Letterbox Love (35) First Book Haul of the Year!

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey @ Narratively Speaking for UK based book bloggers to showcase the books that they’ve received each week.

Why, hello there Letterbox Lovers! I haven't done one of these things since October. My reason? I'm being really choosy with what I accept for review these days and with the books I actually buy. I've found myself being really picky with the books I read recently - which I don't think is a bad thing - but it does mean that gone are the days of mega book hauls which is kind of sad but I'm actually really enjoying being selective with my reading. It's all about quality over quantity! There are actually only 5 books on my wishlist that are out right now which is kind of crazy. Anyway, I digress. I do have a book haul for you today which consists of all of the books I've acquired so far in January. It's my 24th birthday next Thursday so I might be back with another little haul next week. I'm not sure how often I'll be taking part in Letterbox Love in the future but I will be doing them whenever I have enough books to put together to do a post. Here's my haul for January so far!

 For Review

Looking For JJ by Anne Cassidy
I first read and loved Looking For JJ when I was a teenager and with the anticipated sequel Finding Jennifer Jones finally out next month the publishers have very kindly sent me the first book to re-read and refresh my memory ready for the sequel! I hope I love this just as much the second time around.
The Three by Sarah Lotz (Proof Copy)
This book was a total surprise, I hadn't even heard of it until it landed on my doorstep from the publishers but after reading the synopsis I am SO excited to read this! It sounds so strange and creepy and I HAVE to know what's going on. I have high hopes for this.
Finding Jennifer Jones by Anne Cassidy
This arrived along with Looking For JJ and I plan on reading and reviewing both books back to back soon!
The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson by Paige Toon
I've been so excited for this book ever since I heard about it! Paige Toon is a hugely successful writer of women's fiction and this is her first venture into YA revolving around the daughter of Johnny Jefferson from her adult novels Johnny Be Good and Baby Be Mine.
It Felt Like a Kiss by Sarra Manning
This book came as another surprise! I received a proof copy at the end of last year and this week I was sent a gorgeous finished copy. I love Sarra's YA books and have yet to read one of her chick-lit novels so this will be a fantastic place to start. Really looking forward to reading this soon!

e-books

  

Netgalley and Edelweiss have been full of tempting goodies lately which is where I got all of these apart from Making Faces which I bought after reading the synopsis and seeing the Beauty and the Beast comparison. After receiving a new Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas I have been loving reading on my Kindle even more than usual lately and I'm really looking forward to reading these beauties!

As always thank you to the lovely publishing folk for the review copies. If you decided to do a Letterbox Love, Book Haul, IMM, Showcase Sunday, Mailbox Monday or whatever else featuring the books you got this week leave me a link as I’d love to check out your books too! ^_^ 

 Happy reading till next time!

Early Bird Review for Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy 
Publisher: Harperteen
Release: 18th March 2014
Genre: Contemporary YA
Source: Received for review via Edelweiss




Goodreads Summary:

"What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukaemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?"

Review
There are an abundance of ‘cancer stories’ offered in Contemporary YA and most of them follow a similar formula with the main character being diagnosed with cancer, going on some sort of life changing journey and then dying at the end of the book. It would be fair to say then that Side Effects May Vary breathes new life into the genre, flipping your typical cancer story on its head, as we’re introduced to Alice a girl who has been living a life of no consequences after being given a grim cancer prognosis. Alice has lived her life as if she’s going to be saying goodbye to it soon only to be told that despite the odds she’s in remission. This isn’t a story about cancer and dying, it’s a story about living, second chances and hope.

The book is told in alternating ‘Now’ and ‘Then’ chapters. ‘Then’ goes back to when Alice is first diagnosed. Like most people in her situation Alice makes a list of all the things that she wants to do with the rest of her time. Alice is an angry and scared individual and that reflects in her list as we see Alice settling scores with an ex-boyfriend and frenemy as well as her wanting to do something memorable for her best friend Harvey and have new experiences like learning how to drive. The ‘Now’ chapters follow Alice in the present where she’s struggling to adjust to this unexpected second chance at life. When Alice was diagnosed she put on this hard exterior to put a barrier between her and those she loves to protect both herself and her family for when she wouldn’t be around anymore. Now Alice is struggling to let those people get close to her again because although the cancer is gone her fear of dying and losing everybody isn’t. Alice was a beautifully flawed character and I loved following her uneasy journey in learning how to live and love again.

As well as Alice’s chapters we also get to read from Alice’s best friend Harvey’s point of view. Harvey and his chapters were actually my favourite thing about this book. It’s not often in books that we get to hear directly from the friends or family of the character with cancer and so to experience Harvey’s thoughts and feelings made this book even more moving. I really connected with Harvey and so many of my highlighted quotes on my Kindle were from his chapters. Harvey’s a genuinely nice guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s actually the complete opposite of Alice and so brings out the very best in her and gets her to drop her protective armour that she wears around everybody else but him which I loved to see.

I actually can’t believe that Side Effects May Vary is Julie Murphy’s debut. You’d think that two tenses and two narratives would be too much for a reader to keep up with but Murphy’s writing is consistent throughout and flows beautifully making the way this story is told work in this books favour to give a rounded and developed story. Julie Murphy’s writing was effortless to read and every so often she’ll turn out a phrase that will catch your breath and hit you in the stomach. Hopeful, moving and beautiful Side Effects May Vary was everything I wanted it to be and more.

Bout of Books Wrap Up!

I'm so sad that Bout of Books has come to an end and I'm already looking forward to the next one! I'd like to try and take part in every Bout of Books hosted this year because I enjoy this readathon so much! I had so much fun this time around, I read when I felt like it and I felt no pressure or guilt when I wanted to give my eyes a break and watch a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad (I'm about to start Season 3 and am absolutely obsessed with this show!) Anyway lets take a look at how I did!

*** Walt and Jesse approve *** 

What I Read

  

Total Pages Read: 1371

Favourite Book Read: Side Effects May Vary! I absolutely loved this book and will have a review for it up soon. I also really loved The New Hunger and Where The Stars Still Shine. Never Fade was my only dud book. I think that it was a mistake to pick up such a long book for a readathon. I really loved the first book The Darkest Minds but Never Fade was very hit and miss for me and I came to the realisation that I'm actually really bored of YA Dystopia right now which makes me sad because it used to be my favourite genre. I think that me and this genre will be taking a break for a little while. There are some Dystopian books coming out later this year that I think sound really good so I'm hoping that they'll rekindle my love for the genre. I'm kind of tired of the corrupt government drama and I feel like every book I pick up is a repeat of the one I read before. I really want something new and unexpected to come along to blast the genre clean!

Final Thoughts: Bout of Books has given me a fantastic start to my reading year and I've now already read 5 books this year putting me two books ahead of my Goodreads challenge of reading 100 books in 2014. I hit my target of reading 3 or 4 books but mostly I just had a lot of fun reading when I felt like it, taking a break when I wanted to and following everybody else's reading progress!

If you took part in Bout of Books let me know how you did! Which book was your favourite?

Kicking Off 2014 With Bout of Books! Sign Up and Goals

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

IT'S TIME TO GET MY READ ON!!!!

What better way to start a new year in reading than by taking part in a readathon? This is the perfect chance for me to dive into some shiny new 2014 titles, read some of the books I got for Christmas and eat some of the left over chocolates! It's also taking place a couple of weeks before my birthday so I'm looking at it as a pre-birthday treat!

I spent this morning putting together a TBR List which you can find here on Goodreads. I have 15 books to give me plenty of variety depending on my mood and I'd be happy to read three or four of these, any higher would be an added bonus! I'll be kicking off the readathon with Where The Stars Still Shine which I'm buddy reading along with Jasprit and I can't wait to get started!

I'm not sure if I'll be doing any updates on the blog or taking part in any challenges this time around. My dog's having chemo and will need a lot of extra love and attention so I don't want to make any commitments right now when I don't know how much free time I'll have. But I will be updating on Twitter and Goodreads and am going to be doing a wrap up post when the readathon is over.

Good luck if you're taking part! Which books on my TBR do you think that I should make a readathon priority?

December Round Up and Book of the Month PLUS 2013's Book of the Year!

December's Book of the Month is Past Perfect by Leila Sales

I came down with a cold during the end of December and with my fuzzy head I just wanted to read a really cute contemporary to cheer me up. I ended up picking up Past Perfect and spent the day in bed reading it cover to cover. It was funny, cute and exactly what I needed! I read my first Leila Sales book This Song Will Save Your Life (another book of the month of mine!) earlier this year, I absolutely loved it and wanted to check out Leila's two previous novels. Although Past Perfect was quite different compared to This Song Will Save Your Life in that it was a lighter read I still absolutely loved it. After I finished it I picked up my last Leila Sales book Mostly Good Girls and read that in one day too! Needless to say that Leila Sales is one of my favourite new to me authors of 2013.

*** Not only did I picture Chelsea as a young Zooey Deschanel but this also sums up the book pretty well *** 

Read in December 
104.) The Edge of Always by J.A. Redmerski (3.5*)
105.) Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay (4*)
106.) All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry (4*)
107.) Here's Looking At You by Mhairi McFarlane (4*)
108.) These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (3.5*)
109.) Christmas at Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan (4*)
110.) Past Perfect by Leila Sales (4.5*)
111.) Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales (4*)

December Book Awards
Best Plot: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay
Best Writing: Here's Looking At You by Mhairi McFarlane
Best Cover: Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales
Best Characters: Past Perfect by Leila Sales
Best Ending: The Edge of Always by J.A. Redmerski
Best Romance: Here's Looking At You by Mhairi McFarlane
Most un-put-down-able: Past Perfect by Leila Sales
Most Memorable: All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry
Best Moral: Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Top 3 Most Recommended Books: Past Perfect, Here's Looking At You and All The Truth That's In Me 

Books I’m Looking Forward to Being Released in January 
Salvage by Keren David
Unhinged by A.G. Howard
Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando
Shadowplay by Laura Lam
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
Vicious by V. E. Schwab

Now moving on to a round up of my books of the month for each month last year, some yearly awards and the all important 2013 book of the year!

 2013's Book of the Year is Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell!

2013 was all about the Contemporary genre for me and Fangirl was the brightest star of them all. I fell in love with all of Rainbow's books this year but Fangirl is the one I connected with the most. If you haven't read Fangirl yet or would like to read more of my thoughts check out my review here. 

Here’s a list of each book of the month for 2013 and therefore 12 of my most favourite books of the past year

January – Just One Day by Gayle Forman
February - Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
March - Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
April - Soulmates by Holly Bourne
May - The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
June - Crash by Nicole Williams
July - Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
August - Hurt by Tabitha Suzuma
September - Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
October - This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
November - Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
December - Past Perfect by Leila Sales

2013 Book Awards 
Best Plot: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Best Writing: Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Best Cover: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
Best Characters: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Best Ending: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
Best Romance: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Most un-put-down-able: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Most Memorable: Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Best Moral: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Top 3 Favourites of 2013: Fangirl, Just One Day and This Song Will Save Your Life

Happy New Year! My year in reading for 2013 was absolutely fantastic and I can't wait to see what books 2014 brings into my life! If you didn't get around to any of my books of the month last year I'd absolutely recommend reading them this year. What was your number one favourite book of 2013 and what are you looking forward to reading in January?