Book Review: Black Hole Cinema Club by Christopher Edge

I am so excited to bring you this book review today!

I received a copy of Black Hole Cinema Club by Christopher Edge in my latest Reading Rocks subscription box (I subscribe to the UKS2 box because I teach Year 6). I planned on buying this book anyway, as I loved Escape Room and The Jamie Drake Equation, but I was lucky enough to get it in my subscription box and get to read it sooner than I'd planned.

My First Year as a Qualified Teacher

We're at the end of August, about to go into September. It's only now that I have sat back and fully realised that I have completed my first year as a qualified teacher! It was an absolutely incredible year, filled with many highs and a few lower points (but all of the good moments definitely outweigh any of the bad).

Ahead of starting at a new school, in a new year group, I thought I would take the time to share a few of the best moments and things I have loved from this past year, whether this is just for me to feel proud of the job I'm doing or to share with other teachers or aspiring teachers out there.

Here are ten standout moments and learning points for me from the last year:

Blog Tour: Boy Queen by George Lester | Author Guest Post & My Review

Hi everyone!

I'm so excited to be part of the Boy Queen blog tour and today it's my turn. I am so honoured to have a guest post from the author, George Lester, talking about some of his favourite characters.

I then have a review of the book when I'll tell you a little bit about what I thought of it!

First, here is the synopsis:

Robin Cooper's life is falling apart.

While his friends prepare to head off to University, Robin is looking at a pile of rejection letters from drama schools up and down the country, and facing a future without the people he loves the most. Everything seems like it's ending, and Robin is scrabbling to find his feet.

Unsure about what to do next and whether he has the talent to follow his dreams, he and his best friends go and drown their sorrows at a local drag show, where Robin realises there might be a different, more sequinned path for him . . .

With a mother who won't stop talking, a boyfriend who won't acknowledge him and a best friend who is dying to cover him in glitter make up, there's only one thing for Robin to do: bring it to the runway.

Read on for George Lester's guest post and my review of Boy Queen...

Author Interview: Lucie Wheeler (Mums Just Wanna Have Fun Blog Tour)

Hi all, I'm back after having a bit of a break from blogging (I have plans, I promise I'm not slacking!) and today it's my turn on the Mums Just Wanna Have Fun blog tour with author Lucie Wheeler.

I first met Lucie in September last year when me and my friend, Jess, decided to attend the launch event for Lucie's debut novel. We'd never met before then, but Lucie, Jess and I instantly clicked over our similar career paths and love of books.

After the launch, we kept in touch and we actually attended a book event together in November.

So when the opportunity came for me to be a part of the blog tour for Lucie's new book, Mums Just Wanna Have Fun, I jumped at the chance to support such a lovely, enthusiastic, talented woman.

I had the chance to ask Lucie some questions, not just about writing but about reading too. So, here are the quick-fire questions I asked Lucie...

Spoiler-Free Book Review: Hold Back The Stars by Katie Khan

For my latest YouTube video I did a spoiler-free review of Katie Khan's debut novel Hold Back The Stars, which you can watch below:

Buy it here: Hold Back The Stars by Katie Khan

In my video I give a brief summary of the book, talk about the characters and the plot and give my honest thoughts on the book as a whole.

My favourite part to film in my book review video was the section I'm calling "If it was made into a movie". I love films as well as reading books so I enjoy thinking about who I would cast as the main characters if it was ever made into a film.

Katie Kahn actually watched the video and sent me a lovely message through Twitter:

This is awesome @JanayBrazier, congrats on your first book video! I love Tom Holland ☺️ Thank you for your ace review of #HoldBacktheStars 💕 https://t.co/xBq7lSAlL9

— Katie Khan (@katie_khan) February 6, 2017

@JanayBrazier I love hearing other people's casting ideas! When I started writing it in 2012 I was thinking Felicity Jones & Sam Claflin ☺️

— Katie Khan (@katie_khan) February 6, 2017

@JanayBrazier I think nearly 5 years later I need some slightly younger actors! 😝 Thanks again, really enjoyed your video. x

— Katie Khan (@katie_khan) February 6, 2017

Janay Brazier: WHSmith Zoella Book Club Video Review

I've finished all of the books from the second round of the WHSmith Zoella Book Club, with only one Twitter Takeover night left to go on Tuesday 31st, so I've uploaded a video to my YouTube channel reviewing them all.

WHSmith Zoella Book Club: Author Interviews (Books 1-4)

As many of you reading this will probably already know, I took part in the first WHSmith Zoella Book Club during the summer and fell in love with it. I've always been a big reader but I enjoyed this book club so, so much. Zoe Sugg chose eight books that she loved and shared them with us. I joined in with their Twitter events, bought and read every book and wrote blog posts about them. So, imagine my excitement when Zoe announced that should would be doing another round of the book club through autumn/winter, into February 2017.

I was very kindly sent the whole new collection of eight books and I did an unboxing post in October (here). I noted in that blog post that I was going to keep the layout of my posts the same as last time, talking about the first four books at the halfway point and then talking about the other four books at the end. However, this time I got the amazing opportunity to ask the authors questions about their books, so rather than me talking about the books and reviewing them with my own thoughts, I'm going to post interview-style, with the questions I asked the authors and their responses. Then, at the end of the whole book club, I will review all eight books and rank them just like I did before.

So, let's get into the interviews:

WHSmith Zoella Book Club: Review (Books 5-8)

I have loved taking part in the Zoella Book Club with WHSmith. I posted about it back in June here and the first part of my book club review (for books 1-4) can be found here. I've loved sharing opinions and thoughts on these books with others on WHSmith's Twitter. The book club nights have all been brilliant and I'm sad that it's all over, but it's been great!

Here are the last four books of the Zoella Book Club:

• The Potion Diaries
• Everything Everything
• The Sky Is Everywhere
• Billy and Me

So let's get on with the reviews and Twitter chat! Before continuing please be aware that there are some spoilers ahead.

WHSmith Zoella Book Club: Review (Books 1-4)

I have been loving the Zoella Book Club with WHSmith. I posted about it back in June here, and now we are at the halfway mark. I decided when I started this book club that I would review all of the books and give you my views on them all, as well as sharing my input to the book club nights on WHSmith's Twitter. The book club nights on Twitter were brilliant, although I was gutted to miss the third one, discussing We Were Liars, as I had to be at work late.

I read the first four books in the order of the book club:

• All The Bright Places
• Beautiful Broken Things
• We Were Liars
• Fangirl

(You can buy the complete eight-book bundle here)

So let's get started with the reviews and Twitter chat! Before continuing please be aware that there are some spoilers ahead.

I'm Reading: The Zoella Book Club 2016

I was so excited when I heard that Zoella was starting a book club for the summer and I was even more excited when I saw the video she put up on her channel, showing the eight books in the 2016 book club. You can see the video she posted below where she tells you the eight titles in the club and a little bit of the back story, as well as a quite note on why she chose to share these books.

So, here are the eight books in the book club! I was happy to see Fangirl and Billy and Me, because I've been wanting to read these two for a while now and this is now the perfect opportunity for me to read them.

I've also heard amazing things about All The Bright Places and Everything Everything, so I was glad to purchase them and add them to my bookcase. I've actually just finished reading the first book in the club, which was All The Bright Places, and I thoroughly enjoyed it but I won't give anything away as the club has only just begun and I don't want to ruin it for anyone.

I'd never heard of Beautiful Broken Things, We Were Liars, The Potion Diaries or The Sky is Everywhere, but they also all sound like great stories from what Zoe mentioned in her video.

I'm so glad that I can spend the summer reading some brilliant books and sharing my views and thoughts with others on the same reading journey. I've spent the last eight months only reading books that were on my set list from university, some of which were not interesting to me, so it's nice to finally have the chance to read something I want to read rather than something I have to read.

Are you part of the Zoella Book Club? Keep in touch on Twitter, Instagram and find me on Good Reads.