So That Was... #3 - March

Not a great month in terms of books! I think that's the least number of books I've read from my own shelves for a long time, maybe even a year or more. It wasn't great in terms of challenges either, the only one I increased with any great amount was my Goodreads challenge. If this was a school report it would say 'could do better'...

Statistics

Total Books Read 22

Adult 16
YA 6
Middle Grade 0
Picture Books 0

Format

Hardcover 2
Paperback 13
Kindle 7

Source

Own 3
Library 11
Review 2
Kindle 6

Reviews

Crush - Eve Ainsworth

Favorite Of The Month

 

Challenge Update

Goodreads 94/275 - Having completely failed to keep my Goodreads up to date this month this is a guesstimate!

TBR Pile Challenge 15/50

Retelling Challenge 6/26

Books Bought

 

Waiting On Wednesday #155 - Yesternight

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Yesternight - Cat Winters 

ISBN - 9780062440860

Publisher - William Morrow

Release date - October 4 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

From the author of The Uninvited comes a haunting historical novel with a compelling mystery at its core.  A young child psychologist steps off a train, her destination a foggy seaside town. There, she begins a journey causing her to question everything she believes about life, death, memories, and reincarnation.

In 1925, Alice Lind steps off a train in the rain-soaked coastal hamlet of Gordon Bay, Oregon. There, she expects to do nothing more difficult than administer IQ tests to a group of rural schoolchildren. A trained psychologist, Alice believes mysteries of the mind can be unlocked scientifically, but now her views are about to be challenged by one curious child.

Seven-year-old Janie O’Daire is a mathematical genius, which is surprising. But what is disturbing are the stories she tells: that her name was once Violet, she grew up in Kansas decades earlier, and she drowned at age nineteen. Alice delves into these stories, at first believing they’re no more than the product of the girl’s vast imagination.  But, slowly, Alice comes to the realization that Janie might indeed be telling a strange truth.

Alice knows the investigation may endanger her already shaky professional reputation, and as a woman in a field dominated by men she has no room for mistakes. But she is unprepared for the ways it will illuminate terrifying mysteries within her own past, and in the process, irrevocably change her life.

Apart from loving the cover and all of Cat Winters' previous books this was a bit of a no-brainer for me. Historical fiction with a maybe supernatural twist? Yes please! It also sounds vaguely reminiscent of a film starring Rebecca Hall, called The Awakening, about a psychic debunker who goes to a school to prove it's not haunted. Anyone else seen it? 

Top Ten Tuesday #109 - Recent Five Star Reads

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous girls cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Ten Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads

As I've mentioned in previous Bookmarked... posts I've had some great reads this year, with quite a few 4 & 5 clock reads. Going through my lists though most seem to be 4 clocks, rather than 5, so my list was actually harder to put together than I thought. I didn't want to include 4 clock ratings so this is the list I came up with, I think there are 2 standalone books that aren't on here with my top rating (and half of the Skulduggery Pleasant series...) so it worked out quite well!

Bookmarked... #17

The return of the (mostly) weekly post letting you all know what I'm reading and have lined up for the week! It's my own version of Sheila at Book Journey's It's Monday What Are You Reading (now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date) and I have her permission to rename it for my own nefarious reasons...

I have completely lost track of my reading. I have bookmarks in so many books and I think I finished 3 books recently but I honestly can't remember.

Finished Recently

Currently Bookmarked

Book Haul #125, Or The One Where Normal Service May Resume...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

I'm not quite sure what the matter is but I've been hit by the cleaning bug. I've been cleaning, tidying and decluttering - all without the aid of a certain book that apparently sparks joy... I have been reading too, but I've fallen back into my old habit of starting a book, reading a few chapters, sticking a bookmark in and then, instead of finishing said book I'm moving on to another one instead. I've now lost track of how many books I've started but I'm pretty sure if you checked my Instagram feed it would give you a clue!

I am back on the wagon when it comes to buying books but seem to have lapsed on the old review front. I have received 3 of my most anticipated reads for 2016 recently though so it's not all bad and I've been waiting to read Ada Palmer's Too Like The Lightning ever since I met her at a Jo Walton event 2 years ago!

For Review

 Foxlowe | HEX | The Unseeing

The Square Root Of Summer | Too Like The Lightning | The Winner's Kiss

Hoppy Easter Giveaway!

Welcome to the Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop hosted by BookHounds! It was always a tradition in my family that instead of a chocolate egg my mama would buy us a book which I thank her for, it's how I got my much loved copies of Anne Of Green Gables, Ballet Shoes, The Secret Garden and numerous other children's classics. She continued this right up to the year she died and I've decided to carry this tradition on for her so my niece & nephew will be getting books each & every year.  One lucky winner will win a book of their choice from the Book Depository so if you live somewhere that BD ships to then you can enter, check here to see if your country is on the list.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the linky for lots of other chances to win, thanks for entering and good luck!

Waiting On Wednesday #154 - Labyrinth Lost

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1) - Zoraida Cordova

ISBN - 9781492620945

Publisher - Sourcebooks Fire

Release date - September 6 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Nothing says Happy Birthday like summoning the spirits of your dead relatives.

I fall to my knees. Shattered glass, melted candles and the outline of scorched feathers are all that surround me. Every single person who was in my house – my entire family — is gone.

Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange markings on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland…

Beautiful Creatures meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone with an infusion of Latin American tradition in this highly original fantasy adventure.

I must admit to not reading anything by Cordova prior to this, although I do have The Vicious Deep on my TBR pile, but I was seeing this everywhere so had to check it out. I absolutely love the cover and the synopsis makes it sound like something I would love. Ignoring the comparison to Beautiful Creatures (which I liked but didn't love) this one will definitely be on the wishlist! 

Top Ten Tuesday #108 - Books I Really Love But I Haven't Talked About Enough...

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous girls cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Ten Books I Really Love But Feel Like I Haven't Talked About Enough...

There's a lot of books I love but don't talk about. I've got so many amazing books that I could review but I have this problem. The more I love something the harder I find it to write a review without just saying 'I loved it, you should buy it...' Here's some of my favorite books that I intend to reread and write a review of, sometime this year, maybe. I don't think there will be any surprises on this list if you're a regular reader!

Waiting On Wednesday #153 - The Women In The Walls

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

The Women In The Walls - Amy Lukavics

ISBN - 9780373211944

Publisher - Harlequin Teen

Release date - September 27 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository

Lucy Acosta's mother died when she was three. Growing up in a Victorian mansion in the middle of the woods with her cold, distant father, she explored the dark hallways of the estate with her cousin, Margaret. They're inseparable - a family.

When her aunt Penelope, the only mother she's ever known, tragically disappears while walking in the woods surrounding their estate, Lucy finds herself devastated and alone. Margaret has been spending a lot of time in the attic. She claims she can hear her dead mother's voice whispering from the walls. Emotionally shut out by her father, Lucy watches helplessly as her cousin's sanity slowly unravels. But when she begins hearing voices herself, Lucy finds herself confronting an ancient and deadly legacy that has marked the women in her family for generations...

Having loved Daughters Unto Devils this sounds just as creepy and YA horror is is a lot better these days than it used to be! Looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of this one as soon as possible... 

March New Release Giveaway!

Welcome to the March 2016 New Release Giveaway Hop, hosted by It Starts At Midnight! The hop runs from today through to midnight on March 31 2016. Up for grabs is any new release this month up to the value of $22 from the Book Depository as long as they deliver to your country - find the list of countries here. 

All you have to do is choose any new release published in March and fill out the rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the linky for lots of other chances to win, thanks for entering and good luck!

Book Haul #124, Or The One With Good Intentions...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

I was full of good intentions this week, with everything... Absolutely nothing happened though :( No blogging, not much reading and no progress on my decluttering project! After my rituximab infusion last week this week was a steroid injection directly into my knee joint, it hasn't helped and in fact feels worse. I'm struggling to get out of bed in the mornings just now but I'm ever hopeful things will improve soon. I have my 2nd rituximab infusion on Monday though so wish me luck!

Another one of my prepaid preorders arrived this week, the Cat Valente, and it's so nice seeing the whole series lined up on my shelf. Completely unnecessary but I bought the gorgeous special edition of The Lie Tree, all I need now is the US hardcover and I'll have a complete set! My Agatha Christie project continues too and I've decided I might as well buy the ones I really want to read so long as I don't go nuts... Not a bad week overall, 3 books for review and 3 books bought (sort of).

Bought

For Review

Top Ten Tuesday #107 - Characters Who Irritate Me!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous girls cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten Nine Characters Everyone Loves But I Just Don't Get or Ten Characters I LOVE But Others Seem To Dislike

I've adjusted it slightly and gone with characters who irritate me! It doesn't mean I don't like them, although in some cases I really don't, *cough* Bella Swan *cough* but these particular characters get on my nerves without even trying...

Blog Tour Review: Crush - Eve Ainsworth

Love hurts ... but should it hurt this much? Reeling from her mum's sudden departure, Anna finds the comfort she needs in her blossoming relationship with Will. He's handsome and loving, everything Anna has always dreamt of. He's also moody and unpredictable, pushing her away from her friends, her music. He wants her to be his and his alone. He wants her to be perfect. Anna's world is closing in. But threatening everything is a dark secret that not even Will can control... 

Eve Ainsworth's gripping second novel is a pitch-perfect exploration of love at its most powerful, addictive and destructive.

I'm the first to admit that YA contemporary is not a genre I read regularly but having loved Eve Ainsworth's debut 7 Days last year I was looking forward to reading Crush, especially after discovering what the book was about. 

I'm not going to go into detail but I know firsthand what a toxic relationship can do to you and like Anna, you don't realize that what you think is love actually isn't, until it's too late. Coming from a broken home, Anna is desperate for attention. Dismissed by her dad and left to care for her younger brother Anna is over the moon when school hunk Will starts showing an interest in here. With not many friends apart from Izzy and the boys in the band she belongs to, Anna latches on to Will and is soon head over heels in love with him.

She becomes one of those girls, the ones who push everyone away and starts sneaking out, often leaving her younger brother alone. Desperate to please Will she ignores the warning signs that maybe everything isn't as it should be. At fourteen though, what does Anna really know about love?

Crush doesn't shy away from the reality of a toxic relationship, confronting head on what is actually a growing problem but still one that many people (and especially teens) don't or won't talk about. It doesn't sensationalize the problem but rather shows how gradually you get involved in a relationship that on the outside may seem perfect but in reality is doing you harm, both physically and mentally. Eve Ainsworth has written an intense but truthful picture of first love, and the pitfalls that come with it if one person in the relationship has too much power over the other. This should be required reading for every teen and I know several that I'll be buying copies of Crush for.

Crush - Eve Ainsworth

ISBN - 9781407146904

Publisher - Scholastic

Release date - March 3 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon

About The Author

Eve Ainsworth has worked extensively in Child Protection and pastoral care roles, supporting teenagers with emotional and behavioral issues. Her debut novel Seven Days was released in 2015 and has been nominated for a string of awards including the Carnegie Medal. Her second novel, Crush, is out March 2016. She lives in West Sussex.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads 

Tour Schedule

Monday 7th March

Snuggling on the Sofa

Bookish Outsider

Tuesday 8th March

The Bibliophile Chronicles

Ali the Dragon Slayer

Wednesday 9th March

Tales of Yesterday

Literary-ly Obsessed

Thursday 10th March

Writing from the Tub

Serendipity Reviews

Friday 11th March

Eat Read Glam

Mia in Narnia

Saturday 12th March

The Book Moo

An Awful Lot of Reading

Sunday 13th March

Maia and a Little Moore

Powered by Reading

Book Haul #123, Or The One Where It Was World Book Day...

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly event hosted on Tynga's Reviews where we can share what new books we've picked up this past week be they bought, borrowed or downloaded. There are also lots of other 'book haul' memes out there for you to choose from!

So, it was World Book Day yesterday and over 200 children in a bookshop at once all wanting to choose their WBD books is a fantastic time to take your lunch break... I escaped by going somewhere else to pick up a couple of the WBD titles and trying to find a quiet spot in the coffee shop to read. From that you can gather I bought books again but it was only 3 of the WBD titles plus I completely forgot to mention my copy of Morning Star last week. I think anybody who's a fan would be alright with me breaking my ban for the last of that particular trilogy!

Bought

For Review

Lucky Is Reading Giveaway!

Welcome to the Lucky Is Reading Giveaway hosted by Stuck In Books!  One lucky winner can choose one YA or Adult book of your choice up to the value of $15 from the Book Depository providing you live in a country that they ship to - find the list of countries here. The hop runs from now through until midnight on March 18 2016 and all you need to do is follow the instructions on the rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out the linky list below for lots more chances to win, thanks for entering and good luck!

Waiting On Wednesday #152 - Bright Smoke,Cold Fire

Waiting On Wednesday, where we put the spotlight on upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating, is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

This week's choice is -

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire - Rosamund Hodge

ISBN - 9780062369413

Publisher - Balzer & Bray

Release date - September 27 2016

Find - Goodreads 

When the mysterious fog of the Ruining crept over the world, the living died and the dead rose. Only the walled city of Viyara was left untouched.

The heirs of the city’s most powerful - and warring - families, Mahyanai Romeo and Juliet Catresou share a love deeper than duty, honor, even life itself. But the magic laid on Juliet at birth compels her to punish the enemies of her clan - and Romeo has just killed her cousin Tybalt. Which means he must die.

Paris Catresou has always wanted to serve his family by guarding Juliet. But when his ward tries to escape her fate, magic goes terribly wrong - killing her and leaving Paris bound to Romeo. If he wants to discover the truth of what happened, Paris must delve deep into the city, ally with his worst enemy . . . and perhaps turn against his own clan.

Mahyanai Runajo just wants to protect her city - but she’s the only one who believes it’s in peril. In her desperate hunt for information, she accidentally pulls Juliet from the mouth of death - and finds herself bound to the bitter, angry girl. Runajo quickly discovers Juliet might be the one person who can help her recover the secret to saving Viyara.

Both pairs will find friendship where they least expect it. Both will find that Viyara holds more secrets and dangers than anyone ever expected. And outside the walls, death is waiting..

I was sure I had already picked Bright Smoke as a WoW choice but I hadn't so here it is this week! Having loved Rosamund Hodge's take on fairy tales I'm intrigued to see what she does with Shakespeare and I'll admit to being hugely influenced by that fabulous cover!

So That Was... #2 - February

What a great month for reading! I've had nine '5 clock' books this month, thirteen '4 clock' books and just one dud (a '2 clock' freebie on Kindle) so I think I might have really got into a rhythm with my reading at the moment. Of course, whether this carries on throughout the rest of the year remains to be seen! Having so many high rated reads also makes it impossible to pick a favorite book of the month so I've picked 3, and that was too hard... I narrowed it down even more by not including rereads which helped a teeny tiny bit!

I managed to read slightly more books from my own shelves this month (yay!) and despite still not having my replacement Kindle have read 6 books whilst hunched over the Kindle app on my phone.

Statistics

Total Books Read 28

Adult 12
YA 12
Middle Grade 0
Picture Books 5

Format

Hardcover 8
Paperback 14
Kindle 7

Source

Own 15
Library 7
Review 1
Kindle 6

Reviews

Behind Closed Doors - B A Paris 
The Sin Eater's Daughter - Melinda Salisbury
The Sleeping Prince - Melinda Salisbury

Favorites Of The Month

Challenge Update

Goodreads 72/275

TBR Pile Challenge 12/50

Retelling Challenge 6/26

Books Bought

Tommy & Tuppence - Agatha Christie