Last night I was lucky enough to attend the Books and Baubles event hosted by the team over at Orion.
The venue was the swanky Covent Garden Hotel and the room was decked with festive delights, delicious cakes, plenty of fizz but best of all so many wonderful books.
It was one of my favourite events that I have attended in all my years of blogging as there was time to meet and talk in depth with each of the authors who were all so friendly and were happy to discuss their new books as well as talking about their writing journey and the new projects they are working on.
I was thrilled to be able to finally meet the wonderful publishers who I have been reviewing for over these past 7 years.
The tables held so many incredibly tempting reads.
It was great to see Queenie with the variety of colours which I have seen popping up on my twitter feed and having spoken to the publishers whilst I was there about it I was surprised to hear that it is a relatively witty read which I didn't expect judging by the cover ( I know I really shouldn't judge a book by its cover!)
I also noticed Louis and Louise by Julie Cohen who is an author I have admired for so long and it has come highly recommended by fellow author Hannah Beckerman and Publicist Rebecca Gray so I had to grab a copy of this one to bring home.
You will see Christmas at the Beach Hut by Veronica Henry peeking over the back too, those of you who follow me on Twitter would have read about my desperate search for this book in the real world! I am so pleased I had found a copy eventually in Waterstones and managed to finish it before attending this event as I got to speak to Veronica Henry about it whilst she was there! The review for Christmas at the Beach Hut will be up on the blog over the weekend so keep your eyes peeled.
You may have spotted the stunning cover of If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman, I don't think there was a person left in that room whose ear I hadn't chewed off telling them how much they needed this book! I was so thrilled to be able to meet Hannah again and be able to thank her in person for delivering such a masterpiece and to tell her about my thoughts throughout the book!
If you missed my early review for this one click HERE to take a look.
I could have taken a copy of each and every book that was there as they all looked so tantalisingly good but I opted for
Louis & Louise by Julie Cohen ( 24th January release )
Thanks to Hannah and Rebecca's recommendation.
ONE LIFE. LIVED TWICE.
Louis and Louise are the same person born in two different lives. They are separated only by the sex announced by the doctor and a final 'e'.
They have the same best friends, the same red hair, the same dream of being a writer, the same excellent whistle. They both suffer one catastrophic night, with life-changing consequences.
Thirteen years later, they are both coming home.
Swallowtail Summer by Erica James ( 7th March )
I am a huge Erica James fan and I absolutely love the fresh look to the cover design.
Are We Nearly There Yet by Lucy Vine (7th February)
Both Lucy Vine and Poppy Stimpson spoke with such enthusiasm about this book and scarily the main character sounds so relatable to me at the moment so I had to have this one!
Alice is turning thirty and is stuck in a rut. Her friends are all coupling up and settling down, while she's still working as a temp, trying (and failing) not to shag her terrible ex, getting thrown out of clubs, and accidentally sexting her boss...
She decides to throw caution to the wind and jets off on a round-the-world adventure to #FindTheFun and find herself. Of course, she's no more likely to find the answer to true happiness on the beach in Thailand than she is at the electric beach in Tooting, but at least in Thailand there's paddleboard yoga.
Can Alice find happiness on her travels? Or is she more likely to lose herself all over again...?
Somewhere Close to Happy by Lia Louise ( 13th June)
I thoroughly enjoyed talking to debut novelist Lia and her book sounds like my typical go to storyline, fun and uplifting.
Lizzie James is happy.
She has a steady office job (with a steady stream of snacks), has had the same best friend since school, and she sees her family every Thursday night for take-away and trashy TV. Lizzie likes her uncomplicated life.
Then a letter arrives one day from her first love, Roman. A letter dated the day he disappeared, 12 years before. As Lizzie uncovers the secrets of the letter, she discovers what really happened the year her life fell apart - and all avenues lead back to Roman.
Lizzie James thought she was happy, or somewhere close to happy, anyway. Now she's not so sure.
Queenie by Candice Carty Williams ( 11th April )
After numerous publishers, authors and bloggers talking to me about this one last night and telling me how witty this one is I needed to try this one.
Queenie Jenkins can't cut a break. Well, apart from one from her long term boyfriend, Tom. That's definitely just a break though. Definitely not a break up. Stuck between a boss who doesn't seem to see her, a family who don't seem to listen (if it's not Jesus or water rates, they're not interested), and trying to fit in two worlds that don't really understand her, it's no wonder she's struggling.
I just want to say a BIG thank you to Poppy Stimpson, Sam Eades, Rebecca Gray, Alainna Georgiou and the team for such an enjoyable evening.
I am sure you will all agree that 2019 is set to be an amazing year for Book releases, which ones are you all looking forward too?
No comments:
Post a Comment