How to start a book review blog? Well, like this of course! I didn't want to jump straight in and publish what could turn into the longest and most boring book review ever, so I thought a little introduction might be a good idea...
I learnt to read when I was three. Maybe I could explain it better as my parents discovered I could read at the age of three, when I read my dad's newspaper to him, out loud and upside-down, whilst he was reading it himself! I guess my love of reading started from here. Throughout school I was always an above-average reader. In my Year 7 English class, I remember being given the hardest spelling book in the class, being the only kid who loved the library and at the tender age of 11, having a reading age of 14/15+. Whilst the rest of my classmates would be forced to check-out a book from the age 9 - 12 fiction section, I would happily take myself off to read whatever teenage fiction I could get my hands on, often taking out 5/6 books at a time!
My English teacher and the Librarians clearly took note of my eagerness to read as when I moved into Year 8, I was invited to join Book Club. I thought this was great as it involved students from Years 8 - 11, of both genders and from all backgrounds as long as they loved to read. It got even better when I found out we were actually judges for the Red House Children's Book Award! It was a great year of reading, made even better by the fact that our school had been chosen to attend the prestigious Award Ceremony in London. Every child's name got put into a small yellow bag as we waited nervously with baited breath to find out who was going... Me... ME!!! I couldn't believe it! The Gods must've been smiling on me that day. I was over the moon.
We were then given the shortlist of books to judge: CHERUB The Recruit by Robert Muchamore, The Star Of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson and Eragon by Christopher Paolini (all to be reviewed later!). This was the order of my favourites and the order I judged them in. The Awards Ceremony was phenomenal! I got to meet Jaqueline Wilson (my favourite author at the time) and Nick Sharratt (the illustrator of her books), who both signed my single copy of Midnight! Luckily I had brought along a notepad too, so Nick Sharratt drew me a picture and taught me how to draw a cartoon cat too. I ate my posh lunch with Lauren Child, author of the international Charlie and Lola series. At one point I also got to go on stage and hand Cressida Cowell a portfolio of reviews of her book from all the children judging that year. What an incredible day! To top it all off though, I bought the first three books in the CHERUB series and got them all signed. Little did I know how much books two and three would captivate like the first... But that is another story for another day (and an actual review maybe! Instead of this lengthy introduction...).
I continued reading and judging the Book Awards for many years, predicting the winner each year, even if I didn't vote for it - Skulduggery Pleasant, 2008! I did vote for every other winner however, starting with The Recruit, Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan and Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie. Even once my Year 11 exams were over, I still went back on my 16th birthday to keep up with the reading world!
I've found it hard to keep up with good books, especially with the amount that get turned into films and promoted well, but I am determined to keep them in my life - even the ones that get lost on the shelf because more often than not, these are the ones I find and they are gems.
Happy reading!
Laura-Jane xx