Boy Meets Boy

Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Type: Paperback
Read: 23rd January - 24th January
Rating: 3/5
Published: 1st August 2013 by Harper Collins 

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.

I have no idea why i brought this book. It's been on my TBR pile for ages. It's an easy read, boy loves boy, falls out with boy and works to get him back. Cute. Typical teenager stuff.
The only slightly out of there stuff is that the town which they live in has no prejudice, a good thing, but mental. It's a nice story, you can read it in one sitting if you really wanted.
Cute.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

Body Double

Title: Body Double (Rizzoli & Isles #4)
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Type: Paperback
Read: 20th January - 22nd January
Rating: 5/5
Published: 16th January 2006 by Bantam Books 

Dr Maura Isles stared at the corpse in the car, at the face illuminated by Rizzoli's flashlight beam.

It's me. That woman is me...

Maura Isles deals with death. As a pathologist in downtown Boston, she has seen more than her share of corpses. But never before has the body on the medical examiner's table been her own.

There can be no denying the evidence though. The dead woman is her mirror image right down to the most intimate physical details. Even more chilling is the discovery that they share the same birth date and blood type.

Then a DNA test confirms that Maura's mysterious double is indeed her twin sister, and suddenly an already bizarre murder investigation becomes a disturbing excursion into a past full of dark and deadly secrets..

I can't get enough of Tess Gerritsen. Her novels are just wonderful, they take you on a journey of suspense and drama. This is book four i believe in the Rizzoli and Isle series and in this we find out that Maura has a twin and her biological parents are a bunch of crazies.

A great book that will keep you wanting more.

Go get it from: Amazon UK  | Book Depository | Waterstones

See How Small

Title: See How Small
Author: Scott Blackwood
Type: Paperback (arc)
Read: 16th January - 19th January
Rating: 4/5
Published: 20th January 2015 by 4th Estate

It begins one summer evening in a small Texas town. Two men walk into an ice cream shop shortly before it closes. They bind the three teenager girls working behind the counter. They set fire to the shop. They disappear. This horrific, mysterious crime is the subject of Scott Blackwood's new novel.

Loosely based on the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders in Austin, Texas, See How Small explores a community's reactions to the brutal and seemingly random murder of these three girls. It is told through the perspectives of the community's survivors, witnesses, suspects, and yes, the deceased girls. Among the people we meet is Jack Dewey, the fireman who ran into the burning building and discovered the girls’ bodies, and whose life becomes haunted by the girls' memory. We see Kate Ulrich, the mother of two murdered girls, who finds that in fighting the community’s need to narrate her life in light of the murders, she’s also losing her connection to the girls’ lives. A suspect in the murders, Michael Greer, now with a daughter of his own, is haunted by his inadvertent participation in it and his brother’s earlier tragic death. And Rosa Heller, an investigative journalist who tries to piece together the mystery by interviewing involved people, becomes lost in the community's false memories and lies and regrets. Above everything else is the girls' shared narration as they watch over the community during the five years following their deaths, as they attempt to comfort their town. 

Won via a good reads give away. I think I thought this would be a who done it kind of book.
It is totally not what I expected. It's much better. The writing style is very easy and flows great. There is something about this book that just makes you want to carry on reading.
Loosely based one ice cream murders of which I had to google to work out. Taken from the view point of various people impacted from the crime including the girls themselves.

Beautifully written.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

The House We Grew Up In

Title: The House We Grew Up In
Author: Lisa Jewell
Type: Paperback
Read: 11th January - 15th January
Rating: 5/5
Published: 18th July 2013 by Random House UK

Meet the Bird Family. All four children have an idyllic childhood: a picture-book cottage in a country village, a warm, cosy kitchen filled with love and laughter, sun-drenched afternoons in a rambling garden.

But one Easter weekend a tragedy strikes the Bird family that is so devastating that, almost imperceptibly, it begins to tear them apart. The years pass and the children become adults and begin to develop their own quite separate lives. Soon it's almost as though they've never been a family at all.

Almost.
But not quite.

Because something has happened that will call them home, back to the house they grew up in - and to what really happened that Easter weekend all those years ago.

I love Lisa's books, i have them all and she is one of my all time favourite authors. I've had 'The House We Grew Up In' on my TBR pile for ages an figured i would finally get around to reading it.

I can't fault this book at all. The story is of the Bird family, who one easter are torn apart. It has flashbacks of the day where each sibling and family member are trying to recall exactly what happened that made them drift apart to loose contact with one another for years.

A touching book, one which delves into the minds of those who collect, or in some extreme cases hoard everything and anything they have. It doesnt' sound interesting but i couldn't put it down. Lisa has captured the drama, the conflict and regret/love wonderfully.

I loved all the characters, Megan & Beth were my favourites and i could really see myself in Beth, which kinda freaked me out a bit. But they were to two stand out characters.

Give this a good read, theres some wonderful quotes throughout as well.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones  

Spiders

Title: Spiders (Thirteen #2)
Author: Tom Hoyle
Type: Paperback
Read: 7th January - 9th January
Rating: 5/5
Published: 6th November 2014 by Macmillan Childrens Books

From the author of Thirteen: a fast-paced thriller for teens set in a world where ordinary kids are confronted by evil. Adam may have survived once, but a cult still has him in its sights. And this time he may not escape with his life...

Abbie's dad is an undercover agent, tasked with exposing dangerous cults. He's normally able to maintain his distance, but this time Abbie's worried he's in too deep. Megan was sure she and Adam were safe, but now he's gone missing on a school ski trip in Scotland and she's the only one who can help him . . .

The web is closing in around them . . .

So what Thirteen lacked, Spiders more than made up for it.
This book was a complete page turner from start to finish. The character development from the prior book was great to see. I loved it.
It's not overly long and it's an easy read but very dramatic. I couldn't put it down. I wanted it to end and then I didn't.

I do think reading Thirteen will help understand the back ground of this story. As it continues with Adam, being sought after once again by another crazy cult. This time, they're all for wanting him to take them to the golden planet along with tweleve other gifted children whom they have kidnapped.

The book ends on a cliff hanger, so there could easily be a third book in this series, but we'll just have to wait an see.
It's good. The book stands out being bright orange with spiders crawling around the pages.. 

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones

Thirteen

Title: Thirteen (Thirteen #1)
Author: Tom Hoyle
Type: Paperback
Read: 4th January - 6th January
Rating: 3/5
Published: 13th February 2014 by Macmillan Childrens Books

Born at midnight in London, on the stroke of the new millennium, Adam is the target of a cult that believes boys born on this date must die before the end of their thirteenth year. Twelve boys have been killed so far. Coron, the crazy cult leader, will stop at nothing to bring in his new kingdom. And now he is planning a bombing spectacular across London to celebrate the sacrifice of his final victim: Adam.

I picked up this book on the off chance, why? because the book is bright yellow and was screaming out at me to look at it. Also kinda quirky that the edges of the pages were yellow with numbers 1 to 12 crossed out, with the message 'his days are numbered'. Gets you thinking.

Never read anything from this author before so i had no idea what to expect. It's a YA book, although I'm so so if it fits that category. It's cult like, crazy minded but something was missing. The story is of Adam, born exactly at midnight in the year 2000. He must die aged no older than 13, along with twelve others born at the same time.

Que a bunch of crazy cult like people after him trying anything and everything to ensure his death. It's not exactly fully believable. I think the ending sadly let it down. It seemed very rushed and two kids, saved London? Hmm i'm torn. Mayone it can happen. It just seemed far fetched.

I liked the characters, Megan was my more favourite than Adam, at times he annoyed me. I think someimes he thought he was alot older than he seemed, yet you catch bits of his innocence throughout.

I do think this could be turned in to a really good film though. Give it a bit more edge.
Enjoyable but lacking a little something.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones

My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories

Title: My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
Author: Stephanie Perkins (+ many more!)
Type: Hardback
Read: 29th December - 3rd January
Rating: 4/5
Published: 9th October 2014 by Macmillan Childrens Books

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays.

Firstly the cover of this book is just so pretty and the pink pages, cute.
12 festive stories, written by twelve very different authors. I've heard of some, but not all.

Midnights - Rainbow Rowell - 5/5
The Lady & The Fox - Kelly Link - 2/5
Angels In The Snow - Matt de la Pena - 4/5
Polaris is Where You'll Find Me - Jenny Han - 4/5
It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown - Stephanie Perkins - 5/5
Your Temporary Santa - David Levithan - 3/5
Krampuslauf - Holly Black - 3/5
What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? - Gayle Forman - 5/5
Beer Buckets & Baby Jesus - Myra McEntire - 4/5
Welcome to Christmas, CA - Kiersten White - 5/5
Star of Bethlehem - Ally Carter - 3/5
The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer - Laini Taylor - 3/5

Overall scoring a 4/5 - there are some great, cute stories in there and some that are just plain confusing. Certainly worth a read around christmas time.

Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones 

Reading Challenge of 2015

With the start of each new year, my aim is simple. Read more or the same as the previous. I'm an active member of goodreads and when the 1st January arrives, i look forward to claiming my reading challenge. I always seem to have more than enough books, but i generally aim to read 50 books a year.

I think this is a resonable challenge, its apoximately 4 books a month. Thats not unreasonable is it? If i surpass that challenge earlier than intended, i'll simply up it. But for now, 50 books is my aim for 2015.

Bring it on!