Top Ten Tuesday - Books On My Syllabus

As it's a Tuesday, I wanted to start taking part in The Broke and Bookish weekly book tag. This week is to list 'The Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught _______ 101' (such as fantasy, classics, world-building etc.). As a sucker for all things lovey-dovey, cute and down-to-earth, I decided to pick my top ten contemporaries. These books that I listed below also happen to be some of my all time favourite books as contemporary is easily my favourite genre when it comes to reading. They are kind-of in a particular order of preference, but it's very difficult to judge exactly which are my favourites as they're all so good to me. There are a few that are listed as the entire series because I just wanted to count them as one.

But without further ado, here are my:

Top Ten Books(/series) That Would Be On Your Syllabus If You Taught:

1. Anna and the French Kiss Trio By Stephanie Perkins

2. Confessions of Georgia Nicolson By Louise Rennison
Yep. ALL of them. 'The Misadventures of Tullulah Casey' are also hilarious and brilliant.

ALL OF THEM

3. Winger By Andrew Smith

All the feels with this one

4. Fangirl By Rainbow Rowell

Although, any Rainbow Rowell book can easily qualify, 'Fangirl' is just more adorable and relatable.

5. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour By Morgan Matson

'Since You've Been Gone' is also a easy contender, but I kinda preferred this one.

6. Any John Green Book

An obvious choice when it comes to contemporary. I can never choose a favourite so I listed them all.

7. The Rosie Project By Graeme Simsion

First adult contender on the list. So much love for this book. Let's just not mention the sequel though.

8. Lobsters By Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison

This unexpectedly turned into one of my favourite books ever. Also, lobsters on the cover seems to be a common theme...

9. I've Got Your Number By Sophie Kinsella

Another adult one, such an emotional rollercoaster

10. Jill Mansell's Books

Maybe not all of them, but most the books I've read by her don't usually fail to make me go 'awwwwwww' 

Go Check out The Broke and the Bookish and join in the Top Ten Tuesday Fun!

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Lobsters Book Review

Lobsters

By Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison

Review

(Can also be found on my Goodreads)

I'm a sucker for YA contemporaries.

Sometimes all I want to read are stories with relatable and quirky awkward characters.

This is one of those. And I loved it

It also happens to be a very unexpected gem of a book. I bought it on a whim, which is something I just can't help myself doing, this time it paid off. 

It was the tagline that really sold it for me, making me want to read it as soon as I got my hands on it:

 "A socially awkward love story"

I did have some kind of hope that I was in for something good when I saw this. Just made it seem like the perfect read for me. And it certainly didn't disappoint.

Sam and Hannah are two awkward teenage virgins that can't seem to get love right. They are desperate to make the last summer before leaving for uni special, on a hunt for 'the one'. Embarrassing and just down-right comical events follow, I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times when reading this.

"'Still, there's nothing better feeling than sorting your tax out and then kicking back with a bit of Pink Floyd. Am I right?'"

I keep using the word 'awkward' to describe every aspect of this book... 

...but it's all awkward in such a good way.

The characters themselves were all so loveable. I enjoyed reading from both Sam and Hannah's point of view. I think it would have been a lot less interesting if we only got to see the story unfold from just the one perspective. It was so cute to see them think such similar things and have mini conflicts with themselves, which I think every teenager would feel in the same situation, making them so much more realistic.

The secondary characters were also full of life. Each had their own quirky mannerisms but each shared common interests that made their friendships more believable. Stella was a character that, despite her flaws, grew on me because of her loyalty towards her friends. I think that deep down she's just a big softie that would put her friends before anything else.

"Something in my voice stopped Stella in her tracks. She nodded and held my hand and we left."

I find books like this so easy and fun to read because of how light-hearted and cute it was. It doesn't deal with many serious matters, the characters face problems such as losing their virginity and having the same dress as their friends. Little things that almost everyone deals with and may seem big and important at the time, but are only small when looked back on.

But that's what makes it so enjoyable to read about for me

It's so relatable and innocent. Makes me reminisce about my own experiences with growing up, from the fun times with friends, to stressful times with education.  And being set in the UK was great because it's actually rare to find books  about teenagers going to University as opposed to an American College. I need more books like this in my life.

It's quickly turning into one of those books I just can't stop thinking about. I need something similar to fill in the void that this book left... 

I just.. can't.

IT WAS SO GOOD 

Rating:

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*The copy I read was an uncorrected proof copy from 2014*

The 2015 Reading Challenge August Update

Back on the 31st of December 2014, I randomly came across the 2015 reading challenge list for the first time on Popsugar. It was that moment that I decided to tackle this and I was so excited to get started. 

Now it's August of 2015 - yep already it's August! - and I hadn't looked at the challenge list in a long time. I thought, as it's over halfway through the year - crazy I know! - that I would take a look at my progress through each challenge and what books I would need to read in the remaining months to complete the task - which I am still determined to do.

The Challenges - Where I Got The List From

I found that a lot of the challenges are quite broad, so can be completed easily. Such as 'a book you started but never finished', which can apply to a lot of books for me as I tend to start books then move onto another one without completing the first one. 

So far, I have approximately completed 25 of the 50 challenges, which is exactly halfway to the goal.

There are some very specific challenges that I haven't yet completed, so I need to think a little more ahead. I wanted to list down the books I plan on reading to complete some of the challenges I haven't touched on yet so I could prepare. 

Below are some of the books I plan on completing before the end of 2015 and the challenges they would fulfil:

A Mystery or Thriller

The Girl With All The Gifts 
By M. R. Carey 

I have already started reading some of this already but not quite sure how I feel about it yet. It is packed with mystery, as I'm never quite sure what is going on.. but for me that is a bit of a flaw because I haven't got hooked enough on the story and other books just seem to get in the way and distract me from continue on with it. But I will eventually, I'm sure. 

I manage to acquire a number of mysteries/thrillers somehow. They always end up staying on my TBR shelves for a long time though because I never seem to be in the right mood to get and read them, so I do have a few options for this challenge...

Gone Girl 

By Gillian Flynn

...'Gone Girl' is a great example of this. I've had this book for ages. And I am determined to eventually read it. I know it's about a man who is accused of something to do with his wife's disappearance and I've heard good things about both the novel and the film adaptation.. I just need to get on with it. I can't say thrillers are really my thing though, so I'm never in the mood to start it. But I'm gonna make sure I definitely do at some point because I have a feeling I will enjoy it when I finally give it a chance. 

A Pulitzer Prize Winning Book

 

All The Light We Cannot See

By Anthony Doerr

I actually didn't know what this was about at all when I first bought it, I just knew it has been getting some very good reviews. I now know it revolves around a girl in Paris and a orphan boy from Germany that then cross paths after the Nazis invade Paris. Wells that's what I can work out from the synopsis and it does sound intriguing. And can we just take a long moment to admire how beautiful this cover it. 

Just wow.

I own both this and 'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt, which is also a Pulitzer Prize winner, so I do have a couple of options with this challenge. But at 755 pages long, The Goldfinch is a lot more daunting. 

A Book At The Bottom Of Your TBR

Infinite Days

By Rebecca Maizel

I bought this book so many years ago, I can't even remember why or where I got it. I have a feeling this was during the Twilight hangover phase that everyone seemed to have, when all we craved was books about vampires.  But I think it has lost it's appeal now and I haven't gotten round to read it because I own so many other books that I actually do want to read.

A Book With Antonyms In The Title

Inside Out 

By Maria V. Snyder

I can't say I know much about this book, I think I bought it cheap on a whim hoping I would find it interesting. As far as I know it's a dystopian style YA book that's been compared to Uglies and The Hunger Games because of it's rebellion/revolution elements. I am kind of excited to get into it, but the average-at-best reviews that I've come across have just put me off it so far. 

I don't currently own many other books that actually include antonyms in the title, so it's either this or 'A Great and Terrible Beauty' by Libba Bray that I plan on reading.

A Book More Than 100 Years Old

Peter Pan

By J. M. Barrie

First published in 1902, Peter Pan is a story I already love, but I have yet to read the book where it all began. I've heard that it's brilliant so I can't wait to get my hands on it and finally read it. I consider this to be a classic and I don't think I've ever actually properly read a classic so it will be a rare new experience for me.

A Book That Came Out The Year You Were Born

Northern Lights (The Golden Compass)

By Phillip Pullman

Born in 1995, I tried to look for books that were released during this year and there  doesn't seem to be many other options other than this. I've never seen the film adaptation nor have had any interest in watching it, so when I purchased the book, I knew next to nothing about the plot. And even now, as I read through the synopsis on Goodreads, I still have no clue. It revolves around an orphan searching for a missing friend in the Arctic? It's a middle grade fantasy, so it shouldn't be too difficult to follow once I actually start reading it. 

So those are just some of the many books I need to read before the end of the year if I want to complete this beast of a challenge. There are loads of the challenges that I haven't even started to consider what I will read to accomplish them, while others are actually quite simple. It's still possible though, with four and a half months left. 

I betta get reading...

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Paper Towns Book Review

Paper Towns 
By John Green 
Review
(can also be found on my Goodreads)

"'Tonight, darling, we are going to right a lot of wrongs. And we are going to wrong some rights.'"

I first read paper towns back in 2014, but to be honest, I can't actually remember much about it. As the film adaptation is soon to be released in the UK, I had to give it a quick re-read to refresh my memory.

My gosh I'm so glad I did

I don't remember it being this so damn good. 

John Green is brilliant. That is something I always conclude after reading his books. His intelligence and knowledge about people and the world is so evident through his language and story development. It can get quite hard-hitting and really makes you think. Even the police man is trying to teach the readers a life lesson.

"'...at some point, you gotta stop looking up at the sky, or one of these days you'll look back down and see that you floated away too.'"

My copy of the book has just so many post-it notes in because of all the brilliant quotes I discovered. 

 Every character has so much depth, and they have moments that are entertaining as well as other moments that were so insightful and thought-provoking, it was a brilliant balance of emotions throughout. 

"Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one."

I couldn't not include this quote in my review. It sums up the book so well, and the way it's phrased is beautiful.

The protagonists are such strong characters. Margo is a mystery. She's a mystery to the reader as well as to her friends and family. It's one of the reasons she's so brilliant.

"'I'm a big believer in random capitalisation. The rules of capitalisation are so unfair to words in the middle.'"

 My main appeal to her is the way she talks, especially to Quentin. She can be so random and quirky most the time, and then so philosophical and cryptic as well.

"'...All those paper people living in paper houses, burning the future to stay warm.'"

And I love the road-trip element. A good road trip book is always appreciated and this one definitely included some lovely quirky characters that seemed to have a swell old time on the road. 

The relationship between Q, Radar and Ben was brilliant. It was so realistic and believable  how they interacted and bonded mainly through the internet, gaming and high school related dramas such as prom and 'honeybunnys'.

"In our conversation, he used the phrase 'the world's largest collection of black santas' four times, and I laughed each time." 

Its not everyday that you read things like that 

My only fault or disappointment in the book was toward the end. It seemed to build up so much then conclude quite suddenly. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a bit more from the secondary characters because they just kinda disappeared. There does seem to be a lack of a proper conclusion to Q's adventure, I do just want to know more.

I can't wait for the film. I can only imagine that Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne will do a brilliant job of portraying the wonderful Margo and Q. 

Hopefully a film review will be on it's way soon!

Rating:

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Book-Tube-A-Thon 2015! The Books Reviewed!

So that went quick.

It's over for another year. Gone. Done. 

It's time to look back at how I did over the week. 

It wasn't the best, let's be honest...

I knew it was going to be hard to live up to last year's brilliant attempt. I was busy almost every day and I wasn't left with much time to read. But what did I manage to complete? Did I achieve any of the challenges?

Book One 
The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket 
By John Boyne




Review 
(can also been found on my Goodreads)



How Lovely 

For an impulse buy, this was such an unexpected treat. A beautiful book with lovely illustrations and a beautiful story about an 8 year old boy who is proud to be different.

"...proving himself to be anything but normal by refusing to obey the most fundamental rule of all. The law of gravity." 

The story was so quirky and John Boyne's writing was so charming, it made me smile through the whole of Barnaby's adventures. There was a whole cast of different characters that Barnaby meets along the way, that are all different in their own lovely ways which was good to see.

"Barnaby Brocket would be sliced in two. And unfortunately for him, that's exactly what happened. Don't worry - it didn't."

Oh John how you worried me for a moment there 

Barnaby as a character was adorable. He comes across as a very innocent child, but not in a way that makes it annoying. He may not know a huge amount about the world and a lot of the time I found myself feeling sorry for him - especially at the beginning when he was with his family - but he was still strong and so positive about everything.

"'I'm not a freak! I'm Barnaby Brocket!'"

Overall, it was a very quick read, left me feeling happy. It was so unrealistic but magical, John Boyne does an excellent job of making you believe in yourself a bit more and keep positive and the added quirkiness is exactly what I love about the story.  

Rating:

Completing this book actually fulfilled a number of the weekly challenges:

• Read a book with blue on the cover
• Read  a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name 
• Read the last book you acquired

Book Two

The Princess Diaries (#1)
By Meg Cabot



Review
(can also been found on my Goodreads)





...Hm

I don't know if i'm just too old for this kind of stuff now or what because I just couldn't get into this at all... 

I enjoyed the films a lot, but this is very different to both the films and what I was expecting. There are obviously still so many similarities, I was able to follow the basic story-line very easily because of the resemblances, and I already knew a bit about practically all the characters.

The book version of Mia was my main concern throughout. She's so naive and can be quite childish a lot of the time. I know she's only a teenager so can relate. But she does have so much growing up still to do, I can only hope that she improves (and quickly) as the series continues.

The way Mia narrated her story was also quite confusing. She wrote her experiences about coming to terms with being the princess of Genovia in her journal, which I presume she took almost everywhere she went. But what I couldn't understand is why people she interacted with didn't ever questions or mentions that she takes it everywhere. I feel like at least someone would wonder and ask her about what she's been writing about all this time.

"I'm going to have to leave this book here..."

Does she really need to write this down? And why does it need to be mentioned in the first place. Sometimes she seems to be writing directly to someone, other times it's just a account of her daily routines. The jumbled mix between the two just confuses me 

 Mia seems to like to write in random tangents. She mentions and talks about pointless stories that don't really contribute anything to the main plot. And my gosh, does she like to complain about a lot of things, she just gets way to dramatic, even for a princess.

Maybe I am just picking holes. I didn't hate it at all, I just found it difficult. I do want to continue with the series in hope that Mia will become more bearable. Although maybe I am just getting too old for this type of series, wish I would have gotten to it sooner.

Rating:

I did try and attempt the 'finish a book without letting go of it' challenge with this, as it was so short, but I don't think the story quite kept me entertained enough to carry around with me everywhere...

So overall, this years Book-Tube-A-Thon was a bit of a fail for me. I actually completed two books the day after it finished, which I reviewed elsewhere. 

Bring on the next Read-A-Thons, I can only hope that I will do slightly better when I have a less busy week and more time to actually read.

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