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Showing posts from December, 2021

Books I want to read in 2022

I have around 150 books on my TBR and I know I can't prioritize all of them but these are the top 10 Books I would love to get to next year. 1) The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. 2) These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper wh

A Christmas Caroline by Camilla Isley

 2.5 Stars Caroline  is a cynic career woman living the high life in Manhattan where love and relationships are but a distant memory of the past.  But after a freak accident on Christmas Eve, Caroline receives a visit from a cheeky spirit of Christmas Past, Present, Yet to Come, and—most importantly—Christmas That Could Have Been. When she wakes up on Christmas Day suddenly married with three kids and living two doors down from her parents in New Jersey, Caroline has a chance to experience the life she would’ve had if she’d made a different choice. I hated the way women who choose not to have kids at all or choose not to have kids while they were still young are treated like they are less than in this book. Not wanting to have children at 25 and wanting to wait a few years is completely fine and people shouldn't be penalized for this choice. I felt like Caroline in the dream sequence was forced to have children by her boyfriend and he was going to break up with her if she didn'

The Case of the Missing Lightning Bat by Victor D.Evans

 Thank you to Netgalley for the EArc in exchange for an honest review.  4/5 Stars Life hasn't been entirely fair to Evan Sinclair, or 'Sissy Sinclair' as most of his classmates like to call him, but now it's seventh grade - and the universe owes him. A missing baseball bat, belonging to star player Jayden Stevens, provides him with the perfect chance to put his love of detective shows to good use. His objective? Find the lucky “lightning bat” and score himself a place with the most popular kids in school: The Untouchables. This book was very cute. Evan was a great main character who was flawed but someone you couldn't help root for, he did take his friends for granted at the start in order to be friends with the popular kids which I didn't like but there was a lot of character growth with him and he ended up apologizing to his friends at the end which I loved as I often find in books where the main characters mess up and never apologise everyone around them just

Christmas books to celebrate the season

Happy Christmas Eve to everyone who celebrates. I hope your Christmas day will be amazing and full of joy. To help celebrate the season I have compiled a list of some Christmas books including some classics that will spread Christmas joy.  1) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens This is the Christmas book to rival all Christmas books. If you don't know or weren't made to study it for your GCSE's like I was this book follows Ebenezer Scrooge who hates Christmas and is haunted by 4 ghosts to help make him embrace Christmas in his heart.  2) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis While this book isn't Christmas based there is an amazing scene in it where three of the four children meet Father Christmas and are all given Christmas presents. this scene is significant in the book as it signifies the end of the Witches reign as Christmas is returning to Narnia.  3) The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand This is a retelling of A Christmas Carol and follows Holl

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

 3.5 Stars After a near-death experience chronically ill computer geek Chloe Brown decides to write a list in order to help her get a life. Enter Redford 'Red' Morgan who is a handyman with tattoos and a talent for painting and who might be able to help Chloe finish her list. I thought that this book was very cute and that the smut was very good. However, I only really enjoyed about 200 pages of it as it took me almost the first 100 pages to warm up to Chloe as I felt like she was being mean to Red for literally no reason and I understand that it was just her personality but she treated him terribly at first which I can never get behind in romance even though I know others love it. Once I did start to like her it was amazing and I understood why so many people rave about this book. But the conflicts I found weren't done that well. The first one is where Chloe called Red no one to her aunt while I understood why she did it, I think that Red forgave her too quickly as Chole d

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

 On Christmas Eve Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by his old business partner Jacob Marley who died 7 years before on Christmas Eve where he tells Scrooge that he will be visited by 3 spirits, the ghost of Christmas Past, the ghost of Christmas present and the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. This is possibly one of the most famous Christmas books ever to exist and it is definitely my favourite one. I read it in high school for fun and for my GCSEs and reread it every year on Christmas Eve. I've always loved the story of an old miserable old man who changes his ways and opens his heart to others. While it was written in the 19th century the writing isn't too dense and is easy to follow.  The Ghost of Christmas present is my favourite out of the ghosts and I loved his scenes where he showed Scrooge how happy and joyful everyone else is during Christmas day. Also, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that the ghost having 1800 brothers is because that's the year it wa

Anticipated 2022 releases

 I have been seeing a lot of posts lately on upcoming books that are being released in 2022 and some of them are looking amazing. 1) So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens  I read In Deeper Waters by this author earlier this year and loved it so much that I had to pick up everything else that this author brings out. It is penned as Carry on meets Authirian legend and is a friend to lovers and what more could I wish for.  26th May  2) No Filter and other lies by Crystal Maldonado Kat Sanchez is a quiet 16-year-old dealing with house parties, the unrequited love of a best friend, and an altogether mediocre school year. So she couldn't have less in common with 21-year-old Max Monroe, an Instagram influencer who offers advice and lives a life of adventure. The thing is, Max was created by Kat and doesn't really exist, meaning that when a post goes mega-viral and ends up in the view of the person she's been stealing pictures from, Kat's web of lies begins to buckle under the p

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

 4/5 Stars *spoilers* Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, she may struggle with social cues and say what is exactly on her mind by she is fine, nothing is missing from her life, except maybe everything. This has been hyped up for me so much everywhere I go I see amazing reviews about this one and it didn't disappoint at all. It did take me a while for me to get into it and a while to warm up to Eleanor as I found her a little bit rude and condescending at the start of the book. but after the first half of the book, I couldn't help but root for her as I finally figured out why she was the way she was. Raymond was the perfect friend to Eleanor and I'm so glad that it didn't end with them getting together as I think they are a lot better as friends. The ending wasn't what I thought it would be but I'm so glad it wasn't as it worked so well.  I think this is a book that everyone should try at least once in their lives even if literary fiction isn't their fa

A Deadly Mistake by Keith Finney

 Thank you tp NetGalley for the Earc in exchange for an honest review. 2/5 stars  The village of Lipton St Faith in Norfolk is a tranquil spot. The most excitement it sees comes from the antics of the local children sent from Liverpool to escape the air raids. Then one day a car accident claims the life of a young man, found with no identification papers. Anna Grix, daughter of the local vicar and an amateur sleuth, starts to help local police officer Tom Bradshaw investigate. When they hear that the young vicar from Cambridge being sent to Norfolk has disappeared, Anna starts to wonder if this is connected to the crash victim. She calls in the help of American serviceman Lieutenant Eddie Elsner, whom she met when he knocked her off her bicycle while driving his new sportscar. Now, friends, they get to work at solving the case of the unidentified body and the missing curate. But before they’re done there will be more victims, unsettling the peaceful village of Lipton St Faith and Anna’

Books I want to read before I die

 I have a very long TBR and my one goal is to make it smaller next year so I've made a list of all the books I need to get to before I die. 1) Frankenstein by Mary Shelly 2) Legendborn by Tracy Deonn  3) Know My name by Chanel Miller 4) Allegedly by Tiffany D.Jackson 5) The Wrath and The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh 6) Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sapho 7) Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 8) The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern 9) I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai 10) The Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Her Last Lie by Amanda Brittany

 3.5 Stars *Spoilers* Six years ago Isla was the last victim to walk free from Carl Jeffrey's vicious murder spree. Now Isla is determined to finish her book and is travelling to Canada where she meets a man she never thought she would. Now Isla is being stalked and she believes that Carl Jeffrey is back At the start I did not like Isla at all she was often selfish and was often a terrible girlfriend and sister. There was a point where she basically told her sister she isn't allowed to be upset by issues in her own life as she is going through some horrible things at the moment which I thought was honestly kind of disgusting. There is also a part of the story that is a diary/ blog post where Isla posts about how she is having an affair and this really made me dislike her even more as she was already very dismissive of Jack her boyfriend. However, the ending saved it for me because I wasn't expecting the ending at all or why she was doing it. I'm glad that it wasn't

Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

 5/5 Stars *Slight spoilers* Ash Persaud is the last person to die on new years eve, so now she is about to become a reaper in the afterlife but all she wants to do is to see her first love Poppy Morgan again. But only one thing is standing in between them, death.  This book was amazing! I loved every second of it and was flying through it. The romance between Ash and Poppy was so sweet and amazing, but so sad at the same time although I am glad that there might be a chance for them to be reunited at the end. The side characters were so fun and well fleshed out and while they didn't really have a storyline of their own and were mostly there to support the main character I didn't mind it at all where I normally would because the writing was just so good. I do wish we got more scenes of Ash's family and friends especially after her death as I loved their scenes at the beginning.  Overall this book is a must-read for everyone.

My December TBR

 My TBR for this month 1) The Christmas Killer by Alex Pine DI James Walker is ready for a quiet Christmas, but when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep he soon realises it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise and a promise. Twelve days, Twelve murders. 2) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean old man and in order to change his ways, he is visited by 3 Christmas ghosts on Christmas Eve night. 3) The Christmas Carrolls by Mel Taylor-Bessent For Holly Carroll and her family, every day is Christmas. Obsessed with celebrating 365 days a year they live their merriest lives in a house full of multi-coloured fairy lights, a carol-singing toilet and a donkey. When they move house Holly can't wait to start school but her Santa backpack gets funny looks and her new friend thinks she should tone down the tinsel.  4) The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig When Amelia wants a wish to come true she knows just the man to ask - Father Christma