Recently I've Read - August 2016

Searching for a Silver Lining - Miranda Dickinson

 

 

The Blurb
It began with a promise . . .

Matilda Bell is left heartbroken when she falls out with her beloved grandfather just before he dies. Haunted by regret, she makes a promise that will soon change everything . . .

When spirited former singing star Reenie Silver enters her life, Mattie seizes the opportunity to make amends. Together, Mattie and Reenie embark on an incredible journey that will find lost friends, uncover secrets from the glamorous 1950s and put right a sixty-year wrong.

Touchingly funny, warm and life-affirming, this is a sparkling story of second chances. Perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern, Searching for a Silver Lining will take you on a trip you'll never forget.

My review of this book will be posted on publication day on October 20th...but I loved it!



 

 

Aimee and the Heartthrob - Ophelia London

 

 

The Blurb

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains references to drug use, drinking, some sexual content, and lots and lots of kissing. Its swoonworthy hero may ruin all others for you. He never noticed her before, but now she's all he can see…

 

 Miles Carlisle is every teen girl’s fantasy. His rugged good looks and exotic British accent have helped catapult his boy band, Seconds to Juliet, to super-stardom. But after two disastrous and very public breakups, Miles isn’t interested in dating just any girl; he wants The One. And the only girl he’s interested in is not only his best friend’s little sister - and off-limits - but won’t even give him the time of day…

 

As a kid, Aimee Bingham had a huge thing for Miles…until he made fun of her for always tagging along. Now that she’s outgrown both him and her pigtails, the prospect of spending two weeks on tour with the childhood crush who broke her heart isn’t exactly enticing. Except now Miles seems interested. Very interested. And no matter how hard Aimee tries to resist him, her crush is definitely making a comeback.

 

But everyone knows that falling for a heartthrob is a backstage pass to heartbreak…

 

I blogged about this book in my post #Boybandlit which you can find here.

 

#PleaseRetweet - Emily Benet

 

 

The Blurb
Social media whizz kid, May Sparks has landed her dream job. Well, not quite, but the salary is great and all May has to do is handle the online profiles of C – list celebrities who have the tendency to say inappropriate things. Easy, right? #wrong

May’s clients include an ex big brother star (who she's definitely not going to sleep with #neversaynever), a disgraced TV presenter (who wants May to sort out his marriage as well as his Twitter account), and a woman who once flashed her boobs on X-factor. They're all relying on her to turn them into stars. But they're not going to make her job easy.

Sucked in to her virtual world, May loses grip on her real life. Friendships suffer and romance looks increasingly unlikely. If she doesn't log off soon, will there be any one real left?

I read this book as part of the #SummerImpulse reading challenge.  You can read my full review of it here.



 

A Library of Lemons - Jo Cotterill

 

 

The Blurb

A poignant story about dealing with grief through the magic of reading and friendship.

 

Calypso's mum died a few years ago and her emotionally incompetent Dad can't, or won't, talk about Mum at all. Instead he throws himself into writing his book A History of the Lemon. Meanwhile the house is dusty, there's never any food in the fridge, and Calypso retreats into her own world of books and fiction.

 

 When a new girl, Mae, arrives at school, the girls' shared love of reading and writing stories draws them together. Mae's friendship and her lively and chaotic home - where people argue and hug each other - make Calypso feel more normal than she has for a long time. But when Calypso finally plucks up the courage to invite Mae over to her own house, the girls discover the truth about her dad and his magnum opus - and Calypso's happiness starts to unravel.

 

My review of A Library of Lemons will be online soon.

 

Idol Dreams - Arina Tanemura*

 

 

The Blurb

At age 31, office worker Chikage Deguchi feels she missed her chances at love and success. When word gets out that she's a virgin, Chikage is humiliated and wishes she could turn back time to when she was still young and popular. She takes an experimental drug that changes her appearance back to when she was 15. Now Chikage is determined to pursue everything she missed out on all those years ago--including becoming a star!

 

For teen audiences.

 

You can read my thoughts on Idol Dreams in my post My Month in Manga - August, coming soon.

 

What have you been reading recently?  I'd love to know!

 

#boybandlit

Books about music are one of my major weaknesses so when I found about #boybandlit chat on Twitter I was in my element.  A group of likeminded readers and authors chatted about anything and everything to do with boybands and books for an hour (although it felt like five minutes, it was one of those strange time-twisting moments) and it made me desperate to devour even more books about music.

During 2016 I've read and reviewed (and loved ) Love Song by Sophia Bennett and Songs About a Girl by Chris Russell, and I've also read...

Kill The Boyband - Goldy Moldavsky

 

 

 

The Blurb

Fangirls get a bad rap all the time - people say we're weird, hysterical, obsessed, certifiable. But those people don't understand.

Just because we're fangirls, doesn't mean we're crazy.

It's important you know that up front. Because everything I'm about to tell you is going to seem . . . well, crazy.

From thrilling debut author Goldy Moldavsky comes Kill The Boy Band, a pitch-black, hilarious take on modern fandom and the badass girls who have the power to make - or break - the people we call 'celebrities'.

The Review



Kill The Boyband has been a big YA book in 2016 and as such I had high hopes for it. As an out and out fangirl I was especially interested in how the girls were going to be portrayed.

I need to clarify that this is a very different book when it comes to bands and fandoms, exploring the obsessive (and possessive) nature of the fangirl.  I was a bit confused as to whether it was meant to be satirical, especially as the digs being made were predominantly at The Ruperts fans, when I imagine many of the target readership are likely to be fans of boybands themselves, or if it was supposed to be funny - either way something was lacking.  I also had some issues with sweeping generalisations about groups within the novel, the overweight, the gay, the rich kids...which again I assume were satirical but didn't quite come across that way.

There were elements of this book I liked - the language and dialogue and the dynamics between the band members were done especially well - and it has stayed with me since reading it in the spring.  However, I'm not sure it's a book I'd return to again because of the issues I mentioned above.

Aimee and the Heartthrob - Ophelia London

The Blurb

 

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains references to drug use, drinking, some sexual content, and lots and lots of kissing. Its swoonworthy hero may ruin all others for you. He never noticed her before, but now she's all he can see…

 

 Miles Carlisle is every teen girl’s fantasy. His rugged good looks and exotic British accent have helped catapult his boy band, Seconds to Juliet, to super-stardom. But after two disastrous and very public breakups, Miles isn’t interested in dating just any girl; he wants The One. And the only girl he’s interested in is not only his best friend’s little sister - and off-limits - but won’t even give him the time of day…

 

As a kid, Aimee Bingham had a huge thing for Miles…until he made fun of her for always tagging along. Now that she’s outgrown both him and her pigtails, the prospect of spending two weeks on tour with the childhood crush who broke her heart isn’t exactly enticing. Except now Miles seems interested. Very interested. And no matter how hard Aimee tries to resist him, her crush is definitely making a comeback.

 

But everyone knows that falling for a heartthrob is a backstage pass to heartbreak…

 

The Review

 

I sometimes find the thought of starting a series daunting, especially at the moment as I've not got as much time for reading recently as I've had in the past.  However, I read this book as part of a readalong with another blogger (Hi Sofia!) and quickly found myself immersed in Aimee and Miles' story. 

 

It's unapologetically romance, and I loved that it didn't try to be anything else.  It reminded me a lot of the Sweet Dreams books I devoured as a teenager - a sprinkling of angst, a forbidden romance and a lot of kissing. 

 

I'm definitely interested in reading the rest of this series and finding out more about the rest of the band.  If you're looking for all-out boyband romance, this could be the series for you.

 

My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend - Eleanor Wood 

 

 

The Blurb

 

Geeky girl meets famous boy . . . what could go wrong?

Tuesday Cooper is happy being normal -doing her a-levels and indulging in her twin obsessions: buying weird vintage clothes in charity shops and writing her beloved music blog (which nobody ever reads). Her love for music started when she was thirteen and had a massive crush on Jackson Griffith, teen rock god and SUPER HOT LOVE OF HER LIFE. Now Tuesday's eighteen and has moved on to fancying boys in real life and Jackson went off the celebrity radar years ago.
So it can't be him that's messaging her on her blog, can it?

From one girl's computer to the pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival, this is a love story for anyone who has ever wished that someone would sing a love song just for them.

Dreams can come true . . .

 

The Review



 

This was a book I stumbled across at the library and picked up on a whim - and I'm so glad I did!  Eleanor Wood has done a brilliant job of writing a fun, romantic, quirky novel about an ordinary girl who meets a superstar band member.  Tuesday and Jackson end up in a complicated situation where fame and normality collide, resulting in a story far more poignant than I would have expected. 

 

I laughed out loud on more than one occasion and had a lump in my throat during the darker moments - this YA book had it all.  If you love books about bands, you really need to give this one a try.

Have you read any books about singer/bands that I really need to read?  I'd love any recommendations!