Ringing in the New Year Book Tag

First post of a new year and I'm super excited! I love having a new year where I can start afresh, reflecting on everything that I achieved last year and looking forward to all the great books that I can read this year. I felt that this tag was the perfect final farewell to the books I read year as I get to gush about the books I enjoyed reading.

1- Best book/ series that you read in 2018?

How am I meant to choose the best book? I loved so many!

If I had to choose I would say the best book I read this year was foolish hearts by Emma Mills and the best series was 100% the Ruby Oliver series by e. lockhart.

2- Authors that you discovered in 2018 and plan to read more of this year?

For fluffy contemporaries it would have to go to Kasie West, for hard hitting books Margaret Atwood.

3- Most anticipated book turned movie?

There are far too many for this question so I'm just going to leave a list of my top few.

+ All the Bright Places
+ Little Women
+ Cats (the musical!!!)
+ Death on the Nile 

+ The Sun is also a Star
+ Chaos Walking series

4- Name a character you wouldn't have minded sharing a kiss with on New Year's

Kai from the Lunar Chronicles

5- What's on you TBR for 2019?

My TBR is all the books I own but haven't read yet! I'll leave a link to it here, but don't be alarmed by the number of books on it. I'm aiming to get to 0 by 2022 (weird date, I know) as part of group challenge with my friends  If you want to get involved let me know in the comments!

6- How many books do you aim to read this year?

I'm going to have a pretty hectic time this year, with A-levels and uni taking up the majority of my time, so I'm only going to aim to read 30 books this year.

7- Will you participate in the Goodreads reading challenge this year?

Of course! I love keeping track of my accomplishments throughout the year, watching the little bar fill up as I read. I'm a sucker for compliments and recognition, so the Goodreads challenge is a massive confidence boast.

8- Any New Year Resolutions?

I'm going to try and upload three posts every week this year, so let's see how quickly I break this resolution!

What are your resolutions? How many books are you going to read this year?
Let me know in the comments below!

And until next time, keep reading!

New Year, new books!

Top Ten Tuesday: most anticipated releases for the first half of 2019

I am the worst when it comes to new releases. I never have any clue about what is coming out until it is released, and then the hype around it scares me too much so I don't end up reading the book for two or three years. By which point it is no longer a new release.

This year, however, I decided to get myself into gear and research what new books are coming out this year. Goodreads was a god-send for this list, because they have extensive lists of every single book that has been announced to come out for the next 5 years. So I took a little scroll down this list until I found the books that I am most looking forward to reading in the first 6 months of the year.

1- Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

2- Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

3- How to make friends with the dark by Kathleen Glasgow

4- Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

5-  Fame, Fate and First Kiss by Kasie West

6- Call it what you want by Brigid Kemmerer

7- Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

8- Romanov by Nadine Brandes

9- Lovely War by Julie Berry

10- Wilder Girls by Rory Power

A lot of the books on my list come from authors who I only discovered in 2018, so I am very excited to revisit their writing style and see if I love their new books as much as the ones I read last year.

Which books are you anticipating this year? Are any of them on my list?
Let me know in the comments below!

And until next time, keep reading!

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Pages: 335
Rating:💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would unwind them. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives are hanging on the line. If they survive until their 18th birthday they can't be harmed, but in this world 18 seems far, far away. 

This book has been on my bookshelf for as long as I can remember. I vaguely remember getting it for Christmas when I was 10 (?) which means I've had it for 7 years and only just picked it up. I have started reading it several times over the years, but I always ended up putting down and reading something else, until I decided enough was enough. If I din't read it this time I would have to get rid of it, so naturally I've finished it and make plans to read the rest of the series as soon as possible.

This book was incredible. It is advertised as 'before the Hunger Games there was...' but I have to say that I enjoyed this book far more than the Hunger games. Where the Hunger Games was twisted this book went one further, until you couldn't believe what you were reading. The whole concept of this story is that the children are threatened with unwinding throughout their whole life. If they fail a test, if they disrespect their parents, if they generally cause trouble they are risk of being unwound. Parents willingly give up their children to be taken away and taken apart. Although the Hunger Games was messed up, this novel was far far worse. There were parts that made me feel sick with how gruesome it was.

I loved the characters in this book. At first you despise all of them for being stuck up and a little pathetic but they slowly grow on you. The amount of character development that came in each chapter (not book, chapter) was incredible. The three main kids (Connor, Risa and Lev) grew up so much in this that the were unrecognisable by the end. They had to cling onto each other for sanity, but also for comfort, and i really showed the reader how friendships can form in the most unlikely places. There were hints of romance in the book, but these came right at the end of the novel, and were so minor that they are easy to overlook. Hopefully these hints will develop more in the next two books, because I loved those characters together!

The world-building in this novel was phenomenal. Although it was set on Earth the basic framework of the world had been changed in such an effectively way that it made this reality seem like our reality. I could picture where everything could fit into my life, what it would be like to have the Unwinding hanging over my head and what lengths I would go to survive. I think the thing that made this book most scary was the world it was, because Neal Shusterman didn't shy away from showing us the similarities of this world to ours. These similarities remind us that this world could be ours, and these characters could real people if the government was able to implement these ideals. Which is horrifying.

There is so much I could say about this book, but all I'm going to say is go read it! I regret putting this book off for so long, but at the same time I'm glad I did because it meant that my understanding of dystopian novels had developed more than when I was 10. Since then I read so many dystopian novels that I know what makes a good book, and this book is definitely one that will stand out to me for years to come.

Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne

Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne
Release Date: August 9, 2018
Pages: 397
Rating:💜💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at "normality" for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for her new friends, who are all dealing with their own battles. But as Olive settles in, she starts to wonder - maybe it's this messed up world that needs fixing, not them. And so she comes up with a plan. Because together, snowflakes can form avalanches...

TW: bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, OCD, rape, assault, basically all mental illnesses

Wow. What a book.

Every single book I've read by Holly Bourne has instantly become one of the best books I've read that year and this was no exception. Admittedly, this was the first book I read this year so it didn't have any competition but I can still tell that this book is probably going to be one of my favourites of the year.

I recently reread Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne so it was interesting to see how the mental illness rep differed in both books. Obviously both books were bound to be different as they were discussing different mental illnesses, but the way she talked about both illness was marginally different. In AINY? Bourne focuses on Evie getting better and her journey as she tries to face the world with OCD. But in AWALaS? it is clear that Olive doesn't want to 'fix' herself and is instead coming to terms with her mental illness. It was really interesting to see the two different ends of the stick, especially as both girls are trying to get better and find a way to cope with their illnesses.

This book is so brutally honest, which is something I've always admired in Holly Bourne. Olive's journey isn't a straight road to recovery and she most certainly isn't a likeable character all the time. But you see her struggles and you recognise them. She thinks she's a bad person and that reflects onto her choices. She is manic at times, doesn't think about other people's opinions and obsesses over tiny things, but she is also funny and supportive and a good friend. Holly Bourne shows both sides of Olive to tell the reader an important message: mentally ill people are still people. They have their quirks, sure, but at the end of the day they are just like everyone else.

Holly Bourne's writing style is also so perfect for the topics she writes about; the right amount of quirky and serious. The general tone of the book is light-hearted and fun, reading like a typical YA romance. And then you suddenly realise that you're reading about a girl having a mental breakdown and it shocks you. I felt immersed in the plot the entire time, especially as how fast-paced it is. I could have happily read another 300 pages of this book but at the same I thought it ended a the right time. She created a punch that was a hard enough to keep you shocked and soft enough to leave you satisfied.

As I said at the start of this review I think this going to be one of my favourite reads of the year. Not only that, but I think it possibly could be one of my favourite books of all time. The story was so beautifully constructed, with the characters becoming familiar friends within the first 50 pages. Holly Bourne know how to write a heart breaking book and I applauded her for that.

Bookish goals for 2019

The new year is here and with it comes all the goals I want to achieve. I usually don't set goals for myself as I like to go with the flow but I thought it would be fun to have some aims this year (especially as it means I can reflect on how badly I did at the end of this year).

I tried to keep this goals as general as possible so that I'm more likely to achieve them, as well as including a few about my social media and other bookish related goals. So a nice variety for this year!

Reading Goals

1- Read 52 books this year: 

This has been my goal for the last few years and I always manage to crush it, reading 100+ books. However, this year is a busy one for me, what with A-levels and university, so I'm not actually too sure if I'll even read 52. But a gal can dream!

2- Review every book I read:

Don't worry! You're not going to suddenly get an influx of reviews on here. I'm awful at reviewing books on Goodreads ( I think I reviewed about 30 books last year) so I'm going to try and change it this year...

3- Read more classics:
I tend not to read classics because I find them so hard to get into, but as an English Literature student I feel a sort of duty to read more classics. I'm aiming to read 12 classics this year (so one every month) in order to feel more educated.

4- Complete some reading challenges
I realise this is super vague and gives you no information whatsoever, but I have an entire page of my blog dedicated to the challenges that I want to complete this year, so instead of listing them all over again here I'm going to leave a link to that page here.

Social Media and other stuff

1- Post on this blog 4 times a week:

This is what I promised several times last year, but I've never been able to keep on top of that. Whilst on my Christmas holiday I've been able to create quite a large backlog of blog posts, so hopefully I'll be able to keep up my blog schedule for the whole year.

2- Try to revive my bookstagram:

Yep...my bookstagram has died several deaths so I'm going to try and revive it again this year. We'll see how that goes, especially as I'l be moving around a lot this year.

3- Complete NaNoWriMO:
I have never managed to do this. I always start with good intentions and then always forget about it within 3 days. This year I'm going to try and stay motivated throughout the entirety of November and aim to hit the 50,000 word goal! I might even write about it on the blog (if I remember).

 I think these goals will keep me pretty busy this year, both in my reading life and online life.
What are your goals for 2019? Are any of them similar to mine?
Let me know in the comments below!

And until next time, keep reading!

2018 Wrap-up aka lots of numbers and pictures!

The year is over and I can't believe it! It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting in my room typing out my 2017 wrap-up, scrolling through Goodreads and trying to work out the maths that I has no idea how to do.

This year I actually completely forgot that I would have to do a wrap-up post until the 28th so I decided to prioritise this post over my revision (because who needs A-levels anyway). Luckily, Goodreads has my back by collecting all my reading stats into one long list that I an put here.

Onto the stats!

Total Reading Stats

This year I aimed to read 52 books (one each week) and ended up reading 120 books

In total, I read 35,117 pages across these 120 books, with my longest book being 824 pages (Winter), and my shortest being 32 pages (The Penguin of Death).



Statistics

Number of books read: 120

Number of re-reads: 7 (!)

DNFs: 2

Genre you read the most from: Contemporary (which also includes adult romance novels)

Format you read from the most: Physical books I own

Considering I only read physical books at the moment I divided it up into books that I own and books that I got from elsewhere. I was surprised to discover that I'd borrowed 28 books from libraries this year, and I'm hoping to raise that number next year!

Best books of the year

• Under Rose-Tainted Skies: a sweet contemporary with good mental health rep where love doesn't save the main character. A better Everything, Everything.
• Since You've Been Gone: a fun summer read that has just the right amount of mystery threaded through it. Similar to Paper Towns, but with more lists and parties.
• The Long Forever: my most anticipated book for 2018, an action-packed sci-fi conclusion to the wonderful world created by Eugene Lambert. I'm just sad it's over!

Newly discovered authors

• Morgan Matson: I know I mentioned her above, but I read two of her books this year and loved both of them. I can't believe I put off reading her books for so long, but I'm going to try and read as many of her books as possible next year.
• Kasie West: another YA contemporary author who I had never even heard of before this year, but someone who I will be reading in 2019. Her books are the kind of thing you read when you need to feel good or get ready for the summer.
• Emily St John Mandel: I actually read her book, Station Eleven, for a university interview but ending up loving her writing style and wanting to read more from her. I got Last Night in Montreal for Christmas (link to my haul here) but I'm also planning on reading some of her other books in 2019.
• Neal Shusterman: I realised my list was very female heavy so I wanted to bring light to one of the male authors I discovered this year. Although I had owned his Unwind series for 4 years I didn't pick it up until November this year, but instantly fell in love with it and Shusterman's writing style.

Old authors I loved this year

(aka my most read authors)

• Ally Carter: I don't really know if she counts because I read an entire series by her this year, so I ended up reading 6 books by her.
• E. Lockhart: another author whose series I read this year, meaning I read 4 books by them.
• Lemony Snicket: I'm quite proud of this one because I re-read 4 books of his this year! Usually I don't have time to re-read because I am too focused on reading new books, but I was craving some unfortunate events.
• Jenny Colgan: I consider Jenny Colgan to be one of my favourite authors of all time, so I was delighted to discover that she was one of my most read authors this year, with 4 books of hers being on my list!

 

Other important bookish things

(There is a lot of fangirling coming up, so if you want to avoid that click off now!)

Only one exciting thing happened this year, but I was so overwhelmed by it that I feel like I have to share it with the world. 

So one of my favourite book series of all time, The Sign of One, had the last book released this year. Needless to say, I was very excited about it. But everywhere I looked I couldn't find it and I was beside myself with worry because the year before I had read and reviewed the book within two days of it being released. Which meant Eugene Lambert liked my review last year and I wanted it to happen again this year, but I had no way of getting the book.

Naturally, I posted all my struggles with getting this book onto Goodreads and who should respond by EUGENE FRICKIN' LAMBERT HIMSELF!

Which lead to a total meltdown and three very excited phone calls to my parents. And a lot of squealing.

And then I got the book (which was glorious by the way and you should totally go read this series). I bought it, read it and reviewed it within a day because of how excited I was by it. I was literally reading it under the desk in my classes because of how excited by it I was.

So once I'd reviewed it (which you read here) I was so happy when Eugene Lambert liked my review that I didn't even realise he had LEFT ANOTHER COMMENT ON MY REVIEW!!! HE HAD READ AND LIKED AND COMMENTED ON MY REVIEW!!!

I will admit I cried a little bit when I saw this because I was so happy and grateful that this author had chosen to look at what I had written about his book.

So yes. One exciting thing happened to me this year, but it was the most exciting thing that could possibly have happened to me so I am very very happy.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck around this long to read my crazy wrap-up. I hope you had a lovely 2018 and are looking forward to 2019. I'll see you all next year!

December Haul: all my Christmas goodies!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I'm back from my unofficial unplanned hiatus in which I had a breakdown about how much school work I have to do and then decided to ignore all of it in favour of watching the Shadowhunters TV series on Netflix. I promise you I am a functioning human being!

And what a better way o return than to talk about all the books that I got for Christmas and 100% don't have any time to read (but I'm going to read anyway because procrastination). This Christmas I got _ from various family members as well as a gorgeous record player which will probably make an appearance on my bookstagram at some point (casual self-promo, go follow musical books on Instagram).

Anyways...onto the books!


Rhett & Link's Book of Mythicality


I love Rhett and Link, and used to watch a Good Mythical Morning everyday before school. Now I'm more of a casual watcher but I still love all the content that they put and am so proud of everything that they have achieved together.

My family actually gives some presents on Christmas Eve, to keep up with our Austrian roots which I will admit that was a bad idea because I stayed up late into the night looking through this book!

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads




Ms Marvel: Generation Why


Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Amulet #8: Supernova

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads






Les Miserables (manga)

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

The Women's Atlas

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads







The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

One Million Lovely Letters

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads







The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Shadow Web by N.M. Browne

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads






Highly Illogical Behaviour by John Corey Whaley

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St John Mandel

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads





And the most beautiful book of all:

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Overall, I'm very happy with all the books I received this month, mainly due to the fact that I asked for them! I feel like my Christmas haul was quite diverse with books aimed at all different age groups and written in many different genres. There were a surprising amount of fantasy, considering I don't usually think of myself as a fantasy lover, but maybe that is a genre I will reach for more in 2019!

Which books did you receive this Christmas? Have you read any of the books on my list?
Let me know in the comments below!

And until next time, keep reading!