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holly smale

Book Haul

Books, Books, Glorious Books! | Book Haul

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The past few weeks have been seriously good for books. I seem to be buying a lot more than usual lately because there are so many books I’m excited to read, and I’ve also been very lucky to receive some from lots of lovely publishers. SO MANY AMAZING BOOKS!

Spot the Difference by Juno Dawson is one of this year’s World Book Day titles and I’m currently reading it. Juno always delivers amazing books, so of course I’m loving it!

Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell is the other YA World Book Day title for 2016 and tells the story of Elena, who is queueing outside her local cinema for the opening of the new Star Wars film. It was super cute and a great choice of book to read if you’re in between books and want something quick but extremely gripping.

The Trouble with Women by Jacky Fleming is a look at women through history and how, as Fleming puts it, men have put women in the Dustbin of History. Its witty illustrations and satirical tone make it impossible not to laugh whilst read it, or bang your head against your bookshelf in horror at all Mankind.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman is one of my most-anticipated releases of 2016, especially as I loved Solitaire so much. I’m going to be starting it right away because I can’t wait any longer! Alice is an incredible writer and I already know I’m going to love Radio Silence just as much as I loved Solitaire.

The #1 Rule for Girls by Rachel McIntyre looks at life post-break up for main character, Daisy. I enjoyed Me and Mr J, her debut novel, when I read it last year, so I was very pleased to hear that Rachel had a new book out this year. Thank you, Electric Monkey!

I read Crush by Eve Ainsworth last summer and have been desperate to talk about it since, but it’s only just been released! Eve is perfect at writing gritty contemporaries, and Crush explores what it’s like to be in a toxic relationship. Highly recommended! Thank you, Scholastic!

Half Lost by Sally Green is the conclusion to the Half Bad trilogy and I am so excited to see what happens! The trilogy has been absolutely amazing, so it will be a tiny bit sad to say goodbye to it, but I know there will be lots of other exciting books from Sally Green in the future. Thank you, Penguin Platform!

I’ve never read anything by Emery Lord before so when a copy of When We Collided popped through my letterbox, I was very happy. It comes out in April, so I’ll hopefully be reading and reviewing it before then. I’ve heard great things about Emery’s books. Thank you, Bloomsbury!

Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky looks at fandom culture and what happens when it goes wrong. Fandom culture is everywhere at the moment, so Kill the Boy Band is going to be very current. Thank you, My Kinda Book!

Finding a copy of the Complete Sonnets by William Shakespeare probably shouldn’t have excited me as much as it did, but I’ve been looking for a copy for ages. I’m reading lots of poetry at the moment and have read a few of Shakespeare’s sonnets, so I’m looking forward to reading the rest. SUPER EXCITED!

Head Over Heels by Holly Smale is the latest instalment in the Geek Girl series and I’m hoping to marathon read this and the previous book, All That Glitters, sometime in the next month. I need to catch up with Harriet! Thank you, Harper Children’s!

 

What books have you acquired recently? Are there any books on my list that you’ve read or are excited to read?

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The Sorting Hat

I decided I’d have a bit of fun today and pull out my wand and owl for some Harry Potter-related madness.

I’ve had this post written for a very long time, but am only finally posting it. Maybe because I realise I’m probably not a very good Sorting Hat (it’s actually extremely nerve-wracking!), and the actual Sorting Hat can keep its job. It won’t be replaced easily anyway!

Let’s get started!

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First up is Gryffindor and with all her spy work Cammie Morgan will be kicking ass all the way to the common rooms. I can also imagine her as an amazing Quidditch player, right?

– The Gallagher Girls books by Ally Carter

Whilst Celaena might be on the verge of Slytherin (boo!), she does have some good in her and is incredibly brave so I’m sure she’ll be in Gryffindor.

– Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Kit Blackthorn is very action-driven and proud, which I think makes her a perfect Gryffindor match.

– Banished by Liz de Jager

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Then we have Ravenclaw, the best of the houses, if I do say so myself.

Harriet Manners is perhaps one of my favourite geeky characters and would always be able to guess the password to enter Ravenclaw Tower.

– Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Lilly Moscovitz, I think, would take over from Hermione and run S.P.E.W. It would be awesome!

– The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Most likely found in the library, I think Cather Avery would be one of the quiet Ravenclaws, not as self-assured and pompous as some of the others can be.

– Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

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Hufflepuffs! The second best of all the houses, not that they care!

Levi Stewart, who I’m sure I’ve talked about enough of this blog, would definitely be Hufflepuff. He epitomises Hufflepuff, and I don’t even need to think twice about it.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I absolutely love Kenji Kishimoto and he is just such a loveable person. Hufflepuff, definitely!

– Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Slytherin, home to the absolutely gorgeous Draco Malfoy. I just love him, okay?

Warner would definitely be Slytherin. An irresistible Slytherin. Need I say any more?

– Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I think it’s obviously that Cersei Lannister would be a Death Eater Slytherin. I don’t want to hate on Slytherin and say they’re all Death Eaters, but Cersei Lannister would be the exception. EVIL!

– A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

Mara Dyer just fits into Slytherin in my mind. She’s not exactly what I’d call a good person, but I really like her nevertheless.

– The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Which Hogwarts house are you in? Which house would your favourite book character be in?

Book Haul

Letterbox Love (25)

Letterbox Love

Letterbox Love is a UK based feature where book bloggers showcase the books that they received that week, be they e-books, paperbacks, hardbacks or any other format. It is hosted by Lynsey from Narratively Speaking.

I’m getting absolutely useless at posting book hauls, and I always have such fun writing them too – I tend to post them all on my YouTube channel, but I’m going to try and alternate between the two from now on so that the blog gets a bit of attention too.

I’ve been very good lately and haven’t bought too much, but there are a few books I’ve missed out of past hauls for some reason and others I acquired recently. This haul will be a catch up of everything over the last few weeks to month and a half.

To Review:

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Ever since hearing about it, My Second Life by Faye Bird has appealed to me and I can’t wait to get stuck in to it. It’s about a girl who has been born again and has to unravel a mystery that happened in her previous life – sounds awesome, doesn’t it?! Thank you, Usborne!

City of Halves by Lucy Inglis is described for fans of The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, and I’m a huge fan of her books so I’m looking forward to reading it when I’m in the mood for urban fantasy and the like. Thank you, Chicken House!

I absolutely adore Sophia Bennett’s books and I’m sure The Castle won’t be any different. Unlike her other books, which are cute contemporaries, this is more of a mystery-adventure type novel so I’m looking forward to seeing how it varies from Sophia’s other novels. Thank you, Chicken House!

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Although it has been controversial, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of reviewing Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I know based on the things that have emerged, which I won’t go into detail about here, that many people have chosen not to read it, but I wanted to read and review it so that those of you who do read it in the future or are curious about it can hear my thoughts. It’s a re-telling of The Wizard of Oz years later when Dorothy rules over Oz, and is very awesome so far. My review should be up in the next few weeks. Thank you, Harper 360!

Bought:

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I’ve been meaning to buy Geek Girl: Picture Perfect by Holly Smale for ages now, but haven’t done so until now. I completely adored the first two books, and the third instalment was no exception!

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Excluding the glasses (which I made!), I bought all of these books in charity shops, and I am so excited about all of them. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling was a super quick read which I managed to finish in under an hour. I enjoyed each of the stories a lot but I now miss all of the Harry Potter characters, especially Dumbledore.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion has been on my wishlist for ages now and I was going to buy it in Waterstones the other day but changed my mind at the last minute. I was ecstatic when I found this and I’m hoping to start it right away.

I started Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy in April after borrowing it from the library but eventually had to take it back so never got around to finish it. Hopefully I’ll get to finish it off sometime over the summer!

Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff was a purchase with no thought behind it other than, ‘It’s Meg Rosoff! I can’t not buy it!’ I’ve never actually read anything by Meg before, even though I now own three of her books. Sometimes I just can’t resist…

Have you read any of these, or are you planning on doing so? What have you acquired lately? Let me know, and link me to your own hauls!

Booktube

Bath Kids Lit Fest 2013

Last week it was Bath Children’s Literature Festival, or Bath Kids Lit Fest, and, being lucky enough to live very close to it, I spent most of the week there.

The first day that I attended was Sunday and, before any of my events, I met up with Georgia from Books and Writers JNR and we spent nearly 45 minutes in Waterstones Bath (I love their YA section!). I bought The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater whilst Georgia bought Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham. It was so nice to meet her, as we’ve spoken for quite a while now on Twitter and she’s always come across as really lovely – and she was!

The first event I went to was one with Karen Saunders and Mark Lowery. I briefly met Karen back in June so it was really nice to speak to her again, and I loved hearing about Mark’s book as it sounded so funny. I’m really

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hoping I’ll be able to read it soon because I loved the parts he read out to us.

The other event in the evening was with David Levithan and I was really looking forward to it. I’d read Every Day a few weeks earlier in preparation and loved it. I met the lovely Charlie at the event who I’ve recently started talking to on Twitter after we both won copies of Every Day. Serendipity! It was really nice to hear David speak and read from Every Day. Afterwards, I got my books signed but accidently left Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares at home, which I was kicking myself for afterwards.

Monday night meant getting the chance to interview Holly Smale and Andy Robb before their event. Their event was the one I was looking forward to the most and I wasn’t disappointed at all. At the event, I also got to meet Jesse from Books 4 Teens and Katie who vlogs at kitkatscanread. I also got to hang out with Anya from An Awful Lot of Reading who is such a great person and we live very, very close to each other so the blogging vibes are obviously travelling our estate.

After a much needed rest on Tuesday and Wednesday, I got to interview Tanya Byrne on Thursday. I loved Heart-Shaped Bruise and she was such a lovely person too. I also got to meet Blondie at this event, who I’ve met again at another event too. She’s such an awesome person (you can see her talking at the end of the Tanya Byrne interview, with her brilliant hat)!

Friday meant an event with Malorie Blackman, which I went to with Becky. It was interesting to hear Malorie talk, especially as her plans for the UKYA conference had just been announced. The signing afterwards was so long and we were right at the back too. 🙁

Saturday was another crazy day. In the morning I went to a writing workshop with Siobhan Curham who was so lovely. I got to meet Sophie from A DayDreamer’s World which was nice. The workshop had a lot of stuff about blogging in it and I loved hearing about other peoples ideas for their own blogs. I really wish I had been to something like the workshop when I had just started blogging. After the workshop I stopped for lunch at Patisserie Valerie, which is heaven in a cake shop. I never thought I’d say it, but I couldn’t finish my cake. The next event was one with Alexia Casale and Janne Teller which I was very excited for. I got to meet Katerina briefly before the event when I was hanging around the production room upstairs. I really hope we’ll be able to meet again in the future now that she lives near, because she was so lovely, and I love talking to her on Twitter. I also met Marieke who is such an awesome person and it was so nice to meet her in person. I got to interview Alexia and, let me tell you, she is one of the loveliest people I have ever met and am ever likely to meet. I was blown away

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by her kindness, and she was just amazing to meet. You all need to meet her!

Sunday was such a hectic day, but it was definitely the best out of the whole festival. After getting off to a rough start when one of the attendants made me sit right at the back, even though I had a ticket and was at the venue first, and after nearly falling down a massive drop, things turned awesome. I got to meet Debbie, Faye and Daphne, and see Katie again for the event with Sarah J. Maas. I’m a massive fan of the Throne of Glass books so it was great to hear Sarah talk. The signing queue was massive and we were sadly right at the end, which meant a mad rush to the Patrick Ness event right after. Daphne, having already met Sarah previously, saved us seats at the venue of the Patrick Ness event, but the rest of us still had to manically run across lots of streets, which caused lots of squeals and mad dashing. It’s something that I will always remember, and I really hope I get to meet these girls in the future because they’re just the best. Despite turning up late, we finally made it to the Patrick Ness event which was awesome and quite funny/weird at times. It’s one of those events that’s memorable because it had some very odd moments. Daphne sprinted to the signing queue so we were right up the front and I even have a special signed copy of More Than This, because Patrick signed it in the wrong place. That’s my claim to fame!

Bath Kids Lit Fest was so much fun and, writing this post, I realise how much I miss it. I met some incredible people and experienced so many amazing things. I need to send a million thank yous to Sarah, who made things extra special. She’s one of the awesomest people I know, so go follow her on Twitter if you don’t already! You’re really missing out! I also need to thank my parents for lugging me around everywhere. Also, thanks to my mum who finally worked out how to use the camera. No, Mum, you’re pressing the off button, not the button to take a picture….

Thank you to EVERYONE who was involved in the festival! I’m really hoping to see more of you at the festival next year! 😀

Book Haul

Letterbox Love (19)

Letterbox Love

 

Letterbox Love is a UK based feature where book bloggers showcase the books that they received that week, be they e-books, paperbacks, hardbacks or any other format. It is hosted by Lynsey from Narratively Speaking.

This is a manic, packed haul today from last week which was Bath Kids Lit Fest. I’ve tried to put piles into some order, so I hope it’s clear!

Signed:

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Noughts and Crosses and Checkmate by Malorie Blackman – I still need to read Checkmate but I loved Noughts and Crosses. I read it when I was just starting to seriously get into YA and so it means quite a lot to me.

Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas- You can read my review of Crown of Midnight here.

The Knife of Never Letting Go and More Than This by Patrick Ness – I still need to read TKoNLG but I loved More Than This.

Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman- Am hoping to read this one in the next few weeks.

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Geek Girl and Geek Girl: Model Misfit by Holly Smale – Two of my favourite books!

Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb

Me, Suzy P by Karen Saunders

Finding Cherokee Brown by Siobhan Curham

Every Day by David Levithan

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan & John Green

Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne

Bought:

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The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater – I LOVED The Raven Boys and am really looking forward to starting it.

Geekhood: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb – Can’t wait to read this one!

Swapped:

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Witch Crag by Kate Cann- UKYA! Big thanks to Anya for this!

She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick – More UKYA!

Gloss by Marilyn Kaye- I’ve been wanting to read this for AGES. Thank you to Georgia for this and the above! You’re fab!

The Day I Met Suzie by Chris Higgins- I’ve loved a lot of Chris Higgins’ books so am looking forward to this. Thank you, Sophie!

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Bringing the Summer by Julia Green – Thank you, Faye!

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch — Thank you to Debbie for these three!

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Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

Marked, Betrayed, Chosen and Untamed by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast — Thank you to Katie for all of these!

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World After by Susan Ee- Eee! Thank you, Sophie!

What did you get this week?

Book Haul

Stacking the Shelves (18)

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Stacking The Shelves is 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! It is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.

Another vlog this week! I’m trying to vlog more so there should be more coming up in the future. I hope this isn’t a problem!

 

 

Books mentioned:

Meta Wars by Jeff Norton (Thank you, Jeff!)

Geek Girl: Model Misfit by Holly Smale

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

UKYA

Currently Reading #1

Today I’m starting a new feature called Currently Reading where I’ll be talking a little bit about the book that-surprise, surprise!- I’m currently reading.

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump this week and so have been dotting between books but I’ve finally found something that I’ve stuck with and that is Geek Girl: Model Misfit by Holly Smale.

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“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek.”

Harriet knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year, though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this.

What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives.

With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes.

Because, this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like.

Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world or is Harriet lost for good?

Model Misfit is the second book in the Geek Girl trilogy and I read the first book back in November and loved it. I was a little nervous to start this because I loved the first book so much but it’s so much fun and I’m really glad that I chose to read it because it’s really helped get me in the mood to read.

What are you reading at the moment? Let me know below! Have you read Model Misfit?

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Top Ten Tuesday (2)- Top Ten Most Memorable Secondary Characters

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week, a new topic is chosen and people are allowed to make their own lists.

This week the topic is the top ten most memorable secondary characters. I had lots of fun, but also found it really hard, choosing the characters to feature on today’s list.

1) Iko from Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Iko was the first character that popped into my head when I was thinking of this list. I love Marissa Meyer’s books and Iko is a very strong secondary character, one who is instantly memorable.

2) Isaac from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I really loved the scenes with Isaac in them because he’s just so funny and cheery, even when he was going through some really tough stuff.

3) Kenji from Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Kenji is so funny and never fails to put a smile on my face. I love this guy!

4) Tiny Cooper from Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

I seem to have a thing for funny characters, and Tiny Cooper is no exception! He made me laugh throughout and is such a great character.

5) Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Luna is such a unique character and, in my opinion, very inspirational. She’s eccentric and quirky and not to afraid to be herself.

6) Lulu from Airhead by Meg Cabot

I LOVE this series and Lulu is hilarious!

7) Toby from Geek Girl by Holly Smale

I love this little stalker guy! *strangle hugs*

8) Finnick Odair from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Finnick is so much better than the main characters, in my opinion. I want a spin-off all about him!

9) Park’s mum from Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Park’s mum is so likable and she really stood out as a character for me.

Have you read any of the books? What did you think? Link me back to your own posts!