump in the night, you really should read The Wardstone Chronicles.

Review of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Paperback)

In an attempt to read more classic novels (following my regression back to GCSE's through William Golding's Lord of the Flies), I thought I'd have a go with John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. I hadn't read this before, but remember reading another John Steinbeck novel back at school.

The story follows two men who labour on farms, drifting from job to job; striving for their American dream - to own a farm of their own. Lennie is a gentle giant, who is a little slow, and his friend George guides and protects him, relying on him for friendship.

The title of the book is taken from the poem 'To a Mouse' by Robert Burns, part of which reads:

"The best laid schemes of mice and men, go often awry, and leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy!"

A very apt title for this story of the plans and dreams of our two main character that seem not meant to be.

Steinbeck strikes a real chord with the reader, you really want Lennie and George to achieve their dreams. The bond of friendship between these two is strong, and the innocence and naive purity of Lennie's character is greatly portrayed.  

Arriving at a new farm for work they meet new people who will play a large part in their lives. Candy becomes a partner in their dream; Curley, the bosses son, is a hot headed character, ever suspicious, and rightfully so, of his wife. She's regarded as a tart and a floozy, but seems to be seeking whatever attention she can get, for any attention is better than none.

Incase you arent aware of the horrific ending of this book, I will say little more. But this powerfully sad novel offers little hope for these two men striving to achieve their American dream, but it seems out of their control.

This novel has a great balance of a complex plot with simple writing, and being a short book, this is a super quick read. If, like me, you were looking to start on a journey of reading Classic novels, this is a great start.

Review of Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Paperback)

Having studied this book at GCSE I've been wanting to read it again. The story, I assume, is set around the time of World War II, sees a plane crash leaving a group of school boys stranded on a desert island.

It's an interesting concept to see how children will act when left to their own devices, and this book looks at just that; from the initial care-free lifestyle, to creating community, as well as battles for leadership and power. However the deeper, darker, underlying theme to this book looks at the innate ability for all of us, even children, to do evil.

After a short while on the island, it is decided that they should vote for a leader to ensure the fun continues, whilst ensuring they survive. One of the older boys named Ralph is voted in, with his sidekick, a boy with glasses nicknamed 'Piggy'. Piggy is practical and overly cautious, but in reality, knows what is best for the boys - to keep a fire going so they might get rescued.

The boys build shelters, find fruit to eat, create a meeting place where decision are made through the use of the Conch, a shall that gives the holder the authority to speak freely. Twins, Sam 'n Eric are set the task of keeping the fire lit, while another leader among the group - Jack, heads up a hunting pack with his choir boys.

What could be better than life on an island without the constant nagging from adults? Ralph certainly revels in this, spending plenty of time lazing around in the water and having fun, however as time goes on, we see the struggle for power between Ralph and Jack, with the boys beginning to hate each other. Soon, the peaceful paradise develops into something much more sinister.

As the thirst for blood raises with the hunters, and the craving for meat increases things begin to get out of hand. We see the once care-free leader Ralph begin to mature and realise that island life is not all about having friends, being popular and having fun.

William Golding's writing keeps the reader gripped throughout, with the subtle hints of the darker undertones to the story making this a book you can't put down. 

I remember enjoying studying Lord of the Flies as a teenager, and enjoyed it again as an adult, and as such I would recommend it to young and old alike, anyone who enjoys adventure and mystery. A real classic leaving you wondering just how thin the line between good and evil really is.

Snorkelling with sharks at SEA LIFE!

A change from books just to give you a little review of an awesome experience I recently had thanks to my wonderful ex-colleagues at SEA LIFE...!

Swimming trunks – check

Underwater camera – check

Nerves of steal – ummmm that remains to be seen!

I arrived at SEA LIFE Blackpool and was greeted by Mike who talked through what to expect from the experience. We headed to the changing rooms to ‘Get ready for the dive of your life’, donned my wet suits and headed up to the top of the ocean tank.

There before me was 500,000 litres of water at a temperature of 25°C. The calm surface of the water was broken by the dorsal fin from one of the 20 sharks that call this tank home. Snorkels and masks on and I was ready to descend into the cage. The water was colder than I thought it might be, but soon warmed up as I dived beneath the surface to get a look.

It took a little while to get used to my surroundings, but found the handy grab-ropes fastened to the bottom of the 6ft deep cage were useful to hold myself under the surface and get a good look around. Once under the water, the only sound I could hear was my heart racing…whether this was from breathing through the snorkel or that a Black Tip Reef Shark just swam in front of me I’m not quite sure!

Although I had a snorkel, it was great fun to take a deep breath and pull myself down to the bottom of the cage and really take in the surroundings. As well as the many sharks, tropical fish swam nearby including Mono and Golden Trevallies.

It’s a really odd sensation to be invading the space of the graceful creatures, and they truly are that. The Reef sharks were particularly active as was Barnaby the Bowmouth – they are fully used to having people in the tank as the SEA LIFE staff dive regular to clean and maintain the tank as well as put on demonstrations for visitors, so our presence could have gone unnoticed, however they seemed keen to swim close by us and let us glimpse their beauty.

The 15 minutes was up way too soon, I could’ve spent hours in there. It really was an experience I’ll never forget and would recommend it to anyone!

Review of Afloat by Erin Healy (digital)

This story is set on floating residential unit, the pioneering creation of Architect Vance Nolan. Not far off being complete and disaster strikes - torrential rains begin to fall, leading to sink holes and floods causing the unit to be completely cut-off from the rest of the world. 

A diverse group of people - builders, residents and investors are stranded and divisions form as to what to do next. Vance Nolan insists they should sit tight and wait for rescue. Developer Tony Dean wants to strike out into the darkness. And single mum Danielle Clement, desperate to protect her young son, Simeon, struggles to hold their motley band together.

Power failure, unnatural daytime darkness, explosions, then murder bring tensions to boiling point. But young Simeon has spotted something strange under the water - beautiful, shifting lights in the dark water below. Then there's the mysterious Ranier Smith who keeps appearing.

In this watery world where everyone's secrets will eventually come to light, salvation may mean more than just getting out alive.

It took me a few chapters to really get into this read...the descriptions of the residential unit and its surroundings along with the character introduction seemed a little tricky to follow...or that may just be me?! But I persisted and it really didn't take much to get into this gripping story, filled with suspense, almost apocalyptic action and supernatural elements. 

As I learnt more and more about the characters I began to feel a connection with them, with hints of comedy and romance in there to keep the story flowing. The back-story of Vance and how he came to know Zeke, a blind man who occasionally has prophetic visions, really help to give you a fuller picture of the subtle undertones that run throughout. 

I honestly struggled to put this book down and raced through it faster than I do most books, the mentions of God and references to scripture didn't seem out of place and worked well with the story. 

I'd definitely recommend this as a read to anyone, and look forward to reading more by Erin Healy.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsementsand Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review of The Survivor by DiAnn Mills (digital)

I picked up this digital copy of The Survivor by DiAnn Mills and wasn't sure what to expect from this as I've never read a Christian crime thriller before! 

The story follows crime novelist Kariss Walker who is asked to team up with Dr. Amy Garrett, a Christian counselor offering to support for women traumatised by vicious crime, to tell the story of her own trauma through a novel.

As the story unravels we learn more about Amy's motives for telling her story in this way, as well as understanding Kariss's previous involvement in an FBI cold case.

At first I found the book a bit slow, taking time to develop the characters, however you couldn't help but be shocked at Amy's back story, made even more powerful knowing it was based on a real girl.

After a short while though, I really got to the stage where I couldn't put it down. Chapters ended making me want to keep reading on, intrigue set in, how would all the plot lines fit together in the end?

Overall a thoroughly enjoying read, a combination of intrigue and suspense kept me wanting more. The story was underpinned by man's search for truth, faith and love.

Mills used a solved cold case from the Houston FBI records as the basis for this story making this chilling yet heartwarming story. 

Quote from the author:

“I touched on many issues in this book as I strove to write realistic family dynamics in the midst of tragedy. Our lives are all about relationships and the people placed on our paths. We are to love and not smother, give and not take, sacrifice and not demand. I hope you look at your loved ones with more thankfulness and joy. Treasure them. Keep them in your prayers, and always let them know you love them."

Excerpt From: Mills, DiAnn. “The Survivor.” Zondervan, 2013. iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsementsand Testimonials in Advertising.”