I don’t know if it’s just me, but when I hit 25 the art of reminiscing and looking back on the past became a huge deal. I’ve started reading some of the books that I loved during my childhood again, and seeking out some others. So, with that in mind, this tag I borrowed from The Quirky Book Nerd is right up my street.
Challenge criteria: A book with a time of day in the title.
January 1982: In the village of Kilmitten, the Crossan family are holding their annual party during the biggest snowstorm Ireland has seen in decades. By the end of the night, the parish priest, Father Leo Galvin, is dead.
The lives of four teenagers – Tom, Conor, Tess and Nina – who had been drinking beer and smoking in a shed at the back of the house, will never be the same. But one of them carries a secret from that night that he has never shared.
Ask people who don’t like to read a lot of YA and they’ll all tell you roughly the same things. It’s boring. It’s too easy. It’s too fluffy. I’ve heard these time and time again, and I’m here to set the record straight.
There are quite a few common misconceptions about YA fiction, but these are the most common ones I felt really needed to be addressed.
(Disclaimer: I was sent this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way affected my opinion of the book, nor the outcome of the review.)
‘Turning thirty is like playing musical chairs. The music stops, and everyone just marries whoever they happen to be sitting on.’
Who the f*ck is Tori Bailey?
There’s no doubt that Tori is winning the game of life. A straight-talking, bestselling author, she’s inspired millions of women around the world with her self-help memoir. And she has the perfect relationship to boot.
But Tori Bailey has been living a lie.
When I sat my Leaving Cert, English was one of my favourite subjects. Not only did I love the creative writing side (which I don’t feel we did enough of, by the way) I really loved our comparative study. For this, you studied the themes and worlds of three separate pieces of media (for us, we did a film, a book and a play, but you can do whatever you wished.)
The full list of texts you can possibly study for the Leaving Certificate English exam is pretty long, but there are some books I think deserve to be at least considered. Quite a few of them will be YA-focused books, but you can make such compelling arguments from them. Team it up with a movie you love that has roughly the same theme, and you’ve got the basis of your answer.
