Tag: peterbrown

Best of 2018: MG edition

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It’s time! It is the end of 2018 and here comes my “best of the year” series! 

For books to be considered in the “best of 2018” series, I had to have read them in 2018. So this discounts some of my favourite 2018 releases…

Today’s best of series takes on:

2018 best mg header

Just like yesterday, they aren’t in any real order. I’ll link to any reviews I’ve posted but I’ll give a short review!

Pages and Co – Tilly and the Book Wanderers: Anna James

Story telling at it’s absolute finest. Absolutely brilliant. I want to be a kid again to fall in love with this over and over. 

Beyond the Odyssey: Maz Evans

Love Greek Gods? Love having your heart ripped out? Love laughing? You’ve got yourself a winner here!

The Storm Keeper’s Island: Catherine Doyle

I fell in love with this very quickly. I love the idea of the magic in this book. Just lush.

Rooftoppers: Katherine Rundell

I don’t know how I hadn’t read this book before this year, but my GOD it is exceptional. I just devoured it. With a romantic setting like Paris and characters like this, you can’t go wrong!

The Wild Robot: Peter Brown

I LOVE Roz with all of my heart. This book is a WONDERFUL mix of Science, frienship, charm and wit. 

The Truth Pixie: Matt Haig

Guys. This book though. It made me WEEP. It’s so incredibly important. PLEASE get this read if you can.

The Nowhere Emporium: Ross Mackenzie

This is another one I’m not sure how I slept on it so long, but when I read it, it changed the game. I did a WHOLE 4 weeks of work on this book. The kids loved it just as much as me. I love this book.

The Way Past Winter: Kiran Milwood Hargrave

Oh man. This book is like the perfect wintry book. This book is one of those brilliant ones that deals with kindness – to yourself, each other and to the world. I absolutely loved the world that this book was written in. 

Royal Rabbits of London series: Simon Sebag Montefiore and Santa Montefiore

I ADORE this series. It’s so much fun. Rabbits are the ones who are secretly on the lookout for the queen? Secret service rabbits with rats as their enemies? This is one of the many brilliant series to come from 2018.

Sam Wu is NOT afraid of Ghosts: Katie and Kevin Tsang

Brillaintly funny with exceptional illustrations from Nathan Reed! I adore these books in that laugh out loud way. Like Royal Rabbits, the Sam Wu series is another brilliant one to come from 2018.

THERE WERE SO SO SO MANY MORE that could have been on the list. I read SO many incredible MG books in 2018. I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store, 2018 has set the bar PRETTY high. 

A massive thank you to all of the brilliant publishers who have sent me books this year. You guys are amazing. I love reading your books and then passing them on to my kids! 

S x 

“You know books… can I have some recommendations?”

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The amount of times I’ve been asked for recommendations over the past few weeks is LUSH. Whether it’s from my kids for what to read next, for parents on what to buy their kids for Christmas or from my colleagues on what to read, it’s all lush to talk books.

Over the next 3 days I’m going to collate 3 different lists for books I’d recommend – be it to read or to buy someone for Christmas!

Today I’m tackling 7+ (ish) recommendations

Tomorrow will be 8+ish and then Wednesday will be YA recommendations! There are LOADS of recommendations out there, I just decided to collate my favourite 10 from the past year (or so)!

If you have a reader who is just starting to read chapter books, or likes the look of illustrated chapter books, these books are brilliant.

2018 recs

Violet and the… series by Harriet Whitehorn

Fabio – The World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective by Laura James

Royal Rabbits of London series by Santa Montefiore and Simon Sebag Montefiore

The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig

Amelia Fang series by Laura Ellen Anderson

Max – The Detective Cat series by Sarah Todd Taylor

The Wild Robot series by Peter Brown

The Twitches series by Hayley Scott

Sam Wu series by Katie and Kevin Tsang

Horace and Harriet series by Clare Elsom

There you have it! 10 of the best books for Y2+ I’ve read recently. I’d love to know your thoughts! Let me know!

Have you read any of these?
Do you have any recommendations that I could add?
Which of these would you like to pick up most?

Talk to me!

Remember to come back tomorrow for recommendations for books for those 8+ years!

S x

S4S – Ultimate panels

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Hello everyone!

Sorry for the hiatus this week… there was just a little need for my brain to take a break after a very busy half term! I am back though! And today’s #SixforSunday sees me taking on:

Dream panels/events

So, my dream panels? WELL THIS IS GONNA BE FUN. I’m gonna go 3 MG and 3 YA because LOVE.

“Contemporary YA: Why it matters” with Laura Steven, Alice Oseman, Sara Barnard and Katherine Webber.

“Writing badass characters” featuring Leigh Bardugo, Melinda Salisbury, Alice Broadway and Alwyn Hamilton.

“Writing stories that make our readers cry (we love it)” featuring C.G.Drews, Karen Gregory, Lisa Healthfield and Adam Silvera.

“Creating worlds kids want to read about” featuring Helena Duggan, Maz Evans, Ross Mackenzie and Kiran Milwood Hargrave.

“Writing incredible characters” featuring Peter Brown, Lisa Thompson, Alex Bell and Jessica Townsend.

“Books: an ode to books” featuring Anna James and Piers Torday in conversation.

Side note: I am still waiting for a Floored Seven panel. 

There we go! I LOVE hearing authors talk about their books, so please GET ME MORE EVENTS IN THE NORTH. I’m more than happy to host any of these *wink*

Remember to share your dream panels using #SixforSunday! I can’t wait to see what you all think! 

S x 

The Bank Holiday Tag

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Happy bank holiday everyone! Last one of the year! 

Today I’m taking on the Bank Holiday Tag, made up by my lovely friend Cora. Check out her original post here. I’ve actually done this post before, back in April – if you’d like to see my answers and compare them, you’ll find that post here. I’m going to try and complete this based on the books I’ve read so far in 2018!

Have a lie in.
Which book could you lounge in bed with all morning?

40203682Snowglobe – Amy Wilson
This is a lush story with magic and lush friends. It’s one I’m definitely going to reread!

Oh my goodness, it’s actually sunny outside!
A book that makes you feel optimistic.

19547856Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli
Simon and Blue are EVERYTHING. But also, Simon’s parents and his sister.

Spend some time outdoors.
A book that reminds you of nature.

38210965When The Mountains Roared – Jess Butterworth
I’ve never been transported to the mountains in India surrounded by big cats before this book and it was incredible.

Make some punch.
A book that you find difficult to classify into one genre.

38600182The Secret Deep – Lindsay Galvin
This book is so intricate and brilliantly written that it would happily sit in many different places in a bookworm’s world.

Pass some food around.
A book you want to share with everyone.

26030734The Wild Robot – Peter Brown
I ADORE this book with all that I am. I have read the sequel now too and I just… it is such a love. Roz is an excellent main character. (This could also be the answer to the nature question!)

Light the BBQ.
A book that took a while to get going.

39127492The Smoke Thieves – Sally Green
It’s a shame this book takes like 60-70% to get going, because once it’s going I quite liked it! 

Failed BBQ.
A book that ultimately disappointed you.

35068735All of this is True – Lygia Day Penaflor
Oh friends. 

It’s raining. Of course.
A book to curl up with when it’s raining outside.

23437156Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo
I can’t wait to reread this book. I love Kaz Brekker so much. This is the perfect rainy day read because let’s be real, it’s always raining in Ketterdam.

Let’s just eat the chocolate.
A book that’s super sweet.

34615412Theatrical – Maggie Harcourt
I love Maggie’s books. They always just make me smile and that’s what you need sometimes!

There we go! Join in the fun, and do the tag yourself! Enjoy your bank holiday everyone!

S x