Book Review: I'll Be Home for Christmas by Various

My recent interaction with the Homeless was two of men swearing people out. Ar...Scotland.

The UK’s top Young Adult authors join together in this collection of new stories and poems on the theme of home.

Contributors include: Tom Becker, Holly Bourne, Sita Brahmachari, Kevin Brooks, Melvin Burgess, Katy Cannon , Cat Clarke, Juno Dawson, Julie Mayhew, Non Pratt, Marcus Sedgwick, Lisa Williamson and Benjamin Zephaniah.

£1 from the sale of every book will be donated to Crisis, the national homelessness charity. To find out more about Crisis, see www.crisis.org.uk

Before reading this book I was concerned that this would be an anthology where the stories didn't match at all with each other. Christmas,  Home and Homeless are the themes I'm guessing the writer were given. This book does contains some writers I really like, one I studied in school and one I have yet to find anything likable about. I wasn't going to request this book, until I realise Cat Clarke was in it and I must read everything she ever published.

Home and Away by Benjamin Zephaniah: This a poem and despite being taught several times how to citizens and write poems I don't feel confident on the matter,  but I still have a  jotter full of Face's quote. It's about how you could become homeless.

Ghosts of Christmas Past by Non Pratt: There are no actual ghosts and this is just a standard contemporary Sam is dealing with now living with his Nan and being awkward with girls. 4/5 stars for Tree Cravings.

If Only in my Dreams by Marcus Sedgwick: returning to the tradition of horror at Christmas and Space. Bit of a cliché plot. Also Also the British don't care about American poems about Christmas. It's written well as always by Sedgwick. 4/5 stars for darkness dreams.

Family You Choose by Cat Clarke: Queer fun. With a character that doesn't speak.  Very nice. Unusual Christmas dinner. Hinting at bigger life. Birthday blues. 5/5 stars for silent cake.

 The Associates by Kevin Brooks: The day in the life of two Homeless men who mainly hassle people. I don't know if I'm missing the point or if Brooks is missing the mark in trying to humanise homelessness. I think this story needs to be fleshed out a bit more, especially as for a day in life, big gaps are hinting at being missing.  Also have no clue by what is meant by the title. 3/5 stars for cliché needles.

The Afterschool Club by Holly Bourne: Rich Boy, Poor Girl, spending time together to avoid going home and do their homework together. I liked the characters in this one and the writing, as well the hinting at the deep issues at play as well as the ones on the surface. 4/5 stars for Coat swapping.

Homo for Christmas by Juno Dawson: The lesson in this story is to use private mode. We also have another uni age character dealing with their sexuality similar to Cat Clarke's story. These two fit together at least, but these one did feel a little more mature than the ones before it.  5/5 stars for Skinful.

Amir and George by Sita Brahmachari: This story deals with the series and current topic of refugee. Its also write in the style of someone whose not good at English (as though it was foreign language to them) which was interesting stab at realism. 5/5 stars for found lemons.

The Letter by Tracy Darnton: Darnton won a contest to be included in this book.
This doesn’t feel like a short story and more like the start up of a novel as the eventful stuff has either happened or about to happen.There's interesting story there, but this glimpse into Amber's life is a small catalyst that hints at several possibility. Though, I can tell from this that Darnton is a skilled writer. 4/5 stars for Bowling shoes.

Claws by Tom Becker: Everything I have ever read before by Becker has been insultingly terrible, at least this was just insulting, but I feel like that Becker liked the title of Claws and was gonna force that to make sense. It was alright, its the "someone does something stupid" version of horror therefore you don't care about the main character which is unsuccessfully. 2/5 stars for fishhooks ribbons. 
 
Christmas, Take Two by Katy Cannon: Heather is being forced to spend Christmas with her Father's new shorty and her monstrous children. Its mostly be grateful and its Christmas so be happy that no one takes you into account when making important decisions, learned all from a romantic encounter. 3/5 stars for forced stockings.
 
When Daddy Comes Home by Melvin Burgess: Nothing says Christmas like a dystopia of Politic Corruption. Interesting in that it comes in the form of a monologue. 4/5 stars for Christmas Tricks.

The Bluebird by Julie Mayhew: A modern fairy tale told in the form of a fairy tale, but modern setting. I enjoy writing confusing sentences. Parents holding their kids captive and a romance that might be a lot more alarming than its meant to be. 3/5 stars for burning chips.
 
Routes and Wings by Lisa Williamson: I really liked this one and does a good job of humanizing Homelessness. 5/5 stars for Bus Fare.

Overall, I give this 4/5 stars for multiple themes. Okay, I get why this book was done and that it for a good cause, but in terms of a coherent anthology most of the stories don't go together. Some of them fit and there could all be sketched to have a theme of home, or at least have the setting of Christmas. I'm probably just way over thinking of this, especially as I'm someone who reads all these genres about the same (except Poetry) within YA. I would recommend this if you're a general YA lover. 

I got this book off Netgalley for review and it is published by Stripes Publishing.

Book Review: Electricity by Ray Robinson

You could say this was an "electrifying read", but that just me pushing a pun.

 Lily's epilepsy means she's used to seeing the world in terms of angles -- you look at every surface, you weigh up every corner, and you think of your head slamming into it -- but what would she be like without her sharp edges? Prickly, spiky, up-front honest and down-to-earth practical, Lily is thirty, and life's not easy but she gets by. Needing no-one and asking for nothing, it's just her and her epilepsy: her constant companion. 

But then her mother -- who Lily's not seen for years -- dies, and Lily is drawn back into a world she thought she'd long since left behind. Forced to renegotiate the boundaries of her life, she realises she has a lot to learn -- about relationships, about the past, and about herself -- and some difficult decisions ahead of her. '

This book me a long time to read, because of reasons like it was sort of for uni, but I didn't need to actually read. The book follows Lily as she tries to find her brother who she hasn't seen since she was a child whilst with living epilepsy.

Lily is a sympathetic, unlikable character. She been through a lot, but she still innocent and strangely trusting. She realistic in that she is contrasting traits. The other characters were okay, but generally unlikable except for the middle class one, who at the moment I can't think of a bad thing about her. Hmm...

This book sort of falls into the trap of a lot stories featuring main characters with disabilities and illness do, but as it just teeters on the edge I'll leave it be and not spoiler the book by discussing it. While Lily's epilepsy plays a big part of the book, as it is a big obstacle in her life, the character is not define by her disability and I think it is a decent portrayal (though, I do know very little about epilepsy other it's brain disorder that causes seizers and varys on severity). The writer has took the time to actually think about the disorder and how it affects

The seizures were represent by static of letters on the page which made the book stand out from the start and I also liked pictures of pills being used to show passing of time almost. It was nice way of giving another insight into Lily.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of five stars for padded corners. It was okay book heavy on character and also feature forest homes, child abuse and a depressing beach town.

Book Review: The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler

 If I worked at the Owl, I would go mad with the books being so disorganized.

Love doesn't always go by the book

Ardent and Idealistic, Esme Garland has arrived in Manhattan with a scholarship to study art history at Columbia University. When she falls in love with New York blue-blood Mitchell van Leuven, with his penchant for all things erotic, life seems to be clear sailing, until a thin blue line signals stormy times ahead. Before she has a chance to tell Mitchell about her pregnancy, he abruptly declares their sex life is as exciting as a cup of tea, and ends it all.
Stubbornly determined to master everything from Degas to diapers, Esme starts work at a small West Side bookstore to make ends meet. The Owl is a shabby all-day, all-night haven for a colorful crew of characters, such as handsome and taciturn guitar player Luke and George, the owner, who lives on spirulina shakes and idealism. The Owl becomes a nexus of good in a difficult world for Esme—but will it be enough to sustain her when Mitchell, glittering with charm and danger, comes back on the scene? 

 This was nice, quick read with annoying romance. This won't leaving you swooning. Maybe that it's charm. I did get so frustrated at Esme at lot, I just wanted her to stand up for herself at lot more. She blames her Britishness, I say it's her southern Englishness. The rest of Britain are not lay down and take it communities.

This book is weird because the Americanism is used for things when she talking to herself/reader. I mean colour is spelt without the 'u' and she fondly reminisces about Jell-o instead of Jelly.

 I spent most of time feeling sorry for Esme and not because she was pregnant. She has this attachment to Mitchell that I cannot understand at all. This might be a bit of a spoiler, but I think it comes petty clear in the first scenes with Mitchell is that he doesn't really care about Esme at all and it's just really sad that she can't see that. I would have liked to have seen why Emse "loves" him instead of being told he's charming. There is hint to another romance but it never developed which does work in with the book.

So this book is set in a Bookstore and New York which sets a lot of people drooling. They feature alright. There is a lot of book references in this book to enjoy. There is also sub-plot/issue of homelessness in the book as three homeless men work at the bookstore.

The dialogue in this book is quite good and there are a lot of funny lines just throw in during conversation with the other characters. The Owl is just full of characters (which is a sentences that works in so many ways. Three ways actually). 

Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars for L. Frank Baum gays. I don't feel that strong towards this book but it was enjoyable read. If you find the summary intriguing then you should definitely check it out.

I got this book for review off Netgalley. Its published by Bloomsbury Reader and is out now.