Good evening readers! Hope you’re all well in reading land! :)

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday is originally hosted by Marcia from A girl and her books and The Printed Page.

 

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) - Maggie Stiefvater

Thank you very much to Scholastic Australia for this review copy, The Raven Boys looks SO good!! From the description of the book it looks quite complex and had to describe, so I think this is simply a matter of just jumping in and experiencing the story for myself. It’s recieved some amazing reviews and this is due for release in 8 days as well!

 

Outpost (Razorland #2) - Ann Aguirre

I LOVED Enclave (the first book in this series) so so much, it was one of the best dystopian novels I read in 2011 and I’ve been hanging out to find out what happens to Deuce and Fade in this sequel! May have given a little squeal of glee when I received this! haha

 

 

 

So that is all from me this week, what did you receive this week? Let me know - leave your links in the comments section below!

 

Synopsis: Jeane Smith is seventeen and has turned her self-styled dorkiness into an art form, a lifestyle choice and a profitable website and consultancy business. She writes a style column for a Japanese teen magazine and came number seven in The Guardian’s 30 People Under 30 Who Are Changing The World. And yet, in spite of the accolades, hundreds of Internet friendships and a cool boyfriend, she feels inexplicably lonely, a situation made infinitely worse when Michael Lee, the most mass-market, popular and predictably all-rounded boy at school tells Jeane of his suspicion that Jeane’s boyfriend is secretly seeing his girlfriend. Michael and Jeane have NOTHING in common - she is cool and individual; he is the golden boy in an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. So why can’t she stop talking to him?

Review: Oh this book is frikken cute as. And before I start the review itself, I want to just say that I actually bought the audio version of Adorkable from audible.com, and let me tell you now… the audio version was way better than anything I could have experienced reading the book itself. The English accents are completely endearing and for me made the story even more enjoyable.

Jeane Smith is a complete oddball, but I love her. She is a professional paid blogger and owner of the blog Adorkable, a site that helps empower other self confessed dorks out there. I’d like to personally think I am every ounce as cool and as unique as Jeane Smith…. but let’s get real about it, the only thing I have in common with Jeane Smith is a .com, and that’s about it. Sad panda.

“The Ad♥rkable Manifesto

1. We have nothing to declare but our dorkiness.
2. Jumble sales are our shopping malls.
3. Better to make cookies than be a cookie-cutter.
4. Suffering doesn’t necessarily improve you but it does give you something to blog about.
5. Experiment with Photoshop, hair dye, nail polish and cupcake flavours but never drugs.
6. Don’t follow leaders, be one.
7. Necessity is the mother of customisation.
8. Puppies make everything better.
9. Quiet girls rarely make history.
10. Never shield your oddness, but wear your oddness like a shield.”

And that’s basically Jeane Smith wrapped up in a nutshell.

Michael Lee couldn’t be any more opposite to Jeane Smith if he tried. He hates Jeane Smith. But through a series of events (ie. Jeane’s boyfriend and Michael’s girlfriend end up wanting to be with each other instead of with Jeane and Michael), as well as one big argument… they end up being drawn together.

Their love/hate relationship and banter back and forth was so fantastic. And whilst the storyline itself was all cute and playful I loved the subtle way that Sarra Manning dealves into the deep issues without making it obvious that we’re heading that way. We’re laughing one minute and then and it’s not until you have the benefit of hindsight that you can look back and say “Whoa… that got kinda heavy, how did we end up here?”. I love how she was able to do that.

The storyline itself was beautifully crafted and it just flowed so well. It was a fast entertaining read (side note: do you still call it a read if it’s an audiobook?!) and I felt a little bit sad when it was over. PS. I stayed up until about 1am on a work night JUST to finish listening to this, because I was truly that into it, and I just had to know how it was going to finish off. I was not disappointed. FANTASTIC book… again, I highly recommend the audio book version!

Rating: 4 out of 5

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time to tell you what I have been up to for the last week! W..W..W.. Wednesdays is a weekly meme bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

I just started listening to a new audiobook - Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris, you’ll have seen this on the Top Ten TBR Books list for Spring that I just posted yesterday. Look at that for productivity hey? Getting into it immediately. It’s pretty good so far… interested to see what direction this book is headed in!

I am also trying to read Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter right now too which has been pretty epic….. I love zombies. ‘Nuff said right?

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished another audiobook last night… actually this morning technically since I just HAD to stay up to finish it and I didn’t get to sleep until well after midnight! That book was Adorkable by Sarra Manning, and like the title suggests, it really was adorable. I am thinking that fans of Stephanie Perkins will find themselves loving Adorkable like I did. Jean Smith reminded me a lot of Lola from Lola and the Boy Next Door. Quirky, unusual, dorky… yet kinda cool. A review of this will be coming super duper soon.

What do you think you’ll read next?

Oh look it could be anything really. lol However I was just approved for some pretty epic ARC’s so my guess it’ll be one of those bad boys. Maaaaybe next week I’ll have a better idea of which one!

What is everyone out there reading at the moment?

Top Ten Tuesssssssssday is here! Top Ten is a meme started by The Broke and the Bookish, an awesome blog if you get a chance to pop over!

Top Ten Books On Your Fall Spring TBR List

Yes yes it’s the 4th day of Spring here down under, and I am LOVING the nice weather we’ve already started to have!

Some of the books on my list will be new releases, but a lot of them will be older books that I have on my TBR list and I am determined to get to hopefully this season!

10. Flirting In Italian by Lauren Henderson

This looks like a really light fun read… give me nice weather and the beach and I am there!

Four girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer. Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . . and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys!

9. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancy

October is coming up, which means Halloween!! Last October I read and reviewed YA horrow novels, and this year I plan on doing the same. The Monstrumologist is the first book in a trilogy series, so I’ll be hoping to read all three books in the series as well as some others I have up my sleeve (including Anna #2.. see below!).

 

8. Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

Love a good action packed book, which is exactly what Au Revoir promises! It’s received some solid reviews and I am reaaaaaaaaaally wanting to sink my teeth into this! I am hoping that I can read this at least before November - challenge set!

 

7. Illuminate by Aimee Agresti

I’ve been wanting to read this book since it was released last March! You know when you just get SO much at once and can’t get to everything? It seems that happened with Illuminate and it somehow got put back on the shelf. That being said, I am really wanting to read this before the sequel Infatuate comes out next year!

 

6. Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Eeeeee! Really wanted to read this back in April when it came out and again, never got around to it. However, I recently bought the audiobook version of this from Audible (best site for audiobooks, trust me!) and so once I finish listening to Adorkable (my current audiobook), I think I am going to get straight into this!

 

5. Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

ZOMBIES!!! Mmmmm brains! Can’t wait to read Something Strange. It looks like it has an amazing historic aspect to it as well - it’s based in Philadelphia in 1876, so I love this for a number of reasons, but namely historical fiction (which I’ve recently become a fan of) plus zombies seems like it’s a fantastic combination to me!

 

4. Emma Hearts LA by Keris Stainton

Argh! I’ve been wanting to read this for the longest time (as well as the original Jessie Hearts NYC) but haven’t got around to it yet. Having been lucky enough to go to both LA and NYC before, I am dying to revisit both places, even if it can only be in fiction land. Quietly, I am going back to LA next May - heard it here first! ;)

 

3. Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

This looks so frigging amazing, and yet it’s still in my TBR list why?! Sigh. Story of my life I tells ya. Pretty much anyone who has read Sweet Evil has ranted and raved about how incredible it is, and then I feel all jealous and sad that I am left out of the party. I even have the book. It’s on my shelf, looking at me right now. So I plan on reading this book asap. Mayyyyybe in September. I hope.

 

2. Girl Of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake

Is October here yet?! I know, I realise this book was released back in August - however I am intentionally saving Anna up for October as a part of my Halloween reads… it’s killing me to wait! Anna Dressed in Blood (aka Anna #1) was honestly one of my best reads for 2011 just because of how original and frightening it was! I have super high expectations for this one!

 

1. The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) - Michelle Hodkin

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! Mara Dyer where have you been my whole life?! If you’ve not read my review of the first book, do so. I read 450 (nearly 500) pages in one sitting because… I had to. The Evolution of Mara looks incredible. It’s coming out in October and I am dying to get my hands on a copy as soon as it comes out. The cliffhanger I was left with in book one was just not cool. I have to know what happens!

 

So that is me set for Spring! What will you be reading? Link me up below, or share your TBR choices in the comments!

 

Good morning readers!

The giveaways are back. After a little bit of giveaway hiatus, I’m bringing it back in September. As I fund these giveaways each month myself, I was spending upwards of $60 per month just in prizes for people, and found I was getting a bit burnt out from it. So a couple of months break, and it’s back again, yay!!!

In September, seeing as you all have pretty diverse tastes, I am giving you what you want this month, and that is - your own choice of book. So three winners will each receive a book of their choice up to the value of $20 US. So you tell me what it is you would like, and I will order and pay for it to be shipped to you. Sounds fair? I thought so!

This giveaway is running all through September with the winner being announced on September 30th. To enter, simply click below on Rafflecopter and there’s a number of ways you can get more entries! The more entries, the more chances you have to be a winner in September!

Good luck to you all! x

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Synopsis: Everyone knows that Chelsea Knot can’t keep a secret

Until now. Because the last secret she shared turned her into a social outcast—and nearly got someone killed.

Now Chelsea has taken a vow of silence—to learn to keep her mouth shut, and to stop hurting anyone else. And if she thinks keeping secrets is hard, not speaking up when she’s ignored, ridiculed and even attacked is worse.

But there’s strength in silence, and in the new friends who are, shockingly, coming her way—people she never noticed before; a boy she might even fall for. If only her new friends can forgive what she’s done. If only she can forgive herself.

Review: Speechless is the second book of Hannah Harrington’s I’ve read and I loved it just as much as I loved her first book, Saving June.

Hannah has the ability to write such convincing, deep characters. Instead of reading about them, I felt like I was experiencing everything alongside Chelsea and I genuinely cared about them as well.

This story at its core is about being true to yourself and not just following the pack because you want to fit in or be popular. Having been through high school I can definitely say from experience that this story in many ways resembles my own, and so I clicked with what I was reading very early on and the pages pretty well turned themselves from page 30 onwards.

Chelsea isn’t a bad girl, but she has a big mouth. She knows she shouldn’t gossip about others but she desperately wants to stay within the popular clique at school. Although this time, because of her, someone seriously ends up hurt in hospital. And so for much of this book, we remain within Chelsea’s mind as she stops talking. I like that as the protagonist, we get a good idea of what she’s thinking and feeling throughout her journey.

And Sam… Sam is all sorts of adorable right? I loved his character, and I love that he’s pegged as the underdog from the beginning, cause we all want the nice guy to win the girls heart. Sam is a good egg. I found his relationship with Chelsea completely cute, especially since for the most part it’s a one sided conversation.

Whilst this book is easy to read and digest, there’s some serious issues within including sexuality, bullying and feeling accepted. There’s some really tender, sweet moments also.

Definitely a fan of Hannah Harrington, I won’t lie. This is a must read!

Trailer:

Rating: 5 out of 5