WWW Wednesday: 27th December 2017

December 27, 2017December 26, 2017 Ali@abookishlife17 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I started reading Between the Blade and the Heart on Christmas Eve but have to admit I’m struggling a bit as I just can’t seem to get into it. I’m considering DNF’ing as there are a lot of more appealing books on my shelf but I think I’m going to try and push through and just get it finished.

I’m technically also still reading The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, technically because I don’t think I’ve read a single page since last week. I haven’t been in the right mood for it so I went off and read a few other books instead.

On audio I’m listening to The Monster Collection and am currently partway through Frankenstein. I haven’t been driving much over the week so not a huge amount of progress but I am really enjoying it.

Recently Finished

When It's Real I’ve been doing a lot of reading since finishing up work for the holidays on Thursday so even with family stuff I’ve somehow managed to finish three books. The first of these was When It’s Real by Erin Watt. This is one of those books I bought a while ago and have been trying to find the time to read.

As things were starting to get to me a bit last week I thought it would be the perfect book to distract me and calm me down and this was so right. I found it difficult to put down and found myself flying through the pages. It’s not a wholly original story but it’s still a fun read. My only issue was the main characters ages. Maybe I’m getting old and bitter but I struggle with 17 year olds meeting the love of their lives.

Truth or Beard (Winston Brothers, #1) I was in the mood for more romance after When It’s Real so when Truth or Beard popped up for free on Amazon I couldn’t resist. I’d heard so many great things about this series I had high expectations and I did enjoy it. I just didn’t quite love it as much as I hoped I would.

There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s funny, fast paced and has two very likeable main characters with real chemistry but it just didn’t wow me. I do think it could maybe have been a bit shorter and sharper but it was enjoyable.

The final book finished this week was Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter which I’d received from NetGalley. This was my first Ally Carter and I loved it so much I’ve already been off hunting for some of her other books.

It’s about the daughter of a secret service agent who was best friends with the presidents son until something happened and her father decided to move them to the middle of nowhere in Alaska. When the president’s son Logan is sent to stay with them and gets himself in trouble she has to decide whether to save him.

It’s not out for a few months so too early for a full review (unless you wander over to Goodreads) but it’s really funny and the main character Maddie is fabulous.

Reading Next

Looking at the publication dates of some of the ARCs I have I think I should probably be picking up Everless or Sourdough next but all plans are kind of out the window until after the holidays so we’ll see what I feel like. There are quite a few books I own which I’ve been keen to read for months and haven’t gotten to so I may pick them up instead. I really want a book I can get lost in so happy to take recommendations.

Everless Sourdough Now I Rise (The Conqueror's Saga, #2) The Crown's Game (The Crown's Game, #1)

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading!!

Teaser Tuesday: 26th December 2017

December 26, 2017 Ali@abookishlife2 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purple Booker. If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of The Purple Booker.

Merry Christmas to everyone who’s celebrating and Happy Tuesday to those who aren’t.

This week my teaser comes from Not If I Save You First from Ally Carter, a book I received from NetGalley and devoured in one sitting at the weekend. This was my first Ally Carter and it is such a fun read I will be looking out for more. As it’s set in Alaska it’s also nice and wintry so seems appropriate.

My Teaser

“And if you see a bear-”

“It’s more afraid of me than I am of it,” Logan filled in but Maddie stopped short.

“No.” She shook her head and looked at him like he might be a moron, which he probably was. “It’s not afraid of you. It’s a bear!

~ 22% Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

Blurb

Dear Logan,
Someday I’m going to write a book: How Not to Die in Alaska – A Girl’s Guide to Fashionable Survival.

I bet you don’t know that a hair pin can make an excellent fishing hook. You may think you can use just any kind of mud for mud masks, but trust me, you CAN’T! In a pinch, nothing starts a fire like nail polish remover. Alaska is tough. You might know this, if you ever replied to my letters.

After Maddie’s Secret Service dad takes a bullet for the president, he takes Maddie somewhere he thinks they’ll be safe – far away from the White House and the president’s son, Logan.

But when Logan comes to Alaska, so does the danger.

If there’s one thing Alaska has taught Maddie, it’s how to survive. And now her best friend’s life depends on it …

Season’s Readings : 6 Books Perfect for Christmas

December 23, 2017 Ali@abookishlife6 Comments

I have to confess that I mostly read Christmas themed books in the summer rather than during the festive period (I’m usually sick of it all by the time it actually arrives….bah humbug) but as it’s Christmas Eve Eve I thought it might be nice to post a list of some of my favorite Christmas reads.

These are books that are full of Festive spirit (no not eggnog) and just make me laugh and smile. So here we go…

My Christmas Book Recommendations

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (My Review)

I only read this for the first time last year but I think it’s possibly my all time favorite Christmas read. I swear I ended up highlighting about half the book. It’s about a boy (Dash) who finds a notebook left by a girl (Lily) in a bookstore daring whoever finds it to undertake a series of tasks. On completing the dare the boy returns the book with a dare for Lily and so begins a series of adventures across New York for both of them as they pass the notebook back and forward.

This is such a brilliant story. It’s hilariously funny (don’t read in public), super Christmassy and just so, so cute. There is a sequel, The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily, which is not quite as good but still worth a read.

What Light by Jay Asher (My Review)

This doesn’t have the impact of Asher’s more famous book 13 Reasons Why but as far as YA Christmas romances go it’s very well done. Unusually for a YA read the main character is not boy mad, is sensible, mature and has a wonderful relationship with her parents. She doesn’t want a boy to drag her down and at the first sign of trouble is willing to bail.

She’s a good girl who gets involved with a boy with a bad reputation but she goes in with her eyes wide open and trusts her own instincts rather than believing every rumor. This probably isn’t as much of a happy cheery read as some of the others on this list but it is candy cane sweet and packed full of the festive spirit.

My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins (My Review)

Let’s face it things can be a bit hectic at Christmas with all of the shopping and cleaning, spending time with family and friends and just generally falling into some kind of food coma after eating too much. This collection of twelve YA Christmas themed short stories is perfect for when you want to read but can’t find much more than a few minutes here or there.

There’s a really good mix of stories from some of the best YA authors including Holly Black, Ally Carter and Laini Taylor. My personal favorites however are Midnights by Rainbow Rowell and It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown by Stephanie Perkins. Both are super cute and very, very sweet.

Christmas at Tiffany’s by Karen Swan

Despite the cover and title I have to admit this isn’t really a Christmas themed book but I love it so I’m including it.

After Cassie is betrayed by her husband she decides to leave their home and spend a year staying with each of her three best friends in New York, Paris and London while trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life.

What I love about this book is how you get a real sense of every city Cassie stays in and how she re invents herself in each place, throwing herself into new experiences. The romance is a bit of a slow burn but it’s very sweet and a certain someone is one of my favorite book boyfriends.

Miracle on 5th Avenue by Sarah Morgan (My Review)

Sarah Morgan is the queen of Christmas romances for me and I think Miracle on 5th Avenue is probably my all time favorite book of hers. It has all of my favorite tropes, a hopeless romantic who loves all things Christmas but is all alone, a grumpy writer trying to get over an ex and avoid the holidays, New York, snow and a lot of chemistry.

I do love an opposites attract type story and Morgan does them so well. The highlight of this story was definitely the banter between them and the whole story just left me with such a big smile on my face.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Obviously I had to include this in my list. It’s a classic for a reason and if like me you’ve always been intimidated by Dickens at just over 100 pages it’s not too scary and can be read in an hour or two.

I’m assuming everyone knows the story but I have to admit that having only seen the various TV and film adaptations it was different than I thought it was going to be and not nearly as hard going as I expected. I’m actually kind of tempted to make an attempt at a longer Dickens this year but as I’m currently listening to Frankenstein probably not immediately.

So that’s my Christmas book recommendations. Have you read any of these or are there any I’ve convinced you to try? Do you have a Christmas themed book you read faithfully every year? Or are you a bit of a Grinch like me and try to find the least Christmassy book you can?

Let’s chat.

WWW Wednesday: 20th December 2017

December 20, 2017December 18, 2017 Ali@abookishlife19 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I discovered that another of the books on my NetGalley shelf, The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, is due for publication earlier than I thought it was so I thought I should make a start on it. It’s very early days but I have to admit I’m already having doubts about it. I get the feeling this is more literary fiction and far less exciting than the blurb led me to believe (or maybe I just didn’t read it properly). So far it’s kind of reminding me of The Rules of Magic, and not in a good way. Siblings growing up and trying to find their way with a prophesy weighing down on them. Oh well, maybe it’ll surprise me.

I’m also still listening to The Monster Collection on audio. I finished the first of the three stories (see below) and have moved on to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein which is read by Dan Stevens.

Recently Finished

Three books finished this week the first of which was The Last Romeo by Justin Myers which was an ARC I received from NetGalley. It’s about a 34 year old guy who after breaking up with his long term boyfriend starts using dating apps and documenting his experiences on a blog. It all gets a bit out of control however when one of his dates turns out to be someone very famous.

I had mixed feelings about this book. There’s a lot to like about it, great writing, a very real story and some interesting issues but I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. I think maybe it hit a little close to home for me and I found it a little depressing.

The second book finished was the first story in The Monster Collection, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s a bit shocking that I’m only now reading this as I’ve seen and read so many adaptations. It was a lot different to what I was expecting, I’d no idea it was predominantly told from the pov of one of Jekyll’s friends. I did really love it and it’s perfect for this time of year. The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)

The third and final book finished this week was The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. This was another ARC from NetGalley and my first Holly Black book and I absolutely loved it. It’s set in Faerie and features all different types of fae folk. It’s deliciously dark and twisted with some fairly full on violence, think Game of Thrones. No one is who they appear to be and you can never be sure what their true intentions are. Basically my favorite type of story. The only bad thing about it is that I now have a bit of a wait for the next book.

Reading Next

If I survive The Immortalists which I suspect is going to be a heavy read I think I’m going to need something a little bit lighter. The Cruel Prince has put me in the mood for a bit more fantasy so maybe Everless or Furyborn. I also received a copy of Sourdough by Robin Sloan from ReadersFirst so I might be tempted to pick it up instead. I’ve already read the first couple of chapters and think it could be quite a fun and quirky read.

Furyborn (The Empirium Trilogy, #1) Everless Sourdough

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Wednesday everyone and if I don’t post again in the coming week Happy Holidays!

Bookish Things I Hope Santa Brings Me

December 19, 2017December 18, 2017 Ali@abookishlife19 Comments

The theme for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish is top ten books I hope Santa brings but I couldn’t limit myself to just books so instead I’m pretty much just posting my bookish Christmas list in the hope that Santa stumbles across it 🙂

These are all things I would be happy to receive or that I would recommend for the bookworm in your life.

A book from my wishlist

I have loads of books sitting on my Amazon and Book Depository wishlists so I would be more than happy to receive any or all of them. These are typically the books I really want but are kind of expensive so can’t justify buying them for myself when I already own about 300 other books I haven’t read yet. Obviously if someone else buys me them it’s totally fine. These four are probably the ones I’m closest to caving on and just buying.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Guide, #1) Eliza and Her Monsters Warcross (Warcross, #1) Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King, #1)

A Collectors Edition Classic

I can never resist the collector editions and will quite happily spend hours drooling over them in the bookstore. Waterstones do a really lovely leather bound set with pretty patterns on the covers which I love. I already own Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre but I would love to collect the others. I also have my eye on an illustrated edition of The Princess Bride and Murder on the Orient Express.

A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings Great Expectations Murder on the Orient Express - Poirot (Hardback) The Princess Bride

Book Vouchers

This may seem kinda boring but most of my friends and family refuse to buy me actual books (apparently I have all the books and am therefore difficult to pick for) so this is the next best thing. I usually request Amazon vouchers so I can load up my Kindle but Book Depository is also good. I usually use them to pre order all of those sequels I desperately need. Like these ones…

Legendary (Caraval, #2) Hero at the Fall (Rebel of the Sands, #3) War Storm (Red Queen, #4)

Bookmarks

If you read a lot of books you need a lot of bookmarks (or is that just me). I have a bit of a tendency to leave bookmarks in books so I need one for each book. OK maybe not need but you know what I mean. I have quite a few bookmarks I’ve received in book subscription boxes and the ones I’ve loved the most have come from Ink and Wonder (Australia based woodmark company) and Happy Hello Co (Canada based & make magnetic bookmarks)

Magnetic Bookmarks • Faeries of the Night It Floats Woodmark

Bookish Candles

As someone with an asthmatic cat scented candles aren’t always the best idea (unless I fancy a trip to the vets) but I do love bookish candles and currently have about 20. My favorite shops are Meraki Candles (UK based) and In the Wick of Time (US based).

The Night Court

Bookish Mugs

Who doesn’t need a mug (or twenty)? I personally am completely addicted to Evie Seo’s designs at the moment, I currently own four mugs I think but have my eye on about another half dozen.

Reading is Beautiful - Splash Coffee Mug A Court of Thorns and Roses book quote design Coffee Mug

Prints

Again I have a lot of prints (maybe a whole wall but don’t tell anyone) but I’m always happy to get more of them, especially prints with quotes. I won’t recommend any shops as I’ve never bought directly from any.

Jewellery

I absolutely love bookish jewellery particularly pendants and steampunk style necklaces and rings. Oh Panda Eyes have some very cute little pendants although I have to admit the one necklace I did get from them was a pendant with a quote which was a little squinty. I still love it though.

Handmade Bookish Terrarium

A Dragon

I haven’t been fast enough yet but Julie Kagawa (author of Iron Fae, Talon and Blood of Eden) makes the cutest little dragons and sells them occasionally on Etsy. They are not exactly the cheapest but sooo adorable that I want them all. Unfortunately they usually sell out in minutes but one of these days I will get one.

Image may contain: 1 person, shoes

Anything else book related

OK I could probably go on forever but I’m starting to look a little bit greedy so I’ll just sum it up by saying pretty much anything else book related, doorstops, tote bags, laptop sleeves, pillow covers, duvet cover, shower curtain, coasters (which I need for all of my mugs), badges, tea towels and stickers. There’s probably more I’m missing but mostly i just want this Hodor Wooden Doorstop 🙂

So those are some of the things I would love to get as a gift either at Christmas or any other gift giving event. Would you be tempted by any of these or is there something else sitting on your wishlist that you’re hoping for?

Let me know in the comments below and I hope whatever you get and whether you celebrate Christmas or not you have a great time.

Teaser Tuesday: 19th December 2017

December 19, 2017December 16, 2017 Ali@abookishlife1 Comment

This week my teaser comes from The Last Romeo by Justin Myers, an ARC I received from NetGalley. I finished this early on Saturday morning (around 5am) and very much enjoyed it. The writing is wonderful so I just had to use it for this weeks teaser.

My Teaser

They say in New York you’re never more than a foot away from a rat, but it seemed in London I was always only ever a few inches away from someone else having the time of their lives. But I was that peculiar, tiny corner of the beach that the sea never reached – just day after day of dry sand.

~ 62% The Last Romeo by Justin Myers

Blurb

James is 34 and fed up. His six-year relationship with Adam has imploded, he hates his job making up celebrity gossip, and his best friend Bella has just announced she’s moving to Russia.

Adrift and single in loved-up London, James needs to break out of his lonely, drunken comfort zone. Encouraged by Bella, he throws himself headlong into online dating, blogging each encounter anonymously as the mysterious Romeo.

After meeting a succession of hot/weird/gross men, James has fans and the validation he’s always craved. But when his wild night with a closeted Olympian goes viral and sends his Twitter-fame through the roof, James realises maybe, in the search for happy-ever-after, some things are better left un-shared. Seriously, wherefore art thou Romeo . . .

WWW Wednesday: 13th December 2017

December 13, 2017December 12, 2017 Ali@abookishlife27 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

The Last Romeo I started a couple of books over the last few days as I couldn’t make my mind up what to read. I picked up The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig first as I thought it would be nice to read a holiday themed book but I’m just not in the right mood so I also started The Last Romeo by Justin Myers. It’s very early on for both of them, I’m less than 10% in, but so far so good.

I also started a new audiobook during the week, The Monster Collection. It’s a collection of three classic gothic tales, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (read by Richard Armitage), Frankenstein (read by Dan Stevens) and Dracula (read by Greg Wise). I’m currently around halfway through Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and loving it.

Recently Finished

Two books finished this week, the first of which was Everything is Lies by Helen Callaghan which I’d received from NetGalley. I really enjoyed Callaghan’s first book Dear Amy so was excited to see what she would follow it up with and it didn’t disappoint. I did think the balance of the two time periods that feature in the story was a little off but it’s a very addictive read with an engaging storyline and a few twists that took me by surprise. Definitely one for all thriller readers to keep an eye out for.

The second book finished was Still Me by Jojo Moyes, the third book in her Me Before You series. Still Me (Me Before You, #3) I’d been a little wary of more books in this series but I’m really glad we got this one. Me Before You is probably one of my all time favorites and while After You was incredibly sad I found so much I could relate to in it about the process of grieving someone you loved. It was therefore so good to see Lou finally starting to move forward with her life. The story is a little on the slow side and it’s less of an emotional rollercoaster than the previous books but I think it’s a fitting conclusion to Lou’s story.

Reading Next

I seem to be reading a lot of contemporary or thrillers at the moment so it’s probably about time for a little bit of fantasy. I have a few ARCs I was hoping to get to soon The Cruel Prince, Everless and Furyborn but I just haven’t been in a fantasy mood. Hopefully once things quieten down at work that’ll change.

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) Furyborn (The Empirium Trilogy, #1) Everless

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Wednesday Everyone!!!

Top Ten New To Me Authors I Read in 2017

December 12, 2017December 9, 2017 Ali@abookishlife31 Comments

The theme for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday over at The Broke and the Bookish is top ten books from 2017 but, as 2017 isn’t over yet (and because I’m a bit of a rebel… haha I wish), I’ve decided to switch around a couple of top tens and do the top ten new to me authors I read in 2017. Looking through my list I don’t think many of these are new authors, I’m just really slow in discovering how great all of those existing authors are despite being told numerous times.

1 Sally Thorne (The Hating Game)

So the first one on my list actually is a new author. I read her first novel The Hating Game in February this year and absolutely adored it, so much so I’ve re read it I don’t know how many times since (here’s my fangirly review). It’s a contemporary romance and is one of the freshest and funniest ones I’ve ever come across. It may not be wholly unique in story but Thorne’s writing really lifts it. I’m anxiously awaiting her next book which I think is due in Summer next year.

2. Gail Honeyman (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine)

Yep another new author, Honeyman wrote another of my favorite books of the year, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. This was a book I probably wouldn’t have picked up on my own but was chosen for my real life book club and I’m so glad it was. It was one of those books I knew from the very first page I was going to absolutely love. It’s hilarious, heartbreaking, touching, sad but also somehow hopeful. There are a couple of elements in the story which are a little unbelievable but who cares.

3. E Lockhart (Genuine Fraud, We Were Liars)

I bought a copy of We Were Liars years ago but kept putting off reading it, I think because of the vagueness of the blurb and all of the hype around it. I finally got the push to read it when I heard Lockhart was coming to Glasgow to promote a special edition and also her new book Genuine Fraud and I’m so glad I did because it absolutely blew me away. It was completely different from what I was expecting and just very unique. Reading Genuine Fraud was a similar story. It may not be a wholly unique plot but the way that it’s told in reverse certainly is. It’s very cleverly done.

4. Ryan Graudin (Invictus)

This is another author whose book I had sitting lurking on my kindle. In fairness I still haven’t read Wolf by Wolf (although I plan to) but I did get the opportunity to read Invictus and wow. I have a lot of admiration for any author who writes a book about time travel. There’s all of the research to realistically create multiple historical time periods added to that the science and rules around time travel and, in this case, also creating a futuristic world where all of this is possible. Graudin absolutely smashes it all and somehow also creates a cast of characters who I want to hang out with. Brilliant.

5. Andy Weir (Artemis)

Speaking of authors who somehow manage to work a lot of complex information into an action packed story, Andy Weir has an incredible knack for this. I’ve only read Artemis so far but it really impressed me how much science and technical information he managed to fit into what is essentially an Ocean’s Eleven style heist story. I know this book has had some criticism for its characterization but just the level of detail and research he must have done (unless he is a genius and already knew it all) was unbelievable. What’s even less believable is that I actually understood most of it. That is definitely a talent 🙂

6. Fredrik Backman (The Scandal / Beartown)

I know Backman has been around for a while but until this year I didn’t have any inclination to read any of his books, they just didn’t sound like my thing. When Beartown popped up on NetGalley however and I saw lots of my fellow reviewers raving over it I couldn’t resist. As far as I understand the style of Beartown is not Backman’s usual but I really loved it. It’s very episodic, switching between characters sometimes within the page. It took a little getting used to but once I did I thought it worked perfectly. Backman created very real characters but more than that he also gave a real sense of the community. It may have been set in a completely different country but it reminded me a lot of my home and upbringing.

7. Joe Hill (Strange Weather, The Fireman)

As someone who’s always looking for a decent horror I kind of feel like I should have read Joe Hill before now. Again it was the fact that I was going to get to meet him that finally gave me the push to pick up the Fireman. I have to confess I still haven’t finished it but I did enjoy the writing, so much so that I requested a copy of his brilliant novella collection, Strange Weather from NetGalley. It’s a really great read and shows just how talented a writer he is. The way he crams so much characterization and story into so few pages.

8. Neil Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Stardust)

Yeah this is embarrassing, until around 9 months ago I’d never read a single Neil Gaiman and I’m pretty sure the only reason I finally did was because it fit a challenge I was taking part in. I absolutely loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane, it was so completely different than what I was expecting. So much darker, more grown up and just creepier. I will admit I didn’t love Stardust quite as much when I read it (I think I love the film too much) but he really has a great imagination and is a wonderful story teller.

9. Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow)

A Gentleman in Moscow was a book I requested from NetGalley, got approved for and then had second thoughts about. If you follow my blog you’ll know I’m very wary of historical fiction so it’s a bit of a mystery why I requested it (I’m assuming it was the pretty cover). I eventually ended up reading it as part of a structured group read on GoodReads and it completely amazed me. It’s slow paced, heavy on description and very little happens but despite these all being things I hate I fell in love with it. What Towles excels at is creating very vivid places and people. I could visualize every room in that hotel and every single character, flaws and all. The descriptions of the food also made me incredibly hungry. Truly beautiful writing.

10. Holly Bourne (How Do You Like Me Now)

Why did no one tell me I should read Holly Bourne’s books? I very recently finished How Do You Like Me Now and honestly it absolutely wowed me. It was like she had looked directly into my mind and put my thoughts into the head of the main character. So real and so relateable. I was expecting light and fluffy chick lit but while this has it’s funny moments and is very enjoyable it has a lot of real messages running through it and a really strong feminism vibe. This book just spoke to me so much and I’m currently hunting down every other book Bourne has written.

So those are my 10 favorite new to me authors of 2017. Are you a fan of any of them? Have you discovered any great authors this year?

Feel free to leave comments below and links to your own top ten’s.

Teaser Tuesday: 12th December 2017

December 12, 2017December 9, 2017 Ali@abookishlife5 Comments

This week my teaser comes from Still Me by Jojo Moyes, the sequel to the sequel to Me Before You. I’m a huge fan of Moyes and think I’ve read just about everything she’s ever written so I was ridiculously excited to win an advance copy of this from the publisher (as well as a tote bag and bookmark). I’m around half way through and really enjoying. It’s so good to have Lou back.

Note: my teaser is spoiler free (ish) but the blurb contains spoilers for previous books in the series.

My Teaser

For the first time since I had come to work for the Gopniks, the weekend stretched out in front of me like an interminable journey over bleak terrain.

So I did what every girl does, when they are far from home, and a little sad. I ate half a packet of chocolate digestives, and I called my mother.

~ Pg 194 Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Blurb

From the sensational #1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes, a new book featuring her iconic heroine of Me Before Youand After You, Louisa Clark.

Louisa Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive across several thousand miles. She is thrown into the world of the superrich Gopniks: Leonard and his much younger second wife, Agnes, and a never-ending array of household staff and hangers-on. Lou is determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her job and New York life within this privileged world.

Before she knows what’s happening, Lou is mixing in New York high society, where she meets Joshua Ryan, a man who brings with him a whisper of her past. In Still Me, as Lou tries to keep the two sides of her world together, she finds herself carrying secrets–not all her own–that cause a catastrophic change in her circumstances. And when matters come to a head, she has to ask herself Who is Louisa Clark? And how do you reconcile a heart that lives in two places?

Review: My Side of the Diamond by Sally Gardner

December 11, 2017 Ali@abookishlife6 Comments

My Side of the Diamond by Sally Gardner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One of the most unusual stories I’ve ever read.

THE BLURB

An extraordinary tale about the search for love from the acclaimed Costa and Carnegie winning novelist Sally Gardner.

Jazmin has been shunned ever since her best friend Becky disappeared. But Becky didn’t just disappear – she jumped off a tall building and seemingly never reached the ground. It was as if she simply vanished into thin air. Did Jazmin have something to do with her disappearance? Or was it more to do with Icarus, so beguiling and strangely ever youthful, with whom Becky became suddenly besotted . . .

With detailed and intriguing black and white illustrations throughout.

MY REVIEW

This is possibly one of the most bizarre and down right weird books I think I’ve ever come across and while that might put a lot of people off it’s actually the thing I loved the most about it. It took me a little while to figure out what the heck was going on but once I did I found it fascinating.

Where it went wrong for me was the form the story took. Rather than being in the moment it’s told through a series of interviews with the various characters involved in the events. This might have been okay except for the fact you never hear the questions asked, there are a lot of different narrators telling their stories and it jumps around in time. It is very cleverly done but this reflection on events which in some cases happened many years previously left me feeling distanced from them and from the characters. For me to love a book I need the closeness and the connection and that never happened.

I was curious about what had happened and very intrigued as to who the interviewer was and why he was looking into the story but I wasn’t emotionally invested. I didn’t particularly like or relate to any of the characters and I didn’t fully buy into the relationships between them. The romances are very sudden and I didn’t feel any connection or chemistry to make them seem believable.

There were elements that fascinated me, there were parts that confused the heck out of me and there was even the odd creepy moment but unfortunately as a whole I have to say it didn’t do it for me.

It hasn’t put me off Gardner’s writing, I love how unique her stories are, but this was a little disappointing.

I won a copy of this book from ReadersFirst. This has not influenced my review.