Book Review – ‘Theatrical’ by Maggie Harcourt

August 19, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

I don’t read a great many young adult books. Partly I think because I don’t remember my local libraries or bookshops having young adult sections when I was a teenager. I assume they had them but I just completely skipped them.

Sometimes though, a YA book screams at me to read it and it is only polite to do so. Last year one of those books was Maggie Harcourt’s Unconventional which I loved – if you haven’t read it already then I highly recommend it. At the time I said that it reminded me why I love reading so much.

Therefore, when I saw that Maggie Harcourt had a new book coming out I was very excited indeed. I was lucky enough to be sent a reading copy of Theatrical by Usborne and I could not have been happier.

Publisher’s Blurb
Hope dreams of working backstage in a theatre, and she’s determined to make it without the help of her famous costume-designer mum. So when she lands an internship on a major production, she tells no one. But with a stroppy Hollywood star and his hot young understudy upstaging Hope’s focus, she’s soon struggling to keep her cool…and her secret.

I was captivated by this one straight away – the first scene is just wonderful – and I was so pleased to be back in Maggie’s world. I also loved the fact that it ties in with Unconventional.

I thought the book had a great storyline and I very much enjoyed reading it. The best thing for me though was how invested I was in the characters. I have read several books recently – mainly ones chosen for my book club – where I have just not engaged with the characters at all so I didn’t really care what happened to them and thus wasn’t driven to keep reading. I definitely wanted to keep reading this one! I even found myself getting quite emotional as the first night performance was about to start. A few tears may have been shed.

I very much identified with Hope, the main character. There were several times when I paused my reading because she expresses how I feel so well. Moments like this: ‘I can almost feel the quiet seeping into my skin like a dye, a drug. I will always be chasing this; this exact silence, because this is the only place I can find it.’

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and I will definitely be looking out for the next one.

Book Details

Theatrical by Maggie Harcourt

ISBN: 9781474940689

Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd

RRP: £7.99

Classification: Young Adult

Summer Book Stall

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

As well as reading voraciously I also love to talk about books. One of the best ways to get to do that is to sell them so that is what I do – I have a stand of vintage books which I take to local shows.

Last weekend was my local village fête and my stall and I went along to take part.

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I am very particular about the books I sell. They are all either books I have read and loved; books I really want to read – which unfortunately makes me reluctant to sell them; or books I would describe as, ‘Nice.’

Nice is one of those words English teachers try to discourage. It is overused and there are so many better, more descriptive words which could take its place. However, in my family it has a very specific meaning and describes lovely things which can’t really be quantified any other way. They are just nice.

All this means that I can talk enthusiastically about any of the books on my stall with anybody at any time. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you recommend a book you think someone will love and they actually take your advice. It makes my day.

I had a lovely time at the fête and took the opportunity to wear my new dress. How could I not?

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Summer Reading

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

“One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.”

Jeannette Walls – The Glass Castle

I absolutely agree with the sentiment in this quote. Even though we have artificial light there is nothing quite like a summer evening spent outside with a book.

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I generally read a lot of classics but I do like to intersperse them with lighter reads, especially in the summer. One August a few years ago I exclusively read Enid Blyton and it was wonderful.

Recently I have had a bit of a run of cosy crime books. I started with Agatha Christie’s The Man in the Brown Suit which I first read on an archaeology field trip when I was at college. There was a copy lying around the youth hostel which I naturally picked up and I loved it. I have always remembered it as one of my favourite of Christie’s books.

I was not disappointed on re-reading it either – I still loved it and just wish there were more books featuring Anne Beddingfeld.

What are you reading at the moment? Do you have any recommendations for good summer reads? I would love to hear them!

Welcome

July 22, 2018August 23, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 1 Comment

I have been a bookworm for as long as I can remember.

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I am the sort of person who will actually read the cereal packet if there is nothing else to read and it is very rare for me to leave the house without a book in my bag. Even if I know I won’t get a chance to read, I hate the idea of being caught without a book.

I can’t remember the first book I read by myself but I do vividly remember my first Famous Five book. We went camping when I was seven and my parents gave me an omnibus edition of the first three books. I guzzled it down and finished it within a day. I haven’t really looked back since.

In fact, a lot of my fondest memories involve books. When I was thirteen we studied Great Expectations at school but, as often happened in our English class, we only really read a few chapters. I borrowed a copy from the school library and finished it over the summer, mostly sat on a raft with my feet in the stream. That book happened to be the Everyman edition and now whenever I see one of their books I am transported straight back to that summer.

Books have always been a very important part of my life and I love to share them. Welcome to my bookish corner of the world.

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