Posts

Showing posts from 2014

My 2014 End of Year Book Survey

Image
I am very excited to be participating in the End of Year Book Survey, created by  Jamie , for the first time! This is a great way to reflect on the past year and let you guys know what I did and didn't enjoy. Number Of Books You Read: 34 (as of December 30th) Number Of Re-Reads: roughly 12, I don't exactly know as they weren't counted on my Goodreads Reading Challenge Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary (doesn't surprise me in the least) 1. Best Book You Read In 2014? Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid 2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn't? Life of Pi by Yann Martel 3. Most Surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (in a VERY good way!) 4. Book You "Pushed" The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014? Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson 5. Best series you started in 2014? Best sequel of 2014? Best Serie

Top Ten Goals/ Resolutions For 2015

Image
Hi everyone! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, which is hosted over at  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is Top Ten Goals/ Resolutions For 2015. 1. Read more books. I know this sounds like a boring goal, but I really want to read more. Blogging has made me read a lot more than I did for ages, but even now it doesn't feel like enough. ( Goal: 50) 2. Read more debut novels. I feel as though I don't give debut authors enough love, or even the first novels of now-multi-book authors. ( Goal: 5) 3. Re-read some of my old favourites. I want to re-visit some of the worlds that I loved so dearly years ago, because I feel like I have surrounded myself with only new characters lately. ( Goal: 10) 4. Read one non-fiction book every other month. Although I don't read a lot, I do enjoy non-fiction and I would like to read more in 2015. ( Goal: 6) 5. Write a bigger variety of posts. I know that I don't write a variety of posts, and I really want to change tha

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan: Book review

Image
Book title/ Author: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares  by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan Publisher/ Year: October 5th 2012 Mira Ink Genre: YA Contemporary Series: No Pages: 260 Source/ Format: Paperback || Bought with my own money Rating: 4 stars out of 5 *This review may contain spoilers!* Synopsis I've left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don't, put the book back on the shelf, please. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favourite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions? Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have reader

Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing This Year

Image
Hi everyone! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, which is hosted over at  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing This Year. 1.  The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton I haven't heard about this book for very long, but it just sounds great! I like the premise of learning about more than one generations, amongst many other things. 2.  100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith This cover attracted me to this book months ago but sadly, I have yet to pick it up. Perhaps it is because I haven't seen it in any of my local bookshops. 3.  The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (The Maze Runner #2) Ever since I read  The Maze Runner , I have wanted to buy the sequel. However, I kept putting it off because there were newer, more intriguing books. I hope to receive this or pick it up sometime in the new year. (You can read my review for The Maze Runner  here .) 4.  A Thousand Pieces of Yo

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick: Book review

Image
Book title/ Author: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick Publisher/ Year: October 7th 2014 Simon & Schuster Genre: YA Thriller Series: No Pages: 400 Source/ Format: Netgalley || eARC (Thanks Netgalley/ Simon & Schuster!) Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 *This review may contain spoilers!* Synopsis Britt Pheiffer has trained to backpack the Teton Range, but she isn't prepared when her ex-boyfriend, who still haunts her every thought, wants to join her. Before Britt can explore her feelings for Calvin, an unexpected blizzard forces her to seek shelter in a remote cabin, accepting the hospitality of its two very handsome occupants; but these men are fugitives, and they take her hostage. But nothing is as it seems, and everyone is keeping secrets, including Mason, one of her kidnappers. His kindness is confusing Britt. Is he an enemy? Or an ally? My review Disclaimer: Although Mason has two names, I'm going to be calling him Mason in this review

Top Ten Books I Read In 2014

Image
Hi everyone! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, which is hosted over at  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is Top Ten Books I Read In 2014. 1.  It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini This book really stayed with me for a long time after I read it, and it also helped me get out of a massive reading slump, so I am VERY grateful for this book. I loved the characters and the writing and while it was sad at times, it was also very enlightening. (You can read my review  here .) 2.  The Fault In Our Stars by John Green This book is undoubtedly the most-hyped YA book for a long time, and I do think it deserved it. It showed a different side to sick-kids and I think it really set the bar high for similar novels. (You can read my review  here .) 3.  Divergent by Veronica Roth (Divergent #1) I was a bit late to the game with this one, but luckily just in time to read it before the film came out! Although I had read Dystopian novels before, Divergent re-i

My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories Edited by Stephanie Perkins: Book review

Image
Book title/ Author: My True Love Gave To Me edited by Stephanie Perkins Publisher/ Year: October 9th 2014 Macmillan Children's Genre: YA Anthology/ Short stories Series: No Pages: 359 Source/ Format: Hardback || Bought with my own money Rating: 5 stars out of 5 *This review may contain spoilers!* Synopsis On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays. My review Instead of writing a review on the book as a whole, I have decided to write a mini-review of sorts for each of the short stories included in this book. Midnights by Rainbow Rowell You are immediately immersed in the story of Mags and Noel but it doesn't seem overwhelming. I enjoyed the layout of the story and how Rainbow

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2014

Image
Hi everyone! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, which is hosted over at  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2014. 1. Leila Sales I only recently read  This Song Will Save Your Life  but I really enjoyed it, so much so that I almost gave it 5 stars. I just connected with Leila as a person and a writer, and especially her music taste. You can read my review for This Song Will Save Your Life  here . 2. Morgan Matson Since You've Been Gone  was the perfect summer read for me and a big part of that was because Morgan just set the scene of an eventful summer so well. I feel like Morgan and I are such similar people in the things that we enjoy, which is part of why I think she's so cool! You can read my review for Since You've Been Gone  here . 3. Alyxandra Harvey I didn't really expect to love Alyxandra's books that much, but I'm really glad that I do! I bought A Breath of Frost for cheap on kin

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer: Book review

Image
Book title/ Author: Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer Publisher/ Year: September 30th 2014 Dutton Children's Genre: YA Fantasy Series: No Pages: 352 Source/ Format: Netgalley || egalley (Thanks Netgalley/ Dutton Childrens!) Rating: 3 stars out of 5 *This review may contain spoilers!* Synopsis If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She'd be watching old comedy sketches with him. She'd be kissing him in the library stacks. She certainly wouldn't be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English. But life isn't fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead. Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve's arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam&#

Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2015

Image
Hi everyone! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, which is hosted over at  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is Top Ten Books I'm Looking Forward To In 2015. 1.  Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (The Dark Artifices #1) I am such a fan of all of Cassandra's works that I've read, and I'm pretty confident that this won't be any different. It always gives me so much joy whenever I'm in her Shadowhunter world, whether it's in The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices. 2.  I Was Here by Gayle Forman I still haven't read If I Stay, but I haven't heard any negative thing at all towards any of Gayle's books, which pushes me to read all of her books and become one of her fans. This just sounds like a great contemporary read. 3.  P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han (To All The Boys I've Loved Before #2) I have yet to start To All The Boys I've Loved Before, but I just have this feeling that I will love it, which