Mini-view: Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) - Sarah J Maas

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom.  

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. 

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. 

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

I've been reading a lot of YA books recently and I love a good fantasy novel so when a friend gave me a copy of Throne of Glass I couldn't wait to get started.

Review: Welcome to My World - Miranda Dickinson

A travel agent who longs to travel. An intrepid explorer who just wants to find a place to call home. And a Big Idea that changes everything!. Close your eyes and imagine the world is your oyster! And now imagine never seeing it. Welcome to Harriet Langton's world. All her life she's dreamt of travelling the globe - fate always got in the way. Working as a travel agent, the closest Harri comes to her dream destination of Venice is booking the trip for someone else. But everything changes when travel fanatic Alex drops in. With her boyfriend Rob tied up with work, Harri is persuaded to help Alex in his quest for love. But in her attempts to help, Harri soon discovers that she's alienating those around her. Desperate to leave her life behind, will her dreams finally come true? Or will Harri's leap of faith be her biggest mistake yet?

I picked up Welcome to my World for twenty pence from my local library from the withdrawn pile. Reading the back I was excited to go home home, soak in a bath and read this delightful bit of fluff while I relaxed. This is not, exactly, how it turned out...

Mini-view: Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion

R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

Warm Bodies was given to me with a heartfelt recommendation. Having seen and enjoyed the film I wasn't sure how much more I would get from the book. Marion's book is, unsurprisingly, much more detailed than the associated movie and has much more to say.

Review: Bargain Reads - Radio GaGa - Nell Dixon

Over the airwaves everyone can hear you scream! 

Radio researcher and part-time presenter Chloe Lark is certain her big show biz break is just around the corner. Live it Up radio may not be the big time, but surely - one day soon - fame will come her way. And, if she could convince the hunky guy next door to give her a chance, her love life might improve too. 

Ex-soldier Ben isn’t sure if his new ‘Z’ list celebrity neighbour is crazy or on medication. Either way he’s looking for a quiet life out of the spotlight. The last thing he needs is an accident prone media hungry blonde complete with mystery stalker. Problem is - Chloe doesn’t seem to have received that particular memo…

Finally, the bargain read returns! I'm so bad at this consistency lark, forgive me? Good. Let's move on. Another Brit-lit entry the blurb of Radio Gaga appealed to me, it also meant that I went around the house singing Queen for the day, much to the joy of my flatmates. Anyway...

Mini-view: History of Love - Nicole Krauss

Leo Gursky taps his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he’s still alive. But it wasn’t always like this: in the Polish village of his youth, he fell in love and wrote a book. . . . Sixty years later and half a world away, fourteen-year-old Alma, who was named after a character in that book, undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family. With virtuosic skill and soaring imaginative power, Nicole Krauss gradually draws these stories together toward a climax of “extraordinary depth and beauty” (Newsday)

I'm trying out a new feature on the blog, so let me know what you think! I read a lot more books than I review so if I have any strong feelings about a book or think it will be of interest to my readers I'm now going to give you a little mini review, a miniview! Yay, more of my opinions.

Review: Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, ELEANOR AND PARK is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

Eleanor & Park has caused a bit of a sensation recently and as usual I am late to the party. To be honest, it’s been sitting in my ‘to be read’ [TBR] pile for quite a while and it was only with the nudging of one of my Goodreads pals (don’t forget to check out my book group on Goodreads here) that I finally dug it out and read it.