The Curse of the Nomed by BB Taylor

Hello book fans and welcome to the Curse of the Nomed blog spot for the weekend! I’m so pleased to see you here ahead of the launch of the new book and i’m sure you’re eager to know just what’s going on in BB’s new book.

I’m here to give you all the goss.. well without spoiling the story of course!

Curse of the Nomed began life as an idea by the ‘Whizz Writers’ of Four Dwellings School Birmingham as part of the ‘Look at our Book’ project by Wesleyan Financial Mutual Services and has been written to raise money for a charity called Partnership for Children which supports positive mental health in children across the world. I think we can all agree how incredibly important that charity is and all net proceeds of this book are being donated to the charity which is so wonderful and generous, although i wouldn’t expect anything less of BB Taylor and everyone involved.

You can come and support BB, and of course the charity on Thursday 24th May for the book launch from 6.30pm at Foyles in Birmingham.

You can also find out all about the project and how they are raising money plus awareness for Partnership for Children in regards to promoting positive mental health in children around the world at www.lookatourbook.co.uk.

OK, OK that’s all the important official stuff let’s get to the goings on in Curse of the Nomed!!

Wrapped in adventure, peril and Egyptian mythology, Curse of the Nomed is the perfect story for fans of The Demon Head Master and Harry Potter alike. Along the same stem as Percy Jackson and with lashings of Librarian appreciation, BB Taylor encapsulates the insecurities of children starting their first day at a new school, never mind the Egyptian God hoping to enslave the students there. This is obviously a theme that came through from the Whizz Writers and BB captures this expertly!

Curse of the Nomed offers us burgeoning friendships between our three protagonists, that develop into deep, strong bonds that will stay with them throughout their next exciting adventure- high school!

Imprisonment, ancient rites, trials and a riddle or two, or three, Curse of the Nomed has excitement in spades!

 

From what i am lead to believe starting secondary school is a pretty nerve wracking experience so imagine what it’s like not only embarking on their first day of school but also running late. Let me try that again… embarking on their first day of school, running late and stumbling upon something rather sinister going on in the assembly hall?! Scary right? You’re not wrong! That’s exactly what befalls Nora, Jacob and Stef on their first day at Nomed Academy.

A daring adventure ensues that sees our protagonist friends end up in the one place that i would be heading for- the school Library, which is the beginning of this epic tale. Of course the Librarian is incredibly important and useful to their new mission, aren’t they always? *We should probably look at investing in our libraries.*

Now they have to learn to trust each other, in themselves and that good always prevails over evil or else everyone at Nomed Academy is in deep, deep trouble.

Again, with some of BB’s other books Holly Bushnell’s illustrations are a delight, they really capture the story and are a pleasure to look at. They compliment the book nicely and are lots of fun.

A really fun book, for a superb cause. Really looking forward to seeing you all at the launch.

 

Reviewing Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women

About this book:

Beautifully illustrates the strength of the women across the world who fought for their right to vote in different ways … as much a celebration of difference and diversity as it is a chronicle of women’s rights – Stylist

To celebrate 2018 – the Year of the Woman, and the anniversary of women winning the vote in the UK – this is a timely, beautiful and bold compendium of women around the world who said Time’s Up on inequality.

The book shares the story of the suffragettes, and of their sisters campaigning for equal rights globally. Discover how 40,000 Russian women marched through St Petersburg demanding their rights, one Canadian woman changed opinions with a play, and Kuwaiti women protested via text message. And read how women climbed mountains, walked a lion through the streets of Paris, and starved themselves, all in the name of having a voice and a choice. Tracing its history from New Zealand at the end of the 19th century, follow this empowering movement as it spread from Oceania to Europe and the Americas, then Africa and Asia up to the present day. And be inspired by the brave women who rioted, rallied and refused to give up.

Stunningly illustrated by Eve Lloyd Knight, this book celebrates the women who stood up, spoke up, and refused to behave, rebelling against convention to give women everywhere a voice. And it shows what can be achieved when women stand together, and say enough.

Publisher: Wren and Rook
Author: Louise K Stewart
Illustrator: Eve Lloyd Knight
My Review:

Firstly, lets stand back and appreciate such a strong, vibrant, unashamed cover. For the first time ever i really felt like i could judge a book by it’s cover because it revealed to me from the very beginning that it was going to be full of strong women, with powerful messages and it didn’t disappoint.

Sitting on the shelf in the book store it stood out from everything around it and definitely beckoned me towards it.

I have loved this book and took no time in telling the publishers that too because it really struck a cord with me. What I have liked so much about it is that it shares tales about women’s stories from every corner of the globe, sometimes almost simultaneously fighting, marching, rioting, petitioning and otherwise standing up to for Women to have their voices recognised.

In the UK we hear all about The Suffragettes winning their right to vote, to be counted, after suffering so long fighting to have their places in decision making cemented. This book though tells you about all the women, every where who were doing just the same. Some began earlier- like New Zealand in 1893 who started a ripple that turned into a wave which thankfully spread around the world. Some came later but were equally as important. What i really liked and felt was different was that it was set out by location as well as by date which i found really useful. I felt that this book played such an important role in informing young girls (and boys) about international figures as well as home grown ones as it showed how we all worked together under one ultimate goal and how we succeeded.

This is a brilliant book and I urge you to read all about those radical rebel voices from all around the world!

Thank you to Toppsta and Wren and Rook for my copy of this book.

Reviewing Alex Sparrow and the Really Big Stink

About this book:

Alex Sparrow is a super-agent in training. He is also a human lie-detector. Working with Jess, who can communicate with animals, they must find out why their friends – and enemies – are all changing into polite and well-behaved pupils. And exactly who is behind it all.

Alex Sparrow and the Really Big Stink is a funny, mid-grade novel full of farts, jokes and superhero references. Oh, and a rather clever goldfish called Bob. In a world where kids’ flaws and peculiarities are being erased out of existence, Alex and Jess must rely on what makes them different to save the day.

Author: Jennifer Killick

Illustrator: Heath McKenzie

Publisher: Firefly Press Ltd

My Review:

Somewhere between The Demon Headmaster and Alex Rider this book is packed with humour, spies and mysterious goings on!

I found this book very funny from the very beginning- it’s definitely my humour, a bit of serious and a bit of silly mixed together.

I love the use pop culture references, from the word go Jennifer has you feeling like you might just go to school with Alex, you may just casually bump into him in the playground perhaps because he makes reference to the things that you know and the things that are current. It’s very funny and appealing- although i’m not sure how that may sit with readers in years to come but right now it’s great!

The book is hilarious and Alex’s ‘power’ is simply genius and i felt quite unique- we get a lot of rehashing the same old ideas in exactly the same way and this felt quite fresh and not at all done!

Brilliant, i read it all in one sitting and i’m thoroughly looking forward to the next instalment. 

Reviewing The Extraordinary Colours of Auden Dare

About this book:

I am how I’ve always been.
My name is Auden Dare.
I am eleven years old.

Auden Dare has an unusual perspective on life: he cannot see in colour. He’s always had this rare condition – and life is beginning to get harder for Auden. The war for water that is raging across the world is getting a little closer all the time. It hardly rains any more, anywhere. Everyone is thirsty all the time, and grubby, and exhausted. Auden has to learn to live without his father, who is away fighting, and has had to move to a new town with his mother, and start a new school, where everyone thinks he’s a weirdo. But when he meets Vivi Rookmini, a smiling girl bright with cleverness, his hopes begin to lift.

It soon becomes clear to Auden, though, that there are some strange things afoot in his new hometown. He and his mother have moved into the old cottage of his recently-dead uncle Jonah Bloom – a scientist and professor at the university. The place is in disarray – and although Auden’s mother tells him it’s because Jonah was a messy old thing, Auden knows differently. Someone else did this – someone who was looking for something of Jonah’s. Auden had heard too that Jonah was working on something that could cure Auden’s condition – could this be it?

Then Auden and Vivi make an extraordinary discovery. Hidden away under the shed at the bottom of Jonah’s garden is an engimatic and ingenious robot, who calls himself Paragon. A talking, walking, human-like robot. Apparently built by Jonah – but why? The answer to this will take Auden and Vivi on a thrilling journey of discovery as they seek to find out just what exactly Paragon is – and what link he has to Auden – and find that the truth is bigger and more wonderful than either of them could have imagined.

Author: Zillah Bethall

Artwork: Matt Saunders

Publishers: Piccadilly Press

My Review:

The extraordinary colours of Auden Dare is in fact rather a extraordinary book!

I was a little bit unsure of what to expect before reading it but i can honestly say that it surprised me in a great way.

The story is expertly crafted, the war on water feels strangely familiar and the dystopian world in which Auden is living in feels like it could almost parallel ours at times- in fact it could all just be one big foreshadow to the future of our planets inhabitants. I likened the war and rations on water to wars begun in ownership rows on oil. 

The imagery that this idea then set up was strong and at times hard to swallow because the sense of it all being utterly wrong was so intense, the thought was heartbreaking- nobody expects to have just 4 minutes a week to clean themselves.

Bethall conjured such powerful imagery when she described a world constantly thirsty.

This is definitely a thought provoking novel and a definite must for those that like mystery, intrigue and science elements. There are many other parts to the book but i don’t want to spoil it for you, go and discover its secrets now!

My favourite character are Vivi and Paragon.

I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one sitting.

Thank you to Toppsta and Piccadilly Press for my copy of the book.

Reviewing A Christmas Carol: A Charles Dickens Search and Find Book

About this book:

Discover the world of Charles Dickens with Search & Find A Christmas Carol. The popular, magical story is retold in beautifully illustrated search & find pages where you can find the characters on the busy pages and follow them through the story. Each page is full of characters to find and details to spot in the busy scenes, such as Scrooge in his counting house, the arrival of Jacob Marley’s ghost, the Fezziwig Christmas party and the Cratchit family at home on Christmas Day and many more. Beautiful illustrations are accompanied by abridged text, perfect for sharing with little ones and introducing them to Charles Dickens’ stories.

Author: Charles Dickens

Illustrator: Louise Pigott

Publisher: Templar Publishing

My Review:

I tried reading A Christmas Carol last year but i struggled to get into it, i suppose it was the language difference. I was keen to read it as so many stories adapt the original and i wanted to see where they derived from, alas at the time, like i say i just couldn’t get though it.

I really liked this search and find version of the book, not only did it give a very very shortened version of the story- think basically ‘this happened, then this happened, then this happened’- it also was completely and utterly beautifully visual. The artwork suits it well and is lovely, every page is a real delight.

I think this book is a great introduction to Charles Dickens classic tale and it has made me want to try reading the original again, while appreciating this book at the same time.

Thank you to Toppsta and Templar Publishing for my copy of this book.

Reviewing Who Let The Gods Out

About this book:

Elliot’s mum is ill and his home is under threat, but a shooting star crashes to earth and changes his life forever. The star is Virgo – a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. But the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, and must then turn to the old Olympian gods for help. After centuries of cushy retirement on earth, are Zeus and his crew up to the task of saving the world – and solving Elliot’s problems too?

A new, exciting and brilliantly British Percy Jackson-esque adventure – the first in a series centred on the Olympian gods. 

Author: Maz Evans

Publisher: Chicken House

Extract (Provided by Publisher):

It began on a Friday, as strange things often do. This particular Friday turned out to be stranger than most, although it had started normally enough. Elliot Hooper got up at 7.30 a.m. as normal, made his mum breakfast at 8.15 a.m. as normal, went to school at 8.55 a.m. as normal and was in the headmaster’s office by 9.30 a.m., which was, in fact, slightly later than normal. ‘Oh, Elliot,’ sighed Graham Sopweed, headmaster of Brysmore Grammar School. ‘What are we going to do with you?’

With thanks to The Kids Of Readalot for my copy of
Who Let The Gods Out

My Review:

Wow!

I mean genuinely wow!

I can’t describe just how much i have absolutely fallen in love with this book and in turn Maz Evans.

Both my parents read Who Let The Gods Out before i did. My Mummy read it in the car on the way to our holiday and i could hear her howling like a banshee from the backseat. I say that with a lot of love and respect for her of course but i swear she snorted a few times. My Daddy got his mitts on it next because she’d read that many extracts out to him that he was dying to read it before we came back.

I’ve kept meaning to read it but new books have cropped up and i simply haven’t found the time- boy was i missing out! I should have snuck it into my room every night and read it with a torch under my duvet!

Who Let The Gods Out has semi familiar characters, everyone knows the story of the Greek Gods… or so we thought. Maz Evans gives them depth, gives them heart, gives them their own special swear word! The Gods here aren’t quite what they used to be and those in charge are not what you’d expect. It’s when humans and the heavens collide that our adventure really begins.

Then there are those without powers, leading ordinary, everyday lives.. kind of. Elliot lives with his Mum. His wonderful Mum who provides our hard hitting story that runs alongside the fun/ exciting one. Maz has brought an issue that is rarely brought into children’s fiction and handled with such care. Elliot’s has become carer to his Mother who is the shell of her former self. The relationship between the two is deeply tender, heartwarming and breaking and keeps us grounded while all the other craziness is going on.

Josie Mum we love you and you raised a good boy.

There is a teacher bullying Elliot, a posh tycoon bullying just about everyone, a soft walk-over headmaster, a Demon on the loose and of course a plethora of Gods.

There were so many utterly wonderful and entertaining moments during this book that when you recall one, they all start flooding back. This is so much more than just a funny read however as i felt elated, sad, worried, scared, excited and my heart genuinely hurts for Elliot and his Mum, thankfully the inclusion of such characters as Charon provide light relief and make that awful pain subside.

My favourite character is definitely Virgo, no wait, Hermes… er Zeus, no Patricia, the Queen. You can see it’s hard to choose!

I put down Who Let the God’s Out and picked up Simply The Quest. If you read any book this year, make it this book.

A firm favourite in our house. Maz, i think we love you.

Meeting Jeff Kinney at Bath Literature Festival

On the 3rd December this year, which actually feels like forever ago now, Jeff Kinney was in the UK to promote his new book The Getaway and of course i had to go!

This was my second experience of a Jeff Kinney event, last year it was held at Blackpool Tower which was really cool and you can read all about it here.

It was funny because the Blackpool Tower Ballroom is massive but it felt like a lot more people turned up to the Bath event, there were loads of us in there!

The lovely Lindsey Russell presented the event which was really cool- she even took a selfie with the whole audience! That’s pretty impressive.

Jeff talked about his new book and showed us an incredible video of all the places that he has visited recently, there were a lot of them and every single one of them looked amazing! He’s been all over the world and he has fans in every corner of it too.

I loved how the event was put together, the way they used the idea of Greg’s family going away to create a really interactive experience.

Upon entry i was given my boarding pass to fly with Wimpy Kid Airways (admittance to the show) which was a superb idea, i felt connected to the book straight away. There were even luggage props and air plane security.

I didn’t manage to do all these things before the show mind you as the queue was extraordinary and i probably wouldn’t have seen them going in but the good thing about hanging around until everyone has left is getting the time to take everything in!

The show was a great way to start the festive period, it was fun and entertaining, Jeff travels to so many places that the UK usually has one big annual event and it is well worth the trip, he is genuinely one of the nicest guys i have ever met!

He is truly very friendly and he always appears to appreciate his fans, he seems to really take his time with them which as his fans we all love. He was kind enough to sign my book and he’s the first author to sign my new WRD about books bag.

Jeff was so nice in fact that he filmed a little interview with me. Yes, really! I was almost lost for words that he was so happy to do it, i thought i might have time to prepare and print up one of my cue cards but he was willing to let me interview him there and then, which when you think about it means a great deal to us fans because he has been none stop touring with his new book and had just spent the last few hours preparing for his talk on stage. If that’s not the nicest thing ever, i don’t know what is. What a legend!

If you want to know what The Getaway is all about, hear the first news on what’s next for The Wimpy Kid series and just see what an absolute gent Jeff Kinney is, watch the interview below.

Slaves for the Isabella by Julia Edwards

About the book:

What if freedom wasn’t something you could take for granted? What if you had to fight for it?

If there’s one thing Joe Hopkins knows better than anyone, it’s that the past can be very uncomfortable. But life in wealthy Georgian Bristol seems surprisingly civilized. Lucy’s house is light and airy, and there are sandwiches and tea with sugar.

Author: Julia Edwards

Artwork: Bespoke Book Covers

Publisher: Laverstock Publishing

My review:

I had the absolute pleasure of reading Slaves for the Isabella before it came out. I was completely new to Julia Edwards work so my expectations were built only on what i had read by others who had sampled her work. They said some wonderful things and they were not fibbing!

I thought it was a wonderful mixture of fact and fiction, as a child with a wide eyed view of the world i enjoyed Joe’s growing conscience and sense of right and wrong as i could empathise and identify with this myself. Although i have not read the previous books, i found Joe instantly likeable and i would be interested to go back through the previous books to see Joe’s progression throughout the series.

The charm of the book was that it was neither set entirely in the past or the present, it straddled the line between the two time periods which really opened up the story telling. I think Julia has created something truly wonderful here, her blend of fact and fiction is expertly executed. What i really liked was that Julia never sugar coated the way people were treated previously and detailed what it was like in the time period, showing a divide that existed so prominently that it is only when we have honest accounts that we can really understand the magnitude of the events. I never once felt that her blend of fantasy and fact diminished this and for that i was truly grateful. I was compelled to read the book during Black History Month as it felt it was an appropriate way of marking it’s 30th year.

I was fascinated by Julia’s account of Georgian Britain and it’s an era that i think i will be delving into a way from the book. This was another thing i thought Julia accomplished very well, whetting my appetite for learning about history while also telling a gripping story.

It was a thoroughly good read and if i’m honest there were many moments when i felt frustrated, angry, overjoyed and i genuinely didn’t want it to end!

Julia painted a picture of a world that i felt i had stepped into and when the time came to leave it, i simply wasn’t ready- in a good way of course.

My only regret was that i hadn’t read the first 4 but thankfully they are out in the world for me to discover!

Thank you to Julia Edwards for sending me a copy of Slaves for the Isabella.

If you enjoyed this review and think this may be the book for you, why not check out the Scar gatherer series here.

Tales of Nibiru, Vol 1: Z.I.R.M- Family Review

Nibiru is going to destroy the world apparently. If you’ve been reading the news recently, you’ll know that reports of the planet Nibiru having a disastrous encounter with Earth are meant to be imminent and by imminent, i mean, the world was supposed to end yesterday but as we know that Nibiru is full of zombies, it’s being a bit slower than expected… or Nibiru and it’s undead inhabitants have no intention of wiping us off the face of the planet.

After news broke of Nibiru’s probable collision, the Elder Council and their human/ inhuman resources manager BB Taylor has released this statement:

“We at the elder council of Nibiru would like to take this opportunity to reassure the mortals of Earth realm that we are not planning to destroy you on Sunday.

We would also like to point out that the obvious statement that not only would it be time consuming and draining on our resources, but that the clean up bill would be immense afterwards. We do not understand the incessant need of mortals to be all doom and gloom predicting the worlds end. Why not come and have a short break in Yomi’s dark forest holiday village instead, the perfect hint of death without an apocalypse!

Enjoy your weekend, apocalypse free.

Warmest Wishes

The Elder Council”

In the spirit of our possible destruction, i’ve put together not only my review of Tales of Nibiru but a family review of The Tales of Nibiru! Are you ready for this?!

About the book:

Are you a Zombie with employment issues? Do you feel like you haven’t got a leg to stand on? Are your rights currently being violated? Are you being treated like a second class citizen? Would you like a hand? Well look no further than Z.I.R.M. The Zombie International Rights Movement is here to serve you. Protecting the rights of Zombies across Nibiru from death onwards. Where life stops, we start…. The Revolution is coming

Author: BB Taylor

Illustrator: Sean Steele

Publisher: Weird n Wonderful Publishing

My review:

Tales of Nibiru, vol 1: Z.I.R.M is a book like no other. A story packed with mystery, secrets, action and heart, Z.I.R.M was a great read. With the feisty Librarian Ms Viola and twin tortured Zombie Timothy, our story follows Rhaul the vampire who wants Yomi to rest in peace.

Reading about dead people wouldn’t usually be my cup of tea but the world BB Taylor has created is amazing. It’s surprisingly believable considering the number of undead creatures residing within it! My absolute favourite character is Ms Viola, she is a legend! If only she was fighting the corner of every library threatened with unjustified closure, there’d never be a question of the importance of Libraries again. The Library stays open or you lose a limb!- it’s a strong message, a simple message.

I enjoyed the story arc and the characters overall are great, i just wish there was more! Thankfully BB plans to take us all around Nibiru so there’s a lot more to come.

My Mummy’s review:

Genuinely a ‘bloody’ good read!

Tales of Nibiru wasn’t exactly what i was expecting from the title and blurb, it was so much better than i imagined and i fell head first into a tale of the undead, only resurfacing once i had devoured it all!

Rhaul is instantly likeable, a complex character with notions of freedom for all the people of Nibiru but the inability to stand proud at the forefront and declare that the time for change has come. He is proceeded by other forward thinkers like his Father and Grandfather but circumstance has left Rhaul alone in the Castle with on his less than equality thinking Uncle Derek, his wife and their terrible twins!

Rhaul has a band of weird and wonderful friends around him however such as Timothy the zombie, Cana the werewolf and the scary but utterly awesome Viola! Who, for those of you that like books and dare i say are avid library goers, will adore. Nobody threatens Miss Viola’s library!!

For me this book was the perfect mixture of heart (not the rotting kind), peril, adventure, mystery and gore! I was reading it, expecting it to be light hearted, laugh a minute fun and while there are elements of some genuinely great humour, i also found myself completely in the thick of The Zombie International Rights Movement, agreeing that all manor of creatures should have equal rights! If i’m honest, i usually hate anything to do with zombies as they give me the severe heebie jeebies but Timothy is so god damn likeable that i found all descriptions of his rotting disposition entirely endearing!

Nibiru and Yomi have become completely real to me, this is a place i can visit in head and feel like i know it so well. This band of unusual creatures have become my friends and worth joining the rebellion to help, i care about what has happened to them and what will happen to them in future instalments- there are very few works of fiction that can accomplish this in 58 pages!

There are so many things that i would like to discuss here but i’d ruin the story for you and i simply can’t have that so i urge you to give this little book that started a rebellion a go.

I’m just going to sit here a wait for the next one. If i start to decompose, i’m a member of Z.I.R.M and my after life benefits and support are already waiting for me.

My Daddy’s review:

Welcome to Nibiru, a place where death has a class system, zombies may require some assembly and wars are more like small rebellions, (but we still call them wars). It’s here we meet Rhaul, a vampire who wants the best for all citizens of Yomi no matter who, or what, they are.

With the help of his friends, Viola, the librarian who has a very short fuse and a fondness for axes. Timothy, the zombie who has been put back together more times than you can count on a dismembered hand and Cana, the fitness fanatic werewolf with dreams of building a business empire, they fight for the rights of every dead and undead being alike hoping for equality in a society that sees anyone without fangs as a second class citizen.

Tales of Nibiru – Volume one Z.I.R.M is a hugely entertaining book that, while short, is brilliantly constructed and executed. It’s well paced, funny and so deliciously dark in places you can’t help but raise a wicked smile and expose your fangs. Just be careful who you point them at….

The Tales of Nibiru, volume one: Z.I.R.M launch party with BB Taylor

The very lovely BB Taylor invited me to join her for the launch party of her new book ‘Tales of Nibiru’ at the Write Blend bookstore in Liverpool on Saturday.

Daddy drove us up to Liverpool all the way from Coventry which sounds like an incredibly long journey but i wasn’t the one driving and i like to listen to CD’s in the car so actually it was quite peaceful, especially as the nights are drawing in and it’s getting darker sooner.

It was probably a long drive for him but he’s good people and he knew i was very excited to meet BB Taylor so i’m quite sure he didn’t mind!

Actually, he ended up fangirling over the book so he definitely didn’t mind!!

We spied the bookstore on the road and headed towards a nearby car park, this was where Mummy turned me from Megan to Catrina in honour of Día de Muertos which i’m learning about in History and Geography this week. I think she did quite a good job!

Anyway, let me tell you all about BB Taylor.

She’s more than just a fabulous writer with great stories to tell, she’s also a really lovely person! BB greeted us when we arrived, she was really excited about revealing her new book and i was starstruck! It’s always lovely when you meet the people that you love reading the stories by but sometimes you forget to be your chatty self- thankfully i relaxed a bit as the night went on.

There were lots of other guests arriving and BB Taylor made sure that she spoke to everyone that had come to see her introduce Z.I.R.M to the world.

For those of you that don’t know BB has written some lovely picture books, my favourite of which is Murphy and the Monsters- lucky for me a sequel recently came out, Murphy and the Monster’s Itch.

The new book, ‘Tales of Nibiru, volume one: Z.I.R.M’ offers us readers the chance to see zombies in a new light. Zombies are not the nightmarish creatures we’ve so often heard about. Instead they are overworked, violated and treated like second class citizens. Z.I.R.M or The Zombie International Rights Movement plot to change all that.

Sounds intriguing doesn’t it?! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, even though i knew i was going to have to fight my Mummy for it!

Having followed BB Taylor for a while i knew that this event would not go without a piece of cake finding it’s way to my lips and my cake hungry stomach- she did not disappoint and the cake was delicious!

It was so delicious in fact that i ended up having two, yes TWO slices! Let me just wipe off these crumbs.

BB treated us to a short extract from her book that sounded absolutely awesome, she’s a fantastic story teller and really captures your imagination. Suddenly we were off to a place called Nibiru and then to Yomi!

I bought my copy of the book as soon as i could with the sequel to Murphy and the Monsters as i hadn’t gotten that one yet. I had a quick peek at the back because i was interested to know what kind of monster Murphy was helping in this book- it’s a Werewolf by the way. Eeeek!

It was a lovely night and meeting BB was a real pleasure. If you’ve never been to Write Blend, it’s a great little independent bookstore where they serve food and drink upstairs. I found a whole bunch of books i’ve never seen before in high street book shops so i was in book heaven!

I delved into Murphy and the Monster’s Itch as soon as i could, it was nice to find out what Murphy is up to at the moment. As you will know, in the first book he helps a Yeti called Yoshi who just happened to pop by during the launch. He’s a cheeky thing, a little bit mischievous but very funny! I can see why children love meeting him at Libraries. He’s much softer than you think but be warned if you have a photo with him- he likes to have all the limelight and in all fairness, why wouldn’t he? He’s a Yeti!

Back to ‘Tales of Nibiru’, i was the last to read the book! Can you believe that? Mummy read it first in the car of all places, she’s a really weird reader! Then Daddy read it as soon as she had finished- how rude! Finally i got to travel to Nibiru where i met a whole host of new and unusual characters but you’ll have to wait for my review i’m afraid if you want to find out all about them. We’re doing our first ever family review of a book so keep your eyes peeled!

I took along the book that i had written earlier in the year, The Sandman and the Pyjama Farmer for BB to have a read of. She read it out to all her guests! How amazing is that?! She really enjoyed it too, thank goodness and didn’t stumble over any of my wordy rhymes- i can’t help it, i’m a Dr Seuss fan! I love a bit of a tongue twister and saying the Pyjama Farmer’s Farm is definitely that.

I’m looking forward to BB doing some more of her Library tours, i hope i can get my Library to feature one of her events- my book club would love it!

We’ll be talking more BB Taylor next week when i review both Murphy and the Monsters & Murphy and the Monster’s Itch. Keep checking back.