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

Good Reads // Amazon

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!

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!

                      

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?

 

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 month - This 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! 

And they lived Happily Ever After

Title: Isla and the Happily Ever After

Author: Stephanie Perkins
Pages: 375

Publisher: Usborne 

Source: Bought

Rating: 5/5

Good Reads // Amazon

Summary (from Good Reads): 
Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.  

I finished this book a few days after it had come out however have been avoiding writing this (and all the other reviews of books I've read..) since. I don't know why, considering you should all know by now that I absolutely love all 3 books by Stephanie Perkins, it's no secret how much I adored Anna and the French Kiss!

Isla and the Happily Ever After is the perfect conclusion to the Anna and the French Kiss trilogy. Although I still can't decide which book I enjoyed the most, it's most definitely a tie between Anna and Isla.

I can't express to you how happy I was to finally get my mitts on this, neither can I express to you how much I enjoyed this book. There were so many different elements that I enjoyed - the starting location of the book which then moved to Paris and then from there to a few places. I enjoy planning my travels and reading about travel in books so the way this was incorporated was something that I really enjoyed and felt like it added another dimension to the story. 

One thing I can't understand, is how Perkins creates such dynamic and great characters. I really just don't get it, but I love it. I feel like I can really connect to the characters in Perkins' books, and Isla is no different. I particularly like the fact that our main male character is Josh who we were originally introduced to in Anna. Having been introduced previously to this character and already knowing some things about him, I felt that this book was interesting because it really formed Josh and helped us to see his background, which I thought was a great idea. If you've read Anna and Isla, you've probably also noticed that Isla is featured briefly in Anna, so seeing how Perkins has done a crossover between the stories is a great feature!

I absolutely loved Isla, the pace was perfect, there was just enough of everything from romance to comedy. Oh, and that ending! The ending was really perfect for me. I couldn't believe what I was reading but it really brought the story to a close and left me feeling satisfied. I am sad that the trilogy is over, but knowing that there is a short story out by Stephanie Perkins (My True Love Gave to Me) does ease the pain!

Bye November, Hello December!

Via Smashing Magazine

If you read my November update post, you'll know that lately I've been quite busy with University and assignments - I had three in for the same day so I haven't really read too much this month! I'm just waiting to get my last deadline (5th December) out of the way and then I'm going to be reading as much as possible, even though I do actually have 2 essays in for a few weeks after the Christmas break! Also, this month I finally started my Christmas shopping! It hasn't gone too well, I'm still stuck on what to buy people, especially Myles, my boyfriend, however I think I'm finally getting there!

This month I read a total of 5 books, those being...Christmas with Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher, The Rain by Virginia Bergin, The Hunger Games: Mockingly by Suzanne Collins, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin and Solitaire by Alice Oseman.

I feel like this is pretty successful for me after looking back at previous months reading, so I'm really happy that I've read 5 books throughout November! I'm hoping to read above this in December - I have too really if I want to beat my Good Reads goal for this year! I must mention that I am currently reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and Thirty-Thre and a Half Shenanigans by Denise Grover Swank!

I know I love to see people's TBR lists for the month, so here's mine! I've noticed that I don't tend to stick to mine very much as I'm starting to find that I pick books I want to read next based on what mood I'm in (unless it's a series), but hey ho! Here's my TBR list for December!

1) Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe|Jenny Colgan

2) Let's Get Lost|Adi Alsaid
3) A Mad, Wicked Folly|Sharon Biggs Waller
4) The Great Gatsby|F. Scott Fitzgerald
5) The Evolution of Mara Dyer|Michelle Hodkin
6) Siege and Storm|Leigh Bardugo
7) Code Name Verity|Elizabeth Wein

That's 7 books on my list to read this month. It's certainly doable, although I am kinda hoping that I read more than this number..we'll see! 

As said in my last post, I will be uploading my reviews of books I've read since...August, oh dear. It will be soon! As also said, I've got one more deadline to get out of the way, and then I am free to get back into blogging and reading more, yay! Anyway, how was your November? Are you excited for Christmas? I really cannot wait, although I am stressing a bit over Christmas presents and what to buy for people! 

November Update

Hi everyone!

It's me again, you've probably forgotten all about me, but I'm still here, although I haven't been posting! Since starting University and a new job, I've been trying to get into the swing of assignments, which I'm almost past! I've got a portfolio of different essay things in for the 8th December which I'm going to try and get in for next Friday, so at the moment, all my attention is going on that..kind of! I've been reading a lot more, and I've got quite a few reviews lined up, although not totally finished, so those will hopefully be up after the 5th December!

Anyway, I've been reading a lot more lately which is really nice for me, I've been enjoying it a lot, and I feel like I may be in with a chance of completing my GoodReads reading challenge too! I am especially looking forward to reading more once my last assignment is in!

Other than University work, my job and getting back to reading more, nothing much has happened since my last update! Again, I am really looking forward to reading a lot more, as well as starting to blog again as I have been missing it. 

So with that being said, I will speak to you very, very soon! :)