Top Ten Tuesday #194

Hi everyone! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, I’m back at Uni now (as of Sunday)  and I’ve got to be honest, it’s a bit weird not having classes this semester, like I actually have to motivate myself to work now, what? Anyway, I’m not doing too badly, I’m still in the emailing phase of my project, but it feels like I’m getting stuff done and laying the groundwork for the actual writing, so I’m not panicking yet.

Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today we’re talking about our favourite New To Me Authors We Read In 2018, which is always one of my favourite topics every year, because I love sharing all the amazing new authors that I get to read every year, it’s one of the best parts of being a reader, discovering new authors to love. Now obviously not every new author I read last year was one whose books I loved, so I’m going to stick to just sharing the authors that I’m likely to read more books from:

1. Tomi Adeyemi-Author of Children of Blood and Bone

Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel was one of my favourite books of last year, it just completely blew me away with the characters, the world-building, everything about it. I am so excited to see what she has in store next for Zelie and Amari when Children of Virtue and Vengeance comes out in March.

2. Nadine Brandes-Author of Fawkes

Nadine Brandes’ historical fantasy was another of my favourite books of last year, the magic system with different colours being controlled by masks and the way that she integrated that into a retelling of the Gunpowder Plot was so ingenious, I can’t wait to see what she does with the Romanovs in her next historical fantasy retelling Romanov.

3. Laura Steven-Author of The Exact Opposite of Okay

Laura Steven’s debut was yet another of my favourite books of last year (there seems to be a pattern here), it was hilarious and truthful and just wonderfully angry and feminist and my god I love Izzy O’Neill so much. I can’t wait to see what Izzy does next when A Girl Called Shameless comes out in March.

4. Sara Holland-Author of Everless

I loved Sara Holland’s fantasy debut, it was another of my favourite books of last year (I promise I will stop saying that eventually!), I loved the creativity of the magic system, with time being used as currency, I thought it was awesome. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens in the conclusion to this duology when I read Evermore.

5. Jaime Questell-Author of By A Charm and A Curse

Jaime Questell’s debut was another of my favourite books of 2018, it was such a unique take on the Circus themed story, being kind of a cross between Pinocchio and Disney princesses and it was super fun to read a standalone fantasy for a change, since I am nearly always reading fantasies as part of a series.

6. Amanda Foody-Author of Daughter of The Burning City and The Shadow Game series

I really loved getting the chance to dive into Amanda Foody’s weird little dark tales last year and I cannot wait to red more of them. Daughter of The Burning City was a super fun magical murder mystery set in a carnival and Ace of Shades was a great mobsters mixed with magic book. I can’t wait to see what happens next with Enne and Levi in King of Fools.

7. C.G. Drews-Author of A Thousand Perfect Notes

Yes, it’s Cait! I won’t say that A Thousand Perfect Notes was my favourite read of the year, but it was a really solid debut and of course, I love Cait’s blog and she’s been talking about becoming an author for so long, so I’m so happy that it finally happened for her. I’m looking forward to following her career for hopefully many years to come!

8. Jennifer Mathieu-Author of Moxie

I really enjoyed Moxie when I read it back in March, I thought it was a really fun, feminist book, even if probably aimed a little bit more at new feminists than at me, so I’m quite looking forward to seeing what else Jennifer Mathieu comes out with.

9. Sally Nicholls-Author of Things A Bright Girl Can Do

I thought Things A Bright Girl Can Do was a really cool take on the suffragettes, and though it could have been better, I enjoyed it enough that I’d quite like to check out some of Sally Nicholls back catalogue, and will be looking out for whatever she releases next.

10. Matt Killeen-Author of Orphan Monster Spy

I appreciated that Matt Killeen did something different with a WWII story, since the market for those is so saturated, it’s difficult to find a new and interesting take. I won’t say that Orphan Monster Spy is one of my favourite books, but it intrigued me enough that I will be quite happily picking up the sequel.

So there we go, the best New To Me Authors I Read In 2018! Did you read any of these authors in 2018? Did you enjoy their books? Let me know in the comments!

I will be back next week with a new TTT, this time we’ll be talking Books We Meant To Read In 2018 But Didn’t Get To (Ooh boy, list of shame time, I’m excited!), so yeah, be prepared for probably a quite lengthy list next week!

I finished my first book of 2019 on Sunday, so I will have a review of that book, Siege and Storm up for you guys pretty soon, stay tuned for that!

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Top Ten Tuesday #193

Hi everyone! Hope the first week of 2019 treated you all well, mine has been relatively quiet, just preparing interview questions for my Journalism project so I can get a headstart before I get back to Uni. My mum and I also went to see Bohemian Rhapsody at the cinema on Sunday and that was great, so all in all not a bad start to 2019.

Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. As last week’s topic was all about looking back, this week’s, it seems fitting, is all about looking forward. Today we’re talking all about our Most Anticipated Releases For The First Half of 2019 (so January to June, though I may slip a couple of July releases onto the list), which is awesome because there are so many great books coming out this year that I want to talk about. I’m going to be doing this in order of release date rather than order of excitement because otherwise this list would look really messy!:

1. King of Scars-Leigh Bardugo-29th January

I already have this preordered, despite the fact I’ve yet to finish the Grisha Trilogy and when I preordered it I hadn’t even met Nikolai yet, but it’s okay, I have now and I love him! I love the Grishaverse and the fact that Nina Zenik, one of my favourite Dregs characters is going to be in this too, makes it already perfection in my eyes.

2. The Dead Queen’s Club-Hannah Capin-29th January

Surprise, surprise, Jo the Tudor nerd is incredibly excited about a Tudor retelling. There’s so much to be mined from this particular era and whilst I wish I could have a fantasy Tudor retelling, I will take what I can get!

3. The Priory of The Orange Tree-Samantha Shannon-26th February

Possibly one of my most anticipated releases for the entire year, let alone the next six months. I’ve heard such amazing things already and everything about the book says that I’m going to love it, it’s feminist, it has dragons, part of the world is inspired by the Elizabethan court, not to mention that cover is just DAMN GORGEOUS. I’m still a little apprehensive of how huge it is, especially since I’m still working my way through Kingdom of Ash this year, but I’m looking forward to it anyway.

4. An Affair of Poisons-Addie Thorley-Releases 26th February

Can I just say I am LIVING for how much historical fantasy is coming out this year? It’s making my little fantasy loving, history nerd heart so happy. This book is set during the reign of Louis XIV and follows seventeen year old alchemist Mira, who unwittingly helps her mother’s Shadow Society poison the king. I cannot wait for this one, it sounds like such a me book!

5. A Girl Called Shameless-Laura Steven-Releases 7th March

Definitely one of my most anticipated reads for 2019, The Exact Opposite of Okay was one of my favourite books of 2018 and I can’t wait to see what happens next in Izzy’s story this year.

6. Children of Virtue and Vengeance-Tomi Adeyemi-Releases 7th March

Sadly no cover for this one yet, but it’s still one of my most anticipated books of 2019. Children of Blood and Bone was one of my favourite books of 2018 and I have been not so patiently waiting to find out what happens to Zelie and Amari after THAT ending ever since I finished the first book in July, so it’s safe to say that I will probably be devouring this book as soon as it arrives.

7. Descendant of The Crane-Joan He-Releases 2nd April

Okay, so I have an e-ARC from Netgalley for this one, so I won’t be waiting all the way to release date to read it, but I’m still super excited for it. That cover is so beautiful and I’m looking forward to reading a Chinese inspired fantasy as it’s something that I’ve never read before.

8. The Devouring Gray-Christine Lynn Herman-Releases 16th April

I’ll be honest, I do prefer the US cover for this one, but since it’s going to be hardback and more expensive than the UK paperback, I’ll probably still end up getting this one. Anyway, this book sounds incredibly good, The Raven Cycle meets Stranger Things and I love this sort of contemporary fantasy/horror mix, so I’m hoping I will enjoy this book just as much as I think I will.

9. King of Fools-Amanda Foody-Releases 2nd May

I’m so excited for the second Shadow Game book! I really enjoyed the first book, Ace of Shades and I can’t wait to see what happens to Enne and Levi in the next part of their adventures, especially after how the last book ended.

10. Romanov-Nadine Brandes-Releases 7th May

AGHHH! I loved Fawkes so much when I read it this year, it was another one of my favourite books of 2018 and I’m so glad that Nadine Brandes is coming out with another historical fantasy retelling this year, especially given that it’s about the Romanovs, because I LOVE the Romanovs. Anastasia Romanov + magic=yes please!

11. Finale-Stephanie Garber-Releases 9th May

One of my most anticipated for the year! I loved Legendary so much last year, it was another of my favourite books of the year and I cannot wait to see how Tella and Scarlett’s story ends up. The stakes were so high at the end of Legendary that I’m sure Finale is going to be a thrilling and magical ride!

12. Crossfire-Malorie Blackman-Releases 4th July

So okay, this one would probably fit better with the second half of 2019’s releases, but I’m so excited for it, I really wanted it to be on this list. WE ARE GETTING A FIFTH NOUGHTS AND CROSSES BOOK. Noughts and Crosses was the series that first got me into YA, I doubt I would have ever become a YA book blogger without it, so I am seriously excited to see what happens in the newest instalment of the Noughts and Crosses series, it’s bound to be amazing-plus I haven’t read a Malorie Blackman book in a while, so I’m just excited to get back into her writing again.

So there we go, my most anticipated books of 2019! Are you looking forward to any of these? What are your most anticipated books of 2019? Let me know in the comments!

I will be back next week with a new TTT, this time we will be talking about the New To Me authors that we discovered in 2018, so that should be great, considering I read some great new authors last year.

I actually don’t have any real plans for the blog this week, since I’ve caught up on everything I meant to post in 2018 and did all of my start of 2019 posts last week, so you guys probably won’t hear from me again until next Tuesday. See you then!

Top Ten Tuesday #192

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good New Year’s Eve, whether you were out partying the night away, sitting at home reading a book or anything in between. My family went out for dinner for New Year (Hogmanay it is here in Scotland) and we had a nice three course dinner and Prosecco when the bells went, so that was a nice way to bring in 2019.

Anyway, it’s not just the start of a New Year today, it’s also a Tuesday, which means another Top Ten Tuesday thanks to Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s topic is all about looking back, I’m going to be sharing my Top Ten (actually Twelve) Books of 2018! I’m quite glad this topic was saved for today this year, because in 2017, the topic came up a bit early for me, so one of my favourite books of the year wasn’t on the list because I hadn’t finished it. This year you can be certain that this is my definitive Best of list, since 2018 is over. So here we go, my 2018 favourites:

1. Firestarter-Tara Sim-5 stars

My favourite read of the year-although it doesn’t actually come out until the 15th, I was so lucky to get to read it early! It was a beautiful, emotional, soul crushing finale that pretty much destroyed me and yet I will still be thanking Tara Sim for it, because it was the perfect, epic conclusion to Danny and Colton’s story.

2. Children of Blood and Bone-Tomi Adeyemi-4.5 stars

Children of Blood and Bone was just so incredible. Such a brilliantly creative fantasy world, an amazingly diverse cast of characters, and such a great female friendship between Zelie and Amari. I read a lot of epic fantasy, but this one felt refreshingly different and after that ending, I can’t wait to see what Zelie and Amari get up to in the sequel!

3. Legendary-Stephanie Garber-4.5 stars

I didn’t think it was possible to love Legendary more than I did Caraval but I really did! Tella was an awesome narrator, we got to meet some amazing new characters, Garber expanded on the magical world she had created in the first book while creating something new and fresh with the game of Caraval this time around. I can’t wait to see what happens in the final book, appropriately titled Finale!

4. Vicious-VE Schwab-4 stars

I can’t believe it took me so long to get to this book! VE Schwab is the master of the villain, and this book just proves it. The a-linear format was so cleverly done, Victor and Eli were compelling, complex characters, there was a lovely gang of side characters who I adored, the EO power system was really well thought out and it was just generally a really fun story to read. I’m looking forward to getting into Vengeful, hopefully this year as I’ve heard amazing things and I NEED to know what happens after that ending.

5. Fawkes-Nadine Brandes-4 stars

My surprise of the year! I picked this book off a whim on Netgalley, literally because I thought the cover looked cool and the title drew me in. Little did I know that it was going to become one of my favourite books of the year. It’s a historical fantasy retelling of the Gunpowder Plot, told through the eyes of Guy Fawkes’ son, Thomas, in a London where everyone can use magic via a mask that manipulates colours. The magic system was so cool, I loved the setting, the main character was great and it was fun to read a standalone fantasy for a change! I hope more authors start trying to explore the Tudor/Stuart eras for fantasy because that history is ripe to be mined. I already have an e-ARC of Nadine’s next book, Romanov, and I can’t wait to read it.

6. Tower of Dawn-Sarah J Maas-4 stars

I almost skipped Tower of Dawn, I’ll be honest because Chaol…..yeah not my favourite Throne of Glass character. However, I’m really glad I didn’t because I ended up really loving it. It was so great to explore a different part of the Throne of Glass world, especially one so different to Erilea, and SJM really went in on the world building in this book which I loved. Yrene from The Assassin’s Blade returns in a bigger role this time and it was great to see her come to the fore. Chaol’s journey of healing was really wonderful to read about as well, so yeah, if you are a bit sceptical on Chaol, please do still read this book, because it’s a wonderful story!

7. The Language of Thorns-Leigh Bardugo-4 stars

I’m not usually one for short stories, but I really loved Leigh Bardugo’s fairytales with her signature Grisha twist, they were gloriously dark, wonderfully subversive and just generally a lot of fun to read-I would be quite happy reading more short stories from Leigh Bardugo after this.

8. The Exact Opposite of Okay-Laura Steven-4 stars

AGH, it’s months later and I still can’t get over how much I loved this book. It was everything I wanted to be, fabulously feminist and gloriously funny, Izzy was definitely my favourite new character of the year and it’s so great to have a book that talks about slut shaming and sex positivity in a way that is really funny and accessible to teens.

9. By A Charm and A Curse-Jaime Questell-4 stars

A fun little book, with an interesting take on the Circus theme that has become quite popular in recent years of YA. It was a unique little story, kind of like a cross between Pinocchio and the Disney princesses and it was fun to see a story where a kiss was the cause of a curse rather than the resolution to it. It was also nice to have quite a short standalone YA fantasy, I’m so used to reading fantasy books of 400 pages +, that an under 300 page book was a nice change of pace!

10. Everless-Sarah Holland-4 stars

I loved the concept for this one so much! The idea of time being used as currency was really creative and although I wasn’t so keen on the main character, the plot, the writing and the creativity of the concept and the world building made this a solid read for me.

11. A Spark of Light-Jodi Picoult-4 stars

And Jodi Picoult hits another one out of the park! A Spark of Light was a wonderfully gripping, incredibly powerful and emotional read and I was so glad that I enjoyed it as much as I did, because it was one I had been anticipating for a while and had quite high expectations for. I loved the cast of characters, Picoult’s writing was as always incredible and as always, it left me with a lot to think about after reading.

12. Our Dark Duet-VE Schwab-4 stars

I wasn’t that keen on This Savage Song, but Our Dark Duet took things to a whole new level, with a terrifying new monster, brilliant character development, much more action and a wonderfully emotional climax, alongside Schwab’s as always brilliant writing.

So there we go, those were my favourite books of 2018! Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them? What were your favourite books of 2018? What did you guys get up to for New Year? Let me know in the comments!

I’ll be back next week with a new TTT, this time we will be talking about our Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019, so that should be super fun, especially as there are so many amazing books coming out in the firs half of the year.

In the meantime, I will have a few things for you guys over the next few days, I’m going to be sharing my 2019 Bookish Resolutions on Jo Talks tomorrow, and then I have a couple of reviews left over from last year to get to, so you should hopefully be getting those soon!

Top Ten Tuesday #191

Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a good week in the run up to Christmas, and that you all got the presents that you wanted under the tree this morning! My family usually has a relatively quiet Christmas, we opened presents this morning and we’ll be having our Christmas lunch later on (duck for me and my mum, turkey legs for my dad-my mum and I aren’t massive turkey fans!) and vegging out in front of the TV for the rest of the day. Which brings me quite nicely on to today’s topic. We were meant to be talking about Books We Hope To Find Under The Tree This Morning, but as expected, I did not receive all that many books (though I did get two great ones courtesy of my sister) so instead, I’m talking about Christmas TV/Movies I’m Looking Forward To Watching Over The Festive Period (basically between now and New Year’s Day):

1. Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special-Today

The Strictly Christmas special is a tradition in our house, we watch it every year, so I have no doubt that we will be watching again this year, it’s such a feel good show, so a great thing to have on  Christmas Day!

2. Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show-Today

My family loves Michael McIntyre, we first went to see him on tour when I was 13 and my parents complained that the jokes were all way too inappropriate for me (they weren’t). Anyway, we enjoy Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, so we’re quite likely to watch the Christmas special.

3. Call The Midwife Christmas Special-Today

The Call The Midwife Christmas special is another annual tradition in our family, although why Call The Midwife wants everyone in floods of tears on Christmas Day, I do not know!

4. The Great Christmas Bake Off-Today

Unfortunately The Great Christmas Bake Off is on at the same time as Call The Midwife, and since I’m the only one in my family who really likes Bake Off, I imagine I will probably be watching it on catch up in the next few days. Baking and Christmas is the perfect combination!

5. Spy In The Snow-30th December

This is another one of those hidden camera shows, where you get to see how wildlife interacts in their natural habit through the use of hidden cameras and I always find them super sweet so I will probably be watching this one.

6. Graham Norton’s New Year’s Eve Show-31st December

I don’t think I’m actually going to be in to watch this, since my family is going out on New Year’s Eve, but I would really like to watch it, since Olivia Colman is going to be on and I’m hoping that she might be talking about the new series of The Crown!

7. Doctor Who New Year Special-New Year’s Day

It’s going to be a little strange watching Dr Who on New Year rather than Christmas this year, but I’m really excited for the New Year special-Jodie Whittaker is the first doctor I’ve actually enjoyed since David Tennant so I’m excited to see her first special as the Doctor.

8. The Great Festive Bake-Off-New Years Day

The second of Bake-Off’s festive specials, although I might miss a little of it, because of the Dr Who special, but I definitely want to watch it, as I said before, there’s nothing better than baking and Christmas.

So there we go, a slightly shorter list this time around, but there’s not as much that I want to watch over the festive season this year. What are you looking forward to watching over the festive period? Do we share any? My international followers, what kind of things do you get on TV over Christmas? Let me know in the comments!

Well that was it, the last TTT of 2018! I’ll be back with another TTT next week, for my first one of the New Year, where we’ll be talking about our Best Books of 2018, a nice way to round off 2018 and look forward to 2019.

In the meantime, I have a lot for you to still look forward to before 2018 is over, I’ll be getting my final discussion post of December, my End of Year Survey, my last #RockMyTBR update of 2018 and my End of Year Check in, all up in the next few days, so stay tuned!

Top Ten Tuesday #190

Hi all! I hope you’ve all been having a good week, I’ve had my friends up to stay this weekend for our annual Christmas meetup and we had so much fun, we did our annual Christmas trip to Edinburgh, we finally went up to Stirling Castle together after four years of them visiting me here, we ate a ridiculous amount of food, watched a ridiculous amount of movies, put up my family’s Christmas tree and exchanged Christmas presents, so we squeezed an awful lot into just a few days!

Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking about our Winter TBRs. I only actually read 5 of the books from my Autumn TBR, though two are still ongoing, so I’m hoping I will do better for my Winter one, although I do start my Journalism project (dissertation equivalent) in January, so I am conscious that reading time is going to be scarce for the next 3 1/2 months! Still, this is what I’m hoping to read over the next three months:

1. Siege and Storm (Grisha Trilogy #2)-Leigh Bardugo

I want to catch up with the rest of the Grisha trilogy in January before King of Scars comes out at the end of the month. I wasn’t that sure about Shadow and Bone, but my friend Nicola assured me that the series gets better and I’ve been told that I have to read the rest of the Grisha trilogy to understand King of Scars, so I’m hoping to catch up on the other two books in January. Siege and Storm is also my #RockMyTBR challenge book for January.

2. Ruin and Rising (Grisha Trilogy #3)-Leigh Bardugo

Much like above, I am hoping to read Ruin and Rising in January in order to catch up before King of Scars comes out.

3. Alex and Eliza-Melissa De La Cruz

Alex and Eliza is my #RockMyTBR book for February as well as being part of Hamilbruary, where I am only reading Hamilton related books in February since I’m seeing the show at the end of the month and I just want to keep the excitement going!

4. Hamilton and Peggy!: A Revolutionary Friendship-L.M. Elliott

I’m also reading this in February in the run up to Hamilton, and I’m really looking forward to it, as I don’t really know too much about Peggy Schuyler, so I’m hoping that this book will give me a little more insight into her and her life.

5. To Kill A Kingdom-Alexandra Christo

This is my March #RockMyTBR book and I’m really excited for it, because I’ve heard such good things about it and my friend Hannah who has a really similar taste in books to me really loved it, so I’m hoping that I will love it just as much!

6. Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Children of Blood and Bone #2)-Tomi Adeyemi

I loved Children of Blood and Bone when I read it over the summer, so I’m super excited for the sequel to come out in March, I really want to know what happens to Zelie and Amari next!

7. Enchantee-Gita Trelease

I’m so excited for this one because it sounds so incredible, magic in revolutionary Paris sounds ridiculously up my street. This is going to be my next Netgalley read when I’m finished with The Enchanted Sonata and I have to say, I cannot wait!

8. A Curse So Dark and Lonely-Brigid Kemmerer

I have to admit, I don’t really know that much about this one, I requested it off Netgalley on a whim, but it does sound amazing, apparently it’s like a contemporary fantasy version of Beauty and The Beast, so I’m hoping it turns out to be as good as it sounds.

9. Kingdom of Ash-Sarah J Maas

I will probably never not be reading this book, but I’m hoping to make a concerted effort in the front half of 2019 to try and finish it, or at least knock a good chunk of it out-I really want to find out how it ends but at the same time, I don’t want it to end, so I’m not quite sure how long it’s going to take to finish!

10. Descendant of The Crane-Joan He

I have to admit, that again, I don’t know much about this other than it was described as Chinese Game of Thrones and that the cover is beautiful, so I’m hoping that it will be as good as it sounds!

So there we go, the books I’m attempting to knock off my TBR this Winter, I don’t think I’ll manage them all, but we’ll see! What books are on your TBR this Winter? Have you read any of mine? Are you excited for any of mine (since I know there are quite a lot that haven’t come out yet on here!)? Let me know in the comments!

Next week is obviously Christmas, and we’re supposed to be doing Books That We Hope To Find Under The Tree This Morning, but since I generally don’t get books for Christmas, I’m going to take a slightly different tack, and talk about Christmas TV/Movies I’m Looking Forward To Watching Over The Festive Period.

In the meantime, I’m going to have quite a lot for you over the next week or so as the year wraps up, I’ll have a final discussion post of December, my End of Year Survey, my last Quarterly Rewind of the year coming up on Friday and potentially a final Writing Corner post of the year if I can fit it in, so keep your eyes peeled, because there’s going to be a lot going on here before 2018 is over!

 

Top Ten Tuesday #189

Hi all! I am officially done! As of Friday, everything I needed to do for this semester is completed and so the Christmas break has officially begun. My friends and I spent yesterday shopping at the Christmas Market in Edinburgh, without a doubt my favourite part of Christmas, though I always come back with my purse inevitably lighter. I also have my friends Hannah and Zoe coming up on Saturday for their annual Christmas visit, which I’m super excited for, it’s going to be our last one whilst I am still at Uni, which is kind of sad, but I’m sure our Christmas traditions will continue, if not in exactly the same form that they are now!

Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I’m back with another Top Ten Tuesday, courtesy of Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a freebie, so I’ve dug back into The Broke and The Bookish (the creators of this meme)’s archives and decided to bring you an old topic, Top Ten Characters That Remind Me of Me Or Someone I Know. So here we go:

1. Hermione Granger-Harry Potter Series-JK Rowling

Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way first shall we? I’m pretty sure every bookworm who loves Harry Potter has seen at least something of themselves in Hermione, I mean, it’s natural that we would relate to the “know it all bookworm” but for me, the connection went somewhat further because the way Hermione is described is quite similar to how I look, so it was easy enough to picture myself as her.

2. Matilda-Matilda-Roald Dahl

Again, another kind of obvious one, I might not have been devouring Dickens when I was 4, but I could certainly see myself in Matilda’s voracious appetite for books, wanting to read anything and everything that I came across, because that’s exactly what I was like as a kid, my favourite part of the week was when my dad would take me to the library and I would get to pick out new books to read.

3. Amy Fleming-Heartland-Lauren Brooke

Now I’m not claiming I have ever been a horse whisperer, I wish I had half the skills with horses that Amy does. However, I could still see quite a lot of myself in her, her introversion, the fact that she’s much more comfortable around animals than people, her deep love of horses, if she was real, I reckon we would get along quite well.

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

Izzy is probably the fictional character who I would say most reminds me of me. Her quite dry, sarcastic sense of humour is very similar to mine and the fact that she used humour as a defence mechanism against the more painful things in her life…well let’s just say I have definitely been there. She ribs on her friends quite a lot but always in a good natured way and she’s totally obsessed with food-Izzy could definitely be my fictional doppelganger!

5. Lena Kaligaris-The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants-Ann Brashares

Yes, I know, it seems a bit surprising that I see more of myself in Lena, the artist, rather than Carmen, the writer but personality wise, Lena is a lot closer to who I am. She’s the more introspective, quieter friend, doesn’t have quite as much self confidence as Carmen or Bridget or Tibby and I could definitely relate to that.

6. Evelyn-Things A Bright Girl Can Do-Sally Nicholls

I think if I was going to be a woman in the 1910s, Evelyn would probably be closest to who I would be, she gets involved in the suffragettes because she feels it is unfair that she is denied an education that her brother is allowed, simply because she is a young woman (definitely something that I would feel rather indignant about too) and she refuses to back down until she gets what she wants-definitely something that I have experience in also!

7. Magnus Chase-Magnus Chase series-Rick Riordan

I know you were probably all expecting me to say Percy here, and I do love Percy and we share a lot of the same traits, but I think Magnus is a little closer to who I am, if I only because I would be just as useless with a sword as he is, I’m ridiculously clumsy. Magnus has a slightly darker sense of humour than Percy, which definitely fits with my personality, but he’s equally snarky, and incredibly loyal to his family and friends, which I like to think is a trait that we share. He also loves reading, so of course I can relate to that and he mentions one of my favourite authors Neal Shusterman in the first book so you know….he clearly has good taste in books!

8. Rose Justice-Rose Under Fire-Elizabeth Wein

Much as I love Maddie and Julie, Rose is the character in Elizabeth Wein’s WWII novels that I relate to the most. She’s much more introspective than either Maddie or Julie, she writes poetry and she’s kind of a dreamer, but she can also be incredibly feisty and that’s quite similar to who I am as a person.

9. Flavia Gemina-The Roman Mysteries-Caroline Lawrence

Flavia definitely reminded me of me, though I’m obviously not a detective, I could definitely relate to her incredible level of nosiness, and her need to know everything about everyone, although I am definitely nowhere near as bossy as she is!

10. Liesel Meminger-The Book Thief-Markus Zusak

Liesel’s love of words and writing, is eerily similar to my own, as soon as she learns how to read, she is obsessed with words, and reading about her experiences learning to read and write and discovering the magic of words definitely brought me back to when I was a kid, discovering that I could not only read words, but create them as well.

So there we go, the characters who remind me the most of me! Do you have any book characters that you relate to on a deeply personal level? Do we share any? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic, our penultimate one of 2018 (HOW?), is sharing our Winter 2018 TBR, so you’ll be getting a sneak peek of what reviews to expect over the next few months from me!

In the meantime, I will definitely have my review of A Spark of Light up before the end of the week, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long, and I’m also hoping to get a Jo Talks post up before my friends come up this weekend (if not, it will be going up after they leave!) so keep an eye out for those!

Top Ten Tuesday #188

Hi all! I hope you’ve had a good week since I last did one of these, my classes are over for the semester, I’ve finished all my assignments, so I’ve just got my one exam to go before I’m completely done for the autumn semester. I’ve spent today finishing off my Christmas shopping, and I actually got it all done-this is the most prepared I’ve ever been!

Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, I’m dipping out of exam revision and bringing you another Top Ten Tuesday courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week, we’re talking Cozy/Wintry Reads, the sort of books that you can curl up with and enjoy on a cold winter’s night. I did a list of these for the National Student last year, so this one will probably be quite similar! Here we go, some books that are great cozy/wintry reads:

1. Six of Crows-Leigh Bardugo

I mean honestly, I would recommend this one for any weather (I mean, I read it at the height of summer last year) but it definitely has a very wintry vibe, given that the Dreg’s mission is to the Fjerdan Ice Court, so curling up with this one as the nights are getting darker and colder would definitely be great.

2. The Crown’s Game-Evelyn Skye

The Crown’s Game takes place in the middle of Russian winter, so it’s a perfect book to curl up with on a winter night and be transported into a magical wintry setting without actually having to leave your warm bed.

3. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe-CS Lewis

There’s nothing more wonderfully wintry than being transported to Narnia, the land where it is perenially winter but never Christmas, and come on, we all tried to find Narnia in the backs of our own wardrobes when we were younger. There’s something wonderfully comforting about returning to an old childhood favourite at this time of year.

4. The Night Circus-Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus doesn’t necessarily have a winter setting, but it feels very warm and comforting, with the magic, the circus, the hot apple cider and just the way it is written feels  like a warm hug.

5. Night of Cake and Puppets-Laini Taylor

I mean Daughter of Smoke and Bone could work for this as well, but Night of Cake and Puppets has a particularly wintry feeling given the entire book is set in the snow. It follows Zuzana and Mik’s first date, and is full of magic and snow, and Mozart and cake, so if you are wanting a book to give you the warm and fuzzies on a cold winter night and you’ve already read DoSaB then this is a great choice.

6. Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone-JK Rowling

There is nothing more warm and comforting than reading one of the early Harry Potter books on a cold winter’s night. The first book has always struck me as a very wintry read, perhaps because of the Christmas scenes, but I just think there’s something so comforting about returning to the place where Harry Potter started as the nights get darker and colder.

7. Between Shades of Gray-Ruta Sepetys

This book isn’t exactly cozy, in fact it’s really quite harrowing, but if you’re wanting an emotional read with a harsher winter setting that still very much has hope and the strength of and determination of humanity at the heart of it, then the story of Lina and her family’s deportation from Lithuania to Siberia under the Stalin regime during WWII is perfect for that.

8. The Language of Thorns-Leigh Bardugo

There’s always something so comforting about fairytales, which is why I think that Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha take on traditional fairytales is such a great read for the winter months, you can curl up with this book and read about stories which feel so familiar but each has its own Grisha inspired twist.

9. Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer-Rick Riordan

Ironically for a book with summer in the title, Magnus Chase actually takes place in the winter! A great book for bringing the joy and fun of summer into the dark, short days of winter, it’s completely hilarious, riotous fun as can always be expected of Rick Riordan.

10. 13 Minutes-Sarah Pinborough

Sarah Pinborough’s 13 Minutes has both a dark, wintry setting and is a very intriguing book, so is perfect to while away the winter nights as you try desperately to figure out exactly how Natasha ended up being pulled out of a freezing river and revived after being clinically dead for 13 minutes.

So there we go, my favourite cozy/wintry books! What books did you choose for this week’s topic? Have you read any of mine? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is a freebie, so I’m taking one of the topics from The Broke and The Bookish’s archives and talking Top Ten Characters Who Remind Me of Me or Someone I Know.

I should be getting my November #RockMyTBR update up for you in a few days, plus my #RockMyTBR challenge list for 2019. I’m also hoping to get a Jo Talks post up as I know I left you guys without one last month (sorry! Work got the better of me!).