YALC 2016: Day 1!

This year I was lucky enough to attend YALC for the entire weekend! This weekend was made extra special by the fact that I made some friends the day before at a meet-up organised my Karen (A Simple Cup of Tea), which I would heavily recommend doing. Thanks so much Demet, Karen, Lily, Chantal and Kalie (and everyone else!) for an absolutely fantastic weekend!

I first rocked up to Olympia at 8.30am and found my newly-founded squad, then we were let loose on YALC at 9am. The first thing we found – and seriously, I was NOT expecting this – was a GEMINA arc. I wasn’t a huge fan of Illuminae but I’m hoping this will be better and will be posting my honest review (and possibly hosting a giveaway!).

The first panel I headed up was BEHIND THE MAGIC: MAGICAL SYSTEMS IN YA. The panel was led by Katherine Webber, with V E Schwab, Sally Green, Taran Matharu and Mel Salisbury and was a real highlight of the weekend – I even asked a question about how they create a magical system that is original!

After the panel, I got my copy of THE ART OF BEING NORMAL by Lisa Williamson signed – she was so lovely and the book is amazing (definitely a must-read!).

I then headed to the SHE WHO LAUGHS LAST LAUGHS THE LAUGHIEST: HUMOUR IN YA panel, headed up by Claire Hennessy and featuring Katy Birchall, Nat Luurtsema, Jenny McLachlan and Holly Smale. This was another great panel and the panelists were so funny!

Next up was a fan favourite – the A MONSTER CALLS talk with Patrick Ness, who wrote the book, and Lewis MacDougall, who plays Conor in the film adaptation. This was an interesting talk surrounding the movie. After the talk, I got my copy of A Monster Calls signed by Patrick and Lewis which was a nice touch.

Now for the highlight of the day – the Fantasy London panel chaired by Katherine Webber, and featuring V E Scwab, Ben Aaronovitch and Samantha Shannon. Learning about their interpretations of fantasy London was so interesting! An absolute highlight of the week. After the talk, I got my copies of A Darker Shade of Magic and This Savage Song signed by V E Schwab who was SO nice and hung around YALC all weekend.

This is the AMAZING book wall which made a triumphant return!

Day 1 haul included a beautiful copy of Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (£10 from the Harper Voyager stand!)

The NEW Mel Salisbury short story The King of Rats was available on the Scholastic stand – I’ll be waiting to read this one but very glad I have it!

Here is a picture of the gang in front of the book wall!

Day 1 of YALC was so amazing – next up will be Day 2!

Thanks for reading – how did you enjoy the first day of YALC?

#WaitingOnWednesday – Nothing Tastes As Good by Claire Hennessy

This week’s Waiting On Wednesday book is Nothing Tastes As Good by Claire Hennessy!

UK Publisher: Hot Key Books

UK Release Date: 14th July 2016

Nothing Tastes As Good is the story of Annabel, a recently deceased teen who suffered from anorexia in life, who is assigned to help another teenager with a difficult relationship with food, Annabel.

I’ve been absolutely loving Irish YA at the moment (and so is everyone else, if they deluge of awards for the likes of Sarah Crossan and Louise O’Neill is anything to go by) and I’m SO excited for this July release.

There’s a pandemic in YA of important issues that affect teenagers which tend to go ignored because they’re difficult to write. I’m talking things like body image and body dysphoria, discovering your sexuality or coming to terms with a disability or illness.

Finally, we have a book that tackles anorexia, obesity and eating disorders, and it has some brilliant reviews (GoodReads average 4.5 at time of writing), and I can’t wait to read and review. If you know of any books which tackles similar issues, please let me know!

Annalise x

YALC Reading List Part SIX!

It’s already time for Part SIX(!) of the YALC Reading List and it’s another cracker.

Catch up or re-read the first five parts here – one, two, three, four, and five!

The YALC Reading List is updated every Sunday evening.

44. Emerald Fennell

Book to read: Monsters

You might recognise Emerald from her roles in Call the Midwife or Anna Karenina, but when she’s not acting, she’s also an author. Her first and second novels, Shiverton Hall and The Creeper, were both shortlisted for the Waterstones Childrens Book Prixe, and her latest novel, Monsters, is an adult novel that was released last September. Monsters has been billed as darkly comic murder thriller, focusing on two twelve year olds who decide to investigate and re-enact some recent murders in Cornwall. This one sounds interesting and has some amazing reviews.

45. Natalie Flynn

Book to read: The Deepest Cut

The Deepest Cut is Natalie Flynn’s debut novel, and centres around Adam, a boy who blames himself for his best friend’s murder and subsequently attempts suicide. Put in the care of a local mental health facility and too traumatised to speak, he starts to write notebooks in an attempt to move on. This book came out recently (May 24th) so expect to see it in bookshops now.

46. Sally Green

Book to read: The Half Bad series

I feel like a lot of people have read this series and loved it so I’m sure it needs no introduction to many of you. Based in a world where humans and witches live together, Nathan, the son of the world’s most powerful and violent witch, Marcus, must escape his cage and track down his father to receive his powers. The third and final book, Half Lost, was released earlier this year.

47. Julia Gray

Book to read: The Otherlife

Another multi-talented author on this list, Julia Gray is an author and singer-songwriter, having released five albums. Her first novel, The Otherlife, is the story of Ben, who has visions of The Otherlife, where gods and monsters roam. Hobie, the school bully, fascinated by Ben’s visions, befriends him. But when, years later, Ben’s best friend and tutor Jason dies, Ben can’t help but feel Hobie has something to do with it… This book sounds like a really cool concept, and it is released on July 7th.

48. Lisa Heathfield

Book to read: Seed/Paper Butterflies

You can find my reviews of Seed and Paper Butterflies here and here. Both of Lisa’s novels tackle difficult issues – Seed is about a girl raised in a cult and struggling with her identity, and Paper Butterflies is about a girl who suffers child abuse. Both these books are hard-hitting and, at times, difficult to read. Seed is out now and Paper Butterflies will be released 30 June.

49. Claire Hennessy

Book to read: Nothing Tastes As Good

This one is one I’m really excited about. Claire’s debut YA novel follows Annabel, a recently deceased anorexic teen, assigned as a helper to Julia, who also has a difficult relationship with food. This one comes out July 14, so I might pick this one up at YALC.

50. Rhian Ivory

Book to read: The Boy who drew the Future

This is Rhian’s fifth novel, and focuses on two boys who live in the same village 100 years apart, but who have the same gift – they can draw the future. Set in the 1860s and the 1960s, this sounds like a cool historical novel, and it has some amazing reviews on Goodreads.

51. Lauren James

Lauren’s first novel The Next Together (review here) is the story of a couple, Katherine and Matthew, who exists in several timestreams but appear to be always doomed. This is such an interesting concept and take on historical romance, and I loved that it featured so much science. Lauren’s next book, the sequel to The Next Together, The Last Beginning, is due out in October.

That’s it for this week’s installment – which books should I be reading immediately? Comment below or tweet me at @annalisebooks!

Annalise x