Letterbox Love (29)

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

So it's been almost a month since I last did one of these posts and that is simply because I haven't been requesting or buying as many books lately. The MAHOOSIVE pile of books by my bed actually fell down on top of me so I had to make the tough call of getting rid of some books. Basically I'm running out of places to put my books and so I'm trying to read what I've got and get my TBR down a bit. Although it's been a month I still only have 9 books to share with you - that is how good I've been! I used to get that in a week! Never mind a month! I'm pretty chuffed with myself. It's also very satisfying watching my TBR pile dwindle down. These Letterbox Love posts may be few and far between for a while whilst I continue to tackle Mount TBR. Instead I'll be saving the few books I do get and doing a Letterbox Love every few weeks when I have a good number to show you.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (For Review, Proof Copy)
Oh, yeah! I loved Throne of Glass and will be getting to this sequel this month, hopefully. The cover is awesome and it isn't even a finished copy! *Pets book and does a happy dance.*
Antigoddess by Kendare Blake (Review Copy)
Another exciting book! I loved Anna Dressed in Blood and am excited to read Kendare's new series.
Memory by Christoph Marzi (Review Copy)
I can't remember too much about this one (which is ironic given the title!) but I've heard good things about Christoph's books so I'm looking forward to giving this one a go.
Out of Breath by Rebecca Donovan (Review Copy)
I still have to start this series but now that I have all three books now is the perfect time, right?
Fallen Too Far by Abbi Glines (Review Copy)
I have yet to read anything by Abbi but I love the sound of this series and want to start it this summer.
Carnaby by Cate Sampson (Review Copy)
I'm pretty sure this is a murder mystery/ thriller. I haven't heard very much about this one yet but the synopsis sounds interesting.

Book Geek tote bag which Mira Ink very kindly sent me! I love it! Perfect for book shopping!
Fathomless by Jackson Pearce (Review Copy)
I love Jackson's books and this is a re-telling of The Little Mermaid which is one of my favourite fairytales! This will make a great summer read.
Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Schwartz (Bought)
You guys! This book sounds awesome! I haven't seen it around but the synopsis sounds great so I had to get it. If you like Contemporary YA Thrillers this one needs to be on your radar!
Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham (Bought)
Another YA Thriller that's pitched as Lost meets Gossip Girl both of which I have been obsessed with at some point or another. I'm really into my summer thrillers lately so I just had to get me a copy of this one!

*** My quote in Fathomless *** 

The awesome Casey from Dark Readers sent me a tweet letting me know I was quoted in Fathomless! This is the 5th book I've been quoted in this year and it's always so exciting and a little unbelievable, there I am underneath the authors of Beautiful Creatures. I mean... WHAT!?!? Is this real life!?

These are all of the lovely new books that found themselves a new home on my shelves over the past few weeks. If any of these books have caught your eye and you’d like to find out more about them simply click on the title and the link will take you to Goodreads for a full synopsis, reviews, and to add them to your wishlists. As always thank you to the lovely publishing folk for the review copies. If you’re looking forward to a certain book in particular and want to request a review feel free to in the comments and I’ll do my best to get around to the book sooner rather than later. And if you decided to do a Letterbox Love, Book Haul, IMM, Showcase Sunday, Mailbox Monday or whatever else featuring the books you got this week leave me a link as I’d love to check out your books too! ^_^

 Happy reading till next time!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Wrap Up!

This Readathon is hosted by Angela and Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination.

What I Read: 
A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Total Pages Read: 651

Challenges I Participated In: The Book BFF Challenge and The Genre Challenge

Favourite Book Read: Well The Archived is the only book I read from start to finish so probably that. The writing was beautiful blending grief and loss with a gothic and haunting paranormal story. The world building was excellent and I couldn't quite believe how original this "ghost story" was. Victoria Schwab took such an overused topic and made it completely unique and her own. I adored it. But then again I'm not quite finished with Eleanor and Park yet and that is wonderful in a totally different way. The characters are vibrant and bright and it feels like reading a real life account of a love story between two real people. I'm completely in love with it.

Final Thoughts: Well, I reached my goal of reading two books but this wasn't my best readathon. Simply because I know that I could have read more if it wasn't for the heat, my hayfever, my dog getting sick etc. Life kinda got in the way of this one but I'm still proud of what I accomplished in three days. I read some brilliant books and I'm looking forward to getting stuck back into Eleanor and Park later today.

 How did you do for the Readathon? What was your favourite read?

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Days 2 and 3

 

This Readathon is hosted by Angela and Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination.

Day 2 Updates
What I Read: The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Number of Pages Read: 222
Pages Read Total: 447
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: No
Reading Snack:

A bowl of fresh strawberries and a Graze favourite of mine - el picante which consists of jumbo salted corn, spicy chilli peanuts and mini paprika breadsticks.

Non Reading Activity: Finishing off Glee Season 3! I've been watching this show for the first time over the past few months and yesterday I finished Season 3 and was so upset and crying over the end. If it wasn't enough that the original cast were all saying goodbye and going off to reach for their dreams THAT unexpected ending happened and I was just a mess. Glee has quickly become an all time favourite show of mine and waiting for Season 4 to come out on DVD in September is going to be agony.

Thoughts: I hate hayfever! My hayfever meds are just not touching it this year. My eyes and nose were streaming and I had a headache so I couldn't concentrate on my book. I sat and passed a few hours watching the last few episodes of Glee. It was then night-time and my hayfever had settled down at that point so I got stuck back into my book. The Archived was incredible and had me completely gripped and before I knew it I had it finished just turned midnight! That means I've technically reached my goal of reading two books. It'd be nice to squeeze in another book today before the readathon is over but I guess we'll see!

Day 3 Updates 
What I Read: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Number of Pages Read: 204
Pages Read Total: 651
Books Read Total: 2
Challenge: Yes, hosted by Dizneeee's World of Books 

Favorite genre, favorite book within that genre, and your favorite character from the same genre.
This is a tough one! My favourite genre changes all the time! As of right now though I'd say YA Contemporary. I have so many favourite contemps but I'll go with one that always stands out in my mind and that is Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. For favourite character I'll go with Cricket from the same book I absolutely love him! He's one of my favourite nerdy book guys!

Reading Snack: Graze's honeycomb and chocolate flapjack with a summer fruit smoothie.

Non Reading Activity: Catching up on the latest Skins episode and looking after my poorly dog. :(

Thoughts: Eleanor and Park is every bit as wonderful as you all have been telling me it is! I'm completely in love with it and I would have devoured it all today if life hadn't intervened. My dog Dylan was really sick today. He was shaking, panting, throwing up, wouldn't eat and I was such a worried Momma. We think he ate something he shouldn't have out on his walk and it upset his stomach, either that or the heat got to him (he's a black Labradoodle with a big fluffy black coat, weather like this must be horrible for him.) Thankfully he seems back to his normal self now but needless to say much of my reading time went to looking after him.

 Let me know which books you've been reading and how you've been doing! Follow my updates here, on Goodreads and Twitter!

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon: Goals, TBR and Day 1 Update

This Readathon is hosted by Angela and Loretta at Reading Angels, Candace at Candace’s Book Blog and Lori at Pure Imagination. I've just finished watching the Wimbledon men's final and I'm feeling all patriotic and proud of Andy Murray's win and now I'm getting ready to bust a gut at my own personal best sport - readathoning! :P For more information on this readathon check out my sign up post here.

 What I'll Be Reading

A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews 

 Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham 

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell 

The Archived by Victoria Schwab 

The weather is gorgeous right now in the UK and is set to continue over the week, so I've chosen two summer reads. A Cottage by the Sea which is my current read and a fun, beachy, chick-lit. And Shipwrecked which is a thriller set on an Island and is being pitched as Lost meets Gossip Girl. I've also chosen two books that I've been wanting to read all year but for some reason haven't gotten around to The Archived and Eleanor and Park - I've heard incredible things for both of these books and am looking forward to finally (hopefully!) getting to them! 

My Goal 

I want to definitely read at least two books but it would be amazing to read all of these! With the gorgeous weather it will go one of two ways: I'll either be soaking up the sun getting lots of reading done or I'll be too hot and hayfeverery fanning myself with a book rather than reading it! I guess we'll see! 

I'm going to be recording my day one updates here and will make a separate post for days two and three. Once Upon a Read-a-Thon was the first ever readathon that I took part in last year. I did really well and had so much fun so I'm looking forward to round two! Bring it on! *Flexes reading muscles.* 

Day 1 Updates 
What I Read: A Cottage by the Sea by Carole Matthews and The Archived by Victoria Schwab
Number of Pages Read: 225
Pages Read Total: 225
Books Read Total: 1
Challenge: Yes, The Book BFF Challenge.
Reading Snack: None! It's the day before my Graze box arrives so I'm all out of snacks - rubbish timing for a readathon! I'm looking forward to it arriving tomorrow so I can indulge in some yummy, healthy, goodies whilst reading.
Non Reading Activity: Falling asleep in the sunshine, reading everybody's goals and watching the first episode of The Legend of Korra. I'm so happy that it's finally showing in the UK! I'm a big anime fan and Avatar: The Last Airbender is my absolute favourite! Legend of Korra is the spin off show and so far, so good!
Thoughts: One day down, one book finished! Although I haven't done as well as it sounds as I only had 126 pages of my book left to read today. I think next I'm going to pick up The Archived I'm hoping to squeeze in a hundred pages before bed. I've been really looking forward to this one, I'm just hoping I can deal with it at the minute. I recently lost two family members and this book (from the sounds of it) is primarily about the dead. There is already a snippet of the poem from my Grandad's funeral at the start. I think it'll either be a massive hit and something I can really relate to right now, or it'll be too much for my emotions and I'll have to put it aside for another time. It shouldn't be too heavy going though so I'm hoping I'll be fine.

 How has your first day been? Follow my updates here, on Goodreads and Twitter!

Review for The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release: 30th May 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Summer, Contemporary, Coming of Age
Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary:

"On the outside, seventeen-year-old Madelyne Summers looks like your typical blond cheerleader—perky, popular, and dating the star quarterback. But inside, Maddie spends more time agonizing over what will happen in the next issue of her favorite comic book than planning pep rallies with her squad. That she’s a nerd hiding in a popular girl's body isn’t just unknown, it's anti-known. And she needs to keep it that way.

Summer is the only time Maddie lets her real self out to play, but when she slips up and the adorkable guy behind the local comic shop’s counter uncovers her secret, she’s busted. Before she can shake a pom-pom, Maddie’s whisked into Logan’s world of comic conventions, live-action role-playing, and first-person-shooter video games. And she loves it. But the more she denies who she really is, the deeper her lies become…and the more she risks losing Logan forever."

Review 
If you know me you’ll know that I love nerdy contemporary YA, so as soon as I heard about The Summer I Became a Nerd I freaked out and bought it straight away and I’m so glad that I did! This was such a ‘Jess book’ and I loved it so much that it’s now up there as one of my favourite contemporaries.

Like her favourite superhero’s Maddie has a secret identity - popular cheerleader by day, nerdy comic book lover by night. Summer is Maddie’s favourite time of year, she gets a break from school and from being the person everyone expects her to be, can catch up on her TBR list and chat on online fan forums to her hearts content. I loved Maddie from the moment I found out that she keeps a comic book journal to write down her thoughts and favourite quotes! I could understand her wanting to keep her nerdy side a secret – although my friends knew about my nerdy ways when I was at school I was teased for it and know first-hand that that’s no fun. I love this book for busting stereotypes and Leah Rae Miller for creating a heroine who’s a cheerleader but who also loves comic books with a passion. Basically I thought that Maddie was pretty freakin’ awesome and only wished that she had the confidence to share her awesomeness with the rest of the world.

During a secret mission to the local comic book store for the latest issue of her favourite comic - The Super Ones #400 – Maddie runs into Logan the cute nerdy guy from school who works there. Logan quickly sees through Maddie’s poor disguise and the two soon start regularly hanging out as Logan introduces Maddie to the world of nerd and teaches her to embrace her inner geek. Sweet, nerdy, boy next door types are my favourite, so I fell for Logan at Flash speed. Maddie and Logan’s romance was so adorbs and is full of super cute moments. A personal favourite of mine was when they showed each other their very best happy dance. You see! Isn’t that adorable!? This book was full of moments like this one that made my cheeks hurt from the big goofy grin I wore during every page of this book.

The Summer I Became a Nerd is full of nerdy references that are worked into the story that you’ll appreciate if you’re into the same things as Maddie. I also enjoyed learning more about LARPing (live action role play) which is something I didn’t know a whole lot about before reading this book. Now I definitely want to take part in something like it in the future because it sounded like so much fun!

Overall I pretty much loved everything about this book. It was a cute, fun, summer read packed full of awesome nerdy goodness and the important message of being true to who you are. The Summer I Became a Nerd is without a doubt one of my favourite reads of the summer so far!