Back To YA

Currently smack bang half way in the middle of my A-Levels I have a few weeks off school for the summer and while I know I should be reading the books on my suggested reading list for English Literature next year that relate to the A2 course (Love Through The Ages) I couldn't resist reading a few YA books and it got me thinking.

Why is it that I feel slightly guilty for reading Young Adult books and why does it make me feel like I've taken a step back in terms of reading? Since September last year I've barely read anything that wasn't related to last year's course (AS English Literature - The Struggle For Identity in Modern Literature) and while it did show me a love for George Orwell I wouldn't have found otherwise there were very few books I finished and loved. Don't get me wrong, I finished them and appreciated them and felt they deserved the critical acclaim they got because of various different literary reasons but I didn't fall head over heels in love with them to the point I couldn't put the book down.

I have returned to YA for at least a few weeks because I felt like my brain needed a rest. I felt I needed to read something purely for the enjoyment of it and not because it would be useful in the future. I needed to read something and not feel pressure to appreciate the language and fully understand all of the small details.

Upon returning to YA I have remembered why I love it so much. There is a beautiful simplicity to young adult literature in terms of the language itself but the plots are just as interesting as those in adult literature, if not more engaging. I can read YA without feeling like I have to enjoy it which makes me enjoy it even more. I like to read things with simple language that you can read quickly without having to digest the words in your brain and I like to read things that I want to read, not what an exam board thinks a student of my age should be studying.

While I have enjoyed reading things written by the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Maya Angelou and Jeanette Winterson over the last year, at the age I am now I am definitely more at home with a John Green book in hand. And I personally don't think there is anything wrong with that.

Lucy x

Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart*

349 Pages

Rating: 3/5

Buy it: thebookdepository

Although I wasn't completely blown away with this book, I did enjoy it. The writing was the type of writing that is just nice to read and the book itself was interesting, I just found that I didn't have particularly strong feelings about it either way. The use of other languages worked well although I did feel that I would have perhaps gained more from it if I was familiar with that language and despite not really knowing much about the circumstances described I enjoyed it.

This was the first time I've read anything by Gary Shteyngart and probably wouldn't rush out to buy any more of his works but would read them if they came my way. It was an enjoyable book, but not one I'd re-read or necessarily rush to recommend to someone.

Lucy x

*I received a copy of this book to review through Goodreads First Reads

Book Haul: March 2014 (Haul #4)

Although I've not been reading as much as normal this month due to craziness in terms of school work, I have acquired a lot more books this month than normal so I thought I'd share them with you!

The first book I got this month I won in a YouTube giveaway on Sarah Churchill's YouTube channel to celebrate her reaching 5,000 subscribers. If you haven't already seen her videos I highly suggest having a look. I love watching her videos and she seems so lovely! I won A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and I'm excited to see what all the fuss is about!

I also discovered the giveaway section on goodreads this month and I'm loving it! For those of you who don't know, goodreads have a section on their website dedicated to a scheme called 'First Reads' in which you can enter as many giveaway's as you like and all you have to do is provide an address for whoever is hosting the giveaway to send you your prize and add the book to your 'to be read' shelf. Simple!

The first book I won from goodreads 'First Reads' is Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart. Littlle Failure is a memoir following Gary's family as they make the move from Russia to the USA and how he, as a young child, has to deal with the move along with his ever-changing identity as he attempts to fit in as an American.

The second book I won from goodreads 'First Reads' is The Poets' Wives by David Park. Although I've only read the first few pages of this so far, I can already tell you that it is written beautifully. The quote on the cover of this proof copy is 'Park writes prose like a poet' (from The Times) and I can already tell you that's accurate. I'm excited to see this progress!

I ordered A Clockwork Orange and Slaughterhouse 5 from amazon as 'wider reading' for my AS English Literature course. For the exam we have to link things we've read in three genres, prose, poetry and drama, and these were both suggestions from class. I don't know much about either of them other than the fact they link to our course which is 'the struggle for identity in modern literature'.

Earlier this month I borrowed a copy of George Orwell's Essays and after reading the first few, decided I really needed to own it. The way Orwell writes is absolutely beautiful and I honestly think I could read anything he's written. So far, the only works of his that I've read are Nineteen Eighty-Four and Down and Out in Paris and London and I loved both. I can't recommend Orwell enough!

Finally I bought When the Guns Fall Silent by James Riordan from The Book Depository during their 25 hour sale. This book was only about £3 and as I am studying history for A Level and part of the course focuses on Britain around the time of the First World War, I thought I'd find this interesting! All I know about it is what is says on the back, that it is based on a man as he recalls his experience of World War 1 and is based on a true story.

I also bought the first of the word cloud classics editions of The Brothers Grimm fairytales. Ever since I saw justkissmyfrog's video about these editions of classics I've wanted to pick one up and decided to buy it along with Frankenstein in the Penguin English Library edition. I love both of these editions. They're absolutely beautiful and make me even more excited to read them!

That's all of them! If you've read any of these and want to suggest which ones I should read first please do in the comments below!

Lucy x

50 Books Challenge?

So as some of you will know, for the last 2 years I have joined many other people in the online book community in the '50 Books Challenge'. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's where you challenge yourself to read 50 books in a year.

In 2013, unfortunately I didn't manage it. I read a total of 39 books which I still think is pretty good considering the year was so busy for me but it still annoys me that I didn't reach the target I set for myself at the beginning of the year.

I know that 2014 is going to be an even busier year than 2013 which is why I made the decision to not challenge myself with the task of reading 50 books over the next 12 months. I did, however, want to set myself a goal in terms of reading so I decided to go with 30. For the last two years I've read about 40 books a year so I feel that 30 books is a good goal as it's achievable but also something I will be proud to do. I'm also going to try and make sure that I read as many books as possible that will help me with my school work. This means I'm going to try my best to focus on things that come under the topic of 'the struggle for identity in modern literature (20th century) which is my course for English Literature this year and the occasional historical book about either Britain 1880-1980 or Nazi Germany as that's the A Level history course I'm doing. That being said, I'm not going to let that stop me from reading books that I want to read just because they look good.

Since setting myself this goal at the very beginning of January I've already finished a book that comes under my English Literature course so things seem to be going well! That book is Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell, I can't recommend it enough and there will hopefully be a review coming soon!

Did you challenge yourself to the 50 Books Challenge in 2013? Did you complete it? Have you set yourself a reading goal for 2014? Let me know in the comments!

Lucy x

Bargain Book Haul! (Haul #3)

I am very much the type of person who wants to read and own as many books as I possibly can in the hopes that one day, when I have my own house, it will justify having a whole room full of books. Because of this, I just can't resist a few bargain books!

Since the beginning of summer I've been keeping an eye out for really cheap books, both second hand and new. The first lot of cheap books I got were from a local charity shop and all three of them look brand new! I got the gorgeous (old hardback!) copy of Treasure Island pictured for £1.20, the copy of Mister Pip shown for £1 and a paperback by Jill Mansel called Millie's Fling for 90p that appears to have never been read.

The next 3 I bought from a little fundraising stall they had set up in my town toward the beginning of summer. My friends and I were spending the day together and we happened to walk past and me being me couldn't resist some cheap books! I got I Capture The Castle, True Love and Other Lies and The Odyssey all for £2! If I remember correctly it was £1 each or 3 for £2 which is honestly amazing!

The last 3 (there seems to be a pattern here!) I bought from a shop called 'The Works' which is a chain of bargain bookstores in the UK (I think it's just the UK but I'm sure there are similar shops in other countries!). My mum and I were on a little shopping trip and went in for a little browse when I saw City of Bones, which I wanted to read anyway because of the movie coming out, was on 2 for £5 so I picked up that and Wicked (I'm a massive fan of the musical and I've heard the book is just as good!). I also managed to find a hardback copy of The Marriage Plot by Jeffery Eugenides for £1.99! For a brand new hardback that is crazy especially when the RRP on it is £20!

I'm not sure if this really counts but I've also been loving the free books on kindle. I got my kindle less than a week ago and have already read 2 of the free public domain books (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Great Gatsby) both of which I loved so if you own a kindle and love a good book bargain it's definitely worth looking through them to see if anything takes your fancy!

Seeing as though that's only the cheap/second hand books that I've bought in the last few weeks I feel like I might be developing a bit of a book buying addiction... This is what book blogs/book tube does to you everyone. You're welcome.

Do you know of any good places to find cheap books? Let me know in the comments!

Lucy x

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

117 Pages

Rating: 4/5

As most people will probably know, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the story of Dorothy as she finds herself lost in a world that is unfamiliar to her. It follows her and her friends the scarecrow, the lion and the tin-man as they go in search of the wizard of Oz in order for him to give them what they really want and to send Dorothy home.

I downloaded this book on my kindle as soon as I got it because it was one of the free public domain ones and I saw it wasn't very long. I wasn't expecting amazing things from it because I already know the story very well (having not only grown up with the story but I've also been in productions of both The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz. I'm also a big Wicked fan) but I really enjoyed it. I felt like it was written like a well written children's book because the plot could be followed by children very easily but the writing itself still has an element of sophistication about it.

(Book 29/50)
Lucy x

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

607 Pages

Rating: 5/5 (I wish I could give it more)

My quest to re-read the entire series this summer is complete. I read the majority of this in a day during the bout of books readathon and it was an emotional day indeed! I couldn't count the amount of times I cried at this book and I don't remember it being so emotional! Having only read each book in the series once (with the exception of the first book) I didn't remember most of the little details especially in books six and seven so it was really good to read them again!

I finished reading this about a week ago and I miss the series so much already. Since then I've discovered (I know I'm really late on this) and watched all 3 Very Potter musicals (...twice) and I'm definitely missing it already! Also, Fred will always be my favourite character (George just isn't the same for me).

For some reason, reading the books and watching the films this time round has made me fall even more in love with the story than I could've ever imagined and I really wish it didn't end.

(Book 28/50)

Lucy x

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan

358 Pages

Rating: 4/5

Invisibility is the story of a boy who has been invisible his whole life. No one, not even his parents, have been able to see him until one day, all that changes. Invisibility follows the story of the invisible Stephen and Elizabeth, the only person to ever see him, as they try to learn why everything is the way it is.

I've read a few of David Levithan's books before and he is probably one of my favourite authors (along side John Green of course) but before coming across this book I'd never heard of Andrea Cremer. I really enjoyed this book and the only reason I didn't give it 5/5 is because although I liked it, it isn't the type of book that changes your perspective on the world or anything similar and it didn't quite live up to other David Levithan books.

I loved the characters in this book (particularly Laurie, Elizabeth's brother and a sort of side-kick throughout all the craziness) and I found myself totally engrossed in the story mainly because the characters were so strong.

I'd recommend this to anyone who's interested in books with a bit of magic in them because, although it wasn't my favourite book ever, it's still a very good book!

(Book 27/50)

Lucy x

Bout of Books 8.0 Update 7: Sunday + Wrap Up!

DAY 1: 172 Pages read  -  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
DAY 2: 185 Pages read  -  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows   *BOOK COMPLETED*  
        +: 17 Pages read  -  The Oxford Book of Modern Verse         
        +: 23 Pages read  -  City of Bones
DAY 3: 61 Pages read  -  City of Bones
DAY 4: 18 Pages read  -  City of Bones
DAY 5:  52 % (54 Pages?) read  -  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 
DAY 6:  48 %  (55 Pages?) read  -  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  *BOOK COMPLETED*
        +:  25 % (45 Pages?) read  -  The Great Gatsby
        +: 18 Pages read -  City of Bones
DAY 7:  70% (135 Pages?) read  -  The Great Gatsby  *BOOK COMPLETED*
        +:  8 Pages read  -  City of Bones

Total: 791 Pages read!

On Sunday I managed to finish reading The Great Gatsby which meant although I abandoned my TBR for the week I still managed to read 3 books this week like I planned originally! Seeing as though normally I read about 1 book per week (give or take, never more than 2 though unless I'm in a particular hard-core reading mood) I am really happy with how the week went, especially with everything else that was going on!

As you can see above, the 3 books I managed to complete were Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Great Gatsby. An added bonus is I have a feeling The Great Gatsby is one of the books we might be studying for English Literature A-Level so I feel like I've been productive by reading it! (I really should be reading more of the ones of the reading list but there's so many others I want to read!)

If you took part in the readathon, how did you do? If not, you should attempt it next time, I really enjoyed it and I felt as though there was absolutely no pressure with Bout of Books as their blog says the aim is to just read more than you normally would in a week whereas some other readathons set goals for you. For me personally, I can never tell whether I'm going to be in the mood to read a lot or not at all so Bout of Books was perfect for me! I'll definitely be keeping up with when the next one is!

That's my first readathon (lets ignore the booktube readathon, it didn't go to plan...) complete! I'd say that was a success!

Lucy x

Bout of Books 8.0 Update 6: Saturday's Progress!

DAY 1: 172 Pages read  -  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
DAY 2: 185 Pages read  -  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows   *BOOK COMPLETED*  
        +: 17 Pages read  -  The Oxford Book of Modern Verse         
        +: 23 Pages read  -  City of Bones
DAY 3: 61 Pages read  -  City of Bones
DAY 4: 18 Pages read  -  City of Bones
DAY 5:  52 % (54 Pages?) read  -  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 
DAY 6:  48 %  (55 Pages?) read  -  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  *BOOK COMPLETED*
        +:  25 % (45 Pages?) read  -  The Great Gatsby
        +:  18 Pages read  -  City of Bones

Total: 648 Pages so far!

Saturday was a little better than the last few days have been in terms of reading as the statistics show! 

Although my Mum and I did go out for a few hours in search of a school bag (we ended up buying shoes for school instead and ordering the bag online when we got home, woops!) I spent pretty much the rest of the day reading.

I'm completely in love with my Kindle and the reason I've sort of abandoned my TBR for the week is because I'd rather read on my Kindle while I'm in the mood to! Because of wanting to test it out, I've felt like all I want to be doing is reading since I got it which can only be a good thing in my opinion! (especially when in the middle of a readathon!) That's why I've decided not to read Of Mice and Men like I'd originally planned and I probably won't finish City of Bones tomorrow in time either (did anyone else find it difficult to get into?). 

As you can see from above, I finished reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on my Kindle yesterday and I really enjoyed it! (You can expect a review up soon! I've got so many posts to write after this week - how exciting!)

How are you doing with the readathon if you're taking part? One more day left!

Lucy x

Bout of Books 8.0 Update 5: Friday's Progress (I Got A Kindle!)

DAY 1: 172 Pages read  -  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
DAY 2: 185 Pages read  -  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows          
        +: 17 Pages read  -  The Oxford Book of Modern Verse         
        +: 23 Pages read  -  City of Bones
DAY 3: 61 Pages read - City of Bones
DAY 4: 18 Pages read - City of Bones
DAY 5: 52% (54 Pages?) - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Total: 530 Pages so far!

My very kind parents decided that as a present for my results they would get me a kindle! (VERY kind of them, I've been wanting one for ages!) After spending rather a long time flitting back and forth between the kindle fire and the kindle paperwhite I decided on the paperwhite because I wasn't too sure about the screen on the fire.

Naturally, because the kindle was here by the time I got home from a day out with my friends I then spent the entire evening sat on my bed reading on it. (I think I'm in love). So far I've only downloaded a few free books but I'm so excited to own a kindle!

There will be a review of the kindle paperwhite up soon so keep an eye out for that if you're interested!

Do you have a kindle? If so, which one and do you like it?

Lucy x