4 Month Wrap-up: July, August, September and October

Tags

A Corner of White, A.S. King, Amy Ewing, Aurelia Wills, Barry Jonsberg, Black, Brodi Ashton, Cat Clarke, Crimson Bound, Cruel Beauty, Cynthia Hand, Deborah Biancotti, Eleanor and Park, Em Bailey, Far From You, Fleur Ferris, Francesca Haig, Frayed, Garth Nix, Harry Potter, Here I Stand, Hold Me Like a Breath, It Looks Like This, J.K. Rowling, Jaclyn Moriaty, Jay Kristoff, Jennifer Donnelly, Jodi Meadows, John Flanagan, Justine Larbalestier, Kara Terzis, Lady Renegades, Lauren James, Lauren Oliver, Maggie Stiefvater, Magnus Chase, Margo Lanagan, Megan Miranda, Miss Mayhem, My Lady Jane, My Sister Rosa, Nevernight, Pandora Jones, Paula Garner, Phantom Limbs, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, Rachael Craw, Rachel Hawkins, Rafi Mittlefehldt, Rainbow Rowell, Ranger's Apprentice, Rebel Belle, Renee Ahdieh, Replica, Rick Riordan, Rosamund Hodge, Sabriel, Scott Westerfeld, Shield, Someone I Wanted to Be, Soulprint, Spark, Stray, Swarm, Tess Sharpe, The Black Key, The Book That Made Me, The Fire Sermon, The Hammer of Thor, The Last Beginning, The Lost and the Found, The Mirror King, The Raven Boys, The Rose and the Dagger, The Ruins of Gorlan, The Special Ones, The Sword of Summer, These Shallow Graves, Tiffany Schmidt, Zeroes

WOW, it has been a long time since I’ve posted anything.

Such a long time.

So, let’s have a look at what’s been going on in the last four months.

July

In July had my first prac teaching thing, which was a bucket load of fun.

I’m definitely on the right career path, guys.

Books read:

Rebel Belle trilogy, by Rachel Hawkins

Books Bought:

Nevernight, by Jay Kristoff
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne (and J.K. Rowling)

August

Nothing exciting really happened in August…that I can remember. It was 3 months ago, guys.

I just finished my prac teaching, went back to uni. There was probably some book event on that I’ve now forgotten about.

Books read:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne (and J.K. Rowling)
The Fire Sermon, by Francesca Haig
Shield, by Rachael Craw
Frayed, by Kara Terzis

Books Bought:

A Corner of White, by Jaclyn Moriaty
The Special Ones, by Em Bailey
The Rose and the Dagger, by Renee Ahdieh
Shield, by Rachael Craw

September

In September we had YAFanFest, which was heaps of fun.

And then we had a Rachael Craw Skype chat at Dymocks which was SO AWESOME!

I also had my uni mid-semester break, which meant I got loads more reading done.

Books read:

Hold Me Like a Breath, by Tiffany Schmidt
Zeroes, Swarm, by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti
Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell
Please Ignore Vera Dietz, by A.S. King
The Book that Made Me, by various
Pandora Jones trilogy, by Barry Jonsberg
Soulprint, by Megan Miranda
Far From You, by Tess Sharpe
Rangers Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan, by John Flanagan
The Lost and the Found, by Cat Clarke

Books Bought:

Sabriel, by Garth Nix
Swarm, by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

Books Received:

For review (Thanks Walker!):
The Last Beginning, by Lauren James
The Black Key, by Amy Ewing
My Lady Jane, by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows
Here I Stand, by Amnesty International

From the YAFanFest goodie bag:
These Shallow Graves, by Jennifer Donnelly

October

Books read:

Black, by Fleur Ferris
The Sword of Summer, The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan
Cruel Beauty, by Rosamund Hodge
Crimson Bound, by Rosamund Hodge
The Mirror King, by Jodi Meadows
The Raven Boys (reread), by Maggie Stiefvater
My Sister Rosa, by Justine Larbalestier

Books Bought:

The Hammer of Thor, by Rick Riordan
Replica, by Lauren Oliver
Illustrated Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay

Books Received:

For review (Thanks Walker!):
Phantom Limbs, by Paula Garner
Someone I Wanted to Be, by Aurelia Wills
It Looks Like This, by Rafi Mittlefehldt

It ended in 2016: The Raven Boys (series review)

Tags

Book Review, Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven Cycle

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

First book published: 2012

Synopsis (book 1): ‘There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,’ Neeve said. ‘Either you’re his true love…or you killed him.’

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them — not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all — family money, good looks, devoted friends — but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

The Short Version

WOW.

Just WOW.

The long version may contain spoilers for the entire series. You have been warned.

The Long Version

Everything about this series is just so amazing. Every time I read it, I love it more.

Seriously, there are no words.

Book 1: The Raven Boys

I remember first reading this book. Well, listening, since it was on audio (the audio books for this series are great, guys, I would definitely recommend them).

So, the story starts with Blue seeing the spirit of Gansey, which means that at some point in the book we are going to meet a person called Gansey and at some point in the series this person is going to die.

Which was fine…until Gansey actually showed up.

Book 2: The Dream Thieves

I have to admit, the first time I read this I wasn’t the biggest fan of this particular book in the series.

But as I said earlier, the more times I read these books the more I love them.

This book was mostly dramatic car racing and Adam being weird after the whole Cabeswater thing. And of course, ends with Maura disappearing.

Book 3: Blue Lily, Lily Blue

This book is probably my favourite of the series.

I don’t even know why, I JUST LOVE THESE BOOKS SO MUCH!

And the whole book I was just

Book 4: The Raven King

The build up to this book can be literally summed up in one tweet:

All of these tweets saying "Maggie, don't kill Gansey!" Oh, please. That kid is going DOWN.

— Maggie Stiefvater (@mstiefvater) September 30, 2014

The Raven King was definitely the most intense of the four books. With book 1 being more of an exciting magical adventure, book 2 being all weird with car racing and dreaming, and book 3 was just full of shippy feels, but book 4 was INTENSE.

After waking the demon in Blue Lily, Lily Blue, Piper Greenmantle is basically ruining everything, and people are dying and time is going wibbly and we know it’s only a matter of time before Gansey dies…

And then it was over.

Conclusion

An amazing series by amazing author, I will throw this series at everyone I meet.

April Wrap Up: Being social, Allegiant movie and RAVEN KING

Tags

Allegiant, Amy Zhang, Blue Lily Lily Blue, Elementary, Falling Kingdoms, Half Lost, Lady Renegades, Maggie Stiefvater, Morgan Rhodes, Rachel Hawkins, Sally Green, The Raven Cycle, The Raven King, This is Where the World Ends

WOW April was an exciting month.

First of all, I was so busy that I didn’t get around to posting my March wrap-up until the 18th. That was awkward.

So, of course, to ensure that didn’t happen again, I wrote this post two weeks ago, and then added to it as things happened.

Of course this post is STILL late…because I needed time to take pictures and upload them and that takes time that I do not have, but never mind.

April was the month of me being social apparently

There was a week in April when I hung out with people and didn’t get home until late three times. THREE. In ONE week.

But I got to hang out with people that I don’t get to see very often, so that was awesome.

I hung out with people I met at NextGen

As I mentioned in my January wrap up, I went to a Christian Leadership conference-thingy called NextGen, where they give us heaps of awesome advice on running a youth group.

Anyways, while there, I made friends! And we kept in touch, and decided we should organize meet-ups so that we can still see each other. It was awesome.

My friend got married

When I was in primary school (kindergarten – year 6, for those who are unfamiliar with the Aussie schooling system), I had two best friends. One of them moved away as we started high school.

Anyway, one of those friends got married last August, and the other one (the one who moved away so I rarely get to see anymore) FINALLY got married a few weeks ago (they’d been engaged for almost 3 years).

So that was exciting.

WE GOT A PUPPY

His name is Percy. He is adorable.

I helped run a Circus-themed holiday club

Once a year, my church runs a holiday club for primary-school kids. Usually, this runs in the Easter holidays.

The plan is simple: we spend the Monday setting up, Tuesday-Thursday is the actual thing, and then Friday is packing up.

It. Is. Exhausting.

We had over 50 kids for all three days. I was in charge of teaching circus skills.

Basically, this means that I spent three days teaching kids in groups of 20 how to juggle. (We did other things, too: ‘tightrope’ walking, hula-hooping, limbo…but juggling was their favourite).

By the end of the week, I was literally fit for nothing but curling up in my bed and binging TV shows.

Speaking of which…

CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT HOW AMAZING THE ELEMENTARY TV SHOW IS?

Elementary is a Sherlock Holmes-inspired show in which Sherlock is a recovering drug-addict living in America. Joan Watson starts off as his Sober Companion, but stays on to learn about detective work.

Anyway, this show is approaching the end of season 4, and I swear IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!

Like, seriously, I’m dying here. This show’s awesomeness has killed me.

I saw Allegiant

Thanks to Kinokuniya, I got to go see Allegiant two weeks before it came out.

You can read my thoughts about the movie here.

Basically, it was made more enjoyable by the people I was with.

THE RAVEN KING IS HERE! IT EXISTS!

I HAVE READ IT AND IT WAS PERFECTION! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CONTINUE WITH MY LIFE??

Also, my sister made me this AWESOME dress!

It took me about 11 hours to read (it’s the sort of book I like to take my time reading) which means I finished it about 8:30am the morning after I got it.

And I would like to thank The Book Depository and the post office people for getting the book to me THE DAY it came out. If it had come any later, I would have had to wait another week to read it (I was determined to read it in one sitting).

Bookish Info

Books Bought:

This is Where the World Ends, by Amy Zhang
Half Lost, by Sally Green
Lady Renegades, by Rachel Hawkins
The Raven King, by Maggie Stiefvater

Books Read:

Falling Kingdoms, by Morgan Rhodes
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Raven King, by Maggie Stiefvater

So, only three books this month, but I didn’t want to get into anything else before Raven King, and I’m still in post-Raven King book-hangover mode.

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And that’s that. How was your April?

March ended, I didn’t notice…

Tags

Alison Goodman, Alwyn Hamilton, Demon Road, Derek Landy, Frankie, Heartland, Kylie Fornasier, Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Lauren Brooke, Maggie Stiefvater, Rebel of the Sands, Shivaun Plozza, Something Strange and Deadly, Susan Dennard, The Dream Thieves, The Raven Boys, The Sidekicks, The Things I Didn't Say, Will Kostakis

So…it’s been April for a while now…and here’s me realising that I haven’t done my monthly recap for March yet…

happenings in March

YA Squad Tour:

The YA Squad Tour happened, and it was ever so much fun.

Even though I was late…as usual.

Look at all the pretty books I got:

University:

Despite posting TWO posts (Jan AND Feb wrap up) about how I was going to be around more regularly, that still hasn’t happened.

This is largely due to the fact that this semester at uni I have 2-3 assignments due every week, with an occasional other assignment thrown in. So, I am quite busy at the moment. (Though at this very moment I’m about to go on a two week break, so I have two weeks to breathe…and then I have 1 major assignment and 2 mid-sem tests first week back *dies*).

That said, I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had at uni. I’m doing Group Theory (it’s a maths thing) and it is SO AWESOME! Also, topology (another maths thing) is pretty awesome as well.

To sum up, uni is awesome, but I have so many assignments that I don’t have time to procrastinate…which is when my blogging would usually happen.

BUT the plan is to write up a heap of posts during this two week break (because, let’s be honest here, I won’t be studying), so that things can keep happening on the blog while this is me:

Books

Books Bought:

Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton
The Sidekicks, by Will Kostakis
Frankie, by Shivaun Plozza
The Things I Didn’t Say, by Kylie Fornasier

Books Won:

(From AngelReads)
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman
Demon Road, by Derek Landy

Books Read:

Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton
Heartland (9-20), by Lauren Brooke
The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater
Something Strange and Deadly, by Susan Dennard

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So…that was my March. Better late than never, right? Seriously, though, when it says in the title that I didn’t realise that March ended, it was completely true. I don’t know what day of the week it is…I haven’t known for 6 weeks. I don’t have any brain capacity beyond “this assignment is due either today or tomorrow, so I should work on it”.

How was your March?

Prioritise My TBR

Tags

A Discovery of Witches, Alienated, All Fall Down, All the Rage, Ally Carter, Amy Ewing, Barry Jonsberg, Cat Clarke, Cloudwish, Courtney Summers, Dawn Kurtagich, Days of Blood and Starlight, Deborah Harkness, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Dumplin, E. Lockhart, Estelle Laure, Far From You, Fiona Wood, Happily Ever After, Hidden, Hilary Badger, Hold Me Like a Breath, John Flanagan, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Josephine Angelini, Julie Murphy, Justine Larbalestier, Kerstin Gier, Kiera Cass, Laini Taylor, Lair of Dreams, Leviathan, Libba Bray, Lifespan of Starlight, Maggie Stiefvater, Margo Lanagan, Marianne Curley, Marie Lu, Megan Miranda, Melinda Salisbury, Melissa Grey, Melissa Landers, Pandora Jones, Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, Pompidou Posse, Ranger's Apprentice, Razorhurst, Rebecca Lim, Rick Riordan, Rick Yancey, Ruby Red, Running Like China, Sarah Lotz, Scott Westerfeld, Sea Hearts, Soman Chainani, Sophie Hardcastle, Sophie Jordan, Soulprint, Star Wars, State of Grace, Susanna Clarke, Tess Sharpe, Thalia Kalkipsakis, The 5th Wave, The Astrologer's Daughter, The Dead House, The Diviners, The Girl at Midnight, The Infinite Sea, The Jewel, The Lost and the Found, The School of Good and Evil, The Scorpio Races, The Sin Eater's Daughter, The Young Elites, This Raging Light, Tiffany Schmidt, Trial by Fire, Trish Doller, Uninvited, We Were Liars, Where the Stars Still Shine, White Time

I seem to have a problem that many book-nerds have, my TBR pile is HUGE!

And because it’s 2016, I have decided…this time next year, I will not own any books that I have not read.

Can I actually do it?

But I need your help

Obviously, my pile is huge, so I need some suggestions of where to begin.

What’s on my TBR:

• Pandora Jones trilogy, by Barry Jonsberg
• All the Rage, by Courtney Summers
• Hold Me Like a Breath, by Tiffany Schmidt
• The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater
• White Time, by Margo Lanagan
• The 5th Wave/Infinite Sea, by Rick Yancey
• Cloudwish, by Fiona Wood
• The Diviners/Lair of Dreams, by Libba Bray
• Star Wars: Verily a New Hope
• Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy
• The Lost and the Found, by Cat Clarke
• Pompidou Posse, by Sarah Lotz
• This Raging Light, by Estelle Laure
• Happily Ever After, by Kiera Cass
• Uninvited, by Sophie Jordan
• Running Like China, by Sophie Hardcastle
• Where the Stars Still Shine, by Trish Doller
• Sea Hearts, by Margo Lanagan
• State of Grace, by Hilary Badger
• Ruby Red, Kerstin Gier
• Razorhurst, by Justine Larbalestier
• The Young Elites, by Marie Lu
• Lifespan of Starlight, by Thalia Kalkipsakis
• We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart
• Alienated, by Melissa Landers
• The Dead House, by Dawn Kurtagich
• Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods, by Rick Riordan
• All Fall Down, by Ally Carter
• Days of Blood and Starlight/Dreams of Gods and Monsters, by Laini Taylor
• The Sin Eater’s Daughter, by Melinda Salisbury
• Ranger’s Apprentice, by John Flanagan
• Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield
• Soulprint, by Megan Miranda
• Trial by Fire, by Josephine Angelini
• The Jewel, by Amy Ewing
• The Girl at Midnight, by Melissa Grey
• The School of Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani
• Far From You, by Tess Sharpe
• A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
• The Astrologer’s Daughter, by Rebecca Lim
• Hidden, by Marianne Curley
• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

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So, my question to you all is this: which books should I prioritise? I need to know where to begin.

Help me out, guys!

Stacking the Shelves: The Yearly Edition 2015

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Alexandra Bracken, Alienated, All Fall Down, All the Rage, Ally Carter, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Amie Kaufman, Amy Ewing, An Ember in the Ashes, Barry Jonsberg, Because You'll Never Meet Me, Bright Before Sunrise, Brigid Kemmerer, Champion, Cloudwish, Courtney Summers, Cynthia Hand, Dawn Kurtagich, Dead of Winter, Demon Road, Derek Landy, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Ellie Marney, Every Move, Every Word, Far From You, Fiona Wood, Fleur Ferris, Frostbite, Half Wild, Happily Ever After, Harry Potter, Harry Potter Illustrated Edition, Hold Me Like a Breath, Holly Black, Illuminae, Illusions of Fate, In the Afterlight, In The Skin of a Monster, J.K. Rowling, James Smythe, Jane Austen, Jay Kristoff, John Flanagan, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Julie Kagawa, Justine Larbalestier, Kady Cross, Kathryn Barker, Kerstin Gier, Kiera Cass, Kiersten White, Kresley Cole, Laini Taylor, Lair of Dreams, Lauren James, Lauren Oliver, Leah Thomas, Legend, Leslye Walton, Libba Bray, Lisa M. Stasse, Maggie Stiefvater, Magnus Chase, Magonia, Margo Lanagan, Maria Dahvana Headley, Marie Lu, Meagan Spooner, Megan Miranda, Melinda Salisbury, Melissa Grey, Melissa Landers, Miss Mayhem, Pandora Jones, Panic, Percy Jackson, Pittacus Lore, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Prodigy, Queen of Shadows, Rachael Craw, Rachel Hawkins, Ranger's Apprentice, Razorhurst, Rebel Belle, Red Queen, Renee Ahdieh, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Risk, Rogue, Ruby Red, Sabaa Tahir, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, Sea Hearts, Shadow Kiss, Shiver, Sisters of Blood and Spirit, Skulduggery Pleasant, Soman Chainani, Sophie Jordan, Soulprint, Spark, Star Wars, Stephanie Oakes, Stray, Susanna Clarke, Tess Sharpe, The Darkest Part of the Forest, The Dead House, The Diviners, The Dream Thieves, The Fate of Ten, The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, The Forsaken, The Girl at Midnight, The Heir, The Iron Warrior, The Jewel, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Next Together, The Raven Boys, The Ruby Circle, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, The School of Good and Evil, The Scorpio Races, The Sin Eater's Daughter, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, The Wrath and the Dawn, These Broken Stars, Thicker Than Water, Tiffany Schmidt, Trish Doller, Uninvited, Vampire Academy, Vanishing Girls, Victoria Aveyard, Way Down Dark, Where the Stars Still Shine

Stacking the Shelves is a thing where we talk about the books we’ve collected in the past week. These can be bought, delivered, ARCs, ebooks, etc.. Pretty self-explanatory.
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tygna’s Reviews

When I did this last year, it was so much fun I just had to do it again.

So, here are ALL the books I obtained throughout the year 2015.

Books Bought:

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, by Leslye Walton
Illusions of Fate, by Kiersten White
Hold Me Like a Breath, by Tiffany Schmidt
An Ember in the Ashes, by Sabaa Tahir
Illuminae, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Magonia, by Maria Dahvana Headley
Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
The Ruby Circle, by Richelle Mead
The Diviners, by Libba Bray
Lair of Dreams, by Libba Bray
Way Down Dark, by James Smythe
The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black
Pandora Jones: Admission, by Barry Jonsberg
The Last Time We Say Goodbye, by Cynthia Hand
Razorhurst, by Justine Larbalestier
Alienated, by Melissa Landers
Sea Hearts, by Margo Lanagan
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes
These Broken Stars, by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
The Wrath and the Dawn, by Renee Ahdieh
The Dead House, by Dawn Kurtagich
Vanishing Girls, by Lauren Oliver
Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes, by Rick Riordan
All Fall Down, by Ally Carter
Ruby Red, by  Kerstin Gier
The Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan
Rebel Belle, by Rachel Hawkins
Miss Mayhem, by Rachel Hawkins
The Fate of Ten, by Pittacus Lore
In the Afterlight, by Alexandra Bracken
Every Word, by Ellie Marney
Every Move, by Ellie Marney
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J.K. Rowling (new edition)
Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope, by Ian Doesher
Vampire Academy: Graphic Novel
Frostbite: Graphic Novel
Shadow Kiss: Graphic Novel
Legend: Graphic Novel
Sisters of Blood and Spirit, by Kady Cross
Far From You, by Tess Sharpe
The Sin Eater’s Daughter, by Melinda Salisbury
Uninvited, by Sophie Jordan
Soulprint, by Megan Miranda
In The Skin of a Monster, by Kathryn Barker
The Girl At Midnight, by Melissa Grey
The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Dream Thieves, by Maggie Stiefvater
Risk, by Fleur Ferris
Ranger’s Apprentice #1, by John Flanagan
Because You’ll Never Meet Me, by Leah Thomas
Skulduggery Pleasant books, by Derek Landy
The School of Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani
Dreams of Gods and Monsters, by Laini Taylor
Rogue, by Julie Kagawa
Happily Ever After, by Kiera Cass
The Heir, by Kiera Cass
Half Wild, by Sally Green
Prodigy, by Marie Lu
The Foretelling of Georgie Spider, by Ambelin Kwaymullina
Queen of Shadows, by Sarah J. Maas
Box Set of Puffin Classics, various authors
Harry Potter Illustrated edition

The Shiver Trilogy, by Maggie Stiefvater
The Scorpio races, by Maggie Stiefvater
Champion, by Marie Lu

Books Won:

The Jewel*, by Amy Ewing
Spark*, by Rachel Craw
The Iron Warrior, by Julie Kagawa
Demon Road (signed ARC), by Derek Landy
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
Cloudwish, by Fiona Wood
In the Afterlight (signed), by Alexandra Bracken

I also somehow ended up getting a bowling ball.

*Won in 2014, received in 2015

Miscellaneous:

ARCs and Review Copies (requested and surprise):

Bright Before Sunrise, by Tiffany Schmidt
Where the Stars Still Shine, by Trish Doller
Stray, by Rachael Craw
The Next Together, by Lauren James
Thicker Than Water, by Brigid Kemmerer
A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes
The Sword of Summer, by Rick Riordan

Books I got through BooksForTradeAU:

Pandora Jones: Deception, by Barry Johansberg
Pandora Jones: Reckoning, by Barry Johansberg
The Forsaken, by Lisa M. Stasse
Cinder (ARC), by Marissa Meyer (Not pictured)

Presents (Birthdays, Christmas, etc.):

Panic, by Lauren Oliver
Dead of Winter, by Kresley Cole
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith (and Jane Austen)

Books I got for free (through various means):

White Time, by Margo Lanagan
All The Rage, by Courtney Summers
The Lost and the Found, by Cat Clarke
This Raging Light, by Estelle Laure
Pompidou Posse, by Sarah Lotz
Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy
Running Like China, by Sophie Hardcastle
We All Looked Up, by Tommy Wallach
Hidden, by Marianne Curley
The Astrologer’s Daughter, by Rebecca Lim
Lifespan of Starlight, by Thalia Kalkipsakis
State of Grace, by Hilary Badger
Cooper Bartholomew is Dead, by Rebecca James

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So…that was all the books I got my hands on 2015.

How was every one else’s year?

TTT: Auto-buy Authors

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Alexandra Bracken, Cynthia Hand, Hex Hall, Julie Kagawa, Keira Cass, Lament, Maggie Stiefvater, Michelle Hodkin, Rachael Craw, Rachel Hawkins, Rebel Belle, Sarah J. Maas, Shiver, Spark, Stephanie Oakes, Talon, The Darkest Minds, The Immortal Rules, The Iron Fey, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Mara Dyer Trilogy, The Raven Boys, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, The Selection, Throne of Glass, Unearthly

Top Ten Tuesday is a thing where we get given a topic, and we have to list our ‘top ten’ things for the topic. Pretty self-explanatory.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This Week’s Topic: Top Ten Auto-buy Authors

Regardless of whether I have money or not, you can be pretty sure I’ll buy the newest book from these authors:

1. Sarah J. Maas
Having read all the Throne of Glass series, and ACOTAR, I can truthfully say I will probably love anything this woman writes.

 2. Rachael Craw
Everyone should know by now that my love of Spark knows no bounds. And I am sure this love will continue with any other book Rachael Craw decides to write. (She’s amazing, people!!)

3. Julie Kagawa
I searched for ages to find The Iron King, wanting desperately to read it. And I was in no way disappointed. Since then, I have been able to get my hands on all of Julie Kagawa’s books, and I have loved them all.

4. Maggie Stiefvater
Ok, I really don’t think I need to explain this one. I need The Raven King like I need air.

5. Alexandra Bracken
I cannot believe it took me so long to get around to reading The Darkest Minds! I loved it so very much, and am VERY excited for Passenger.

6. Kiera Cass
It’s funny, that the only reason I read The Selection was because my sister wanted to read it…I may have barely given it a second glance otherwise, and wouldn’t that be disappointing.

7. Cynthia Hand
With the exception of the very beginning of Unearthly, I absolutely ADORED the Unearthly trilogy, and The Last Time We Say Goodbye was pretty amazing too. I can’t wait to see what Cynthia Hand writes next.

8. Rachael Hawkins
It took me WAY too long to find Hex Hall, but it was worth the effort. And the Rebel Belle trilogy has been just as good so far.

9. Michelle Hodkin
The Mara Dyer trilogy was so fantastically creepy! I’ve actually been wanting to reread the series for a while.

10. Stephanie Oakes
Ok, so she’s only got one book out so far…but it’s a darn good one. I am very excited to see what’s out next.

TTT: Authors I’ve Read The Most Books From

Tags

Brigid Kemmerer, Cassandra Clare, J.K. Rowling, Julie Kagawa, Kiersten White, Lauren Oliver, Maggie Stiefvater, Rachel Hawkins, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan

Top Ten Tuesday is a thing where we get given a topic, and we have to list our ‘top ten’ things for the topic. Pretty self-explanatory.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This Week’s Topic: Top Ten Authors I’ve read the most books from

1. Richelle Mead: 12 books + 1 extra + 3 graphic novels

2. Rick Riordan: 12 books + novellas

3. Julie Kagawa: 11 books + 3 novellas + bonus scenes

4. Cassandra Clare: 9 books + extras

5. Maggie Stiefvater: 9 books

6. J.K. Rowling: 7 books + 3 ‘textbooks’

7. Kiersten White: 7 books

8. Rachel Hawkins: 6 books

9. Brigid Kemmerer: 5 books + 3 novellas

10. Lauren Oliver: 5 books

TTT: Books I’d Love to see as movies

Tags

Alexandra Bracken, Cynthia Hand, Half Bad, Kasie West, Kylie Fornasier, Legend, Maggie Stiefvater, Marie Lu, Masquerade, Pivot Point, Rachel Hawkins, Rebel Belle, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, The Darkest Minds, The Raven Boys, Throne of Glass, Top Ten Tuesday, Under the Never Sky, Unearthly, Veronica Rossi

Top Ten Tuesday is a thing where we get given a topic, and we have to list our ‘top ten’ things for the topic. Pretty self-explanatory.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This Week’s Topic: Top Ten Books I’d love to see as movies

1. Rebel Belle, by Rachel Hawkins
When they said ‘Legally Blonde meets Terminator’, they weren’t kidding. Honestly, the whole time I was reading this, I was thinking ‘how good would this be as a movie?’.

2. Pivot Point, by Kasie West

3. The Darkest Minds, by Alexandra Bracken

4. Masquerade, by Kylie Fornasier
Just for the costumes alone I would want this movie.

5. Half Bad, by Sally Green

6. Unearthly, by Cynthia Hand

7. Legend, by Marie Lu

8. Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas
Umm…because…Throne of Glass…duh.

9. Under the Never Sky, by Veronica Rossi

10. The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater
Ok, I was a little hesitant adding this to the list, because it is just so amazing, but I think that if it was done well, it could be just as amazing as a movie.

TeenCon2015: All the Awesome

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Thousand Pieces of You, Amie Kaufman, Becky Albertalli, Brigid Kemmerer, Cassandra Clare, City of Bones, Claudia Gray, Cooper Bartholemew is Dead, David Levithan, Divergent, Dumplin, Eleanor and Park, Fallen, Fleur Ferris, Gayle Forman, Hidden, Hilary Badger, Hunger Games, If I Stay, Illuminae, Isla and the Happily Ever After, Jay Kristoff, John Green, Julie Murphy, Lauren Kate, Lifespan of Starlight, Maggie Stiefvater, Marianne Curley, Marie Rutkoski, Meagan Spooner, Patrick Ness, Paula Weston, Rachael Craw, Rainbow Rowell, Rebecca James, Rebecca Lim, Red Queen, Richelle Mead, Risk, Sarah J. Maas, Shadows, Shiver, Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Spark, State of Grace, Stephanie Meyer, Stephanie Oakes, Stephanie Perkins, Storm, Stray, Suzanne Collins, TeenCon2015, Thalia Kalkipsakis, The Astrologer's Daughter, The Fault in our Stars, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, The Winner's Curse, These Broken Stars, Throne of Glass, Tommy Wallach, Twilight, Vampire Academy, Veronica Roth, Victoria Aveyard, We All Looked Up, Will Grayson Will Grayson

As some of you may have noticed, I was at TeenCon2015 yesterday, which is a part of Sydney Writers Festival.

Painting my Support Team Jamie poster

I started preparing on Saturday, with a big blue piece of cardboard and some yellow paint.

As it turns out, yellow paint on cardboard appears green.

About 10 coats of paint later, the sign was looking adequately yellow.

And then came Sunday, and the journey toward TeenCon began.

Our trip started well, missing the train by a mere minute (I blame trackwork, which required us to go to a less familiar station). After missing the train, instead of having a full half-hour to find the venue, we had 10 minutes.

It took us half an hour.

Nevertheless, we eventually arrived, Team Jamie sign in tow, and ended up with seats…though not ones with an amazing view…

There was a pole in my way

We had arrived during the bloggers panel, in which four popular booktubers were discussing various bookish things.

 

You don’t fall in love like you fall into a ditch

 

 

After the bloggers, the publisher people got up to tell us books that we need to read now, and books we need to pre-order now. Some of the books mentioned were:

(out now)
Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard
Shadows, by Paula Weston
A Thousand Pieces of You, by Claudia Grey
A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J. Maas
Spark, by Rachael Craw
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

(coming soon)
The Rest of Us Just Live Here, by Patrick Ness
Risk, by Fleur Ferris
The Sacred lies of Minnow Bly, by Stephanie Oakes
Illuminae, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Stray, by Rachael Craw (Spark book 2)

And then it was time for the Book Boyfriend Battle, in which each publisher had 30 seconds to talk about their two nominees.

Boyfriends nominated were:

Allen and Unwin
Tarver, These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Chris Merrick, Storm by Brigid Kemmerer

Bloomsbury
Chaol, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
Arin, The Winner’s Curse series by Marie Rutkoski

Hachette
Park, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Edward Cullen, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

HarperCollins Australia
Four, Divergent by Veronica Roth
Josh, Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Penguin Teen Australia
Augustus Waters, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Dimitri Belikov, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Random House Australia
Cam, Fallen by Lauren Kate
Adam Wilde, If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Scholastic Australia
Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sam Roth, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Text Publishing
Rafa, Shadows by Paula Weston
Tiny Cooper, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Walker Books Australia
Jamie, Spark by Rachael Craw
Jace, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 

’twas time for the Jamie sign to shine

Most unfortunately, Jamie did not win. Instead, the winner was

With Chaol and Four coming close second and third.

After the Battle, it was time for TeenCon to end, which meant BOOKS!

Books obtained:
Risk, by Fleur Ferris (extract)
Hidden, by Marianne Curley
Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy
The Astrologer’s Daughter, by Rebecca Lim
We All Looked Up, by Tommy Wallach
Lifespan of Starlight, by Thalia Kalkipsakis
State of Grace, by Hilary Badger
Cooper Bartholomew is Dead, by Rebecca James

And PRETTY BAGS that the books were in.

After TeenCon, some of us stayed behind to chat. I got a picture with the wonderful Claire:

And got to (finally) meet some people who I had only met via twitter.

Which was a lot of fun. We talked about books and…books.

My kind of party.

It was around 9pm when we began the trip home. I reunited with my travelling companions, and we got on a train towards the station.

However, I was to learn that my night was not yet over. As we passed through Central, I had an epiphany:

I had Chemistry homework due Monday morning.