June Wrap-up & July TBR

So, June is gone. I have finished my GCSEs and left school, you would think I would've got a lot of reading done right? Wrong. My brain has impeccable timing and has decided to go into a slump. I just can't seem to pick up a book! I'm not sure why but it may be due to the fact that I am waiting for my most anticipated book of practically forever to arrive: The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick. When this comes in the post I am sure I will read it in a day! Anyway.... on with the wrap-up with a grand total of 1 book!

So in June I read This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith. This was super light, fluffy adorable read about 2 people who end up being anomalous pen-pals due to a miss sent email and the complications of them meeting in real life. The boy constantly in the spotlight and the girl desperately trying to escape it. I am writing a review in the next couple of days so keep you eye out for that. I gave this book 4 stars.


I am currently reading 3 other books in an attempt to get myself reading and they are:

• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
• The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson 
• Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

My plan for July is to finish these 3 and then also read The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet; beyond that I am leaving it open. However I am getting Landline by Rainbow Rowell near the end of the month, I will probably read that too. Did you read any good books in June?

Speak soon,

Jade xx

Independent Bookshop Week!

Independent Bookseller Week is upon us! (28th June-5th July) So this week is dedicated to celebrating independent bookshops. There are some lovely places across the UK and it is so important to support them. Don't get me wrong I love going into Waterstones but I want to make a concious effort to support my local bookshop- Hunts- and any others I see on my travels more than I have done.

There are many events happening over the UK over this week and I will leave the website at the end for you to check out all the things, but I am going to talk about the one I am planning to take part in. To end the week with a bang on 5th July the Bookshop Crawl will be taking place over the course of the day. Basically you visit as many participating bookshops as possible on that day, collect stickers and post pictures online using #bookshopcrawl to spread the word.

If you want you can blog or vlog or both (like me) to shout it out from the rooftops so to speak ;) By posting about your day you could also win an awesome prize. Based on the amount of stickers and the quality of your blogs/vlogs you could win the complete Adult and Children's IBW Book Award shortlist,  National BookTokens worth £50, and a banner for blogs or social media designed for the lucky winner.

So fun stuff all round! If you are taking part in this adventure do let me know, and look out for a follow up on what I got up to on the day :)

Speak soon,
Jade x
x

P.S here is the website xx

Haul.

I know I said there wouldn't be another but I got sad. When I get sad I buy books. So yeah...

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. I spoke about this in my may wrap-up. So go and look at that to know more it is a really good meaty book.

This is What Happy Looks Like & The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith. Both of these are light, fluffy, summery reads. I've already read This is What Happy Looks Like and it was adorable!

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. This set in an office where a boy falls for a girl through reading her emails to her friend. Sounds a bit odd but good odd. Plus its by Rainbow Rowell and I would read her shopping lists so I can't wait to dive into this.

Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly. This is the 1st book in the Waterfire Saga. It is a mermaid book where I believe the world is in trouble and a group of mermaids from all over the world have to save their home. Its sounds awesome and I love mermaid books!

Emma by Jane Austen. This I kind of already have a copy of but it is technically my Mum's and this edition is beautiful! It is a Penguin Threads book, I love it to pieces and it is in pride of place on my shelf. Also I need to read more Austen because I just love her writing style.

A collection of poems by Emily Dickinson. I have wanted to read more of Emily Dickinson's poems for a while now and I don't know what it is about her short, broken poems. I just find them very intriguing.

Lastly I got The Quotable Winston Churchill, a collection of wit and wisdom. This is a cute pocket-sized book with all things Winston. Every since I was little I have been fascinated by Churchill and I think he was so awesome. I think this tiny book will be good for when I need encouragement and inspiration.

So they are the books I have accumulated since my last book haul. I know I will be getting around 3-4 books before I go off to America and buy all the books! (well not quite all but you know what I mean) But I think I will just do 1 big summer haul just before I go back to school and leave it at that.

Speak soon,
Jade xx

Unhaul.

Recently I rearranged my bookshelves and realised that for various reasons I didn't want to keep some of my books. So I am going to unhaul them for you and then donate them to charity :)

• The Iron King & Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa. I have read Iron King and the first story in legends but I just don't really like them. I find it irritating especially the main character- she is pathetic at times! So since I'm not going to re-read of continue on with the series I don't see the point of keeping them and hopefully they will find a new home where they will be loved more.

• Shadows and The Hunt by Amy Meredith are the first 2 books in the Dark Touch. I liked these but I read them about 3 years ago and sadly I have no urge to finish the series.

• Finally Arise by Tara Hudson. This is the 2nd book in a series where I don't own the 1st. I didn't realise it was sequel till I got home and again I don't have the urge to pick it up and start this series so I might as well let someone else give it go. 

So yeah. Those are the books I am donating and by the way if anyone in the UK would like these books feel free to let me know and I can post them to you.

Speak soon,

Jade xx

May Wrap-up

Hello! Long time no see (again). I got swept up by exams but wrap-ups are better late than never right? :)
So I only read 2 books in May and started 1 other. I'm going to do just short little reviews on both of them.

Firstly I finally finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book has got such a unique, beautiful, poignant voice to it. It is narrated by Death and mainly follows a girl named Liesel Meminger who is living with her foster parents in Munich, Germany during WW2. This was the first book that I have read that is set in Germany when it comes to the war. So it was a completely different side to it. I love the writing style and the depth to the characters; it is actually quite fun at parts and then it has the more serious parts which tends to be the war parts. The end is... it has quite nice ending really but it is also sad (I sobbed for the last 50pgs or so). However you kind of expect it as Death has his own method of foreshadowing- he tells you some of the things that happen. I don't thing I have a fault with this book it is so wonderful. 5 Stars.

The 2nd and last book I read was Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. This is an epistolary novel where a girl just starting high school- May- writes letters to people who she looks up to and died young. You basically read her grieving process as she comes to terms with the death of her sister, things that happen to her when she was supposed to be with her and also her experiences with high school and love. It is a very deep emotional read and deals with difficult topics. The letters start off by hinting and they slowly reveal what happened to May, this is frustrating but keeps you wanting to read more, so its clever really. I would recommend this to lovers of The Perks of Being a Wallflower as it is a similar vibe. 4 stars.

I also started Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, which I am enjoying so far. I would love to hear your thoughts if you have read any of these.

Speak soon,
Jade xx