October: A Review!

Two monthly reviews in a row! I'm hoping that I've got my blogging schedule back!

 

October in Numbers!

Total posts= 7

Books read= 6

Reviews Posted= 1

  

Completely back in the Throne of Glass world- so excited to start Queen of Shadows! Also loved my Sci-Fi read, This Shattered World, I can't wait for the final instalment!

 

• Predictions: Queen of Shadows!
• Challenge Update!
• Bingo Challenge!
• Stacking the Shelves: Summer/Autumn Edition
• The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen.
• Bingo Wrap Up!
• October!

 

•  Flash and Arrow are back! I love Superhero films and programmes so I'm loving watching these two again. Especially because the Oliver and Barry are such different characters!
• Once Upon A Time is back! I absolutely love this programme it's a recent find so I'm finding the weekly wait hard!

• Redid all my display boards ready for my first term with Year 3!
• Went to the Moscow State Circus- amazing as always!
• Started planning 2016's adventures, possibly East Coast USA.
• Attended a masked 1950s themed ball.
• Watched The Blair Witch Project in a cemetery (I'm wimpy so this was a big deal!).
• Dressed up as Circus Britney for my friend's Britney Spears themed Halloween Housewarming!

How was your October?

What was your favourite book?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx 

Challenge Update!

Finally time to update you all on my Challenge progress! I've made an infographic for change!

 

I also think I've made more even progress on all the challenges so fingers crossed I complete them all!

 

How are your challenges going?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

 

 

Bingo Challenge!

This is my first Winter Edition of my Bingo card!

After my lack of Summer Bingo full house, I have made a smaller card and I'm hopeful! I reused three of my leftover squares and then added in some more.

Potentials
Using my TBR and my Shelfers post I've got a few books in mind!

• Court of Fives by Kate Elliott
• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
• Their  Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner.
• P.S I Still Love You by Jenny Han.
• Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch.
• Clariel by Garth Nix.

Rules
One square per book! For example if I read a new release YA book it could go in either box so one square per book spreads it out!
This challenge will run from 22^nd October to 1^st January. (to include Half Term!)

Any suggestions of what I could read?
I would find some new YA SciFi or Fantasy! Ooo and a road trip book!

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Stacking the Shelves: Summer/Autumn Edition

What is Stacking The Shelves all about?

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! 

 

I haven't posted a Stacking the Shelves post in ages! However since July I've been buying so many books I knew I needed to blog about it- makes me feel less like a crazy book buyer!

 

So many new releases and older ones turning up in my local Waterstones that my shelves are looking crowded...
I was thrilled to finally get This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner and Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch as I was determined not to Amazon them.
The Lost and Found by Cat Clarke was definitely a BOGOHP purchase but a great blurb.
Similar to Court of Fives by Kate Elliott  but Court of Fives was already on my Goodreads!
The rest are mainly sequels/companions or known authors!

Luckily my library has a great selection so I've managed to pick up two 2015 releases! Outcaste by Ellen Renner the sequel to Tribute which I loved and Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen which I read a teaser of and needed more.

I've got so many fabulous books to read that I don't know where to start!
Which would you recommend?

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen.

The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else.What now?
She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.
Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.
Also, he’s taken.
Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.
They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.
But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

Thoughts

It's taken me awhile to get my thoughts together on The Year We Fell Down so this will be a short and sweet review!

I absolutely loved the take on the usual cliché especially the approach to disability.
Corey was a seemingly well-adjusted girl who just needed to work on her emotional side! I admired her determination to live out the life she had planned as closely as possible, it made it impossible to view her as a one dimensional extension of her wheelchair. Her self-decrepitating humour added to this although at times it was a bit much.
Hartley had broken his leg leaving him out of sport and in crutches which allowed for an interesting bond to form between Corey and him as she got to play an 'expert role'. Hartley was such a charming character, I loved how well he listened to Corey and read her hidden meanings- there was very little miscommunication! His secret background really added dimension to his character as it made him vulnerable.

Side casts are my favourite and The Year We Fell Down did not disappoint. 
Dana was a fun and social housemate to Coery who didn't even bat an eyelid at sharing with a disabled person in a different setup then everyone. I loved reading her interactions with Daniel and look forward to reading more of that.
Corey's family were all still adjusting to her new life. Her father in particularly seemed riddled with guilt which lead to overprotectiveness. Her brother was a typical big brother as well as a good friend.
Bridger was a great best friend to Hartley and very welcoming to Corey. He initially seemed a typical jock but he had a few issue under the surface. I found him intriguing and looked forward to reading his book!
Hartley's Mum was brilliant. I loved how welcoming and selfless she was to Corey and Bridger. I admired her more as Hartley's background was explored.

Corey’s disability although prominently portrayed throughout the book, was not a central part of the plot. It added to Corey by creating an unfulfilled athletic dream and created a bond between Hartley and Corey but it was never made to be a big issue. I also loved how in Corey 's case the wheelchair was a very fluid conception, sometimes she used crutches or scooted around etc.  
 

Rating!

 This is the first in a fabulous college companion series which gets better and better!
The fifth book releases tomorrow!

Have you read this series? Which is your favourite?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Bingo Wrap Up!

So back in July when I launched this I 100% overestimated how much I would read in the Summer!
I slept the majority of my flight to Australia and down under I was so busy soaking up BFF time and exploring as much as I could I read 4 books. However I think I did pretty well considering!

I've decided to make a 3x3 Autumn bingo card so I will be carrying the 4 empty squares over! Any book suggestions for them?

How did your summer of reading go? Were you more successful?
Much love
Lettie
xxx

October!

Too right Anne October is the gateway to Autumn, Halloween and Christmas! It will also be a month of good blogging!

I've signed up to the Blog Ahead Challenge hosted by Anna@ herding cats & burning soup and Kimberly@ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. Mainly to shore up posts ready for when I go full time at work!

Goals

• All Top Ten Tuesday posts scheduled
• 4 Travel posts.
• 5 reviews.
• As many other posts as possible!

I already posted my Autumn TBR but these are the October releases I'm most excited for!

All are continuations of series' or worlds which I've really enjoyed so I'm allowing myself to buy them despite my shelves of unread books....

 

Which October Release will you be buying?

Are you Blogging Ahead? If so leave a link!

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

 

October: A Review!

October has been my first month of placement! I was in school in Year 6 for two weeks which included two trips, no pens day and a lot of World War I! I then went back to Uni for 3 days and started working on my first assignment. So all in all October has been jammed packed hence the poor blogging and reading!

 

October in Numbers!

Total posts= 3

Books read= 3

Reviews Posted= 0

 

What I read in October! 

 

October posts!

Cover Love: 2015 covers!
Top Ten Tuesday: New Series!
September: A Review!

 

October Goals...

Pre-Schedule, Reviews and Reading...

Well.... These goals kind of fell to the wayside this month as I mentioned above!  

 

November blogging goals!
Pre-schedule- This is key to my successful blogging and teaching I think. I need to get back on top of it this month.
Reviewing- I now have a big backlog of reviews so fingers crossed I get them out this month. I'm going for aim for a low 4 just in case!

Well November will see some pretty exciting changes on the blog! So be sure to keep a look out!

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Cover Love: 2015 covers!

I've been looking through my TBR and realised a lot of 2015 books have released their gorgeous covers!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
I love how vivid this cover is! Especially the red and the detail on the girl which I feel will be explained in the book. I've been waiting for this series to be published for ages so I'm looking forward to finally reading it!
The Heir by Kiera Cass.
The only thing better than the news of more Selection books is how gorgeous the cover for Heir is. I did a whole post on how much I love The Selection covers and The Heir fits in perfectly. The crown has remained and the dress has slightly altered signalling the change of protagonist. So excited to add this to my shelf!
The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski.
I don't think I've mentioned how much I love The Winner's Curse but it is definitely one of my favourites of 2014 and I love the connection between the titles. This cover follows the theme of Winner's Curse which is also beautiful. The dress is stunning and I love the inclusion of a sword because I feel Kestrel will need to fight! The typography is slightly altered but it all goes together so well

So excited by these covers!
What covers have you excited for 2015?

Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Top Ten Tuesday: New Series!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic: New Series I Want To Start

I have a serious series problem! However I'm always on the lookout for new ones.

Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater.

These series are almost finished so there will be no agonising wait for the next instalment. I just need to get started....
 

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.

The Diviners by Libba Bray.

These two I already own but the second books haven't been published so I'm justifying putting them off until it's published.
 

2015 Releases!

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.

The Dregs by Leigh Bardugo.

The Gift of Power by Tamora Pierce.

Thunder Road by Katie McGarry.

The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows.

Most of these are by some of my favourite authors so I'm super excited to explore their new worlds. The Orphan Queen has a beautiful cover and a great blurb. A Court of Thorns and Roses has been on my radar for years so thrilled it's getting published.

 

What series are you looking to start?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

October~ A Review.

Monthly Feature- rounds up all the books I've read, progress on challenges and monthly blogging goals!

October was a bad blogging month! A combination of covering for a work colleague and a horrible cold. I mocked up lots of posts so November should be a bumper month!

October in Numbers!

Total posts= 7

Books read= 11

Reviews Posted= 3

What I read in October!

What I reviewed!

Riptides by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt.
Sweet by Erin McCarthy.
Faking It by Cora Carmack

What I posted!
Stacking the Shelves: October!
Friday Favourites: September
Cover Reveal: For Real by Chelsea M. Cameron
September~ A Review
 
Did I achieve my goals?
Reviews-
Despite a disastrous blogging month I only missed this target by 1!
Update Pages
I start this but I need to finish up!

What I hope to achieve in November!

• Updating- I want to do a Challenge Update post and a couple of Behind the Blog posts to finish off updating my pages!
• Diversity- I want to keep this one up to September's standard!
• Reviews- I want to post at least 7 as I'm planning on taking part in a Reviewathon!
• Posts- I would like to post about 18 but I'm not sure if that's realistic!

How was your October?
Hopefully more productive than mine!
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

Stacking the Shelves: October!

What is Stacking The Shelves all about?

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

 

Welcome to my monthly round up! October was quite a good month for my shelves not so much for my blogging :/

Borrowed Shelf!

 

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater~ I had to pick this one up from the library when I saw it!

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore~ On hand as I think I Am Number Four is a bit of a cliff-hanger ending.

 

Actual Shelf!

 I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore~ I had to pick this up after seeing the film!
All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill~ I loved this one and got it on offer.
Crown of Midnight by Sarra Maas~ I had to get a hard copy and it has an extra novella included!

 

Virtual Shelf!

 The Legend of Ellie Quinn by Alex Scarrow ~ The series caught my eye on my hunt for I Am Number Four but I couldn't find the first one! Spotted it on kindle for a bargain 99p.
Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover~ A free novella about Six and Daniel!

 

Review Shelf!

NetGalley

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry~ I love Jolene's books so I'm looking forward to this one.

The Temptation of Lila and Ethan by Jessica Sorensen~ I've wanted more on Lila and Ethan since I read The Secret of Ella and Micha!

Three Broken Promises by Monica Murphy~ I love this series and Monica Murphy.

Finding It by Cora Carmack~ I don't remember requesting this one but it turned up on my dashboard!

I Heart Christmas by Lindsey Kelk~  I love the 'I Heart' series!

Playing Dirty by Jennifer Echols~ Hopefully I love this as much Dirty Little Secret!

 

Blog Tours etc.

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally~ So excited for this 2014 blog tour!
For Real by Chelsea M. Cameron~ Such a cute easy read!.
Christmas Catch by Chelsea M. Cameron~ One of the Christmas Novellas!
Keep Me Still by Caisey Quinn~ Love the blurb!
Snowed Over by Angie Stanton~ Looking forward to another Christmassy read.

I've got a lot of reading for November!

What joined your shelves in October?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

Friday Favourites: September

My top five Bookish things from September! This month was hard to pick five because I read a more diverse selection of books.

 

First Impression

Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund.

I downloaded Among the Nameless Stars to see if I should buy For the Darkness Shows Stars and I barely got a chapter in before I put in an order for it! The world building and characterisation pulled me in.

 

Plot

All Our Yesterdays by Cristina Terrill.

I loved the all the twists and suspense in All Our Yesterdays. I'm not normally a fan of time travel but I really enjoyed how it was explained and incorporated in the book.

 

Character

Celaena Sardothien from Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas.

I didn't think I could love Celaena anymore but she really grew in Crown of Midnight and so much more was revealed of her background!

 

Guy

Enzo from Riptides by Steph Campbell and Liz Reinhardt.

Enzo really broke my heart in Riptides! I loved his laidback nature and how funny he was, looking forward to more of him.

 

Genre

Dystopia with a twist!

All Our Yesterdays and Among the Nameless Stars are both irregular dystopia books. I'm not entirely sure All Our Yesterdays is definitely dystopia but it has a lot of elements! I liked that the plots were full of twists and surprises and felt very unique! 

 

What were some of your September favourites?

Much Love!

Lettie

Xxx

Cover Reveal: For Real by Chelsea M. Cameron

Two people. One fake relationship. What could go wrong?
When virgin Shannon Travers gets fed up with her friends demanding that she find a boyfriend, she enlists the help of tattooed, mohawk-rocking graphic design student Jett. He’s more than happy to play along with their Fake Relationship, including the Ten Rules of Fake Dating that control-freak Shannon comes up with. Even if he likes to violate them. Repeatedly.
But what happens when Fake Dating starts to feel… not fake anymore? Will Shannon be willing to let go and embrace the first thing in her life that’s ever felt REAL?

 

Teaser!

About Chelsea M. Cameron!

Chelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times/USA Today Best Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting (this one time, she was tweeted by Neil Gaiman). She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.

Her New Adult Contemporary Romance titles include My Favorite Mistake, which has been bought by Harlequin along with a...moChelsea M. Cameron is a YA/NA New York Times/USA Today Best Selling author from Maine. Lover of things random and ridiculous, Jane Austen/Charlotte and Emily Bronte Fangirl, red velvet cake enthusiast, obsessive tea drinker, vegetarian, former cheerleader and world's worst video gamer. When not writing, she enjoys watching infomercials, singing in the car and tweeting (this one time, she was tweeted by Neil Gaiman). She has a degree in journalism from the University of Maine, Orono that she promptly abandoned to write about the people in her own head. More often than not, these people turn out to be just as weird as she is.
Her New Adult Contemporary Romance titles include My Favorite Mistake, which has been bought by Harlequin along with a sequel, Deeper We Fall and Faster We Burn.
Her Young Adult books include Nocturnal, Nightmare and Neither, the first three books in The Noctalis Chronicles. The fourth and final book, Neverend will be out in 2013. Whisper, the first in The Whisper Trilogy is also available, with the second book in the series, Silence and the final book, Listen coming out in 2014.

Giveaway!

aRafflecopter giveaway  

I really enjoy Chelsea's Fall and Rise series so I'm looking forward to For Real!
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx

October Round Up!

Monthly Feature- rounds up all the books I've read, progress on challenges and reviews my blogging!

It is kind of an expansion (?) of my favourite memes hosted by the lovely Shelia over at Book Journey!

 
Quick update! I've been taken ill by some random flu as well as being a good daughter/granddaughter painting, decorating and taking apart kitchens so sorry for the lack of blogging!

October in numbers!

Total posts= 16

Books read= 6  

Reviews Posted= 4

Meme Posts= 4
Other Posts= 8

 

What I read in October!

 I think I've been busy decorating and reading non fiction books on careers etc to read as much as I would of liked!
 
What I Reviewed!
Thomas and January by Fisher Amelie.
Easy by Tammara Webber.
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi.
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
 
Not too bad on the reviewing front not as great as I'd hoped though! 

What I Posted!
Challenge Motivation!- This one should go live tomorrow!  
Top Ten Minor Characters!- If you've read my reviews you know I love minor characters so this Top Ten was hard to narrow down!
Bloggiesta Wrap Up!- Sums up my Bloggiesta experience and accomplishments!
Blog Tours
Forbidden Mind Blog Tour
Book Promo
6 Seconds of Life Blitz- Touring this blog next month!
Move by Brina Courtney 
Don't Panic by Lindsay Paige

 Did I achieve my goals?
To blog to a schedule.-
Almost! I kept to my planned schedule quite well for half of October however my blog plans for November and surprise real life schedule changes hindered me! I did find planning a schedule made me much more organised and aware of how I was blogging- scheduling is now my top blogging tool!
To make progress on my challenges.
I didn't make much progress on this one! I did only read five books though so I'm not too surprised! More on this on below!
To post two non meme/review posts.
I did post alot more book promo style posts and my challenge update post however my planned posts got moved to November... So this is half successful
To tweet every blog post.
Thanks to Tanya  who pointed out that I could link my Blog to my Twitter = goal achieved! Yay!

What I hope to achieve in November!

• To successfully host my feature month!- I've got a contemporary themed month planned and a detailed schedule planned out so I want to keep to it better than I did in October.
• To make progress on my challenges!- I'm posting a challenge update post tomorrow so I can layout exactly what I need to read to complete my challenges! Posting my goals and plans on this blog will make me feel more accountable!
• To update my blog pages!- I want to put all the books I've rated under the relevant rating on the rating page. Update my about me page. Blogkeeping really!

How's your October/week been?
Much Love!
Lettie
Xxx