UK Giveaway: Chocolate S.O.S by Sue Limb

As part of the blog tour for the recently released Chocolate S.O.S by Sue Limb, Bloomsbury UK have kindly  offered two copies of the book for giveaway. It gave me a good giggle with Sue Limb's hilarious writing and I especially recommend it for teenage girls- see my review here.

You can find today's post in the blog tour on Why Comedy Is Good For You here- it certainly made me feel like I should read more comedy books!

About Chocolate S.O.S (from Bloomsbury):

Jess has broken up with Fred, though really she is waiting for him to come to her door and beg to get back together again. But is that the sort of thing Fred would do? He has said himself that he has no backbone . . . Meanwhile, a gorgeous boy has moved in next door and, to Jess’s mingled horror and delight, is making it very, very obvious that he would like to be a lot closer than next door . . . Surely, now, Fred will be driven, in a fit of jealousy, to sweep Jess back off her feet? Won’t he? 

Giveaway Information and Guidelines (please read before entering):

• Entrants must have a UK postal address
• Entrants do not have to be a 'folllower' of this blog
• There are no extra entries for spreading the word but it would great if you did!
• Information on the giveaway form will not be kept
• Two winners will be selected by Random.org and notified by an email to which they must reply to within 3 days or another winner will be picked
• Giveaway closes on 30th January

ENTRY FORM

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Video: Sue Limb talks about Jess Jordan

This week, Bloomsbury are celebrating the release of Chocolate SOS by Sue Limb (the latest book in the hilarious Jess Jordan series) with a week long blog tour. Yesterday, I hosted a guest post from Sue Limb on Creating Jess Jordan so if you enjoyed reading that, you can find out more about Jess Jordan in this video:

About Chocolate S.O.S (from Bloomsbury):

Jess has broken up with Fred, though really she is waiting for him to come to her door and beg to get back together again. But is that the sort of thing Fred would do? He has said himself that he has no backbone . . . Meanwhile, a gorgeous boy has moved in next door and, to Jess’s mingled horror and delight, is making it very, very obvious that he would like to be a lot closer than next door . . . Surely, now, Fred will be driven, in a fit of jealousy, to sweep Jess back off her feet? Won’t he? 

Check back tomorrow for a U.K giveaway of 2 copies of Chocolate SOS and stop by Wondrous Reads for today's stop in the blog tour ON Sue Limb's fantasy dinner party!

Chocolate SOS Blog Tour: Author guest post on Creating Jess Jordan

Today I am very happy to be introducing Sue Limb, the author of the hilarious Jess Jordan series  to the blog today as part of the Chocolate SOS blog tour in celebration of its publication! I hope you enjoy reading her guest post on creating the main character Jess Jordan as much as I did. Welcome Sue:

People ask, ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ and ‘Is your teen heroine Jess Jordan based on a real person?’ Sometimes a writer does build a character painstakingly, thinking, I need somebody who’s scared of life… maybe a hypochondriac… someone a bit like Auntie Mabel, only without the martial arts fixation…   But with Jess it wasn’t like that.

It was more as if a girl was stalking me. I wasn’t sure exactly what she looked like: whenever I tried to catch sight of her she seemed to dodge away behind a pillar.  She wasn’t a real flesh-and-blood girl: I knew she was a character and she’d somehow stumbled into my head, so I tuned in to her and started writing .  I suppose you could say she was Another Self.

Anybody who’s been a teenager vividly remembers the heart-stopping trauma, the skin-crawling embarrassment, the hot floods of terror that happen on a daily basis. So of course, in a way I’m remembering my own teenage years when I write a Jess book.

But I was a very different sort of teenager. I was a solitary, poem-writing nerd: a kind of Adriana Mole. Jess was herself, right from the start: feisty, sociable, wise-cracking, compassionate.  Perhaps she’s the teenager I wish I could have been.

            And her soulmate Fred is probably the guy I wish I could have met when I was at school. Their double act, with its effortless mutual understanding and mock-aggressive banter, is the place where Jess feels most at home.

            ‘I’d rather be marooned in the Gobi Desert and be groomed to death by meercats than marry you,’ says Jess.

            ‘I’d rather be deep-fried in egg and breadcrumbs than be married to you for a split second,’ replies Fred.

            Sometimes writing is impossible. You get writer’s block and find yourself scrubbing at the kitchen floor with a toothbrush – the most meaningless chore is an escape from the blankness of the page. Occasionally you set out to write something, plan it, and just steadily put the hours in. But once in a blue moon, a character or two comes out of left field and takes you by surprise – you pick it up and run with it. That’s how it was with my adorable Jess and Fred.

            

Thanks for the interesting insight into the character of Jess! You can read the next part of the blog tour tomorrow at Wondrous Reads and the rest of the schedule for the week is shown in the banner below.

            
Description for Chocolate SOS (from Bloomsbury):


Jess has broken up with Fred, though really she is waiting for him to come to her door and beg to get back together again. But is that the sort of thing Fred would do? He has said himself that he has no backbone . . . Meanwhile, a gorgeous boy has moved in next door and, to Jess’s mingled horror and delight, is making it very, very obvious that he would like to be a lot closer than next door . . . Surely, now, Fred will be driven, in a fit of jealousy, to sweep Jess back off her feet? Won’t he?

Links to find out more about the Jess Jordan series or Sue Limb:

www.JessJordan.co.uk

www.suelimb.com/

Video interview with Sue Limb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv8k7UiiL4A

Chocolate SOS by Sue Limb Blog Tour Annoucement!

The blog tour to celebrate the publication of Chocolate SOS by Sue Limb (the latest in the hilarious Jess Jordan series) is starting tomorrow with a guest post here from Sue Limb on Creating Jess Jordan with more posts throughout the week! There will also be a UK give-away of 2 copies of Chocolate SOS kindly provided by Bloomsbury hosted here.

 

So far I've enjoyed reading 2 Jess Jordan books, both of which have been a good giggle and capture the ups and downs of a teenage girl's life really well. 

Links to find out more about Chocolate SOS, the Jess Jordan series or Sue Limb books:

www.JessJordan.co.uk

www.suelimb.com/

Video interview with Sue Limb: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv8k7UiiL4A

Book Review: Chocolate SOS by Sue Limb

Amazon description

Jess has broken up with Fred, though really she is waiting for him to come to her door and beg to get back together again. But is that the sort of thing Fred would do? He has said himself that he has no backbone ...Meanwhile, a gorgeous boy has moved in next door and, to Jess's mingled horror and delight, is making it very, very obvious that he would like to be a lot closer than next door ...Surely, now, Fred will be driven, in a fit of jealousy, to sweep Jess back off her feet? Won't he? Full of Sue Limb's very funny take on early teenage life and problems, fans of Jess Jordan will be thrilled to have a new Fred and Jess story.

My thoughts

This is the second Sue Limb book that I've read and whilst I found the first rather funny, Chocolate SOS was even more hilarious and I only usually read a few books a year that make me laugh out loud! 

In this new instalment of the Girl 15 series, we find Jess breaking up with her comedic boyfriend Fred when he lets her down as they organise entertainment for an event. While maddeningly angry at him, she can't help wishing that Fred would make an effort to win her back, especially with her school mate Jodie giving him all the attention. The main character Jess' experiences of teenage life have a real light-hearted but predictable feel that were great for relaxing with in the Christmas holidays. 

Jess goes through a lot of things that are typical for every teenage girls and there were many times I knew exactly what she was feeling like. Sue Limb definitely deserves her place in my mental list of authors who capture the emotions of teenagers all over the planet no matter whether on make-up, break ups, crushes or even divorce and financial problems. Some of the embarrassments she concocts are a little over-the-top and the side of me that always looks out for how realistic a book is had to learn to realise the craziness of it all is what makes it such an entertaining and escapist read.

Although they are not incredibly fleshed out, the other characters are fun to read about too with Jess' new flirtatious and forward neighbour Luke and the witty remarks of her grandmother who lives with her. I Like in Girl 15 Flirting For England, I found her best friend Flora nice and well meaning if a little inconsiderate of her friends feelings when she complains, which was rather annoying.

Despite the fact that this is the latest in a series, it could easily be read as a stand alone because I've only read the prequel and all the characters are easy to get to know quickly and although the story is continuous, it makes sense on its own too. The only drawback to this is that Fred might appear not very worthy of Jess in this book because his comic personality isn't shown as much but I don't think it would affect enjoyment.

 Verdict: Chocolate SOS (I have no idea where that name came from?!) is my favourite of the two Jess Jordan books I've read so far and more Jess's insane confessions and Limb's side-splitting humour had me in fits of giggles throughout. I recommend it for when you're in the mood for something you don't have to think about much but can just enjoy- I'll definitely be picking up another Jess Jordan book soon!

Thank you to Bloomsbury for sending me a review copy of this book. Chocolate SOS was published on the 5th January in the UK. I am hosting the first of the blog tour tomorrow- more information in a post later today =). 





You can find out more about the Jess Jordan books at www.JessJordan.co.uk or by watching an interview with the author Sue Limb at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv8k7UiiL4A

2011 Wrap up (better a little late than never!)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas/ New Years breaks! 2011 was an exciting year, both in life and for blogging! I started my GCSEs and my first ever job now, broke my record for the most books read in a year and celebrated my first year blogoverary! The last few months since September I've been very quiet but I've decided to create a short review of my reading and blogging year:

Fun statistics:

• Total number of posts: 154
• Total number of books read: 65
• Most viewed post: The Luxe series cover dresses (Coverlicious)
• My favourite post to write:  The Luxe series cover dresses (Coverlicious)

It's interesting to note that my most viewed post of the year was the one that I found most fun to write. It just goes to show that if I enjoyed writing it, then others will enjoy reading it!

Challenges:

I have to be honest here and say that I failed at keeping track of my challenges after the first few months so unfortunately I can't give any accurate statistics! One of my goals is definitely to be more organised this year. I participated in:

The British Books Challenge was hosted by Becky at The Bookette. I read a lot of British books this year and I'm proud of supporting British authors. I'll continue to try and read British books in 2012.

As I mentioned in the statistics, I read 65 books this year so I went over my challenge goal- yay! I think I read the most books ever this year and it's all thanks to other lovely book bloggers enthusiasm for reading encouraging me. I did a lot better in the first half of the year up to about August and according to Goodreads I was on track to reaching 100 but then after the summer holidays, I didn't read much at all in comparison.

The Read Outside Your Comfort Zone Challenge was hosted by Danya at A Tapestry of Words. I aimed to read 4 books in genres like paranormal. Receiving review books really helped with this challenge because it put books I would never have looked for into my hands so I managed to finish this challenge from the books I can remember. Here are some that I read:

I actually surprised myself and found that I really enjoyed the first two Vampire Academy books (as recommended to me by the lovely Jess from Jess Hearts Books) so I'm hoping to read more in the series this year. Unfortunately Thyme's end wasn't for me but it's always good to try new things!

Thank you to everyone who's read, followed, commented ect. on my blog last year- you're all amazing! Here's to more blogging this year =D