Archive for July, 2011

Katherine Webb’s debut novel The Legacy came out in the UK last year and was a huge hit and was the winner of Channel 4s TV Book Club. It’s coming out in the US on August 30th 2011 and I’m just wondering which cover you guys like best. The American cover is on the right, the UK one on the left. I liked the UK one when I saw it, but the US one is miles better. I know they’re very similar with the photographs, but the colouring on the US one is just really impressive and that’s the one I’d buy. How about you?

When they were children, Erica Calcott and her sister, Beth, spent their summer holidays at Storton Manor. Now, following the death of their grandmother, they have returned to the grand, imposing house in Wiltshire, England. Unable to stem the tide of childhood memories that arise as she sorts through her grandmother’s belongings, Erica thinks back to the summer her cousin Henry vanished mysteriously from the estate, an event that tore their family to pieces. It is time, she believes, to lay the past to rest, bring her sister some peace, and finally solve the mystery of her cousin’s disappearance. But sifting through remnants of a bygone time is bringing a secret family history to light—one that stretches back over a century, to a beautiful society heiress in Oklahoma, a haunting, savage land across the ocean. And as past and present converge, Erica and Beth must come to terms with two shocking acts of betrayal . . . and the heartbreaking legacy they left behind.

Night Road by Kristin Hannah
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Release Date: 17th June 2011 (paperback)
Rating: 3.5/5
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Amazon Summary:

Lexi and Mia are inseparable from the moment they start high school. Different in so many ways – Lexi is an orphan and lives with her aunt on a trailer park, while Mia is a golden girl blessed with a loving family, and a beautiful home. Yet they recognize something in each other which sets them apart from the crowd, and Mia comes to rely heavily on Lexi’s steadfast friendship. Mia’s beloved, and incredibly good-looking, twin brother Zach, finds life much less complicated than his sister. Jude thought she’d never have to worry about her son, that he’d always sail through life easily achieving whatever he, and his family, wanted and expected – but then he fell in love. The summer they graduated is a time they will always remember, and one they could never forget. It is a summer of love, best friends, shared confidences and promises. Then one moment one night changes them all forever. As hearts are broken, loyalties challenged and hopes dashed, the time has come to leave childhood behind and learn to face the future.

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Something a bit different this week for Cover Wars! After seeing the split decision on the UK/US covers for Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s debut novel The Language of Flowers, I was intrigued to look into a bit more and find out what other covers are out there. It seems like every country has a really different take on the book, and even though I think that the UK one is still my favourite, some of the others are really gorgeous, such as Israel cover. I have to say the Australian and German ones are my least favourites, they don’t capture the book for me at all. The Portugese cover also looks too much like some sort of gardening manual/dictionary for me as well. So tell me… which do you prefer?

(Australia) (Holland) (French)

(Germany) (Israel) (Italy)

(Poland) (Portugal)

Eleanor Brown’s debut novel The Weird Sisters was released in the United States earlier this year and I’m very pleased to report it will be released in the UK on 4th August 2011. I’ve already read it, on my Kindle, and will be reviewing it in the next couple of weeks and it’s an excellent read. Here’s the synopsis:

‘See, we love each other. We just don’t happen to like each other very much.’

THE WEIRD SISTERS is a trenchantly observant novel about the often warring emotions between sisters.

Unlucky in work, love and life, the Andreas sisters return to their childhood home, ostensibly to care for their ailing mother. But each sister has a secret she’s unwilling to share – each has come home to lick her own wounds.

The Andreas family is an eccentric one. Books are their passion (a trip to the library usually solved everything), TV is something other families watched. Their father – a renowned, eccentric professor of Shakespeare who communicates almost exclusively in Shakespearean verse – named all three girls for great Shakespearean women – Rose (Rosalind), Bean (Bianca), and Cordy (Cordelia); as a result, the girls find that they have a lot to live up to.

With this burden, as well as others they shoulder, the Andreas sisters have a difficult time communicating with both their parents and their lovers, but especially with each other. What can the homebody and shy eldest sister, the fast-living and mysterious middle child, and the bohemian youngest sibling have in common? Why can’t Rose leave her hometown for the man she loves? Why has glamorous Bean come home from New York City with her tail between her legs to the small college town she swore she’d leave as soon as she could? And why suddenly has Cordy resurfaced after years of gypsy living? Each sister has found her life nothing like she had thought it would be – and suddenly faced with their parents’ frailty and their own disappointments and setbacks, their usual quick salve of a book suddenly can’t solve what ails them.

To their surprise, Rose, Bean and Cordy are more similar than they ever imagined. Yet can all three escape their archetypal roots and find happiness in a normal life? As it turns out, the small town of Barnwell and their sisterly bond offer much more than they ever expected.

The Comeback Girl by Katie Price
Publisher: Century
Release Date: 21st July 2011 (hardback)
Rating: 1/5
Source: Received from the publisher for review
Amazon Summary:

Once upon a time, Eden had it all; she was one of the most successful young singers in the UK, and the darling of the pop industry. Life couldn’t have been better. But just two years after a sell-out tour, Eden is regarded as a has-been, better known for her drinking and the kiss-and-tell stories that a string of men have sold to the papers.

Desperate to get back in the big time, Eden begins recording a new album with songwriter Jack Steele, a man who drives her crazy for all the wrong reasons. And then she’s asked to be a judge on the TV talent show Band Ambition. It’s just the break she needs and she’s determined not to mess it up, so falling in love with Stevie, a contestant on the show, is probably not a very good idea. But Eden has always followed her heart, and she is sure Stevie is ‘the one’.

But is Eden setting herself up for another fall?

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Back in May I read Rainbow Rowell’s debut novel Attachments. It was a book I’d been waiting ages for, ever since I read about her book deal in fact! I loved the book and I was incredibly pleased to be able to ask Rainbow some questions! Here are her answers, and do check out Attachments, it’s a brilliant read!

1. Tell us about your debut novel Attachments?

It’s about a guy, Lincoln, who gets hired by a newspaper to make sure its employees aren’t using their email for unprofessional purposes. Lincoln reads everyone’s email and ends up falling for Beth, a woman who works in the newsroom. But then Lincoln doesn’t know what to do. He can’t exactly introduce himself: “Hi, I’m the guy who reads your email, and also I love you.”

The book has an unconventional narrative. Every other chapter is an email conversation between Beth and her friend Jennifer.

2. Can you tell us about your second novel, which is due out next year?

Sure, it’s called “Eleanor & Park.” I wanted to write a story that makes you remember what it’s like to fall in love for the first time — before you’re ready for it.

The main characters are two misfit teenagers, a boy who wants to be invisible and a girl who couldn’t be invisible if she tried. It’s about how they fall in love before they even know what to do with love, and how it changes them — and whether it’s enough, love, whether love even matters when you’re 16 and your life isn’t quite your own.

It’s a book meant for adults, though I think young adults might enjoy it.

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I read my first Rachel Hore novel last year A Place of Secrets and I loved it. It was such a brilliant novel, so I was incredibly pleased to see Rachel would have a new book out this year. A Gathering Storm is due for release on 15th September 2011 and I can’t wait to read it. I love that the cover will fit in nicely with A Place of Secrets and I can’t wait to read it!

Photographer Lucy Cardwell has recently lost her troubled father, Tom. While sifting through his papers, she finds he’d been researching an uncle she never knew he’d had. Intrigued, she visits her father’s childhood home, the once beautiful Carlyon Manor. She meets an old woman named Beatrice who has an extraordinary story to tell …Growing up in the 1930s, Beatrice plays with the children of Carlyon Manor - especially pretty, blonde Angelina Wincanton, Lucy’s grandmother. Then, one summer at the age of fifteen, she falls in love with a young visitor to the town: Rafe Ashton, whom she rescues from a storm-tossed sea. But the dark clouds of war are gathering, and Beatrice, Rafe, and the Wincantons will all be swept up in the cataclysm of events that follow. Beatrice’s story is a powerful tale of courage and betrayal, spanning from Cornwall to London, and Occupied France, in which friendship and love are tested, and the ramifications reach down the generations. And, as Lucy listens to the tales of the past, she learns a secret that will change everything she has ever known…

Colours & Fonts:
Graphics/Pictures used:
Overall design:

Why we like/dislike it: The book cover for The Statistical Probability of Love At First Sight is one of my favourite book covers ever! As soon as I saw it, I fell in love. It’s so whimsical and so colourful and it would jump out at me immediately if I spied it in a book shop. I’ve had the pleasure to already read the novel (it’s stunning). Headline have done a wonderful job to give a stunning novel a stunning cover. This will seriously stand out on shelves and I cannot wait to see it in person myself, too.

Overall mark out of 10:
Would we buy this book based on its cover? Yes!

Do Judge A Book By Its Cover is a new feature on Chick Lit Reviews, where we take a look at some of the best (and worst) Chick Lit covers in existence. No synopsis, no hint of the story, just plain old book cover judging, with marks out of 10!