Autumn in Spring

Last night a lovely group of publishers, librarians, magazine editors and bookshop staff joined Orion editors and Liz Kessler in Lodn's Covent Garden to celebrate the launch of her stand-alone story A Year Without Autumn. Liz began to write this marvellous story six years ago and was recommended to put it on the shelf, after shedding a few tears she did as she was told, and wrote a few more stories very successful stories, keeping this one faithfuly on that shelf!

Feeling the time was now right, her editors at Orion decided A Year Without Autum could now be published. The time is most certainly right now for this beautiful book. We may be enjoying Spring but there is nothing wrong with a little Autumn, or is there? In this beautiful, tender and yet pacey book Liz tackles family friends and time-slips! I won't go into detail here but please do visit Armadillo Magazine for a wonderful review.

Liz was a charming celebratee thoroughly enjoying the evenuing and meeting many new people. Thanks to Orion for a lovely event and of course for keeping this great book for the perfect moment and then allowing Liz to share it with us all.

Series or Sequence?

When does a series cease to become a series an instead become a sequence? This is a question that I have been pondering in the last few weeks as I have been reading a number of books that to my understanding were part of a series. I then noticed, in Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza books that they are described as a sequence.

I have no answer to my question, but would love to know if anyone else has any thoughts. I imagine that a sequence of books is one that follows the same characters sequentially through a series of events whereas a series is a set of books linked by characters but each with a stand alone story - I wait to be stand corrected on this!!

In the meantime here are some of the books I have been enjoying recently...

To begin I was very excited to see Jess Jordan back on the shelves in another fun packed Girl 16 story - she has grown a year older since we first met her in 2004, wouldn't that be wonderful if it could really happen! In Five Star Fiasco she is her usual self, getting into muddle over boyfriends, friends and this time a charity Valentine's do as well as her mum's online dating plans. Sue Limb's writing is wonderfully easy for teenagers to get lost in and to connect with. Her characters are very real and funny. Readers (most probably girls) will be laughing and crying with Jess, enjoying a good story and also learning, unconsciously about the themes of loyalty and friendship as well as love, romance and families. A great read.

For anyone who may just happen to be a football fan - can't imagine why this would be topical - there is the fourth Jamie Johnson story - Man of the Match by Dan Feedman which sees Jamie, now at the top of his game as the highest paid teenage footballer, threatened by a new recruit. tackling tough and interesting themes this is a great story for boys to get their teeth into.

Fantasy fans are spoilt for choice and will have a groaning bookcase as they find themselves drawn to the third and final Perfect Fire book, Paradise Red from K M Grant - an exciting and gripping end to this trilogy. Then there is the fifth installment from the Dragonfire series by Anne Forbes. Witch Silver is a dark and nail-biting adventure set in Scotland and ideal for young fantasy fans.

Just by way of a change Philip reeve has managed to create a second prequel to his Mortal Engines fantasy world. Web of Air continues the story of Fever in a wonderfully imagined epic world.

Finally for younger readers back to the world of fantasy and magic with Philippa Fisher and the Stone Fairy's Promise Philippa's New Year celebrations are put on hold with a warning that something very bad is about to happen... they could of course dive into a magical underwater adventure with one of six new Secret Mermaid stories from the seemingly unstoppable Sue Mongredien.

Now having given you plenty of food for thought it is time for me to leave you deciding where to start and if there is enough room on the bookcases for yet more books - you know there always is!!