Bookish Buddies- Authors We’d Love to Write To

Hello everybody!

Today I’m delighted to have my lovely friend Layla here for our first bookish buddies post of 2018! Last month, we read Letters to the Lost (and both had mixed feelings) and today our post themed around this is authors we’d write letters to. Onto the post!

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My Answers

Holly Smale- I’ve actually written a fullpost about some reasons I love Geek Girl, which goes up next month that will go into more detail about this, but Holly is definetely an author I’d love to write to. I think she is absolutely hilarious and amazing (her pre author career blog the Write Girl is uttterly glorious to the point I reread it) and the Geek Girl series means the world to me. My PS would apologize for being a bit of a blithering idiot when I met her at the Edinburgh Book Festival!

Ann M. Martin- another series I really loved was the Babysitters Club, and I’d love to let Ann M Martin know how obsessed with this series I was from about the ages of 9 till 12. They invoked my love of mysteries (which was why I was given Dead Man’s Cove and Adventure Idland at a time where I wasn’t really in love with reading.), and provided me with plenty of rather fantastic reading material. Even now, when I’m really tired or ill, and can’t focus on my main read, I often turn to these. The mysteries are a delight (though there is amarked improvement after 10), the super specials are varied and fun, plus it’s so cool to see some perspectives we don’t usually, andthe little known about portrait books are so interesting.

Stacy Gregg- sticking to theme of series I loved, this was the first series I was a fangirl for. I was obsessed with this world, these characters and these stories, and I remember screaming out loud at the ending of one (Flame and the Rebel Riders, if you’re interested). Gettimg the newest installment was a total treat every time and I read them the moment they came into my hands. I’m planning to reread these this year at some point, as I don’t think I got to it in 2017 (I usually reread them all at least once a year!), and I’m so, so excited. If I love them even half as much, I’ll have a ball. So yeah, Stacy would get a rambling letter on all of the above.

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Layla’s Answers

Shirley Hughes

I think I’d definitely want to write a letter to Shirley Hughes. I’ve mentioned her a few times over on my own blog, and I’m grateful for her books for sparking an interest in me when I was so young. I’m always telling the customers at work how much I love her art and it’s lovely to see her books still as popular as ever. Plus it would be wonderful to get her signature.

J.K. Rowling

This letter would just be a whole list of thank yous. J.K. Rowling gave us the wizarding world, and those that love Harry Potter as much as I do will know how special and important that is. We’re all a mixture of houses who have been brought together by this one special series of books, and I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to read, love and cherish them.

Jeff Zentner

I’ve really enjoyed the two books Jeff Zentner has written; both books made me sit and weep in my bedroom, but I still really enjoyed them and have become a huge fan. I’d love to just write him a letter telling him how much I enjoy his writing style and how he makes all of his characters come alive so well.

Thank you so much for reading! What authors would you like to write letters to and why? Let us know in the comments or come chat to us on Twitter!

Amy xxx

BOOKISH BUDDIES : Our Favourite Illustrators

Hello everybody!
Today, I’m doing a joint post with Layla, who I buddy read a book with every month and then do a post somehow related to it. Last month, we read Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell, and while we had quite  mixed opinions on the book we did both love the illustrations within, so we’ve decided to talk about some of our favourite illustrators.

Onto the post!

MY PICKS

Leo Hartas (Adventure Island)- I adore the line drawings throughout this series so much. They make the world so real and I love the way he captures Scott, Jack, Emily, the people they meet throughout their adventures and of course Drift the dog!

Becka Moor- I adore Becka Moor’s illustrations, especially in Karen McCombie’s St Grizzle’s series, and I’ve been known to buy things just because she’s illustrated them. Her drawings are always so humorous and they add so much to their stories. I can’t wait to read a few more books with Becka illustrating, and even just ogle books without interiors she’s designed the cover for.

Inbali Iserles– I recently read (and loved) The Taken by this author, and her chapter headers are absolutely stunning. I really hope there will be more of the same as I continue with the trilogy. Who doesn’t love gorgeous fox illustrations? I actually wish there had been a whole new illustration in every chapter, as the same (utterly stunning) ones were repeated througout.

Honourable mention to Kathryn Durst- while I’ve only read one book with her illustrations (Vlad the World’s Worst Vampire, which I adored), I’m pretty certain Kathryn will be a favourite illustrator of mine one day.

LAYLA’S PICKS

Beatrix Potter–  A childhood favourite of mine, Beatrix Potter’s illustrations are timeless and beautiful. Throughout the whole range of Peter Rabbit stories, Potter uses watercolours to gently bring out the characters and to give them life. The colours she used were so pretty and dainty; I always loved sitting down to stare at the beautiful artwork. My favourite character is definitely Miss TiggyWinkle – she always had spikes sticking out of her shawl!

Brett Helquist- Brett Helquist’s art can be found in the book series A Series Of Unfortunate Events. It’s iconic, it’s dark, and the characters were so perfectly matched to the book descriptions it thrilled me to bits whenever I got to an illustrated page in the book to take a look at which scene was before my eyes. I particularly loved his illustrations of Count Olaf, with his long nose, spindly arms, and wild hair.

Shirley Hughes– Ah – my favourite illustrator of my childhood! I don’t quite know why I love Shirley Hughes so much, but it’s something about her sketchy artwork and loveable characters that really made everything come together. There is something so British about it, especially her poetry about the seasons. The accompanying artwork of rain-soaked roads, brown leaves, sunsets and much more just made me feel all over cosy. I think I’ll always love Shirley Hughes’ work.

Who are your favourite illustrators? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @GoldenBooksGirl or @readablelife
Amy xx

Joint Post with Layla of Readable Life: Our Favourite Films and Quotes from Them

Hello everyone!

Today, I’m super excited to be joining up with my friend Layla for this post. The reason it came about is that we buddy read Jenn Bennett’s Alex, Approximately (which features a lot of film references). Layla blogs over at Readable Life, so you can check her out if you aren’t already reading her fabulous blog 😊

Let’s get started!

Note: we haven’t included Disney movies as we both consider them too awesome to pit against other films 😉

AMY

PRETTY IN PINK- As you might know, my favourite ever film is Pretty in Pink, which is an 80s teen movie directed by John Hughes, and stars Molly Ringwald as Andie. It`s about her falling for a boy called Blaine, who`s much richer than her, and her facing the issues this presents. I love basically everything about this film, but my very favourite scene is one in which Andie`s best friend Duckie (who is vying for her affections alongside Blaine) lip syncs to Try a Little Tenderness by Otis Redding. It`s super silly and funny and sweet (and one of the reasons I am a HARDCORE believer that Andie should have chosen Duckie!)

THE BREAKFAST CLUB- This is another film directed by John Hughes, and I`m pretty sure everyone has a rough idea what it`s about. If you don`t it, it follows five teens from different backgrounds as they`re forced to spend the day together in detention. It`s an absolutely amazing film, and I have a couple of `best bits`. It`s a perfect mixture of humour and emotion so my favourite humour in the film is Judd Nelson`s as `The Criminal` and I especially love his quote `Screws fall out all the time, the world`s an imperfect place`.

In terms of something sadder, I love the scene towards the end of the day when the group are all in a circle, when dramatic secrets are revealed about everyone, and new relationships are formed between them (Andrew, played by Emilio Estevez, is my favourite part of this scene)

BRIDGET JONES`S BABY- Finally, I also love the latest instalment of the Bridget Jones franchise, which sees Bridget (Renee Zellweger) tackle life, love and a rather unexpected pregnancy. Almost every scene in this is comedy gold, but I particularly love the labour scene, which is beyond hilarious! You`ll understand why when you watch it.

LAYLA

The Matrix Reloaded – The Matrix Trilogy is one of my most loved trilogies; my dad introduced me to them and we still watch them together. My favourite scene comes from the second movie, where Neo has to fight an entire hoard of Agent Smiths. It’s such a tense scene, with agents coming from all sides, until Neo has to bail. It’s hilarious to see all the agents shrug it off and walk away like nothing happened…

Jurassic Park – My favourite scene from Jurassic Park is the iconic one; when you see the DINOSAURS!! The look on Alan’s face as he sees there’s an actual dinosaur in front of him is funny and mesmerising, and it’s even better when he grabs Ellie’s head and makes her look. There’s dinosaurs in front of them, and the visual effects still astound me – the film is my age and the dinos look brilliant!

The Return of the King – Okay, this one is a tear jerker. If you haven’t watched ANY of The Lord of The Rings films, I would highly suggest watching all three immediately! Also, spoiler warning of course, because my favourite scene is one of the LAST scenes. Okay? Okay.
After the battle has been won and the ring has been cast into the fires of Mount Doom, it’s time for celebrations. For the true king to finally be crowned. It’s beautiful, and it finally feels like there is peace in the realm. Then King Aragorn makes his way through the crowds and greets his friends and travelling companions, the hobbits. Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin begin to bow, as is expected in front of a king, but Aragorn stops them with one line. “My friends, you bow to no one.” This is where the tears come, as the king and the rest of the entire crowd (including Gandalf, Elrond, and many other important figures) bow to the four hobbits. It’s such a touching and moving scene, as these four normal guys from the Shire didn’t ever expect to wake up one day and be thrust into such a huge battle for the world. It’s the perfect ending to a fantastic series.

Thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear about your favourite films/film quotes in the comments or on Twitter @GoldenBooksGirl

Amy xxx