#BEDM - 11th: #BringBackPaper April book swap
Last month I took part in Jocelyn's #BringBackPaper book swap. She is leading a campaign to bring back paper (as the name suggests) and to get people to (re)discover a love of paper, whether that be in writing letters, reading physical books and not just on e-readers, and buying and using pretty stationery.
I saw this and wanted to participate straight away. I love paper and stationery (I remember many happy days in late August meandering round stationery shops stocking up on equipment for the new school year) and letter writing (I've written about this before, and my involvement with the charity Post Pals) and books. Brilliant!
I emailed Jocelyn with my details, and sent off a John Irving book to my partner, who in return sent me Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. It's a YA book, a genre I occasionally read but wouldn't be my first choice. However, this came highly recommended so I placed it at the top of my TBR pile of books.
From the blurb: "She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen, gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But...they are brother and sister.'
Now, I have to admit that if I had been in a library or book shop with the sole intention of choosing a YA book, this blurb would definitely have made me put it back. I could sense a lot of teenage angst, and incest is a bit of a dodgy topic, one I've not read about in fiction before.
Anyway, I gave it a go, and it was better than expected. Still full of teenage angst, but a fast-paced plot that moved the characters and their development along nicely. I really felt for Maya and Lochan, having to bring up their three younger siblings (Kit, Tiffin and Willa, I always pictured Tiffin in my mind as the edible tiffin) whilst their mum was out drinking and their dad had emigrated, and these two teenagers were just trying to keep the family together.
I will admit that I always read the end of a book when I am about a third of the way through the book - this way, I am likely to have met most of the characters and understand enough about them to make sense of the ending (what can I say? I hate surprises). So I knew what happened at the end of this story.
The last quarter of the book moved very quickly, and a lot happened in the space of a few chapters compared with previous chapters. A few timings in the plot I thought were a bit out as well. The last few chapters are very brisk and there is a lot to take in - even though I knew what was going to happen, I still had to think about what I was reading.
The ending annoyed me (the main ending, there is also an epilogue) as I don't think it's possible. Then the epilogue annoyed me, one of those when a character plans to do something but the book ends before you know if that bit of the story actually happens. Don't make me guess, or assume! I like being told stuff in a book.
Overall, I quite enjoyed it, but I think that's enough YA for the time being!
Thanks again to Jocelyn for organising this, I look forward to what happens with #BringBackPaper in the future!
I saw this and wanted to participate straight away. I love paper and stationery (I remember many happy days in late August meandering round stationery shops stocking up on equipment for the new school year) and letter writing (I've written about this before, and my involvement with the charity Post Pals) and books. Brilliant!
I emailed Jocelyn with my details, and sent off a John Irving book to my partner, who in return sent me Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. It's a YA book, a genre I occasionally read but wouldn't be my first choice. However, this came highly recommended so I placed it at the top of my TBR pile of books.
Now, I have to admit that if I had been in a library or book shop with the sole intention of choosing a YA book, this blurb would definitely have made me put it back. I could sense a lot of teenage angst, and incest is a bit of a dodgy topic, one I've not read about in fiction before.
Anyway, I gave it a go, and it was better than expected. Still full of teenage angst, but a fast-paced plot that moved the characters and their development along nicely. I really felt for Maya and Lochan, having to bring up their three younger siblings (Kit, Tiffin and Willa, I always pictured Tiffin in my mind as the edible tiffin) whilst their mum was out drinking and their dad had emigrated, and these two teenagers were just trying to keep the family together.
I will admit that I always read the end of a book when I am about a third of the way through the book - this way, I am likely to have met most of the characters and understand enough about them to make sense of the ending (what can I say? I hate surprises). So I knew what happened at the end of this story.
The last quarter of the book moved very quickly, and a lot happened in the space of a few chapters compared with previous chapters. A few timings in the plot I thought were a bit out as well. The last few chapters are very brisk and there is a lot to take in - even though I knew what was going to happen, I still had to think about what I was reading.
The ending annoyed me (the main ending, there is also an epilogue) as I don't think it's possible. Then the epilogue annoyed me, one of those when a character plans to do something but the book ends before you know if that bit of the story actually happens. Don't make me guess, or assume! I like being told stuff in a book.
Overall, I quite enjoyed it, but I think that's enough YA for the time being!
Thanks again to Jocelyn for organising this, I look forward to what happens with #BringBackPaper in the future!
You are so welcome, and lovely to have you involved! There will be more papery swaps coming up, too, so keep an eye out for those. I never skip and read the end, never! My sister-in-law always does, though, as she hates surprises, too!
ReplyDeleteI never understand how people manage to resist not skipping to the end, it's so tempting! When the final Harry Potter book came out I went to a midnight launch and so in the queue to pay I read the end. A little boy behind me tapped my arm and said it was bad to read the end first. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone what the end was, and he said that was okay then!
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