See You in the Cosmos - Jack Cheng

Alex is 11 years old, but at least 13 in responsibility years. Inspired by his hero Carl Sagan, he has a plan to tell aliens everything about life on Earth and records all his thoughts for them on a golden iPod. He is going to launch it into space on the rocket he has built and travels from Colorado to New Mexico to attend SHARF, the Southwest High-Altitude Rocket Festival where he plans to enter his rocket into one of the competitions.

As the story progresses, Alex's real situation is uncovered gradually, through his entries on the ipod. His mother's quiet days, his brother Ronnie who works in Los Angeles and his father who died when he was very young. Alex is so open, honest and innocent, while being super smart and in many ways much more mature than his age.

As he tells the story you can read the childlike wonder in everything he sees and hears. It's a very touching story that makes you feel everything Alex goes through. I loved this book, even though it is written from the point of view of an 11 year old boy, it is not childish at all.

I read most of this book on holiday in Sardinia where we drank lots of Mirto, the locally produced liqueur. Along with plenty of prosecco of course. So I thought I should combine the two somehow. I decided to try out a Mirto Bellini and the liqueur works extremely well with the prosecco. Just pour a little Mirto into a flute and top up with prosecco. It's easy enough to adjust to taste, depending on how sweet you want the drink.

YALC

I am super excited to have tickets to my first ever book con! In July I'll be going to YALC, the Young Adult Literary Convention, which is part of the London Film & Comic Con, with by book bestie Sophia. I'll add the link to the blog in case you want to check it out too. Inspired by the enthusiasm of Grace Latter from Almost Amazing Grace fame, I decided to write a little post about this and then I'll update on how I got on after the event too.

I have been checking out the listed authors who are attending so far and have quite a long list of books to read before I go. A lot of the ones I have read so far have been borrowed or e-ARCs so I plan to buy loads of these too and hopefully get them signed. There are so many amazing books, I'm worried how I'll get round to all the authors I want so it's probably going to take quite a lot of planning.

A few of my favourites from the books I have read so far:
The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr
Tree Magic by Harriet Springbett
The Sin Eater's Daughter (trilogy) by Melinda Salisbury
Wishbones by Virginia Macgregor
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
I have already reviewed some of these and there will be more posts to come.

My very long to be read list includes:
Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle
One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
How Not to Disappear by Clare Furniss
The Witch's Kiss by Katharine & Elizabeth Corr
Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield
It's All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot
The Potion Diaries by Amy Alward

If you have read any of these or have more suggestions, please write me a note in the comments, I love recommendations.

I couldn't really find just one cocktail to match all these books but as I write this I'm sipping (trying not to guzzle) a Strawberry and Basil martini. I bought some strawberries today and I don't think they will last long so thought it would be good to use them up today. I've already eaten a bowl of them earlier. Plus it's a nice summery drink and the sun is shining for a change.

Muddle 3 or 4 strawberries in a shaker and then add a bunch of basil leaves and mash a little more to release the flavours. Add a shot of gin and half shot of lemon juice. Depending on how sweet your strawberries are, you might not need to add any sugar but I used a squeeze of agave syrup as I didn't think mine were sweet enough. Add plenty of ice to shake, and then double strain into your glass as there will be lots of strawberry bits and leaves in the shaker. I actually love the bits so spooned out the leftover strawberries from the bottom of the shaker, yum!

Perfect - Cecelia Ahern

Finally! Well, the year long wait for this book was pure torture, but it was all worth it. This sequel to Flawed is just as fast-paced, emotional and full of edge of the seat excitement as the first book. If you haven't yet read Flawed then what on Earth are you waiting for? Get reading (see my very first review post too) then come back here for this one.

Celestine never wanted to be a heroine, or a leader, or a role model. She simply did what she thought was logical, but her action threw her whole world into turmoil and now everyone is trying to use her for their own agendas. However, she has something very powerful and if she is smart she may be able to bring the whole Flawed system down.

This book drops you straight back into the action with Celestine in hiding after fleeing her home, on the run from Judge Crevan and the whistle-blowers. While she's not exactly safe at her grandfather's farm, she is using the time to try and figure out her next move. She needs to find Carrick so they can make a plan and even more importantly she needs to find the video her lawyer took of her branding. This video seems to be the solution to everything if she can find it and decide the best way to use it to her advantage.

Celestine makes many plans and tries many ways to fix things but suffers countless setbacks for every step she manages to take forward. Just when you think things are going to go right for her, something unexpected usually turns up. But Celestine's stubbornness and strength comes through so she never quite gives up. She does make some allies as she goes though she knows she must be extremely careful who she trusts.

There is absolutely no let up to the tension and emotion in this book and it has an extremely satisfying ending. I was worried that there couldn't possibly be a good enough ending to match the rest of the book but I was not disappointed. You will want to read it from cover to cover, I read it in an afternoon as soon as it was delivered. Good thing too as my Mum and sister were waiting to rip it out of my hands as soon as possible.

The Black & White Daiquiri kind of symbolises the 2 sides of every person, perfect and flawed (or if that's a bit too philosophical for you, I just wanted an excuse to make one!). The original cocktail is made with blackberry and it is named for this and the coconut flavour, however I made mine with raspberry which means I should probably call it Red and White Daiquiri. Whatever you call it, this has been one of my favourite Booktails so far.

Muddle the fruit in the shaker then add a shot of Malibu, 1/2 shot each of rum and Chambord, 1/4 shot of lime juice. Shake with ice and then fine strain into your glass to remove the fruit bits. This cocktail is so delicious!

The Scarecrow Queen - Melinda Salisbury

Twylla and Errin come together in the final book to The Sin Eater's Daughter trilogy. Both separately and together, they have a crucial part to play in rescuing their world from Aurek, the Sleeping Prince. He is a thing of myth and legend but the stories are actually true and just as horrific as told.

Aurek has moved through the Three Kingdoms, terrorising the people and destroying towns, villages and anyone who tries to stand in his way. He is so powerful it seems no one can stand against him. with his magic he can force people to obey his orders and he can create fantastically strong golems. Their only hope is to recreate the potion which put him to sleep hundreds of years ago.

I really enjoyed reading the story from both points of view. In the parts where they were together, I felt like Twylla and Errin could have been sisters. They had such a close relationship despite not really knowing each other that well. I loved how they both believed the other to be so brave and strong though they could not see those same talents in themselves. They are inspirational to each other and with their support they do more than they ever could have on their own.

Some mystery remains, even at the end of the books, we'll never really know Lief's motivations. It seems like everyone, Errin, Twylla, Prince Merek, all have a different view of him and we don't know what changed him or if he was always this way. Maybe this leaves an opening for more books or at least short stories to come in future. I really hope so.

These books just got better and better and I felt like I would need a week to recover when I finished! I was lucky to have The Heart Collector short stories to keep me going a little while longer. These are well worth a read to get some background to the legends.

While reading I was thinking I really needed some kind of golden cocktail to accompany the book. The alchemists from legend can create gold and Aurek's name actually means Gold King, or Ruler of Gold.

Hopefully I can be forgiven for mixing magical worlds here but the Felix Felicis (liquid luck) from Harry Potter looks like the perfect sparkling golden drink to accompany this book. Not to mention that the girls really need all the luck they can get.

A great recipe can be found on buzzfeed, I'll put the link below for all the other Harry Potter drinks. Mix 1/4 shot sugar syrup and 1/4 shot lemon juice in a champagne flute. Pour in 1 1/2 shots of ginger beer and top with champagne. A simple drink to make but it looks magical.

Link to Harry Potter cocktail recipes - https://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/harry-potter-and-the-night-he-wont-remember?utm_term=.vm19VaAaJ#.dnWzAVOV3

Big Mushy Happy Lump - Sarah Andersen

This is the newest of the Sarah's Scribbles collections and an absolutely wonderful follow up to 'Adulthood is a Myth'.

I first discovered these comics on twitter, @SarahCAndersen is definitely worth a follow for regular posts to make your day. I'm sure everyone can relate to Sarah and I defy anyone to not find at least one of her comics that they can identify with. I feel like nearly all of them were written personally for me! This collection actually has my all time favourite of Sarah's comics, 'How I Spend My Money'. I wish I could have it on a t-shirt.

While the first collection was all comics, this second collection is half full of Sarah's personal essays (illustrated with more comics of course) about the daily struggles of trying to be normal. Again I can totally relate! The book contains themes of friendship, growing up, periods, relationships, shyness and plenty more. All dealt with in an amusing, practical and authentic way.

Sarah often seems to have a glass of wine in hand, especially when cuddled up in her duvet. This is a recipe I've adapted slightly from a cocktail called The Paysan, it can be made in a pitcher for a party or individually in a glass, just dial the ingregients up or down. If making a larger quantity there's no need to shake as you can make it early and leave in the fridge to cool. For one glass you need 2 shots of red wine (I used bordeaux), 1 shot of cranberry juice, half shot of orange juice and a shot of Chambord. Shake it up and pour into a wine glass full of ice. Some frozen berries make a pretty garnish.