Top 5 Tuesday: Dystopian

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and it has been way too long since I participated.

Today is all about dystopian books. Now, I don’t read that many of those, so I may not get to five, but here goes.

1. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)

An incredible novel. Dark, gritty, but one that really stuck with me. I can’t say it was a joy to read, but it was a very good one.

2. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

These books (and movies) are so much fun and really gave the genre a boost. It’s an obvious choice, but sobeit.

3. Flow (Clare Littlemore)

A YA novel, and the first a series. I have read the first two and really enjoyed them. I would highly recommend them if you like dystopian YA novels.

4. 1984 (George Orwell)

Probably the first dystopian novel I ever read. It made an impression for sure.

5. ????? – which means RECOMMENDATION TIME!

I don’t have a number 5, so if you have any awesome recommendations, let me know! 

L. xx

 

Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Books I NEED to READ in (January) 2019

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. Check it out if you haven’t already!

Today’s subject is: Top 5 Books you NEED to Read in 2019

I have already done posts of books I want to read in 2019, but I have not posted a January TBR, so I will cheat a little and tell you what books I NEED to read this month and why…

1. The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey) – part of my Winter Project and my chosen book from my book haul from January 2018

2. Winter: an anthology for the changing seasons (edited by Melissa Harrison) – also part of my winter project (I am currently reading this a bit at a time)

3. Winter’s Heart (Robert Jordan) – again part of my winter project, but also part of my re-read schedule for The Wheel of Time

4. The Wrath and the Dawn (Renee Ahdieh) – the oldest book on my Kindle

5. Centaur (Declan Murphy & Ami Rao) – another book from my January 2018 haul that I REALLY want to read this month.

 

 

 

Top 5 Tuesday: Winter Reads

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm!

So books that make great winter reads:

1. The Bear and the Nightingale & The Girl in the Tower (Katherine Arden)

Both of those books make great wintery reads. They are full of atmosphere and wintery spirits. They feel pretty cozy too in their strange magical way.

2. Portrait of a Murderer (Anne Meredith)

This story takes place around Christmas and I thought it was incredibly well done. A bunch of siblings visit their father for Christmas and one of them ends up murdering him.  You always know who committed the murder, but will the others figure it out? Full of unlikeable characters, but so well written!

3. The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

One of those magical stories that suits those cold dark days.

4. Winterdance (Gary Paulsen)

A non-fiction recommendation! It does not get more wintery than dog sledding! Gary and his team of dogs take part in the Iditarod, a ridiculous long distance dog sledding race in Alaska. I intend to re-read this one this winter as part of my Winter Project.

5. Happiness (Aminatta Forna)

This is just an amazing book for any time of year, but it’s a beautiful heart warming story to curl up with in winter. Highly recommended!

***

Apart from Winterdance you can find my reviews in my review section 🙂 Link me your Top 5 Tuesday!

Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 Books I Read as an ARC

Love this week’s topic of Top 5 Tuesday, hosted by Shanah over at Bionic Book Worm, as most of these just don’t get enough love!

There is clearly a theme in the ARCs I loved.

I have only rated two books at 7 stars on my blog and both were ARCs I read via NetGalley. Both were non-fiction.

1. The Choice (Dr Edith Eger)

This is the heartbreaking true story of holocaust survivor. She tells her horrific tale, but at the same time she tells the reader how she refused to be a victim and in the end this book has such a feeling of hope and strength to it. Such humanity. It made me cry like nothing else, but it also made you believe that you can overcome anything.

If there is one book I advise everyone to read, it’s this one. It’s truly inspiring and this coming from someone who does not like reading WWII fiction (AT ALL!).

 

2. Our Native Bees (Paige Embry)

A book about bees in the US. The author writes from a very basic point of view, and we discover the world of bees as she does. I absolutely loved this one. It was very engaging and told simply without being condencending.

  

3. The Girl in the Tower (Katherine Arden)

I loved The Bear and the Nightingale and I requested this one as soon as it was available. It did not disappoint!

4. The King’s Witch (Tracy Borman)

This is a historical fiction novel set in the early 1600s. It was so good. I absolutely loved the writing and the character of Frances.

  

5. Buzz (Thor Hanson)

Yep, another non-fiction book about bees. Also on bees in America, told in a similar vein to Our Native Bees, but ever so slightly more scientific. I love both of those books so much!

**

The latter three I rated 6 out of 7 stars. There were more 6-star books, but those were the ones that came to mind. I have since bought physical copies of The Choice, Our Native Bees and Buzz. I will purchase the other two as well in the near future.

Top 5 Tuesday (on a Thursday): Naked Hardbacks

Top 5 Tuesday is a meme hosted by Shanah over at Bionic Book Worm.

I so wanted to do this one earlier in the week, but I simply did not have the time. Plus, Rose over at Stuck in Fiction. also did a post on naked hardbacks a couple of weeks ago, which inspired me.

Now, I don’t have a ton of hardbacks, because I tend to prefer reading paperbacks, but I have accumulated some and some of them are definitely worth mentioning.

My lot with their coats on:

Now, let’s get undressed!

1. Circe (Madeline Miller)

I actually purchased this hardback because of the stunning cover and naked hardback. I saw it on Booktube somewhere and just knew it would me happy just looking at it! It just is stunning, naked or otherwise. The contents are pretty awesome too 🙂

2. The History of Bees (Maja Lunde)

Another stunning naked hardback. So pretty with the honeycomb pattern.

3. Talking To The Dead (Helen Dunmore)

Actually, I did not love this book when I read it (it was ok), but the cover and the naked hardback are so pretty (and small) I just have to keep it on my shelves forever! I love the pastel yellow and blue and just the overall design.

4. The Thoroughbred Legends Series

Back in the day I went through a phase of collecting a lot of horseracing related books and these are about various famous horses from North American racing. The naked hardback have the picture of the horse on it. They look pretty classy. I think I have seven of these.

5. On The Trail of the Silver Brumby (Elyne Mitchell)

I adore Elyne Mitchell’s writing and this is an anthology of her writing in a coffee table format with beautiful pictures. I love the bright blue naked hardback with the cute horse illustration.

***

If I missed your post please link below! I do like to drool over pretty books!

Top 5 Tuesday: Covers – The Blue Edition

OK, so it is really the blue, green and purple edition, but it was too hard, so I have decided to go all blue!

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah over at Bionic Book Worm 🙂

So, I actually have a shelf with blue and green books on it (I don’t have any purple ones), so that made it easy!

Of the books I chose I have only read two, but I want to get to the other ones soon (I always say that….).

1. How To Stop Time (Matt Haig) – I love the design of this cover with the hourglass. Definitely a book I would like to read this year.

2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J K Rowling) – This is the Ravenclaw edition. I was actually sorted into Gryffindor myself, but I just loved the colour of this one.

3. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender (Leslye Walton) – This one was a cover buy. It’s so pretty! Hope the book is as beautiful as the cover.

4. Tim Book Two: Vinyl Adventures from Istanbul to San Francisco (Tim Burgess) – I have read this one last year, just before I started my blog. It’s a geeky book about searching for vinyl records by the frontman of UK band The Charlatans. Well, I am a sucker for a vinyl record, and this book was a lot of fun! One of my favourite covers too. Plus my edition is signed! ♥

5. Written in the Stars (Ali Harris) – Not read this one yet. The premise sounds interesting though… It’s about what-if and we all wonder what-if every now and then, don’t we? Don’t we? I really like the cover two. Simple, but pretty.

 

Top 5 Tuesday: Five(six or seven)-star-predictions

Top 5 Tuesday is a meme hosted by the lovely Shanah over at the Bionic Book Worm.

I like this one. I rarely give full marks (7 stars in my case), but six stars is a really good rating for me.

Looking at the books I hope to be reading in the next few weeks/months, these are my six/seven-star predictions:

Circe (Madeline Miller)

This sounds like an amazing book. I love myths and legends, but I know very little about Circe. I have heard such good things and I can’t wait to read it!

 

The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas)

There has been so much hype surrounding this book, but from what I have seen from bloggers I trust, it is completely justified. I am just waiting a bit longer to read it, but I fully expect to love it.

 

Royal Assassin (Robin Hobb)

The second book in the Farseer Trilogy. I loved the first book and I fully expect to love this one just as much.

 

 

Break (Clare Littlemore)

I really loved the first book, Flow, and I am so looking forward to reading this second book in the series very soon. This is dystopian YA set on a flooded world.

 

The Way of Kings ( Brandon Sanderson)

I have been meaning to read a Brandon Sanderson book for ages! I am going to start with this one and I hope I will love it!

Top 5 Tuesdays: Books I loved that others didn’t…

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Shanah over at Bionic Book Worm.

The other way around would be FAR easier! There is lots of books other people like that I don’t… But books I love that other people did not… I really have to think long and hard about that…

ABOUT FIVE HOURS LATER…

1. The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan)

This is the first book in Jordan’s The Wheel of Time Series, which consists of 14 (!!) books. Of course this books introduces us to the main characters and there are lots of complaints about it being slow paced. The first time I read it though, I was hooked! Although I can see its flaws now, I still love it. I am re-reading the series at the moment and am in the middle of book 5.

2. The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory)

I read plenty of reviews going on about its inaccuracy historywise. I don’t care, it’s a very enjoyable book in my opinion! I must have read it about three times over the years.

3. The Sword of Shannara (Terry Brooks)

This was the fantasy book that got me hooked on the genre, but there are so many people complaining out there that it is too clearly inspired by The Lord of the Rings. I see that as a good thing, as it actually made me read Tolkien’s trilogy. The Shannara books still hold a very special place in my heart.

4. Set The Boy Free (Johnny Marr)

Lots of people up in arms about this one because Johnny is ‘too nice’ in it, especially when he touched on his relationship with Morrissey. There will always be people just interested in ‘the dirt’. I just enjoyed this book for what it was, a really simple account of a guitar-obsessed soul, who was rather diplomatic at times. I really liked it.

***
I could not think of a fifth one, and four was hard enough, so this will have to do!

*wipes sweat off brow*

Top 5 Tuesday: Books That Lived Up To The Hype

Do join Top 5 Tuesday! Check out the list of topics for this month on Bionic Book Worm.

So, books that lived up to the hype… I had to think long and hard as I don’t tend to read a lot of hype books. The hyped books I own are still going unread at the moment. But… here we go…

The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

The Lord of the Rings (J R R Tolkien)

I read both of these series after seeing the movies and really enjoyed them both.

The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

This book was so magical and beautiful. One of my favourite reads last year. I kept seeing/hearing people talk about it and it sounded like it would be up my street in it was!

Nevernight (Jay Kristoff)

I finally caved when there was a buddy read for this one and the Kindle version was on sale on Amazon. I thought I might like it, but I did not expect to love it as much as I did. This was a great read.

The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón)

This book gave me so many feels. I read it twice now and although the first time I read it was more special, this is an incredible book.

***

I am looking forward to seeing everyone else’s! I will likely have quite a few on my shelves waiting to be read… 🙂

 

 

Top 5 Tuesday: Bookish Pet Peeves

Thanks you to Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm for hosting this meme! Please, check out her blog if you have not done so already.

I had to think long and hard about this week’s Top 5.

1. Bad covers
I hate buying books with bad covers, so I tend not to. That would be the perfect excuse to buy the Kindle version. For instance, I want to read The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, but I really dislike the cover. I may wait till it’s cheap on Kindle or when the publishing company decides it needs a new cover. Also, movie tie-in covers – blegh!

2. Instalove without a proper explanation
I have fallen for someone at first sight. Heck, I fell for my husband the first time I laid eyes on him, so Instalove exists, but… BUT! When it happens in books, I expect being told what exactly made that WHAM happen! Not just ‘She instantly knew he was the one’. What? Why? How? Tell me more! Authors, if you’re using instalove as a thing, you need to make me believe it! (Too many exclamation marks in that bit?!)

5. Stickers on books
Why do shops stick big (or even small) stickers on books that are a pain in the you-know-what to get off. A tiny price sticker is fine, but I don’t need any other stickers to ruin the look of my book, thank you very much!

4. When the blurp gives too much away. 
Have you ever read the back of a book and though, “Yeah, that sounds good.” Then you decide to buy/read the book and that is pretty much all there is too the story? Yeah, I hate that. Why, publishers? Why!

5. Pale dark-haired love interests, who is of course stupendously good looking.
It gets so boring! I mean, really? Another gorgeous girl with pale skin and dark hair she hides behind? Or another dark haired boy with perfect cheekbones and a widow’s peak (what’s going on with that anyway? Is that really attractive?) ? No, just no! I am so done with that girl… or that guy…

***

Now I have finally done mine, I will go and check out other bloggers’ Top 5 Tuesday posts! Have a lovely evening, people xx