Sunday, 7 January 2018

Giant by Mikael | Graphic Novel Review

 Title: Giant
35377856Author: Mikael
Format: Digital (Provided by Netgalley)
Pages: 64

Review

I'm in love with the art style of this book, from the coloring to the character design, I was enticed from the moment I saw the cover.
Going deeper than the art, though, Giant tells an intricate and compelling story, against the backdrop of New York City during The Great Depression.
I immensely enjoyed this book and I'd definitely recommend it.

Rating

๐Ÿ•ฎ๐Ÿ•ฎ๐Ÿ•ฎ๐Ÿ•ฎ

Saturday, 6 January 2018

Book Review | Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken

20983366

Title: Wayfarer (Passenger #2)
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Format: Paperback
Pages: 532

Review

After reading Passenger last year, I was so eager to continue the series and yet it took me such a long time to actually pick it up. Now that I've finished it, I'm so mad at myself for not reading it sooner.
Just like the first book, Wayfarer pulls you into a richly created world and has you so invested in the characters inhabiting that world.
Full of drama and emotion, this was a definite page-turner.
A perfect continuation of Passenger. If you haven't checked out this series, I highly recommend it.

Rating

๐Ÿ•ฎ๐Ÿ•ฎ๐Ÿ•ฎ๐Ÿ•ฎ๐Ÿ•ฎ

Friday, 5 January 2018

Valentine (Valentine #1) | Graphic Novel Review

18525623
Title: Valentine (Valentine #1)
Author: Vanyda
Format: Digital (Provided by Netgalley)
Pages: 94

Review

I really enjoyed this short graphic novel. Taking us through the life of the main character, I enjoyed not only the story but the art style as well. This is definitely going to be a series that I'll continue and I'm so pleased I got the chance to review it.

Rating

๐Ÿ“–๐Ÿ“–๐Ÿ“–๐Ÿ“–


Wednesday, 3 January 2018

Current Writing Projects

Hi all,
Today I wanted to delve into what I've been writing recently. In 2017, I wrote a few full novels, especially during the Camp NaNoWriMo sessions, where I tend to write two or more full novels.  Which is great. However, it also leaves me with a lot of unedited first drafts on my hand.
Which is why this year I want to tackle a lot of those rewrites. I'm also going to be starting a new project called Dear Laura which will be written in a format new to me and I'm still figuring out all of the details. More updates on that one coming in the near future.
For now, here are the books I intend to get through the first stages of editing this year.
This year I'll be focussing on three novels in a companion series I've been working on.

Scintilla 

- A tiny, brilliant flash or spark; a small thing; a barely visible trace.

It's been a rough year for Sasha. Starting with the accident that ended her gymnastics career in May and ending with her flunking out of high school almost exactly a year later. Everything seems to be going from bad to worse and she's given up. Her bedroom seems as good a place as any to spend her summer.
Her parents have other ideas. Not willing to let her sink into her self-pitying darkness, they insist upon her spending the summer at their old vacation spot. Lake Wilson. It's just what they think she needs and the last thing she wants.
There might just be one bright spot in her summer. The boy across the lake, Mateo.
On a break from college for the summer, Mateo's parents convince him to join them at the lake where his mom spent her summer's when she was growing up. Giving up a job at a publishing house, he tries to make the most of his summer.
The last thing either of them expected was to fall for someone this summer, but that's exactly what starts happening.
As the summer unfolds, though, Sasha starts to wonder if Mateo's telling her everything. Most of the time he's the perfect guy until he starts disappearing for days at a time with no explanation, then continues to become more and more withdrawn whenever he is around.
Could Sasha's one bright spark be fading out before it can take light? And what is causing Mateo to so suddenly withdraw from her?

Lacuna 

- An unfilled space, a gap.

Magnolia Grace never knew her real parents. When she was a baby, they were killed in a car accident, leaving her to be raised by their best friends, who took her in as their own child. Even though she grew up with a mom, dad and a brother and sister, she always felt like there was something missing in her.
At her mom's suggestion, she travels to a small lakeside community in California, where her story began. She spends the summer exploring Lake Winston, where her parents met, fell in love and started their family. While she's there, she attempts to reconnect with her grandparents, who exited her life the day her parents died.
Tensions and emotions run high as she tries to fill the gap inside her with blood relations.
It's not long before she starts to regret the trip, that is until she meets Wes, her grandparent's gardener and the only person she feels she can talk to openly. 
As the summer progresses, Magnolia realizes she may find something she wasn't even looking for.

Sonder 

- The realization that every person is living their own vivid life. 

Layla is a solitary person. Home educated since she was nine, she doesn't have much contact with the outside world and that's the way she likes it.
Each summer her lakeside town floods with tourists and while the few friends she does have, flock to the water, coffee shops, and other attractions. She retreats to her room where she works on her blog.
This summer, she's trying to spend as much time with her best friend Gina as she can, before Gina leaves for college in the fall. Only Gina wants to be out and having fun, not stuck inside wasting the days away.
Then things start to happen. Her mom gets invited to travel the country to bring her fitness classes to different gyms. Gina falls in love for the first time and even Gina's grandma has booked herself on an African Safari. Everyone around her is living a vivid life, while she sits inside watching other people enjoy life from afar.
Something has to change and this is the summer to start taking risks. Starting, with leaving her house.

So, there are my current writing projects. Have you got any projects on the go or that you intend to start this year? Let me know in the comments and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.


Tuesday, 2 January 2018

January TBR & 2018 Reading Goal

Hi all,
For the longest time, I haven't created a TBR for the month, so with the new year starting, I wanted to try it out again. So, for January I created a TBR with the help of my little sister, so half of these were my picks and half were hers. I have five different category's and we both picked one book each for that category.

Classic

My pick: 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.
My sister's pick: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

Young Adult

My pick: Wayfarer by Alexander Bracken.
My sister's pick: It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini.

Adult Fiction / Non-Fiction

My pick: A Mighty Long Way: Carlotta Walls LaNier.
My sister's pick: Victoria by Daisy Goodwin.

E-Book

My pick: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer.
My sister's pick: After Anna by Alex Lake.

Netgalley

My pick: 147 Things by Jim Chapman.
Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart.


Read More This Year with the 2018 Reading Challenge

100 Books

           
Let me know in the comments what your reading goal is for the year, and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.

Monday, 1 January 2018

Beautiful Covers

Hi all,
I know they say 'don't judge a book by its cover' but that doesn't mean that we can't admire a beautiful cover, right?
Here's a little look at ten covers that I think are stunning. All of these are books that I've read, except the last two, which are on my 2018 Most Anticipated YA Books List.


Let me know in the comments what covers you love and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.

Sunday, 31 December 2017

My Most Read Authors

Hi all,
I've got some more stats for you today and this time it's a list of my most read authors, according to Goodreads.

                    Author                          Books Read

   
                                                                                    
1208650Eiichirล Oda25
222602Jacqueline Wilson24
363390Karen McCombie15
4Lyn Andrews14
52987Sarah Dessen13
611654Meg Cabot9
621616Ann M. Martin9
83681Ann Brashares8
92936493Lauren Oliver7
9805184Jennifer E. Smith7
91265Jane Austen7
121406384John Green6
12295178Gayle Forman6
124039811Veronica Roth6
12151371Jenny Han6
124864330Sarah Crossan6
122987125Kiera Cass6

Saturday, 30 December 2017

Most Anticipated YA Books of 2018

Hi all,
With the new year approaching it was time for me to start looking into what books I may be interested in, little did I know that I'd end up with over seventy books on my list so far and that's just going through the Young Adult and a few Historical fiction books.
I can't list all of them here, because that would be insane. So, I've broken it down to just the YA books and just the ones I'm most anticipating. There are a lot of releases from authors I already love and some from new authors for me.
If you want to check out all the books I've added to my 2018 releases list, you can see that here.

Series Continuations

 Obsidio (The Illuminae Files, #3) Legendary (Caraval, #2) 9 Days and 9 Nights

Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Legendary (Caraval #2) by Stephanie Garber
9 Days & 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno

Authors I’ve Read Before

 Listen to Your Heart Save the Date The Opposite of Here Goodbye, Perfect Hidden Pieces

Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West
Save the Date by Morgan Matson
Untitled by Jennifer Niven
The Opposite of Here by Tara Altebrando
Goodbye, Perfect by Sara Barnard
Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes

Authors New to Me

 American Panda Heart of Iron Love, Hate & Other Filters The Continent (The Continent, #1) More Than We Can Tell 
 The Last to Let Go  Little Do We Know The Disturbed Girl's Dictionary The Summer of Broken Things

American Panda by Gloria Chao
Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston
Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmeo
The Continent by Keira Drake
More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer
The Last to Let Go by Amber Smith
Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone
The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary by NoNieqa Ramos
The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Multiple Authors

 Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet

Our Stories, Our Voices
Meet Cute
Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens

There you have it. A few of the many YA books I'm interested about in the upcoming year. Thank you for reading. Comment below with what books you're excited about in 2018 and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

Hannah.

Friday, 29 December 2017

Let's Read Indie



As Told By Tina

As an indie author myself, when I saw this challenge it really excited me. So, even though the official link up is closed, I just had to join.
I'm going to aim to read 1-10 indie books in 2018 and as of the moment, I don't have an official TBR for this.
Where I'll be tracking down my books?
I'm going to scour Goodreads, as well as using books given for review by authors and as part of blog tours that I participate in.
I'm planning to aim to post a review of each indie book that I read, which will be posted here and on Goodreads.
Lastly, I'd like to thank As Told by Tina for hosting.

Sidenote, if anyone is doing this challenge or plan to sign up. I'm happy to send out a few review copies of my own self-published books.

Until next time,

Hannah.

Thursday, 28 December 2017

2017 | Top 10 Books

Hi all,
This year has been quite the year in books. 2017 saw the release of John Green's long-awaited new book. I found myself discovering new authors who quickly wound up on my favorite author's list. I branched out, not only in genre but also listening to a lot more audiobooks and I started juggling four or more books at one time.
I read a total of 102 books (I have a full reading stats post up that you can check out). Out of those books, there were a lot that fell short, but I wound up with 21 books on my shortlist for best book of the year and I had to narrow that down to just ten. It was not an easy job, but eventually, I picked my best books of 2018. As always, this will be my top 10 favorite books that I read in the year, not just limited to 2017 releases.
If you'd like to see my favorite 2017 releases specifically, comment below.
For now, here are my top ten picks for 2017.

10
Smart
Smart by Kim Slater

9
When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944
When Paris Went Dark by Ronald C. Rosbottom

8
#famous
#Famous by Jilly Gagnon

7
The Names They Gave Us
The Name They Gave Us by Emery Lord

6
Lion: A Long Way Home
Lion by Saroo Brierley

5
Caraval (Caraval, #1)
Caraval by Stephanie Garber

4
The Good Women of China
The Good Women of China by Xinran

3
Turtles All the Way Down
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

2
When We Collided
When We Collided by Emery Lord

1
20983362
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

So there you have it, my top ten books of 2017. If you'd like to see the entire shortlist, you can check it out here and if you'd like to see everything I read in 2017, you can find that list here.
Thank you so much for reading. Please comment, subscribe and share if you liked it and check back soon for more wrap-ups and 2018 goals/reading lists.
Until next time,

Hannah.