Sunday Post 7th May 2017

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, it's a chance to post a recap on the past week, show the books we have received and share what we plan for the coming week. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and the aim is to show our newest books and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops or downloaded on to their e-reader. As always you can click on any of the pictures to be taken to the Goodreads page for that book if you're interested in finding out more about it or click the title to go to the review.

Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th 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 19 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Bout of Books totally snuck up on us this time! We've both been so busy with exams and essay writing that we forgot to do a sign up post! So this is us officially saying we will be taking part again! Bout of Books is always a good time!

Films of the Week:

I've been mostly reading and studying this week (final assignment is DONE) so haven't had a lot of film-watching time. I have been keeping up with Pretty Little Liars. I like where it's going so far but I'm not totally enthusiastic. Obviously I have my own "AD" theories and if I'm not correct I'll be super disappointed but at this point I'm just excited for it to reach a conclusion.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has also returned to E4 so I've been watching that! I love this show so much and the episodes are short enough that I can just call them a "study break" and it's totally excusable! 

Last Week on the Blog:

• Monday Highlights #4
• Clare's April Wrap Up and May TBR
• Wednesday Catch-Up
• Guest Post: Ordinary People - Extraordinary Deeds by Kfir Luzzatto
• Friday Reads: Ararat by Christopher Golden
• Ann's April Wrap Up and May TBR

Books We Got This Week:

The Book of Whispers by Kimberley Starr: Kinda sorta total cover lust? Received via Netgalley. This isn't actually being released until 2018 I believe? So may be putting this on hold for a bit but it does look really intriguing.

Shadow Fall by Audrey Grey: Received via Netgalley. This is one I almost pre-ordered and I can't remember why I didn't? Probably just sheer expensiveness of my pre-ordering habit I think! It still sounds like a great read and I hope I get to it soon!

Mad by Chloe Esposito: Received via Netgalley. This just sounds like such a wild ride. It's about a woman whose twin sister dies and she basically steals her dead sister's life (mostly the money). It sounds ridiculous and exciting and its the start of a trilogy called "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" which just makes me more intrigued!
Keep Me Safe by Daniela Sacerdoti: Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a finished copy. This sounds incredibly moving and beautiful and I am really, really looking forward to it!

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas: WHICH I HAVEN'T READ YET BECAUSE OF UNIVERSITY! It's taunting me. Sat there on the shelf taunting me. I don't want to start this until I am completely free of assessments and exams so that I can really focus on it but I want to read it so bad! 

The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan: This book is so unexpectedly shiny. I'm a total magpie so got completely distracted by that for a while! Basically I loved The Hidden Oracle and have been impatiently waiting for this ever since!
The Night Falling by Katherine Webb: I seem to be buying each Katherine Webb book but never reading any of them? I'm not sure what that's about but I really need to read them soon because they sound great!

My (Not So) Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella: I have been nearly buying this for weeks now. It's on the bestsellers shelf at my local supermarket and everytime I walk past it calls to me. So obviously I eventually gave in. Kinsella is one of my all time favourite authors and I can't wait to read this!

Reading Update:

Ann:

Perfect by Cecelia Ahern: 5 stars, I have been looking forward to reading this for a while now and it was amazing. I love the main character and I wish that there were more books about her.
Geekerella by Ashley Poston: 4 stars, this was a good book and I liked the characters but I think that I have read so many books like it that most of what happened it seemed a bit cliché to me. Overall though I did enjoy the book!

Clare:

Wilde/Chase by Andy McDermott: 3.5 stars, Giving you my thoughts on each book individually would get super repetitive. Because here's the thing. These books are kinda repetitive. There seems to be a pretty constant formula of who not-to-trust and pretty much everyone is expendable except the two leads (spent the first two books constantly getting attached to dead people but now I'm like "oh cool you're a new character you're probably gonna die soon, sorry"). BUT I love archaeology and mythology and this covers both of those. Nina and Eddie were occasionally frustrating characters to follow. In the first few books I was getting really fed up of their constant relationship problems but now that's settled down I can enjoy their banter a bit more. At the end of the day if you're looking for realistic action/adventure then this probably isn't entirely for you. These are fun, and relatively exciting and got me through a really stressful week during which I was preparing my final assignment. The series isn't over yet and I definitely want to continue on which should tell you something about how involved I am with these characters now!!

Ararat by Christopher Golden: 4.5 stars, Just so, so good. Atmospheric and well written with strongly crafted characters and a really, really exciting plot! My full review will be up on Thursday!

All the Good Things by Clare Fisher: 4 stars, This was such a unique and interesting book. It wasn't at all like I was expecting, although the twist was one I felt was easy-ish to predict although that didn't change the intensity of the whole book! My review for this will be up next Saturday!

Next Week on the Blog:

• Monday Highlights #5
• Books That Changed My Life #1
• Wednesday Catch-Up
• Clare Reviews: Ararat by Christopher Golden
• Friday Reads
• Clare Reviews: All the Good Things by Clare Fisher

You can also find us on Goodreads (Ann and Clare), Facebook and Instagram to keep up with what we are reading.