Friday Reads #3

Friday Reads #3 (July 8 2016)

I'm making some progress on the list of books that I had on my Goodreads currently reading shelf the last time I posted this! And you can see that below...

But, the main book that I am currently reading is....
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas!
I'm so close to the end of this book, just a tad bit more to go and I am loving it! I actually think I shall have this finished today.


Now back to what Goodreads say I'm currently reading. I'm gone from 11 down to 8, including ACOMAF!

(By order of most read)

1. Dreams of Gods and Monsters - 22%
2. A Clash of Kings - 15%
3. The Lies of Locke Lamora  13%
4. Poison Study - 7%
5. The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen - 5%
6. The Sin Eater's Daughter - 5%
7. Ten Thousand Skies Above You - 2%

Again I'm slowly planning to get all these books read before starting any more new ones. I kept to that last time and hopefully I'll keep to it again this time!

Liebster Award - June 2016

Liebster Award - June 2016

Thank you to the lovely Louise @ No Books Given for nominating me for the Liebster Award!

The rules are as follows:

• 1. Acknowledge the blog that nominated you and display the award.
• 2. Answer the 11 questions that the blog gives you.
• 3. Give 11 random facts about yourself.
• 4. Nominate 5-11 blogs that you think are deserving of the award that have less than 200 followers.
• 5. Let the blogs know you have nominated them.
• 6. Give them 11 questions to answer.

Question Answers:

1. What sparked your passion for reading?

I alwayss read as a child from books like Animal Ark to Dolphin Diaries and all that type of books but what really started my YA reading crazy fanatics was Twilight. I saw the film in the cinema, found out it was a book and just went from there and here I am!

2. What is your favourite reading spot?

Hmmm, well the place I mostly read is in my room on my computer chair so that must be it!

3. What is your favourite cover art ever?

Too hard of a question..... but I absolutely love this cover recently!

4. How do you deal with your TBR shelf?

I don't... I have all my TBR organised on Goodreads, I've recently made a TBR jar that I pick one book a month from. I now have my TBR books seperate from my read books which gives me motivation to read what I have as I am really picky about keeping series and same authors together so this nearly drives me crazy but it is nice to see how many books I have left to read. I also try to minimize my physical TBR by not buying as much books but I haven't succeeded in that yet...

5. Best book you read in the past year? (No rereads)

The best book I've read in the past year, hmmm, can I pick more than one? No... then it'll have to be, so hard.... -

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

6. Who is your favourite booktuber?

I actually have a lot of favourites but one of those favourites is whittynovels!

7. First book you ever read?

I have no idea... Not the first book ever. But Twilight was the first YA book I read and the first book that started my Goodreads journey too.

8. What is your go to reading snack?

Anything with chocolate in it!

9. Why is reading important to you?

A lot, it is a way of entertainment, escape, an addiction and just something that I thoroughly enjoy.

10. Where would you be without reading?

Honestly I don't know. I don't know what I'd be doing with all my time. I'd probably have a lot more money but other than that I have no idea. It's such a big part of my life, I can't imagine what I'd be doing without it. 

11. What is your favourite thing about yourself? (Not book related but still important to know).

Oh God, I hate these questions. They are even worse than the tell me about yourself questions. I love that I'm a compassionate person and animal lover.  


11 Random Facts About Myself:

1. I'm 20
2. I have one younger brother
3. I have six pets
4. I live in the countryside
5. I finished school two years ago
6. I got my first job back in March 2016 and now work full time
7. I'm applying to go back to college to study Veterinary Nursing
8. I have weird eating habits 
9. I always bring my brother to see the kids movies I want to see like The Secret Life of Pets, Ice Age 5 and Finding Dory
10. I have just started journaling (thanks to whittynovels) and have nearly finished my first one 
11. I can never think of 11 random facts...

Blogs I Nominate Are:
A Day In Bookland
Lissette's Labyrinth
Crazy For YA
Craving Books
Book Lovers Blog


11 Questions:

1. Where is your favourite spot to read?
2. What do you prefer - Series or Standalones?
3. What book are you currently reading?
4. What was the last book you read that you absolutely loved?
5. If you could take three things with you to a desert island, besides books, what would they be?
6. Which author would you want to meet the most?
7. What book are you highly anticipating for the end of this year?
8. Have you been to any book conventions or events? If not, are you planning to?
9. What are your other hobbies besides reading?
10. What fictional character would you like to meet the most?
11. And simply because I'm running out of questions, tell us something about yourself?

Top Ten Tuesday #11

Top Ten Tuesday #11

Top Ten Books I've Enjoyed That Have Under 5000 Ratings On Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and consists of them picking a topic each week for us bloggers to list our Top Ten.

I'm so late with this one but hey sure heck! I forgot what days I had and what date..... :/
This was only 2000, but that was too hard so I upped it to 5000. So here are the books:

1. Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard
828 Ratings
This is just a 2016 debut that released back in February and it is seriously an amazing book about female friendships. I just finished this book last week and it was just a perfect read.

2. Unbecoming by Jenny Downham
882 Ratings
I read this book solely because I was going to be meeting the author but then it was such an amazing book. And I'm really shocked to see that it has only 840 ratings. Guys this book is amazing! Seriously!

3. Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine by Stephanie Tromly
1,972 Ratings
Honestly, I wouldn't have picked up this book only for I got it in my owlcrate box and it was so good! It was so funny and entertaining and I really just enjoyed this book. I really recommended this and the sequel is coming out this year.





4. The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
2,225 Ratings
A seriously impressive and uniquely written story. This novel is one to read at Halloween when it is late and dark. This book was very, very creepy and thrilling. A book that will definitely keep you on your toes especially with the way it was written through interviews, video tapes and diary entries.

5. Empire of Night by Kelley Armstrong
2,937 Ratings
This is the sequel to Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong and honestly it was such an amazing sequel. These books are scarily, horrifically good and this sequel which released in 2015 should have way more ratings!

6. One by Sarah Crossan
3,400 Ratings
A really intriguing and heartbreaking story of conjoined twins. This story was utterly unique in this topic as well as being written in verse. I read this in less than 3 hours and loved every bit of it.



7. Asking For It by Louise O' Neill
3,415 Ratings
Asking For It is such a raw and powerful book about rape and the way that society is around this topic. Louise O Neill really put so much into this book and it is definitely such an inspirational but hard to read novel that is a must read for everyone and I mean everyone.

8. Drowning Instinct by Ilsa J. Bick

3,491 Ratings
I loved Ilsa j. Bick after reading her Ashes trilogy and just had to read her standalone novel about a student / teacher relationship and boy, this book broke me apart,. I was hooked to it and it really, literally had me in pieces once I finished. Honestly for a book that has been out for so long I really expected it to have more ratings.

9. Monsters by Ilsa J. Bick
3,601 Ratings
Another book by Ilsa J. Bick that has been out for many years now and should have way more ratings. This book is the conclusion to the Ashes trilogy and lets just say it is mental. Ashes is all about a zombie apocalypse.



10. The Accident Season by Moira Fowley Doyle
4,996 Ratings
This book is a magical realism novel that was so whimsical and confusing that I just instantly loved it!




What underrated books are your absolute favourites? Did any of mine make your list? Let me know below!

TBR Jar Pick #2

TBR Jar Pick #2

July 2016

TBR Jar Pick is a new little feature, where I pick one book a month from my TBR jar that I have to read during the month.

Last month I got Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar which I gave 3 Stars too and if your interested in my review click here.

My TBR Jar pick for July is .......

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

All The Light We Cannot See was a book that became quite a big deal not too long ago in the book community. This book was everywhere and everyone was saying really great things about this book. So I decided to pick it up while all this hype was going on because I found the concept interesting. I am also a big fan of historical fictions and at that time and even now I am interested in exploring and discovering more in the adult fiction genre. So now that I finally have this book on my TBR I am excited to see what I think. 

Let me know below if you've read this book or whether you've heard anything or if you're interested in reading this book. Or even if you want to join in and tell me what your TBR Jar Pick is, just let me know below! 

June Wrap Up & Collective Book Haul

June Wrap Up & Collective Book Haul

Wow.... I have not done a wrap up or haul since January. What the hell??? Well you know what that means guys, this is going to be one long wrap up and haul!

Collective February - June 2016 Book Haul

Dum, Dum, Dum........
Yup, this haul here is just going to feature a list because well all the books would not fit in the one picture so.....
Here we go
(Also let me know if you guys have read any of these books)

• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (Of course I had to get this on release day and I read it and loved it!)
• The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen by Katherine Howe (I received a finished copy from the publisher but still have to read this....)
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (This was a nice surprise that I found in my local bookstore.)
• The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman (I heard so much hype around this book that I just had to pick it up.)
• Book of Lies by Teri Terry (I saw this, knew nothing about it and it was an impulse buy.)
• The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (Another hyped book I just had to pick up.)
• Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (Duh, TLC, had to pick it up! And I have read it and loved it!)
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (One of my most anticipated reads of the year and I loved it!)
• Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard (I was really intrigued by this book and that cover...)
• An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (I found this book so cheap in my local bookstore, I just could not say no.)
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (Another anticipated read that I just had to get on release day)
• Whisper To Me by Nick Lane (This was the same situation as Book of Lies, I just saw it, was intrigued and picked it up.)
• The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson (Do I need to say anything? Of course I was picking this up and I again read it and loved it!)
• These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly (Loved her book Revolution and just needed to get this.)
• The Last Star by Rick Yancey (Another anticipated book. I can't wait to see how this series ends!)
• Forest of Ruin by Kelley Armstrong (The exact same as The Last Star applies here)
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Everyone just talked so much about this book and then the gorgeous paperback came out that I just had to get)
• Zoo 2 by James Patterson (I've been wanting to read Zoo so when I saw this I picked it up.)
• Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson (This is the last Morgan Matson book I need to read.)
• Cujo by Stephen King (I just really wanted to explore some of Stephen Kings novels.)
• Pet Semetary by Stephen King (Same as above!)
• After You by Jojo Moyes (The standard paperback came out and I had to get it!)
• If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo (Another book I really want to read and it was on offer, so why not?)

February - June 2016 Wrap Up

What Was Read:

• You by Caroline Kepnes (3 Stars)
• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (5 Stars)
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (5 Stars)
• Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (3 Stars)
• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (5 Stars)
• Stars Above by Marissa Meyer (5 Stars)
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (5 Stars)
• The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson (5 Stars)
• Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar (3 Stars)

Defeating My TBR Progress!!

Ok with all those books bought up there and not much read I can tell you that my TBR is currently on 76!

Other News:

Currently Reading:

Forest of Ruin by Kelley Armstrong

Let me know how you guys have done in June down below!

Top Ten Tuesday #10

Top Ten Tuesday #10

FREEBIE - The Last Ten Books Added To My Goodreads Wishlist

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and consists of them picking a topic each week for us bloggers to list our Top Ten.

So for this freebie week I'm going to let yu all know the last ten books that I've added as To-Read on Goodreads which is essentially my Wishlist for books that I wish to get and read!

1. The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
I just saw the movie trailer just a few days ago and instantly had to add this to my wishlist. No one told me this book was about zombies? Why didn't anyone tell me this book was about zombies??

2. Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
I've seen this book get a lot of hype recently on BookTube so decided to add it my wishlist. I actually thought this book was a new release but it came out a few years ago so I'm super excited to get it and see why the hype is only coming around now.

3. Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas
Sarah J. Maas has anther WIP. So of course I had to add it.




4. Twilight of the Gods by Sarah J. Maas
Same as above. Sarah J. Maas. Enough said!

5. Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn
I actually just saw this book in the book shop when I was browsing through the shelves and it looked very interesting. So I snapped a pic to google it on Goodreads when I got home and added it to my wishlist.

6. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows & Brodi Ashton
This book has been everywhere! So following the hype like a sheep I've added it to my Goodreads wishlist.



7. Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire
I really want to read this book. I loved both starting books in this authors other series that she wrote as Mira Grant so now I just really want to try out this book to.

8. Dark Horses by Cecily von Ziegesar

It's a Black Beauty retelling!!!

9. Firstlife by Gena Showalter
Another book that got me intrigued from the cover alone. So yes it is a cover add but I'm hoping it is just as good as it's cover!



10. Untitled (Magnus Bane Adult Trilogy) by Cassandra Clare
Ahhhhh Magnus Bane adult trilogy!!! Need I say more?? Nope!





What topic did you guys pick for this week? Let me know down below!

Book Review - Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar

Hour of the Bees

Author: Lindsay Eagar

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism. 

Published: March 8 2016

Pages: 360 pages (Paperback) (ARC)

Read: June 20 - June 24 2016

Rating: 3 Stars

June 2016 TBR Jar Pick!

Things are only impossible if you stop to think about them. . . .

While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina — Carol — is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she’s never met into a home for people with dementia. At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to him, fascinated by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a hundred years of drought. As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible — and what it means to be true to her roots. Readers who dream that there’s something more out there will be enchanted by this captivating novel of family, renewal, and discovering the wonder of the world.

Book 20/65 - 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge

Hour of the Bees was a book I received in a goody bag back in October 2015 and I was excited by the premise f this book and continuously said that I should be this open solely for the reason that this is a magical realism book. Magical Realism is a new, exciting genre that I have gotten myself into and loved each book I've read from that genre which is mainly just The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender and The Accident Season. So I was expecting to go into a marvelous, whimsical, confusing, yet beautiful story, but I was highly disappointed. 

As I started the beginning of this book I realised I couldn't connect with out 12 year old protagonist, Carol. Must of the times I usually have this problem when reading from a younger protagonists point of view so I let this slide and continued on with the story. 

But even as I reached that halfway point, I was considering giving up on this book. I, honestly, highly contemplated DNFing this book because I just couldn't get into it. It bored me. Instead of finding a beautiful whimsical writing style and story I found that the writing in this book was for a younger audience. It just didn't click with me in the way writing styles should. One thing about the book that I found to be quite awkward especially at the beginning was the way that Serge's story was told. I felt like it could have been told in such a more unique and better way than it was presented in this book but alas that might be just my nitty picky feelings. 

So even though I  was highly considering DNFing this book I soldiered on and I found a story that really made me feel. It was towards the end of the book where things really turned around. Where events started happening, where characters developed, where there was this feeling that just kept me going. I nearly cried so many times while reading the end of this book and the characters really did change for me. 

Serge would have had to be my favourite character in this book and of course his little dog Ines. He had just so much character and I really cared about him. Carol was ok, I did start to like her more as the story progressed, The other characters in the book were just annoying and I honestly didn't like them even if they did turn around in the end, There was the big sister who did some horrible things and just turned around saying 'I'm a teenager, what do you expect?' Eh no, and then the father. he did some awful, horrible things to Serge. I don't care if you hate the guy, there is literally a moral line you do not cross and he crossed it and I was shocked. 

But in the end, I really enjoyed the latter quarter - half of this book. I really liked the way that the two stories that were being told entwined with each other at the end. And this book does leave you to think about life and death in a whole new light and I will still be lingering with those questions in my mind for a long time to come. 

Friday Reads #2

Friday Reads #2 (June 24 2016)

Here is my second Friday reads post! One thing I'm really ashamed to say is that I'm still reading the two books that I featured in my previous Friday Reads on June 3.

I actually, on Goodreads, have 11 books that I'm currently reading.
Those are:

(By order of most read)

1. Hour of the Bees - 54%
2. Beautiful Broken Things - 47%
3. Forest of Ruin - 23%
4. Dreams of Gods and Monsters - 22%
5. The Lies of Locke Lamora  13%
6. A Clash of Kings - 12%
7. A Court of Mist and Fury - 8%
8. Poison Study - 7%
9. The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen - 5%
10. The Sin Eater's Daughter - 5%
11. Ten Thousand Skies Above You - 2%

Next week I hope there will be at least 1 or 2 of these books of this list and no more added until I have cleared this one. That is if all goes to plan but we will see... !!

Book Review - The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

The Unexpected Everything

Author: Morgan Matson

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction. 

Published: May 5 2016

Pages: 528 pages (Paperback) (Simon & Schuster Children's)

Read: June 6 - June 19 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

From Morgan Matson, the bestselling author of Since You’ve Been Gone comes a feel-good story of friendship, finding yourself, and all the joys in life that happen while you’re busy making other plans.

Andie has a plan. And she always sticks to her plan.

Future? A top-tier medical school.
Dad? Avoid him as much as possible (which isn’t that hard considering he’s a Congressman and he’s never around).
Friends? Palmer, Bri, and Toby—pretty much the most awesome people on the planet, who needs anyone else?
Relationships? No one’s worth more than three weeks.

So it’s no surprise that Andie’s got her summer all planned out too.

Until a political scandal costs Andie her summer pre-med internship, and lands both she and Dad back in the same house together for the first time in years. Suddenly she’s doing things that aren’t Andie at all—working as a dog walker, doing an epic scavenger hunt with her dad, and maybe, just maybe, letting the super cute Clark get closer than she expected. Palmer, Bri, and Toby tell her to embrace all the chaos, but can she really let go of her control?

Book 19/65 - 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge

I think everyone has heard the story that it was Morgan Matson who made me read contemporary books so I won't bore everyone and go into that long tuned story. But because of this it was a given that I would be reading her new novel.

And when I heard what that novel was going to be about and then when I saw the cover I was hooked, A dog walking summer job in a Morgan Matson book. I am an animal lover so of course this just appealed to me even more.

And boy did I love it! Of course I did! I felt like this book was right on par with Since You've Been Gone which was one of my absolute favourites on 2015. I really enjoyed this contemporary novel, because Morgan Matson does a marvelous job of writing a summer romance into such a bigger topic. All of Morgan Matson's books seem to focus on the main character finding herself, but around all different situations and I just love them for that.

With Since You've Been Gone, I instantly connected with Emily as she was so much like me. I saw myself in everything that she did because she was inevitably like me personality wise. This was not the case with Andie but I really enjoyed her as a character. I found her to be such a complex character and she has so much to go through in the space between this book and I found that she grew so much in this book. 

All the characters were so realistic in this novel. I loved the fact that everyone was so different and that Morgan Matson did incorporate a writer along with characters mentioned in previous books in The Unexpected Everything. 

Above all, the story was amazing, It made me happy. It made me sad. It made me angry, It made me laugh. It made me cry. This book inevitably made me feel so much while I was reading it. It was a book that I was hooked to, a story I didn't want to see finish but I found the way Morgan Matson wrote this book was just incredible. I enjoyed the ending just as much as the beginning and I really hope that possibly just like we saw previous characters in this novel that we may see these characters in another book especially Bertie! The dogs in this book just made the story all that more enjoyable for me. 

Now I have read a total of 3 of Morgan Matson's work under her own name - Second Chance Summer, Since You've Been Gone and The Unexpected Everything. I just got myself Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and seriously cannot wait to read it.

Top Ten Tuesday #9

Top Ten Tuesday #9

Top Ten Favourite 2016 Releases So Far.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and consists of them picking a topic each week for us bloggers to list our Top Ten.

2016 releases that I have read that I loved... hmmm.... let me think. Honestly I don't think I've read many 2016 releases so far yet... so, in no particular order:

1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
I think this was pretty obvious that Lady Midnight was going to be on this list. I loved this book so much as you have seen from my review and I actually cannot wait for the next book to come out.

2. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer
I was highly anticipating this release and of course I loved it! Of course I did, it is Marissa Meyer and The Lunar Chronicles.

3. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys.
I fellin love with Ruta Sepetys after reading her second published novel, Out of the Easy, then I went back and read her debut and I of course read her new release, Salt to the Sea, which I absolutely adored. Such a fabulous book!




4. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Finally the last 2016 book that I completed and loved was The Unexpected Everything. I just finished this book a few days ago and it was just an awesome summer read. Sunshine, summer, dogs, first love, finding yourself, what more could you want from a book?

What 2016 releases have you read and loved?