Something Like Summer - Book Review

Hello there internet!! How are we all today? Oh good! :)

I'm here today with another book review, and it is one i am VERY excited about! The book is Something Like Summer by Jay Bell. I read this book about two weeks ago in one sitting, and i have wanted to type up my review ever since, however the almighty power of university work has pushed back everything i want to do. Hopefully that's cooled down for a bit now!

Anyway, on to the review!! (I am warning you now, there may be a lot of OMG!!!!'s and AHHH I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!!'s...you have been warned!)

OH. MY. GOD. I am so in love with this book! 

Much like with Boy Meets Boy  i read this in one sitting and i have absolutely fell in love with every single second of it! As soon as i finished it i bought the other three books in the series, two short stories by the same author, and then immediately missed the story. I don't think i've fell so in love with a book in a long time.

The story follows a guy called Ben, who falls for the new, straight, guy at his school - Tim. The first part of this book focuses on the first year that they met and the friendship, relationship, heartache, that happened in that first year. This part made me want to reach into my kindle, pull them out of 1996 Texas and give them the biggest hugs ever. Also to shake some damn sense into them both! When this section of the book ended, i cried. I haven't cried to a book in a long, long time, and it doesn't really happen very often. It was so beautifully written and wow it was just so perfect and heartbreaking. 

Then in part two of the book, Ben is in college in Chicago, and his love life hasn't gotten any better since part one. BUT THEN something happens that means he has to go back to Texas, and on the flight he meets a flight attendant called Jace, and wow Ben falls in love and all seems like it's actually going well for once! Hurrah! He moves to Austin to live with his best friend, and life is good...BUT THEN uh oh who does Ben see in a coffee shop....TIM!! (OMG RIGHT) Ugh i love this part of the book so so so so so much!!

There is then a part three...which i am not going to discuss in this review, because to do that i'd have to spoil things that are major plot lines in part two. And i think that this part is so beautifully written, and oh so heartbreaking, that it's something that you should go into blind and just get lost in the story because it's just perfect!

I'm currently just over halfway through the second book Something Like Winter  and i am just as much in love with this book as i was the first. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series (there's also Something Like Autumn and Something Like Spring) and also get into the short stories of Jay Bell's because i am so in love with the way he writes!

Meghan x

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Boy Meets Boy - Book Review

Hello again internet! I'm back today with another book review (ooh aren't i being good with my resolutions this year..) and i am so excited about this one!

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. Oooh it was such a good book! This is the first book in a long time that i sat and read in one sitting, i just couldn't put it down! I absolutely LOVED it.

At first i wasn't sure that i'd fully get into it, there's just something about the way it's written that made it seem a little weird to me, but once i got over that, i fell in love.

I adored all of the characters and the way they interacted with each other. I laughed. I wanted to give them all a big hug. I felt sad. I felt really happy. It was such a lovely, and perfect little book, even the sad parts ultimately made me feel happy.

Paul was great. Noah was cute as hell. Tony was heart breaking. Everyone was just so well written and developed that i felt like i actually knew them. It felt like i was reading about people that i've known for years. It was so lovely and refreshing to see that not a single character was ever seen as being 'perfect' and everyone was written as so perfectly normal. It was beautiful really. Each and every character was relatable in some way and i really, really loved that. Even when characters weren't exactly being the best/nicest people in the world, you completely understood why.

I honestly have fallen in love with this book, and i can't wait to read more by David Levithan, hopefully they'll be as wonderful as Boy Meets Boy.

Meghan x

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City of Ashes - Book Review

Well hello there internet, it's been a while! I've kind of neglected this blog this month as it was essay writing month, and lectures started again, so it's been a university centred month which hasn't left much time for anything else. But i'm back now! And i have quite a few blog posts that i already know i want to write, so hopefully i'll get back into the swing of things quite easily!

Anyway, today i'm here with a book review! Ooh how exciting! One of my new years resolutions was to review every book i read this year, even the re-reads, and today i'm starting that! Just as a warning: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!

I started this year off with a book i was certain that i would enjoy reading before philosophy books took over my life. So i picked up my much loved copy of City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare.

I plan on re-reading the Mortal Instruments series before City of Heavenly Fire comes out in a few months, so City of Ashes was the obvious choice for first book of the year. I love love love this series and i love it even more each time i read one of them! Here we go with the review!

First of all: SCREW YOU VALENTINE!

Okay, now to actual reviewing! I love this book, possibly more than i love City of Bones...but it's a very close call! (Then again, i just love them all so much, i can't decide between them!) I adore everything about this book, seriously. Simon becoming a vampire, Alec and Magnus, Alec's almost coming out, Jace in general, the Inquisitor, every single thing! I'm pretty certain that this is the best second book in a series that i have ever read, and that's pretty amazing seeing as it had such an incredible first book to live up to!!

Jace and Clary...ugh someone needs to go give them the biggest hugs ever, okay? At the end when Clary decides to finally tell Jace how she feels and how she doesn't care about the whole sibling thing, and then he tells her he's going to fight his feelings and be the brother she needs because he thinks that's what she wants...ugh my heart! It's such an emotional moment in the book and it's written oh so perfectly! And no matter how many times i read it i am in no way prepared for it!

The battle on the boat is so great. I really love the way this whole thing is described, it's just so wonderful, even if some of it could have been shortened/cut out, i still really love it. The best part however was the small break from the battle where it cuts to Alec and Magnus is Luke's truck. You know what i mean. The part where Magnus basically tells Alec that he loves him and Alec didn't want to hear it. Ugh so not okay! 

The whole Alec storyline genuinely makes me very sad, and this is one of the moments that makes me want to reach into the book and give him the biggest hug ever, because i think that's what he needs more than anything.

See you soon!!

Meghan x 

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2014 Bookish Resolutions!

Happy New Year internet!! I hope you all had a wonderful new year however you spent the night. As everyone knows the new year is the time when people make resolutions of things they want to do that year, mainly to improve certain aspects of their lives, and i want to do make a list of resolutions all to do with books, reading habits, and all things that revolve around the two. 

Here we go!

1) Make more time for fiction!

Okay this seems like a bit of a silly one, even to me, but for the second half of this year fiction has kind of fell away from my immediate reading pile due to all the reading i have to do for uni. Even though my uni reading isn't going to die down until around September i still want to make more time to read for fun. I miss fiction and i miss getting lost in new worlds, and i'm definitely going to make a lot more of an effort this year!

2) Review everything i read!

So this one is pretty self explanatory, i want to review every single book i read. Well, i want to review all of the books i read for fun, i'll save you from the pain of all the uni reading. I really enjoy reviewing books and i haven't done it as much as i wanted to since i started this blog back in June so i want that to change in 2014.

3) Finish more series'!

I have this bad habit of starting a series, and then just never reading the last book. So this year i will change that! All but one of the books i have planned for immediate reading are the last book in a series. I need to know how these stories end and i keep putting them off because i don't want them to end. I will finish all the series'!

4) Only buy a book for every book i finish!

This is basically me putting myself on a book buying ban for 2014. I keep buying books and then not reading them for the longest time, so i'm only allowing myself to buy a book when i finish one. However i want to add a part to this and say that before i buy a book, with the exception of the two i'm going on the hunt for tomorrow and the one i have on pre-order, i want to read at least ten books before i buy more books.

5) Only buy books i know i'm going to read!

I always buy books that i think will be great when i'm in the shop, then when i get home i realise that i will probably never read them and end up giving them away, so that needs to stop! I have this plan of really looking into books and reviews before i actually buy a book, i know that i won't stick to that plan but it's nice to have it there to start with. 

6) Get more involved in Read-a-thons and BookTube-a-thon!

I really love the idea of these, and i watch all of the videos about them, and then i never take part in any of them, and i want that to change! So starting this year i'm going to take part in any that i can, and hopefully that will help with a few more of my resolutions!

Finally, 7) Start making videos!

I've wanted to get involved with the BookTube community for so long, and i think this is the year i'm going to finally start! I'm not sure when i'm going to start but i know that it's something i really want to do before the end of the year!

Meghan x

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Top 5...#8

Hello there internet! Today i'm here with another of my Top 5's, this time i'm going on over to the BookTube community and discussing the Top 5 BookTubers i have loved watching during 2013!

Now i love a lot of the people in the BookTube community and it has been really hard to narrow it down to five, but i did it! So, if you haven't already, go and check out all these wonderful people!

5 - Jesse (jessethereader)

Okay so i've gone back to try and find exactly when i started watching Jesse's videos and i'm pretty sure this video was the first one of his i watched, and then i immediately subscribed. I love Jesse's videos and i think he seems like one of the nicest guys in the world. His videos put a smile on my face and he has an awesome taste in books! 

4 - Raeleen (padfootandprongs07)

So this is the first video of Raeleen's i ever watched, and that was back at the end of 2011...i so didn't think it was that long ago! But i love Raeleen's channel. Her reviews are great, her tags are great, she's just great really. I'm pretty sure she was the first person from BookTube that i ever watched, and i'm still watching her videos 2 years later, so clearly she's one of the best ones!

3 - Catriona (LittleBookOwl)

Catriona is probably one of my favourite people on YouTube in general. Her videos are funny and she seems really awesome and  she has a great taste in books, which is always a good thing! She genuinely seems like one of the nicest people and i just love watching her videos because she seems so lovely. I honestly cannot remember when i started watching her videos, or what the first one was, but they're all great so you should definitely check her out!

2 - Ben (benjaminoftomes)

Okay i'm pretty sure Ben is the only English BookTuber i watch? And he's great! (wow how many times can i say great in one post?) Ben makes me laugh in basically every video he posts and i really love that. He's probably also the BookTuber i think has the most similar taste in books..? Maybe? Either way he likes really great books, and he makes really great videos and subscribing to him was one of the best things i did YouTube wise in 2013!

1 - Ariel (Ariel Bissett )

Ariel is not only my favourite BookTuber, she is also just my favourite person on the whole of YouTube and the internet in general. I adore all of her videos. She makes me laugh, and she makes me think about things, she makes me want to read books i wouldn't normally read, and her videos just generally make me happy. I started watching her videos from, i think, the third video she put up on her channel? (I know she had a channel before, but i'm not 100% on what that was called...) But i found her on 'Ariel Bissett' and i've just loved her and her videos ever since!

So there we go! My top 5 BookTubers of 2013! I can't wait to see more from them and the rest of the wonderful BookTubers that i watch in 2014, and i hope you all have a wonderful New Years!

Meghan x

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Opposites Book Tag

Hello again internet! I'm back today with another tag, we all know how i love a good book tag. This one was created by this person and i saw it over on Heather's channel.  I thought that it was a pretty good tag and so here i am, looking at all the opposites in my lovely books.

Here we go!

1) What was the first book in your collection/the last book you bought?

Okay, so i'm pretty sure the first book in my 'collection' was This is the Bear by Sarah Hayes at least it is the first book i remember being read to me when i was really little. It's such a great children's book and i cannot recommend it enough! And i'm pretty sure the last book i bought was Teardrop by Lauren Kate, which is the first book in her new trilogy. It sounds really interesting and it is one of the prettiest books i think i have ever seen.

2) What was a cheap book/which was an expensive one?

I'm pretty sure (how many times can i say that phrase!?!?) that the cheapest book i bought was The Host by Stephenie Meyer which i got for a whopping 75p!! How good is that?! The most expensive book i think i've bought is a book called Subjective Universality in Kant's Aesthetics  by Ross Wilson. I really love this book, it's fascinating, but it was a ridiculous £52! Outrageous. 

3) What is a book with a male protagonist/one with a female protagonist?

I'm going to go with The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger for the book with a male protagonist, and Fallen by Lauren Kate for the female protagonist. I love both of these books, Catcher is my favourite book of all time and the Fallen series is one of my favourite series'. 

4) What is a book you read really fast/one that took you ages to read?

I think that the book i read the fastest was Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I read this book in one sitting, and i absolutely adore it! It's such an incredible book and it's so easy to just get lost in the story and just not stop reading, i highly, highly recommend it! The book that took my the longest to read was probably 1984 by George Orwell. Now i do really like this book, but it's definitely not one of my favourites, nor was it particularly easy for me to read because i was so disinterested in everything that happened. 

5) Which book has a pretty cover/which one has an ugly cover?

For a pretty cover i'm going to go for Rapture by Lauren Kate. This whole series has beautiful covers, but i think Rapture is my favourite. And for the ugly cover i'm going to go for Paper Towns by John Green. I'm really not a fan of the cover that i have, i have seen some beautiful covers for it though, like this one.  

6) What is a book national to you/what is an international one?

So i'm guessing this one is a book set where i live, which would be England, and international being anywhere else in the world. So i'm going to go for A Witch in Winter by Ruth Warburton which is set somewhere in England. For international i'm going to go for City of Bones by Cassandra Clare as that's set in NYC and that's somewhere i really want to go.

7) What is your thinnest book/your thickest book?

My thinnest book is probably Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J K Rowling, which is a great book. The thickest book is probably Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, again by J K Rowling. Which is also a fantastic book! 

8) What is a fiction book/what is a non-fiction book?

Fiction: Game by Anders de la Motte

Non-Fiction: Sickness Unto Death by Soren Kierkegaard 

9) What is a really romantic book/action-based book?

For a really romantic book i'm going to go for one where i think the romance is overly played up in the book, and i think the book would be better without it, so i'm going to go for Geek Girl by Holly Smale because that book would be a whole lot better without the somewhat pathetic "romance". For an action-based book i'm going to go for Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz, which is just a great book with loads of action

10) What is a book that made you really happy/one that made you really sad?

For this i'm going to go for two books by the same author, John Green. Will Grayson Will Grayson was a book that made me really happy and, kind of obviously, The Fault in Our Stars made me really sad. 

That was a fun tag, and it was harder than i thought it was going to be!

Meghan x

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Top 5...#7

Hello again internet! I'm back with another one of my favourite posts to write, there's something that i just really enjoy about sitting down and writing a post about my top five somthings. Today i thought i'd talk about a group of books i adore reading, classics!

Here we go!

5: Emma by Jane Austen

I adore everything i have ever read by Jane Austen, and while everyone i speak to says that Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility is their favourite Austen novel, there has just always been something about Emma that makes is my favourite of her works. I love the characters, the plot, everything really. Austen said that when she wrote Emma; "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." And by describing her in the very first sentence as "handsome, clever, and rich" she was probably going to be right. But i love her. Emma is one of my favourite fictional females and i just love everything about this story.

4: Lord of the Flies by William Golding 

I bloody love this book. Everyone i have ever spoke to about this book has told me that they hated it, and i have no idea why. Maybe it's because they had to read it at school and they didn't like the way it was taught? I don't know, but whatever reason they have for hating this book is lost on me because i think it's one of the greatest things i have ever read. Maybe i love it because, along with the next book on the list, it is my mother's favourite book and that love has been passed down? Or maybe it's because it's just a wonderfully written book which i adore so, so, so much.

3: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Ugh this book. This is my mother's favourite book in the world, and i can definitely see why. I love the way this book is written, the characters, the plot, everything really. This book is one of the few books that has made me want to cry, while still loving everything about it. The first time i read To Kill A Mockingbird i honestly thought i was going to hate it, but i loved it so much, and every time i've read it since i've just loved it more and more. 

2: Dracula by Bram Stoker

This book is hands down one of my favourite books in the world. Vampires have always been something i've kind of obsessed over (Mona the Vampire, Buffy, Vampire Diaries, anything i could find with any mention of vampires) and Dracula truly is the reason the term 'the original and the best' exists. Dracula is perfect okay. There is nothing about this book that i can find that i don't love. Everyone knows the story of Dracula, i'm pretty sure there's more adaptations of Dracula than anything else in the world, but if you've never read the book i couldn't recommend it more if i tried! It's just an incredible book.

1: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger

Oh what a surprise, Meghan's put Catcher at the number one spot on a top five! I don't care, it is easily the best book i have ever read in my life and i love it more than anything! Catcher is that book that when you read it you just know that it is going to change your life. I know that seems like such a stupid thing to say but it really did change my life, i first read it at the point in my life where a book really can change everything and mean so much to you that no book could ever compare. I always say that HP changed my life because it made me fall completely in love with reading, but really it was Catcher that made me realise how something as simple as words on a page can make you feel so much and can change your opinions on everything and just ugh i love this book more than i could express in words.

What are your favourite classics?

Meghan x

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