Monthly wrap up & TBR

I didn’t read as much as I wanted to in June. I mean, nine books is still good it just wasn’t what I had planned. But whatever.

Contagion by Teri Terry – ★★★★/5
One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus – ★★★★/5
The Cows by Dawn O’Porter – ★★★★/
The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord – ★★★★/5
Pieces of You by Eileen Merriman – ★★★★/5
Ida by Alison Evans – ★★★/5
Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray – ★★★/5
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh – ★★★★/5
Beyond the Wall Tanya Landman – ★★★★/5

So read some pretty good books in June. I think my favourite was Flame in the Mist. But I’ll talk about that more in my review.

Onto my July TBR.

I’ve almost finished reading The Glittering Court and I’ve actually enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to reading Midnight Jewel soon.

I have been thinking that I might mix up my review books with some of my own books. I think that’s what’s been putting me in a reading slump. So I’m not expecting to stick to this TBR too closely.

What’s on your July TBR?

Aimee.

Review: The Cows by Dawn O’Porter.

Title – The Cows
Author – Dawn O’Porter
How I Got It – From the publisher
Pages – 439 pages
Publication Date – April 6th 2017 by HarperCollins
ISBN – 9780008240981
My Rating – ★★★★/5

“Sometimes it’s okay not to follow the herd.”

Tara, Cam and Stella don’t know each other and are living their lives as best they can. But when society’s screaming that you should live one way, it can be hard to like the person toy see in the mirror.

When a shocking event brings these women together, one woman’s catastrophe become’s another’s inspiration, and can be a life lesson for everyone.

I received a copy of The Cows from HarperCollins New Zealand to review.

I’d heard good things about this before I picked it up so I was excited to find out why so many people liked it. And it did not let me down. This kind of reminded me of a book I read last year about three friends but this book is so much better.

I loved Cam and how she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or share her view on things. Cam was a strong, independent woman and I loved that she wasn’t scared to be herself, even if the people in her life didn’t understand her or the choices she was making. I didn’t have a lot in common with Cam but there was one thing, that I don’t plan on having kids. I don’t get the same reactions Cam did from her family but I understand being judged for not wanting kids. I loved reading Cam’s blog and I took a lot from her posts.

I also really liked Tara. She made a very public mistake and was unfairly judged for it. I mean, was it the wrong place to do it? Yes. But the stuff people said about her after and then bring up her choices about her child. I know people online can be very critical and it’s so annoying. I saw a post the other day of Kim Kardashian being attacked for how she put Saint’s car seat in her car. What? I just don’t understand why people have to even comment on it and be so critical all the time. Anyway, this isn’t about Kim and a car seat.

I really liked the friendship between Cam and Tara, even though it was mostly through emails and texts. They seemed like they could be great friends. And Tara needed a great friend after what her so-called “best-friend” did. I don’t know how she’d been friends with her for so long.

Then there was Stella… I don’t even know where to start with Stella. I mean, yes I felt bad for her and all the things she’d been through with her mum and sister but then she went off the rails, things got really weird and I just… I don’t understand how she thought that was going to fix things? There were other ways to get what she wanted. Better ways even. I felt so uncomfortable reading what she was planning to do. And especially because she got the idea from something she read about Tara.

I really enjoyed The Cows and took more away from it than I thought I would. If you like strong female characters and topics covering feminism and the expectations still put on women, then you should definitely pick up a copy. I actually laughed out loud a few times.

*Thank you HarperCollins New Zealand for sending me a copy to review*

 

WWW Wednesday [June 14th 2017] –

This meme is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. All you have to do is answer the following three questions in a post and then put a link to that post in the Comments over at Taking on a World of Words.

The questions are:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading –
I’m not reading anything at the moment. I’ve been sick since the end of last week and I am just so tired and my eyes hurt so I’m not going to pick anything up today. I need a break for now. I know being sick seems like the best time to do nothing and read but not this time.

So I’m just going to leave a shelfie here because I don’t have a book to post. I bought a third bookcase last week and it was put up over the weekend. This isn’t the best photo because not every shelf fits in an instagram photo but oh well. You get the idea. But I am so happy that I have room for more books!!!

Recently Finished –
I finished The Names They Gave Us yesterday and I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

This book follows Lucy as she comes to terms with her mother’s cancer coming back, being a camp counselor at a “hippie camp” across the lake from her parents’ camp, where she planned to spend the summer. At Daybreak, Lucy meets Jones, a charming and mysterious boy.

So I thought this would be the usual girl meets boy, boy helps girl or changes her life. And yes, Jones did open Lucy’s eyes but there was so much more to the story than the connection between Lucy and Jones. I’ll be talking about it more in my review.

I also finished The Cows, which was so good! It’s not YA but I really enjoyed this.

The Cows follows three women, all strangers, who are come into each others lives in the most random and kind of horrible ways. But for some it changes their lives for the better. I don’t want to say too much about this because I will be reviewing it soon but I really, really enjoyed this book. It was a little weird in parts but you’ll have to read it to find out why…

Reading Next –
I’ve decided I’ll be reading Ida next. I can’t really remember what this is about but I think it has an LGBT+ character. Or more than one? I’m not sure. I guess I’ll find out when I feel like reading again. Hopefully it’ll be soon because my TBR is crazy long.

So that’s my WWW Wednesday for this week. Fingers crossed I feel better by next week. I’m off to watch some Teen Mom now.

Let me know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments.

– Aimee.

WWW Wednesday [June 7th 2017] –

This meme is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. All you have to do is answer the following three questions in a post and then put a link to that post in the Comments over at Taking on a World of Words.

The questions are:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading –
I’m going to start this later today. I haven’t actually started yet though.

I don’t know much about this other than it follows three women in London (I think?) and something tragic/horrific that brings them together. So guess they don’t know each other at the start of the book. But I’m honestly not sure.

I’ve heard really good things about this and it’s been a while since I read an adult fiction book that wasn’t a psychological thriller so I’m excited to finally start it.

Recently Finished –
I finished One of Us is Lying yesterday and I loved it.

This book starts with five students going to detention and one of them dying. Then everyone is trying to figure out which one of them killed Simon.

One of Us is Lying reminded me a lot of Gossip Girl and even Pretty Little Liars. There’s no texts messages or anything but there are a lot of secrets and obviously a death and a lot of people die in PLL. It’s also been compared to The Breakfast Club and I can kind of see why, I mean they have detention in common, but that’s about it. And I didn’t like The Breakfast Club, this book is so much better.

I also read Contagion this week. It was really good. There was a part of the story that annoyed me but I’ll talk about that more in my review.

Contagion follows Shay and Kai as they look for Kai’s sister Callie, who went missing a year ago. Their search takes them across the country and to the heart of a new, incurable, virus. One that’s spreading very fast.

Contagion in the first book in a new series/trilogy (I don’t know) from Teri Terry. I’ve read her Slated trilogy, Mind Games and Book of Lies. I enjoyed them all and can’t wait for the next book to come out. 

The last book I read this week was Letter to the Lost. This is a contemporary and I haven’t read a lot of them but I really enjoyed this.

It follows Juliet and Declan as they write anonymous letter to each other. They don’t think they know one another in person but they do. Then an event in their past could tear them apart before they have a chance of being together.

I’ll be reviewing this soon hopefully so I’m just going to leave it there for now.

Reading Next –
I’ve had a copy of The Names They Gave us for a while now and it comes out sometime this month so I thought it was about time I read it.

I don’t really know much about this other than the main character (not sure what her name is) goes away to a camp for the summer and meets a guy. Oh and I think her mum’s sick or something. I can’t remember much.

I read When We Collided last year and I really liked that so I’m looking forward to reading this soon.

What have you read recently?

– Aimee.

May Book Haul.

 

I’m going to be posting the books I bought and received to review in May. I think I only bought one book in May and I’ve read it before but it was pretty and I couldn’t resist. But I don’t have a photo of it yet so I can’t show it in this haul…

Anyway, onto the book haul! 🙂 

The first book I received in May was sent to m from HarperCollins New Zealand. I’ve heard really good things about Dear Ijeawele and I was surprised that it’s under 70 pages.

I haven’t read this yet and I have no excuses because it’s such a small book that I should have been able to fit it into May but I just didn’t pick it up. Hopefully I’ll get to it sometime in June because I really want to read it. I haven’t read a lot of books about feminism.. Or any really now that I think about it. So it’s about time I do something about that.

I also received a copy of The Cows from HarperCollins New Zealand. This is on my June TBR.

I don’t know much about this and I kind of want to keep it that way. I do know it follows the lives of three different women. I’m not sure if they know each other or not. But this sounds like a really good book and I know a few people who have read and loved it so I’m excited to read it.

The Cows will actually be my next read. I’ll probably be starting it tomorrow after I finish my current read. Which I’m hoping to finish today. 

The next three books I also received from HarperCollins New Zealand to review.

I haven’t read a lot of LoveOzYA books and I’ve only read books by three of the authors who wrote short stories for this collaboration. I’ve read books by Amie Kaufman, Lili Wilkinson and Melissa Keil. But I’m looking forward to reading all the stories in this book. I think I put this on my TBR for June so hopefully I can pick this up soon. I’ve seen some good things about this but I haven’t looked into it because I don’t want to read any spoilers.

I was intrigued by The Lucky One when I read the synopsis in April but now I cannot remember what it’s about. April was a loooong time ago and synopsis never stick in my head.

So, clearly I haven’t read this or I’d be able to talk about it. I haven’t put this on my TBR because I have so many books I want to read and I don’t want to pressure myself because that’s when I get into reading slumps. And I’ve already had too many of them this year thank you very much book gods.

If I have the time I’ll try to squeeze it in though. 

The last book I received from HarperCollins New Zealand was Red Sister.

I haven’t read this but I do remember what it’s about because it reminds me of Nevernight. This is about female assassins. And they’re Nuns too I think. So I have to read it because it sounds badass.

I really want to read this in June but it’s kind of big and I have a full TBR right now. I’ll just have to see how the month goes. I’ve been reading about 10 books a month so maybe.. Maybe not though.

The next two books I received from Bloomsbury Australia to review. I think Royce Rolls is about a reality show following the Rolls family but Royce wants out? Kind of reminds me of Keeping Up with the Kardashians which is probably why I remember what it’s about.

I don’t know when I’ll get around to reading this. It sounds okay. I mean I watch KUWTK so I’ll probably actually enjoy this. It’s just I have so many books to read already. But I’m not complaining. It means I’ll never need to join the library anytime soon. I’ve heard my local one is rubbish anyway. I really hope not though. I like going to libraries.

The second book I received was Letters to the Lost. I actually read this last month and I really enjoyed it. I don’t read a lot of contemporaries but I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read recently so maybe I should start reading them more often. They’re a nice break from all the fantasy books.

Anyway, this book follows Juliet and Declan as they write letters to each other. But they don’t know they’re writing to the other person, when they start its anonymous. But then something that happened in both their lives could tear them apart before they get a chance to be together.

It sounds really cheesy but it wasn’t for me. I liked this and the only other book I’ve read by Brigid too, Thicker Than Water.

I did a book swap with someone on Twitter last month. I got rid of an ARC that was just sitting on my shelf and I have a finished copy of and got Roseblood. I’ve never read anything by A.G. Howard or about The Phantom of the Opera but I thought this sounded like something I’d like and I love the cover.

I’m not sure if I should read the original story or not before I read Roseblood. I never have before when I read retellings so I’ll just read it.

I’m not in any hurry to read this because I wasn’t sent it to review. So it’s just sitting on my TBR shelf for now. It can go with my small collection of ARCs when I’ve read it. 

Bonnier Publishing Australia sent me a copy of Ida to review.

I can’t remember what this is about now but when I was offered a copy to review I thought it sounded like something I’d enjoy.

I’ve put Ida on my June TBR. It’s not a very long book so hopefully I can read it quickly. This is a LoveOzYA book so that’s two on my June TBR. I need to find some good NZ YA books as well!!

The next two books were sent to me by Allen and Unwin New Zealand. The first book, The Girl from Everywhere is about time travelling pirates. I think. I love books about time travel and who doesn’t like pirates? Sounds like an awesome combination to me.

There was something about a girls boyfriend being kidnapped and trapped in time somewhere by her father or something like that.

But I think this sound amazing and I can’t wait to read it. I’ve seen a different cover of this book and I have to say I prefer this one. I don’t think thee sequel has a cover like this though so that sucks.

The other book I received from Allen and Unwin New Zealand was Defy the Stars.

I recently finished the last book in The Firebird Trilogy by Claudia Gray and wanted to read more of her work so this was great timing.

I’m not too sure if I’ll like this or not. It sounds a bit weird to me but I’m willing to give it a chance. I know there’s a romance or something going on in this but I think there’s a twist to it. Something about artificial intelligence. I think. Don’t quote me on that because I could be way of the mark. But that’s why it sounds weird to me.

I received the next two books from Penguin Random House New Zealand to review. I’m actually reading One of Us is Lying at the moment. I think I’ll be finished with this later today because I need to know what the hell is going on.

This has reminded me a lot of Gossip Girl and I can see why people are saying its like The Breakfast Club too. But I didn’t like that movie. I prefer this to be honest,

Like I said, I’m sure I’ll finish this today. But if you loved Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars (because it’s got that kind of vibe too, although there are no texts) then I definitely recommend getting a copy of this.

The second book I received from Penguin Random House New Zealand was Pieces of You. It also came with an awesome box full of things I assume relate to the story.

I haven’t read a lot of New Zealand YA books so I’m excited to read this. I think this is another contemporary but I’m not really sure what it’s about. I guess I’ll find out when I read it.

I really want to squeeze this onto my June TBR because it came out June 1st so fingers crossed I can.

I did share what’s in the box on my Snapchat when I first got it. The chocolate has gone but everything else is still in there.

The next four books were sent to me from Hachette New Zealand to review. The first is Contagion which is the first book in a new series by Teri Terry. I’ve read a few of Teri’s books so I was looking forward to reading this and it did not let me down.

I read this last week I think. It was the first book I read in June anyway I know that much.

This follows Shay and Kai as they look for Kai’s sister Callie. Callie went missing a year ago and Shay remembers seeing her. Their search takes them across the country to the heart of a new, incurable, virus.

I really enjoyed this but I’ll be talking about this more when I post my review. 

I finally have the last book in the Waterfire Saga and I cannot wait to see how this series ends.

I’m not going to say anything about Sea Spell because it is the last book in the series and spoilers but I will say that the first three books were really good and I could not put them down.

I think it says on the first book that it’s like the Percy Jackson series with mermaids and I have to agree. It’s not Percy but it has some badass mermaids!

I also received Flame in the Mist and I am really looking forward to this. I don’t think I have to say what this book is about because it’s been everywhere for months. But I have heard that it’s a Mulan retelling set in feudal Japan. I’ve never seen Mulan so I’m not really sure what it’s about other than some badass woman saving her country.

Anyway, I’m not sure if any of that is correct but I’m just going to move on. I’ve been sitting on this computer too long and my back is killing me. I need to finish this post soon.

So, Flame in the Mist is on my June TBR and I’m hoping to read it soon because it sounds really good. Should I watch Mulan first though??

The last book I received Hachette New Zealand was Since We Fell. And yes, you’re right, I can’t remember what this is about either. But I think it’s a psychological thriller and I love those kinds of books so I’m looking forward to reading this.

I didn’t put this on my TBR because it was already so I might just put this on my July TBR. Maybe. I don’t know yet.

Omg I forgot how long these posts take me to type up….

I received another four books from Bloomsbury Australia. I wasn’t expecting these at all. I’ve already read The Possible and really enjoyed it. I have The Names they Gave Us on my June TBR.

But I don’t know when I’ll get to the other two yet. They both sound really good and I will read them but I’m just not sure when. I think these are all out this month some time. But I’m not sure when, the media releases just said June.

I think I’ll read Countless first though. It grabbed my attention more than Stargazers for Beginners did.

The last book I received in May was from Walker Books Australia. I think this is about the Roman Empire and I haven’t read a lot about that time so I’m looking forward to reading this.

I think I put this on my June TBR so I will be reading it at some point this month. If I stick to it this time.

Anyway, that’s my book haul for May. My back is killing me so I’m done. I can’t sit here anymore.

What books did you get in May?

– Aimee.

May Wrap Up & June TBR.

It’s that time of the month again when I do my wrap up of what I read last month and my TBR. I didn’t really stick to my May TBR so it’s probably good I’m not sharing it. Hopefully I’ll do better this month.

The End of Oz by Danielle Paige – ★★★/5
Finding Nevo by Nevo Zisin – ★★★★★/5
Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic – ★★★★/5
Silver Stars by Michael Grant – ★★★★/5
The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan – ★★★★/5
Perfect by Cecelia Ahern – ★★★★/5
The Possible by Tara Altebrando – ★★★★/5
Release by Patrick Ness – ★★★/5
A Million Worlds with You by Claudia Gray – ★★★★/5
Fatal Crossing by Lone Theils – ★★★/5
Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer – ★★★★/5

I didn’t do too badly in May. I managed to read 11 books. I think my favourite was Finding Nevo.

I tried to keep my June TBR small because I didn’t really stick to my TBR last month. I’ve already read Contagion and I’m currently reading One of Us is Lying, which reminding me a lot of Gossip Girl. I think my next read will be The Cows.

What’s on your June TBR? How many books did you read in May? Leave me a comment and let me know.

– Aimee.