I've had a week off from work, which has allowed me to catch up on a ton of things. So time to catch up on everything I have been up to since my last post.Chapter 5 Proof Party: I was lucky enough to get invited to the Chapter 5 Proof Party that was held in London at the beginning of July. It was held on the top floor of The Old Crown Pub near Tottenham Court Station and was such a fun evening. There was books galore and author Jennifer L Armentrout came to talk about her books and sign any that people had brought along with them, or taken from the ones offered to us by the wonderful people at Chapter 5. I was extra excited to receive three amazing proofs: Replica by Lauren Oliver, Caraval by Stephanie Garber and Frostblood by Elly Blake.
My birthday: It was my birthday two weeks ago and I had an incredible day. I invited friends and family over for a barbecue and the day was perfect. The weather was beautiful, the food was tasty and the company was the best I could hope for. Plus they all knew me so well and gifted me a ton of Funkos! A bunch of us were still up at 2am playing games, drinking and devouring the leftovers from the day, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.
Bookstagram: I have spoke a lot about my addiction to bookstagram. I can't stop myself, I just absolutely love it. I know a large part of the reason I haven't blogged is because I have been spending all my free time taking, editing and posting my bookstagram photos. And I have zero regrets, This month I hosted my first ever bookstagram monthly challenge and it was so much fun! I have loved seeing everyone's photos. It has also been wonderful to see all my hard work paying off, as my Instagram has grown so much over the last few weeks. I will be hosting another challenge this August, so if you are interested then definitely feel free to take part! I also hit a huge milestone on Instagram: 10,000 followers! So keep an eye out for a giveaway going up there soon!London Film and Comic Con: As this post goes live, I will be at the second day of YALC and LFCC and I will probably be hot, sweaty, exhausted but super excited and having a wonderful time regardless. This is my third year attending and I am so excited. It's always so much fun. I get a ton of books and meet some amazing authors - this year I will get to meet V.E. Scwhab and Maggie Stiefvater! And I can't wait!!! I will also spend far too much money on bookish items and other things.
I am usually totally not embarassed by my hauls, but even I think this months is a little excessive! Ooops. I couldn't stop myself. A bunch of these were all sent by publishers, so that makes me feel less bad. And a lot of the ones I bought were on special. I got a ton in Waterstones Picaddily on sale, for £1 each, even for hardbacks. All the adorably cute Funkos are what family and friends bought me for my birthday, although I forgot to include Mrs Potts, Chip and Cogsworth.
Replica by Lauren Oliver, Caraval by Stephanie Garber, Frostblood by Elly Blake, Things We Know By Heart by Jess Kirby, Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch, Aerie by Maria Dahvanna Headley
I recently read Replica and found the format was so fascinating. This is a story where we have two main characters, Lyra and Gemma, and you can choose which story you want to read first. You can either start with Lyra's and then go to Gemma's or vice versa, or you could read them a chapter each or something completely different. Caraval and Frost Blood, as well as Replica, were ARCs I received at the Chapter 5 party and can't wait to read them. I have heard nothing but amazing things about Caraval and I will be getting to that asap. I received Things We Know By Heart, Frost Like Night and Aerie from the wonderful people at Harper 360. I am currently reading and loving Things We Know By Heart. Look out for my review on the 3rd August, as I am participating in the blog tour for it.
This Savage Song and My Lady Jane are two books I received in my most recent Owlcrate boxes and I am excited to read both. Ivory and Bone is another one that was sent to me by Harper 360 and I have heard a lot of good things about this one. And I Darken is one that I bought for myself as I love the sound of it, a gender-swapped retelling of Vlad the Impaler. 5 to 1 sounds really weird but it was £1 in Waterstones for the hardback, so I couldn't help myself.
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard, Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy, The Painted Man by Peter Brett, Oblivion by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark is another one that I got for £1 and it actually looks really interesting, it is one I hope to read really soon and it looks like one I can read really quickly. Looking for JJ is one I have wanted to read for a long time, as I once read another book by the author that I loved. The Painted Man is a fantasy book that I won on Goodreads and I have seen some amazing reviews for it, so I am intrigued by that one. Oblivion and Half-Blood are two that I got at the Chapter 5 party. I now have two copies of Half-Blood, so I will probably give the spare away or donate it to work.
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout, The Return by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lydia by Natasha Farrant, Dear Charlie by N.D. Gomes
Obsidian, The Return and Don't Look Back were the others that I got from the Chapter 5 party. got to get all my JLA pretties signed by the author whilst I was there. I have spares for a few of these and will give them away. Lydia and Dear Charlie are two review copies I was sent recently and will be reading asap.
Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes, You Don't Know Me by Sophia Bennett, Castle by Sophia Bennett, Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman, Two Summers by Aimee Friedman
Queen of Hearts is one I bought myself on special in Waterstones Piccadilly, and I am intrigued by it but also nervous to read it. You Don't Know Me and The Castle were two more books I got for £1 from Waterstones. I read and loved the authors latest book, so I couldn't not pick these up and I really hope I love them. Lying About Last Summer and Two Summers were both on offer in ASDA and sounded interesting, so I picked them up - I can't stop myself, I have a huge book buying problem.
After You by JoJo Moyes, A Little In Love by Susan Fletcher, Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall, The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine, United as One by Pittacus Lore
After You is another one I bought myself, I quite enjoyed Me Before You and curious to see what happens for Lou next. A Little In Love, Under Rose Tainted Skies and The Shadow Queen are the others I bought on special in ASDA. United as One was sent to me by a publisher, even though I had let them know that I had only read book one in the series, but they seemed to want it to be shared on social media more than anything, so that is probably why they still sent it.
So that is my rather giant haul for the month of July... 31 books, which is exactly 1 book a day for the whole month. So that would explain how I have barely read any of them. All my time has been sucked up by work, social events or Pokemon Go. Hopefully I can get some reading done next month.
How was your reading month and haul? Did you get through a lot of books? Anything that you would recommend? And, most importantly, which of my books should I get to first?
