Zenith by Dirk Strasser

What's it all about?
Imagine...
A mountain so great it takes a year to travel from base to summit
A sun so powerful it drives you into madness if you look at it
An ascent so vital it determines the fate of the world
A summit so precious it holds the key to the divine

The Crimson Ribbon by Katherine Clements

I am very excited to be taking part in my first ever blog tour, and even more so that it is for such a good book! Based on the real figure of the fascinating Elizabeth Poole, The Crimson Ribbon is the

mesmerising story of two women’s obsession, superstition and hope.

May Day 1646: Ruth Flowers finds herself suddenly, brutally, alone. Forced to flee the household of Oliver Cromwell, the only home she has ever known, Ruth takes the road to London, and there is given refuge by Lizzie Poole.

Beautiful and charismatic, Lizzie enthrals the vulnerable Ruth, who binds herself inextricably to her world. But Ruth is still haunted by fears of her past catching up with her. And as Lizzie’s radical ideas escalate, Ruth finds herself carried to the heart of the country’s conflict, to the trial of a king.

The Road Between Us by Nigel Farndale

What's it all about?

This book is a wonderful example of storytelling, and despite it's often dark content, is a playful piece of narrative. The reader has to navigate between two timelines, the first being that of Charles Northcote and his lover Anselm. The year is 1939; Charles is an officer in the RAF, Anselm, a German Art student and their love is forbidden by the laws and social values of the time. As we are thrown into the midst of their relationship in a Piccadilly hotel room, I thought it seemed more like a casual fling, but once they have been separated and Anselm deported to a brutal Nazi re-education  camp, Charles dedicates every thought and action to finding and rescuing Anselm.

The second begins in April 2012, when a British diplomat, Edward Northcote, is unexpectedly released after having been held hostage in an Afghan cave for the previous eleven years.  He returns to London to find his young daughter is now an adult woman, and his beloved Danish wife has died after falling from a cliff, unsure if it was accidental or not. Straight away, I was intrigued to discover the connection between this dual narrative of the Northcote family.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish for bloggers to show off their favourite books, on a particular theme, each week.  This week, the theme is 'Top Ten Books I'd Give To Readers Who Have Never Read... YA' I've chosen YA, as firstly, that's what I've been mostly reading over the last couple of months, and secondly, because there has been quite a lot of sniffiness and snobbery about 'grown-ups' reading YA books. The most notable attack on adults reading books written for young people was written by Ruth Graham in The Slate Book Review. Many authors wrote back against this view, including Malorie Blackman who recently curated the UK's first ever YA Literature Convention (I was one of many adults in attendance).

So with out further ado, here are my picks:

Close Your Pretty Eyes by Sally Nicholls

 
What's it all about?

Eleven-year-old Olivia has just moved into her sixteenth placement home, having grown-up in the care system. She is clearly a troubled child, damaged by the abuse she suffered at the hands of her own mother, and by her experiences of being 'given up on' by everyone who has looked after her so far. Nicholls uses her first person narration to weave several narrative threads together into one compelling storyline: flashbacks of Olivia's relationship with her mum, a history of her foster carers, and the present-day story of her latest home. This home is a secluded farm house that she shares with Jim, his own two children, an older fostered girl and her baby daughter. Oh, and the ghost of a notorious Victorian murderess.

She is not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick

What's it all about?                                                                                                                                                                     Sixteen-year-old Laureth kidnaps her "slightly strange" little brother, Benjamin, and embarks on a transatlantic journey to New York to find her missing father, the famous author, Jack Peak. Laureth suspects that something terrible has happened after receiving an email from a Mr Michael Walker, saying that he has found her father's notebook in Queens - Jack is supposed to be in Switzerland.  Compelled by her mother's apparent lack of concern, Laureth hatches a plan to track down her father, convinced that he needs her help. It is only when Laureth and Benjamin arrive at the airport that we realise why she is 'abducting' her little brother: Laureth is blind and will need him to help her navigate around the unfamiliar territory of the airport and of New York.

Tinder by Sally Gardner

What's it all about?

As the title suggests, this is a dark re-working of Hans Christian Anderson's frivolous and amoral tale, 'The Tinder-box'. Gardner's version is a much more harrowing account told by a traumatised young soldier, Otto Hundebiss, during the Thirty Years War. On his travels he encounters a beautiful young princess called Safire, werewolves, and the truly terrifying witch, ‘The Lady of the Nail’.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

What’s it about?

Cather (Cath) and he twin sister Wren set off for college at the University of Nebraska. Whilst Wren is looking forward to embracing student life, and all the friends, parties and boys it has to offer, Cath is altogether more anxious about this new chapter in their lives.  This is the first time in eighteen years that she won’t be sharing a room with her twin (Wren reckons the whole point of college is to meet new people), and she’s terrified about how their bipolar single father will cope without his two girls to keep an eye on him.  Furthermore, Cath is much happier functioning online in the realm of fanfic, rather than interacting with real-life human beings. Her alter-ego Magicath is the prolific and popular writer of Carry On, Simon, an extended fanfic based on the fictional Simon Snow series (a bit like Harry Potter).  With tens of thousands of online fans herself, Cath has to juggle her writing, her studies and her family issues.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

What's it all about?

Daisy, an anorexic 15-year-old girl from Manhattan, is sent away to live with her Aunt Penn in an idyllic part of rural England. This suits Daisy just fine, as she is glad to escape her father's new wife and the spawn she will soon be delivering! Daisy's mother had died in childbirth, so going to say with her late mother's sister also gives her an opportunity to find out more about the woman she 'murdered'.

GEEKHOOD: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb

What's it all about?

In the Game, Archie is a level 5 Mage, and the storyteller to his merry band of geeks; in reality, he is battling much more serious things than vampires and evil warlocks. His world is full of conflict: his parents have separated and are not even speaking to each other, he is bullied by Jason Humphries and his grunts, and he is constantly fighting with his IM (interior monologue).