Bout of Books 11.0: Day 2 Update

Okay so the bad news, I didn't read much on day 2 and didn't meet my goal. The good news, I read enough on day 1 that when both are added together I still met my goal for the two days. 

The main reason I didn't get as much reading done for day 2 is because a few exciting things were happening on my blog. You may have noticed the spontaneous post that appeared yesterday and the new fancy banner in the side bar but I am now officially an affiliate for The Book Depository! If you're not sure what that is you can click the 'Policies' page on the navigation bar just below the header and it'll explain everything. I'm super excited about this (as if you couldn't already tell) and I'm excited to be able to make my blog an even better place!

So the totals are as follows:

Day 1: 142 Pages

Day 2: 86 Pages

Total read: 228 Pages

Lucy x

Book Depository Affiliate?

This is just a quick post to let you know that I am now officially an affiliate for thebookdepository! There are details on my 'Policies' page but the brief run down is that when you click a link to thebookdepository on this blog I receive a small commission meaning I'm able to make this blog an even better place! 

If you want to support me and my blog by clicking these links I would be very grateful. The banner in the side bar will take you straight to the homepage of thebookdepository.com if you just want to browse and there will be specific links with book reviews so you can buy the exact same edition as I've pictured (or as close as possible) in my review.

I also feel like I should let you know that in clicking these links your order is in no way affected. The money I receive comes from The Book Depository's profit from the book and you are not charged any more than you would be if you hadn't followed the link.

Thank you for supporting A Book And A Brew!

Lucy x

Bout of Books 11.0: Day 1 Update!

It's currently day 2 of Bout of Books so I thought I'd update you on how day 1 went! I started reading at midnight (can you tell I was excited for this readathon?) but I still didn't read as much in the day as I probably could have, although I did go far beyond the 100 pages I'd planned to read which is always a nice feeling!

I'm currently reading The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey and as you'll know if you're friends with me on goodreads (if you're not feel free to add me here) I can't quite decide how I feel about this book yet. I'm enjoying the plot and the idea for the story in general but I found the beginning quite repetitive so I'm hoping it doesn't carry on like that for the full 400+ pages!

How did the first day go for you? Let me know in the comments how much you read and what you're reading!

Day 1: 142 pages

Lucy x

Bout of Books Scavenger Hunt

So Bout of Books is upon us and as I've already met my reading goal for the day (100 pages a day is beginning to seem not ambitious enough ) I thought I'd take part in the challenge for the day! This challenge seems like great fun so I didn't want to miss out! So let's start the scavenger hunt!

1. A Book that begins with “B”  (for Bout of Books!)

Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher!

2. A book that has been made into a movie/tv show

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (a bit of an obvious one I know but I just love both the book and the movie so much)

3. A series you love

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman - I was going to go with the obvious and say Harry Potter when I remember this. The history nerd side of me loves this series so much.

4. An anthology of poems or short stories

The Oxford Book of Modern Verse - I just love this book so much, look how pretty it is!

5. A book on your TBR shelf, or your full TBR shelves

I was just about to put the photo of my TBR for this week in for this one and then I thought, why not give you a glimpse of a haul that's coming in a few weeks! I bought these books a few weeks ago but you'll hear more about them soon!

So there we go, challenge complete! I'll post a full update of how much I read tomorrow because I wouldn't want to miss out what I read later today. I'm currently reading The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy and I'm enjoying it so far!

Lucy x

Bring on the Books!

So as I've mentioned already this week, as of tomorrow I will be taking part in the week-long Bout of Books readathon. I've told you what I'm reading (click here if you missed it) and that I'm participating (click here if you missed that) but I've not told you what I plan to do during the week aside from reading so that's what I thought I'd share with you today!

As I've already changed my mind on some of the books I want to read (a trip to the library does that to a girl) I've decided that my TBR pile that I listed here is going to be a very rough guide. I get really stressed out by readathons if I feel like I'm not reading enough and that makes me read even less so although I'm going to aim for a minimum of 100 pages a day I'm not going to get annoyed at myself if I don't reach that for whatever reason. I'm going to aim to read a full book before starting another, purely because I find I get into the story better and I love the satisfaction of finishing a book in a day or two, it will definitely motivate me. I'm also just going to pick up whatever book I feel like I want to read next rather than sticking to a TBR.

I'm going to try and post an update on here everyday with my progress but there won't be reviews up when I finish books because as I mentioned in a post not long ago I'm very aware of the fact that from September onwards I'm going to be very busy and won't have as much time as I'd like to blog. For that reason, I'm going to be writing reviews of the books I feel are worth sharing my opinions on but they will appear on A Book And A Brew at some point over the next few months rather than the next few days. I know this can be annoying if you're dying to see a review of a particular book but it'll help me be able to keep my blog running smoothly while I'm busy. That being said, if there is a review you'd like to see before the others let me know in the comments of any of my posts and I'll schedule it so you see that one sooner. 

So there we have my plan for the week! I'm super excited for this readathon and I'm definitely in the mood for it so I'm hoping I'll be productive and get a good few books ticked off my TBR list before I head back to school. Let me know in the comments if you're participating and what you're reading!

Lucy x 

Harry's Last Stand by Harry Leslie Smith*

200 Pages

Rating: 5/5

For those of you who haven't been introduced to this book yet, it is a non-fiction book written by 91 year old Harry Leslie Smith about the society he grew up in and how, despite improvements that were made by past governments, today's society seems to be dangerously close to returning to that of the 1930s. He discusses issues that he is passionate about, such as the number of people living below the breadline today, and highlights reasons why this is the case.

I could very easily have sat down and read this book cover to cover but I purposely took my time with it so I could fully appreciate it. Harry writes about issues he is passionate about and this passion really comes through in his writing. He writes non-fiction with an incredibly fluid, easy to read voice that almost feels like fiction, making it accessible to people who do not know as much about these issues as he does. He writes about politics and history in a way that allows those who do not know much about either to gain more knowledge while writing in such a way as to allow those who are familiar with both on any level to still gain something from reading it.

As a teenager with a strong interest in history, I found reading this book not only very interesting but important. I think it's important to listen to people like Harry who have lived through periods of history that we study in school so we can understand what it was like on a personal level. It's very different reading about the personal struggles of living in 1930s Barnsely to seeing figures for the number of people who were living in that type of situation. I also think it's important that my generation listen to people like Harry to understand what it was like living in those conditions and do whatever can be done to stop people having to live like that.

This is one of those books that I wholeheartedly believe everyone should read. Regardless of your age, location or social class I believe you would gain something from reading this.

Harry Leslie Smith wrote an article for The Guardian titled 'This year, I will wear a poppy for the last time' that you can find here if you're interested.

Have you read Harry's Last Stand? What's your opinion of it?

Lucy x

*I received a copy of this book for review thanks to Leena at Icon Books

Buy the book: thebookdepository

Bout of Books 11.0 - Reading Goals

As I mentioned in my post the other day, I've decided to participate in Bout of Books 11.0! I thought I'd share with you my goals for the week. Although it's very likely that they will change/I will not finish anywhere near what I've planned, I thought it'd be nice to show you my plan for the week.

Top of my list is Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I read Fangirl a few weeks back and absolutely fell in love with it and couldn't put it down so I thought another Rainbow Rowell book would be a good choice for a readathon!

I've had two ARCs that I won through Goodreads First Reads sat on my shelf for a few months so I'm going to try and read at least one of them. They are Purefinder by Ben Gwalchmai and Woman Master by Mehrnaz Stars. I'm not sure if I'll get through both of them but I'm going to try and read at least one of them to tick them off the list!

I've also got a few books I need to read before going back to school so I thought I'd throw one of them into the reading goals. The one I chose is The Reader by Bernhard Schlink which is the English translation of the text we will be studying in German next year. We've been asked to read the English rather than the German (thank goodness!) but I will probably try and read at least some of it with the German alongside it, just to gauge how difficult the language we will be studying is.

So that's my aim for the week! Like I said, it's highly likely that this will change and I'll end up reading way less than I wanted to but I thought I might as well share with you what my basic plan is. I'm aiming to read about 800 pages I think in a week because that works out to just over 100 pages a day, something which is more than I currently read but is still achievable. Obviously if I go over that it would be great but I want to try and be realistic so I don't plan too much and make myself feel under pressure.

Are you participating? Have you set yourself reading goals? Leave them in a comment below!

Lucy x

Everybody Sees The Ants by A. S. King

280 Pages

Rating: 5/5

Buy it: thebookdepository

In search of something to read and not really feeling in the mood for anything on my tbr shelf a few weeks ago I decided to take a trip to my local library. It's a very small library and has less YA books than I do (and my collection isn't particularly big) so I wasn't expecting much but it would seem they've got a few new things in since I was last there, one of which being Everybody Sees The Ants. Immediately I had Ariel Bissett's voice in my head saying it is one of her 'all time favourite books' and thought I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read it knowing that.

I can definitely see why Ariel loved this book. It follows Lucky, a target of some traumatising bullying as his mother and himself spend a few weeks in another state to get away from the bullying and the arguments between his mother and father. Lucky searches for his grandfather, pronounced 'missing in action' from the Vietnam War, in his dreams and spends his waking moments trying to deal with all the struggles he faces. The ants, as referenced in the title, are his conscience that he sees mocking people, including himself, with things he is too scared to say.

This book is brilliant. I found the dream sequences and the ants incredibly unique and the book itself was just amazing. I'd definitely recommend this one to pretty much anyone!

Have you read it? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below!

Lucy x

Bout of Books 11.0

As a bit of a last minute decision, I've decided I'm going to take part in the Bout of Books 11.0 readathon which starts next Monday! For those of you who aren't familiar with Bout of Books, have a read of this:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I took part in the Bout of Books 8.0 readathon last summer so I'm excited to give it a shot again this year! In the past I've not been too good at keeping up with readathons and it usually turns out that I start a readathon and then end up having the busiest week of the year but I'm going to give it a go nonetheless! I also have a few books I want to try and get through before I go back to school in September so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to just plough through them and get them read!

Are you taking part? I'll be posting updates throughout the week so feel free to link me to updates you're posting so we can discuss what we're reading with each other!

Lucy x

A New Twitter Account?

Hello book lovers!

This is just a quick little update to inform you of the brand new twitter account I've set up to go hand in hand with this blog! How exciting! If you enjoy the content on here, want to see more of 'A Book And A Brew' or just generally love books you can head to @abookandabrew on twitter. Don't forget the tumblr account too: abookandabrew.tumblr.com

I hope you enjoy all the changes that have happened to this blog recently, let me know what changes you like in the comments below! My personal favourite is the lovely banner my talented friend Ishani made me.

Lucy x

Follow @abookandabrew

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

460 Pages

Rating: 5/5!

Buy it: thebookdepository

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one but oh my goodness this book is brilliant. And exactly what I needed right now.

For those of you who have heard about this book but aren't clear about what it's about (I wasn't before I read it I'll admit) here's a very brief plot run down for you. Cath and Wren are twins who have always been inseparable. Fangirl starts when they first arrive at college (or univerity for us Brits) and they have been roomed in not only different rooms but different buildings due to Wren feeling she needs a bit more space, space that Cath isn't sure about. While Wren settles in to university life straight away, Cath doesn't. She struggles with her room mate initially, finds it very difficult to make friends and buries herself in the safety and familiarity of the online world instead. While her sister and  roommate are at parties, Cath is at home writing fanfiction about the Simon Snow stories (which bare a remarkable resemblance to Harry Potter). Fangirl follows Cath through her first year at university as she slowly gets used to all the changes, despite several major knock-backs.

This book probably isn't anywhere near as good to those people who have little to no knowledge of fanfiction or the concept of a fandom (particularly an online one) but as I know at least a bit about both I found it brilliant. I think part of the reason I loved it so much is because Cath is such a believable character. She finds it hard moving to a new place and meeting new people and starting everything from scratch. She's not perfect with the idea of relationships and struggles with opening herself up to it. She worries about things a lot. That's what makes her so great.

Cath isn't the only character in this book I fell completely in love with but as I don't want to give away any spoilers I won't say any more, I just felt the review would be incomplete without a little mention of him. If you've read it I'm sure you know who I mean.

Have you read Fangirl? Did you like it as much as I did? Let me  know what your opinion of it was in the comments below! Feel free to leave me any suggestions based on this too, I have a weakness for this type of book.

Lucy x