Category: Books

Read, Watch and Listen – April

It is time for me to share a variety of entertaining things that you might want to read, watch and listen to. This has been an incredibly busy month for me and so as we move into spring I need time to myself. Time to consume TV shows, books and podcasts.

I have got lots of TV shows on the go at the moment but some go faster than others. Maybe because they have different numbers of episodes or just because I get hooked on particular shows more than the rest.

With reading, I always like to have a couple of fiction novels on the go and a YA book, as well as a biography. For ages I was plodding along with my reading list but now I have reached the end of several at once.

As for podcasts, many of mine are only on for short seasons as they track TV series such as Bridgerton. Finding a positive podcast is always my mission and I think today’s suggestion delivers when it comes to this.

Read – What If It’s Us

Becky Albertelli is my favourite YA author and is closely followed by a couple of other greats, including Adam Silvera. Knowing that they wrote a book together, I simply had no choice but to delve into it.

An LGBTQ story flips between two characters and their take on things. Arthur is staying with his parents while his lawyer mum carries out a project in New York. Meanwhile, Ben is going to summer school to make up for some poor grades.

A chance encounter in a post office leaves them both wishing they had made a connection. Arthur tries to find a way to discover who the mysterious parcel guy is and the narrative takes on a journey of intrigue and romance.

As YA stories go, this is well told. Ben and Arthur alternate chapters so you can see their misconceptions and anxieties and you find yourself rooting for them to get together. Overall this is certainly a great YA fiction novel.

Watch – One Of Us Is Lying

A yacht plays a big part in season two.

After reading the first book in the series by Karen M McManus, I was thrilled to see Netflix making a series about it. Now, the second season is just as fulfilling. Telling the tale of a group of young adults thrown into a situation of bribery and murder, this story is exciting to watch.

Cooper, Addy, Bronwyn and Nate have a lot going on in their lives ever since Simon died during a detention they were all in. Now, in series two, it is Jake who is missing and eyes are firmly fixed on these four alongside Janae and Maeve. Maeve is the tech savvy sister of Bronwyn and comes in useful when trying to work out who is manipulating them.

‘Simon Says’ is texting people randomly with challenges to do. If they don’t do as requested, someone comes off worse for wear. Or maybe even dies.

I absolutely love this gripping series which reflects the adventure outlined in the book. These actors do a good job of convincing us that they are up to their necks in problems.

Listen to – Made With Love Podcast

I have just started listening to Tom Daley’s brand new podcast about things that people love doing. He begins by interviewing Shania Twain and talks about anything his guest is passionate about.

Tom switched his love of diving for a new hobby – knitting. He wanted to make a podcast that discusses positive subjects and so encourages a range of famous people to share why they love what they do.

In the episode with Greta Thunberg, she discusses why she loves activism. Her retelling how she journeyed to America by sea and came across many adversaries such as Donald Trump, is fascinating.

I think this podcast is going to continue to be uplifting and satisfying. Check it out if you are searching for something new to tune into.

Final Thoughts

So if you are looking for something fresh to read, watch and listen to, maybe have a search for one of my suggestions. I feel as though I have leaned towards YA products this time, but they are really good sources of content and you may find that they suitably grab your interest.

Please share your thoughts in the comments and consider following my blog for similar future blog posts. For another of my review posts, check out Read, Watch and Listen from February.

Another Book Extract

If you haven’t tried one of my books before, it may be worth checking out this snippet from my recent YA Mystery novel. My book extract is from Chapter Two and sets the scene for what is to come later in the story. I loved writing this story and hope to one day become a successful YA writer.

Being Watched

Now, I have to tell you a little more about me and my friendship group. Some people would have described me as a ‘run of the mill,’ ‘blend in the background’ average Joe. Others might have suggested I was a geek. Some even hardly recognised my being there at all. But, Siobhan was different. She was a chameleon who blended in between geeks and jocks and princesses. Living just around the corner from me in our quiet little village since we were born, we had a long history of hanging out. I remember going to the circus with her when we were really small and her holding my hand because I was scared of a clown who kept coming up to us.

“Go away!” I remember her saying, forcefully. Even then, she had my back and the same was true today. When I thought hard about it, there were very few times that I was able to prove to her that she was under my protection too. Nevertheless I was sure that one day I would be able to pay her back for always being so kind and loyal. Better friends could not be made easily.

 

Max, however, was my longest running friend from school. Longest running because we bumped into each other on the very first day of nursery. When I say bumped I mean literally. He was not looking where he was going and came tearing around a corner, banging straight into me and causing us both to bash heads. As a result we both gained large egg-shaped swellings on our heads and were immediately sent home. The next day we apologised to each other but he never really acknowledged that he had been the one at fault. I was over that now. After all, thirteen years of friendship had seen many more challenges. We had tried lots of hobbies together, like fishing and basketball. One day while trying to catch a pike down by the stream in the woods, he leaned back to let the wire go and it had caught itself in the skin of my ear. I had yelled at him to let go but he continued to cast the wire and yanked my ear, causing it to bleed. He had been very sorry for that and soon we both stopped trying to be fishermen, giving it up as a bad job. With basketball, we never really got a look in as the other players were taller and quicker than us, but I did enjoy the time when I threw the ball backwards over my head and knocked him clean out. I felt as though I had got my own back for previous misdemeanours and we laughed about it for days before deciding that basketball just wasn’t for us. Whatever happened though, we were always tight as friends and never really fell out with each other.

 

Only that morning I had been playing a shoot-em-up game with him online. We had teamed up against two opponents from Russia and beaten them hands down. Our scores were high at the moment and we needed to make sure we played daily to remain in the top one hundred. Max had texted me after, “Well done, mate. We rule!” and I had replied with a GIF of a large grizzly bear snapping a tree trunk.

 

He was a bit jealous that I got to spend time with Siobhan as she was his type apparently and he really wanted the guts to ask her out. I had told him that she wasn’t looking to date at the moment so he would be wasting his breath asking. He thought that maybe I wanted her to myself but that was not the case. I never saw her like that at all. If anything, I was more drawn to Martha from drama class. She was an enigma to me. But I wasn’t going to tell him that, as she was a secret crush of mine and not something I wanted to discuss with anyone, even my best friend. For now, he would just have to believe me. I was no threat when it came to Siobhan. The more I thought about it, the more I considered finding out if Siobhan liked guys like him just so I had something to report. That way I would have something to tell him to get him off my back.

As we headed towards the woods, Siobhan looked at me as if to indicate we needed a break. We pulled over by a rickety fence and leaned our bikes against it while we caught our breath. She mentioned school and the hard assignment she had for computing and so I decided to throw Max into the mix.

“You know who knows a lot about ICT. Max.”

“You think he would help me? He has never even spoken to me before,” she replied looking surprised.

“Well it is in his blood. He knows everything about computers. I’m pretty sure he would give you a hand,” I added.

“I guess there are worse people to ask for help.”

“Do you want me to ask him for you?”

She thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, ask him to text me if he is willing to dig me out of a hole.”

I did it there and then and we got back onto our bikes and raced towards the aboding trees. It was such a dark wood and the trees either side of the road seemed to join together across it, closing out the sun and creating awkward shadows across our tracks.

I stopped again to answer the phone. It was mum letting me know that she had taken dad to the doctors as his asthma had been playing up again. Mum never spoke for long so the phone call was soon over and I reassured Siobhan that this kind of thing happened with dad all the time. As mum had said, there was nothing to worry about. Closing in on the centre of the woods, it became dull and mysterious, bringing back memories of years ago exploring the trees, climbing some of them and using the twigs to make bows and arrows. To us as kids, this wood had always seemed enchanted. Magical. Full of intrigue.

We were soon out of the woods and just after it there was a large, old house, slightly set back from the road. It had caught my eye before but today it stood out quite magnificently against the backdrop of fields and trees. It seemed somehow unfriendly; all jaunty and awkward amongst the blowing trunks and waving flowers, half decapitated with leaves and petals strewn around their stark bodies. Gusts of wind were making that small stretch of hill almost impossible to pass. A car swept past us and suddenly I saw something fly off of Siobhan’s shoulders and sweep into the yard of this daunting Manor.

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Thank you so much for reading my book extract. It is hard to promote a new YA book as an independent writer so I appreciate any reads or comments. If you want to find a new TV show to watch then have a look at my review of Willow on Disney Plus.

Sharing A Brilliant Book

Today I am excited to share with you the work of another Indie writer, Maureen Morrissey. This tale of growing up has an energy about it and brings with it a certain amount of nostalgia. It is very rare that I will share an indie author’s work, unless I feel that it is of a high standard and would intrigue my readers. This extract from a brilliant book is very worthy of checking out, commenting about and sharing with reader friends.

Maureen – showcased author

Snippet from Sonder: Janie’s Story

Janie, like many city kids, quickly became a member of the neighborhood pack once she began school. In all weather on Saturdays, the children in the area burst out of their apartments as early as eight o’clock in the morning and began their street games. Janie and Greg stayed in their pyjamas to watch Rin Tin Tin or Davy and Goliath cartoons or Bozo the Clown, until their father woke up around ten and threw them out of the house.

Waving at Ben, who was not allowed to join the games and was watching out the window, Janie followed Greg to the common backyard behind the apartments, where a dozen kids were in the middle of an intense game of Ring-a-Levio.  

“How do you play, Greg?” Janie asked a bit anxiously. The yelling and wrestling of the kids, mostly bigger than her, was intimidating.

Greg put a reassuring arm around her shoulders as they watched the game.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be on my side for your first game.  One team is hiding and the other team is looking for them.  When they find someone, they have to hold on to them and yell, ‘ringalevio one two three, one two three, one two three, ringalevio one two three.’ If they can say the whole thing without letting him get away, the one they captured goes to jail.  See, jail is the old sandbox there.  When they catch the whole team, they switch places.  But if one of the hiders can sneak in and tag the jailed ones, they can escape and hide again.  Got it?” 

She did, and the game went on for over an hour until they all got tired of it. Janie had caught on quickly.  Tackling one of the bigger boys, she wrapped her arms around his knee and her legs around his ankle, hanging on for dear life and screaming the entire Ringalevio call Greg had taught her while the boy, laughing so hard he almost wet his pants, tried to shake her off his leg and finally gave up, falling to the ground.  Both teams cheered as she triumphantly led her captured enemy to the jail.

After the game, the whole group trouped around the neighborhood for a while, and then ran down to the Grand Central Parkway side road. At the foot of the overpass into Flushing Meadow Park, they hung around a garbage-strewn area. They took turns climbing into a tree with an old piece of plywood, precariously perched in lower branches, that served as a treehouse; and played pirates. 

When the noon fire bell went off, they split up, yelling, “See you after lunch!” and ran back to their apartments. Gulping down peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese or rice and beans or Pop Tarts and milk, they were back out running the neighborhood in under an hour.

Janie loved being a big girl, and loved going to school every day. She leaped out of bed with the sun, ate her Apple Jacks or Cocoa Puffs cereal sprinkled with extra sugar, and was dressed in her light jacket, hopping up and down by the front door while Greg was still slurping the milk out of his bowl at the kitchen table.

“Come on, Greg! We’re gonna be late, hurry up!”

“We are not going to be late, Janie. Hold your horses, I’m coming.”

“Mom, can I walk by myself? Greg is taking too long!” she called.  

Their mother had the window screens leaned up in the bathtub, working to remove the brown crusty filth caked on them since she had cleaned them just a month ago.

“Not until first grade, dear.  You won’t be late, give Greg a few minutes.”

When he finally led her down the stairs, she zoomed around the corner and found Deidre waiting on her cement stoop.  They grabbed hands and skipped ahead of the boys, singing nursery rhymes as they went. When they got to the corner of the busy 108th Street, they did not pause to look for traffic as they began to cross.

“Janie! Deidre! Stop! Stop!”  Greg and Deirdre’s three brothers screamed as they raced towards the girls, who did not hear them through their singing.  

Just as they stepped into the street, the boys reached them and roughly pulled them back onto the sidewalk. At that second, a large sanitation truck was backing up at the intersection to pick up the overflowing trash cans, right where Janie and Deidre had been standing.

“And this is why you won’t be allowed to walk yourself until next year!” Greg yelled into Janie’s shocked face, while Deidre’s brothers gave her a few solid smacks on the arms and bottom. The tearful, shaken Kindergarteners held their brothers’ hands for the rest of the walk.

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Thank you so much for checking out Maureen’s work. Hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did and may wish to check out her Amazon Author Page. Also, kindly drop a supportive comment if you can. Authors welcome feedback and it is lovely to get enthusiastic responses.

If you want to discover more about the value of book reviews, check my article on Why You Should Write A Book Review.