The Sunday Post #21

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

I’m currently on a mini hiatus, as I mentioned before, so this is a scheduled post! I start my new job tomorrow, on Monday, and it’s my first full time job after graduating uni last summer. So, I’m going to be quite busy. But fear not, I should be back in a week or two, hopefully with my review of Morning Star.

Now, here are the posts from this week and the week before, as I haven’t done a Sunday Post in a while:

• Waiting On Wednesday: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
• My Top 5 YA Books From My Early Teens
• Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
• Another Little Update (But a Happy One This Time)

On Monday I finished An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, and you can find my review above. I really did enjoy it and I loved Elias and also Helene’s complexity. However, there were a few standout flaws, and whilst my enjoyment won out overall, I couldn’t ignore the problems. Still, I really look forward to getting my hands on the sequel.

Now, I’m onto Morning Star, the final book in the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown. I loved the first two books and they were pretty much faultless. Thankfully, Morning Star is turning out to be the same. Whilst I struggled to remember all the characters and everything that had happened at first, I’m now back into the flow of the story and I’m loving it. Seriously, this is one of the best mature YA series out there. Even if you’re not into Sci-Fi, I highly recommend you give this series a go as it’s so complex and really character driven, with an amazing plot to boot.

After that, I’m thinking of reading YA Contemporary How Not To Disappear. After the brutality of both An Ember in the Ashes and Morning Star, I think I’ll be needing something a little more lighthearted.

The last few months I’ve been listening to a lot of Novo Amor. It’s the moniker of a Welsh singer-songwriter and his music sounds quite similar to Bon Iver. So if you like slightly melancholic but melodic indie folk rock, then you’ll like this song: 

The Sunday Post #19

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

I’m sorry that it’s been another week where I’ve been pretty absent. However, I’m here to update you.

The last two weeks I was busy due to being horrendously ill, my boyfriend visiting, my Dad’s birthday and my job at Lush.

But this week? Well, my room is being completely redone now that I’ve moved home again permanently from uni. Last time I had my room done I was about 5 so it’s in desperate need of a makeover. So I’ve been busy with that, but also…

We’re adopting a cat!

She’s only a year old but has had a very rough start in life. Her owner neglected her and pretty much left her to fend for herself. She’s also had one litter of kittens already and miscarried a second litter. But now she’s hopefully going to have a much better life with us! We’re picking her up on the 15th and I am so excited!

So yes, I’ve been busy with my room and a cat. And because I don’t want my hamster to feel like he’s not getting any love, here’s an autumnal photo shoot of him (he’s a poser):

Anyway, enough about my animal obsession, here’s the posts from this week:

• Let’s Wrap: October
• My Most Anticipated November Book Releases

I’m still reading my ARC of Gilded Cage by Vic James. I haven’t read since Tuesday and I’m having withdrawal symptoms! But this book is really great so far.

And for the last billion years, I’ve been telling you all that oh I’m definitely going to read A Darker Shade of Magic next… But Gemina is calling my name. I even had a dream about it. A dream about a book I haven’t read. I think it’s a sign.

Anyway, we’ll see.

I also have a few posts planned! It’s just about finding the time to write them at the moment as next week is going to be even busier, especially since I’m visiting my boyfriend at the weekend. So please just bear with me! Normal service will resume in a couple of weeks, I promise.

INHEAVEN are a band I’ve been keeping tabs on for a little while now. I really like their sound – it’s a little punky – and I’m hoping they release something full-length in the near future. ‘Bitter Town’ is my favourite song. Check them out here:

The Sunday Post #17

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

I’ve missed a few Sunday Posts recently but I’m back to update you all! I’ve been working and sorting out my life, looking at what I want to do career-wise. Of course, I want to be a published author someday, and I’m getting closer to finishing my book with only ten chapters left to go! (And then the inevitable editing). However, I need to do something in the mean time in case I never manage to get published, so I’m thinking of training to be a secondary school English teacher. I’ll just have to see how it goes.

However, I did discover recently that I am one of the shortlisted authors for the HG Wells Short Story Competition in the 21 and under category which is so amazing! My story will be published and I’ll be finding out who won at an awards ceremony in November. Even if I don’t win, I’ll still be over the moon that I’ve been shortlisted. I haven’t had anything published or won any writing competitions since I was 16 and it’s just so great to get back into it and for my work to still be doing well!

Anyway, enough about me. Here are the posts from this week:

• It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #1
• Waiting On Wednesday: Scythe by Neal Shusterman
• Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

This week, I finished Six of Crows and I adored it, especially Nina, one of my favourite characters I’ve come across in a while, and the Peaky Blinders feel to Kaz and the criminal underworld.

Now I’m onto my books for the Halloween Read-A-Thon and I just started I Am Legend today. I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s quite different from the film, but I expected that. There’s something more sinister about the zombie-ish vampires in the book, which I didn’t quite think was possible.

After that, I’m onto my second book of the Halloween Read-A-Thon, which is YA psychological horror The Dead House. I’ve heard mostly good things about it so fingers crossed!

In terms of my blog, I’m having a bit of writers block with my posts, I think because I’ve just been worrying about my career path. Hopefully I’ll be able to overcome that soon so bear with me!

This week, one of my favourite bands Kings of Leon released their 7th album and I’m loving it. They’ve definitely gone back to their roots here, which is great because I really love their earlier stuff before they got big, especially Because of the Times. However, they still have that polished, anthemic quality of their later work, so there’s something for everyone here in WALLS. The main single ‘Waste A Moment’ is of course great, but I’m really loving songs like ‘Find Me’, ‘Over’, ‘Eyes On You’ and ‘Wild’. Basically, I just love the whole album. Check it out below:

The Sunday Post #13

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

It’s been a pretty uneventful week in terms of my life! But next week I’m starting my part-time job to bring in a little money whilst I work out my career after uni, so that’ll actually be a reason to stop lazing about the house!

However, I’m almost at 200 followers on WordPress and Bloglovin, so a huge thank you to everyone who’s followed me! I’ve only had this blog since March so it’s amazing to be so close to such a milestone.

Anyway, this week’s posts were:

• The Versatile Blogger Award
• Let’s Wrap: August
• Review: The Fireman by Joe Hill
• YA Series I Haven’t Finished (And Probably Never Will)

Coming Up

I’m currently about halfway through Soundless by Richelle Mead but it isn’t really living up to my expectations. I love the premise but the execution is lacking. However, I’m hoping it’ll pick up. My review should be up next week!

After that, I’m onto The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent which I have higher hopes for. And then after that I’m going to read the final novel in Justin Cronin’s The Passage series. It’ll be sad to finish it as this series has been with me for quite a few years, but I’m excited to see all the loose ends tied up.

I haven’t done Waiting On Wednesday in a few weeks so I’ll try and get back into it. Other than that, I have no specific posts planned right now, I’m having a little bit of blog writer’s block, but I’m sure I’ll come up with things to discuss next week.

And Finally

I haven’t been listening to anything really new recently so here, have some Foals. (Who make great writing music, by the way).

The Sunday Post #8

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

I haven’t posted as much this week because I’ve been pretty busy. And why was I busy, you ask? I graduated from university!

I’m going to miss uni and everyone I’ve met, but I’m excited for the new chapter in my life. And maybe someday in the future I’ll be writing a post on this blog about my debut novel. That’s the dream! Here’s hoping it happens.

And so, here’s the blog posts from this week:

• Exciting News: I’m Attending YALC! Are You?
• Golden Son Book Review Now Live!
• Waiting On Wednesday: A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess
• Review: The Next Together by Lauren James

Coming Up

This week I finished YA time-travelling romance The Next Together, which I enjoyed. I’ve recently started apocalyptic novel Nod by Adrian Barnes, about a pandemic of insomnia that sweeps the world, causing hysteria. I’m liking it so far, but I’m not captivated by it. I’ll just have to see how it goes.

Expect another Waiting on Wednesday post because I love doing those, and some more bookish and writing discussions!

Kel from the brilliant A Reader’s Whimsy tagged me in the Diversity Test Book Tag which I’m excited to do! Diversity is something that’s very important in books, so it’ll be interesting to see how much my reading habits reflect that.

I’ve recently begun what I hope will be my first finished novel. I’ve started hundreds of novels over the years for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never managed to finish one. Maybe this will be the one? So expect some writerly posts.

And Finally

I’ve been listening to CHVRCHES new song ft. Hayley Williams, which is getting me pumped for Paramore’s new album that they’re recording. I do like CHVRCHES too, although they can be a little hit and miss for me. This song is really catchy though so maybe I’ll like their upcoming album a bit more than their debut.

The Sunday Post #6

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

So the UK has opted to leave the EU and I am absolutely devastated. I’m not going to go into detail because I don’t want to start a debate, but I’m hearing some seriously frightening stuff about the future of Britain and my own future. I wholeheartedly agree that the vast majority of Leave voters are not racist, but the Leave campaign attracted notable racist and sexist groups such as UKIP and Britain First and now these racists have had their views legitimised by Leave winning. There have already been numerous reports of blatantly racist acts directed at Indians and Pakistanis, as well as Eastern Europeans. I’m struggling to recognise my own country at the moment.

But anyway, enough of that. Here are the posts from this week:

• My Long-Awaited Film Review for X-Men: Apocalypse
• Book Recommendations: If You Liked That, You’ll Love This #2
• Reader Confessions Tag
• A Novel Discussion: How Important Are Characters Clothes?

Some of you may not have seen my discussion post because Bloglovin never displayed it! It’s only just become available on Bloglovin but, being a discussion post, I really wanted it to reach my WordPress followers and my Bloglovin followers so I could actually have a discussion with you guys! This has happened before and I’ve e-mailed Bloglovin about it. Anyone else had this same problem?

So, if you’ve only just discovered my discussion post, please do get involved if you have an opinion on it!

Coming Up

I’m just over halfway through Golden Son so hopefully the review will be going up within the next week or two on Ellie Maloney’s Sci-Fi blog. Once again, I’ll post a link to it on my blog when it’s up!

Next books I’ll get to reading after Golden Son will be The Girls and The Next Together.

I missed Waiting on Wednesday this week so hopefully I’ll get round to posting that in the coming week.

I’ll also be posting a review of The Conjuring 2 so keep your eyes peeled for that!

And Finally

I know I featured one of Tinie Tempah’s new tracks a couple of weeks ago, but he’s just come out with another catchy tune and I’m loving it. It makes me want to go to Nandos. You’ll see what I mean when you listen to it.

The Sunday Post #5

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

Not a lot happened in my life this week, it’s been pretty uneventful. There have been a ton of storms here in England so many of my plans have been put on hold, which is annoying because I have adventures to tick off my list before I move back home for good from university!

Blog posts this week:

• Book-to-Screen Adaptations That Actually Work
• Review: The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
• On Writing: How Do You Plan?
• Stacking the Shelves ft. my Hamster
• Review: Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan

Coming Up

I keep on forgetting about doing my review for X-Men: Apocalypse! At this rate I may as well just write a quick review in my Sunday Post because it’s the only time I remember it.

However, I do have some other posts planned for the coming week, if I can fit them all in. I’m going to get started on Golden Son by Pierce Brown, and the review will be going up on Ellie Maloney’s blog! I’ll post the link to it on here when it’s live.

I have another On Writing post planned, as well as another If You Liked That, You’ll Love This post, and the usual Waiting on Wednesday.

And Finally

Another weekly music recommendation. This week, I’m loving the new The Temper Trap album. Whilst I loved their debut, their second album was a bit hit and miss for me. However, their third release is back on form. Check it out:

The Sunday Post #4

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

It’s been another busy week so my blog has suffered, but my life as a university student is officially OVER; this week was the final week of term. I went to my last house party (which was a total let down, but hey, probably the last house party I’ll ever attend, and I’ve never really liked them anyway, too much awkward dancing in living rooms) and my final night out at my university’s Students Union, where I almost drowned in foam and UV Paint.

(Photo taken not long before my life flashed before my eyes)

In terms of blog posts, I’ve only had time for two:

• Stacking the Shelves | June TBR
• Book Recommendations: If You Liked That, You’ll Love This | Apocalyptic/Sci-Fi

Coming Up

I will finally get round to reviewing X-Men Apocalypse, I promise.

I also have a post planned for book-to-screen adaptations that actually work, including the obvious choice of Game of Thrones.

And, as long as I manage to finish it (it’s a big book), there’ll be a review of David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks. I’m really, really, really enjoying it so far. It’s maybe not quite as good as Ghostwritten or Cloud Atlas, but it’s still an amazingly well-written novel.

After I’ve finished The Bone Clocks, I’ll get started on YA mystery Daughter of Deep Silence.

And Finally

I’m really liking Zara Larsson right now, especially her collaboration with Tinie Tempah. If you’re not British, you’re probably very confused as to who Tinie Tempah is. Granted, I’m more of an alt-rock/indie kinda girl myself, but this song is extremely catchy, so just give this tune a listen and enjoy:

The Sunday Post #2

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

Well, in terms of posts, nothing happened because I came down with horrendous food poisoning. I haven’t even felt like reading all week and I’m still absolutely exhausted. So, I’m still halfway through Red Rising by Pierce Brown, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read so far. The novel doesn’t pull punches and I think I’d class it as New Adult because, whilst it deals with young adults, it certainly doesn’t hold back in terms of violence or swearing. New Adult is definitely my favourite genre; you get the excitement of YA with more mature themes. I suppose, being 21, ‘New Adult’ is the stage I’m at in my life. Sometimes YA annoys me because there’s zero swearing and the themes studied seem quite immature. In reality, your teenage years involve a lot of rude words and some pretty big milestones.

I know that a Red Rising film is in the works so I’m excited to see how they do that. Brown doesn’t fall into corny sci-fi jargon and I hope the film manages to steer clear of that (if it ever gets made).

In other news, the last post on my blog was Bookish Scents: Literary Candles where I reviewed candles from two Etsy shops, with one shop specialising in candles inspired by books. I bought ‘Winterfell’ and ‘Ghost Stories’, so click on the link to see what I thought and where you can get them!

Coming Up

A review of Red Rising; and whilst lying in bed feeling as though death was about to take me at any moment, I planned a post on book-to-screen adaptations that are done well, so keep an eye out for that!

I’m also hoping to get back to pushing through my TBR pile and get started on some books such as these:

And when I have the money, I’m planning on buying these beauties (and many more):

I’m really excited to read The Star-Touched Queen. I’ve heard so many good things about it and the excerpts I’ve read have been beautifully written.

And Finally

I made an ever-growing playlist on Spotify of my favourite Indie songs, the kind of songs that scream summer and road-trips. Some of my favourites on the list are ‘A tout a l’heure’ by Bibio, ‘Bitter Town’ by INHEAVEN, ‘Flowerball’ by The Wombats, and ‘Seventeen’ by Sjowgren. Feel free to give it a listen!

Monday Musts #2

Monday Musts is a meme hosted by Lovin’ Los Libros where you showcase your Must Read’s, your Must Listen’s and your Must See’s.

Must Read

I read Lauren DeStefano’s The Chemical Garden trilogy a few years ago after my high school English teacher introduced me to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. 

The trilogy has a lot of similarities to Atwood’s classic, such as women being used as baby-making machines, and the forbidden romance. But just because it draws inspiration from The Handmaid’s Tale doesn’t mean it’s not unique and harrowing in its own right. I adored this trilogy, the bleak world DeStefano had created, and the protagonist of Rhine. Headstrong and passionate, you couldn’t ask for a lot more from her. Also, the book covers are really captivating, with items from the plot appearing there just to tease you.

If you haven’t read The Chemical Garden trilogy and need some well-written YA dystopian, definitely check the books out.

Must Listen

From Gold by Novo Amor is an atmospheric song I’m really liking at the moment. The rest of their stuff is pretty good and chilled out so give them a listen.

Must See

I watched In the Heart of the Sea on the plane back from New York. I didn’t have mega high expectations but it looked like some good escapism; plus I wanted to save films like The Revenant and Hateful Eight (I worship Quentin Tarantino) for a proper television screen.

But, I was pleasantly surprised! Based on the classic Moby Dick, it was really gripping and quite traumatic. The acting was brilliant, but then how could it not be with actors like Cillian Murphy and Ben Whishaw? Chris Hemsworth was good as always, but if you’re planning on ogling his muscles, think again; he’s not looking too brilliant after the inevitable whale attack…

I’ve never read Moby Dick and I know it’s supposed to be a bit of a difficult read, but after watching this film and it getting recommended by my ‘Great American Novella’ course seminar leader, I might give it a go.

And that’s my Monday Musts for this week! Have you read The Chemical Garden? Or, better yet, have you read Moby Dick? Let me know what you thought in the comments!