It's nearly 2015! Happy new year everyone! I read 61 books this year, which was one over my target, woop! Here are my top ten (in the order that I read them because I couldn't order them!): here are eight, the other two were library or Kindle reads!  1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell ( review ) After all the hype I couldn't ignore this one, and I'm so glad I didn't! Possibly my favourite book of the year. A must read for all fans of YA! 2. Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison ( review ) This had me laughing out loud in public places and making a fool of myself - and I couldn't care less. So funny and realistic and one that I'm sure I shall be revisiting whenever I need cheering up.  3. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick ( review ) I adore the Lizzie Bennet Diaries and so this was a dream of a book. It fills in all the gaps of events only upon in the video diaries, including those exciting dates with Darcy ;)...

Title:  My True Love Gave To Me Authors:  Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White Series:   Standalone anthology Pages:  355 Publisher:  Macmillan Children's Books Date of Publication:  9th October, 2014 Source:  Publisher from event* Synopsis from Goodreads: On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays. My Thoughts: My True Love Gave To Me contains twelve stories by twelve different authors, including Stephanie Perkins, Ally Carter and Rainbow Rowell. Of the twelve authors, I've read and enjoyed books by nine of them, and so while antho...

Title:  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks Author:  E. Lockhart Series:   Standalone Pages:  352 Publisher:  Hot Key Books Date of Publication: 6th November, 2014 Source:  Publisher for review* Synopsis from Goodreads:  Fifteen-year-old Frankie Landau-Banks has grown up a lot over the summer. She's no longer daddy's little girl - and almost immediately after starting the new semester at her highly prestigious school, she bags goofy-but-gorgeous Matthew Livingston as her boyfriend. They get along great but then Frankie discovers that Matthew is a member of a boys-only secret society that specialise in 'hilarious' pranks. Which hardly seems fair... especially when Frankie knows she's smarter than any of its members. And to prove this, she's going to teach them a lesson. Impersonating lead member Alpha by using a fake email account is surprisingly easy, and soon Frankie is setting the boys up with all sorts of ridiculous s...

Title:  Lies We Tell Ourselves  Author:  Robin Talley Series:  Pages:   336 Publisher:  Mira Ink Date of Publication:  3rd October, 2014 Source:  Publisher for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily. Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept “separate but equal.” Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another. Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning ...

Title:  Belzhar Author:  Meg Wolitzer Series:   n/a Pages: 266 Publisher:  Simon and Schuster Children's Date of Publication: 1st October, 2014 Source:  Publisher for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: If life were fair, Jam Gallahue would still be at home in New Jersey with her sweet British boyfriend, Reeve Maxfield. She’d be watching old comedy sketches with him. She’d be kissing him in the library stacks. She certainly wouldn’t be at The Wooden Barn, a therapeutic boarding school in rural Vermont, living with a weird roommate, and signed up for an exclusive, mysterious class called Special Topics in English. But life isn’t fair, and Reeve Maxfield is dead. Until a journal-writing assignment leads Jam to Belzhar, where the untainted past is restored, and Jam can feel Reeve’s arms around her once again. But there are hidden truths on Jam’s path to reclaim her loss. My thoughts: When I got back from holiday and found Belzhar waiting f...

Title:  Eren Author:  Simon P Clark Series:   n/a Pages:   208 Publisher: Constable & Robinson Date of Publication: 18th September, 2014 Source:  Publisher for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: People are keeping secrets from Oli - about where his father is, and why he hasn't come to join them at his uncle's house in the country. But Oli has secrets too. He knows what lives in the attic. Eren - part monster, part dream, part myth. Eren who always seems so interested, who always wants to hear more about Oli's life. Eren, who needs to hear stories to live, and will take them from Oli, no matter the cost. My Thoughts: I purposely did not read up about Eren before I started reading it, in order to avoid any preconceptions or expectations. I went in to the novel knowing very little, just knowing that it was a story about stories. I think that this made the book better for me - I enjoyed the mystery and the intrigue, so to keep that ...

So I came online to write my wrap-up for September, only to realise I only read one book (and it was short :S It was Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer - review and giveaway coming soon but you should definitely check it out!) and wrote one review. So there wasn't really that much point. It's been really quiet here and probably will be for the next few months and so I thought I'd just explain why. September's been super busy because I went back to school, and it's Year 13. For those who don't know what that means, it's my final year of school before university next year, which means I am crazy busy with school work and university applications and personal statements and stuff, and I literally haven't had any time to read YA books. My four A-Level subjects (Classics, German, Latin and English Literature) are all very literature focused and so when I finally have got time to myself where I don't have to be doing school stuff, sometimes I just don't really w...

Title:  The Iron Trial Authors:  Holly Black and Cassandra Clare Series:   Magisterium, #1 Pages:   295 Publisher:  Doubleday Children's Books Date of Publication:  9th September 2014 Source:  Publisher for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a riveting new series that defies what you think you know about the world of magic. From two bestselling superstars, a dazzling and magical middle-grade collaboration centering on the students of the Magisterium, an academy for those with a propensity toward magic. In this first book, a new student comes to the Magisterium against his will -- is it because he is destined to be a powerful magician, or is the truth more twisted than that? It's a journey that will thrill you, surprise you, and make you wonder about the clear-cut distinction usually made between good and evil. My Thoughts: I didn't really know that...

Hey everyone! September means back to school (boo!) but summer was great fun! I roadtripped around Europe and spent two weeks in France, so I had a lot of time for reading and blogging. Here's what I read (and for the first time in I can't even remember how long I read TEN books - DOUBLE FIGURES :D )       1. Zom-B Mission by Darren Shan 2. Zom-B Circus by Darren Shan 3. Silver Shadows   by Richelle Mead 4. Department 19 by Will Hill 5. Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid 6. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins 7. The Giver by Lois Lowry 8. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson 9.  The Iron Trial  by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare 10. Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman I finally caught up a little bit on the Zom-B books (still got one more to go before I'm fully caught up but that's reserved at the library ;) ) which was really great because I do love them so! Silver Shadows is the fifth book in Bloodlines wh...

Title:  Since You've Been Gone  Author:  Morgan Matson Series:   Standalone Pages:   449 Publisher:  Simon and Schuster Children's Books Date of Publication:  3rd July, 2014 Source:  Publisher, for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: It was Sloane who yanked Emily out of her shell and made life 100% interesting. But right before what should have been the most epic summer, Sloane just...disappears. All she leaves behind is a to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that Emily would normally never try. But what if they could bring her best friend back? Apple picking at night? Okay, easy enough. Dance until dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a stranger? Um... Emily now has this unexpected summer, and the help of Frank Porter (totally unexpected), to check things off Sloane's list. Who knows what she'll find? Go skinny-dipping? Wait...what? My Thoughts: I've been a fan of Morgan Matson for a few years now, ever since...

Title:  Department 19 Author:  Will Hill Series:   Department 19, #1 Pages:   489 Publisher:  HarperCollins Children's Books Date of Publication:  1st September, 2011 Source:  Bought Synopsis from Goodreads: Jamie Carpenter's life will never be the same. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein. Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula. Aided by Frankenstein's monster, a beautiful vampire girl with her own agenda, and the members of the agency, Jamie must attempt to save his mother from a terrifyingly powerful vampire. "Department 19" takes us through history, across Europe, and beyond - from the cobbled streets of Victorian London to prohibition-era New York, from the icy wastes of Arctic Russia t...

Title:  Isla and the Happily Ever After  Author:  Stephanie Perkins Series:   Anna and the French Kiss, #3* Pages:   375 Publisher:  Usborne Date of Publication:  14th August, 2014 Source:  Bought Synopsis from Goodreads: The café is boiling. The atmosphere is clouded with bittersweet coffee. Three years of desire rip through my body and burst from my lips: “Josh!” His head jolts up. For a long time, a very long time, he just stares at me. And then…he blinks. “Isla?” Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on brooding artist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And, after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer break, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to face uncertainty about their futures, and the very real possibility of being apart. Set against the stunning backdrops of New York, Paris and Barcelona, t...

Title:  Let's Get Lost Author:  Adi Alsaid Series:   ~ Pages:   352 Publisher:  Mira Ink Date of Publication:  1st August, 2014 Source:  Publisher via NetGalley for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: One girl could change four lives forever… Mysterious Leila, who is on the road trip of a lifetime, has a habit of crashing into people’s worlds at the moment they need someone the most. There’s Hudson, who is willing to throw away his dreams for love. And Bree, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. Elliot who believes in happy endings…until his own goes off-script. And Sonia who worries that she’s lost her ability to love. Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. But Leila’s trip could help her discover something bigger — that sometimes, the only way to find what you’re looking for is to get lost along the way… My Thoughts: I was super excited to read Let's Get Lost , as it is...

Title:  Silver Shadows  Author:  Richelle Mead Series:   Bloodlines Pages:   380 Publisher:  Penguin Date of Publication:  29th July 2014 Source:  Publisher for review* Synopsis from Goodreads: Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives. In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists. Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive. For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but th...

Hello! School's out and summer's started, so I have lots of time for reading ahead of me! Here's what I've been reading in July:       1. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick 2. The Worst Girlfriend In The World by Sarra Manning 3. Trouble by Non Pratt 4. Heart Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne 5. Boys Don't Knit by TS Easton 6. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (DNF) 7. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen I read quite a lot this month (especially considering I was on a summer camp for a week and didn't have much chance to read!) I started off the month with books by Sarra Manning, Non Pratt and Tanya Byrne so that I could get them signed at YALC, which was AWESOME. They were all really good and I recommend them completely! I then read Boys Don't Knit , continuing with reading UKYA (as most of the YALC authors were UKYA) which was awesome (it's about knitting - what's not to love?) and really funny, and I ...

Title:  The Worst Girlfriend In The World  Author:  Sarra Manning Series:  n/a Pages:  352 Publisher:  ATOM Books Date of Publication:  1st May, 2014 Source:  Bought Synopsis from Goodreads: My best friend was now my deadliest enemy, the one person I'd hate beyond all measure for the rest of my life . . . Franny Barker's best friend, Alice, is the worst girlfriend in the world according to the many boys of Merrycliffe-on-Sea. She toys with them, then dumps them. But she'll never dump fashion-obsessed Franny. Nothing and no one can come between them. Not even tousle-haired rock god, Louis Allen, who Franny's been crushing on hard. Until Alice, bored with immature boys and jealous of Franny's new college friends, sets her sights on Louis. Suddenly, best friends are bitter rivals. Is winning Louis's heart worth more than their friendship? There's only one way for Franny to find out. My Thoughts: I read  Adorkable last su...

Title:  Murder Most Unladylike Author:  Robin Stevens Series:   Wells and Wong, #1 Pages:   324 Publisher:  Corgi Date of Publication:  5th June, 2014 Source:  for review from Corgi via NetGalley Synopsis from Goodreads: Deepdean School for Girls, 1934. When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't, really.) But then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She thinks it must all have been a terrible accident - but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls know a murder must have taken place . . . and there's more than one person at Deepdean with a motive. Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove a murder happened in the first place. Determined to ge...

Hey everyone! Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick, which is the novelisation of the hugely successful Lizzie Bennet Diaries webseries on YouTube! If you haven't watched them yet, you simply must, for they are BRILLIANT! You can watch the first video below or on the Lizzie Bennet website itself, and enter a giveaway to win one of five copies of the book . Synopsis from Goodreads: Based on the Emmy Award–winning YouTube series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Twenty‑four‑year‑old grad student Lizzie Bennet is saddled with student loan debt and still living at home along with her two sisters—beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. When she records her reflections on life for her thesis project and posts them on YouTube, she has no idea The Lizzie Bennet Diaries will soon take on a life of their own, turning the Bennet sisters into internet celebrities seemingly overnight. When rich and handsome Bing Lee comes to town,...