The Christmas and New Year Book Round Up!

Hello everyone! So the blog is back up and running after a bit of a break over the festive period. I like taking a break from blogging at this time of year so I can relax, spend time with family and of course catch up on some reading! I'm also excited to share some of the new books I've got my hands on, both as presents and as treats to myself in the sales. So let's get caught up!

Books I've Received

For Christmas I got two books, pictured below.

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle - I've already finished this and it was fantastic! It's three interlinked short stories set around Christmas and it was the perfect Christmas Day reading.

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson - I've heard amazing things about this book from other bloggers and the girls at Epic Reads' Tea Time so I was super happy when I unwrapped this!

Books I Bought

I may have treated myself to a few books in the sales! There were some Kindle books cheap so I bought The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson and How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr because they're both books I've been wanting to read for ages and couldn't resist for 99!

I also treated myself to the hardback of Teardrop by Lauren Kate which was half price in Waterstones. I've already finished it because I couldn't put it down! Hopefully I'll have my review up soon.

Films I Received

I also got some YA book adaptations on DVD for Christmas, including Beautiful Creatures which I hadn't seen before. I absolutely loved the film, even more than the book! I also got The Hunger Games on DVD which I didn't previously own but had seen before.

On the Blog

So the posts were back up and running this week and I started out with my Books of the Year post, in which I rounded up all my books of the month from 2013. Then I reviewed The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard which wasn't quite for me in the end. I moved on to Red by Alison Cherry which was a book I loved, and I also had Alison on the blog this week talking about the research she did for Red which was exciting! Huge thank you to Alison for her wonderful guest post. Then I finished up the week with my review of the fantastic Pawn by Aimee Carter.


What books did you receive for Christmas? And what books have you been reading over the holidays? I always love hearing from you so feel free to leave a comment! Happy New Year!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing Me

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish and this week's top ten - unsurprisingly as it's Christmas Eve! - is books we wouldn't mind Santa bringing us. Now this list was hard to put together because I've already sent off my Amazon wishlist to Santa, and I couldn't double check it in case some of the books had been purchased and disappeared and I like surprises so I didn't want to sneak a peak. I'm not expecting many books this year because I already have such a backlog to read, and the ones featured below are books I haven't read, but I've also asked for a few that I have already read because I didn't own physical copies. Anyway, here's a random selection of books I wouldn't mind finding under my tree!

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

Deception by C. J. Redwine

Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Acid by Emma Pass

The Elites by Natasha Ngan

Tinder by Sally Gardner

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

What books have you asked Santa for this year? And Merry Christmas!

Christmas Traditions & Blog Schedule for the Festive Season

So now my presents are bought and Christmas is round the corner, I'm really getting into my festive swing. I thought to carry on that festive feeling I'd share a few of my favourite traditions!

Reading

Duhhh! I'll have some time off over Christmas which means time to curl up with a good book. I usually try and squeeze some Harry Potter in and I have a copy of The Gift by Cecelia Ahern which I read last year and it helped me feel a bit more festive!

Films

So the films that I must, must watch over Christmas are Love Actually (which is my favourite film ever, not just for Christmas!) and The Holiday. A slightly more guilty pleasure film is The Santa Clause which is best watched on Christmas Eve.

Norad Tracks Santa

On Christmas Eve we'll have the Norad Tracks Santa website up on the computer all day. If you haven't checked it out then you should, because it's so fun. You get a map showing where Santa is and how many presents he's delivered so far, as well as little games to play. I mean my house is full of adults but I think this brings back all those childhood memories of waiting up for Santa

Food

Christmas is all about the food! I love mince pies. I bought a box for myself because nobody else in my house eats them. They're even better warmed up in the microwave! On Christmas Day itself we do turkey and all the trimmings, followed by Christmas pudding and custard. Yum! In the evening a little slice of Christmas cake goes down pretty well. On Christmas Eve we have a buffet of party food which is the best thing ever.

New Year

New Year is my absolute favourite time because I love looking back on my achievements and then starting  afresh for the year ahead. I always go into a new year feeling motivated! My new year tradition is spending time with my best friend. We're not going out people so we stay in, watch DVDs, pig out on food and play board games instead!

The blog over Christmas and New Year

I believe this time of year is a time to be spent with close ones and not glued to my laptop or iPod, which is why the blog will be going a bit quiet. I will still be posting a Top Ten Tuesday tomorrow, as well as December's Book of the Month and 2013's Books of the Year post.

My reading has slowed down a bit whilst I've been busy sorting out Christmas shopping and learning to drive, so I don't think I'll have any more reviews this year, but once I have some free time over the holidays I'll be flying through books ready for a new year filled with book reviews!

Thank you for reading and following over the past year and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Book Haul!

Welcome back! I took a break from the blog to spend time with my close ones over the festive period, and after a few days of Christmas telly, Christmas cake and general laziness I guess it's time to get back to blogging! I hope you all had a wonderful time too :) oh how I've missed this blog!

Of course I have to start with my presents! I asked for a lot of books (as you'd expect!) but I was so surprised and delighted when I got as many books as I did - and I got some pretty amazing books at that.

Here's my YA book haul!

 

Virals by Kathy Reichs

Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

Skylark by Meagan Spooner

What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Defiance by C.J. Redwine

I'm still squeeing about them! Of course Christmas is the perfect time to curl up with a book so I've finished reading What's Left of Me which made for perfect Boxing Day reading, and I finished Virals today. I'm so excited to read the rest!

As well as that, I've done a bit of book shopping with a gift card I had so winging their way to me are Entagled by Cat Clarke and Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins.

Oh and rather excitingly, my library finally has Reached by Ally Condie! I adore this trilogy and I've been waiting and waiting for them to have the final installment available. Cue much excitement as I placed my hold!

And I just had to include this photo of the cover of the awesome notebook I got from a lovely friend of mine - isn't it amazing?

What books did you get for Christmas this year? Let me know! Have a wonderful time celebrating New Year's Eve and I'll start posting reviews again in January! :) Happy New Year everyone.

Merry Christmas!

Today will be the day most people are finishing work and preparing to do the last of their Christmas shopping (this is where I feel a bit smug about having already finished my shopping and wrapping!). As this is a time of year to be spent with friends and family, I'll be breaking from blogging over the festive period. I'm sure I'll be back after Christmas to discuss the books I got under my tree and being away from the blog always gives me the itch to get back! So I look forward to 2013 and all it will bring.

In the mean time I'm going to go and curl up with Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter, a cup of tea and several mince pies. Enjoy whatever it is you're reading over the Christmas break, and I look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year!

Sarah x

Must Have Apps for Book Lovers

I've been meaning to do a post like this for ages! And as many people may be ending up with new gadgets under their tree this year, I thought I'd round up some of my favourite bookish apps. I have an iPod touch which is where I use most of my apps and honestly, I'd be lost without some of them! Here's my list (and all of these apps are free - bonus!).

1. Goodreads: I love the site but the app is perfect if you're on the go and want to update your progress or add a book to your to-read list before you forget. It also means you can check whether a book is the first in a series whilst browsing the bookshop or library shelves.

2. Overdrive: This is one of my favourite bookish apps! If your library has an online e-library then it may allow you to borrow e-books and audio books. The Overdrive app lets you download both formats directly to your iPod/phone and read and listen on the go. I absolutely love borrowing audio books via this app as there's no need to transfer them from your PC. It's also great for browsing for books my library has available and creating wishlists.

3. Kindle: I don't own a Kindle so having a way to read Kindle books is brilliant. I don't read too much on my iPod but it means I can take advantage of free book offers on Amazon. If you have a Kindle e-reader then you can sync your books between devices which means you can pick up where you left off.

4. iBooks: Apple's reading app also has a great selection of e-books available. I've downloaded some good freebies on there and it's nice and simple to use.

5. Amazon: This may be a slightly dangerous one if you're prone to sneaky Amazon book orders! The app lets you browse and purchase everything, including books, and allows you to manage your wishlist on the move.

6. Waterstone's: Like the Amazon app, you can browse and purchase books on the move. It also allows you to search for your nearest shop, so if you're out and about and need to find a Waterstone's then you never have to worry!

7. Twitter: Twitter is at its best on mobile devices - makes bus journeys much more fun! And when it comes to keeping up with all the latest book news, blog posts and tweets from authors it's a must have.

8. Tumblr: The Tumblr app has improved with recent updates so now it's easier than ever to browse tags and reblog things. It's the ultimate fandom hangout so whether you're mad for Harry Potter or crazy about The Hunger Games, there's something for everyone on Tumblr.

9. IMDB: Okay, so technically this is an app for film and TV lovers, but with so many book to film/TV adaptations, it's great to be able to keep track of all the details like casting and trailers. I love the trivia sections in particular for getting extra info about the filming of some of my favourite shows and films.

10. Blogger: This is purely for bloggers out there as this app is designed for writing posts instead of reading blogs, but being able to jot down posts on my iPod when I can't get to my laptop is a lifesaver. I have a memory like a sieve so being able to get things down straight away by opening the app and drafting a post means I don't forget anything! I'm actually writing this using the Blogger app right now because I thought of extra things I wanted to say ;)

Do you have any apps that are a must for book-lovers? I'd love to know if you do!

Mini Round Up! 10th December

 

Mini Round Up! 4th - 10th December

 

This week's round up is a super quick, bite-size edition. Basically, I haven't had much time for reading this week. With Christmas coming up I'm spending time seeing friends, writing cards and wrapping presents, and I've had a family birthday this week too. It's all go go go!

I'm starting to wind down and get in to the Christmas spirit by taking it easy because I'm one of those people who is prone to stress, and I'm determined not to get stressed at this time of year! So I'm reading at a more laid back pace and dipping into some comfort reading.

I'm still listening to Catching Fire on audio book and might have a few more reviews to post before Christmas! I'll also be discussing my plans for the blog for next year so keep checking back to see news on that.

Apologies if things are a little quieter this week but I hope those of you who celebrate this time of year are enjoying putting up your trees and drinking hot chocolate by the fire!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Want From Santa

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's top ten is books you wouldn't mind getting from Santa. As you can imagine, my bookish wishlist for Christmas is HUGE but here are the top ten I've asked for this year.

 

1. What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Been wanting to read this for a while! I love the concept of two souls sharing one body.

[Goodreads]

 

2. Reached by Ally Condie

I borrowed the first two books in the trilogy from the library but they don't have the 3rd yet - I need it in my life!

[Goodreads]

 

3. Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Came across this book a while ago and have been waiting and waiting for it to come out. Maybe Santa will bring it!

[Goodreads]

 

4. Obsidian by Jennifer L. Arementrout

Hear a lot of good things about this author series.

[Goodreads]

 

5. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Read a free sample of this and loved it, so hopefully if the whole book turns up under my tree it'll live up the opening pages!

[Goodreads]

 

6. The Diviners by Libba Bray

Haven't read anything by this author and this book got a lot of buzz so it seems a good place to start.

[Goodreads]

 

7. Lament by Maggie Stievater

Loved the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy and now I've finished I need something else to read!

[Goodreads]

 

8. Defiance by C. J. Redwine

Another book I've read a lot about on blogs and want to check out.

[Goodreads]

 

9. The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

I wasn't so keen on The Iron King but I like a bit of vampire action so want to give this series a try.

[Goodreads]

 

10. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I've heard only good things about this book. Not sure if it's my type of thing but it has to be worth a try!

[Goodreads]