Another lil library haul

Remember the last time I did this? I called it "A Little Library TBR"? Well, PAH! Turns out, it was not actually 'little', at least not for my standards! Let's be honest, a seven book long tbr could take me all year to get through! But let's hope not. And if we're being TOTALLY honest, as the above suggests, then I should probably admit that I only used the word 'little' because it alliterates with 'library. And I am a huge proponent of alliteration. Even if it compromises factual accuracy (and I must be honest, once again, I only noticed this just now. Literally, just then. I was like 'hang on, didn't my last library haul have like a crap tonne of books in it? Then why did I call it LITTLE, WHY, ARIELLE, WHYYY?'). Alliteration is why. That, and I hadn't planned that many books to go into that post!

 

OK, the point I am trying to make is, THIS TIME, I'm using the word 'lil', and it is truly gonna be accurate to the number of books I'm including in this post. Two. Just two!

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

 

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

 

This sequel to 'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' was cute, light, fun and just plain old lovely.

The book started off where the first book left us - Lara Jean and Peter realising their relationship is way more than pretend, and their reality is just beginning. It's cute, it's exciting, and it's everything we've wanted since the first book. It had me all giddy and bubbly, the way LJ and Peter got together! That porch scene was perf.  

A Little Library TBR

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han - i know imma love this. TOP of the TBR.

 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - i have been meaning to read this for literally years. eep.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - tried to read this earlier this year. seemed like spoiled rich kids blah blah blah. but apparently this is good! so i will try to persevere past the first few pages and see if i can get into this.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

 

 

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

 

 The first time I heard about Jenny Han was from Christine (polandbananasbooks on Youtube) and all I remember is her saying over and over how funny Jenny Han's books were. It's true because I was chuckling the whole way through. But the other reason I loved this book was because the MC was just so darn real to me. I could relate to Lara Jean hard. So many times I'd catch myself thinking, yep that is exactly what I'd do, yup, I'd have thought the same way.

If you don't know the premise yet, go read it here on Goodreads. It in itself is tragic and hilarious - a combo of two things I love to be entertained by. The story is great, the characters are so well-written, it all just makes for a really spectacular contemporary YA novel. The title might suggest a romance-heavy theme, but really I'd attest that it's relationship-heavy instead. Lara Jean's relationships with her parents and especially her sister are particularly pivotal. I'm really excited to read the next book in this series (P.S. I Still Love You). I could do it right now if I wanted to, the book is sitting right here on my shelf. Hmmmmmm. :)

 

My Rating: 4.5 stars

The Taming of the Tights by Louise Rennison

 

The Taming of the Tights
(a.k.a. "Wild Girls, Wild Boys, Wild Tights" for those hamburger-a-gogo folk)

[The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey #3]

by Louise Rennison

 

 When I heard the news of Louise Rennison's death, I was shocked and saddened. She is one of my favourite authors, and I thought she'd be around for way, way longer, writing books that would keep me laughing for the rest of my life. But unfortunately, that was not the case.

All I have left, and all the world has left of her, are the books she was able to get published in her lifetime - which, I know I'm making out to be not much (which it is! It is much! I can only dream to leave behind 13 published novels before I die) - but I'm just still reeling over the fact that I have just read her last novel, and now the only thing I can do is reread all of her books. Of course I'll still enjoy rereading the Georgia Nicolson series from beginning to end, but there will never again be something new for me to read from Louise Rennison, that wonderful, hilarious, fun-tastic, crazy humourous writer that brought so many joyous, teary-eyed-and-stomach-pained-from-laughing-so-hard memories to my childhood (and who am I kidding, adulthood too).

Okokok. It's probably time I talk about this book already, huh? Ok.

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

This is first YA from Sophie Kinsella and it was pretty wonderful. I always have faith in a SK novel to deliver quality writing and characters, and that's what she's done. Finding Audrey was hilarious, hysterical, relatable and real. 

The story is about a girl who's been through an ordeal at school, something intense and bad and inexplicable. It's literally never explained what exactly happened. But it's left Audrey with a pretty awful case of anxiety, so much so that she needs therapy and wears sunglasses 24/7, in order to avoid eye contact with people, even her immediate family. Audrey never leaves the house and spends her days in a dark den with black-out curtains drawn.

It was so easy slipping into Audrey's shoes. Her story is incredibly relatable to me and as I read the book I felt almost UNeasy because I was empathising with Audrey so much. One of the things I loved most about this book is the family dynamic. Audrey has such an awesome family, and her mum provides a lot of the hysteria. Frank, Audrey's big brother, was hilarious and Felix, her baby bro, was so so sooo cute. I love them all so much but not just because of who they are (or how well their characters were written) but because of how they loved each other. 

There's a cute romance that sparks between Audrey and Lionel (Frank's friend). Lionel helps draw Audrey out of her dark place and back into the world. There were so many sweet moments between them, like the note-writing with Felix as their messenger, or when Lionel knew Audrey couldn't manage eye contact so he'd challenge her with things like shoe contact or thumb contact or knee contact. :) 

I'd rec Finding Audrey for anyone who likes Sophie Kinsella, teen reads and laughing, 

Rating: 4 stars

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult & Samantha Van Leer

Between the Lines 
by Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer

OK. Where do I start with this one? Hmmm.
I was really hoping for a lot with this book, but it ended up being a hit and miss for me.

Cracked by Clare Strahan

Cracked by Clare Strahan

Click here for more info & synopsis

Thanks to Allen & Uwin, I got to read Cracked! It is an Australian YA debut novel by Melbourne writer Clare Strahan, which is due to be released in June, so only a couple of months away! It's about a girl named Clover Jones and all the happenings in her life - school life, family life, friends and fitting in, and trying to find out her place in the world through the creative outlet of vandalism (hehe). The characters were very relatable and realistic, and I think a lot of readers will really connect to Clover in many ways. She's the heart and soul of Cracked, and I think everyone could relate to her some way through the relationships she has with all the people around her - her mum, her teachers, the mean girl at school, the footy player crush, the best friend, the pet dog Lucille. 

New on my bookshelf {YA}

From the title of this post, I suppose you can safely assume these are a few books I've received/bought recently and are, as I say, new on my bookshelf. 

Voila! Bon voyage! Bon appetit! On y va.

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

click through to Goodreads

My rating: 5 stars! 

A Corner of White is the first book in the series "The Colours of Madeleine" (or "The Colors of Madeleine" if you're American) by Australian author Jaclyn Moriarty.

In case you are a new reader of Chimneys and Magic, you might know her as one of my all time favourite authors, whose writing, stories, characters, imagination and words I greatly admire. She wrote Finding Cassie Crazy (the first book of hers I read back in high school), The Betrayal of Bindy MacKenzie, Feeling Sorry for Celia and Dreaming of Amelia (most of these novels have various other titles in nations abroad), as well as a handful of other adult novels. Jaclyn Moriarty led me straight to her sister Liane Moriarty, who also fast become one of my favourite authors ever, especially due to What Alice Forgot (which was the first novel of hers I read). Anyway, enough babbling on about authors and such, there's so much I have to say about this book so let's get a-moving.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

I had a lot of fun writing Goodreads status updates for this one as I read through it. 

You can see them here.

This was a rather intense one. I know it's called The Husband's Secret so I should have expected some mystery and twists, but there's some heavy stuff that these characters deal with! For example: grief, guilt, betrayal, the blurred line between right and wrong, and murder. There were also lots of secrets and tragedies.

Books I Want To Buy (But Can't Because I Have No Money)

While my bank account, general life spirit and joie de vivre whittles itself down from pathetic to practically non-existent, I'm finding myself left with merely empty wishes and dreams.

So to kick-off from that delightful introductory sentence, this post is going to be filled with books that I want on my bookshelf, but can't afford to go out and buy at the moment. (I tend not to borrow books from the library, not because I'm a snob for cleanliness but because I have too many books on my shelves left unread)
Let's get this thang going.

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

I've been waiting for this Kingdom of Cello thing to be released ever since Dreaming of Amelia came out! Jaclyn Moriarty is one of my favourite authors.. like, EVER. Her YA Contemporary novels (the Ashbury series) leave me in stitches so adding fantasy into the equation?.... will probably make me pee my pants. And then explode. That is how much I love Jaclyn Moriarty's books.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
After reading What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty immediately joined her sister up there at the top of my list of faves. I went and bought all of Liane's other novels (I haven't read em yet but I need to, ASAP!) way back when, and now that this new one's out, I'm itching to get my little hands on it.

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

There's been quite a long wait between Heist Society #2 and Heist Society #3 (this book). I absolutely LOVED Ally Carter ever since the beginning of the Gallagher Girls series. I actually first found out about Ally Carter from MySpace! THAT WAS THE DINOSAUR AGE, PEOPLE!!!
Normally I'm quick about getting my hands on the new releases of her books, but for some reason I forgot about this or didn't realise it had been released, and now I'm late on the bandwagon!

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
I read Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief early this year when I was vacationing overseas... in fact I bought the first and the second books of the series for pretty cheap when I was in the Strand bookstore in NYC. I know I'm going to love the entire series even though I haven't read the second one yet. The Titan's Curse is the third, and I want it! I will probably end up getting ALLLLLLLL of them. Eventually.


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Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

to read more about the book (synopsis, ratings, etc.) click here

My Star Rating : 3.5 stars

Goodness me. I have a lot of thoughts about this book. They're all floating around in my head. Sometimes I can grasp them and form them into sentences. It's like fishing, the way my mind works. You catch em, you let em go. It's a jumble and it's a jungle. Not really. I just said jungle because it matched poetically with jumble. If my mind is like fishing it can't be a jungle too, can it? More like a swamp.
OH I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING ANYMORE!
I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't know how to form this post in a coherent way because all my thoughts about this book are quite random and don't seem to flow well onto each other.
Maybe I'll make some lists again!

I think a lot of people liked Lola & the Boy Next Door a lot more than I did. Base off of Goodreads ratings and my friends on Goodreads' ratings/reviews. 
Why is this?
Perhaps it was Lola.

• I don't like Lola a whole lot. (Please don't yell at me!) I haven't read many reviews on this book but I've never come across anyone who said they didn't like her. So I'm just putting my own 'pinion out there: I did not like Lola. 
• I admit she is relatable. She is quirky and daring and not boring. She is creative. She is a human, teenage girl. She is relatable to probably almost everyone (who likes YA). 
• But not so much to me. She didn't do anything wrong, or anything to make me dislike her, it's just that she was presented in a way that didn't make me care for her. I didn't find myself caring about her. I sympathised... but I didn't fully empathise.
• She does not deserve Cricket (who is her soul mate, her first love and practically the PERFECT BOY). But she recognises this and acknowledges it, which actually redeemed her a little bit for me.
• Lola was delusional for the majority of the novel. I get that her situation with Max and Cricket was complex, and I do see the bad-boy appeal of Max (at the beginning he was introduced as the perfect boyfriend, and let's be honest who could resist a smoking hot, older, musician boyfriend?) but it became very clear very fast that Max was not only the wrong guy for Lola, but a bad guy in general. Meanwhile, Cricket was always there. Pretty much at Lola's beck and call. Very much charming, and very much available. The choice was (seemingly) extremely easy. But Lola held onto Max, held onto her unhealthy fantasy and drug, for too long. Lucky for Lola, Cricket was steadfast and unwavering, and simply waiting for her to be ready for him. 
• Maybe one of the reasons I didn't like Lola was just how amazing a guy Cricket is. He's a great character. He's the kind of guy every girl wants as their OTL. I'm sure every girl not-so-secretly ships themselves with Cricket. He is so blindingly perfect that it's almost disgusting. 

Things I Loved:

• Cricket. Obviously! See above.
• San Francisco. The setting of the novel. The gorgeous architecture, the Victorian houses all in different pastel colours, the hilly terrain. I love that city.
• "The Boy Next Door" aspect. Cricket and Lola are next door neighbours, they are in love and what's more is their bedroom windows perfectly align so they can creep on each other (or in their case, have late night moonlit conversations) through their windows. It's unrealistic, but it's one of those fairytale situations I wish I could be in. A cute boy who is in love with me, and who I'm in love with, climbing across a makeshift bridge from his window to reach my bedroom, yes, I'll take one, thanks.

Things I didn't love:

• The book cover. I don't like having real people's faces replacing the imaginary faces I form in my head from what the book describes. The cover bothers me because the girl and guy on the front are so pose-y and obvious. I thought the guy was Max at first! Not Cricket. Because the book said Max had a tattoo of a star on his hand. And then it said Cricket had all those wristbands which then made me think the guy on the front was an amalgam of both the characters (which is kinda ridiculous I know). So there was much questioning going on which I think is so completely unnecessary and takes away from story itself. And we're all here for a good ol' storytime, not to get confused by the models on the front cover. 
• Lola, but I explained this already. :)

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the fault in our stars by john green!

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS 

by John Green

published in 2012 by Dutton Books

I have to firstly start off this post by saying that I almost decided not to write my thoughts on The Fault in Our Stars. The book is just so affecting, and one of the most not only intense - but important - books I have read in a long, long time. I almost chose not to write about it because there are a million things I could say and they still would not cover an inch of its worth. 

So just be wary, whilst reading this post, of my lack of eloquence in describing the vastness of this book's true quality, importance and worth.

All any appreciator of The Fault In Our Stars can do is simply thank John Green for creating it, and thank God for creating John Green.

my thoughts on: the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

published 1999, goodreads page.

I don't know how to begin talking about this book. 

I think I'll start off this post in dot points. 

• I loved it from beginning to end.
• The writing is incredible. I was blown away by how compelling it is. 
• The book is written in epistolary form - the main character, Charlie, writing letter after letter to this person he doesn't know and has never met, yet addresses as "Friend". 
• Charlie is like no other character I have ever had the pleasure of being introduced to. 
• The story is beautiful in a way one rarely can find in contemporary literature. So beautiful.
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower makes me exceedingly proud to say that I'm a fan of YA. 

For me, it was kinda like the book took a hold of me, like it reached out and grabbed onto my heart with a steel grip. Then you get to all those moments with Charlie, I don't know how to describe them other than by saying "those moments", and then I felt like my heart was just been SQUEEZED, or like it was digging its fingers in. Coz it kinda hurt really bad sometimes. Or a lot of times. But it was a gentle, beautiful sort of pain. I really felt for Charlie is what I think I'm trying to say. 

This was a really sad story. But funny. And hopeful. And when joy came, it came with full, unyielding force. 

It was really something to behold.

I can't remember if I mentioned this to you before, but when I read a book that I own and come across something that strikes me as poignant, something I want to remember, something I want to return to - I'll dog-ear the page, no questions asked.

For The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I couldn't do that. 

Can you guess why?

I couldn't do that because then every single page in the novel would be dog-eared.

my thoughts on: the lover's dictionary by david levithan

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

published 2011, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

click here to read the synopsis

This is a novel written in the format of a dictionary. Dictionary entries for words, listed in alphabetical order and pertaining to the romantic relationship between two people. The concept of writing a story in the style of a dictionary is really unique. I can appreciate the difficulty one would be faced with having to create a narrative within the restrictions of a certain format. David Levithan did it superbly. Superbly.

my thoughts on: I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Bantam Press, 2012

click here to read the synopsis

I've literally just finished reading this book a few minutes ago and all I have to say about it right now is: 

WHY can't my life be a Sophie Kinsella novel!??? 

Just, why not??

And from looking on Goodreads I just realised this is the first SK novel I have read since last year! Why has it taken me this long? I have a small pile of SK novels on my bookshelves sitting there unread. 

Oh my gosh. I just loved this story SO SO MUCH. (the extra intensifier is warranted, I swear!)

my thoughts on: The Lying Game by Sara Shepard [review]

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

published 2010 by Harper Teen

click here for synopsis

This is the second book I've read by Sara Shepard. The first was Pretty Little Liars, which (years ago) Harper Teen put online to the public to read for free, and I just gobbled that one right up. Glued to the computer screen until I'd finished the whole thing. 

The Lying Game was not a far cry from that experience.

Let me just begin by saying how GOOD a writer Sara Shepard is. One of the best in terms of plot development and she knows how to write a good cliff-hanger. And I know that she knows she knows how to because she does it in every single chapter. It's one of the main reasons why I finished this book so fast. (I'm a really slow reader in case you weren't aware - one example of this is that I've been reading A Game of Thrones for almost a year and I'm only half-way through..)

new on my bookshelf: all american edition

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Another AMAZING dystopian YA that has been on my wishlist for SO LONG! Despite the extensive height of my TBR pile sitting on various shelves in my bedroom, I decided I had waited too long to get this. 

Go check out the synopsis on Goodreads!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I'm not sure what exactly made me order this one. It's not like a need a bigger reading pile. But there's a movie coming out for this and I think it's got a good rep around town. Hmmm. It's a bit of an oldie, but if you haven't heard of it, click here for the blurbity blurb!

Lonesome Traveler by Jack Kerouac

I thought I'd expand the scope of my reading a little bit and order a couple Kerouacs online. There are songs about him and he started the Beat Generation, if there is such a thing. Lonesome Traveller is, I think, like Jack Kerouac's own travel journal. I'll get around to reading it some time soon I hope. He is rather relevant to my American Lit unit.

review : nick & norah's infinite playlist

only one word can describe this: SQUEEE!!!

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist // Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

YA Contemporary // Random House // 2006 // 183 pages

This short contemporary YA novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan was pretty darn good. It felt so incredibly real - Nick and Norah were real people to me. Like I could fly back to New York right now and if I went to just the right nightclub I would find a dozen Nicks and Norahs. N&NIP is contemporary YA at its best. The writing was funny and lucid (both Rachel's and David's), the characterisation was extremely well done, and although I did see the movie first and loved it, the book is much, much better. For example, after reading the book I had extreme difficulty imagining Michael Cera as Nick. 

I found myself wishing I was friends with Nick and Norah. And have friends like the friends they have. I found myself wanting to be in the same room as them, the same club, or the same diner. Now, even weeks after experiencing this story I still feel like I'm merely two long flights and one taxi ride away from stalking them as they sit in a Ukrainian restaurant in East Village together at stupid o'clock in the morning. 

The musicality lit the story alive for me. Music is a big part of how I identify myself and people in general, and to form relationships over it is a spectacular thing. It's signing yourself up for songs that stick to memories that stick in your head and heart 'til you grow old and die. You can be deaf and play music in your head for eternity. You don't need a brain or even ears to hear it. Only a soul. 

This novel taps into that idea, at least it does for me, and for me it can't get much more beautiful than that.