January and February wrap-up!

So, I figured since it’s now the end of February (how quickly is this year going?) and I still haven’t posted my wrap-up for January, I would do both months together. 

Problem solved! ☺️

So I’ve started getting more organised with my reading this year, keeping a note of the books I’ve read in the journal shown above, and calculating my average pages read each month, so I can see if I’ve had a good month or not.

January

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

a unique retelling of Cinderella, with cyborgs, the plague, and a threat of war between Earth and the Moon ★★★★★

On The Fence by Kaisie West

the story of a sport-turned-girly girl and the boy next door ★★★★★

All Of The Above by Juno Dawson

an addictive read about a girl who moves to a new town and makes some amazing new friends ★★★★★

Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig

a book about depression through Matt’s experiences of living with it. this book has changed my life, and given me a new perspective, and I would recommend it to anybody ★★★★★

so, in January, I read 4 books, with a total of 1,245 pages, and over 31 days of January that gave me a total of 40 pages per day! And I thoroughly enjoyed every single book I read, as you can see since I gave them all 5 stars.

February

99 Days by Katie Cotugno 

Molly has 99 days left in a town where everyone hates her, and where she is involved in a twisted love triangle between two brothers - I didn’t enjoy this as much as her other book, How To Love ★★★

The Savages by Matt Whyman

a seemingly normal family with a huge secret - cannibalism. Drama unfolds when the eldest daughter starts dating a vegetarian. I devoured this book! ★★★★★

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

for anyone who has read Fangirl, my favourite book, this is the story of Simon Snow, the character which Cath writes fan fiction about in Fangirl ★★★★★

I read 3 books, which is 1 less than last month, but my total pages was higher at 1,169 pages and over 29 days of February that keeps my total at 40 pages per day! I’m not feeling so bad about only having read 3 books now. I was disappointed with 99 days, but the other two were so amazing it made up for it. I will be posting all the reviews for these books when I have time to write them!

📖TBR for March📖

Radio Silence - Alice Oseman

What I Thought Was True - Huntley Fitzpatrick

The Sleeping Prince - Melinda Salisbury

Geek Drama - Holly Smale

I’m setting smaller goals for myself this month, but March is a very busy month, with my own birthday, my boyfriend’s birthday, and my dad’s and my auntie’s birthday, plus a mini-break with my boyfriend and a full-time job to navigate around. Wish me luck! 

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Cinder by Marissa Meyer

My first book of year was a new series, because it’s been so long since I started one!

Marissa Meyer's first novel in The Lunar Chronicles series introduces you to Cinder, a cyborg mechanic who lives in New Beijing with her stepmother and two stepsisters.

When her stepsister falls ill with the plague, a disease with no cure, her stepmother blames her and sends her to be a test subject as punishment.

Cinder is found to be immune to the plague, for reasons the doctors will not tell her right away, and she becomes very valuable in the race to find a cure.

The Emperor of New Beijing is also dying of the plague, and his son, Prince Kai, spends a lot of time in the research labs, and with Cinder. He doesn’t know that she is a cyborg, or a test subject.

As Cinder’s feelings for Kai grow, she is terrified. Who could love a cyborg?

It took me a while to get into this story, with there being so much going on all at once, but once it had hooked me, I couldn’t put it down.

This is a wonderful story that retells Cinderella in a truly unique way. ★★★★★

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Bookish New Year’s Resolutions!

Happy New Year everybody! This is going to be a short and sweet post to put into writing my goals for this year.

1. I am going to read the books that I have hoarded: I have at least seventy unread books in my house waiting to be read, and I want to get through as many of those as I can this year.

2. I am going to set realistic reading goals: last year, I told myself I would read 100 books. While I was at university, that was a realistic goal; I was spending up to four hours each day reading whilst travelling to and from university, and then I had spare time at home to read as well. But then I started a full-time job, and my reading goal took a massive hit. I managed to read 75 books, which is still an achievement, but I was disappointed in myself. So this year, I want to read at least 50 books.

3. Only buy books I need: this doesn’t sound like something I am going to stick to. But I impulse buy books in Waterstones and on Amazon and it just makes my hoard pile bigger, so my first purchase of the year is going to be a sequel, and the books after that will only be books I feel I absolutely have to read straight away. If I can’t stick to it, I may have to get my boyfriend to impose a book-buying ban on me.

4. Post more book reviews: another downside to having a full-time job was that I didn’t have time to write and post my book reviews anymore. I started to get overwhelmed by how many were piling up that I lost my motivation to write them anymore. I am hoping to get back into the habit of writing them again, so you’ll be seeing a lot more of me this year! As a side note to this, I will be making more use of my instagram (asdfghjklize) and tumblr (lizebronwenreviews) accounts to post more bookish things.

5. Make more time for reading: this is the big one. I won’t be able to meet any of my other four goals without making more time in my lunch hours and at home to read more. I have a lot of books I’m excited to read this year waiting for me, and I’m excited to start them.

I hope you all have a book-filled 2016!

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Top Fifteen Books of 2015!

It’s been a long time since I last blogged - sorry! - but I’ve had a lot going on and it is very difficult with my schedule the way it is to blog as regularly as I’d like to. But I’m making it one of my new year’s resolutions to make more time for my blog, so fingers crossed!

Basically, I got really behind on my reviews and as they mounted up, I got more and more worked up and it made me procrastinate majorly. So for my return to blogging, I decided to do a post about my favourite 2015 releases that I read. They’re in no particular order but they were all released in 2015 and I haven’t included any I am yet to read (that post is coming!)

Remix by Non Pratt

After Trouble, I wondered what Non would write next. When I found out it was set at a music festival, I could not place a pre-order fast enough. I loved the characters, Kaz and Ruby, as Non writes teenagers so well it’s hard not to feel like they actually exist. Her humour is right up my street and I couldn’t put this book down. I can’t wait to read what she writes next.

The Fill-in Boyfriend by Kaisie West

This was my second Kaisie West book, my first being The Distance Between Us, and she’s become one of my favourite writers. This story was so different to anything I’d read before and I love the characters Kaisie creates. On The Fence is on my reading list for 2016.

Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2015, I was hooked from the first time I heard about it and I started to read it the same day it arrived. It was such a heart-warming story, and such an interesting concept. I would definitely recommend this book to you all!

Simon and the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

I loved this book so much that I lent it to two of my closest friends after reading it, and they loved it so much that they had to buy a copy for themselves. I had been following people’s reviews of it before reading it myself and I didn’t come across anyone who disliked it.

The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell

Sarah is my auntie’s best friend, and she’s a lovely person who I’ve met on several occasions now. Her debut novel was a great success, and I wish her all the best for her next release. My copy is extra special, as not only is it signed, it also wishes me happy birthday whenever I open it. ^^

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Not being biased or anything, but Mel is one of the greatest people in the universe. And I am writing this not long after securing a seat at her book launch in February! I am so proud of her and how well her books are doing, can’t wait to see you and give you presents.

All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher

I didn’t know much about Carrie before I heard about this book, and since then a lot has changed. I’ve read this amazing book, I watch her videos and I’ve even met her. Every young girl needs to read this book growing up, it’s so so important.

Air by Lisa Glass

Sequel to the amazing Blue, this is a surfing novel which I actually bought for my best friend who is a surfer. I didn’t even know much about surfing, but I feel that Lisa’s books have taught me a lot about it - not enough to try it for myself yet though!

The Next Together by Lauren James

This is a beautiful reincarnation love story, that my not-so-inner history nerd really enjoyed. Lauren is such a lovely girl, who has achieved so much in such a short time and I am immensely excited to read the sequel!

Geek Girl: All That Glitters by Holly Smale

The Geek Girl books are definitely one of my favourite series, and not a year goes by when one of them doesn’t make my top reads of that year. Harriet and her family keep me reading past my bedtime, and make me forget all my adult responsibilities. I can’t wait for the next instalment. 

Me and Mr J by Rachel Mcintyre

I’ve never encountered a YA novel with a teacher-student love story before, and though a sensitive subject, I thought it was handled delicately and thoroughly enjoyed it. Was overjoyed when Rachel remembered me when I met her this year too.

Under My Skin by James Dawson

I am incredibly proud of this person, for being brave enough to announce their transition and do so in a way that will educate the masses of the struggles of transitioning. It is not an overnight thing, and there will be a lot of changes. Yesterday, it was announced that Juno Dawson is going to be releasing a new book next year which I am simply cannot wait for!

Vendetta by Catherine Doyle

Literally just pre-ordered the sequel, Inferno, because I forgot it is being released in a few days time. This book has everything, from love to gangsters, and I loved it so much. It read just like a film and I really hope it gets adapted one day!

Counting Stars by Keris Stainton

I feel like Keris is a part of my family now, our exchanges never feel like author and blogger, and I definitely consider her to be a friend of mine. I love every book of hers I read, including her christmas book that I recently finished, Lily and the Christmas Wish. This was an adult book rather than a YA and it kicked ass!

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman

Alice is definitely one of my favourite authors, Solitaire was one of my favourite books of last year and I was spoiled by her releasing two novellas following on from the story this year. I also won a signed print from her to celebrate the release of this book. It’s been a very good year for me.

So there was my return to blogging, short and sweet. I’m hoping to post another blog post on New Year’s Day to really get me into it. Sorry for being away for so long, I’ve missed you all so much.

Twenty Boy Summer - Sarah Ockler

I usually don’t read the same author twice in a row, but I wanted to fit in as many summery reads into August as possible - what was left of my summer TBR will have to wait until next year.

Twenty Boy Summer is about Anna’s trip to Zanzibar bay with her best friend, Frankie, who proposed they meet one boy every day in order to find their summer flings - a twenty boy summer.

But Anna cannot focus on their twenty boys and summer flings, as she’s been keeping a secret from her best friend that’s eating away at her. Frankie’s brother, Matt, and Anna were secretly dating and didn’t get around to telling Frankie before Matt died in a car crash.

So when one of the summer boys, Sam, captures Anna’s attention, she worries it will make her forget about Matt, when she doesn’t want to. And deep down Anna knows she needs to tell Frankie, despite promising Matt she wouldn’t.

I really enjoyed this book, the flashbacks interspersed with the present worked really well and it got to me that Matt had died, because the more I read about him the more I wanted to see of him and Anna as a couple. A brilliant read ★★★★★

I’m really ill today but I’m still blogging! I’ve decided that since I still haven’t posted my August wrap up that I will have to put the books I read in with the ones I read in September. I’m sorry I’ve not been that active recently but my life is really crazy right now.

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