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Reading for Pleasure

By Amazon, Books & AuthorsNo Comments
Books I've Bought Recently

Books I’ve Bought Recently

Until recently I hadn’t bought any books for ages. I didn’t need to, what with the free ones I was getting from Publishers Publicists to review. But I noticed that reading had become like a chore and had significantly slowed down.

The great thing about getting books from Publishers Publicists is that I’ve discovered new authors and new books that I love. But it’s a mixed bag.

Sometimes I get books that I wouldn’t necessarily choose to read. That’s when it becomes like a chore. I count down the pages and force myself to read on.

I decided that I’m going back to reading for pleasure. So this month I’ve treated myself to several books that I want to read. They are in the photo above.

Left to Right Top Row: Gone by Michael Grant, Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback by Stephen Jones & Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French.

Left to Right Bottom Row: Hunger by Michael Grant, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks & The Fallen by Charlie Higson.

I’m already really enjoying reading again. I’m hooked and a few of these books and will review them after I’ve read them.

Write soon,

Antony

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PaganCon 2013 Review: The North West Pagan Community Come Together

By Friends & Family, PaganismNo Comments

PaganCon 2013

PaganCon 2013 On Saturday (13th July) the pagan community of the North West of England came together for PaganCon 2013. It was a glorious sunny day; the pagan community descended upon Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club for a day of workshops/talks, stalls, music and dancing.

The venue was easy to find and had great parking. I went along with Simon & Chrys, excited to attend my first ever PaganCon.

The day started with a what I’m told was a beautiful and touching commemoration ritual for recently deceased Wigan High Priestess Joan Withington.

Doors opened at 10am, but a lack of a programme in advance made the day very difficult to plan. It felt very hit or miss and in my case there was so much I missed.

PaganCon 2013
PaganCon 2013 When I arrived just after midday there was a programme that revealed that I’d missed Joan’s ritual and a talk I would have liked to have heard.

The programme showed that Damh The Bard & Cernunnos Rising – one of the reasons we’d booked tickets were on at 7:45PM which would have made it a very long day.

There were a good variety of stalls selling a variety of items including: books, wands, staffs, ornaments, altar cloths, incenses and the sort of things you’d expect at a pagan event.

The talks were given by experienced and well-known pagan community members. However in the exceedingly warm hall they felt more like lectures – having no element of discussion or debate like I had imagined. It would have benefited speakers to have split-off rooms with smaller groups to enable debate and encourage real peer learning to occur. More practical workshops would have been beneficial to those new to the craft.

The programme gave little information about the speakers or their topics. I listened to a talk entitled ‘Storytelling’ on the programme, only to find it wasn’t what I thought it would be.

PaganCon 2013

Outside the sun shone and the heat beat down with thanks to Apollo & Ra. People relaxed and tended to know one other. While it was great to see, it did get me wondering how a solitary practitioners would use PaganCon as an opportunity to meet and get to know others. I choose to work alone more often than not, but still like having pagan friends for support and to celebrate Pagan Festivals with. Organisers could have arranged opportunities for solitary practitioners to get to know others.

Simon & Chrys stayed to see Damh The Bard & Cernunnos Rising and said they were fantastic. I felt like I’d really missed out, but it couldn’t be avoided as my painful back couldn’t of tolerated the six or seven hour wait. Plus I had some other plans for the late evening.

Overall PaganCon 2013 was a chance for the pagan community to come together. I imagined that the talks & workshops would leave me feeling inspired, with plenty of questions and new ideas to contemplate. This didn’t happen, but I’ll be definitely going back next year.

Next year I’ll be attending in the late afternoon/early evening to catch the stalls and Damh The Bard, unless the programme is released in advance and has a talk/workshop that catches my fancy.

I’ll leave you with some pictures of these brilliant morris dancers, who kept the outside folk entertained with their wonderful music and dancing. Definitely a highlight of my day:

PaganCon 2013 PaganCon 2013
PaganCon 2013 PaganCon 2013
PaganCon 2013 PaganCon 2013

Blog soon,

Antony

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Publishers Publicists Note

By Amazon, Books & AuthorsNo Comments

Dear Publishers Publicists,

I read a variety of books (see Book Lists) and review them on this blog. I get roughly three thousand unique visitors (with between 65-85,000 hits) per month, mostly through Google searches for specific book reviews.

Recently I’ve been approached by Publishers Group UK and Headline Publishing with titles to read and review. Both have been impressed with my reviews and asked me to review further books. I am grateful to Publishers Group UK and Headline Publishing for the free titles and feedback on the reviews.

Here are some samples of my reviews, so that you can see my writing style and the sort of things I comment on:

As you can see from the samples I always try to be honest focusing on the positives. I write reviews to share good literature with my readers and always include a link (usually to Amazon) where they may purchase the book.

So If you’ve got a book you’d like me to review please contact me. Include in your email: the title, author and some information around what the book is about. If you would like me to review the book before it’s release date let me know and were possible I will try to accommodate. I prefer printed samples as I don’t have a Kindle or other Ereader.

When I’ve receive the title a link will appear on the On My Bookshelf For Reading… or I’m Reading… sidebar of my site.

Then once I’ve written the review I’ll email you back with a date & time of the review being published, a direct link where it will be available and the text of the review. You will be able to share, quote and tweet the review wherever you like.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Antony

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My Book Schedule

By Books & AuthorsNo Comments

In the past I’ve announced excitedly (see OMG…OMG…the latest in The Enemy Series by Charlie Higson, Exciting News & Things To Look Forward Too, etc.) when there’s a book coming out that I want to read, but there’s so many over the coming months, I’ve decided to share with you My Book Schedule instead:

Release Date: 20 September 2012
Title & Author: The Sacrifice (The Enemy Series) by Charlie Higson
About:

The sickness destroyed everyone over the age of fourteen. All across London diseased adults are waiting, hungry predators with rotten flesh and ravaged minds.

Small Sam and his unlikely ally, The Kid, have survived. They’re safe with Ed and his friends at the Tower of London, but Sam is desperate to find his sister.

Their search for Ella means Sam and The Kid must cross the forbidden zone. And what awaits them there is more terrifying than any of the horror they’ve suffered so far . . .
(From: Amazon, Last Accessed: 27 August 2012)

Release Date: 11 October 2012
Title & Author: One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern
About:

Journalist Kitty Logan’s career is being destroyed by scandal – and now she faces losing the woman who guided and taught her everything she knew. At her terminally ill friend’s bedside, Kitty asks – what is the one story she always wanted to write?

The answer lies in a file buried in Constance’s office: a list of one hundred names. There is no synopsis, nothing to explain what the story is or who these people are. The list is simply a mystery. But before Kitty can talk to her friend, it is too late.

With everything to prove, Kitty is assigned the most important task of her life: to write the story her mentor never had the opportunity to. Kitty not only has to track down and meet the people on the list, but find out what connects them. And, in the process of hearing ordinary people’s stories, she starts to understand her own.
(From: Amazon, Last Accessed: 27 August 2012)

Date: 19 February 2013
Title & Author: Fuse by Julianna Baggott
About:

After a young Wretch is abducted by the Dome and “cleansed” of her fusings and imperfections, she is only able to repeat the Dome’s latest message: “We want our son returned. This girl is proof that we can save you all. If you ignore our plea, we will kill our hostages one at a time.” Willux will go to any lengths to get his son Partridge back, including murder. Partridge sacrifices himself and returns, in the hope of taking over the Dome from within, only to uncover more of his father’s chilling, dark secrets.

Outside the Dome, Pressia, Bradwell, and El Capitan are decoding the secrets from the past – tucked away in one of the Black Boxes – to uncover the truth that might set the wretches free of their fusings forever. Those fighting Willux will be pushed over boundaries, both land and sea, heart and mind, in their quest – further than they ever imagined.
(From: Amazon, Last Accessed: 27 August 2012)

Date: 4 April 2013
Title & Author: The Traitor Queen (Book 3) by Trudi Canavan (Paperback Version)
About:

Events are building to a climax in Sachaka as Lorkin returns from his exile with the Traitor rebels.

The Traitor Queen has given Lorkin the huge task of brokering an alliance between his people and the Traitors. Lorkin has also had to become a feared black magician in order to harness the power of an entirely new kind of gemstone magic. This knowledge could transform the Guild of Magicians – or make Lorkin an outcast forever.

The Traitor Queen is the triumphant conclusion to the Traitor Spy trilogy, which began with The Ambassador’s Mission and continued with The Rogue.

Hopefully this will give you an idea of what I’ll be reading over the coming months and what reviews you can expect.
(From: Amazon, Last Accessed: 27 August 2012)

Write & review soon,

Antony

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