Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Reads of 2015 so far!

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke & The Bookish.

This weeks topic is:

My Top Reads of 2015 so far!

Yay! I always love the top ten reads of the half year/year posts. Not only because I get to share all the amazing and wonderful books I have read so far this year. I also love it because I usually find a ton of amazing books to add to my own TBR pile.

I've read 66 books so far in 2015 so picking just ten turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. It also made me realise how many reviews I need to write, as I haven't wrote reviews for any of these yet, except for one book this year and the two I read and reviewed last year,

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

WOW!!! No other word describes this beautiful book better. It is absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend it. I really wish this book was getting way more attention because it absolutely deserves it. It tells the story of Love and Death, and the game they have been playing for centuries. They each choose their players, set the rules and see who comes out on top. Death has always won! Henry and Flora are the players that are picked. Flora has dreams of becoming the next Amelia Earheart and sings in jazz clubs during the day, and Henry is guaranteed a bright future by his wealthy adopted parents. It's set during the time of the Great Depression and has everything I could have asked for - fascinating and diverse characters, fantastic writing, a beautiful romance, LGBTQ themes and heartbreaking moments that had me sobbing. I highly, highly recommend. Especially to anyone who was a fan of The Book Thief or similar books.

P.S. I will be posting a gushing review of it very soon, and also including a giveaway and possible author interview.

Half Bad & Half Wild by Sally Green

I really need to hurry up and review these books. I actually can't describe to you how much I loved these. When Half Bad came out, I'd seen mixed reviews and it had made me so nervous to get to this series. I shouldn't have worried, I read it and it became one of my top reads of the year. It has magic and witches, not to mention this also has diverse characters and LGBTQ themes too. I adored every moment of reading these books and I am so desperate to get my hands on the third book. I met Sally Green and totally had to stop myself fangirling and hounding her with questions about the third book. I know there were many people who just couldn't get into this series, but I adore it and it's become a top favourite series of mine.

My Weekly Wrap Up: 27/06/2015

I'm really proud of myself this week! I have posted for the last five days in a row, which is really surprising for me. I have been suffering from the worst blogging slump - before this week I'd posted only 17 posts in 4 months. But something just clicked this week and I was finally able to do some blogging. I really hope I can keep this up and get back on track.

My weeks have mostly been filled with working and not much else. But I did get to attend an amazing event at Bloomsbury's offices in London last week. It was an evening with Sarah Crossan and Jenny McLachlan, who were there talking about their latest books. It was such a fun event and those two had us all in stitches. I went with my best friend, Kevin, and we had a great time catching up.

I've been realising that I am acquiring books at an alarming rate and really need to cut down. We shall see if that actually happens though!

FAR TOO MANY!!!

Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher

When reclusive novelist Senna Richards wakes up on her thirty-third birthday, everything has changed. Caged behind an electrical fence, locked in a house in the middle of the snow, Senna is left to decode the clues to find out why she was taken. If she wants her freedom, she has to take a close look at her past. But, her past has a heartbeat... and her kidnapper is nowhere to be found. With her survival hanging by a thread, Senna soon realises this is a game. 

A dangerous one.

Only the truth can set her free. 

Marrow by Tarry Fisher

Margo is not like other girls. She lives in a derelict neighbourhood called the Bone, in a curse house, with a cursed mother, who hasn't spoken to her in over two years. She lives her days feeling invisible. It's not until she develops a friendship with her wheelchair-bound neighbour, Judah Grant, that things begin to change. When neighbourhood girl, seven-year-old Nevaeh Anthony, goes missing, Judah sets out to help Margo uncover what happened to her.What Margo finds changes her, and with a new perspective on life, she's determined to find evil and punish it - targeting rapists and child molesters one by one. But hunting evil is dangerous, and Margo risk losing everything, including her own soul. 

Under the Influence by L.B. Simmons

Dalton,

I love you once. A love I thought irrevocable. A love I mistakenly believed could transcend both time and circumstance. Under the influence of my dimwitted, naive, traitorous heart, I became intoxicated with what I now know was simply a figment of my self-indulgent imagination. So drunk on the feeling, I couldn't see what was right in front of my face. So foolishly enamoured, I blindly followed my heart into the depths of an emotion that would ravage me.

Years later, I know now what I wish I knew then. I am stronger. Smarter. Tougher. I will not allow myself to be broken again.

I loved you.

I raged for you.

I wept for you.

And now, I'm letting you go.  

The Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

The Unpopular Opinions Book Tag

Thank you to Brittany for tagging me for this!

1. A popular book or series that you didn't like.

There are so many books that, even though they have amazingly high ratings on Goodreads, I did not like them at all.

I know, I know! Some of these are books you probably love, but I hope at least some of you will agree with me on some of them. Code Name Verity just didn't work for me at all, it didn't even make me cry and I weep so easily at books. It just really bored me and I was so disappointed. Fangirl is a book that it really feels like every single human on the planet absolutely loves, but not me! I just really didn't get what all the fuss was about. The romance was laughable and the story was really dull because there really wasn't one. Beautiful Disaster is most definitely a disaster, but there is nothing beautiful about it! The Maze Runner was poorly written and made me so frustrated. And Fifty Shades of Grey.... I shudder just thinking about it - it's poorly written, had terrible characters and the worst excuse for a romance ever. 

Could someone please explain to me how The Kiss of Deception has such a high rating on Goodreads? I mean, seriously, it's one of the worst books I have ever had the displeasure of reading. The characters are just meh, the romance was soooooo dumb and the whole guess which guys which storyline was superbly pointless. Red Queen seemed to impress so many people, but it read like a copy of so many other YA books. I don't hate Allegiant because of it's ending, I was actually happy it finally brought an end to Tris's constant whining and poor decision making. I posted both a spoiler free, rant filled review and a spoiler filled, rant filled review just so I could properly vent all my frustrations with this book.. How I Live Now was not good, not good at all. I read it so long ago and I still get pissed off every time I think about it. Ruby Red is loved by so many, but I just felt nothing when I read it, I didn't hate it but I just didn't like it. 

2. A book or series that everyone seems to hate but you loved.

I don't know why but, I really struggled to come up with an idea for this one. But then I checked out my 5 star books on Goodreads and saw that Blue Diary has a relatively low average rating. And I don't understand why! I absolutely loved that book, it was a beautiful and wonderful book and it broke my fucking heart. I cried so much at the end of that book, my heart couldn't handle it. I will love and recommend that book forever! 

Film for Thoughts on Thursday: Jurassic World Review

This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.

This weeks movie review will be for:

Jurassic World

I really had no idea what to expect from this movie. I was a big fan of the original Jurassic Park movie as a kid, and even enjoyed the sequel (but let's not even bother talking about the disastrous third film!). So I will admit that I was very excited when I heard that they were finally going to be releasing a new movie in the series. Very excited, but also very nervous. I really didn't want them to screw the series up, especially the way they had with the third film - that I still don't want to talk about! But it felt like they had waited long enough that there was a good chance they had spent enough time and money perfecting this so that it wouldn't be a disaster. 

The first time I saw the trailer, I admit that I started to get a little nervous about the movie. It wasn't exactly what I had been expecting and I was a little sceptical. Yes, the special effects looked amazing and there were all the dinosaurs you could want. But it all felt a little too futuristic for a movie that is supposed to be set only twenty years after the events of the first film. I am a fan of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, so that made me feel less nervous and more hopeful that they could really pull of an amazing movie.

Now, having seen the film, I am so happy that I can say that I absolutely LOVED Jurassic World. I left the cinema completely satisfied, with a huge smile on my face and the biggest urge to go back in a watch it all over again. The movie was everything that I was hoping for and more. Yes, there were elements that I wasn't completely happy with, but overall it was a brilliant film.

A Colleen Hoover Mini Review Extravaganza!

Title: Hopeless
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria
Buy this book: Amazon (US ), Amazon (UK), Book Depository

Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies... That's what seventeen-year-old Sky realises after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she's never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried. Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he's nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn't at all who who he's claiming to be. When the secrets he's been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky's life will change forever.

Me with every new Colleen Hoover book.

If you have been following the blog for a while then you should probably know by now that I absolutely adore Colleen Hoover. I love her, not just her books but her as a person. She's not only wonderfully hilarious, she is also ridiculously generous. Her social media posts make me far too happy. Her books always impress me and make me realise that I shouldn't give up on the new adult genre.

Hoover is now an auto-buy author for me, I pre-order all her books as soon they are announced and then spend my time eagerly awaiting their arrival. But for some reason I have owned Hopeless for over a year now and have only just gotten to it. I'm obviously regretting that decision now, because I read it and ended up loving it, the same way I do all of her books.

Hoover's writing style is one that I just find exceptionally easy to read and her books are the ones that I always find myself getting lost in. I find her books almost impossible to put down once I have started them, which usually results in me forgetting to eat or sleep and suffering the next day because of it. But then it's always worth it!

Hopeless was a lot harder for me to read than her other books, mostly because it deals with topics that aren't the easiest to read about. The summary plays on the whole secrets will be revealed type of storyline, but there is so much more going on in this book. I must admit that a lot of the revelations are ones that the reader can figure out for themselves very quickly, we're just kind of left waiting for Sky to play catch up with us. Now, although it can get a little frustrating, it kept me reading because I needed her to realise the truth.

Holder and Sky are likeable characters, much like all the characters that Hoover writes, but both are a little strange and messed up in their own ways. They're not really the type of characters that I can easily relate to, but that's probably because of how they have been changed over the years by events in their lives. Holder has he whole broody, staring thing going on for him at the beginning, which never works for me. But he slowly seems to move pass that and actually gets a personality and completely wins me over.

The romance in this is what most Hoover fans love about this book, and I admit that it can be very cute. But it is also very intense and very complicated and sooooo romantic at times. Some people love the romance, but I'm the person who reads the really romance filled parts of books and tries not to cringe. Not in a horrible way, I'm just one of those people. Like, if I'm buying a birthday card, I'm going to go for a funny or insulting one over a card that goes on and on about how amazing you are and how I hope you have the most wonderful day.

4/5 Butterflies 

I feel like it's been so long since I have wrote a review that I have forgotten how to even go about it, I'm not even sure what I want to say about this book. I did really enjoy it, I always enjoy Hoover's books, but it just wasn't what I was expecting. It's a book that could be very predictable, but also very shocking and hard to read. Some of it just doesn't feel very believable to me, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not my favourite Hoover book, but I still highly recommend it.

Title: Losing Hope
Author: Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Atria
Buy this book: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Book Depository

Hopeless was Sky's story. Now, in Losing Hope, we finally learn the truth about Dean Holder. Haunted by the little girl he couldn't save from imminent danger, Holder's life has been overshadowed by feelings of guilt and remorse. He has never stopped searching for her, believing that finding her would bring him the peace he needs to move on. However, Holder could not have anticipated that he would be faced with even greater pain the moment they reconnect.

After reading Hopeless, I already knew that I was going to run straight to my bookcase and grab my copy of Losing Hope. I wanted more of the story, more of the characters and I definitely needed Holder's point of view. I needed his point of view so badly, I'd spent most of my time reading Hopeless waiting I could get his perspective on things.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favourite Top Ten Posts

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke & The Bookish.

This weeks topic is:

My Top Ten TTT Posts!

Now this is in celebration of five years of Top Ten Tuesday, and the topic is to pick my top ten topics they have done in those five years. But it only makes sense to pick from the ones I have actually participated in. So, here it goes, here's my favourite top ten posts that I have taken part in.

The Top Ten Books I Force Others To Read

This was my FIRST Top Ten Tuesday post, so there was no way I wasn't going to include this on here. I actually struggled with the original topic, which was books I'd been forced to read. But I found it much easier to think of books that I force onto other people. This list has grown a lot since I originally wrote this post.

The Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

Some people don't like books that make them cry or others just can't cry when they're reading the book. I am not some people. I am the kind of person who starts sobbing as soon I start Deathly Hallows now because I know what's coming later on. I liked being able to share with you some total tearjerker books, in the hopes you would read them and be emotionally broken. Yup, I am a strange little human.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer TBR

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at The Broke & The Bookish.

This weeks topic is:

Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire- for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past...She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved by a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return. 

If you didn't realise this would be number one of my list then you are clearly new to the blog. Maas is the master as far as I am concerned and I will happily devour any little bookish morsel she will give me. I am desperate but scared for Queen of Shadows. Especially since when I met the author she said they aren't sending out any advanced copies. THAT MEANS BIG THINGS ARE COMING. DEATH!!!! Lots and lots of death that will probably make me cry. CHOOSE CHAOL WOMAN! Gah.... this series. I need this book. You can check out my gushing reviews of her books here: Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Assassin's Blade & A Court of Thorns and Roses,

The Boy Most Likely by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:-find the liquor cabinet blindfolded-need a liver transplant- drive his car into a house
Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:-well, not date her little brother's baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.
For Tim, it wouldn't be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the "smart" choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard/Then the unexpected consequences of Tim's wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn't all it appear to be, that he never could have predicted... but maybe should have,And Alice is caught in the middle.

My Life Next Door is one of my favourite books of all time, it's just so fucking adorable. Seriously, there is not better word for it. Plus it hit on topics that were hard hitting to me at the time and it made me cry. I have been absolutely desperate for this sequel ever since. Give it to me!!!

Monthly Recap: May 2015

I can't really do much of a recap on blog posts because, let's be honest, there haven't been any. I feel like I can't even call myself a blogger any more. I've posted two things in the entirety of May, which is absolutely ridiculous. I love my blog and I enjoy doing it, I'm just far too exhausted at the minute and have far less time to dedicate to it. Plus I'm struggling with other things. But I WILL get back on top of it.... eventually Just bear with me!

This month has been rather amazing for the events I've got to go to and all the amazing books I've got my hand on. The month might have been awful in every other way, but at least that all worked out. First I got to go to the filming of QI, which was absolutely amazing. I can't express just how excited and fan girly I got about the fact I was sitting three rows away from STEPHEN FRY! Oh, how I love that man. Plus I adore Bill Bailey and he was one of the guests on that day too.