Eric Clapton. The Autobiography by Eric Clapton, with Christopher Simon Sykes. Pub. Century, 2008.
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
3M ago
Eric Clapton was my favourite guitarist during my teenage years of the 1960’s. I went to see the Yardbirds in 1965 but he had already left, so i never got to see him but i have a lot of his records the last being Road to Escandido with J.J. Cale. This autobiography is the story of survival in the drug and alcohol fueled life of this amazing guitarist whose career skyrocketed after the words Clapton is God appeared on a wall near Finchley Station in North London. I think at times in his early life he probably believed this as he charged through several bands notably The Yardbirds, The Blues Br ..read more
Visit website
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. A Memoir by Matthew Perry. Pub. Headline Publishing Group 2022.
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
5M ago
Everybody who watched the sitcom Friends in the 90’s will know who Chandler Bing is. The fast mouthed quick witted flatmate of Rachel, Joey, Monica, Phoebe and Ross who at one stage made a million dollars an episode. David Schwimmer suggested they bargain for salary and conditions as a team, and it worked a treat. They made 245 episodes. That is a lot of money, the devil can play havoc with that. Matthew Perry is not a lot different to his character Chandler but with some startling and at times unnerving addictions and behaviours. He is a lonely boy. A boy who feels not wanted and is scared o ..read more
Visit website
Catch a Falling Star by Eileen Merriman. Pub. Penguin Books 2023
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
10M ago
This is the prequel to Catch me When You fall which is also previewed elsewhere on this blog, as are all of Eileen Merriman’s novels that I have read. She is my favourite NZ YA author. Fifteen year old Jamie is an out there sort of person. He has won the part of the Donkey in the musical Shrek that his school are using as their main production of the year. He loves Phantom of the Opera and is a talented piano player and singer. The world is his oyster but then goes drastically wrong and he begins a spiral into Psychosis caused by his bipolar mental condition. Jamie is aware that he is differe ..read more
Visit website
The Sparrow by Tessa Duder. Pub. Penguin Books, 2023
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
11M ago
This historical fiction novel is the best I have read about the European settlement of New Zealand aimed at any level. It is well researched and stresses a fact that is often overlooked by historians – that without the Maori early New Zealand settlement would have been impossible. The Maori provided the settlers with food and shelter without which they would surely have starved. This novel concentrates on the Auckland settlement in the 1840’s with many of the characters who are associated with Auckland’s and New Zealand’s history such as Governor Willian Hobson, John Logan Campbell, and inter ..read more
Visit website
Edge of Light Series Bk1 New Dawning by A.M. Dixon. Pub. OneTree House 2023.
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
11M ago
This highly descriptive dystopian fiction novel about the most drastic results of climate change is a must read. It is set in what is left of New Zealand, on the Port Hills above Christchurch which has now been completely flooded due to the rise in sea levels after the Poles have melted away. Names like Littleton, Sugarloaf and the Summit Road are all mentioned mainly I think because the author is from Christchurch as am I. There has been a great flood followed by a Crisis in which millions died and the survivors now live in a very controlled world where food is in short supply and massive co ..read more
Visit website
The Impossible Story of Hannah Kemp by Leonie Agnew. Pub. Walker books, 2023
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
1y ago
I liked Hannah Kemp the character. She is imaginative, caring, literate, has a good sense of humour but she is troubled and she is not letting the real Hannah out. The best thing about this novel is that Leonie Agnew gets inside the head of this troubled girl to analyse the problems she has, but she does it in a very unusual way. Hannah has got her herself into trouble due to relationship troubles with her friends at school and she does something that gives her notoriety through a loss of temper. This is not the source of her troubles however these lie in the fact that she is adopted and like ..read more
Visit website
Be My Baby by Ronnie Spector with Vince Waldron. Pub. MacMillan 2022.
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
1y ago
The history of Rock ‘n roll is a gateway into how society has changed over the years. This autobiography of Ronnie Spector not only tells her story and that of the Ronettes but throws light on what was happening in society especially the civil rights movement from the early 1960’s onwards. It also tells the story of one of the greatest rock ‘n roll songs ever Be my Baby. Ronnie Bennett was born of Afro Cherokee mother and white European father and grew up in Spanish Harlem New York a mixed race community and home of the great Apollo Theatre. She was neither black nor white and struggled with t ..read more
Visit website
Skulduggery Pleasant. Until the End by Derek Landy. Pub. HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2022.
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
1y ago
The 15th book in this very impressive series and I am astonished that it hasn’t been picked up by the film industry. I have read them all and they are complicated with a myriad of characters, worlds, time zones and scenarios and I just take it a chapter at a time. For those who don’t know Skulduggery is a skeleton man who wears a flash suit and hat, sun glasses and is a silver tongued flatterer of the highest degree. He has powers that he uses to protect the innocent and fight the nasties in his role as Arbiter for a World dominated by The faceless Ones. They are sort of Gods and are worshipe ..read more
Visit website
Katipo Joe Bk3. Wolf’s Lair by Brian Falkner. Pub. Scholastic, 2022
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
1y ago
The epic conclusion to this action packed spy thriller about Katipo Joe, a teenage spy during WW2 whose skill and intellect outwitted the Nazi enemy. In book 1 he escaped Nazi Germany with his mother, witnessed the Blitz and was trained as a spy to kill a leading Nazi in France. In book2 he penetrated the Hitler Youth Movement and was accepted to compete with other leading German youth to become Hitler’s successor at the Eagles Nest in the Austrian Alps. Both books are great action stories and are reviewed elsewhere on this blog. Wolf’s Lair is Hitler’s hideout and strategy fortress in East P ..read more
Visit website
Black Spiral series Bk3 Black Spiral by Eileen Merriman. Pub. Penguin Books, 2022
Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult
by bobsbooksnz
1y ago
This is the best ScFi series and futurism I have read since The Arc Of the Scythe series which is also reviewed on this site. It is the final in the series and ties up all the themes and plot lines in a satisfactory ending but leaving food for thought. M-Fever is a man made virus that has been spread among young adults by a ruthless organisation called The Foundation. Survivors of the fever have shown heightened cognitive ability including the ability to read minds and communicate with ESP. In some survivors it has led to the ability to shift into a Dream-flow by leaving their bodies and assu ..read more
Visit website

Follow Bobs Books Blog » Young Adult on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR