Thoroughly modern millennial

Tag: books

  • Reading Wrap Up #4

    Reading-Wrap-Up
    *images via Goodreads

    It’s just over six months into the year and I’m finally in the double digits on my reading challenge *throws confetti*. It’s been a busy couple of weeks but definitely time to check in with you guys and update you all on what I’ve been reading recently…

    The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow | Katherine Woodfine

    Sinclair’s Department Store would like to welcome you through it’s gilt doors and into a world of extravagance and commercial wonder. And it’s within these pristine, prestigious and polished walls, our four unlikely heroes, Sophie, Billy, Lil, and Joe cross paths. When the one of a kind Clockwork Sparrow is stolen from Sinclair’s brand new exhibition their worlds are turned upside down as they race to figure out just who stole the Clockwork Sparrow.

    Super fast paced and almost cinematic, Clockwork Sparrow is a heck of a rollicking good time in book form with the added bonus of a plucky underdog story too. Woodfine’s writing is fantastically descriptive creating a rich world of Victorian London, without it feeling like a heavy historical novel, and this is demonstrated perfectly in her descriptions of Sinclair’s. Clockwork Sparrow is certainly a page turner – if somewhat predictable – but super fun, nonetheless. Perfect book to take with you on holiday or to blaze through on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

    Check out my full review on Blogger’s Bookshelf. 

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  • Haul | LFCC & YALC 2015

    This past weekend I dragged myself out of bed bright and early in the morning and headed up to London for this year’s London Film and Comic Con (LFCC) and Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC), at Kensington Olympia.

    As well as being a fantastic day out with Erin (we were repping Team BB at YALC!), I did go a bit overboard with purchases…safe to say I’m on a shopping ban for a while now!

    Here’s what I picked up…

    yalc-mcfall-coyleyalc-gaiman-graudin

    So the first lot of this haul I picked up from YALC. I was so impressed at how many publisher stands were there this year compared to last, not to mention Waterstones taking up an entire section too. There were so many books I wanted to pick up but I resisted too much temptation and picked up four.

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  • 150 Years of Alice | Wonderland’s Best Cover Designs

    Just over 150 years ago on a river outing on a Summer’s day in Oxford, Charles Dodgson (otherwise known to the world as Lewis Carroll) told a story a young girl who fell down a rabbit hole into a weird and wonderful world, to the Liddell family.

    The story, of course, turned into one of the most beloved children’s stories in the world ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ (and the book that followed, ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’). The original manuscript wasn’t finished until around two years later, and published the year after that – this year marks the 150th anniversary of it’s first printing by Macmillan Publishers in 1865 – but today marks Alice’s Day, the anniversary of that trip Dodgson took down the Thames.

    The book itself has now been read but millions of readers around the world, been adapted into countless new plays, television series, and movies. Not to mention the hundreds of different printed editions, both in and out of circulation.

    Not only did ‘Alice’ make a household name of Lewis Carroll, but the legacy of the book’s illustrator John Tenniel has ensured Alice (with her traditional Victorian dress, apron and long blonde hair) is now one of the most recognisable literary characters from around the world. His illustrations still inspire generations of cover illustrators when recreating the ‘Alice Aesthetic’ and after 150 years in circulation I thought I’d pick out some of my favourites below.

    150Years-AliceInWonderland

    *all images via Goodreads
    Row 1 (from l-r):-Evertype (2008)//Harper Design (2010)//Penguin English Library (2012)//Vintage Classics (designed by Vivienne Westwood) (2015)//General Press (Ebook version)
    Row 2 (from l-r) Puffin Books (illustrated by Chris Riddell) (2008)//Penguin Books (2006)//Puffin Books (2014)//MacMillan (2014)//Minedition (2007)

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