Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Recently Added to my TBR 19/1/16

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

There are so many many books on my TBR right now that I definitely shouldn't be adding anymore, but you know what a book love is like, you can't keep them from adding more and more delicious, besutiful books to the shelves so that's what I do. I've been lucky enough to receive some fabulous book post recently so they get added to my TBR right near the top!


1. All the Stars in Heaven by Adriana Trigiani

2. These Days are Ours by Juliet Ashton

3. Summer Nights at the Moonlit Hotel by Jane Costello

4. Holding out for a Hero by Victoria Van Tiem

5. The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

6. American Housewife by Helen Ellis

7. Our Song by Dani Atkins

8. Girl Up by Laura Bates

9. The Hope Family Calendar by Mike Gayle

10. My Map of You by Isabelle Broom

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten 2015 Releases I meant To Get To But Didn't12/1/16

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Oh this list is going to be really easy because there are loads of them and they are all sitting there on by my bookshelf or on my kindle staring at me accusingly! It's not because I didn't want to read them, you understand, it's just that I ran out of time, sad face! Here is my guilty list, they're not going anywhere though so when I have a little but more time on my hands...here's hoping! 

Bout of Books Wrap Up

Well we've reached the end of the readathon. As I predicted, I didn't manage to get a whole lot of reading done. I listened to 2 audiobooks and began reading an ebook which I didn't get very far into becaude I only actually read in the car whilst waiting for school to open up 2 morinings this week.

I listened to Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig



And An Abundance of Katherines by John Green



The ebook that I began, but didn't finish was Match Me if You Can by Michele Gorman



I wish I had had more time for reading this week but I am pleased that I managed to listen to the audiobooks that I did!

Hopefully next Bout of Books will be more succesful!

Guest Review: Talk to Me by Jules Wake

Olivia and Daniel certainly aren’t talking the language of love … 

Olivia has been in love with Daniel forever but, despite her best efforts, they’ve never been able to get it together. Their relationship has always been a series of mixed messages and misunderstandings and the final straw comes when Daniel mysteriously starts dating her flatmate, Emily. Hurt and confused, Olivia resolves to forget her heartache with a spot of speed dating. After all, what could possibly go wrong? 

One crazy stalker later and Olivia’s life is becoming increasingly strange and scary. Can she rely on Daniel to step in when events take a terrifying turn or will their communication breakdown ultimately result in tragedy?

Jules Wake is an author who I have not read before, but I was intrigued by the synopsis of this, her debut novel, and in fact listened to it as an audio book after I spotted it in the local library. It is an interesting combination of romance and suspense, which I thought worked really well.

The main characters in the story are Olivia, employed by a PR agency, her friend Daniel and her lodger and work colleague, Emily. We also meet various members of Olivia's sometimes strange family. Unfortunately, Emily is a rather spoiled and unlikeable person, but Olivia is such a nice person that she puts up with all the mean comments and actions that Emily doles out. I personally would have thrown her out of my flat ages ago. However, Olivia seems to like the quiet life, and is even coerced by her sister into going to a speed-dating event organised by her cousin. Far from meeting Mr Right, the girls pick up a stalker and the whole situation gets nastier and nastier as the story progresses. Throughout the story, you feel that Olivia and Daniel should be together, but for one reason or another, they never seem to get round to talking about their shared attraction for each other - a very frustrating situation for the reader.

I thought that this story was cleverly and powerfully written. I found myself fearful of what was going to happen next with regard to the stalker, and might have been hiding behind the sofa had it been on TV. I even found myself shouting things at Olivia like "don't open the door". It was certainly not one of those books where you could tell the likely outcome by the end of chapter 2! The book's cover gives nothing away either.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but be warned that it will draw you in so that you won't want to put it down. I look forward to reading more stories from Jules Wake. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Resolutions for 2016 5/1/16

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

I'm not even going to look at last years resolutions because I'm sure that these ones will be almost identical. I do like to make some bookish resolutions though so here goes...

1. Read more books than last year. Yes I've lowered my Goodreads target but I would like to read more than I did in 2015, who doesn't?

2. Read more paperbacks. I'm probably going to be moving in a few months so I should really get some of those paperbacks on my shelf read so that I've got less to take with me. 

3. Get my Netgally % up. Another common one I'm sure. I've been reading lately but forgetting to post my reviews on there... I must get on that! 

4. Read those books I really want to read. I've got a few oldies from some of my favourite authors that I haven't read yet but then new books come along and eat up all my reading time, oldies, I'm coming to get you! 

5. Update my blog. I've been meaning to make a few changes to the blog and really haven't had time this year so I'd like to do it in 2016.

6. Start vlogging. I know I've probably said it before but I really want to get into vlogging and I'm determined to do it after I move! 

7. Stop buying so many kids books. The children I teach have enough choice of some great books as it is, they don't need any more. Now children's books to give as gifts on the other hand...

8. Continue to say yes to bookish events, I've had so much fun at events this year, long may it continue. 

9. Stop saying yes to every review book that comes my way. I've been a lot better at this recently and I'm going to keep getting better at it. 

10. Continue to love reading and spreading the word of books! Oh yeah! 

Bout of Books 15 sign up

This is my sign up post for the Bout of Books 15 readthon. here's what it's all about...

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. 

So, as you'll know, I've not been reading as much as I would like to recently and so this is just going to be a kick start to the year in terms of reading and therefore I'm not going to try and read any more than 2 books, that's my target and I'm sticking to it. My goal for the year is set at 100 books which I did manage to reach this year and so if i read 2 books a week, I know I'll be able to reach that goal. 

"But Catriona, you're starting a new job this week and you have a 5000 word essay due in in less than 2 weeks, where will you find the time to read?" i hear you call, well...

Obviosuly I have to drive to and from work, this works out as anywhere between 1 and 3 hours each day so that means I should be able to finish an audiobook this week... Looking through my collection, the audiobook I have chosen is Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig



This is a fairly short listen so if I manage to finish this one, I am going to select the last John Green novel that I haven't read, An Abundance of Katherines. I've been fancying reading some YA recently and this is also another short listen so it would seem perfect for the occasion!



Finally, the book I will be reading on my Kindle will be Match me if you Can by Michele Gorman. This is released on 14th January and so I want to get this read so that I can post my review!



After this I will just be please to actually manage to pick up another book, 2 is my aim and so I will be happy with this little crowd.

Happy Reading!

Letterbox Love #1

Welcome to Letterbox Love, this is a UK meme, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and inspired by The Story Siren's In My Mailbox. This post is a means by which to highlight the books we get in the post and beyond, and especially to bring attention to those books which may be sat on our shelves for a little while yet that we love all the same.

Start the year with a book haul? Why not?! Now I didn't get any books for Christmas or my birthday but I did get quite a few books at the end of the year at events or in the post so time to show those to you now...

This lovely little stack of books is from the fabulous Penguin Platform event that I attended just before Christmas at the wonderful penguin HQ in London. It was fab to hear so many authors speaking and I also got copies of:

How I live Now by Meg Rosoff

Live This Book by Tom Chattfield

the Night That Changed Everything by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice

Wonder by RJ Palacio (this was in my goody bag recommended by Sophie Kinsella!)

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (also in my goody bag)

Escape to Christmas Past which is a colouring book I have been working on over Xmas 

The Book of You which I will definitely find useful as I am trying to keep myself happy over the next few months. As you can see I also got a Christmas card and postcard from Sophie Kinsella and a lovely book of books from penguin-pretty!  

The week before the fabulous Penguin event I was invited to a fab Simon and Schuster Books and the City Christmas Party. This was just as fabulous as the previous year's and as well as schmoozing with gorgeous bloggers and authors and those lovely ladies from Books and the City itself, we got goody bags. In each goody bag was the proof of the new Jane Costello which isn't actually out until march! I can't wait to get stuck into Summer Nights at the Moonlight Hotel! 

This week I was lucky enough to receive some book post. This was Holding out For a Hero by Victoria Van Tiem. Having read the blurb and seen the cover, I really can't wait to get stuck into this one! 

I also received a couple of things in the post before Christmas that I need to show you they were Lead and Deep by Kylie Scott and.....

The Queen's Choice by Anne O'Brien

At the penguin event I was actually the plus one of lovely blogger Zarina who gave me these two books, the Last Spirits by Chris Preistly and Unbecoming by Jenny Downham, both great looking books. I'm looking forward to having the time to sit down and really have time to savour Unbecoming! 

And finally, I've reviewed this book and written about the fabulous launch party but I don't think I featured it in a book haul. I bought myself a copy of How to Stuff up Christmas by Rosie Blake, a real festive great! This is the paperback but I know that the kindle version is still on sale at the moment so go and grab yourself a copy now! 

Thank you to all the publishers for the lovely books and thank you to Zarina for feeding my book habit too! 

As this is the first post of the year, let me take this opportunity to, once again, wish you a very happy new year!