Tuesday 28 June 2011

'May the Odds......Be Ever in Your Favour'


The Hunger Games

Reminiscent of Orwell's '1984' or Westerfeld's 'Uglies,' 'Pretties' and 'Specials,' the Hunger Games tells the tale of society controlling and oppressing it's people.
Set in the ruins of post-apocalyptic North America, the Hunger Games are a televised reality-TV show which forces twenty-four children to battle in an arena, where the only rule is to kill or be killed. The last tribute standing, wins.

"Winning means fame and fortune.
Losing means certain death,
The Hunger Games have begun."

After a failed uprising against the Capitol, some 74 years ago. The Hunger Games were created to remind the districts that the uprising came at a cost and must never be repeated. The 12 districts who live in abject poverty, are forced to lose a child of both sexes, through pot-luck, to these 'games' and all for the entertainment of the wealthy Capitol citizens.
To make the event humiliating as well as torturous the district citizen's are required to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity and great sporting event and not as the death sentence it is.
What better way to divide the districts than to pit them against one another.


"From the moment I first picked it up, as a way to pass a few slow hours, 
the hunger games had me captivated.
 It's thrilling, incredible story left me breathless
 and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
The world is woven so intricately 
it's hard not to imagine the surroundings, 
taste the food and to live the terror." 
Holly @ Adamontise

Following the tale of the 74th Hunger Games, the book delves into a world both foreign, yet familiar and not to hard to imagine as an alternate future. It will surely become a great cult classic for teens and old alike, this tragic and horrific series is worth the read.


The Hunger Games is currently being made into a movie even as we write!
It's release date is yet to be confirmed but with Lionsgate driving the wagon it is sure to be a top-notch release.
We can only hope the film does justice to the excellent novel and captures the brutality without the need to 'sugarcoat' for Hollywood.
There is going to be a massive buzz when the film is complete, quite possibly as massive as that of 'Harry Potter' and 'The Twilight Saga', so it's well worth reading it before that happens, and at least then you can tell everyone you discovered it first!

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Weeding out the gardening section

'Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
                                 By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade.'
~Rudyard Kipling, "The Glory of the Garden"

We at Adamontise feel there are a vast number of "specialist" books on the market, and it can be hard to tell which ones are worth the read.
So I decided to get my wellies on, get my hands dirty and test-out the newest gardening range at our fingertips.


I decided to try digging a flowerbed, from scratch by following the hopefully simple, instructions found in 'Planting a Small Garden.'
I like to think I have 'green fingers,' but the truth is, most of the time I just re-plant things purchased from the garden centre. I don't have the confidence to try anything for myself and any seeds I do plant, just don't grow.

After a quick browse, I felt brave enough to try following the instructions for 'making a border.'


The step-by-step instructions were useful. I didn't have a hose to layout the shape I wanted to cut but a tape measure did the job just as well, and I was really pleased to find that my efforts matched the images in the book.

I've even taken the tips on lawn edging and invested in a good border.

I would recommend 'Planting a small garden' for beginners or even those attempting something new in a small space.

Another book that came in handy was none other than 'Bugs, Slugs and other invaders'
While digging I unearthed a red ants nest. I'm not a big creepy crawly lover and these had me itching thinking they were all over me. I wanted to try solve the problem because they were everywhere, without harmful chemicals hurting my plants, pets of the ants themselves, it's their habitat - my inconvenience.
I was thrilled to quickly find my way to a section on dealing with ants.



Apparently they hate the small of cinnamon and just watering the border with a mix of water and cinnamon got them to move along to a different part of the garden.
The book offers up another 50 ways to beat garden enemies, all with humorous cartoon drawings which make an entertaining read of themselves. It even covers solutions for dealing with pests such as rabbits, moles and even (believe it or not) how to discourage deer!


The final book I'm covering today is from the same range as the small garden book and is entitled 'Vegetables in a Small Garden.' My family has been interested in Organic Vegetables for years and what better way that to grow our own!
I tried out growing lettuce and carrots and it really is as easy as the book says, you can just sprinkle seeds into correctly prepared soil and before you know it, I had more lettuce than I could eat!
The root-vegetable section helped me identify which carrots were best for my garden and there was plenty of information on organic veg.


The book even features a plant guide at the back, full of colourful solutions to seasonal veg planting and I'm looking forward to trying to successfully grow some tomatoes this year.
The book has plenty of simple advice on choosing the right seeds, location and growing as much as you need, with step-by-step guides (often in photographs) as well as expert tips and techniques.


All three titles get a big green ' thumb's up' from me for having useful information that is easily applied to your own garden. You can find all three books in our on-line store.
We'll be back putting more gardening books to test as soon as we're ready for planting the flowerbed.

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Poll Time

We are very interested in what you would like us to provide as a book retailer. We've had a mass debate between ourselves of whether to offer Free UK postage or Fixed UK postage rates in our forthcoming Facebook Store. We've so many pro's and con's about the idea that we decided to roll the decision out to you! After all it's you that it's going to affect, and we'd like to offer you the chance to choose our system.
Please give us your input through the poll at the bottom of the blog, we really want to know what you think.
Here is a bit of a summary of what would happen;
Free postage: will be free postage on any items anywhere in mainland UK.
Fixed postage: will be priced based on weight and size, in accordance with Royal Mail regulations. With discounts on shipping rates (we hope this is code-able) on multiple purchases to help keep prices low.

The poll closes on the 22nd of June and we'll be rolling out the results in our Facebook store from July. So scroll on down and let us know what you think!

Sunday 5 June 2011

*Drumroll*

Here is the first post of our new blog. We aim to update every Saturday with book reviews, promotions and new releases. As well as information on upcoming events and anything new that we're busy getting up to. We hope to see you following us and look forward to hearing from you.
Oh, and of course;
Hello! From all of us at Adamontise.