Time Between Us

 

"Make every second count."

 

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Published 25 October 2012 Doubleday

 

Fans of The Time Traveller's Wife, this is the book for you. Non-fans of The Time Traveller's Wife (me) - give it a go.

 

Ok...so not everything is explained. As you read, you end up with a list of hows? and whys? which make the story feel incomplete but put that aside (if you can) and you get a very sweet romantic story.

 

Anna lives in Chicago. She's a cross-country runner and dreams of travelling the world. It is 1995.

 

Bennett lives in San Francisco. He skaeboards and...he can time travel. He dreams of staying in one place. It is 2012.

 

When events send Bennett back, he meets Anna and...you'll just have to read the rest yourself!

 

The best part of this book are the characters. Anna and Bennett are a joy to read about.

 

Tamara lives near San Francisco and is working on her second novel. 

 

 

 



22 Britannia Road

 

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

Published 22 April 2011 Fig Tree

 

 

Picked this one from the library and its been sitting on my TBR pile for some time. When I did *finally* get around to reading it, what a treat!

 

Silvana and her son Aurek arrive in England at the end of WW2 to join husband Janusz, a soldier in the Polish army who, having been based in England has decided to make it their home.

 

 

Janusz has bought them a house in Ipswich and works hard making a proper English house and garden for his wife and son who he had not seen for six years. But six years is a long time, and time changes everything.

 

I enjoyed this novel. The social history was interesting - the learning of customs, the neighbours' reactions, Aurek starting school. It is a portrait of post-war family life. Did not see the shattering confession coming and my heart went out to Janusz who had been trying hard to make his family whole again.The father/son relationship is very well portrayed - how Aurek saw this man as 'the enemy' coming between him and his mother. I can fully recommend this powerful family drama.

 

Amanda lives in France. 22 Britannia Road is her debut novel.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

 

 

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Published 17 January 2013 Hutchinson

 

 

I put this book on my TBR list after reading about it in The Bookseller.

 

Hattie Shepherd is fifteen, newly married and bound for Philadelphia with husband August, full of dreams of a new life. Her story spans sixty years. Sixty years of heartbreak, hardship and loss.

 

This is not a cheerful read, I was welling up at the first chapter (read the book and you will see why...). The book is a snapshot of social history in 20th century America. It depicts Hattie's life, and the lives of many other women of the time who suffered the same, or worse.

 

Oprah Winfrey likens it to Toni Morrison and says "I can't remember when I read anything that moved me quite this way...".

The tragic events (child death, infidelity, illness, war) happening to the Shepherd family were told in a very matter-of-fact way. I would be sitting open mouthed at an occurrence and the book would stream into another family tale. This shows these events as common occurrences - that they have happened before and will happen again. Very sad, very human, very powerful.

Ayana was born in Philadelphia and has written since she was a child.



Geek Girl



"My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek."

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

(PROOF)

Published 28 February 2013 HarperCollins



I *love* Harriet. She is a smart, bright, quick teenager with a memory built for retaining facts and figures and she has (like every one of us) a whole heap of insecurities. In being herself, she becomes a target for bullies. Only her best friend Nat brightens her day.

Nat has always dreamt of being a model but when its Harriet that's 'spotted' at the Clothes Show, their friendship is put to the test. Harriet knows its her best friend's dream, but its also a chance for Harriet to change her life - to be something other than a Geek Girl. Can Harriet Manners go from Geek to Chic?

I flew through this book - it is great teen fiction. Brilliant characterisation and bang-on hilariously funny dialogue. I can see this being a big hit in school and public libraries alike. It plays on everyone's dream - the chance to change, to be someone else, to be new. But, is the grass always greener? Read Geek Girl and find out!

Many thanks for the proof copy - and my Geek Girl badge which I attached to my work badge on publication day and have yet to take off!

Holly Smale is a fab new voice and I cannot wait to read more from her. Geek Girl is semi-autobiographical, Holly did model as a teenager and has now found her path as a writer http://www.thewritegirl.co.uk. She is currently working on the sequel to Geek Girl - woohoo!







Winter Wonderland



Winter Wonderland by Belinda Jones

Published 8 November 2012 Hodder

What a delightful cover image of Quebec's Winter Carnival!

I chose to read Winter Wonderland as I have LOVED Belinda Jones' books from the day I laughed aloud in a busy park in Stratford-Upon-Avon whilst reading I Love Capri. She never disappoints. 

Krista Carter us a writer for Va-Va-Vacation! travel planning website and has gone to Quebec, Canada for her latest research. We follow Krista as she slides her way through a night in an ice hotel, dog sledding, a snow bath and plenty of Caribou!

Winter Wonderland is a fast, fun and festive chick-lit read. The enchanting descriptions of Quebec and Toronto, the people, the food are so evocative a visit there has been added to my bucketlist. Armchair travelling at its best!

Krista is a likeable character. I found I was really rooting for her and the book takes a few twists and turns before we find who will melt her heart. Gilles, Annique, Jacques and Sebastien are a fab supporting crowd; their own stories adding greatly to the plot, and not forgetting the mysterious Malhomme of course!

So snuggle down with a fresh cream topped maple hot chocolate and enter a Winter Wonderland.

Belinda's next novel The Travelling Tea Shop is due Autumn 2013. Cake, cake and more cake, this time with Krista's friend Laurie in New England. I can't wait!

Viridian

"Humanity is overrated."

Viridian by Susan Gates

Published 11 October 2012 A&C Black

This was a pure cover choice. Its such a strikingly sinister image I wanted to know more.

Everyone's changing, its the lastest thing! In an effort to save the planet, a virus has been created turning humans into a human/plant hybrid - a Verdan. Viridian and his family made the change but some humans are immune to changing, like Jay and his father and some are just not willing to. As resentment builds, an army of Cultivars is formed with Viridian as its leader, intent on wiping humans from the planet. Will they succeed?

This is a very different teen science fiction novel. I love the scientific element to the storyline - plant physiology, growth and survival. I found it to add to my enjoyment of reading rather than being instrusive.

There were some parts of the novel that let me down. The charater relationships seemed a little forced and too coincidental but overall I would recommend it. It would be a great tie-in with science projects and it has enough action to hold a reader's interest.

Its sequel, Venus Angel is released October 2013.

Welcome

Welcome to Literally Addicted.

I'm Tiff. I am a reader, a booklover, I am lucky enough to work in a public library and I am part-way through an Information and Library Studies degree.

I buy books. I borrow books. I tweet about books and now I blog about them too.

Most importantly, I read books.

What are you reading?