Michelle

Tempest by Julie Cross has some interesting time travel in it. There's also some romance, but it's not too heavy. It's not outstanding by any means, but rather enjoyable.

Yep!

Let me know if/when you want clues.

“Sometimes human places, create inhuman monsters.”

I'm going to start off by saying that I am now actively avoiding YA with overdone romance - as soon as I read about perfectly handsome guys, or girls who are so pretty but don't realise it, I'm put off. I really want to read about more realistic romance, with all it's ups and downs.. and I want more about relationships in general, such as friendship.

Just before our lovely authors leave us, I thought it may be an opportunity for us, as readers, to explore a) what we dislike in YA and b) what we'd like to read about. With the 2nd part, there may be books already out there that someone else may know about, especially our authors, so we can point you in the right direction.. or maybe we can give our authors some new ideas. Authors, what do you think has been overdone, and what do you think are the up and coming trends in YA?

A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness?

Sigh.. another one for my wishlist. There appears to be a shortage of this one, and it's also expensive on the kindle. Maybe one day

I'm always looking for a decent horror, and Carrion Comfort is only 56p on the kindle - so it's been added.

Is the abyss a watery one?

It's not sounding familiar.. is it YA?

Ladies, it's Allegiant! :-D I'm going for the audio version, as that's the way I've done the other two. I'm looking forward to finding out how it ends.

I'm doing well with Rags and Bones, and there are some really good short stories in there. I also find these kinds of books a good way to try out various authors, so I'm getting a good idea who to look out for, and who to avoid. Last night and this morning I read ZomB by Darren Shan - it was 99p on kindle and I wondered how he would approach zombies for kids! It was an easy read, with such an obvious storyline that it hits you over the head, but at the same time, the zombie descriptions are very gory and would scare quite a few younger readers. He sells well, so there must be an audience just right for him. I'm about halfway through The Troop, and not sure whether to continue (it's a review book) - it reminds me of the likes of John Saul (experiments gone wrong) and Richard Laymon (descriptions leaving nothing to the imagination). There's something a bit addictive to it, but I'm avoiding the descriptions of torturing and killing animals, and I can only see it getting worse. Hmm.. I think I've just made my mind for me about giving up! lol Audio-wise, I've was listening to The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, but I'm a bit disappointed that some of the stories are also on Bradbury 13, which I've just finished. I then fell asleep a couple of times whilst listening (which is unlike me, maybe it's the narrator's voice?!) and have lost my place. I must get back soon. I then started listening to X Minus 1, which is a large collection of SF radio plays from the 50's. A few I've fast forwarded few, but most are great.

I felt Insurgent wasn't quite as good, but it has a very good ending, and I'm excited about getting hold of Allengiant on Tuesday. The film also looks brill, very true to the book.

Just watching Glee from last night

Thank you to everyone who's showing an interest in the YA Month. At the end of the month I will be running a competition for those of you who have taken part. If you wish to take part in the competition, simply drop me a PM, and as long as you've posted in this section, I'll add your name. At the end of the month I will draw one of those names from the 'hat'. The winner can then choose any book from any of our YA authors (see this list) - as long as it's available on amazon.co.uk, amazon.com or the book depository (and for less that £10) I will arrange for it to be sent. Any questions, ask away....

This is a really good point, and one which is important to me. I rarely get a decent length of time for reading, it's always done in short bursts, with interruptions. I've found that I don't particularly want to get caught up in long descriptions etc.. each time I pick up the book, I want to have the story move along. I also see it with my teen daughter - she will happily admit that a book needs to grab her attention at the outset, and keep that attention held. She also doesn't get much time for reading, so she wants that time to count.

As I said at the end of my review, I had trouble with King for a while, but I've really enjoyed his last few. Did you like The Shining? If so, I'd recommend this one.

I'm not quite sure what you mean? Who's lowest point? The story is about Danny, the boy from The Shining, who's now an adult.

I'm also really enjoying mine, the light makes such a difference to me.

If anyone has any other questions, please ask, and I'll give the lovely authors a nudge to come and answer.

No need to apologise. Feel free to start a similar thread in General Chat, but stay clear of religion.

I agree with Andrea - we try to avoid discussions about Religion in the main part of the forum, as it's caused so many problems in the past. That's why the debating / mature discussion section exists. More generally though, these are general discussions rather than book discussions.

Doctor Sleep – the long-awaited and highly anticipated sequel to The Shining. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely! The Shining has to be my favourite King book, a book that scared me silly as a teenager, and then lived up to a second reading when older. King himself says he’d often wondered two thing: what became of Danny, and what would have happened if his father had found Alcoholics Anonymous and lived a different life? Doctor Sleep looks at both these issues, as the grown-up Dan faces his own alcohol demons, and then learns to tame them with the AA. We get a glimpse of life for the younger Danny, as he and his mother recover from the events of The Overlook, his struggle with alcohol, and then the story focuses on a sober Dan. He settles into a job in a nursing home, where he provides help and support to the dying in their last moments. He then meets Abra, who has the shining far stronger than he ever did, and also comes to know The True Knot, a group of people who travel around searching for people with the shining for sustenance – they kill them, and gain power from the ‘steam’ they give off as they die. If you’ve not read The Shining, I would highly recommend it before picking up Doctor Sleep – it is possible to read this one on it’s own, but you’d get far more from it after The Shining. However, I don’t think it’s necessary to re-read The Shining if it’s been a while.. as long as you remember the main points (and who wouldn’t with a story so powerful?) you’re good to go! From my own point of view, I didn’t find Doctor Sleep as scary – the beginning part is the closest to The Shining, and rather unsettling, but King then takes it in a different direction. To me this is a good thing, as this needed to be a sequel which can stand up on it’s own merits, rather than a rehash of The Shining. Dan is a great character, despite his faults and struggles, and Abra is a strong, likeable character. I stopped reading King for a while, as I couldn’t get into his books, but that has recently changed. Full Dark, No Stars in 2010 showed a King who was back on form (for me, anyway) and this continued with 11.22.63. Doctor Sleep continues this trend and I’m back to waiting impatiently for the next book!

Best way - I found it a while ago whilst browsing audible. I had no idea what it was about, so it sounded quite good.. and I loved it.