The fiance and I are gaining a flatmate in the form of his brother - not by choice. His brother needs a place and you don't turn away family. But neither of us is looking forward to sharing our flat with another human being. We have got used to having our own place, our own space and it just isn't as comfortable when you have someone else living with you. I always stress out about everything, so this is just a nightmare for me - especially since this could end up being way more long term than either of us would like. Wish me luck, internet!
The other stressful thing was that my blog got taken down by blogger... again! They have an automated system that takes down blogs that violate policies. It's the second time this has happened and it is so frustrating. I send in an appeal each time, and eventually get the blog back - but I am so fed up with it. Very tempted to go self hosted but I literally have ZERO idea where to start. If you can give me some advice or point me to some useful websites, I'd love that.
The Stones of Winter by Oskar Jensen: This was a review copy sent to me by Hot Key Books, and is the first book in a series.
V for Violet by Alison Rattle: This is another great review book from Hot Key Books and it sounds really good. It involves a murder mystery aspect and is set in London during the 60s- sounds AWESOME!
London Belongs To Us by Sarra Manning: This was a surprise review copy from Hot Key Books - which came in adorable packaging, with a cute London pin. It sounds like a cute romantic contemporary, and I am excited to read it.
Silence is a Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher: This is one I have wanted to read for a long time and am very excited to get to it.
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare: OH MY GOD! I can't wait to review this book just so I can rant, rant and then rant some more. This was such a fucking disappointment - mostly because it started so well, and was looking to be my first 4/5 read from Clare. Nope! She goes and ruins it AGAIN by being completely incapable of pacing out a story. Ranty review to come... so look forward to that! ★★
F*ck Love by Tarryn Fisher: This one was really interesting but very frustrating. It was the story of a woman who falls in love with her best friends boyfriend. Not the first time I've seen this - I ended up loving Something Borrowed. It was quite good and kept me reading, but I get so sick of a book where the two lead characters are completely incapable of getting their shit together. ★★★★
Flawed by Kate Avelyn: I was so torn about finally getting to this book. Forbidden is one of my all time favourite books - it is achingly beautiful and completely heartbreaking. I have avoided similar books since because I worried that they'd not be anywhere near as good or equally break me. This was really interesting to read but I didn't love it as much as Forbidden - mostly as I felt the end was just a bit too overdramatic and unnecessary. ★★★
I have spoken a lot (I'm totally not sorry!) about my love of Instagram and how much I love taking bookish photos for it. I recently reached 6,000 followers on there and thought it was a good time to do a giveaway. I am offering £30 worth of books to the winner - the winner gets to choose their books from Book Depository. To find out how to enter GO HERE.
What have you been up to this week? Have you read any 5/5 read this week, if so, what?
I can't even imagine not seeing your blog anymore! I'm so sorry you were stressed out this week. You're probably not in school anymore but for me, school is my number one source of stress. yeah... I'm not so keen on finishing the TMI series. I got through Book 1 and that was enough for me. You can rant to me anytime u want about how just bland TMI is (in my opinion). You know where to find me ;)
ReplyDeleteAlex @ The Book's Buzz
Sounds like a really crappy week for you. I like my own space so I wouldn't like having to put someone else up, even if it was family. I hope blogger doesn't decide to take my blog down-I get stressed enough without a missing blog to deal with. Gah, hope this week proves to be a bit better for you.
ReplyDeleteAww, I'm really sorry about your horrible week. Here's to hoping the next one is better!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about the extra crappy week with a side of crap! Those are never fun! Especially the blogging woes! I would freak out if Blogger did that to me! I wouldn't know where to begin with something like wordpress. I'm not the most computer savvy person these days! LOL!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy all the lovely new reads and this next week will be filled with sunshine and rainbows! ;)
My STS will be up tomorrow, so stop by then if you can!
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower :)
Oh, yeah, getting a room-mate will definitely change the dynamics at home, Charnell. And I completely understand that you didn't want to say know to your fiancé's brother.
ReplyDeleteYour new books look great, and I hope you'll enjoy them.
Have a wonderful weekend and happy reading.
Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
I hope your roommate situation goes by easy and he won't have to stay with you guys for long!
ReplyDeleteI've had F*ck Love on my nook since it came out and have been meaning to read something by Tarryn Fisher aside from the novella series she's written with Colleen Hoover.
I hope you enjoy all your books and congrats on 6k followers on Instagram! :D
Ach, I can't believe they tried to take away your blog! How rude! Glad you're back up and running now though, and your haul looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog earlier and have a great week :)
I'm sorry that you've had such a crappy week. I'm glad your blog is back up and running now, it must've been such a worry when it disappeared. I hope you enjoy reading all your new books this week, it looks like you have a lovely haul today. By the way, your photos in your post are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHere’s my StS post:
https://rathertoofondofbooks.com/2016/04/30/stacking-the-shelves-30-april/
Self hosting is so worth it. I use GoDaddy and they are wonderful. It's frustrating when you can't see your blog. Back up your blog files before you make the move, if you decide to go self-hosted. Sorry about the roommate situation. I hope you love all of your new books.
ReplyDeleteGrace @ Books of Love
Congrats on getting so many followers! 6,000 is amazing! We have had to have a relative stay with us for extended times. Once my Brother-In-Law stayed for 6 months while he was getting settled in the area. Another time one of my brothers stayed with us for about 6 months, as well. Both times were fine. It was nice to get to know my relatives again, and they were very careful to be good house guests. Don't worry, it will all work out. Have a wonderful week.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm familiar with any of your new books. But I hope you enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog! Have a fantastic weekend. =)
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Sorry you're having such a crappy week but great haul! I hope things calm down a bit for you :)
ReplyDeleteDanielle @ Life With Two Boys
Ugh to the crappy week. And I totally know how you'd feel having someone else invade your home space. :((( That is like the worst. I freaked out when my sister + kids came to stay with us for a week...AND THAT WAS JUST A WEEK! I love family, but I also like to be alone and safe in my space. XD ahem. Anyway I hope you do survive and that it's not too awkward/uncomfortable!
ReplyDeleteAlsoooooo have you checked out the blog nosegraze.com? She does tons of tutorials on how to go self-hosted and I think does the hosting too! My brother-in-law did it for me. XD Which I'm very lucky about because I have zero idea how it all works too, hehe. But it's suuuuch a relief to own my blog so I highly recommend!!
Aw, I'm sorry to hear you had a bad week. That sucks so much about Blogger taking your blog down! I think I would cry if that happened to me and I've only been blogging for a couple of months, haha. I hope the house sharing situation goes smoothly for you and doesn't cause you too much stress :)
ReplyDeleteGreat haul!! And wow, congrats on the 6k followers!
Man - that stinks about blogger. I didn't even know they did that. Did they tell you what policies you allegedly violated? Hope it runs more smoothly in the future.
ReplyDeleteBambi's STS and Recap
I can tell how stressful that would be with blogger taking your blog down! There are two alternatives that I'd recommend, either WordPress.com (where they host it for you), or self-hosted WordPress.org (note the different .com and .org addresses for each). I do self hosted and love it, but a lot of people use the WordPress.com hosted service and find it much better than blogger. You can even transfer (or set up a redirect) between your blogger blog and the new WP blog so you don't lose traffic from already existing links. Good luck, whatever you choose to do :)
ReplyDeletehttp://natalieslife.com/2016/04/libraries-gishwhes-and-netgalley-oh-my
That must be stressful dealing with Blogger! I made the switch to Wordpress with my new blog and while it was tricky and frustrating to learn for me, I am happy I stuck with it. It is much easier to use now. I hope you enjoy your new books, and best of luck with the new flatmate and your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteAnxious Canadian Mom: STS/April Wrap Up
Yup, I'm still pretty sure somebody is out to get you. :/ Really sucks, dude! I have no idea about self hosting. I can barely figure blogger out. You'd think after 2.5 years I'd have tried to figure this shit out. #whatever
ReplyDeleteI live with my dad and step-mom. And yea, it has its benefits. But I also LOVE being alone and wish I could afford to be by myself. But right now this is life. Sucks.
Clare is overly repetitive throughout TMI. TID is like a different author, in a way. It is absolutely so much better! Are you reading the Clare books in order of publication? Because you should definitely do that. Which means your next Clare book should be Clockwork Angel. Which is so much YAY!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah you can't turn away family... I just hope things with the brother around will be okay in the end. And blogger did it AGAIN. Frankly that is pretty worrying. I'm not self-hosted so I can't help you - I wouldn't know where on earth to start either. Ahhh I'm so annoyed that you were loving City of Glass and then it just plummeted -.-
ReplyDeleteLovely books. I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteI had an awesome reading day on sat, finished two novels in row, lol, but the week was mainly spent on writing papers for my upcoming finals.
ReplyDeleteI hope next week will be better for you! :) Maybe that situation with your soon to be brother-in-law will change sooner than you think!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of policies do they accuse you of breaking if I may ask? I'm not self-hosted either, and now I'm concerned that blogger might take my blog down one day too, although I'm totally doing everything according to the rules :3
Uh, what a shame that you didn't enjoy City of Glass either... I'll read your review soon, but it always hurts to see other people disliking a book you absolutely adore. :/ Are you going to keep on reading the series, though?
I'm still re-reading City of Glass so I haven't finished a 5/5 star book last week. Here's my April Wrap Up @Swissbookworm :)
Have a great new week!
Hope this week is better for you. Stones of Winter looks like an interesting one. Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteWishing things get better for you soon. And if it's taking a bit of time, make sure to read a good book. That always cheers one up:3 Hope you have a wonderful week! Btw, The Stone's of Winter looks interesting, and I can't wait for your review on City of Glass, cuz I am still debating on whether to continue with the mortal instruments series or not.
ReplyDeleteWhat policies do they think you're violating???? How annoying! Good luck having someone come to stay, this happened with my sister a few years ago and made us closer than ever and I cried when she left lol You should speak to Ashley at Nose Graze about going self-hosted. I've played with the idea for ages but I've never made the leap. If I ever did, I would definitely use her and her Tweak Me Theme and BookBlogger plugin!
ReplyDelete