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Tales Post – British Books Challenge – June

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Welcome to the British Books Challenge 2017 – June!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

Have we all enjoyed the glorious sunshine the past few weeks or been stuck in a rain storm?  Either way we are sure to be reading some amazing books in the coming month!

And again so many amazing reviews linked up for the May British Books Challenge! You all did SO amazing!  I’m so glad to see you are all enjoying the challenge so much!  I heart you all very much!

Also a little apology from me for getting this linky up so late – the past couple of weeks have been super busy and blogging has unfortunately suffered in it’s place but onwards and upwards!

48 reviews of books by British Authors were linked up in May!

That makes a grand total of 457 reviews of books by British Authors in total since we all started in January!

*group hug*

And thank you so much for embracing our author and debut of the month for May as well as all of the other amazing books you all read!

Thank you all!

Lets pull out or sun chair and jump to June!

About The British Books Challenge

The British Books Challenge is a reading challenge that will be running here on Tales Of Yesterday between 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017 and the main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors.

I have created a #BritishBooksChallenge17 summary page here which will also keep track of my own progress in the challenge too.

If you have not signed up yet there’s still plenty of time – find out more about the challenge here

Please note you can sign up to the challenge at any time throughout the year but only sign up entries made on or before the 31st December 2016 will be entered to win the sign up prize.

This is the first time I am hosting this particular challenge and I have lots of things planned for us all!

I have been in touch with lots of publishers who have kindly donated lots of lovely prize packs for us throughout the year for the challenge!

Right lets get the ball for June rolling starting with the winner of the May Prize Pack!

With thanks to the lovely people at Stripes Publishing for May’s brilliant bumper prize pack contained the following four books…..

All valid reviews and links by British Authors that were linked up on the May linky here were eligible to be entered to win the May prize pack. With people who read any books by our Author Of The Month, Kat Ellis and/or our Debut of the month, Mold and the Poison Plot by Lorraine Gregory, earning extra entries.

But there can only be one winner!

And the winner is…….

**TBA – I’m still catching up on your fab reviews from May so I will randomly pick a winner asap and announce / contact – sorry guys**

Congratulations!

Please email me your address so that I can arrange for your prize to be sent out to you!

I hope everyone also enjoyed all the extra giveaways and posts I ran on my blog or via twitter over May too 🙂

June’s prize pack has been kindly donated by the lovely people at Walker Books and contains the following 5 books (and we snuck some American authors in the prize pack too)……

A powerful and moving novel about bravery from the Guardian’s “writer to watch” Non Pratt, perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell, John Green and Holly Bourne. How far is too far when it comes to the people you love? Claire Casey hates being the centre of attention. But if it means getting Sef Malik to notice her, it’s a risk she’s happy to take. Sef is prepared to do anything to help his recently disabled brother. But this means putting Claire’s love – and life – on the line. Because when you’re willing to risk everything, what is there left to lose?

The dying wish of 16-year-old Lina’s mother was for her daughter to live in Tuscany and get to know her father, whom Lina has never met. “Howard is the best man I’ve ever known,” her mother says, “he’ll keep you safe.” Why did her mother wait so long to tell her about him? Lina has a happy life in Seattle and doesn’t want to leave. Shortly after she arrives at Howard’s home, Lina meets Sonya, who gives Lina a diary that belonged to Lina’s mother, the one she had kept while she was a photography student in Florence. While Lina is living her life and exploring Tuscany with her handsome neighbour, Ren, she follows in the footsteps of her mother and gets to know her as never before. She also finds out the truth about her father. Mostly she finds out about herself.

Combining Jane Austen’s high society and Cassandra Clare’s supernatural underworld, Alison Goodman’s second novel in the Lady Helen trilogy will delight fans of historical fiction and fantasy.

Brighton, July 1812. Lady Helen Wrexhall is spending the summer season in Brighton, where she will continue her Reclaimer training and prepare for her duties as a fully fledged member of the Dark Days Club. Her mentor, Lord Carlston, believes that a Grand Deceiver has arrived in England, and there is no time to lose in preparing Helen to fight it.

As she rushes to complete her training, Helen finds herself torn between her loyalty to Carlston and the orders of the Home Office, who wish to use her to further their own agenda. Meanwhile, the Duke of Selburn seems determined to try and protect her, irrespective of the risk to himself. With so much at stake, Helen must make an agonizing choice between duty and devotion.

A selection of the world’s finest writers for young people – in conjunction with Amnesty International UK – explore the rights and freedoms still lacking in today’s society, covering issues such as gender equality, race hatred, surveillance, identity and freedom of speech. Contributors include: Tony Birch, John Boyne, Sita Brahmachari, Kate Charlesworth, Sarah Crossan, Neil Gaiman, Jack Gantos, Ryan Gattis, Matt Haig, Frances Hardinge, Jackie Kay, AL Kennedy, Liz Kessler, Elizabeth Laird, Amy Leon, Sabrina Mahfouz, Chelsea Manning, Chibundu Onuzo, Bali Rai, Chris Riddell, Mary and Brian Talbot, Christie Watson and Tim Wynne-Jones.

In this YA contemporary romance, a sixteen-year-old boy must learn to swim against an undercurrent of grief – or be swept away by it.

Otis and Meg were inseparable until her family abruptly moved away after the terrible accident that left Otis’s little brother dead and both of their families changed for ever. Since then, it’s been three years of radio silence, during which time Otis has become the unlikely protégé of eighteen-year-old Dara – part drill sergeant, part friend – who’s hell-bent on transforming Otis into the Olympic swimmer she can no longer be. But when Otis learns that Meg is coming back to town, he must face some difficult truths about the girl he’s never forgotten and the brother he’s never stopped grieving. As it becomes achingly clear that he and Meg are not the same people they were, Otis must decide what to hold on to and what to leave behind. Quietly affecting, this compulsively readable debut novel captures all the confusion, heartbreak, and fragile hope of three teens struggling to accept profound absences in their lives.

A huge thank you to Walker Books for donating this super brilliant Prize Pack for June!

I also have a couple of special post from these authors going up throughout June too!

One winner will be picked at random from the list of valid reviews submitted each month and will be announced in the following month’s review link up post. The winner will then have 1 week to contact me to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen. Obviously the more reviews you enter the greater your chance of winning and don’t forget you gain extra entries for any reviews by Debut or Author of the Month for June! It doesn’t matter if you only review one book (or even skip a month or two in the challenge!) you’ll still be entered for each review you do write.

Please Remember…..

Only participants with a valid sign up page that has been linked here are eligible for entry to the monthly prize packs mentioned on this monthly link up page – you can still sign up here

When you add your link to the Mr. Linky below please make sure you link directly to your review, not just to your blog/vlog (invalid links will be deleted)

Books must have been read and reviewed in 2017 to count towards the challenge so those books you read last year but reviewed in 2017 don’t count!  Only books reviewed in June on your blog will count towards the challenge (you could have read them in earlier in the year though – I’m feeling kind 🙂 )

Also, please make sure that the reviews you link are for books written by British Authors – they can be born in Britain (living here or abroad) or they can be adopted British Authors (who were born elsewhere and now live here) but if they don’t fit into one of those categories then they don’t count. (as above invalid links will be deleted and won’t get you an entry into the prize pack). Please note that Britain includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, I’m afraid authors from Southern Ireland don’t count.

Also see the Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month section for ways to gain extra entries each month!

And lastly feel free to share your reviews on social media using the #BritishBooksChallenge17 hashtag – it’s not compulsory but it would be fun to share any great British Books you have loved with others!

Lets get chatting and celebrating all of the brilliant British books and authors that we have and all of the wonderful British books that we are reading!

Always remember – never tweet an author into a negative review and be constructive.

For more information about the #BritishBooksChallenge17 click here

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge giveaways please contact me by email.

And the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Author Of The Month for June is…….

Non Pratt!

Non is the master of contemporary YA fiction with characters that will feel like you absolute best friends and I’m so happy that she is our June Author Of The Month!

Not heard of Non and her books?  I have you covered!

Look out for a Spotlight post in the next few days about Non and her brilliant books!

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up any books by the author of the month (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

If the author has multiple books and you read them all you will gain a double entry for each review of each book.

I also have a special treat lined up too!

Look out for a post with the lady herself going live at some point in June!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge author of the month then please contact me by email.

As always there are so many good debuts coming out this month that it was really hard to decide which to pick….

And the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Debut Of The Month for June is…….

Being Miss Nobody by Tamsin Winter

I am so hugely excited about this wonderful YA book and am so happy that it is our Debut Of The Month!

Not heard of Being Miss Nobody by Tamsin Winter? I have you covered!

Look out for a Spotlight post in the next few days about this book!

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up a review of Being Miss Nobody by Tamsin Winter (in the same month that they are debut of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

I also have some special treats lined up too!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their debut through the British Books Challenge debut of the month then please contact me by email.

As well as the above I have lots of other exciting posts and giveaways going up throughout the month too which I will run through twitter and share using the hashtag so do look out for those too!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

As well as following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17 I would also suggest following my blog using your preferred feed subscription (by email by filling in the subscription box at the top of my blog , BlogLovin’ etc) in order to keep up with the latest news and posts regarding this challenge throughout 2017!

Here’s to a wonderful June!

Now for the important part, make sure you link all of your reviews using the Mr. Linky form below. In the Your Name field please include your blog name, the title of the book and the author. Make sure the link takes me directly to your review or your entry won’t count and will be deleted from the list.

Name – Please add your name and blog / YouTube channel e.g Chelley Toy – Tales Of Yesterday

URL – Please add a direct link to your review post here




Tales Post – An Alternative “Easter Egg”

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Happy Easter to all those that celebrate!

If you are stuffed full of chocolate already I have the perfect alternative “Easter Egg” treat for you all today.

Firstly………

Definition Of An Easter Egg

  1. An artificial chocolate egg or decorated hard-boiled egg given at Easter.
  2. An unexpected or undocumented feature in a piece of computer software or on a DVD, included as a joke or a bonus.

An Easter egg is an intentional inside joke, a hidden message, or a secret feature of an interactive work. The name is used to evoke the idea of a traditional Easter egg hunt.  The term was coined to describe a hidden message in the Atari video game Adventure that led Atari to encourage further hidden messages in later games, treating them as Easter eggs for players to find.

And guess what?!

Some authors put Easter Eggs in books too!

It may just be me but it kinda blows my mind when I am lucky enough to find a little Easter Egg in a book that I’m reading.  It always feels kind of special in some way.  But sometimes they are very hard to spot.  It may be a link that runs through a particular book series or a reoccurring character from the authors previous book that pops up for a cameo or it may be something else entirely.

This got me thinking…..

Do authors put Easter Eggs in books that could only mean something to a specific person?  Or maybe a secret message of some kind?  Or even a joke in the hopes an eagle eyed reader will spot it?

I asked some fab authors just that……..

Non Pratt

All my books are littered with references to my favourite things – Star Wars, Harry Potter, Galaxy Quest, Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice, but the real Easter Eggs relate to books.

In Trouble, in the first paragraph of page 240, Aaron walks into the graphic novel section of a comic shop and opens one at his favourite part. The only clue is that it’s about dreams. This ‘egg’ is a present for my friend Freddie – he knew exactly which part of The Sandman it referred to when he read it, because it’s the story he showed me at university.

In Remix, page 72, Kaz says of her friend Ruby “Tell her she can’t do something and Ruby will rush right in.” She then lists the things Ruby’s done – and the second point mentions something Ruby did because she read about it in a book… any UKYA fan will know the second they read this, that the book I’m referring to is Say Her Name by the inimitable Juno Dawson.

There’s another on page 79 of my forthcoming book, Truth or Dare, where Claire and Kam are deciding what book to read. Kam chooses one “with a silhouette of someone looking up at a colourful sky packed with stars”. It’s the book I bought my friend Lora for Christmas and someone has already realised what book it is…

C J Skuse

Jackson Gatlin appears in some form in three of my YA novels!

Pretty Bad Things – (p174)

‘On our way out of the back entrance to the hotel, we bumped right into this shock-headed rock dude in shades. I dropped one of the candy bags. ‘Sorry,’ he said, scratching his head behind his ear. I thought I recognized him. I think he was famous. He had on a sleeveless vest, and there was a really neat tattoo of a burning rose on his shoulder. It reminded me of the rose tattoo mom had on her ankle.’

This shock-headed rock dude is Jackson Gatlin, who features as one of the main characters in my second novel ‘Rockoholic.’

Rockoholic – (p24)

‘Two emo versions of the spooky twins from The Shining clamber out the back. They both have purple and pink extensions in their long black hair, and are wearing black leather skirts, striped tights, Tippexed black DMs and matching t-shirts. I realize they’ve come as the conjoined twins from the “Freaktasia” video, where Jackson plays a ringmaster and he’s luring all these freaks into his circus tent like some mad Pied Piper. One of the twins carries a small rucksack with loads of badges pinned to it. One of the badges says “Mrs. Jackson Gatlin.” I want it.’

The Shining Twins are actually Camille and Zoe who are the main characters in my third novel ‘Dead Romantic.’

The Deviants – (p18)

‘I opened the envelope. Inside was an oversized card, covered in pictures of us. He must have spent ages sticking them down, shaking on glitter. There were pictures of us on swings. Our school Nativity, with me as Mary, with a cushion up my dress and Max as the innkeeper, with a scribbly black beard. Selfies in Starbucks. Selfies outside the arena in Cardiff waiting to see The Regulators.’

The Regulators are the group fronted by Jackson Gatlin who appear in ‘Rockoholic’ and are mentioned here briefly in my fifth and final YA novel, ‘The Deviants.’

Jay Kristoff

Here’s a couple from Illuminae!

The Copernicus casualty list (page 52 – 59) included a bunch of our author friends, including Leigh Bardugo and Ryan Graudin. We also killed George RR Martin (he deserved it for the Red Wedding), our agents and ourselves when that ship blew up.

If you look at the subject of the medical experiment on page 155, you’ll notice it’s Laini Taylor. Poor Laini!

The movie poster on page 190 feature the names of our editor, senior staff at Random House, and tow of our earliest readers, the amazing Beth Revis and Marie Lu.

And the cousin Kady mentions in her interview on page 2, Asha, is the main character in OBSIDIO!

Sophie Cleverly


 

 

 

 

 

 

House Names

The names of the school houses at Rookwood School are all secret references. Richmond, the house that Scarlet and Ivy are in, was one of the houses at my primary school, although strangely it isn’t the one I was in. I was considering using all of them, but they were all named after parts of my city and I thought people would recognise it!

So the other houses ended up being named Evergreen and Mayhew. Evergreen is named after Evergreen Terrace, where The Simpsons famously live. Mayhew is named after Richard Mayhew, who is the main character in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere – one of my favourite books. And that one is a double reference, because Richard Mayhew is named after Henry Mayhew, the Victorian journalist who wrote London Labour and the London Poor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Character Names

I also like to put references in my character names. While most of the main characters have original names, a lot of the side characters have names that link to real people or characters. Miss Simons, the teacher with the long red hair from The Dance in the Dark, is a reference to Simone Simons from the band Epica. And local man Bob Owens in The Lights Under The Lake is another that got his name from a Neil Gaiman character – Bod Owens from The Graveyard Book. That’s a double reference too, because Bod’s full name is Nobody Owens, taken from the Gaimanized version of the old rhyme:

“Rattle his bones

Over the stones

It’s only a pauper

Who Nobody owns.”

The rhyme is fitting for Bod’s story, and I felt that was fitting for Bob’s story, too.

Perhaps the one that fewest people would spot is Madame Boulanger. One of my best friends insisted that he had to be a character in my books, and I joked that I would put him in, but he had to be the French teacher. That is why Madame Boulanger (French for Baker, his surname) is not actually very good at French, and sometimes sounds a bit Welsh.

Nicole Burstein


 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Othergirl and Wonderboy are stuffed with comic book Easter eggs, some of which even I’ve forgotten!

The biggies are Louise, the protagonist’s, last name, which is Kirby, after one of the fathers of superhero comics, Jack Kirby. Also, the other main character, Erica Elland, has an alliterative name, which is super common among the famous superheroes! In Wonderboy I name a company ‘Ditko’ after another of comic book’s great creators.

The other big Easter egg is in Othergirl, which has a few references to one of my favourite films: Heathers.

Jay is named after Christian Slater’s character JD, and in my head he looks entirely like him. I even have Jay say ‘greetings and salutations’ at one point, which is a direct quote from the film!

David Owen

In the opening chapter of The Fallen Children, on page 14, halfway down the page, there’s a reference to Aliens – the TV snaps back on and we hear the line ‘They mostly come at night. Mostly.’ It’s a bit of a cheeky wink given what’s happening in the story!

Otherwise there are several callbacks to The Midwich Cuckoos!

Martin Stewart

My love of Easter Eggs goes back to the early days of DVD. I would diligently watch all the extras on my favourite films and listen to the directors’ commentaries, soaking in the titbits of process and creation (I’m still a huge process nut). My favourite moments were when they identified an allusion or intertext―a little nod to a book or film or painting that had been an inspiration―and these added a new layer of enjoyment for me. I still love the wee flash in my brain when I spot an Easter Egg in a book or film today. And if it’s a nod to something that’s inspired me too, it’s as though the writer has leaned out of the page and given me a conspiratorial wink. So writing Riverkeep naturally meant I’d bury some Eggs of my own!

And there are lots, there really are.  Plenty to Frankenstein, Moby Dick, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, the Naked Gun films (check the map!) and more. Here are a couple of examples…

The town of Canna Bay, page 10, is a facsimile of Amity, the place terrorised by the shark in Jaws. Its name is also a reference to John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, the best piece of briny shore-writing I’ve yet found; ‘canna’ is Scots Gaelic for ‘can’, as in tin can.

Gilt Murdagh’s whaling vessel, the Hellsong on page 57, is a derivation of Dracula’s nemesis’ surname ―Abraham Van Helsing. This was perfect for a ship designed to hunt the unhuntable, and allowed me to nod towards another favourite book.

The ‘suire’, mentioned in the encyclopaedia extract on page 71, is a reference to Buggy Swires, the first gnome in the Ankh Morpork City Watch. It’s a close call between Granny Weatherwax and Sam Vimes for me, but the Watch books probably just edge it as my favourite Pratchetts!

And finally, there’s a wee nod on page 147 to another favourite film (or, to be strictly accurate, its sequel). But I’m not saying exactly what it is, because I’ve already put the same reference in my second book―The Sacrifice Box, January 2018―and I’m planning to bury that particular Egg in every book I write… happy hunting!

Keris Stainton

Jessie Hearts NYC, page 14 there is a Sesame St mention.

Emma Hearts LA, page 45 Emma is wearing Elmo pyjama bottoms.

Starring Kitty, page 105 Dylan is wearing a Cookie Monster t-shirt.

And finally Spotlight On Sunny, page 204, a man on the train has a Big Bird tattoo.

Susie Day

All my books contain a Doctor Who reference!

Usually they happen quite naturally; when I was writing The Secrets of Sam & Sam, about the Paget-Skidelsky twins, it would’ve been almost rude not to throw in a passing mention of The Twin Dilemma.

Some are pretty easy to spot – like Pea’s school librarian, the lovely (if Blyton-hating) Miss Pond. But a few are a teensy bit more obscure.

If you’re a completist, you might like to know that on page 240 of Pea’s Book of Big Dreams, you’ll find the home planet of the Tractators from the splendid Fifth Doctor story Frontios. But I bet you knew that already, right?

Sara Barnard

One of the best things about writing is being able to put little flags in for your close friends and family, so it’s definitely something I do with every book.

There are two in particular in Beautiful Broken Things.

The first is the paraphrasing of a song I love called Bluetonic by an old band, The Bluetones. The actual lyric is this:

There’s no heart you can’t melt

With a certain little smile

And no challenge should be faced

Without a little charm and a lot of style

And it’s one I love because it sums up Suzanne for me, so it felt like a neat trick to be able to give her a line of dialogue in the book that referenced it. She’s asked how she got away with something and she replies, “A little charm, a lot of style.” It won’t have meant anything to anyone but me and it makes me smile each time. That happens on page 208.

The second is more of a personal one. The adolescent in-patient unit that Suzanne is referred to at the end of the book is fictional, but it needed a name. I decided to call it Gwillim House because Gwillim was my Nan’s maiden name. She died a long time before she could see my writing dream become a reality, so it felt nice to be able to put a tiny part of her in the book. The first reference to it is on page 307.

Miranda Dickinson

I hide an Eric in every one of my books after an editor changed a character name in my debut novel, Fairytale of New York, because she didn’t like the name.

Also there are repeated mentions of a fictional village Stone Yardley (my debut protagonist’s childhood home).

And in my third novel, It Started With a Kiss, the main character receives comments on her blog from characters in my first two books.

So there you have it!  A lovely bunch of Easter Eggs for you to sink your teeth into!  And I’m sure there’s lots more….it’s just finding them!

A huge thank you to all of the authors that got in touch when I popped a twitter call out or replied to my DM and were happy to share their little Easter Eggs with me especially at such short notice too!

Happy Hunting!

Have you ever found an Easter Egg in a book?  If so which book?  Do you like it when you find them?  I would love to hear from you!  Why not leave a comment using the reply button above or tweet my on twitter using @chelleytoy!

Tales Post – British Books Challenge 2017 – April

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Welcome to the British Books Challenge 2017 – April!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

It’s now spring and the clocks have sprung forward!  Now we have all caught up on or lost hour I’m sure we all have lots of exciting reading ahead!

And again I’ve been blown away by all of your amazing reviews linked up for the March British Books Challenge! You all did SO amazing!  I’m so glad to see you are all enjoying the challenge so much!  I heart you all very much!

94 reviews of books by British Authors were linked up in March!

That makes a grand total of 334 reviews of books by British Authors in total since we started in January!

*hi fives*

And thank you so much for embracing our author and debut of the month for March as well as all of the other amazing books you all read!

Thank you all!

Lets hop, skip and jump to April!

About The British Books Challenge

The British Books Challenge is a reading challenge that will be running here on Tales Of Yesterday between 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017 and the main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors.

I have created a #BritishBooksChallenge17 summary page here which will also keep track of my own progress in the challenge too.

If you have not signed up yet there’s still plenty of time – find out more about the challenge here

Please note you can sign up to the challenge at any time throughout the year but only sign up entries made on or before the 31st December 2016 will be entered to win the sign up prize.

This is the first time I am hosting this particular challenge and I have lots of things planned for us all!

I have been in touch with lots of publishers who have kindly donated lots of lovely prize packs for us throughout the year for the challenge!

Right lets get the ball for April rolling starting with the winner of the March Prize Pack!

With thanks to the lovely people at HQ March’s prize pack contained the following three books…..

All valid reviews and links by British Authors that were linked up on the March linky here were eligible to be entered to win the March prize pack. With people who read any books by our Author Of The Month, Melinda Salisbury and/or our Debut’s of the month, Open by Gemma Cairney, earning extra entries.

But there can only be one winner!

And the winner is…….

Bibliobeth

With her review of … A Place Called Winter by Patrick Gale

Congratulations!

Please email me your address so that I can arrange for your prize to be sent out to you!

**EXCITING NEWS ALERT**

The lovely winner of the February Prize Pack, Mel, and subsequent winner Andrea have kindly said I can pick a runner up for two of the books they already has out of the February Prize pack – please check the February post to see if it was you!

I hope everyone also enjoyed all the extra giveaways I ran on my blog or via twitter over March too 🙂

April’s prize pack has been kindly donated by the lovely people at Egmont / Electric Monkey and contains the following five books…..

The first book in a stunning new fantasy adventure trilogy, perfect for readers aged 9+ and fans of Philip Pullman, Piers Torday, Abi Elphinstone, Katherine Rundell and Frances Hardinge.

In the sky, the fire spirits dance and ripple. Grandma says they showed our Tribe that I’d be a captain, before I was even born.

Ever since Ma died, Mouse has looked after her little brother, Sparrow, dreaming of her destiny as captain of the Huntress. But now Da’s missing, Sparrow is in danger, and a deathly cold is creeping across Trianukka . . .

Sea-churning, beast-chattering, dream-dancing, whale-riding, terrodyl-flying, world-saving adventure. 

Jemma knows who did the murder. She knows because he told her. And she can’t tell anyone. 

Fourteen-year-old Jemma has severe cerebral palsy. Unable to communicate or move, she relies on her family and carer for everything. She has a sharp brain and inquisitive nature, and knows all sorts of things about everyone. But when she is confronted with this terrible secret, she is utterly powerless to do anything. Though that might be about to change…

A page-turning thriller seen through the eyes of a unique narrator, this is a truly original, heart-rending  and compulsive book for young adult readers. Perfect for fans of Wonder, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Looking for JJ.  

What price for peace on Wrath? The blood-curdling sequel to science-fiction epic The Sign of One.

Hiding out in a Gemini stronghold, Kyle is finding out that being a hero is a bit of a let-down. The rebels may have struck a blow against the Slayer army, but victory is far from won and Wrath is as hostile as ever. Kyle finds himself caught between his ident brother Colm, who he saved from certain death, and his friend Sky, who is desperate to follow up a trail that may or may not lead to her lost sister.

When the Slayers offer a peace deal with a sting in its tail, the rebels are split into factions – with Kyle at its centre. There’s no choice but to run – and this time the path leads deep into Reaper territory, into the No-Zone.

A hilariously funny and deliciously romantic ‘clean teen’ book for teens. Perfect for fans of Geek Girl and Girl Online.

Everybody wants to be a famous It Girl. Don’t they?

Anna Huntley’s aims in life:

1) To recreate famous film scenes with Dog (pet Labrador) such as the lift from The Lion King during that Circle of Life song.

2) To not accidentally set Deputy Queen Bee, Josie Graham’s, hair on fire. Again.

3) To keep first and only school friends by not doing anything in usual manner of socially inept dork and outcast.

4) To work out whether 1) and 2) constitute being socially inept – or outcastish.

5) To hide in the cupboard FOR LIFE after her dad gets engaged to one of the most famous actresses EVER, the paparazzi move in and everyone in school (The World) is on the brink of discovering why no one wants to be friends with Anna . . .

A fantastic, laugh-out-loud read for girls aged 11+ who love Louise Rennison and Zoella.

The much anticipated follow-up title from the multi-award winning author of The Bunker Diary, recipient of the 2014 Carnegie Medal for an outstanding book for young adults.

Elliot is terrified of almost everything.

From the moment he was born, his life has been governed by acute fear. The only thing that keeps his terrors in check are the pills that he takes every day.

It’s Christmas Eve, there’s a snowstorm and Elliot’s medication is almost gone. His mum nips out to collect his prescription. She’ll only be 10 minutes – but shen she doesn’t come back, Elliot must face his fears and try to find her. She should only be 400 metres away. It might as well be 400 miles…

Born Scared joins the ranks of Jennifer Niven’s All the Bright Places, Ned Vizzini’s It’s Kind of A Funny Story, and Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why as an example of teen fiction offering a frank and intelligent portrait of mental illness.

A huge thank you to Egmont / Electric Monkey for donating this super brilliant Prize Pack for April!

I also have a couple of special post from these authors going up throughout April too!

One winner will be picked at random from the list of valid reviews submitted each month and will be announced in the following month’s review link up post. The winner will then have 1 week to contact me to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen. Obviously the more reviews you enter the greater your chance of winning and don’t forget you gain extra entries for any reviews by Debut or Author of the Month for April! It doesn’t matter if you only review one book (or even skip a month or two in the challenge!) you’ll still be entered for each review you do write.

Please Remember…..

Only participants with a valid sign up page that has been linked here are eligible for entry to the monthly prize packs mentioned on this monthly link up page – you can still sign up here

When you add your link to the Mr. Linky below please make sure you link directly to your review, not just to your blog/vlog (invalid links will be deleted)

Books must have been read and reviewed in 2017 to count towards the challenge so those books you read last year but reviewed in 2017 don’t count!  Only books reviewed in April on your blog will count towards the challenge (you could have read them in earlier in the year though – I’m feeling kind 🙂 )

Also, please make sure that the reviews you link are for books written by British Authors – they can be born in Britain (living here or abroad) or they can be adopted British Authors (who were born elsewhere and now live here) but if they don’t fit into one of those categories then they don’t count. (as above invalid links will be deleted and won’t get you an entry into the prize pack). Please note that Britain includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, I’m afraid authors from Southern Ireland don’t count.

Also see the Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month section for ways to gain extra entries each month!

And lastly feel free to share your reviews on social media using the #BritishBooksChallenge17 hashtag – it’s not compulsory but it would be fun to share any great British Books you have loved with others!

Lets get chatting and celebrating all of the brilliant British books and authors that we have and all of the wonderful British books that we are reading!

Always remember – never tweet an author into a negative review and be constructive.

For more information about the #BritishBooksChallenge17 click here

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge giveaways please contact me by email.

And the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Author Of The Month for April is…….

C J Skuse!

With 5 brilliant YA books under her belt C J is releasing her first Adult book, Sweet Pea this month and I’m so proud that she is our April Author Of The Month!

Not heard of CJ and her books?  I have you covered!

Look out for a Spotlight post in the next few days about CJ and her brilliant books!

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up any books by the author of the month (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

If the author has multiple books and you read them all you will gain a double entry for each review of each book.

I also have a special treat lined up too!

Look out for a post with the lady herself going live at some point in April with a giveaway!

You can find previous posts from CJ on my blog or by clicking on the links below …

Hot Boys In My Books!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge author of the month then please contact me by email.

Again here are so many good debuts coming out this month that it was really hard to decide which to pick, but I thought we would do things a little different this month and have a debut illustrator of the month…..

So the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Debut Illustrator Of The Month for April is…….

The Pavee and the Buffer Girl by Siobhan Dowd Illustrated by Emma Shoard

Siobhan Dowd is obviously not a debut author but the illustrations but our debut Illustrator of the month Emma Shoard are simply gorgeous and full of emotion and I am super excited to read this book!

Not heard of The Pavee and the Buffer Girl by Siobhan Dowd Illustrated by Emma Shoard? I have you covered!

Look out for a Spotlight post in the next few days about this book!

You can find a previous post from Emma Shoard on my blog or by clicking on the link below …

The Pavee and the Buffer Girl Mini Animation – Cave

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up a review of The Pavee and the Buffer Girl by Siobhan Dowd Illustrated by Emma Shoard (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

I also have some special treats lined up too!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their debut through the British Books Challenge debut of the month then please contact me by email.

As well as the above I have lots of other exciting posts and giveaways going up throughout the month too which I will share using the hashtag so do look out for those too!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

As well as following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17 I would also suggest following my blog using your preferred feed subscription (by email by filling in the subscription box at the top of my blog , BlogLovin’ etc) in order to keep up with the latest news and posts regarding this challenge throughout 2017!

Here’s to a wonderful April!

Now for the important part, make sure you link all of your reviews using the Mr. Linky form below. In the Your Name field please include your blog name, the title of the book and the author. Make sure the link takes me directly to your review or your entry won’t count and will be deleted from the list.

Name – Please add your name and blog / YouTube channel e.g Chelley Toy – Tales Of Yesterday

URL – Please add a direct link to your review post here




Tales Post – British Books Challenge 2017 – March

19 Replies

Welcome to the British Books Challenge 2017 – March!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

Did everyone survive Valentines and Pancake Day?

I mean how quick did February go?!

And yet again you all did SO amazing on the February British Books Challenge 2017 !  There was some fantastic reviews yet again this month and I’m so glad to see you are all enjoying the challenge so much!  You guys are all the awesomes!

112 reviews of books by British Authors were linked up in February!

That makes a grand total of 240 reviews of books by British Authors in total since we started in January!

*squeals in excitement*

And thank you so much for embracing our author and debut of the month for February as well as all of the other amazing books you all read!

Thank you all!

Let move onto March!

About The British Books Challenge

The British Books Challenge is a reading challenge that will be running here on Tales Of Yesterday between 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017 and the main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors.

I have created a #BritishBooksChallenge17 summary page here which will also keep track of my own progress in the challenge too.

If you have not signed up yet there’s still plenty of time – find out more about the challenge here

Please note you can sign up to the challenge at any time throughout the year but only sign up entries made on or before the 31st December 2016 will be entered to win the sign up prize.

This is the first time I am hosting this particular challenge and I have lots of things planned for us all!

I have been in touch with lots of publishers who have kindly donated lots of lovely prize packs for us throughout the year for the challenge!

Right lets get the ball for March rolling starting with the winner of the February Prize Pack!

With thanks to the lovely people at Usborne February’s prize pack contained the following three books…..

All valid reviews and links by British Authors that were linked up on the February linky here were eligible to be entered to win the February prize pack. With people who read any books by our Author Of The Month, Abi Elphinstone and/or our Debut’s of the month, Who Let The Gods Out by Maz Evans, earning extra entries.

But there can only be one winner!

And the winner is…….

Mel – The Book Moo

With her review of …And A Happy New Year ? by Holly Bourne

Congratulations!

**EXCITING NEWS ALERT**

The lovely winner Mel has kindly said I can pick a runner up for this prize as she already has two of these books already!

Mel will be receiving a copy of Unconventional from the Prize Pack.

Therefore the winner of What I Couldn’t Tell You and Broken Sky is……

Kelly @ Kelly’s Ramblings

With her review of Margot & Me by Juno Dawson

Congratulations!

Please both email me your address so that I can arrange for your prizes to be sent out to you!

I hope everyone also enjoyed all the extra giveaways I ran on my blog or via twitter over February too 🙂

March’s prize pack has been kindly donated by the lovely people at HQ Stories and contains the following three books (we snuck two non British authors into this prize pack this month – they were that could how could we possibly say no)…..

Beneath the surface lies a terrible secret….

Hollywood, 1975: Tragedy sends troubled film star Vivien Lockhart into the arms of Giovanni Moretti, and it seems her fortunes have finally changed. Until she meets his sister, and learns that dark shadows haunt her new husband’s past…

Tuscany, Present day: Everyone in London is searching for Lucy Whittaker – so Lucy needs to disappear. But her new home, the crumbling Castillo Barbarossa, is far from the secluded paradise it seemed.

Across the decades, Vivien and Lucy find themselves trapped in the idyllic Italian villa.

And if they are ever to truly escape its walls, they must first unearth its secrets…

Rebecca meets Sante Montefiore in this atmospheric tale of lies, obsession, and betrayal…

How far would you go to protect your daughter?

Since the night she was attacked, Jenny Kramer hasn’t been able to recall what happened. Her parents and the doctors saw to that. Her mother couldn’t prevent the terror in the woods, but she’s done all she can to stop it ruining Jenny’s life. The only thing that now bothers Jenny is the scar carved into her lower back. Which she can’t stop touching.

But if Jenny can’t remember her attacker, he can’t be caught. He could be the man next to her right now, the one who caught just her eye.

And he hasn’t forgotten anything…

Fifteen year old Aki Simon has a theory.

And it’s mostly about sex.

No, it isn’t that kind of theory. Aki already knows she’s bisexual–-even if, until now, it’s mostly been in the hypothetical sense.

Aki’s theory is that she’s only got one shot at living an interesting life–-and that means she’s got to stop sitting around and thinking so much. It’s time for her to actually do something. Or at least try.

So when Aki and her friend Lori set off on a trip to a small Mexican town for the summer, and Aki meets Christa–-slightly-older, far-more-experienced–-it seems her theory is prime for the testing.

But something tells her its not going to be that easy…

A huge thank you to HQ Stories for donating this brilliant Prize Pack for March!

I also have a couple of special post from these authors going up throughout March too!

One winner will be picked at random from the list of valid reviews submitted each month and will be announced in the following month’s review link up post. The winner will then have 1 week to contact me to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen. Obviously the more reviews you enter the greater your chance of winning and don’t forget you gain extra entries for any reviews by Debut or Author of the Month for March! It doesn’t matter if you only review one book (or even skip a month or two in the challenge!) you’ll still be entered for each review you do write.

Please Remember…..

Only participants with a valid sign up page that has been linked here are eligible for entry to the monthly prize packs mentioned on this monthly link up page – you can still sign up here

When you add your link to the Mr. Linky below please make sure you link directly to your review, not just to your blog/vlog (invalid links will be deleted)

Books must have been read and reviewed in 2017 to count towards the challenge so those books you read last year but reviewed in 2017 don’t count!  Only books reviewed in March on your blog will count towards the challenge (you could have read them in January or February though – I’m feeling kind 🙂 )

Also, please make sure that the reviews you link are for books written by British Authors – they can be born in Britain (living here or abroad) or they can be adopted British Authors (who were born elsewhere and now live here) but if they don’t fit into one of those categories then they don’t count. (as above invalid links will be deleted and won’t get you an entry into the prize pack). Please note that Britain includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, I’m afraid authors from Southern Ireland don’t count.

Also see the Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month section for ways to gain extra entries each month!

And lastly feel free to share your reviews on social media using the #BritishBooksChallenge17 hashtag – it’s not compulsory but it would be fun to share any great British Books you have loved with others!

Lets get chatting and celebrating all of the brilliant British books and authors that we have and all of the wonderful British books that we are reading!

Always remember – never tweet an author into a negative review and be constructive.

For more information about the #BritishBooksChallenge17 click here

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge giveaways please contact me by email.

And the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Author Of The Month for March is…….

Melinda Salisbury!

With the final book in the Sin Eaters Daughter Trilogy, The Scarecrow Queen released this month is seems only fitting the Queen Mel is our March author of the month!

Not heard of Mel and her books?  I have you covered!

Check out a this Spotlight post about Melinda, her books and why we love her – here

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up any books by the author of the month (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

If the author has multiple books and you read them all you will gain a double entry for each review of each book.

I also have a special treat lined up too!

Look out for a guest post with the lady herself going live at some point in March with a special signed giveaway of The Scarecrow Queen!

You can find my review of The Sin Eaters Daughter here and The Sleeping Prince here

You can also find out about a previous Evening with Melinda Salisbury here

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge author of the month then please contact me by email.

Again here are so many good debuts coming out this month that it was really hard to decide which to pick…..

So the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Debut Of The Month for March is…….

Open: A Toolkit for How Magic and Messed Up Life Can Be by Gemma Cairney

I am super excited to read this book!  I have a feeling it’s going to be amazing!

Not heard of Open: A Toolkit for How Magic and Messed Up Life Can Be or Gemma Cairney? I have you covered!

Check out a Spotlight post going live on Tales on the 5th March!

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up a review of Open: A Toolkit for How Magic and Messed Up Life Can Be by Gemma Cairney (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

I also have some special treats lined up too!

Look out for a Q&A with the lady herself, Gemma Cairney at some point in March!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their debut through the British Books Challenge debut of the month then please contact me by email.

As well as the above I have lots of other exciting posts and giveaways going up throughout the month too which I will share using the hashtag so do look out for those too!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

As well as following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17 I would also suggest following my blog using your preferred feed subscription (by email by filling in the subscription box at the top of my blog , BlogLovin’ etc) in order to keep up with the latest news and posts regarding this challenge throughout 2017!

Here’s to a wonderful March!

Now for the important part, make sure you link all of your reviews using the Mr. Linky form below. In the Your Name field please include your blog name, the title of the book and the author. Make sure the link takes me directly to your review or your entry won’t count and will be deleted from the list.

Name – Please add your name and blog / YouTube channel e.g Chelley Toy – Tales Of Yesterday

URL – Please add a direct link to your review post here




Tales Post – British Books Challenge 2017 – February

36 Replies

Welcome to the British Books Challenge 2017 – February!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

And where on earth did January go?!  It zoomed past us so quick!

I can’t quite believe it’s now February!

You all did SO amazing on the January #BritishBooksChallenge17 !  I was overwhelmed and so proud of all of the reviews that were linked up and all of the British reading everyone did!

128 reviews of books by British Authors were linked up in January!

*proud face*

128!

And it was so so lovely that so many of you embraced our author and debuts of the month for January as well as all of the other amazing books you all read!

Thank you all!

Forward march to February!

About The British Books Challenge

The British Books Challenge is a reading challenge that will be running here on Tales Of Yesterday between 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017 and the main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors.

I have created a #BritishBooksChallenge17 summary page here which will also keep track of my own progress in the challenge too.

If you have not signed up yet there’s still plenty of time – find out more about the challenge here

Please note you can sign up to the challenge at any time throughout the year but only sign up entries made on or before the 31st December 2016 will be entered to win the sign up prize.

This is the first time I am hosting this particular challenge and I have lots of things planned for us all!

I have been in touch with lots of publishers who have kindly donated lots of lovely prize packs for us throughout the year for the challenge!

Right lets get started with February starting with the winner of the January Prize Pack!

With thanks to the lovely people at Harper Collins Children’s January’s prize pack contained the following four books…..

All valid reviews and links by British Authors that were linked up on the January linky here were eligible to be entered to win the January prize pack. With people who read any books by our Author Of The Month, Juno Dawson and/or our Debut’s of the month, Wing Jones and Gilded Cage, earning extra entries.

But there can only be one winner!

And the winner is…….

Lizzie at HuxTales – @littlehux

With her review of Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard

Congratulations!

Please email me your address so that I can arrange for your prize to be sent out to you!

I hope everyone also enjoyed all the extra giveaways I ran on my blog or via twitter over January too 🙂

February’s prize pack has been kindly donated by the lovely people at Usborne and contains the following three books…..

Perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell and Stephanie Perkins.

Lexi Angelo has grown up helping her dad with his events business. She likes to stay behind the scenes, planning and organizing…until author Aidan Green – messy haired and annoyingly arrogant – arrives unannounced at the first event of the year. Then Lexi’s life is thrown into disarray.

In a flurry of late-night conversations, mixed messages and butterflies, Lexi discovers that some things can’t be planned. Things like falling in love…

When love turns to jealousy, when jealousy turns to rage, when rage turns to destruction…

Laura was head over heels in love with Joe. But now Laura lies in a coma and Joe has gone missing. Was he the one who attacked her?

Laura’s sister Tessie is selectively mute. She can’t talk but she can listen. And as people tell her their secrets, she thinks she’s getting close to understanding what happened on that fateful night.

Welcome to a ‘perfect’ world.  Where war is illegal, where harmony rules. And where your date of birth marks your destiny. But nothing is perfect. And in a world this broken, who can Amity trust?

From the bestselling author of the Angel trilogy comes Broken Sky – an exhilarating epic set in a daring and distorted echo of 1940s America and first in a new trilogy.

A huge thank you to Usborne for donating this brilliant Prize Pack for February!

I also have a couple of special post from these authors going up throughout February too!

One winner will be picked at random from the list of valid reviews submitted each month and will be announced in the following month’s review link up post. The winner will then have 1 week to contact me to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen. Obviously the more reviews you enter the greater your chance of winning and don’t forget you gain extra entries for any reviews by Debut or Author of the Month for February! It doesn’t matter if you only review one book (or even skip a month or two in the challenge!) you’ll still be entered for each review you do write.

Please Remember…..

Only participants with a valid sign up page that has been linked here are eligible for entry to the monthly prize packs mentioned on this monthly link up page – you can still sign up here

When you add your link to the Mr. Linky below please make sure you link directly to your review, not just to your blog/vlog (invalid links will be deleted)

Books must have been read and reviewed in 2017 to count towards the challenge so those books you read last year but reviewed in 2017 don’t count!  Only books reviewed in February on your blog will count towards the challenge (you could have read them in January though – I’m feeling kind 🙂 )

Also, please make sure that the reviews you link are for books written by British Authors – they can be born in Britain (living here or abroad) or they can be adopted British Authors (who were born elsewhere and now live here) but if they don’t fit into one of those categories then they don’t count. (as above invalid links will be deleted and won’t get you an entry into the prize pack). Please note that Britain includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, I’m afraid authors from Southern Ireland don’t count.

Also see the Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month section for ways to gain extra entries each month!

And lastly feel free to share your reviews on social media using the #BritishBooksChallenge17 hashtag – it’s not compulsory but it would be fun to share any great British Books you have loved with others!

Lets get chatting and celebrating all of the brilliant British books and authors that we have and all of the wonderful British books that we are reading!

Always remember – never tweet an author into a negative review and be constructive.

For more information about the #BritishBooksChallenge17 click here

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge giveaways please contact me by email.

And the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Author Of The Month for February is…….

Abi Elphinstone!

I am the biggest fan of Abi and her books and I am SO excited that she is our February author of the month!

Not heard of Abi and her books?  I have you covered!

Check out a Spotlight post going live on Tales on the 2nd February!

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up any books by the author of the month (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

If the author has multiple books and you read them all you will gain a double entry for each review of each book.

I also have a special treat lined up too!

Look out for a guest post with the lady herself going live at some point in January with a special giveaway of Abi’s brilliant books!

Find a review of The Dreamsnatcher here or a review of The Dreamsnatcher by my son Corey here

You can also find out about the research behind The Dreamsnatcher here

Or Top 10 Shadowkeeper songs here

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge author of the month then please contact me by email.

There are so many good debuts coming out again this month that it was really hard to decide which to pick…..

So the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Debut Of The Month for February is…….

Who Let The Gods Out?  by Maz Evans

I am super excited to read this book!  I have a feeling it’s going to be amazing!

Not heard of Who Let The Gods Out? or Maz Evans?  I have you covered!

Check out a Spotlight post going live on Tales on the 3rd February!

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up a review of Who Let The Gods Out? by Maz Evans (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

I also have some special treats lined up too!

Look out for a Who Let The Gods Out related post some point in February with a special giveaway!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their debut through the British Books Challenge debut of the month then please contact me by email.

As well as the above I have lots of other exciting posts and giveaways going up throughout the month too which I will share using the hashtag so do look out for those too!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

As well as following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17 I would also suggest following my blog using your preferred feed subscription (by email by filling in the subscription box at the top of my blog , BlogLovin’ etc) in order to keep up with the latest news and posts regarding this challenge throughout 2017!

Here’s to a wonderful February!

Now for the important part, make sure you link all of your reviews using the Mr. Linky form below. In the Your Name field please include your blog name, the title of the book and the author. Make sure the link takes me directly to your review or your entry won’t count and will be deleted from the list.

Name – Please add your name and blog / YouTube channel e.g Chelley Toy – Tales Of Yesterday

URL – Please add a direct link to your review post here




Tales Post – British Books Challenge 2017 – January

55 Replies

Welcome to the British Books Challenge 2017!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

And Happy January!

I can’t quite believe the New Year is upon us already!

I’m so excited that so many of you have signed up for the #BritishBooksChallenge17!

Thank you all!  We are all going to have so much fun!

The British Books Challenge is a reading challenge that will be running here on Tales Of Yesterday between 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017 and the main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors.

I have created a #BritishBooksChallenge17 summary page here which will also keep track of my own progress in the challenge too.

If you have not signed up yet there’s still plenty of time – find out more about the challenge here

Please note you can sign up to the challenge at any time throughout the year but only sign up entries made on or before the 31st December 2016 will be entered to win the sign up prize.

This is the first time I am hosting this particular challenge and I have lots of things planned for us all!

I have been in touch with lots of publishers who have kindly donated lots of lovely prize packs for us throughout the year for the challenge!

Right lets get started!

With thanks to the lovely people at Foyles I had a £25 Foyles gift voucher that can be used in store or online to giveaway to one lucky winner that signed up for the British Books Challenge 2017 on or before the 31st December 2016!

47 people have signed up to the challenge before the 31st December (81 participants in total) so were all entered into the prize draw.

I’ve picked a winner at random….

And the winner is…….

Charlotte @ My Furry Bookshelf

Congratulations!

What a lovely New Year Treat!

Please email me your address so that I can arrange for your prize to be sent out to you!

January’s prize pack has been kindly donated by Harper Collins Children’s and contains the following four books…..

Can true love’s kiss save the day…?

Electrifying dark magic debut by authors and sisters, Katharine and Elizabeth Corr.

Sixteeen-year-old Meredith is fed-up with her feuding family and feeling invisible at school – not to mention the witch magic that shoots out of her fingernails when she’s stressed. Then sweet, sensitive Jack comes into her life and she falls for him hard. The only problem is that he is periodically possessed by a destructive centuries-old curse.

Meredith has lost her heart, but will she also lose her life? Or in true fairytale tradition, can true love’s kiss save the day?

Can true love’s kiss break your heart…?

The spellbinding sequel to THE WITCH’S KISS by authors and sisters, Katharine and Elizabeth Corr.

It’s not easy being a teenage witch. Just ask Merry. She’s drowning in textbooks and rules set by the coven, drowning in heartbreak after the loss of Jack. But Merry is not the only one whose fairy tale is over.

Big brother Leo is falling apart and everything Merry does seems to push him further to the brink. And everything that happens to Leo makes her ache for revenge. So, when strangers offering friendship show them a different path, they’d be mad not to take it…

Some rules were made to be broken, right?

The darkly magical sequel to THE WITCH’S KISS burns wickedly bright.

For readers who loved Wonder and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time this extraordinary debut will make you laugh and cry.

A story that crosses time and generations, for adventure-loving readers young and old.

“My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty nine and again four years later when he was twelve.”

On Al Chaudhury’s twelfth birthday his beloved Grandpa Byron gives him a letter from Al’s late father. In it Al receives a mission: travel back to 1984 in a secret time machine and save his father’s life.

Al soon discovers that time travel requires daring and imagination. It also requires lies, theft, setting his school on fire and ignoring philosophical advice from Grandpa Byron. All without losing his pet hamster, Alan Shearer…

Time Travelling With a Hamster is a funny, heart-warming race-against-time – and across generations – adventure that you will won’t be able to put down.

From the author of the unforgettable bestseller TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER comes another surprising, beautiful and funny novel about a child who, by disappearing, will write herself into your heart forever…

Turning invisible at will: it’s one way of curing your acne. But far more drastic than 13 year-old Ethel Leatherhead intended when she tried a combination of untested medicines and a sunbed.

It’s fun at first, being invisible. And aided by her friend Boydy, she manages to keep her extraordinary ability secret. Or does she…?

When one day the invisibility fails to wear off, Ethel is thrown into a nightmare of lies and deception as she struggles to keep herself safe, to find the remedy that will make her seen again – and solve the mystery of her own birth…

A huge thank you to Harper Collins Children’s for donating this brilliant Prize Pack for January!

I also have a couple of special post from these authors going up throughout January too!

One winner will be picked at random from the list of valid reviews submitted each month and will be announced in the following month’s review link up post. The winner will then have 1 week to contact me to claim their prize or a new winner will be chosen. Obviously the more reviews you enter the greater your chance of winning and don’t forget you gain extra entries for any reviews by Debut or Author of the Month for January! It doesn’t matter if you only review one book (or even skip a month or two in the challenge!) you’ll still be entered for each review you do write.

Please Remember…..

Only participants with a valid sign up page that has been linked here are eligible for entry to the monthly prize packs mentioned on this monthly link up page – you can still sign up here

When you add your link to the Mr. Linky below please make sure you link directly to your review, not just to your blog/vlog (invalid links will be deleted)

Books must have been read and reviewed in January 2017 to count towards the challenge so those books you read in December but reviewed in January don’t count!

Also, please make sure that the reviews you link are for books written by British Authors – they can be born in Britain (living here or abroad) or they can be adopted British Authors (who were born elsewhere and now live here) but if they don’t fit into one of those categories then they don’t count. (as above invalid links will be deleted and won’t get you an entry into the prize pack). Please note that Britain includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, I’m afraid authors from Southern Ireland don’t count.

Also see the Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month section for ways to gain extra entries each month!

And lastly feel free to share your reviews on social media using the #BritishBooksChallenge17 hashtag – it’s not compulsory but it would be fun to share any great British Books you have loved with others!

Lets get chatting and celebrating all of the brilliant British books and authors that we have and all of the wonderful British books that we are reading!

Always remember – never tweet an author into a negative review and be constructive.

For more information about the #BritishBooksChallenge17 click here

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge giveaways please contact me by email.

And the #BritishBooksChallenge17 Author Of The Month for January is…….

JUNO DAWSON!

I am the biggest fan of Juno and her books and I am SO excited that she is our very first author of the month!

Not heard of Juno and her books?  I have you covered!

Check out this Spotlight post on Juno and her books – here

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up any books by the author of the month (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

If the author has multiple books and you read them all you will gain a double entry for each review of each book.

I also have a special treat lined up too!

Look out for a Q&A with the lady herself going live at some point in January with a special giveaway of Juno’s new book Margot & Me!

Find a review of Juno Dawson’s Say Her Name here

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge author of the month then please contact me by email.

There are so many good debuts coming out this month that it was really hard to decide which to pick…..as it’s the first month I picked two!

*cheeky grin*

So the first #BritishBooksChallenge17 Debut Of The Month for January is…….

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

I am super excited to read this book!  I have a feeling it’s going to be amazing!

Not heard of Wing Jones or Katherine Webber?  I have you covered!

Check out this special spotlight post and why people are loving Wing Jones here

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up a review of Wing Jones by Katherine Webber (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

I also have some special treats lined up too!

Look out for some Wing Jones related posts over the course of January with a special giveaway!

You can catch a brilliant Photo Guest Post kicking of the #WJPhotoTour here

A signed Wing Jones giveaway on twitter here

And the second #BritishBooksChallenge17 Debut Of The Month for January is…….

Gilded Cage by Vic James

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this book and I am fully intrigued by it!  I can’t wait!

Not heard of Gilded Cage or Vic James?  I have you covered!

Check out this special spotlight post and why people are loving Gilded Cage here

Don’t Forget…..

If you read, review and link up a review of Gilded Cage by Vic James  (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

I also have some special treats lined up too!

Look out for a Gilded Cage related post at some point in January with a special giveaway(s)!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their debut through the British Books Challenge debut of the month then please contact me by email.

As well as the above I have lots of other exciting posts and giveaways going up throughout the month too which I will share using the hashtag so do look out for those too!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

As well as following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17 I would also suggest following my blog using your preferred feed subscription (by email by filling in the subscription box at the top of my blog , BlogLovin’ etc) in order to keep up with the latest news and posts regarding this challenge throughout 2017!

Thanks for signing up for the British Books Challenge 2017!

Now for the important part, make sure you link all of your reviews using the Mr. Linky form below. In the Your Name field please include your blog name, the title of the book and the author. Make sure the link takes me directly to your review or your entry won’t count and will be deleted from the list.

Name – Please add your name and blog / YouTube channel e.g Chelley Toy – Tales Of Yesterday

URL – Please add a direct link to your British Books Challenge sign up post here




Tales Post – 15 Best Books Read In 2016

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It’s time to share my 15 best books read in 2016!

I’ve not had the best reading year personally this year.  This was not because there were no brilliant books to read, it was all down to a huge horrible reading slump I hit around May time.  I had a lot going on personally at the start of the year and if I’m honest it all got quite on top of me and began starting to affect my mental health and thus my concentration levels were shot.  As the months passed it got a little better, but did not improve my reading levels.  One major problem I found was that I would start a book, really enjoy it, get halfway and then put it down unable to finish it through my own doing.  This happened often and was super annoying!

Whilst Goodreads states that I only read 37 books this year (and therefore failing my Goodreads challenge) I know I have possibly read more as I have not kept up to date with tracking my reading very well this year (one thing to make sure I do next year) and Goodreads does not include all those books I half read either.

Anyway, even out of the books I have read picking just 15 has been tough as I have read some AMAZING books this year (you can see what books I have read here )

Also check out my 2016 End Of Year Book Survey here

These will be listed in no particular order.

I still have so many amazing books from 2016 yet to read!

Before I start I would like to thank everyone for their support in 2016!  The brilliant book community, all the friends I have made, fab authors for writing fab books and being generally awesome, all the publisher who have sent me books and everyone who has supported me through my second full year of book blogging.

Thank You All x

Here we go…..

(remember these are in no particular order…. it was tough enough picking just 15!)


 

 

 

 

 

 

Cell 7 by Kerry Drewery

This book had me turning page after page as quickly as I possibly could and I speed through it because I just HAD to know what was going to happen next.  In a world where justice and the fate of those accused of murder is decided by the public through a reality TV Show over 7 days Cell 7 gives us a scary dystopian view of the world without a justice system and possibly a world that is scarily not far from the future if you really think about it.  Told in a unique way of two different narrators and a reality TV show transcript Cell 7 was intense, gripping, addictive and I basically I can’t wait for the sequel!

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

I am way way late to the party on this one, but I listened to this on audiobook earlier on this year and thoroughly loved it.  An adult thriller with a gritty edge and very unreliable narrator The Girl On The Train tells the story of Rachel who whilst on her daily commute see’s something shocking.  I loved how this book told the story from three different points of view and three different women’s voices and although I did guess the reveal at the end it still shocked me to the core.  I found myself craving every next chapter as I was completely hooked.

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D Schmidt

Orbiting Jupiter may be a short contemporary YA read, but it certainly hit me with all the feels all at once which have stayed with me for quite some time.  Orbiting Jupiter is a story about love, family and friendship and a message of never giving up on what you believe in no matter what.  I smiled, I shed tears and I felt so much love for these characters.  In fact thinking about it now is making me emotional all over again.  The ending in the book broke me completely.  Orbiting Jupiter is just as simplistic and beautiful as it is sad and heart-breaking.  Friendship, family, unconditional love and hope.  It will make you smile, it will make you angry, it will make you cry, but most of all it will leave you with the feeling that no matter what some things are worth fighting for.

You can find my full review here


 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting For Callback by Perdita and Honor Cargill

Waiting For Callback tells the story of Elektra who is discovered by an acting agency and right from the very first line I laughed and laughed and laughed.  I loved this contemporary YA read.  We follow Elektra as she auditions for roles and the ups and downs of her friendships and crushes and all of the embarrassing moments that fall upon her.  It made me smile so much my cheeks hurt long after the last page!  I cannot wait for the sequel!

The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury

The Sleeping Prince was high up on my most anticipated list since I read the first novel in the trilogy The Sin Eaters Daughter last year.  I was blown away!  The Sleeping Prince starts where The Sin Eater’s Daughter left off thereabouts, but this time from the perspective of Errin who although we had not met prior to The Sleeping Prince we had heard of her through Leif’s stories in The Sin Eater’s Daughter as Errin is Liefs sister.  With the Kingdoms at war following The Sleeping Prince being awoken we are thrown straight into Kingdoms in turmoil.  With an unforgettable prologue that crushed my soul we are thrown straight into the action and the feeling of fear is instantly felt.  The pace of the book really made the story flow page after page.  It’s completely stunning and breath-taking.  The imagery that is created and the feelings Melinda makes you feel through her characters are truly amazing.  The last book in this series is out in 2017 and I can’t wait…..its going to destroy me…but in a good way!

You can find my full review here

The Next Together by Lauren James

Another book I was very late to the party on.  I absolutely adored this book about time travel and love over years and years of time.  Imagine always finding your true love over and over only to be separated each time as fate takes it’s course all with a mix of sic fi!  Yes you heard me right!  I fell in love with each version of the characters and raced through to the end.  I loved how cleverly Lauren James writes jumping from year to year, backwards and forwards without confusing the reader.  I also loved the mixture of story, emails, diary entries etc. which really cemented the story together.  I really wanted to read the sequel this year too but time was against me….but next year it is at the top of my list!


 

 

 

 

 

 

The Girl Of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

This book is stunningly beautiful.  I think I could probably end my brief summary there, just with that one line as that is simply what this book is.  It’s like poetry in book form and every sentence that Kiran writes feels like its perfectly crafted and so meaningful.  The Girl Of Ink and Stars tells the story of Isabella the daughter of a cartographer who dreams of lands far away from where she is.  When Isabella’s friend goes missing she volunteers to join the search for her across the island and discovers the islands secrets, beauty and dangers.  This is a stunning book which I think will become an instant classic in the future if it isn’t already.

Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Jennifer Niven’s and I was super excited to read her second book Holding Up The Universe this year.  The story is told from two points of view.  Libby who is trying to get her life back on track and Jack who has prosopagnosia (face blindness).  What pursues is a story of love and being wanted and loved.  Personally I related to Libby a lot and I really liked her as a character.  Jennifer Niven’s writing again is just beautiful and so heart felt that it oozes love and warmth off the page….just like one big hug.

Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

Oh my gosh!  Where to start with this book!  Sometimes a book comes along that makes a footprint on your memory and your heart for a long long time.  Sometimes forever.  Paper Butterflies is that book for me.  It tore my heart completely and left me crying, thinking about the book and its characters long after finishing.  An emotional tale of an abusive childhood, growing up, friendship, love, forgiveness and choosing left or right.  Paper Butterflies tells the heart-breaking story of June who following her Mother’s death years earlier and following her Father’s remarriage, is being physically and mentally abused by her step mother , Kathleen.   With a broken heart I was left with Paper Butterflies in my tummy!  This story will stay with me for a very long time to come and never fails to bring tears to my eyes just thinking about it.  I highly recommend this book with all of my heart.  Go and read it and fall in love, laugh, cry and go and grab all of the people that you love and hold them tightly.

You can find my full review here


 

 

 

 

 

 

Super Awkward by Beth Garrod

I’m smiling already before even typing this and that is because this book made me laugh on every single page.  Super Awkward tells the story of Bella Fisher who has some very super awkward and hilarious moments!  Under awkward and again funny circumstances she meets a super fit boy who Bella decides she needs to convince to come to prom!  This book is just hilarious and will give you smiles and laughs a plenty.  Loved it!

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This year seems to be the year that I discover books that have been out for a while but I seem to have not read them.  A Monster Calls is exactly one of those books and oh my how emotional was this book.  I was in pieces by the end.  A Monster Calls tells the story of Connor who is struggling to fit in and who calls for a Monster and a monster in the form of a huge tree in his back garden appears.  This story is about grief and coping with grief and unconditional love and is just beautiful.  I’m welling up just thinking about it!

Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard

I LOVED this book!  A book about female friendships and the ups and downs that this group of friends goes through and significant life events.  Sara Barnard is seriously a writer to watch her writing is gorgeous and she takes you on a huge rollercoaster of emotions as you become swept away by this group of friends friendship.  I can’t wait to see what’s next from Sara as I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant!


 

 

 

 

 

 

Unboxed by Non Pratt

I love Non Pratt’s books….she has this way of making the characters so relatable and like you have know them for ages and ages.  With unboxed Non does exactly this again and its an emotional touching book about a group of friends who meet up to retrieve a time capsule following their friends death.  What follows is an emotional story full of fond memories, laughter and tears.  It’s just perfect.

In A Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

I loved this adult thriller set on a hen weekend, in the woods, in a creepy glass house.  Another books that I listened to in audio book form and the narrator of this book was just fantastic.  She really pulled the brilliant words and story by Ruth Ware out of the page and really took you on a journey.  I loved the twists and turns and mystery to this book which the writing and the story takes us on.  A brilliant thriller which I should have read sooner than I did.

The Deviants by C J Skuse

This book!  Just drop everything and go and grab a copy.  I will never ever forget this book in many years to come.  It was completely different to what I expected it to be, but what I read was completely absorbing, shocking, emotional and brilliant.  The Deviants tells the story of a group of friends who call themselves The Fearless Five.  Years have divided some of them and the story brings them back together like they are all bound to each other by a secret.  By the time I reached the end of this book I was an absolute emotional wreck!  C J is undoubtedly one of the best UKYA writers out there!  Breathtakingly brilliant!

So there you have it!  My 15 best books read in 2016!  I highly recommend all of these books!

2017 looks set to be a fab year and I simply can’t wait to get back on track and read all of the fab books!

I would love to hear what your favourite books read in 2016 were?  Are any of them the same as mine?  Why not leave a comment or tweet me on twitter using @ChelleyToy

Tales Post – 2016 End Of Year Survey

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This fab 2016 end of year book survey is the 7th annual end of year survey hosted by Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner and is the third time I am participating!

Before I start I would like to thank everyone for their support in 2016!  The brilliant book community, all the friends I have made, fab authors for writing fab books and being generally awesome, all the publishers who have sent me books and everyone who has supported me through my first full year of book blogging.

Thank You All x

Number Of Books You Read:

37

I’m really disappointed with myself I have to admit.  I hit a huge reading slump in about May time and I just could not get myself out of it.  Also I have been starting books and not finishing them and also not keeping track with books I have read!

*rolls eyes at self*

You can find out all about the books I read in 2016 here

Number of Re-Reads:

I don’t think I have read and re-reads but this does not include the Point Horror books as I can’t remember which ones I read as teenager!

Genre You Read The Most From:

Contemporary!

I read a lot of UKYA books which is not a genre I know, but a worthy mention.

Best Book You Read In 2016?

Oh gosh!  I always struggle with this question so much!

I have my top 15 best books of 2016 here

If I had to pick these two would be top of the list……


 

 

 

 

 

 

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

I’m going to go for a Point Horror here I think……

Caroline B Cooney has become the queen of Point Horror, but this one was more disappointing than I would have thought.

Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2016?

In a good way…..mainly because I was not expecting what I read and it blew me away!

Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2016?

Without a doubt…….

Best series you started in 2016?

Best Sequel of 2016?

Best Series Ender of 2016?

I don’t think I got to read a series ender this year!

Favourite new author you discovered in 2016?

Sara Barnard!

Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I don’t tend to read a lot of fantasy, but Mel always makes me fall in love with the genre!

Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Favourite cover of a book you read in 2016?

Most memorable character of 2016?

Blister from Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

Most beautifully written book read in 2016?

Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?

Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?

“You do not write your life with words…You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?

Book That Shocked You The Most?

OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

All the Katherine’s & Matthew’s….all of them!

Favourite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year?

The friendships in Beautiful Broken Things

Favourite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?

OMG I haven’t fallen for any characters this year!  What even is happening!

Best 2016 debut you read?

Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Most Unique Book You Read In 2016?

Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

New favourite book blog you discovered in 2016?

I think alittlebutalot.wordpress.com run by the lovely @eenalol and the brilliant yaundermyskin.com run by the lovely @YAundermyskin (Amy) are two highlights for me, but I’m sure there’s many more that I’m just not thinking of at the moment!

Favourite review that you wrote in 2016?

I think it has to be the review I wrote for the last book I read in 2015 – Jellicoe Road.  I just read that review back and although I feel like I haven’t done the book justice it brings back all the memories and feelings of the book completely.

You can find my review here

Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

I’ve hosted so many brilliant posts this year on my blog but I particularly loved this post I hosted by an anonymous friend about anxiety – here

Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

YALC!

Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2016?

Chairing this event!  A dream come true!

Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

I’ve really struggled this year to find a good balance.  With working full time, having an 11 year old son who started secondary school in September, blogging, reading and trying to fit some writing time in I have to admit it’s been hard and I’m not sure I’ve been too successful at achieving everything, but this may be down to doing too much more than anything else.

Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

I’m not a stats person.  I rarely check my stats.  Therefore I have absolutely no idea on this.

Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I plucked up the courage and popped a very short story up on my blog as part of a blog tour post where we had to answer the question What Is Human.  I’m really proud of the story and it made people cry (sorry)

You can check out the story here

Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Portable Charge Packs – all that tweeting and photo taking at events drain your battery so much!

Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

You can find a whole post about this here

Goodreads Challenge – I read 37 out of the 75 book challenge I set myself at the start of the year.

British Books Challenge – I read 21 books by UK authors in 2016 and reviewed 12 of these which  counted towards the challenge.

2015 Classics Challenge – I read 0 Classic books for the Classics Challenge! FAIL!

One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2016 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?

Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?

2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?

One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?

Becoming a lot more organised and actually giving myself some down time to do other things.

A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone

I’ve been sooooooo good and have not yet read any 2017 releases!  I’m either crazy or a genius!  I will let you guess which one!

Thanks to Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner for hosting and I’m looking forward to 2017 already!

Happy Reading

Tales Post – British Books Challenge 2017 – Sign Up #BritishBooksChallenge17

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bbc-pointed-shaded

I’m so very excited to announce that in 2017 I will be hosting the British Books Challenge!

*gives a big fan fare and dances in excitement*

#BritishBooksChallenge17

I have participated in this particular reading challenge for the past two years and I’m so excited to now be hosting it myself.  I am hugely passionate about reading and supporting British authors and I really do hope that you will join me in this very special reading challenge starting in the new year.

Find my year in Books and Challenges 2015 here

Or my year in Books and Challenge 2016 here

I was super excited to be have been asked to host and I have to say a massive thank you first to Becky for originally creating the challenge, to Sarah for hosting from 2013-2014, Michelle for hosting in 2015 and getting me signed up to my first ever bookish challenge and to Kirsty for hosting it firstly in 2012 and again this year in 2016 . All four of these amazing women have put in an incredible amount of work towards promoting British authors and I hope I can do half as well as they did next year. Special thanks to Michelle for letting me pretty much cut and paste most of her sign up pages!

And as always a massive thank you to Rhys from Thirst For Fiction for designing the British Books Challenge blog button!

I have some exciting plans for the challenge throughout the year all of which are detailed below…..

Including a special prize draw prize for signing up to the challenge with thanks to Foyles!

So what is the British Books Challenge?

The British Books Challenge is a reading challenge that will be running here on Tales Of Yesterday between 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2017 and the main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors.

This challenge is available for all bloggers and/or booktubers who review books on their blogs, YouTube channels or readers who review on other websites such as Goodreads.

If you sign up for the challenge you will be aiming to read at least 12 books by British authors (which works out to one a month).

For every book you review each month you will get an entry into the draw to win a monthly prize pack (assuming that you’ve left all appropriate links on the monthly link page!). Therefore the more you review the more chances you have at winning that month’s prize(s).

Also see the Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month section for ways to gain extra entries each month!

Please note that entries must have been read and reviewed in the month that you are entering your link/entry.

There may also be some kind of special prize draw at the end of the year for those challenge participants who have gone to the most effort over the year and reviewing 50 or more books by British authors.

As prize packs are mainly being sponsored by British publishers I’m afraid that some of the prizes will only be available for UK participants but I hope that international bloggers will still take part.  Please be aware that you will need to provide me with an address which may sometimes be passed on to a publicist in order for your prize to be sent out.

In terms of what books would count towards the challenge – the books can be in print or out. Old or new titles. They can be from any genre and for any age range. In previous years Becky, Michelle and Kirsty focused mostly on young adult books on their respective blogs, and Sarah’s reviews for the challenge spanned many genres and age ranges. The primary focus on Tales Of Yesterday will be on YA and MG with a few adult books in the mix too, however feel free to read any books by British authors and have those books count towards the challenge: children’s books, middle grade, young adult, new adult, or adult fiction or non-fiction – whatever you feel like reading by any British Authors.

#BritishBooksChallenge17

Monthly Prize Packs

I am absolutely delighted to tell you I have had a huge amount of support and encouragement in the planning of this challenge from UK publishers and authors.

These wonderful publishers / authors have agreed to provide British bookish goodies for prize packs which can be won by the challenge entrants.

Watch out for the review link up post on the 1st of each month for details of what you could win.

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge giveaways please contact me by email.

Author Of The Month

Each month I will be featuring an Author Of The Month!

This will normally be an author I am a huge fan of and who’s books I think you would love.

I will announce each author of the month on the monthly sign up posts on the 1st of every month.

I will also be spotlighting the author and their books on my blog throughout the month along with any reviews and a special post by the author themselves on my blog too.

And that’s not all…..

If you read, review and link up any books by the author of the month (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

If the author has multiple books and you read them all you will gain a double entry for each review of each book.

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge author of the month then please contact me by email.

Debut Of The Month

Each month I will also be featuring a Debut Of The Month!

This will normally be a book I will be reading myself throughout that month that I am hugely excited about!

I will announce each debut of the month on the monthly sign up posts on the 1st of every month.

I will also be spotlighting the author and their books on my blog throughout the month along with a review and a special post by the author themselves on my blog too.

And that’s not all…..

If you read, review and link up a review of the book chosen as debut of the month (in the same month that the book is debut of the month) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw.  So a double entry for one review!

#BritishBooksChallenge17

If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their debut through the British Books Challenge debut of the month then please contact me by email.

About Signing Up

This year, with thanks to Foyles, I have an exciting prize to giveaway so signing up for the challenge will gain you entry into this special prize draw (more details about this prize below).

To sign up for the challenge…..

Write a blog post or page on your blog or upload a video to your YouTube channel linking back to this one.

In that post/page/video compile a list of titles by British authors that you hope to read and review during 2017. If you are not yet sure, just add one or two and update as and when you read titles with hyperlinks to your review.  A bit like I’ve done here

Insert the British Books Challenge button onto your blog’s side bar. To do this save the button onto your computer, then go to add gadget on your sidebar to put the picture on your blog adding a hyperlink to it of the url address for this post. For Youtubers, please include the graphic within your video.

Fill out the Mr.Linky form below. Do make sure the link you add goes directly to your sign up post and has your blog/channel name as the title. Links to anything other than sign up posts will be deleted and only people who have created a sign up post will be eligible to win the monthly prize pack each month and be entered for a chance to win the sign up prize. This is very important step!

And finally, as you review the books on your blog/YT channel, update the monthly review pages, which will go live on the 1st of every month, with a link to your review. Every link up you add will be an entry into that month’s prize pack (please note that some of the prizes may be donated by publishers only willing to send to the UK).

Links to any books by Author Of The Month or links to reviews for Debut Of The Month will be eligible for a double entry into the prize draw within the month that they are Author Of The Month / Debut Of The Month only.

#BritishBooksChallenge17

It’s Good To Talk!

Share your reviews on social media using the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17

Lets get chatting and celebrating all of the brilliant British books and authors that we have and all of the wonderful British books that we are reading!

Always remember – never tweet an author into a negative review and be constructive.

As well as following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17 I would also suggest following my blog using your preferred feed subscription (by email by filling in the subscription box at the top of my blog , BlogLovin’ etc) in order to keep up with the latest news and posts regarding this challenge throughout 2017!

FAQ

What books would you suggest that I read for the British Books challenge?

I will be writing many a blog post throughout 2017 to give you any and all recommendations and of course we will have our Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month to get you started.

I will also provide a link to my own British Books Challenge 2017 page which will detail which books I have been reading and reviewing for the challenge or any books I am hoping to read in 2017 by British authors.

I will also let you know on each monthly sign up page which books I have been reading and enjoying the month before.

I also have various guest posts, Q&A’s, spotlight posts and of course reviews throughout my blog so do check them out through the index here

If you’re on Twitter, following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17  –  a place where people can also share what they are reading by British Authors.

You can always have a look through other participant’s review links on the monthly link up pages once the challenge gets started. I’ll add links to each month’s post below.

If you love UKYA check out this fab spreadsheet by Debbie and Jim that give you lists of UKYA books – here

These links by no means include the only books that count towards the challenge but hopefully they’ll help you get started.

Don’t forget to post links to your reviews each month for your chance to win prizes:

How did the British Books Challenge come about?

The BBC is a reading challenge that was created by Becky from The Bookette in 2011 as a way to encourage people to read more books by British authors. The challenge was taken over by Kirsty at The Overflowing Library for 2012 and again this year in 2016, was hosted by Sarah at Feeling Fictional between 2013 to 2014, Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies throughout 2015 and is now being hosted by me, Chelley at Tales Of Yesterday for 2017.

I post reviews on more than one blog. Can they count towards my challenge total?

Yes.

I am an international entrant and sometimes I do not have time to write my reviews in English. Can I write them in my native language?

Of course. It would be helpful if there was a little summary in English so that I can comment but as long as you make sure the book’s title is translated somewhere on your post then it is fine. I’m delighted that international bloggers are going to help promote British authors.

Do you need to read the book and review the book in the same month?

Yes.  The idea of the British Books Challenge is to read 12 books by British Authors throughout the year (this is only 1 per month but please feel free to read and review more) so reading a book and reviewing in the same month gains you a valid entry into the prize draw.

It doesn’t matter if it is a re-read of a book you haven’t reviewed before as long as the review is created and posted within the same month you are linking up for.

Any archive reviews from previous years / months will not be eligible for the monthly prize draw.

Can I count books that I have already counted on other challenges in 2017?

I don’t see why not.

I’ve read and reviewed a book by the Author Of The Month or the Debut Of The Month how do I gain my extra entry?

You still link up your review as normal on the monthly link up page and I will do the rest.  Any linked reviews to either author of the month or debut of the month will gain an extra entry into the prize draw at the end of the month.

Do Irish authors count towards my challenge total?

No. Ireland is not part of the UK. The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Authors who live in any of these four locations can count towards the challenge.

How about authors who were say born in America (insert any other country here) but are currently living in the UK?

Yes, we are using the following criteria to decide whether an author can count towards the challenge:

  • Authors who were born in the UK, live in the UK and are published in the UK
  • Authors who were born overseas but are CURRENTLY living in the UK and his/her books were/are being published in the UK first
  • Authors who were born in the UK are currently living overseas but his/her books are being published in the UK first

Top examples of authors born in other countries but who currently reside and are published in the UK and count as being ‘British authors’ include Patrick Ness, Meg Rosoff, Moira Young, Laura Lam, CJ Daugherty etc.  We love these authors and we claim them as our own!

I know it can be tricky to work out if X author counts towards this challenge so if you are not sure about a particular author, please do contact me and I’ll see what I can do to help!

I do not have a blog but I would love to take part. Is there a way that I can take part?

If you have an account on Goodreads or another book review website you may still join the challenge. Sign up by linking to your profile page and make sure you link directly to your reviews each month to be eligible to win the monthly prize packs.

How will I know if the monthly prize pack is International?

I will always specify clearly the terms and conditions of winning the prize pack on the monthly link up page.

As the prize packs are often kindly donated and sent to the winners by the publishers it is up to the publisher if the giveaway is international or not.

When will I know if I have won a prize pack and what do I do if I win?

The winner of the monthly prize pack will be notified on the link up post for the following months British Books Challenge.

The winner will then have 14 days to contact me via email with their address and must be happy for me to pass this onto the relevant publisher.

Once your prize is received please let me know so I can tick you off my list and feel free to share any pictures of your prize on social media using the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge17

It’s not January anymore and I’ve only just seen this challenge – can I still sign up?

Yes!  Of Course!  The more the merrier!  Follow the steps above for a sign up post then start linking your reviews in the monthly link up post for the month you are starting the challenge.

I am a publicist promoting a book by a British author (or indeed a British author). Can I promote my book via the British Books Challenge?

Yes. If you would like to donate prizes to the monthly prize packs that would be fantastic. Please contact me via email to discuss this further.  I really do appreciate the generosity of publishers and authors who have donated books as prizes in the past and I hope that this continues in the future!

I have a question that you haven’t answered here. How can I contact you?

The best way to contact me is by email, I will reply to all emails as quickly as possible but sometimes life gets in the way so please bear with me if it takes me a couple of days to respond.

I do have a twitter account ( @ChelleyToy ) and always love to hear all of your thoughts/comments regarding the #BritishBooksChallenge2017 and any books you are reading for the challenge there, however, for queries regarding the challenge email is still your best bet towards hearing back from me.

#BritishBooksChallenge17

Looking for the monthly link up posts?  Click on the months below

Please note these will be updated as each link post goes live on the 1st of every month

July

August

September

October

November

December

#BritishBooksChallenge17 Sign Up

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With thanks to the lovely people at Foyles I have a £25 Foyles gift voucher that can be used in store or online to giveaway to one lucky winner that signs up for the British Books Challenge 2017!

foyles

To enter –

Write a blog post or page on your blog or upload a video to your YouTube channel linking back to this one.

In that post/page/video compile a list of titles by British authors that you hope to read and review during 2017. If you are not yet sure, just add one or two and update as and when you read titles with hyperlinks to your review.  A bit like I’ve done here

Insert the British Books Challenge button onto your blog’s side bar. To do this save the button onto your computer, then go to add gadget on your sidebar to put the picture on your blog adding a hyperlink to it of the url address for this post. For Youtubers, please include the graphic within your video.

Fill out the Mr.Linky form below. Do make sure the link you add goes directly to your sign up post and has your blog/channel name as the title. Links to anything other than sign up posts will be deleted and only people who have created a sign up post will be eligible to win the monthly prize pack each month and be entered for a chance to win the sign up prize. This is very important step!

UK/IRE entrants only for the prize draw but anyone can still sign up for the challenge.

Ends 31st December 2016

Please note that for online purchases Foyles offer free delivery on UK Second Class only – full delivery details and costs here

Please also find terms and conditions of a Foyles gift card here

A huge thank you to Foyles for such a fab prize!

**Please note that entry into the sign up prize has now ended, but you can still sign up to the challenge at any time**

Thanks for signing up for the British Books Challenge 2017!

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Name – Please add your name and blog / YouTube channel e.g Chelley Toy – Tales Of Yesterday

URL – Please add a direct link to your British Books Challenge sign up post here




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