End of an Era

In case you hadn’t already noticed, ThirstForFiction hasn’t seen a new post in a long, long time. With everything that’s happening (university, jobs) my pleasure-reading time is decreasing and erratic in its schedule. I’m also ready to start reading more widely: whilst I am and will be reading more YA, I’m less interested in reading … Continue reading

Want editorial feedback on a short story? (Publishing Call)

Publishing Call for LGBT YA Christmas Short My name is Rhys Jones, I’m an established blogger (http://www.thirstforfiction.com) in the UK book blogging community since 2010. I am currently studying for a BA in American and English Literature at the University of East Anglia. I will be taking part in a publishing module in the autumn … Continue reading

how much should ebooks cost?

How Much Would You Pay for an eBook?

First off, apologies for the lack of any sort of activity here. My degree has pretty much sapped all of my reading time – I study American and English Literature, which means I spent a significant part of my week reading stuff – and haven’t really found a way to balance pleasure with work. So … Continue reading

The Greatest Human Achievement is Fiction

The greatest human achievement is fiction, and here’s why: With fiction we escape worlds, we fall in love, we become part of families, of communities, of stories. We meet people like us or different, those who are more moral, those who hurt like we do, those that think those dark thoughts that we sometimes do … Continue reading

4 Space-Based YA Novels You Should Read

To celebrate the launch of the UK’s first official astronaut Tim Peake to the International Space Station, I’ve got four excellent young adult novels that will blast you off into new worlds! Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Illuminae is the story of refugees being pursued from an illegal mining colony in deep space. … Continue reading

why mockingjay part 2 sucked

Why Mockingjay Part 2 Sucked

When I first read The Hunger Games trilogy, back in 2011, the Arab Springs were in full force. All over the middle east, a revolutionary wave of protests and demonstrations were lead against many dictatorships and cruel regimes. We’re still seeing the after effects of these clashes; Syria is overrun in a civil war between … Continue reading

I never read chapter extracts here's why

I Never Read Book Samples…Here’s Why

Here’s a confession: I never, ever read chapter extracts or samples when I receive them. Often, publishers will release these extracts in the run up to publication to get people excited. Unfortunately, I don’t get excited by them: the very idea of reading just one chapter, or a chunk of book, and then having to … Continue reading

6 years…and a whole lot more

So it’s been six whole years since I started blogging. Six years. Not only does that make me feel old (I was 13 at the time) but also accomplished. I never thought I’d last this long. Yet I have, and I’m here. So six years. It’s been a rollercoaster. Thank you for everyone that has … Continue reading

his dark materials series commissioned by bbc

BBC Commissions Philip Pullman His Dark Materials series!

Just in: BBC One has commissioned a series (or multiple series?) based upon the His Dark Materials trilogy – that’s Northern Lights (or The Golden Compass, if you’re in the states!), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. The last time the story graced any sort of screen was in 2007 with the feature film … Continue reading

Bloggers and Publishers (Book Community Census results 4)

Of the “big six” publishing houses, we are in contact with: Harper Collins seems most engaged with reviewers. Penguin and Random House are, of course, one company, though their imprints are still separate. I have to say I’m surprised that Harper comes out on top; I believe they are stronger in the US than the … Continue reading

Brighton Marina

D is for Desdemor & Datasea – RAILHEAD A-Z

To celebrate the publication of RAILHEAD, one of my all-time favourite authors Philip Reeve is here to discuss the aspects of his creation that begin with D – Desdemor and the Datasea…. There’s something beautiful about an abandoned seaside resort. I first noticed it as a child, wandering along the seafronts of Brighton in the … Continue reading

our blogs - book community census 2015

Our Blogs (Book Community Census results 3)

Welcome to the third set of results to be published from the Book Community Census 2015 – a survey designed to understand how book reviewers, bloggers and tubers are working within the industry. Previous results have looked at bookblogging demographics and what bookbloggers and booktubers read. The final results – about how we work with … Continue reading

railhead art reveal

RAILHEAD Art Reveal

If you know me even half well, you’ll be familiar with my love of Philip Reeve’s writing: from Mortal Engines, one of my top (EVER) series to Here Lies Arthur – an alternate history for the myth of King Arthur, I just can’t get enough. So my excitement has been second to none since the … Continue reading

BIGGER TEXT IS BETTER

One of the key things (for me, at least) to come out of today’s @Bloggiesta Twitter chat was the discussion about font sizes on your blog. A few years ago, it was fairly standard to have 12px sized font; that’s roughtly the size you’d have when you opened a Word document. 12pxs is quite small, … Continue reading

What We Read (Book Community Census results 2)

The second set of results to be released from the Book Community Census (read the first one – This is Us – here) is about what and how we read! We read predominantly… 91% of respondents read Young Adult fiction; that’s no surprise, given that this survey was predominantly publicised in YA circles. Again, this … Continue reading

This Is Us! (Book Community Census Results 1)

In January, I launched a large survey for book bloggers and book tubers to gain some oversight of our wonderful community. When it closed in May, the survey had almost 390 responses – which, whilst a little way from my target of 500, is still an impressive number of responses that hopefully mean the survey … Continue reading