Sunday Post 21st 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.

Life Update:

Ann:

I started my GCSE exams this week and have so far sat 6 of my 21 exams, so I thought that I would do an exam update this week and for the next few weeks of exams! So far this week I have done 2 Science, 2 RE and 2 French exams. I think that so far all my exams have gone okay, except I am a little worried about my French exam because I have never really been very good at speaking or understanding French. Hopefully however, I will be able to pass all my exams and get in to the courses I am hoping to do at College. I shall let you know next Sunday about my exams next week. Wish me luck!

Last Week on the Blog:

• Bout of Books Wrap Up
• Monday Highlights #6
• Top Ten of our Mum's Favourite Books
• Wednesday Catch-Up
• Clare Reviews: Crimson & Bone by Marina Fiorato
• Friday Reads: The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill
• Dealing with Exam Stress

Books We Got This Week:

Almost a Bride by Jo Watson: Received copy from publisher for review. This looks super cute and summery and I am really looking forward to it! I'm a huge fan of the fake-relationship turns real trope. 

Odd & True by Cat Winters: I legit screamed when I got the approval email from Netgalley for this. Probably my most anticipated release for the rest of the year - I adore Cat Winters' books! 

Everything Must Go by Jenny Fran Davis: Just such a fun, crazy cover that initially drew me in. This was also received via Netgalley and is being released in October.

Water in May by Ismee Amiel Williams: Received via Netgalley. In contrast I was drawn to the simplicity of this cover and then totally hooked by the blurb. It sounds like it could be quite an emotional one. This is another September release!
The Smallest Thing by Lisa Manterfield: Received via Netgalley, this is released in June, I am really in the mood for thrillers/adventures at the moment so this intrigues me.

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich: One of my most anticipated books of the year! Spies, and LGBT romance and tropes done in a tongue in cheek way. 

The Secrets of Lizzie Borden by Brandy Purdy: MORE Lizzie Borden you ask incredulously. Yes. More. Always more. 

The Italian Wife by Kate Furnivall: One of my favourite historical authors. This actually disappointed me (you can see my thoughts below).
The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill: A mystery set in the 20s was always going to appeal to me plus the cover is gorgeous!
The Scarecrow Queen by Melinda Salisbury: Found this in a charity shop and had to buy it cause I have the first two and now I can read the whole trilogy. Someday.

Gena/Finn by Hannah Moskowitz and Kat Helgeson: This is a novel told entirely through email and text and blog posts which is a format I adore. 

Contagion by Teri Terry: I went to Waterstones. Which is always a bad idea for my poor bank balance. But also a great idea because look these two books. I actually kind of want to read both of these straight away so I don't even feel guilty about it.

Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer: "The smartest and funniest book about spontaneous combustion you will ever read." Yeah sure John Green. Especially since it'll be the ONLY book about spontaneous combustion I've ever read? But hey this sounds really fun.

Reading Update:

Ann:
Unfortunately due to doing exams almost everyday this week, I have not really been able to read much but I have read half of Love Song a book that Clare brought me recently so I am hoping to have finished that by next week.

Clare:

 

As Long As You Love Me and The Shape of My Heart by Ann Aguirre: 4.5 stars, I just genuinely love this series! Such good romances and non-cliche-driven storylines. If you like New Adult then I very much recommend these! 

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde: 4 stars, Super super cute. I really appreciated having a bi main character and also a main character with social anxiety - both felt real and relatable for me and it was so lovely to see myself in both main characters so clearly! 
The Far Side of the Sun by Kate Furnivall: 4.5 stars, Really enjoyed this. Super good character development, liked both romances and the mystery was engaging and I solved it just before the characters did which gave me this great "NOOOOO don't trust them" moment before they figured it out. 

Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall: 4 stars, I re-read this one just because reading The Far Side of the Sun reminded me how much I enjoyed it. I definitely still like it although I would now recommend TFSotS more!

The Italian Wife by Kate Furnivall: 3 stars, My least favourite Furnivall novel to date. Wasn't a huge fan of the way some of the issues were handled. The mystery and the romance were still good but I just wasn't as engrossed as I usually am with her books which was disappointing.

The Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill: 4 stars, This was a really good read. The mystery was sad and compelling and I loved the main character. I do wish there had been a bit more character development for the other characters because I found myself badly unattached when something sad or eventful happened. But otherwise really good and I hope there are more books about Piper. 

Next Week on the Blog:

• Monday Highlights #7
• Top Ten Books I Want to Read This Summer
• Wednesday Catch-Up
• June Releases We're Making Room on Our Shelves For!!
• Friday Reads
• Mid Year Freak Out Tag

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