Top Ten Tuesday #172

Hey guys! So I had a pretty cool weekend this weekend, on Saturday, me and the family went to see the Men’s Team Gymnastics Final at the Hydro in Glasgow. If you didn’t know this about me already, I love gymnastics, I saw the same event at London 2012 and a few years ago went with my parents to see the Men’s All Around Final at the same arena in Glasgow, so yeah, was pretty excited. It was an amazing final and GB did so well, we got the silver medal which was awesome to see (if a little frustrating watching 2/3 of the team fall off on the high bar!).

Anyway, enough of my babbling on about gymnastics, we’re here to talk about books! Well more specifically, book bloggers as today Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl has asked us to compile a list of our favourite book blogs. I’m not entirely sure if I actually have ten of these, but I’m going to give it a go, here are the blogs/bloggers that I really love:

1. Cait @ Paper Fury-https://paperfury.com/

Of course Cait’s blog was going to be first here! If you are in the book blogging community, you have probably at some point heard of Cait, she is very active on all social media, especially Twitter and Instagram. Cait’s blog is super funny, her reviews are awesome and we’re basically book twins, seriously if I think I want to read a book, I’ll just look at what Cait said about it because 9 out of 10 times, I usually agree! She just put her debut novel A Thousand Perfect Notes out this year, so as well as checking out her blog, you should definitely check that out too.

2. Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner-http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/

Jamie’s blog has become more of a lifestyle + books blog in the last year since having her daughter, but it was always kind of leaning that way anyway, she’s just made the change official now. Jamie’s was actually the blog that inspired me to get into blogging, her posts are always so well written and she made blogging sound like such fun, that I thought, hey maybe I could do that!

3. Grace @ Almost Amazing Grace-http://www.almostamazinggrace.co.uk/

Grace’s blog is again a combination of books and lifestyle stuff, and it was actually her life content that drew me to her blog (though her book content is great too!) as she’s such a frank and honest blogger and talks about such a myraid of topics, plus she’s such a great writer, it’s always fun to read her posts!

4. Hannah @ Books, Life and Other Oddities-https://bookslifeotheroddities.wordpress.com/

I had to include my best friend’s blog here, not only because she’s my best friend, but also because she’s brilliant and funny and we basically have the exact same book taste, so if you like the books I talk about here, you’ll definitely like the books that she talks about. She’s a relatively new blogger, only just started this year, so it would definitely mean a lot to her and to me if you went and gave her blog a follow!

5. Lucy @ Queen of Contemporary-http://queenofcontemporary.com/

I will admit, I follow Lucy more on Twitter than on her blog, but if you love contemporary YA fiction and classics then her blog is definitely worth a read. Lucy runs #ukyachat and is just such an enthusiastic advocate for YA books and books in general and I’m just amazed by how much she’s accomplished at so young, she’s only 18 and her debut novel The Paper and Hearts Society is coming out next year!

6. Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense-https://akernelofnonsense.wordpress.com/

I discovered Alicia’s blog through Top Ten Tuesday and then followed her because we have pretty similar taste in books, so it’s always nice to get recommendations from her blog! She also does super cool discussion posts, called Kernels of Nonsense, which are always really interesting and insightful to read.

7. Kate @ Reading Through Infinity-https://readingthroughinfinity.com/

Kate is another blogger who has quite similar book taste to mine, so of course I love hearing what she has to say about certain books and she is a fellow Schwab fan, so great fun to flail with over one of my favourite authors!

8. Rae @ BookmarkChronicles-https://bookmarkchronicles.wordpress.com/

I was interviewed by Rae for her Summer Spotlight Series earlier in the summer and she was just so lovely to me and had such good questions. She writes great posts about books and about feminism and diversity and just generally has great insights, so is definitely a blogger worth the follow!

9. Angel, An Overthinking Teenager, Cora, Elly, Emily, Hannah, Janet, Michelle, Erin & Sydney @ The Feministas-https://thefeministas.wordpress.com/

I’m breaking off from the prompt ever so slightly to include one non book related blog, because it’s one of my favourites, these girls talk all about feminism and feminist issues and it’s such an important topic and one that I am of course very invested in being a feminist myself, so I love reading these girls thoughts on feminism and all the different issues that women face in our society.

10. Lauren @ SERIESous Book Reviews-http://seriesousbookreviews.com/

Lauren’s blog is really great, because she concentrates on series, so you can find out whether a series is worth your time and energy! She also does series recaps which are super helpful because I don’t know about you, but I end up forgetting a lot of the previous book in a series in the year or two wait for the next one!

So there we go, my favourite book (mostly) bloggers! Have you checked out any of these sites? Do you also like them? Who are your favourite bloggers, book or otherwise? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books To Pull You Out of A Reading Slump which I am excited for because boy do I have experience with those! In the meantime, I just finished Days of Blood and Starlight, so I think I should have a review of that up for you at the weekend, after my job finishes on Saturday, so check back for that if you are a Laini Taylor fan!

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Top Ten Tuesday #171

Hey guys! I was on such a YALC high last week, having just come back and written up all my wrap up posts, that I totally forgot to celebrate the fact that it was my 170th TTT-a pretty big milestone I think, so yay for that! This past week has been much quieter, I’ve just been back at work, but I’m going up to Scotland to watch the Men’s Team Final in Gymnastics at the European Championships in Glasgow this weekend, so I am unbelievably excited for that!

Anyway, since today is Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re talking Books We’d Like To Mash Together (so kind of like crossover fic I guess, book characters from different worlds we’d love to see interact) and I think this one could be kind of hard, because to be honest, I’ve never really thought about it, but I’m gonna give it a go:

1. A Darker Shade of Magic/Throne of Glass-VE Schwab/Sarah J Maas

Whilst the worlds and the authors’ writing styles wouldn’t be perfect fits, the idea of their two feisty heroines meeting is too good of an opportunity to pass up. I would love to see if Lila and Aelin would be fast friends or instant enemies and it would be even more interesting to see Lila and Manon interact. I’d love to see Aelin strolling down the streets of Red London, enraptured by the magic and the shopping and I’d love to see Lila living it up on a wyvern in Erilea.

2. Percy Jackson/Skulduggery Pleasant-Rick Riordan/Derek Landy

Seriously, someone just needs to send a memo to these two letting them know that they need to write together ASAP, because a book co-written by the two of them would be the funniest thing ever. I’d love to see how Valkyrie would react if she was just dropped in the middle of Camp Half-Blood and I think the kids at Camp Half-Blood would find her very different sort of magic quite interesting. I’d love to see Percy and Skulduggery trade witticisms as well and see which one got on the others’ nerves first!

3. Harry Potter/Percy Jackson-JK Rowling/Rick Riordan

Yes, I know I’m using a repeat book series here, but I honestly think Percy Jackson and Harry Potter would be a really natural fit. I think it would be interesting to see how Annabeth and Hermione got on, given that they are quite similar in character, and I think the Camp Half-Blood kids would love Hogwarts!

4. Heist Society/Six of Crows-Ally Carter/Leigh Bardugo

Two very different worlds and very different heist books but I think it would be super interesting to see how these characters would interact, how Kat and co. would manage in Ketterdam given how different it is from the world they’re used to and how Kaz and co. would manage in the real world, especially Nina and Jesper since they wouldn’t be able to use their Grisha powers!

5. Artemis Fowl/HIVE-Eoin Colfer/Mark Walden

Artemis Fowl was pretty much tailor made for HIVE, being a young criminal himself so I think he would be right at home in the school for young villains. I also think it would be super cool to see how he and Otto would interact, given how similar they are and to see how Otto would feel about a world where fairies, centaurs, elves, dwarves and various other mythological creatures are real!

6. Breathe/Pure-Sarah Crossan/Julianna Baggott

The whole dome setting in Breathe was pretty similar to Julianna’s idea in Pure where the Pures all live separately inside a dome type area as well and I think it would be pretty interesting to see how the characters from each world would interact with the others, how would Bea, Alina and Quinn react to Pressia’s fusing? How would Pressia manage in a world where oxygen isn’t readily available-I mean her world is pretty desolate, but they don’t go around having to wear oxygen tanks!

7. A Darker Shade of Magic/The Bone Season-VE Schwab/Samantha Shannon

Honestly, I don’t know if this is because I saw these two authors on a panel together, or because I just love both their writing because their books are quite different and yet I can’t help but I think Paige’s dystopian London combined with Lila and Kell’s many Londons would be awesome. I feel like Paige would fit right in in Grey London since Paige’s London reads as quite Victorian-esque and I think she’d love the magic in Red London and getting to travel through worlds with Lila and Kell. I also think Lila would be fascinated by Paige’s clairvoyancy as it would be something she hadn’t come across before.

8. Divergent/The Hunger Games-Veronica Roth/Suzanne Collins

How interesting would it be to see two famous dystopians smashed together? I’d love to see how Tris would manage in The Hunger Games, I think she’d do quite well and I’d also love to see what faction Katniss would be sorted into if she was in Tris’s Chicago, I think probably Dauntless, but maybe Abnegation since sacrificing yourself for your sister is pretty selfless!

9. The Raven Cycle/The Bone Season-Maggie Stiefvater/Samantha Shannon

Very different worlds in terms of story and scope, but both have a huge element of clairvoyancy in them, albeit of different types, so it would be quite interesting to see how Paige would react to Blue’s family’s very different type of voyancy! I also think Ronan and Paige would have a lot to talk about given that both of their powers involve dreams. I don’t know how well the Gangsey would get on in Scion, but I think Paige would love to have a break from Scion and spend her time looking for dead Welsh kings instead!

10. The Night Circus/The Crown’s Game-Erin Morgenstern/Evelyn Skye

The premise behind these two books are kind of similar: a magical duel, both set in the past, though in different countries and eras and the two male main characters share quite a lot of similarities, both adopted, both wear top hats, both gentleman. I think it would be interesting to see how Celia and Marco would react to Imperial Russia and if they were there, would they be put in for the The Crown’s Game? Or would they just watch and marvel at what Vika and Nikolai can do? I’d love to see Nikolai and Marco meet because I think they’re quite similar. As for Vika and Celia? Less similarities but I think they’d get on well. I also think that Vika and Nikolai would love The Night Circus and would probably have ideas of new things to add with their own enchantments!

So there we go, Books I’d Mash Together! That was a tough one and I think I was making quite thin and tenuous connections by the end, but hey, I got ten and I would totally read any of these mashups (hint hint authors, hint hint). Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Do you think my mashups would be good? What books would you mash together? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Favourite Book Blogs/Bookish Websites, so I’ll have to have a look through my bookmarks and see which blogs I enjoy visiting often! In the meantime, I don’t really have much planned for the blog this week, given I’m going to be very busy at work, but you should see my review of Fawkes sometime soon, maybe at the end of this week/beginning of next? Anyway, either way, I’ll be back with new content soon!

Top Ten Tuesday #170

Hi guys! I hope you’ve all had a great week since I last did one of these. I’m getting back to normality after an intensely bookish weekend at YALC and let me tell you, I do not enjoy it so much! It always seems like YALC takes forever to come around every year and then goes by in a flash.

Anyway, as today is Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you guys, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we are talking Popular Books That Are Worth The Hype, which I think is a great topic because so often I read popular books that let me down, so it will be awesome to share the ones that matched or even exceeded my hyped expectations. Here we go then, my Top Ten Popular Books That Were Worth The Hype:

1. Children of Blood and Bone-Tomi Adeyemi

Starting off with a super recent one, it seemed like everyone was talking about this book for a long time after it came out and I finally got around to reading it just a couple of weeks ago. All I can say is WHOA. I totally get now why everyone loves it so much and I seriously need the next book ASAP.

2. A Darker Shade of Magic-VE Schwab

I kept seeing ADSOM appear on people’s top ten lists, I think back in 2016, and it sounded interesting so I thought why not add it to be TBR. Best thing I ever did, because I LOVED it and VE Schwab is now one of my absolute favourite authors and writing idols, so thank you to every blogger who said her books were amazing (I’ve also met her I think three times now, what is this life????).

3. Six of Crows-Leigh Bardugo

Another one that absolutely EVERYONE seemed to be talking about, so when I found out my friend at Uni who has very similar book taste to me loved this book, I just had to read it. Again definitely a great decision because a year later and I am devouring everything Leigh Bardugo that I can find and am completely obsessed by the Dregs, so much so that I was getting excited along with everyone else when she announced there would at some point in the future be a Six of Crows 3! I need more Nina and Jesper darn it!

4. Legendary-Stephanie Garber

I probably should have gone with Caraval since that’s the first in the series, but I decided to go with Legendary as that’s the one I liked better. YOU GUYS, THIS BOOK. I mean the first one was good, but this book is a whole other level of awesome, the world gets bigger, darker, twistier and our narrator is Tella this time, who is just…..amazing, I love her. READ THIS BOOK (And Caraval of course) if you haven’t already.

5, Throne of Glass series-Sarah J Maas

So I actually read the first two of these before I even really knew who Sarah J Maas was and that her books were massive in the blogosphere, I was a newbie blogger at the time and wasn’t really aware about the hype surrounding books yet? Anyway now her books have kind of blown up into the stratsophere and all I can say is that they are so worth it, this series is amazing and I can’t wait to see how it all ends in October.

6. The Book Thief-Markus Zusak

A rare standalone on my list! The Book Thief is one of my favourite books of all time and I’ve heard so many other bloggers say the same, it’s one of those universally beloved books that can be a bit daunting to read if you’re new to it because you know how much everyone else loves it. All I can say is: do it. The Book Thief is an incredible book, so sad, so moving and just a genuinely beautiful story that you absolutely need in your life.

7. The Raven Cycle-Maggie Stiefvater

I’m gonna go super hipster here and be like “I read this before they were popular”. It’s true though, I picked up the first book from Waterstones, I think not long after it had been released and just totally fell in love and wanted to devour the next one as soon as possible. By the time I started blogging, the third one had been released and I realised there were other people like me out there who loved this series. If you like slightly odd, creepy books with a focus on friendship then definitely read this series!

8. Code Name Verity-Elizabeth Wein

I can’t even with this book. It’s just so unbelievably sad and yet SO, SO Good. It’s focused all around female friendship, zero romance, and it has one of the best, most beautiful friendships I’ve ever read in any book period. You will fall in love with the characters, you will laugh, you will cry and you will wonder how it was possible to have your heart broken so completely by a book. Read it. The pain is worth it.

9. Any and all Rick Riordan books

Rick Riordan writes the most funny, most amazing middle grade fantasy I think I’ve ever read. As a Greek mythology nut as a kid, his books were absolutely perfect for me and even now at 21, I’m still reading and enjoying them because his writing is just so darn good. If you like mythology, doesn’t matter what age you are, you should definitely pick up a Rick Riordan book, you won’t regret it (Percy is worth it!).

10. Rebel of The Sands-Alwyn Hamilton

Another Jo being a hipster story: my friend and I met Alwyn Hamilton our very first year at YALC before Rebel had been published. We really liked her and liked the sound of her story so we entered to win a manuscript copy (spoiler alert: we did not win). Anyway, almost a year or so later when her book came out, I read it, loved it and then it seemed to explode all over the blogosphere. It’s such a creative mix of Wild West and Arabian Nights and so fun and fast paced, if you haven’t read it already you must! (and if you ever get the chance to meet Alwyn, go, she’s a sweetheart).

So there we go, Popular Books I’ve Read Which Were Worth The Hype. Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them? Does anyone disagree with me? (that’s okay, we’re all friends here!) What books have you read that you think are worth the hype? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books We’d Mash Together, which I’m not quite sure about, so I may change it, we’ll see. In the meantime, I will definitely have my promised Children of Blood and Bone for you guys soon, my laptop charger is broken and I can’t commandeer my parents’ computer for the length of time it takes me to write reviews! The new one is arriving tomorrow though, so the review will definitely be up before the week is out.

Top Ten Tuesday #169

Hey guys! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, I have just been working all the time, which kind of sucks, but I did get an afternoon off last week where I got to see the new Mamma Mia movie, which was totally awesome! I’m also counting down the days till YALC, a) because I am super excited, it’s my fave weekend of the year, I get to see both of my friends and spend all weekend around books and b) because I get two whole days off work.

Anyway, since today is Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you guys, courtesy of Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re talking Books With Sensory Reading Memories, so I’m talking, Books That I Read on Holiday, since they remind me of a particular place. So here we go, Books I Read on Holiday:

1. Six of Crows-Leigh Bardugo-Amsterdam

Yes, I read a large portion of Six of Crows whilst I was actually in Amsterdam, which is super cool because Ketterdam is based on Amsterdam, so I was basically reading this book in the home of the Dregs! I didn’t actually plan that, it just happened that I was going there to visit my sister for her birthday last year and Six of Crows was what I was reading at the time, but it will always have this super cool connection for me.

2. The Bone Season-Samantha Shannon-Greece

Yes, I started reading The Bone Season when I was on a ferry from Santorini to Athens! I didn’t read much of the book whilst I was still away because it was very close to the end of my holiday, but I will always remember that I was first introduced to Paige Mahoney and the world of Scion whilst floating across the sea in Greece!

3. Under Rose Tainted Skies-Louise Gornall-Greece

This book will be forever burned into my memory because I read it whilst on a horrendous overnight ferry trip from Athens to Crete (I had to sleep in an aeroplane style chair, they didn’t turn the lights off all night, so I had to sleep in my sunglasses to block the light out and you don’t even want to know about the smell) and this book was about the only good thing about that awful ferry ride!

4. Empire of Storms-Sarah J Maas-Amsterdam

I actually finished the fifth book in the series whilst I was visiting my sister in Amsterdam to celebrate my mum’s birthday in 2016! It’s definitely the coolest place I’ve been able to read Aelin’s story so far.

5. Salt To The Sea-Ruta Sepetys-Carcassonne

I finished this book whilst I was on holiday with my family last year in France, though I read a lot of it whilst still in Scotland. Anyway, I loved that I finished this book in France, since it’s set in Europe, granted Eastern rather than Western, but it still felt pretty cool to be finishing this book in a European country.

6. Unwind-Neal Shusterman-Germany/France

This book is pretty cool, because I started it whilst I was in Germany, on a German exchange with school, and then I finished it when I was in France with my family, in fact I’m not sure if I actually read any of it whilst in the UK at all! This book is particularly memorable for the fact that I read it in the car when my mum was having a now infamous three hour discussion with a French kitchen salesperson. Fun fact, I actually read the entirety of the Unwind series, both in part (Unwind and Undivided) and in whole (Unwholly and Unsouled) whilst in France; Unwind I read on a Easter trip there, Unwholly and Unsouled were my summer holiday reads and Undivided I finished when we were there for New Year in 2015!

7. The Hunger Games-Suzanne Collins-Germany

I read The Hunger Games for the first time when I was on a German exchange in 2012 and I remember being up late into the night in my host family’s house because I just had to see what happened next!

8. The Hidden Oracle-Rick Riordan-Bath

Okay, so not as exciting as some of the other holiday destinations that I have on this list, but nonetheless, it’s one I remember: I read the first of Rick Riordan’s newest series when I was on holiday with my friends in Bath back in 2016.

9. Catching Fire-Suzanne Collins-New York

Apparently I have a tradition of reading The Hunger Games books in cool places, though I don’t remember where I read Mockingjay, because I read Catching Fire on our family’s first trip to New York back in 2012!

10. The Pearl Thief-Elizabeth Wein-Carcassonne

Yet another book that I read whilst in Carcasssonne, my family goes to Carcassonne quite a lot, so I’ve read quite a few books while there! The main character in this is part French, so it definitely felt right to be reading her story there-I also actually read part of Code Name Verity, the sequel to this book whilst in France!

So there we have it, Books I’ve Read Whilst on Holiday! Have you read any books in any cool places? Have you been to any of the places on my list? Any cool anecdotes about books that you’ve read on holiday? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Popular Books That Lived Up To The Hype, and I definitely have a lot to say about that one, so I’m looking forward to doing it! In the meantime, I don’t know what content I will have for you next, since I’m busy with work and never know when I’ll have time to post, but I should have my review of Children of Blood and Bone up for you soon as I’m hoping to finish that one before the month is over.

 

Top Ten Tuesday #168

Hi guys! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, I’ve just been working, I’m at my summer job for the next five weeks, so that will basically be all of my life updates until it’s over! It’s going well, I’m completely shattered, but I did get to do some book shopping when the kids had free time in London last weekend and ended up with 4 new books, 2 more than I had intended-what can I say, I’d had a stressful week and book shopping soothes me!

Anyway, once again, I’m taking the short window of time I have before I have to get to work to give you guys another Top Ten Tuesday, thanks to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re meant to be talking about our favourite novellas/short stories, but since I’m not a massive novella/short story fan, I’m taking an old topic from The Broke and The Bookish (previous runners) archive and talking about my Top Ten Favourite Standalone Novels, since I flail about series’ near constantly and don’t talk about my favourite standalones nearly enough, so today, I’m going to share my favourite books that are not part of a series:

1. The Book Thief-Markus Zusak

The Book Thief is one of my absolute favourite books, honestly I’m not sure I’ll ever read another historical fiction that I love quite as much as this one, though I’ve read a few that have come pretty darn close. Liesel’s story is beautiful and heartbreaking and just so touching, it’s definitely one of those books that has wedged itself in my heart and is unlikely to ever leave.

2. Daughter of The Burning City-Amanda Foody

This is one that I read this year, YA fantasy standalones are so very rare and whilst I almost wish that this did have a series because there are definitely more stories that could come out of this world, having only a single book made this YA fantasy/murder mystery hybrid even more unique.

3. By A Charm and A Curse-Jaime Questell

Another fun little YA fantasy standalone I read this year, this book is like a cross between Snow White and Pinocchio in this dark circus setting and it was so cool, I wish more people were talking about this book!

4. My Sister’s Keeper-Jodi Picoult

My first ever Jodi Picoult book and the one that made me fall in love with her books, the sister relationship at the heart of this book is just amazing and it really makes you think about how much you would be willing to give up if your sister’s health depended on you. Plus that ending really smacked me in the gut and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it for years!

5. Between Shades of Gray-Ruta Sepetys

THIS BOOK GUYS. I swear I never physically cry at books, but as soon as I read “That morning my brother’s life was worth a pocket watch”, the tears started. This book is so harsh and harrowing and yet beautifully hopeful. Honestly if you guys want a historical fiction about a different part of WWII, then definitely give this one a try. I cannot wait for the movie!

6. Dangerous Girls-Abigail Haas

There is a book called Dangerous Boys by the same author, but they are unrelated standalones not companions or sequels. Genuinely this book is the book that I hold all YA thrillers up to now, and nothing has blown my mind yet quite as much as this one did, that ending was just…..ugh I can’t even talk about it, but it’s the best, most twisted YA thriller I’ve ever read.

7. Cross My Heart-Carmen Reid

Another historical (apparently a lot of the standalones I love are historicals) that I absolutely loved, it was so fast paced and exciting and I’ve never read any books about the Belgian Resistance before, so it was great to learn about something new!

8. Matilda-Roald Dahl

One of my favourite books as a child (in fact Roald Dahl was one of my favourite childhood authors), I feel like reading Matilda is a bookworm right of passage!

9. Ballet Shoes-Noel Streatfeild

Another one of my childhood favourites, the sisters relationship in this is just amazing and I loved the idea of found families-heck I still do.

10. Blind Beauty-KM Peyton

KM Peyton was one of my favourite horse authors when I was a kid, I loved the Flambards books, but this one was my personal favourite, all about a troubled kid and her horse on their path to winning the Grand National, it’s such a beautiful and heartwarming, if at times sad, story.

So there we have it, my favourite standalone novels. Have you read any of these? Did you like them? What are your favourite standalone novels? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books With Sensory Reading Memories, so I’m going with one of the suggested ideas for interpreting this topic, and talking about Books I Read Whilst On Holiday. In the meantime, I’m not entirely sure when I will have new content for you next, as I am super busy with work, but I’m hoping to get a discussion post, probably an updated YALC tips post up very soon!

 

Top Ten Tuesday #167

Hi guys! I hope you’ve all had a good week since my last one of these, my summer job started on Wednesday and I’m not gonna lie, I’m exhausted already! I had to do airport transfers on Sunday (I’m working at a summer school) and my feet still haven’t quite forgiven me yet.

Anyway, I’m taking the short window of time I have before I have to get to work, to give you guys another Top Ten Tuesday, thanks to Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re sharing our Best Books Of 2018 (so far) and this is gonna be a tricky one because aside from a few standouts, I’ve had a mostly middling reading year so far, so I might not make it to ten books, but I’m gonna try!:

1. Legendary-Stephanie Garber-Read June 2018-4.5 stars

AHHH! My far and away favourite of this year so far without a doubt. Legendary is even darker, even twistier, even more amazing than Caraval and I devoured it in like a week at the end of last month. I loved seeing things from Tella’s perspective and going even deeper into the world and the mystery of Scarlett and Tella’s missing mother. I cannot wait for the third book to come out next year.

2. The Exact Opposite of Okay-Laura Steven-Read February 2018-4 stars

I’ve kind of been on a feminist reading kick this year, three books and counting (I’m hoping to have more by the end of this year) have had feminist themes, and this was the start of it. I found Izzy O’Neill super relatable (we would seriously be best friends if she was real), I thought the subject matter was timely and that the book was just generally hilarious and I cannot wait for the sequel next year!

3. By A Charm and A Curse-Jaime Questell-Read January 2018-4 stars

This was such a creative, fun little book. It was a different take on the usual carnival/circus style YA, as a kind of mix of a Snow White/Pinocchio retelling. I can often find my fantasy books get quite samey, so it was nice to read something a little bit different!

4. The Language of Thorns-Leigh Bardugo-Read April 2018-4 stars

I’m basically devouring anything and everything Leigh Bardugo this year, first I read Shadow and Bone and then this. I loved this short story collection and coming from me, that’s pretty high praise because short stories aren’t usually my thing. I loved that Bardugo took quite recognisable stories and gave them a Grisha twist.

5. Everless-Sara Holland-Read January 2018-4 stars

This was one of the first books I read this year, and I know there’s been a lot of mixed reviews about it, but I really enjoyed it. I thought the time as currency thing was a really cool concept and although it was slow to start, it really picked up for me.

6. Daughter of The Burning City-Amanda Foody-Read May 2018-3.5 stars

I sped through this book in less than a week, it was nice to have a shorter, standalone fantasy to read for a change (although ironically, I actually thought the book needed to be a little longer to contain the sprawling world that Foody created) and I loved having a murder mystery within a fantasy, I thought that was really cool and the whole idea of the illusions is awesome. It was definitely a creative little fantasy book and whilst it works really well as a standalone, if Foody ever wanted to return to Gomorrah, I would be quite happy to go back there!

7. Ace of Shades-Amanda Foody-Read May/June 2018-3.5 stars

Yes, another Amanda Foody book, what can I say, the woman definitely has a flair for writing fun, unique YA fantasies, and I can definitely tell that she’s going to be someone whose books I look out for in the years to come. This book was a very slow starter, but I loved the kind of 1920s mobster world that Foody created, I thought the magic system was really cool and I loved Enne’s character development. I can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel!

8. Rose Under Fire-Elizabeth Wein-Read May 2018-3 stars

I probably should have picked one of my other 3.5 stars for my last book on this list (yup only 8 today) but when I looked back, my other choices didn’t quite sit right as favourites, because I liked Moxie but it was nowhere near as good as TEOOO and A Thousand Perfect Notes and Crooked Kingdom were both good, but they both kind of disappointed me, so it didn’t feel right to put them on a list of my favourites of the year. Rose on the other hand, I found super emotional, and absolutely loved the characters, especially the Rabbits. Actually writing this, I’m wondering whether I should have rated this 3.5 instead of 3……ah well.

That’s it from me, a shortened TTT today I’m afraid, hopefully the second half of 2018 will be better for me in terms of great books! Over to you! What have been your favourite books of 2018? Have you read any of the books on my list? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

Next week we’re meant to be talking Favourite Novellas/Short Stories, but as I’ve already established in this post, I’m not really a massive novella/short story fan, so instead, I’m going to talk about my Favourite Standalone Books, since I know I flail about series near enough constantly and don’t really talk about my favourite standalones very much, so I am going to change that! In the meantime, I will have a review of my latest read Radio Silence up probably at the weekend, since I don’t have a day off work till Sunday and reviews take much longer to write than I have before I go into work in the afternoon, so stay tuned for that!

 

Top Ten Tuesday #166

Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, I spent the weekend visiting my friends, who I haven’t seen in months since I’ve been up at Uni in Scotland, so that was amazing, we just chatted the whole time and ate lots of food, it was like we’d never been apart. I’m also starting my new job tomorrow, which is exciting, although I’m going to get super busy for the next six weeks, so don’t be surprised if I’m not posting as regularly!

Anyway, it’s Tuesday and that means another Top Ten Tuesday from Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re sharing Red, White and Blue Covers for US Independence Day tomorrow, now since I’m not American, I of course won’t be celebrating, but the UK flag is also red, white and blue, so I’ll be sharing those colour covers anyway! Here we go, my favourite red, white and blue covers (can I just note before we start that not all these covers will necessarily have all three colours on them, but they will have at least one of each!):

1.  Legendary by Stephanie Garber:

AH HOW ARE THESE COVERS SO GORGEOUS? Seriously Stephanie Garber’s cover designer is a genius, this cover is such a beautiful shade of blue and the white design really pops against that background.

2.  Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody:

Amanda Foody is another author who has great cover designers, this cover really encapsulates what the books is about, with the card designs and then the silhouette of the city in the background.

3. Everless by Sara Holland:

Usually red and white books tend to be white on a red background, so it’s quite interesting to see that reversed. I love the type of the title, I think it’s really pretty and the hourglass design is really cool, as well as being really fitting with the book.

4. Chainbreaker by Tara Sim:

Ah this cover is so amazing, it makes me so sad that these books aren’t available in the UK. The design really fits the setting, as the book is set in India and I love the broken clock in the centre.

5. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon:

I actually did get one in that is all three colours! You’ve got a little red and white on a blue background, so don’t say I didn’t have at least one book that fitted the full prompt! I loved the original Bone Season covers, I’m really sad that they were redesigned because by the time I got to The Song Rising, the limited editions with the original designs were already sold out, and this design is so much prettier than the more minimalist new ones.

6. A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab:

It’s really a shame that the prompt wasn’t red, white and black covers because then I could have just pretty much shared the entirety of VE Schwab’s catalogue-she definitely has a colour theme and I love it!

7.  The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater:

I swear, The Raven Cycle has my absolute favourite covers of ever, they are SO SO STUNNING. This last one is my particular favourite, the stag is just so beautiful, the colours go so well together, everything just really works!

8. The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig:

Another one that actually fits the full prompt! I just think this cover is so beautiful and it really encapsulates the magic and wonder of the time travelling aspect of the story, plus I love that the ship is front and centre on the book cover.

9. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater:

Maggie Stiefvater just has the most beautiful covers of ever okay? I mean everything about this is beautiful, from the red background, to the horse, to the heart design, to the script, it’s all stunning!

10. A Study In Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro:

Another one that hits all three boxes! I’ll admit, this cover isn’t actually one of my favourites, but I do love the colour combinations, I think they’re great.

Over to you! What are your favourite covers that have either red, white or blue in them? Or a combination of all three! Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Best Books of 2018 so far, so you guys will get to see some of the amazing books I’ve had the chance to read this year! In the meantime, I will have another book tag for you guys on Thursday.