Thursday 18 August 2016

Had a very Harry birthday!

It was my 24th birthday yesterday (almost 1/4 of a century old now, eek!) and I finally got my letter to Hogwarts!! It's about 13 years late but hey, I'm off to Hogwarts in September! I also got a new set of the books, which I have been desperate for for years because I've literally read my old copies to death. Then my lovely husband made me a cake, which had the Deathly Hallows symbol and an S for Slytherin on it. He'd also filled it with jelly beans, which I am loving right now.

So now I'm off to finish To All The Boys I've Loved Before so I can get back to my annual Harry Potter reread, I was up to Order of the Phoenix on audiobook, but I don't get on with them at all because I love to read and listen to music at the same time.

Saturday 13 August 2016

Finishing a book didn't help!

I've been in a killer reading slump for the last few months, and after finishing A Cour of Mist and Fury I might finally be out of my slump, as it got to the point where I just couldn't put it down until I finished it because I just had to know. Instead, I ended up with a major book hangover after I finished reading, which has led to...you guessed it, another reading slump. I'm struggling to stay awake every day too, so that's not really helping much. It's my birthday next week though, so I'm going to buy myself all the books, and hopefully that might help kickstart my reading again.

Sunday 7 August 2016

I achieved some reading!

We're in the middle of packing up the house ready to move on Tuesday, but I wanted to quickly stop and tell you all that I actually sat and read for a couple of days (while I was meant to be packing, but we'll ignore that) and this morning I finally finished A Court of Mist and Fury! I'm so blown away by this book, I think it will take me a long time to get over it. It was just so dark, heartbreakingly romantic, and incredibly hot. It was the best thing Sarah J Maas has ever written.

I'll be moving onto Nevernight by Jay Kristoff as soon as I get another free moment, and I am so excited for it! Hopefully I'll be able to properly dive into it soon!

Tuesday 2 August 2016

August TBR

As I've been in such a slump recently I've decided to keep my TBR short, plus it's my birthday this month and I'm expecting to get a lot of books, so it's a pretty fluid TBR this time. I'm hoping to at least finish a couple of books.

I'm continuing on with A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas. This is the second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses. This book is based on the myth of Demeter and Persephone. It follows the events of the first book, and Feyre has to spend a week out of every month in the Night Court with Rhysand. There is a greater evil than Amarantha brewing, and Feyre might just be the key to stopping it. This book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and despite being less than 100 pages in I am really enjoying it.

We also have Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. I won this book a couple of months ago from Goodreads, but I haven't been able to get around to it because of this slump. It follows the story of a girl called Mia Corvere. Following the death of her father, she is apprenticed to a group of assassins called The Red Church. She must get through a series of initiations to be inducted into the group, then can carry out the revenge she has longed for for so long. But there is a killer on the loose, and suddenly staying alive seems more difficult than originally planned for. This is another of my most anticipated reads, I read Illuminae by the same author last year and absolutely loved it, am so excited to dive back into this world.

I don't know if I will realistically get past these 2, but I'm also hoping to read Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch, An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and Soldier by Julie Kagawa.

Sunday 31 July 2016

July Wrap Up

I've been in a killer reading slump the last few months, so this will be a pretty short wrap up. I only read 2 books all the way through, and unfortunately I did give up reading one book for another, but that had nothing to do with the book, and everything to do with me. I hope to try and finish it next month.

First I finished a book I started reading last month, which was Thief's Magic by Trudi Canavan. I really didn't like this book, it was dual perspective, but the 2 stories had absolutely nothing to do with eachother, and seemed really disjointed. I did like one of the character's stories, Rielle's was the one with less happening, but it was more interesting and seemed more developed for me. Tyen's just seemed rushed and I didn't feel any connection to the character or the story, and it all just fell a bit flat. I gave it 3 stars, and that was only for Rielle.

Next up I had a reread of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas. This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, mixed with fairy lore. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite Disney films, and I absolutely love Sarah J Maas, so there really is no better story for me. I loved it just as much, if not more, reading it this time around. The story is magical, the characters are all interesting, with some great back stories, and it just makes you feel all the feels. It's definitely not one for younger readers. I gave it 5 stars.

After this I started A Court of Mist and Fury. Unfortunately this was the book that I put down, but again it was all on me and I really hope to read it in August. It follows the story of Demeter and Persephone, which is my favourite Greek myth. I'm starting to worry if Sarah J Maas has a direct link into my favourite stories.

Finally I read Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. I picked this to see if it could pull me out of my reading slump, and it seems to have worked a little. I finished it really quickly and it sucked me in. It wasn't quite as good as Anna for me, but the story was adorable and I loved the family dynamics. The majority of the characters were awesome and I loved them, but I couldn't understand at all why Lola wanted to be with Max over Cricket at all, he was a total jerk. I gave it 4 stars.

Thursday 28 July 2016

I'm back!

So, after a very long hiatus, I've decided to start up this blog again. I was seduced away by the thrill of YouTube, but there are some things going on with life that is going to make regular vlogging impossible, and to be honest I missed writing my thoughts down. So here I am again, thank you to any of you that stuck around even while I wasn't around, and I'm really looking forward to getting back to it all with you/