book club – Bibliophile Book Club

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

About the book:

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

My thoughts:

Fahrenheit 451 was one of this month’s book club choices on the Rick O’Shea Book Club and I had it on my bookshelves so I figured now was as good a time as any to get reading it.

It’s a relatively short book, probably even readable in one sitting, but it took me a couple of days to get through for various reasons.

I didn’t know what to expect going into it. I just remembered something about burning books when I had read about it previously. I have the anniversary edition, pictured above, so I’m going to give some advice. DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION! It contains spoilers for the book, which I only found out about AFTER I read it!

I think this slightly spoiled it a little for me because it meant I knew partly what to expect. In saying that, Fahrenheit 451 wasn’t a bad read. But I do think the majority of it went a bit over my head. I don’t tend to read classics, of any description, and this being written years ago meant it didn’t grab me.

I don’t know what I’ve read. And if it wasn’t for Rick I don’t know when I’d have picked it up. I can’t say that I loved it as the majority of it just passed me by. I don’t think that I got it to be honest.
I’m glad I read it though. I think if you like sci-fi/dystopian fiction, then you’ll enjoy this one!

Fahrenheit Press is 1! Giveaway Time!

One of my fave publishers turned one and they are just growing up so fast! 🙂 To celebrate this milestone, Fahrenheit are giving away a subscription to their Book Club, which means the winner will receive all the books published in 2016, 50+ books in case you were wondering!!! More on this in a bit!

Fahrenheit Press is the brainchild of Chris McVeigh. And to be fair, he’s a bit of a rebel… Here’s some info from their website.

About Fahrenheit Press:

“Hot Punk Publishers”

That’s what they’re calling us and who are we to disagree?

The brains behind Fahrenheit Press have worked in the publishing industry for over 25 years and we figured it was time we created the publishing company we always dreamed of. We shoot from the lip and we call it like we see it – if that rubs people up the wrong way we can live with that.

Fahrenheit Press are a brand new publishing house founded by international publishing veteran Chris McVeigh.

“We’re intent on doing things differently and we’re building a publishing company that’s heavy on curation and deadly serious about marketing.”

After many years helping the world’s biggest publishers build authors and create best-selling titles we’ve decided the time is right to step out from behind the curtain, set up our own publishing house and do things the way we think they should be done. We definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but that’s just the way we like it. If we’re not ruffling some feathers, we reckon we’re doing something wrong.

“It’s fair to say I’ve never looked much like a traditional publisher. I’m not suited, I’m not booted, and the nearest I’ve come to tweed is the Jean Paul Gaultier kilt I wore for a few years back in the nineties.”

For sure our punk ethos runs through everything we do but don’t mistake our tone for unprofessionalism – over the years we’ve helped shift literally millions of books for some of the biggest publishers in the world.

We’ve only just started out on this journey and we really appreciate all the support you’ve given us so far – it’s been a real blast – we have no idea where this will take us but we promise you the ride will never be boring.

I’ve been folllowing Fahrenheit since they first appeared, and I’ve been very lucky to be a part of some of the cool stuff they have done!

In a world first, Fahrenheit Press uploaded a book to Amazon with no title, no author and no description. And that book now has my name in it, as well as the other people who took a chance and bought what turned out to be The Lobster Boy and the Fat Lady’s Daughter by Charles Kriel. This book was one of my top reads of 2015!

As well as Lobster, I’ve also had the privilege of having both Jo Perry and Paul Charles join me on the blog and you can see those here:

Dead Is Better by Jo Perry

**Exclusive Author Interview- Jo Perry**

Saturday Series Spotlight: Paul Charles

You can check out the absolutely stellar line up of authors published by Fahrenheit Press HERE.

And the full list of books HERE.

***GIVEAWAY***

To celebrate turning one, Fahrenheit Press are giving one of you lucky folks a subscription to their Book Club. This means that you get every book published by Fahrenheit in 2016, which hopefully will be 50+ books! (Click HERE to read about it on their website). How awesome it that for a prize?! All you have to do to be in with a chance to win, is comment on THIS blog post!

It is THAT EASY!!!

Good luck everyone 😊📚

*Giveaway is ebooks only, there is no alternative. Competition closes at midnight on September 16th. Winner will be notified accordingly.*

Rick O’Shea’s Book Club- Liz Nugent

Hi hi!

On Monday (8th August), I had the absolute pleasure of attending my first proper book event and it was practically on my doorstep, so I couldn’t not go!!!

I’m part of a book club on Facebook, set up by legendary Irish radio presenter (and all round book nerd!) Rick O’Shea and we have moved from the virtual world to the real world with a series of author interviews and Liz Nugent was the guest of honour in Dubray Books in Galway.

Liz Nugent is the bestselling author of Unravelling Oliver and Lying In Wait. I finished Lying In Wait the night before the event so I haven’t had time to do up my review yet but it is a stunning book!!!

Clearly being an eager beaver, I was super early and managed to nab a front row seat so that I could a) hear Liz and Rick and b) take photos! Needless to say, I took enough during the course of the night. (These two are Rick’s!)

Rick’s selfie game is strong!

Signing time!

The interview itself was fantastic. Liz is so engaging, and honest and genuinely funny that I’m pretty sure the audience were well entertained for the duration. Rick asked some great questions of Liz too, and her answers were very insightful. There are also parts of it that belong in the #DONOTTWEETTHIS category, for reasons I can’t disclose… mwahahahaha!! 🙂

I also have to praise the staff in Dubray Galway. I visit there regularly and they are so helpful and extremely knowledgeable. For the event, they were so accommodating and couldn’t do enough to help which was brilliant! And they even let me buy the BFG Books Are My Bag tote a bit early!

For the afters, we all went to O’Connells bar on Eyre Square for drinks and a blind book swap. It was a great chance to chat to fellow book lovers, and more than a little surreal for people to say they know who I am and that they read my blog!!! The blind book swap was great fun, and I managed to get two great books (I had brought two, therefore I got to take two as well!) of which one has been on my wishlist for a while!

I have to say, sitting in the relaxed atmosphere in the pub was so much fun as everyone was chatting books and it was lovely to spend time in the wonderful company of like-minded book lovers. We stayed chatting until 1am, when we were asked ever so politely to leave! At that stage there was only 5 of us left; myself, Rick, Liz, Sarah and Carol- we’re hard core don’t ya know!!!!

I had the best time! I laughed so much, and I learned a lot from listening to Liz and Rick so it was a fab experience! Huge thanks again for an absolutely superb night!

Bring on the next one!!!

30 Day Blog Challenge- Day 10

A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving…

This was a no brainer for me. As a member of Rick’s Book Club over on Facebook, I knew not every book would suit my taste. When I saw Wool I groaned inwardly. It was not my genre of choice, it wasn’t even in my top 3 so I put off reading it until the last week of whatever month it was picked for.

About the book: (via Amazon)

In a ruined and hostile landscape. in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive. a community exists in a giant underground silo. Inside. men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations. of secrets and lies.To live. you must follow the rules. But some dont. These are the dangerous ones; these are the people who dare to hope and dream. and who infect others with their optimism.Their punishment is simple and deadly. They are allowed outside.Jules is one of these people. She may well be the last.

I clearly remember reading this synopsis and thinking to myself ‘nope, not gonna be good’. I posted in book club to see how everyone else was doing and I said I was struggling. Someone said once you get past page 120 you’ll enjoy it. They were spot on!

Seriously, once I broke through page 120 the book was amazing!!! I could not put it down! I devoured the book very quickly after that and absolutely loved it!

If I had given up I’d have missed out on a wonderful, thought provoking book. Even now, months later, I still find myself thinking about Wool. It was completely unexpected just how much I loved it. I didn’t want it to end!

Has this happened to you?😊

The Memory Killer by JA Kerley

Really enjoyed this, which sounds awful considering the content (abduction, torture etc), but Kerley’s books are just so easy to read. I find whenever I start one, I really want to race through it. Which isn’t always possible with 2 kids and a husband (love ye!!!) and housework and so on.

I always think that’s the sign of a good book, when you are thinking about it but don’t have a chance to read it! I always recommend the Carson Ryder series when people ask about a good series.

The blurb from Amazon below:

“Detective Carson Ryder faces a cunning and inventive adversary in this terrifying thriller from the bestselling author of Her Last Scream.

Young men in Miami are being abducted and tortured after their drinks are spiked with a cocktail of drugs that leaves them unable to recall their ordeal. Despite this, Detective Carson Ryder knows the predator’s name, height, age, colouring … everything. It’s impossible for the perpetrator to avoid detection. Yet he does.

When Carson seeks answers from his brother, a wanted criminal intimate with twisted minds, Jeremy’s odd behaviour sparks even more questions. With each abduction, the violence becomes more horrific, and it’s only a short time until torture turns to murder.

But how do you catch an invisible man?”

The Death Box by JA Kerley

Carson Ryder book 10 in the series.

Another instalment by Kerley featuring one of my favourite characters, Carson Ryder. As with all his books, this one is as enjoyable as the previous ones in the series.

The blurb from Amazon below:

“Detective Carson Ryder faces his most terrifying adversary yet in this nail-biting thriller from the author of Her Last Scream.

Carson Ryder thought he’d seen everything …

A specialist in twisted crimes, Detective Carson Ryder thought he’d seen the lowest depths of human depravity. But he’s barely started his new job in Miami when called to a horrific scene: a concrete pillar built of human remains, their agony forever frozen in stone.

Finding the secret of the pillar drags him into the sordid world of human trafficking, where one terrified girl holds the key to unraveling a web of pain, prostitution and murder. There’s just one problem: Ryder’s not the only one chasing the girl.”

This book is quite pacy, and it keeps you going with thrills and twists, which by now Kerley is extremely adept at writing. As usual I really enjoyed catching up with Ryder. A tried and tested formula, but it works. Nice and easy to read too!

The Dolls House by Louise Phillips

I started reading this in December 2014, having heard high praise for Louise Phillips. I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading it, but to be honest, I wasn’t a fan from the outset. I found it very slow going, and also about a quarter of the way in, I went into labour with my baby girl on December 15th, so I left the book on my nightstand and didn’t pick it up again until 3 weeks after she was born.

I have to say, I really didn’t enjoy this book, even after the mid book break, I just couldn’t get into it. The blurb from Amazon is as follows:

“People say that the truth can set you free. But what if the truth is not something you want to hear? Thirty-five years ago Adrian Hamilton drowned. At the time his death was reported as a tragic accident but the exact circumstances remained a mystery. Now his daughter Clodagh, trying to come to terms with her past, visits a hypnotherapist who unleashes disturbing childhood memories of her father’s death. And as Clodagh delves deeper into her subconscious, memories of another tragedy come to light – the death of her baby sister. Meanwhile criminal psychologist Dr Kate Pearson is called in to help in the investigation of a murder after a body is found in a Dublin canal. When Kate digs beneath the surface of the killing, she discovers a sinister connection to the Hamilton family. What terrible events took place in the Hamilton house all those years ago? And what connects them to the recent murder? Time is running out for Clodagh and Kate. And the killer has already chosen his next victim . . .”

Personal preference is everything when it comes to books, so I’m sure many of you would enjoy this. Perhaps had I read it at a different time I may have enjoyed it, but as it stands, I was glad to see the back of it!!