Hello, readers!
So the other day, I visited my local bookshop – WHSmith – and purchased a few books that I wanted to read. When I got home, I then went onto Amazon.co.uk and saw some recommended books… I may have gone a tad overboard.
In WHSmith I bought four books, and I ordered four books from Amazon as well. That’s eight books. In total. In. One. Day… I smell you guys judging me.
So, below, I have compiled a list of all the books I bought – including a short summary and a few comments of my own. (The covers shown are the most recent covers – for books that have had cover changes – and are also all UK covers).
WHSMith Haul
- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: “Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris–until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all…including a serious girlfriend.” I have seen this book on tonnes of blogs and BookTube channels and have not been able to find it anywhere. However, when I found it in WHSmith I could not resist the temptation to pick it up, and it will now go on my December/January/2015 reading list.
- Lola and the Boy Next Door (companion to Anna) by Stephanie Perkins: “Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion…she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit—more sparkly, more fun, more wild—the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When Cricket—a gifted inventor—steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.” As this is the companion to Anna and by the same author, I decided to pick this up as well! The cover looks amazing.
- Isla and the Happily Ever After (companion to Anna and Lola) by Stephanie Perkins: “Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.” Again, I had to pick up the companion. C’mon!
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: “Charlie is a freshman. And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.
Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor” I decided to read this because – I know, this was a terrible thing to do and I am ashamed – I had seen the film and it was truly amazing! So I picked this up expecting it to be so much better!
Amazon Haul
- Landline by Rainbow Rowell: Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems beside the point now.
Maybe that was always beside the point.
Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . Is that what she’s supposed to do? Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?” I had seem Christine Riccio of PolandBananasBOOKS on YouTube do a video on this book, and while it gave away some spoilers, it made me really want to read this book. I love romances, and it sounds like the best romance ever!
- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell: “”Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . ”
Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.
Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now- reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.
When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can’t help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.
By the time Lincoln realizes he’s falling for Beth, it’s way too late to introduce himself.
What would he say . . . ” This book looked amazing as well! Since I’m halfway through Fangirl by the same author, I decided I wanted to read more of her work. I really like her writing style, it’s so descriptive and I just love it to pieces. Her characters are also so original, relatable and well developed: a reader’s dream!
- My True Love Gave to Me by Various Authors* (inc. Ddavid Levithan and Holly Black): “If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: TWELVE HOLIDAY STORIES by twelve bestselling young adult writers, edited by international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins.” I decided I really wanted to read this because Ii read a collection of holiday stories called Let it Snow (review in the works) and I really really loved it! Also, the writers who are involved with this book are all so good, so it’s obviously worth reading. This is in my December reading list, along with a Let it Snow re-read.
- Cinder Marissa Meyer: “Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future” Again, I saw SO MANY book blogs raving about this book and this author and this series and it’s amazingness so I decided to give it a try. I haven’t started it yet but I can tell by the plot summary and the cover that I will enjoy it thoroughly.
So that is it for my completely random and unexpected book haul. I hope you enjoyed reading about these books and who knows, maybe it will tempt you to pick one of them up? Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see you all next time.
~Jemma
*Authors of My True Love Gave to Me: Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, Ally Carter, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Matt de la Pena, Rainbow Rowell, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White.
Socks and Books 