September 2014 | Book Haul

Over the past few months, I have developed a serious problem with book buying. I can't seem to resist the beautiful, shiny new books and no matter how much I try, I can't not buy them! OK, so it's not quite that serious but I have been buying a lot more books than usual recently and September has been no exception with a total of 14 books bought.

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson - You may have already seen this book in my September Wrap Up. This is one I was desperate to read in September. I had heard some great things about it and with the movie coming out at the beginning of September, as soon as I saw it in Waterstones, I picked it up. In short, this is about a woman who looses her memories every night while she sleeps.

Panic by Lauren Oliver - This was one that I had heard about but hadn't even added to my TBR on Goodreads when I bought it. I was interested in the concept, graduating seniors of a small town who compete in a dangerous game named Panic (yeah, that's about all I know), but had heard such mixed reviews that I was not entirely convinced. However, I saw it on offer so I bought it on impulse.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - This was another impulse buy. After reading Gone Girl and not being entirely sold on it, I had no desire to read the rest of Gillian Flynn's books. However, I was this as I was browsing and thought I would see what it was about. Dark Places is about a girl who sends her brother to prison for the murder to her entire family at just 7 years old and now, 24 years later, is beginning to doubt whether she was right. I was intrigued so I decided to give Gillian Flynn another try.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky - I have heard so many people say they love this book yet I don't even know what it's about! I really just wanted to see what all of the fuss was about and bought it when I found it on offer.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - I want to love Rainbow Rowell as much as everyone else but I have yet to read any of her books, despite owning Fangirl. I do have very high hopes though so I went ahead and bought another of her books, which I know very little about.

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson - Since You've Been Gone is a book that I have been dying to get my hands on ever since it came out but I was buying so many books that I couldn't justify paying full price for any. Eventually, I found this book on offer and grabbed it very excitedly. This is about a girl whose best friend goes away one summer but leaves her a list of things to do, which she then completes in the hope that her best friend will come back when she does.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusack - I have had a couple of friend recommend this book to me and I tend to take their recommendations quite seriously as they know me really well, so will usually know what I will like. I know nothing about this book other than it is historical fiction and is narrated by Death. 

Four by Veronica Roth - As a Divergent lover, I was desperate to get my hands on this as soon as it was released but I hated the UK cover so, since none of my Divergent books match anyway, I was trying to find a US edition to get the pretty cover. Then I found the pretty UK cover, fell in love with it and now get to admire it whenever I want. I should probably read Allegiant now.

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers, Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas, Dancing In My Nuddy-Pants, ...And That's When It Fell Off In My Hand, and ...Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers by Louise Rennison - These are the first six books in the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series. I have read the first few of these books when I was younger but decided to buy the series and reread/finish it. I found the box set of the first six books on eBay for just £3 so I grabbed them.

Those are book I bought in September. Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Are there any of these books you would like to see a full review of?

Sophie :)

Review | No-One Ever Has Sex On A Tuesday by Tracy Bloom

No-One Ever Has Sex On A Tuesday by Tracy Bloom
Published By: Arrow
Published On: January 1, 2011
Genre: Chick Lit
Pages: 344
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★½

Amazon | Goodreads


Childhood sweethearts Matthew and Katy agree they must never see each other again following a school reunion. 
So all is forgotten ... until eight months later when a shock meeting at an antenatal class forces them to confront the fact that Matthew could be the father of Katy's baby. Love and life are messy, but Katy and Matthew take things to a whole new level as deep emotions begin to resurface and hormones run riot. 
 Never has a one-night-stand led to such chaos!

After a very messy breakup, childhood sweethearts Katy and Matthew go their separate ways, cutting off all contact. However, years later at their high school reunion, the two are reunited and later wake up in bed together. Eight months after the reunion incident, Katy and boyfriend Ben attend their first antenatal class where she comes face to face with Matthew and his pregnant wife Allison. When Matthew, who is quick to do the maths, realises he may be the father of the baby of the woman he has always loved, things could get very complicated.

This is a great fun, easy read. It is the perfect book to read lying by the pool. It is not too deep or dark; instead it is a hilariously chaotic story of a one-night stand gone wrong.

I loved every one of the characters. Katy is not your typical chick-lit main character. She is the one afraid of commitment and is determined to give her boyfriend Ben his freedom. I loved how she handled the whole situation and her very honest struggle with being pregnant and unprepared. Ben is a hilarious character who, despite being relatively young, surprises everyone with his desire to be a great father. I really loved Ben, especially as him and his friends are just so funny. Matthew is exactly the character you would expect the main character to fall in love with. He is successful and mature, and he clearly adores Katy. I loved his struggle with still being so in love with Katy but having a wife who adores him and is pregnant with his twins. I even loved Allison, Matthew’s wife. And who could forget Daniel.

The plot was fun and not at all predictable. I really loved the story and found myself both laughing out loud and crying my eyes out. I did not find anything to be very predictable; it was not like any other chick-lit type books I have read. It was just really fun.

I really did not care which of the guys she ended up with. I loved all the characters so much that I did not mind whether Katy ended up with Matthew or Ben. I would have been happy whatever way the book ended, and I was very happy with the ending it had.

Overall, I think this was a great, fun read and I really enjoyed it. I think it would be a great one for summer or if you are just in the mood for something light but enjoyable. The only reason I did not rate it higher than a 3.5 is because it wasn’t quite as good as the books I have rated a 4 or above.

Tag | The Taylor Swift Book Tag

I have seen the Taylor Swift Book Tag going around youtube and as a Taylor fan I thought it was only right that I do it.

1. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
-Pick a book or series that you were pretty sure you were in love with, but then wanted to break up with.

The Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie! I loved Matched and was so excited to read the next two books in the series, Crossed and Reached. Crossed was very disappointing, I didn't really like it much at all, and Reached was just OK. I have reviews of both Crossed and Reached.

2. Red

- Pick a book with a RED cover.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling! This is the only book I own that has a lot of red on the cover. 

3. The Best Day

- Pick a book that makes you feel nostalgic.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer! Do I even need to say anymore? The Twilight Series was pretty much all I read as a 12/13 year old.

4. Love Story

-Pick a book with forbidden love.

Matched by Ally Condie! I haven't really read many books with forbidden love but I guess Cassia and Ky had some forbidden love going on in Matched.

5. I Knew You Were Trouble

-Pick a book with a bad character you couldn't help but love.

Draco Malfoy! I just can't help myself when it comes to Draco Malfoy, I have some strange part of me that just loves him as a character. It could have something to do with the films.

6. Innocent

-Pick a book that someone ruined the ending for.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green! Half way through me reading this, someone decided to discuss the ending of the book on Facebook. Who does that?!

7. Everything Has Changed

-Pick a character from a book who goes through extensive character development.

Katie Parker! Throughout the Katie Parker Productions series by Jenny B Jones, Katie goes through some serious character development. By the end of the third book, The Big Picture, Katie is a completely different person to the girl who first arrived in In Between and couldn't wait to get out.

8. You Belong With Me

-Pick your most anticipated book release.

My True Love Gave To Me! This is a collection of twelve Christmas stories by various authors, edited by Stephanie Perkins. Christmas and Stephanie Perkins, two of my favourite things! I need this book!

9. Forever And Always

-Pick your favourite book couple.

Isla and Josh! I don't think I can express how much I love Isla and Josh as a couple. I just love them so much!

10. Come Back, Be Here

-Pick the book you would least like to lend out, for fear of missing it too much.

The Twilight Series! As worn looking as they are, I couldn't lend out my Twilight books. They are my earlier teenage years in book form, I just couldn't.

So that was the Taylor Swift Book Tag. Do you agree with any of my picks?

Sophie :)

Review | Naked In Knightsbridge by Nicky Schmidt

Naked In Knightsbridge by Nicky Schmidt
Published by: Prospera Publishing
Published on: November 23, 2009
Genre: Chick Lit
Pages: 350
Format: eBook
Source: Bought from Amazon
Rating: ★

Amazon | Goodreads

With mounting debts, threats from a crazy landlord and a cleaning business that was going well until she set fire to someone's house, Jools Grand is about to find herself homeless. She has to come up with a plan, and fast. So with an acute sense of desperation, Jools decides to auction herself online in a marriage of convenience. Who knows, she might even find romance? What Jools isn't banking on is a bidding war between two not-so-eligible bachelors - a wealthy, gay, would-be politician who needs a wife as a cover; and a deranged loner with a newly-refurbished basement prison. Add to that a lecherous father, some soon-to-be-exposed secrets and an addiction to pastries, and Jools is set to discover that nothing comes without a price.

Following the disastrous collapse of her cleaning business, Jools is left unemployed, with endless debt and no way to pay her rent. With no luck in finding a new job, Jools resorts to selling belongings online to make some quick cash but soon realises the only things she owns of any value is herself.

I hated this book. Everything about this book made me angry and it is a wonder I managed to finish it. I honestly cannot think of anything nice to say about it.

What kind of person decides it is a good idea to sell theirself online? Although this is not the main focus of the plot, it has a lot to do with the story. I do not understand what kind of person would even consider that a possibility. It makes the whole plot quite stupid, in my opinion.

I hated almost all of the characters. I cannot explain how much I hated Jools. I can’t possibly like a character so lazy and irresponsible. The kind of character who would rather be homeless than take up the offer of living with her best friend, purely because she does not like her boyfriend. I spent the whole book wanting to scream at her to get a grip! None of the other characters were all that likeable either. The only one I liked at all was Skuttle.

Everything was so predictable. I predicted almost every outcome long before the book ended, which ruined any decent part of the plot. I didn’t feel like anything was particularly unique or exciting.

Overall, this book was so disappointing. I really cannot think of anything positive to say about it. I gave it one star because I finished it, I think that says it all.

September 2014 | Wrap Up & October TBR

This month has been a crazy busy month, meaning I have had almost no time to read. Unfortunately, it looks like that will not be changing any time soon.

My life in September...

- I started my third year of uni and hate it already!

- Managed to fit in two weekends away with my family. These were the only times I got any reading done!

- I voted on the future of my country in the Scottish Referendum then made myself ill by staying up all night watching the results.

- I finished watching House (possibly another reason for the lack of reading) and the last episode destroyed me!

- I finished watching Season 5 of The Vampire Diaries (I put off the last two episodes for months) and again the last episode completely destroyed me. I cried for like an hour afterwards!

- I rearranged my bedroom and proudly built my new Ikea bedside table all by myself! It's the little things that make me happy.

Read in September...

Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahern - 

I absolutely loved this book! It is about two school friends, Alex and Rosie, who are separated when Alex and his family have to move from Dublin to Boston for his father's job. It follows them through their lives in the form of emails, letters, instant messages and newspaper articles. I really loved the characters and the unique format. Review to come. 5/5

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins -

As much as I loved this book, I didn't enjoy it as much as Anna and the French Kiss. Lola follows our main character Lola as she comes to terms with the fact her old next door neighbour, who she has some history with, has moved back in to the house next door. I liked Lola but I found her harder to relate to than Anna and made it a little harder to first get into the book. I did end up really enjoying it though. Review to come. 4/5

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins -

I loved this book! It is definitely my favourite in the series. Isla follows two characters who we first meet in Anna and the French Kiss, quiet girl Isla and best friend of Etienne St Clair Josh as they begin to realise that their mutual crush is, in fact, mutual. I loved Isla and Josh as a couple and, although I did find Isla a little annoying at times, I liked them both as individual characters as well. I cannot rate this book highly enough. Review to come. 5/5

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson - 

This was my least favourite of the books I have read this month but it was good. It is about a woman who can only hold on to her memories until she falls asleep at night so cannot remember who she is when she wakes up in the morning, until she starts keeping a journal. I liked the idea of this book and it was done well but it wasn't as great as I expected it to be. I even managed to guess the ending which I had hoped not to. Review to come. 3/5

Currently Reading...

The Maze Runner by James Dashner -

I wanted to read this in time to watch the movie when it comes out next week in the UK. I'm only about 30 pages in at the moment but so far I am struggling to get into it. I know I need to give it more time but at the moment I am just really hoping it gets better soon.

To read in October...

Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse -

I like to read darker books in October with it being Halloween but I don't do well with really scary or creepy things so mystery/thriller type books are as far as I go. Before We Met is about a woman whose husband doesn't come home one night and in searching for him she comes across some secrets of his life before they met. The premise intrigues me and the cover is beautiful so I'm excited to read it.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn -

This is another mystery/thriller book to get me in the Halloween mood. I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn at the start of the year and didn't love it as much as, it seems, most people did. I thought I would give one of her other books a go and Dark Places intrigued me. It's about a woman whose brother was sent to prison when she was seven years old based on evidence that she had given but she is now starting to doubt what she heard so begins investigating who killed her family. I hope I like this better than Gone Girl.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead -

I have had this book on my shelf for years now but never got round to reading it. What better time to read about vampires than Halloween so I am going to try and get round to it in October. All I know is it is about a boarding school for vampires.

Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series books 1-3 by Louise Rennison -

I have already read Angus, Thongs & Full-Frontal Snogging, It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers and Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas a few years ago but I plan to reread them before continuing on with the series. They are really quick reads so I should hopefully get through them.

I have such a busy month in October, especially with uni work, so I think I have been a bit too ambitious with my TBR but I never end up sticking to a TBR list anyway, I just like making lists.

What have you read in September? And what are you planning to read in October?

Sophie :)

Top Ten Tuesday | Books That Were Hard For Me To Read

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke And The Bookish. Lists galore, I can think of nothing better!

This week's topic is book that were hard for me to read. It might be due to a difficult topic, a huge amount of pages, a cringeworthy plot or anything else. I struggled a bit with this topic but managed to make a list of ten.

1. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

I absolutely loved Divergent but I really struggled through Insurgent. I felt like a lot of the plot dragged on a bit and I had to stop myself from giving up on it a few times. In the end I did like it but it was hard to get through.

2. Naked In Knightsbridge by Nicky Schmidt

I hated this book! The plot wasn't great and very predictable, the characters were not at all likeable and I really struggled to finish it. It was so hard to read that I felt like my IQ was dropping as I read it, I really didn't enjoy it.

3. Friends Forever by Danielle Steele

Friends Forever deals with so many difficult topics that I found it very hard to read. It was a great book but I cried constantly while reading it and it left me feeling very emotionally drained. You can read my full review here.

4. We Were Liars by E Lockhart

The writing style in We Were Liars is very unique and I found it quite difficult to read. There are a lot of metaphors used throughout and I often found myself questioning what was real and what was just a metaphor. The confusing writing style made it much harder to read than it should have been.

5. Wedding Cake In Turin by Lynda Renham

This is another book that I just did not enjoy. I did not enjoy the plot, none of the characters were likeable and there were a lot of silly mistakes and overly repeated phrases. I found this book very annoying which made it very hard to read.

6. A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks

Cancer in teenagers is never an easy subject to read about but I cried my eyes out all through reading this book. I even made the mistake of finishing it in public and got very strange looks from the other plane passengers as I sobbed hysterically. This was definitely a hard one for me.

7. Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

I will never be able to read Shakespeare easily. The language goes straight over my head and it is too much work to enjoy.

8. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

This is another book that was a very emotional read for me. The main character, Ronnie, goes through some difficult stuff in this book and I found some of it quite hard to read about. I cried a lot during this one as well.

9. Fifty Shades Of Grey by EL James

This book was so hard for me to read that I didn't even finish it. It was not the subject matter that made this book hard to read, I didn't even get to the 'dirty stuff' before giving up, it was just a bad book. The plot was not very interesting, the main characters really annoyed me and I did not want to waste my time reading the rest of it.

10. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I'm finishing of the list with yet another book that made cry a lot. My Sister's Keeper is a very hard book to read emotionally. It deals with some very difficult topics and Jodi Picoult dealt with them so well that I couldn't help but shed quite a few tears. 

What books did you find hard to read?

Sophie :)

Review | Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #1
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Published on: April 25, 2011
Genre: Dystopian
Pages: 487
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Rating: ★★★★★
Amazon | Goodreads

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. 

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Divergent is the story of Beatrice, a 16-year-old living in a society divided into factions, each representing the cause of war, as they believe it. At the age of sixteen, each member of the society must take an aptitude test to discover which of the five factions they belong to, before choosing which faction to be a part of. However, things are not so simple for Beatrice – she is Divergent.

I loved this book so much. I don’t know why it took me so long to eventually read it but I am so glad I got around to it. I was a little sceptical of the hype but after reading it I can completely understand it all. It was just amazing.

I really loved the characters. I loved Tris, especially as she grew throughout the book. She starts off as a quite confused young girl who tends to follow the rules, although often finds it hard to do so, and grows into an incredibly strong young woman who is not afraid to stand up for herself. I also really loved Four, both his tougher side and his soft side. I loved the connection between the two of them and think he is a really great love interest. I also love Tris’ mother and her brother, Caleb, especially when we, along with Tris, begin to see them as more than we initially thought. I didn’t really like her father, I did not feel like he was a strong enough character to develop an attachment. I would say the same goes for Tris’ fellow initiates, even her friends, until nearer the end of the book.

The plot was enjoyable and not very predictable. I really enjoyed reading about the society and found the initiation process really fun, if that is the right word. I did find some aspects of the plot to be a little predictable but for the most part I did not expect what was happening. I also enjoyed the fact that I found myself both laughing and crying throughout this book. There were some serious issues tackled, which were dealt with well in my opinion, as well as some light-hearted, amusing moments. Though the plot has similarities to many other dystopian books, I think this is one of the more unique YA dystopian books I have read plot-wise.

The romance aspect of the book was great. I am not a fan of insta-love in these kinds of books and I was so glad that there was not any of that in this book. While it is obvious from the start that the two have a connection, they are not declaring their love the day they meet, nor are they incredibly serious by the end of the book. I also think they make a great couple and was all for them getting together.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and I am looking forward to continuing with the series. To anyone who has not yet read this book, do it! The hype surrounding it almost put me off but it was well worth the hype. I was also a little put off by the comparisons to The Hunger Games but found it was a great book in it’s own right.