Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Favourite Books Released in the Last Ten Years. Here’s my list:
1. Restore Me (Shatter Me #4) by Tahereh Mafi
2. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
3. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo
4. Fairest of All (Whatever After #1) by Sarah Mlynowski
5. Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus
6. Lady Smoke (Ash Princess Trilogy #2) by Laura Sebastian
7. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) by Michelle Hodkin
8. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
9. Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
10. My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies #1) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Title: Deposing Nathan Author: Zack Smedley Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ Publisher: Page Street Publishing Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: May 7, 2019 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
For sixteen years, Nate was the perfect son—the product of a no-nonsense upbringing and deep spiritual faith. Then he met Cam, who pushed him to break rules, dream, and accept himself. Conflicted, Nate began to push back. With each push, the boys became more entangled in each others’ worlds…but they also spiraled closer to their breaking points. And now all of it has fallen apart after a fistfight-turned-near-fatal-incident—one that’s left Nate with a stab wound and Cam in jail.
Now Nate is being ordered to give a statement, under oath, that will send his best friend to prison. The problem is, the real story of what happened between them isn’t as simple as anyone thinks. With all eyes on him, Nate must make his confessions about what led up to that night with Cam…and in doing so, risk tearing both of their lives apart.
Review:
This book begins at the end. Nate and Cam get into a fight right at the beginning. Cam is charged with stabbing Nate, yet it’s hard to see why when they become friends. Nate recounts their relationship as part of his deposition following the fight. Cam insists that Nate tell the whole story of what happened in their fight during his deposition, which seemed strange since he is the one who was charged.
The ending was a complete shock to me. I had no idea what would happen at the end of the deposition. However, when I look back on the story, there were hints at what would happen throughout it. My jaw dropped open when I read it. It was an amazing twist!
I found this story so compelling and hard to put down. I loved it!
Thank you Page Street Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra
Love and Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford
Have you read Deposing Nathan? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
What I just finished:
This weekend I finished Deposing Nathanby Zack Smedley.
What I’m currently reading:
I’m currently reading The Rosie Result (Don Tillman #3) by Graeme Simsion.
What I’m reading next:
Next I will be reading Watcher in the Woods by Kelley Armstrong.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion.
Goodreads Synopsis:
I was standing on one leg shucking oysters when the problems began…
Don and Rosie are back in Melbourne after a decade in New York, and they’re about to face their most important project.
Their son, Hudson, is having trouble at school: his teachers say he isn’t fitting in with the other kids. Meanwhile, Rosie is battling Judas at work, and Don is in hot water after the Genetics Lecture Outrage. The life-contentment graph, recently at its highest point, is curving downwards.
For Don Tillman, geneticist and World’s Best Problem-Solver, learning to be a good parent as well as a good partner will require the help of friends old and new.
It will mean letting Hudson make his way in the world, and grappling with awkward truths about his own identity.
And opening a cocktail bar.
Hilarious and thought-provoking, with a brilliant cast of characters and an ending that will have readers cheering for joy, The Rosie Result is the triumphant final instalment of the internationally bestselling series that began with The Rosie Project.
Title: Somewhere Only We Know Author: Maurene Goo Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Source: Purchased Format: Hardcover Release Date: May 7, 2019 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
10 00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.
11 00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She’s very cute. He’s maybe curious.
12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same.
Review:
This was a fun story about a K-pop star getting to live a day without her fame.
It was a very fast-paced story. Most of the story takes place in 24 hours. This could be challenging, because it could make the story repetitive or boring if the same two characters are spending the whole book together. However, Lucky and Jack do so many different things in Hong Kong, so it wasn’t repetitive.
Lucky is an outgoing girl. She was making me nervous at times, because of the risks she would take. She snuck out of her hotel without her money or a phone, when she could be recognized and mobbed at any moment. She left her family to become a pop star in Korea when she was a preteen. This made her admirable, because she was brave enough to take these risks.
I loved this book! I highly recommend it for a fun, summer read!
What to read next:
The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo
Teen Idol by Meg Cabot
Have you read Somewhere Only We Know? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
I received a preorder from Indigo:
We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) by Hafsah Faizal
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Disney Book Group:
The Fire Keeper (The Storm Runner #2) by J.S. Cervantes
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Sourcebooks Fire:
Here There are Monsters by Amelinda Bérubé
I had a wish granted on NetGalley from BOOM! Studios:
The Avant-Guards, Vol. 1 by Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes
Thank you Disney Book Group, Sourcebooks Fire, and BOOM! Studios for these books!
Title: The Adventures of Alice Laselles Author: Queen Victoria Genre: Children’s Publisher: Royal Collection Trust Source: Purchased Format: Hardcover Release Date: June 8, 2015 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
To my dear Mamma. This, my first attempt at composition, is affectionately and dutifully inscribed by her affectionate daughter, Victoria.
Long before she became queen, a young Princess Victoria took a keen interest in writing during her studies with a private tutor at Kensington Palace. When she was just ten and three-quarters, she created the story of Alice Laselles as an exercise in English composition. The story is now kept safe in its little marbled notebook in the Royal Archives, and it is published here for the first time.
The Adventures of Alice Laselles centers on young Alice and her thoroughly charming companions at the highly recommended Miss Duncombe’s School for Girls. Scandalizing news soon spreads among the students that someone has brought a cat into the honeysuckled cottage. And though Alice would never dream of doing so undutiful a thing, the transgressing tabby wears a red ribbon round its neck on which is written her name. Will the mystery be disclosed and Alice’s innocence proven by dinnertime? An enchanting children’s story written by a real princess, The Adventures of Alice Laselles is illustrated with characters created from Victoria’s own collection of paper dolls, drawn for her by her governess and delicately hand-colored by Victoria herself. It will enchant and captivate every little princess today.
Review:
Today is Queen Victoria’s birthday. To celebrate, I’m posting a review of a book she wrote when she was 10 years old! I picked up this book a couple of years ago when I was at Buckingham Palace. I was so surprised to see it, because I didn’t know she wrote a book as a child.
This book has the story of Alice Laselles, as well as illustrations. The original copy of this story is kept in the Royal Collection Trust at Windsor Castle. The history of this story is given in the introduction by Jacqueline Wilson. Queen Victoria wrote the story for her mother, and illustrated it with her governess. There are also images of the paper dolls she created with her governess at the end of the story. They are so beautiful! I’m amazed at how she made paper dolls when she was a child, and I also remember playing with paper dolls when I was a child almost 200 years later!
This is a beautiful book. The cloth cover makes it a keepsake. The story is also quite entertaining. This book is a must read for any fan of Queen Victoria.
What to read next:
Who Was Queen Victoria? by Jim Gigliotti
My Name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley
Have you read The Adventures of Alice Laselles? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“People lived because she killed. And if that meant braving the Arz where even the sun was afraid to glimpse itself, then so be it.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1) by Hafsah Faizal.
Goodreads synopsis:
People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways.
Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.
War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the king on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds—and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.
Have you read We Hunt the Flame? What did you think of it?
