Going Beyond the Blurb

  Title: What I Was Doing Whilst You Were Breeding Author: Kristin Newman Published: 2014 Genre: Memoir I was given this book by a family member because it sounded like "my kinda book". Just reading the title I laughed. As a twenty-eight year old single person with friends who are settled, engaged with mortgages and steady jobs, I'm that one friend who has been none of these things for the best part of my twenties. There's been a few times over the years where I've questioned and doubted the difference in my path to theirs. If ONLY I had gotten a hold of this book years ago... Blurb : Kristin Newman spent much of her twenties and thirties buying dresses to wear to her friends' weddings and baby showers. Not ready to settle down and in need of an escape from her fast-paced job as a sitcom writer, Kristin instead travelled the world, often alone, for several weeks each year. In addition to falling madly in love with the planet, Kristin fell for many attractive l

  It's hard to believe it's been two years since I moved into the house with no exit. Of course, I didn't know there was no way out at the time as everything seemed so normal. I don't remember much of my life before he came into it. I struggle to remember the person I was, either. All I   know is I was very different from the person telling you this story.   We met for the first time one evening at a local bar. I was a marketing professional in her mid-twenties who had just earned her first big promotion to Marketing Executive. I was out with my friends to celebrate and we hadn't long popped the champagne when a tall, handsome-looking man came across to our table. Little did I know that the attractive appearance and gentlemanly manner were merely a disguise he wore to hide his true self. Caught off guard and swept up in the celebrations, I couldn't help but be mesmerised by him. So when he asked for my number, I found myself giving it to him almost in a daze, ba

Title: The Lies of Locke Lamora  Author: Scott Lynch  Published: 2006 Genre: Fantasy Blurb: The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a friend to the poor, a ghost that walks through walls.  Slightly built and barely competent with a sword  Locke Lamora is, much to his annoyance, the fabled Thorn. And while Locke does indeed steal from the rich (who else would be worth stealing from?), the poor never see a penny. All of Locke's gains are strictly for himself and his tight-knit band of thieves; The Gentlemen Bastards. The capricious, colourful underworld of the ancient city of Camorr is the only home they've ever known. But now a clandestine war is threatening to tear it apart. Caught up in a murderous game, Locke and his friends are suddenly struggling just to say alive... Plot   Within the first few chapters, this book reminded me of an Oliver Twist/Robin Hood Mash Up. Locke Lamora who is orphaned as a child finds himself under the care and tut

           Title: A Gathering of Shadows Author:V.E Schwab Published: 2016 Genre: Fantasy  Blurb: Kell is one of the last magicians with the ability to travel between parallel universes, linked by the magical city of London. It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into his possession and he met Delilah Bard. Four months since the Dane Twins of White London fell, and the stone was cast with Holland's dying body back into Black London.  Now Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. And as Red London prepares for the Element Games - an international competition of magic - a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life. The balance of magic is perilous, and for one city to flourish, another must fall... Plot  This is the second book in this three part series and carries on four months after the story ends in book one. You really do need to read the first book before reading this one as a lot

    Title: Balancing the Scales  Author: Laura Carter Month: December  Blurb:   A Hotshot Manhattan Attorney.  Drew Harrington knows exactly who he is—a legal shark with a love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude that works just fine in his cutthroat world. He’s on the cusp of promotion to named partner, but only if he can prove to his colleagues that he has a more human side. A Sweetheart of a British Patisserie Chef. Becky Fletcher is running from her past, so the last thing she’s looking for is love. What she does want is a friendly face in a cold city. Her sunny outlook is the sweetness Drew never knew was missing from his life. One fateful meeting at a bagel cart. They sound like a match made in heaven—or is it a car crash? If they have any chance of finding happiness, Drew and Becky are going to have to rethink their life plans. Until then, is there really any harm in having some fun between the sheets? All’s fair in love and lox! For my twelfth and final read of my 12 month, 12 genre 202

  Blurb: Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his will.  Nobody fights the Epics...Nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.   And David wants in. He wants Steelheart - the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning - and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.  He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants Revenge.  After my last book review I was eager to get back into reading Fantasy books again so I looked up all the Fantasy author's I could think of and realised that I have never read a Brandon Sanderson book! Steelhear