August Book Haul.

I was planning on going on a book buying ban in August but that didn’t last long. I did only buy seven books but I still broke the ban. I seriously don’t even know why I bother.

Anyway, I’ll just get into the haul. Hopefully this won’t be as long.

So the first two books I got in August were sent to me from HarperCollins New Zealand. I’ve actually already read and reviewed this. Which doesn’t happen very often in my hauls. If you want to read my review you can click the link here.

I’m not going to go into what The Cause of Death is about here because I have posted my review of this. But I will say that if you love true crime and can find a copy of this then I recommend reading it. Plus, it’s set in the area where I live. So I’ve actually been to some of the places in this book rather than just reading about them. Which was a nice change. And some of the cases were really interesting.

I read The Outliers last year and really enjoyed it. I’ve been waiting for the sequel ever since I finished the first book. I don’t remember everything that happened but I do remember how the book ended. I’m hoping to pick this up soon.

I think the first book was about some kind of power? I know someone was kidnapped or ran away and her friend and boyfriend went to look for her. Then things went all kinds of crazy and that’s where I’m missing things. But I can remember the ending which is weird. I might either look up the book or read my review so that I don’t have to re-read the book. I’ll see. Hopefully there’s some kind of recap at the start of The Scattering.

So the next book was a surprise. I don’t remember requesting it but that doesn’t mean I didn’t. I’m not good with remembering which books I’ve requested. Anyway, this book was sent to me from Allen and Unwin New Zealand.

I don’t know anything about this. It’s not a very long book so hopefully I’ll get to it soon-ish. I’m assuming it’s about someone who either wants to fit in with everyone else or is being told to be like all the other girls and doesn’t want to. But I can also be completely off. I guess I’ll find out when I pick it up. I’m not exactly sure when that will be with the reading slumps I’ve been in lately. I’m struggling to even start a new book right now….

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe was sent to me from Walker Books Australia. I read Laurens other books, The Next Together and The Last Beginning. I liked them both so I was excited to see Lauren had written a sci-fi because I love sci-fi books. Although I haven’t read that many…

I think this is about a girl that’s alone and falls in love with someone she’s never met. Or something like that anyway. I might put this on my August TBR. I haven’t even thought about that yet. This reading slump is annoying me and I don’t know what books will help get me out of it this time. Or maybe I should just stop scrolling through social media and actually pick up a book.

The next two books were sent to me from Bloomsbury Australia to review. I have read Moonrise but haven’t reviewed it yet. I have read one other book by Sarah Crossan and I loved that so I was excited to receive Moonrise to review.

This book follows Joe as he goes to visit the brother he hasn’t seen in ten years. Ed has been sitting on death row in Texas (I think) and his execution has been set. This might be the last summer Joe and Ed get to spend together.

I found Moonrise really gripping and so hard to put down. And it actually made me cry. Not a lot of book have made me cry but this one did. I’m hoping to post my review of this soon but I’d definitely recommend it.

Bloomsbury Australia also sent me a copy of Because You Love to Hate Me. I know I don’t have a very good history with short story books with different authors but there were a few that have written stories for this that I love and I just had to read it. I’m looking forward to reading the stories by Renee Ahdieh, Marissa Meyer, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon and Nicola Yoon. I think some of the stories are retellings and I love retellings so I can’t wait to pick this up.

I think I might put this on my August TBR. I have been wanting to read this since I first heard about it. Maybe it’ll help me with my stupid reading slump. I bet you’re sick of me talking about that now.

The next books I got were the ones I broke my book buying ban for. I had wanted the hardbacks of this edition of the Harry Potter series since they came out but my mum bought be the paperback box set. But I got an email from Booktopia with a free shipping code and saw that they were that expensive on there. I’ve seen them listed for double what I paid so I just got them. But I did sell my paperbacks so I don’t have three editions.

I have slowly been re-reading the series. I’m up to Goblet of Fire so I’m thinking I might also put that on my August TBR. I love re-reading the Harry Potter books even though I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read them. It’s one of my favourite series.

The next two books were sent to me from Penguin Random House New Zealand to review. I was so excited to see Wonder Woman: Warbringer! It’s one of the books I was most excited to read this month so this is definitely going on my TBR for August.

All I can remember about this book is it follows Diana as she saves a mortal girl, Alia, who is a warbringer descended from Helen of Troy and something about if Alia is left to live and not helped by some spring then she will bring in an age of war.

I loved the Wonder Woman movie and cannot wait to pick this up. I think this might have to be my next read.

Penguin Random House New Zealand also sent me a copy of A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares to review. I can’t remember what this is about but I’ve heard good things about Krystal Sutherland so I wanted to give this book a chance.

I don’t know when I’ll get around to reading this. Hopefully sometime this month but who really knows at this point?

I know Krystal is an Australian author and I need to read more NZ and Aussie authors. I haven’t actually read that many. Although I don’t know of a lot of NZ YA authors so that’s also a problem I need to fix. Maybe one day. I think I need to read my books first.

So a few of weeks ago I was contacted on Instagram by a company asking if I’d like a review copy of The Crowns of Croswald. I looked the book up on Goodreads and thought it sounded interesting so i said yes. Then at the end of August this box of goodies showed up. It’s such an amazing box full of things that relate to the book and I can’t wait to read it.

I’ve seen a lot of people on Bookstagram have loved this so I think I might pick this up soon-ish.

This isn’t the best photo of everything that came in the box so I might have to take a better one when I start the book because so much went into it.

The last two books I received in August were sent to me from Allen and Unwin New Zealand. I can’t remember what drew me to S.T.A.G.S but when I requested it I thought it sounded like something I’d enjoy.

Maybe it was because it sounded kind of similar to The Hunger Games with the “deadly weekend” thing? I really don’t remember. But who doesn’t love reading about death?

Anyway, I have seen a couple of people picking this up on Bookstagram and saying it was better than they expected to I guess I’ll find out what they’re talking about when I get around to picking it up. Whenever that will be.

The last book I received in August was Genuine Fraud. I have only ever read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and I wasn’t really a fan of the main character, she was really annoying, so I couldn’t get into the book. I did see the twist coming though.

But I did like the sound of Genuine Fraud so I thought I’d give this a chance. Although I can’t remember what it’s about now.

So that’s my book haul for August. What books did you get last month?

– Aimee.

 

 

WWW Wednesday [May 3rd 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’ve been reading The End of Oz for the last three days and I am determined to finish it today. It’s not a very big book but I keep getting distracted by social media and TV shows…

Ugh, I literally just noticed that the books aren’t even in order in the photo. That’s going to annoy me.

Anyway, I’ve liked the series so far. I haven’t read the novellas yet though. I’ll get to them soon. I think they’ve been a little predictable at times and cheesy but that’s okay. I still liked the story. I don’t want to say too much because this is the fourth book in the series and I don’t want to spoil it for people who haven’t read these books yet. 

Recently Finished –
I have finally re-read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I think I said this in my last WWW Wednesday post but I’ve wanted to re-read the Harry Potter series since I saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them.

I don’t know when I’ll pick up Goblet of Fire but I’m hoping in the next couple of month. My TBR is too big at the moment.

Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite book in the series. Closely followed by Deathly Hallows. Obviously I won’t be reviewing this because I’m so biased and have read it so many times. 

I also read But Then I Came Back in the last week. It wasn’t really what I was expecting at all but I still liked it.

I’ll be reviewing But Then I Came Back sometime this month. I’m not exactly sure when but I’m hoping it’ll be up this month. I’m still really behind on my review.

This is the first book I’ve read by Estelle Laure and I’m thinking of reading her other book. I don’t know when but if I find a copy I’ll check it out. 

Reading Next –
I’m going to be reading Finding Nevo next. This follows Nevo as he transitions and focuses not only on what Nevo went through but also family, friends, bullying, weight issues and well as other topics.

I posted a Q&A yesterday with Nevo if you want to read it. You can find it here.

I’m really looking forward to reading this.

What have you read lately?

– Aimee.

 

April Wrap Up & May TBR.

I’ve finally got my May TBR together so I decided to share it and my April wrap up today. I did forget one book in my wrap up photo but it’s so hard to get back into the box set that I couldn’t be bothered getting it and taking a new one. So I’m just going to jump right in.

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Ewing – 4/5 stars
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling – 5/5 stars
Black by Fleur Ferris – 4/5 stars
What Girls are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold – 3/5 stars
Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton – 4/5 stars
The Silent Invasion by James Bradley – 3/5 stars
Front Lines by Michael Grant – 3/5 stars
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins – 4/5 stars
But then I Came Back by Estelle Lure – 3/5 stars
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling – 5/5 stars

For some reason I’m having trouble with WordPress on both Google Chrome (it won’t load at all) and Internet Explorer. For some reason it won’t let me post the stars that I usually use as my ratings in my wrap ups. I tried Firefox or whatever it’s called but that was slower to load than the computer and I just could not be fucked with that. So if anyone can tell me why it won’t load on Chrome it would be great! I’ve uninstalled it and re-installed it and still have the same problem.

Anyway, onto my May TBR.

I started reading The End of Oz yesterday. I didn’t get a lot read because I kept getting distracted but I’m hoping to read more today. I’ve already picked what I’ll be reading next, Finding Nevo. This sounds so good and I can’t wait to pick it up.

What’s on your May TBR?

– Aimee.

WWW Wednesday [April 26th 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 picked But Then I Came Back as my next read. I haven’t started yet but I will at some point today.

From what I read on the back of the book this is about a girl, I’m not sure what her name is, who wakes up from a coma and her life is different. I don’t know how different but I guess I’ll find out.

Then there was something about her meeting a guy. I hope this isn’t about a guy fixing whatever’s changed with her…. I hate those stories. But I’ll find out soon I guess.

Recently Finished –
I finished Into the Water yesterday and it was sooo good!!! If you loved Girl on the Train then I’m sure you’ll love this.

Into the Water reminded me a lot of Broadchurch, where everyone is a suspect. Except in Broadchurch I’ve never suspected the police of committing a crime, but in Into the Water even the local police were suspects for me. There were two characters I didn’t think killed anyone and that was because they were out-of-town. But that’s all I’m going to say because I’ll be posting my review of this soon. Probably around the release day in New Zealand.

I read Front Lines recently. This is the first book in the Soldier Girl series and I actually enjoyed it. I mean, there were parts that annoyed me because of the time it was set in and how some people back then thought but it had to be included in the book because it was set in WWII.

But this was an alternate world where women were allowed to fight on the front lines of the war against Hitler and his allies. It was an interesting idea and I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.

Reading Next –
I don’t have a recent photo of my next read so I had to go and find this. I’ll be re-reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I put it on my April TBR and I haven’t got to it yet. I don’t think I’ll actually finish it in April though.

I’ve wanted to re-read the Harry Potter series since I saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them last year so I’m excited to finally start.

I read the illustrated editions of Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets so I’m continuing the series with these editions. I love the new covers!

What have you been reading lately?

– Aimee.

March Wrap Up & April TBR.

I read a lot more in March than I did in February. I was actually falling behind on my reading challenge in February but I’ve managed to be ahead of schedule now. So yay. Anyway, onto my wrap up…

Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken – ★★★/5
The Song from Somewhere Else by A.F. Harrold – ★★★/5
King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard – ★★★★/5
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – ★★★★★/5
See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng – ★★★★/5
Aerie by Maria Dahvana Headley – ★★★/5
The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles – ★★★/5
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – ★★★★/5
The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil – ★★★/5
Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott – ★★★★/5
Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson – ★★★★★/5

My favourites were definitely The Hate U Give and Allegedly. Which I didn’t think I’d finish in March so I put it on my April TBR. I couldn’t be bothered taking another photo though.

So Allegedly doesn’t count and I’ve already read The Roanoke Girls. That was disturbing but really good. I couldn’t put it down.

I’m actually reading a book that’s not in this photo because I didn’t have it at the time I took it. I started the new edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by J.K. Rowling this morning. It’s got a forward by the author, Newt Scamander, which was the best! I can’t wait to find the six new beasts in the book.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be a re-read. I wanted to re-read the series after seeing the Fantastic Beasts movie last year.

What’s on your April TBR?

– Aimee.

 

#RainbowBlogChallenge: Day 4 –The Great Outdoors.

It’s already the fourth day of the Rainbow Blog Challenge. I’m a little late in posting today but better late than never I guess. I’ve chosen to talk about the  literary locations I’d like to travel to.

I think Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon books have given me so many places in France and Italy that I’d want to visit. But Paris is definitely at the top of my list. I’ve always wanted to see Paris. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Museum, Arc de Triomphe and don’t forget the food and coffee!

Technically I was born where this next book is set but I left when I was two and a half. I’ve been back once but I was only seven so I can’t remember much. I’d like to go back now that I’m older and can decide where I want to go and who I want to see. Or, who I don’t want to see.

There was never specific location mentioned but the main character, Green, said she could see The Cloud (which is a weird name for a hill) from their house and that, the hill, is really close to where I used to live in England. But then if I was in England already I’d go to London and other places. Not just where I was born.

Speaking of going to somewhere else in England I’d definitely want to check out King’s Cross, because Harry Potter obviously. I’m sure I read somewhere that the movie was filmed across the road in St Pancras Station so I’d have to at least get some photo of that too. I’d also go on the set and location tours.

So my next location isn’t just for the city… Or even mainly for the city. I’m picking Boston because they have a Wahlburgers restaurant and I really want to try one of their burgers!! I’ve been watching the show, Wahlburgers on Bravo (it started like three weeks ago) and I love it. But I would check out the city too.

The next stop on my little trip is New York. I couldn’t go to America and not visit New York.  I love this city and would love to visit it one day!!

So that was so much harder than I thought it would be. What are some of the places you’ve read about in a book and would love it visit?

Tomorrow’s prompt is “Feeling Blue” – Favourite books with mental health issues // Importance of mental health in books. If you’re taking part in the Rainbow Blog Challenge leave me a link to your post so I can check it out.

Don’t forget Elle.Biblio is holding an INTERNATIONAL giveaway as part of the challenge, it’s not too late to enter! Click the link here to check it out.

– Aimee

Tag: Harry Potter Book Tag.

I saw Nicole do this tag on her blog on the weekend and I love Harry Potter so I decided to do it too. You can check out her post here.

Like Nicole, I have no idea where the spell images came from. I took them from her post.

A book you found interesting but would like to rewrite:
I found this interesting and I did want to know what happened to Janie and Micah but I didn’t like the characters very much (Janie not at all) so I’d re-write them to be more likable.

The first book in a series that got you hooked:
There are so many books I could put here (Percy, Harry, The Lunar Chronicles) but I wanted to do something different. I read These Broken Stars last year and loved it so I had high expectations for the other two books in the trilogy and even though the second wasn’t as good the last one made up for it. But overall I loved this trilogy.

A Book that you wish you could have right now:
Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I’m really looking forward to this book!

A killer book:
I know a lot of people didn’t like this but I loved it! And that ending… OMG!

A book you find confusing:
I managed to read half of this book and I just don’t get it. Some of the stories were really boring and the one I gave up on was the worst out of the three or four I’d read. It was so confusing, I didn’t know whose perspective I was it and it would change with no warning. This was my first ever DNF.

Your spirit animal book:
The Harry Potter Series always makes me happy and I have a lot of happy memories reading this series when I was younger.

A dark, twisted book:
I don’t know if this was dark but it was definitely twisted. I think all of the books by Gillian Flynn that I’ve read have been dark and twisted.

A book that surprised you in a great way:
I loved Kiera Cass’s The Selection Series so when I heard her first novel was being released (re-released??) I was excited to read it. Then I figured it was a love story and was a bit put off but I kept going and it was even better than I expected. I’m glad I gave it a chance.

I’m tagging anyone that wants to do it!

Aimee.

Top Ten Tuesday (May 3rd): Ten Books That Will Make You Laugh.

I’ve been really slack with my Top Ten Tuesday posts lately. I meant to do this one a couple of weeks ago and missed it. So I decided to do it today because I’m not really into today’s theme.

1. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling – 

I don’t know how many times I’ve read these books but they still make me laugh. The Weasley twins are hilarious, Ron even has his moments.

I recently read the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and even that had me laughing a few times.

2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan – 

The sass in these books! I love Percy and Leo, they’re both hilarious. I have read Percy Jackson and the Olympians twice and Heroes of Olympus once.

I’m looking forward to reading The Sword of Summer and The Trials of Apollo. I don’t want to get my expectations up because I didn’t really like The Kane Chronicles but I think that they’re up already. Especially because Apollo will be going to Camp Half-Blood!!

Even the books Rick wrote in Percy’s perspective about the Greek Gods and Heroes are hilarious, if a little disturbing in places.

3. A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin – 

Okay so these books have a lot of blood and death but they are also funny in places. I don’t know a lot of people who enjoy the books as much as I do but there are some on my Instagram that I talk to.

My favourite character that always makes me laugh is Tyrion. He’s always so sarcastic and uses his wit instead of his fists. It doesn’t always work out for him but he’s always funny when he insults people.

Jaime also has some funny parts. Especially from the third book on. He changed a lot in the books and I hated him at the start but now he’s grown on me.

4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – 

Okay so TFIOS isn’t funny all the time but it did make me laugh even while I was crying.When Issac was doing his eulogy for Augustus (I think I’m far past spoiling this book for anyone but my bad if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie) was really sad but hilarious.

Then there was the part where Hazel, Augustus and Issac egg his ex-girlfriends car. That was funny because Issac couldn’t see and Augustus was trying to help him aim.

I think I’ve read TFIOS three times now and it still makes me laugh and cry. I haven’t read all of John’s books but this is definitely my favourite.

Apparently I don’t read many funny books. The only others I can think of is The Mortal Instruments and that’s only Jace that’s funny for me so I can’t really count it because even though he did make me laugh he’s kind of depressing and frustrating most of the time.

These are the only ones I could come up with. I did Google funny YA books but the ones that came up I either haven’t read or didn’t find funny. Like Me and Earl and the Dying Girl came up a lot and that book was just a waste of time. I regret ever reading that and don’t understand how it was published.

So I’m giving up after only finding four funny books/series to share. Even though every one of these books is filled with death, suffering and blood they are funny too.

What are some funny books you’ve read?

– Aimee.

Books I’d Time Travel to Read Again for the First Time.

I’m not really in the mood to do a Top Ten Tuesday today and the theme for today is not at all inspiring for me so I’ve decided to share the books I’d want to travel back in time so I could read them for the first time. I’ve wanted to do this for some time now.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling. 
I’d love to be able to experience the Harry Potter books for the fist time again. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve read them and I still love them. But I know everything that happens and I’m not finding anything new anymore I’ve read them that often.

I’m hoping that when I read the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone it’ll be a different experience to the other books. I’m hoping to read it this month. And I cannot wait to see the others books in the series illustrated too. My favourite book is Prisoner of Azkaban and I am really looking forward to getting a copy of that.

The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare.
I read these three years ago now and I wanted to re-read them before I got Lady Midnight (which I still don’t have).

To be honest I think when I do eventually pick them up again it will be like reading them for the first time. At least until things start to come back to me. I don’t remember much about them. When I was reading City of Heavenly Fire things came back to me but not all of it.

I don’t know when I’ll be getting a copy of Lady Midnight so there’s not real rush to re-read these yet. My TBR is too big to add re-reads to the list. Other than the ones I’m doing for read a longs anyway.

The Martian by Andy Weir.
I loved The Martian when I read it last year and as soon as I finished it I wanted to go back in time and read it again. I loved it that much.

I don’t know why I was hooked because there was a lot of science and maths that went right over my head but then the story drew me back in and I needed to know what happened to Mark. I even got angry at someone because they told me dinner was ready and I didn’t want to put the book down long enough to eat.

I saw the movie at Christmas and even though a lot was left out I still really enjoyed it.

Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas.
I loved this series when I read it two years ago. By the time I found Throne of Glass at the library Crown of Midnight and The Assassin’s Blade were already out. Then I just had to wait a few months for Heir of Fire.

I did start to re-read the first three books last year before Queen of Shadows came out but I didn’t get that far. And I haven’t read Queen of Shadows yet. I want to read them all this year at some point but it will have to wait until my current TBR goes down.

I haven’t seen any spoilers yet and hope to keep it that way until I get the chance to catch up.

These are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head but I think that’s enough. A lot of the books that I love I enjoy re-reading but these are the ones I’d love to be able to read again if I could time travel.

What are some books you’d read again for the first time of you could time travel?

– Aimee.

February 2016 Book Haul.

I thought I’d do my monthly book haul a little early. I have time today to sit and do it and I don’t think I will on Monday. Plus, I don’t plan on getting anymore books in the next two days.

This month is going to be a bit longer than usual because I got a little over 30 books. Not something I plan on repeating next month.

So, let’s get started.

The first two books I received from Hachette New Zealand to review. I requested a copy of
You and Me, Always be Jill Mansell to review.

I’ve already read and reviewed this. You can check out my review here.

I enjoyed You and Me, Always. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I will have to check out some of Mansell’s other books from my library when I have more time to read. My TBR pile for March is ridiculously tall at the moment.

The second book from Hachette New Zealand was a surprise. I didn’t request this one because I’d already read this. And own a copy of it. When this arrived with You and Me, Always I had to make sure it wasn’t sent to me by mistake.

When I found out it wasn’t I thought it was a great opportunity to re-read this before I saw the movie adaptation. Apparently because I’d already reviewed See Me by Nicholas Sparks for Hachette NZ they decided to send me this as well. I was told I didn’t have to review it if I didn’t want to but I did review it. I don’t know why but I have enjoyed most of Sparks’s books. I think there were two or three that I didn’t really like.

You can check out my review for The Choice here.

The next books I got from Book Depository. The new box set of the Harry Potter series. I already own all the originals covers but I love these covers and so when they went on special I couldn’t resist.

I think I’m going to re-read this series soon, not that I need to. But I want to read them again before Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is released later this year. I’m going to start with my illustrated edition of Philosopher’s Stone and then continue on with these covers.

My mother and friends think I’m crazy having two copies of the same series but it’s Harry Potter and these covers are gorgeous!!!  I don’t think there’s anything as too much Harry Potter!

The next book I received from HarperCollins New Zealand to review. I’d seen Tiny Pretty Things a lot on Bookstagram but never in the stores.

I’ve never read a book about ballerinas before this and the competition at this school is brutal. Sometimes even life threatening.

I can’t wait for the sequel, Shiny Broken Pieces, to come out this year so I can see what happened to the girls.

You can check out my review for Tiny Broken Pieces here.

This is another one I got from Book Depository.  I’ve read Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Fairest but haven’t read Winter or Stars Above yet.

I’d been re-reading the first three books before Winter was released (I’m up to Cress now) but I haven’t got a copy of Winter yet. I did win a giveaway on Instagram in December last year which was a copy of Winter but nothing’s turned up. I think I’m officially giving up on it. But that’s the reason I bought Stars Above.

I will get a copy of Winter one day. Hopefully I won’t be spoiled before I have the chance to read it.

I love The Lunar Chronicles and can’t want to see what Marissa Meyer comes out with next.

I received the next two books from Walker Books Australia and New Zealand to review. I’ve read them both and thought they were both okay. I gave them both three stars on Goodreads.

You can read my review for 101 Pieces of me here. It wasn’t the worst book I’ve read but it did take a long time to catch my interest.

The Hired Girl was a bit better but the problem I had with both books was the protagonists were too naive for me. Which I think was due to their upbringing and in The Hired Girl’s case the girls age too. I don’t know. They just really annoyed me.

I’ll be posting my review of The Hired Girl soon so if you’re interested on reading my thoughts keep an eye out.

I bought a copy of Glass Sword from Book Depository when I saw they were selling signed copies. It’s very rare an author I like comes all the way to New Zealand and if they do they only do signings or whatever in Auckland which is six hours away from me in a car. And kind of expensive in a plane for a book signing. So I couldn’t pass up a signed copy of Glass Sword, especially when I loved Red Queen so much.

I’ve already read and reviewed Glass Sword because I received an advance copy from Hachette New Zealand last month. If you want to read a spoiler free review you can check mine out here.

I bought Anne of Green Gables from Book Depository too. I’ve wanted to read this for so long and when I saw this on sale I couldn’t resist. It’s just so pretty.

I think I’m going to be reading it next month for a book club I’m in on Goodreads. I’m not sure yet though.

I want to get the other books in these editions. There are Little Women, Heidi, A Little Princess and Alice in Wonderland. I’ll get them one day, there’s no rush 🙂

I saw a poster of Deep Blue on Hachette New Zealand’s Instagram account and asked them what it was because the title wasn’t really clear. When they told me what it was I looked it up and thought it sounded like something I’d like. So they were kind enough to send me the first book in the series.

I’ve already read and reviewed Deep Blue on my blog. I posted it yesterday but I’ll link it here if you want to read it.

This book is a little like the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan except instead of demigods there are six mermaids on a quest to save their world from an evil force that wants to destroy everything.

Another book from Hachette New Zealand. I got so many from them this month.

I’m reading The Butterfly Summer at the moment. I think I’m 80 pages in so I still have no clue what’s going on. But hopefully things will start making sense soon.

There isn’t much of a synopsis on the back which is why I don’t really know much about it. I suppose I could look it up on Goodreads but that might give things away and I like going into books blind.

I know I liked the sound of it when I requested it to review and I don’t normally request books I don’t like. Although I have done it once. Hopefully I haven’t just jinxed myself. There are a lot of good reviews on the back so it can’t be bad. I won’t have much time to read over the weekend which is why I’m doing this post now.

When I saw The Reaction by Helena Coggan was available to review I didn’t hesitate to request it. I bought a copy of The Catalyst last year in a book clearance and even though I hadn’t read it I thought having the sequel might be a good push to finally pick it up.

I finished The Catalyst the other day and really enjoyed it. I’m really looking forward to reading this so I can find out what’s next for Rose and her father and friends.

I’ll be posting my review of The Catalyst soon so if you want to know what I thought of the book you’ll have to keep an eye out for it. I think it’ll be up this week though,

Hachette New Zealand were really kind and sent me this trilogy by Helen Lowe. I saw a photo of Daughter of Blood on their twitter account and said that it looked like and interesting book and they said they’d send me a copy of the trilogy.

I haven’t had a chance to read any of them yet because they arrived out of order but I am really looking forward to them. The first book is The Heir of Night. I hope to read it next month.

I’d never heard of these books before Hachette NZ shared a photo of the third book in the series but I’m glad I have now. The covers are pretty photogenic together 😉

I’m really sorry about the quality of this photo but I wanted to show the gold foil on the cover. Hopefully I can get a better one when I read the book.

I received this and one other book from Allen and Unwin New Zealand. I’d heard about this last year and when I saw it on their site I really wanted a chance to review it.

The story sounds amazing and I know it’s gotten some mixed reviews but I haven’t read any of them because I want to form my own opinion of it.

The cover looks so much better in person. I obviously haven’t read this yet but I will be picking it up next month.

The second book I received from Allen and Unwin New Zealand was Moth Girls by Anne Cassidy.

I’ve read this but haven’t reviewed it on my blog yet. I’m hoping to get it posted next week. I’m so behind in my reviews it’s not even funny.

So I’m not going to go into it here because I’ll be doing  a full review soon but Moth Girls in about two girls who went missing when they were twelve and five years later are still missing. Their friend Mandy is still affected by their disappearance and it follows her as she tries to figure out what happened to Petra ad Tina. It’s told in both Mandy and Petra’s perspective, in the present and from five years ago.

I received a copy of Not if I See You First from HarperCollins New Zealand to review. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book in the perspective of someone who is blind before so this really interested me.

I haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Again, I’m hoping to pick it up next month.

One interesting fact that I already know about this book is that it has braille on the cover which I think is pretty amazing. I’ve never really seen braille before.

I’m really looking forward to reading this one soon. As well as all the others on my TBR at the moment.

I bought a copy of Cress because I thought Winter was still going to be sent to me and I had Stars Above already.

Not that I own a copy of Cress it’ll be easier for me to re-read it. I did have a copy from the library but took it back when this arrived. I still don’t see any hurry to pick it up because I’m not going to get a copy of Winter until it comes down in price. At the moment it’s $32NZD and that’s a bit too much for me.

I got my copy of Cress from the Book Depository.

I’ve slowly been getting copies of the Heroes of Olympus series from Book Depository. don’t like the UK covers which is why I buy my copies online so I can get the US editions. They have much better covers ❤

I’ve already read this series so it doesn’t matter what order I buy the books in now. I now own The Son of Neptune, The House of Hades and The Blood of Olympus.

Now all I need are The Lost Hero and The Mark of Athena but I’m going to wait for those to come down in price a little too. I wanted a year for this one to come down, I can wait just as long for the other two.

The next six books I got in a clearance sale at The Warehouse. None of them cost more than $10 and the cheapest was $3.

I’ve wanted to read The Lord of the Rings trilogy for years and now I own all three I can marathon them. Same with Penryn and the End of Days trilogy. I own all three now and cal marathon them too because I haven’t read those. either.

I’ve also wanted to read We All Looked Up, The Sin Eater’s Daughter and The Accident Season for a while now.

Because none of these are review books they aren’t on my immediate TBR so I’ve no idea when I’ll get a chance to read them.
The next five books were all sent to me from Hachette New Zealand to review. So I can stop repeating my self now and just talk about the books. What I know about them anyway. 

Rouge Wave and Dark Tide are the next books in the Waterfire Saga. These only arrived on Tuesday so I haven’t had a chance to read them. Not that I’m not dying to pick them up next.

I’m hoping these will be able to answer some questions I have from Deep Blue. Some things were left hanging in the first book and I really hope they will be addressed in these so I don’t have to wait for the fourth book to be published to get answers.

I’m not going to talk about these because I haven’t really seen what the synopsis of Rogue Wave says because I know it’ll make me want to pick it up now and I can’t.

This is an advanced copy of Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama. The cover won’t look like this when it’s published next month. Six Four has been translated from Japanese. Apparently it’s one of the biggest selling crime novels in Japan.

It sounds really good and I love trying to figure out what happened. I’ve seen people say that this one is hard to figure out and that it’s slow to start but if you make yourself push past it you’ll be thankful you did. I’m glad I’ve seen that. Not that I have a choice, I have to read it because it was sent to me for review.

All I really know about this book is that a girl goes missing from school and the police botch the investigation. Then, I don’t know how many years later, a press consultant to the police (I think that’s their job title) starts to look over the case and soon wishes he never did.

The Butcher’s Hook is set in London in the 17oo’s. I think it follows a young girl as she falls for someone her family doesn’t see as a good match for her. That’s pretty much all I can remember from the synopsis. I really suck as this.

I know it jumped out me or I wouldn’t have requested it to review. But like I said before I like to go into books blind. Which is good for me because clearly I can never remember what half of them are about anyway.

I have been seeing this online now that the release date is coming up. Or it’s already been? Next month I will have more information because this is embarrassing.

The last book I received this month was Song of the Skylark by Erica James. On the back of this one it says that fans of Jojo Moyes will like it. And okay, I’ve only read two books by Jojo Moyes but I really liked them both. So I’m hoping I’ll like this one too.

I remember a little bit about this one (success!). It follows a young woman as she works in a nursing home and one of the elderly women she looks after starts to tell her about her life. That’s all I got. So maybe not really such a success after all…

I have finally reached the end of my February book haul. If you are still reading this then I am so sorry it took so long and thank you for sticking with me.

Next month will not be anything like this! I do not think I’ll ever get 37 books in one month again.

I want to say a huge thank you to all the publishers that sent me books to review but especially Hachette New Zealand for sending me 13 books this month. I’m very grateful for them all.

Have you read any of these books? Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of them.

– Aimee.