Book Wrap Up- January 2014

Hey guys! It's the first wrap up of 2014! I have posted this slightly early because I think I've completed all the books I can for the month. This month I read 5 books which is a complete shock considering I have had school! So let's get on with this.

Book Review- Warm Bodies

Name: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion
Genre: Young-Adult, Horror, Romance
Publication Date: 14th October 2010
Publisher: Vintage
Synopsis: "'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow dead. Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright ans very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins. This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight..."

10 Books I Must Read in 2014

So, there are a lot of books on my TBR and some I feel like I must read this year!
Some of these books are first in a series (and count as that series) and some aren't even out yet, but here we go! (It's in no particular order)

Book Review- Noble Conflict

Name: Noble Conflict

Author: Malorie Blackman
Genre: Young-Adult, Science Fiction
Publication Date: 6th June 2013
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens
Synopsis: "Years after a violent war destroyed much of the world, Kaspar has grown up in a society based on peace and harmony. But beyond the city walls, a vicious band of rebels are plotting to tear this peace apart. It is up to the Guardians - an elite peacekeeping force - to protect the city, without ever resorting to the brutal methods of their enemy. When Kaspar joins the Guardians, he has a chance encounter with a rebel - a beautiful girl named Rhea. Haunted from that moment on by strange visions and memories - memories that could only belong to Rhea - he realises he hasn't been told the truth about what the rebels really want, and what he's really fighting for."

Book Review- Model Misfit (Geek Girl #2)

Name: Model Misfit

Author: Holly Smale
Genre: Young-Adult, Contemporary
Publication Date: 26th September 2013
Publisher: Harper Collins
Synopsis: "My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek. Harriet knows that modelling won't transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn't necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this. What Harriet doesn't know is where she's going to fit in once the new baby arrives. With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother's 'chaperoning'. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes. But this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like. Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world, or is Harriet lost for good?"

My Favourite Books (from Goodreads)

To start off, if you don't know what Goodreads is, it is a website filled with books. It comes in handy for keeping track of your books (either read, currently reading or to read) and is a great place to make new friends and learn about new books!

I have a favourites list on goodreads, and according to goodreads I have 14 favourite books. So I'm just going to list them. My all time 2 favourite books will be first on the list of course! I'll say a little reason why it's my favourite too!

1. Before I Die- Jenny Downham

This book is my all time favourite book. It's so beautiful. I remember enjoying it so much!! Basically, I love it because the story is so sad and beautiful.

2. The Book Theif- Markus Zusak

All I have to say is, it's amazing and original and from a time period I really enjoy learning about because it's so interesting. It's surprisingly witty in areas too because of the narrator.

3. Anna Dressed in Blood- Kendare Blake

One of the first proper horror related books I read. I like it because Anna is such an amazing character and the story itself was just brilliant. I like a bit of scariness every now and then.

4. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen

First Jane Austen book I read and it did not disappoint! The story is really good and I do like classics!

5. Boys Don't Cry- Malorie Blackman

Such a lovely story from an amazing writer. You really feel for the characters in this book, and it is quite a hard topic to write with, but it's done so well!

6. The Enemy- Charlie Higson

This represents the entire series so far. I love zombies so obviously this was going to be a favourite and I love the characters! The situation that they are in is scary to think about, and the characters emotions are so realistic, it's how quite a few people would feel if this was to actually happen!

7. My Life Next Door- Huntley Fitzpatrick

A beautiful romance novel. The families involved are so different and one particular family is just so loveable! The characters and plot are both lovely.

8. A Street Cat Named Bob- James Bowen

A non-fiction book here. This is about James, who is a recovering drug addict, who is having to beg on the streets for money, who found an injured cat in the streets and looks after it and they end up bonding. It is such a beautiful story. I would love to meet James and Bob.

9. The Diary of a Young Girl- Anne Frank

Everyone knows this book. Anne Frank's diary really helps us understand what life was like for a Jew in hiding. It's amazing to think that her father published this to help her achieve her dream, even in death. It must have been hard being a teenager in hiding. Not only do you worry about discovery, but about finding out who you really are. She had no independence because of the Nazis. I love reading her diary, I find it so interesting.

10. You Against Me- Jenny Downham

Another book by Jenny Downham. The way this book is just amazes me. The plot, the characters, the possible realism of it all. It's just brilliant. Jenny Downham is a brilliant writer.

11. Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens

I adore Charles Dickens! Oliver Twist has always been my favourite classic. It's just such a good story from such a good writer. I want to read everything by Charles Dickens one way. He is one of my favourite authors. What makes this even better is, I have an extremely old edition that I found in my local charity shop for £2!! It's so delicate and perfect, and I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

12. Life and Laughing: My Story- Michael McIntyre

I love Michael McIntyre, so obviously I was going to read this. Michael obviously had some struggles in his  life, with family and trying to become a successful comedian. It makes me appreciate him more and he still adds comedy into his auto biography.

13. Skellig- David Almond

In primary, we would be read this by my favourite teacher. I remember the voices he would do for each character, and I did end up loving the book and purchasing it myself. I love it! 

14. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins

This represents the whole series and I don't really need to go into detail why it's a favorite series. It's good, everyone knows that!

Jesus that was long. So according to me and goodreads, those are my favourite books. Yep, that's right, and I even explained why. I made so much work for myself there! Goodness gracious.

If you stuck until the end to read that, thank you!

See you soon. Bye!!

Kindle eBook Haul

So, I thought I should do this since I've gotten a variety of Kindle eBooks recently.

I got 17 eBooks, these range from classics to random books (like romance or sci-fi or whatever)

First of all, let's get started with the classics.

- A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

- 1984 by George Orwell

- Animal Farm by George Orwell

And now onto the random books:

- Parallel by Claudia Lefeve

- Something About Her by Jeannie Ruesch

- Evolution by Kelly Carrero

- He Loves Me, He Loves You Not by Mychea

- Sky Hunter by Chris Reher

- Lovers At Heart by Melissa Foster

Now, I'd heard of all the classics and have read one of them, but decided to get the eBook format because I wanted to try reading it again but with bigger, better font. But, I had never heard of any of the other books. They were all free on Amazon, and I found out about them from a website called BookBub.

BookBub is a website that tells you about certain discounted or free eBooks for various formats (Kindle, Nook, Apple iBooks and others) and you can either sign up to their newsletters to be told about deals for genres of your choice or you can just visit the website and browse through. It tells you the price, where you can get it and what formats it's available on. It's a great site, I recommend it. The link is here.

Thank you all for visiting.

Bye guys!

Just A Warning

Alright, so today I'm back at school (I'm writing this in advance so it's out on time) and I don't know how much time I'll get to write posts. So here is the plan!

If I get time to write posts, I'll do them in advance and schedule them so they either come out on Mondays or Thursdays or even both.

School makes us busy, we all know that, we've all done it. And you can probably imagine how hectic it is trying to learn, do homework, do tests, be with family, be with friends and trying to write at least 1 or 2 posts a week all in 7 days. Not only that but family troubles come up every now and then, and I'm sure most families get their little ups and downs so it's necessary to support them through these times. 

I will try my hardest to write posts, but I guess you'll only occasionally get wrap ups, hauls and reviews. It's hard to do big reviews and big posts with so much going on. I'll be trying my best to prepare posts in advance, but I can't promise anything too big. 

Bye guys!

Book Review- Anatomy Of A Boyfriend (Anatomy #1)

Name: Anatomy of a Boyfriend
Author: Daria Snadowsky
Genre: Young-Adult, Contemporary
Publication Date: 23rd September 2008
Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Synopsis: "Before this all happened, the closest I'd been to getting physical with a guy was playing the board game Operation. Okay, so maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's not like there were any guys at my high school who I cared to share more than three words with, let alone my body. Then I met Wes, a track star senior from across town. Maybe it was his soulful blue eyes, or maybe my hormones just started raging. Either way, I was hooked. And after a while, he was too. I couldn't believe how intense my feelings became, or the fact that I was seeing–and touching–parts of the body I'd only read about in my Gray's Anatomy textbook. You could say Wes and I experienced lots of firsts together that spring. It was scary. It was fun. It was love. And then came the fall."

Book Wrap Up- December 2013

Goodbye 2013, hello 2014! I am determined to make this a good year (academically) and reach some reading goals!

During December, I read 7 books! That's amazing for me!! So here we go!

(To start with, I was finishing off a series!!)

1. Diary of a Chav: Too Cool for School- Grace Dent

2. Diary of a Chav: The Ibizia Diaries- Grace Dent

3. Diary of a Chav: The Fame Diaries- Grace Dent

4. Diary of a Chav: Keeping it Real- Grace Dent

5. Candyfloss- Jacqueline Wilson

6. Anatomy of a Boyfriend- Daria Snadowsky

7. A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens

Thank you guys for reading. Bye!!

Happy 2014

Hello everyone!

So it's now 2014 in the UK!!

And I just thought I'd write a little post.

So, I'm not out celebrating. I'm actually in my bed, staying nice and warm! I don't really celebrate the new year until the morning because I'm a lazy girl and need sleep. I've most likely fallen asleep by the time this is properly up (writing in advance like a pro). I can't function without sleep, I turn into a zombie and I just want to read and eat for the majority of the day. If I don't get enough sleep, I also get ill, I end up feeling sick and dizzy the whole day which is weird! Does that happen to anyone else?

Anyway, I'm probably going to set myself a few goals.
Reading wise, my goal is to read 40 books this year (but more would be nice) at the least.
Life wise, my goals are to do better academically and try to be more positive about certain things. I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a fully negative person but I do let things get me down, which is never good! I want to do better academically because in September I start possibly one of the most challenging school years of my life, I get ready to do my actual GCSE's. I've already started improving on my grades. For my December grade sheet, I got mainly B's, an A in history and a C in art & chemistry. It's a big step up from last year and I'm proud of myself. I want this pride in my grades and I want the good grades to continue.

In conclusion...

Happy New year everyone!
I hope 2014 is filled with love, happiness, health and all the good things in life!
It may not be brilliant all the time, but just look forward to the good moments, because there will be!

Bye guys