Books I had to read throughout my education.

I got this idea from Alison Can Read's feature 'What Books?' (check it out - she has a lovely blog) and I thought it was such a fun and original idea. So, sorry Alison but I'm copying this a little bit because I loved the idea so much!

So, for many MANY classes throughout my school life since Year 9 (8th Grade), I have HAD to read books as part of the course as coursework or just to read a book really. It's basically the normal classical books (Shakespeare, Austen) that most people will read at maybe at some point in their lives and that so much has been written about them, so it's easy to revise with many study books available (most of the time anyway).
Some of these books will always stay a favourite - or always stay in my mind for how much I hated them.

YEAR 9 (8TH GRADE): 

Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare

 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Can I just say that this is the reason I hate To Kill a Mockingbird. We spent 5 whole months reading it and I still didn't understand a word - to be honest, I had to watch the film to realise what was actually happening.  So I have a bias view of this book but 5 months studying it?!

YEAR 10 (9TH GRADE):

An Inspector Calls - J.B.Priestley

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

An Inspector Calls is a very good play and it was the first piece of coursework I ever did. Of Mice and Men I had to learn completely about for the end of year exam which meant knowing every single little theme/movement/description and of course, this is full of it. Really enjoyed the book though and I got top marks in that exam!

YEAR 11 (10TH GRADE):

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare

Both of these were for coursework in my English Literature and Language GCSE's. We only did a section from Romeo and Juliet but I still barely understood the plot especially with the language. Here, we discovered the first adaptation of it with a Romeo who looks like he could be related to Zac Efron - I am not kidding. Some shouting 'Oh my god, it's Zac Efron' when we first watched it. Check it out. 

I had read Pride and Prejudice a few years before and didn't really understand it. But then I watched the movie and sort of fell in love with the story and the ideas of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. So I was quite pleased to be doing the novel over Frankenstein like some other classes. This did fuel my Austen adaptation addiction...

YEAR 12 (11TH GRADE) - NOW!

Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller

Othello - William Shakespeare

Enduring Love - Ian McEwan

 The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald

The Odyssey - Homer

This is what books I'm studying at the moment. Enduring Love is awful - I would not recommend it to anyone. Joe, the main character, is in the middle of a scene and then, okay, start rambling about science things WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND. My hate for this book does not even have words.

The Great Gatsby however, I love. It's a beautiful book and I love reading it. Gladly, this is the book we have to know in depth.

The Odyssey - it is good and interesting more so than Enduring Love. But we are halfway through. We started 3 months ago. We have our exam in 5 weeks. You see my dislike right there. 

I hope you found that interesting. Let me know what books you did at secondary school or college/high school. I am quite interested to see if they were similar!

End of Year Book Survey

I saw this last year but didn't jump on the wagon but decided this year that I would. This is a meme hosted in the month of December by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner - one of my favourite blogs.

Anyway, all you have to do is answer the questions she has created with your favourite books of 2011, and then you can add your post to Jamie's answers with the Mr.Linky. Click here for more details.

1. Best Book You Read In 2011? 
Okay, this is hard. I mean, I don't know if I can pinpoint one.
So I'm doing the great idea of Jamie's method to answer this question.

YA American author: Theodore Boone - John Grisham
YA English author: The Rogue's Princess - Eve Edwards
Dystopian: The Legacy AND The Hunger Games
Adult: Girl With A Pearl Earring
Historical: I was Jane Austen's Best Friend

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?
Wicked by Gregory Macguire - my friends and I love the musical and my friends love the book so I thought I would try it out. Warning for potential readers: If you've seen the musical, avoid this book at all costs. Haven't seen the musical? Fine, go ahead, read away.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?
Saving June by Hannah Harrington - I did not think I would enjoy this book but surprisingly, I did!

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?
Erm...probably with my job at a bookstore, I recommended The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Hunger Games SO MANY TIMES.

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?
Probably a cross between The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, the Once, Then, Now series by Morris Gleitzman and the Theodore Boone series by John Grisham - all very good.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?
OH, so many!
Erm, Robin Benway, Emma Craigie, Cora Harrison, John Green, Suzanne Collins - so many!

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
An Education by Lynn Barber was a very different book for me. It is a biography and although I'm interested in the movie of this, I felt so uncomfortable and bored by just reading about her life - I don't know, I just realised that I don't enjoy biographies

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
Let's face it. It has to be The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?
Probably The Legacy by Gemma Malley. I read the first two in The Declaration series in quick succession so I really was hungry to know what happened next, especially as this was the final book in the trilogy. And it was the best, I think.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?
I am one of those people that judge a book by its cover, so covers make me want to read a book more. I think Wither has to be one - it is so beautiful and I bought the book without knowing what it was about BECAUSE of the cover. Another favourite of mine is the cover for The 10pm Question.

11. Most memorable character in 2011? 
There have been so many but the one I think of quite often is Flavia from The Roman Mysteries. 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?
Hands down - A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson. Such a beautiful book that I have thought of often throughout the year.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011? 
I think Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Andersen had a huge impact on me. I mean, I am quite thin and have been called anorexic before, and I know at least 3 girls who want to lose weight but are thinner than me. It made me think about how we all obsess about weight but what if you couldn't control that obsession...if I'm honest, that thought really scared me.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?
*in a quiet voice* The Hunger Games...

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011? 
Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen: One shall be married, one shall be famous and one shall be dead'


16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?
Meg Cabot needs to be in my life a bit more: Teen Idol 

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
Okay so at one point in Saving June, I was like 'Where the hell did this come from?'
The END of Candor - I did not see that coming, I forced my friend to read it so I could talk about it...
The Hunger Games - OH MY LORD THE END.
Where She Went - AHHH THE END AHHH.

 Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2011

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2011? 
There are so many I have discovered this year. I love Amy's blog, Nessie's, Audrey from Holes in my brain - sorry, but there are so many I love, they are the main ones I can think of right now.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2011? 
If I'm honest, I don't have a favourite at all. They are are such fun writing and reviewing.

3. Best discussion you had on your blog? 
Probably the one about Our World. I was looking at the terrible weather and just how the world was at the moment. I still can't remember what spurred me to write that.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else's blog?
There have been a few I must admit and to be honest, I don't know if I can pin one out, sorry.

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
I got to meet Malorie Blackman with my friend in the summer and that was great meeting the person you've always known about since I was a child.

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2011?
AH. So many moments, this year has been amazing blogging wise. I think one of my favourites was when Caroline Lawrence saw the Childhood Faves of Tuesday Top Ten. Another is meeting so many new bloggers and becoming great friends with Amy and Nessie - it's weird I've only known them less than a year, it seems so much longer. Another favourite moment of mine was the guest posts that I did this year, my favourite being the one of Amy's blog on why I love books. It's so great to apart of this amazing blogging world.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Views: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - not one I would have thought
Comments: I think it was my post about Eva Ibbotson, a year after her death - that really made me happy.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
Sadly, there are quite a few. The reviews I posted in late November on Wither, New World, Perks of Being a Wallflower and Where She Went got no comments and I worked hard on those in the middle of a rough time. Oh well, I can't win everything.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
So many book blogs for one. Erm, I would say another discovery was Netgalley! AH, A-MAZ-ING. I never would have read Saving June without it - no absolute way.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Well. I completed my Historical Fiction Challenge where I aimed for 10 books and read 17 (WHOO!). Then, I also completed the British Book Challenge to read 9-12 books and overall, read 20 (AGAIN WHOO!).
My only regret is I aimed to read 50 books this year and there is only a couple of days left of 2011 and I'm read...48. I know, so disappointing. I blame my GCSE's.

Looking Ahead...

1. One Book You Didn't Get To In 2011 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2012?
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen - hands down.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?
The next book in the Chemical Garden series, Fever. Then, also the paperback version of Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend, continuing from I was Jane Austen's Best Friend.

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2012?
Get 100 followers and have people comment frequently. If that happened this time next year, I would be one happy lady.

Tuesday Top Ten: Books you Loved but never wrote a Review for it.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish.


This week's theme is Books you LOVED but you never wrote a review for it for various reasons - hard to write one, before your blogging days etc.


1. The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose - Mary Hooper - This was my first ever Mary Hooper book, recommended to me by a friend who later de-friended me. I am so thankful to her that she did give me an insight into Mary Hooper, although I'm sure I would have discovered her at some point. This is still a favourite of mine but I haven't read it for a while now. 


2. The Truth About Forever - Sarah Dessen (basically all other Sarah Dessen books that don't have reviews) - This was my second Sarah Dessen book, discovered about a year before I started blogging, my first being Just Listen which I found in the library after staring at the front cover for weeks. It is my favourite at the moment of her collection of books. Sadly, I have only done 4 reviews for Dessen although I've read all her book apart from the new one. AHH, NON SARAH DESSEN READERS, PICK THIS UP NOW. I MEAN, NOW.


3. Broken Soup - Jenny Valentine - I like Jenny Valentine. A lot of people however don't. She was quirky and interesting and I love the UK cover for this book, I mean LOVE. 
I need really to read this book again, but I would recommend this one, mostly because the plot seems so puzzling and mysterious.


4. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl - This book changed the way I look at life. I was always interested to know more about this period, only knowing the bare facts and not even understand that. So, when at the beginning of 2009, BBC broadcasted a TV adaptation of the book during a week. The last episode made me cry.
Anyway, I was interesting in this girl, knowing she loved reading and stories (I admit I thought Anne Fine was her...bad I know). So, I asked for the book for my birthday, got it and read it and realised that life can change so instantly. Everyone should read this book. Everyone.


6. Huge - Sasha Paley - I've always felt conscious about the way I look. It's natural being a thin, teenage girl who has rather gorgeous looking faced friends. I am harsh on myself I know. So after reading this after admiring it on the shelves, I realised I don't want to be fat and feel ugly all the time, no-one should. I did read this last year when I was blogging, but it was so hard to write a review on and at that point, I had no followers and felt it wasn't worth it. I'll write a review one day.

On My Bookshelf (2)

This is my version of 'In My Mailbox' because honestly, I'm not known well enough to have publishers and authors to send me books - and I'm still working out how that can happen.
So here a few things that I have required this week:



Belt; £1.99 - charity shop



From the Library:

The Betrayal - Mary Hooper (Sequel to At the House of the Magican & By Royal Command)

Star-Crossed by Rachael Wing

Okay so I know Star-Crossed looks like some really young teenager book about love etc etc. But I've read it so many times before, it's actually really good. And it's very different; it's done all in Second Person (You were...)

The Betrayal, I can't wait to read :D

Bought:

Newes From The Dead - Mary Hooper (Signed)  

So I walk into the library, cold and find a book sale. YES. My favourite. So I look through the books and I find this for...10p! So I got it of course. It wasn't till I got home that I realised that it was actually signed too. So I'm so happy about this one :) And it's in the hardback cover I prefer.

Wicked - Gregory Maguire
As I had a bit of charity shop slesh, I found this for £1.75, and called my friend who loves Wicked. I mean LOVES. So I got it for her. And I shall nick it off her once she's read it. Watch this space. :)



Cardigan; £12.50 - charity shop
Top; £7.99 - H&M
Leggings; £9 - New Look

So I bought this looovely cardigan yesterday in....a charity shop. I have some fetish for them at the moment...it's weird, I know. And I'm so proud of it. It's lovely and woolen so should keep me warm this winter with a long sleeve top and leggings. So I was so happy :)
By the way, I don't normally take pictures of myself....I think it's a bit vain and stupid but it was easier for this. 



Have a great week! :)

Want books that are cheaper? CHARITY SHOP TIME!

So while I should be doing some looovely Statistics coursework (Dear god. Someone help me. I think it has something against me). Seriously, you should see me right now surrounded by Maths book, numerous sheets of paper, pens, drink, calculator....urgh, I'm slightly further than I was.
So before I bore you with my wonderful description of spreadsheets and medians, I shall get to the point.

Today, I was in Oxfam tidying the books (I work there for anyone that didn't know) and I noticed a copy of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. £1.99! Normal price, £6.99! So of course, I grabbed it and got it. But that isn't the first time, I got a copy of The Knife of Never Letting Go by the amazing Patrick Ness for just £1.99. I've seen lots of great books in there that I would buy if a) I hadn't read them yet or b) I wanted.
That's not it. I've seen lovely clothes in there. And I even bought a vintage style belt in there once for £2.99.

Looks gooood :) (UK Verson)

 Some people think that charity shops are smelly and have crap stuff in that were other peoples. But to be honest, from my experience in working in charity shops, they wouldn't take things that were like that. Got a stain on it? Throw it away. Needs steaming? Let me get the steamer and iron out. It's just that people don't realise these kind of things.

So. Moral of this post? If you're passing a charity shop that has a big selection of books in and have a bit of time and money, go in and have a look because I'm sure there might be something that might interest you. :)

CONTEST!

Last night, I found on In which a girl reads Blog, that she is holding a 'very humongous blogoversary contest'

 where 3 lucky winners can win books out of a selection of 25. I had a look at the list and there are some pretty good books there that I would like to read so I entered.
To enter yourself, just go to the contest page and fill out the form at the bottom of the page. It's INTERNATIONAL as well, which is good for me :) And I think you need to have a blog to enter.
Contest closes 19th September 11pm - US which is between 4am - 7am on the 20th for anyone in the UK depending on where the girl holding it lives in the US.
So check it out and good luck to anyone that does enter :)

The Luxe Series: Splendor - Anna Godbersen

THERE MIGHT BE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS ONE ABOUT OTHER ONES IN THE SERIES.


First Sentence: Fifty years ago, every American girl wanted to be a European princess.

For those who have never heard of the Luxe Series, here is what it's about. It is a series of four (The Luxe, Rumours, Envy, Splendor) novels based about four debutante's in 1900 New York and what happens to them and who they fall in love with. That sort of thing. We have Elizabeth Holland (now married to Snowden Cairns). She got on my nerves in Book 2 & 3 but now in this one, I quite like her. Then, there is Diana Holland, Elizabeth's younger sister who is in love with Henry Schoonmaker. He is married to the bitchy, you-love-to-hate character Penelope Hayes. I've loved her the whole way through but she is written differently in this one and is a very minor character compared to her involvment in some of the other novels. Finally, there is Caroline Broad, an ex-servant of the Hollands that has made her fortune through a friend that died at the end of Envy. She is the focus in Splendor. I didn't like her in the other novels but I don't know why but I didn't mind her as much in this one. I think it's because she's settled down and not as much out of place. Diana has always been my favourite character and in this one, she still is and written incredibly well.

In this book, the beginning was...well, confusing and bad but the middle and ending were good as usual and there is a surprising twist of events at the end. Penelope was in it too little. We only caught snippets of her and loads of Caroline and Diana. I liked how Anna Godbersen added sections for Henry as well to make it more different. Elizabeth's sections were good but I think she should have been in it more as well. Overall, it's a good book but I think, and I don't say this that often, it should have been longer and more in depth. It felt a little rushed as points as if Anna Godbersen was trying to rush to the end.
It is a good book but it has much more flaws that the rest of the series ever had in my opinion. It wasn't the ending I was hoping for but it was still good.  Read the rest of the series before this one though.

I give it 4 out of 5

Author's Website: www.theluxebooks.com/

Just Listen - Sarah Dessen

First Sentence: I taped it back in April, before anything had happened, and promptly forgot about it. A few weeks ago, it had started running again and, suddenly, I was everywhere.

Just Listen is another book by the 'amazing' Sarah Dessen (SD). Annabel Greene is one of these girls that have it all - model looks, confidence, a social life (I'm sure we've all come across one). Or so it seems. After the night at a party where everything changes, Annabel can't bear to remember or tell about the night and the things that happened before like her sister's eating disorder and her grandmother's death. Until he meets Owen - a guy who always tells the truth, has Anger Managerment and who is also obsessed with music. Soon, a close bond forms. But can he help her forget her past and help her face her fears - telling the truth.

This isn't one of SD's best novels for me but still it is good and definately worth a read. Yes, it's quite girly in the sense that there's love and that sort of stuff but not as much as in some of her other novels. This is about music and telling the truth. I must admit a couple of times, I did feel a little bit guilty for some of the white lies I've told. Apart from that, it is well written including some descriptions of the type of people you see in every school (the bitchy popular girl, the girl who seems to have it all) which made me relate to it much more. Like all SD novels, you will 'Read her once and fall in love.'

I give her 5 out of 5
Author's Website: www.sarahdessen.com/

Along For The Ride - Sarah Dessen

I have been a fan of Sarah Dessen for many years now since I first picked up 'The Truth About Forever' and actually fell in love with her writing. If you're the type of person who hates romance and relationships in a book, then, you might not want to be reading this at all.

First Sentence: The e-mail always began the same way: Hi Auden!! It was the extra exclamation point that got me. 

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. And is now one of my favourite Sarah Dessen (SD) novels. The story follows Auden who suffers from insomnia (can't sleep at night). Since her parent's divorce, she's hid away behind books with no social life. She goes to Colby for the summer to get away from her demanding, educated mother and stay with her father, new step mother, Heidi and their newborn, Thisbe. Suddenly, she is opened up to a new world full of beach parties, foodfights and having fun with her new girl-friends, Maggie, Leah and Esther. She meets Eli, a mysterious, secretive boy who is getting over a car crash that killed his friend and creates a friendship with him only at night as he also suffers from insomnia.

If you know the normal SD stuff, you can sort of guess what happens in the end but even though, I guessed, I still found it surprising and well....brillant with lots of twists and turns.

One thing I love about SD is the references she puts in the novel that link to other novels of hers. Like:
- Morgan and Isabel (From Last Chance or Keeping the Moon) are good friends with Heidi
- Jason Tablot, who was Auden's old crush, was also Macy's old boyfriend in 'The Truth About Forever'. Nate Cross from 'Lock and Key' is another one of her crushes.
- The waitress who serves Auden at the Last Chance, on her first day in Colby, is described as Colie from 'Last Chance (Keeping the Moon)' and Auden also sees Norman.
- Maggie, Leah and Esther mention going to a club where the band were singing off a shopping list. This is probably the Truth Squad in 'This Lullaby'
- Heidi wears a red, key necklace like the ones that Harriet sells in the mall in 'Lock and Key'

I think that is so clever. So...I would recommend this book to anyone in their teens that likes romance and comedy. The writing and structure is good and you will, as it says on the cover, 'Read her once and fall in love' - guaranteed. :)

I give it 5 out of 5
Author's Website: www.sarahdessen.com/