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

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!

Winter is Ending!

Tags

Cat Clarke, Demon Road, Derek Landy, Estelle Laure, Fallen, Holly Black, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Kathryn Barker, Lair of Dreams, Lauren Kate, Libba Bray, Lisa M. Stasse, Magnus Chase, Passion, Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes, Rapture, Rick Riordan, Running Like China, Skulduggery Pleasant, Sophie Hardcastle, Susanna Clarke, Sweet Evil, The Darkest Part of the Forest, The Diviners, The Forsaken, The Lost and the Found, The Skin of a Monster, This Raging Light, Torment, Wendy Higgins

So, it is the end of August, which means that Spring is upon us.

This makes me happy.

So…What Happened in August:

Books were bought:

I know…only four…I’m concerned, too.

Books were received:

MAGNUS CHASE ARC! Excuse me while I continue to flail in excitement.
(It was just as good as I hoped it would be).

And my Date A Book YA night Book Haul…The pile on the right (i.e. all the black books), came from Keely, Sweet Evil (which I got for my sister) came from Jaz, and the rest came in the goody-bag.

Books were won:

So, Dymocks did a twitter giveaway for a signed ARC of Demon Road…which I managed to win 😀
I haven’t read it (yet), but I am SO EXCITED!!!

I had also forgotten that I’d entered a BBC-Aus giveaway for Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and so when I got an email telling me I’d won, I was pleasantly surprised. (And also super excited, because my good friend Elspeth adores this book).

Books were read:

Only 6, but they were a fabulous six. Also, I spent a long time on The Dying of The Light, because it is 600 pages of very intense emotions and the only time I had to read it was on the train.

Authors were met, books were signed:

At the blogger night I got to meet Holly Black, and get my copy of The Darkest Part of the Forest signed. So that was awesome.

And my dogs were cute:

I mean, they’re always cute, but still…look at them.

Tomorrow it will be September

Where has the year gone? I would seriously like to know.

I mean, I’m thrilled winter is over, but still…

Anyway, this September, I have a plan:

For September, in honour of my sister’s birthday, I shall be attempting to read all the books she has been begging me to read for years.

These books will likely include:

– The Gallagher Girls books
– The Heist Society books
– The last two Kane Chronicles

And while reading as many of these as I can, I also hope to catch up on some review-copy reading and reviews…

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So, how was your August? Any plans for September? Let me know.