Artist Feature:~ Johanna Basford

   



Johanna


We are really excited here at Midnight Reads to be featuring the work of Johanna Basford! We became fimilirar with Johanna's work after reading Amy Plum's Die for Me for which Johanna created some beautiful patterns.

Johanna's Profile:~

I'm a creative catch-all; a designer / illustrator / printer on a mission to cover the world with my hand drawn patterns and motifs. I'm not a Vector Technician, but one of the dwindling number of creatives who still likes to put pen to paper. My delicate hand inked designs intend to charm and delight, inviting you to peer closer and discover the hidden intricacies.




Die for Me cover



My creativity is cultivated by a curious imagination and a delight in the fantastic. Much of my work has roots in the flora and fauna that surrounded me during childhood on my parents' fish farm in rural Aberdeenshire. In 2001, I packed my bags and headed to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, where I graduated 4 years later with my degree in Printed Textiles.

Every piece I create starts life as a simple pencil sketch, evolving into a rambling pen and ink drawing (usually over several sheets of paper). I love the tactile nature of the materials I use and the joy of smudgy fingerprints. For me, computer generated work lacks soul and depth of character - hand drawing captures a sense of energy and charm which no pixel can ever replicate.






Nocturnal, Brew Dog




Heartbreak



Book cover: Finding Sky
Joss Stirling





You can learn more about Johanna here at her website or follower her over at twitter @johannabasford.

All work is copyright of the artist.



Reborn Review



4.5 stars

 
Title:Reborn
Author: Ley Mesina
Published: May 2011

Lily Westbrook knows she is anything but ordinary. When her powers fully mature on her eighteenth birthday, she realizes that being half witch and half vampire is more of a challenge then she was let on to believe.

After being accepted to Kensington University in Cedar Creek, Massachusetts, she sets out on a journey that pulls her deeper into the world of witches and vampires, uncovering the truth about her past and discovering who she is meant to be.



This review is part of the Review
Appreciation Day blog hop hosted by Cait
over at The Cait Files.

Wow! A great novella with so much going on. You'll finish it in one sitting!!

Lily Westbrook is half witch half vampire who has been raised by her aunt after her parents, Clarie and Nathaniel's forbidden love and marriage does not go unpunished.

We start this story with Lily about to turn 18 and come into the full use of her powers. She is moving back to her birth town to go to university where she soon learns the truth about her parents as well as herself and just how important she really is.

I love the idea of the story because in the world Mesina has created witches and vampires are sworn enemies, which is something I haven't read before. But as we know Lily is made up of both which has resulted in her becoming the Goddess of Night.

I love this book, I just wish there was more of it. I love all the characters in this book. Lily, Roxy, Drew and Xander become our main character's all helping each other in order to find answers to their own questions. The group blends well and I like the fact that the author is slowly building their relationships with each other even though the book is moving at fast pace. I can't wait to see how the characters develop in book 2!!

 The story is short and so much happens that I don't want to spoil it for you so get hold of a copy any way you can and just read it!!! You will not be disappointed with the world Mesina has created!

I'm all ready looking forward to book 2!!

In My Postbox #17




In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted every Sunday over at The Story Siren. A great meme which allows bloggers to share what they receive/buy/borrow each week.









For review



Title: Shadows on the Moon
Author: Zoe Marriott
Published: July 2011
By: Walker Books

"On my fourteenth birthday when the sakura was in full bloom, the men came to kill us. We saw them come, Aimi and me. We were excited, because we did not know how to be frightened. We had never seen soldiers before."

Suzume is a shadow-weaver. She can create mantles of darkness and light, walk unseen in the middle of the day, change her face. She can be anyone she wants to be. Except herself.

Suzume died officially the day the Prince's men accused her father of treason. Now even she is no longer sure of her true identity.
Is she the girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother’s new husband, Lord Terayama? A lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama’s kitchens? Or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands?

Everyone knows Yue is destined to capture the heart of a prince. Only she knows that she is determined to use his power to destroy Terayama.

And nothing will stop her. Not even love.


Gift




Title: Haunting Violet
Author: Alyxandra Harvey
Published: June 2011
By: Bloomsbury

Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose.


Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?

Must thank Cait over at The Cait Files for sending me this one :)




Free edition 
Title: Temeraire
Author: Naomi Novik
Published: March 2006
By: Haper Voyager

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

This edition is an exclusive free copy when you pre order Inheritance by Christopher Paolini at Waterstone's.

So that is what I got this week, what did you get?