Recent Reads Of Summer

Right, so part of my internet and general happiness hiatus also included a tiny reading hiatus. I haven't been reading at the pace that I normally do, but I've still managed to squeeze in a few reads before bed time!

Here are some of my recent page turners!

1. Winger by Andrew Smith - Probably my favourite book in a long time. It's so normal. And hilarious. It kind of reminds me of the male version of Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld but without the socially awkward main character. I originally saw the book on this list and I'm so glad I bought it! It's about a high schooler at boarding school and his life in a crap dorm, on the rugby team, and being 2 years younger than everyone in his grade. Really easy read, and includes cartoon that the main character draws himself to narrate his life!

2. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close - Again, a book that is so completely normal. (My taste in books goes one of two ways : the completely normal lives of people or dystopian over the top plots.) I enjoyed it  mainly because I could totally relate to the characters (mostly the 20-something and wtf am I doing at my job aspect of it) and it was such an easy read! I'd definitely recommend it if you want a girly read and you're going through a quarter life crisis! (And even if you're not, you'll still like it!)

3. Gone Series by Michael Grant - Right, so I basically plowed my way through this series. Six books in total. I was completely hooked. Mostly I just wanted to know how the hell it was going to end! There were aspects of it that totally annoyed me; there were so many useless characters that I just wanted to write out of the book! But in all honestly, I liked the concept of it. Basically, everyone over the age of 15 goes 'poof' one day and they can't escape this dome that traps everyone inside. If you like this type of genre, I think you'd like this series. However, be warned that all of the main characters are 14 years or younger. It's an immature read at times, but I think overall I was able to look past it.

Side note, I still have not finished The Host. I cannot get into it. Has anyone read it before? Is it just really slow to get into?

What have you read recently that you enjoyed or would recommend? I have loads more books on my list; I'd love to hear what's on yours!

Soon To Be Recent Reads

(In case you missed it, here is what I'd actually classify as Recent Reads if you're looking for something new!)

There are many (read: LOADS) of books on my radar at the moment, so I thought I'd share with you what's next on my list!

Look at me getting all artsy with the photo! #not

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling - I am super excited for this book! I love Mindy; I wish I was half as funny as she is. I got the sample (always get the sample... they're free!!) on my iPad and was cracking up within minutes. I can't wait to open this up sometime this weekend!

The Host by Stephanie Meyer - I was very skeptical to buy this. I'm like the anti-Twilight advocate of the world. (Okay okay, I read Twilight when I was 16 and loved it. And then my love just faded into hatred.) But I saw it for £3.99 at Sainsbury's and thought 'why not?' I also couldn't resist because it was made into a movie, and being on the pro-books side on the books v. movies debate I knew I had to give it a chance!

(Sidenote, I'm a few chapters in and actually had to re-read the back to figure out the plot. Totally did not start off the way I expected, but we'll go with it!)

1984 by George Orwell - Random. I know. I've been meaning to read it for a while now since it is the original book in this dystopian literature craze (can you call it a craze now?), but I'm kind of.... nervous. When I think of 1984 I think about required school reading (cringe. who ever liked those?!), except for the fact that I never had to read it for school! I did have to read Animal Farm when I was 13, and that wasn't so bad. So I'm giving this a shot. I'm not expecting Hunger Games/Divergent/Delirium/Matched type of reading. But I will give it a shot.

What do you have on your bookshelf waiting to be read at the moment?

Recent Reads

I am a book worm. (Second post in a week about books. Just sayin'.)

It started when I was about 7 years old and I had (what seemed like) an infinite supply of The Babysitters Club Little Sister books (Karen was like, my BFF) and I would keep my nose in these books for days on end. 15 years later, my obsession has not subsided (at all.) and I would still rather read in bed all day than go out and socialize with the cool people my age.

Sorry, I'm not sorry.

Anyway, I've read a bunch of books that have been absolute page turners over the past few weeks that I thought I would share with you guys! (Along with one of my many many many good quotes from each!)

1. Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver - I heard so many good things about this series (and apparently they made a TV show pilot episode that was trying to get picked up by Fox... It didn't... Thoughts??) and was thoroughly impressed until the last chapter of the last book. I don't think I've ever been more angry at an ending. Regardless, it's a good concept and a good series. It's a dystopian series (think along the lines of the Hunger Games and Divergent) where love is considered a disease. Girls and boys are kept mostly separate until they're "cured" at age 18. Once you're "cured" by a brain intrusive medical procedure, you can't catch the 'deliria' (love). But it also changes your mentality; fun and old memories really stop mattering. You also get paired with someone (to marry) based on a personal evaluation. Affection really doesn't exist even with your partner and children. With this book, I like the concept (I'm just a sucker for dystopian societies... sue me!) and I like all the twists and turns throughout the series. This is definitely a page turner. I couldn't put any of the 3 in this series down. Don't let my hatred for the ending skew your judgement; most people would probably love the ending.

2. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld - The only way I know how to describe this book is that it has "How I Met Your Mother" syndrome.... It's basically one long pointless story just waiting to find out the end. However, I still enjoyed it. (And I got it from the '3.99 or less' page on iTunes, so that's always a plus!) It's about a girl who goes to boarding school (on scholarship) for all 4 years of high school. And the reason I liked it so much is because the main character, Lee, is so ridiculously like myself, only more extreme! She's so socially awkward that you can't help but root for her, but you also want to just punch some confidence into her. Admittedly, there were times where I felt almost identical to Lee. I'm constantly people watching or just inside my own brain a majority of the time that I'm oblivious to everyone around me. And that's basically the entire book -- viewing the world from her introverted, prep school perspective.

3. Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie - More dystopian fiction. Gotta love it. Only this time, the Society controls everything. Everything. Food, clothing, school, work, recreation, and your Match. You get Matched at 17 to someone, and that's who you end up with. Simple as that. I liked this trilogy because I didn't feel like it was over the top. Yes, Society controls everything, and that's a bit extreme. But it wasn't like crazy fight to the death games or forced medical procedures or anything weird. It was the most normal (and least violent), futuristic form of dystopian society I think I've read so far. And the 3 main characters... All equally amazing. Even if you aren't into Hunger Games/Divergent/Delirium types of books, I'd still recommend this because it's the most realistic and natural.

What have you read recently that you enjoyed or would recommend? (And if you want to nerd out with me about any of these books/series, email me! As always, I'd love to hear your opinions!)

One Of My Best Kept Secrets

Okay, so it's not really a secret... But I'll fill you in anyway.

Recently, my book obsession has skyrocketed. I always joked how my addiction to reading was making me purchase books faster than I was financially capable of. And shhhh! Do not tell me to get a library card! I like LOVE my ever growing book shelf and admiring my collection. (Side note, does anyone want to buy me a bigger book shelf?) I think I would cry if I had to give a book back; we all know I am too good at re-reading them.

More recently, however, I've been buying books on my iPad. And thank the heavens I discovered the 'Great Books for $3.99 or less' page! (Oh and yes, I still have American iTunes... Oops!)

And there you have it, folks: My best kept secret.

See, I told you it really wasn't a secret!

If your looking for some good books but don't always want to splurge, definitely look at the 'Great books for $3.99 or less' page! They offer a bunch of different genres and they all have at least 20 books in the list!

This '$3.99 or less' page honestly changed my life. I'm not even kidding. Last summer I bought a book for 99 cents because, well, why not?! It was the first book in The Mortal Instruments series (titled 'City of Bones'), which is being made into a movie coming out in August. That series plus another series by that author are just below Harry Potter on my favourite books list. That's huge.

Since then, I've purchased many a cheap book off of iTunes, none of which I regret. So here are just a few tips if you do decide to check out the cheap option!

1. Check back often - They add and remove books from the lists quite often. This definitely keeps your options open!

2. Get the samples first - They're free! If you can't wait to read more once the sample is done, you know you are in for a treat!

3. Only go for a certain number of stars - Personally, I only really consider buying these books if they are over 4 stars. That sounds harsh; 4 stars is a great score out of 5 on iTunes. But from what I've noticed, there's obviously a reason why it's ridiculously on sale. So unless I've heard good reviews elsewhere, I won't buy a book from there unless it's over 4 stars.

4. Don't just buy it because it's cheap - I have to talk myself out of sale purchases all the time. Just because it's cheap, doesn't mean it's worth it. If you know you're not going to like it or get through it, don't bother!

5. Look at page numbers - Sometime on the list you'll find shorter books, such as 'midquels', on the list that are only about 40 pages long and go with another book you may or may not have read. So keep an on the page number. If it seems like a low number of pages, it's probably not a full fledged book.

Hopefully this helps your reading addiction like it did for me!