It's #Shelfie Time!

I've wanted to write this post for aaagggeesss, but only now has my book photography reached the point when it's just about passable, so I hope you guys enjoy it. After all, it's #Shelfie time!

I know there are a couple of different versions of the Shelfie Tag out there, but I've completely lost track of who made this one. Sorry - whoever you are, good job.

Describe your bookshelf.

I've somehow ended up with a massive array of books, so, naturally, I also have a wide array of bookshelves.

At least, wideish. Three whole bookshelves is quite a lot, right? I share two - one in the dining room and one on the upstairs landing - with my parents, and the one photographed is my own personal story-holding mechanism, situated opposite my bed so I can stare at its amazingness.

(You can't really see on this picture, because I struggled with the angle, but my top two shelves are piled precariously with hardback nonfiction books. If I ever disappear, they have finally crushed me.)

How do you organise your books?

You think I organise my books? You, whoever wrote these questions, have so much misplaced faith in me. Sorry about this, but other than making sure my series / authors are together, my books just go wherever I put them.

I'm such a crazy rebel.

What's the thickest / biggest book on your shelf?

Thickest is most certainly my Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, because it contains seven. Books. The only reason it isn't much thicker is the use of weirdly thin pages, like in dictionaries or religious texts.

My biggest book is probably one of those vast hardbacks I mentioned: they would be my weapon of choice in The Hunger Games if flaming arrows weren't available. Yes, I can shoot a flaming arrow. It's awesome and I can totally help you guys out with the apocalypse.

What's the thinnest book on your shelf?

Apparently, I Spy (On a Car Journey in France). It's pretty self-explanatory - I basically get bored when driving through France.

Is there a book you received as a birthday gift?

I can't exactly remember. This might seem very short-sighted of me, but when one has a birthday on Christmas Eve, birthday and Christmas presents kind of mix together. Last year's haul was, therefore, so huge that I can't even fit it all in one photo, so I've used this one of Hoot by Carl Hiaasen because I liked the film grain.

Is there a book from a friend on your shelf?

I can't quite get the #BookThroughPhone angle right, but here you go anyway.

Just a few. No-one knows what else to buy me for any sort of special occasion, so I get books constantly. Not that I'm complaining.  Books are awesome and I love getting them from my awesome friends who have awesome ideas for what I'm going to like.

I just can't remember exactly who got me what.

Katie definitely got me Ballet Shoes, but there's a few there from Briony, Maya and Carmen too, so thanks guys. You are amazing bookworms and I couldn't have as many books as I do without you.

Most expensive book?

I bought Ruby Redfort: Look into my Eyes (Lauren Child's first Ruby Redfort book) as soon as it came out, and before I had a Kindle. It's a big fat thing and it was very, very, very expensive (at least, it seemed that way at the time). I paid £12.99 and finished it within an hour and a half. TEN PENCE A MINUTE! It's also very, very heavy and threatens to kill my shelf.

The last book you read on your shelf?

I have shared this photo about ten times, but it was my first. I am proud.

All of the Above is so utterly fantastic, especially in its diversity; it's like someone stuffed a rainbow into the confetti cannon of acceptance, and then the fired sequins reformed into an awful lot of stupendously beautiful words. I adore that book so much I've still got a tiny bit of a reading hangover, and I read it two weeks ago.

Plus, look at that cover. Look at it! And that daisy means something . . . I shall say no more. 

Of all the books on your shelf, what was the first one you read?

That is a very very tough one, because I've been reading for as long as I can remember and the first book was probably before that. I do know that the first book I read in my head (as in, without speaking the words) was Ruby the Red Fairy from the Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows. I absolutely adored those books, but have since been forced talked into giving them to younger relatives, so the only one I have left to photograph is Lara the Black Cat Fairy.

That one came out way after I stopped trying to own them all (there are over two hundred) but it bears my name and I just had to have it.

Do you have more than one copy of a book?

There was a point - aged about seven  - when I owned three seperate copies of Matilda by Roald Dahl, all with different cover art. I swear this was not on purpose; someone decided that I liked books and I should read a book about a girl that liked book. They then gave me that book.

Repeat twice and you get the idea. I eventually gave the two extras away because I had very little shelf space, but our house will never forget the tale of the triple Matilda.

Do you have a complete series?

Hello, my dearest Harry Potter treasures (I would stroke them and say "my precious"* but that'd be mixing my fandoms). DO NOT CROSS THE STREAMS**!

Oh, crud. This is about to get confusing.

It's elementary, my dear Watson*** - I love Harry Potter, possibly more than my own family. Faction before blood**** and all that. Also, that shelf is mahogany******. Have I thrown in enough references?

*- The Lord of the Rings
**- Ghostbusters
*** - Sherlock Holmes
****- Divergent
***** - The Hunger Games

I do own The Chamber of Secrets - don't think I'm cheating here. It's just on loan to one of my dearest friends (have you finished it yet, Lili?).

What's the newest addition to your shelf?

That would be the books I bought in London two weeks ago, and I've already talked about All of the Above, so we are left with Hold Me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story. I'll post the review once I've actually written it, but basically - you should read the book before you read the companion volume.

You should also know that the companion volume's a companion volume.

What's been on your shelf FOREVER?

I'm pretty sure most of the picture books I've inexplicably kept have been in my possession longer than that shelf. They've been in their places on the downstairs bookshelf for at least a decade (I'm THAT old), judging by the fact that they are very low down, low enough for three-year-old me to reach. I still need my books quite low down, due to the fact I am tiny short.

What's the most recently published book on your shelf?

This is going to make me an awful person, but I can't actually be bothered to go and check. You knew I was lazy *skips question*.

The oldest book on your shelf?

I have a couple of my Mum's old books, but the oldest would probably be a book given to me by her friend, which is called The Blue Door Venture, and was published in 1949. It's. Just. So. Beautiful. And I'm honoured that Claire would give it to me when I'm not part of her family.

Really, truly, thank you.

A book you won?

I HAVE NEVER WON ANY BOOKS! IT'S SO UNFAIR!

*Ahem*

What my inner book tiger was trying to say is that, in the grand scheme of things, I haven't been blogging long, so statistically I am less likely to have won anything yet. 'Tis a shame, but my time will come.

A book you'd hate to let out of your sight? (A.K.A No-one is borrowing it. EVER.)

I will cheat a little here, because it's not a book you can read or the kind I would give to someone else, but I kept a diary for a while, two or three years ago. It contains the usual kind of secrets, of course, but the main reason no-one is borrowing it. EVER is the writing. It's utterly diabolical and an embarrassment to pretty much everyone on earth.

DO NOT READ IT! YOU CAN'T!

Most beat-up book?

Bottersnikes and Gumbles by S.A. Wakefield is falling apart so badly that I actually haven't finished it yet. See that page sticking out in the picture? It fell out as I got the book off the shelf, and every time I try to read it, that happens, and I become too anxious that I might get the pages in the wrong order - or lose some - so I just place it back on the shelf and back away slowly.

And if you think I should just get a newer, you know - readable - copy, I agree, but I actually can't. My Mum read it at school, but it went out of print in the UK and pretty much everywhere else except Australia. I found this at Old Pier Books in Morcambe, which I've already told you is the best second-hand bookshop in all of the world, and it was so cheap I may as well read it sometime. Even if it has to give its life in the process.

Most pristine book?

That would be my signed edition of Nidae's Promise, which was written by Jill Hopkins, a friend of my Grandma's. It's an amazing MG, that's for sure, and when I first read it, age about ten, I refused to believe it was over and started straight from the beginning again.

Twice.

The reason it's so pristine is because I have two copies: my Grandma bought one for me when it first came out, and then after she'd told Jill about me and my writing (yes, my family was embarrassing me even then), she very nicely sent me a signed copy and personalised postcard. Other than to take that photo, I've never even cracked the spine of that one more than two centimetres.

A book from your childhood?

My books are my childhood. (Notice the lack of caps and crazed laughter. I'm serious about this.)

A book that doesn't belong to you?

This is my latest library grab, and I can't comment on it much because life has happened and I'm only about a chapter in. It does look interesting, though. The one thing that annoys me is the title - it's called Shine, and I can barely make a guess with a glance at the cover. Hive? Rhine? Perhaps it's confused because the character feels that way.

A book with a special / different cover? (Fuzzy, leather-bound etc.)

The remote is because this film needs to happen. Now.

Well, none come to mind in that sense, but Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell has the most beautiful cover in the world, so that's special enough for me. I love how it's not over-cluttered, and yet its entire story is there waiting to be discovered, decoded and realised with hindsight. Just like the book.

It's also the tiniest bit 80s (don't you think, with that yellowy-green?), and most of what I adore about Eleanor and Park is its 80s-ness.

A book that's your favourite colour?

My favourite colour has always been purple. I've changed a bit, maybe adding a complementary second favourite colour, like turquoise, or choosing a shade, like lilac, but purple was always in there somewhere. Behold my purple books (I actually have very few.)

A book that's been on your shelf the longest and you still haven't read it?

The original What Katy Did series, by Susan Coolidge (real name Sarah Chaucey Woolsey) is up there, having been given to me at least four years ago, and after deciding I couldn't deal with a classic right at that moment, they went back onto the shelf and stayed there.

I really should try those books at some point, partly because - come on - it should not take that long to get round to a book, but I also want to compare them with the Katy retelling (see below).

To be fair, I haven't finished Katy either. Bad me.

Any signed books?

I actually have quite a few, including books by Anne Fine, Judith Kerr and Gareth P. Jones, but the most beautiful one was The Gruffalo's Child, signed by illustrator Axel Schleffler. My amazing parents queued up with me for four hours (queueing for more than twenty minutes with a two year old deserves some sort of award). It took so long because he drew an individual cartoon for everyone, and I love mine.

I'm also very proud that I even managed to get hold of Katy by Jacqueline Wilson at Write On Kew, because there were a limited number of copies and they were only giving out one per group. That thing should have been marched out with an armed guard.

Sorry, everyone who didn't get one. Be safe in the knowledge that it went to a good home.

***

Whew! That was one long tag! If you guys have been wondering what took me so long to update, I have been working on this for weeks. Seriously. I tag Carmen, the first of my IRL friends to start a blog (isn't it exciting!) so she can get cracking.

Everyone read her stuff. She's a sassy ball of music and books and a tiny bit of drama queen-ness.

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Review: All of the Above (A Collection of Diverse Wonderfulness)

There's this book I just read and I like it. It's called All of the Above by James Dawson. Read the synopsis (courtesy of Goodreads with a few corrections from me), and then I'll tell you why. (Or just skip over this and read my review. But then you wouldn't understand what was going on.)

When sixteen-year-old Toria Grand arrives at her new school she needs to work out who her friends are in a crazy whirl of worry, exam pressure and anxiety over fitting in. Things start looking up when Toria meets the funny and foul-mouthed Polly, who's the coolest girl that Toria has ever seen. Polly and the rest of the 'alternative' kids take Toria under their wing. And that's when she meets the irresistible Nico Mancini, bass guitarist of a local band - and it's instalove at first sight! Toria likes Nico, Nico likes Toria, but then there's Polly . . . love and friendship have a funny way of going round in circles. 

All I could think when I was reading this book was YES! Yes to diversity, yes to not caring what anyone else thinks, and yes to being yourself.

Also yes to miniature golf. I've never played - or done whatever the AltKidz end up doing - but it sounds awesome. 

"It would be neater, wouldn't it, if this was a
story about self-harm or sexuality or eating
disorders, but it's a story about all of them.
Yeah, it's a mess.
And it's about to get messier.

The great thing about this book was that it wasn't afraid of using the odd stereotype, and then smashing it out of the water. Yes, there was the gay guy, but he was the only one who hadn't figured it out. Yes, there was the rebellious headmaster's daughter, but she just happened to be bi, and no-one cared. No-one even realised the mixed-race girl was part Indian, because she was so much more than that. I could basically sum up this book by saying no-one cared about what their friends couldn't help being. They just cared about their friends.

And, whether or not you've dealt with the same issues, this book was an accurate representation of what it's like to grow up away from the popular crowd, and even within it, because there wasn't just one issue. Oh no.

That's what made it real. Life isn't about self-harm or sexuality or eating disorders or ridiculously hot bass players. It's about all of them. Yeah - it's a mess - and it's about to get messier when you read this book.

Oh, and by the way, the back cover is not kidding. This book does contain some strong language, but it helps the story along, I swear. And that was a play on words. ;-)

So, to put it succinctly (look at me with my fancy words. Freya would approve), this book is about growing up when you're not necessarily white, straight and popular. If you want to hear about that, then read it. 

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Tips and Tricks for the Beginner Bookstagrammer

As you can tell from this super-excited (and a little guilt-ridden) tweet, Instagram has finally succeeded in sucking me in:

Lara Liz ‏@otherteenreader  10h10 hours ago

So, I joined @instagram after three years of denial. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I SWEAR! Username is @otherteenreader (same as Twitter)

Now, obviously, I have been a Bookstagrammer for all of ten hours, so I know basically nothing - NOTHING I TELL YOU - about taking bookish photographs. Insert me Googling frantically. Then, when that doesn't work, I might live on the wild side and Bing frantically too.

Luckily, it turns out the book / blogging world is really into Instagram, so thank you, everyone! I've put together this list of guides, which should take you in chronological order through the process, from the I-think-I'm-gonna-join-instagram moment to when you hit publish on your first photo. (Please, please remember that I am the exact opposite of an expert, and all the amazing advice is courtesy of other lovely people. I'll tell you who . . . promise.)

#1 - Choose a username.
http://loopdigital.ca/choose-the-perfect-username/

I'm assuming that you've already worked out how to sign up and that you can only do most of these things on a phone. If you're on a computer, shift to your mobile (which is as smart as a pack of smarties, as ever) and download the app.

Now. Names. Although IRL, and in Shakespeare's time, a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, the same is not true of Instagram. If you've got a twitter feed, making your usernames as similar as possible would save a lot of confusion. Other than that, I'd say you're fine as long as you put some thought into it, and reading the article above by Loop Digital's resident geniuses would certainly help.

This is from the amazing Matilda the Musical. If you value your awesomeness, at least Google it.

Oh, wait. Please, please, for the love of chapter headings, make it obvious who you are through your username, maybe adding the name you go by in the bloggersphere (e.g. Lara Liz) in the full name box. One of my best school friends is on Instagram, and I think I know what her profile is because I can tell by her friends, but because her username is utterly unintelligible, I can't follow her, and you wouldn't want that to happen.

#2 - Decide who you want to be friends with.
http://www.themilelongbookshelf.com/2015/10/5-bookish-instagrams-you-need-to-follow.html#.VjOrB_nhDWI

Photo credit to article linked above.

On Instagram, as with the rest of the world, powerful friends are everything. I mean, it's up to you who you follow, of course - the link above, by the brilliant Amber @ The Mile Long Bookshelf, just contains a few kick-butt suggestions - but if you want to mostly use the book aspect of Instagram, I'd recommend having mostly bookish peeps on your 'Following' list, so people know what you're into without having to look at the profile (I don't think they can before they've followed you.)

However, please don't think I'm trying to tell you who to follow. Follow the people who you want to show up on your home feed.

#3 - Pick a theme.
http://www.thewonderforest.com/2015/01/reimagining-your-instagram-profile.html

Photo credit to article linked above.

I would like to note that this step is both OPTIONAL and DIFFICULT. As far as I can work out, and for me anyway, it's really hard to know where your photo style is going to end up as a beginner bookstagrammer. I've included it here because it's a big trend right now, and a lot of people will want to at least know themed feeds both exist and are popular.

That said, if you do want to go the hard (but will-probably-pay-off-more-in-the-end) way and pick your theme when you start, this article should be your Bible. It's short and sweet, and the examples give you so much motivation because you can see the benefits. It's by Dana @ The Wonder Forest - a new find thanks to Google - and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on that blog, because although it isn't book-y (oh, the blasphemy) there are some great tips and the design is just. So. Fabulous.

#4 - Take your first photo (or, more accurately, million photos)
http://www.quirkbooks.com/post/how-photograph-your-books-instagram

Photo credit to article linked above.

Taking photos is easy. Taking great photos can be very, very hard, as told by my other new find, Andrea @ Quirk Books, but like with blogging, a little thinking outside the box goes a long way. You'll have to be very patient, as one of the best ways to get the brilliantist results you can is to take photos from every angle you can, but seriously. Try anything. You can always crop or change out little things you don't like at the editing stage, and you'll slowly get used to working out what you can fix and what you can't - apparently. I'm still finding my feet here.

I'll have a quick word about cameras here as well. I have a little pink Canon compact that I got about four years ago for my birthday, and it works fine; especially at this point, you don't need anything fancy. In fact, a lot of Instagrammers just use their cameraphones, as the app intends you to, but that gets me gritting my teeth because my phone's too top-heavy. It's all a matter of personal preference, so just do what you like and bear in mind any effects your choice of tech. is having on your photos.

#4.5 - Delete the rubbish ones.
http://digital-photography-school.com/taking-out-the-garbage-7-tips-for-choosing-your-best-photos-fast/

The art of photo deletion (or at least deciding which ones to edit) is a hard and time-consuming craft if you do it wrong. Just read this article by a professional photographer (check out her website here) and you'll understand.

#5 - Make your gems shine.
http://paperfury.com/tutorial-how-i-edit-my-bookstagram-photos-using-picmonkey/

Photo credit to article linked above.

Oh, Cait, you are the epitome of wonderfulness. She's the brilliant brain behind Paper Fury (utterly hilarious, I promise), and first got me into using PicMonkey to its full capacity. This tutorial is one of the best places to start on the mammoth topic of photo editing, because a) said wonderfulness,       and . . .

b) I LOVE PICMONKEY! It's an in-browser editor, which can be a bit of a problem if you have a crashy browser / unreliable WiFi, but that does mean it doesn't take space on your hard drive and you can use it from any computer in the world. Plus, as long as you resist the Royale upgrades (I might be getting a subscription for Christmas) it's completely, totally, fabulously free.

(I'd also like to comment that you can use the filters on Instagram to edit on the go. But, in my opinion, PicMonkey does so much more.)

#6 - Craft your hashtags.
http://blog.instagram.com/post/17674993957/instagram-tips-using-hashtags
I'd never really thought about it before, but hashtags are important. As this post from the geniuses behind Instagram shows, it gets your photos more views and lets you see more posts on the same theme. Also, the summary in general is a great place to smash your own individuality into each and every update, so you go from being just another book blogger with pretty photos to that girl who types really long and funny sentences. (I don't know where I got that example from. . .)

Next time you really really really wanna zig-a-zig ah - *cough* - I mean post another photo, repeat steps 4 to 6. It isn't that hard, surely?

***

As always with tutorials, this word is not the word of absolute truth. Feel free to ignore what you want - ignore Instagram entirely, like I did for years, if you'd like - I'm just voicing my opinions in the hope they help somebody. Beginners and seasoned pros alike: do you have any more tips? COMMENT! TELL US!

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5 Ways to Organise Your TBR Pile (Which Should Be OVERFLOWING)

It is the ever-present curse of every bookworm, the one that threatens the eradication of our entire species. One day, it's possible that we may actually drown in our overwhelming TBR (To Be Read) Piles, be them virtual or otherwise.

I therefore present these ten different ways of organising your TBR, if only because I am keen to avoid the eradication of the whole bookworm species. I don't use all of them, of course - that would be over-organisation - but they all come highly recommended by various high-profile book lovers. And not all of them will work for everyone, but give it a go.

(Seriously. If all you other bookworms died out, I would be lonely.)

#1 - The Wishlist Technique

Of course, with this, I mean the Amazon Wishlist, king of all Wishlists, which is my personal favourite method of organisation. I mean, it isn't everyone's favourite, because I realise Amazon isn't designed specifically for books and can create a lot of pop-up ads when you visit other websites, but there are a lot of good things going on with the Amazon Wishlist. First of all, it's public, so people can search for your wishlist and buy you the books.

Also, Amazon sample chapters make it really, really easy to decide if you like a book's writing style, and the 'Suggestions for You' section is very good. Score one for the Amazon Wishlist!

#2 - The I'll-Make-An-Old-Fashioned-List Technique

In honour of this technique, and the fact I love lists, I shall make a list.

    

Pros

     - You can carry the list with you absolutely everywhere. If someone mentions a book at school, you're allowed to get out the list and write on it, without having to turn your mobile on and be hauled off to detention.

     - Also . . . you know . . . it's pretty? And nostalgic and stuff?

Cons
     - There are no recommendations. So you're on your own.
     - Other than that, the classic technique is - undeniably - pretty darn cool.

#3 - The Goodreads Technique

I'll be honest, you guys. A load of people absolutely love Goodreads, because you can make lists and write reviews and it gives you recommendations based on what you've read. I know that Cait from Paper Fury in particular adores Goodreads (she's on there pretty much constantly, anyway) but I just don't. Get. Along. With it. Personally. I think it's probably because, as opposed to Amazon, I don't go on there very often, and I forget to update for months and then I'm playing catch-up.

(Just in case you want to follow my basically none-active account on Goodreads, it's here.)

#4 - The Post-It Notes Technique

This particularly rare organisational technique is a variant of the I'll-Make-An-Old-Fashioned-List, and I must admit that I got the idea from Kate @ The Magic Violinist. I've yet to implement it, but it sounds pretty neat - you just carry around a pack of Post-Its (other stickable paper sheets are available) scribble down To-Read titles as you get them, and then stick them in a jar. Next time you can't decide what to buy for yourself, just let the jar decide!

Note: it might be worth making a physical list for this as well, because if you want a particular book, but can't remember the title, or need something from a particular author . . . I wouldn't want to root around in a jar with Post-Its everywhere.

Says the girl who once spent six hours covered - COVERED - in Post-Its while trying to make a quotes post.

#5 - The Physical Book Technique

This one is often thought of as a bookworm's dream. Whenever you see a book you want, you can just buy it and add it to your TBR. The books are there, you can stroke them and pick one out at random and just generally love them. However, if you aren't lucky enough to get free review copies or have a massive book budget, then this can get impossibly expensive, and it also makes it hard for people to buy you books, because you already have them all. Also, it could collapse and crush you.

I am probably the black sheep of the reading community, in that I don't have a To Read Shelf or Pile unless I've been to the library. This is because I basically go to the bookshop the moment I've scraped enough money together for a paperback, and then read it instantly.

This is probably because, although I live in the middle of nowhere, the town next to my school has two Waterstone's. Two. Add a WH Smith's, and it's a wonder I've survived this long. . .

***

I call all bookworms to the stand: how do you organise your TBR Pile? And are YOU doing YOUR bit to prevent the eradication of the species (just kidding, I got it).

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Book Life Tag

A BLOG TAG A BLOG TAG A BLOG TAG!

(I'd like to note that I've just realised there's a difference between blog memes and blog tags. On this blog, I do tags, but they're filed under memes because I thought that's what they were. I'm going to try and change the label, but that might take some time.)

I would say that I was tagged to do this by Tessa @ Crazy for YA, but to be honest, I kind of stole it because it looked so awesome. I get to choose my ideal life, taking elements from all my favourite books. Incredible, huh?

I mean of course my real life is amazing and I don't want the people in it to think I hate them 'cos I don't and . . . yeah. I'll just get on with it.

Who would be your sister?

Ellie Sweet from The Reinvention of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill would be an amazing sister, for me at least. Amazing. For a start, she writes, and I can see her being really supportive to anyone else who did, especially a sister. She's bookish (read: I could steal her books) and we'd be close. Like all dream-from-a-book sisters should.

What do you mean, I'd have to let her steal my books too? I am not allowing my babies out of my sight. And I never said I wasn't a hypocrite.

Who would be your brother?

I struggled over this one for ages. AGES. But then I remembered Rory Hawthorne from The Hunger Games - you can probably tell he's Gale's little brother, but I always had a soft spot for him because he looked up to Gale so much, and signed up for tesserae, risking his life. He knew not only the risks, but also that his brother would never allow it, and he loved his family so much that he did it anyway. 


He fought the people he loved for the opportunity to die for them. I'm going to go cry now.

Who would your parents be?

I'm skipping this question for two reasons. Firstly, I don't want to anger my IRL parents by suggesting there's anyone who would be more awesome than them - we live together, you know. Things could turn ugly very, very fast.

There's also the thing that really annoys me: in most books I read, the parents are either non-existent, really really mean, or have died / die at some point. I'll stick with the Mum and Dad I've got, thank you.

Who would be your pet?

There are many, many pawesome (see what I did there) animals I could choose from, but the moment I saw this question, my mind flashed back to LARA (Liscenced Assistance and Rescue Animal) from Andrew Cope's Spy Dogs series. Admittedly, I grew out of those books a long time ago, but I always thought that the fact a dog smart enough to be my teacher - I'm serious - had the same name as me was amazing. Also, she was knighted. I so want a dame dog.

Where would you live?

Easily, easily, this is St. Ives as portrayed in the Laura Marlin Mysteries by Lauren St. John. I love the idea of cute little coffee shops arranged over ivory cliffs, walking to school over open, wild beaches. I mean, sure, Laura always manages to be almost killed by bloodthirsty criminals, but to avoid that, you just need to be a little sensible.

And, you know, not aggravate said bloodthirsty criminals. That helps too.

Where would you go to school?

Now, a million people are going to say Hogwarts for this question, so I won't. Even though it would be brilliantly awesome, all those stairs don't seem exactly wheelchair accessible.

I would, however, adore going to Malory Towers, from the series of the same name by Enid Blyton, just because it sounds like the epitome of sisterhood. I cannot think of anything better than having to eat marshmallows for midnight feasts so matron wouldn't hear, and I also really, really want to play lacrosse. That isn't a bad reason, is it?

Who would be your best friend?
I'm sorry to be stereotypical here, but I would hang out with Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, because they basically represent the two conflicting aspects of my personality. Case closed.

Who would be your significant other?

Prince Luka from Dragonskin Slippers (Jessica Day George) is dreamyyy. I mean, sure, he'd be busy being a Prince and stuff, and I'd hate to tear him away from Creel (she's very cool, so I wouldn't like to get on her bad side). But if it was ever possible to get together without breaking up one of my favourite ships, and he lived on Earth, that would be ideal . . .

Yes, all the parts of my book life tag are from different genres and make very little sense together. But then I rarely make sense, anyway.

***

What about you? Would you have a crazy book life full of manic jigsaw pieces that are only likely to make sense when fantasy finally becomes real? Or would it be more boring  - I promise I don't think you're boring - chilled?

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The Witching Hour: A Review

So, yes, this is a proper book review, with stars and everything. I've not done one of these before, which as you can imagine, is scary and exciting and nerve-wracking because OH MY BOOKWORM GOSH I AM WRITING A REVIEW.

I must remain calm in order to actually finish this, so I shall. I shall, do you hear?

The book I have so carefully chosen (well, I just finished reading it, so it seemed natural) is The Witching Hour (also known as The Betrayal of Maggie Blair) by Elizabeth Laird. I read a print copy, but it was a library book, and was . . . inadvertently returned before photographing.  You'll have to make do with a stock photo.

Firstly, I would like to announce that Miss Laird (of the awesomeness brigade) is basically my favourite historical author because she researches her books so well. This particular collection of words is set in seventeenth-century Scotland, in the years coming up to the English Civil War. BTW, if you don't have any idea what I'm on about, click here. The Civil War was far too complicated for me to explain here.

At the beginning of the book, fourteen-year-old orphan Maggie Blair is living with her Grandmother on the tiny Isle of Bute. It's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, and Maggie's gran isn't the best at getting along with the neighbours.

But no-one ever thought she'd be arrested as a witch.

Guilty by association in the eyes of the island authorities, Maggie flees for her life toward the mainland - away from everything and everyone she's ever known. But with the English Civil War brewing in Southern Scotland, she's jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire . . .

Okay, so pros - Maggie was pretty amazing. She adapted quickly, wasn't afraid to work hard, and was all - round tough as nails. As for the downsides, I struggled at first to work out how old Maggie was, but it turned out my initial guess of 'my age' was about right.

The whole problem could probably have been solved by READING THE BLURB. I'm a silly pumpkin sometimes.

I'm going to give The Witching Hour 3.5 out of 5, not because it was mediocre. IT WASN'T. The sheer fact that I've given it a score above halfway should show that - methinks - I just think that, when I'm listing my favourite books, I won't remember this one as much as other books by Elizabeth Laird (who I still think is awesome). Plus, I'm a pretty harsh marker. One has to remember this.

***

Now, I really, really want to get better at book reviewing, so do you guys have any tips? And what would you like me to review next?

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How to be a Terrible Teenage Writer

This post is inspired by the brilliant Citra over at Fiction Book Review, and her amazing 'How to Suck at Everything' posts. So you know where to go if you like that sort of thing.

Let me tell you that being a teen writer is hard. You'll know that if you are one. There's so many things to juggle and do exactly right if you want to be good at it.

But the good news is that it's incredibly easy to be terrible. You just need to follow these tips, which are pretty intuitive, to be honest, and there you have it! Who needs to be Mr or Miss goody-two shoes, anyway?

Step 1 - Don't Bother Trying to Manage Your Time.

To be honest, as a teen writer, you don't actually have a lot to worry about. Schoolwork, writing, blogging and actually maintaining some form of social life are all kind of important, but let's face it - they're not exactly difficult. Just do what you fancy at the time, even if that's watching telly, and it'll probably turn out okay. Who cares about detention? Who needs to learn about anything when you're going to be a super rich author someday?

Step 2 - Only Write What's Popular.

We all know that writing's only really about the money, and a book sells much better if it's predictable. As long as you write quickly (quantity, not quality), you won't even be behind the trend, and publishers always love something that follows the crowd.

And - do you know what - I bet no one would even notice if you stole lifted some plot points from a bestseller. The formula's already there, so why not use it?

Step 3 - Don't Take Advice From the Pros.

Whatever you do, you should never take your writing tips from a "knowledgeable" source. That goes for blog posts, other writers or especially creative writing courses. They're only pretending they understand you: these days, no one gives others help if they don't want something in return. Not to mention the fact that they'd SO squash your creativity - the only people you should take advice from are the people who barely know anything. They might accidentally give you an awesome idea.

While we're on the subject, you shouldn't give well-meaning advice to people who need it. You had to learn on your own, so they should too.

Step 4 - Never Edit Anything you Write.

Please. Editing is for sissies; practically anyone who's any good knows how to get it right first time, especially all the top authors. Grammatical mistakes don't matter, and it's a proofreader's job to fix spelling errors. 

You're so much better than everyone else, so an editor won't care about sloppy formatting or iffy speling. Remember, editing takes too long and isn't worth it.

Step 5 - Don't Give Yourself Any Free Time.

Just because you don't manage your time doesn't mean you should let yourself have a break now and again: if you love writing, you should be working all day every day.

If you do have a break, take as long as you like. You've already done the unthinkable, so you don't deserve to call yourself a teen writer anymore.

Hey presto! With these five easy steps, you can become the most terrible teenage writer ever. Every single sentence is the exact opposite of how to be a good one.

Try switching all of them, really. Now that would be crazy advice to follow.

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The Scary World of Adult Fiction

If you've been hanging around this blog over the summer and gotten used to my daily posts, then I hate to disappoint you, but school happened. And writing an actual book. I make a few more excuses and whine about homework here.

I've been meaning to delve into 'proper' adult fiction for a while now, so when my Dad told me I absolutely had to read Time and Time Again by Ben Elton, I decided I could give it a go. With some serious trepidation, of course, because I am a YA pumpkin and do not feel grown up yet.

But I had a good time. It's amazing. And although it's an absolute trap that will melt your brain with the horrible possibilities, you need to read it. Mostly so I can yell at you because OH MY BOOKWORM GOSH THE WORLD IS ENDING.

The stakes are high - the main character in this one is travelling back in time to stop World War I, for heck's sake, so it wasn't going to be light.

But I'm not just here to fangirl over a Ben Elton novel. I also want to have a very serious debate about when one should read adult and when one should read YA. Are you guys ready? Have you cracked your knuckles yet?

You'd better. Because it's so one-sided it's practically a rant.

Especially when I was younger, I would freak out if someone told me to read an adult book. I mean, I did it for school, but when I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and then realised it was for adults, I got very upset, because I thought it meant I couldn't read YA any more.

Which was a bit stupid, now I look back. Just because you watch one 12A film doesn't mean you can't choose Us any more. The whole point of reading is that we read what we feel like, and if it's appropriate (I wouldn't recommend Time and Time Again to anyone younger than me) why shouldn't that be Adult and YA?

I know a lot of adults who will scorn YA as 'kids' books', which they kinda are, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't read them. In fact, for my Mum's book club, they accidentally chose The Chimes by Anna Smaill, and now they've realised it's YA, they've got me to read it and give my opinions. Because sometimes a book doesn't speak to you if it's not for your age group, and sometimes it does.

What I'm trying to say here is that we can read any book we choose. Adult Lit. shouldn't be scary, in the same way that Middle Grade shouldn't be scary.

AND NO-ONE SHOULD JUDGE A PERSON BASED ON WHAT THEY READ. Please, peoples. It's just another way to be superficial.

So, if you are a teen reader, here are a couple of brilliant Adult books you could try. The ones with asterisks contain slightly raunchy scenes, but frankly there's not anything more than you'd see in a YA book. I promise.

• Time and Time Again by Ben Elton* 
  
  I won't repeat this anymore. All you need to know is that time travel + World War 1 + a broken future = mind-melting magnificence.

• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  
  The only reason I read this is because we had to for English. But I absolutely love the whole thing with its cultural interesting-ness, and you have to read it because it's the height of innocence and poignancy.

• Airframe by Michael Crichton*
  
  Wow. Wow wow wow. I'm a sucker for anything even remotely to do with investigation, including aircraft investigation, and I love that the main character is a strong woman in a male-dominated field.

• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
  
  If you'd like an insight into life when you think differently, I am reliably informed that this is very realistic. Plus there's the whole investigation thing I mentioned earlier.

          Also, did you know that the title is a Sherlock Holmes quote?

• Landline by Rainbow Rowell
  
  This is the one I haven't read, but have been constantly reminded of its utter amazing brilliance. I mean, it's Rainbow Rowell. And the characters meet via email.

          I LOVE IT when characters meet by email.

So I would like you guys to take two things away from this blog post. First, you can read whatever you want, but second, you have to read this list first.

I never said I wasn't a hypocrite. :-)

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Big Blogging Bonanza Roundup

I am actually feeling very upset today. Because it's the LAST POST OF THE BIG BLOGGING BONANZA! *Hysterical sobbing*

I can't believe I made it through - I only missed a grand total of two posts, which is very good for me, and it's been such a ride. Before I started this, I could barely imagine writing posts on two consecutive days, let alone five. And I think I've done pretty well, actually, but only because you guys have been being so positive on Twitter, checked on my posts the whole time, and chatted with me in the comments. I really appreciate it.

Here are ten posts which, if you people are new(ish) to this blog, I think you'd like. These are my personal favourites, anyway:

• The Essence of Being a Teenager - my first ever post. I kid you not. Ahh, how innocent I was back in April. . .

• A 5-Point Ode to Hermione Granger - we all love Hermione. These are my personal reasons.

• Books versus eBooks - this one's actually serious. I'm tossing up the pros and cons of electronic publications, don't you know (just imagine a posh accent here)?

• Life Without Reading - my slightly tongue-in-cheek look at why the end of reading could bring about the apocalypse. With GIFs, naturally.

• The A to Z of Authors Parts 1 and 2 - this one took me ages. So just read it!

• An Ode to Libraries - I love my libraries. And my odes.

• The One Word I Hate Reading - I have a disability, and this is my way of speaking up about it.

• Does Popularity Make a Blog Successful? - well does it? DOES IT?

• Fictional Couples: The Mailbag - this one was just so much fun to write. I could squee over ships! What else would I need?

• The Insider's Guide to Blogging - you may find this useful, you may not. But I was glad I could write it.

This is about half the posts on my blog so far, and not all of them were written during the BBB, but I couldn't pick just one or two of my babies. That would be awful.

Now this post might just be an excuse not to write some original content. I hope that's okay.

Just while I'm here, I will give you lovely people two promises.

     1) Just because the Big Blogging Bonanza is over doesn't mean I'll stop blogging.

     2) I'll keep going with Words for a Wednesday now and again, because it's fun.

Are we all good then? I'm off to go to school. 

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