Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and Bookish

Hey guys! This weeks TTT is top ten books set outside of the U.S. So, I don’t know about you, but this was hard! It was like every book that I had ever read that was set outside of America just flew away from me! However, I managed to remember ten, so without further ado and in no particular order:

10.  Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley. Set in a military academy in Denmark. Normally I would have glossed over this book based on the front cover – it isn’t something that screams read me. I read a glowing review, however, and decided to pick it up myself! I am so glad I did because I absolutely loved it!

9.  And I Darken by Kierstin White. Set in the Ottoman Empire. I think everyone has pretty much been waiting for this book! I loved the fact that it was set in the Ottoman empire – definitely unique and definitely something I could learn about!

8.  The Assassin Game by Kirsty McKay. Set on an island just off the coast of Ireland. I definitely loved the idea of not being able to get back to the main land whenever you wanted and only when the tide was right! It was a fitting setting for a thriller!

7.  Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Set in Aruba. Can you imagine being arrested for murder, in a country that is not your own and then going through the entire trial in said country? No, me neither! But I absolutely adored this book as well as its counterpart, Dangerous Boys, and I definitely recommend them!!

6.  The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich. Set in Britain. This book Creeped. Me. Out! Like, seriously! I had to wait until my husband got back just to go to bed! Whilst waiting for him, I had all the lights on in the house! Yup, read this book!

5.  Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling. This is classical British… I don’t think I need to say anymore on the matter…

4.  Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman. Set in Germany. I loved the history in this book! 1930s Germany pre WWII is not something you often see in YA books and I loved the uniqueness of this book! Definitely need to read the second one soon!

3.  Queen of Someday by Sherry D. Ficklin. Set in Russia. Have you noticed how a lot of these books are YA Historical Fiction??

2.  Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Set in France. I loved this cutesy read!

1.  Say Her Name by James Dawson. Set in a British Boarding school. I think the legend of Bloody Mary pretty much makes its rounds of schools all around Britain. I mean, did you really go to a British school if you didn’t chant Bloody Mary?

So that’s it! I enjoyed all of these book, even if their settings eluded me for a while!

What books have you read that are set outside of the U.S? Feel free to drop me comments and links and I will check them all out!

Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson

Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit, which is somehow tracking their every move. WhileAlex is determined to keep Lila safe and her ability secret at any cost, Lila’s only thought isoffinding a way back to California so she can rescue her brother and mother from the military base where they’re being held.

Struggling to control both her growing power and her deepening feelings for Alex, Lila decides the time has finally come to stop running and start fighting. Together with Alex, Demos, and the others she’s come to think of as family, Lila plans not onlyto save her brother and mum, but also to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. But the plan requires Lila to return to California alone, andto make friends with the enemy – and in doing so, sheriskslosing everything:Alex, her family… even her life. (Goodreads)

Losing Lila is the second and final instalment in this series – which I find a little bit sad! I would have loved to have seen this series as a trilogy rather than a duo. That aside, I loved this book probably more than I did the first!

The reader can see how the characters have developed from one book to the next, which makes the book more interesting because they live and learn – much like real life. It is easier to relate to characters who change based on the experiences and problems that they face. Lila went from a character who was constantly nervous and quite shy to being a character who jumped into the middle of action and wasn’t afraid to show who she was to the people around her. Alex and Jack managed to put their prejudices aside (from everything they had learnt from where they work) and managed to work together with the people with special powers.

We also got to know the dad a little bit more within this book which allowed the reader to connect more to the character. Before, he was a character who had appeared a couple of times, but he wasn’t a fixed part of the book. With his sudden appearance, the reader could watch the relationship between himself and his children develop – even the relationship between himself and the people with special powers developed!

I also loved the twists and turns within this book. Some of them literally left me with my mouth hanging open. Some of them left me feeling really sorry for the characters involved, while others made some of the events make more sense.

I could have easily imagined these books being a trio and I think it is sad that it isn’t one! Either way, I loved both of these books and gave this book a 5/5 stars.

Hunting Lila

17-year-old Lila has two secrets she’s prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Alex, since forever.

After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust—her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organization called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they’ve found them.

In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realizes that she is not alone—there are others out there just like her—people with special powers—and her mother’s killer is one of them…(Goodreads)

I read this book quite a long time ago (surprise surprise) as it is one of the books that I read for my British Books Challenge. I’d had it on my TBR for a while before that, so the BBC seemed like a good reason to get me to actually get around to reading it. Of course, I ended up kicking myself because I hadn’t read it before that point!

This is one of those supernatural books that could go either way – either it will be amazing and you won’t be able to put it down or it is going to be awful and you are going to wish you hadn’t bothered in the beginning. Thankfully for me, this was worth the read! Lila is someone who can move things with her mind. Her brother and his best friend (the love of her life) work for a very secret military group who hunt down people with special abilities because they are led to believe that they are all evil. The best bit – the boys don’t know about her powers and she doesn’t know what exactly they do at work all day, only that it is military and secret! The premises for an amazing story, right?

What I loved about this book is that the relationships between the characters were all realistic and easily believable. They are relationships that the reader can take off of the page and apply to real life. Protective older brothers and his best friend (who has been around since forever), problematic relationships with the father because of the death of the mother.

Another thing about this book is the fact that it is easy to read and fast paced – there isn’t a boring moment within the book. There is always something going on from the very first page, which makes the book enjoyable to read.

This book had a lot of twists and turns, which left me glued to the pages! I didn’t want this book to end and I immediately picked up the next instalment once I had finished this book. I gave this book 5/5 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and Bookish.

Hey guys! time for another TTT and this week is top ten characters who are fellow book lovers. When I first read this, I completely blanked. Then I thought about it some more and realised that there are a fair few out there. So, in no particular order:

10.  Juliette from Shatter Me. Juliette is a very curious character and she comes across as someone who wants to know everything there is to know about everything. She is also a character who would use books as a form of escapism from her life, who wrote in her notebook when she was locked up.

9.  Celaena from Throne of Glass. Celaena is a character well known for being a female MC who kicks a lot of butt. However, she is also a book lover! Who would have thought it?

8.  Hermione from Harry Potter. I can imagine that Hermione is going to be a particularly popular choice this week! She is our beloved smart ass – who wouldn’t pick her for this weeks topic!

7.  Tyrion Lannister from A Game of Thrones. Tyron uses his mind to keep an edge on those around him – and to do this, he always has a book in his hand.

6.  Elizabeth from Pride and Prejudice. As Darcy points out, Elizabeth is constantly extending her knowledge through copious amounts of reading. She always seems to have a book in her hand!

5.  Klaus from A Series of Unfortunate Events. Back to my childhood for a moment to visit Klaus Baudelaire. He was our inventor, who managed to get the Baudelaire children out of horrid situations through his constant studying and reading.

4.  Sang from The Academy Series. Sang, although she isn’t constantly reading, she does enjoy a good book – I guess thats what makes her so relatable.

3.  Lara from to all the boys I’ve loved before. While it isn’t shown that Lara is someone who enjoys to read, she definitely comes across that way. She is a typical nerdy character and she did write all those letters – her way of communicating her feelings!

2.  Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Now, I don’t actually know if Belle was a book nerd from the get go, but I grew up watching her on screen and there she was a book nerd. So I guess I am cheating – but I am sure you don’t mind!

1.  Hanna from Beautiful Player. Until Hanna is forced to go and get a life, she is a character who is constantly studying and working – so it would make sense that she is a book worm!

What did you guys come up with? Feel free to leave comments and links below.

Beautiful Player by Christina Lauren

A bombshell bookworm. A chronic Casanova. And a lesson in chemistry too scandalous for school.

When Hanna Bergstrom receives a lecture from her overprotective brother about neglecting her social life and burying herself in grad school, she’s determined to tackle his implied assignment: get out, make friends, start dating. And who better to turn her into the sultry siren every man wants than her brother’s gorgeous best friend, Will Sumner, venture capitalist and unapologetic playboy?

Will takes risks for a living, but he’s skeptical about this challenge of Hanna’s…until the wild night his innocently seductive pupil tempts him into bed- and teaches him a thing or two about being with a woman he can’t forget. Now that Hanna’s discovered the power of her own sex appeal, it’s up to Will to prove he’s the only man she’ll ever need. (Goodreads)

I actually started this series a while back – I can’t believe it took me this long to actually crack open this book. It has been sat waiting for me for a fair few weeks now and I literally feel like kicking myself.

What I love about this book (and, indeed, the series) is that, although we are introduced to new characters, we have the familiarity of the old characters. The connection between the reader and the book itself deepens in a sort of sense because we can see how the lives of the characters we first fell in love with pan out.

What I also enjoyed about this book, possibly more so than in the other books, is that the emotions that the characters felt for each other were already established before they even began sleeping together. The emotions experienced in the first two books both stemmed after they all started sleeping together. In a sense, it felt more real and I felt like I could relate more to this situation than that of the first two.

Will and Hanna are characters that seem to click from the very get go. They have a chemistry together which makes them enjoyable to read. While they needed to work on their communication and some points within the book (which couple doesn’t?), I loved the fact that they were both mostly open with one another throughout. It meant that the reactions of the other one were more genuine. They are funny and a good example of the idea that love can happen to anyone at anytime.

I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book within this series and I gave it 5/5 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and Bookish.

Hey people! Time for another TTT. Is it just me, or does it seem like this year is flying? It feels like yesterday when I wrote last weeks TTT. Oh well, this weeks TTT is Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR. My summer TBR is a list that seems to be constantly updating itself, so while this is what I am currently hoping to read this summer, it may change based on books that I add to my TBR or books that I actually get. Without further ado, and in no particular order:

10.  Those Girls by Lauren Saft. I added this book to my TBR a few weeks ago, and it made my summer TBR 🙂

9.  Spelled by Betsy Schow. Who doesn’t love a retelling of childhood fairytales?

8.  P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han. I loved To All The Boys I’ve loved Before and I have been waiting for this book for ages! I actually already own a copy and I will be cracking it open after I have finished reading A Storm of Swords!

7.  Beautiful player by Christina Lauren. Again, another series that I have adored so far and again a book that I already own but need to read!

6.  The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. I added this to my TBR list after reading a glowing review of it! Plus, I am adding it to my British Books Challenge – definitely a book that I want to read over the summer!

5.  The Fill In Boyfriend by Kasie West. Anything Kasie West has written is perfect Summer reading and I literally cannot wait to open this book! I have loved every book that she has written and she is definitely on my favourite authors list.

4.  Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. As a Black Swan fan and as a current PLL binge watcher (although I was a fan quite a while back), these two definitely need to meet! Who doesn’t enjoy reading about bitchy girls?

3.  They All Fall Down by Roxanne ST. Claire. Again, PLL meets Final Destination. I know what Final Destination is about but I have never actually seen it! Either way, this is definitely on my summer TBR.

2.  The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen. I find books about revenge fairly funny and enjoyable and they normally remind me of John Tucker Must Die and they are, at least for me, feel good books! Schadenfreude…

1.  The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich. I guess this is really a summery book, rather more of a halloween read. However, this is being release late summer and it is a book I NEED!! It looks so cool! So, to hell with normal, cutesy summer reads and bring on the horror! 🙂

That’s it guys! I could have easily carried on beyond the realms of ten books, but I stuck to the rules. *pats back* Now, I am off to have a lay down before attempting to eat again… What are your summer TBR’s this year? Feel free to leave your comments and links below and I will check them all out! 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and Bookish.

Hi guys! Can’t believe we’r halfway through the year already – where is it going??? This weeks TTT is top ten books that I’d like to see as films/TV Shows. This is a hard one, especially (and we all know it), the books are always better than the films! However, here are my choices, in no particular order:

10.  Dragonlance by Magaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I have read both the Chronicles series and the Legends series and I think, if done right, these books would make epic films! Just like Lord of the Rings!

9.  The Walls Around Us by Nova Suma. Not entirely sure how they would film it to get the right atmosphere, but I reckon this could be quite creepy!

8.  Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. For anyone who knows me/follows my blog etc. will know that I absolutely adore this series! I would love to see what they could do with it on screen!

7.  Splintered by A. G. Howard. I reckon Tim Burton’s imagination could handle this – what do you guys think?

6.  The Selection by Kiera Cass. I guess this one is technically cheating since Warner Bros recently bought the film rights for this series – but I am still looking forward to it!

5.  Say Her Name by James Dawson. My life is missing a decent horror movie – or maybe I just don’t scare easily? Either way, this could make for a good horror movie! 🙂

4.  Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Again, this could be a great film – if the film industry could handle such awesomness…

3.  The Iron Trials by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. This would be a challenge because of the high risk that it would be just like Harry Potter!

2.  Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley. With a little bit of everything in this book – it could easily be a crowd pleaser if done right.

1.  Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Again, another challenge. If they got the psychology right and portrayed it in the right way, this could be as enjoyable as the book.

That’s it! What do you guys think? Feel free to leave opinions, answers and links in the comments section below.

British Books Challenge – update

The British Books Challenge is being hosted by Fluttering Butterflies.

Hey guys! I realised that while I was checking out some books via Goodreads and other blogs, I noticed that I hadn’t done an update of the British Books Challenge since I started! Now, I know that this isn’t a requirement of the challenge, but I think it is a good idea to update it so that I have an idea of what I need to read and you guys have an idea of how far along I am. I haven’t actually read one book per month written by a British author – which I guess almost defeats the point. I will still, however, have read 12 books by the end of the year and hopefully more! I am going to add some books to the original list and I am going to leave links to the reviews that I have already written and, obviously, links to the Goodreads page themselves!

 Stolen: A Letter to my Captor. I have actually already read this… So to speak. I had such high expectations of this book, but it just didn’t deliver and I ended up DNFing it! Here is a link to my review with the reasons why.

 You Against Me by Jenny Downham. I still have to get a copy of this book and actually open it! However, this, I think, is one of those books that you really have to be in the right mood for and, till now, the mood hasn’t really taken me! Hopefully it will do soon!

 Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson. I actually have a copy of this book sitting and waiting for me to open it. I am planning on doing that fairly soon!

 Hurt by Tabitha Suzuma. I fell in love with Suzuma’s writing after reading Forbidden. Again, this is a book that has to be read when in the right mood.

 Me and Mr J by Rachel McIntyre. As someone who had both a high school crush on a teacher and was in the position of having a student crushing on me when I was their teacher, I am looking forward to seeing just how close to the mark this book is!

 Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Even thinking about this book has my skin tingling! I adored this book, just like I did Dangerous Boys and I feel like I need another one! Even if it is in the form of Dangerous Babies… I just want another! Here is my review!

Cruel Summer by James Dawson. I should have probably guessed from his name that James Dawson a British author is. I just didn’t – I am a fail of an English person! I adored his book Say Her Name and I recently decided to add this book to both my TBR and my British Books Challenge.

 A Kiss in the Dark by Cat Clarke. I have had this book on my TBR for absolutely ages now – and I only recently realised the the author is British! Win win! Time to take this book off of my leaning tower of TBR!

 The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein. So, my dad actually has the limited addition “Lord of the Rings” book, which has all three books with illustrated pictures to go along with it. He also owns each book separately – which are all looking a bit worse for wear. However, his second book went missing quite a while back (I’m assuming after some little tyke ruined it and made it unreadable), and I was forced to take his limited edition book under threat of death if I creased on page or even marked it in any sense or form. I have now had this book for absolutely ages – I think going on 2 years – because I started the second book, but never actually finished the book. I guess this is a good time to finish said book and a challenge gives me an incentive to read it sooner rather than later.

I think that is it for now! I should probably go and find some more authors to add to this list! Or, if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below

Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren

Escaping a cheating ex, finance whiz Sara Dillon’s moved to New York City and is looking for excitement and passion without a lot of strings attached. So meeting the irresistible, sexy Brit at a dance club should have meant nothing more than a night’s fun. But the manner—and speed—with which he melts her inhibitions turns him from a one-time hookup and into her Beautiful Stranger.

The whole city knows that Max Stella loves women, not that he’s ever found one he particularly wants to keep around. Despite pulling in plenty with his Wall Street bad boy charm, it’s not until Sara—and the wild photos she lets him take of her—that he starts wondering if there’s someone for him outside of the bedroom.

Hooking up in places where anybody could catch them, the only thing scarier for Sara than getting caught in public is having Max get too close in private. (Goodreads)

After reading Beautiful Bastard the other day and absolutely loving it, obviously reading the next in the series was a must. I am glad that I did! Of course, I have to love this book even more based purely on the fact that our leading man is a Brit. Being English, I practically revelled in the idea that someone was being represented from my part of the world!

What Christina and Lauren managed to do here, which many American authors fail at, was keeping Max inherently British, even if he had lived in America for the past few years. He spoke and acted like a Brit, which just made this book even more enjoyable because I didn’t feel like it was just a made up work of fiction – they pulled it off. Although, someone is seriously going to have to explain to me (preferably an American) what they find so fascinating about our accent… I just don’t get it! What I also loved about this was the fact that Max wasn’t Bennett. I was worried I was going to be reading pretty much a repeat of the first book, however, the dynamics, stories etc from the characters was completely different, which made this book interesting in its own right. Max was quirky and fun, but always straight up about everything. I found myself laughing at his attempts to use American phrases and the fact that he just sounded so different compared to the American language in the rest of the book.

Sara was a breath of fresh air as well. Again, she was completely different to Chloe and had her own demons in the closet. At the beginning of the book, I lost felt like I was living vicariously through her because I have also never experienced what she experienced in the night club etc. I married pretty quick and was never one to linger around night clubs, go out dancing or to drink. I really loved her as a character and I loved the fact that she had her own demons in the closet that she had to deal with in her own time – it made the story seem more realistic. I am glad that she managed to learn through her mistakes and that both Max and Sara managed to learn from each other.

This time I decided not to drink and read this book at the same time – which I am pretty sure my bed and my macbook are happy about! Reading their encounters and quirks and how they are with each other in general left a warm fuzzy feeling behind and a feel good mood!

I am really enjoying this series so far and I am looking forward to reading the next instalment! I gave this book 5/5 stars