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    3 YA books TBR in 2018

    This is a post dedicated to the top 3 YA books that were talked about all over the bookish community that I didn’t get chance to read in 2017. They are below with front covers and synopsis’s’ so you can see if you want to read them too… I’m sure you will!

    Turtles all the way down – John Green

    The story centers around 16-year-old Aza Holmes, a high school student living with multiple anxiety disorders, and her search for a fugitive billionaire. The only other details of the plot known to the public before release were that it contains, either literally or figuratively, tuatara, Star Warsfanfiction, an unexpected reunion, friendship and values of life. -Wikipedia.

    La Belle Savage – Phillip Pullman

    Set ten years before the His Dark Materials trilogy, the story follows 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead, his dæmon Asta, a village girl named Alice and her dæmon Ben who become the protectors of the infant Lyra Belacqua and her dæmon, Pantalaimon, in their canoe, La Belle Sauvage, after a flood. The novel introduces the alethiometer specialist Hannah Relf and a new villain, Gerard Bonneville. Returning characters include Lyra’s father Lord Asriel and mother Mrs Coulter, and the Gyptian elder Farder Coram. -Wikipedia

    Stalking Jack the Ripper – Kerri Maniscalco

    (Actually this is the first book in the series, released 2016 but I want to read this before starting her 2017 “Hunting prince Dracula”)

    The book follows Audrey Rose Wadsworth, in 1888 London. Audrey along with Thomas Cresswell twist their way through the London back world in order to discover who is harvesting and killing woman. And the shocking discovery of who is JacktheRipper. – Wikia/Fandom

    Have you read any of these? Are they on your TBR? Would you recommend them?

  • Books

    Goodreads 2018 + fave book

    Hello all,

    As you may have noticed I done the Goodreads Challenge this year and set the bar low. This was because I was restarting reading a lot again after about 10 years away from books.

    I plan to do 2018’s challenge and up the book count and higher my reading limit. I am hoping to read 50 books next year max but if I get through 25 I’d be happy enough!

    Also, I want to read this list in 2018..

    • Old Classics
    • Game of Thrones Series
    • Italy-based novels
    • Non-fiction -Romans
    • Contemporary classics
    • My A Level set list
    • ARCs and Review Copies

    As it’s coming up to the end of the year and although I have only been blogging about books and reading a lot for 8 months, I feel I should do a shout out to my favourite book of 2017. Drumroll please?

    My favourite book of 2017 goes to Born Bad by Marnie Riches. If you are into gritty, Manchester crime I would recommend you pick this book up!!

  • Books

    Making lists & buying books..

    To Read or Not To Read; That is the question!

    Okay, so I started out this year with an aim of getting out more; meeting friends, etc. It’s now half way through the year and I want to spend more time alone. Sound crazy? Hear me out!


    I have finally compiled a reading list & it just keeps getting longer! It’s now nearly 300 books long. I started out as “I’ll add just one or two so I know what to read next”, Before I knew it, there were too many books on the list.


    To add to this I have accepted the “GoodReads 2017 Challenge” of reading 12 books in 2017. It started with 10 but I upped it to 12 and as of December I have completed reading over 15 books, my final target.

    I have also recently decided to create a list called “Lifetime Reads” as in I plan to read them. The list is full of Classics like “Alice in Wonderland”, “Great Expectations”, “The portrait of Dorian Gray” and “Lord of the Rings”. The total number of books is 20.

    The problem is once to start looking into reading, you end up spending hours staring at reviews and adding new books to be read.


    ANOTHER THOUGHT BELOW:

    Is it me or do you find since becoming a reader again; if you go to book sales you can’t help but pick up about 2-3 books. I work in a library and we have a running book sale & every time I go in there (twice a week) I end up looking for new books.

    They are all second hand, some rubbish quality but others obviously well loved & like new, plus the prices are so damn cheap -30p paperback & 50p hardback!

    What are YOUR opinions?

  • Books,  REVIEWS

    [REVIEW] Wicked – Gregory Maguire

    Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

    All about Politics, Witches and Wizards.

    I want to say I am reviewing this book after not reading in ages! Now that I think of it, I really should do a re-read at the end of the year when I get some time out of my busy reading schedule.

    This book is my all-time favourite book and it’s pretty good if I may say so myself. On my first read, I dived right into and it took me about 3 days to finish it. I really loved it.

    It is basically the backstory of who the “Wicked Witch of the West” in “The Wizard of Oz” is; where she came from, how she became “wicked” and why the wizard doesn’t like her.

    WARNING:

    I personally read the book before seeing the musical and felt it was an added bonus to the book & a FANTASTIC SHOW but do not be under the illusion that if you do decide to choose to approach Wicked the other way you will get the same experience ..you WON’T

    If you are looking to read this book (and the rest of the series) before watching the musical on Broadway/west-end I would wholly recommend this. However, I must caution anyone who has watched the Musical – This book is a long and sometimes quite a hard read. Although it is interesting it’s NOT like the musical suggests; fun and easy.

  • Books

    Christmas Reads? 2017

    As you are probably already aware, by the date this was posted, that Christmas isn’t far away. This is the closest I get to being festive online and I am getting excited to have lots of fun with family and friends!

    I am doing my top 3 reads that I think you could read this Christmas (2017). As always it is your choice on what you read but I think these are some brilliant suggestions to get you in the Christmas mood…

    1. Harry Potter – JK Rowling – Yes, there are scenes where the characters are around at Christmas but it is not a festive book as such but when I read the books they made me feel awesome & festive!
    2. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott – This is a book I am currently reading. It is a classic & once again after watching the old film I understand there are scenes of Christmas but not Christmasy.
    3. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens – This is the classic tale of a business man in Victorian London who gets shown how to be festive. I’ve seen loads of film adaptations but never read the book.

    Are you planning on reading any Christmasy books this year? What are they & are they traditional tales or modern classics? Tell me in the comments below.

     

    MERRY CHRISTMAS, ONE & ALL

  • Books

    GoodReads Reading Challenge 2017.

    I am finally coming up to the end of my GoodReads Challenge in 2017.

    As you might have noticed I upped my amount of books to 15 as I went over 12 earlier in the year.

    This may seem quite small but it is because I am going from; A person who would not touch a book, in months, to; A girl who is now reading pretty much all my free time (when not sleeping, volunteering at a library – with free access to more books, learning a language or studying at home.)

    The reason I choose the GoodReads Challenge was that I needed the motivation to read again.

    I had the perfect opportunity to start from scratch and make a new blog . to try and encourage me to carry on going. I am now in about 4 groups on facebook dedicated to reading and blogging so I have the community around me now.

    How are you progressing with your Goodreads challenge? Are you happy reading? Do you feel more pressure to read within the book community because others are? Give me your thoughts and your responses to others!