It's Exam Season... So Here's What I've Been Doing Instead of Revision

Hey there, it's nice to see you again, if you're still here... I know I haven't posted for almost a month, and I'm sorry! You probably guessed from the title of this (very rambly) post, it's Exam Season, which means I will probably not post that much. I haven't been reading (very much - less than half a book in three weeks :( ), and no reading means no books to review, so I don't really have anything to post, hence my silence. So, I was thinking that I don't just want to be really quiet until the end of June, and I'm not going to be revising 24/7 (and now that I'm on study leave I don't have school) so I should have some time to at least post something occasionally... Anyhoo.

I thought I'd start with a showcase of a few of the books I've received in the last couple of months that I'm looking forward to reading after revision and exams are over, as I won't be able to review them anytime soon and I feel I should at least talk about them once for now since I was so lucky to receive them for review. So. I guess this is kind of like a Letterbox Love but I'm doing it a little differently, and then adding a little bit at the end.

DOLL BONES by Holly Black
9th May 2013, Random House Children's Books
Twelve-year-old Zach is too old to play with toys. Or at least, that's what his father thinks.

But even though he stops hanging out with Poppy and Alice, stops playing with his action figures, it's no good. There's one toy that still wants to play with him. A doll that's made from the bones of a dead girl.

The only way to end the game is to lay the doll to rest forever. It's time for a journey to Spring Grove cemetery. It's time to grow up.

I'd not heard of this one until I received it, but I really like the sound of it and I've heard a lot about Holly Black's book before, but never actually read one. I also really enjoy middle grade books every now and then so I'm looking forward to this one! Also, the cover is hauntingly beautiful so I'm definitely going to have to give this one a read soon!

THE DROWNING by Rachel Ward
2nd May 2013, Chicken House
What happens if you've done something terrible? But you can't remember what. And you don't know how to put it right ...When Carl opens his eyes on the banks of a lake, his brother is being zipped into a body bag. What happened in the water? He can't remember And when he glimpses a beautiful girl he thinks he recognizes, she runs away. Suddenly he knows he must find her - because together they must face the truth before it drowns them.

I'm really looking forward to reading this one too - again, I've heard a lot about Rachel Ward's Numbers series but I haven't read it, so I'm expecting this one to be really great. I love a good mystery and haven't read one for a while so I'm sure this'll be a nice exam antidote!

THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CURSED by Page Morgan
2nd May 2013, Hot Key Books
Ingrid Waverley is a young woman to be reckoned with. Faced with her brother's mysterious disappearance after an abrupt move to Paris, she is determined to discover what has happened to him. Soon she and her sister Gabriella are drawn into a Parisian underworld more terrifying than they could ever have imagined, but watching over them are two impossible (and impossibly handsome) young men. Luc is a 'Dispossessed', an ancient gargoyle whose sworn duty it is to protect the humans who inhabit his abbey. Nolan has secrets of his own too. He is a member of the Alliance - a shadowy group dedicated to keeping Paris safe from the demonic forces that threaten to destroy it.

I love the sound of this one, and I've never read anything about gargoyles before so that's very exciting! The back of the book says it contains romance, murder, gothic and supernatural, so it sounds right up my street - very excited to give this one a read! Also, this will  be my first Hot Key Books book, so that's equally exciting!

LIFE AFTER THEFT by Aprilynne Pike
25th April 2013, HarperCollins Children's Books
Kimberlee’s dead. Has been for a while, actually. Stuck haunting the halls of her high school, she’s doomed to an afterlife of boredom. That is until the new kid shows up.

The first thing Jeff spots is Kimberlee lying on the floor as other students walk right through her. Pretty soon she’s harangued him into helping her escape to the afterlife.

Kimberlee guesses that once Jeff rights her mean girl wrongs she’ll be able to move on. But nothing is simple in life after death...

I really love the sound of this one too, and I really like the cover too. I've never read anything by Aprilynne Pike, but I've heard good things about her Wings series so I'm looking forward to giving this one a read. It sounds like it could be pretty funny and if that's true it'd be nice to read after the stress of exams. Very exciting!

KITE SPIRIT by Sita Brahmachari
9th May 2013, Macmillan Children's Books
During the summer of her GCSEs Kite's world falls apart. Her best friend, Dawn, commits suicide after a long struggle with feeling under pressure to achieve. Kite's dad takes her to the Lake District, to give her time and space to grieve. In London Kite is a confident girl, at home in the noisy, bustling city, but in the countryside she feels vulnerable and disorientated. Kite senses Dawn's spirit around her and is consumed by powerful, confusing emotions - anger, guilt, sadness and frustration, all of which are locked inside. It's not until she meets local boy, Garth, that Kite begins to open up - talking to a stranger is easier somehow. Kite deeply misses her friend and would do anything to speak to Dawn just once more, to understand why . . . Otherwise how can she ever say goodbye? A potent story about grief, friendship, acceptance and making your heart whole again.

I love stories about friendship, so I'm looking forward to this one. I've not read any of the author's other books, nor have I heard that much about them, so I'm not really sure what to expect from this one. However, I like the idea of the story and I really like the cover so I have high hopes.

Have you read any of these books? I'm trying to decide which one I want to read first, but I can't! I think maybe Life After Theft, or The Beautiful and the Cursed... I believe all these books are out now so you can buy them for yourselves if you see anything you fancy and get reading! :)

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While I'm not reading, I am watching a lot of TV and listening to music while I revise, so it's probably more appropriate for me to talk about that here because that's actually something that I've done recently! I'm currently watching my way through Gossip Girl - I'm currently on Season 4 and even though I've seen every episode a few times already I just love it so much! I'm also really loving Doctor Who this series - I'm SO happy that they've gone back to having one story per episode that is unrelated (mostly) to the one before - it's so much more fun that way! I also really like Clara - I like her even more every episode and I really want to know who she is and why she keeps popping up everywhere and everywhen ;) (Also, have you guys seen that Matt Smith has shaved his head?! His beautiful floppy hair has gone... :'( )

Music wise, I'm loving P!nk right now (always have, always will) - her newest album The Truth About Love mostly but also Funhouse and the rest of her albums. I've also recently bought Paramore's new album, Paramore, and I'm really liking it though it's quite different from their last, Brand New Eyes. My favourite song from it is probably Proof, or maybe Still Into You (which also has a great video if you've not seen it yet). Any recommendations for new songs would be great - I can't work in silence so I need new things all the time!

Last thing - movies! I watched Star Trek last week in preparation for Into Darkness, and I really enjoyed it! Looking forward to Into Darkness hugely (Benedict Cumberbatch, anyone? ;) ). I saw Iron Man 3 last week, and it was incredible as usual. Robert Downey Jr is just so amazing as Tony Stark, and I also love Gwyneth Paltrow, despite her being voted Most Hated Celebrity! I thoroughly recommend it!

So. That's what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks and what I've received and am looking forward to reading once exams are over and I've got time to think. I'm currently reading Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys and it's excellent, but I have been reading it for about three weeks now and I'm not even half way through so there's not much I can say about it yet, really. I'll keep you posted on Twitter, though :)

Thanks for reading (I hope it was interesting - I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive and haven't forgotten about my blog and you lovely readers, I promise!), have a great week and I'll see you soon, hopefully! Also sorry it's so long, but it'll probably be the only new thing for a while ;)