Diversity Spotlight Thursday #4 Enemies to Lovers Edition

September 7, 2017April 3, 2018 Olivia Chanel2 Comments

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Hi readers out there in the galaxy, welcome to my fourth Diversity Spotlight Thursday post. I haven’t done a post like this in a while but I’m so excited to be back. This meme was created by Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks and the point of the meme is to every Thursday feature three books that follow these points,

A diverse book you have read and enjoyed.
A diverse book that has already been released but you have not read.
A diverse book that has not yet been released.

If you are interested in joining the meme, you can read the rules and see more of how the meme works here.

Book Review of When We Wonder by Fatima AlSuwaidi

September 5, 2017September 7, 2020 Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

When We Wonder by Fatima AlSuwaidi

Publication Date: November 11, 2016.

Publisher: Blurb.

Genres: Poetry.

Rating:

Purchase here: Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis: When We Wonder is a journey through
love and pain,
hurt and healing.

This collection of poetry and prose explore the different aspects of self-struggle and self-discovery,
and all the things that make us wonder.

Thank you, Fatima AlSuwaidi, for my review copy of When We Wonder. I received this review copy in exchange for an honest review; this does not affect my opinion.

When We Wonder has become one of my favorite poetry collections. This book manages to say so much with so little words and there is no doubt in my mind about the fact that When We Wonder deserves endless success and a spot among the more well-known poetry authors currently sporting their names on the bestseller lists. What I love about this poetry collection is that the poems are relatable, beautiful, and will sweep you away.

Saturday Night Author Fever #15 with Hayley Chewins

September 2, 2017September 12, 2017 Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

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Hi everyone and welcome to my interview series Saturday Night Author Fever, where I interview authors with a bit of a 70s music and diversity theme. I personally love 70s music, especially disco music, and sometimes on Friday nights when no one is looking you can find me dancing to classic 70s songs such as September, Bennie and the Jets and We Are Family. However, books are my true passion and because of this, I thought it would be a great idea to mix my two loves and start this interview series. The questions will be similar every week, but with a new author every time, and I hope you’ll enjoy the answers as much as I have. Now let’s get this party started!

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This Saturday Night we welcome Hayley Chewins. Thank you so much for sitting down with me today in my galaxy of books.

Hayley, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your books? What do you think about 70s music?

Sure! My debut is called THE TURNAWAY GIRLS and it’s a middle grade fantasy about girls who are trained to turn boys’ songs into gold but who aren’t permitted to make any music themselves. The main character, Delphernia Undersea, sings in secret—and discovers a new kind of magic that changes her whole world. It’s coming out in September 2018 from Candlewick in the US and Walker Books in the UK and Australia.

Music is a huge part of my life. In fact, until I was eighteen I wanted to be a professional singer. I really connected with the singer-songwriter tradition of the 70s when I was a teenager. I loved Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan. I also listened to a lot of ABBA growing up, because my mum loves them. That music is pure happiness to me.

I hardly ever perform, but I still love singing. I’m writing some songs as an accompaniment to THE TURNAWAY GIRLS—hopefully I’ll be brave enough to share them closer to my release date.

My August in Books {#arcaugust, books read, and book purchases}

September 1, 2017April 3, 2018 Olivia ChanelLeave a comment

Hi everyone in the galaxy! Another month has passed and it’s been a really good one. During August I’ve read a lot of books (to be fair a lot of them were short but who cares, it was still a lot for me) and I’ve also bought a few more books than I usually do. I bought a couple of paperbacks for the first time in months (instead of just ebooks) so I’m very excited about those, both to read and to share them with you guys.