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! 

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! 

Book Review: Every Seventh Wave

 

 

 

Every Seventh Wave (Love Virtually #2)

by Daniel Glattauer

Publisher: SilverOak

2013 Challenges: Goodreads, 150+

 

 

The eagerly awaited sequel to “Love Virtually”–2011’s wittiest, most compelling love story. “”How will this go on, Leo? The same as before? But where will it go? Nowhere, just on. You live your life, I live mine. And the rest we’ll live together.” ” “Love Virtually” ended as Leo abruptly departed for a new life in the United States, determined to end once and for all the intense cyber-exchange that threatened Emmi’s marriage and his own happiness. But shouldn’t these unconventional lovers–intimates who have never met in person–get another chance? 

Have you ever had a love affair with a book? Yes there are books I love, and hate when they end. And there are those select few that I can read again and again and it will never be enough.
Before I read it I knew (hoped) that ‘Every Seventh Wave‘ by Daniel Glattauer would join that collection. Before I go on I must warn you that this book is the sequel to Love Virtually. I will try and avoid spoilers but I can’t promise anything!

I can’t express in words how much I adore this book. For the style alone, it is amazing. It is laid out as a series of email communications,  and only emails. As such, the banter between Emmi and Leo made me fall in love with them both. We only know as much as the other person knows.  This can be frustrating at times when we are dying to know what happened off email, but I think this is so realistic it just works! Everyone has experienced a moment when they haven’t got a reply to a text or an email, and spend their time frantically refreshing the page. And this is exactly the feeling Emmi has when Leo doesn’t reply, or vice versa.

I can’t really talk about the story without revealing what happened in the first book, but I can say this is an amazing love story that leaves you on the edge of your seat. It is translated from German, and whoever did the translation deserves a medal because it reads so well. The first book ended very abruptly, and left me screaming for more! I have eagerly anticipated this novel since the moment I turned the last page of Love Virtually. Unfortunately for me, the UK publication got delayed, but luckily one of my good friends ordered a copy from the lovely Americans for me! 

I cannot recommend this book enough, to anyone who likes an unconventionally written love story. Not just a romance; this is a book you will fall in love with again and again. Oh, and apparently the first book was read on Radio 4 with David Tennant?! Definitely a reason to go and find it now! I will leave you with this quote, and my excessive swooning.

“In any case, you could never be lost to me. I have so much of you within me. I’ve always considered that to be an asset. Every sensory impression of Emmi is a bonus. For me, saying good-bye to you means no longer thinking of you, and no longer feeling anything. Believe me, I’m nowhere near saying good-bye.”

Letterbox Love #10

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

My haul covers the last 2 weeks, because I didn’t have time to post last week! I really will catch up soon, I promise. A quick trip to the library first:

I’m gonna try and order at least 1 book a week from the library that I have been meaning to read for ages. This will help towards my challenges I am trying to complete in 2013, and also hopefully help me to catch up with books that I’ve missed. My first one is ‘The Catastrophic History of You and Me‘ by Jess Rothenberg. I’ve heard lots of people talking about it, and hopefully it will be a worthwhile read. 

‘Every Time We Say Goodbye‘ by Colette Caddle was an impulse pickup, because it has been raining all week and so I fancied a beach read. ‘My Ideal Bookshelf‘ is not so much a book, but a compilation of celebrities talking about books. But it looked so pretty, I had to have it. 

The AMAZING science earrings and ‘Every Seventh Wave‘ by Daniel Glattauer were gifted to me for Christmas. If you haven’t read ‘Love Virtually’ then I implore you too, because it is brilliant. I have been waiting for this for ages, but it’s translated from the German and I think publication got delayed, but my friend managed to get a copy from America, thank god! This is already in my bag ready for when I go back to work Wednesday, and I can’t wait! Finally I won ‘A Working Theory of Love‘ by Scott Hutchins from Waterstones for a random review.  It’s not a title I picked, but we’ll see how it goes! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for ‘Love, Water, Memory‘ by Jennie Shortridge. I love reading books with interesting characters with disability, disorders or something that makes them different. The leading character in this book has amnesia, which instantly grabbed my attention! 

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!