Books I Can’t Believe I’ve Read

There are books that can make me think ‘I can’t believe I’ve read that’ that have been both good and bad. The good books are just me thinking I can’t believe I’ve read that because I found them so good, and the bad ones are because they’ve been so bad I can’t believe I’ve read them.  

Good


- The Help
    - Kathryn Stockett
For me it took three times to actually finish The Help, and when I did I felt accomplished. I never thought I’d finish it. The time I tried I got further each time.

- One Day
    - David Nichols 
Just like The Help, it took multiple times for me to finish the book. 

- The Great Gatsby
    - F Scott Fitzgerald
I am not a massive reader of classic books, I own a few but more often than not I end up DNFing the book. The Great Gatsby wasn’t one of those books. I read it two times and both I loved it.

BAD

- Girl Online
    - Zoe Sugg
Ok ok so I’ll admit. I wanted the book. To see what the fuss was about, and at the time I was still watching Zoella on YouTube here and there. I read it and knew right away that I didn’t want to read anymore books by her. Don’t get me wrong I think Zoe is great in all the stuff that she has going on with her beauty range etc but for me I felt disappointed with her book, 


- Beneath The Glitter 
    - Elle and Blair Fowler
Beneath the Glitter was the first YouTubers book that I ever brought. And literally couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that it’s so similar to the movie Material Girls with the Duff Sisters.  

- Twilight Saga
    - Stephanie Meyer 
Ok hear me out. I am a Potter Head, Through and through. When Twilight and the other books in the series got really popular in 2008, I admit I read the first two books, and ordered the second two online because they weren’t at my local bookstore. Well I enjoyed the first one. Not a great deal but enjoyed it. New Moon let me down, and I never read the last two books until about a year ago. I can’t believe it took so long. The series went down hill so quickly from the second book onwards.  

- The Last Song
    - Nicholas Sparks 
I have a love hate relationship with Nicholas Sparks. I either really love his books or really hate them. The Last Song was one of those books that has always been there. I have no idea how or when I got the book and I didn’t read it until this year and I can’t believe that I did. I always said that anything with Miley Cyrus on it, or in a movie I wouldn’t watch it or read it. Well I broke that rule and read The Last Song 

- The NoteBook
    - Nicholas Sparks 
I don’t cry at the movie, I didn’t cry at the book. I don’t know why I read the book. It’s a cute book but I found it so bad. 

Books That Pull You Out A Reading Slump TTT

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is a perfect topic for me, as I am currently getting myself out of a Reading Slump. I read The Devil Wears Prada but it didn’t bring me completely out of it. 

- Dorothy Koomson Books
Dorothy is my queen. I love her. Whenever I am in a Reading Slump I know her books will be the first to pull me out

- Harry Potter 
Because I’m in a Reading Slump right now, I am currently working my way through the Harry Potter series. It without a doubt the series that can get me out of my slump within a few books, 

- The Devil Wears Prada 
If my reading slump is only a book short than I know I can read The Devil Wears Prada. 

A Random Book Tag

I have no idea what this book Tag is called. I had it on my blog but deleted it while I was having a draft clean up.  

I have a habit of putting any posts I have onto my note app on my phone and sometimes forgetting to name the post there. 

1. Choose one word that describes being a reader?

Diverse
I choose diverse because you go from children’s books to adult books, author to author, and genre to genre and every book is different. Even books by the same author have differing storylines and characters. Every character in a book is different. You can go from reading a book by a white person, black, Asian. A book series where you watch the kids grow up, to a series where they don’t age. Every author has different thoughts than other authors, and even themselves.  

2. What is the first book you fell in love with?

As a child I remember reading (or having read to me) The Suitcase Kid by Jacqueline Wilson. I fell in love with that book. I love all of the Jacqueline Wilson books that I’ve read (i still own quite a lot of her books). It’s about a girl called Andy whose parents have divorced and have new families and she moves between both houses.  

There was a time in my life where I’d only read the Harry Potter books, and when I was about 18, I found two books by Dorothy Koomson. I wasn’t intentionally looking for a book by her. They were on sale and I picked them up. But as a teen/young adult my tastes in books were changing. I fell in love with her books.  

So each stage of my life, a child, teenager and an adult there have been books that have made me fall in love with reading. 

3. Hardback or paperback?

I don’t have any preference. Because I hardly use my main chain book store, and use thrift stores more, most books are the same price even if they are hardback or paper back. For instance, one of my Nicholas Sparks book if I got it regular price at the book store was $28 for hardback. Where o got it for $2, though it was on sale at the time and normally would have been $4. So if a book is hardback or paper back. I’m ok. 

4. How has reading shaped your identity?

I don’t think it’s shaped my identity in any way. It’s just a part of who I am. I’ve never been one of those people who carry a book around with me all the time, and they’re has been times where I’ve just abandoned reading altogether. Also there is so much more to me than reading.  

5. What book do you read when you need to be comforted?

Anything by Dorothy Koomson. I haven’t read all her books, but those I have I could read again and again with no problem. 

6. Who taught you how to be a reader?

Like anybody it was more than likely my parents.  

7. Describe your dream reading lounge?

A large room where I have all the books that I want to read, all my started series are complete, where I’ve got all the books by the authors I already own, 

8. What book changed the way you act or see the world?

My Best Friends Girl and The Brighton Mermaid, both by Dorothy Koomson. Both involve racism, and both very different ways and situations but racism none the less. I’m someone who dislikes racism. Even if it’s made as a joke. Racism is racism. 

What Dorothy Koomson did in the two books is make me feel uncomfortable with the situations that the characters were in. I know that racism happens anywhere and at anytime but as a white woman I was still uncomfortable with how other white people acted towards people of colour. 

Nope Book Tag Update

I think it was last year I did the Nope Book Tag, and wanted to update it this year. 

1. NOPE. Ending:

A book ending that made you go NOPE either in denial, rage, or simply because the ending was crappy.

- Harry Potter, it felt as if a part of my childhood died when it was the end of Harry Potter.  
- The Ice Cream Girls. The book is one of my favourite and as I was getting closer to the end I was in denial that it was ending, yet as a reader it kept me hooked.  

2. NOPE. Protagonist:

A main character you dislike and drives you crazy.

- Lara Jean (just like in the first one I did) she annoyed me so much that even a year later she annoys me
- Cassia from the Matched trilogy. I don’t particularly dislike her I just find that sometimes she comes across as annoying, and as the series went on I disliked her more and more. 

3. NOPE. Series:

A series that turned out to be one huge pile of NOPE. after you’ve invested all of that time and energy on it, or a series you gave up on because it wasn’t worth it anymore.

- Twilight. I actually finished the ‘Saga’ and felt it wasn’t as good as everyone said it is. I enjoyed the first book, not a lot but it went so down hill and so quickly. By the time I got to Breaking Dawn I wanted to smack the author in the face with it. The last two books could have been cut down a hell of a lot, and the last book was so long and had both Bella and Jacob’s versions I just gave up and was skipping to bits that seemed interesting but not really that interesting 

- The Matched Trilogy and Lunar Chronicles are pretty much up there. I liked the first books on both (and a hell of a lot more than twilight) but the rest of the books were a disappointment.  

4. NOPE. Popular pairing:

A "ship" you don’t support.

- Edward and Bella. I know high school sweethearts act differently when in love, but the relationship between them was toxic. Their relationship is so on and off even after high school. And the fact that everyone even now loves it. Nope. Nope. 

5. NOPE. Plot twist:

A plot twist you didn’t see coming or didn’t like.

- The plot in The Ice Cream Girls. I liked how it went back and forth, making you think either girl could have gone back and killed Marcus. I won’t spoil it but I liked that plot twist. 

6. NOPE. Protagonist action/decision:

A character decision that made you shake your head NOPE.

- It will always be Lara Jean’s decision 
- Also Vanishing Acts by Jodi Pilcoult. As I was reading it I felt sorry for Delia’s father but as time went on I think he decision was just plain selfish 

7. NOPE. Genre:

A genre you will never read.

- Last time I did this I said Graphic Novels and that still stands. It’s not who I am. And one that I am confident in saying I’ll never read. They never really intrigued me growing up and even less so now.  

8. NOPE. Book format:

Book formatting you hate and avoid buying until it comes out in a different edition

- I’m not really to fussed about formatting of a book cover that I have to wait until a new edition comes out of the book. I am not a massive fan of books that have super short chapters in it, which honestly I don’t think will change if it’s the copy I have or if it’s going to change in a new edition.  

9. NOPE. Trope:

A trope that makes you go NOPE.

- It’s still Vampires. It’s so over done that I just still can’t deal with it.  

10. NOPE. Recommendation:

A book recommendation that is constantly hyped and pushed at you that you simply refuse to read.

- Honestly a lot my books on my shelf I think could be hyped up books that I got because people hyped them up when they were first released, but over time I’ve come to the conclusion that if I want to read a book then I’ll do it on my own time. I found that the books that were hyped up weren’t as good as those hyping it up made it out to be. 

11. NOPE. Cliche/pet peeve:

A cliche or writing pet peeve that always makes you roll your eyes.

- The whole ‘I’m not supposed to like him but I do anyway’ cliche 🙄 

- Sudden short chapters in the middle of a book. I hate it. Ok let me refrazie it. I don’t mind short chapters but when the majority of the book up to that point is longer chapters and then bam it’s shorter ones back to long. NO. THANK. YOU. 

12. NOPE. Love interest:

The love interest that’s not worthy of being one. A character you don’t think should have been a viable love interest.

- Peter and Lara Jean, even though I didn’t like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, that ‘relationship’ where it was on Lara Jean’s terms was ideal for them both. But because Lara Jean is a spoilt brat she had to take it further. 

13. NOPE. Book:

A book that shouldn’t have existed that made you say NOPE.

- I don’t think I’ve ever said nope to a book existing but the last two twilight books I wished would have disappeared.  

14. NOPE. Villain:

A scary villain/antagonist you would hate to cross and would make you run in the opposite direction.

- It’s always been Greyback from Harry Potter. That character always gave me the chills. 

15. NOPE. Death:

A character death that still haunts you.

- Fred. It will be forever Fred that will haunt me. I love both Fred and George and his death crushed me inside. One of the things I am great full for is that his death was only in the book, and we saw the aftermath of it in the movie. 

16. NOPE. Author:

An author you had a bad experience reading for and have decided to quit.

- Jodi Pilcoult. I am not at the point of quitting her books just yet I have a few that I want to try and read but at the moment I have tried to read her books and feel so disappointed with her writing style considering she is A- a published author and B her books have been on 




Lauren
xoxo

Books BookTube Influenced Me Into Reading

This post isn’t going to be books that YouTube content creators have written and released. It’s about the people on the booktube part of youtube have talked about and I have gotten. I know that there is are books on here that John Green from the Vlog Brothers have written but he was an author before a YouTuber

Also, this isn’t going to include books recommendations that anyone outside the booktube community. So Zoella’s book club is out the question.  



- Fan Girl
When I first properly was getting into booktube Fan Girl was the first book that people were recommending to read. While it seemed like a great book that everyone recommended I felt a little disappointed with the book

- To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before 
With TATBILB, I was so disappointed. It seemed like everyone was recommending the book. By the time I had gotten the book - I had kind of learnt my lesson with booktube recommendations and not run out at get them - it was only $10, I didn’t mind spending it. There was so many things I disliked about the book the main one being the short chapters and Lara Jean’s air and graces. 




- Since You’ve Been Gone 
Out of all the books on this list I am glad that I got this one. It’s by far the best book that booktube has recommended. I got it at the book store what seems like forever ago, and it was on sale, I can’t remember the sale exactly, it was either 2 for $15 or it was reduced down to a price 

- The Fault in our Stars 
I think everyone and their whole family on booktube has read and mentioned TFIOS. And if I am being honest it’s the best ‘YouTube’ book.  

- Paper Towns 
Though Booktube didn’t directly have an impact on me reading Paper Towns, it did indirectly. If booktube didn’t go on and on about The Fault In Our Stars I wouldn’t have read a John Green book.  

- Animal Farm
If I thought To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before was bad than this was even worse. It was a part of a 3 for $10 sale that the bookstore was having. It was 100% not what I was expecting.  

- The Great Gatsby 
Just like Paper Towns, The Great Gatsby wasn’t one that was directly influenced by booktube, but because someone influenced me in getting Animal Farm, and it was also a part of the 3 for $10, I picked it up. And I’m glad I did. I love the book. It’s not a super long book by any means but still a great book 

July Wrap Up & TBR for August.

Welcome to my July wrap up. I know it’s super short.

In July I read three books.

- Two were new reads
- One was a re read
- One of the two new books I read I hated. Sorry Nicholas Sparks.
- The other I loved.


The Best of Me
Nicholas Sparks 
- I really didn’t like the concept of this book. I felt bored by the time I had finished it 



The Brighton Mermaid 
Dorothy Koomson
- I loved the book. Dorothy Koomson just knows how to pull it out of the bag each time I read a book by her.  

The Devil Wears Prada 
Lauren Wiesburger 
- One of my all time favourite books to read. Because I’ve been in some what of a Reading Slump for a while I wanted something fun.  



So now with these three books I have read 30 books this year. I am now at 125% Complete of my Challenge this year.  

 TBR for August.  

- To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before 
With the Netflix movie about to be released I wanted to re read the book. It’s not a favorite of mine but still want to read it before watching the movie. 


I don’t want to read anything else this month. I’m in a Reading and blogging slump, so I want a bit of time off reading. I want to get back into blogging this month. I know I can do both side by side but right now if I am forcing myself to read then I need to step back from it.  

I know this is a short TBR for the month. I do have quite a few posts that I want to publish on my blog. 

Books I Like To Revisit and Other Things T5W

Welcome to another T5W… this week it’s a bit of a mixture of Books, Tv shows and music.  


Books
- Anything By Dorothy Koomson 
Dorothy knows a way to my heart ❤️ with her books. They are books I can read over and over and just keep getting lost in them.  

- Safe Haven
I don’t know why but Safe Haven made small town America seem really interesting. Really friendly. It’s a book that I get lost in 100% of the time.  

TV Shows

- Pretty Little Liars
What I love about PLL is it doesn’t matter how many times I watch it, there seems to be bits that I miss. Even though I know who all the A’s are, and what happens i just love watching it.  

- Scott and Bailey 
Is another show on Netflix that I can just rewatch over and over again. I 

Music

- Ed Sheeran 
Ed’s ➗ album at the moment is one of my favourites.