My 2019 Book Blogger Award Nominations // AKA, Giving the Community a Big Warm Hug!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that book bloggers are incredibly lovely people that work damn hard.

Book blogging can be a tough gig. Sometimes you feel that you’re flying high and winning at the internet, and other times it feels like you put in so much effort and don’t get much back for it.

For this reason, it’s so important that we support each other! Luckily, at its core, this community is so wonderfully friendly and passionate, to the point where I regularly feel like giving you guys a huge warm squishy bear hug. Yup, and you’re just going to have to take it!

I’m Becky, and I like warm hugs, just like Olaf!

I will be forever grateful for the love and support I’ve received since stumbling into this part of the internet six years ago, and now, I couldn’t even imagine my life without book bloggers in it!

So when I saw that May was going to be hosting the 2019 Book Bloggers Awards, I thought it was an awesome opportunity to try and give back/shout from the rooftops about some of the amazing bloggers I’ve met along the way! You can read May’s post here for more information on how the awards work!

5 Reasons I Couldn’t Stomach The Price Guide to the Occult (Plus, 5 Reasons You Just Might Like It?)

Oh man. The disappointment of this book. I can’t even handle it.
The thing is, I thought this was a slam dunk for me because:

a) GORGEOUS COVER. Doesn’t it just make you want to pick it up and stroke it immediately?
b) I love stories about witches, curses and forbidden spellbooks and I rarely find a book focussing on these things that I dislike.
c) The author’s debut book was SUPER POPULAR and highly praised.

Um, well I hate to be the one to burst everyone’s pumkin, but while The Price Guide to the Occult may look cute on the outside, it’s kinda rotten, smooshed and disorganised on the inside.

Not only was this my first 1-star read of the year, but it’s also the first ARC I’ve ever disliked. So while I’m thankful to the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review, I am unfortunately unable to say much that’s positive about this novel. However, I am going to do my best to both outline the issues I have with it, and also highlight some reasons why you might get on better with it than I did!

*TRIGGER WARNING: This book contains self-harm and child abuse and I will be discussing it.*

So, what’s it all about?

6 Books on My Autumn TBR // Mythical Creatures, Supernaturals & Magical Kingdoms

The wind is howling, leaves are turning that gorgeous shade of orange as they float down to the frosted ground, and your coat and tartan scarf have been taken out of the wardrobe and dusted off. We all know what this means, it’s autumn.

I had so much fun collating my top 7 Books on my summer TBR pile a couple of months ago and I was surprised by how well my reading went. I have always been a mood reader and I was unsure how I would get on with a list, (in fact, I thought I’d end up going totally off-script and not read anything I expected to) but I READ ALL THE THINGS GUYS, AND IT WAS SO SATISFYING. I really enjoyed changing up how I picked my reads, so I thought I would give it a go for Autumn too! As noted previously, my reading tastes definitely change with the seasons, so you’ll find a lot of fantasy novels on this list! 

So without further ado, here are 6 books I’d like to get to this Autumn (AKA, the books I’m getting crazy grabby hands for!) 

Book Review: Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon

The publishing industry has come on in leaps and bounds when it comes to putting diverse books on the market, certainly the Young Adult section of the store anyway *SO PROUD, sniff*, but one area that is still overlooked is learning disabilities. So I was super excited when I received an advanced reader copy of Rosie Loves Jack from publishers in exchange for an honest review, a contemporary love story following a protagonist with Downs Syndrome, which is something I have never had the chance to read before! A somewhat ambitious tale for a debut author to take on perhaps, but I have to say, she does a pretty good job!

Rosie loves Jack. Jack loves Rosie. So when they’re split up, Rosie will do anything to find the boy who makes the sun shine in her head. Even run away from home. Even cross London and travel to Brighton alone, though the trains are cancelled and the snow is falling. Even though any girl might find that hard, let alone a girl with Down’s syndrome. See the world through new eyes in this one-in-a-million story about fighting for the freedoms that we often take for granted: independence, tolerance and love.

If We Were Having Coffee… // Book Updates, Adventures and London Excursions

If we were having coffee is a blogging community idea, where bloggers publish posts about what they’d like to say to their readers if they were sitting down together having a casual cup of coffee. I understand that the original idea was created by Ashley and I found it through Jamie’s blog.

In my mind, we’re sitting in a small cafe, halfway down a busy high street. It’s kitted out like an old 50s diner, black and white flooring, pink neon signs, and a popcorn machine sits next to an old jukebox. Twisting the Night Away by Sam Cook is playing enthusiastically in the background as I order a coffee and a pink milkshake.  What are you waiting for? Make yourself comfortable, grab a beverage, and let’s chat!

I’d tell you that I just got over a horrendous cold, and 3 days later I’ve only gone and gotten another one! I’ve had an extremely busy couple of months and I think it’s my bodies way of saying “hey wait a minute, chill!!” (Subsequently knocking me out for the count.) I also feel like WHO IS THIS PERSON?! I’ve never had so much booked in my diary EVER. Suddenly I’m hopping all over the place and there’s not enough time in the day!!!

Book Review: Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.
So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting—especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.

 

Based in the same setting that Albertalli created in Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda (and therefore one of my most anticipated reads of the year), Offbeat follows Leah, one of Simon’s best friends who is a self-confessed misfit, and in her own words, the school’s ‘resident fat Slytherin Rory Gilmore’. What can I say? Leah is a girl after my own heart. Well, mostly.

5 Reasons I Gave The Rest of Us Just Live Here 5 Stars | A Review with Buffy Gifs!

The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a book that’s been on my to-read list since before it was even published. Reading the blurb, it felt like it was written for me. Every sentence had me doing a little fist pump and a not entirely dignified flail. Plus, Patrick Ness is a wizard with words so you, know, IT HAD TO BE GOOD RIGHT?

The thing is, once I actually got my hands on the book, I started to feel dread that it wouldn’t live up to my expectations, so it became a kind of ritual when picking my next read to go along my bookshelf, give the gorgeous cover a little stroke, and then move on, picking something else. Well this summer, I thought, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I WILL BE A STRONG BOOKWORM. So I gave myself a little pep talk and opened the first page, and well. I’m so glad I did because it lived up to ALL the expectations.

So let’s get some blurb up in hither and we’ll talk about 5 reasons I gave The Rest of Us Just Live Here 5 stars!

The ‘I Spy’ Book Challenge | Highlighting some Awesome Books!

Hello bibliophiles, caffeine addicts and dragon riders!

I was tagged by the wonderful Sprinkles of Dreams to do this tag (if you haven’t been to her blog before, check it out, it’s gorgeous!). I definitely pick and choose which tags I participate in these days, but this one looked like so much fun that I wanted to jump right in!

Rules for the tag: Find a book that contains (either on the cover or in the title) an example for each category. You must have a separate book for all 20, get as creative as you want and do it within five minutes!

Um, yeah. So this definitely didn’t take me 5 minutes…more like an hour. But I had SO much fun matching books up! I really struggled with finding books for a few of the categories so I decided to spread the challenge to both books I have read and books on my wishlist that I’ve have heard good things about. Hopefully, this post may make you want to add a few books to your wishlist too! 🙂

7 Books On My Summer TBR Pile!

Hello everyone!

It’s that time of year when I’m really getting into that summer feeling (or trying to, with the British weather yo-yoing from scorching heat to torrential downpour). I definitely always notice a change in my reading habits as soon as the weather gets warmer – I find myself reaching for contemporary YA over fantasy novels, and I steer towards more lightweight reads over anything too involved. Looking at my TBR and wishlist, below are some novels I’m really looking forward to reading this summer! *

*As a mood reader, making a bold statement about having a summer TBR will inadvertently mean I don’t get around to reading half of them, but hey, a girl can dream!

 

 

5 Mental Health Conditions I’d Like to See Represented in YA Books

Spreading awareness about mental health is something I am incredibly passionate about. I have to say, I’m SO PROUD of how far society has come. Looking back on even the last 5 years, I feel we’ve made such progress in our understanding and I want us to continue fighting ignorance in 2018! This week is Mental Health Awareness Week so to do my part, I’ve got a topical blog post for you today.

In the last few years, publishers have been producing more and more intelligent and positive YA books featuring mental health which makes my heart SUPER HAPPY. If you’re looking for a book on depression, for instance, they’re pretty easy to find and you have a number to choose from. There are also quite a few books on bipolar disorder and eating disorders – even generalised anxiety disorder, which I had previously struggled to find any books on whatsoever (even when I was actively searching for them!), has now been spotlighted in some fabulous novels.

#WhenImNotReadingBooks: A Day of Culture in London

Hello readers!

In case you can’t tell by the title, I have been off adventuring again.
Despite having spent three years going to a London University, I still find that there is SO MUCH still to discover! Because of this, every time I go to meet my friend who lives in London, she always tries to introduce me to a different area of the city, or we look up any current events that are on and check them out!

Book Review: The Wonder of Us by Kim Culbertson

The first thought I had when I read the blurb for this book was UM, YES PLEASE.
A once in a lifetime European trip? Complex friendship dynamics and angst? GIMMIE. So many thanks to Walker Books for mailing an advanced reader copy so it could find its way into my grabby hands!

Riya and Abby are:
Best friends.  Complete opposites.  Living on different continents.  Currently mad at each other.  About to travel around Europe.
Riya moved to Berlin, Germany, with her family for junior year, while Abby stayed behind in their small California town. They thought it would be easy to keep up their friendship—it’s only a year and they’ve been best friends since preschool. But instead, they ended up fighting and not being there for the other. So Riya proposes an epic adventure to fix their friendship. Two weeks, six countries, unimaginable fun. But two small catches:
They haven’t talked in weeks.
They’ve both been keeping secrets.
Can Riya and Abby find their way back to each other among lush countrysides and dazzling cities, or does growing up mean growing apart?

The Goodreads Book Tag

Hello bookworms!

Hope you’re keeping well. I thought I would pop in to do a fun book tag I found through The Writing Hufflepuff. It seemed like a cool way to catch you up with you guys and discuss what I’ve been reading lately, and vice versa. Hope  you enjoy!

What was the last book you marked as read?

The last book I marked as read on Goodreads was The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowing. Knowing I’m a Potterhead you may be thinking, huh? How has Becky not read this by now? Well, I don’t really know. When I was younger the Harry Potter spin offs never really interested to me, but I’ve recently devoured Quiddich through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and now Beedle, and oh, I have to say, I left the best until last! I really didn’t expect to love Beedle as much as I did. IT WAS ADORABLE. IT WAS FUN AND QUIRKY. IT WAS EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT ROWLING. Each little tale was smart and clever, with a wizarding world related moral attached, and Albus Dumbledore’s notes on each story added an extra layer of interest that made me yearn to reread HP all over again. *Sigh.*

A Quick Thank You!

I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to my Mental Health Awareness Week with a Bookish Twist feature on my blog, whether that was through guest posting, sharing, commenting, liking or simply reading. I was so happy with the responses these posts received and I hope you enjoyed the week, learnt a few things, widened your awareness and got some good book recs!

Thank you so much, guys. 🙂

 

Some important links:

The Mental Health Foundation
NHS Mental Health
Mind
Rethink Mental Illness

Mental Health Awareness Week: My Story.

Hello, everyone! You may not be aware, but this week is mental health awareness week run by the Mental Health Foundation. As this is an area I’m really passionate about both personally and as a psychology student, to do my bit I’ve decided to run a blog feature where I and guest bloggers talk about mental health related topics paired with books and/or blogging to help raise awareness. 🙂

So, it seems like a fitting place to start by sharing my mental health journey with you. This is something that previously, I have decided to gloss over on this blog. Until now, I haven’t felt comfortable discussing it. I felt embarrassed by it, ashamed even and didn’t want anyone to know except a very small select few. Mental health has a sneaky way of doing that to you, backing you into a corner, isolating you from others and blocking out any light or positivity. Something about putting it into writing has always made it feel so… final. It’s not something you can take back. It’s a scary thing to put out there, but I’m finally ready and I’m happy with who I am now.

True story: I suffer with anxiety.