Tag Archives: YA Historical

by

Book of the Week – 24

Hello gentle reader,

last week I finished reading the Bright Young Things trilogy by Anna Godbersen (published between 2010 and 2012 by Harper Teen). It’s a YA Historical series set in 1929 in New York City. I enjoyed reading Book 1 (Bright Young Things) and Book 2 (Beautiful Days), but I loooved Book 3 (The Lucky Ones). It was wonderful to see everything coming together and falling into place at the end. So if you like stories set in the Roaring Twenties, I recommend this trilogy!

Bright Young Things

From Goodreads:

The year is 1929. New York is ruled by the Bright Young Things: Flappers and socialites seeking thrills and chasing dreams in the anything-goes era of the Roaring Twenties.

Letty Larkspur and Cordelia Grey escaped their small Midwestern town for New York’s glittering metropolis. All Letty wants is to see her name in lights, but she quickly discovers Manhattan is filled with pretty girls who will do anything to be a star….

Cordelia is searching for the father she’s never known, a man as infamous for his wild parties as he is for his shadowy schemes. Overnight, she enters a world more thrilling and glamorous than she ever could have imagined — and more dangerous. It’s a life anyone would kill for…and someone will.

The only person Cordelia can trust is ­Astrid Donal, a flapper who seems to have it all: money, looks, and the love of Cordelia’s brother, Charlie. But Astrid’s perfect veneer hides a score of family secrets.

Across the vast lawns of Long Island, in the ­illicit speakeasies of Manhattan, and on the blindingly lit stages of Broadway, the three girls’ fortunes will rise and fall — together and apart. From the New York Times bestselling author of THE LUXE comes an epic new series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age.

Have you read Bright Young Things? What did you think? And what are you reading this week? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

 

by

YA New Releases – October Edition

Hello gentle reader,

There are so many great YA books coming out this month! Here are the ones I’m most eagerly anticipating… (blurbs are from Goodreads).

Hideous Love

Hideous Love: The Story of the Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein

by Stephanie Hemphill (Published on 1st October 2013 by Balzer + Bray)

YA Historical Fiction

Hideous Love is the fascinating story of Gothic novelist Mary Shelley, who as a teen girl fled her restrictive home only to find herself in the shadow of a brilliant but moody boyfriend, famed poet Percy Shelley. It is the story of the mastermind behind one of the most iconic figures in all of literature: a monster constructed out of dead bodies and brought to life by the tragic Dr. Frankenstein.

Mary wrote Frankenstein at the age of 19, but inspiration for the monster came from her life-the atmospheric European settings she visited, the dramas swirling around her, and the stimulating philosophical discussions with the greatest minds of the period, like her close friend, Lord Byron.

This luminous verse novel from award-winning author Stephanie Hemphill reveals how Mary Shelley became one of the most celebrated authors in history.

Kingdom Of Little Wounds

The Kingdom of Little Wounds

by Susann Cokal (Published on 8th October 2013 by Candlewick Press)

YA Fantasy

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion.

Here in the palace at Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem — and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.

Rags-and-Bones

Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales

Anthology of short stories published on 22d October 2013 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

YA Fantasy – Retellings

Today’s most acclaimed authors use their own unique styles to rebuild these 12 timeless stories:

Sir Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene – Saladin Ahmed

W. W. Jacobs’s “The Monkey’s Paw” – Kelley Armstrong

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” – Holly Black

“Sleeping Beauty” – Neil Gaiman

The Brothers Grimm’s “Rumpelstiltskin” – Kami Garcia

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening – Melissa Marr

Rudyard Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King” – Garth Nix

Henry James’s “The Jolly Corner” – Tim Pratt

E. M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” – Carrie Ryan

Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto – Margaret Stohl

William Seabrook’s “The Caged White Werewolf of the Saraban” – Gene Wolfe

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark” – Rick Yancey

Which books are you looking forward to reading this month? Let me know below!

by

What’s Up Wednesday & Ready. Set. Write! Check-In 1

Hello gentle reader,

as promised this is my first What’s Up Wednesday post as well as my goal-setting post for the Ready. Set. Write! challenge. If you wish to find out what this writing challenge is about and join in the fun, click on the button below:

ready-set-write-button

What’s Up Wednesday was created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk.  It’s a way to share what we are up to each week.

What's Up Wednesday Button

What I´m reading

The Quietness

This week I read The Quietness by Alison Rattle (YA Historical fiction). It’s the story of two girls in 19th Century London, who have nothing in common but whose paths are about to cross. The voice is brilliant, I loved it!

What I’m Writing

My goal for Ready. Set. Write! is to edit and query my YA Historical Fantasy Lily In The Shadows.

This week I’m editing, following my beta readers’ advice.

What else I´ve been up to

I won a giveaway! Editor Cassandra Marshall organised a contest to win a full MS critique and incredibly, I won! I’m looking forward to her feedback on Lily…

What inspires me right now

Knowing that I’m very close to finishing my WIP. So. Close.

What are you up to this week? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

And if you’d like to join in this blog hop, click here!