Random House Bloggers Brunch 09.03.13

On Saturday 9th March, I was invited to a 'bloggers' brunch' at Random House. The event was to introduce bloggers to some of the new YA titles being published over the next few months. We had a lovely welcoming with tea, fruit and juices and were then faced with a bevy of lovely publicists at Random House to take us through some of the new books. Some of these titles were presented to us in a goody bag at the end of the event. These included Acid by Emma Pass, a story about Jenna who has to face the most brutal, controlling lice force in history. The Last Minute by Eleanor Updale, an extraordinary book describing the last minute before a fatal explosion in an ordinary town. As well as treats brought in person by some fabulous YA authors.

Two authors were lovely enough to grace us with their presences. The first author to come and talk to us was Jonathan Stroud. He told us all about his new book Lockwood and Co. which is being released on 29th August and features young ghost hunters. He had us all thoroughly entertained with his 'ghost hunting kit' which included a sword, a utility belt, a chain, some iron filings, a torch and the final item-a teapot! (Well all good ghost hunters deserve a break!)

The second author who spoke to us was Amy McCulloch. She read to us from her new book The Oathbreaker's Shadow-published 6th June. Hearing her read from the book made it come completely alive for me. It's not my usual genre but she made the action sound so entertaining and the description was so fabulous, I'm actually raring to give it a go! This was one of the books we received in our goody bag. It was wrapped up for us as a beautiful present, it even had a bow on it! After the main brunch, she was kind enough to sign my copy for me and talked to me about my desire to try the genre for the first time.

Other titles we were introduced to included: Silent Saturday by Helen Grant, punlished 4th April; The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles, published 2nd May; Blood Family by Anne Fine, published 4th July; The Child's Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnson, published 2nd May and Witchfall by Victoria Lamb, published 4th July. It certainly looks as if there are some really fabulous YA titles coming out soon, and certainly some I will be reading and reviewing myself! Thanks to Random House for the Invite!