Getting To Know...Claire Morley

Today on Getting To Know... I have Claire Morley, author of Tindog Tacloban and owner of My ePublish Book. 

You've recently launched your business www.myepublishbook.com which helps authors get their work epublished and marketed. What inspired you to set this up?

Last year I wrote my own novel, Tindog Tacloban and of course like most authors, I hoped to find an agent and a publisher for it. Despite my attempts, it didn’t happen, so I turned to self-publishing. I took courses, did masses of research and learned all I could about the process before taking the leap into the self-publishing world. Having gone through the whole procedure for myself and having gained so much knowledge, I thought I could help others who don’t have the time or inclination to do it themselves and My ePublish Book was the result.

You wrote your book, Tindog Tacloban, following your experiences while helping people in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, can you tell me more about what happened and why you decided to write a book?

My initial idea when I volunteered in the Philippines was to write articles about my experiences there and how the typhoon had affected the lives of the people who lived through it. I was very fortunate to be able to interview survivors, volunteers and aid workers while I was there and amassed a huge amount of information. When I returned to Cyprus, my partner suggested I write a fictional novel as it would reach more people. So I did. I wanted people to understand that the effects of a natural disaster like this are far-reaching and long-lasting, not just for the few days it features in the news. And I also wanted to highlight how human traffickers will take advantage of situations like this to recruit vulnerable people and children.

Will we see more books written by you in the future?

I do have some ideas, but so far haven’t committed anything to paper. I have quite a lot of other projects going on at the moment and I think the knowledge of how much time and effort is involved in writing a novel means the next novel will have a wait for now.

Do you have a favourite author?

That’s a difficult one. I really enjoyed the Steig Larsson books, Patricia Cornwall and Katie Atkinson have always been favourites, and I’ve read a lot of Robert Ludlum, Dean Koontz and Jack Higgins, hard to choose just one!

You're originally from the UK but you relocated to Cyprus a good few years ago, what made you decide to move and what was the experience like?

I visited North Cyprus on holiday for Christmas 2001 and just loved it, there’s something magical which you can’t explain to people, but when they visit, they get it. I felt it was somewhere I could live, so moved here initially for three months to see what it was like. I remember thinking halfway through that I wouldn’t be going back to the UK after the three months. Fourteen years later, I’m still here!

You have worked as a journalist, is there a completely different way to go about writing a novel compared to an article?

There is a huge difference between the two styles. I remember writing the first few pages of Tindog and giving it to my partner to read. Afterwards he said: ‘Well it’s okay, but it needs more detail, it’s more like an article.’ Those few pages turned into about three chapters. In journalism, you’re presenting the facts short and sharp, a novel you need the reader to see, feel, touch, smell, even taste what you are showing them.

Did you always know that you wanted to work with books or become an author?

I have always loved reading, as a teenager I would read a book a day, often with a torch under the duvet and I love words. Looking up a word in a dictionary can lead to an hour being lost as I find new words! But I had never really thought of writing a book until the experience in Tacloban.

When you're not reading or writing what would we find you doing?

I love sport, these days it’s mainly golf and swimming, when it gets a bit cooler I might start playing tennis again. I love to cook and hold dinner parties and I am usually involved with some form of voluntary work. I was a marketing and event manager in my previous life, so often get asked to help organise events for charities. I also organise weddings for people in the UK wanting to get married in Cyprus.

Do you own a lot of books yourself? If you do, how do you organise your bookshelves?

Sadly, a lot of the books I brought with me from the UK got ruined by a freak rain storm while in storage a few years ago, so I don’t have so many now. I don’t have access to much in the way of hard copy books here, so I rely heavily on my Kindle these days, so not much to organise on my bookshelves, but what I do have is fiction all lumped together in no specific order and then travel books, a lot of travel related books, I love to travel!

What can we look forward to from My ePublish Book in the future?

I am now looking at how to offer hard copy publishing through Amazon, I’m using Tindog as a test project so I can then advise others on how to get their books physically printed.

I would like to thank Helen very much for this opportunity to talk about my new business My ePublish Book, which helps authors to self-publish and promote their books and to introduce one of my clients, whose children’s/YA book has just become available on Amazon.

Thank you so much to Claire for joining me and answering my questions. It's been an absolute pleasure and I look forward to more coming through My ePublish Book!

To connect with Claire

Twittter @clairemorley15
Facebook author page
My Epublish Book Facebook page

To check out Tindog Tacloban it is available for download here

Visit www.myepublishbook.com for more information on the services Claire provides

Tindog Tacloban synopsis

In the aftermath of the fiercest typhoon on record to hit land, banners bearing the words Tindog Tacloban started to appear all over the city. Meaning Rise Up Tacloban, they were a testament to the determination and resilience of the Filipino people as they tried to rebuild their shattered lives. 
For many, things would never be the same: 
Izel Sombilon watched in horror as two of his children were ripped from his arms and swept away by the huge storm waves 
Eleven year old Lika Faye was plunged into the sordid underworld of Webcam Child Sex Tourism. 
For Helen Gable volunteering in the typhoon ravaged area was a chance for her to come to terms with her own personal tragedy. 

My A - Z of Books

I first saw this post over at Shelley Wilson and I thought this would be a lot of fun to do. (I have tried to find the original post but haven't yet, I will post a link when I find it). It's basically a get to know you through your a - z of books. Hopefully you think it's as fun as I did and if you fancy doing this too, please tag me or link me to your answers so I can check them out.

Author you've read the most books from

That will be either Terry Pratchett or Richard Laymon. I adore Terry Pratchett's work and Richard Laymon was my husband's favourite author when we first met so I read through all the books he owned.

Best sequel ever

I think this has to be Half Wild by Sally Green (I haven't read Half Lost yet as I know it will give me all the feels).

Currently reading

I'm currently reading a few books. Half Truths: A Half Bad Story by Sally Green, City Of Glass by Cassandra Clare, The Warren Commission Report: The Official Report On The Assassination Of President John F. Kennedy by the President's Commission and I'm buddy reading the Iliad by Homer with two lovely ladies.

Drink of choice while reading

You can't beat a good cup of tea. It's pretty much the only thing I drink except water. Fun bonus fact -  I only drink coffee on train stations.

E - reader or physical book

100% Physical books. I did finally cave and get a Kindle towards the end of last year, but though it is useful, it will never feel quite the same as having a real book in my hands and being able to turn pages and use a bookmark.

Fictional Character you would probably have dated in high school

Jace Wayland, he's a complete jerk  but good looking and sadly I know on more than one occasion I chose the "bad boy" over the far better choice.

Glad you gave this book a chance

I am definitely glad that I gave Saga a chance, I was put off by the hype and I really didn't think it would be for me at all, but I absolutely love it.

Hidden Gem book

The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch. I read this book years ago and I still think about it now, I definitely think I'll need to re read it at some point very soon.

Important moment in your reading life

I can't really think of something too specific, but I guess discovering the online book world such as booktube, book blogging, Goodreads etc. I found people to share my love of books with.

Just finished

The last three books I finished were The Pillars Of The Earth by Ken Follett, Anything For Her by Jack Jordan and City Of Ashes by Cassandra Clare.

Kind of books you will not read

I'm really not a fan of contemporary (unless its a crime novel, that kind of contemporary is fine), when I read I use it to escape into another world and so I don't want to read about every day things,

Longest book you've read

So far it's War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy at 1444 pages.

Major book hangover

When I finished the Divergent series (Including Four) I didn't know what to do with myself for days as I'd binge read the books and I'd never done that before.

Number of bookcases you own

At the moment we have seven bookcases, but we are in urgent need of more as we have books piling up waiting to be shelved.

One book you've read multiple times

There's very few books that I have re read because I always want to read something new, but one of the ones I have re read is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Preferred place to read

Either curled up on the sofa or tucked up in bed.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you've read

"There's nothing like the smell of old books. They smell like memories" - Yonder (A Southern Haunting #1) by LeeAnne Hansen

Reading regret

I really regret that I haven't got a record of all the books I have read in my life from being a child. Even if I'd started a book journal as a teenager or something like that; I would be better, but I only really thought about it when I discovered Goodreads. I have already set up Goodreads accounts for both Nerdlings so that they don't have that regret (If it's not something they want when they're old enough to choose that would be absolutely fine by me, but at least this gives them the option).

Series you started and need to finish!

The Throne of Glass Series, The Mortal Instruments, The Lunar Chronicles...it goes on, I need to work on that.

Three of your all-time favourite books

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub and The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis.

Unapologetic fangirl for

The Half Bad trilogy by Sally Green!

Very excited for this release more than all others

The follow up to the Six Of Crows, Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I have no words for how excited I am!

Worst bookish habit

I cannot give up on a book, I really need to learn how to stop when I'm not enjoying a book as there are just so many books I want to read.

X marks the spot - Start on the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book

The Animals Of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann (I picked the bookshelf closest to me so I didn't have to get up).

Your latest purchase

My most recent purchase was an Amazon order and I got The 10th Anniversary Life and Death edition of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and 6 of the penguin little black books, The Communist Manifesto, Sinbad The Sailor, The Figure In The Carpet, The Old Man Of The Moon, The Terrors Of The Night and Goblin Market.

Zzzzz snatcher book - Last book that kept you up way too late

It was Anything For Her by Jack Jordan (watch out for a review coming soon as part of the blog tour), I just needed to know what happened.

So there you have all my answers, what do you think? Have you read any of the books I mentioned?

Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was my buddy readers choice for our second read along. (We're now currently reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens) She chose a more modern classic and it was one I have not heard of before. I have heard of One Hundred Years Of Solitude also by Marquez and I do actually own it but I haven't got around to read it as of yet. I will also admit that reading the synopsis it is not a book I would have ever personally picked up, but that's half the fun of doing this buddy read,

The story follows Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza and how they were what I imagine could be called childhood sweethearts who separated and then came back into each others lives at a lot older age. Florentino never gives up on his love for Fermina, but she goes off to marry a successful doctor called Juvenal Urbino who was my favourite character until he died at the end of the first chapter. (This is not a spoiler the information is in the synopsis). You follow both characters as they go through through their lives, in particular Florentino and you learn about them as you read the book.

Fermina was an ok character but I just couldn't get behind her as she just seemed very selfish and childish for the most part. Florentino however I absolutely hated. His character is just awful! He is a mummy's boy and not in a good way, she does anything and everything for him and he gratefully takes advantage of this, His opinion of women was also extremely disrespectful. A direct quote from page 188 of my version "He believed that when a woman says no, she is waiting to be urged before making her final decision"....there is so much wrong with that one sentence. The worst part of him though is his relationships with over 600 women (though he claims to have saved himself for Fermina and is a virgin) and the fact that his final relationship was with a 12 year old girl. Another direct quote from page 272 of my copy "He won her affection, he led her by the hand, with the gentle astuteness of a kind Grandfather, toward his secret slaughterhouse". I really really struggled with the content of the second half of the book as it concentrated more and more on Florentino and his relationships and what happened because of these relationships ( I won't say as I wouldn't like to give out spoilers, but trust me when I say that things don't always end well).

The book itself was absolutely beautifully written and the descriptions were flowery and expressive, but it certainly worked within the story of the book. I'm glad I read it, but I'm equally glad I had someone to read it with me to keep me going through the content I struggled with.

I'm conflicted as to whether I loved or loathed this book and so I've scored it down the middle giving it three stars. For the writing style and skill I think its wonderful, but for the content, the first half is great, but the second half is just not for me. It's definitely  book that will get people talking if they choose to read it.

We started reading this on the 12th of February 2016 and finished it on the 30th of March 2016.
I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads.

Conquering My Everest - War And Peace

Before I get into the review or any of the details of my reading experience etc I would just like thank every single person who got behind me while I have been reading War and Peace. The people who have liked my tweeted updates or my daily updates on Goodreads. The people who have sent me encouraging messages and memes. And especially to my buddy reader who without her I would never ever have gotten through this book! So thank you F, you're amazing!!!

I started reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy on the Readathon Day 2015 which was held on the 24th of January 2015. The readathon was 4 hours long and I was really proud of myself as I managed to read 153 pages and though it was excruciatingly wordy, I was getting through it. As an example of the wordy-ness, this is a sentence from the top of page 6 "As she named the Empress, Anna Pavlovna's face suddenly assumed an expression of profound and sincere devotion and respect, tinged with melancholy, and this happened whenever she mentioned her exalted patroness" - I feel this could have been done in a much more succinct way and in a way that didn't make Anna's face sound like it was performing a drama.

So we move onto April and I finally get around to picking the book up to continue reading it and I manage three pages before I fall fully asleep sat on the sofa.  tried on and off until September and I kept managing the same three pages before falling asleep, whether I was tired or not. In October I had some success and I finally read 26 pages all in one go and then on another day another six, but I just couldn't do it any more. It was so painful to force myself to read it and to keep myself awake, especially as there are so many books that I want to read. So I made the decision that I was going to DNF (did not finish) my first ever book! I made my intention known on Goodreads and then from nowhere one of my Iggle (IGGPPC member) friends said that she had wanted to read War and Pace too and that she would get a copy and catch up with me and we would read it together! I jumped at this as I was upset that I was leaving a book unfinished and had let it beat me, so a few days later we started reading 10 pages a day until new year and then we upped it to 20 pages a day.

Having someone else reading this with me gave me the motivation I needed to get through this tome. It didn't seem as much effort to get through the pages and with deciding to read a set amount of pages a day, it really felt like I was making progress. I am eternally grateful to F for helping me out with this and I look forward to all out future buddy reads to get through books we want to read, because we should read.

Onto the review. I am being very, very generous giving this two stars instead of one. The only reason that I am doing this is that during the times of "peace" there were bits of scandal and gossip that kept me almost interested. There is a whole host of characters that come and go so often that you forget who they are as a lot of them have very similar names. Some characters disappear for a long time, only to come back and die in nothing more than a sentence. One character has more lives than a cat and is pronounced dead so many times, you just don't care any more. There was character that I did like and I was pleased that he got his happy ending that he deserved.

The sections which were from Napoleans point of view, to me felt like they were added as an after thought or were written at a different time by a different person as they read so different to the rest of the story, I discovered through F that War and Peace was originally released as a serial so it is actually possible that these parts were added as an after thought. Towards the end of the book, Tolstoy seems to forget he is telling a story and there is more than one chapter which are just his opinions on war and history. It's very jarring getting to these parts when the chapter before and after are jut continuations of the story as if the middle bit never happened.

As I've said at the start, I would not have got through this book without the support of my buddy reader and I really respect people who can do it alone (and enjoy it!) I'm proud we got through it and I'm certainly glad that I can honestly say that yes I have read War and Peace.

Have you ever read War and Peace? What was your reading experience and did you enjoy it?

I started reading this book on the 24th of January 2015 and finished it on the 10th of February 2016.
I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads

Books I Read - January 2016

I just realised that we're part way through February and I haven't done a round up of the books I read in January!

I started off the year with quite a bang and I managed to read a whopping 12 books as well as continuing to read 20 pages a day of War and Peace (but that's a whole other blog that will be coming your way very soon)!

I read a really wide variety of books in January and it really kept me motivated to read the next book as I'm just picking up whatever I feel like reading at that moment instead of planning out in advance what I should be reading.

The books that I read in January are as follows

1. FullMetal Alchemist (3 in 1 Edition), Vol. 1 by Hiromu Arakawa - 5 Stars
2. The Theseus Paradox by David Videcette -  5 Stars
3. After Anna by Alex Lake - 5 Stars
4. The Fall of Icarus by Ovid - 3 Stars
5. Pet- Friendly Francie Scores a Pooch by Kat E. Erikson - 5 Stars
6. Black Butler, Vol. 12 by Yana Toboso - 5 Stars
7. Black Butler, Vol. 13 by Yana Toboso - 5 Stars
8. Black Butler, Vol. 14 by Yana Toboso - 4 Stars
9. How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters by Andrew Shaffer- 5 Stars
10. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - 5 Stars
11. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - 5 Stars
12. Death Note: Black Edition, Vol. 3 by Tsugumi Ohba - 4 Stars

Two of these books were ones I received for review and I have linked them to their reviews if you feel like going to check them out.

I'm looking forward to keeping up my reading momentum for as long as I can and having a productive February as I have a couple of books for review as well as taking part in a blog tour and having a go at Finish It Feb.

What have you been reading recently? Have you read any of the books that I read in January and if you have, what did you think of them? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!

Finish It Feb 2016

Hello! I'll start off by apologising for such a long gap between blogs. I got hit by the flu quite badly and I just haven't been up to much at all recently, but fingers crossed I'm finally getting my energy back to get stuff done and I can go back to my regular posts, I've a couple of reviews coming up and I'm part of an exciting blog tour in February.

Anyhoo, though as of yet I'm not participating in any specific challenges this year, I have decided to take part in Finish It Feb where you concentrate on finishing books you're half way through or finishing off series that you're part way through reading. It's being hosted by Faye over at A Daydreamer's Thoughts.

I do have a lot going on in February with reviews and blog tours etc but I am planning on trying to read some more books in series that I have started but haven't got through yet. I have a ridiculous amount of series that I have started and then I've been distracted by starting reading another series and I'd just like to at least get to the stage where I've read the books in the series that I own.

I feel this challenge will work well for me as I have a nice variety of books and genres to choose from so I should be able to match my reading mood without feeling restricted. I will be posting a picture of the books I have chosen to pick from for the month on my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook on Monday and I'll also update this blog with the list too at that time, so keep your eye out for all of those! At the end of February I'll do a wrap up of how I managed and if I got any completed.

I'm really looking forward to all the exciting things coming to my blog over the next couple of months and I really hope you enjoy them too.

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So the complete list that I have to choose from are:

Cress by Marissa Meyer
The Kill Order by James Dashner
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas
Clariel by Garth Nix
A Dance With Dragons: After the Feast by George R.R. Martin
I Am Dead by Gareth Wiles
Icon's Request by Gareth Wiles
A Matter of Dark by Gareth Wiles
Where the Birds Hide at Night by Gareth Wiles
Death Note: Black Edition, Vol. 4 by Tsugumi Ohba

As I said a nice varied selection to choose from! Here's hoping that I can get through a good chunk of them. I've linked each on to their Goodreads page so if you want to check any of them out you can do.

Pet-Friendly Francie Scores A Pooch - Kat E. Erikson

I was lucky enough to receive an e-book copy of Pet-Friendly Francie Scores A Pooch direct from the author Kat E. Erikson in exchange for an honest review.

I read a lot of children's books having two nerdlings and so I thought it would be really interesting to actually review one. I'll also be adding a mini blog at some time in the future with my 7 year old's own review of it which I think is going to be really fun.

The story follows Francie Waggit and her dad after they meet a stray dog at a 49ers game and they are giving Scrimmy (the dog) a trial period. There are a lot of fun hi-jinx throughout and all the characters are extremely loveable. As a parent I found the writing really easy to read both in my head and aloud, which I think is a great aspect of any children's book even if they are aimed at the slightly older child. There were also a lot of lessons which can be learnt throughout the book, which I will go into more detail in a moment,

I liked that the book covered things like the fact that Francie's mum was working abroad and so she had been away for around 4 months at the time of the book and how Francie and her dad dealt with her absence and the feelings about it, without going into too much depth. It also covers the fact that the family had to make sacrifices (renting out the top of the house) to be able to live the way that made them happy and do the things they wanted to do as well as working hard.

Pet-Friendly Francie as I said previously teaches a lot of lessons, there are the real knowledge lessons given by the teacher about dogs and wolves and their packs and then there are the life lessons. Francie shows kindness and love for all animals and humans (diversity is covered) and how it is good to be nice, even if it's to a bully as they might have their own problems. All of this is fantastic and covered in such a way that a child can understand and learn from it while it all being a very fun story to both tell and read,

I really enjoyed this book and I will be telling my other mum friends about it. My 7 year old loved it too and I'm going to let her write her own review when she's finished re reading it so you can see from a child's perspective what she picked up and what she thought of everything.

I started reading this on the 10th of January 2016 and finished it on the 12th of January 2016.
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads.

October 2015 Book Round Up

Ooof I am so behind! I've been very busy, I've been on holiday and I've also been busy reading a book for an author before being sent to the publisher which has been an interesting but time consuming experience. It feels like I didn't read much in October but I definitely read some interesting books.

Book 1 - Batgirl/Robin: Year One by Chuck Dixon - 5 Stars
Book 2 - Black Butler, Vol. 9 by Yana Toboso - 5 Stars
Book 3 - Death Note: Black Edition, Vol. 1 by Tsugumi Ohba - 5 Stars
Book 4 - The Tales of Beedle The Bard by J.K. Rowling - 3 Stars
Book 5 - Half Lies by Sally Green - 4 Stars
Book 6 - Cyclops, Vol. 1: Starstruck by Greg Rucka - 5 Stars
Book 7 - Infinite Crisis: Fight For The Multiverse by Dan Abnett - 4 Stars
Book 8 - A Death In The Family: A Detective Kubu Mystery by Michael Stanley - 4.5 Stars
Book 9 - Black Butler, Vol. 10 by Yana Toboso - 5 Stars
Book 10 - Black Butler, Vol 11 by Yana Tobos - 5 Stars
Book 11 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 2 Stars

I'm hoping to be back blogging regularly from this week onwards and I have two reviews in the process and coming out in the next couple of days. I may also blog about the decision I have made about War and Peace so keep a look out for that.

What is everyone else reading at the moment?

An Update on my 2015 Reading Challenge

At the beginning of the year I decided that I was going to participate in both the Book Riot Read Harder challenge and the PopSugar Ultimate Reading challenge as I believed that it would widen my horizons and book choices. I made a list of all the books I wanted to read to accomplish this and spent time considering what would be the best choices for me.

I was really excited by the whole thing and at the start I flew through quite a few of the books on my list, but as I got further into the year, I just wasn't in the mood to read the choices of books that I had made so I changed up some of my original choices with books that I did want to read but that still fit the challenge criteria. As more time went on the books I wanted to read no longer fit under any of the criteria to fit on my challenge list and I started to begrudge reading any of them, even though I do want to read them all, just not at this point in time. Because of this I went into a reading slump for a couple of months which was tough to get through.

So I've made a decision, I'm not going to be completing my 2015 Reading Challenge that I set for myself, I have hit my target of how many books I wanted to read this year (100) and I have thoroughly enjoyed, for the most part, the books I have read. I'm doing this so that I can carry on enjoying my reading experience which is the most important thing to me. I have found that this sort of challenge just doesn't work for me as I found it very restrictive, which is the complete opposite of the reason I was doing it in the first place. This is also the reason that I don't set monthly tbr lists as I never know what genre I'm going to be in the mood for. I do still think that it's a great way for people to expand their reading experience it is just not for me.

If I do read any books that fit in before the end of the year, I'll definitely still blog about them and update my list, but if not, I really don't mind. If you'd like to see how I did, click here for my original 2015 Reading Challenge post.

Have you ever participated in a reading challenge? How did you find it?

My Review of Sigmund Shaw: A Steampunk Adventure

I received an e-copy of Sigmund Shaw: A Steampunk Adventure directly from the author Mark C. King in return for an honest review. Thank you Mark.

I have never read a steampunk book before, but I have always wanted to delve into that world and see what all the fuss is about. I love the Victorian time period and I'm intrigued by the machinery and fashion relating to steampunk so I thought it would be a good fit of genre for me. Sigmund Shaw I feel was a perfect book for me to read first!

I want to start off by saying just how much I absolutely adore the character of Sigmund, he is just such a nice guy and its so nice to see. Yes he has faults and he has done things that aren't right, but he has done them for the right reasons and in ways to cause as little hurt to people as possible. He is a good brother, uncle, brother in law and friend. Sigmund will put the people he loves first at all times he is just so selfless and he'll do whatever needs doing to get the job done. I feel he has been written so well that I have become really attached to him while reading his story.

I do also like a lot (if not all) of the other characters, Sarah is a badass, Harry is a sweetheart and I love Holmes and the fact he is annoyed by his name (nice touch!). I feel they are all well thought out and written beautifully so that they all stand out with their own personality and are not just 2 dimensional.

The story is fantastic from the start and I was gripped from page 1. Sigmund is asked to do something that will possibly help his niece walk for the first time and what follows is a story of adventure, mystery, murder and war. The writing is fast paced but you never lose what is happening and everything is shown and not told. I didn't see the end coming till not long before Sigmund and his crew figured it out themselves, so King kept me guessing for a long time and I followed the twists and turns at the same time as the characters.

The machines that are brought out towards the end of the book are amazingly described and I could picture perfectly these mammoth war and flying machines. I actually also preferred reading the battles using this kind of weaponry than your typical gun, tank etc. In some books that have war scenes I tend to skip over the fighting as it can sometimes be confusing and sometimes it can be boring, but the fights in this book didn't fall into either category.

I only really have one ever so small criticism of this book and that is when Sigmund and his crew have figured things out, they go to tell someone of importance (I'm being vague to avoid spoilers) and then they explain in full everything that has transpired up until that point. I remembered and had understood already everything that they then explained and I feel it could have been left at the characters explained while the important person listened in disbelief or some such before asking questions. But that is just my opinion and it didn't take away any of my enjoyment of the story.

Overall a fantastic book and I feel lucky to have been asked to read this. I recommend that you read this book even if you're not a steampunk fan but you enjoy a good mystery and crime drama. I look forward to reading more both from this author and from the genre in the future.

And one last thing I started reading this book on the 30th of July and finished reading it on the 19th of September. The only reason it took this long was due to the fact it was an e-book, I only have my Nook at the side of my bed and I don't use it every night. Had I had my hands on a paper book I would have read this in one or two sittings at the most because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads

September 2015 Book Round Up

As soon as there was a chill in the air I immediately wanted to start reading crime thrillers and psychological mysteries etc, so my YA and fantasy were put to one side so I could indulge in what I class as my guilty pleasure (though you should never feel guilty about what you read). I haven't got much reading done this month as the Nerdish family has been very busy but I've managed to sneak in quite a few graphic novels/trade paper backs and I finally read the first Sword Art Online book which the hubby has been wanting me to read. I haven't changed the format of my round up this month, but look forward to seeing something different at the end of October!

Book 1 - You by Caroline Kepnes - 3 Stars
Book 2 - Black Butler, Vol 6 by Yana Toboso - 5 Stars
Book 3 - Batgirl, Volume 2: The Flood by Bryan Q. Miller - 4 Stars
Book 4 - Remember Me This Way by Sabine Durrant - 5 Stars
Book 5 - Sword Art Online: Aincrad, Vol. 1 by Reki Kawahara - 5 Stars
Book 6 - Iron Fist: The Living Weapon, Vol. 1: Rage by Kaare Andrews - 2 Stars
Book 7 - Sigmund Shaw:  A Steampunk Adventure by Mark C. King - 4.5 Stars
Book 8 - Action Comics, Vol 1: Superman and the Men of Steel by Grant Morrison - 3 Stars
Book 9 - Siege by Brian Michael Bendis - 4 Stars
Book 10 - Winter Soldier, Vol. 1: The Longest Winter by Ed Brubaker - 5 Stars
Book 11 - Black Butler, Vol 7 by Yana Toboso - 5 Stars
Book 12 - Black Butler, Vol 8 by Yana Toboso - 4 Stars
Book 13 - The Winter Soldier, Vol. 1: The Longest Winter by Ed Brubaker - 5 Stars

What books have you been reading in September? Do you have a TBR for October? Let me know, I'm always happy to talk books.

My Review of You

I'm really trying hard to work on my 2015 reading challenge as I'm really far behind on it and I still want to fully complete it by year end. This is meaning that I'm changing up some of the choices I made at the beginning of the year so that the books fit into the current genre mood I'm in. Overall I'm only 4 books off hitting the amount of books I'd set myself to read this year (I wanted to read 100 books) but out of those only 21 of them are from the 70 books for the challenge.

The book I chose for "a book with a one word title" was You by Caroline Kepnes. I was really excited to see this in The Works in their 3 books for £5 offer as I had heard so many good things about it and the whole concept sounded really new and interesting, getting a view from the eyes of the stalker rather than the stalkee. There are some very minor spoilers ahead, but if you've read anything about this book, you'll probably already know.

The start of the book was fantastic, I felt incredibly uncomfortable reading from Joe's perspective and the things going through his mind. The language used was so far from what I would use or hear, especially when the C-word was dropped in the first few pages or so. My hubby kept asking if I was enjoying the book and all I could say was "I don't know" the main character gave me the creeps and I didn't like being in his head but obviously that meant that Kepnes had done a brilliant job of portraying Joe. The book is exceptionally well written and it was definitely a unique way of telling this kind of story.

All of the characters in this book are absolutely awful human beings (apart from Ethan but we barely see him) and they have no redeeming qualities. Joe is awful for obvious reasons. Guinevere or Beck is a selfish, flaky and entitled brat. As for Beck's friends, each one is worse than the last. I know a few people who have read this have felt sorry for Joe and want him to succeed, this isn't my opinion but I certainly understand why they would feel like that with all the people he meets.

I got around half way through the book and I started to think the story started to lose credibility and believability, The story to begin with, was very creepy and made you seriously look at the mark you are leaving online that makes it so easy for the wrong people to find out everything about you. When Joe began on his kidnapping and murderous ways (also finding out about previous murders) it just lost the magic that had been created and just no longer captured my imagination the same way it had to start with.

Sadly the book ended up falling flat for me and it just wasn't what I had expected or wanted. I have since finishing the book found out that this isn't a stand alone which I feel takes away from the uniqueness even more, however being a completionist if I see the next book/books I will probably pick them up, just to see where this story can be taken as I feel everything has already been covered. I would love to be proven wrong and for me to get the experience that I wanted out of You from the next book (Hidden Bodies).

Overall a brilliantly written piece that in my opinion is let down by the story told.

I started reading this book on the 30th of August 2015 and finished it on the 2nd of September 2015
I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads

Red Blooded - My Review of Red Queen

The book I have ended up reading for the Popsugar challenge of "a book with a colour in the title" was a book that I hadn't planned on reading at all due to hearing so many mixed reviews and that book is Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I was in Waterstones with my husband and they had their buy one get one half price offer on and he suggested I pick up this and another. (I also picked up The Kill Order by James Dashner, yes I'm a sucker for punishment)

I've heard a lot of people saying that this book is just a combination of everyone's favourite dystopian novels and yes as you read through you can see comparisons to other books such as the Hunger Games etc but that doesn't change the fact that the book is well written and a very enjoyable read.

I really liked all of the characters both main and peripheral, everyone had a personality and a place where they fit into the story. I enjoyed the mess that was the love interest in the story, it made a nice change from a straight forward love triangle and I still am not 100% sure who I'm rooting for, which normally by now I would have definitely decided on who I'd like the main character to be with (if anyone).

Though the story isn't unique, I thought it was really interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more about the world and the people in it. I also thought the betrayal and twist was done incredibly well, sadly I'd been spoilt as to the fact that there was a twist but luckily not what the actual twist was. Even though I knew it was coming I was still really shocked as I couldn't make up my mind who would be the betrayer and what would come from it.

I thought the story was paced well and built up to all the action at the end of the book which has left a perfect opening for the next instalment in this series (trilogy?)

Though it was not the book I set out to read, I'm very glad that I did and I will be recommending it to other people and picking up the next book.

I started reading this book on the 27th of August 2015 and finished reading it on the 30th of August 2015.
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads