The Mystery Society Presents… Our Thoughts on Kentucky Thriller

Hello everybody! Today it’s time for the third installment of the Marlin Mysteries Marathon, a buddy read I’m doing with my friend Lily, in which I’ll be discussing my thoughts on Kentucky Thriller.

Sadly Rachael has had to bow out of this readathon as she’s had a super special secret mission in the past month or so, but we look forward to welcoming her back into the Mystery Society in the New Year

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Again, I’d like to put it out there that I’ve read this a LOT of times and I don’t know what counts as spoilery anymore to be honest so if you’ve not read this, it might not be the best idea to keep reading if you don’t want to know some plot details going in. Onto the post!

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The Mystery Society Presents… Our Thoughts on Kidnap in the Caribbean

Hello everybody! Today it’s time for the second installment of the Marlin Mysteries Marathon, a buddy read I’m doing with my friends Rachael and Lily.

Again, I’d like to put it out there that I’ve read this a LOT of times and I don’t know what counts as spoilery anymore to be honestly, so if you’ve not read this, it might not be the best idea to keep reading if you don’t want to know some plot details going in. Onto the post!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Cathy Hopkins

​Hello everybody!

Today I couldn`t be any more thrilled to welcome a very special author for an interview.  Cathy`s books were some of my favourites when I was young, and after reading and loving them, I got in touch and still chat regularly via Skype and email . Her book, A Home for Shimmer, is based on my dog Shimmer and book Shimmer has many traits of the real one, which was incredible to read! I`m definitely planning to dip into Cathy`s new book for adults, Kicking the Bucket List, at some point.

Let`s get onto the interview!
1. Can you describe Kicking the Bucket List in 5 words? 

Funny, sad, tale of sisters.

2. What is your writing process like? Do you have any unusual or quirky habits as a writer?

I don’t write on one place, I do have an office but I often change rooms depending on
where feels right that day.

3. Kicking the Bucket List is about a mum leaving behind a `bucket list` full of tasks for her daughters to complete. Do you have a bucket list? What are the items you`d most like to complete from it?

I’d like to go and see meerkats. Visit Sicily. Learn how to cook Italian food. Paint
portraits of some of the people I know.

4. My favourite series of yours has to be Mates, Dates. The characters all so vibrant and also huge fun! What do you think they`d be up to now? 
They’d still be friends. I reckon TJ and Nesta would be university, Lucy doing a fashion design course, Izzie at art college. Perhaps they’d share a flat, if not they’d still be in touch and having a great life and would always meet up in the college holidays.

5. Another series I loved, which I barely ever see mentioned, was Zodiac Girls. What gave you the idea for the series? Which of the star sign guardians would you most want to help you, if you got to choose? Do you wish you`d been able to write a book for all 12 star signs?

I was asked to come up with a series about the Zodiac and I thought it would be fun to envisage a world where the planets were all present here on earth in human form. I’d like Jupiter to give a helping hand as it is the planet of expansion and generosity. I reckon Venus would be fun to meet as it is the planet of love and beauty. And Uranus is the planet of surprises and always brings about the unexpected. Yes, it would have been good to write the books for the star signs I didn’t do. I had ideas for them but the publishers changed hands and the new team didn’t commission the last 4 books in the series.

5. Million Dollar Mates is a really fun idea too, where Jess gets to go and live among celebrities. Which 3 celebrities would you most like to live next door to?

David Attenborough because I think he’s an inspiration and has done so much to bring about an awareness of how wonderful nature is into our homes. Colin Farrell so I could look at him out the window. Joanna Lumley because I think she’d be fun and a considerate neighbour.

6. If you could choose any of your books/series to become a TV show or movie, which would you choose and why?

The Kicking the Bucket List because there are 6 great roles for older actresses and I think it would make a very entertaining, feel good film.

7. Finally before the quickfire round, what`s been your favourite moment (or top 3) in your career as author?

Meeting my agents. I’ve been very lucky to find two people who are so encouraging and also great fun to spend time with. Meeting my editors Brenda Gardner then later Kate Bradley. They are both very supportive and are great communicators. Brenda pretty well changed my life as she commissioned the first Mates Dates books and got my career as a teenage fiction writer started. More recently, Kate contracted for my first adult book and so a new chapter of my career has begun. Reading some of the reviews for books and hearing that people are reading and enjoying what I’ve written. 

QUICKFIRE

Favourite season of the year? Summer.

Favourite cake flavour? Coffee and walnut (though am not a cake person, I prefer savoury)

Hogwarts house? Hufflepuff.

Favourite couple on Strictly this year? Susan Calman & Kevin Clifton. Doubt if they’ll win but I like her.

Favourite 3 books of 2017?– Anatomy of a Soldier by Harry Parker. How Hard Can it be Allison Pearson. A Scandalous Affair, the Biography of Jane Digby by Mary.S. Lovell. 

Huge thanks again to Cathy for this interview! Which of Cathy’s books are your favourites? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

See you soon with a new post

Amy xxx

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favourite Childhood Books/Series

Hello everyone!

Today I’m taking part in the Top Ten Tuesday meme, hosted over at the Broke and the Bookish.

Today’s theme is a Throwback freebie, so I decided to talk about some books I loved when I was younger. As there is a little bit of an overlap in theme with my Books Which Made Me a Reader post, I’m only going to mention a few of those here so this is bit different! (Unsurpisingly, once I started thinking I got really indecisive and have ended up with slightly more than 10, and that’s the main reason why I’m not talking about many of the books on my other list)

Let’s get started! 😊

MY SISTER THE VAMPIRE by Sienna Mercer- This is a FABULOUS open-ended series aimed at 9+ (currently 18 books long) about Ivy (a vampire) and Olivia (a human) as they dicover they’re long lost twins, and set about solving the mysteries of their past. I’m really overdue a reread of these; especially since I haven’t yet got round to the latest! The first 10 especially are exceptionally good.

TOTALLY LUCY and RAINBOW BEAUTY by Kelly McKain-  Kelly McKain was one of my very favourite authors when I was younger. Totally Lucy is about a girl called Lucy (shockingly 😱) and her ambitions to be a fashion designer and her friendships and romantic mishaps. They’re in diary format, quite silly and funny and also slightly predictable as you get further on, but they’re a lot of fun.

Rainbow Beauty, aimed at slightly older readers, is about Abbie as her family is shattered and she and her mum/sisters move to Devon to start up a beauty parlour and try and make their lives good again. This is a gorgeous series; the first 2 books are brilliant summery reads and the 3rd, Blueberry Wishes, is totally perfect to get you in the mood for Autumn.

MALORY TOWERS/FIVE FIND-OUTERS by Enid Blyton- I am a massive fan of Enid Blyton (despite a librarian once trying to tell me I shouldn’t be 😑) and these two series are my favourites. Even though I enjoyed the Famous Five books, I think that the Five Find Outers are far superior, and vastly underrated! They’re fabulously plotted mysteries and the characters (particularly Fatty) are absolutely hilarious.

Malory Towers is much better known, and they are about Darrell as she starts Malory Towers (and Pamela Cox has written 6 books about her little suster Felicity’s time at the school too). They’re absolutely excellent!

MY LIFE STARRING MUM by Chloe Rayban- compared with my last choices, this book isn’t very famous. It’s about Holly, who just wants to be a regular girl, but isn’t able to because her mum is world famous popstar Khandi. I reread this fairly recently and didn’t love it too much at all, but when I was young it was my go to funny book.

SCARLETT by Cathy Cassidy– I’m still a huge Cathy Cassidy fan now, especially of the Chocolate Box Girls series, but Scarlett was by far my favourite book of hers growing up. It’s the story of misfit troublemaker Scarlett as she moves in with her estranged dad and his new family in Ireland and what happens when she meets the gorgeous Kian at the local lough. This book is still really wonderful when I reread, and I highly recommend it for the hilarious scenes, the touching ones, and the portrayal of complicated but loving family relationships.

SECRET BREAKERS by HL Dennis- Even though I actually didn’t like this series when I first read it, I grew to adore it. I always describe these as mysteries that aren’t about who dun it or how, it’s about what it means. The 6 book series (which is incredibly well paced) tells the story of ‘Team Veritas’ a team if children and talented ex code crackers as they come together to try and work out the contents of the Voynich Manuscript. The charcaters are all super lovable (my personal favourite is Hunter, who is just delightful) and the mystery keeps you reading even though the chapters/books are quite chunky.

PONY CLUB SECRETS by Stacy Gregg- I adore this series about Issie and her dreams of equestrian superstardom as she grows up in New Zealand, and my love grows even deeper with every reread. This is the series that I was most excited about new releases in (I used to read them the day I got my hands on them) and it features one of my favourite romances of all time with Issie and Aidan 😍

THE 39 CLUES by various authors- I’m not sure why barely anyone has heard of this series, but I would love for everyone to read it! They’re very clever, and are about a family searching for clues that lead to a prize which will make them the most powerful people on earth, and this hunt is linked with their ancestors (who in this alternate world are all members of different branches of the Cahill family). I can’t shout enough about these; if you can, please do read them and come fangirl with me!

MATES, DATES by Cathy Hopkins- This is the 1st teen series I read (even though I was probably too young 😂) and I adored them. They’re about the friendships, relationships and family troubles of a group of four girls in North London, and they’re really addictive and fun. I got in touch with Cathy after reading them and she’s now a family friend, and the dog in one of her latest releases a Home for Shimmer is actually based on and named after mine!

ALLY‘S WORLD by Karen McCombie- These books, which are some of the funniest I’ve ever read, are about Ally Love, who feels like the only normal one in her chaotic family. I adored these books so much that I went to see Karen at the Edinburgh Book Festival and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. I’ve now read almost all of her books (except for a few now out of print and most of her Barrington Stoke titles),  but Ally’s World will always be my favourite (Stella Etc also holds a very special place in my heart)

ADVENTURE ISLAND by Helen Moss- To finish, I want to talk about this series, which I always describe as having changed my life. This blog almost certainly wouldn’t exist without them; they rescued me when I was falling out of love with reading, and they were what made me start reviewing books too. They’re about brothers Scott and Jack being forced to go to Cornwall for a summer holiday (in the 1st books at least, in later ones they’re desperate to get there!) and them solving mind-boggling mysteries with their new friend Emily and her dog Drift. These are truly modern day Enid Blyton style mysteries, and in my opinion, might even be better. I’m also lucky enough to know Helen herself (and have met up for a day of bookish goodness, where she introduced me to another book I absolutely loved; Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear about your favourite childrood reads in the comments below! 

See you soon with a new post 

Amy xxx

The Books Which Made Me a Reader

Hello everyone!

Linked to the guest post I had on Tuesday, by the fantastic Zoe of No Safer Place, today I’ve decided to talk about the books which had the biggest impact on me when I was younger and that made me want to keep reading.

1. Pony Club Secrets by Stacy Gregg – this is one of the first series I remember loving, and I still reread them at least once a year (usually more). I had a thing until I was about 11 that I barely ever read new books and only reread them, but every time a new book about Issie and her dreams of being an equestrian superstar came out I had it devoured in a single night. These have recently been rereleased with STUNNING new covers (which I am only just managing to resist buying), so if you ever fancy a thoroughly enjoyable adventure with horses, romance, friendship and a little bit of magic, these are perfect for you.

2. Mates, Dates series by Cathy Hopkins- even though these sailed over my head quite a bit when I read them, I still really liked them. They, along with other of Cathy’s books (such as Zodiac Girls, which were what interested me in star signs and where most of my knowledge about them comes from), were books that I absolutely loved and are one of the reasons I still love funny contemporaries.

3. Electra Brown series by Helen Bailey- As you’ll know if you read my post last Saturday, another series that had a huge impact on me was Electra Brown.  This series was, and is, incredibly special to me, as it not only made me laugh and cry along with Electra and her friends, but taught me about some important issues. If you’d like to read the post about what this series means to me, click here.

 

4. Ally’s World by Karen McCombie- Even though this wasn’t the first Karen McCombie series I read, and I read them all out of order, these are by far my favourite Karen McCombie books. They’re funny, quirky, light reads with unforgettably wonderful characters and a big family dynamic I just love.

5. The Babysitter’s Club by Ann M. Martin- These are probably quite a weird choice for someone my age, but hear me out. I can’t remember how old I was when I started reading the BSC but I do remember that I thought they sounded pretty boring when they were given to me. I was pretty bored when I picked one up (Mystery #15, Kristy and the Vampires, if you’re interested) and I was also pretty confused as I didn’t know any of the characters, but it made me want to read the rest. I don’t think I’ve read every single one (in my defence, there’s are a lot of them!) but I’ve read the majority, and working my way through these made up most of my reading for over a year. I’ll admit I find a few of the normal ones a little boring these days, but I still love to reread the mysteries and super specials now.

6. Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton- this list would never be complete without a bit of Blyton! I’ve enjoyed most Enid Blytons I’ve read, but Malory Towers have to be very favourite. I think I especially love these as a lot of the characters are actually quite flawed and layered, and I think each book captures the overall spirit of the series but feels unique. My other favourite Enid Blyton books are the extremely underrated Five Find Outers books (MUCH better than the Famous Five in my opinion.) but I didn’t read them till a bit later in my reading life.

7.  Adventure Island by Helen Moss- It’s very rare that a series which promises to be like Enid Blyton delivers, let alone exceed Enid Blyton. I read this in the summer holiday of 2012 and devoured the rest of the series the same year, and waited eagerly for the rest to be released in 2013. These were The Books that introduced me to my love of mysteries, and to this day most of the books I love contain mystery in some way, shape or form. Not to mention the fact that the first review I ever wrote was for Adventure Island, so without these books this blog probably wouldn’t exist!

So, these are the books that have had the biggest impact on me and my reading, what are yours? I’d love to know either in the comments or on Twitter @GoldenBooksGirl.

Amy xxx