Top Ten Tuesday #181

Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, if I’m being honest, mine hasn’t been great, I’ve been dwelling in essay hell for the past week and my Uni’s WiFi decided to go on the fritz which has not helped things, so yeah, I’m feeling pretty stressed right now!

Anyway, I’m taking a brief break from all that stress, to give you guys another Top Ten Tuesday, thanks to Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re talking Bookstores/Libraries We’d Like To Visit, and I have to admit, I spend more than a little time scrolling through pictures of pretty bookstores and libraries, so this is a great topic for me. I’m going to share a mix of libraries and bookstores (mostly bookstores) that I want to visit:

1. The Open Book-Wigtown, Scotland

This bookshop/B&B is top of my bookshop want to visit list at the moment because what could be better? You get to stay in an apartment above the bookshop and then during your visit you get to be an actual bookseller, which is a dream of mine. It’s booked solid through the next few years though, so it might be a while before I ever get the chance to visit.

2. The Klementinum Library-Prague, Czech Republic

The Klementinum is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful libraries in the world and I would love to go and see it. My friend and I are hoping to do a trip to Prague at some point and I will definitely be wanting to go here!

3. El Ateneo Grand Splendid-Buenos Airies

This beautiful bookshop is set in a former theatre which is over 100 years old, El Ateneo Grand Splendid originally opened in May 1919! I love going to the theatre, so the idea of a bookshop set in a theatre is just heaven to me and as you can tell by the picture, it is just spectacular.

4. Libreria Acqua Alta-Venice, Italy

Where else but Venice could you visit a bookshop that is on a canal? I’ll admit, my bookworm heart did shudder a little when I saw all that water so close to so many books, but it is a cool concept and I’d love to go visit it one day.

5. Cărturești Carusel-Bucharest, Romania

I can’t even with this bookshop. Not only is it MASSIVE, all the white and the columns and the staircases make it really striking too. It’s name translates as Carousel of Light and could there be anything more fitting than that? Hopefully one day I will go to Romania and get to see this place in all it’s glory.

6. Lello & Irmão Bookstore (also known as Livraria Lello)-Porto, Portugal

It’s not hard to see why this bookshop was a favourite haunt for JK Rowling whilst she lived in Portugal and how it could have inspired the Hogwarts library. Those stairs are just stunning and all the shelves….wow I could definitely get lost in this bookshop for a while!

7. Barter Books-Alnwick, Northumberland

This cute little bookshop is set inside the old Victorian Alnwick railway station, and it’s one of the largest second-hand bookshops in Europe. I could definitely imagine spending the day getting lost in this bookshop, eating cake, curling up by one of the fires and of course browsing the aisles for books!

8. Admont Library-Admont, Austria

Admont Library is a library located within Admont Monastery in Austria and it seriously looks like you’re stepping into a Beauty and The Beast-esque library, which is to say that it is #bookwormgoals. If I hadn’t wanted to visit Austria before (I’ve been but only to Salzburg) then I definitely do now!

9. Selexyz Dominacanen-Maastricht, Netherlands

This gorgeous bookshop is set in an over 700 year old church and whilst churches aren’t usually my thing, I have to admit, I would love to visit this one. The bookshop blends so seamlessly with the church that you’d think it had been there the whole time!

10. Trinity College Old Library-Dublin, Ireland

I mean just look how stunning that is! So many books, so many possible things to discover, I would feel so tiny standing in this massive library. My friend loves all things Irish, so I have no doubt that we will probably be visiting this library at some point in the future.

What bookstores/libraries would you like to visit? Did any of mine make your list? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Villains, however we want to twist that. I’m not sure exactly what my take on it will be yet, but I guess you guys will have to wait and see what I decide! My essay is due on Thursday, so I’m hoping that through next week I will be able to catch up on all my reviews and other stuff that I’ve had to put to the side whilst concentrating on my essay. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your week!

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Top Ten Tuesday #180

Hi all! I hope you’ve had a good week since my last TTT, I have an essay due next week, so safe to say I am very close to meltdown right now, thank you for bearing with me and I promise, I will be posting more after my essay has been submitted on Thursday as I have several things I’ve been meaning to post but I just haven’t had time to write yet!

Anyway, I’m taking a brief break from essay hell today to give you guys another Top Ten Tuesday, (my 180th!), thanks to Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re talking Longest Books We’ve Ever Read. I have to admit, a shudder goes through me when I discover a book is longer than 500 pages because a) most books I don’t feel need to be that long and b) I have such little time to read at Uni that I tend to go for shorter books these days. Still I have read some hefty tomes over the years, so here we go, the longest books I’ve ever read:

1. Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix-JK Rowling-766 pages

766 pages probably doesn’t seem like a lot, especially since I have Priory and Kingdom of Ash on my TBR, both of which are longer, but it definitely felt like a lot when I read this as a teenager! The Order of The Phoenix was my least favourite Harry Potter book, although there were great parts of it, like “Have a biscuit Potter” and Fred and George’s big exit and Dumbledore’s Army, I just felt like it was a LOT longer than it needed to be.

2. Empire of Storms-Sarah J Maas-693 pages

The first and not the last instance of Sarah J Maas on this list, she writes some hefty tomes (honestly, I am still slightly scared of the sheer size of Kingdom of Ash). I always feel like Sarah J Maas books never really need to be as long as they are, there’s always at least 100 odd pages of filler to be found, but Empire of Storms felt a lot better paced than some of the other books in the series have been! I’m so excited (and scared) to see what happens in the last book.

3. A Conjuring of Light-VE Schwab-666 pages

It pleases me so much that this book comes in at the Devil’s number! A Conjuring of Light was a beast of a book, but unlike some of the other books on this list, it really didn’t feel like it. VE Schwab is the queen of pacing, and she knew exactly when the book needed to pick up and the moments where it could afford to be quieter, which meant I was never bored reading this (very important when you are likely to be reading a book for several weeks). This is one of my favourite series finales ever, it tied up everything really well (whilst still leaving threads for the new sequel series!) and I felt really satisfied (and sad) when it was over.

4. Tower of Dawn-Sarah J Maas-664 pages

Yup, Sarah J Maas is at it again. It’s hard to believe that this 664 page tome was originally supposed to only be a novella! Like many of the other books in the series, this probably didn’t need to be 600+ pages long, but I digress. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, I thought I wouldn’t like it because I’m not a massive fan of Chaol, but he wasn’t anywhere near as infuriating as he has been in the past in this book and I really loved getting to see the whole new location of the Southern Continent.

5. Queen of Shadows-Sarah J Maas-645 pages

This book nearly killed me. It’s basically 6oo pages of planning, interspersed with a couple of chapters of action. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important in the sense that the things that happened in this book needed to happen in order for the narrative to progress, but I reckon this book could have lost a good 200 pages without losing any of the important bits!

6. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire-JK Rowling-636 pages

Honestly, I do not remember The Goblet of Fire being this long, but I did read it when I was younger and paid less attention to how lengthy a book was, so that’s probably why. This is my favourite Harry Potter book, you get the Triwizard Tournament, The Yule Ball and our first real introduction to Voldemort, it’s basically the turning point for the whole series!

7. Kingdom of The Wicked-Derek Landy, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince & Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows-JK Rowling-607 pages

Yup, I’m doing a 3 in one, because these three books all had the same page count and I didn’t want to waste the remainder of my list on 3 books that were all the same length. Kingdom of The Wicked is the seventh book in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, and honestly, I have to say I can’t really remember what happened in it, it wasn’t the most memorable of the series! The Half-Blood Prince, I think I liked, although I’ll be honest, my memories of it now are mostly of the teenage romance drama, which I’m pretty sure they hammed up in the film! The Deathly Hallows, I did enjoy eventually, but OH MY GOD THE CAMPING. I thought it would never end!

8. The Dying of The Light-Derek Landy-605 pages

Honestly, I do not remember the Skulduggery Pleasant books being so long! Probably because they have quite short chapters, so they never feel as long as they actually are. It’s been a while since I read the final Skulduggery Pleasant book, but I do remember it being a great, if slightly gruesome, final book (and even then, it wasn’t actually the final book, because Derek Landy pulled a bait and switch on us and we now have a continuation series).

9. Mortal Coil and The Last Stand of Dead Men-Derek Landy-604 pages

The 5th and 8th books of the Skulduggery Pleasant series respectively, both clock in at just over 600 pages. Mortal Coil was quite a fun book as it’s the first book where you get a real taste of Darquesse and the Remnants taking over everyone was pretty cool. The Last Stand of Dead Men is one of my favourite books of the series, as it’s really exciting and a great build up for the final battle in The Dying of the Light.

10. Death Bringer-Derek Landy-603 pages

This was a great instalment of the Skulduggery Pleasant series, as it focuses a lot on Necromancy, as Valkyrie gets more and more embroiled in the study of it, and we also get to see Lord Vile for the first time (I think, it might have been in Book 5) which is a really important point for the rest of the series.

What are the longest books you’ve ever read? Do we share any? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Bookstores/Libraries I’d Love To Visit which should be a fun one, as I’m always looking for pretty bookstores/libraries in other countries that I’d love to go to. I’m not going to be posting until next Tuesday as I’m needing to focus on my essay which is due next Thursday, so enjoy the rest of your week!

Top Ten Tuesday #179

Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, my Uni related stress meltdown has reached earlier than I was expecting, I have a lot of assignments due in the next few weeks, so yeah, the next few weeks aren’t going to be great work wise-please bear with me if I’m not around here as much, I will try and post as much as I can, but obviously work has to come first.

Anyway, I’m back today with another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re meant to be talking about Authors We’d Love To Meet, but I’ve been luckily enough to meet a lot of my favourite authors over the last few years and my list hasn’t changed since I last did that topic, so instead, I’m going to be talking about Characters I’d Love To Meet:

1. Lila Bard-Shades of Magic Trilogy-VE Schwab

I would love to meet Lila, we could go on her ship, she could teach me magic and pirating and all the different ways you can kill people with a knife and how to be as  badass and confident as she is, we’d have a great time. Sure, I’d be worried she’d kill me at first, but I think once we got over that, we’d have a great time.

2. Hermione Granger-Harry Potter-JK Rowling

How much fun would Hermione and I have hanging out? I would happily listen to her talking about the history of magic and Hogwarts and all the other cool things she knows about and she could take me to the Hogwarts Library. We could go to Hogsmeade, and chat over books and hot chocolate (I hate butterbeer), it would be so great!

3. Aelin Galathynius-Throne of Glass series-Sarah J Maas

Much like Lila, Aelin could teach me loads of different ways to kill people-I could also learn some pretty useful self defence skills from her, which would be great. We could chat over books and chocolate, we could go shopping, I could play with Fleetfoot, it would be a great day for all!

4. Skulduggery Pleasant-Skulduggery Pleasant series-Derek Landy

Who doesn’t want to meet a magical skeleton detective? He taught Valkyrie magic, he could teach me! We could solve crime together, I could ride around in the Bentley and I could finally meet a nice Irish guy-though preferably one that’s alive!

5. Percy Jackson-Percy Jackson universe-Rick Riordan

In an ideal world, Percy would be single, my age, and well, real. But alas this is not the case. Still, if I was to meet him, I would love to hang out with him and Annabeth at Camp Half-Blood, doing all sorts of cool and dangerous stuff-I might avoid the lava climbing wall, but I’d be up for everything else.

6. Nina Zenik-Six of Crows duology-Leigh Bardugo

Because who wouldn’t want to hang out with a foodie? If Nina and I met, forget about exploring Ketterdam, we would spend our entire day just chatting over food, she would introduce me to the rest of The Dregs and sure, if they offered, which they wouldn’t, I’d happily go on a job with them.

7. Izzy O’Neill-The Exact Opposite of Okay-Laura Steven

I related so strongly to Izzy, so I have to think that if we hung out together we’d have an AWESOME time. We could chat all things Harry Potter (she would have to introduce me to her dachshund Dumbledore), we could have massive milkshakes and share a plate of nachos, and just spend the afternoon having fun, witty banter, it would be awesome.

8. Fred and George Weasley-Harry Potter-JK Rowling

How much fun would you have hanging out with the Weasley twins? I would love to just spend all day with them showing me all their different magical inventions and pranking people with them, maybe playing some quidditch (the real kind, not our strange approximation) and just having the best time.

9. The Gangsey-The Raven Cycle-Maggie Stiefvater

You cannot ask me to choose just one member of the Gangsey to meet, I would have to hang out with them all. I would love to hunt for dead welsh kings with them, and visit Blue’s family home and just soak up all the weirdness, maybe get my fortune told, it would be awesome.

10. Leo Valdez-Percy Jackson Universe-Rick Riordan

Honestly, I would love to hang out with all of Rick Riordan’s characters, minus Jason and Piper, but I think I could have a lot of fun with Leo. We’d probably spend the day hanging out in his workshop, just chatting away whilst he worked on something cool and of course he would have to take me for a ride on Festus (his dragon).

What characters would you love to meet? Would we share any? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Longest Books I’ve Ever Read. Now I will admit that any book over 600 pages (heck really over 500 pages) fills me with dread, but I have read my fair share of hefty books over the years (and some I’ve even enjoyed) so this should be a fun one to do (who wants to be already that 99% of my list will be Sarah J Maas?). In the meantime, like I said at the top of the post, I’ll probably be bit less active on the blog whilst I have deadlines coming up, so if I don’t post anything before next Tuesday, then have a nice rest of your week!

 

Top Ten Tuesday #178

Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a good past week, mine has been relatively quiet, mostly just doing Uni stuff, though I do have the welcome drinks for my Uni’s Equestrian Club on Thursday, which is our first social of the year and should be super fun and a chance to meet all our new members.

Anyway, I’m back today with a new Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re talking about Books From Our Favourite Authors We Haven’t Read Yet. This topic has me feeling slightly judged because there are more books than I’m proud of by my favourite authors that I haven’t read, but hey, I’ll get to them eventually! Here we go, books by my favourite authors that I haven’t read:

1. Wonder Woman: Warbringer-Leigh Bardugo

I only discovered Leigh Bardugo’s books last year, and I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology and the first Grisha book, so safe to say, I have a lot to catch up on! Wonder Woman is one of my TBR challenge books this year so I will definitely be getting to it before the end of the year and I’m super excited because I loved the Wonder Woman movie.

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising,

2. Chasing The Stars-Malorie Blackman

I loved Malorie Blackman’s books when I was younger, Noughts and Crosses was the first YA book that I ever read, so I jumped on her latest release when it came out, since I found a signed first edition, but I haven’t really been feeling in a space mood, so I haven’t read it. Hopefully soon!

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: HA HA HA SO MANY. Malorie Blackman has too massive a back catalogue to list here, but rest assured I haven’t read most of them.

3. Thunderhead-Neal Shusterman

So I read the first book in this series Scythe last year, and really enjoyed it, so naturally I got the sequel, but I just haven’t got around to reading it yet. Honestly, it will probably end up being a next summer read as it’s over 500 pages and I tend to avoid those during term time!

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: Skinjacker Series, Ansty Bonano series, Bruiser and many others, again Neal Shusterman has a massive back catalogue!

4. A Court of Wings and Ruin-Sarah J Maas

I know, I know, I’m judging me a little too. Okay a lot. Well not as much as my friend Nicola judges me for not having read this book but still. I really enjoyed ACOMAF but Sarah J Maas books are gigantic beasts and I can’t really fit more than one in a year, so this series has kind of gone on the backburner until I’m done with the Throne of Glass series.

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: A Court of Frost and Starlight, Catwoman

5. All The Crooked Saints-Maggie Stiefvater

I meant to read this when I got it, I really did, but as usual, I had twenty million other books to read and just totally forgot about it. It’s another one on my TBR challenge for this year, in fact it’s my read for next month, so I will be reading it very soon!

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: Shiver Trilogy, Lament & Ballad

6. Our Dark Duet-Victoria Schwab

I read This Savage Song last year and I bought Our Dark Duet quite soon after it came out but…..well I don’t really know what happened, I read a lot of other books instead and since I wasn’t overly keen on This Savage Song, it just wasn’t at the top of my list. I do want to finish off the duology and I’ve heard that the second book is better, so hopefully I will read it soon!

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: The Unbound, City of Ghosts, The Near Witch, Vengeful, Everyday Angel series (I only started reading her books last year, so I have quite a few that I haven’t read yet)

7. Midnight-Derek Landy

I’m actually relatively well caught up with Derek Landy’s stuff, I only have this one left to read, and it’s his latest release in the new stage of the Skulduggery Pleasant series so I’m not feeling so bad about this one.

8. Off The Page-Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

I read the first book in this YA duology that Jodi Picoult wrote with her daughter years ago, but for some reason, I never got around to the second one, and I’d really like to read it, because I really enjoyed the first one.

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: Well okay, so there’s only two books that she co-wrote with her daughter and I’ve read one, but I have many, many, many of Jodi Picoult’s solo written books to read-again, she has a massive back catalogue!

9. The Kane Chronicles-Rick Riordan

I’ve actually done a pretty good job at keeping up with the mountain of books that Rick Riordan seems to release, but I kind of missed the boat on The Kane Chronicles. To be honest, I’m not that fussed about Egyptian mythology, so I don’t feel too bad about it.

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: The various Percy Jackson add on books & Magnus Chase add on books & the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles crossovers

10. All My Secrets-Sophie McKenzie

I loved Sophie McKenzie’s books when I was a teenager, but over the past few years, I’ve kind of been missing her recent releases. On the one hand, I did love her books when I read them, but on the other hand I feel like I’ve kind of grown out of them now, so I don’t know if I will try to catch up on her latest releases (and I didn’t love her adult thrillers that much).

ALSO HAVEN’T READ: Flynn books, Luke and Eve books, SweetFreak, Here We Lie, The Black Sheep, Train Time To The Blitz, Arthur’s Sword

What books by your favourite authors haven’t you read? Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Authors I’d Love To Meet but honestly I’ve done that topic twice already, and my list hasn’t changed much since the last time I did it, so I’m going to do Characters I’d Love To Meet instead since that’s a lot easier for me! In the meantime, I’m going to try and sort out a Jo Talks post and a Writing Corner post before the end of the month, so look out for those.

Top Ten Tuesday #177

Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week since my last TTT, I turned 22 on Wednesday, I had a great day shopping with my friend Nicola and then my classic birthday celebrations of pizza and movies with Nicola and Rebecca (and cake of course), so that was fun, and very weird to think that that was my last Uni birthday! Other than that, I’ve just been getting back into the swing of things at Uni: I’m feeling relatively good at the moment, but I’m sure the stress induced breakdown is only a few short weeks away.

Anyway, I’m back today with a new Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re meant to be talking about our Autumn TBRs, but I already did a version of that topic for our Back To School freebie a few weeks ago so I decided to take a different tack this week and talk all about the Autumn TV that I’m looking forward to instead. So here we go, ten shows that I’m excited for this Autumn:

1. The Good Place-Season 3-September 28th

10 DAYS PEOPLE. I AM SO FORKING EXCITED. The Good Place was one of my favourite new TV shows from last year and after that incredible Season 2 finale, I can’t wait to see how this season pans out. I love that The Good Place is constantly changing and reinventing itself and you never know what is going to happen next, it’s super exciting and such a funny show, so yeah, I am counting down the days till its return.

2. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend-Season 4-October 13th

Still have a few weeks to wait for this one, but I can’t wait to see what the final season of Crazy Ex has in store. I only started watching this show this year after The Beast From The East had me trapped in my flat for four days, but I fell completely in love with it, it’s such a creative, awesome, funny show and I can’t wait to see how Rebecca’s story wraps up, especially with how Season 3 ended.

3. Outlander-Season 4-November 5th

AHHH! Outlander was another show I started watching last year and just became completely addicted to, and now I am not so patiently waiting for the new season. I’m really excited to see Jamie and Claire in Colonial America, it’s going to make for some very exciting new adventures, but I seriously wish November wasn’t so far away.

4. Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father-Season 2-September 28th

The first season of this show was super funny and I can’t wait to see what kind of adventures Jack and Michael got up to in the newest season of the show-my friends and I all love Jack Whitehall so this is going to be a super fun one for all of us to watch together.

5. Strictly Come Dancing-Season 16-September 22nd

Strictly returns this weekend for its latest series and I could not be more excited-if you’re not in the UK, it’s our version of Dancing With The Stars where celebrities learn to dance with professional dancers (but we had it first!) and it’s pretty much my Saturday night plans from now until Christmas-the one time of year when I pretend I know anything at all about dancing!

6. Victoria-Season 3-Return date unconfirmed

Okay so we don’t actually know when Victoria is going to be back, but it is usually aired at some point in the autumn, so I’m hoping it will be back soon! I love this show, it’s one of my favourite period dramas and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next series, especially as we’re coming up to the Great Exhibition which is going to be amazing to see on screen.

7. Riverdale-Season 3-October 11th

Yes, I know Riverdale is kind of trashy and a bit ridiculous at times, but hey, that’s why I enjoy it. Last year’s definitely got a bit weird, so it’s going to be interesting to see how they top that this year.

8. You-Season 1-Unconfirmed Netflix release

I saw the trailer for this and it looks so cool-I mean it’s not all that much of a stretch for Penn Badgley to play a creepy stalker after his role on Gossip Girl, but he looks like he’s very good at it! I don’t know when this is going to actually be up on Netflix, probably after its finished it’s US run, but I’m excited to see it.

9. Doctor Who-Season 13-October 7th

I will admit, I haven’t actually watched Doctor Who since I think Matt Smith’s second series, aside from the occasional episode at Christmas, but I’m really excited to see the new series now that Jodie Whittaker has taken the reins as the Doctor and I’m hoping that now Steven Moffat isn’t running the show, the storylines might become coherent again!

10. Killing Eve-15th September

Okay, so technically I’m a few days late with this one, but I am super excited to see it, the trailer looked so good and I love a good crime drama, plus I’ve heard so much great stuff about this one so I’m excited to finally dig into it when I get the chance.

So there we have it, some Autumn TV I’m looking forward to-I am of course looking forward to all my old US favourites returning as well (TBBT, Jane The Virgin, How To Get Away With Murder etc) but since it’s uncertain when they will actually appear in the UK, I stuck to shows I definitely know will be airing here in the near future!

Are you excited to see any of these shows back? What are you looking forward to seeing on TV this autumn? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books By My Favourite Authors That I Still Haven’t Read, which I definitely have a lot of (not gonna lie, feeling a little judged here) so that should be a fun one. In the meantime, I just finished Vicious, so I should have a review of that up for you guys soon.

Top Ten Tuesday #176

Hi all! This past week has been quite busy, what with coming back up to Uni, moving into my new flat and classes starting, so I apologise in advance if I’m a bit less active on the blog than I have been in previous years this year, it’s my last year of Uni, so I’m going to be pretty busy! It’s also my birthday tomorrow (I’ll be 22 for anyone who’s interested) so naturally I’m very excited about that!

Anyway, today I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday and today we’re talking about Hidden Gems. I never really know how to approach this topic, because we talk about so many books in the blogging community that it’s hard to know exactly what is “hidden” and what we just don’t really talk about as much but still really loved at the time. Today I’m going to be talking about UK/Irish books that I feel have kind of flown under the radar in the blogosphere, either because they are quite old, or because they haven’t been released in the US or just generally haven’t received much attention outside of the UK. So here we go, UK Books That Deserve More Attention In The Blogosphere:

1. Skulduggery Pleasant Series-Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant is quite popular here in the UK, but the books were never released in the US, and I feel like it’s a series that definitely doesn’t get enough attention from bloggers! This was one of my first big YA series, I started reading them when I was 12 and now ten years later, I am still reading and loving the adventures of my favourite magical skeleton detective and his human sidekick Valkyrie.

2. Noughts and Crosses Series-Malorie Blackman

Again this series was pretty big in the UK, I don’t know how big it is/if it was released in the US, but it’s quite old, so I feel like no one ever talks about it anymore. Malorie Blackman was doing dystopia way before The Hunger Games ever came around! In all seriousness though, this was the first book series I ever read that tackled race in any real way, it’s such an important and powerful series of books and should definitely be talked about more!

3. 13 Minutes-Sarah Pinborough

I read this before it came out, I think two years ago, and I was really surprised that not many people seemed to really be talking about it, because it’s definitely one of the better YA thrillers that I’ve read in the past few years, it’s such an interesting look at the relationships between teenage girls and it’s a really clever mystery, so yeah, definitely one that shouldn’t fly under the radar as much as it seems to.

4. Frozen Charlotte-Alex Bell

I read this one last year, and though I’m not usually a big fan of horror, Frozen Charlotte was just the right amount of creepy for me, it was more of a light horror/mystery type book and I found the story of the creepy dolls very engaging.

5. Split Second duology-Sophie McKenzie

I mean honestly, I would say that any of Sophie McKenzie’s books aren’t really talked about as much as they should be, but this duology in particular definitely seems to have flown under the radar. It’s basically a thriller set in the near future focused on two teens who join an anti-terrorist group after being affected by terrorist bombings and it’s super fast paced and exciting and you never know who to trust. I really think this one should get more attention than it does!

6. Breathe duology-Sarah Crossan

This duology I think kind of got lost, because it was published in 2012 & 2013 and there was so much other dystopia coming out at that time off the back of the success of The Hunger Games. It’s such a shame though because it’s a super interesting and different concept-a world without trees where oxygen levels have been depleted and everyone has to live off an oxygen allowance inside a specially designed Pod. It’s such a cool duology and I wish it was talked about more.

7. Cross My Heart-Carmen Reid

AGH THIS BOOK. It’s one of my favourite YA historical books that I’ve ever read, focusing on a young girl who becomes a spy for the Belgian Resistance. It was so refreshing to read a WWII book that wasn’t about the experiences of the Holocaust or Germany, because as important as those things are, there were a LOT of countries affected by WWII, so it was great to get a little insight into what Belgium went through in WWII.

8. Artemis Fowl Series-Eoin Colfer

Again, one that was quite popular way back when, but isn’t really talked enough about! I love Artemis Fowl so much, it’s such a fun fantasy series and I sped through all the books within the course of a few months I think. If you like a good antihero and folklore characters like fairies, elves, centaurs and dwarves, then definitely give Artemis Fowl a try!

9. HIVE Series-Mark Walden

This series is so good, it’s basically a school for young villains in training and you get to follow the main character Otto (who is kind of similar to Artemis Fowl, so if you like that series then definitely try this one!) and his friends as they get up to all kinds of mischief and villainy, and it’s just awesome. The school is located in active volcano, one of the teachers is a cat and they have classes in all sorts of things to do with being a criminal, it’s just awesome.

10. Young Sherlock Holmes series-Andrew Lane

This series is just so much fun, it basically explores Sherlock Holmes’ life as a teenager and the sort of hijinks he might have got up to in his early life. For serious Holmes fans, there are a lot of hints towards things that Sherlock eventually does in the main series but for people like me, who really mostly know Sherlock through TV and film, there are enough recognisable traits that you know you’re reading a Sherlock story, but enough new stuff as well that young Sherlock feels like his own person.

So there we go, some UK/Irish books that if you don’t have on your radar already, you should definitely add to it! Has anyone read any of these books? Did you like them? How did you interpret this week’s topic? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books on My Fall TBR, but I already kind of did that with my Back To School Freebie a few weeks ago, so I’m going to do something else, haven’t decided what yet though! In the meantime, I went to a book event on Sunday, so I will have the recap of that up soon.

Top Ten Tuesday #175

Hi all! So I haven’t really been up to much this week, I’ve been getting ready to head back up to Scotland for Uni (which is happening tomorrow) and I was in London on Wednesday and Thursday visiting my friend Nicola, we were both very annoyed that we just missed Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law being in Kings X on Saturday (I mean she had a better shot than me as she left on Friday whereas I left on Thursday, but still!).

Anyway, I’m back today with another Top Ten Tuesday post for you guys and this week we’re having a slight break from books and talking about Most Bingeworthy TV shows in honour of all our favourites returning (well if you’re in America anyway, us Brits have to wait a while longer to get most of them!). Now I watch A LOT of TV, so to narrow it down, I’m going to talk about shows I’ve watched in the last year or so, and avoid talking about all my usual go-to binge faves like Friends and Gilmore Girls because those are givens! So here we go, my Top Ten Most Bingeworthy TV Shows:

1. The Good Place

AGHHH I LOVE THE GOOD PLACE SO MUCH, IT’S SO FORKIN GOOD! I started watching this one last year, got through the first season in I think a matter of days and then watched the second as it came out. It’s such a weird, zany, funny and super clever show, you never really know what you’re going to get and I’m super excited for the third season to start in a few weeks time.

2. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I watched all three current seasons of this show in like 4 days back in March when we had the Beast From The East in Scotland and I couldn’t leave my flat because there was so much snow. I mean part of me finishing the show so fast was of course because I was trapped and couldn’t go anywhere, but most of it was that it’s a great show, the songs are so catchy, it’s such a great subversion of the “crazy ex-girlfriend” trope and it talks about so many topics that other shows would be afraid to approach, particularly in regards to mental health.

3. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Ah my love! I started watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine last year, binged the first three seasons and have now watched seasons 4 & 5 as well (seriously why does it take Netflix UK so long to update them????). Brooklyn Nine-Nine is just the BEST, it’s so funny, has such a diverse cast and is just generally such a warm, heartfelt show. I love it so much and I am so glad that it didn’t end (Fox, you are DEAD to me).

4. Suits

I started watching Suits this summer, mostly because I was curious about what Meghan Markle did before she was Duchess of Sussex and not because I had any particular interest in the show. BOY WAS I WRONG. I watched all seven seasons in just over a week I think and am currently enjoying the eighth-it’s still super good even without Meghan Markle and Patrick Adams! This show is basically wall to wall addictive drama and I just love it so much.

5. Riverdale

Yup this show is trash. But it’s totally addictive trash that is ridiculously bingeworthy because you just can’t wait to see what ridiculous thing the writers are going to come up with to do next-the second season got VERY WEIRD for a while there, so I can’t wait to see what addictive soapy drama the writers come up with for the third season.

6. One Day At A Time

I watched the first two seasons of this in I think two days earlier in the year and LOVED IT. It’s such a heartfelt, beautiful show, the cast is insanely funny and it deals with a lot of sensitive topics in such a wonderful way. I seriously hope this show goes on for a while longer, because I need more of Lydia Riera in my life!

7. Lovesick

I love a good British comedy, as great as American sitcoms are, British comedy just has the edge because our sense of humour is so specific to us. The whole premise of this is a guy gets chlamydia and he has to contact all of his previous exes to tell them and it’s just really funny and entertaining to watch, plus the show is filmed in Glasgow, so I recognise quite a lot of the locations in it!

8. Scandal

I watched this earlier in the year as well and got ever so slightly addicted to it. Much like Riverdale, the drama is kind of over the top and outlandish, and you just can’t wait to see what super over the top thing is going to happen next-though it’s much better than Riverdale, because you know the actors in it are actually good and they make the over the top drama seem more believable. I’ve only seen up to Season 6 because that’s all there was available on Amazon Prime, but hopefully Season 7 will be up soon!

9. Orphan Black

I watched this one summer last year and it was just so darn enjoyable! Tatiana Maslany is so impressive, managing to play all of the different clones, all with such different personalities and it was just such an exciting, dynamic show. I kind of wished I’d discovered it earlier, not just before it ended, but it was a great one to binge!

10. Reign

I shouldn’t have enjoyed this. I mean I love the Tudors & Stuarts, I did my A-Level coursework on Mary Queen of Scots and this is a historical period that I know pretty well. I should have hated this, I mean it was woefully historically inaccurate and I spent most of my time picking out the inaccuracies BUT it was darn enjoyable! It was good soapy drama, the acting was actually decent and even when the storylines got outlandish, I still really enjoyed it (whilst simultaneously tearing the history to shreds).

So there we go, more shows to add to your Netflix list! Have you watched any of these? Did you enjoy them? What shows do you find super bingeworthy? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s Top Ten Tuesday we’re going to be talking about Hidden Gems, those books that we feel are flying under the radar. In the meantime, I will have my August #RockMyTBR update up for you guys tomorrow.