Tuesday, 2 June 2015

May Book Haul


In the month of May I brought a total of 6 books. After reading 12 books in April I thought I would reward myself by buying new books.

I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
Date Brought: 8th May 
New Or Secondhand: New
Where did I buy it: Waterstones
Price: £7.99
Series: N/A
Blurb:
 Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
Date Brought: 8th May
New Or Secondhand: New
Where Was It Brought? Waterstones
Price: £3.99
Series: N/A
Blurb:
Before the asteroid we let ourselves be defined by labels:
The athlete, the outcast, the slacker, the overachiever. 
But then we all looked up and everything changed. 
They said it would be here in two months. That gave us two months to leave our labels behind. Two months to become something bigger than what we'd been, something that would last even after the end. 
Two months to really live.

Prince Of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Date Brought: 14th May
New Or Secondhand: Secondhand
Where Was It Brought? Charity Shop
Price: £0.99
Series: First Book
Blurb:
Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse.
From being a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg has the ability to master the living and the dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Date Brought: 24th May
New Or Secondhand: New
Where Was It Brought: Amazon
Price: £8.49
Series: First Book
Blurb:
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.
With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.
As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Take Back The Skies by Lucy Saxon
Date Brought: 26th May
New Or Secondhand: New
Where Was It Brought: Amazon
Price: £3.99
Series: First Book
Blurb:
Catherine Hunter is the daughter of a senior government official on the island of Anglya. She’s one of the privileged – she has luxurious clothes, plenty to eat, and is protected from the Collections which have ravaged families throughout the land. But Catherine longs to escape the confines of her life, before her dad can marry her off to a government brat and trap her forever.
So Catherine becomes Cat, pretends to be a kid escaping the Collections, and stows away on the skyship Stormdancer. As they leave Anglya behind and brave the storms that fill the skies around the islands of Tellus, Cat’s world becomes more turbulent than she could ever have imagined, and dangerous secrets unravel her old life once and for all . . .

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Date Brought: 26th May
New Or Secondhand: New
Where Was It Brought: Amazon
Price: £2.81
Series: First Book
Blurb:
Saba lives in Silverlake, a wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms where her family scavenge from landfills left by the long-gone Wrecker civilization. After four cloaked horsemen kidnap her beloved twin brother Lugh, she teams up with daredevil Jack and the Free Hawks, a girl gang of Revolutionaries. 
Saba learns that she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Saba and her new friends stage a showdown that change the course of her civilization.

Monday, 6 April 2015

Reading Slump

Sorry for not updating anything in a while, I've been on a really bad reading slump and instead of forcing myself to read a book I wouldn't enjoy I decided to ride the slump out. I started Scarlet in early March and even though I enjoyed the beginning I could not force myself to read any more and I wasn't in the mood for any of my books so instead I decided to start season 9 of Supernatural finally. I also got distracted by some cosplay/convention stuff. I finally picked up Attack On Titan Volume 3 manga and when I finished that I picked up Death Note volume 8 and the I finished the last 200 pages of Scarlet. I think it might be safe to say I am out of my month long reading slump, I'm planning on starting Salt & Stone by Victoria Scott tomorrow.

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Rearranging my read bookshelf

I've been watching a lot of bookshelf tours on YouTube and I have been wanting to change my shelf around for a while now. I had the day off work and nothing planned so I though why not. I am planning on getting a new bookshelf for all my TBR books to go on which will go next to this one. It only took me about half an hour to. I had on Fall Out Boys new album American Beauty American Psycho and a nice cup of tea in my favourite mug.

This is how my bookshelf started off looking.

First thing I did was get all the little trinkets I keep on my shelf off and onto my bed to keep safe. I then had to get off all the books which I put on the floor. I have 148 read books.

I didn't really put them in any order. Just my hardbacks together on the top shelf. My series on the same shelf. 
So this is the end result I can't wait to get my new bookshelf next week. I'll give you a bookshelf tour of all my TBR books. I'm really happy about how this turned out.


Gryffindor socks :D 


The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Year Published: 2011
Publisher: Puffin Books

Format: Paperback
Genre(s): Middle Grade, Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 551
Price: £7.99
How Long Did It Take To Read: 4 Days
Goodreads
Stars; 5


Blurb:
THREE NEW HEROES. ONE MISSING DEMIGOD. A CURSE THAT THREATENS TO DESTROY ALL OF THEM.
'What do you want from me?' she screamed.
'What have you done with him?'

'Annabeth' said the bald dude, Butch 'we gotta leave. Let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back.'
She fumed for a moment. 'Fine.' she fixed Jason with a resentful look. 'We'll settle this later.'
She turned on her heel and marched towards the chariot.
Piper shook her head. 'What's her problem? What's going on?'
'Seriously.' Leo agreed.
'We have to get out of her.' Butch said 'I'll explain on the way.'
'I'm not going anywhere with her.' Jason gestured towards the blonde. 'She looks like she wants to kill me . . .'

Review:
I was really into Percy Jackson when I was in high school and found the books for the first time but since then I can't really remember much of what happens in the last couple of books. I have been meaning to reread them but I've got such a huge tbr pile that I don't want to get distracted reading a book series I've all ready read. So when I remembered I had this book on my tbr it was a chance to get back in to the Greek world of Percy Jackson. It also helps that I was taking part in a read-a-thon where I had to read a book over 500 pages and this was one of my big books that I own. I hadn't heard much about it before I started reading and well it was just as good as the Percy Jackson books. The main characters Jason, Piper and Leo were easy to like and fun characters. Jason does his best a leading the group, Piper is a bad ass girl who doesn't take much crap from anyone and then there is Leo who is a amazing mechanic with a good heart. It was a good start to the series and I'm looking forward to getting the second book the Son Of Neptune.

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowery

Year Published: 2000
Publisher: Harper Collins

Format: Paperback
Genre(s): Dystopia
Pages: 241
Price: £6.99
How Long Did It Take To Read: 6 Days
Goodreads
Stars: 5







Blurb:
Orphaned and physically flawed in a civilization that shuns and discards the weak, Kira faces a frighteningly uncertain future.
 When she is summoned by the Council of Guardians, Kira prepares to fight for her life, but the Council has unexpected plans for her. Now Kira faces new responsibilities. On her quest for the truth, she discovers things that will change her life forever.

Review:
Lets just start by mentioning this beautiful cover. Isn't it amazing!
I picked this book up after reading The Giver and fell in love with the world it was set in. Gathering Blue is set in the same world but with different rules and a different community. Lois Lowry may become one of my favourite authors once I've read more of his books. When I first picked this book up I didn't really know what to think about it, I just knew I loved The Giver and wanted to read more of his work and I wasn't disappointed. This book may be short but it is full of surprise and feelings. You get a good feel on how Kira is treated because of her physical flaw but she always stays strong and doesn't let the woman get to her. Little Matt a amusing boy, him and his dog branch are always up to adventures which can get them into trouble. They always stick together and have a good bond with the main character Kira. You meet quite a lot of different characters in this book but they are all described well so you get a feel for each of them in detail: there background, how they are treated and how they act. There aren't too many characters so it hard to get confused with them. Overall this book is amazing and you should pick it up if you loved The Giver. I can't wait to get my hands on The Messenger which follows a older Matt. This was deficiently a 5 star read for me.

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

Release Year: 2014
Publisher: Electric Monkey

Format: Paperback
Genre(s): Contemporary
Pages: 294
Price: £7.99
How Long Did It Take To Read: 3 days
Goodreads
Stars: 4
Favourite Quote: 'You Made The Right Choice'
Book Bingo: Read A Book With A Strong Sibling Relationship.
The relationships between Caroline and Teddy is so heart warming. He stands by her side no matter what she does and when they fight he always forgives her. I would love to have a sibling relationship like that.

Blurb:
Stay Or Go?
Caroline is at a crossroads. Her whole family is on her back, and her grandmother, the only person who really understands her, is sick, maybe dying. All she wants to do is escape. So when her best friend suggest a night out to forget her troubles, Caroline must choose:
STAY by her grandmother's side, or GO to the party and live her life... and maybe find the boy of her dreams.
This decision will split Caroline's fate into two separate paths - and she's about to live them both. But there's only one happy ending...

Review:
When I'm in the mood for contemporary I will read about 5 before going on to a different genre and this is a book that I've been meaning to read in a while but haven't been in the mood. I finally picked it up this month and It was a good book. I didn't realise it had two separate paths that Caroline takes. One chapter would be if she went to the party and the other would be if she stayed with her family. I really like that, It was a good way of looking at the different paths people can take in life. Both paths she takes you see Caroline fix broken relationships with different family members which happened because of the path she didn't take. So on the paths there where good things and there were bad. I loved the way this book was written, It made me fall in love with some of the characters but by the next page I was hating them, I don't think I have cried this much to a book before. One moment I was in tears the next I was laughing, It was an emotional roller-coast. Which was a great read for me.

Sunday, 8 February 2015

The Book Tag

I saw this tag on EllesBelles Bookshelf (check hers out here) and I thought this would be a really good idea for my followers to get to know me and my book ways a little better.


Question 1: Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
Yes I love to sit on my bed to read. I have quite big family so it's rather hard to find somewhere quiet apart from my room. When it's hot outside (hardly ever) I will sit in the garden and read to soak up the little sun.

Question 2: Bookmark or random piece of paper?
Bookmarks all the way, I have about 20 bookmarks but I always use the same one. I got it a couple of years ago for Christmas off my sister and I love it. It's a 3D Panther

Question 3: Can you stop reading at any time or do you have to stop at a certain page, chapter, part, etc?
I have to stop at the end/start of a chapter. If I stopped anywhere else I would forget what part I had read and I would read the whole page again. 

Question 4: Do you eat or drink while reading?
Sometimes I like to have a cup of tea when I'm reading but I don't think I could eat whilst reading. It might get on the book and make a mess.

Question 5: Can you read whilst listening to music or watching TV?
I find it hard to focus on the book while something else is going on around me so I have to be in a quite area or I won't be able to take the book in properly. I'm currently listening to Disney songs while I write this.

Question 6: One book at at time. or several at once?
I normally only like to read one book at a time but last week I read two at the same time. One of them was a manga and only took a few hours to read but I didn't want to read it all at once so I started to read another book as well. 

Question 7: Reading at home or everywhere?
I will always take a book with me where ever I go, in case i get a spare few hours in the day so I could read. I will normally read at home but I sometimes read on my breaks at work or on public transport.

Question 8: Reading out loud or in your head?
In my head. I find it hard to take a book in if I'm reading out loud, I find myself going over the same sentence quite a lot to be able to take it in. 

Question 9: Do you read ahead or skip pages?
Sometimes I like to skim ahead of the page to see if my favourite character is in it or if someone is hurt badly I skim a head a few pages to see if they are still alive a few chapters ahead. I have only ever skipped pages when I was reading New Moon by Stephanie Meyer and that was only because I hated Jacob and didn't want to read the pages without Jasper in them. 

Question 10: Breaking the spine or keeping it new?
I like to keep my books looking new but sometimes I can't help but break the spine on some of my books. If I'm really into the book I forget about the spine and it gets a little broken sometimes. 

Question 11: Do you write in books?
I've only ever wrote in a book when I was doing my GCSE's in high school. I don't like writing in my books I keep. 

I tag anyone who reads this and wants to do the book tag. I had a lot of fun doing this and I'm sure you will too. 
Happy Reading.