The Last Four Things - Paul HoffmanOf all the unpleasant memories the two of them shared, this was the worst. Convinced that Cale's murderous gifts were divinely inspired it had barely occurred to Bosco that being obliged to fight half a dozen experienced, if disgraced, soldiers to the death might have been deeply traumatic for a boy of twelve or thirteen, however skilled or callous.
Six years after a pandemic devastates the human population, and the subsequent loss of much of the world's technology, Chris Price finally makes it from New York to Britain to reunite with his brother. But unresolved grief over his dead wife and baby and the horrors he witnessed as he traveled through a changed world have damaged him. He struggles to let go of his past, accept the healing kindness of those around him, and let love back into his life.
One house, two worlds...
Rose Cliffe has never met a young lady like her new mistress. Clever, rich, and beautiful, Ada Averley treats Rose as an equal. And Rose could use a friend. Especially now that she, at barely sixteen, has risen to the position of ladies’ maid. Rose knows she should be grateful to have a place at a house like Somerton. Still, she can’t help but wonder what her life might have been had she been born a lady, like Ada.
For the first time in a decade, the Averleys have returned to Somerton, their majestic ancestral estate. But terrible scandal has followed Ada’s beloved father all the way from India. Now Ada finds herself torn between her own happiness and her family’s honor. Only she has the power to restore the Averley name—but it would mean giving up her one true love . . . someone she could never persuade her father to accept.
Sumptuous and enticing, the first novel in the At Somerton series introduces two worlds, utterly different yet entangled, where ruthless ambition, forbidden attraction, and unspoken dreams are hidden behind dutiful smiles and glittering jewels. All those secrets are waiting . . . at Somerton.
I'm actually more likely to not read a book because of the hype lol. For me, most hyped books don't live up to it. There's a few exceptions of course - Harry Potter, The Hunger Games for example, but I'm always very cautious of a book that get too much hype. It might turn out to be a Twilight.
If I'm buying a book I now mostly go for ebooks. It's just so much easier. I can carry numerous books with me, I don't loose my page, I get them within seconds of clicking the button to buy. I do still read 'real' books though as often review copies come that way but now they just seem heavy to hold - hardbacks about kill me lol. All that said though, I do still like having a physical book shelf because it looks more awesome.
It’s 1923 and London is a whirl of jazz, dancing and parties. Violet, Daisy, Poppy and Rose Derrington are desperate to be part of it, but stuck in an enormous crumbling house in the country, with no money and no fashionable dresses, the excitement seems a lifetime away.
Luckily the girls each have a plan for escaping their humdrum country life: Rose wants to be a novelist, Poppy a jazz musician and Daisy a famous film director. Violet, however, has only one ambition: to become the perfect Debutante, so that she can go to London and catch the eye of Prince George, the most eligible bachelor in the country.
But a house as big and old as Beech Grove Manor hides many secrets, and Daisy is about to uncover one so huge it could ruin all their plans—ruin everything—forever.
I pretty much write them when I've finished the book and mostly I leave it a few days or so if I can to mull over my thoughts a little. Sometimes I will jot down a quick note while I'm reading if there's something I particularly want to mention but not very often. I did try doing the making lots notes while reading thing but I found that a) I was concentrating more on that than actually enjoying the book and b) more often then not I either lost the notes or didn't bother looking at them much anyway. It suits my style to just write what I think at the time.
Oh gosh, there's sooo many:
Harry Potter - JK Rowling
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." (I love this because it sums up both The Marauders and Fred & George perfectly)
Too Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
Oh, the Places You'll Go! - Dr. Seuss
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
“Well, don't expect us to be too impressed. We just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear.”
Peter Pan - JM Barrie
“I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!”
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.”
Nine-year-old "Skid" Beaumont's family is stuck in the mud. Following his father's decision to relocate and build a new home, based on a drunken vision that New Orleans would rapidly expand eastwards into the wetlands as a result of the Seventies' oil boom, Skid and his brothers grow up in a swampy area of Louisiana. But the constructions stop short, the dream fizzles out, and the Beaumonts find themselves sinking in a soggy corner of 1980s Cold War America. As things on the home front get more complicated, Skid learns of his mother's alleged magic powers and vaguely remembers some eerie stories surrounding his elder brother Frico. These, as well as early events that Skid saw with his own eyes, convince him that Frico has a gift to fix things by simply sketching them. For the next few years, Skid's self-appointed mission to convince his brother to join him in his lofty plan to change their family's luck and the world they live in will lead to even more mystery and high drama in the swamp.
Liam O'Connor should have died at sea in 1912.
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010.
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026.
But all three have been given a second chance - to work for an agency that no one knows exists. Its purpose: to prevent time travel destroying history ...
When Maddy finally unlocks fragments of the secret that Becks has been holding on to, the TimeRiders start to piece together their true purpose. Racing through time to connect the clues, the team discover a Mayan tribe and an ancient relic provides a vital link to the past ... and future.
But not all the TimeRiders can cope with the discovery, and one threatens to bring them all down if they can act out their revenge ...
Crown of Midnight - Sarah J MaasListening to him flirt, watching him grin at these girls, Dorian didn't know whether he wanted to punch Roland or walk away. But years of living in this festering court kept Dorian from doing anything but looking gloriously bored..
It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain.
Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night.
When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back...
Hunger Games! I'm guessing this is going to be a popular answer to this question. It would have been a close call with the Divergent series but as only two of those have been release so far I decided that the Hunger Games won.
I've probably got quite a few series I've given up on. Twilight is the first that springs to mind as I had to force my self to finish the first book so there was no chance of me continuing. And the Need series by Carrie Jones - I read about 3 of those but hated them, I'm not sure why or how I got through so many.
Others, such as the House of Night Series, are more on hiatus rather than being completely abandoned. I've gotten a few books into the series but just don't feel the need to rush onto the next one. I may get back to them at some point but with so many books on my tbr pile, others are taking priority.
Dusk by Eve Edwards is a beautiful love story set against the brutal back drop of WWI.
A love worth fighting for.
When Helen, a young hard-working nurse, meets aristocratic artist Sebastian, she doesn't expect to even like him, let alone fall in love. But against the troubled backdrop of wartime London, an unlikely but intense romance blossoms. And even the bloody trenches of the Somme, where they are both posted, cannot diminish their feelings for each other.
But Helen is concealing a secret and when a terrible crime is committed there are devastating consequences for them both.
When lives are being lost, can true love survive?
The Testing - Joelle CharbonneauSixteen-year-old Cia Vale is honoured to be chosen for The Testing – a series of exams set by the United Commonwealth that selects the brightest young adults to become leaders of their war- stricken world. But when candidates start disappearing and Cia witnesses unimaginable horrors done in the United Commonwealth’s name it becomes clear that these are no ordinary exams, and Cia is forced to realise the truth: this is no longer about winning, but surviving.
1 - Northern Lights - Philip Pulman
The Beach - Alex Garland
Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
Now that may sound simple, but you don't just walk out of Valerie Beaumont's house in the pitch black of night without someone accompanying you or making sure there are no black bears or water moccasins or demons lurkin' about the swamp. Furthermore, Frico was only nine years old. How dare you walk your nine-year-old self out of the house and let the screen door slam behind you like you can't stand all that fightin' in your ear? And especially with-out your glasses. But see, that's the kind of crap that Frico Beaumont got away with.
.
Meeting Claire made me realise that I could be something different. Something better. The first time I saw her, black-and-blue but with this strange little core of strength ... I recognised something we had in common. We didn't quit. and we suffered for it..
