My first one is actually a book I finished in the car on the way to the airport before flying to Ghana. It's called 'City of Ashes' and is written by Cassandra Clare. City of Ashes is the second book in 'The Mortal Instruments' series and I was quite eager to read it as I had thoroughly enjoyed the first one and really wanted to see how the series progressed. I wasn't disappointed! I don't want to give anything away as it is quite a complex storyline and you need to start at the beginning to understand what's going on but if you enjoy books about warlocks and werewolves, vampires and villains, this is definitely a book for you.
The second book that I read on my journeys was on the aeroplane to Ghana then finished on the Trotro journeys to the lake that I was visiting in Ghana. It was 'City of Glass' which is, unsurprisingly, the third in The Mortal Instruments series. I has been given this book by a friend at my swimming club to borrow for the purpose of entertaining me on my trip. I'm not going to write any more about that one because it's very similar to the last one; just a new stage in the journey. I can say that it was enjoyable to read and I will be making sure that a copy of the next one lands itself in my hands pretty soon!
Next up was another book that I'd borrowed called 'Delirium' by Lauren Oliver, this time from a fantastic friend in my swimming squad. She'd been talking about this book for a while and I just had to give it a read. Excitedly, I started reading this on another of my Trotro rides this time to the school that I was working at.
Delirium was quite different to the books I had read just before but it made a very interesting read. It is set in an alternative land where love is a disease and shows a teenage girl's, Lena's, journey to being cured (meaning to go through an operation to remove any chance of her developing the condition). This is quite an emotional journey as she is determined not to have the same fate as her mum but things take a turn for the worst when she meets Alex - a boy who certainly has the power to throw her plans a little bit of course...
Book number four is 'Someone else's life' by Katie Dale. It was a book that I picked up from ASDA for around two pound a while ago but never did get around to reading. Reading this book was the perfect way to relax at Cape Coast in Ghana after all of my hard work building the libraries!
It tells the story of Rosie, a loveable character who loses her mum to Huntington's disease (a hereditary, terminal condition) after being her carer for several years and fears that she may have inherited the condition too. Deciding to take a test to find out if she had was a very difficult decision until unexpected news comes from a family friend which turns her life around. Rosie had been swapped at birth with a child who died just after birth so it was impossible for her to have inherited the condition from her mother. But that leaves her chasing. Chasing after the family she never had, the parents she never knew and the life she never had.
It was an enjoyable read and, although I think it could possibly have been written a little bit better, I'm glad that I did read it as it was an exciting adventure and quite unpredictable!
Next up, book number five is a book that I started on my flight over to Egypt. And finished on my way to Egypt! (Yes, I read quite fast. Probably explains how this list goes on for so long!) Now when I was home in between Ghana and Egypt (that grand total of 22 hours) I did manage to fit in a good long visit to the library as I was just about finished on the supply I managed to borrow from friends.
So this one is called 'Last Chance Angel' by Alex Gutteridge. The story follows ... who is knocked off her bike by a car into a coma. Destined never to wake up, she receives a visit from Darren the Angel of Death who gives her the chance, in ghost form, to visit her friends for one last time. These visits lead to her discovering secrets that maybe she was better off not knowing.
Last Chance Angel was a very gripping story that had me hooked. I didn't put it down once! And reaching the end was adisappointment, not because the ending was disappointing but because there were no more pages for me to read!
Julia Donaldson is an author that everyone knows, or everyone should know at least; children's laureate, author of The Gruffalo. I have to admit that I was surprised to find that she had written anything that wasn't aimed at young children but 'Running on the Cracks' definitely fits that description. 15-year-old Leo, a girl of some Chinese descent, runs away after her parents are killed in an aeroplane crash and she is left living with her estranged aunt and uncle. Leaving London in search of her grandparents and other family in Scotland, she meets schoolboy Finlay and Mary, a kind, middle aged lady who offers her shelter. It is soon discovered that Mary is suffering from a metal illness and isn't really in a fit state to look after anyone. Making her search for family a little harder, the story of missing Leo is publicised well so she has to lie low for a while but when her uncle finds her by a local canal, ghosts of the past are brought back.
It is an incredible story about family relationships, abuse, mental health and, most importantly, loyalty.
Quickly hooked by the storyline, I found the pages almost turning themselves and was amazed! I'll certainly be looking out for more of Donaldson's work in the future.
Are we really on book number eight already? I got to book number 8 in less than a month! Ooops! This one is Geek Girl by Holly Smale. A couple of the books that I picked up are aimed at people a little bit younger than me but they made excellent, light-hearted reads whilst I've been lounging around the poolside doing nothing in particular! Geek Girl was no exception to this rule. In fact, I can't think of a single page where I wasn't in fits of giggles at some of the silly things that Harriet does. The exceptional thing about Geek Girl is that the main character, Harriet, is quite easy to identify with. She's on a mission to become a 'popular' but quickly realises that it's not all it cracks up to be. I found this particularly hilarious as it is so easy to identify with Harriet. One thing that makes this book so special is the use of underlying messages: family relationships, self belief and self acceptance.
Last one, well for now at least, is called Saving Daisy by Phil Earle and it is officially my favourite! I picked this one up, read the information on the back and wasn't too impressed if I'm honest. I expected it to be quite boring with a dull storyline but I was pleasantly surprised!
Daisy is a girl who's mum died shortly after giving birth to her so has only ever lived with her dad and she blames herself for her mothers death. Years later she still struggles to come to terms with the death and it's not helped by her dad refusing to talk about it. When she gets a new supply teacher, who seems to understand her perfectly, things start to spiral a little out of control and when she finally talks to her father about it, things just get worse and worse...
Left as an orphan, Daisy ends up in a centre that deals with a few mentally ill orphans at a time to help them sort out their problems before being put in a foster placement.
The storyline did have me gripped right from the start and I found myself unable to put the book down (even to pick up a glass of water). However, only a couple of chapters in, you find out about many things that Daisy struggles with. I don't want to give away anything about the book here so I'll keep it vague, but I thought that I may find parts of this book challenging to read due to my own personal struggles with something in the story. Enjoying the book so much, I did find it a difficult decision but I decided I should carry on and I wasn't disappointed. The storyline is perfect, many areas are talked about with high levels of sensitivity and the way everything links together at the end is phenomenal! The ending of this book certainly doesn't let it down and the positivity it gave me towards the end was absolutely brilliant!
I would definitely recommend this book to others but it would depend on many things; mostly age but if anyone is thinking about reading it who can be triggered by books detailing mental health I would steer clear until you're feeling a little stronger. I will definitely be reading more by Phil Earle in the future!
If you thought it ended there, you're wrong! I'm still travelling, it's still summer and I still love reading so I'm sure you won't have to long to wait to see a part 2 if anyone's interested. And with all of this travelling I've been doing so much more too! I've had time to relax, pull out the pen and paper and write. Write to my heart's content, working on a teenage fiction story myself which, in time, may make an appearance on here. Or it may just stay locked in the pages of my notebooks. We'll have to see...
Anyway, that's all from me this time. Ended up being a little longer than I thought so if you're bored, I'm sorry. I'll be back a lot sooner than I have been recently with some thoughts or another update on what I've been up to. Thanks for reading!
Keep smiling,
Kathryn x
