Saturday 31 January 2015

Let's go on a Road Trip

Title: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Author: Morgan Matson
Pages: 343
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Source: Bought
Rating: 4.5/5
Summary (from Good Reads): 
Amy Curry is not looking forward to her summer. Her mother decided to move across the country and now it's Amy's responsibility to get their car from California to Connecticut. The only problem is, since her father died in a car accident, she isn't ready to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger. An old family friend, he also has to make the cross-country trip - and has plenty of baggage of his own. The road home may be unfamiliar - especially with their friendship venturing into uncharted territory - but together, Amy and Roger will figure out how to map their way.

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour is the second book I have read by Morgan Matson, having first experienced her writing with Since You've Been Gone which I loved. Despite this, I let it sit on my shelves a few weeks after buying it, scared that I wouldn't love it as much as Since You've Been Gone. I didn't need to worry much, because I really enjoyed this book! Amy and Roger's Epic Detour was a fun read which I thought was great. I felt it was kind of predictable, but this didn't bother me in the slightest. I thought it was quite interesting and I can already say that the list of stops is already on my list of places to visit!

Matson has a knack for creating realistic characters that you can relate to in some way. Although our main character wasn't necessarily mourning, I thought that it was nice to see the connection that Amy had with her father. I also really enjoyed seeing how Amy dealt with different things throughout the book. The book definitely saw Amy come into her own throughout the duration of the book, and I quite enjoyed having her as a main character.

The one thing that I loved about this book is that it was a bit of a rebellion towards her mother and staying on track, but it also included friendship, which is something I love in books and something that I've noticed Morgan Matson does really well. This book was just a whole load of great and I loved it. For me, it ticked loads of boxes which made it a good read for me.

Oh, and just too add - one thing that I liked about this book was the visuals within it. I would definitely recommend this to anyone as a summer read as it's just perfect for that time of year!

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Small Announcement!

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to make a quick announcement that the name of this blog has changed to alittlesomethingbookish!

It's not so much that I didn't like apapertown but it's just that when on twitter/tumblr/instagram, the name had been taken, so therefore I thought I'd change it. If you'd like to follow me on any other platforms, you can catch me at...

Twitter: @alittlesbookish (had to miss out the something, darn limited characters!)
Tumblr: alittlesomethingbookish.tumblr.com
Instagram: alittlesomethingbookish
Email: apapertown@hotmail.com

Please note that I haven't changed my email as I feel that it would be a lot more hassle to change all the accounts connected to it, plus it's fairly easy to remember!

Also, if you were following me on bloglovin, as I changed my blog name, I lost all my followers on there so I'd really appreciate it if you'd be able to follow me again. Just click here to follow again! :)

Here's to more bookish times!

Just A Little Something Different

Title: A Little Something Different
Author: Sandy Hall
Pages: 242
Publisher: Walker
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5

Summary (from Good Reads): 
The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out. But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship. 

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together....

One thing I loved about this book is how different it was to anything else I'd ever read. Yes, it was all romantic and about love and two people getting together, but the one thing that was different about it, is that it was told from several people's perspectives, but never the couples. For example, a teacher, a barista and a delivery guy as well as the couples friends. We even saw the view points of a bench and a squirrel! It is definitely a unique book in that respect, which is something I definitely enjoyed. I think it was particularly refreshing actually, having a story told but never by the main characters in the story. I thought it was an interesting idea that Sandy Hall did really well. 

Other than the unique aspect of the different view points, the book was fairly good but I think it was very predictable, not that this is a problem - it means you don't have to concentrate on it too much at all, making it light read that you can breeze through! It had an adorable but dorky romance which the book was centred around, which was made good by having the different perspectives of it. It is short, but sweet. I got through it fairly quickly so would definitely say that it is a nice, quick read, if that's something that you're looking for. 

Oh, and can we just talk about the cover? I know I don't usually talk about book covers in reviews, but I just love this one. I think it's so pretty and I just love the colours and how well they go together. I also like how different parts of the book are featured on the cover!

Tuesday 27 January 2015

Oh, how I'd love to be in Italy

Title: Wish You Were Italian
Author: Kristen Rae
Pages: 320
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Source: Bought
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary (from Good Reads): 
The summer before senior year of high school. It’s supposed to be one of the biggest summers of her life, but Pippa is headed to an art program she has no interest in. The one saving grace is it’s in Italy. And when the opportunity strikes, she decides to ditch the program and travel Italy accomplishing her own list of goals. Things like swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, eating a whole pizza in one sitting…and falling in love with an Italian boy! As she explores the famous cities of Rome and Pompeii, Pippa finds herself falling for two boys: a local guy she knows is nothing but trouble and a cute American archaeology student who keeps disappearing and reappearing at the strangest moments. Will Pippa find her true love before her parents find out the truth about her summer program?

Having been to Italy before and absolutely loving it, I was really looking forward to reading this book and I wasn't disappointed. It was quite a sweet read, particularly for the Summer. I read it way back in August so this review is long overdue but I still remember the story and its details.

The book had an interesting but romantic storyline. First off, there was rebellion, which I thought was a good to start off on and progress from. I enjoyed the travelling in this book - the places featured are all ones that I would love to visit some day. This book did feature a love triangle which I felt took up a lot of the story, however I felt that this didn't mean the book strayed too much away from the setting, as the parts of Italy our main character, Pippa, travelled too was still spoken about in detail. 

I think this book was interesting because Pippa was being forced to attend a program she didn't want to attend. I feel like this book was easy to relate to in that aspect as I'm sure many people feel forced into doing things by their parents, especially in regards to education, and this book shows that you don't always have to do what you feel like you'r being forced to do. You could totally just travel round Italy instead!

This book is, as said earlier, is a perfect summer read. It gives me the urge to go and grab some ice cream, despite the fact that it is January and freezing cold at the moment!

Sunday 4 January 2015

January 2015

via Elegance and Enchantment








Once again, January has come around. I can't believe how quickly the last year has gone, I hope it slows a bit this year! In my previous post, I outlined some of my blogging and reading goals for the year. One of my reading goals is to stop specifying which books are on my TBR list for the month, and instead give myself target number of how many books I'd like to read each month! There are a few books I know I'd like to read this month, but as a mood reader, I can't guarantee I'll actually read them this month! 
This month, I plan to read 4-5 books. I have two essays in for the 19th and 20th, so I know that in the lead up to that, I probably won't read very much therefore I don't want to set a high goal that I know I won't be able to reach! Two books that I am hoping to read this month are Rebel Belle and The Winner's Curse but I won't hold myself to them too much for this month! What's on your TBR for the month?

Ps. I've joined the Flights of Fantasy reading challenge!

                      

Saturday 3 January 2015

01 Book Haul

This is the first time I have ever done a book haul before and I've actually taken my own pictures for it, even though they're not great but it'll get better..I hope! All but 3 of these are books that I got for Christmas. The other 3 which are The Winners Curse, Burn for Burn and This Song Will Save Your Life were bought at a different time in December. 

I feel very lucky to have received so many books for Christmas and can't wait to devour them all!



I am most looking forward to the four above out of all the books I received/bought. I'm actually currently reading My True Love Gave to Me and am really enjoying it so far! I have no idea what to read after though - any suggestions?

 

Friday 2 January 2015

Happy New Year!


First of all, happy 2015 everybody!I hope you all had a lovely New Years Eve/Day! 2014 has been a bit of a roller coaster but I've enjoyed it! 

In 2014, this blog was born and since having started this blog, I have began to read a whole lot more than pervious years, paid more attention to book recommendations and have been introduced to plenty of other book blogs! Personally, I started a new job in June and then in September I quit it and started studying History at University. This was pretty big for me but I'm very happy with my decision. All in all, 2014 has been a life changing, but happy year for me. I'm hoping that 2015 will also be a great year - I already have a few concerts and a holiday to look forward too!

1. Read 60+ books - In 2014 I had a GoodReads Challenge of 40 books. I manage 36  which isn't great, but I know this is because of work and then starting University. I also didn't read anything for a whole month so that didn't help! My goal for 2015 is 60 however I would like to smash this and go further!
2. Read more of a variety - For the most part, I've noticed I tend to stick to Contemporary YA. I do own some Fantasy however I would like to read more. I'd also like to dip into Historical Fiction. 
3. Don't specify books to read for the month - As a mood reader, I can never stick to my TBR list that I create for each month. Instead of specifying 5+ books to read in a month, I would rather specify 1 or 2 books so that I'm not forcing myself to read books on my monthly TBR. 
4. Create reading goals per monthThis relates to the resolution above. I'd like to create a target of how many books to read per month. This relates back to being a mood reader, as this allows me to be a lot more flexible with what I read.
5. Read 5 Classics - I've never enjoyed classics that much in the past, however I would like to read a few this year and get a taste for them especially as I'm a bit older before.
1. Blog more! - I started this blog in March of 2014 however I stopped posting for a few months. This year I'd like to blog a lot more and become more consistent.
2. Be more blog organised - Relating to the resolution above, I want to become a lot more organised with this blog and posting. 
3. Blog maintenance - I read plenty of other blogs and have noticed that many have very clean and tidy appearances. This year I'd like to take my blog design up a notch, and perhaps even learn a bit of HTML. I have already thought about paying for a blog design but feel I should wait until I am posting a lot more consistently!
4. Blog post formats - This year I would like to change the way I write reviews. I tend to feel that my writing is not that great in my reviews, therefore I would like to change the way in which I write each review post.
5. Blog memes/features - I would really like to get involved with more blog memes and features. I did participate for a bit in a few memes however this stopped when I took a break from blogging!


1. Be more organised - As I'm balancing uni, work, blog, life as well as my accounting studies, I feel like this year I really need to be a lot more organised. This year I actually have a planner that I feel will really help me to become a lot more organised! 
2. Pick up photography again - When I was at college, I did an A-Level in Photography which I really enjoyed. This year I would really like to pick up photography again. Maybe I'll take up book photography!
3. Be more thankful - This year I want to take the time to be a lot more thankful and appreciative of what I've got. I don't feel like I really take the time to appreciate my life and what I have enough.
4. Spend more time with family - Throughout my teens, I started to become distant from my family, spending a lot of time in my room. As I'm coming to the end of my teens now, I'm starting to realise just how important family is therefore I want to spend more time with my family this year.
5. Learn to save and budget - One of my problems since starting work almost 4 years ago has been learning to save my money and budgeting myself. Although I saved money when I was working full time, now I'm back in full time education and working part time, I'm realising just how much I need to save so this year I want to set a target of how much I'd like to save for the year and budget myself on how much I can spend per month. 

Here's to hoping that 2015 is another great year, for both me and you!