The last in the series, Surrender, is out in the USA on the 6th of December, and  in line with that is a blog tour. I asked Lee five questions in general about the trilogy (seeing as I have only read the first one);

1) Why did you choose to write in the paranormal genre, specifically ghosts? Were you inclined towards it because of an event or are you particularly interested in ghosts?

I had this idea for an adult novel that was this sort of contemporary gothic mystery and as I started working on it, I thought wouldn’t it be much cooler if she could actually talk to ghosts. I think I chose ghosts because I love history and old houses.

2) The concept of the ghosts and how Emma and other ghost keepers is a bit different than the majority of otherworldly novels – and especially the large number of powers Emma has compared to Bennett, for example – what inspired you to create this concept, and why?

I didn’t want it to be the stereotypical ghost-whisperer kind of theme, where she helps someone right a wrong and they’re able to move on. So the whole world of ghost keepers stemmed from trying to create something fresh. I liked the idea that she was pulled into this whole new plane of existence, and that her parents had been masquerading the truth to protect her. And the villain, Neos, came from the idea that some ghosts don’t want to move on, they just want to become more powerful ghosts.

3) Who is your favorite character to write about and why?

I love Emma. She’s the kind of girl I’d want as a best friend. But the most fun is probably writing the ghost jocks who mercilessly tease her.

4) In Book One, the strange “moments” Emma has to an older era as a different person is very intriguing – why did you choose to include these moments to be (around) the 19th century?

It just kind of fit into the Colonial history of Massachusetts where the book is set. Plus I wanted to create this idea that ghosts and ghostkeepers had been around for centuries.

5) The “will they or won’t they” relationship between Emma and Bennett is so intense to read in Book One! Do you like them as a couple, and was it fun to write their interactions with each other?

I very much do believe they belong together. They were tricky to write as a couple. In some ways, I think she’s a much better match with Coby, but one of the themes throughout the series is that you can’t always control who you’re attracted to, who you’re going to fall in love with. It’s part of what makes love so magical. I hope readers will be as happy with the conclusion in Surrender as I am.

Thanks Lee!

Yes, yes, yes… I am EVER so sorry! I have a back log as long as my arm quadrupled and I have not been reading very much. It’s all down to my spectacular social life. Pah! School has been an absolute nightmare at times and prelims have caused me to neglect reading and reviewing.

I am sorry to people who enjoyed reading my blog but I will make sure to catch up over Christmas and strive to keep it up over the course of my exams (when I have a *lot* of free time!)

I am in it for the long haul, and I was beginning to get annoyed of my Dad saying “Anything new on Magic Bean Review?” in a mocking tone.

If this happens again, call him.

Thanks for sticking by me!

PS I had an amazing work experience with BBC Scotland and overall school has actually been pretty fun, but the homework is the opposite!

Undead, I am ashamed to say, was my first ever zombie book. I thought the blurb was really intriguing so I said yes to an ARC copy from the lovely Chicken House. I was initially a little bit scared, I have to admit. I knew Undead was aimed at teens but that meant it could easily have been really scary.

Thankfully, it dealt just as many comedic cards as well as thrilling, horror and a touch of L-O-V-E, loooove. Being my first “zom-com” book, I didn’t have very high expectations pertaining the plot, specifically. I’ve watched plenty zombie based television programmes and films, but to be honest I have never understood how a book could chill you to the bone. Turns out, it’s actually quite possible!

Sarcastic (and slightly facetious) Bobby, Rebel Smitty, Alice “Malice” and Smart Inept Pete are the main cast, and written so that they actually swear, have interesting but realistic personalities.

The quick pace of the novel means you delve straight into the action, meaning there is not time to stop as the zombies appear straight away!

What I loved even more about Undead was that the characters were aware of popular culture. You know in media such as books, tv and films where teenagers don’t seem to watch TV? I am happy to say that in this book the characters watch TV and have seen plenty of zombie films, much like real life! Huzzah!

All in all, Kirsty McKay has written a fabulous book, finally creating a YA novel in which the characters are relatable, average and normal. What’s even better is that the zombie aspect is well done and not in a clichéd or overdone way, either. Great plot twists and a fantastic twist (or even… cliffhanger?) at the end leaves me gagging for more.

Rating
Plot: 8/10
Fast-paced and action packed. Perfect for a genre like this!
Writing Quality: 9/10
I really loved the quality and style of Kirsty McKay.
Originality: 8/10
OK so zombies aren’t original at all but elements and the writing were definitely different and it made it very enjoyable to read.
Characters: 9/10
The characters were loveable, well developed and most of all  realistic!
Descriptions: 8/10
I really loved the descriptions of the setting, characters and the zombies!

42/50 = 84%

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Thank you so much to Chicken House for providing an ARC copy!

Undead will be published on the 1st of September (or thereabouts! )

I was instantly drawn to this book when I was offered to review it. I am fascinated by Japanese culture, and to read a book by a Japanese author (a popular and renowned one at that) was something I had not actually done before. So, to say I was a bit disappointed is a slight understatement. I really felt that this book, if given the chance and more pages, would have been a whole lot better, because then the characters and plot could have been developed further to become a much better book.

However, that is not to say I did not enjoy it. For the most part, this book was very entertaining to read. You would not think that it was actually first published in 1967 – the ideas are very contemporary. The language seemed somewhat stilted and child-like (even though the book is branded a young adult) but I think the problem was the translation.

Kazuko is the fifteen year old protagonist, and her best friends are Kazuo and Goro, who are boys. Sometimes when I was reading it particularly fast, I would mix up the two names Kazuko and Kazuo, and ultimately confuse myself in the process! I was left a little dumbfounded at the end – it was definitely an ending which seemed rushed – and I feel, if this book was actually left to explore the regions of 200 to 300 pages, it would have been a much more enjoyable read.

When I began to read the other small story included in the book – the 61 page “The Stuff that Nightmares are made of” – I was, again, confused. But then I did realise it was a different story altogether. I felt the theme, or the moral, behind this story was a lot better. Masako is completely terrified of heights and aims to try and face that fear so she can live a normal life, whilst she also helps her little brother face his fears. Although it was a lot shorter, I think the premise behind this novella was better than The Girl who Leapt through Time.

I will definitely have to read more of Tsutsui’s books. I was definitely disappointed by The Girl who Leapt through Time, but the actual quality of writing was good – the translation did slightly ruin moments – and I think reading a book by him which is not a short story will most likely leave me wanting more.

Rating
Plot: 6/10
The only problem I had with it was the fact that the plot (and the entire book) felt rushed.
Writing Quality: 9/10
The writing quality was very good. Unfortunately, sometimes the translation left language a little stilted – leaving the book in the past at times.
Originality: 9/10
It may not be the most original thing now – but it most definitely would have been when it was first published.
Characters: 7/10
If the book was longer, and the characters were given more time to develop so I could get to know them better, the characters would probably get near full marks.
Descriptions: 8/10
There were not many descriptions but I really really loved that it was set in Japan. It was really interesting to read about life then.

39/50 = 78%

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Thank you to Alma Books for providing the review copy.

This is a classic example of the story, boy and girl hate each other, then eventually find out they are perfect for each other (but will they..?). Although, when you are reading the book, it does not seem like a cliche. It is in fact a very original and interesting book.

Jenna and Jonah, also known as Charlie and Fielding, are the starlets of the Disney-esque type TV programme, Jenna and Jonah’s How to be a Rock Star. In the show they are in an “on and off” relationship, in ‘reality’ they are a loved-up couple. That is, to everyone but Jenna, Jonah and their protege. Really, Jenna and Jonah despise each other. For most of the book their witty and quick dialogue is really fun to read – they also have comebacks and insults to throw at each other – and that is one of the strong points of the book.

I really enjoyed reading about Jenna and Jonah’s lives. It was really fascinating to read about what might happen with teen stars behind the scenes, and it really has made me think more about how genuine these couples actually are in real life.

Jenna and Jonah as characters were developed so they were not perfect. I think if they were perfect it would either be beautifully ironic/tongue in cheek or just plain annoying. However, the characters were imperfect. How so? Jenna/Charlie acted like a diva behind the scenes of the show but only because she was so insecure about herself. She felt acting was the only thing ‘interesting’ about her. Fielding feels like he is stuck in a shell – his mum picked out the name Fielding when he was a tween and he is sick of being that person.

Overall, I really loved the characters and their development. I think both writers had a really good writing quality and it was definitely enjoyable to read. Although, I was a little disappointed with the ending. I think, rather than introducing a slightly different plot angle, they could have continued with Jenna and Jonah struggling to live normally as stars once the rumour got out. Nevertheless, my enjoyment was not effected too much!

Rating
Plot: 7/10
The plot took a strange U-turn, but the beginning and middle were really fantastic.
Writing Quality: 9/10
Both Franklin and Halpin had great quality of writing.
Originality: 9/10
This was definitely original – I really want to read more books like this!
Characters: 9/10
The characters were loveable (eventually) and had a lot of depth.
Descriptions: 8/10
Another one of the strong points of the book – essential for my own enjoyment of a book

42/50 = 84%

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Thank you to Bloomsbury for providing the review copy.

I’ve been on a sort of writers block. I have been reading books, I am just not motivated to actually review them. This is a problem as over to the right, you can see the list of books I need to review. For quite a few of them, I read them back in February/March. That’s not particularly good, as now I can hardly remember what actually happened in some of them. Thus, I will probably have to re-read them. The woe!

But, I had a revelation, an epiphany!

This summer will be the summer I will banish procrastination, starting TODAY.

In fact, I feel so full of motivation and enthusiasm, I have actually thought of an EVENT! I will be speaking around twitter and gathering support for it. I think it should last a few days and incorporate many things…

This entire post is a big clue to what I hope to do. I may not do it, though. I’ve got other, more important things to do, like watching films online.

PS ~ Did I use too much bold text?

Welcome, Don Calame to Magic Bean Review!

On one of my earlier blog tour stops I wrote about how I came up with the initial idea for my novel Swim the Fly. How it was the swimming team—and not the naked girl—aspect of the story that was the original spark.

For those of you who didn’t read that blog or who haven’t read the book, Swim the Fly is the story of three less-than-popular fifteen year old boys who’ve set themselves a summertime goal to see a real-live naked girl. Despite the fact that they are the least athletic kids on the swim team and none of them have ever been on an actual date with a girl.

Inevitably though, I am asked the question: “Yeah, but, what about the naked girl? Where did THAT idea come from?”

When I sat down to write this summertime novel, I quickly realised that a book about being on swim team during the summer was not going to be enough to hook the reader and keep him or her turning the pages.

Yes, I know about swimming (because I was a swimmer, albeit not a very strong one) and so I know all the details of being on swim team: the smell of the chlorine, the clammy feel of a wet Speedos, the corny rhyming song-cheers from the stands.

But there needed to be some sort of concrete goal that the boys would be trying to achieve while they were on the swim team. A goal that could take place during the summer and would be teenage-boy specific.

And that’s when I remembered  something that happened to me and a friend one summer when I was a teenager.

I grew up in New York (on Long Island) and every summer my mother would take us to the beach on the weekends. When we were younger my friend and I were happy to build sandcastles, or ride the waves, or bury each other up to our heads.

But this one year, when we were fifteen, we started to hear rumors and whisperings about a “mythical nude beach” where you could see beautiful people dancing around in the buff. The story we’d been told was that you had to walk to the east for miles and miles, over hot sand and beachgrass-laden dunes. It would take hours to get there but the rewards you would receive for all your efforts would be great.

And so, this one Saturday morning, my friend and I decided we would make the pilgrimage. We’d each take a can of soda for sustenance and we would walk until we discovered this wondrous land of gorgeous naked women.

The rumor was right about a few things. We did have to walk for miles and miles. The sand was scorching hot and the beach grass nipped and cut your ankles as you waded through it.

What the report was not accurate about was the attractiveness of the people who chose to lounge on the beach in the nude. These were people who even the most girl-crazed teenage boys would never want to see unclothed.

What the whisperings also left out was that most of the nude sun bathers were men. Many of them overweight, all of them extremely hairy. It was like a Sasquatch sighting times a hundred.

And so, my friend and I promptly turned on our heels and hightailed it back to our bathing-suit friendly beach. Where we were more than happy to build a sandcastle or two to try and wipe our minds clean of what we had been witness to.

It was this event that gave me the idea for the boys’ goal in the book. An event that would also prove very useful for inspiration for one of the climactic scenes in the novel.

Thanks Don, that was really interesting! You can read my review of Swim the Fly here.

I was pretty excited when I first read the blurb of this book… it was completely different to what is usually in the shops, and completely different to what I usually go for! Swim the Fly is a contemporary YA “dude-lit” novel, but it certainly did not stop my enjoyment of the book. It easily takes the award for the funniest book I have read all year!

Matt, Coop and Sean have a summer tradition, in which they set themselves a goal each summer. When they were ten, it was riding their bikes fifteen miles way to a lake and skinny dipping. When they were twelve, it was going to the local golf course every day until they had collected 1000 gold balls. When they were thirteen they had to get their hands on a Playboy…. basically their goals got more centred around girls and sex!

The goal of seeing a live naked girl brings a ton of really embarrassing, laugh out loud events. I won’t go into too much detail, but you can read an excerpt over at Daisy Chain Book reviews here!

Don Calame’s writing is full of detail, and really fun to read. His witty writing takes the characters and the reader on hilarious adventures, leaving you turning the pages at rapid speeds. The characters are all really well developed and loveable. Each character had an obvious voice. One of my favourite characters was Grandpa Arlo…. he is such a player!

This book has opened up the world of dude-lit. If there are more books like this, I will be happy for ever more! It’s a gem, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for something new and fresh, or someone who wants to make other people stare at them in a funny way, as you just snorted with laughter…

I leave you with a tiny morsel of the humour in this book. Go buy it for more!

[Grandpa Arlo had asked Matt to pretend to be Mrs Hoogenboom, his 'crush', for role-playing purposes.]

I take a breath, resetting myself. “Oh, this old thing? I’ve had this shawl forever.”
Grandpa Arlo smiles. “It suits you. It matches your eyes.”
“That’s, uh… very kind of you… I…” I have no idea what else to say. “That purple shirt… looks good on you, too. It matches… the blood vessels on your cheeks.”
“Nice,” Grandpa Arlo says.

YAY! And a sequel: Beat the Band is coming out in 2012… Coop is the protagonist in this one!

Rating
Plot: 10/10
Awesome…!
Writing Quality: 9/10
The writing quality was very, very good.
Originality: 9/10
It definitely was original to me – and I am sure it is pretty unique on it’s own.
Characters: 10/10
The characters were so good.
Descriptions: 9/10
There wasn’t too many, but I could imagine the setting really well, so I think the overall effect it had, was good.

47/50 = 94%

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Thank you to Templar Publishing for providing the review copy.

Check back later when Don Calame talks more about the aim of the summer!

Well well well! This is my first ever Armchair BEA, and I am very excited!

I read, review and blog about Young Adult books. The reason why I read YA is pretty simple – I am a YA! It’s aimed towards me, and I love reading it.

I am 16, and live in Scotland, so going to BEA is pretty much the least likeliest thing ever. Also, I have important exams, so missing them would be a little silly!

Where is my armchair, in which I will be participating in BEA? Well, lay your eyes upon the most amazing, the most wonderful chair you will ever see….

The screen shows this post, 7 minutes ago…

I really hope to meet some new bloggers, get to know them, and bloggers I know already, and basically have an awesome time!

Why do you read the genres you blog about? What’s your armchair like? 

The first topic will be the most popular talked about in the book blogosphere.

Which is better, WordPress or Blogger?

There are many reasons why every blogger chooses either one, and I hope to try to post as many of these reasons, pros and cons of each, in this post!

First of all, Blogger is ridiculously simple to use. It’s perfect for people who are first timers to blogging, and even the internet.

It’s also the “hub”, the most popular. This is good because it means if you want to network, the majority of other book bloggers are on Blogger.

One of the reasons why I miss Blogger is that you can use Google Friend Connect. It’s a simple way to see how many followers (readers) you have, and is a status symbol to show how popular your blog is. WordPress does not have a widget like this, or even Google Friend Connect, so book bloggers who use WordPress are not able to connect as easily as other bloggers who use Blogger. However, WordPress.org users can install a Google Friend Connect plugin, only the free users of WordPress.com can’t.

Personally, I think WordPress is more aesthetically pleasing than Blogger. When I was first trying out both, I felt Blogger was not as nice to look at.

However, Blogger wins when it comes down to free customization. You can actually edit your CSS without paying, so for bloggers who are new, or without experience in that field, it isn’t too hard to make your blog unique.

It might not be used a lot for book blogs, but the different users available for team blogs is really good in WordPress. From the most powerful to least, there is Administrator (control over everything), Editor (edit and accept/reject all posts), Author (write and edit own posts) and Contributor (write posts, must wait for approval to get published). In Blogger, there is only the options of Administrator and Non-Administrator.

Stats on WordPress are limited to referred links, most popular posts, searches (which lead yo your blog) and links on your blog that were clicked on the specific day. Blogger stats shows a lot more information, so is more useful, overall.

I’ve never tried other blogging platforms, like LiveJournal and TypePad, if someone uses that, tell us why you chose it over the other, more prominent ones!

Please comment on this post with your opinions, I’d love to hear them!

Which do you prefer, WordPress or Blogger? Why (not)? Have you tried both of them?

Let me know if you have an idea for the next discussion post!