Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway

**CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Some secrets last a lifetime. When Becky and her mum move to the tiny village of Oakbridge, Mum is hoping for a new beginning. But when Becky discovers an old photo of her mum in hospital clutching a baby, twelve years before Becky was born, Becky becomes haunted by the thought that her mum is keeping something from her. Stifled by her mum's over-protectiveness and depressive moods, Becky feels more alone than ever. The only place she finds comfort is at the beautiful local Butterfly Garden with her new friend, the wild-spirited and impulsive Rosa May. But Becky can't shake off the unanswered questions. Why can't she swim? Where is her dad? Who is the baby in the photo? And why is her mum lying to her? As the two girls spend more time together however, Rosa May's unpredictable temper and possessive streak suggests that she is hiding something as well...and in the heat of the sun-drenched summer, it seems that Becky is the only one in the dark.

This book is beautiful. I have the ARC version as it isn't published until May, so it has a different cover to the one that will actually be published. It is white with blue, shiny writing on the front and little blue silhouettes of butterflies. It's gorgeous and I prefer it to the final book cover (above.)

'Butterfly Summer' is very predictable. Straight from the start, I knew that Rosa-May must be Becky's sister. There were so many clues in the text and in dialogue that when Rosa-May told Becky that she was her sister, it wasn't really a surprise to me. It would have been nice to have a bit more suspense building up to it. Saying that, though, there were still a lot of surprises and twists in the story to make up for it.

I loved the sub-plot of Becky and Mack. I would have loved to read more about them together, but maybe there will be a sequel? Hopefully!

My favourite part of the story was when Becky found a photo of a baby under her mum's bed, and when Becky realised Rosa-May wasn't entirely real.

I loved this book so much! I recommend it to girls aged 10+. 9/10!

Official Publication Date: May 2012
Note: You can read more about this amazing book HERE.

Get Britain Reading!

A UK TV show called 'Daybreak' is launching a nation-wide campaign to get Britain reading.

According to the World Literacy Foundation and the National Literacy Trust, thousands of kids are leaving school without adequate reading skills. One in three children, between the age of 7 and 16 years old, does not own a book and over six million adults in Britain cannot read properly. Daybreak wants to change this.
Since Monday the 27th February they have been asking their viewers to take the 10 minute pledge to read each day and give a book to the beneficiaries of their collection; Booktrust, Dyslexia Action & the Salvation Army.

To find out more about the campaign, and to find out how you can get involved, click HERE.

Unravelling by Elizabeth Norris

Leaving the beach, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit head on by a pickup truck.

And killed.

Then someone is leaning over her, healing her stopped heart. But if she was brought back to life, it must be for a very good reason.

That reason?

Unless Janelle can stop it happening, the world is going to end in twenty three days.

The countdown has begun. 23:57:06...

05...

04...

 Janelle's mother has Bipolar disorder and her father works for the FBI. Ever since she can remember, she's been either looking after her mum, or snooping around in her dad's office playing spies. Sometimes she would come across a case about a mysterious murder, or perhaps a photo of someone with radiation burns.
Or maybe a countdown to the end of the world.
Janelle can only think of one thing - if she was brought back to life, surely there was a good reason?
Can Janelle and her friends stop the world from ending before their very eyes?

This novel is very original - I have never read a book that even comes close to how amazing this book is. I like how there is a countdown instead of a chapter title.

The plot was really good. It started off sounding like a normal book, with a teenage girl at the beach with her boyfriend, everything calm and happy. And then she gets hit by a truck which starts to 'unravel' (see what I did there?) a whole truck-load (I really should stop with these bad puns...) of secrets.

I can't decide who my favourite character was - they are all amazing! You can tell that the author thought loads about them, and spent time gradually developing them.

It was really sweet how Janelle looked after her little brother throughout the story, especially near the end when things got dangerous. I would have liked to hear more from his point of view, though.

I'm not too keen on the cover, it's a bit too plain for my liking although I do see the relevance between the cover and the story. It's as if the girl is melting away - ceasing to exist.

I think the 'moral' of the story is that things aren't always what they seem. The three boys in the story seemed like messed-up druggies at the start, but they turned out to be intelligent boys who were 'out of this world'...

This book is brilliantly written. It's amazing! I give it 10/10. I recommend this to anyone 13+ - adults would like this too.

Thank you ever so much to the publisher who sent this to me! (I can't actually remember, I think it might have been Bloomsbury or Harper Collins?)

Note: **This is a scheduled post**
Official Publication Date: 7th June 2012

Offline

Hi everyone,

Yesterday our Internet went down and apparently it will take about a week to fix. Annoying! At the moment I'm at the library but obviously I can't come here every day to blog.

I will try to reply to tweets/emails/comments/Facebook messages as soon as I can, I'm sorry if you don't get a reply from me for a few days.

Hopefully the Internet will be back on soon!

Amber x

Oliver Twisted by JD Sharpe: Oliver Twisted Soundtrack

 I am delighted to introduce JD Sharpe to The Mile Long Bookshelf! She is here today to talk about her new book Oliver Twisted, and the music she listened to while writing it. Have a listen to some of the links! :)

Thanks so much for having me on your blog! I am going to share today some of the music I listened to whilst writing Oliver Twisted.  I would say that the list broadly falls into two camps, folksy and hip hop but there is an Eighties vein in there as well! I think that’s because the book has distinct moods and I found myself needing different types of stimulus at different points.   

I NEED music to write. Some people find music distracting while working but I couldn’t sit down to write for hours on end without it. When the going is tough, when you are up against the wall, music can push you through. So here are some of the songs I listened to on Spotify while writing Oliver Twisted. I’ve include some you tube videos as well. Enjoy… 

Mumford & Sons – Winter Winds

The Specials – Ghost Town

Rachel Portman – Streets of London 

Laura Marling – Devil's Spoke

M.I.A. – Paper Planes

Jay-Z – Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)

I love this Austin Powers version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QhCHcyJh-I 

Kanye West – All Of The Lights  

Lauryn Hill – Lost Ones

Kings Of Convenience – Homesick

Ben Folds Five – Smoke

Jamiroquai – Blue Skies 

Trichotomy – Chase 

Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar 

Tinie Tempah – Pass Out

Submotion Orchestra – All Night 

Florence + The Machine – My Boy Builds Coffins

Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody 

Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love 

Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights

Thanks JD! It's been a pleasure to have you on the blog. Tomorrow you will see her at  Daisy Chain Book Reviews.

Top Five Romance Books

Happy Valentines Day! I thought I would share a few of my favourite romance novels with you, here is a list of my top five.

1. Jenna & Jonah's Fauxmance by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin 
  
Teen TV celebrities Jenna and Jonah (real names, Charlie Tracker and Fielding Withers) make more money in a month than most people do in a lifetime. They can't stand to be in the same room as each other, but to boost the TV ratings their agents make them a 'real life' couple. Then the deception is uncovered by the paparazzi, and Charlie and Fielding have to disappear to weather the media storm. It's not until they're far off the grid of the Hollywood circuit that they realise there's more to each of them than shiny hair and a winning smile.  
BUY. 

2.  Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy

Scarlett's not red like a sunset, she's red with rage. She cannot BELIEVE her mum's sunk so low as to pack her off to Ireland to stay with the dad who left them. Surely he's the reason for everything going wrong, her never being able to stay in a school, rules always just, somehow, seeming to get broken? Ha! They won't get round her so easily.
But she hasn't reckoned the gorgeous Kian, and he might just find a way to change Scarlett's mind. There's a chance that - this time - things will be different . . .
BUY.

3. Split by a Kiss by Luisa Plaja

Jo has just moved to America with her mum. She's always been a fairly average girl - not a nerd but certainly never one of the popular kids. But on her first day in her new school, she seems to be adopted by the It girls - and is invited to one of their parties. There, she meets Jake Matthews, officially the hottest boy in school, and when they begin to play the kissing-in-the-closet game, Seven Minutes in Heaven, amazingly Jake picks Jo join him in the closet! She can't believe her luck. But the reality of being kissed and groped by Jake is not quite as great as the fantasy... Jo has a choice to make: should she carry on, kiss Jake and secure her position in the It crowd - or should she tell him where to get off and risk relegation back to the land of the ordinary . . .

At this moment - Jo splits. She's Josie the Cool - girlfriend of Jake, member of the It crowd. She's also Jo the Nerd - rejected by the It crowd, single . . .
Will her two halves ever come back together again? Is Jake the guy she's meant to be with or could some of the other people she meets along her journey - Rachel the scary goth, David the misfit or Albie the rocker - be the answer? 
BUY. 
SEE MY REVIEW.

4.  Echoes of Love by Rosie Rushton

What would happen if Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' was set in the twenty-first century?

Anna Eliot adored the gorgeous Felix Wentworth , but still called an end to their relationship. As time passes, Anna wonders if strict parents, interfering friends and misplaced loyalties had more to do with it than she wants to admit...

Now he's back from fighting in Afghanistan and Anna longs to rekindle their relationship - but will he give her a second chance? Or will the echoes of the past prove too difficult to overcome?

An evocative tale of the perils of listening to others, instead of your own heart.

BUY.
SEE MY REVIEW.

5. Sweet Hearts: Star Crossed by Jo Cotterill

'You did WHAT?' screamed Mari.

'You turned down the cutest boy ever? Are you crazy?'

This summer, Fliss is playing Juliet opposite her dream Romeo. If only she could tell him how she feels!

But unless she finds some inner confidence, she's going to miss her chance with him. 

Because someone else has her eyes on Fliss's role - and her leading man...

Could he be her real-life Romeo...?

BUY.
SEE MY REVIEW.

Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2012- Shortlist

Books that have been shortlisted this year include Divergent, Being Billy and Between Shades of Gray. To see the full list, click HERE.

Congratulations to all authors that have been shortlisted! :)