Blogging in 2014 & Did I complete my Goodreads Challenge?

Blogging in 2014

2014 has been a great blogging year. I stopped blogging for 9 months and got back in to blogging in May. I enjoyed the break, I think I  really needed it as the blog was getting to much like work and when I first started blogging it was to have fun and the pressure to put this post up and that post and not to disappoint people was getting too much. Now coming back with a different perspective and not putting pressure on myself it has been great. I have started interacting a lot more with bloggers which has been so much fun. After blogging for nearly 4 years with the break in between I never really interacted that much with bloggers but now I love it. I have also been using twitter and facebook a lot for blogging and all the new followers has been amazing. My facebook page has really grown which I really appreciate. If you aren't following me on all my social media sites check out the links in the sidebar!

Did I complete my Goodreads challenge?

I have also had the pleasure of reading some amazing books this year as well as discovering some incredible authors. Some of my favourite series of books came to an end which was bittersweet. All in all it has been a great reading year. I have read way more books than I expected too. I read 73 full books and 14 books that where novellas or children's books, and successfully completed my Goodreads challenge. Each year I have read at least 20 more books than the previous year so this year I am going to aim high, I still am not sure on the number. I also think I read a lot more books because if I simply wanted to read a book on my book shelf I did and didn't limit myself to reading all review books.

Over all this blogging year has really been fun. I think I have had the most fun this year blogging since I started. The first two years of blogging where so much fun and then the pressure started to get too much but after the break and making myself some rules to follow its has made blogging exciting again.

I want to say thank you to everyone who follows my blog, follows me on twitter or facebook. Anyone who has left me a comment or simply retweeted one of my tweets you are all amazing. I hope you all have a great New Year and a great book year in 2015. I am excited to see what happens!






Movie Review: Annie

In 2015 I intend to see a lot more movies and therefore will be having movie reviews on the blog, starting with this review of Annie (It's a hard knock life) 2014!



Movie: Annie
Released: December 2014 (UK/USA)
Starring: Quvenzhane Wallis/ Cameron Diaz/ Jamie Foxx/ Rose Byrne
Rating: PG (Parents Guidance)

Review

My sister loves the original 1982 version of Annie, it was one of her favourite childhood movies so we both went along to see this new version. 

Annie was a fun, feel good movie that all the family can see. The homage to the original 1982 version of Annie was great in the little details. The music was great , using a mix of the old songs and new songs. You could tell Sia, who wrote a lot of the music, had a big influence on the sound.

Technology played a big role in the film and it was crazy to see on the big screen the influence technology has on every day life. (Like we already didn't know, but it was crazy to see)

The actress, Quvenzhane Wallis, was great as Annie. She has a great voice, was funny and her interaction with Jamie Fox and Cameron Diaz was really good! It was strange seeing Quvenzhane as Annie because I still think of Annie as this curly red headed girl!

Overall Annie was a great movie for all the family and a great movie to see in the new year!

Have you seen Annie? Do you want to see the movie? Leave me your thoughts below!





Favourite Reads of 2014

This year has been a great reading year for me, I read so many great books and discovered some new authors who's books I fell in love with. Below are my faves, some where released this year and some where released over the last few years. Let me know yours in the comments below!


  

   








Until Midnight by Melissa Landers *FREE eBook* & #Giveaway

Happy Holidays, everyone! I’m Melissa Landers, author of the Alienated series, and I have a present for you—a brand new e-short from Disney Hyperion!


UNTIL MIDNIGHT takes place onboard an intergalactic transport, soon after ALIENATED ends and before the sequel INVADED begins. The story details Aelyx and Cara’s last day together before he returns to Earth to mend the alliance and she continues to his home planet. It’s sweet and romantic, and as a bonus, it includes a four-chapter preview of the sequel, which releases February 3rd.


Oh, and did I mention the best part? IT’S FREE!


You can download UNTIL MIDNIGHT from the following e-tailers:


Nook: http://bit.ly/1zshdpx

iBooks: http://bit.ly/1sT4CnM

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1AIb45a

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1v06kVd


*If you live outside the USA, no worries. I’ve uploaded the story to Scribd for you. (The only downside is it doesn’t include the bonus preview chapters, due to technical reasons from the publisher.) Link:http://www.scribd.com/AuthorMelissaLanders

To celebrate this new release, I’m offering TWO lucky winners an autographed swag pack complete with a personalized bookplate, mini-poster, bookmarks, and stickers—open internationally! Just fill out the rafflecopter form below.
Best of luck, and happy reading!


Don't miss the *free* romantic holiday story that connects ALIENATED and INVADED!  


Cara and Aelyx only have one day to spend together before he returns to earth and she travels to Aelyx's home planet, L'eihr. Homesick and worried about the upcoming year apart, Cara is desperate to make these final hours count. Worst of all, Cara is missing Christmas, stuck on board an alien spaceship. When Aelyx learns that Cara is forgoing her favorite holiday, he tries to recreate Christmas in space by researching traditional earth customs…but a few things get lost in translation.






BIO: Melissa Landers writes romantic science fiction for teens and the young at heart. To learn more, or just to say hello, visit her at www.melissa-landers.com

Where to find Melissa Landers: 

TwitterWebsiteFacebookGoodreadsInstagram.

Where to buy the books:

AmazonB&NThe Book DepositoryIndieBound.





#Review : A Year Full Of Stories by Georgie Adams & Selina Young

 
A Year Full of Stories
 
 
Book: A Year Full of Stories 

Author (s): Georgie Adams & Selina Young

Pages: 264
 
Children's Book

Publisher: Orion Books
 
Received Hardback VIA publisher for review
 
Review:
 
When I was younger I loved these sort of books. Big story books with little stories throughout. A year Full Of Stories has a story/or poem for every day of the year. From January 1st where Ben is cleaning his room for a fresh new start to the year, to Harry's Holiday diary in August. Each story/poem is only one page but I think it is enough for a bedtime story with a little one. It will appeal to both boys and girls and having a bedtime story designated to each day of the year will make bedtimes fun to see what the story is that day.
 
The pictures are bright and colourful and will encourage discussion with your children.
 
A Year Full Of Stories is a great collection of stories/poems that will be used for many years and would make a great addition to your child's bookcase!

Popsugar's reading challenge 2015

I found Pop Sugar's 2015 reading challenge on facebook and I think it's a cool reading challenge. Some of the challenges include A classic romance, a book more than a 100 year's old, a book you can finish in a day and lots more. You can read more about the challenge here they even have a printable so you can keep track. I think this is a cool challenge and I am going to undertake it in 2015 along with some other book challenges I have set myself. Those other book challenges will be revealed in a post later in the month.
Photo: Saw this on my timeline and thought I'd share. Reading challenge for anyone that wants to give it a try. :-)
I do not own this Pop Sugar does!!
Each month I will be updating you on my process of the challenge! Are you going to undertake the challenge? Leave me a comment below. Also which challenge are you most excited for. Don't forget to check out Pop Sugar

Review: Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

Girl OnlineBook: Girl Online

Author: Zoe Sugg

Series: Girl Online (1)

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 352

Bought Copy

Goodreads

Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

Blurb:

I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has - I can't believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! - and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes...

Penny has a secret.

Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family - and the panic attacks she's suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love - and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny's cover - and her closest friendship - forever.


Review:

I loved Girl Online. There has been so much criticism of Zoe and the rumour of a ghost writer but I can see Zoe all over this book. In the things the character loves, in the personality of the character and one big similarly is the character Penny's struggle with panic attacks and anxiety. Everyone knows that Zoe has struggled and still struggles with these issues it has been well documented online. On to my review of Girl Online.

The story is romantically cliché but I love cliché romance and it was just so cute. The story takes you from Brighton to New York. And Penny the main protagonist grows so much. She learns to deal with her struggles to realise she is beautiful and unique, her own person. She may learn this from Noah, the love interest but she realises when he's not around she can still be this person.

Girl Online has great characters aside from the protagonists. My favourite was Elliot, Penny's best friend he was so quirky and fun and had his own struggles.

Girl Online is real, the romance may be cliché, all romances aren't like Penny's and Noah's, that's every girls dream relationship but Penny was real.  She could be any girl out there with insecurities, anxiety and not knowing who they are. It touches on the good and bad side of the internet and shows you that you may think you know someone online but you really only know a tiny percentage of who they really are.

I really loved Girl Online and can't wait for more from Penny, Girl Online!
  






Bloggers I have loved in 2014!!

This year I have interacted a lot more with bloggers. Through this I have fallen in love with a few blogs, two in particular. They are Lost in Lit & Writing My Own Fairytale. I love these girl's posts and their blogs and I encourage you to all check out both blogs. Becca and Lisa @ LOST IN LIT & Lori @ WRITING MY OWN FAIRYTALE have kindly answered some fave book 2014 questions for me and what books they are looking forward to in 2015! Check out their answers and don't forget to stop by their blogs and say hello :)


Lost in Lit's Lisa



Blog * Twitter

Favourite 2014 read:
 
I read so many 5 star books this year, I can't even believe it!  The one I'd like to highlight though is Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke.  I was completely blown away by that book, and had no idea I was going to love it as much as I did.  Others that were fantastic include Open Road Summer by Emery Lord, Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor, On the Fence by Kasie West, Maybe Somebody by Colleen Hoover, and Best Kind of Broken by Chelsea Fine.  (As you can see, I'm a HUGE contemporary fan, so I enjoy my contempts most of all.)
 
Favourite 2014 blogging moment: 
 
 April 2014, when I welcomed Becca to Lost in Literature.  The blog has been so much more since she's joined, and I can't imagine ever running Lost in Lit again without her.  <3

2015 book I'm most looking forward to:  
 
There are SO many!  Naming one is impossible, but maybe I can name three.  ;)  Confess by Colleen Hoover, Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher, and The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West.
 
 
Becca's @ Lost in Lit



Blog * Twitter

Favourite 2014 read:

There were so many books that I read in 2014 that I really enjoyed. Topping the list would have to be Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover, Crossing the Ice by Jennifer Comeaux, Magnolia by Kristi Cook, Five Ways to Fall by KA Tucker, Clipped wings by Helena Hunting, The Breathing Series by Rebecca Donovan, All Broke Down by Cora Carmack and Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi. Just for the record, it was really hard for me to narrow that list down and I still listed too many LOL :) 
 
Favourite 2014 blogging moment: 

 
My best blogging moment of the year would have to be joining Lisa at Lost in Literature as her co-blogger. I had been toying with the idea of starting my own blog and when Lisa came to me with the idea of joining her I was so excited and happily accepted! Since then we have had so much fun and our relationship has grown and become even better! She is not only my sister in law, but a really good friend and co-blogging with her has become one of my favourite things in the world! So without a doubt in my mind I have to say that joining her has been the absolute best blogging moment of 2014 for me!
 
 
2015 book I'm most looking forward to:  
 
The books that I have come across that are releasing in 2015 have got me SO excited! There are so many excellent books that I cannot wait to get my hands on! They include: Rebound by Noelle August, Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher, The Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and Kissing Ted Callahan by Amy Spalding. 


Lori @ Writing My Own Fairytale 

Writing My Own Fairy Tale

Blog * Twitter


Favourite 2014 read:
This is a really hard question because I have to choose just one! Comparing fantasy to romance to sci-fi and pick just ONE overall favourite?!?! It's hard! But I did. I'm calling my favourite 2014 read Open Road Summer by Emery Lord. I was so surprised by it and its characters, the way I connected to the MC and how much I ended up loving all of the characters and their journeys, there's no way I can pick anything else. I recommend this book to pretty much anyone and everyone. So, if you haven't read this, you should! I loved it!


Favourite 2014 blogging moment: 
 
 This one was actually an easy one. I was lucky enough to be a moderator for an author event this fall and I just about died! It was a stop on the Heir of Fire Tour with Sarah J. Maas and Emery Lord. I was so excited and so nervous and I got to sit at a table with both of these authors and I'm still not sure I said any actual words during the whole time but they were amazing. It was so much fun and definitely my favourite blog moment of 2014.

 
2015 book I'm most looking forward to:  

This is SO HARD! There are so many books coming out next year that I'm dying to read! Pretty much every one is a sequel and I'd list them all here but it says favourite so again, I'm going to pick just one. The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E. Pearson is definitely one I'm excited to read. If you didn't read The Kiss of Deception and you're a fan of YA Fantasy books, I would definitely recommend it. I loved that story and I can't wait to see how it continues in the sequel! 
 
 
Who are some of your favourite bloggers?  Leave me a comment below with your faves you think I should check out!
 
 
 
 

Inspire by Cora Carmack Release Day & #Giveaway

Inspire RDL Banner  

We are so incredibly excited to be able to bring you the Release Day Launch for Cora Carmack's INSPIRE! INSPIRE is a New Adult Paranormal Romance novel and the first book in her new Muse Series!! Holy canoli, y'all. Go out and get this today!

  Inspire

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

Kalliope lives with one purpose. To inspire. As an immortal muse, she doesn’t have any other choice. It’s part of how she was made. Musicians, artists, actors—they use her to advance their art, and she uses them to survive. She moves from one artist to the next, never staying long enough to get attached. But all she wants is a different life— a normal one. She’s spent thousands of years living lie after lie, and now she’s ready for something real. Sweet, sexy, and steady, Wilder Bell feels more real than anything else in her long existence. And most importantly… he’s not an artist. He doesn’t want her for her ability. But she can’t turn off the way she influences people, not even to save a man she might love. Because in small doses, she can help make something beautiful, but her ability has just as much capacity to destroy as it does to create. The longer she stays, the more obsessed Wilder will become. It’s happened before, and it never turns out well for the mortal. Her presence may inspire genius. But it breeds madness, too.
 
Inspire Teaser 1
  
  Excerpt:
 
I can feel Wilder’s breath against my lips. More than that, I can see it. The sun has set and the temperature has dropped, and air fogs between us. There’s something about actually seeing it, like our lips are touching, we are touching, despite the distance between. And as we sway from side to side, my heart gradually begins to pick up speed. The strains of guitar music flowing out from the restaurant are nearly indecipherable over the heavy heartbeat in my ears. But Wilder must hear it. His hands are strong on my body, guiding my movements, and I’m practically clay in his palms. We dance, eyes on eyes, lips nearly on lips, and there is lightning beneath my skin each time his body brushes against mine in a new way. His touch is firm, but gentle, never pushing or pressuring, though I can tell from the dark look in his eyes that he’s just as affected as I am. The music shifts, building to a crescendo, and he spins us. My chest pushes tight against his, and I bite back a gasp. I don’t know if it’s the cold or him or some combination of both, but the tips of my breasts are painfully tight. Just the pressure of my bra is enough to rub them raw. I remember the night at his apartment, the way he’d taken his time learning my body. I think of the heat of his mouth on my skin, and the memory alone is enough to make me shiver and clench. He’s back to being business, grown-up Wilder tonight in his button down and glasses. Only now that I know him, it doesn’t seem like such a stark difference. He is neither the straight-laced man nor the tattooed bad boy. Or perhaps he’s both. Regardless of what he’s wearing, Wilder is caring and loyal and strong and so sexy that I’m having trouble remembering why I shouldn’t push him into the backseat of his SUV and crawl on top of him.

 
 
Headshot
  About Cora Carmack: Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.      

Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Author Goodreads ** INSPIRE Goodreads

 
 
 

The Night House by Rachel Tafoya Blog Tour: Interview & #Giveaway

Nighthouse-Banner-NEW
 
 
Interview with author, Rachel Tofoya
 
Tell me a little about yourself and your writing journey so far
 
            Hi, I’m Rachel! I’m 22, and I wrote The Night House when I was a senior in high school. I’ve been writing forever, and when I was in high school, I joined an experimental writing group for teens, run by Jonathan Maberry. He was an incredible person to come in contact with, and gave me a lot of hope and inspiration for my own writing. My dad is also a published author, and his own journey helped encourage me to try professionally writing.
 
Tell us a little about The Night House
 
            This is a pretty dark book about vampires, addiction, and empathy. Bianca is an addict who gets bitten by vampires and ventures alone out into the city, waiting for something to unfold. James is a recluse, who feels everything the people around him feel, dreading when something does change. When the two meet, a storm brews.

 Why Vampires?
 
            I love vampires. I think they are the perfect creatures to use to write about addiction. They need blood to live, and they’ll do anything for it. I also wrote this closer to the Great Twilight Craze, and witnessed some first hand accounts of people being addicted to vampires (or books about them).
 
Describe your main protagonists in less than 140 characters.
 
            It’s about two kids who live opposite lives, and look for the strength to break out of their patterns.
 
Why should we pick up The Night House in one sentence?
 
                It’s unlike any vampire book you’ve read!
 
Blurb:
 
Nighthouse-cover-new

Bianca St. Germain works at a Night House, a place where vampires like the aristocratic Jeremiah Archer, pay to feed on humans, and she doesn’t much care what others think of her. The money is good, and at least there, she’s safe. Bianca also doesn’t care that the Night House is killing her. All she cares about is: nauth, the highly addictive poison in vampire bites that brings a euphoria like no drug ever could.
 
But when Bianca meets James, a reclusive empath who feels everything she does, for the first time, she considers a life outside of the Night House and a someone worth living for. But Jeremiah has decided to keep Bianca for himself; he won’t allow her to walk away.
 
As she allows her feelings for James to grow, she struggles to contain nauth’s strong hold on her life. If they are to have a future, James must make her see what she’s worth, what she means to him, before Jeremiah and nauth claim her for good.
 
 
 
 
Author:
 
 
DCIM100MEDIARachel Tafoya studied creative writing while at Solebury School and was published in their student run literary magazine, SLAM. She attended a writing program for teens at both Susquehanna University and Denison University, and the Experimental Writing for Teens class and Novels for Young Writers program, both run by NY Times bestselling author, Jonathan Maberry. Rachel is the daughter crime author Dennis Tafoya.

 


 
 
 
 
 

 
 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places
Book: All The Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: January 6th 2015
Pages: 384
Received ARC for honest review
Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪
Goodreads

Blurb:

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven.


Review:

I have been blogging for over 3 years and this is the first time I am scared I am not going to do a book justice in my review. The reason is because this book is so beautiful, there hasn't been words created yet to describe how incredible it is!

So what's All The Bright Places about:

All The Bright Places deals with mental illness, first love, and a guy, Theodore, who saves a girl, Violet, who learns she has many more wanderings to make!

If you follow my blog you know I only really read PNR I never read anything "real", anything that deals remotely with real life or has a serious issue. This is because in real life I don't deal with real issues, I avoid them which isn't healthy and I tend to avoid them in books as well. All The Bright Places is not only a beautiful, heart-breaking, heart-warming, unique love story it's real and that is what is so heart-breaking and incredible about the story.

There are thousands of Theodore Finch's out there and there; beautiful,smiling on the outside but hurting on the inside, scared, hiding and what they need is not to be labelled but understood and listened too. I felt so many emotions reading All The Bright Places. I was in tears at the end of the book it really touched my heart and I don't think I have read anything that has affected me so much in a long time.

All The Bright Places will always burn brightly and stay with me forever, and my wanderings will never be the same, again all thanks to Theodore Finch and Jennifer Niven!
 

Cover Reveal & Blog Tour sign up: Glory by Devin O' Branagan

I am helping author Devin O' Branagan relaunch her series, The Legend of Glory in 2015 and first up is a cover reveal for Glory, the first book in the series on January 9th 2015 and a review only blog tour for Glory from the 19th-25th January. I have read the book and loved it. It is a YA Urban Fantasy PNR!

Note: "A prominent Hollywood producer has contracted with Devin O'Branagan to shop the Glory series to Hollywood as a possible TV or film project." 

About Glory:

Seventeen-year-old Glory Templeton's blood holds the cure for a deadly pandemic-plague, and she embarks on a quest to save humanity. When evil forces conspire to stop her, three supernatural beings are assigned to be her guardians. Forbidden love, ancient secret societies, mysterious astronomical monuments, witches, angels, vampires, and demons all contribute to the high adventure that tests the character of this remarkable young woman. The legend of Glory begins!

If you would like to sign up for either the cover reveal or blog tour or both. Comment below with which event you are interested in taking part in and your blog link so I can get your email to send your more info or if you feel comfortable leave your email below! You can also email me @ readingawaythedays@yahoo.co.uk if you prefer :-)

Discussion: Places I want to visit because of books

I love getting lost in a book, in the world the author has created, whether fictional or real. Here is the top three places I want to visit because of books!
 
 
1) PARIS- The book responsible Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
 
Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss, #1)
 
Paris is the city of love and in Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins made Paris an extra character, something I have never felt before in a book. I just want to walk the streets of Paris under the starlight and the lights of the Eiffel Tower. Paris was never a place I wanted to visit until I read Anna and the French Kiss!
 
2) NEW ORLEANS/LOUISIANA- The books responsible The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris 
 
Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)
 
I have a love for New Orleans especially Louisiana where my favorite ever book series is set. New Orleans and all the southern states is a place I have always wanted to visit and reading the Sookie Stackhouse series just increased that. I want to walk the French Quarter, visit the Bayou and be there for Mari Gras. New Orleans is my number one place to visit!
 
 
3) OXFORD UNI & ITS LIBRARIES & LONDON CIRCA 1590- The books responsible the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness
 
A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, #1)
 
The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness is fast becoming my favorite trilogy of all time. The book is set in upstate New York and Oxford, London (2010) and London circa 1590 and other places.
 
I would love to visit London circa 1590 and met greats like William Shakespeare, Mary Sidney and Queen Elizabeth, however if I travelled back in time Matthew would have to be with me (Matthew is one of my book boyfriends from the All Souls Trilogy) and vampires/witches & Daemons would have to be real.
 
I also want to visit within this world Oxford and more specifically Oxford University and it's libraries. Those Libraries... know words can describe the joy I would have in them!
 
What places/worlds from books do you want to visit and why?