The Artefacts Tag

Hello again internet! Today i want to do a great tag i saw over on YouTube - The Artefacts Tag. The tag was created by the wonderful Maddie and Bee over on Heart Full of Books, it's a super great tag and they're super lovely - so go subscribe! :)

This tag takes objects from books and asks questions relating to that object, it's a really cool idea and i love the objects and questions chose!

1) Horcrux - What book is part of your soul, and you can't imagine living without?

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger, i don't really think this will be a surprise to anyone. Catcher is my favourite book in the entire world and i cannot imagine my life without this book. It means too much. It's just perfect.

2) Patronus - What book contains the happiest memories for you?

It would have been so easy to just choose a Harry Potter book for every question, but i limited it to just this one. Goblet of Fire is by far my favourite HP book, and it hold such happy memories for me. Reading this book solidified my love of the series, and thinking back on reading this book would make such a great patronus. 

3) Wand - What book chose you, instead of you choosing it?

Blue is for Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz is one of my favourite books, but i definitely didn't choose it. My uncle was given it when he worked security for a book event and he gave it to me, and i love it so much, but i don't think i ever would have chose it for myself.

4) Camp Bead - What book will you never forget?

I don't think this will be much of a surprise either. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is easily a book i will never forget. I adore every letter in this book and i know it will stay with me forever. It's so so so so great, and i highly recommend it to everyone!

5) Angelic Rune - What book opened up a whole new world to you?

I'd tell you i love you, but then i'd have to kill you by Ally Carter. Easily. I never realised how much i wanted to read a series about a boarding school which trains girls to be spies, but my gosh how glad i am that i picked this up and gave it a go! I love the Gallagher Girls series, and this book opened up a whole spy-infused world to me.

6) Mocking Jay Pin - What book will you always go back to, because it's such a comforting read?

oh my goth by Gena Showalter is such a great little book, and i often go back to re-read it to remind me of how much i loved reading this when i was a 13 year old sat in a MCR hoodie with too much eyeliner...oh they were weird days. But this book makes me so happy, and it reminds me that everything is good, and the bad stuff will go away.

7) District - What book contains a job you wish you had?

Technically none of the characters in The History Boys has the job, but it does feature some lecturers at Oxford University, and i would LOVE that job. It's the dream. (Also, Alan Bennett definitely became a hero after i read this.)

8) Faction - What book represents a part of your personality?

This question took me longer to think of than any other question, mainly because my personality is mainly made up of things you can find in my favourite characters (Hermione, Holden, Jace, Alec, Jess, etc.) but i think The Vampire Combat Manual represents a good part of my personality - my slightly too obsessive love of everything Vampire.

9) Covert Alias - What book character do you wish you were?

Anna from A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton. I love Anna, and who wouldn't want to be a witch with a boyfriend as great as Seth? So yes, i'd love to be Anna please. Thank you.

10) Silvertongue - If you were blessed with the power to read books to life, which book would you choose?

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. It would mean that Vampires, Shadowhunters, Warlocks, Werewolves, Faeries, Alec, Magnus, JACE were all real. Who wouldn't want that?!?! (Mainly the Jace part...) But i LOVE this world and having it be real would be the greatest thing!

This was such a fun tag to do! What books would you choose?

(Artefacts taken from Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, Divergent, Gallagher Girls, Inkheart)

Meghan x 

The Future of Us - Book Review

Hey there again internet! I'm here with a pretty overdue review of The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. 

The Future of Us tells the story of Josh and Emma, two teenagers trying to sort out their friendship while going through high school in 1996. When Emma receives a computer, Josh's mom makes him go round with an internet start up disc, and it changes everything. When the upload finishes Emma logs on to the internet and on to her future via her Facebook page in 2011. 

I read this book back at the start of April, it's now the end of May, and for some reason i've been putting off writing this review. I have no idea why! It's not like i didn't enjoy the book, quite the opposite actually - i really, really enjoyed it!

I loved the characters, the plot, the writing style, the development of relationships formed way before the start of the book, i liked pretty much everything about the book, but putting those feelings into words is something i've been struggling with. 

As much as i enjoyed this book for some reason i couldn't bring myself to give it a five out of five, i'm not entirely sure why, i think it might be because about half way through i really started to hate Emma. She began to annoy me so much that i had to put the book down and walk away for a few hours. I think it might be because i knew how i wanted the story to go, and it was going that way, and she was the only thing that was holding it back and at times it just seemed a little unnecessary. 

Even with my hatred of Emma growing, i still really loved this book. I loved Josh, i loved all of the minor characters, i loved how the personalities of them in the future really showed through on Facebook. I thought it was an excellent plot really well executed. 

I adore Jay Asher, and although this was my first introduction to Carolyn Mackler i can tell i'm going to love reading her other books!

"Why does it say she has three hundred and twenty friends?...Who has that many friends?"

Meghan x

| Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads |

Top 5...#10

Hello again internet! I'm here today with another installment of my top 5 series. This time i'm going to be looking at the top five authors that made me the reader that i am today. 

These authors basically started my love of reading from a young age, and they still rank high in my all time favourite authors. The type of stories they write may be quite different, but without all five of them my reading habits today would be very different, if they even existed at all.

So here we go!



5: Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot is one of my heroes in all honesty. The Princess Diaries, All American Girl, Avalon High, Abandon, the list goes on and on. The Princess Diaries are some of my favourite books of all time and i adore Meg Cabot's writing style. I think that Meg Cabot really inspired my reading, and she has definitely had an impact on my writing style!

4: Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events was all i cared about once upon a time. They were all i read, all i talked about, and i eagerly awaited the day that someone would turn them into a film or tv show. I loved the sarcastic tone of the books, and the way that although they were children's books, they weren't written as though he was talking to a child, but rather like he was talking to an equal. I still adore these books and i think a lot of my humor developed due to Lemony Snicket.

3: R.L.Stine

I credit R.L.Stine with being the cause of a few of my fears, and also for my love of horror. The Goosebumps books taught me that being creeped out and scared isn't always a bad thing, sometimes it's great. I love horror films and horror books so so so much and i know that started with R.L.Stine, with Goosebumps and his Point Horror books he made me realise how amazing horror is. I would be such a different person, and reader, without the imput of R.L.Stine.

2: Jacqueline Wilson

Jacqueline Wilson was hands down my favourite author growing up. I adore absolutely everything i have ever read by her, and i still go back to a lot of my old favourites. What made Jacqueline Wilson books so amazing was the fact that they didn't feature exceptional people, or people with special powers, just ordinary people living in the ordinary world, and that's what i needed growing up. I needed people to look up to that made sense in the world i lived in. Ellie from Girls Under Pressure was essentially my hero growing up and i will never be able to explain how grateful i am that Jacqueline Wilson wrote such amazing characters.

1: J.K.Rowling

I don't think it's much of a surprise that J.K. has the number one spot here. If it wasn't for Harry Potter i would be a completely different person. I often see people say that HP changed their lives, but The Philosopher's Stone came out when i was 5, and that's when my parents first read it to me, so i've grown up with the books, and while they didn't change my life, they definitely shaped my life. I owe J.K.Rowling and the Harry Potter series so much, because i honestly believe that around 90% of my personality is made up of what i've learned and loved from Harry, and i love that i still have that love for a book series that's been there for the past 16 years.

Meghan x

| Twitter  | Instagram | Tumblr |

My Top 3 Favorite Books of All Time: Guest Post

Hello there Meghan's Blog! My name is Ashley and i am very excited about being asked to write a post for this blog. Meghan is a good friend of mine that i met through the wonderful world of blogging, and i'm really happy that she's letting me ramble on about some books for a bit. Isn't she lovely.

I thought maybe i'd write a little about me then go onto the books? Okay. Well i also write a blog, only mine is about make-up and clothes. I really enjoy writing and reading, and i am currently in my fourth and final year of an English Literature and Linguistics degree in Alabama. Woo! I thought as this is my first blog post about books that i have ever written, i'd start with the basics: my favorites.

1) My all-time favorite book is 1984 by George Orwell. I first read 1984 back in 8th grade, that was way back when i was 13! and i completely fell in love with it. Not only the story which just grabbed me and demanded my attention, but with the way that Orwell writes. From the day i first opened that book he has been my favorite author and this is the book that started it all. I adore everything about this book and i hope that everyone reads it at least once in their lives, because it is such an important book.

2) My second favorite book is the ever so great Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Now i love all of the Harry Potter books, but Order of the Phoenix is by far my favorite and that's why i chose this one to represent my love of the series. I think that this book was the moment when i realized i could never have a life that doesn't involve Harry Potter and this book just solidifies all of the love i have for the series, and also makes me realize all of the emotions that the series makes me feel. 

3) Finally i want to mention the sososososo amazing IT by Stephen King. I like Stephen King, i don't love him as much as Meghan and there are some books by him i have hated, but IT will always have a place in my heart. This book kind of terrified me, but in a good way. I adored the way in which King creeped me out, and i loved the way the story developed. I'm not the biggest horror fan in the world, but i would happily marry the genre if they were all like IT.

So they're my three favorite books of all time, i hope you enjoyed this little post, and thank you to Meghan for letting my write a post for her blog! I really enjoyed writing this and i hope i can come back one day! Love Ashley xx

Thank-You Ashley for writing this post! If you're interested in Ashley's blogging then check our joint blog here. I hope you enjoyed this guest post and regular blogging will return in a few days.

Meghan x

| Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr |

Summertime Madness Tag

Hello again internet, i'm here today with a tag i saw last night on YouTube and thought was great, so i've decided to do it here! 

This tag was created by the wonderful Jack at JackEatsBooks and is all about summertime and books...i'm very excited about it.

Here we go!

1. Show a book with a summery cover! e.g. Sun, Beach, etc.

For this i've gone with The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. This cover just says summertime to me! Relaxing on some beautiful green grass in the sunshine, what could be more summery than that? I live in the middle of nowhere, and the village i live in is the furthest point from any coastline in Britain, so beaches never remind me of summer, but seeing as i'm surrounded by fields, grass always reminds me of summer!

2. Pick one fictional place that would be the perfect destination for your summer vacation!

This one was so difficult to think of! All of the places i kept choosing were all real places with fictional elements (Shadowhunter world in NYC, etc), and i thought that was a bit too much like cheating, so i kept looking. I finally came up with a place i would love to visit, although maybe i'm too old to now? Anyway i've decided i would love to go on holiday to Camp Half Blood from Percy Jackson, because that would be such a fun holiday!

3. You're about to go on a flight to your summer vacation. But you want to read a book that lasts for the whole flight, so what novella do you choose?

I went through all of the novella's that i've read and kept changing my mind, so i thought i'd choose one that i haven't read yet, and when i say one it's actually many. I've gone for the Bane Chronicles, which are all of the novella's that link in with The Mortal Instruments series. I'm so excited to read them, but i want to wait to read them from the physical book in november...but if i was going on a flight i'd cave and get the e-book version to read!

4. You have a case of Summertime Sadness what happy book do you pick up to shine a smile on your face?

My go-to happy books are the Jess Jordan trilogy by Sue Limb. I adore these books, and they are some of the ultimate happy books, and can put a smile on my face oh so easily!

5. You're sitting at the beach alone...which fictional character would be your beach babe?

I spent longer than i am prepared to admit deciding between two characters and i'm still not 100%... I finally decided to put Jace to one side and go back to my first love: Draco Malfoy. I've always loved Draco, so having him at the beach would be great. And because we're both so pale, we could both escape to the shade together.

6. To match your ice cream you want an icy cool sidekick! Which fictional sidekick do you pick?

Alec Lightwood. Such an easy choice! I love Alec, if it wasn't for Jace he'd be my favourite character in The Mortal Instruments. I think we'd get on really well and i think he's just great. So yeah, i'd love to spend the summer with Alec as my sidekick!

7. Share the summertime happiness! Who do you tag?

Anyone and Everyone! If you're reading this, i tag you!

Meghan x

| Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr |