Thursday 4 December 2014

BOOK HAUL: The Birthday Edition


Last week I celebrated my 20th birthday and as friends and family know I love books so much, I received a few giftcards to treat myself.  Of course it only took me all of 3 days to have used them, so I thought I'd share the books that I bought using the gift cards (and treated myself too).




MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME - Various Authors

Having a birthday less than a month before Christmas it goes without saying that one of the books I buy is going to be a festive book and what better festive book than one that contains 12 short stories written by some of my favourite authors. I might even do a whole "12 Days of Christmas" read with this one and slowly enjoy is over the festive period.

DASH & LILY'S BOOK OF DARES - Rachel Cohn & David Levithan 

Buying this I didn't even realise until I'd looked at other blog posts about it that this is also in fact another winter book, perfect for this time of year and let's be honest, who wouldn't love spending winter in New York? I know I would. Maybe I'll have to read this to live vicariously through them instead.

I AM THE MESSENGER - Markus Zusak

I am yet to read any of Markus Zusak's books however I have only ever heard amazing things about his writing so I feel like I need to get reading. Along with The Book Thief I now have this book to sink my teeth into and with christmas break just around the corner I'll be able to get to it!

AMY & ROGER'S EPIC DETOUR - Morgan Matson

I have heard so many good things about this book and have wanted to read it for so long so I finally took the plunge and bought it. I have always wanted to go on a road trip and I think this book will increase that want, I think it sounds like such a fun read.

THIS STAR WON'T GO OUT - EstherLori and Wayne Earl and John Green

It's no secret that I love The Fault In Our Stars and as soon as I saw the book about Esther; a girl who John Green dedicated the book to and who sadly fought and lost her fight with cancer, I knew I wanted to read it. This book is an account of her life written by her and the family and friends around her. It's a true story and I think it's going to be such a good read.

WONDER - R.J. Palacio

I'm adding this book on the end of my birthday book haul despite it actually being a gift to myself before hand which just so happen to arrive on my birthday so it's going in this haul. I have heard so many good things about this book and I'm so excited to read it!

ALL THE TRUTH THAT'S IN ME - Julie Berry

This is another one that I'm adding to the birthday book haul purely for the fact it arrived just after my birthday so I thought I'd feature it. This book sounds really creepy and weird so I'm really intrigued to read it soon.

So I didn't get many books but I'm excited about the ones I did get!!

What books have you hauled recently?





Wednesday 3 December 2014

BOOK REVIEW

                     Zoe Sugg

PUBLISHER: Penguin Books
GENRE: Contemporary
PAGES: 352
GET A COPY: Waterstones/Amazon

"I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever"

«««

I did have some faults with this book. Firstly, I just felt that the whole plot was a little bit cliché ; going to New York, falling in love in a matter of days with some mysterious guy. I just felt that the romance happened so quick and was so predictable. 

However, I did like the book. The story was cute and I did like how Zoe wrote about Anxiety within the book, from what seems a way that will actually help people reading. I personally don't suffer with anxiety but I know there are many people who the tips she wrote about and the things she mentioned about anxiety may actually help others who do suffer and offer them some comfort and certain things she'd wrote, I've seen her speak about before

"Everytime you post something online you have a choice. You can either make it something that adds to the happiness levels in the world or takes it away from them"

I also liked the characters, they were relatable. I know when I was 15/16 I was always having friend issues and silly fallings out that mean nothing and I can probably remember the falling out more than the actual reason for the falling out.

The ending. I feel that the last few chapters just finished off the story perfectly and it made me happy!

Have you read Girl Online?
If so, what did you think?


Tuesday 2 December 2014

TOP TEN TUESDAY - Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2015



This weeks Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke & The Bookish is all about my most anticipated books as the new year and new releases approach, and my excitement builds. Some of the books will have already been featured in my "Pre-order Excitement" post but here's the top ten books I'm most looking forward to reading in 2015.




1. THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND
Kathryn Holmes
Release date - 17th February, 2015
2. INVADED
Melissa Landers
 Release date -  3rd February, 2015



3. NO PLACE TO FALL
Jaye Robin Brown
Release date - 15th January, 2015


4. PROOF OF FOREVER 
Lexa Hillyer
Release date - 2nd June, 2015

 5. FINDING PARIS

Joy Preble
Release date - 21st April, 2015 


6. NONE OF THE ABOVE
I. W. Gregorio 
Release date - 28th April, 2015


 7. MAGONIA

Maria Dahvana Headley 
Release date - 28th April, 2015


8. MISS MAYHEM
Rachel Hawkins
Release date - 7th April, 2015



9. NO PARKING AT THE END TIMES
Bryan Bliss
Release date - 24th February, 2015


10. 99 Days 
Katie Cotugno

Release date - 21st April, 2015



What book are you most looking forward to in 2015?