Top Ten: Books I’ve Read in 2013 (so far)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. 

Today I am sharing with you the top ten (or eleven… shh) books I’ve read so far this year. These books weren’t necessarily published this year, and likewise there are some that were published this year but I read last year, so aren’t in this list. So, in no particular order: 

Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb: I know, I know, I keep raving about this book (check out my review here). But if you love geekiness, contemporary YA that will make you laugh and books from a teenage boy’s POV, then you HAVE to pick this up. Seriously.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa: I was convinced to read this by Daphne and Faye, and I’m so glad I did. The best vampire book I have read in a long while, I am dying to read the sequel as soon as I’ve written my review for this.

Losing It by Cora Carmack: My first big NA book, this set the standard for all future NA (one that not many other books meet, sadly). Funny and sexy, this book (and author) have quickly become one of my favourites (check out my review here). 

Every Seventh Wave by Daniel Glattauer: A sequel to one of my favourite books ever, it felt like I waited ages to read this! But it was oh so good, and definitely goes on my treasured shelf (see my review here).

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson: I read this one on holiday, and thinking back I really enjoyed it. Romance, heartbreak, friendship and sadness, this book was a real emotional rollercoaster.

                

Happy Families by Janey Fraser: I love how lighthearted Janey’s books are. I like reading about kids/parents, and the multiple points of view makes for lots of drama! 

You Don’t Know Me by Sophia Bennett: This was such a refreshing read. While tackling some issues, it was a fun, musical read that I just devoured. 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: You guys. I cannot express how much I adore this author. Like, when I eventually get to meet her, I am never going to let go. Her latest book, about fanfiction? NEED I SAY MORE.

            

You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane: I just adored this book, and I thought it was chick fic at its finest. 

Pivot Point by Kasie West: One of my favourite debuts of 2013 (check out my review here), Pivot Point has romance, drama and dual timelines! It sort of tested the whole idea of fate and destiny and I LOVED IT. 

Keeping You A Secret by Julie Peters: I loved this LGBT YA, and loved how it tackled girl/girl teen relationships. Definitely an author that I need to read more of. 

My list appears to be quite romance/contemporary heavy! Are there any action/thriller YA or middle grade that I’m missing? Leave me some recommendations! Do you agree/disagree with my choices? Link me to your TTT below! 

Top Ten: Books on my Summer 2013 TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. 

Today I’ve decided to highlight the top ten books on my physical TBR shelf that I will be reading over the summer. And I know it isn’t Tuesday, but I saw other people’s posts and thought it would be a good list to do! 

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger: I wanted to read this for the LGBT Readathon but didn’t get chance. I definitely want to read it before the film is released, and its only small so I’m hoping to slip this one in. 

Icons by Margaret Stohl: This is the first in a series which looks really exciting. It’s also a review copy from Harper Collins, so I want to get this one read soon.

Geekhood: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb: I ADORED Andy’s first book (review here), and I am really excited to read the sequel. Here’s hoping for lots more books by Andy, as he is a great writer.

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Colette Caddle: I plucked this from my library pile as a good summer read for the beach. I love a good, funny romance, and I hope this lives up to my expectations.

Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne:  Everyone has been raving about this and Tanya’s next book, and I feel like I missed the train slightly! So I am trying to catch up by reading this.

From What I Remember by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas: I wanted to take this book on holiday but it just missed the cut! Described as The Hangover for teens, this looks like a lot of fun.

The Look by Sophia Bennett: I recently read Sophia’s latest book (You Don’t Know Me) and really loved it. Luckily I had scooped up this one in The Works (I know, right?!) a couple of weeks ago, AND it has pink edges! ❤

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt: I’ve heard lots of good things about this book, and I love ‘issue’ fiction, which I’ve heard it described as, so it sounds like a perfect UKYA read for me! 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan: Another book leftover from the LGBT Readathon, I STILL have only read one John Green book, and this needs to change! I’m also hoping to go to a David Levithan event in October so would like to read more of his books too.

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen: This just sums up ‘summer read’ completely. I’ve never read a book by Sarah Dessen but I am eager to delve into her contemporaries as they all sound amazing! 

So there you have it folks! Which of these would you recommend (or not?!) ? What books are on your TBR pile this summer? Is there anything I’ve forgotten that I shouldn’t miss out on? Let me know! 

Book Review: Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind

Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind

by Andy Robb

Published: June 2012 by Stripes Publishing

Version: Paperback bought myself

Rating: 4.5 Sofas

If you haven’t worked it out yet, girls don’t do this. They don’t come to the Hovel. They don’t like goblins and dragons. They don’t paint miniatures. They don’t play role playing games or re-enact fictional battles. And they don’t talk to Geeks like me especially if they’re pretty. And this girl is pretty. What do you do if you’re a fourteen-year-old Geek, and a Beautiful Girl has appeared in the midst of your geeky world? And she seems to like you… For Archie, the natural reaction would be to duck and cover … run for the hills … buy a new model elf… Anything but risk stepping into the Real World. But even Geeks have to put their heads above the parapet at some point. With his mum barely able to contain her excitement that her son is about to join the human race, and his step-father, Tony the Tosser, offering crass advice, it’s time for Archie to embark on a daring Quest to win the Beautiful Girl’s heart and shake off his Geekhood for good…

Something that always makes me like or remember a book more is when the author is nice. I was lucky enough to catch Andy at a book signing about a month or so ago. Although I hadn’t read the book at the time, we spent ages chatting about the book and he didn’t hate me for not having read it! Although I was a bit nervous in case I didn’t like it, I had actually bought the book before reading any reviews about it. I know it was shortlisted for the Waterstones Childrens Book Award last year, but I’m not one to generally follow award lists so this certainly wasn’t a deciding factor. Thus for me to have bought it, the blurb and cover must have really convinced me that I was going to enjoy the book.

Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed. Told from a 14-year-old boy’s point of view, Geekhood gives a real insight into the mind of a teenage boy. And not just any adolescent; a geek. Oh the struggles of a geek! Bullied by the cool kids, embarassing parents, geeky hobbies and first conversations with girls- Geekhood has it all.

When I met Andy we talked a bit about the cover and I commented how much I loved the artwork and typography, and how it stands out. And I am SO pleased that the cover matches the book entirely. Quirky and funny, this book had me in giggles the whole way through. There are parts where I was just shouting at Archie in frustration, but I cannot complain, because boys can really be that stupid. 

I also loved the addition of the role playing world into the book. A world not often (if ever) highlighted in novels, it was interesting to learn more about figure painting and game playing. 

The only disappointment I had is that I read this book on holiday and didn’t take the second with me. Don’t make my mistake; have the second one ready, because no doubt you will want to devour that upon finishing this one. I am proud to own this book and declare myself as a fellow geek. I know that Geekhood will be a book I will reread over and over again, and is definitely one of my go-to books for a laugh. I cannot wait to delve into the second one, and will do so the first chance I get! 4.5 sofas 🙂 

Letterbox Love #19

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

Welcome to my 2-week haul post! 

Firstly, lots of goodies from the library this fortnight. Starting with Slated and Fractured by Teri Terry. I loved Slated, but read it so long ago I can’t remember what happens. So I will be having a double read to remind myself. Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher was the winner of the Waterstones’ Childrens Book Prize, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod is an adult book that sounds quite dystopian. I had taken out the hardback, but when I saw my library was getting a paperback I decided to put my name down for that instead. They are just so much easier to handle. The Baby Diaries by Sam Binnie is a book that my mum enjoyed, and I love a good girly book (especially about babies), so I ordered this one. A book that I very nearly bought a couple of weeks ago in Waterstones is Unremembered by Jessica Brody. It sounds a bit like the TV show ‘Lost’, which I adored, so I’m looking forward to checking this out. The last library book is ‘Boy Meets Boy‘ by David Levithan, ordered for the LGBT marathon hosted by Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts. I don’t think I’ve every read any of his books, though a few are on my TBR list, such as Every Day.

Books that I received this week include New Girl by Paige Harbison and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I won these from Becky at Becky’s Barmy Book Blog for her Spring Clean giveaway. I really loved The Immortal Rules, so I’m excited to see what Julie’s other series is liked. I’m really enjoying Mira Ink’s books at the moment, so fingers crossed for this and New Girl. Becky was kind enough to throw in some bookmarks and badges too which was really sweet. And did I mention the Julie Kagawa is hardback? And glittery! *drools* Thanks very much Becky 🙂

The second and third Metawars books by Jeff Norton, The Dead are Rising and Battle of the Immortal, were sent for review from Rebecca at Hachette. I really enjoyed the first book but wanted more from the characters, so I’m excited to hopefully see their development in the next two! Thanks very much Rebecca for these shiny beauties.

Last week I was luckily enough to meet Andy Robb, author of Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind and Geekhood: Mission Improbable. Shamefully, I have yet to read the first book, even though I got in in my birthday haul early this year. Luckily, Andy forgave me (I think!) and signed both books (I had with me the first, and bought the second there). He was really lovely, and perhaps one of the nicest, most natural authors I have ever met. We talked for ages, and yet it still felt like I could talk more. From publishers to cover design, blogging and holidays, you name it. He was very nice, which made me feel extra guilty for not having read his books!

While in Waterstones, I also picked up Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. I really want to read all of John Green’s books, so owning them is a good start. Oh, and my copy of Geography Club by Brent Hartinger finally came! This is also for Faye’s readathon. I was surprised at how small the book is, but I want to read it before the film is released, so it serves a double purpose 🙂

Ebooks:

Thanks to Netgalley and Open Road Media for Being Henry David by Cal Armistead and When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon.

 

 

 

I’m taking part in the blog tour for Animate Me by Ruth Clampett, so look out for my review in a few weeks! The cover is so adorable.

Love is a Thief by Claire Garber is a book I’ve had my eye on for a while. So thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for this!

And last, but certainly NOT least, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell!!! Although this book isn’t released till September, someone tweeted on Thursday evening that it was on Netgalley. Two minutes later, I had requested it, and thinking about the agony of waiting for the approval/denial. But then when the same person (I can’t remember who!) said they had been approved, it cued my frantic email refreshing. And I did get approved! And I finished it last night. WHAT A WHIRLWIND. St Martin’s Press, I owe you my heart for letting me read this, and approving so quickly.

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile? Do you think its shameful to go to an author event without having read their book(s)? I’d love to hear from you! 

Letterbox Love #11

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

An impressive haul this week 😀 It was my birthday yesterday, so a trip to Waterstones was a must! First the library love: 

‘The Sky Is Everywhere‘ by Jandy Nelson is on my to-read list. So if I physically hold the book, there’s more chance of me reading it….right? This is the only book I collected this week as I am trying very hard to get my library pile down!

Now for ebooks! I was extremely excited to get my first Edelweiss acceptance this week, and it seems HarperCollins must love me! I got accepted for ‘Period 8‘ by Chris Crutcher, ‘Mila 2.0‘ by Debra Driza, ‘Pivot Point‘ by Kasie West and ‘Pretty Girl-13‘ by Liz Coley. All four are books I have heard lots about and sound AMAZING so I am extremely grateful! I had to resist starting Mila 2.0 last night, as I have a couple of others that need to come first. Much much love for Harper Collins though, as this was a wonderful gift. *Swoons*

         

Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for ‘Speechless‘ by Hannah Harrington. It feels like this book has been on my to-read list FOREVER so I was really pleased to get this. It sounds very gripping, and I’m sure I will devour it! 

I was also quite shocked to get accepted for ‘Warm Bodies‘ by Isaac Marion. Thanks to Netgalley and Random House. I was a bit unsure about this one but there is a lot of hype so it made me intrigued. I never usually get accepted by Random House so it is much appreciated!

And now for the ones I bought! This is quite bad of me, but there are soooooo many new books out there that I want to read, and many that my local library doesn’t have. In my defence, I got some in the sale, and most of the others were buy one, get one half price. I had no choice! So here are the ones I bought yesterday:

Yay for John Green! I adored ‘A Fault in Their Stars’, so I grabbed the opportunity to read another of his novels. And the cover for ‘Looking For Alaska‘ is so pretty! I had a bit of a dilemma between this and ‘an Abundance of Katherines’, but I hope I made the right choice. I also picked up ‘City of Shadows‘ by Alex Scarrow (Time Riders 6) as I have some of the other Timeriders so this will go nicely with my collection.

I also took advantage of this trip to pick up ‘Love Virtually‘ by Daniel Glattauer. I am totally in love with this book, and its sequel ‘Every Seventh Wave, which I reviewed earlier this week here. I implore you to read it!

Two that I picked up that I haven’t read before are ‘From What I Remember‘ by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas and ‘Partials‘ by Dan Wells. The first just sounded really fun, a good beach read, and like it might have some laughs too! Conversely, I wanted ‘Partials’ as it sounded like a good dystopian novel. And I think you can never have too many of them in your life! 

Never ending books, hehe. ‘Second Chance Summer‘ by Morgan Matson was I book I was/am really looking forward to. I love reading books about illness and such things, especially YA, so this is really up my street. I chose ‘Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind‘ by Andy Robb firstly for its quirky cover, and because its always fun to read a boy’s perspective on girls. I think everyone should read books once in a while that make them smile, and this looks like that type of book!

Finally ‘Before I Die‘ by Jenny Downham (already read), ‘Perfect Chemistry‘ by Simone Elkeles and ‘Perfect Match‘ by Jodi Picoult because who can resist a bargain! Yay for sale books! And because of my book buying excellence, a £10 voucher from the lovely people at Waterstones for spending so much money. What an excuse to buy more books…. 

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile? I’d love to hear from you!