Top Ten Tuesday #228

Hi all! I hope you’ve all had a good week since I last did one of these, once again I’ve just been working. I’m going out for dinner for my birthday on Thursday, and then going to Wicked with my friends on Monday to celebrate both mine and my friend Zoe’s birthday.

Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week, we’re talking Books On Our TBR that We’re Avoiding Reading and Why. Now to be honest, this could just be my TBR in general, because I usually avoid thinking about it, due to the crippling guilt that would set in if I thought about how many books are actually on my TBR. However there are some books that I’m more actively avoiding reading than others, and here they are:

1. King of Scars-Leigh Bardugo

I’m really excited for this one, I promise I am! I love the Grishaverse, and I really love Nikolai, so I know that when I do finally read this book, I will probably really enjoy it. So why I am I avoiding it you ask? Well the answer is two-fold: I am scared of my own high expectations for this book, and that the book might not live up to it. It’s also over 500 pages and I just haven’t found the time to read it yet. I hope I will read it by the end of the year, but no guarantees.

2. The Darkest Minds-Alexandra Bracken

This one has been on my TBR for a while, and I know my friend Nicola enjoyed this one, but honestly when I added it, I was in more of a dystopian phase than I am now. I still like dystopian books, but I’m not devouring them in the same way that I was a few years ago, so this one kind of fell by the wayside a bit.

3. Ash and Quill-Rachel Caine

I started the Great Library series about three years ago, read the first two books, bought the third when it came out and promptly just forgot that it existed apparently. I do still really want to read this book, because I enjoyed the first two, but it’s been two years now since I read the last one and I don’t really remember what happened!

4. All Fall Down-Ally Carter

I loved Ally Carter’s Heist Society books and I was really excited for her new series, but after reading Not If I Save You First last year, I’m a bit worried I might have grown out of her books. Her writing tends to skew toward the younger end of teen, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, we need more of those kinds of “bridge books” but I’m not sure those books are necessarily for me? I probably will still try it, but it’s not high on my TBR.

5. The City of Brass-S.A. Chakraborty

Honestly I have no reason for avoiding this one, other than length? It sounds amazing, my friend Nicola loved it (we have very similar reading taste) and I have been trying to find more adult fantasy recently. But it’s over 500 pages, and I find it difficult to fit those in to my reading, just because they take that bit longer, especially as I’m working full time now.

6. The Fever Code-James Dashner

Before I found out about the accusations of sexual harrassment against James Dashner, I was really excited for this one. However when those came out last year, despite the fact that I love The Maze Runner, and I really do want to find out how the Maze came to be, I’ve felt increasingly uneasy about reading this book. But it’s also signed, so I don’t really want to get rid of it.

7. The Boy Who Steals Houses-C.G. Drews

I really want to support Cait and her books, because I would love to get more books from her and just to support her career because I love her blog and I want to see her do well as an author. However I wasn’t enamoured by A Thousand Perfect Notes, and I don’t think The Boy Who Steals Houses really sounds like my kind of book either, so I’m kind of torn on this one.

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

I really enjoyed A Court of Mist and Fury when I read it two years ago, and I preordered ACOWAR before it came out. However, I kept seeing mixed reviews about ACOWAR, and it’s over 700 pages which is a massive time commitment. Add in the fact that I STILL haven’t finished Kingdom of Ash, and I’m a bit hesitant to start another massive Maas book.

9. Cress-Marissa Meyer

Again we have the size issue with this one, it’s over 500 pages, but also I’m not the world’s most massive sci-fi fan? I enjoyed the first two books, but not enough that this one is top of my TBR. I’m thinking I might try this one on Audible at some point, as I’m not sure I’ll love it enough to want a physical copy.

10. Dreams of Gods and Monsters-Laini Taylor

And we’re back to another mammoth book that Jo is afraid of. This book is a whopping 650 pages (sssh that’s large for me) so it’s quite a time commitment, and I really wasn’t keen on the second book in the series, so I haven’t been jumping on continuing the series. I hate to leave it incomplete, especially as the book is signed, but I’m just not sure my interest is what it once was.

So there we go, Books On My TBR that I’m Avoiding Reading. Do we share any? What books were on your list this week? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Favourite Things To Eat/Drink Whilst Reading, but I don’t really eat or drink whilst I read, and I did a list of food from books that I’d eat two years ago, so I’m kind of drawing a blank on a food themed topic to do. So instead, I’m going to talk about Books By Diverse Authors on My TBR That I’m Looking Forward To Reading, as there have been a lot of great ones out in the last few years that I’m really looking forward to reading.

I’m not sure how much I’m going to have for you this week, as I’d like to focus on my novel over the weekend, but I’ll probably get a Book Vs Movie post up, as those are quite quick to do.

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Top Ten Tuesday #227

Hi all! I hope you’ve had a good week since my last TTT post, mine hasn’t been all that interesting, I’ve just been working but it’s been going well so that’s good. It’s my birthday next week as well, so I’m excited for that, my birthday usually means treating myself to new books!

Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking Books I Enjoyed That Were Outside My Comfort Zone, which was actually my suggestion because whilst I love all things YA, especially fantasy, it is fun sometimes to look outside your comfort zone and find unexpected favourites. So here we go, the books I enjoyed that aren’t my usual kind of read:

1. PS I Love You-Celia Ahern

Whilst I wouldn’t say this was a favourite, considering that I never read anything that could even be considered a romance, I tried this after enjoying the film and I was quite surprised that I didn’t completely hate it. I wouldn’t say I loved it either, but it was a sweet enough book that I largely enjoyed.

2. The Time Traveler’s Wife-Audrey Niffenegger

Again, one of the few romance novels that I’ve read that I enjoyed. What can I say, I wasn’t as cynical about romance when I was 15/16, and I think the time travel element added a  novelty to this book that I enjoyed. Don’t watch the film though, it’s terrible.

3. My Sister’s Keeper-Jodi Picoult

This is one of my favourite books and on paper, I definitely wouldn’t have expected it to be, considering that I don’t really read adult fiction all that often. But I’m so glad I tried it, because it’s such a touching story and one that has really stayed with me over the years. As with the above book though, don’t watch the film, it really sucks.

4. Heading Home-Katie Flynn

I’m not even sure how I ended up with this book, because again, it’s a romance, but I really enjoyed the coming of age story in this one and from what I can remember, the romance wasn’t really the thing that I took away from this story, it was more about the Muldoon sisters growing up and striking out on their own.

5. The Priory of The Orange Tree-Samantha Shannon

Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking, a feminist high fantasy with dragons by an author you love? Jo, that’s not out of your comfort zone at all. Well yes, in terms of content, it is right in my wheelhouse, but this book is OVER 800 PAGES LONG, and I tend not to read chunky books very often so in that respect it was very much out of my comfort zone. Thank goodness for Audible, because I would definitely not have consumed the physical book in 26 hours!

6. Catwoman: Soulstealer-Sarah J Maas

I love Sarah J Maas, but I’ve only very recently and quite tentatively got into superhero stuff over the last couple of years, so a book about a superhero (or anti-hero) is definitely not the kind of thing I would usually try. I’m glad I did though, because I really enjoyed Sarah’s take on Selina Kyle.

7. Becoming-Michelle Obama

I’m not really a big non-fiction reader, though I have been attempting to change that this year and I thought where better to start than with the memoir of a woman that I really admire? Needless to say, I loved this book, reading Michelle’s candid stories about growing up in Chicago, her life with Barack and of course her experience as First lady was incredibly entertaining.

8. The Language of Thorns-Leigh Bardugo

Short stories aren’t usually my thing, and I’ve never really read any short stories that form part of the mythology of an existing world before. However, I really loved Leigh’s Grisha-fied take on fairytales, I thought they were really great and it’s actually something I’d definitely be interested in seeing more authors doing.

9. Frozen Charlotte-Alex Bell

I’m not really a horror reader? I’ve read some fantasy that’s been kind of horror-lite, but straight horror is not usually my thing. Granted, I don’t know how this book compares to other horror books, it’s probably not as scary as something like Stephen King, but I’m kind of a scaredy cat, so anything like this is out of my comfort zone. I really enjoyed this though, it was just creepy enough without being ridiculously scary, and it was quite different to anything else I’ve ever read.

10. Challenger Deep-Neal Shusterman

I love Neal Shusterman’s books but this one was definitely very different to the other ones of his that I’ve read, and this book following a teen’s descent into schizophrenia was definitely out of my comfort zone as I’d never read a book that was quite this raw and intense about mental illness before. It was definitely a difficult read at times, but I’m glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to read this, because it was definitely a very enlightening one.

So there we go, Books I Enjoyed That Were Out of My Comfort Zone. Do we share any? What books were on your list this week? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books On My TBR I’m Avoiding Reading and Why, so that should be an interesting one.

For the rest of this week, I should have a review of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak, and a #RockMyTBR post for August, so those should all be up by the end of the week.

Top Ten Tuesday #226

Hi all! I hope you’ve had a good week since my last TTT post, I’ve been really busy with work, but I feel like I’m settling in and getting a handle on how things work now, so that’s good. I also saw my friends for dinner on my day off last Thursday, which was lovely.

Anyway, since it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking Books I’ve Read That I’d Like In My Personal Library. Now my personal library is pretty big, according to Goodreads, I have 340 books in my personal library, but I’ve probably got far more than that! Still, there are far more books that I’ve read that I don’t own, most of which have come from Netgalley and whilst I wouldn’t want to own all of them, there are a fair few that I wouldn’t mind having in my personal library:

1. Ace of Shades-Amanda Foody

I have Amanda Foody’s debut novel, Daughter of the Burning City, but I got both of the first two Shadow Game books off Netgalley, so I don’t actually own them which is a shame, because they have gorgeous covers and they’re also really great books!

2. King of Fools-Amanda Foody

Much like the above, I got this book from Netgalley and I absolutely loved it, but I sadly just didn’t have space for it in my personal library as well. I wish I did though, it’s been one of my favourite books of 2019.

3. Heartless-Marissa Meyer

Another one I read on Netgalley way back in 2016, and I really enjoyed it, but again just didn’t have space for it in my personal library. It also has a really pretty UK cover, much nicer than any of The Lunar Chronicles covers, so I’d rather have that one in my personal library.

4. Fawkes-Nadine Brandes

I loved this book when I read it last year but again I got it on Netgalley, so I don’t have it for my personal library. This one is kind of difficult to find in the UK though, I’ve only ever actually seen it at YALC, never in any bookshops, so it has eluded my personal library.

5. Timekeeper Trilogy-Tara Sim

I got these books of Edelweiss and I absolutely loved them, they should definitely be more popular than they seem to be, it’s such a fun and unique fantasy world that Tara Sim has created. These books actually aren’t published in the UK, which is why I don’t have them for my personal library, as my only option would be to get them from Amazon, and I do prefer to support actual bookshops where I can.

6. By A Charm and A Curse-Jaime Questell

Another one that I got off Netgalley that hasn’t actually been published in the UK. I really enjoyed this unique little carnival story, but the only place I’ve seen it is Foyles, and I couldn’t really justify spending £13.99 on a very thin hardback that I’d already read.

7. Everless-Sara Holland

Yes, you guessed it, I got this one off Netgalley as well. I really liked Sara Holland’s debut, although I haven’t got around to reading the sequel yet and I would definitely have this one in my personal library, mostly for it’s gorgeous cover (because I tend to reread far less now than I used to, due to the sheer volume of books I have on my TBR!).

8. Asking For It-Louise O’Neill

I actually met Louise O’Neill back in 2016, just after I’d read Asking For It, but because I’d read it on Netgalley, I didn’t have a copy to get signed! This is such an important book, especially given the current political climate and everything that’s been happening with #MeToo in the past few years, so I really wish I had a copy for my personal library.

9. Artemis Fowl Series-Eoin Colfer

This is very much a nostalgia thing for me, I loved the Artemis Fowl books when I was a teenager, I devoured every single one from my school library and although I definitely do not have space for an eight book series on my shelf, I would love it if these books were a part of my personal collection.

10. The Pearl Thief-Elizabeth Wein

Whilst this is probably my least favourite of the Code Name Verity books, it’s still very good, and I would love to be able to complete the series, however I got it of Netgalley and in the age old tale of bookworm problems, I simply don’t have the space for it!

So there we go, Books I Wish I Had In My Personal Library! Do you own any of these? Did you enjoy them? What books do you wish you had in your personal library? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books I Enjoyed Which Were Outside My Comfort Zone, which was my suggestion, so hopefully it should be a fun one!

I should have a Jo Talks, Writing Corner & Book Vs Movie post up in the next week, I’m sorry I’ve been so late with all of them, I’ve just been really busy with work, but I have a few days off this week, so I should get them all done by the end of the month.

Top Ten Tuesday #225

Hi all! I hope you’ve had a good week since my last TTT post, mine has been pretty busy, i finished my summer school job on Friday, and then started my new job yesterday. It’s been good so far, very hectic though! I’m also seeing my friends again on Thursday, we’re going out for dinner which should be great, one of the nicest things about being back at home has definitely been being closer to my friends from school, though obviously I do miss my Uni friends!

Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you guys, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking Favourite Tropes and while I know I moan about commonly used tropes a lot, I do love a lot of tropes, especially in YA, so I’m going to share those with you today:

1. Found families

I am a sucker for a good found family, I love it when characters that you wouldn’t expect to get along, come together, and end up being as close as real family. I think there’s something beautiful in the idea that our friends are the family that we choose, and some of my favourite friendships in YA definitely have that “found family” dynamic.

2. Stabby girls

Whilst I definitely think that you don’t have to be good with a weapon to be a strong female character, I also have to admit, that I hold a special place in my heart for the fierce, stabby female characters in books. I think what attracts me most to these kinds of characters is their confidence, I’m not always the most confident person and so these types of characters act as a kind of wish fulfilment for me. Plus I just enjoy watching girls kick butt!

3. Slow burn romances

I was going to put friends to lovers romances here, which I do really enjoy, but that often veers into the territory of “I’ve been secretly in love with you for years and you didn’t know it” which is a trope I’m not so keen on, so instead I chose slow burn romances. I’m not the world’s biggest romance fan, but the ones I do like are always the ones that develop slowly and naturally over time, where you can see the progression of the characters’ feelings towards each other.

4. Rebellions to overthrow the Government

Yes, okay, this trope did get a bit old for a while there, but I have to admit, I still love it. Seeing people coming together to rise up against a Government that they know is wrong? It’s pretty awesome and I feel like in the current political climate, stories about teenagers rising up to make change are definitely needed!

5. The sassy hero/best friend

I love books with main characters or sidekicks that are full of quips and sass, banter between friends is one of my favourite things ever and that usually happens tenfold when you have a sassy MC or best friend.

6. They bicker until they fall in love

Related to the above, I love it when main characters and their love interests bicker. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that they’re rivals, or enemies or anything like that, just maybe they have slightly clashing personalities, or they don’t see eye to eye at first and so they bicker a lot, until eventually they realise, “Oh wait, I kind of like this person”.

7. Cinnamon roll boys

I love the soft, sweet boys that you just want to give a big hug to and protect at all costs, definitely more than the broody, jerk boys that so often seem to be love interests in YA. I think it’s great when we get to see boys who are maybe a bit more sensitive, because I think that’s the kind of role model that guys really need.

8. Magic boarding schools/training camps

Cliche as they may be, I love schools or camps for magic. I love the idea that there’s this place that you could go to, to learn magic, it sounds so much more fun than regular school, and I love getting to see characters become progressively more powerful as they improve at school. I would have loved to go to magic school rather than regular school!

9. I have secret powers I didn’t know about

Yes, this one of the ultimate cliches, but it’s also one of my favourites! The idea that someone completely normal could one day discover that they have powers that they never new about is the ultimate wish fulfilment for fantasy fans, it allows you to put yourself in the character’s shoes and imagine that maybe one day YOU could find out you had secret powers too.

10. Secret royals

Much like the one above, I actually really enjoy it when a character is revealed to secretly be royalty. Yes, it’s another cliche, and it’s usually super predictable, but it does make for quite an interesting character journey with them coming to terms with their parentage and what that means for them.

So there we go, my Favourite Tropes! Were any of these on your list? What are your favourite tropes and why? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Books I’ve Read That I’d Like In My Personal Library, which should be a pretty fun one.

I should have either a Jo Talks, Writing Corner or Book Vs Movie post up at some point this week, I don’t know which one though, it depends how much I get done on my day off!

Top Ten Tuesday #224

Hi everyone! I’m finally on my last week of summer school, and whilst I have enjoyed parts of this job, I am definitely looking forward to moving on to something new! I already have my next job lined up and I’m super excited for it, it’s going to be nice to go back to working regular hours again!

Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking Book Characters I’d Love To Be Besties With, which lets be honest, is most of my favourite book characters! So here we go:

1. Hermione Granger-Harry Potter series-JK Rowling

Okay, so yes, Hermione can be a bit of a know it all, but I think we’d get along quite well, we could share book recommendations, she could help me out with my homework, we could go on magical adventures together, I think we’d have a lot of fun.

2. Percy Jackson-Percy Jackson series-Rick Riordan

I would just have the most fun if I could live at Camp Half-Blood with Percy and Annabeth and the others. I’d rather stay at the camp than do the dangerous quests though, think chariot racing and archery rather than nearly dying at the hands of some monster. I’d just love to spend time with Percy and the gang, eating food, doing all the cool activities at camp and hanging out with the other demigods.

3. Fred and George Weasley-Harry Potter series-JK Rowling

I mean who wouldn’t want to be friends with Fred and George? You could be in on all their fun pranks, help out making stuff for their joke shop and just generally get up to a lot of fun hijinks, without the whole “you are the one who needs to save the world” thing that you’d get if you were friends with Harry.

4. Skulduggery Pleasant-Skulduggery Pleasant series-Derek Landy

Of course I want to be friends with a magical skeleton detective! I mean how many people can say that they’re friends with one of those? We could hunt down bad guys together, he could teach me magic, I could ride around in the Bentley, I see no downsides to this friendship (aside from the likelihood of death that being friends with Skulduggery seems to bring!).

5. The Gangsey-The Raven Cycle-Maggie Stiefvater

The Gangsey are one of my favourite friendship groups in YA, so I would obviously love to be a part of it. Spending my weekends hunting ley lines and dead Welsh Kings and spending time in 300 Fox Way with Blue’s family? Yes please!

6. Zuzana-Daughter of Smoke and Bone series-Laini Taylor

If you are friends with Zuzana, you can pretty much be guaranteed a lot of cakes and pastries, and lots of wisecracks too which means that we would have an awesome time together. It would also be really cool to watch her puppeteering and spend time wandering the streets of Prague and eating in Poison Kitchen together.

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

Our sense of humour is quite similar, so I think we’d get along quite well, plus, she loves to eat as much as I do and I really think that a friendship based around a mutual love of food is the best kind of friendship, I would definitely be happy to scarf down nachos and milkshakes with Izzy and plot our feminist revolution!

8. Matilda-Matilda-Roald Dahl

When I was the same age as Matilda, I would have loved a friend like her, someone to just chat incessantly about books with, well to be honest I’d still love that. I reckon if Matilda and I were friends now, we would have so much fun spending hours nattering about our favourite books.

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

Nina and I would share massive mountains of waffles and rib on all of our friends together and just have way too much fun. I would love hanging out with the Crows, but definitely wouldn’t want to go on heists with them, the chance of death would be way too high!

10. Felicity Montague-Montague Siblings duology-Mackenzi Lee

Felicity and I could bemoan the patriarchy together, and fight for our right to the same education as men. I’d also love to travel around 18th century Europe with her, seeing all the sights, it would be so fun to get to travel in a different time period!

So there we go, Book Characters I’d Like To Be Besties With. Were any of these on your list? Who would you like to be besties with? Any characters from your favourite books that you would not like to be besties with?

Next week’s topic is Favourite Tropes, so that should be a fun one!

I should have my review of Vengeful up sometime this week, so stay tuned for that, it should be posted around Thursday.

Top Ten Tuesday #223

Hi everyone! I went to Brighton for the first time this weekend with work, and it was so much fun, definitely my favourite trip that I’ve done, we took the kids to the beach, had ice creams and generally a very chill time, which was great. This week’s trip is London though, so that’s likely to be quite stressful, but we’re in the home stretch now, only two more weeks to go! I also got a new job for after this finishes, at John Lewis, so that’s a relief and I’m really looking forward to working more regular hours again!

Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you guys, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re talking Cover Redesigns I Loved/Hated, and honestly I thought this one would be difficult, but I actually found it remarkably easy. So here we go:

1. The Bone Season-HATED

Before

After

Don’t get me wrong, The Bone Season redesign isn’t the worst cover redesign there’s ever been, it’s actually an alright cover, but I just preferred the first one. The second one is very minimalist and whilst that’s fine, I prefer the bright colours and design of the first one, I just think it’s more interesting. Also now my covers for this series don’t match which makes me very sad.

2. Young Sherlock Holmes-Hated

Before

After

Now I can’t say that I was completely in love with the first set of covers, I don’t think the first one tells you much about what the book is about, but I prefer it to the redeisgned cover, it’s just a stock image which doesn’t make for the most exciting cover, plus the redesign has again left me with a mismatched series, especially since they only seemed to do it when the last two books came out!

3. Vicious-LOVED

Before

After

AGH it kills me that I bought Vicious two years before the redesign of the covers, especially since I didn’t actually read it until last year. I love Vicious, but the redesigned UK cover looks so much prettier than the version I have and it would match my Vengeful. Honestly I am super tempted to buy the book with the new cover, but my old one is signed by Victoria, so that makes it special despite the fact that I like the other cover more.

4. Throne of Glass-LOVED

Before

After

Okay, so I never had either of these covers, as I have the UK editions of Throne of Glass, and we just got the redesigned version but it was a good example of when a cover change has worked well, so I thought I’d include it. The first cover is your classic stock image cover photo, whereas I think the second cover captures Celaena much better, and is just more aesthetically pleasing for me.

5. The Grisha Trilogy-LOVED

Before

After

I have really bad luck in finding series just as they get a new cover design that I prefer! To be fair, I do actually like the original covers of this series, so I’m not too annoyed that I have those versions but the redesigned covers are just gorgeous and if they’d been out when I first bought the series, I definitely would have gone for them over the originals.

6. The Near Witch-LOVED

Before

After

Another case of being just a little off before a cover change! When I bought this one, I didn’t know that The Near Witch was going to be published in the UK for the first time with this gorgeous new cover and I needed something for V to sign at a signing of hers that I was going to, so I bought a used copy on Amazon with the old cover. Obviously had I known that it was going to be published in the UK, I would definitely have gone for this beautiful new cover design over the old one!

7. Noughts and Crosses-HATED

Before

After

Noughts and Crosses has gone through several cover changes, and they’ve not all been terrible, the newest ones, whilst I still prefer the “Before” one I have here, are pretty good and match up with my old covers reasonably well. This one however, I think was a bit of a misstep, the bright colours don’t really fit with the story, and I think it makes it seem like the story is geared toward a younger audience than it is?

8. Six of Crows-LOVED

Before

After

This isn’t exactly a complete cover change, as for most of these, the old covers aren’t available and for this one, you can still get the regular edition, but I figured it still counted. Honestly, how does Leigh Bardugo get such gorgeous covers? The covers of both of these completely slay, and the Crooked Kingdom collector’s edition looks just as gorgeous.

9. Matilda-LOVED

Before

After

This is kind of like Six of Crows, in that I think the first covers are still available, and this cover was just done as a special to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Matilda, but I still think it’s gorgeous. It was such a cool idea to have the covers imagining the career Matilda would have at 30, and obviously the British Library one was my favourite!

10. The Hunger Games-HATED

Before

After

The Hunger Games has had a lot of cover changes over the last eleven years, not all of them terrible, but this one definitely takes the cake for the worst. The first one is simple, classic, the mockingjay symbol on a black background. The second has the same idea, but the fluorescent green and pink just don’t go together and it really doesn’t fit with the whole “this is a book about kids who fight to the death in a government sponsored death match” plot.

So there we go, Cover Redesigns I Loved/Hated, I was actually surprised that most of these were ones I liked, I honestly thought I was a lot more salty about cover changes! What covers made your list this week? Do we share any? Let me know in the comments!

Next week’s topic is Book Characters I’d Love Be Besties With but I feel like I’ve done that one before, so I may change it, we’ll see.

I don’t know how much I’ll be posting this week, as I don’t really have anything else planned and I’m going to be busy with work, so chances are, the next post you’ll have from me will be next week’s Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday #222

Hi everyone! I was at YALC this weekend with my friends, Hannah & Hannah (they are different Hannahs!) and I had the most amazing time, met so many of my favourite authors again, bought plenty of great books, lots of fun bookish swag and it was so nice to spend an entire weekend with my friends just fangirling about books. I’ve been on a bit of a post YALC comedown over the past couple of days though, it’s unfair that I spend the entire year waiting for it and then it seems to be over so fast!

Anyway, as it’s Tuesday, I have another Top Ten Tuesday for you all, courtesy of Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a Freebie, so I’ve decided to steer away from books for a week, and talk about one of my other favourite things: Podcasts. I only really started listening to podcasts in the last year, but in that time I’ve found so many great ones I love, and I wanted to share them with you today (it’s also kind of reading related since I listen a lot when I’m reading). So here we go, my Top Ten Podcasts I Love:

1. The Hamilcast

AGH I LOVE THIS PODCAST SO MUCH. The host, Gillian Pensavalle is so warm and lovely, and has such a natural interviewing style and each week has a new guest from Hamilton, largely from Broadway, but also from the other companies, including a couple from the West End. I also love that she talks to the people who are involved backstage, I’ve learned so much about working in the theatre from this podcast and it’s just always such an insightful and fun hour.

2. The Guilty Feminist

My friend turned me onto this podcast and it’s so awesome! It’s feminist comedy and I spend the entire time laughing, but also learning a lot from the guests and enjoying all the different topics. I’ve been lucky enough to get to go to two live shows, and meet Deborah for her book signing last year, I find her such an inspiring person and I love how she and all her guests are using comedy as a way of inspiring feminist activism!

3. Stuff You Missed In History Class

This podcast does what it says on the tin, each week, they talk about a different event or person from History, and they’re usually relatively short, about 30-40 mins, so I can often listen to more than one before I go to bed. There have been a LOT of different hosts for this one, and some of their voices are more tolerable than others, but generally I really enjoy the podcasts, the hosts know their stuff and it’s a great way of learning about history I might be less familiar with.

4. Myths and Legends

This was actually the first podcast I ever listened to, thanks to a recommendation from a friend. I’ve loved Greek myths ever since I was a kid, and each week, the host Jason Weizer shares a different myth or legend from around the world, some of which I am familiar with, but I’ve also heard some new ones since I started listening to this podcast, which is great. I especially enjoy the Greek myths (obviously) and also the Arthurian legends.

5. The Gender Knot

Kind of similar to The Guilty Feminist, in that it’s a gender based show, but this isn’t comedy, just straight discussion. The two hosts, Nas and Dan, talk about a different gender based issue each week and try to untangle it and come to some sort of conclusion. They’re also usually quite short, which makes them a great listen before bed.

6. GrownUpLand

Each week, the hosts of this podcast take a different issue related to adulthood, and they talk about it, have a challenge related to it and share different clips from BBC Radio 4 around the issue. It’s funny, and always quite a quick listen, the hour feels like it flies past, a great one for a commute.

7. The Miss Fisher Philes

My friend Nicola got me into Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries earlier this year, and she also got me into this podcast. The hosts Mary and Chandler are great, and each episode is them talking about an episode of Miss Fisher (they’ve actually almost finished the series), discussing the plot, costumes, characters, and occasionally the murder (though very rarely so I wouldn’t worry about spoilers). It’s definitely been a very fun addition to my podcast rotation.

8. Doing It! With Hannah Witton

I only got into Hannah Witton’s YouTube channel this year, but I really enjoy her videos when I get the chance to watch them, so when I heard that she had a new podcast, I decided to give it a try and I really enjoyed it. Each week she talks to a different guest about an issue related to sex and relationships, and it’s always a very insightful and informative conversation. Hannah has such an easy voice to listen to, and I’ve enjoyed all the episodes of this podcast that have been released since its launch at the end of May.

9. Talking Tudors

I’ve only listened to a couple of episodes of this one, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve heard so far. Natalie Gruninger is a great host, and clearly knowledgeable about her topic, and whilst two historians talking could seem dry, I’ve found all the episodes I’ve listened to so far, really engaging and informative. I can’t wait to listen to more!

10. The B&N YA Podcast

I tend to kind of dip in and out of this one, as and when the guests interest me, but I’ve enjoyed it every time I have. Melissa Albert is a great host, and the guests (at least the ones I’ve listened to) are always great, it’s so lovely to get to hear authors talking about their books. My favourites so far have been Leigh Bardugo, Stephanie Garber and Laini Taylor.

So there we go, my favourite podcasts! Do we share any? Do you like listening to podcasts? Any recommendations for me? Let me know in the comments!

I’m going to finally be putting up my July Writing Corner post tomorrow (I’m sorry guys, this month totally got away from me) and hopefully a review of Strange The Dreamer over the weekend, so keep an eye out for those!