16 Books I Want To Read In 2016

  There are A LOT of books that I wanted to read this year but didn’t get to. This year I found a love for YA contemporary so there are lots that I didn’t get to this year that I am hoping to get to next year along with some more books of different genres as well. (These are also all books that I own & three of them that or on my list I just ordered online so they are coming in the mail.)

 

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy 

Since You’ve Been Gone by Mogan Matson

Scarlet & Cress by Marissa Meyer

Every Last Word Tamera Ireland Stone

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

The Beginning of Everything  Robyn Schnider 

We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Days of Blood & Starlight and Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

The Martian by Andy Weir

  

Some of these, like The Martian and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy I got for Christmas so I didn’t have them until a few days ago by others like Attachments I’ve had on my shelf for almost two years! How about you guys? Have you read any of the books on my list? Are there any books you are wanting to read in the upcoming year? Let me know in the comments I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins Book Review

  

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 339

Format: Paperback

Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

My Thoughts: (SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t read Isla and the Happily Ever After (or Lola and Anna) don’t read this) I cannot tell you how much I loved this book. It was definitely my favourite of the series. It was so cute, but heartbreaking and so romantic. I again, adored Stephanie’s writing, it’s so easy to get into the story with her light, fluffy writing style.  I was never bored, it’s always kept me on my toe, wanting to know what was going to happen. Isla was so relatable, she read for pleasure as well which made her even more relatable. There was something about Josh that I really liked when I read Anna and the French Kiss, and while reading Isla and the Happily Ever After I grew to love him even more. Even though he was of the rebellious type (which I don’t usually like) I was drawn to Josh and his artistic nature. Kurt was adorable, and I loved his relationship with Isla. Isla and Josh together were adorable as well (I feel like I am saying adorable too much haha). Although they went into things fast I still loved their relationship so much. Their encounter in New York at Kismet was so cute especially when Josh walked her home. This whole book in general was tearing my heart out over and over again (but in a good way, if you know what I mean). Unlike Anna and Lola where the girls get together with the boys towards the end of the book, Isla and Josh were together right away so I knew something was bound to happen. The  whole time when Josh and Isla were broken up, especially the day after when Isla had 42 missed calls from Josh was absolutely heart wrenching. I just wanted them to be happy (and together). I loved the ending SO MUCH. When Isla went to the pizza place after Josh called her and met the whole gang I was so happy. It was so nice to read about all my favourite characters again, Anna and Étienne were as cute as ever, and I DIDN’T EVEN SEE IT COMING WHEN ANNA AND ÉTIENNE WERE STANDING ON TOP OF POINT ZERO AND ÉTIENNE GOT DOWN ON ONE KNEE I WAS SCREAMING INSIDE IT WAS SO PERFECT. It was awesome and such a perfect addition to the end of the story. In the end, I was so happy with the turn out of this book although I’m a little sad the series is over but I will reread them in the future for sure. I am definitely going to be recommending this series to anyone who asks me for a good contemporary to read. (Click here to read my Anna and the French Kiss book review and click here for my Lolo and the Boy Next Door book review)

Merry Christmas!

I know Christmas was yesterday but I haven’t posted in the past two days and I still wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas (and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, happy holidays!) I hope you are all having a wonderful time with your friends and family!

I got lots of stuff for Christmas and lots of books aaaaaaaaannnnnnnd a surprise trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (!!!!!) which I’m going to after exams with my dad! I AM SO EXCITED I have never been before IT’S GOING TO BE AMAZING!

I also just finished Isla and the Happily Ever After and IT BLEW ME AWAY HOW MUCH I LOVED IT (especially page 313 with Anna and Étienne.) It was so cute and romantic I loved it so much!! I’ll have a review up for it tomorrow and you can read all my thoughts!

Did you guys get anything over the holidays? Let me know below! Maybe we got some of the same books haha.:)

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins Book Review

  Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 338

Format: Paperback

Rating: 4.5/5 stars 

Goodreads synopsis: Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

My Thoughts: (SPOILER ALERT do not read this if you haven’t read Lola and the Boy Next Door.) This year book was absolutely adorable and I’m so glad I read it. One of my favourite parts about it was that you still got to see Anna and Étiienne, even though the story followed Lola Nolan. Right off the bat I didn’t like Max. He’s like the cocky rock star jerk, similar to Adam from Gayle Forman’s If I Stay duology and I don’t particularly like those kind of characters. I was really happy (probably too happy haha) when Max and Lola broke up. TEAM CRICKET ALL THE WAY!! Cricket was adorable. I loved how they lived next door and how they would stand at their windows at night and talk, it was so cute. I almost wish I could read the same story from Cricket’s perspective, I think it would have been so interesting to know what was going on in his head as well. The whole time I was just waiting for the moment Lola and Cricket would get together. Nathan and Andy were awesome, it was cool to see some diversity in the parental area since in a lot of YA novels you never see the parents at all. The reason I didn’t give this a higher rating was because I didn’t enjoy it as much as Anna and the French Kiss. I related to Anna more than I did with Lola and I didn’t really like Lola for the first 100 pages of the book (she did grow on me though). Overall I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it! I do have to say, i am starting to love Stephanie Perkins and I haven’t even read all her books yet! The touch of Isla we got in Anna and the French Kiss intrigued me and I loved Josh in Anna as well so I am very excited to read Isla and the Happily Ever After! (Click here to read my Anna and the French Kiss book review!)

5 Books and 3 Tips To Help You Out Of A Reading Slump

 

Hey guys I hope you are all having a good day! I am currently on Christmas break and I am having such a relaxing time. It’s so nice not to have the stress of homework and projects and school in general and just relax. Although I haven’t done much reading, every book I pick up my brain is just telling me not to read it! I hope I’m not falling into a slump but it did give me that idea for this post! Now here are 5 books/series and 3 tips that will help you out of a reading slump (hopefully!). 

 Book #1: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

  

I know that most people have read Harry Potter but if you have r haven’t read it you probably love it or will love it and who doesn’t want to curl up in a ball under blankets with hot chocolate/tea/coffee and read some of the best books in the whole world!?

Book #2: The Selection Series by Keira Cass

  

This series got me out of a slump and they may not be the best books in the whole world they are definitely very amusing and quick to read (I read the series in four days, each one back to back) and I would defiantly recommend giving this series a short if you haven’t already.

Book #3: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

   

 

This is just such cute contemporary and I got completely absorbed in the story when I read it so I think it would would be perfect to read when you are in a reading slump.

Book #4: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

  

Every book lover should read this book, Rainbow Rowells writing is so awesome and I always fall in love with all her characters but I think Fangirl is a perfect book to read when in a slump or falling into a reading slump because the main character is so relatable to us book lovers and reading about someone else who loves reading might just do the trick and pull you out of the reading slump.

Book #5: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

  

I think Let It Snow is especially good for this time of year because it will get you into the Christmas mood that you won’t want to put it down. It’s such an adorable story and fast  paced so you are never bored, I think it would be perfect.

 

Tip #1: Try re-reading a favourite.

I know that for me re-reading a favourite will pull me right out of a reading slump, and someimes it’s hard to do knowing that you have a million other books on your tbr but its better that not reading anything at all!

Tip #2: Read a short book… or two… or three.

Some times all you need to do is pick up something short and sweet as a break especially if you normally are reading ginormous fantasy novels like the Outlander series or the Throne of Glass series.

Tip #3: Don’t read.

Sometimes all you need to do is binge-watch a tv show. 🙂

  
I hope this helpful to you and if you have any tips or tricks that help you out of a reading slump let me know in the comments!

‘Tis The Season Book Tag!

  Hey everyone! Yesterday was my last day of school and now I’m on a break for two weeks! I’m so excited for Christmas and I was so happy to come home to see I got tagged by Mariana @ fireheartbooks and Raven @ Dreamy Addictions and Marian @ bookception21 to do this awesome holiday themed tag! 

 #1: Do you have a favourite winter read?

   

  
As I mentioned in my Five Books YOU Should Read This Winter post, I looooooove reading Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle in the winter because that is when it takes place and it has such a festive vibe to it, it is also just an adorable contemporary that I’d pick up any day!

  
#2: Find a book with blue on the cover.

  

I’ve actually got quite a lot of blue books on my shelves but I felt like this one fit the theme with the snowy/icy cover.

  
#3: Find a book you’d use as the star on a Christmas tree.

  

I am kind of totally in love with this book right now (click here for my book review) and it has yellow on it also, I think it would be the perfect star on a Christmas tree haha.

  
#4: Pick one fictional place that would be perfect for a winter vacation.

  

HOGWARTS!!!!! It would be so magical, 100x more magical during the school year, it would be amazing.

  
#5: Pick one fictional character you’d take with you on your winter vaction.

I would love to take Cath from Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I can just imagine us sitting by the fire and reading and writing and we could fangirl together about Simon and Baz since I’ve now read Carry On and it would just be awesome!

  
#6: Name one book on your Christmas wish list this year.

  

I have been wanting to read this for a while now but I’ve never got around to buying it so it’s close to the top of my Christmas list this year!

  
#7: What is your favourite holiday drink, treat and movie?

Drink: Even though I drink it all year round, I love having hot chocolate this time of year!

Treat: I love everything really but anything with some kind of candy cane incorporated into it is delicious!

Movie(s): I absolutely adore How The Grinch Stole Christmas, both the real people and cartoon one and also Frozen!

   

I tag:

Michelle @ The Writing Hufflepuff 

Jen @ Combustible Reviews

Vics @ Books & Strips
 
One thing I’d just like to say befor I wrap this post up is on Thursday I got a cute little notification letting me know I have received 500+ likes on this blog which is crazy! I am so happy that you are all enjoying this blog as much as I am! 

 
Thanks so much for reading, let me know some of your favourite holiday books, treats, drinks and movies. And if you are on winter break I hope you are having a nice relaxing time so far! 

Five Books YOU Should Read This Winter

  

Are you having trouble deciding what to read this winter? Do you just want a cute wintery contemporary or maybe a nice loooooong series? Well this is the post for you! Today I will be sharing some of my favourite books to read or reread in the winter, and I definitely encourage you to guve these all a read (or a reread if you’ve already read them) because they will get you right in the happy spirit of the holidays!  #1: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

 

If you have or haven’t read Harry Potter, and  if you are reading one book or the whole series, they are the perfect books to curl up with by the fire with a cup of tea/hot chocolate/coffee and read. 

 #2: Let It Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson 

 

This is an adorable contemporary that contains three storys revolving around different characters but it all comes together in the end, and best of all its set in the winter and has such a nice vibe to it!

  

#3: The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore

  

I know this isn’t a YA/NA/middle grade novel but this is still a great Christmasy book to read this time of year! 

 #4: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 

 
I am actually currently reading this and I’ve obviously seen more than one of the movie adaptations but the book is a new experience and I’m loving it! 

 #5: My True Love Gave To Me by Various Authors 

 

Now I haven’t read this book (I know, I know, its on my Christmas list though!) but it just seems like the perfect contemporary to read around Christmas! Especially since its by some of my favourite authors, Rainbow Rowell, Jenny Han and David Levithan! 

 There you have it! Let me know in the comments if these are books you also like to read in the winter or other books you like to read and I hope you have a great day!

The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Teaser Trailer Excitment!

 So this morning I woke up to see that the first teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had been released. Its not even 2016 yet and I know that this movie coming out will be one of the highlights of next year for books/movies for me! If you haven’t yet seen the trailer, click here to watch it! 

I was squeling the whole entire time I watched the trailer and have watched it probably over a dozen times already, I am so excited for this movie. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like when JK Rowling first announced that she was writing a screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and making a movie. 

I was so hopeful going into watching this teaser (even though its only a teaser trailer) and I have to say I was in no way disappointed. THE MOVIE LOOKS AMAZING already and we’ve only seen a few seconds of fotage. All I can picture is me at the movie pre screeing watching this amazing movie, and then going back to the theatre a few days later to see it again and again and again because I know I am going to love it! 

 

So what are your thoughts? Are you excited for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? Let me know in the comments I’d love to chat about it! Also I just wanted to let you guys know that I won’t be doing this weeks Top Ten Tuesday because the theme is ‘Top Ten Best Books I Read in 2015’ and I’m waiting for the very end of the year to post a blog post about that because I am reading some good books right now and I know I’ll read some good ones over the Christmas holidays and I don’t want them to be left off of my list if they end up being some of my favourites.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell Book Review

 Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Pages: 522

Format: Hardcover

Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen. That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right. Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up. Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

My Thoughts: (SPOILER ALERT don’t read this if you haven’t read Carry On!!) If you are reading this you probably know that in Rainbow’s book Fangirl, the main character Cath writes fanfiction about the characters in her favourite book series, Simon Snow. Now when I read Fangirl about two years ago all I wanted was to be able to read Simon Snow… and now I have. I’m just going to start off by saying OH MY GOODNESS THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!! I fell in love from the very first second I started it. Right away it felt so comfortable, like I had read the previous Simon Snow novels (even though they aren’t real). It really felt like reading Harry Potter, which was awesome and comforting. Everything was so magical. I looooooved the multiple perspectives, it added such a cool element to the book especially since the chapters were not like Simon, Baz, Simon, Baz, they weren’t in a set order and you got to read from almost every main characters perspective at least once and I just loved that. I absolutely adore Rainbow Rowell’s writing style and I was very curious to see how she would write in a fantasy setting, which is unlike all her other books which are contemporaries. I think she did an amazing job, her books are some of my favourites and I just loved knowing that I was reading Cath’s fanfiction. Simon and Baz were hilarious. The way they bickered with eachother was so funny and since I have read Fangirl I knew they were going to end up together and I couldn’t wait for that moment. I couldn’t help fangirling every time they kissed IT WAS JUST SO CUTE. I also loved how Baz was a vampire, (I am a sucker for vampires ((hahaha see what I did there)) it added another awesome thing to the story to go along with the magic. This was such an amazing read and definitely one of my new favourite books of all time! 

Top Ten Tuesday #4: Favourtie Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015

  

Hey everyone, I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday! It’s crazy to think I’ve been doing TTT for a month now, it feels like I just started doing it haha! Anyway, TTT is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish so if you wanted more info on it check out their blog! Also this list is going to only have six authors on it because I wanted to 1) pick my absolute favourites of the year and 2) I had a smaller selection due to the fact that I’ve read a lot o books this year that I had previously read books by them as well (examples Rick Riordan, Rainbow Rowell).

 #1: Becky Albertalli

I fell in love when I read Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda this past summer by Becky, I flew through it in a few hours. I can’t wait for Becky to write another book because I’ll be getting myself a copy the second it’s on sale!

#2: Stephanie Perkins

Just a few weeks ago I read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie because everyone seemed to love it and I looooove contemporaries so I thought why not? and I am so glad I decided to read it and I am so excited to finish Lola and read Isla!

#3: Kiera Cass

One day when I was home sick from school back in May I picked up The Selection and boy am I glad I did! All I did that weekend was read the rest of the series and I fell in love! I can’t wait until The Crown comes out!

#4: Sophie Kinsella

Ahhhh when I read Finding Audrey in the summer I knew it would be one of my favourites of the year and here we are in December and it’s definitely one of my favourites. Sophies writing is just so funny and the family dynamics in Finding Audrey were so enjoyable to read, I can’t wait to get to the two other Sophie Kinsella books I own!

#5: Jenny Han

I read the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before duology back to back in three days and I just adored them. Similar to Sophie Kinsella’s family dynamics in Finding Audrey, I loved the element of family in Jenny’s books and I’ve been dying to read her other books!

#6: Robyn Schnider

And last but not least, Robyn Schnider. I have only read Extraordinary Mean by Robyn (athough I do own The Beginning of Everything) and when I read it I was 1) super pumped because the bookstore put it on shelves a few days early so I read it before it came out and 2) it was soooooo good, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the two perspectives and I loved the characters and the writing I just loved everything about the novel and I can’t wait to read more by Robyn!

 Thats it for todays Top Ten (Six) Tuesday! I hope you enjoyed this post, make sure to let me know some of your favourite authors that you read for the first time this year or link your TTT below if you posted one and I hope you have/had good day!