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! 

Letterbox Love #20

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

This is actualy a 4 week post. I didn’t have time before my holiday to post the haul, and I’ve been away for two weeks! Luckily I haven’t bought a lot of books. I did, however, have masses of books to pick up from my library. For such a small authority (only 16 libraries) they get really great teen books, and I am excited about lots of these. 

First up is You Don’t Know Me by Sophia Bennett. This sounds like a really fun book AND it has blue edges. Win! Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari also looks like a good summer read.

There are lots of YA action/thrillers this week, which is something I’m really pleased about. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga is about the son of a serial killer, and Bodyguard: Hostage by Chris Bradford features a 14-year-old professional bodyguard. 

Two books that sound quite sad are Heroic by Phil Earle and Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid. Both these books have gotten good reviews from fellow bloggers, so I’m very excited to read these. 

Shadow Runners by Daniel Blythe looks very similar to Alex Scarrow’s Timeriders series, so it intrigued me as this is a series I love. A book that I’ve had on my ebook shelf for a while is Hysteria by Megan Miranda. I ordered the paperback from my library to push myself to read it! 

Lastly, two adult chick fic books, to lighten the mood from all that hard hitting YA. Both authors I have read before, Country Loving by Cathy Woodman and Happy Families by Janey Fraser are books I will save for when I need a laugh. 

  I also got some books of my own. Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby was a book I ordered way back in Jan/Feb when Bloomsbury had a sale. Unfortunately the publication got delayed and I’ve only just received it! I couldn’t resist a trip to The Works where I snapped up Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I love this series and can’t wait till the third book comes out, which isn’t till 2014, so I will probably need to reread this nearer the release date. Even though I haven’t read Veronica Rossi’s first book yet, I decided to buy the second one, Through the Ever Night, as it is so cheap I didn’t want to miss out and I can always give it away if I don’t enjoy the first. I also picked up The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda as it sounded really cool. Having just looked on Goodreads, I think I may actually already have a copy of it but with a different cover. Damn those cover changes! 

I was lucky enough to win a giveaway for two signed Sarah Dessen books, What Happened to Goodbye and The Truth About Forever. I don’t think I have actually read any of her books, so this will be perfect in getting me started on her collection. Extra special thanks to Winterhaven Books for the giveaway, for signed books and for shipping it all this way for me! Thank you so much. 

 Now for those Ebooks:

I got an invitation to review Nowhere by Jon Robinson from Netgalley and Penguin. Described as a ‘fast-paced conspiracy thriller’ featuring teenagers locked inside a cube, I had to have it. Although the cover looks quite simple, I love the hands in the title! Its like the story is just seeping out the pages. Many thanks for the opportunity to read this 🙂

I love boarding school books, so The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani was a cert for me. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this.

A book that I have been waiting to come out for ages is Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris. I loved Unravelling (review here), so will try and fit this in soon! And I love the UK cover much more than the US 🙂 Thanks Netgalley and Harper Collins once more.

I couldn’t resist requesting a couple when I got back from holiday (I have no willpower, sue me). I adore the cover of Acid by Emma Pass, and I love action YA so I am really looking forward to this. Thanks for the speedy approval Random House!

It seemed like the whole world was getting proofs of Malorie Blackman’s Noble Conflict and I was itching to see what it was like. So when it popped up on Netgalley there was no hesitation before requesting! Many thanks Random House.

Happy Birthday To Me by Brian Rowe sounds like a funny and intriguing book about a boy who ages a year every day. Thanks to Brian for the Netgalley approval!

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! 

Letterbox Love #17

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! It’s scary the amount of books I got this week O..O

Firstly, on the 19th I went to a book event for Lauren Oliver, to celebrate the release of her new book Requiem. It was really lovely to hear her talk about her inspiration and how she writes. Although I’m sad the series has ended, I’m really excited to read more things by her. I had a nice catch up with Stacey of The Pretty Books and met Lucy from Choose YA. Special thanks to Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts and Daphne of Winged Reviews for keeping me company in the line! My lovely signed books:

So while in the queue, discussing books (naturally), Faye was gushing about the Eternity Cure, and I said I had never read any of Julie Kagawa’s books. I also haven’t read Divergent yet (I know!), and Faye mentioned that she found a copy in The Works, which for those of you who don’t have one, is basically a discount store where they have books and stationary and things. The books aren’t in any order, which is quite frustrating! So I visited a shopping centre yesterday, and (having already indulged in a couple of books in Waterstones) decided to pop in the Works to check out what they have. Here’s what I came out with:

I think I have a problem! In my defence, the books were 3 for £5, which means each book cost less than £2. At that price, how could I resist?!  

So I managed to find both of Faye’s recommendations; Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. I also picked up a couple of books that I have read before, but wanted for my collection. These were Extras and Specials by Scott Westerfeld and The Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks.

I also picked up some cute looking girly/contemporary YA. They had lots of Sara Shepard’s books, so I decided to get the first, Pretty Little Liars. The Pretty Commitee Strikes Back is actually the 5th in the series by Lisi Harrison, but was all they had so I decided to grab it! The Look by Sophia Bennett has pink edges. Need I say more.  Lucy Lord’s Revelry also looked a lot of fun, so it went in the basket.

The rest from the Works were just YA that I’ve heard about, or seen, and looked good! For that price, I think even if it is an okayish read, it’s worth it. Lots of people are talking about the sequel to Slide by Jill Hathaway, so I’m pleased I found the first one. Likewise with Pure by Julianna Baggott. The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Adorkable by Sarra Manning looked like cute, geeky books, something which I greatly enjoy! Last, but not least, Night School by CJ Daugherty, because I love boarding school books, and When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle, because it sounds like an epic romance, and goodness knows I need more of that in my life!

Blimey. So before this amazing trip I had already popped into Waterstones, where I picked up Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt and Insignia by SJ Kincaid, as part of their Waterstones Teen Shortlist offer. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini really took my fancy (psychiatric hospitals, yay!) and The Hit by Melvin Burgess was an impulse buy. It sounds amazing and the cover is SHINY. Ironically, I spent more in Waterstones (4 books) than in the Works (15 books). What madness.

Finally, in all the buying bonanza, I picked up one book from the library this fortnight! The Farm by Emily McKay is a vampire dystopian kind of book. I swear it was YA, but my library have shelved it in fantasy. Who knows.

Needless to say, this will keep me going for a good while! I totally blame Faye for making me going in there. And on payday! Recipe for disaster if I ever saw one 😉

And if you think I got off lightly on the ebook front, think again!  

I think someone at Random House must have been clicker-happy this week as I got approved for 4 books from them on Netgalley! Thanks you guys, I was very surprised for all the approvals, and they are all for amazing books, and ones that I really want to read.

Firstly, Itch Rocks by Simon Mayo, the second in his Itch series. I have read the first one, and thought it was a really good middle-grade sciencey actiony book. I have yet to write up my review, but I will try and get it up before I read this one!

Next is Fall Guy by Liz Reinhardt. This is the first in a NA romance series, a genre which I seem to be reading a lot of lately!

 

 

 

Next is a book I got sent an email about, and requested in straight away. Twerp by Mark Goldblatt is a bullying book, and you know how much I love those, so I’m looking forward to seeing how Mark tackles it.

And my last beauty from Random was The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles. This looks like such a cute contemporary, great at the end of a long day or maybe for the beach?

I also got approved for Storm by Evan Angler, thanks to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley. This is the third in a series; I have the second in ebook but unfortunately not the first. However, they all look really good so I will try and get hold of the first so I can start these!

Bloomsbury kindly gave me access to The Academy: Game On by Monica Seles. There is a surge of sports/romance/YA contemporaries at the moment, and this looked really cute. So much pink!

I also got approved on Edelweiss for Hopeless by Colleen Hoover. This has gotten really great reviews so I can’t wait to read it!

Last but certainly not least, Harper Collins gave me a copy of The Edge of Never to review. I have seen LOADS of reviews about this, and finally I get to see what all the fuss is about! It looks very 50 shades to be, but is marketed as NA so we’ll see how it goes!

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 I have a book-addiction problem? I’d love to hear from you!