JUBILEE JUBILATION WEEK: Diamond Jubilee Giveaway @ The Page Turner!

Heya guys! So, I  really  wanted to host a Diamond Jubilee giveaway here for you, but, unfortunately, I wasn't allowed :(

But, fret not! Because I am here to direct you to another fabulous book blog where you can enter a fabulous Jubilee giveaway!

'Where? Where? Where?' you are clamouring. 'Where is this awesome giveaway being held? And who is the awesome person hosting it?'
Well...

This giveaway is being hosted at  The Page-Turner  by the brilliant Beth!
You can win one of these awesome books...

D-Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I-Insurgent by Veronica Roth 

A-Angel by L.A Weatherley

M-My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher,  

O-Only The Good Spy Young by Ally Carter

N-New Girl by Paige Harbison

D-Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins 

Even if you don't want to enter the giveaway, you should definitely go and check out Beth's blog - it's really good (one of my favourites!) 

 Good luck if you do enter the giveaway :) xxx 

JUBILEE JUBILATION WEEK: 60 Reasons Why Britain Is Brilliant

Jubilee Jubilation Week is a special week I am hosting here, celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - so expect a fun week of all things British!

So, the other day, I picked up the newspaper (it was the METRO - nothing intellectual or anything!) and on the cover in massive letters was: "WHAT MAKES BRITAIN SO BRILLIANT?" Of course, it caught my eye, as I thought, 'Hmmm, what does make Britain brilliant?' (Well, I know that Britain is brilliant, of course, I love it here - but I thought it would just be interesting to see what kind of reasons they came up with.) And so, anyway, there on the front and back cover of the newspaper they had a list of 60 reasons why Britain is brilliant. And because I found it VERY amusing, (although a few things I didn't really get - I think you'd probably have to be older to get/remember them) I thought it'd be nice to share it with all of you! (Oh, and by the way, it turned out this was actually an advert - for Carling - the beer. Just thought I should mention that!) I might not be old enough to appreciate the beer, but I am old enough to appreciate their advert! So, thank you, Carling ;) 

60 Reasons (one for each year of Her Majesty's reign!) Why Britain Is Brilliant! 

1. Marmite. Mmm…yuck.
2 . Our devotion to our wonderfully gripping soap operas.
3 . Vivienne Westwood’s heels. It’s worth the pain.
4 . The Earl of Sandwich’s groundbreaking concept of putting a savoury filling between two pieces of bread.
5 . Glastonbury – mud and all.
6 . Our modesty – we never boast how great we are, apart from today.
7 . The pound and our reluctance to adopt the Euro.
8 . The best selling music artists in the world, are our very own; The Beatles.
9 . Our politeness – no matter how irritated we get, we are always too British to say anything.
10 . Kate Middleton and her sister.
11 . The Great British Summer (don’t forget the brolly).
12 . Driving on the left (the right way to do it).
13 . No matter where you are in Britain, you’re never far from a pub.
14 . Any excuse for a cup of tea.
15 . Curry, the unofficial national dish, with a pint of cold lager.
16 . We don’t moan because we are miserable, we moan because it makes us happy.
17 . Our international language. Travelling abroad is a doodle.
18 . The Queen and her graceful wave.
19 . The Great British countryside, when you’re not stuck behind a tractor.
20 . Freedom of speech.
21 . Deep fried food, Fish, sausages, Mars bars… absolutely anything.
22 . Some of the very best museums and galleries on the planet. Free.
23 . The national tendency to cheer the underdog and ridicule the mighty.
24 . We apologise way too much. Sorry about that.
25 . Crisps. We eat more of them, in more varieties, than the whole of Europe put together.
26 . Shakespeare. When thou can understandeth it.
27 . Sir David Attenborough and his soothing voice on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
28 . British strawberries, perfect with cream.
29 . Our cobbled streets, watch your heels ladies.
30 . Chips with fish, or cheese, or beans, or pies, or steaks, or curries or in a sandwich. Chips with pretty much everything.
31 . We know the importance of a good queue.
32 . Beans on toast, brilliant no matter what your age.
33 . Court room wigs. Our great way of making very smart people look very silly.
34 . Pantomimes. The jokes never seem to get old.
35 . No matter how cold it gets, it will never keep us from our nights out.
36 . HP sauce. Chuck it on everything.
37 . The 3pm Saturday kick off.
38 . Cream teas. In case you are wondering, Cornish is jam first, Devon is cream first.
39 . Jellied eels. And jelly. Though not necessarily together.
40 . Beer gardens. Because we love our beer and we love our gardens.
41 . Saying ‘I’m fine’ no matter how we feel.
42 . A love of mowing the lawn.
43 . Plugs with switches. Amazingly nowhere else seems to do this.
44 . Tolerating nearly everything, but banning hosepipes.
45 . Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysilio gogogoch in North Wales. Just wait till your sat nav tries that one.
46 . World Cup, 1966. We’ll be clinging to it forever.
47 . Egg and soldiers. Those brave and tasty souls.
48 . The BBC. The only time you’re not constantly reaching for the fast-forward button.
49 . Our British seasides. Watch out for the seagulls.
50 . Archie Gemmill’s goal against Holland.
51 . Prime Minister’s Question Time. A no-holds-barred, public bashing for whoever’s in charge. Every week.
52 . The Full English breakfast. Served all day.
53 . The weather. Although we get less of it than almost anywhere, it’s still the major talking point.
54 . The 99 flake.
55 . Morris dancing. We know how to move it 15th Century style.
56 . Allotments. Our very own little patch of the countryside.
57 . Our love of anything pickled.
58 . Carry On films. Oooer Missus.
59 . Our talent. Be it our artists, musicians, directors, actors or just dancing dogs.
(60 . Carling (Well, it was an advert for Carling so I guess they were obviously going to include that as one of the reasons, but here I'm going to substitute my own reason in - one that I think we book lovers will find much more relevant...)
60. (My reason!) We're the home country of Harry Potter!!! (How did they manage to miss that one?!)

Hmm, I just realised, you non-British folk might not have found that as amusing...but still, hey-ho, I hope you did! And I hope you guys all now agree that Britain is brilliant!

JUBILEE JUBILATION WEEK: The Best Of British...YA Books

Jubilee Jubilation Week is a special week I am hosting here, celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - so expect a fun week of all things British!

Heya! So excited as I am officially kicking off our Jubilee Jubilation celebrations here on The Book Parade. The country is in full celebration mode - yesterday was the Thames river pageant (which I watched from the comfort of my sofa at home rather than journeying down to London and attempting to brave the wind, the rain - TYPICAL British weather! - and the MASSIVE crowds.) Right now the special Jubilee Concert is going on, featuring artists including Jessie J, Kylie Minogue, Gary Barlow, Cliff Richard and JLS and then, later on will be the lighting of all the Jubilee beacons!

Anyway, back to the point. My post for today is:

"The Best Of British"...YA books!

Although it often seems like a LOT of the books I read are by American authors, probably the majority actually, there are lots of British books out there that I love. So, without further ado, here are my favourite books by British authors...

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman 

Malorie Blackman is EPIC. This book is EPIC. Really. Honest, this is an AMAZING book. It's sort of vaguely dystopian - but not at all like all the dystopians that are flooding bookstores at the moment, with all their futuristic, unique and very 'out there' worlds. This is just a world completely like ours apart from the very strong racism that separates the white 'Noughts' from the black 'Crosses'. This book follows the story of Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a Nought), who have been close friends all their lives. Every time I read it, it evokes so much emotion in me and I ALWAYS cry LOADS, even though I already know exactly how everything is going to turn out!! Anyway, just trust me, you NEED TO READ THIS.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling 
HOW can we have a list celebrating the best of British books without including the beloved Harry Potter? You don't even need me to explain the magic spell that J.K. Rowling has cast over the world with the power of her pen.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Okay, I don't technically know if I can classify Moira Young as a British author because I think technically she is Canadian but she's lived in the UK since 1992 so, you know what, because I love this book so much, I'm just going to cheat a little bit and include it on the list! Blood Red Road is a dystopian that I absolutely LOVED - it had just the right amount of action, adventure and romance - you can read my review of it here

Finding Sky by Joss Stirling, Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson and Angel by L.A. Weatherly
These three books are all super sweet paranormal romances that I LOVE LOVE LOVE! In Finding Sky, Sky discovers she's a 'savant' and meets her 'soulfinder', the gorgeous Zed; Lila in Hunting Lila 'has two secrets she's prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Alex, since forever.' (from the blurb) ; and in Angel, Willow's life is turned upside down when she discovers she's part angel and has to go on the run with Alex after the Angels decide she's a threat to them.

You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Mikey's sister claims that she was assaulted by a boy.
Ellie's brother is the one accused.
"When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love - for one's family and for another." (Goodreads)
I loved the relationship between Mikey and Ellie, ans the story was told really well - alternating between both of their viewpoints.

Adorkable by Sarra Manning
Adorkable made me laugh, yet it also made me cry; it was light-hearted, yet it also had a really empowering message behind it. Throw in some witty, unique, but totally realistic characters and there you have Adorkable - yet another amazing teen read from the amazing Sarra Manning. (You can read my review of Adorkable here)


Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale
17-year-old Rosie is grief-stricken when her mum, Trudie, dies of Huntington's Disease, only to discover that Trudie was not actually her real biological mother at all! Someone Else's Life tells of Rosie's search for her real mother, her real life, the real her. Unpredictable, touching, and beautifully written, this is definitely a book well worth reading.

Numbers by Rachel Ward
Jem has seen the numbers ever since she was little. She can't help it - every time she looks into a person's eyes, she sees a number. A date. The date they will die. Scary, right? The premise of this intrigued me, and the story itself definitely lived up to my expectations. I was so lost in the story that I felt myself completely swept along and couldn't stop myself from crying at this one particular point in the story (won't spoil it for you by telling you what it was!) And, oh! That little twist at the end! (Won't spoil that for you, either!)

These are just some of my favourites - I hope you'll try some of them out and, if you do, I hope you love them as much as I did! 
If you've read any of these - what did you think of them?
And feel free to recommend any other British books that you loved in the comments!

:) xxx