Jess’s 75 book challenge 2010

Hey guys! I'm Jess and I'm a 20 year old book addict. I was formally on the 50 book challenge last year but seems as I read over 75 books I thought that I better get my butt over here! My plan this year is to read a lot more classics and to get a fair chunk of my TBR pile read. I’m addicted to buying books and buy far too many. I love historical fiction, romance, fantasy and young adult and if you have any recommendations for me feel free to let me know. I hope to get to know a lot of you in 2010 and good luck and happy reading with your challenges :)

Heres the links to…
My 50 book challenge 2009
http://www.librarything.com/topic/76660
My ABC Challenge 2010
http://www.librarything.com/topic/80208
My books off the shelf challenge 2010
http://www.librarything.com/topic/80205

Currently reading:

Key:
*= my rating out of 5 stars
RR= Re-read
TBF= to be finished reading
B= Borrowed

Read:
January
1.) The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (5*) post 8
2.) Book Lover by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack (3*) post 8
3.) Sunshine by Robin McKinley (3*) post 18
4.) Alanna, The first adventure by Tamora Pierce (4*) post 30
5.) Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (5*) post 39
6.) A Book Addict's Treasury by Lynda Murphy and Julie Rugg (5*) post 39
7.) Night World: Bind-up volume 1 by L J Smith (4.5*) post 49
Favourite book of January: The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
February
8.) Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert (5*) post 56
9.) Impossible by Nancy Werlin (4*) post 59
10.) Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers (3*) post 62
11.) Fallen by Lauren Kate (5*) post 71
12.) Evidence of Angels by Suza Scalora (4*) post 76
13.) If I Stay by Gayle Forman (4.5*) post 76
Favourite book of February: Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
March
14.) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (4*) post 81
15.) Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (4.5*) post 87
16.) Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (5*) post 96
17.) The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (4*) post 100
18.) Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks (4.5*) post 106
Favourite book of March: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
April
19.) Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles (5*) post 106
20.) Angel by Cliff McNish (3*) post 106
21.) Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (3.5*) post 110
22.) The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (5*) post 122
23.) PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern (5*) post 122, RR
24.) The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (4*) post 122
25.) Gone by Lisa McMann (3*) post 128
26.) Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers (4.5*) post 128
27.) Burned (House of Night) by P.C and Kristin Cast (4*) post 139
Favourite book of April: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
May
28.) Night World: Volume 2 by L J Smith (3*) post 140
29.) L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (3.5*) post 140
30.) Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier (4*) post 147
31.) Sweet little lies by Lauren Conrad (3.5*) post 150
32.) Looking for Alaska by John Green (4*) post 150
33.) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick (4.5*) post 150
34.) Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr (4.5*) post 150
35.) I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder (3.5*) post 150
36.) Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (5*) post 161
37.) The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (4*) post 163
38.) Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr (4*) post 163
39.) Thin by Grace Bowman (4*) post 167
Favourite book of May: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
June
40.) Caribbean Cruising by Rachel Hawthorne (4.5*) post 167
41.) The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer (3.5*) post 173
42.) The Love of My Life by Louise Douglas (4*) post 173
43.) A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker (4.5*) post 173
44.) Unwind by Neal Shusterman (4.5*) post 175
45.) It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han (4*) post 180
46.) A Spring Affair by Milly Johnson (4*) post 182
47.) Sea by Heidi R. Kling (5*) post 185
Favourite book of June: Sea by Heidi R. Kling
July
48.) Dreamland by Sarah Dessen (5*) post 187, RR
49.) Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce (4*) post 190
50.) Two-way Street by Lauren Barnholdt (5*) post 191
51.) Beastly by Alex Flinn (4*) post 194
52.) The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong (4*) post 196
53.) Forget You by Jennifer Echols (4*) post 202
54.) Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (4.5*) post 202
55.) The Sisterhood by Emily Barr (4*) post 205
Favourite book of July: Two-way Street by Lauren Barnholdt
August
56.) The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (3.5*) post 213
57.) Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick (4*) post 215
58.) The Maze Runner by James Dashner (5*) post 228
59.) Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles (4*) post 240
60.) The Poisoned House by Michael Ford (4*) post 242
61.) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (5*) post 253
62.) Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma (5*) post 258

Mwa ha ha ha!! I have found thee! and starred as required ;)

Welcome!

Welcome to the group!

Yello... starred!

Thanks for the welcomes so far folks! :)

Ah I can't wait to start! *grabs a cup of tea and sits in comfy armchair next to pile of books waiting for 2010* ;)

Hey guys. So I’ve only just edited this as it took me a while to read my first book of the year the fabulous The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon because I found out the sad news that my uncle passed away on boxing day. I’ve been busy sorting out the funeral and things for that and haven’t felt much like reading which is a real shock for me. However I seem to be getting back into the swing of things now and hopefully will be on this more after the funeral on Monday. The Shadow of The Wind was a wonderful choice for my first read of the year especially to help take my mind off things and heres my review for it.

1.) The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shadow of the Wind is an exciting and suspenseful gothic thriller, set immediately after the Spanish Civil War. One early morning a young boy is taken by his farther to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books a hidden library in Barcelona full of rare and obscure titles. Daniels father asks him to choose one book and to treasure it for the rest of his life. This is how Daniel happens upon The Shadow of the Wind. After reading it Daniel becomes obsessed with the book and its author Julian Carax, as he investigates he is drawn into the mystery of Julian Carax, his books, his death and his life. Before long Daniel is tangled up in the web that Carax has left behind a web spun out of murder, love, betrayal and revenge. I adored this book. It’s one of those rare books that I would recommend to anyone as I truly believe that it has something for everyone. This is one of my all time very favourite reads that I know I’ll re-read over and over in the years to come. I rushed out and brought Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s second book The Angel's Game as soon as I finished it and if it’s half as good as The Shadow of the Wind then I’m in for an outstanding read.

After reading such an engrossing mystery of a book I decided I needed to read something a little fluffier next which brings me on to my next review.

2.) Book Lover by Jennifer Kaufman and Karen Mack

Dora is separated from her husband and has lost her direction in life. To deal with the blow she compulsively buys books then locks herself away for days at a time reading and getting lost in another world. This is how she meets Fred who works at her local bookstore. This book is strictly chick lit so I think we can all see where the plot is going. This was a nice light read that I would recommend to all book addicts. I think a lot of us will be able to relate to Dora’s book binges and her passion for reading. Over all worth a read.

Right now that’s me all up to date. I’m going to start reading Sunshine by Robin McKinley I’ve heard good things and a girl needs a good vampire book to sink her teeth into every now and again!

Sorry to hear about the loss of your uncle.

Thanks alcottacre

I'm so glad you managed to find a book to drown out the world a while - and what better book to do that than The Shadow of the Wind? Your review perfectly encapsulated how I felt about it when I read it - it just swept me away, and oh how I wish the Cemetery of Forgotten Books was real! I think I'll have to keep an eye out for 'Book Lover' too (I wonder why there's no touchstone for it?).

Good luck for Monday - just a few more days and it'll all be over - and in the meantime, keep warm, keep safe, and, of course, keep reading... xx

Yes it was such a good choice! If you want something to completely take you away folks pick up The Shadow of the Wind! I can’t believe I haven’t read this sooner, I hadn’t even heard of it until I found out that you and Rach read it and loved it. Oh yeah I think you’d have a hard time getting me out of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books! Yeah I think you’d enjoy Book Lover :). Ah I know it annoys me so much when I cant find a touchstone I looked for a while but couldn’t find it :|

Thanks Ellie :) xx

In the States, The Book Lover is known as Literacy and Longing in L.A., don't ask me why.

Aha! Thanks Stasia, you have just saved me a whole lot of confusion... When I searched for the author on Amazon those two titles came up as separate books - and at different prices - and I did wonder whether they were the same novel, considering the similar theme. Now I can just pick the one at the best price!

Stasia! Thank you very much! I knew the plot of the Book Lover sounded very, very familiar. I read Literacy and Longing last year. Why do they not make book titles universal?! I think you will enjoy it Ellie.

ETA: Sorry to hear of your loss Jessica

#14/15: Glad I could help!

Thanks Carmenere

and Ellie if you end up buying it let me know!

3.) Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Sunshine (Rae) has spent her life trying to be normal - Well as normal as it can be in a world full of vampires, sorcerers, were’s and other creatures that go bump in the night. Despite coming from a strong powerful family of sorcerers Sunshine just wants a normal life baking cinnamon rolls in her family’s coffeehouse. Despite her attempts to live a normal life Sunshine is soon flung into the other world when she’s kidnapped by a gang of vampires and finds that she’s to be dinner for her fellow vampire prisoner Constantine. It soon becomes clear that if they both want to get out alive they’ll have to form an unlikely alliance to escape Constantine’s enemy Bo who keeps them imprisoned and Sunshine will have to use her supernatural sorcerer powers that she’s been trying to deny having all these years. The rest of the story follows Sunshine's development of her powers and her forbidden alliance with Con to defeat the master vampire Bo.

First things first I’d like to say that I love a good vampire novel. Was this a vampire novel? Me thinks not. The vampires in question hardly feature, and when they do there is little action. I really enjoyed the start of this novel but the rest of the book I found really quiet boring which is probably the worst thing a book can be. There was little action and the middle of the book was filled up with Rae's constant unnecessary babbling. The ending was left really unfinished with a lot of questions still unanswered which would leave a great opening for a sequel but after looking on Robins website it says she has no plans and doesn’t intend to write a sequel which is really quiet bazaar with the way the books set up. However there were parts of the novel I enjoyed very much. I liked the idea of the voodoo wars and I enjoyed learning about Rae’s power.
I really had high hopes for this novel as I’ve heard a lot of good things about Robin McKinley. I’ll probably try something else by her in the future but I definitely won’t be re-reading this and I won’t be recommending it!

Sunshine review is up and seems I really didn’t enjoy it all that much I really need a good read next, hmm what to choose?

You didn't like it? ah well I'm not gonna shout at you for it you are fully entitled to think whatever you like. Tis a shame though- I quite liked Sunshine although I will grant you that the vamps don't feature a huge amount in the book.
What books you fancy reading next?

Hmm well that's the first negative review I've heard for Sunshine! I picked it up at the library last night, now I'm really curious to see what I think of it compared to everyone else!

I know I'm surprised I didnt enjoy it myself as it really sounds like something I would enjoy. Mind you over all I did still give it 3 stars I didnt not like it I just didnt love it.

dk_phoenix - Let me know what you think when your done reading even if you love it, I enjoy hearing what other people think it gives me something to think about.

Hmm I'm not sure but I was thinking maybe Alanna, the First Adventure By Tamora Pierce or if not maybe a teen fantasy book of some kind. You know how my mind changes though Rach so dont hold me to that ;)

READ IT READ IT!!! :P or I'll set my friend's dalek snowman on ya ;)
Nah i'm not that tyrannical...

I may very well seems as I’m expecting the rest in the series from a certain someone for my birthday next Saturday ;) and gosh darn I better like it because I fear that if I write one fault about it Rach will write me a message of rage and disown me as not only her twin but her friend! :P

Yes does sound like a good idea :P I'm sure you will love it and I wouldn't disown you! just maybe frown at you for a week or two hehe

Hehe thats good to know! But im sure I'll love it :)

So I started Alanna, The first adventure earlier I'm half way through and its proving to be a quick read so I should have it finished tonight :)

*grin* awesomes do give me your impressions later m'dear I'm dying to know what you think.

Don't you worry I will do but so far I'm enjoying it :)

4.) Alanna, The First Adventure (Song of the Lioness) by Tamora Pierce

This was my first read of this book and my first by Tamora Pierce. Unlike a lot of reviews around my age (19) I didn’t first read this book in my younger teen years, and I only wish that I had because I think it would have become one of my very favourite childhood books and I would have re read it over and over the years. I couldn’t give this book 5 stars as for me now the writing was just a little bit too young to fully enjoy that’s why I only wish I’d read it when I was younger because I think I would have loved it even more. However this book was still immensely enjoyable and I feel like I’ll enjoy the books more and more as Alanna gets older as with her being between the ages of 10 and 13 in this book I didn’t connect with her as much as someone younger may be able to. Over all this was a really promising start and I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the Song of the Lioness series to find out what happens to Alanna and co next.

So this morning I spent a few hours reading one of my newest buys A Book Addict's Treasury by Lynda Murphy and Julie Rugg and I came across two quotes that I absolutely love so I thought I’d post them on here to share.

Anita Brookner and I are going on holiday together to St Andrews. A couple of years back I went with George Elliot to Raasay but it was not a barrel of laughs; there’s still a book mark in my disintegrating penguin copy of Daniel Deronda at page 289, in the middle of the chapter called ‘Maidens Choosing’, signposting where we parted company. – A. Taylor

I remember once on coming into my library that I was persistently disturbed by my 'Jane Eyre'. Going up to it, wondering what was the matter with it, restless because of it, I only after a morning's uneasiness discovered that it had been placed next to my Jane Austens, and anyone who remembers how sharply Charlotte criticised Jane will understand why this would never do. - Hugh Walpole

Also going to make a start on Rebecca tonight :)

I've just sat here and read the first two chapters of Rebecca to get a taste of what its like and I'm kinda hooked already!

Also really considering buying Stephen Kings new novel Under the dome hmm...

So in the end I ended up buying more than just Under the Dome I also got
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
And Immortal: love stories with bite

My new years resolution of trying not to buy as many books is failing miserably.
I’m going to be really busy this week so I think my reading of Rebeccas going to be slow its so good though that I just want to devour it why am I always busy when I’m reading something really good? :(

Love the quotes from The Book Addict's Treasury! I hope you enjoy Rebecca. I recently read Daphne, a fictional account of Daphne DuMaurier's post-Rebecca life, and thought it was pretty good as well.

Thanks for stopping by carlym. May have to check that out when I'm done with Rebecca :). Also really enjoying The Book Addicts Treasury. It’s the perfect book to pick up when you’ve got a quick 5 minute break to read a few quotes and short stories. I've been mainly reading that because I’ve been busy however I’m off tomorrow so I’m going to crack on with Rebecca me thinks.

A Book Addict's Treasury is one of my favourite books - I could just browse through it all day! So many passages I identify with - if you like it I'd definitely recommend Biblioholism by Tom Raabe. It's very amusing and reads like a character study of an LT-er in all their book-addicted glory!

Hmmmm, by the quotes you posted from A Book Addicts Treasury I would say that I'm not quite addicted as Hugh Walpole but this book looks like it would be entertaining, so it's one for the wishlist. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Thanks for the rec Ellie think I'll definitely have to check out Biblioholism by Tom Raabe.

No problem Carmenere, I would definitely recommend it to all book lovers theres a lot of ''thats me!'' moments.

Hey guys first of all I would like to say I have a big smile on my face right now because I’ve only just found out that one of my reviews got quoted in a book! It was for one of my favourite books The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and was used in the English copy of Catching Fire the second book. Usually I don’t pay any attention to the quotes inside which is why it’s took me so long to find out but someone on amazon left a comment under my review to let me know which was really nice of them. This is what I put and anyone with the English version of Catching Fire should find it on the first page :)

‘‘When I saw that this book had recommendations from two of my favourite authors Stephenie Meyer and Stephen King I knew I just had to read it and was in for a great read, and I wasn't disappointed. This book had me gripped from the start. I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next, every chapter was full of suspense. I can't begin to recommend this book enough and I now can't wait for the second book to come out.’’

So anyways I’ve been crazy busy the last few days- well all of January to be honest but anyway I have yet to write up a review for Rebecca and A Book Addict's Treasury my recent reads! I’m in a lazy mood so I’m only going to give brief thoughts.

5.) Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

This is a book that I’ve always wanted to read but have put off because of it being a classic. I have a bit of a phobia about reading classics, some of the stuffy covers and studying them at school has always put me off as I always thought they’d be too much of a challenge to read and there for I wouldn’t enjoy them. However I decided to bite the bullet with this one after friends telling me how good it is. I adored it and found it so simple to follow while the writing still remained gorgeously gothic and haunting. I’ve since purchased some more of Daphne Du Maurier’s works and some other classics and if there as enjoyable as Rebecca then I’m in for a real treat.

6.) A Book Addict's Treasury by Lynda Murphy and Julie Rugg

This is the perfect book for a book addict. It’s full of short stories and quotes about books and bookish behaviour that I could relate to. There’s so many ‘that’s me!’ moments and its perfect to pick up when you’ve got 5 minutes to just read a little bit more. I also loved the authors Lynda Murphy and Julie Rugg’s own bookish stories at the start of the book. A must for book lovers!

Right now that’s done with :) I’m also finally reading the first Nightworld book by L. J Smith at last and I’m enjoying it so much so far.

Congratulations on the review quote! That's amazing.

I'm glad you're enjoying the Nightworld book, too.

Wow! Congrats on the review quote, that's fantastic! What are the odds?! I'd buy an extra copy of the book, rip that page out, and frame it if I were you. Haha. :)

Congratulations on your Hunger Games review! How exciting! I'm about to start reading it for the first time this aftenroon and am really looking forward to it.

I'm also currently reading Rebecca. I'm only about 50 pages in so far, but am enjoying it very much. I'm glad you liked it.

:O Wow No way! Jess that's awesome!! I'm so gonna point that out to people (of course they may think I'm a tad batty but that's ok :P)

Yay I hope you like the Nightworld books - I literally 10 minutes ago finished reading the second book of the Secret Circle series and OMG they are brilliant! New literary guy crush- Adam red-headed and so sweet *swoons* Sorry I'm babbling now .

Thanks everyone I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am its just amazing especially because its a book I love so much!

staci426- I'm sure you'll love it its really amazing and so is Rebecca for that matter so thats two really awesome books your reading there!

Rach- Yeah be like I know that girl she’s my best friend! Have you got your copy of catching fire on you? I can’t wait for you to see it!

Zoe & Rach- Yeah I’m half way through the first story Secret Vampire and I just think the plots a really good idea I’m loving it. I plan on getting my hands on all of L.J Smith's books if there as good as this!

dk_phoenix- Even if it was a second copy I don’t know if I could rip a page out of a book (eep!) framing it would be awesome though!

Darn right I will be! :) No my copy is buried about three rows back on my top shelf of my book cupboard *sniff* (don't ask how I know that but i've got some weird sense for knowing where spatially in the cupboard my books are)
Oh awesome - The Vampire Diaries is perhaps a tad meh but the Dark Visions bind-up and the Secret Circle are really good. I just basically ignored my flatmates for two hours in the kitchen reading the second book- I was *that* into it :P

Boo! :( Never mind I will remind you to have a look see when you next go home, or I guess you could look in some copy the next time your in a bookshop it only says ''amazon customer'' though which sucks I want my name on there! but still just knowing its mine and if people look it up its on my amazon account is all that matters!

Yeah seems I've got Dark Visions I think I'll read that when I'm done with Nightworld then the Secret Circle then Vampire diaries I'll leave them till last because I havent heard that great a things about them!...Although I do really want to watch the tv show!

Dark Visions is definitely my favourite! I've read it multiple times.

The only books of hers I've read recently are Vampire Diaries, because the new one came out last year (though of course, I'm so far behind in my TBR pile that I haven't actually read it yet). I think she had a perfect ending to the trilogy and went too far in writing a fourth book, so I'm not sure how the next ones will turn out. I still enjoyed my rereads, though.

And I guess soon I will have to start the Nightworld rereads, since after 10+ years of waiting the last one is finally supposed to be coming out!

Yeah thats what made me want to finally start the Nightworld books because of strange fate coming out soon! I also hear she's got A bind up of The Forbidden Game books coming out soon I really want them!

Right so I finished my last book of January
7.) Night World: Bind-up volume 1 by L J Smith

I’ve had this book on my bookshelf for just over a year now and have only just finished reading it for the first time, and like most books that you put off reading for ages I asked myself why it took me so long to read such an awesome book! When I got to the end of the first story in this volume Secret Vampire I was really sad because I was enjoying the story so much and wasn’t sure I wanted to move on to the other two but each story in my opinion just got better and better. So the order of my favourite stories goes backward- Enchantress, Daughters of Darkness and then Secret Vampire although there all really good. I brought the other 2 volumes today (for a bargain of £3.99 each basically half price at Tesco) and I’m so excited to read them and all the rest of L.J Smiths books.

Now I fancy maybe some Teen chick lit…hmm…*goes off to look through bookshelves*

Oooh yay you've finished it! :D I wished that the individual stories were a bit longer as well.
I've finally done some more posts on my blog since I've neglected it a bit with classes starting up again.

oooh really? I'll pop on over and take a look now :)

^^ I left you a comment! x

hehe good old George :P he's staring at me right now- it's a little scary *turns george to face wall* that's better
Oh, oh guess what I'm reading??

Aww poor George, whats you reading Miss? Is it something good?

I'm nearly finished with a rather large book that a certain somebody bought me for christmas ;) Tis indeed good.

First book of February read and it was AWESOME! Heres my review…

8.) Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert

Kara hasn't been back to Oak Park since the end of junior year, when a heroin overdose nearly killed her and sirens heralded her exit. Four years later, she returns to face the music. Her life changed forever back in high school: her family disintegrated, she ran around with a whole new crowd of friends, she partied a little too hard, and she fell in love with gorgeous bad-boy Adrian, who left her to die that day in Scoville Park....

Amid the music, the booze, the drugs, and the drama, her friends filled a notebook with heartbreakingly honest confessions of the moments that defined and shattered their young lives. Now, finally, Kara is ready to write her own.

I honestly enjoyed every moment of this book. It deals with so many issues, depression, suicide, cutting, drugs, domestic violence and so many other things. I found myself tearing up when reading every characters Ballad ( a story of their life that changed them in some way) and even though a lot of characters did things that I didn’t agree with myself I still completely understood why they felt the need to do that and never once judged them for it. This book is so powerful and memorable that I had to give it the full 5 stars. I can’t find a single fault with it the story’s so strong and real and the characters feel like they could be regular kids you see on the street all with these terrible secrets and you just wish you could dive into the book and give them all a huge hug. I’ve since ordered Stephanie’s debut novel I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and I can’t wait to read it and any other books that Steph brings out in the future.

Congratulations on such a great book to start of February!

One month down already - how time flies when you have so many books you want to read... :-s

Hey guys happy valentines day! Whatever you may all be up to. I’ve spent a lovely day reading mostly ah the joys of being single and have therefore finished my latest read Impossible by Nancy Werlin and heres my thoughts.

9.) Impossible by Nancy Werlin

For generations the Scarborough girls have each fallen pregnant at the age of 17 then after each giving birth to a baby girl became mad straight after to the point that their beyond help. This is what happened to our main character Lucy Scarborough’s mother Miranda, so when Lucy herself falls pregnant after being raped at the age of 17 she finds it a little strange a really weird coincidence or not? Her mother keeps turning up at her foster parents house trying to tell Lucy that theres a curse on the family and that Lucy’s doomed to the same fate as the rest of the women in the family unless she completes 3 impossible tasks from a folk song based on the Scarborough girls curse that has haunted her all of her life. So is there a curse? Or is it just one of her mother’s crazy tales? And more importantly how is Lucy going to break a curse asking her to perform three impossible tasks to save herself and her unborn daughter?

I actually brought this book on a bit of a whim not really knowing that much about it or its author, Ok I admit I was drawn in by the cool cover! But all in all I’m glad I picked it up. It was an original story and a fairly quick read full of magic and romance. Over all I’d give it 4 stars.

Hmmm, sounds interesting! A little like Practical Magic, maybe? Think I'll go check it out...

#59: Impossible looks pretty good. I will give it a shot. Thanks for the recommendation, Jess.

Edited to correct Touchstone

Hey guys yes you should check it out its worth a read. I’ve finished my 10th read which was pretty short and heres my review.

10.) Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers

This book has mainly pretty good reviews. I also really loved the sound of the book so its been on my wish list for a while so when it finally came in stock on Amazon I brought it right away, but I have to say I was a little disappointed.

Parker Fadley is one of those girls who has it all. She’s cheerleading captain, has a gorgeous boyfriend and has perfect grades. In fact perfect could be Parkers middle name. So when Parker starts turning up to school drunk, breaks up with her boyfriend, quits the cheerleading squad and generally trys to isolate herself from everyone people don’t understand whats made Parker fall from grace so drastically. Then when new guy Jake turns up and wants to get to know Parker despite the fact she’s not perfect anymore she trys to push him away like everyone else but Jake doesn’t give up easily will Parker let someone in? and will we find out whats caused Perfect Parker Fadley to crumble?

Well the main problems I had with this book was that I guessed roughly what happened from the start. The biggest problem though was Parker I found her extremely unlikable and her constant poor me what I did was so awful attitude didn’t make me sympathise with her at all especially because when you find out what happened its really not her fault I can understand why she would think it was but its like seriously girl this may come as a shock but its not all about you. I didn’t really like any of the characters all that much. That being said I didn’t hate this book it was a quick read being only 200 and something pages long and the writing was good and I liked the general idea. Before I read this I also brought Courtney’s second book Some girls are that I will still read and hopefully enjoy a bit more than her first novel, this gets a 3 stars from me.

Oh that's a shame about Cracked up to Be, I was debating whether to buy it or but if it's not fantastic then I shall hold off for the time being. Let me know what you think of her other books when you get round to reading it :)

I know I was really excited to read it as well :( You can have my copy next time I see you if you want to read it, its worth the read for free and I dont want to re-read it again so its yours if you want. I will indeed keep you and everyone else updated ;)

Oh really? That'd be lovely m'dear - I need to give you back Splendor anyway :P

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err..yes you do Rach :)...everything ok up there tymoore?

Yea... *raises eyebrow*... so Jess I finished Dear John last night! Poor John :'( Savannah really did get irksome at times, but I still enjoyed it overall.

I'm glad you liked it I think Channing will make the perfect John in the movie, I want to watch it real bad! I quiet liked Tim (was that his name?) as well so that made me really hate Savannah at the end. You going to give it to your sister to borrow now?

Yea I reckon he will- I really liked Tim as well! I thought he was really sweet and nice. Yea Beth'll basically snatch it out of my hands when she sees me lol. She's going to be reading my LTER book before me! I'm letting her read it while they're driving out to me so I won't be under pressure to read it overnight.

Hey guys I’ve read another book and I really loved it it was Fallen by Lauren Kate and heres my thoughts.

11.) Fallen by Lauren Kate

First of all I have to say that the cover for this book is GORGEOUS. Definitely one of my favourite covers ever and yes I’m one of those people who get lured in by pretty covers so I snatched this one up without knowing that much about it. After reading some reviews I found out that it’s about angels and forbidden love the kinds of topics that I love so I bumped it up on the TBR pile to read soon. Wow is all I can say. When I picked it up I didn’t want to stop reading I loved everything about it the writing the characters the plot. It reminded me a lot of The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong which is one of my favourite books so if you liked that I would strongly recommend Fallen. I love the title of the book as well I guess mostly it implies fallen angels but I also think it represented Luce and Daniel falling in love when their loves forbidden. I was really excited to find out that there’s going to be a second book in the series Torment out in September so I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for that. A lot of people have said that Fallen is very similar to another book out at the moment with yet another gorgeous cover Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and it seems like you prefer one over the other. I have Hush, Hush waiting to be read on my bookshelf so I’m excited to read that soon and if it’s as good as Fallen then I’m in for an awesome read. Loved it and would fully recommend it 5 stars from me.

Hmm how interesting, I didn't really like Fallen and I much prefer Hush, Hush but I do have to agree that the cover is gorgeous beyond reason. Ah well to each her own I guess, you didn't like Sunshine as much as I did so I'm not going to feel guilty for not really liking Fallen.
What's up next then m'dear?

Hehe I know after seeing your review I thought hmm I probably wont like it that much then I think I’ll read Hush, Hush first but when I got down to it I was just really drawn to fallen so I thought I’ll just read that instead and I really loved it. Still got Hush, Hush to read though so I may love that more who knows?

As for what’s up next I have no idea I’m in one of those moods where I could read just about anything there’s not a particular genre I fancy so that gives me the choice of my whole book collection so we shall see!

Hehe yea I was in one of those moods last night- I didn't really want to start anything long as if I got too into it I'd stay up way too late and oversleep (I did that anyway so it didn't matter all that much :P) so I just read a Sookie Stackhouse book. But I'm on to one of Sherlock Holmes' books since I really need to get at least one BotS book done this month as I've been doing appallingly bad with that challenge recently.

Yeah I'm not doing well with my challenges at all this year. I'm doing ok but not as well as I'd like. I just need more time to read! Although I have no excuse with BotS thats just purely me reading newer reads instead of older ones *sigh* But yeah seems as im in the mood for anything I may choose something short to bump up the challenge!

Right time to catch up with the last two reviews for February.

12.) Evidence of Angels by Suza Scalora

I really enjoy reading books about angels as its something I really believe in after having a few experiences with these creatures myself! So when I spotted this beautiful book I knew I had to pick it up and add it to my library. It basically follows the authors experiences with angels after losing her husband and also includes letters that she has received from others about their own experiences with angels. It was a short quick read with some of the most beautiful illustrations I’ve ever seen and I found it suitable for all ages. If you’re a fan of angels you should buy this book. If you know anyone whose interested in angels this would make a gorgeous present. Fully recommended.

13.) If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I’ve had this book waiting to be read on my shelf for a while now and I have no idea why I haven’t picked it up sooner. It’s a short read being only 200 and something pages long but it’s so beautiful. Mia has it all a loving boyfriend a wonderful family and a bright future. That is until one cold February morning when Mia and her family are in a car accident. Mia’s mother and farther die instantly and Mia is left in a coma. Whilst in this coma Mia’s able to observe what’s going on around her and realises that she gets to make the decision to stay or let go and die. Life as she knew it has changed and Mia has to decide with the help of the friends and family around her at the hospital whether life could be worth waking up to. This is such a gorgeous read one of my favourite passages is at the very start as Mia describes how her mom at the front passenger seat got hit in a way that cushioned the blow for her and her brother which summed her mother up to a T. I was in tears through most of this book but also smiling through them at the hope it displays also. Definitely a book I would recommend I give it 4.5 stars.

So that’s it from me for February. I just started The Book Thief a little while ago and am enjoying it so far so that will be my first read for March so keep your eyes peeled for the review. I also brought a book light and snug rug the other day to make my reading extra fun totally loving both!

Oooh If I stay sounds vair interesting will have to add that to the list of Books to Buy when i can.
Gah I really need to try reading The Book Thief again I got about 40 pages in and then got distracted the last time I tried.

#76: I already have If I Stay in the BlackHole, I just need to get my hands on a copy. Thanks for the reminder, Jess.

Yes you both need to read it, it’s a really great book and refreshingly mainly about family love instead of boyfriend or friend love that’s so common in YA fiction.

I'm on page 60 something of The Book Thief at the moment and whilst its good I’m still waiting for it to become the international bestseller that it is. However I am eager to get back to it later on tonight. I'll be glad to get it finally read after having it for just over 2 years!

#79: I'll be glad to get it finally read after having it for just over 2 years!

Better late than never!

14.) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

So its general knowledge that everyone and their mothers read this novel so when I spotted it two years ago for half price I picked it up figuring it was worth the read for half price along with all the rave reviews for it. However it’s sat on my shelf untouched until only last week when I suddenly had a strange urge to read it - and it was good. I’d say over rated but over all I gave it four stars. Here’s the thing I really loved the characters and I thought the plot idea was really good and original with it being narrated by Death but boy did this book drag on. It could have easily been half its length. Easily. Which of course made it really tiresome and slow to read in some parts. I didn’t find myself wanting to get into bed and read in the evenings and I really had to slog my way through some parts. Basically when this book was good it was good and when it was bad it was bad. I didn’t love the writing either I found it a bit clunky in places. I loved the message behind this book though how humanity can be so evil and yet so compassionate and it was interesting to see how that was portrayed through each character and you got to see how differently people act in the same situation. I also loved the ending which made me decide to give it the four stars instead of the three and a half I was originally planning on. I do think this book is over rated and I cant say that I’ll be rushing out to buy another of Markus Zusak’s novels anytime soon, but I don’t regret reading it and my overall decision to give it 4 stars means that Zusak must have done something right.

Review for The Book Thiefs up and I'm now currently reading Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen :-)

Markus Zusak also wrote a YA novel called I am the messenger, which is about a tenth the length of The Book Thief. I would actually recommend that one, as it has a very interesting premise, and doesn't drag at all. It's the only one of his books I've read so far, but it was REALLY good!

#83: I actually preferred I Am the Messenger to The Book Thief, but I know I am in the minority on that.

I absolutely loved Fallen and Hush Hush actually. Have you read Beautiful Creatures yet? It isn't about fallen angels or anything, but another great read that pulls you in like these books do. I'll have to try the Summoning.

You seem to be reading through all the books on my To Read list as well.. Now I'll know what I should pick up next. I've had Graceling on my shelf for a few months now and finally picked it up.. I can't believe I left it sitting for so long. It's great book, I can barely put it down.

Hmm I may have to have a look and see what I am the messenger about and see if they’ve got it in the library or a charity shop because I don’t really want to pay full price seems as I was a bit iffy about The Book Thief.

85- That’s good to know that you loved both. At the minute I keep hearing that you either love one or the other so I’m kinda scared to start Hush, hush because I loved Fallen. Yes I read Beautiful Creatures last year and absolutely loved it one of my favourite books ever and I can’t wait for the sequel to come out later this year. You should definitely try The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong it’s really good it’s the first in a trilogy and the 3rd books out next month so I’m really excited for that.

Ah Graceling is another book which I love and I liked Fire by the same author but Gracelings my favourite. If you enjoy it I would highly recommend Poison Study which is the first in a trilogy by Maria v. Snyder just as awesome as Graceling or if not better! Happy reading :-)

Hello guys (if anyone actually reads these things) I have another review!

15.) Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Now after reading this book I can say that I’ve read every single book by Sarah Dessen to date, and this is definitely one of my favourites. Like all of Dessens books this is set over summer and is about a girl called Auden who never lets go and has fun. She’s always studying and doing well in school as a way to get her parents attention and approval during and after their divorce and because of this she’s never really had much of a childhood. It’s the summer before college and Auden goes to spend it with her dad and his new family in the beach town of Colby. Ever since her parents first began arguing at night Auden’s been an insomniac and even now their separated she still cant get to sleep at night so its during her nights wondering around a sleeping Colby that Auden meets Eli a fellow insomniac. As she starts to find out why Eli cant sleep at night and he begins to find out about her she realises that she missed out on a lot of things in childhood, sneaking in late, food fights and riding a bike to name a few. Eli thinks its not too late to change so he sets a quest for Auden to complete all of these things that she’s missed out on. But can people really change? And is it ever too late for second chances?

Although it has to be said that Sarah Dessen certainly writes to a formula. I still always enjoy her novels. Our heroine Auden is slightly older than the usual characters in Dessens stories and I found that the summer before college made for a lovely coming of age novel. This book has everything a girl could want in a summer read and can be read and enjoyed any time of year so if your looking for a good chick lit coming of age novel I’d highly recommend this. I can’t wait to see what Sarah brings out next! 4. 5 stars.

Currently reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver 50 pages in and so far so good!

Glad you liked Along for the Ride - it's up there with Just Listen and This Lullaby for me. I only have Dreamland left to read but for some ridiculous reason you can't get it over here :S stupid publishers.
Oh yea I was bad and ordered Before I Fall and A match made in High School off amazon :P

I have a feeling that Before I fall is going to be really good. It is so far and the covers pretty. I have A Match Made in High School too and that sounds really fun if you read it first you'll have to let me know what you think. I'm really not allowed to buy anymore books I need to save my money for all the awesome ones coming out in April!

Yea all the reviews I've seen have been really positive but I'm just gonna have to hide them and the two other books i bought (Two of the Chronicles of Prydain books cos I was feeling mental) from the parentals and hope to God that they don't know what books I came to uni with :P

Do it! They'll never know, only a book addict would notice that lovely shine and newness of a new book on the shelf *wistful sigh* you can't beat it!

Hehe indeed you can't! I'm vaguely terrified to think how much money I'm gonna spend when you come to visit cos if we're gonna go round *all* the bookshops within reach then I might have to save on eating for a while :P Although we could just be really good and only buy book from the cheap stores and just note down the others books we find to get off the Zon ;-)

Well, thank you very much you two - once again, you have CORRUPTED ME and while I was ordering a birthday present for my mum, I just had to slip Along for the Ride in there too. I hope you're pleased with yourselves... ;-)

*scrambles to find halo, polishes it up a bit, pings it into place* Who us??? ;-)
We are but innocent book addicts with no evil intentions at all *smiles angelically*

Oooh I cant wait to find out what you think of Along for the Ride Ellie! What made you decide to buy it? Have you ever read anything by Sarah Dessen before? I love her so I hope you enjoy Along for the Ride!

I have another review! And it’s for Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Rachel I know you got this the other day and OMG read it girl!!!! Drop everything and read it!!!!! Ok crazy fan girlness over time to compose myself for the review *deep breaths*

16.) Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Every review that I’ve read for this book has been positive and mine will be no exception. I’m so glad that I’ve read this book and can now see what all the fuss is about. It’s perfect. I absolutely adored it. Definitely in my top favourite books of all time. I could gush about how much I loved it all day long. The writing is gorgeous. The story original and funny and easy but at the same time heartbreaking and complex and layered. I cant really say what this book is about without giving the whole plot away but if you enjoyed If I Stay by Gayle Forman or Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher I’d definitely recommend picking this book up. I can’t believe this is a debut novel and I will without hesitation pick up the next book Lauren Oliver brings out. Recommended to anyone and everyone, 5 stars.

Ok you've sold me- it arrived yesterday and since I've already read A Match made in High School (tis rather good and amusing) I may as well blitz through Before I fall. I'll start it tomorrow once the bf has gone :)

I definitely know the name, so I'm thinking I may have read Dessen before... Who knows? It just sounded good, what can I say?

Oh, and Rachel dear, you ain't fooling nobody! I can see those horns peeping out from under the halo, a teeny tiny book perched rakishly atop each one...

Aww shucks I thought my halo was fairly convincing ;-P

Hehe we know you too well Rachel no halo no matter how shiny is going to fool us :P

I have another review to post although how good it’s going to be I don’t know seems I’m full of a cold so my brains not really working properly. I read this one in one day whilst I was ill in bed yesterday and it is…

17.) The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

With the second book to this series coming out here in the UK soon I decided it was about time I picked this up and got it read, especially because I insisted on getting it in hardcover all those months ago because I couldn’t wait for the paperback and guess what? The paperback is now out and I’ve only just read it. Typical, but that’s just me and my book addict ways. This book is set in the future during a zombie apocalypse. Mary’s village believe they are the last human survivors in the world and are fenced off from the outside and the forest that surrounds them The forest of hands and teeth. Mary’s heard stories of what the world used to be like - buildings so tall they reached the sky, The Ocean - a mass of water that tastes like salt and stretches out as far as the eye can see. But it’s a little hard to believe that these things still exist or even ever existed at all when all she’s ever known is her village and The Unconsecrated constantly moaning and knocking at their fences hungry for the living. Everyone tells Mary that she should be content with the village be happy that she’s safe and not in The forest of hands and teeth, but Mary’s hunger to know if there’s life outside of her village and if they really are the last human survivors is strong, as strong as The Unconsecrated’s need for human flesh and like The Unconsecrated she wont be satisfied until her hunger is fulfilled.

I really loved the idea for this book and the writing is gorgeous. It reminded me a bit of the film ‘I Am Legend’ so if you liked that I’d recommend checking this book out. However there were two problems with this book which is why I couldn’t give it the full 5 stars. I didn’t really like the characters I found them a little underdeveloped, and secondly the cover. This is probably the most boring book cover I have on my book shelf which really annoys me because the US cover is gorgeous both the hardcover and the paperback. If I didn’t know what this book was about before I saw the cover I don’t think I would have been drawn to it. However this book is so good that it hardly takes away from it at all, I read it in a day and will definitely be picking up the next book in this series The Dead-Tossed Waves when it comes out in April. 4 stars.

Hmm methinks I shall have to see if I can find this at the library or something as it does sound rather interesting.
Oh i hope you get better soon hun :)

Tis worth checking out if you can find it. Very interesting story idea.

Thank you m'dear I hope so too because I’m getting into the rather fed up and feeling sorry for myself faze now. *le sigh*

Well as long as you're all plague-free by the time you come to visit it's fine :P Don't want none of your germs round 'ere ;-)

I like the sound of that one! My mum has the plague too, so what with her being all toxic and me just wanting to smack everyone who walks through the door, we're doing really well at work right now! ;-)

hehe oh dear Ellie :P

Hellooo everyone, So I haven’t been online a lot lately because I was really busy over Easter and then my computer died on me. So because I haven’t been online but have still been reading I have 3 book reviews to catch up with. It’s been a while since I’ve read these now so I’m just going to give a quick summary on my thoughts for each one this time.

18.) Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
I always pick up a Sparks novel when I feel like having a bit of a cry and want to read a good love story. This didn’t disappoint. 4.5 stars and I really want to watch the film now.

19.) Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
Wow adored this book one of my favourites so far this year. A bit of a Romeo and Juliet love story. Loved the characters so much and can’t wait to read some more from Simone Elkeles. Loved it loved it loved it. 5 stars.

20.) Angel by Cliff McNish
Brought this at a charity shop and thought it sounded like my kind of book with it being about angels was ok and had some interesting angel theories, but wasn’t highly memorable. 3 stars.

Right all caught up. I’ve brought a LOT of books lately too which you’ll find on my profile because so much has come out and is coming out in April. I’m now reading one of my new books Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted and so far so good. Happy reading until next time!

Jess!! Been wondering where you were :D
Ooh Message in a Bottle is one of Sparks' books that I haven't actually read, I'll perhaps have to find a copy at some point. I will obey your order to read Perfect Chemistry don't worry I just need to actually get out of the house to do it (no what am I talking about I have a computer and Amazon! :P).

I know I'm so happy to be online! The computers been driving me mad but its actually behaving itself today :) Oh its really good you should definitely find yourself a copy it took me about 20 minutes to read the last few pages because I was crying so hard that I couldn’t see so I’d stop to compose myself then once I got a grip would carry on only to start blubbering again a few words later! Ah and Perfect Chemistry sooo good you HAVE to buy that one I think you'll fall in love with the guy Alex *swoons and fans self down* he's such a sexy Latino bad boy :P Gah you'll have to read it to see what I mean ;-)

Welcome back, Jess! I hope your computer problems are a thing of the past.

Thank you :) Eh its not completely sorted but its better than it was anyhow!
So since yesterday I managed to get another book read and that was Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted and heres a little review for it.

21.) Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Straight off the bat I think I should let you know that this is a re telling of the classic story Beauty and the Beast. Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favourite stories so I’ve taken an interest in some modern re tellings of it lately and have decided to purchase a few books based on it. This is the story of Lucius Wolfe and Aurora Belle (love the last names) they both start at a new school on the same day. Lucius is at the new school because he blew off his hands in an explosion of his own doing. Lucius chooses to live with hooks rather than prosthetic hands as a form of self punishment and to keep others away as he feels guilty for being the reason that his family had to up and move after he blew up their home. Auroras at a new school because she recently moved from her old house with her farther after her mother died of cancer, she’s bookish and beautiful inside and out. As the two are thrown together at their new school their drawn to each other despite their two very different receptions from the other kids at school and a story of love and friendship follows.

I did like this book and I found it a fast read. It just wasn’t as amazing as I was hoping it would be. I really loved Lucius and the start of the story swept me in, but I found it ended all a little too fast for my liking, I guess I would have liked more of a plot. This isn’t a bad book but it isn’t an amazing book either, if you have it its worth the read but it’s not something I’d recommend you rush out and buy. Over all I give it 3.5 stars.

Ah I should really update my ABC challenge but alas I don’t have the time right now *sigh* ah well next time…

Hmm it sounds interesting although it's a shame that it wasn't fantastic. Have you read Robin Mckinley's Beauty Jess cos I rather fancy giving that a read. I'm getting addicted to fairytale re-tellings as well I borrowed my sister's copy of Beastly last week which another B&B re-telling this time from the Beast's POV. It was actually pretty good although the film of it is coming out this year and they've cast Vanessa *eck* Hudgens as "beauty" which I'm not too happy about

No but it is on my wishlist! yes I rather fancy getting that one myself with the film coming out and all. I brought a re-telling of cinderella the other day called Ash the cover is bloody gorgeous and its only £3.99 on amazon (because I thought I'd be helpful :P) the reviews are awesome so I expect it to be good!

Oh yes I saw that in Stones earlier and the cover is so damn gorgeous it almost hurts to look at it. (Ooh yea real helpful :P). The one redeeming feature about the Beastly film is that Alex Pettyphoar *ahem* Pettyfer is playing Kyle ;)

Ah it so is every time I walk past it I have to pick it up and move it in the light to see all the pretty colours! Oooh isn’t he the guy everyone uses for their Jace from City of Bones pictures? He’s awful yummy :P City of Bones another book I need to read I need help I have so many good books to read I don’t know where to start. I still want to read the next Alanna book and the next Night world bind up and then I want to get City of Bones read soon because its suppose to be awesome and I still haven’t read it and then there’s The Reckoning and The dead tossed waves and hush hush and there just my fantasy books TBR soon *sigh* Ah well I shouldn’t complain about having so many awesome books really should I? ;)

Yea he is :P *spaces out wistfully*
Cripes you have got loads of awesome books to read! Well that being said I have over 100 books on my TBR scarily only about half of them are eligible for my BotS challenge which means I've bought as many books after December 1st as I have books left over from before! *eep*
Oh yea and today in the Works in the shopping centre we went to they had the first four Morganville books as well! Girl you need to get down to your local branch and hit that goldmine of a bargain!

Omg yeah I forgot all about that as it goes, I'll have to get down there asap because that really is a bargain and then I can add the morganville books to my ever growing TBR pile. Ah well I'll blast through them when im off for a few weeks in the summer!

Yea they're really quick reads although those cliffhangers do make you want to flail and shriek until you can get the next book (I'd make sure you can get books 5 & 6 easily when you get to number 4 :P)

Hi Jess! If you enjoy fairy tale retellings I think you'll like Donna Jo Napoli's Beast as well. It's another B&B from the beast's perspective, but the author went to one of the original versions (the Persian) for the base of it. Really really awesome after a slightly slow start.

Also The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly uses several fairy tales, but modifies then so that they fit into the story, and into the character's experience. Also really good, but more, um, lyric? almost?

#106 I read Perfect Chemistry last year and loved it! I never realized there would be a sequel, but there is and it came out on Tuesday. I picked it up yesterday and just started... so far Simone is setting this one up to be great as well. I also read Leaving Paradise last week and that one doesn't disappoint either!

#115 & #117

Wow ok, you do have a ridiculously great TBR list. The City of Bones series is great, so is Hush Hush, and the Morganville books are pretty good too!

Hey guys sorry I’ve been gone a while again. We’ve been having some gorgeous weather over here so I’ve been soaking up the sun! Which means lots of reading in the sunshine so I have 3 book reviews to get up :) being the lazy being that I am though I’m just going to give a quick summery on my thoughts for each book because writing up 3 reviews will take up way too much time.

Rach- I had a look in my the works but couldn’t find it :( I’ll keep my eyes peeled though maybe they’ll get them in at some point?

PrincessT- Oh thanks so much for the recs I’ll have to look out for those as I do love my fairytale retellings!

Cpassmore- I ordered Rules of attraction the other day online I should be getting it some time this week I’m so excited! And I think Leaving paradise sounds really good too. I know right? My family laugh at me because it can take me hours to choose a new book to read but I have so many good ones its hard to choose what to read next.

Right now on to these reviews!

22.) The DeadTossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

This is the companion novel to The forest of hands and teeth and wow I adored this book so much! I liked The forest of hands and teeth but I liked this one a lot more. This had a lot more action I found it hard to put it down and I had so many questions that I got answers to through out the book. Loved it cant wait for the 3rd book in this series. 5 stars.

23.) PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

This is one of my very favourite books and this was my 3rd time re-reading it. Such a lovely story I would recommend it to all die hard romantics out there. I have to add as well that the film isn’t even a quarter as good as this book so don’t judge the book by its movie! 5 stars.

24.) The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

A really sweet coming of age summer story that I would recommend to any Sarah Dessen fans. A perfect book to read on a nice summer’s day, really looking forward to the second book which is coming out soon. 4 stars.

ANDDDDD DONE! :D

Oh they hadn't got them? Dang ... hmm I could always check my local one again and buy up a set for you and then I can either post them to you or hand them over when we meet up next?

Ohh that would be great Rach! I'm going shopping again on Wednesday so I'll take another look then but if they still havent got them in it would be awesome if you got them then sent them to me and I'd post you the money with my letter? How much are they? I'll give you a text when im back from shopping wednesday and let you know if I've found them, ah I really hope they still have them by you *crosses fingers and toes*

Well it only cost me £6.99 for the four but postage may be a tad eep but I could always send them second-class which is cheaper since you're not exactly strapped for reading material right now are you? ;-) I'll have a look tomorrow when I take my library book back.

Yeah second class would be fine, its not like I need them right this second its more about how I cant pass up on such a bargain! :P Ok give me a text and let me know if they've still got them.

Oooh, all this talk about fairytales and Alex Pettyfer... :-)

I watched 'Wild Child' with him in it last night, it's total girlie teen fluff but I love it and it always makes me tear up a little bit for some reason. Great soundtrack too!

Hello everyone. I have two book reviews for you today *cheers*

I’ve never seen wild child Ellie, why does it make you tear up? Does something sad happen? Because on the trailers it just looks like a typical teen feel good film.

Anddd heres my reviews…

25.) Gone by Lisa McMann

This is the third and final book in the wake trilogy. All in all I’m a little disappointed with this series I actually shipped the first two books from America because they sounded so good. Dream catchers? What an original idea and a nice break in the teen market away from vampires and werewolves. But in reality the books aren’t so great. Don’t get me wrong there good fast little reads but there nothing amazing. My main problem is probably the writing because I don’t really like the way its wrote and the layout and because each book is really short it never really gave me enough time to get to know and love the characters. This series isn’t terrible or amazing but somewhere in between and that’s why I give it 3 stars.

26.) Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

This novel is very similar to two other books I’ve read Just listen and Speak. It’s about Regina Afton who at a party one night gets attacked by her best friend Anna’s boyfriend she manages to get away and while hurt and confused goes to confide in her frenemy Kara. Regina’s part of the most popular girl clique in school and plays second in command to her best friend Anna but the day after the rape when she goes into school she finds that she’s been frozen out by the group. Kara’s told Anna that Regina hooked up with her boyfriend and Anna doesn’t believe Regina when she try’s to tell her that she was nearly rapped. Anna’s out for revenge and Anna’s a mean girl - a lethal combination. As the year goes on and the bullying gets worse Regina gets closer to social outcast Michael who she herself used to bully. What starts of as a freeze out from her friends soon takes a cruel turn to some nasty rumours and some malicious pranks and when Regina decides that she’s not going down without a fight she just might not only be putting herself but also Michael in serious danger.

I didn’t love Courtney Summers debut novel Cracked up to be that much so I was a bit weary about reading this one but I’m so glad I did because it was so much better. This is very dark and shows exactly how mean some girls can be out of all the books I’ve read on this subject I think this is my favourite because it felt so real. I would recommend this to any girl going through high school because it’s a very important novel that makes you understand that what you say to people and bullying can have a very serious effect on that person. I’m so excited to see what Courtney Summers brings out next because she just gets better and better! 4.5 stars.

I may have to have a look at Courtney Summers' books methinks although tis a shame about Gone, I've got the first two books and I've been wanting to get the third just to see where things go although I'd reckon that I would have to re-read the others first to refresh my memory. Although I do remember that one thing that did irk me was the writing style - something about it just didn't gel with me.

Yeah you should check them out especially Some girls are, I really did like it a lot more than I thought I would. Yeah its just kind of...blunt. To the point like it kinda reads like this.
She falls.
This is going to be a bad day.
I duno I just didnt like it, the idea for the books are awesome though which gets it its stars I just really hate the writing and how so much more could have been done with the plot you know?

Yea sometimes blunt is just too... much as although succinctness is always good just reeling off facts to keep things simple makes it feel too emotionless and clinical.
Yea I get you.
So what book you going for next hun?

Exactly! Which then made it hard for me to connect with the characters.

Hmm I think I definitely feel like some kind of fantasy so I’m thinking

Radiant shadows
The dark divine
Nightworld vol 2
The Reckoning
Alanna: In the Hand of the Goddess

Orrr if I don’t start anything tonight then maybe Burned if I manage to get it tomorrow? Hmm…

I need to buy Radiant Shadows, The Reckoning *and* Burned! God darn it too much stuff is coming out this month and next - SPIRIT BOUND!!!! (wait that is May right?)
I started one of my Elizabeth Chadwick books earlier since I've been on a Fairytale stint I thought I'd go for some Historical Fiction
OH AND I BOUGHT A READING LIGHT!!! *squee*
I was in the works earlier getting a big sketchpad to use for revision and I found these super cheap reading lights £1.99! it's silver and when you push a button it unfolds itself and switches on!! So funky!! :P

Ah I know so many good books! Yeah Spirit bounds out in may which im glad about gives my money a rest!

Oh did you, uber essential for book lovers is a reading light! :)

I don't have a reading light! Well, I had a rubbish one a few years ago but it was useless, like one of those 'keychain' light things and it didn't bend properly. We just got some nice new ones at the shop though, £9.99 and uber-bendy, with a long battery life (30 hours or something mad), so I might be tempted...

Jess - Wild Child's pretty much a girlie teen flick, but it has its moving moments. Nothing sad happens, it's just got a couple of really heartfelt moments that tug on the old heartstrings a bit! It's good fun though, quite funny, a few profound moments - plus Alex Pettyfer doing his British Gent bit, a definite bonus! I bought it on a whim from Sainsbury's and even though it's Fluff On Film, it's definitely a keeper.

#122 Don't worry, my husband laughs too, but I spend hours picking my next book even though I have lists of what I want. The bookstore is just such a great place. Last Friday after I worked a long week, I rewarded myself by spending an hour in the book store and buying a new book!

#122/136 - I do that too! I have so many books that I end up browsing my own shelves, like I'm in a library! Sometimes I just have to give up and think 'right, I'm going to read.... this one!' and pull one down. Otherwise I'd be there all day!

Jess you supa-dupa bucket of awesome - muchos gracias for the tip-off about the Morganville books deal on Waterstones.com I just bagged myself the last four books for less than £14 boo-ya! and off the Zon it would have cost me nearly £20! Now I've got 6 books wending their way to me *blush* yea I did order the Reckoning at last and also the Adoration of Jenna Fox which looks *awesome* It's like a creepy dystopian novel and I wanted it- the cover is also really freaky :D

So yea thank you m'dear! *happy dances* I really ought to go to bed now cos I'm hopping on a train tomorrow to Oxland to see the ol' bf and go to a ball (oh how fairytale-esque). Will no doubt be buying more books while I'm there so I really hope I have enough space in my luggage coming back :S hehe anyway I'm offskies toodles!!

Ah lots of messages me likes :-)

Ellie- Oooh I might have to check wild child out then the next time I fancy a bit of fluff to watch.

Cpassmore & Ellie- I know exactly what you mean. I’m the same. I’m there browsing my books for ages like I’m in a bookstore and even then some I don’t even get round to looking at because I’ve chosen something off the first few rows. I always love treating myself to a new book. You can usually tell when I’m down because I’ll buy myself loads of new books to cheer myself up.

Rach- Ah I know such a bargain!! I’m so glad I found it! I’ve got the first two on the way along with The splendour falls courtesy of you and your review ;-), and an Elizabeth Chandler bind up which I’ve heard good things about. Yes I’ve got The Adoration of Jenna Fox too. Oooh I hope you have a nice time with Tom and come back with lots of book bargains hun!

Right now I have a book review!

27.) Burned (House of Night) by P.C and Kristin Cast

This is the 7th book in the House of Night series so don’t read this review unless you’ve read the other books you have been warned!

I’m not ashamed to admit that I am super addicted to this series. I love the plot, I love the characters although I’m not blind to this books faults. The language can be rather shocking for a YA book. Some parts are cheesy, some annoying but I always want to find out what’s going to happen next because the world that P.C and Kristin have created is addicting. With Zoey in the Otherworld this book needed a new narrator and that narrator is Stevie Rae which I didn’t like all that much seems as her character annoys me sometimes since she turned into a red vampyre. So this book is mainly Stevie Rae’s take on things although you do get chapters narrated from the other cast and sometimes even Zoey. Needless to say I preferred the parts of the book when somebody else was narrating but I didn’t dislike the Stevie Rae moments. In fact by the end of the book I felt like I understood her a lot more and I even started liking Raven mocker Rephaim! All in all I enjoyed this book as I have with all of the books in this series. If you love the other books get this one. Be warned though this book is a little bumpy it has its awesome parts and then not so awesome parts, but then again so do the others. Over all worth the read and I’m still as addicted to this series as ever and cant wait to find out what happens to the gang in the next book Awakened. 4 stars.

I’ve been gone for a week and no new messages? What’s wrong with you all? He he.
Any who I have two reviews to do today so I better get cracking with them. I’ve also brought sooooo many books so I’m going to do a little update on what I’ve brought recently.

The vampire book:The legends, the lore, the allure by DK
I heart you, you haunt me by Lisa Schroeder
Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
Cruel summer by Alyson Noel
The Book of Luke by Jenny O'Connell
The splendour falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Dark Secrets: Legacy of Lies and Don't Tell by Elizabeth Chandler
Glass houses by Rachel Caine
The dead girls dance by Rachel Caine
L.A candy by Lauren Conrad

11 brand new books, a lot of them were on offer so I treated myself. I feel like the happiest girl in the world right now! Right now reviews, reviews, reviews!

28.) Night World: Volume 2 by L J Smith

I really enjoyed the first bind up in this series, but I didn’t like this one so much. I didn’t really like the first two books in this volume but I really liked the last story. I’m finding the whole thing a little repetitive with each character finding their soul mate in each book. You know their going to end up together so there’s really no element of what’s going to happen next? to spure you on to read it and with each book being around 150 pages long I find that by the time I’ve settled in to the story its ended. With each story being so short the characters and the romance feel a little underdeveloped too. I did enjoy this book it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t amazing either and I’m a little reluctant to read the third volume now because I know each story is going to be kind of the same and I don’t know if I can read a bind up that’s 500 and so pages long with stories that just seem ok to me. I will definitely still read some other books by L.J smith in the future as my main problem with this is the length of the stories and how each one is kinda repetitive to its last which I don’t think you’ll get with a series about the same person… hopefully. Overall good but didn’t enjoy it as much as the first and a little weary to read the third volume so this gets 3 stars from me.

29.) L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad

I’ve been watching The Hills since it very first started showing a few years ago and its kind of become my guilty pleasure now as an adult. Lauren Conrad is a successful young business woman who’s made a name for herself in L.A from actually working hard so I feel like she’s a good role model to young girls. She’s now become a celebrity but you still see how down to earth and normal she is on the show which I think is why young girls look up to her so much. Laurens been my favourite character from the start so when I found out she wrote a book I knew I just had to get it. It’s semi autobiography and semi fiction about 19 year old Jane who gets snapped up to do a reality TV show. Jane’s just moved to LA with her best friend Scarlett to try to make it big in the party planning industry and to find herself and get out of her sheltered life at home. Jane quickly learns that fame comes at a price though and begins to wonder if the price is too high…

If you like The Hills chances are your going to like this. It’s a quick, fun, summery read that I read in a day. I give it 3.5 stars and will be buying and reading shortly the second book in this series Sweet Little Lies.

*grumbles* No touchstone for my cool vampireology book :|

I was wondering what book buying spree you'd been on when I saw the member connections section -11 books!!
Tis a shame you didn't love the second volume of the Nightworld stories - I agree that the whole meet soulmate, fall in love really fast plotline does get a wee bit overused but I like the variety of characters who appear over the series. I need to re-read methinks as I can't really remember which stories were in the second bind-up.

I've never fancied watching the Hills so I'll probably not bother looking for the Lauren Conrad book although I think my sister has it... :/

Rach/Jess - don't know if you've heard of these, but I was just over on Berly's thread and she's been reading a supernatural vamp/were/shifter series by Patricia Briggs.... yes, yes, another series, I hear you groan - but I checked out the LT pages and it sounds really good! The first one's called Moon Called, I think I'm going to order it soon and give it a try!

Oh yea I've heard of the Mercy Thompson (i'm fairly sure that's the name) series I think my bf's dad has them so I reckon it's worth a look when I've got a chance. I need to finish the other Were/Shifter series I'm following at the moment- Rachel Vincent's Faye Saunders series starting with Shift. There's 5 books out at the moment and the sixth (and possibly last) one Alpha should be coming out later this year. Gah *so* many series!!!

Haha! I finally stumbled upon your thread! My, haven't we been reading some interesting things (and by we, I mean you, since I'm mostly stuck in textbook land). I think I need to find Nightworld, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and Ballads of Suburbia.

>144 RLMCartwright: Yup, it's the Mercy Thompson series. My series are a bit varied - I've got the Southern Vampire Mysteries and the Hannah Swensen mysteries (she owns a cookie cafe, how could I resist?) on the go, and the first Stephanie Plum and House of Night novels waiting in the wings... I'm not starting them yet because I know I'll get hooked and won't know what to read first!

Oooh lots of messages :-)

Ellie/Rach – Yeah Amazon keep putting the Mercy Thompson series on my recommendations. It does look good so I will no doubt check them out at some point. If you buy and read the first one soon Ellie let me know what you think! Oh and the Stephanie Plum series is on my wish list too so let me know what you think to those as well!

Kate – DEFINITLEY check out Ballads of Suburbia it’s such an amazing book I really loved it, it was so very real. Definitely my favourite of the ones you mentioned.

I went out and brought the second L.A Candy book Sweet Little Lies so I’ll be reading that soon because their fun fast girly reads. And tomorrow I’m going charity shop hunting for some new books so wish me luck on finding some bargains!

I have another review for you guys today and its for…

30.) Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier

Having been to stay at Jamaica Inn a few times myself I’ve wanted to read this book for a while because having been to the place I can literally picture everything that goes on there. I read Daphne Du Maurier’s most popular novel Rebecca earlier this year and loved it so I was really looking forward to reading this gothic tale on a wet English evening. This book was fantastically creepy and I loved that I could picture the main character Marys surroundings. Granted this book wasn’t as good as Rebecca and I don’t think I’ll enjoy another Daphne Du Maurier quiet as much but this book was still wonderful in its own right. Du Maurier is an extraordinary story teller and her writing always gives me goose bumps. I have to admit I did guess the ending quiet early on in the book but I didn’t enjoy the journey any less. Over all I give Jamaica Inn 4 stars and can’t wait to read some more of Daphne Du Maurier’s work over the year. A great modern classic.

I agree, I think it's going to be hard for any of Du Maurier's books to top Rebecca for me... Nevertheless, they are darn good so I'll get another one read soon, I'm sure!

Yeah Rebecca was just...perfect, and seems it’s her most popular novel I don’t think anything else will top it unless I can personally relate to another story of hers more. Either way you know your in for a wonderfully written story with Du Maurier so I do want to read and own them all at some point *wistful sigh*

Hello everyone. I'm a bad Lter it feels like I haven’t been on forever, but home life’s been kind of stressful lately *sigh* Anyway I’ve been reading a lot so I have 5 book reviews to catch up on. Alas writing 5 reviews will take a lot of time and I’m too lazy so I’ll just give you my brief thoughts on each book this time round.

31.) Sweet little lies by Lauren Conrad

Lovely follow up to L.A candy this series is rather addictive and I can’t wait for the 3rd book to come out later this year. Perfect series for light summer reading. 3.5 stars.

32.) Looking for Alaska by John Green

My first John Green novel and it wont be my last. I have ordered another two of his books after reading this. I love his writing style and I loved the characters so much. 4 stars.

33.) Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

I loved this book! I love books about angels so I was onto a winner with this one. Found the start a little slow though and really didn’t like Patch at the beginning so I couldn’t give it the full 5 stars. By the end though I loved Patch and couldn’t put it down! 4.5 stars.

34.) Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

A wonderful book which was much better than I thought it would be. I loved Sara’s writing and have brought all of her other books after reading this. A touching story about family and forgiveness. 4.5 stars.

35.) I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder

My first novel written in verse and I really liked it. A touching quick read. Will definitely be looking into getting some more of Lisa Schroeder’s books. 3.5 stars.

And now I’m all caught up! :-) Next I will DEFINITLEY be reading Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, Book 5) by Richelle Mead. The latest book in my favourite vampire series ever I’m *SO* excited guys! Happy reading till next time.

*wistful sigh* I WANT SPIRIT BOUND!!! :( But I don't want the UK version cos it won't match the first four books I have cos they're the US editions. But I can't really justify forking out the cash to ship over the hardback :S Oh I'm so befuddled!!

I'm so glad you enjoyed Looking for Alaska - I read An Abundance of Katherines last night (read as this morning) and loved it! Paper Towns will be in my sights shortly :P although it really shouldn't be Exams are starting soon :(

I know I'm so sad they don’t match and I like the US covers better as well :( But I was desperate for it and like you say way too pricey to have it shipped over and in hardcover too so I just brought the UK edition.

Yeah I checked out the vlogbrothers too sooo funny I love Hank and John, can't wait to read some more of John's books. Which did you like best Looking for Alaska or An Abundance of Katherines? I know I was thinking about you and your exams I hope they go well!

John Green is very good, Jess. I hope you continue to enjoy his books!

Thanks Stasia! I plan to read another one of his books very soon.

100 pages into Spirit bound lovers it! (Understatement)

>152 JessicaLouise23: Jess I can't quite decide whether I like An Abundance of Katherines more than Looking for Alaska they were both so awesome :S

*oozes with envy* I NEED Spirit Bound or I will cry!!

Hey guys I found this on my good friend Rachel’s book blog and seems as I don’t have a blog I thought I’d post it on here with my answers for all my booky friends to see!

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack?
I rarely snack whilst I read because I worry I’ll get crumbs or stains on my book. So if I’m hungry I’ll usually break off and get something to eat. If I do eat whilst reading it tends to be sweets or mints that I can just pop into my mouth.

What is your favourite drink while reading?
Hot chocolate! I love it and I love snuggling up in bed at night with my book and some hot chocolate. Other than that any kind of sugary drink that will keep me awake turning those pages!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Writing in books should be a crime! We had to take notes in the books we were reading at school and it used to kill me! If something interests me or there’s a quote I like I’ll write it down in my book journal and come back to it later.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open?
Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open? No way. Bookmark always and I have so many pretty ones to choose from.

Fiction, non-fiction or Both?
Mainly fiction but sometimes I’ll fit in some non fiction here and there. I mainly read for pleasure though and I like to disappear into another world so fiction is my drug of choice.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I *have* to read till the end of a chapter it will bug me so much if I have to put my book down half way through and wait to come back to it the next day. So I’ll always try my hardest to read to the end of a chapter it’s rude to cut of people when their talking ;-)

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
All of my books are throw across the room virgins. I’m a firm believer that you should treat your books as you would your own child. Although I have been known to slam my book down on my bedside table if I get to the end and there’s a killer cliff-hanger!

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
No, I’m usually too lost in the story to really care but sometimes it will bug me and I’ll remember the word and google it when I’m done reading.

What are you currently reading?
The 5th Vampire academy book Spirit Bound, I love it so far.

What is the last book you bought?
Spirit Bound! :-)

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I hate reading more than one book at a time, I figure that if you’re reading a good book why would you want to switch between other books? In my opinion a good book should grip you until the end and not make you want to read anything else. I’ve tried reading two books at a time and it never works I always favour one over the other and devour the book I’m more interested in then come back to the other when I’m done.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
I love reading outside in the summer in the sunshine with a cold drink, I find reading outside really peaceful and relaxing.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
I actually prefer stand alones because I hate having to buy lots of books in a series to find out the end. Saying that I do love how when you read a series the characters become familiar in a sense where their like your best friends and you want to check in with how their getting on. Over all I guess both types of books have their pros and cons and I don’t mind either.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Not really when I recommend a book I take into account that persons tastes and I know just because I enjoyed something it doesn’t mean everyone will. So I recommend different books to different people. The only person I’m confident to recommend any kind of book I love to is Rachel (Ladyviolet) because we have such similar tastes in books. The only book I can think of that I would recommend to absolutely anybody in the whole world to read of any sex any age would be Harry Potter, I think those books have a little something for everybody.

How do you organise your books? (by genre, title, author's last name etc)
To make it easier to get to my books I keep at the front of my bookcases books I want to read soon and then more towards the back books I’ve read and books I want to read but not right now. Simple and easy and then I don’t have to rummage through all my books to get to what I want and their all together so it’s easier to choose. Oh the only other thing is that I like to keep books by the same author together and series *must* be in order! *OCD twitch*

That’s all from me hope you had fun finding out my reading habits :-)

Rach- Well thats good to know that they were both awesome. Hehe I wonder how long it will take till you crack and buy it?

Hehe love how you've brought the meme over here from the blogosphere - I swear my answers to them were the longest out of everyone's that I've seen :P I just love to waffle!

Hmm I don't know... but so long as I can hold out until I go home perhaps I'll be fine I have a ridiculous number of books here with me so I'm not strapped for reading material. God I don't know what it is about exam season but suddenly I've gone crazy and keep reading rather than revising! I know I'm an escapist from responsibility and whatnot but seriously I finished 3 books the other day one of them a book that had arrived from amazon that morning!! *sigh* as Lucy says so often "what am I like.."

Also on a bloggy *squee* note I've got 43 followers!!! I had like 30 at the start of the week and through my obsession with it this week I've gained a bunch of new folk! Although considering how I get no comments on most of my reviews it's seeming like people aren't really reading them or just don't feel like commenting on them :S

Hehe yeah your answers were long but insightful! I need to get with the times and make a blog but I’m just so lazy and I know I wont update it that often.

Yeah I noticed you were like this last year and read like crazy when you should have been revising!

Oooh thats so good hun! Sounds like you have a lot of lurkers but thats ok at least people are enjoying what you have to say :-)

#156: I am going to steal that questionnaire and post it on my thread, Jess. I will give you full credit though!

Thats fine by me Stasia! I'll be looking out for it ;)

Just to let y'all know that I finished Spirit Bound and oh my gosh it was AMAZING. I'm so sad that there’s only going to be one more book with Rose & Co Last Sacrifice but I’m excited for it to come out later this year *squees* But Richelle Mead!!!??? Where are you taking this woman!!?? I have no idea how this series is going to end but I’m excited to find out! Some bits I'm so happy about others I'm sad about. So many twist and turns! If you’re a fan of this series you should buy this book ASAP you won’t be disappointed! I'm not going to do a review for this one because I don’t really know what to say about it without giving anything away so basically this squee of my rambling thoughts about it is as much of a review as this ones gonna get. So yeah 36th book read Spirit Bound and it gets 5 stars of course!

We've had such nice weather over here this weekend that I've over indulged in the sun and I now have mild sunstroke which is less than pleasant which is also why I've just done a quick rambling of my opinions for Spirit Bound rather than an actual review. I'm currently reading The Secret Life of Bees which I like a lot so far and I'll hopefully have that finished with a review up later this week. Again sorry for the Spirit bound ramblings but the sun has literally fried my brain hopefully I’ll be back to my old self soon!

I posted the questionnaire both on my thread and the Kitchen thread. Several other people have picked up on it as well.

Stasia I’ve since had a look on said threads and I’m glad it’s took off so well! It really is a great questionnaire for us book lovers.

I have two reviews to do for ya’ll today for two 4 star books so here they are.

37.) The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while purely based on the wonderful reviews that this book has so I was really happy when my good friend Rachel brought me this book for Christmas last year. With the lovely weather we’ve been having as of late I decided to read this book with it being about summer, bees and honey and I found it to be a wonderful treat as sweet as the honey it talks so fondly about. This book is about a 14 year old girl called Lilly who has grew up believing she killed her mother at the age of 4. Unloved by her farther Lilly runs away with her only friend her coloured nanny Rosaleen. They end up stumbling upon an eccentric family of coloured women who keep bees and what follows is a moving story of friendship, racism, and forgiveness. I really loved the characters in this book and found the story to be well written. I especially loved the characters of May and August. I also really liked the little facts about bees at the start of each chapter and now have a completely different view on the creatures - I never knew they were so intelligent! I loved how the bees tied into the story and overall this was a great read. 4 stars.

38.) Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

This is the fourth book in the wicked lovely series a series which I really enjoy. This like ink exchange is a companion novel to wicked lovely, and this time the main characters and love interest are Ani and Devlin. I found this book to be a little slow and I didn’t really start to enjoy it until towards the end of the book. It’s probably my least favourite in the series so far and I much prefer Ash, Seth, Keenan and Co’s story all of which were barely present in radiant shadows. However the ending to this book was really good and I can’t wait to read the next one to find out what happens next. Over all this one gets 4 stars.

All caught up! I’m currently reading what’s proving to be a really good book so far Thin by Grace Bowman which is a memoir on anorexia. I think this will be my last book of May so stay tuned to find out my favourite book of this month when I’m finished! I also ordered some fun sounding girly summer reads from Amazon which should be here sometime this week - perfect for the carefree mood I’m in at the moment! That’s all from me happy reading till next time. :)

I am glad you liked The Secret Life of Bees. It is a good one.

Are you telling me they didn't continue with the Seth arc that Marr set-up in book 3? That is so devastating to me! That book has moved down on the TBR. It'll still get read, but that's what I was looking forward to. . . I assume the series will continue, so maybe it'll return to it in book 5? Please?

Ok this will officially be known as the week that I brought 15 books *guilty face.* The worst part is that I hardly have any money and I’m suppose to be saving up for numerous things. In my defence though I did buy *most* of these *before* I realised that I was going to be tight on money for the next month or two so I cant really be blamed can I? I think not and what’s worse is that I have another 3 books that I ordered coming Tuesday but alas that’s a new week thank god but still not good for my bank balance! So I concur that I’m not allowed on Amazon (Amazons my weakness) until I have some spare money and I’m also going to try not to follow a lot of people because that’s how I mainly find out about all these amazing books. So I’m just posting on my own little thread for a while. I’m sorry guys but your books are too addictive I can’t find out what anyone’s reading especially if its good because I know I’ll just buy it so I’ll be MIA for a while, but fear not I haven’t abandoned any of you and will post on your threads and things when I can control myself haha! :-)

List of books I brought (* = Can’t wait to read!! Because I got some really good ones!)
1.) Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
2.) The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson *
3.) The Road by Cormac McCarthy *
4.) The Complete Fairy Tales (Wordsworth Special Editions) (Wordsworth Royal Classics) by Jacob Grimm
5.) Caribbean Cruising by Rachel Hawthorne * (have actually read this and I loved it so it gets a star)
6.) It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han *
7.) Nobody's Girl by Sarra Manning
8.) Escape by Kate Cann
9.) Fiesta by Kate Cann
10.) Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas *
11.) The Prince Of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon *
12.) Missing You by Louise Douglas *
13.) The Love of My Life by Louise Douglas *
14. ) Black Box by Julie Schumacher
15.) The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer *

Grr I couldn't find the touchstones for all books :(

Kate- I think book 5 is the last in the wicked lovely series and yes it will be about Seth and Ash and Co thank god! :)

Stasia- Have you seen the movie by any chance? I'm thinking about getting it at some point.

Rightttt now I have two books to review so I’m going to do a different post for those…

39.) Thin by Grace Bowman

I’ve seen this book around for a few years now and I’ve wanted to read it for a while as I’m very interested in all books to do with anorexia. I finally brought this the other week and read it soon after and I was really impressed. This is a memoir by Grace Bowman who developed anorexia nervosa at the age of 18. Grace was a pretty popular 18 year old who decided to go on a diet before heading off to university. She starts the diet, and finds that she doesn’t want to stop and then can’t stop and soon drops to just under 6 stone without really understanding how or why it’s happened and why she can’t seem to eat. As the story goes on you find out what Grace believes lead to her anorexia and you get to follow her recovery out of this self destructive illness. This was an honest moving memoir that I would recommend to anyone going through this illness or to anyone who just wants to understand. I found myself tearing up a few times and cheering Grace on as she started her tricky first steps to recovery. A brilliant emotional read with a hopeful ending and powerful message. 4 stars.

40.) Caribbean Cruising by Rachel Hawthorne

Let me start of by saying that this book is a secret little gem! I’d never heard of this author before and probably wouldn’t have picked it up even if I had because the cover looks a little young and cheesy but when I discovered this book on my Amazon recommendations and found out what it was about I thought I’d give it a try and I’m so glad I did. I read this in one sitting on a hot summer’s day when I fancied something light and summery to read and it sure hit the spot!

Eighteen year old Lindsay has just finished school and it’s her summer before heading off to university. Her mothers marrying the wealthy Walter Hunt and is having the wedding and honey moon aboard the Enchantment ship cruise. Lindsay has to be bridesmaid for the first night but then she’s free for the next ten days of the cruise to do as she pleases so she creates a list of everything she wants to do in this time.

+ soak up the rays
+ shop until I drop
+ drink margaritas by the pitcher
+ dance all night
+ climb a waterfall
+ snorkel
+ kiss a lot of cute guys
+ sleep with a guy for the first time.

But when Walter asks his gorgeous god son Ryan to keep an eye on Lindsay during the cruise, Lindsay finds that sometimes even the most carefully planned lists don’t always go to plan…

I really loved this book and I just had to order another two of Rachel Hawthorns books straight after I finished this. It was a fun summer read and Ryan is one of the sweetest fictional guys ever. I couldn’t give this book 5 star’s because some of the characters got on my nerves sometimes, and some bits were kind of adult that I wouldn’t necessarily recommend to younger teens. So over all I give this 4.5 stars and if Rachel Hawthorns other novels are as good as this then she’ll definitely be climbing up to join my other favourite chick lit authors.

Bill is going to be very disappointed in your lapse :P
I'm in a similar $$ spot, need a new computer this fall. I told myself I was only allowed to buy the new Cassandra Clare (or 2?) and then I'm on tbr mountain and library only restriction. But this place makes it so tempting to rush out and buy more.

*nervously glances around for Bill* I must avoid Bill like the plaque!! Gosh he’d be so disappointed in my new ways.

Yeah I always say I’m not going to buy any more books and then I do but I really mean it this time because I *really* need the money! Good luck with your savings Kate god knows you need it ;-)

Good luck to you too. Whenever you get an urge to buy a book, think of Bill. . . It may prevent the buying ;P

Whoa Jess when you fall off the wagon you do it in style! ;-) Although I can reasonably take the blame for two of those books and I've bought waay too many books this past month as well. My parents are going mental at me to get a job and not spend more money on books :S Sheesh I've only been home like two days and I'm already getting nagged to do something other than sit around watching dvds.

#166: Great haul, Jess!

No, I have not seen the movie of The Secret Life of Bees. I will be interested in seeing what you think of it when you get a chance to watch the film.

Howdy folks, I’m here to catch up with three reviews that I’ve got for ya’ll today.

41.) The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

I wasn’t originally going to buy this book as soon as it came out but seems as I happened to be in a bookshop on the day of its release (who’d a thought it huh?) and noticed it going for £5 I thought what the hell? So I got home and decided to read it pretty much straight away and if I could describe this book in one word it would be pointless.

Ok here’s the thing. This is a short eclipse novella so we already know what’s going to happen. Secondly the heroine of this book is Bree Tanner who we know is going to die. So when you start off reading this you don’t really let yourself become too attached to Bree knowing her fate, not that the book gives you much time to get to know her with it being so short. The only part of this book that’s kind of interesting is that you get to see how newborn vampires behave in the twilight world, which I admittedly did love because it was so different compared to the good vampires in twilight. So that being the only thing you get from this book I was left thinking what was the point in that? I don’t really get why Stephenie felt compelled to write it. Maybe to actually add to the twilight saga a book that’s well written because admittedly this book is much like her novel the host in the fact that the writings a lot better. I think with this one fans will either love it or be left feeling like I did. Don’t get me wrong I do like twilight I was an avid fan at one point, but this one just didn’t hit the spot for me. Overall I’d say this is a good read with classic Stephenie Meyer touches but kind of pointless. 3.5 stars.

42.) The Love of My Life by Louise Douglas

I picked this one up on a rainy evening when I wanted something tragic and romantic to read and this fitted what I needed perfectly.

‘I miss him with every breath and heartbeat. He should have been my happy ending. Instead, he is the sad beginning to my story.’

This book begins with Olivia fleeing Watersford where her husband Luca has recently been buried to return to London to stay with her sister after a blow up with Luca’s family. Olivia then tells her story switching from after the funeral to her childhood and teenage years growing up with her sweetheart Luca. As the story goes on you get to find out what Olivia done that was so terrible that Luca’s family has spent her entire marriage to Luca making her feel unwelcome and shunned, How her and Luca fell in love, and why now after the funeral Olivia is sleeping with Luca’s twin brother Marc…

I really enjoyed this one. It was a nice tragic romance that dealt with the grief side of it very well. An impressive debut and I’m very much looking forward to reading Louise Douglas’ second novel Missing You soon. 4 stars.

43.) A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

This debut novel by Kristin Walker has so many good reviews and I can see why. The plots original, the writing witty, fun and fresh, and she has created characters that you wish you had as friends. I laughed so many times whilst reading this that I definitely got some strange looks! I love how the romance in this is unpredictable and your not really sure who Fiona’s going to end up with but not in the worn out love triangle way as such! I really loved the characters of Fiona, Sam, Todd and Johnny, Oh how I wish they were real! I think this is a stand alone which I’m actually glad about because although I would love to see more from Fiona and Co I think this story was wrapped up pretty nicely. Will definitely be looking out for whatever Kristin Walker brings out next. Recommended if you want a funny original feel good read. 4.5 stars.

Oh and I'm 40 pages in with Unwind by Neal Shusterman, I'm enjoying it so far...

44.) Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This dystopian novel by Neal Shusterman is a real winner. Set in the future after a Pro-Life/Pro-Choice war, abortions are illegal. Instead parents have the choice between the ages of 13 and 18 to have their child unwound. Unwinding is a common accepted practice in society where the child’s body parts are taken apart yet kept alive so the child in question is not technically dead. These body parts are given to amputees, and sick patients who need new organs, cells and blood. When Connor Lassiter’s parents fill in the forms to have troublemaker Conner unwound Conner knows his only option is to run. Being 17 he only has to survive a year until his 18th birthday and after that it is illegal to unwind him. Along the way Conner meets Risa and Lev fellow unwinds who are each being unwound for very different reasons, however they have one thing in common the instinct to run.

This is the kind of book that just gets better and better as you carry on reading. The beginning was ok the middle good and the end unputdownable. Chilling and thought provoking I’ll definitely be recommending this book to fans of the dystopian genre. Although this is a young adult novel some parts are seriously creepy so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to younger readers. I’ll definitely be checking out some more of Neal Shusterman’s books. 4.5 stars.

Just started It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han :)

Dang it I'm really gonna have to get a copy of that soon! Dystopia is really floating my boat right now so since I can't have Mockingjay until August I'm just gonna devour any dystopian novel I can find until then :P
Ooh I've heard the Jenny Han book is pretty awesome - do tell me what you think once you're finished :D

You really should the starts a little slow but by the end it’s awesome! Yeah the first one was really sweet and this ones proving to be just as good so far. Perfect summer reading you should definitely try and get a copy of the first one especially because it’s out in the UK now although the covers not nearly as pretty!

This is what Lauren Myracle had to say about it and I think it sums it up perfectly!

‘‘If I could live inside this amazing book, I would. I would inhale the ocean air and soak up the sun, and I would hang out all day with kind, wonderful, funny, awkward Belly and her two known em forever buds, Jeremiah and Conrad. I’d watch the three of them stop being kids and start being more…and I’d hope hope hope that when Belly falls in love- cause you know she will- she’d give her heart to the exact right boy.’’

I already have Unwind in the BlackHole. One of these days I will get to it. I am a very big fan of dystopian novels too.

Have you read Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It, Jess? You might like that one.

You should get round to it soon Stasia it’s a good one! Yes I read Life as We Knew It around this time last year actually. I liked it a lot and will have to check out the companion novels to it at some point.

I actually got to buy some books the other day. My friend decided that she wanted a birthday with her family this year so the money I was going to use for that I spent on some new books that I was pinning for instead. Also now with my brother’s birthday being out the way I have some money left over from that, I love when you have more money than you thought!

Anyway today I have a review for you guys. This one took me a few days to read even though it was short, fun and easy because I’ve been really busy this weekend but alas it is now read and it was good!

45.) It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

This is Jenny Han’s second book in the summer series and I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first! This review will have spoilers from the first book so don’t read on if you haven’t read it yet, you’ve been warned!

This summer will be very different for Belly, Jeremiah and Conrad instead of going to the summer house in Cousins they’ll be spending their first summers at home without each other each separately morning the loss of the boys mother Susannah. Belly’s best friend Taylor try’s to keep Belly’s mind occupied with parties and new boys but all Belly wants is the beach house and her summer family although she knows having lost Susannah the link that held them all together chances are she’ll never go to Cousins again. But then Jeremiah calls Belly. Conrad’s gone missing and there’s only one place he could be. Looks like the three of them will be going to Cousins this summer after all and find that they have to open up to each other about their grief in order to help each other.

This was a gorgeous summer read that dealt with the grief side of this book very well. It was serious and emotional at times and then funny and light in others. A perfect book to read on a hot summer’s day. I hope there are more books to come in this series especially because things end on a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end of this one. 4 stars.

#180: I did not like Pfeffer's follow up book The Dead and the Gone nearly as much as I liked Life as We Knew It. My local library does not have the third book yet, so I cannot comment on that one.

Hey guys hope your all having a lovely weekend! I have some news! I started my own book blog I’m really loving it so far and it seems to be taking off really well Heres the link if any of you want to check it out, it would be much appreciated seems as I’m the new kid and all. http://jessheartsbooks.blogspot.com/

Stasia- Yeah I’ve heard that from a lot of people which makes me a little reluctant to check it out although I will get around to it at some point.

Anyway time for a brand new spankin’ review!

46.) A Spring Affair by Milly Johnson

It seems as if almost by fate that on one spring day Lou Winters picks up an old dog eared magazine on how clearing clutter from your life can really boost your mood. Little does Lou know at the time how much clearing out her clutter is going to change not only her mood but her life. What starts off sorting out a few draws here and there soon turns into a full house sort out. So much so that Lou has to start hiring skips from the gorgeous half Italian Tom Broom. Lou soon finds herself addicted to clearing out her nest and the more Lou clears out the more she realises what things are important in her life and what things have to go. Should she keep her successful wealthy husband whose affair with another woman Lou is still trying to heal from? Should she throw away her self obsessed ‘best friend’? And maybe in the light and airy places that they leave behind fill them with the confident Lou she used to be before becoming the ultimate surrendered wife, her best friend Deb whom she’s lost contact with and maybe just maybe Tom Broom and his adorable dog Clooney…

I really liked this book. It was a nice light read. Although it had some romance this book mainly covers the subject of self esteem and bullying whether it’s in the work place or from your loved ones. It’s a real feel good read that has you cheering the lovable Lou on as you watch her character grow. Definitely recommended if you’re looking for a girl power kind of read. I’ve since brought another one of Milly Johnson’s novels A Summer Fling which sounds just as good as this one. It has to be said that the covers for both of these books are really pretty and look great on my bookshelf which is a great bonus! 4 stars.

Went to add Unwind to the pile, found it there already! I too am on a dystopia kick, look forward to this one.

I will look for A Spring Affair. It sounds fun! Thanks for the recommendation, Jess.

I think you’ll enjoy it Stasia I know I did :) Now time to review a VERY good book Sea by Heidi R. Kling! (which I cant find a touchstone for darn *grumbles*)

47.) Sea by Heidi R. Kling

I first noticed this book on a lot of people’s book blogs. It has rave reviews so without really knowing that much about it I added it to my wish list to be brought at a later date. However I kept seeing this book everywhere! So intrigued I decided to read what it was about and after finding out I ordered this book straight away because it felt a little bit like fate that I kept crossing paths with it.

Still haunted by nightmares of her mother’s death, fifteen-year-old Sienna Jones reluctantly travels to Indonesia with her father’s relief team to help tsunami orphans with their post traumatic stress disorder—something Sienna knows a lot about. Since her mother’s plane went missing over the Indian Ocean three years before, Sienna doesn’t do anything if it involves the ocean or planes, so this trip is a big step forward.

But the last thing she expects is to fall for Deni, a brooding Indonesian boy who lives at the orphanage, and just so happens to be HOT. When Deni hears a rumour that his father may be alive, Sienna doesn’t think twice about running away with him to the epicenter of the disaster. Unfortunately, what they find there could break both their hearts.

A compelling summer romance, Sea marks the arrival of a stunning new voice in YA.

This book is about PTSD and fears which is something I myself have been diagnosed with, so I related to this book in so many ways and I absolutely loved it one of my very favourites so far this year. It’s rich with culture. It’s well written, and is original and beautiful. I read some parts with tears in my eyes and I loved watching Sienna grow through out the book. The way everything tied in with the sea I thought was very clever and I will be recommending this book to everybody this summer. I’ll definitely be looking out for more of Heidi’s work. 5 stars

#185: I already put Sea in the BlackHole due to someone else's review, but it is good to know that you think highly of it as well.

Oh its amazing Stasia, I want everyone to read it and love it as much as I did. I even wrote to the author to tell her how much I enjoyed it which is something I rarely do.

I have a review for y’all. It was a re-read for me of one my favourite books ever.

48.) Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

First things first I want to say that this book holds a very special place in my heart. It’s one of my favourite Sarah Dessen novels (and I’ve read them all- some over and over!) and probably the book I can relate most to out of all of the many books I’ve read.

Sarah Dessen bravely tackles the subject of violence in teen relationships, something I myself went through a few years back when I was 15. Now I don’t know if Sarah’s ever been through this but she gets the feelings the main character Catlin goes through spot on. This is the third time I’ve read this book and each time I fall in love with it all over it again reading parts with tears in my eyes.

Caitlin’s perfect older sister Cass runs away with a boy on Caitlin’s 16th birthday which is probably the only reckless move she’s ever made in her life. Lost without her older sisters guidance Caitlin soon gets involved with bad boy Rogerson who keeps her on her toes and keeps her mind off missing her sister. But when Rogerson starts getting violent Caitlin needs her big sister more than ever, so she starts writing to Cass telling her everything that’s going on with Rogerson in the dream journal Cass gives to her before running away. She doesn’t know with Cass gone if Cass will ever get chance to read it but feeling like she’s communicating with her sister gives her comfort. With her parents wrapped up in finding her sister, her cheerleading friends Rogerson has isolated her from gone, and a missing sister Caitlin’s never felt more alone. It’s up to Caitlin and Caitlin alone to get away from Rogerson and save herself before it’s too late.

This is such a brilliant book guys. I would really recommend this to any teenage girl seems as violence in teen relationships are getting higher and higher. Caitlin’s story’s so tragic and honest and I can 100 per cent vouch that this story tells it as it is. Totally recommended, 5 stars.

Right now I’m reading Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce which may take me a while to read as I’m going to be pretty busy the next few days but so far I’m enjoying it =)

>187 JessicaLouise23: That's one of my favorites too, and certainly my favorite of Dessen's--I reread it earlier this year and it was just as good as I remembered it. It's a tough subject matter to read about--I can't even imagine experiencing it. I hope all's well for you now!

Good grief woman! I'm gone two whole weeks and you've created a blog, put up more reviews than I've done all year and you've read some pretty darn awesome books as well ! dang I'm so far behind with things it' gonna take me forever to catch up again :S

Thanks LibraryLover23 things are definitely all good for me now :)

I have some news! Some of you may or may not know that I’m going to visit Rachel (Ladyviolet) next week from Monday to Wednesday. Were going on tour of bookshops in the midlands so it’s kind of like a bookish road trip! I’m really excited and may get some photos to post on here for you guys to nose at when were back. So I’ll be MIA for a while and this may well be my last post before I get back depending on how busy I am over the weekend. And because this is what I’ve been saving up for I’ll be able to actually comment on others threads again when I’m back as I’ve been avoiding book recommendations like the plaque so I’m not tempted to blow all my book money before I go. I’m so excited! Anyway time to get on with a review!

49.) Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
I’ve wanted this book ever since I very first heard about it months ago. I really love fairytale re-tellings and seems as this is a re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood I knew I had to add it to my collection. What I didn’t realise however was that this has been released in the UK so I was really happy when I found it in a bookshop and realised I didn’t have to order it off Amazon.

Scarlett and Rosie March hunt Fenris (Werewolves) and have done ever since a wolf entered their home, killed their grandmother, and left Scarlett one eye short and covered in horrendous scars whilst killing the wolf to save her younger sister Rosie. Scarlett lives for the hunt, strong and ruthless she’ll do anything to take the Fenris down and protect her sister. Sweet Rosie hunts because she feels like she owes it to her sister for saving her life but really just wants to be a normal teenage girl. There are only male werewolves and they only feed off young pretty girls so the sisters are the perfect prey especially when they wear their red capes as the Fenris can’t resist the colour red. The sisters are a lethal team but when Scarlett’s old hunting partner Silas comes back after a year away and falls for Rosie the sisters get caught up in more wolf business than they ever imagined…

I really enjoyed this book. I loved both Rosie and Scarlett they were such awesome kick ass characters and I really loved the plot and how it was such a funky modern re-telling of Red Riding Hood. I couldn’t give this 5 stars though as I guessed the ending straight off the bat and I was right so that took away from the book a little for me as I would have liked to have been surprised. I’m not sure if this is the start of a new series but I really hope we’ll see more from The March sisters, if there’s a sequel I’ll definitely be buying it! 4 stars.

50.) Two-way Street by Lauren Barnholdt

This book was just AMAZING. Seriously this is now one of my all time favourite books I just loved everything about it. I’ve had this one on the shelf for a couple of months now and really wanted to get it read over this summer. I’m going on a road trip of my own (thankfully not with an ex) next week so I thought I’d pick this up to read and take with me whilst I’m away with it being relevant and all. So what started as me saying to myself I’ll just read a few chapters soon turned into me devouring the entire thing in one sitting, darn you Lauren Barnholdt! Now I have to find something else to take with me on my trip!

Jordan and Courtney were the unlikely high school couple. Jordan the heartbreaker who doesn’t believe in relationships and Courtney the good girl who always plays it safe never dreamed they’d fall for each other but they did and it worked. That is until Jordan unexpectedly dumps Courtney for a girl he meets on the internet. Courtney never wants to see Jordan again and is mortified when she finds that not only will she have to put up with him at college but it’s too late to change plans for their road trip to orientation together- the trip is on! Courtney’s heartbroken but figures she can tough it out for three days and act like she doesn’t care. But it turns out that Jordan cares a lot. Jordan’s got a few secrets he’s keeping from Courtney about why they had to break up, why they can’t ever be together again, and why despite everything Jordan still loves Courtney and never wanted to break up with her in the first place…

This book is told from both Courtney and Jordan’s perspectives switching from the trip to the past when they first got together, which I loved. You really get to see how in love Jordan and Courtney were and you really want to know what made Jordan leave the girl he loves and let me tell you the twist is awesome and made me actually fall in love with Jordan myself. Courtney can get a little annoying at times but Jordan and his hilarious best friend B.J definitely make up for it! Courtney and Jordan are the kind of couple you’re rooting for all the way through the book. Sweet and funny this is definitely a book I would recommend to read this summer. Lauren Barnholdt you have yourself a new fan! I brought her other two books One Night That Changes Everything, and Watch Me earlier this week they both sound great and if there as good as Two Way Street I’m in for such a treat! 5 stars.

Adding A Spring Affair to the wishlist Jess, and I love your blog, it's so much fun! Yours and Rachel's are just great, I'm always straight on there when I notice a new post.

And perhaps, perhaps, I might just be planning on taking one or two photos of my own tomorrow... *whistles innocently*

*covert wink*
I've been rather bad with updating my blog this past week, I want to do a post about my trip to Barbados but I reckon describing everything I did is going to make it super long and I didn't take that many photos so I'd have to "borrow" lots of pics from the other folk on the tour. Gah it's too much effort required! lol I'm so lazy .

Hello Lters! I have returned from my trip to visit Rachel and Ellie and we had a wonderful time. To read the full account of our road trip visit my blog here http://jessheartsbooks.blogspot.com/ *gives a wave and a hug to Ellie and Rach* I’ve been ill the last couple of days so it gave me chance to get another book off old mount TBR here's my review for Beastly…

51.) Beastly by Alex Flinn

I really love reading fairytales and fairytale retellings, so with this being a modern retelling of my all time favourite fairytale Beauty and the Beast I knew I had to read it. This book has recently been made into a movie which looks pretty good so I wanted to get it read before the film comes out. I’ve heard nothing but good reviews for this book and I like the majority enjoyed it.

Kyle Kingsbury is beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside. All that matters to him is looks and he torments and pranks “the ugly kids” at school. His most recent prank is on Kendra the typical Goth girl at school. He invites her to go to the school dance and plans to humiliate her by turning up with the hottest girl in school and announcing to everyone that he never intended to be her escort. This time Kyle has messed with the wrong girl. Turns out that Kendra’s a witch and she casts a spell on Kyle to make his appearance reflect how hideous he is on the inside. However if he can find someone who can see the beauty inside him despite his appearance, get them to fall in love with him and him her and seal the deal with a kiss he will be returned to his former self. He has two years to break the spell, but lets face it how can anyone ever love someone whose so perfectly beastly?

This book is a fun read whilst at the same time hitting some of the classic important issues raised in the Beauty and the Beast tale. This is a story of finding yourself, learning what’s important, and realising that beauty isn’t skin deep. I loved how Alex Flinn made this book modern and current using internet dating, being homeschooled and other such things whilst also keeping some of the things that makes the original so special and magical like the rose and the mirror. This is a really great book which I would recommend to everyone who loves fairytales young or old. I recently ordered off Amazon Alex Flinn’s latest fairytale retelling of Sleeping Beauty- A Kiss in Time which I’m very excited to read. A fun read that addresses some serious issues. 4 stars.

#194: I am glad you had a great time at Book End with Ellie, but admit to being terribly jealous!

Yes we had a lovely time Stasia, I’d be jealous too especially because we’re going back for another visit soon before Rachel heads back to Uni :P

Now I need to at least catch up with one review whilst I have the time.

52.) The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

This is the third and final book in the darkest powers trilogy there may be spoilers from the first two books you have been warned!

I’ve really enjoyed this young adult series by Kelly Armstrong, and so I’m definitely going to be checking out her adult books in the near future. If you’re reading this review then I take it you’ve read the other two books and know what the story’s about so I won’t go into that. Chances are if you enjoyed the first two books you’re going to enjoy this one- I know I did! As usual the writing was brilliant, the plot action packed and the characters their usual delightful selves. I really wanted to give this book 5 star’s because I really have enjoyed this series but I was really rather peeved that a lot of my questions didn’t get answered. I know that Kelley’s releasing another series set in this world with some of the characters from this series in it but I felt a bit cheated that if you want some answers you’ll have to read the other series to find out. I really think that was unfair and she should have tied everything up properly. You don’t get to find out why Chloe’s necklace changes colour and what that means. Nor do you get to really find out what happens to Rae which really irked me. I will be reading The Gathering though so hopefully I’ll get my answers eventually, but still definitely a bit of a con to get others to read her next series. Over all though I thought this was a very enjoyable book and I loved seeing Chloe get the boy I hoped she’d end up with. Thank you Kelley Armstrong for writing such a wonderfully action packed original series. 4 stars.

Review for Forget You by Jennifer Echols coming soon!

*sigh* Another one doing the rounds that I will only be able to resist for so long...

Yep I've seen it around quiet a bit. Hurry up and read The Silver Linings Playbook it's on the wishlist and I want to know if I should buy ;)

Welllll, it's a bit mysterious so far. This guy's come out of a mental institution and gone home to live with his parents, trying to improve himself so he'll be able to put an end to 'apart time' between him and his wife Nikki. Not sure what he did to drive her away in the first place, but he hallucinates Kenny G playing sax in his attic (check YouTube - I had to!) and he says he was 'emotionally abusive'. It's got loads of American football in it too. But it's being billed as a bit like 'Little Miss Sunshine', kinda bittersweet quirky, and it's quite funny, so I'm quite enjoying it so far. I'll let you know, I think everything needs to unfold so I'll 'get it' and see how it all works out in the end...

Sounds fun & very quirky, am very much looking forward to your review! BTW your blog post has really made me want to raid some charity shops ASAP. But maybe I'll put that off until next week when I get paid...Oh the thrill of finding a great charity shop steal though! I could really use that kind of excitment in my life... God I'm old before my time!

Book reviews, book reviews come and get your book reviews! ;)

53.) Forget You by Jennifer Echols

I’d never read anything by Jennifer Echols before until Forget You even though I’ve heard plenty of good things about her books. When I found out what this book was about I knew I had to get it as it sounded like my kind of book. That and the beautiful summery cover which will look gorgeous on my bookshelf - always a bonus! So I pre-ordered it a few weeks before it was due to come out and found myself counting down the days until its release date. Lucky for me Amazon sent it out to me early so I got to read it a little before it came out in stores. It didn’t disappoint.

Zoey is perfect. Or at least she likes to appear that way. She makes good grades at school. Has started a relationship with popular gorgeous Brandon and plays the part of the perfect daughter. Little does everybody know that Zoey’s life isn’t so perfect. Her father has got his twenty four year old girlfriend pregnant with love child behind her mom’s back and her mom’s not coping so well with the break up. In fact she recently tried to take her own life. Something Zoey wants to keep private, even from her closest friends. Zoey would love to forget all of these things. Then Zoey’s in a car crash and the next day she can’t remember the entire night before. Afraid to admit her amnesia to anyone after her dad threatens to get her sectioned like her mom Zoey sets off to try and find out what happened that night on her own. Why is bad boy Doug acting like something significant happened that night? And why does it feel like Brandon’s avoiding her? Controlled perfect Zoey is coming apart and it looks like she’s going to have to get some answers and find out some truths in order to get it together.

I really enjoyed this book. Zoey felt like a very real character and I loved watching how Doug and Zoey’s relationship developed. The book deals with some serious issues but still manages to keep the story easy and light to read. I didn’t really like Doug at first but by the end I adored him which just goes to show how good Jennifer Echols is at developing her characters. The reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars though was because I found the ending a little too happy. As I mentioned before the book dealt with some serious issues and I felt like the ending was a little too convenient given the circumstances, and I felt like the ending should have been more hopeful than happy as it just didn’t seem to gel with the feel of the rest of the book. Other than that I found this to be a great read and will definitely be reading more books by Jennifer Echols in the future. I just wish they’d publish them here in the UK! 4 stars.

54.) Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Let me start off by saying that the first book in this trilogy Shiver is one of my all time favourite books. It’s my idea of the perfect read. It’s deeply romantic, tragic and haunting so ever since I turned the last page - tears silently running down my cheeks - I’ve been hungry to get my hands on Linger. This is one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it didn’t disappoint.

In Shiver Sam and Grace got their happy ending. Sam’s cure worked. He stayed Sam forever shedding his wolf’s skin and everything was perfect - or so we thought. In Linger Maggie Stiefvater shakes things up again. Sam still can’t quiet believe he’s really been cured and is cautious to get hopeful about any sort of future. Plus there’s still his family, his pack, in the woods. He doesn’t miss his life as a wolf but he misses his farther figure Beck and the rest of the pack and is eagerly waiting for the warmer days when his friends will start shifting back to human form. Grace is struggling to keep a balance between Sam and her parents whilst all the while she’s keeping a dangerous secret. One that could threaten not only her relationship with Sam but her life and as time draws on she finds herself changing in ways she never could have expected…

This book was amazing. I loved it. Maggie Stiefvater has a real way with words that really brings Sam and Grace’s relationship to life. Although this is a supernatural story above all it’s a love story and a tragic one at that. I love the characters especially Sam who is my ideal guy and Isabel who’s beautifully broken. The end of this book had me in tears yet again and I was desperate to give it 5 stars but had to knock it down to 4 and a half just for the fact that I really didn’t like Cole and found his chapters made me lose interest although he did redeem himself at the end of the book which raised my opinion of him a little. That really didn’t take away from the book that much for me though and now I’m counting down the days until next summer when the final instalment of this trilogy Forever comes out. Well worth the wait and highly recommended 4.5 stars.

I am *THIS CLOSE* to launching myself onto Amazon and ordering Shiver and Linger - NOT HELPING YOUNG LADY! Ah bugger. Between this review and that gorgeous trailer you posted over on your blog, I wonder if I can last out another day before I tumble?

I have got to get my hands on Linger!

Ellie- Read Shiver
Stasia- Read Linger
Both of you- Drop everything and go and read them now!!!! * ekh hem* *whistles*

55.) The Sisterhood by Emily Barr

I’ve had this book on mount To Be Read for a while now. I found it going cheap at Tesco and liking the sound of it brought it on a bit of a whim. Then I read another of Emily Barr’s novels Backpack which I loved. She’s a terrific writer, at first I thought she was an author of chick lit but her books are much darker than chick lit yet her writing still has that easy going nature to it. Fancying something different to what I’d been reading recently, on a rainy day I decided to finally get this read and I really enjoyed it. Backpacks still my favourite but this one comes in at a close second. This is going to be a hard book to review because it’s got so many twists that there’s not much I can say without giving it all away, so the description may be brief but bare in mind that there’s so much more to this book than just that and I guess if you want to find out you’ll have to pick it up and read it yourself (which I would recommend by the way.) Anyway here it goes.

This book is told from the point of view of two women alternating from chapter to chapter between Liz in London and Helen in France. Liz has just come out of a relationship and has found herself pregnant and alone after a one night stand. Helen bored of her sheltered life in France has just found- after poking around in her mothers things- a birth certificate for another baby a sibling she knows nothing about - Miss Elizabeth Greene. After finding Liz on the internet Helen plans to move to England to get to know her sister more and bring her home to reunite her with their mother - pretty straight forward right? But with Helen things aren’t quiet what they seem. Both sisters are keeping secrets from each other and they find one thing they definitely have in common is their dark side…

I really did enjoy this book. Straight off the bat you know that Helens a bit of an odd young woman but you don’t get to find out the lengths of it until the very end. This book is full of twists and turns that honestly surprised me. The ending however fell a little bit flat for me as I was expecting a much bigger ending which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 but the idea for the story itself is original and I very much enjoyed the rest of the book. If you’re looking for something dark but yet easy to read Emily Barr is the author for you. Not quiet girly enough to be called chick lit and not quiet dark enough to be called a thriller her books meet nicely in the middle and the outcome is a rather compelling enjoyable read. I’m very much looking forward to reading some more of Emily’s books. 4 stars.

#205: I would gladly read Linger now if only my local library had it, Jess!

Hello! I'm on the warpath, devouring the purity of the threads of those who got to visit Ellie and The Shop. That's right, you can't get away with it, even if you did just spray your thread with man-repellent in post 205 by posting a chick lit review. I'm here, and I'm afraid there's no getting rid of me now! Sorry! >:)

Hey Jess! Just wanted you to know I checked out your blog today. I applaud thee. It's a good set-up. I've always toyed with the idea of setting one up, but never have the motivation to do it. And it would probably slowly dwindle away to fewer and fewer posts, lol.

Stasia- How DARE you’re local library not have Linger! Have you asked them to get it in for you? I hope you get your hands on it soon, you’re in for a treat when you do :)

Well hello Ape man at last you enter my territory. I’ve seen you here and there around the 75 threads and wondered how long it would be until you graced me with your presence. *Raises eyebrow.* Yes a lot of chick-lit and romance around these parts I’m afraid but occasionally I’ll stump up with the odd horror, thriller or classic to attract you men so keep your eyes peeled. Tis nice to have a man around these parts especially a bookish one please make yourself welcome and mind the bras on the back of the chairs and tampons in the bathroom ;)

Hey Kate :) Good to hear from you! It’s quiet addictive when you start- honest. Although right now I’m procrastinating because I don’t know what to write for a certain review! Yeah… should really get on to that *sheepish*

Oh and Ape, I've just read your review on The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm going to read that one very soon, just wanted to let you know you've pushed it up the TBR pile by a couple of books :)

HA! Tampons don't scare me! They are harmless! Err...assuming they're still in the packages, of course... *eyes bathroom cautiously and quakes* GULP!

;)

Hope you 'like' The Road, when you get around to it.

#209: Stasia- How DARE you’re local library not have Linger!

That is exactly how I feel about it! Hopefully, since it did have Shiver it will get the second book as well - though it will probably take another year or two.

Well normally I like to let them loose so the cats can use them as play things but I *suppose* with a man around the house I’ll start keeping them in there packaging. Now lets find out more about you *looks on profile* Ooh 22 years old? Only 2 years older than me, American - us English gals like us some American boys and oh best of all a book addict! Well I think you’ll fit right in around here *extends hand* I’m Jess it’s nice to meet you sir. Now would you rather be called Ape man or Stephen? No ape from me I’m afraid I much prefer Ape man so take your pick ;)

Stasia- This makes me very sad that you can’t experience the awesomeness of Linger yet. Tell them to get a wiggle on already!

Ok now I suppose I better stop procrastinating and get this review for The Iron King done *sigh* Ok here it goes.

56.) The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Ok I have a slight confession to make. I’ve been procrastinating and trying to put off doing this review for a while for several reasons. The main two being that I don’t want to be verbally attacked and I really don’t know what to say about this book. I guess I better start at the beginning.

So I was really looking forward to reading this, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months it’s one of those books that a lot of people are raving about. So I saved if for a weekend when I wanted something really amazing to read and at first I loved it. I loved Julie Kagawa’s writing and I loved awkward dorky Meghan and her best friend Robbie/Puck and things were going great until something happened that really disturbed me. They entered faerie land through the back of a closet. I had a slight sense of Déjà vu at that point and thought I was re-reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and shook it off, but then bits from a bunch of my favourite stories kept showing up. It was like reading a mish mash of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, A fairytale, Peter Pan, Labyrinth and The Never-ending story all merged into one - rather unabashedly so at that. That seriously lowered this books standards for me because to be frank anyone can coble together a story with bits of all their favourite tales give it a title and put their name to it. So this really didn’t showcase Julie Kagawa’s ability to story tell for me.

Whilst reading the middle of this book I wanted to put it down so many times. The Meghan I loved at the beginning of the book turned into a whiny weakling who was constantly getting herself kidnapped or putting herself in unnecessary danger. And the middle was action packed but not in the usual way that I like. It seemed really stupid the amount of times Meghan got into trouble and yet she’d always miraculously found someway to escape. Because there was so much action going on you barely got any interaction time with the characters making me feel like I didn’t get to know them as well as I would have liked and making the friendships Meghan made seem a little bit unrealistic.

Then at the end things changed around again. I loved the ending. Julie finally brings some originality to the book with the Iron fey and Meghan finally develops a back bone. The end of the book really made me want to read the next book The Iron Daughter and so I closed the book very confused about my feelings towards it. I loved both Puck and Ash towards the end and I really began to like Meghan again once she became a bit more kick ass. But the middle of the book was a real let down. I don’t know if I’ll be buying the sequel and I don’t know if I’d recommend this book. I can see why people love it and I can see why people wouldn’t like it. I just hope that with The Iron Daughter Kagawa focuses more on the Iron fey than trying to rip off other great stories, if she does and if Meghan continues to grow as a character it’ll be an amazing read. If she keeps mish mashing other stories and Meghan gets kidnapped numerous times then I’ll probably give it a miss. Over all I give this book a 3.5, you might love it you might hate it, this ones a bit of a risk taker. One to borrow or buy when you’re feeling reckless.

*checks hand for some hidden tampon joke before accepting* ;)

Well normally I like to let them loose so the cats can use them as play things

AHAHAHAHA! Oh my, you see, I grew up in a house of women. My mom and sister, and they were always quite enthusiastic when trying to embarass me with their tampon references. Needless to say I'm quite used to it now...but, I've never heard that one before! Haha.

Call me anything other than what the folks are calling me on my own thread. No Stasio, Stephany/Stephanie, Stefano, or Stephykins... !!!

I like your reviews: Very thorough! :)

I’ll probably differ between Ape Man and Stephen then depending on my mood. I’ll have to pop over to your thread in a moment see what its like over at your place. Don’t take offence if I don’t keep up with what’s going on though I’m just not very good at keeping up with a bunch of peoples threads not even Ellie’s which is wonderful I usually try and catch her on her blog or send her a message :) I will try and call in from time to time though.

Anddd here’s another review so I’m all up to date and can pick something new out to read without feeling guilty yay!

57.) Nothing Like You by Lauren Strasnick

I was going to get this book when it was out in hardcover but I’m so glad I waited for it to come out in paperback. Not because it’s a bad book - no quiet the contrary but because the cover for this book is gorgeous. I love it and down the side of the book there’s a beautiful paisley design. A very pretty one for on your bookshelf and what’s inside this book is just as gorgeous. It’s only a short book being just over 200 pages long but it packs a punch. I read this one last Sunday and couldn’t put it down here’s a little bit on what it’s about.

‘‘You think he’s yours, but he’s not.’’ I thought. ‘‘You think he’s yours but really he’s mine.’’

Ever since Holly’s mom died 6 months ago Holly’s felt numb. Desperate to feel something- anything - Holly loses her virginity to Paul in what she assumes is a one night stand. After all, what would popular, gorgeous Paul see in ordinary Holly? Especially when he’s dating perfect, blond Saskia. But to Holly’s surprise Paul wants to continue their secret affair which is fine by Holly. Paul makes her feel good something she desperately needs. But when Holly’s paired up with Saskia at school and the girls begin to form a friendship Holly realises that what she’s needed all along is a friend and now that she’s got one she might lose her. Holly’s gone about trying to find love the completely wrong way because all along the kind of love Holly’s really needed is the love only she can give to herself.

This book was so much more than what I expected it to be. I really liked Holly and Saskia and wanted the best for both girls. This is a book about making the wrong decisions and learning to live with the consequences, it’s about learning what truly matters in this world and that despite everything you have to love yourself. I got teary eyed a few times whilst reading this, its just such a real book. Holly makes mistakes and learns from them along the way whilst all the time grieving for her mother making her incredibly endearing. This is definitely a book I would recommend if you’re looking for a quick yet brilliant summer read. I now can’t wait for Lauren’s second novel ‘Her and Me and You’ to come out. 4 stars.

Good luck keeping up with my thread, it's a beast all its own. Ellie and Richard have harvested a monster and set it loose on this poor group, and it comes in the form of my thread. It's a dark, scary place. No tampons though, so maybe it's not all bad. :)

And no worries about trying to keep up with it, I have troubles keeping up with it myself, half the time.

#213: I already have that one in the BlackHole and no, my local library does not have it yet.

#214: I rather liked Stasio.

#215: Adding that one to the BlackHole. My local library strikes out again.

We're having a lovely conversation about vomit over on darling Stephen's thread right now Jess, you should stop by! :-)
Think I'll skip The Iron King but I thumbed your review!

Stasia you should have some serious words with your library.

I do wonder what I’ve got myself into when it comes to Stephen and his thread hmm…

I got some books for review today from Bloomsbury *happy dance* two of which were the same two that I got sent last week :S so I’m passing them on over to Rachel if she wants them. I cant wait to share them on the blog for IMM Sunday. I also found The Shack, The Winter House and Eldest all brand new never been read in a charity shop so this week in books so far has been pretty good.

I had a brilliant moment on Tuesday when I was in The Works - this local discount book shop. They have these amazing offers on where you can get a book for £1.99 or 3 for £5 so anyway I was standing there having a nose and this woman was looking at The Black Dagger Brother Hood series, she must have been standing there for about 15 minutes switching between them all when she finally called the shop assistant over to ask her which were the first three books. The shop assistant went on to tell her that numbers 3, 4 and 5 were indeed the first three books. The woman said to her well they have a list at the front and it says these three which the shop assistant dismissed with a oh there not in order *rolls eyes* so this lady was picking up her bags ready to pay and I knew I had to step in. This was quiet a big deal for me as a sufferer of anxiety and acrophobia I find it very hard to talk to people I don’t know never mind approach them but if that was me I’d want the right books! So I went over and told her which order they were in and said I knew because I’d read the first three. The woman was so grateful bless her and we talked for a few minutes about books and then before going off to pay she said ‘well I’m glad you were here at least someone knows what there on about!’ in a rather loud voice which got me a very icy look from the assistant. I then very happy and proud of myself went to pay for my book (All the things we didn’t say by Sara Shepard) which was rung through the till by a very icy silent worker tee hee!

Oh and just to update I’m reading The Maze Runner. Wonderful so far.

What really?? *blushes* aww Jess you actually rock *twirly hugs* Which two are they cos my memory fails a bit? I know one was Fallen Grace.. but t'other... *brainmelts*
Go you with being more helpful than the shop assistant! That's why I would love working in a book shop cos I would be determined to make sure people knew that they were getting the book they wanted, rather than the useless idiots who don't know what they're on about!

Did you not get my text this morning m’dear? I text you off my mums phone coz y’know I’m all out of texts and stuff but yeah they sent me Fallen Grace and The Poisoned House again both creepy YA historical fiction books they sound really good so yes I shall bring them with me on our trip theres £16 worth of free books for you! Hehe! Just don’t say you got them from me on your blog incase they you know what me to send them back or something *glances around nervously*

I do wonder what I’ve got myself into when it comes to Stephen and his thread hmm…

Ah well I've been rather lazy today and haven't switched my phone on all day *blushes*
I'm sure they won't ask you to send them back m'dear loads of bloggers give away ARCs to their friends, it's selling them on which you're not allowed to do.

I just bought the first two Black Dagger Brotherhood books, and the first Fallen Angels, and the first two Weather Wardens, and the first two Morganville Vampires... oh hell. Unfortunately I discovered that the book stall on the market on Mondays has quite a few Ward/Caine books on their '2 for £5' thing, so I bought four last week and wrote down all the titles I still need so I can go back next time... :-)

P.S. WELL DONE JESS! It's always a good feeling when something happens to make you pipe up and face your fears because you're doing the right thing. Good lass!

P.P.S. How did you get those ARCs? Did you request them or was it a response to your review policy on your blog? Just so I know I'm maximising my chances of freebies! Hehe, like I need any more, especially with all of Mrs H's classics coming my way unexpectedly... ;-)

Ah book bargains like that you just can’t pass up on can you? Even if you’re not desperately after the books you still need to pick them up at that price!

I just finished reading The Maze Runner which was amazing I give it 5 stars, so a review of that will be up in the next few days. I hate when you finish a really good book and feel like nothing you read will live up to what you just read :| so I’m having a hard time choosing what to read next.

A ton of other books for review came in the mail today some I’m super excited about. Some I have so there again going to Rachel as she wants them but hasn’t got around to buying them. Ellie I’ll cobble together a message for you in a mo about how it came about and some tips on getting them I’ll probs send it to you to Rach to give you some info :)

I own The Maze Runner. Hopefully, I will get to it soon! I look forward to your review, Jess.

The Maze Runner's on the wishlist from your 'In My Mailbox' blog post, so hurry up and get that review up young lady! Not that I'm allowed to buy anything else yet, but I can be ready!

Hello my lovelies, it’s been a while since I’ve been online. I get terrible migraines every once in a while and I got hit with them a couple of days ago. When I get one I can’t read or go on the computer for a great length of time so now that there better I have a lot of catching up to do!

The Maze Runner is wonderful and you should all read it - like now! And in case you need further convincing here’s my review for it ;)

P.S. I’ve also been buying books like crazy because I’ve been feeling awfully sorry for myself. There up on my page if you want to check them out…

58.) The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I’ve been wanting to read this book for the longest time but couldn’t find the US copy over here in the UK anywhere, so I had to contain myself and wait for months for it to finally be published a year later here in the UK *sighs.* But at last the release date finally came and I snatched up a copy as soon as I could and read it straight away and well lets just say all that waiting definitely paid off!

When Thomas wakes up in a blacked out lift all he can remember is his first name. Sure he knows about the world and how it works. He knows how to ride a bike, and that your suppose to have parents and he knows all about the birds and the bees but he doesn’t remember how he knows. He has no personal memories. He can’t remember who taught him these things, his family’s faces or even his last name. When the lift cranks to a halt Thomas finds himself in the Glade. A walled of encampment at the centre of a monstrous never ending maze with only other boys of his own age for company. The other boys don’t know why or how they got there all they know is that every morning when the walls slide back to reveal the horrific labyrinth they will face the terrors of the maze and the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal beasts to find out.

What I loved about this book was that you don’t know what’s going on anymore than the characters do so you feel just as desperate and frightened as they do. You have no idea why their there, how and why the maze came to be and what the outside world is like. This keeps you reading and reading and in that respect this book is very much like a runner itself. At the start you’re just getting your bearings, warming up, trying to figure out what’s going on. Then after a few chapters you get going into a jog that builds into a faster and faster stride because like the boys you’re desperate to find out the secrets of the maze and let me tell you the answers don’t disappoint. When I reached the end I was out of breath desperate for more and I absolutely must get my hands on the second book in this series The Scorch Trials the moment it comes out in October. Whether it’s out over here then I don’t know but I will get my hands on the US copy if not because believe me I really, really need to.

This is simply one of the best books I’ve read so far this year – in fact scrap that- ever and is highly recommended to dystopian fans. If you’re looking for something to keep you occupied until Mockingjay comes out this is the book for you. If after reading Mockingjay you’re looking for a new dystopian series to fall in love with this is for you. If you’re simply looking for an action packed brilliant book this is for you. 5 stars.

Oh and I’m currently reading Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles which I’m enjoying. I only have about 50 something pages left so I’ll have that finished tonight and a review up soon :)

Interesting reviews, though I do regard Emily Barr as chicklit.

I think to some extent her books can be classed as chick- lit. But they definitely don’t contain the usual fluff and easy going story that I associate chick-lit with. There are some people I know who love chick lit that I wouldn’t recommend Emily Barr’s books to because I know that it wouldn’t be what they’d expect from the genre.

I'm sorry to hear about your migraine troubles! I guess I'm lucky to not have them, thanks to my reduced amount of brain activity I suppose! Hurray? :P

Thanks for the review Jess! Though it was already on my wishlist from you and your lovely book twin's combined blogosphere ravings...
Stephen - at the risk of choking on my coffee again, could you not use the elderly to fuel that too?

Hello my dears, your more than welcome Ellie although I think it kind of sucks. Considering I loved the book so much I really wanted to give it a great review but my headache isn’t letting me process the thoughts properly, for instance…

‘A walled of encampment’
Is suppose to read
‘A walled off encampment’
And I’m sure there are many others. *sigh.* I will edit it when my brains working properly again.

Stephen you are indeed very lucky not to suffer from them and yes I tend to agree that the brainy suffer from them more than the simple minded ;) I’ll pop in and pay you a visit soon when I have time to catch up. Until then I hope your well?

Hehe, hi Jess! I'm following you from my profile to your thread and back again, spooooooky. You're allowed to have a fuzzy brain after a migraine, go make yourself a cup of tea and get off this computer screen, enjoy a nice book instead! :-)

Yeah I’ve spent a lot of time updating my blog so now I’m all done I think I’m going to go and get into bed and finish my book seems as I only have 50 something pages left. Night everyone! (Or you know morning, afternoon, depending on the time zone) hopefully next time I speak to ya’ll my brain will be functioning!

Jess: Or, maybe your brain hurts because it has to try harder to think the thoughts that I think more effeciently! Bwahaha. ??

But yes, I'm doing well I guess, no LT ladies have beaten me up in awhile so it's been very pleasant around here lately. :)

Ellie: I'm not sure how I can harness the power of the elderly to power my brain. I mean, I naturally conjure up the image of the hamster on the wheel, but have you ever seen an old lady on a tread mill? :o

I really enjoyed The Maze Runner when I read it earlier this year... I believe Dashner just finished writing the final book in the trilogy, so I'm very excited for the next installment and then... the last book! Though the second book will have to take quite a different direction... so I'm very intrigued...

Hardy hark Ape man, but yes erm *coughs* you could very well be right!

dk_phoenix – Yes The Maze Runners just great isn’t it? I’m so excited for the next two books I hope there as good!

I finished Leaving Paradise last night and I enjoyed it a lot. Some parts of the end even made me cry so I’m going to review that this weekend and I’m now reading The Poisoned House by Michael Ford which I received for review on my blog from Bloomsbury - so far so good with that one!

59.) Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

I bought this book after reading and adoring Simone Elkeles’ Perfect Chemistry. Even though Leaving Paradise isn’t out over here in the UK yet I managed to find and buy off of Amazon because I was just desperate for more of Simone’s writing and romance. I started this book with high expectations and it didn’t disappoint! Simone Elkeles is the kind of author that is born to write she’s just a brilliant story teller and I honestly don’t think she could write a bad book even if she tried. This book has such an original plot and the romance is just as touching as Perfect Chemistry although surprising Maggie and Caleb’s romance felt very different to that of Alex and Brittany. Where Alex and Brittany’s relationship in Perfect Chemistry was fiery and passionate Maggie and Caleb’s is raw and emotional. I really loved the difference between them because for me that just showed how well Simone manages to develop her characters and relationships.

Leaving Paradise starts with Caleb getting released from Juvie after spending a year in there for being the driver behind a drunken hit and run. The point of view then shifts in the next chapter to Maggie the girl Caleb has scarred for life and has left with a permanent limp. After taking a year off school to under go painful surgeries and physical therapy, Maggie’s finally ready to go back and face the music at school. Each chapter is told from either Caleb or Maggie’s perspective which I love about Simone Elkeles’ books as you get to see both sides of the story/romance. You really get a sense of how isolated and alone Maggie and Caleb feel after the accident so it’s not surprising when they turn to each other for support as their the only two who can really understand what the other is going through. Caleb’s such a sweet guy who desperately wants to protect Maggie from the cruel remarks she gets at school and Maggie whilst being vulnerable never shows weakness and who I actually thought was a really tough admirable girl. Their romance is so sad and tragic and I loved how they turned something bad into something good. I think that’s a really good moral that the readers get to take away with them after reading this book.

I really loved everything about this book and I got a bit teary eyed reading the end! Even the secondary characters in this book are wonderful. I especially had a soft spot for the elderly Mrs Reynolds. Despite how much I enjoyed this book I couldn’t give it the full 5 stars that I gave Perfect Chemistry just because I didn’t enjoy it quiet as much. That said this is still a good book in its own right and I’m really glad that the sequel Return to Paradise is out soon because I’m already itching to read it to find out what happens next to Maggie and Caleb. A bitter sweet romance which comes fully recommended. 4 stars.

#240: Nice review, Jess. I will have to look for that one. Thanks for the recommendation!

It’s a good one Stasia, I think you’d enjoy it. I’m just about to write my review for my first ever book sent for review The Poisoned House by Michael Ford I’m a little nervous so if you guys like it I’d appreciate you thumbing it on here or heading over to my blog and leaving a comment there. Argh ok time to bite the bullet, wish me luck!

60.) The Poisoned House by Michael Ford

I had this book sent to me from Bloomsbury to review a week or so ago and I was immediately excited to read it. The cover intrigued me and the synopsis sounded right up my street so I moved it up to the top of my To Be Read pile and picked it up this weekend when it was rather miserable and rainy and I fancied a creepy historical fiction novel and I was very pleasantly surprised by this book.

Having never read anything by Michael Ford before I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this but I loved it! Right from the start you can tell that Ford is an excellent story teller. You’re immediately transported into 18th century London so much so that you can very nearly smell the stench of the streets of London wafting off the pages. The story starts when Abi an orphaned servant at the brooding and dark Greave Hall runs away. She’s desperate to escape the crutches of sadistic housekeeper Mrs Cotton and her harsh lifestyle there. Soon after escaping, Abi is caught and brought back to Greave Hall and things start going from bad to worse. The widowed master of the house Lord Greave is slipping slowly into madness, leaving Mrs Cotton his dead wife’s sister to take advantage of her position and adopt the role of Mistress of the house wearing her sisters jewellery and entertaining guests. As Mrs Cotton’s malice intensifies odd things start happening around the house. It seems as though a ghostly presence is trying to get Abi to leave Greave Hall for good and reveal that the house and the people within it are hiding terrible secrets, ones that may cost Abi her very life.

I find that ghost stories can be very hit or miss. If you do it right it can be excellent if you do it wrong it can be disastrous and Michael Ford definitely gets it right with The Poisoned House. It reminded me very much of a sort of Rebecca for teens with a supernatural twist. It has all of the things that make Rebecca the wonderful classic that it is. The big brooding house, mystery, a malicious housekeeper, a grieving widower, suspense and death. I found myself turning the pages just as desperate to discover the secrets of the house as much as Abi. There’s always something exciting going on that makes you keep reading and reading. Michael ford definitely has himself a new fan and I hope he writes more historical fiction in the future as he truly does excel at it. The only reason I couldn’t quiet give this the full top marks is because for me the book was a tad short. I would have liked more time with the characters and for them to have been a little more developed. If you’re looking for a suspenseful, gothic, quick read then your sure to love this. Thank you for sending it to me for review Bloomsbury it’s now become one of my favourite books of the year! 4 stars.

Thumbs up from me for your very good review, Jess!

*Sigh* Added to my wishlist. Surprise, surprise.
You coming to see me tomorrow, yay! *happy dance*

Sounds interesting! We'll see if my library gets it.

I guess I'll just have to plan to spend all day tomorrow in a fit of jealous rage! :)

Seriously, hope your visit is all nice and pleasant and bookish. Now don't you girls making jokes and laughing at me behind my back, you hear! ;-P

Us? Make jokes? pshaw! We're angels honestly! *digs out halo, polishes it a bit* :P

#247: I daresay your halo needs more than just 'a bit' of polishing :)

Don't worry Stephen! A lot of the time we were too busy diving headfirst into all the books Jess and Rachel brought with them to talk about much else! Though we DID have a little discussion about how funny you and Richard are... :-)

Hehe :P
We're all back home now and... MOCKINGJAY IS HERE *SQUEE*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for the excess exclamation marks but I am *so* freaking happy right now!!!
Hurry up and read the Hunger Games so you can join in the squee fest !

Glad you managed to wait all those hours to get your own book instead of stealing mine! And no parking ticket, most excellent. I'll be heading over to the blogs later to find out what you've been buying... :-)

249: Oh, good! That sounds positive enough. I was imagining much worse. :P

Heyyyy you guys!!! :) Looks like I have some catching up to do on here and the blog so I better get cracking.

Thanks for the thumbs to everyone who’s gave me one for The poisoned house review, my reviews doing well on my blog and things as well so the publishers should be happy with that. There’s been a lot of interest in the book and it really deserves it so in addition to that yes Kate you must try and find yourself a copy!

Stephen yes you did come up in conversation once or twice but nothing bad – promise!

Note to Ellie and Rach get these piccies up so I can do a post about the trip on my blog!

Right now I’m going to do a review, and it’s a big one because it’s going to be over Mockingjay the much awaited final book in the hunger games trilogy. I read this in one sitting last night and loved it. This is going to be a spoiler free review so if you haven’t read the book yet feel free to continue on. Although it may contain spoilers from books one and two so proceed with caution if you haven’t read them.

61.) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

This is a spoiler free review so if you haven’t read the book yet feel free to continue on. Although it may contain spoilers from books one and two so proceed with caution if you haven’t read them.

Well where do I start with this one? I guess everybody reading this knows how highly anticipated this book has been so it should come as no surprise when I say that I snatched up the first copy I could find and devoured the entire thing in one sitting. I avoided reading reviews on this book until I finished it so when I logged on to my computer this morning I was surprised to see the mixed reviews for it. Some love it some thought it was ok some even hated it but one thing everyone seems to have in common is that they don’t quiet know what to say about this book. One thing’s for sure either way it will leave you speechless.

My thoughts? I personally loved it. A lot of people seem not to like it because they didn’t get the happy ending they expected but that’s exactly what I loved about it. I thought it was very brave of Suzanne Collins to stay true to the theme of this book and not give in to the pressure of wanting everyone to be happy with it. What you have to remember is that this book is set in a world where the government have gone mad. This is a story of hardship and death and to change that in the final book and make everything just rosy would be unrealistic. This didn’t necessarily end how I wanted it to end but it ended how it needed to be ended.

Because of this the book is truly heartbreaking to read. The hunger game’s is taken out from the arena and is taking place all over Panem. The districts need a Mockingjay and Katniss sacrifices so much to become that person for them. This book is definitely a more heavier, heartbreaking read than the first two books in the series and because of the events that take place in this book the characters change and grow a lot. Some not for the better- another brave move from Suzanne Collins, but again she’s keeping it real. If I went through what some of the characters went through I think I’d behave in the same way too. Whilst reading this book I think it becomes clear who Katniss needs to be with. All through the trilogy it could have really gone either way but in this one the change of events due to circumstance make it obvious who is right for Katniss. It was really heartbreaking to read that part because the boy who she doesn’t chose moves on to a completely different path and way of life because the passion to take down the capitol is now gone and Katniss realises that’s what they were based on. Again no spoilers with that, up until that point it could have gone either way.

I cried whilst reading this book, I laughed and I put the book down feeling very confused about how I felt towards it. It’s heartbreaking, thought provoking, and controversial. The end is both sad and happy but ultimately hopeful. I can’t say that you’ll enjoy this book as it clearly isn’t for everyone and either way I don’t think enjoy is the right word. One things for sure though, you will definitely be mesmerised. 5 stars.

*realises she’s gone past 250 posts* Guess I better start a thread 2 soon, I’m going to wait until the end of August and set up a new one for the new month so its all organised *ocd twitch*

#253: Skipping the review of Mockingjay. I am sure it is a good review, but I want to read the book with no preconceptions.

I share your ocd twitches, but somehow I cannot seem to make it to the end of months without the thread police beating down my door :)

That’s totally understandable Stasia. I avoided my computer completely until I was done reading for that very reason, but do pop back and have a read once you’ve read it! I hope you enjoy it.

I started such a good book today guys Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma here’s the description from Amazon…

She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But ...They are brother and sister. Forbidden will take you on an extraordinary emotional journey. Passionate and shocking, this is a book you will remember long after you have put it down.

So amazing so far, I’m half way through can’t wait to finish it!

I wanna order that one... but I'm definitely back to walking that tightrope between keeping my books and Mum confiscating some... I told her I'd ordered the Eragon trilogy and her head whipped round on the word 'order' - eyes narrowed, the works. (Haha, The Works, my new downfall!) I told her I'd put a couple of books for the shop in the order too, and one by Philip Glenister (in Gene Hunt stylee) for us both to read, but I didn't think it was a good idea to tell her that I'd got another 6 or so books for myself as well! :-)
I need that T-shirt, 'Gene says RELAX'... Fire up the Quattro!

Ahh Ellie I’m going to be making it much more harder for you to resist buying Forbidden because I’m about to do a review on it and if that doesn’t convince you I’ve just been chatting with the author and she’s agreed to do an interview for me so that will be up on the blog soon as well ;) Anyways I’m going to get on to the review because I’m so excited to talk about it and I really want to try and do it justice! Here goes!

62.) Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

"He is my soul mate, my fresh air, the reason I look forward to getting up every morning.”

Maya and Lochan have known each other their entire lives. They’ve been each others rock, soul mate and best friend. Maya’s pretty and kind, sweet sixteen and never been kissed. Lochan is gorgeous, generous and super intelligent and now they’ve fallen in love. This couple should be destined to be together, except they never can be… because they are brother and sister.

When I first found out about this book I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to read it or not. I like to think that I’m a pretty open minded person but just the thought of incest turns my stomach and makes me a little queasy but because there’s nothing else quiet like this out there at the moment and because of all the rave reviews I decided to put my personal feelings to the side and read this book. Boy am I glad that I did!

Before reading this book I like many people thought of incest as a taboo subject, but after reading this it’s completely changed my opinion on it. Not all incest is as black and white as it may seem, especially that of the consensual type and this book fills in all of those shades of grey in between. It wasn’t until I was half way through reading this that I realised that I didn’t find Maya and Lochan’s relationship sick or repulsive at all - in fact quiet the opposite! I was desperate for them to be together and find a way to figure everything out and ultimately found their situation sad and unfortunate. Like Lochan and Maya I never saw them as brother and sister but as star crossed lovers who had so much against them. They were two normal, wonderful people who I just wanted the best for and if that was with each other then so be it. Their relationship wasn’t all that sexual which just showed that above all they deeply loved each other and just wanted to be able to be a proper couple. All they wanted was to be accepted and to be able to do all the things that a normal boyfriend and girlfriend take for granted. It actually shocked me that Lochan and Maya could go to prison for something they had no control over. You can’t choose who you fall in love with and it made me think that if homosexuals are allowed to love each other and transsexuals are allowed to defy the ‘norm’ because of feelings they cant control then why on earth are not only Lochan and Maya not allowed to be together but face a prison sentence because of it? Why, if under some circumstances and if an incest relationship is consensual and they aren’t hurting each other or other people must they be punished for that? Ultimately it’s not about if their relationship is wrong or right – that could be debated back and forth forever. It’s about why should they be punished so harshly for something they can’t control?

Maya and Lochan try numerous times to end their relationship but can you imagine trying to get over someone who’s been a part of you for your entire life? Who you’ve loved for as long as you can remember? Who you never get chance to get away from because you live under the same roof? It would take two very strong people to push that aside so it’s no wonder that they always ended up back together. Tabitha Suzuma’s writing is exquisite and you can definitely feel the love that Lochan and Maya share. I cried so many times whilst reading this book especially towards the end. The ending was perfect- sad – but perfect, I think it ended how it had to end. I’m so glad that I bought another of Tabitha’s books along with this one because Forbidden has definitely become one of my favourite books of all time and I can see Tabitha becoming one of my very favourite authors if the rest of her books are even half as good as Forbidden. This isn’t an easy read. Far from it, but it’s one of those books that demands to be read. It’ll change the way you think. It’ll have you falling in love with the characters. It will have you weeping with the unfairness of it all. There’s not really much more I can say about it other than forget your vampires and humans, jocks and geeks, Forbidden is the ultimate forbidden love story and you’d be crazy to miss out on it. 5 stars.

and that my lovelies was the hardest review I've ever had to write! phew!

While I appreciate your review, Jess, I think that the taboo is so deep-seated in me that I could not overcome it. I think I will have to give that one a pass.

Very understandable Stasia although you are missing out on a good one! It isn't for everybody though...

#261: It isn't for everybody though

I do not know of a single book that is!

Wonderful review Jess! It's one of those hot-button issues that gets everyone in a twist, so I'm glad to hear it was handled well. I'll look for that one in the library. I always wondered when incest became taboo. Because if you think about it, that used to be common-place. Most recently accepted in royalty, but the only way for the world's population to grow in the beginning would be inter-family relations. But of course, since it's taboo it's not really discussed. Oh well, just curious thoughts bouncing around in my head.

Haha very true point Stasia! Maybe I should say Forbidden isn't for the majority ;)

Thanks Kate! I get what you mean. Try and read it if you get the chance its incredible.

I'll definitely be reading it. There are a few grey areas in any taboo and this is certainly a fascinating shade of that grey. I've heard of these kinds of situations cropping up in the media before, and there's something so tragic about it, laying aside the serious problems that can arise if the couple have children. To be so in love with someone so completely inappropriate - how can your heart not break a little bit for them even as your mind tells you it's wrong?

That's exactly how I felt Ellie, reading this book just breaks your heart. I never really gave much thought to the kind of people who would be in that kind of relationship and I don't know what I was expecting but Lochan and Maya are two of the sweetest, kindest most wonderful characters going and like with all characters you love you just want them to be happy and if being with each other is what it takes then despite everything I couldn't be against them being together. Definitely pick it up soon Ellie it really is a must read!

I went across to the Bakewell Bookshop today as well (just to be able to casually drop our shop into the conversation, make sure they hadn't forgotten about us after all!) and bought The Knife of Never Letting Go after you two's rave recommendations... :-)

*Ahem* Someone needs a new thread, and it's September now so no excuses young lady!

Seconded! *stands behind Stephen looking menacing*

#269: Hmm, Ellie, I think you should leave the menacing looks to me :)

Alright, alright! Keep your wigs on! New thread is up and running and can be found at this address ;) http://www.librarything.com/topic/98093 Pop over and help me get settled will you? I’ll have tea and cookies waiting…