January Wrap Up and February TBR.

So I’ve been on a little break from blogging over the last month due to a lot of crap going on in my life. I did manage to post some reviews but not as much as I used to. I hope to get back into my blog now that things have settled down. Fingers crossed anyway.

I know it’s a bit late for a wrap up but I still have to find my review book… I’m really not organized at all. Anyway, onto my wrap up.

So with all the crap going on during the January I still managed to read eleven books.

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen – ★★★★/5
Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray – ★★★★/5
The Last Beginning by Lauren James – ★★★/5
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi – ★★★/5
Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling – ★★★/5
Frostblood by Elly Blake – ★★★★/5
Dear Charlie by N.D. Gomes – ★★★★/5
The White Rose by Amy Ewing – ★★★★/5
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K.Rowling – ★★★★/5
The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr – ★★★/5
Caraval by Stephanie Garber – ★★★★★/5

So obviously my favourite book from January was Caraval. I could not get enough of that book.

So I don’t have a photo for my February TBR because I didn’t have time before we moved and now it’s way too late. But I do plan to read Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken by the end of the month.

Let me know what books you’ve read lately. I feel life I’ve missed so much.

– Aimee.

December Wrap Up & January TBR.

I know I’m a little late posting this but I’ve been a little busy moving out of my old house into a temporary place until our new house is ready. It’s been a little crazy around here but hopefully I can get back into things soon.

Anyway, I’ll just jump into my December wrap up now.

Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin – ★★★★/5
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin – ★★★★★/5
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon – ★★★★/5
Someone I Wanted to Be by Aurelia Wills – ★★★/5
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling – ★★★★★/5
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult – ★★★★★/5
The Jewel by Amy Ewing – ★★★★/5
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (Illustrated Edition) by J.K. Rowling & Jim Kay – ★★★★★/5
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh – ★★★★/5

I don’t think I did too badly in December considering I read A Game of Thrones which was over 800 pages. The Wrath and the Dawn isn’t pictured because it’s a library book and was returned before I took the photo.

I don’t know how many of these I’ll actually get to read this month. My reading did slow down for a bit with all the moving but I’m hoping it’ll pick up again soon.

I have read a few in this photo and finished The Invasion of the Tearling which I started in December but didn’t finish.

What did you read in December? Anything exciting on you January TBR??

Aimee.

Top Ten Tuesday (December 8th): Top Ten New-To-Me Favorite Authors I Read For The First Time In 2015.

I’m late again with my Top Ten Tuesday. It completely slipped my mind yesterday. Oh well, I’m getting to it now.

Claudia Gray – 
The first book I read of Claudia’s was A Thousand Pieces of You earlier this year and I loved it. I haven’t read the sequel yet but I’m looking forward to getting to it hopefully sometime soon.

Rachael Craw – 
Rachael Craw is a New Zealand author. When I started reviewing books for Walker Books Australia and New Zealand this is the first book they sent me. It’s so freaking good!

Gena Showalter – 
I found Alice in Zombieland at a secondhand bookstore earlier this year. I’d never read anything by Gena before I found that I loved it so much that I bought Through the Zombie Glass when I was halfway through Alice in Zombieland. I don’t have The Queen of Zombie Hearts or the next book yet.

Amie Kaufman – 
I loved The Starbound Trilogy when I read it this year. I’ve reviewed all the books on my blog. I also loved Illuminae. I think Amie Kaufman is now one of my favourite authors.

Amy Ewing – 
This was another book sent to me by Walker Books Australia and New Zealand. I loved it and couldn’t put it down.

Kate Morton – 
The Lake House was sent to me from Allen and Unwin New Zealand to review. I’d never read a book by Kate before that and absolutely loved this. It had me guessing right till the very end.

Jojo Moyes – 
I’d seen Me Before You all over Bookstagram for months so I decided to get it from the library. It was such a sad but beautiful book. I’ve also read After You.

Patrick Ness –
The first book I read by Patrick Ness was A Monster Calls and I didn’t really like it. I’ve now read The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer and loved those. Hopefully I’ll love the other books of his I have too.

Philip Pullman –
My local librarian recommended Northern Lights to me so when I saw the books in a shop over here I bought the trilogy. I’ve only read Northern Light and I did like it. I’ll read the next book sometime next year.

Samantha Shannon –
This is another book I’d seen all over Bookstagram and I gave in and got it from the library. I can’t remember much about it but I wasn’t that into it. Some parts, towards the end, were a lot more interesting that the beginning. I haven’t read the next book yet.

I read a lot more new (to me) authors this year but I only needed ten.

Who are some of the new authors you’re read this year?

Aimee.

Review: The White Rose by Amy Ewing.

Title – The White Rose
Author – Amy Ewing
Publication Date – October 1st 2015 by Walker Books
ISBN – 9781406347586

Violet, Raven and Ash have escaped The Jewel, but nowhere will be safe for them until the royalty is destroyed. To help take them all down, Violet, Raven and Ash have joined The Society of the Black Key.

If Violet can reach The White Rose, she may have the chance to save more surrogates. But for the one surrogate Violet would do anything for, her best friend, it’s already too late – Raven is pregnant and that is a death sentence.

I requested a copy of The White Rose to review from Walker Books Australia and New Zealand. I read and reviewed The Jewel at the end of October.

I thought The Jewel was addictive but I couldn’t put The White Rose down. I ended up finishing it in one day. I tried to make it last longer but I couldn’t do it.

I really liked learning about the Augeries and how The Lone City came to be. I have to say that I think these royals deserve what’s coming to them if they all treat people the way that’s described in the book. Especially the Duchess of the Lake and the Countess of the Stone. I understand why no one has rebelled against them before now.

I think my favourite part of this book was reading how Garnet change from the boy in The Jewel. I’m looking forward to seeing if anything happens between him and Raven. I think they’re hilarious together.

I’m not 100% sure about Ash. I don’t like how he lashed out at Violet, although I get why he’d be frustrated. There’s no need to take it out on her though. The story about his ‘education’ and ‘training’ was horrible to read. Not only what the boys have to do but all those kidnapped girls! That place needs to burn to the ground. I don’t understand why the companions are overlooked as allies when they’re the one who’d have inside information on the royals.

And another cliffhanger at the end of the book. This one is definitely a bigger one than the gem at the end of The Jewel. That was surprising but in a good way, this one not so much. I cannot wait for the next book!

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

– Aimee.

October Wrap Up.

I didn’t have the best month for reading in October. I was in a reading slump for a bit in the middle, after trying to get through The Woman in Black and Other Ghost Stories.

Again, there are library books not pictured in the photo because they had to be returned before the end of the month.

Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan – ★★★★★
Infinity by Sarah Dessen – ★★
Stray by Rachael Craw – ★★★★★
Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen – ★★★★
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling – ★★★★★
See Me by Nicholas Sparks – ★★★★
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella – ★★★
The Woman in Black and other Ghost Stories by Susan Hill – DNF
The Jewel by Amy Ewing – ★★★★
Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham – ★★★
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – ★★★★★
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – ★★★★★
The Lake House by Kate Morton – ★★★★★
The White Rose by Amy Ewing – ★★★★

It looks better when you add the library books but Infinity was only 30 pages at the most and The Tales of Beedle the Bard is small too. And I only made it halfway through The Woman in Black and other Ghost Stories before giving up on it. It’s my first book I’ve DNF’d.

How many books did you read in October? Let me know in the comments.

Aimee.

October Book Haul.

I decided to share my October book haul today because I’m not expecting to get any more this month. I received eight books this month from publishers for review, bought one, was sent one from a friend on Instagram and I won two in a giveaway.

A friend that I met through Instagram sent me a copy of Burying Water by K.A. Tucker because she wants me to read it. She’s told me a few times how much she loves this series. I’ve never read them, or heard of them before she bought it up.

We were meant to buddy read this book this month but other books got in the way for me. Hopefully I’ll be able to get to it in November. I don’t think I’m getting more than two books for review next month so those books won’t get in the way this time.

The next book I got my mother picked. She was reading it at the start of the month but
then stopped. I can’t remember why. I think she got the new book, The Girl in the Spider’s Web? I think that’s what it’s called. Anyway this one got put to the side.

I’m not 100% sure what it’s about other than the war and I think I Jewish family trying to survive. I haven’t really had a proper look at it.

I think I’ll get to it before she does though. She’s kind of a slack reader.

This is the one book I bought this month.

The next book I received from Hachette New Zealand to review.

I’ve read a lot of John Grisham’s books but not all of them. But I haven’t read any in a few years. My mother has I think half of his books and those are the ones I used to read. One was so old and read that it was falling apart.

Anyway, I’ve read and reviewed this book already. It was released in New Zealand last week. You can read my review of Rogue Lawyer here.

I also received three books from Allen and Unwin New Zealand on the same day as
Rogue Lawyer. I’ve read all of them now but only reviewed one, The Woman in Black and other Ghost Stories which you can read here.

I was so excited when I opened the parcel and saw Illuminae in there. I’d wanted to read it for months.

I finished The Lake House a few days ago and loved it. I’ll be putting a review of both The Lake House and Illuminae on my blog soon. I had to get my head around them both before I could get my thoughts in order. They are both pretty big books but they both had me hooked from the first few chapters.

I requested The Jewel and The White Rose from Walker Books Australia and New Zealand. I’d wanted to read The Jewel for a while so when I saw The White Rose had been released I thought I’d ask and see if they’d let me review them.

I’ve read and reviewed The Jewel, you can check out my review here. I read The White Rose yesterday and couldn’t put it down and so I ended up reading all of it. Now I’m stuck with a horrible cliffhanger until the next book comes out. I really enjoyed them both.

I’ll be posting my review for The White Rose next week probably.

The next two books are the ones I won in a giveaway. I was so surprised to win these because I totally forgot that I’d entered giveaway through rafflecopter (is that what it’s called?)

I’d actually been looking for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin the day before I was told that I’d won a copy of it with After Alice by Gregory Maguire.

I haven’t read either of these yet. I’m not sure when I’ll get to them but I’m excited to read them both. I love George RR Martin and A Song of Ice and Fire so I’m sure I’ll like AKOTSK too. After Alice sounds really interesting. I loved Alice in Wonderland when I was a kid. I might read that and Through the Looking Glass again before I pick this one up.

I received a copy of Gold Fame Citrus from Hachette New Zealand for review.

I’d never heard of this before or the author. It’s a new dystopian novel. I started it today and I’m not really sure about the ages of the main characters but I think they’re in their twenties. But again, I’m not sure.

I’m not that far in yet but from what I can tell there’s hardly any water left in America, there’s a lot of dust and some kind of list you can go on to “help your country” which sounds kind of off putting.. I’ll just have to keep reading and find out.

The last book I received in October was again from Hachette New Zealand. I’ve read all
Gillian Flynn’s other books so I’m looking forward to this one. I down own any of her books though.

I think my favourite was is between Dark Places and Gone Girl. Sharp Objects was disturbing but predictable. I figured out the ‘mystery’ in that one early in the book. But the other two kind of had me guessing, especially Gone Girl. That was an awesome twist.

The Grownup is a short story, I think written for George RR Martin if I’m remembering correctly. It’s just over 60 pages so won’t take me long to read. Both The Grownup and Gold Fame Citrus are out in November, the third I think. I hope to have them both read by then.

That’s my haul for October. I don’t expect to get as many next month. I think two books are coming from Hachette New Zealand but that’s all I’m aware of. I don’t think I’ll get any more than those.

I just want to thank the all the publishing companies who sent me books this month. I am so happy I can review books for you 🙂

Have you read any of these? What’s your favourite book you got in October? Leave me a comment and let me know.

– Aimee.

WWW Wednesday [October 28th 2015] –

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 was sent a copy of The Lake House to review from Allen and Unwin New Zealand. I’m 100 pages from finishing and I’m loving it. Will put my review up when I’ve finished and try really hard not to spoil it.

Recently finished –
Another book sent to me for review from Allen and Unwin New Zealand. They both arrived on the same day with The Woman in Black and other Ghost Stories by Susan Hill. I was so excited when I opened the parcel and pulled this out. I’ve wanted to read it for so long. My review will be up sometime this week.

Reading next –
The White Rose was sent to me from Walker Books Australia and New Zealand. I requested both this and The Jewel to review. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

I love these WWW Wednesdays. They’re so easy and fast to do. Let me know what your reading in the comments.

Aimee.