Thank you for your wise words Stephen King!
I’m off on holiday soon – can you recommend me so YA books?
So I’m off to the land down under this Sunday! I’m very excited to see my best friend who I haven’t seen (bar endless hours of facetime….) in TWO YEARS! I think I’m going to have an emotional breakdown when I see her at the airport on the other side of the 22 hour flight!
I’ll be there for a few weeks and will be heading up the east coast for sun, sand and sailing! I can’t wait!
Today I’m stocking up my kindle and wanted some recommendations – so here’s what I fancy at the moment:..
My preference is YA but if there’s something you really can’t help but tell people about I’d love to hear your suggestion!
I love a good adventure but am maybe fancying a touch of romance too at the moment so either would be great (or a book with both would be even better!)
I’m leaning a little towards fantasy but my eye has been caught by the odd sci fi/dystopia at the moment.
I’m potentially interested in reading the following so a recommendation/warning on any of these would be great:
My Life in Books Tag
A massive thank you to Aura Willow for nominating me for this fun tag1 Please take a moment to check out her amaaaaazing blog here.
So here is my life in books!
1. Find a book for each of your initials.
Caroline….C for City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
I loved this series and am so excited for the tv series that’s currently being made!
Peckham….P for Potter! AKA….Harry Potter…
Okay a bit of a cheat but I don’t have any books on my shelf beginning with P!
2. Count your age along your book shelf.
I’m 25 so here goes………………………………Spellfall!
This is one of those books I absolutely ADORED as a kid. It was the sort of book I’d pick up if I was feeling low and get lost in for a day. I’ll never part with it or any of the Katherine Roberts books I own (including the one I got personally signed from her when I won a competition!!)
3. Pick a book in your city/state/country.
I’m gonna go for Surviving the Evacuation, Book One: London by Frank Tayell (I live on the outskirts of London so I think I can just about get away with this one especially as I know many of the places in the book!)
This is an exciting book which I’d recommend for zombie lovers. It also has an interesting twist as the main character begins the story housebound with a broken leg so is unable to evacuate with the rest of the country. He also has connections with the government and the story is interwoven with a possible conspiracy which gives it more depth than just zombie-driven action!
4. Pick a book that represents a destination you would love to travel to.
Jurassic Park!!!!
Call me crazy but I want to visit Jurassic Park (or World as it’s now open tehe). I know, I know everyone always end up at best running for the hills or at worst eaten by a dinosaur which is then eaten by another dinosaur…
But! I still wanna go and if this place ever opened I’d be at the front of the queue. Okay so I might have a baseball bat and a helmet on but I’d be there…..
5. Pick a book that is your favourite colour.
I have two favourite colours (pink and blue) so I’m gonan choose blue and go for Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
I loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee these books and cannot wait for the third part to come out. They are so easy to read and you simply can’t put them down!
6. Which book do you have the fondest memories of?
I hate to say Harry Potter but it’s just the truth! I think so many people will feel the same because we all grew up with these books. I used to queue up at the supermarket at midnight to get the latest instalment and I miss being able to do that these days! I do still get super excited about new books in a series coming out but as they are delivered to my kindle on a preorder it’s not quite the same……
7. Which book did you have the most difficulty reading?
Allegiant
I loved the first Divergent book but by the third one I found I was pushing myself through them. And, I hate to say it but once Four’s P.O.V was added in Allegiant…..I guessed why….and it was a long slog to the end to know what was coming…..
8. Which book in your TBR pile will give you the biggest sense of accomplishment when you finish it?
I think I’d have to say the Game of Thrones series. I’ve not yet started it but, once I begin, it’s gonna be a mission to reach the end!
That’s it! I hoped you enjoyed it!
Here’s my tags:
ARCs for Honest Reviews! Creeping Shadow – A YA Fantasy
So I’m releasing my baby to the world at last! Two years and a lot of hardwork, sweat and tears have got me here and now I’m looking for reviews on Goodreads and (when the time comes) Amazon! ☺️
So if you love YA fantasy and would like to read and review Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, #1) before anyone else please comment below with your email address and prefered file format (epub / pdf) or email me directly at caroline_peckham@hotmail.co.uk
Creeping Shadow will be released 10th December 2015 on Amazon Kindle.
Here’s the cover and blurb:
A man waits in Vale, a world void of humanity.
A mother vanishes, her disappearance concealed by the police.
A girl collapses, black magic invading her blood.
And a boy linked to them all must fight to save his family.
Earth is just one of seven worlds. Gateways divide the realms and those who pass through must earn keys, participating in challenges that will separate the fearful from the brave, the weak from the strong, and the witless from the cunning.
Sixteen year old Oliver Knight knows nothing of the other worlds or his family’s dark past. But when his adopted sister succumbs to a deadly curse the truth is revealed and he is plunged into an unknown land in a desperate bid to save her. However, a sinister enemy is on the rise and the danger they face at every turn throws those around them under suspicion. In order to survive, Oliver must figure out who to trust, who to believe and, ultimately, who to fear…
Find Creeping Shadow on goodreads here
Twilight Reimagined….W…T…F…
Have you heard? Stephanie Meyer has written a 400 page reimagining of Twilight where Bella is a boy (Beau) and Jacob (Julie) and Edward (Edythe) are girls as part of the 10th anniversary edition. I don’t know whether to be crazy excited or a little weirded out…what I do know is, is that this picture is amazing….😂
What if Harry Potter Characters Texted? 😂😂😂
So I stumbled across these hilarious texts between Harry Potter characters on pinterest and I just had to share them!
Enjoy!
The Draco to Dobby one got me so bad haha!
The Reading Habits Tag
Thank you Aura Willow for tagging me! Check out her blog it’s great!
So here goes…
1. Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
I either read in bed or on my spot on the sofa by the window – but I can pretty much read anywhere! I completed the maze runner trilogy on a sun lounger in Thailand!
2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?
Random piece of paper or…anything random. I currently have a wedge of cotton wool marking my place in Throne of Glass
I’ve been known to use tissues, pens, crisp packets and even another book…..
But never would I dare to fold the corner of the page! Never! 🙉
3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop at the end of a chapter / after a certain amount of pages?
I can stop at a natural break but I prefer to stop at the end of the chapter. If the end of a chapter is really suspenseful though I’ll read on just enough to know everyone’s okay! 🙆🙋🙅
4. Do you eat or drink while reading?
Yep! I set up my kindle in front of me over breakfast! I prefer having a kindle for that reason alone it’s easier for me to multitask – must keep reading! 😲
5. Multitasking: music or TV whilst reading?
Yeah I do both. If I’m super into my book I won’t hear anything beyond it though.
I often get someone being like: “Caroline?…..caroline!”
And im like “hmmmmm?” with one eye still on the book
6. One book at a time or several on the go?
ONE BOOK!!
I just wanna fully immerse myself in one world at a time. I have to give everything to it!
7. Read at home or everywhere?
I usually read at home but it’s not uncommon that I’ll throw my kindle in my bag just-in-case-ies
8. Read aloud or silently in your head?
Silently! Who reads out loud? Is that a thing people do when they aren’t reading to someone else?
9. Do you read ahead or skip pages?
I’d never read ahead! Neveeerrrr!
Apart from one fateful day when I ACCIDENTLY read the title of the last Harry Potter Chapter in the last Harry Potter (I tried to unsee it but I just couldn’t! Did it really give anything away? I assumed Harry survived but then I second guessed it later….) THE BOOK JUST FELL OPEN ON IT! Can you imagine….
10. Breaking the spine or keeping it new?
I don’t actively do either so I suppose my spines are fairly bent. I try to avoid bending the book back to read a page because I wouldn’t wanna hurt it – not that books have feelings or anything right? Ha..ha….ha…😶
11. Do you write in books?
Blasphemy! Haha no I wouldn’t. I’m not sure what I’d even write (even as I imagine it I’m seeing it in pencil so it could be rubbed out)
Now for my tags!
I nominate……
Fun 30 Second Challenge!
Here’s mine!
Book: Ptolemy’s Gate by Jonathan Stroud
“Well, you’re a clever girl and no mistake.”
I’ll take it! Haha!
Give it a go and post your answers in the comments!
Five Symptoms of Writer’s Syndrome
Think you’ve come down with a bad case of Writer’s Syndrome? Check out these five signs that’ll help you diagnose yourself….
1) Do you fantasize about writing?
About what your characters could get up, about their pasts and futures, love interests and enemies? Do you gaze off into the distance with an evil smile on your face as your antagonist does something deliciously cruel in your mind? Do you lose yourself so completely that you literally cannot remember what you were just doing? And, most of all, do you answer people’s questions with “hmmm?” Or “huh?” As you’re dragged out of your reverie?
2) Are you emotionally attached to the imaginary people in your mind?
Do you laugh, cry, feel angry, embarressed or sad when something happens to your characters? Have you decided on a character’s death only to reach that scene and almost/do back out of killing them because you just can’t bear killing off the fake person who you’ve grown to actually love? (And post-death have you sobbed into a pillow the eaten a barrel of chocolate to help yourself cope?) Are you genuinely excited about what’s going to happen in the story you conjured from nothing? And can you honestly say you’ve never wanted to actually be friends with some of your characters? (Like the fictional people in your head you created – those people!)
3) Do hours seem to slip away as if time has somehow sped up?
Do you settle yourself in to writing early in the morning then you look up and it’s lunchtime? Do you forget about mealtimes and are only reminded to eat because of your tummy rumbling so loudly it drags you back to reality? Does it get to midnight and you think “five more minutes” then suddenly it’s 4am and you have to be up in a couple of hours to do actual real life things? Do you feel like there isn’t enough time in the world to get your writing done?
4) Do you ever worry that even if you lived for two hundred years you’d never be ‘done’?
Do you feel that no matter how much you wrote, no matter how many hundreds, thousands or millions of words you got down you’d never reach a maximum? Is writing something you’re compelled to do like it has become as important to you as eating or sleeping?
5) Do you sometimes have to force yourself to be social to make sure you don’t become a hermit that lives in the hills?
When in writing mode do you have to make a conscious effort to put the story away and just be in the real world for a while? Do you plan social events in advance so you can keep that time aside for being away from your writing? But do you also, when being out, think about writing when you get back home later and find yourself being inspired for events that could happen in your book while you’re out?
If you answered yes to any of these questions (especially if it was more than one…) I’m afraid you just got diagnosed with Writer’s Sydrome!
Congratu-miserations?
The Face of Editing…
This is literally my life right now!
Caroline Peckham 
