Book of the month: 'Where the Crawdads Sing' by Delia Owens*

I haven't done a book of the month in a long time, but Where the Crawdads Sing was such a beyond beautiful book I had to bring it back. This book is like nothing I've read in a long time, and more poignantly, like no recent publication I've come across. I feel like it's reminiscent of American literature from the 60s-80s and it was honestly the kind of soothing read I needed at such an intense time.

Spring (pre-lockdown) book haul

A few weeks before coronavirus and then lockdown really kicked off in the UK, I helped organise a charity book sale where I work and I'm SO glad I did because what else is there to do indoors everyday other than read? I've got a whole bunch of books to take me to the other side of lockdown, and I'm just not sure what to read first out of these (although a lot of people have raved about The Cactus).

January Reading Wrap Up

At the start of every new year I always seem to have a LOT of time for reading, and January often winds up being the month where I spend the most time indoors. It's wet and cold and no one has any money after Christmas, so staying in with blankets and books is the only answer. I read 7 books last month and although not all of them are going down as favourites for me, I'm pretty pleased with managing to read that many.

2019's top 10 (and worst 5!) books

2019 was really the year that 10 year old me emerged again with an INTENSE love for all things books. I delved into a whole lot of books that normally stay far far away from my radar, turned my instagram into a bookstagram, re-organised my shelves and *almost* hit my Goodreads target. 

September reading wrap up

I had grand plans to smother my blog in loads of posts last month (and sort of this month too), but I've just realised that my last post is a reading wrap up from a month ago so THINGS ARE GOING WELL.

August reading wrap up

Last month was my best month of 2019 for reading so far this year: most of the books I read were great, I read a fair few of them and I finally finished reading the book on my kindle that has taken THREE MONTHS to get through ffs. I know this is going up a bit late, and I wish I could say that I've been busy, but, well that would be a lie. I've been reading, so that's something at least? 

June and July reading wrap up

It has been a WHILE since I sat down on here to write. I've been doing a tonne of reading over the past few months, mostly because it's summer and I don't want to do much expect laze around with a book in my hand. Naturally now that we're half way through August though the rainy/Autumny weather seems to have kicked in. 

New-in books - big birthday book haul!

I rarely ever buy new books. It's something I can't really afford to do, and if I'm honest, sharing books with friends or buying them second hand is what books are all about for me. It makes them come with a sense of community, and feel a bit more treasured. There's nothing like finding a signed(!) copy of something you're dying to read in a local charity shop (I almost fainted that day), or passing a book on to a friend knowing they'll adore it. The publishing side of me is screaming at myself right now because wow what are you doing?! But I love it.

(A Very Overdue) May Reading Wrap Up

I'm actually so behind on everything (my house is a mess, my blog is a mess and can I even use social media properly anymore? Unsure), that putting this up near the end of June actually almost feels like I'm on time. I read a LOT last month, because, well, mostly because summer's not actually arrived yet, has it? 

Spring 2019 book releases I NEED

Okay, need is a bit of overkill, but deep down is it really? My heart/mind has a real need to see these books. So, as I've been getting more into actually updating things on Goodreads, I've been fully absorbed into the world of 'I wonder what's coming out this month'. It's a rabbit hole I've spent a lot of time down, but I'm not exactly sad I fell.
Here are the best (IMO) releases from this Spring that we all need to give a read because wow I hope they live up to all my expectations. They'd also all look beautiful on my shelves as a plus. 

Scar by Alice Broadway is pretty much at the top of the list. This is the third in Broadway's 'Ink' trilogy of books. I read the first one last year, immediately downloaded the second to my kindle and I've wanted to get my hands on the third ever since. 

The series is a set of fantasy novels set in a town where everybody's life stories are tattooed on their skins, and no one can truly keep secrets (or so they say ...).

There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon. Can we just take a minute to discuss that there's another book in the Rishi/Dimple world?! I cannot cope. When Dimple Met Rishi was one of my favourite books of 2017, and I still need to get around to From Twinkle, With Love.

After being dumped, Ashish finally agrees to let his parents set him up with someone they think will be his perfect match. Sweetie is determined to shake off the stereotypes that have followed her throughout her whole life, and being forced to see Ashish by her parents is the last thing she wants. But maybe, they both might find who they need to be ...

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams has the most BEAUTIFUL cover, doesn't it? This has been all over my insta and twitter feeds, and a bookish person whose recommendations I trust blindly has said it's fab, so I'm expecting incredible things.

Queenie is a 25-year-old Jamaican-British woman living in London. After breaking up with her white boyfriend, she comes face to face with the fact that she's been straddling two cultures, and must ask herself questions we all ask: what am I doing, why am I doing it, and who do I want to be?

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi has been recommended to me a few times by Goodreads, but I haven't seen that many people talking about it yet. This has a bit of a fantasy aspect to it, with ties back to Hansel and Gretel.

Perdita Lee and her mother Harriet find that no matter what happens in their lives, they can always come back to the old gingerbread recipe that Harriet grew up with. When Perdita adventures out to find her mother's long lost friend Gretel, everything takes even more of a mystical turn.

Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard is her second book set in the same world as Beautiful Broken Things (I love all this alliteration). BBT was the first YA book I've read in my memory that has focused solely on teen female friendships. A couple of crushes flitted in and out but that was it. We need more of this in YA fiction pls. This was a Feb release, but I'm totally counting it as Spring. 

2 years on from BBT, Suzanne is starting at rock bottom after a massive downward spiral. She needs her best friends Caddy and Rosie at her side, but with them about to leave for university, things are tougher than ever.

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas is probably my most anticipated release for the whole of 2019. I can't even begin to explain how incredible The Hate U Give was, but we should all read it.

A homage to hip-hop, a large part of Thomas' writing inspiration, On the Come Up tells the story of 16-year-old Bri, determined to become a rap legend. Bri wants to fill the shoes of her father, who passed away before making it big. But when her mum loses her job, and homelessness stares Bri in the face, she realises she HAS to make it big.

And that's a wrap! Let me know what new releases you really want to try too - I need a little addition to my TBR pile!

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2019 Spring book haul!

I haven't done a big ol' book haul roundup this year yet! It was an absolute staple of my blog over the last couple of years but I just hadn't worked my way up to gathering everything together, and I've also been buying a lot fewer books. 

My 2019 Goodreads challenge (and an overdue 2018 roundup!)

I read a LOT of books last year, especially in comparison to the previous few years. I finally got back into the swing of loving my books and oh my god is it continuing into 2019. I also got on the Goodreads hype and I love it. The whole tracking of all your books gives me pure stats-based joy. And the emails letting you know when authors you've read before are bringing out new books are giving me life (and potentially bankrupting me) each month.

Book of the month - 'This is Going to Hurt' by Adam Kay

It's been a long time since I've sat down to chat about my favourite book of the month, but it's something I really want to bring back to my blog for 2019.
This is Going to Hurt has been all over my Instagram and Twitter feeds for months now, and I'd put off reading it because I'm just not *that* into anything that resembles non-fiction or some kind of memoir. But I was surprised by how much I adored it.

2019 Reading Bucket List

Every year I convince myself that I'm going to read a few books that have been sitting on my shelves for way too long, and every year I end up forgetting what I wanted to get through. Last year I got sick of this and challenged myself to read a whole set of classics/long books/books that intimidate me, and writing it down really helped me to keep this in check. I mean, I only read seven of them, but I'm pretty sure that's seven more than I otherwise would have done. So, let's get into it: here's my big reading bucket list for 2019!

My top ten books of 2018

I've actually got it together to get a post up for the first time in a couple of weeks and I just?? The flu absolutely knocked me for six and I so wanted to attempt at making January productive. But I've got another 16 days to go and life isn't all about putting words out there. 

Last book haul from 2018 - everything I got in November/December

I almost got through Christmas without getting a single book and it all felt very weird, but never fear - the sales and a strange addiction to the sweet smell of used books in charity shops had my back. I hope you're all having a fab start to 2019, and I can't wait to share this first bookish post of the year with you!

October's Reading in Heels sub box

October seems to be getting away from me - it's absolutely speeding by and I haven't even had a chance to share this month's Reading in Heels box! This one has been a massive hit for me, and I just seem to be getting more and more surprised at just how much they manage to cram into one box. 

Review of 'The Honeymoon' by Tina Seksis - blog collab with Aimee Raindrop Writes

A couple of months ago, myself and Aimee (at Aimee Raindrop Writes) set ourselves a challenge: as blogging besties with a love for books, we decided to each read the other person's three favourite books of all time. You'll have to check out Aimee's blog for the future post on the first of my top three she's read, but for now, here's The Honeymoon by Tina Seksis. 

September book haul - YA fiction, thrillers and more!

Autumn is when I always seem to get really back into reading. There's nothing better than curling up under a blanket, lighting some candles and turning away from the world for a couple of hours to read on a chilly evening. So it's no surprise that I've picked up a whole selection of new reads in the last month. There are some books in here that I've been wanting to buy for over a year, and I'm so happy to finally see them lining my shelves!

Summer book haul

I never thought I'd be saying this but ... I've been buying fewer books recently, and I'm okay with it. I'm trying to condense my unreasonably huge TBR a little, and buying fewer books means that I'm less likely to get distracted by new reads.