Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Standalone Novel
Publisher: Scribner
Release Date: 6th May 2014
Read Date: 28th August 2015
Tagged Under: 5, 2015 read, 2015 favourites, favourites, historical, literary, book review, adult fiction

Book Summary

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure's reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum's most valuable and dangerous jewel. 
In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure's converge.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Top Ten Fairy Tale Retellings If You Like The Lunar Chronicles

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is to recommend ten books based on a particular book or author. I've decided to go with The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. While I never read a book just because it's a fairy tale retelling, I must admit I really enjoy them.

So, in no particular order...
Saturday, September 26, 2015

Book Review: The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

Standalone novel
Publisher: Redhook
Release Date: 20th October 2015
Read Date: 10th September 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, 3, book review, review copy, new adult, mystery or thriller

Book Summary

For fans of The Guild, New Girl, Scott Pilgrim, Big Bang Theory, Veronica Mars, or anyone who has ever geeked out about something. 
The odds of Dahlia successfully navigating adulthood are 3,720 to 1. But never tell her the odds. 
Meet Dahlia Moss, the reigning queen of unfortunate decision-making in the St. Louis area. Unemployed, broke, and on her last bowl of ramen, she's not living her best life. But that's all about to change. 
Before Dahlia can make her life any messier on her own, she's offered a job. A job that she's woefully under-qualified for. A job that will lead her to a murder, an MMORPG, and possibly a fella (or two?). 
Turns out unfortunate decisions abound, and she's just the girl to deal with them.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Feature Follow Friday: Ultimate Dream Job


Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers hasn't been determined yet, but when it's released, make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!
Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Book Review: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Series: The Princess Diaries (Book #1)
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Release Date: 30th May 2000
Read Date: 20th September 2015
Tagged Under: 5, 2015 read, book review, audiobook, book to film adaptation, romance, YA-fiction

Book Summary

Mia must take princess lessons from her dreaded grandmere, the dowager princess of Genovia, who thinks Mia has a thing or two to learn before she steps up to the throne. 
Well, her father can lecture her until he's royal-blue in the face about her princessly duty - no way is she moving to Genovia and leaving Manhattan behind. 
But what's a girl to do when her name is PRINCESS AMELIA MIGNONETTE GIRMALDI THERMOPOLIS RANALDO?

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Top Ten Books on My Spring TBR

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

The season has changed again! And with a new season comes a new TBR list too tackle over the next three months. Whilst everyone in the Northern Hemisphere is setting up their Fall TBR and getting ready to settle down on the couch with a good book and a hot drink, us book bloggers in the Southern Hemisphere are ready to come up with our Spring TBR.

First thing first though, a brief recap over how I did with my Winter TBR. In July, I actually got very serious with regards to my list and would always make sure I was reading a book from that TBR at all times. As a result, of the ten books on my Winter TBR, I read and completed 7, started on the 8th (and ended up putting that book on my on-hold shelf) so I only have 2 more books to read. This is perhaps my best result for a TTT seasonal TBR ever.

Let's hope I do even better on my Spring TBR!
Friday, September 18, 2015

Feature Follow Friday


Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers is I Heart Reading, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!
Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Read Online: Leave the Windows Open by Victoria Schwab

I have mentioned my love for The Archived duology by Victoria Schwab several times on this blog. You can find my review for The Archived here and its sequel The Unbound here

Victoria Schwab wrote a short story set about 4 hours after the end of the Unbound and posted it on her blog. You can find it here. If you love the Archived duology as much as I do and haven't yet stumbled onto this little gem yet, I highly encourage you to. It just makes you wish for a third volume even more!
Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Top Ten Favourite Fictional Couples

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week's topic is a freebie - which means everyone gets to choose from the previous topics. For this week, I decided to go with my top ten favourite fictional couples because I just have so many!

[Warning in advance] If you haven't read the books these couples are from, then you may accidentally get spoiled by this list of couples. So if you haven't read The Archived duology, A Thousand Pieces of You, Attachments, Ruby Red trilogy, The Night Circus, The Lunar Chronicles, Daughter of Smoker & Bone, Legend trilogy, Pivot Point duology and the Darkest Mind trilogy, then proceed at your own risk. I have warned you.

Anyhow, warnings aside, here are my top ten favourite fictional couples listed in no particular order.
Monday, September 14, 2015

Book Review: The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

Standalone novel
Publisher: Vintage Australia
Release Date: 23rd September 2013
Read Date: 9th July 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, 5, adult fiction, favourites, historical, literary, book review
Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

A novel of the cruelty of war, and tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love. 
Richard Flanagan's story - of Dorrigo Evans, an Australian doctor haunted by a love affair with his uncle's wife - journeys from the caves of Tasmanian trappers in the early twentieth century to a crumbling pre-war beachside hotel, from a Thai jungle prison to a Japanese snow festival, from the Changi gallows to a chance meeting of lovers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 
Taking its title from 17th-century haiku poet Basho's travel journal, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is about the impossibility of love. At its heart is one day in a Japanese slave labour camp in August 1943. As the day builds to its horrific climax, Dorrigo Evans battles and fails in his quest to save the lives of his fellow POWs, a man is killed for no reason, and a love story unfolds.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Feature Follow Friday: Undiscovered Talent


Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee & Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured bloggers are Romance Dreamland Book Corner and My Random Book Thoughts, so make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc., that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!
Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Book Review: Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis

Spinning Starlight by R.C. Lewis

Standalone Novel (semi-companion to Stitching Snow)
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: 6th October 2015
Read Date: 20th August 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, fairy tale, review copy, YA-fiction, science fiction, 4, book review
Check It Out @Amazon, @TheBookDepository, @GoodReads

Book Summary

Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it's hard to escape it. So when a group of men show up at her house uninvited, she assumes it's just the usual media-grubs. That is, until shots are fired. 
Liddi escapes, only to be pulled into an interplanetary conspiracy more complex than she ever could have imagined. Her older brothers have been caught as well, trapped in the conduits between the planets. And when their captor implants a device in Liddi's vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: one word and her brothers are dead. 
Desperate to save her family from a desolate future, Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home - a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strenght and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true. With the tenuous balance of the planets deeply intertwined with her brothers' survival, just how much is Liddi willing to sacrifice to bring them back?

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Top Ten Series I have yet to finish/catch-up on

TTT is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Technically, this week's topic is top ten completed series that I have yet to finish. However, I have difficulty with that list because of my reading habits. Firstly, I generally don't like to start a series until most of the books have been released. (There are exceptions to this rule including those written by my auto-buy authors but that's a story for another day) Secondly, I tend read sequels immediately. Thirdly, every time I pause in a series marathon and grab something else off of my shelf, I make a decision as to whether or not this series will be one I'm completing.

So as a result, I don't actually have a lot of completed series that I have yet to finish. So I've decided to expand this topic to series that I have yet to finish/catch-up on. Below is a list of ten such series (in no particular order).
Sunday, September 6, 2015

Off-Topic Sunday: Trimming Down Your TBR List


Welcome to Off-Topic Sunday, a tag that I'm using to post whatever is floating in my head that I want to chat about. For the most part, they'll be book-related but you may occasionally see some non-book-related posts/rants as well.

Deleting Books From Your TBR List


Saturday, September 5, 2015

Book Review: Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Standalone Memoir
Publisher: Dey St
Release Date: 28th October 2014
Read Date: 26th July 2015
Tagged Under: 2015 read, 2015 favourites, audiobook, non-fiction, memoir, 4.5, book review

Book Summary

In Amy Poehler's highly anticipated first book, Yes Please, she offers up a big juicy stew of personal stories, funny bits on sex and love and friendship and parenthood and real life advice (some useful, some not so much), like when to be funny and when to be serious. Powered by Amy's charming and hilarious, biting yet wise voice, Yes Please is a book full of words to live by.

Book Review

Friday, September 4, 2015

Feature Follow Friday: Movie to Book?


Feature Follow Friday is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee Alison Can Read. It's a way for bloggers and readers alike to make some new friends and gain some new followers as well. The point of this hop is to follow other bloggers. I follow you, you follow me.

Also, this week's featured blogger is Newbie Librariansso make sure you check them out too!

While I do prefer GFC and/or Bloglovin follows, if you would like to follow me via email/twitter etc, that's great too! Also, please leave a comment so I can follow you back!