The Book Cake Tag

Today I'm going to bake the only thing I actuality can! A virtual book cake mmmm, delicious! So this is basically a Vlog tag that Ebony over at The Book Bee converted into a blog format and then because she's super wonderful she tagged me.This is a nice simple tag that only requires you to make a post making the cake and then tag some friends and share the fun. I'm a 'do what you like' kind of person so if you are thinking this looks fun then I tag you, I also want to tag Kerrie Ann from Reading For Life . 

There are 7 elements to a basic cake, to mimic this there are seven questions all related to the ingredients that you have to answer. I'm not going to explain my books unless asked so if you're curious why I picked a certain book leave me a comment and I'll try and explain my choice. 

Ingredients

Flour; A book that was slow to start off but soon 

picked up as it went along.

Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery

Goodreads - Book Depository

Butter; A book that had a really rich and great plot.

The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson

Goodreads - Book Depository

Eggs; A book that you thought was going to 

be terrible but turned out good.

Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr

Goodreads - Book Depository

Sugar; A book that was sugary and sweet.

Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins

Goodreads - Book Depository

Icing; A book that cover every story element that you enjoy.

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini

Goodreads - Book Depository

Sprinkles; A book series you turn to when you're

in a slump or feeling down.

Ranger's Apprentice series - John Flanagan

Goodreads - Book Depository

Cherry on top; Your favourite book so far this year.

A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness

Goodreads - Book Depository

This is my first tag! I hope you all give it a go as well and have some fun.

WWW Wednesday #4

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish?

What do you think you'll read next?

Here is a meme hosted by Shouldbereading that is really fun and easy to do. All you have to do is answer the 3 questions above. Each photo will take you to the Goodreads link for the book to get a synopsis if your interested in reading one of these books. I'll also put a link to purchase the books if your interested at the end of each part.

What are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading Half Bad by Sally Green, I received this as an ARC copy and holy god I've never been so excited for anything. I had high expectations and so far they are being blown  away! Nathan the protagonist in this story pulls all my heart strings. He's half white witch half black witch and treated horrible by nearly everyone for it. - Book Depository

What did you recently finish?

I recently finished Naked in Death by J.D. Robb, this is one of my favourite mystery adult series. I probably read this at least 5 times just because I love it so much. It has its crime elements but also really sweet romance elements. I've set myself a challenge that over the next couple of years I will try and read the whole 40ish book (and still growing) series. - Book Depository

What do you think you'll read next?

Next I'm hopefully going to read 1984 by George Orwell I've been looking for the time to read this since I brought it. I've only ever heard amazing things about It and it also fits really well into my current school assignment which is a wonderful plus. - Book Depository

Are any of these in your tbr pile? Or have you read any before?

Stacking The Shelves #4



Link to Tynga's blog

Stacking the shelves is a meme hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews each week on whatever day you choose you create a post listing any books you've received for review, as a gift or just brought yourself. I'm going to be posting this every Monday (hopefully). All books not under heading Review Copies I have purchased myself or borrowed from the library or a friend. Books under heading Review Copies were given to me in return for a honest review.

Divine By Mistake - P.C Cast, Goodreads - Amazon

Divine By Choice - P.C Cast, Goodreads - Amazon

Divine By Blood - P.C Cast, Goodreads - Amazon

 

If I Stay - Gayle Forman, Goodreads - Amazon
The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater, Goodreads - Amazon

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman, Goodreads - Amazon

  

Review Copies

The Secret of Abul El-Yezdi - Mark Hodder, Goodreads - Amazon

Me Since You - Laura Weiss, Goodreads - Amazon

Lingering Echoes - Erica Kiefer, Goodreads - Amazon

  

Book Review: The Wrong Girl - Zoë Foster

Pub. Date- 26th Feb 2014 Publisher- Penguin Aus Pages- 302   
Genre- Adult Contemporary Rating- 3 Stars

I received this courtesy of Penguin Books Australia

 through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Goodreads - Amazon

"Lily is a producer on a successful cooking segment for a daily morning show. The new chef has just arrived on set and he is drop dead gorgeous. And despite everything – the sabbatical that Lily and her flatmate Simone are taking from men, the fact that Jack is a work colleague – Lily falls head over heels for him.And while Lily battles her feelings, her flatmate Simone breaks their pact and starts dating some guy from her wholefoods shop. That guy turns out to be Jack. Up close, Lily bravely watches on as romance blossoms between Simone and Jack. Or does it? They don't seem to have much in common, apart from their striking good looks. And Lily and Jack just seem to get each other. Is that the same thing as falling in love? And could she ever dream of betraying a friendship? Lily has to make some difficult decisions about work and home, and realises that if she doesn't take life by the scruff of the neck, she is the one who'll be picked up, shaken and dumped."

The Wrong Girl and I didn't get off on the best start the day I first started reading it, it got put down without really being given it a chance. I honestly didn't get past 8 percent of the book. Then by chance I watched a live show by author John Green and he spoke about reading generously, setting out to read a book as if you’re certain that you'll enjoy it. So with this in mind, I picked up The Wrong Girl again and I'm glad I did. 

The story follows Lily who is hitting the big 30, dealing with a new chef she instantly dislikes all the while, living with a crazy flatmate whom she's on a man ban with after some major fails when it comes to the opposite sex. Lily is the type of girl to put up with something for a while she fumes inside which gets her in trouble. This book features a host of cool characters, some hard out partying and an ending that could be the best or worst thing depending on your preference...  

Having an interesting way of expressing its time order often skipping time periods such as evenings that would be theoretically boring with nothing happening, is something done really well in this book. It gave the plot a nice feel to it, not to fast with everything rushed but not dragging along either. The only time the plot felt slow was when things became repetitive in their descriptions of character or things. After hearing it a few times, we get that a certain character dresses odd.  

This story felt very much divided, the first quarter was pretty bland I felt, mostly due to it being a very character dependent plot-line. I didn't really care about any of the characters so there was no reason for me to care that a new chef came or that Simone was on a bender. Now to the dreaded ending it, no spoilers I promise. The ending left me in two minds as I'm review an ARC copy so I have hope the end just isn't finished in mine because it’s every open ended and that just isn't my thing. If this doesn't bother you go forth and enjoy this book.

My 3 star rating is due to the ending, some repetition and slow points but I'm glad in the I finished reading this, and I would be interested in reading another of Zoë Foster's books when I get the chance.

Have you ever got off to a bad start with a book?

Will you give this a read when it's released ?

WWW Wednesday #3

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish?

What do you think you'll read next?

Here is a meme hosted by Shouldbereading that is really fun and easy to do. All you have to do is answer the 3 questions above. Each photo will take you to the goodreads link for the book to get a synopsis if your interested in reading one of these books.

What are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult with Ebony from The Book Bee (she's wonderful). We are reading 150 pages a week. Without even being 150 pages through yet I can tell I'm going to really enjoy this. Already I'm in love with Chris the main boy in story. I feel so much for him! We should finish this in roughly 2 more weeks if the scheduled stays intact. 

What did you recently finish?

I recently finished The Wrong Girl by Zoë Foster, I received an  ARC copy of this book through Netgalley. I enjoyed it and will probably will pick up a physical copy when it's released. It has a really cool looking cover that would look pretty on my shelves. 

What do you think you'll read next?

Next I'll be reading Half Bad by Sally Green I received an ARC for this as well through Netgalley and I'd like to read and review it before it's release. The little bit I've heard about it makes it seem like the next big thing which is very exciting. I plan to read this in the middle of The Pact when I've hit my page goal for the week.

Book Review: A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness

Pub. Date- 2013 Publisher- Candlewick Press Pages- 206 

Genre- Fantasy/Contemporary YA Rating- 5 Stars

Goodreads - Book Depository 

The monster showed up just after midnight.As they do. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting, the one from the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming....This monster is something different, something ancient , something wild. And it wants the truth.
Costa Award winner Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final idea of much-loved Carnegie Medal winner Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous and painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel of coming to terms with loss from two of the finest writers for young adults.

How do you describe a book that is nothing like anything you've read before? I have no idea how to do this book justice but I'm going to try. Patrick Ness has long been one of my favourite authors since the day I first picked up The Knife of Never Letting Go, but with this book he knocked every expectation I had out of the park. If someone asked to recommend a book that made them feel everything without a second thought, I'd reply A Monster Calls.This the kind of book that leaves you thinking about it for weeks in advance..

The first spectacular thing about this book is it beautiful illustrations by Jim Kay. That add so much depth and ambiance, to give the story a whole new dimension. The images really help to set the stage for everything that's happening even its just leaves on the side of the page like they are scattered on the floor or full page spreads illustrating the monsters stories in frightening detail.

The illustrations perfectly match the eerily beautiful writing style that seemed to flow effortlessly creating a seamless transition between the fantastical elements and the contemporary more serious moments. The way sentence are structured in this brilliant tale isn't like anything I've read before and I really enjoyed it. The short punchy sentences felt very to Conor an angry kid who is just trying to keep everything under control. When the monster  is speaking the writing changes just enough to give the feeling that the Monster is ancient and all knowing without changing the rhythm and pace that rest of the book has.

With a book so packed full of emotions and events it would be to hard to give a summary of Conor or the monster without giving away spoilers so I'm just going to leave it at this has fast become one of my favourite books of all time and I've already brought it for 2 of my friends. And finally here's my favourite quote just to give you a teaser.

“You do not write your life with words...You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”   

Have you read this, what did you think? If you haven't will you add it to your tbr?

Stacking The Shelves #3

Link to Tynga's blog

Stacking the shelves is a meme hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews each week on whatever day you choose you create a post listing any books you've received for review, as a gift or just brought yourself. I'm going to be posting this every Monday (hopefully). All books not under heading Review Copies I have purchased myself. Books under heading Review Copies were given to me in return for a honest review.

For the last 2 weeks I didn't do my stacking the shelves post due to a lack of time with my TAFE starting so I have a lot of books that I've added to my shelves I'm going to list them in past books together and then this weeks.

Past Weeks

The Princess Bride - William Goldman,  Goodreads - Amazon

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy, Goodreads - Amazon

Be My Shield - Jo Spurrier, Goodreads - Amazon

Making Faces - Amy Harmon, Goodreads - Amazon

How to Fall in Love - Cecelia Ahren, Goodreads - Amazon
Verity - Claire Farrell, Goodreads - Amazon

This Week

Saving Wishes - G.J Walker-Smith, Goodreads - Amazon

Second Hearts - G.J Walker-Smith, Goodreads - Amazon
Storm Shells - G.J Walker-Smith, Goodreads - Amazon

Review Copies

Violet is Blue - Tawny Stokes, Goodreads - Amazon
Endless - Amanda Gray, Goodreads - Amazon
Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead, Goodreads - Amazon

The Wrong Girl - Zoe Foster, Goodreads - Amazon Release Date: 26th Feb 2014
 Lights Over Emerald Creek - Shelley Davidow, Goodreads - Pre-Order Release Date: 28th Feb 2014 Half Bad - Sally Green, Goodreads - Amazon - Release Date: 4th March 2014







I know this is a lot of books, but it is 3 weeks worth!

Have you read any of these? Are there any you'd like me to review first?
Will you add any to your TBR?

Book review: Violet is Blue - Tawny Stokes

Pub. Date- Jan 13th 2014 Publisher- Indie Ink Pages- 106 

Series- Hothouse series  Genre- Contemporary/New Adult  Rating- 4 Stars

I received this courtesy of Indie Ink through Netgalley

 in return for an honest review.  

Goodreads - Amazon

For the past four years, 18 year old, Violet Taylor has lived her life like her deceased father would've wanted. Perfect grades, perfect friends, the perfect boyfriend from the right family. Except now at the end of high school, she realizes that she’s never fully lived, has never taken risks, has always taken the safe and secure road. That all changes when she breaks up with her boyfriend, takes notice of the bad boy who she once shared a kiss with, and starts receiving gifts and phone calls from a mystery guy who makes her quiver with a need she never knew she possessed…
But what started as innocent turns dark and twisted, and Violet finds herself faced with a horrible secret that could destroy everything she once knew and loved.

Recommend for readers 17+ contains adult content.

 Feel like reading something intriguing, a little bit nuts, short but still a interesting, then this could be the book for you. Violet is Blue is the first book in Tawny Stokes new adult 'Hothouse series'. Its follows Violet an 18 year old girl who is struggling with what to do next in her life. Her father pasted away four years earlier and her Mother remarried his business partner Mark who is someone Violet has come to rely on.

The story centres around Violets struggle with a secret admirer come stalker who starts messing with her life causing her to be terrified all the time. Violet is a very refreshing lead character, she follow's none of the common cliché that when reading New Adult you come across all the time, she isn't amazingly beautiful, the super smart ugly girl that's so beautiful on the inside it hurts. She is absolutely none of those, she is just an average girl that makes so stupid choices. And lets face it who doesn't do dumb things when trying not to disappoint their parents, while being completely terrified. Violet is also never whinny which makes her an A+ character, there's nothing worse then trying to get past a character that is all 'woe is me' when its a situation of their own making.

For a book with intrigue and mystery elements to it, I for once found myself not really knowing who was the bad guy right up until the climax. There where so many character's who could fit the stalker character arc that it made it really complex and interesting each time one got shot down to try and pin the blame on the next. My only criticisms on the whole book were that the editing could have been better, some of the sentences could of had better structure or a smoother flow to them. Also just a few minor cliché that could have been avoided would have put the cherry on top of the cake.

All in all this was a really good read, that I found really interesting. I continue the series when the sequels are published.

Have you read this? Or will you be adding it to your tbr?

     

WWW Wednesdays #2

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish?

What do you think you'll read next?

Here is a meme hosted by Shouldbereading that is really fun and easy to do. All you have to do is answer the 3 questions above. Each photo will take you to the goodreads link for the book to get a synopsis if your interested in reading one of these books.

What are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher and I think I'm going to really love this series. I'm excited to finish this soon I have about a days reading left and will be definitely buy the second book Academ's Fury soon. 

What did you recently finish?

Today I finished Storm Shells, the third book in the Saving Wishes Series by G.J Walker-Smith. I have really enjoyed reading this book. It is partly set in Australia and just had some really cool characters even if I did want to murder them at times.  I will be soon reading the 4th book as well as the companion novel that fits in as the 2.5 book.

What do you think you'll read next?

I'm going to be reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult over the next few weeks with the lovely Ebony from The Book Bee. She has read some of Jodi Picoult's books before and has assured me that they aren't as scary as I have been thinking they are in my head. It should hopefully take us about 3 weeks of planned reading to finish this and then I'll be putting up a review.

Will you be adding any of these to your tbr? Or have you read them already?

Book Review: The Darkest Minds - Alexandra Bracken

Pub. Date- 2013 Publisher- Hyperion Pages- 528   
Series- The Darkest Minds(1) Genre- Dystopian Rating- 5 Stars

Goodreads - Book Depository

"When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she's on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her-East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can't risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living."

The Darkest Minds is one of those books that has a lot of hype for good reason as long as you don't mind a long book that's pace isn't always the fastest. I would compare this plot speed to a lot of high fantasy series first books. It takes a while to form a solid plot and wanders a long world building and building relationships for a while, then ends with a big bang. When I was looking into this book to see if I wanted it, I saw it being compared to The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins very often and I understand in theory why, them both having plot-lines involving young children being put in disturbing situations but I never felt like I was reading a book I'd read before. The writing style in the two books felt very different and I didn't even think of the hunger games until I started writing this.

Now that's out of the way, lets move on to the characters that really make this story come alive and feel different from lots of other dystopian novels. The protagonist of this story is Ruby who is 'one of the dangerous ones' a girl taken away from her parents when she's 10 for a reason she didn't understand till later. Ruby as a leading lady did really irritate me at times, she always seemed to trust the people she shouldn't but take years to warm up to the good guys! This at times made me what to seriously facepalm myself. Other than having bad trust instincts Ruby was kick-ass in so many ways while still being vulnerable enough to make you feel for her and and add a realistic element. (If I'd been taken at 10 and put in a prison camp I'd be mote than vulnerable) Next up we have Liam the love interest and probably the most noble guy ever. All he wants to be the best leader he can be and make sure his friends are safe. He helps fix part of the broken side to Ruby that makes her stronger and more determined. My heart breaks for him over and over though-out the course of the story. There isn't much else I can say than I love him.

Chubs and Zu are characters that I really love for completely different; Zu some how manages to pull every heart string and become attached to your heart without ever saying a word. Chubs, the love I have for him is mostly because I can understand his way of thinking and look past some of his snarlier comments. All he wants to do is protect his friends that were left and find the mysterious leader of East River. Each and every character was so detailed and full that they came to life on the page.

Guilt and betrayal became very strong themes as the plot developed but they managed to never become repetitive or boring because of the different ways each character felt it. It held up well even in the dramatic events by adding weight and strength. 

This is a slow but wild ride that will have you going up and down so often it's crazy. I would recommend this to any dystopian lovers.

Will you add this to your tbr? Or have you read it already?