Top Ten Recently Acquired Books

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and you can find there post here.


Ann:
Clare has given me a lot of books because she is getting rid of some and gave me a few so below are the 10 I am most looking forward to.

1) Debutantes by Cora Harrison
2) 13 Curses by Michelle Harrison
3) Eon by Alison Goodman
4) Eve by Anna Carey
5) Dear Dylan by Siobhan Curham
6) Carrier of the Mark by Leigh Fallon
7) Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
8) Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
9) Everneath by Brodi Ashton
10) By Midnight by Mia James

Clare: 
If I literally listed my last ten acquired books it would be a dizzying array of colouring books. I went a little crazy with them. So instead I decided to do the same as Ann and just choose the ten I am most excited for. I did include a colouring book and also a dot to dot book. Because apparently I am a child.

1) Dream Catcher a Soul Bird's Journey
2) This Book is Gay by James Dawson
3) Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
4) Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
5) Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
6) Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
7) Endgame: The Calling by James Frey
8) The Awesome by Eva Darrows
9) Dot to dot City Scapes
10) Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Top Ten Hyped Books We've Never Read

Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme/feature started at The Broke and the Bookish and you can find their post here. There are honestly so many books that have been hyped that we've never read. Some because of the hype, some just because we haven't quite got around to it. Or because we're waiting for the series to be complete.

Ann's Picks:


1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
3. Looking for Alaska by John Green
4. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
5. Matched by Allie Condie

Clare's Picks


6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - I fully meant to read this. And then the film came out. And then someone ruined the ending for me. And now I'm just not sure.
7. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - I did something I almost never do. I watched the show before reading the books. And now its just become this thing with me that I think I'd get really confused by differing plot lines. But I will hopefully get to this soon.
8. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - I actually really wanted to read this, but then I read some rather negative reviews and it kind of soured me.
9. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - I really need to read this. I haven't got my hopes too high but I am fairly sure I will enjoy this one.
10. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - I pre-ordered this. I was so excited. And then I got intimidated by the hype and I wasn't in a fantasy mood so I put it off. And now it just stares at me accusingly from my TBR pile. I will be reading it really soon though. Definitely this summer. I just need to hype myself back up.


Honourable mentions to All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (from Ann) and Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins (from Clare) and The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson (also Clare).

Dual Reads Book Haul 29th June to 5th July

Illusive by Emily Lloyd Jones: The sequel Deceptive is coming out at the end of this month so I will probably wait and read them together but I am so excited for this book!
The Baby by Lisa Drakeford: I just finished reading this book and I gave it 3 stars, I may be writing a review on this.
The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle: I have been really looking forward to this but the reviews have been kind of mixed. I will probably be reading this next week so I shall see what I think!
Summer at Tiffany's by Karen Swan: This is the sequel to Christmas at Tiffany's which is the first of her books I read, I love her seasonal books so I'm looking forward to this.
Faking Perfect by Rebecca Phillips: The summary of this one just sounds great, I already like it and I haven't started it yet so I really hope it doesn't disappoint.
Love Fortunes and Other Disasters by Kimberly Karaulius: I read the first sentence when this arrived (which I do with all books) and wound up reading the first chapter before I realised what I was doing. I am hoping the rest of the book will be as good.
Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes: Kind of excited kind of nervous. On the one hand this is apparently great and has funny moments. On the other it will "break my heart into a million pieces". So... nervous.

Friday Reads 3rd July 2015

Ann: Currently reading Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson and planning to read Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik.


Clare: I just finished Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen five minutes ago which I loved. Next I am going to pick up The Baby by Lisa Drakeford, I am not sure what I am expecting with this book but I am definitely excited. It is kind of a short book so after that I will be moving on to Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison which looks like a great summery read.


Let us know in the comments what you plan to read this weekend or if you've read any of these books.

Clare Reviews Revenge: I Am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore vs Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan

Title: I Am Her Revenge                                        Title: Daughter of Deep Silence
Author: Meredith Moore                                       Author: Carrie Ryan
Series: No                                                               Series: No
Rating: 5/5                                                               Rating: 4/5

On the surface these two books are almost completely different. I Am Her Revenge follows Vivian who has been raised with the sole purpose of getting revenge on the man who hurt her Mother. Meanwhile Daughter of Deep Silence is about Frances who, after a devastating ship wreck, takes on the identity of her best friend Libby. She finds out that certain people, including her one-time love have been lying about the sinking of the ship. She sets out to discover what they are hiding and to get revenge. So all these books seem to share is a vengeful purpose.

Both Vivian and Frances are fairly unlikable characters. Although Vivian starts unlikable and grows to be wonderful whilst Frances almost develops backwards, she starts as a sympathetic character and then twists herself so much that at some point I stopped rooting for her. This is the main difference between these books and the reason I Am Her Revenge got the extra star. I loved Meredith Moore's characterisation. Vivian is possibly one of the most compelling characters I have ever read. Yes, she is twisted and cruel at times and she is undeniably manipulative. But she is also vulnerable and hurting. Frances, started vulnerable. But she made terrible choices along the way. Which I suppose is where these two characters differ, Frances has a choice. Vivian doesn't.

The plot of Daughter of Deep Silence was interesting at first, there was plenty of vengeful planning and some interesting scenes and I was keen to find out what the truth was. But as the book wore on I got fed up with Frances' decisions and that kind of affected my enjoyment of the plot. I Am Her Revenge was a fairly slow burner. There were bits that were disturbing or worrying and the menace of Vivian's Mother was ever present which kept me turning the pages.

Frances had to deal with her ex-boyfriend/crush since he and his father were the object of her revenge plot, but she finds herself remembering what she loved about him and wondering if he could be as bad as she had thought he was. I never really felt their romance, it wasn't insta-love in the sense that they had already dated when she was Frances but when she shows up as Libby, he doesn't recognise her but still falls in love fairly quickly. There are some quite interesting awkward moments inside Frances's head where she becomes a little jealous of herself. I didn't dislike the romance and it never got to a point where it took over the greater plot. Vivian's love interest situation is a little more complicated. And it's complicated to even describe it without giving spoilers. But I will say I loved the way it was handled and I think everything went the way it should have done. (Sorry - vague).

Vivian also had a great villain in Mother. Capitalised. Always. She was creepy and menacing and even from an ocean away she still terrified Vivian. She was so twisted and bitter and I almost got goosebumps every time she was mentioned or appeared. She made any scene that much tenser. And it was wonderful. The villain in Daughter of Deep Silence was less menacing in a way. You don't find out really who the main villains are until near the end of the book, and the Senator and his son are way too domestic and harmless seeming to provide any real menace. Towards the end everything became very intense which was when the book got a whole lot better. Things were happening, characters were developing, mysteries were being revealed. That part I liked. But compared with the always-looming threat of Mother it was a lot tamer.

Overall both books were very good and I would definitely recommend picking them up. However I Am Her Revenge comes out on top since it was near perfect in almost everything. I think if I had read Daughter of Deep Silence at any other time than right after I Am Her Revenge I would have liked it a whole lot more. I am very excited to read more of Carrie Ryan's books and I am waiting eagerly for anything else Meredith Moore writes.

Let me know if you've read either of these books and if you agree or disagree with my comments.              

Best of June and Our July TBR

Rather than a list of all the books we've read this month - which would probably be fairly boring to read we each chose one favourite and one least favourite book for the month. And then we have each chosen five books for our July TBR we will probably read more than that, summer is full of free time after all, but these are the five we are most intending to read. You can click on any of the pictures to head over to their Goodreads pages if you are interested.

Ann's Favourite Book of June:

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

A fairly obvious choice for me, I've mentioned it a few times before. You can find my review here.

Clare's Favourite Book of June:

I Am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore

I mentioned this in my Top Ten Books of the Year so Far here . A truly amazing protagonist and the whole plot and mystery had me on the edge of my seat.

Ann's Least Favourite Book of June:

Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

It is entirely possible that if I didn't live in England this would have been more enjoyable but this American view of England was so entirely inaccurate its more cringe than relatable. (Note from Clare: I read this in May so I can wholeheartedly second this. There's no way we as a country are that into polo. Or Duchesses.)

Clare's Least Favourite Book of June:

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

I did write a review for this book here. The series as a whole had one main problem which was that all the interesting characters were sidelined in favour of disappointing main characters.

Ann's TBR for July:

I have a TBR Jar (or more accurately a TBR Butterbeer cup we got from the Harry Potter Studios) and have set myself five books to read this month.

The Program by Suzanne Young

Icons by Margaret Stohl

Still Star-Crossed by Melinda Taub

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Clare's TBR for July:

I hope to read more but these are my solid five. I also always read one classic a month and one other (for example fact), this month I chose a short story anthology.

The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen

Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger

Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews(Actually adding this to your list too Ann, we need to see the film!)

The Warden by Anthony Trollope

Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt 

Let us know in the comments what your favourite/least favourite books of June were and what books you intend reading this month and have a great Summer!

Top Ten Books Read So Far in 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is an original meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and you can find their top ten here. So Ann isn't available for this one (maybe I can get her to add hers on later) so I have to go it alone. A lot of whether I love a book comes down to character, so I apologise in advance for all the "I loved the characters/the characters were amazing". They are in no particular order.

1) Rook by Sharon Cameron

Honestly this was kind of a surprise for me. I wasn't blown away by the description but I loved the cover. The first sentence hooked me completely and I was in love with the whole book. The romance was incredible (and not insta-love thank god) and the heroine was amazing.

2) Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Oh boy was I looking forward to this one. I adored Cruel Beauty last year and I love fairy tale re-telling's. Little Red Riding Hood may seem like an odd choice to retell but it honestly worked so well. Rachelle is probably one of my all time favourite female characters now.

3) I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I really loved her If I Stay duology and the Just One Day duology but this one was, if possible, even better. I loved all the characters and I thought it was a difficult subject that was dealt with so so well.

4) All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

A similar issue to I Was Here but handled very differently. I know this is a really divisive book, some people love it some people hate it. But I couldn't do anything after I read this book. I was still so lost in the story and the characters.

5) Strange and Ever After by Susan Dennard

Honestly this whole series. It was so difficult to get hold of in England and I eventually had to order it from America (and then wait forever for it to arrive) but it was so worth it. Very unusual and interesting.

6) I Am Her Revenge by Meredith Moore

Vivian is one of the most interesting characters I have ever read. Looked at objectively she is kind of the villain but she is so fragile and twisted but so strong on the inside and I just want to love her and protect her.

7) The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Wow. I remember reading The Arabian Nights when I was a kid because it just looked like such a grown up book but I never really got into it. This however was amazing. The characters were wonderful, the romance was pretty near perfect. I cannot wait for the next book. Also the hardcover for this is one of the most gorgeous things ever.

8) The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson

I waited so long for this book comforted by the thought it would be the last one. But no, not  trilogy. There will be a fourth book. I am not sure I can survive the wait.

9) Solitaire by Alice Oseman

I picked this up more or less on a whim. And then ended up loving it. Its absolutely amazing and so well written, I am looking forward to Alice's next book a lot.

10) I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

My brother got this for me for my birthday (thank you John) and I really enjoyed it. The characters are very flawed and not always likable but I was so interested in what was going to happen.

So those are my top ten books I've read so far in 2015, there are loads of books to be read in the rest of the year and I am super excited for them! Let me know what your top ten books are.