Sunday 16 November 2014

The Chocolate Book Tag

It's a given that everyone loves chocolate and chances are, if you're reading this, you love books too. So what better tag to do than the Chocolate Book Tag?

1. Dark Chocolate - a book that covers a dark topic
There's definitely a lot of books I could pick for this but I'm going with 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher which covers the topic of suicide - doesn't get darker than that really.

2. White Chocolate - your favourite lighthearted/humours book
I've not read many funny books but It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini and Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli are both books that's are quite lighthearted and uplifting.

3. Milk Chocolate - a book with a lot of hype that you're dying to read
I'm dying to read a lot of hugely popular books but I've wanted to read Daughter Of Smoke And Bone by Lani Taylor for ages and a lot of BookTube tags I've watched recently have mentioned it, making me want to read it even more.

4. Wafer Free KitKat - a book that has surprised you lately
Recently I read Billy And Me by Giovanna Fletcher and I wasn't expecting much from it but it was a lot better than I thought it would be.

5. Snickers - a book you are going nuts about
This is easily It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini which I cannot stop gushing about. It's such a wonderful book, I don't think I have enjoyed a book quite as much as this.

6. Hot Chocolate With Cream And Marshmallows - a book you would turn to for a comfort read
If I really wanted to feel comforted I think I'd go with one of my childhood books which would be either Gobbolino The Witch's Cat/The Adventures Of The Little Wooden Horse by Ursula Moray Williams, Humphrey's  Corner by Sally Hunter or Necklace Of Raindrops by Joan Aiken. Maybe even Harry Potter And The Philosopher's stone.

7. Chocolate With A Caramel Centre - a book that made you feel gooey in the middle while you read it
Any romance/chick lit obviously, possibly Billy And Me by Giovanna Fletcher, a very cute, fanfic style book.

Again, I have no one to tag seeing as I don't know any book blogs yet.

Hope you enjoyed! 

Book Review: Billy And Me - Giovanna Fletcher

It may be wrong to judge a book by its cover, but how can you resist when it's this pretty?
Since I first heard about Giovanna Fletcher taking up writing, I have wanted to read her debut novel, Billy And Me.

Billy And Me follows the life of Sophie May, an introverted kind of girl who is happy living a quiet life in a small village in Kent. She is very much out of the celebrity world and when she meets Billy Buskin, a huge Hollywood actor, in the cafe she works at, she has no idea who he is. Billy instantly takes a shine to Sophie and before she knows it, she's whisked off to London, seeing herself in newspapers and caught up in Billy's hectic world. Can Sophie cope with the showbiz world?

Before reading this I heard very mixed reviews about it. This left me wondering if perhaps Giovanna only got offered this book deal because of who she is married to and the good reviews were from McFly fans. I hoped that wouldn't be the case because it would be an unfair way of making money/getting famous and I would also feel sorry for Gi if she was super passionate about writing but people only liked her books because of who she was.

I actually really liked Giovanna's writing style, it was very chatty, informal and it felt as though Sophie was genuinely talking to you. 

I gave the book 4* on Goodreads but it wasn't a brilliant book. It was an easy, entertaining, light read but the plot didn't really hook me or make me fall in love with the characters etc. 

The book began with me thinking that all the characters were decent people but by halfway through, Sophie May had found her way into the Top 10 most irritating characters and Billy Buskin had become a bit of a dick.

Sophie seemed like a perfectly nice girl, a likeable character. However, she grew increasingly more irritating as the book went on. She definitely didn't understand the way the outside world worked and to be completely honest, I found her wingey and pathetic, she was like a damsel in distress always needing a man to rescue her. It was a disappointing turn when what I really want to see from a book is a strong, independent, real woman -not one from centuries in the future with a bow and arrow who kills anyone and anything. 

Billy ended up being a bit of a dick to Sophie at times but that didn't excuse Sophie's ridiculously dramatic reactions.

I can see why some people wouldn't enjoy the book. It's marketed as a typical chick-lit book, targeted at women maybe 20/23+ but really it's more of a teen girl read (I'm only 16). I think a lot of people above my age, probably 19 upwards (depending on reading ability and how much they enjoy reading) would find the writing style quite "childish" and "immature" and "basic". It's a lot like reading a fanfic. That's completely just my opinion/view though.

Anyone read this book who agrees with me? Disagrees?


Saturday 15 November 2014

Taylor Swift Book Tag

I'll admit that I'm not exactly a Taylor Swift fan though some of her music is good, I just thought this book tag was such a good idea and I was drawn to it instantly. I was also not tagged by anyone but I wanted to do it anyway.

1. We Are Never Getting Back Together - a book (or series) you were sure you were in love with but then wanted to break up with
This question is tough but I'd have to say The Death Cure by James Dashner, loved the other two books and this one started off great but the ending made me kinda hate it.

2. Red - pick a book with a red cover
Billy And Me by Giovanna Fletcher

3. The Best Day - pick a book that makes you feel nostalgic
There was a few I could have picked for this but Gobbolino The Witch's Cat by Ursula Moray Williams was first to come to mind.

4. Love Story - pick a book with a forbidden love
I haven't read many books with forbidden love that I can think of so I'll say We Were Liars by E Lockhart because Cadence and Gat's love was not exactly approved of.

5. I Knew You Were Trouble - pick a book with a bad character you couldn't help but love
I can't think of one at all for this, whoops.

6. Innocent - pick a book that someone ruined the ending for
No one ruined the ending of Love, Rosie by Cecilia Ahern, I asked my friend to tell me what happened as she read the book so I kind of asked for it to be ruined I guess though I've still not read it.

7. Everything Has Changed - pick a character from a book that goes through extensive character development 
It may not be exteme character development but I'm going to say Craig Gilner from It's Kind Of A Funny Story as he goes through a cycle of being okay, being depressed to finally being "better" if that makes sense.

8. You Belong With Me - pick your most anticipated book release
I am still yet to read The Kill Order but I'm very excited for The Fever Code by James Dashner as he has said that Newt has a sister in Group B and I'm looking forward to finding out more about this so much, it sounds so good. It will be great to learn how everyone got put into the maze.

9. Forever And Always - pick your favourite book couple
The obvious one is Hazel and Gus but to be completely honest, I didn't even like TFIOS that much. I don't read many books with couples in either so this question is going to have to be a pass until I read a book with a good couple.

10. Come Back, Be Here - pick a book you'd least like to lend out for fear of missing it too much
I'm fine lending books out but I would be reluctant to lend out any of my family's Harry Potter collection for fear of them getting damaged as they are books my mum, sister and I all love and we have the really great hardback ones and they're overall just very special.

Seeing as I don't really know any other book blogs at the minute, I'm not going to tag anyone, I'm going to leave it open, if you want to do it, do it! 

Hope you enjoyed this tag! 

Wednesday 5 November 2014

The Maze Runner Trilogy

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*
I bought a copy of The Maze Runner to take on holiday with me in summer but I didn't get round to reading it until September. I never really planned on reading The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure until later on, maybe even next year, but for my birthday in October, I was given the set of three books.

Out of the three stories in the series, I'd say The Maze Runner is my favourite, followed by The Scorch Trials with The Death Cure last. When I reviewed these on Good Reads, I gave both the first and second book 4* and the final book 3*.

None of the books received 5* as they all seemed to be missing something although I really enjoyed reading them and I thought that James Dashner had a good way of ending the majority of chapters with a cliff hanger.

The first book was very interesting and I felt the urge to continue reading to find out what happens as it's fast moving and something's always happening. However, it just seemed to lack something meaning it missed out on the 5*.

The same goes for The Scorch Trials. Part of me almost prefers this to The Maze Runner as there is so much more in it and I loved "seeing" the bond between Thomas, Minho and Newt grow as they face tough situations together.

The Death Cure however was a huge disappointment. It easily could have achieved the 4* like the others but the ending meant it dropped one star. After everything the Gladers had been through, the ending seemed so dull and all the trials were completely worthless. By the end of The Scorch Trials I definitely disliked Teresa a lot but her death lacked any kind of emotion and was so rushed it wasn't even worth writing.

It was nice to have some dystopian fiction to read again as the last thing I read of this genre was probably The Hunger Games trilogy.

I really enjoyed this series and I would recommend it to anyone my age who was looking for something to read. It's said to be great for fans of The Hunger Games and I partly agree with this. The hardcore Hunger Games fans or people who read dystopian a lot will be disappointed with the comparison and probably not enjoy the books as much as they hope to but people who enjoyed the Hunger Games but aren't big on reading will probably be pleasantly surprised by this trilogy.

Friday 31 October 2014

The Introduction

I'm not sure how to start this post... I guess saying hello would be a good start so, hello.

I haven't blogged in months so I think it will take a while to get back into it and produce good posts. 
Recently I have rediscovered my love of reading and books and with that, I have decided to start this blog which is dedicated to all things books! At the moment I think the main posts on here will be book reviews but I hope to do others like book hauls and any other things related to books (which off the top of my head I can't think of, haha). 

I feel like I should explain the blog title and URL. Originally, I planned for them both to be "At Home In the Clouds" but the URL had already been taken, looking back I'm kind of glad that it was as the new URL is "My Home Is In The Clouds" which I actually really like. When I'm reading a good book I can really zone out and it's like being away with the fairies or head in the clouds and I feel like the phrase "at home in the clouds" perfectly describes me.

I'll keep this intro short and sweet as I don't have a lot to say but I hope you stick around to read some other posts! All that's left to say is goodbye for now.