All Posts By

Lucy Powrie

Other

A Celebration! 1 Million Views + New Design!

Posted on 22 August, 2015

I am incredibly excited, and feel very proud, to be writing this post today. Over three years ago, I created Queen of Contemporary and when I started I never thought I’d reach a point where I’d be able to say, “I’ve passed one million views on my blog!” How insane is that?! To celebrate, I made some extremely sparkly butterfly cakes, and I also redesigned my blog!

Whilst there have been certain designs on my blog that I’ve loved, I’ve never felt like any of them 100% fit the image in my head. As soon as I started work on my new theme, however, I knew it was The One. Look how gorgeous it is!! I adore the professional feel to it but I also feel as if it’s a warm, community space which is what I want my blog to be. I’m looking forward to showing it off a lot more in the coming weeks and months!

Thank you so much for your continued support in my blog’s journey. It means the world to me that I am part of a loving, friendly and welcoming community.

I really hope you enjoy the upcoming content and changes on Queen of Contemporary. Take a look around, enjoy the view, and relax with a good book!

What do you think of the new Queen of Contemporary design?

Blog Tour

RAINBOW WARS! Fangirl Edition

Posted on 29 July, 2015

Everyone reading this knows that Fangirl is, of course, Rainbow Rowell’s best book. It’s a well-known fact. Here are four reasons why we all love it so much:

1. It’s like revisiting Harry Potter all over again.

The Simon Snow parts are HEAVEN to all of us Potter lovers. I can’t wait to read Carry On when it comes out later this year!

2. Everyone will fall in love with Levi

Levi is one of my favourite characters in YA fiction and just thinking about him makes me want to re-read the book again!

3. Cath is SO relatable!

When I was reading Fangirl, it was almost as if I was reading about myself. I love Cath so much because she reminds me of myself so it means that I feel so much closer to the story.

4. It’s re-readable

I have read Fangirl so many times and each time I discover something new about the plot, characters and meaning behind each scene. It’s why I love it so much!

Do you agree that Fangirl is the best Rainbow Rowell book?

Landline is out in paperback on 30th July from Orion Books.

Blogging

Top Tips for Participating in a Twitter Chat

Posted on 8 July, 2015

Since July 2013, I’ve been running #ukyachat on Twitter. A weekly Twitter chat, it aims to promote UKYA fiction, and to allow people to share their passion for books whilst having a good time. At first, the chats can often seem daunting, but once you get the hang of them they’re extremely fun. Here are a few of my top tips to help you make the most out of each chat:

1. Use your resources!

With each chat moving incredibly fast, it can often be hard to keep up with the conversation. One of the best ways to keep up is by using TweetDeck. It takes some playing around with, but it’s easily customisable to your needs. You can set it up so that you can see different hashtags, your mentions and your feed all in one go, and it’s my best friend when running chats.

2. Watch and learn!

It definitely takes practice and people often feel nervous at first, so I’d recommended just watching the first time. This way you get a good sense of how the chat works and the kind of people who join in. Continue Reading

Uncategorized

5 Essential Books to Catch Up On This Summer

Posted on 6 July, 2015

In my opinion, summer is the best time to get lots of reading done. I look forward to summer each year, when I can catch up on all the reading I’ve missed out on since the summer before. Here are a few books I think are essential to catch up on this year:

My Second Life by Faye Bird

What if you were born again, into another life, another body, but you had to live with the fact that you did something terrible in your previous life? All of the details, however, are just outside of your grasp… This is the premise of My Second Life, a thrilling, mysterious novel that I wish more people would read because I adored it. It kept me on my toes as I read on and on, not being able to put it down. A must read!

Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton

To put it lightly, Boy’s Don’t Knit is the perfect book to make you cry with laughter. It’s about a boy who gets in trouble with the police after an unfortunate accident involving an old lady and a stolen bottle from Waitrose. As part of his community service, Ben has to take up a hobby and he chooses knitting. The book follows Ben as he learns that knitting isn’t just something for grannies, and tries to keep his new hobby a secret from his friends. I LOVED it!

Book Review UKYA

REVIEW: Lorali by Laura Dockrill

Posted on 3 July, 2015

[book-info]

Let me tell you a story… I’ve always loved mermaids. Ever since I was tiny, I’ve devoured stories, TV programmes, and secretly wished that I could grow a tail. Lorali brought all of my fantasies back.

On the day of his sixteenth birthday, Rory finds a girl washed up on the beach. Naked, confused and convinced that she’s a mermaid. Isn’t she just a tiny bit too weird? With Lorali’s arrival comes freak weather conditions, pirates and even more strange visitors. Maybe Lorali isn’t a normal girl after all…

Dockrill writes with such ease and prowess that it’s hard not to instantly connect with her writing. Each character has been perfectly created so that it feels like they’re taking you along on the journey too. This is why Lorali will appeal to readers and non-readers alike – Dockrill has a way with words that can attract anybody.

By far, my favourite character was Lorali. I loved her perplexity towards the modern world and excitement as she learnt more about it. I craved the sections of the book written from her perspective – they were so much fun to read!

Although it took me a while to get into it, once I began to become familiar with the characters and plot direction, I LOVED it.

One of the most surprising things about Lorali is Dockrill’s wittiness and humour. Lorali really is one of the wackiest books I’ve read this year, and I mean that in the best way possible.

I loved Lorali for fulfilling all of my childhood dreams, and I’m definitely going to be seeking out more YA mermaid novels in the future. I’ve seriously been missing out!

Blog Tour Uncategorized

The Lost and The Found Q&A with Cat Clarke

Posted on 2 July, 2015

Can you describe The Lost and the Found in three words?

Disturbing, challenging, honest.

What’s the best thing about writing UKYA?

There are so many good things! When I was growing up, most of the books I read were set in the US. I loved reading about proms and cheerleaders and football players, which all seemed very glamorous and fascinating. But I would have liked to be able to read about something a bit closer to my own experiences. So now I feel extra lucky to be able to write about growing up in the UK. It may not be particularly glamorous, but hopefully it’s still interesting!

Another incredible thing is the amazing community of bloggers, readers and authors who are so passionate about the books. I HEART UKYA!

Guest Post

Top 5 Feminist YA by Holly Bourne, author of Am I Normal Yet?

Posted on 19 June, 2015

Am I Normal Yet? is the first book in a trilogy about a group of girls who set up their own feminist campaign group called ‘The Spinster Club’. I think YA gets a bad rep when it comes to feminism. So many people keep bleating out the dreaded words ‘Bella’ and ‘Swan’ – like Twilight isn’t a) TEN years old, and b) Not the only YA book out there. In fact, YA have LOADS of incredibly feminist books, and here are my top 5.

1) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Most people know E C Lockhart for her haunting We Were Liars, but I have to say I actually preferred this book. Frankie is very much in love with her new boyfriend, but she can’t understand why she isn’t allowed into his secret boys-only club at their top private school. So she infiltrates it…

Why it rocks:
Frankie is the very definition of ‘kick-ass’ – you spend the entire book wishing you could be her. This book has incredible insight into the thirst of power, the complexities and contradictions of being a teen feminist who also wants a boyfriend. A top-notch quirky teen feminism manifesto!

Favourite quote: “It is better to be alone, she figures, than to be with someone who can’t see who you are. It is better to lead than to follow. It is better to speak up than stay silent. It is better to open doors than to shut them on people.”

Uncategorized

Queen of Contemporary Survey – Summer 2015

Posted on 10 June, 2015

Older Posts

Newer Posts