Top 10 Books of 2016!!!!

2016 has been such an amazing reading year and there's been loads of stunning books released. I'm going to list out my top 10 reads of the year. They may not necessarily have been released this year- it's simply the favourite books that I've, personally, read this year. My Book Talks for each of the books mentioned will be linked on the book title if you want to check them out!
In no particular order...

A Court of Mist and Fury- Sarah J. Maas 
Well, this one is in order. ACOMAF was by far my favourite read of this year and has assumed the position of my favourite book. ACOMAF is the second book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. While I liked the first book, I loved the second book and I am constantly- constantly- thinking about it and desperately waiting for the sequel, A Court of Wings and Ruin, to come out next year!





The Lunar Chronicles- Marissa Meyer
I'm fully aware that this is cheating but... they count as one book, okay? My favourite would be Winter, then Cress, then Cinder and finally Scarlet. So we'll count Winter as the favourite book. This is a series of fairy tale retellings with a sci-fi twist and this series is genius! These books are truly gold and absolutely blew me away. Don't be intimidated by the size (820 pages, Winter!) as it's so easy and quick to read- the pages turn themselves. Book Talks will be up soon, I promise!

December Wrap Up 2016

December was an good month- a bit of an odd one. I read bits and bobs- no specific genre or type of book seemed to be prominent.
I've managed to read a total of 90 books this year- smashing my goal of 75!


Red Rising (Red Rising#1)- Pierce Brown 
****
While this was November's Book of the Month, I started it in November and finished it in December. Red Rising is a sci-fi/dystopian novel set on Mars. It deals with the concept that Reds are discriminated in a world ruled by Golds. Darrow- a low-life red- transforms into a Gold in order to take them down from the inside. This book started off quite slow but grabbed me about half way through. My Book Talk will be linked here.




Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (The Original Screenplay)- J.K. Rowling 
**** (4.5 stars)
After watching the movie earlier this month (Adaptation Talk here), I picked up the screenplay straight away and got to reading. This prequel to the classic Harry Potter brought a whole new dimension to the wizarding world and I'm so excited for all that's to come. I'll link my Book Talk here.

Christmas Bookish Haul 2016!!!

 

I got so many amazing presents this Christmas and I'm so thankful for all of them!! I got a lot of bookish items so I thought I'd haul them all in one big post!

Books up first!

Angelfall- Susan Ee

This is the first in a trilogy of which I have the last two books and have been searching for the first for ages. I can finally read this trilogy!

An Ember in the Ashes- Sabaa Tahir

I read this earlier in the year but simply haven't had the chance to buy it yet. Can't wait to re-read and then get onto the sequel!

The Darkest Minds- Alexandra Bracken

I've heard so much about this trilogy and have always wanted to read it but have never found in the book store. I'll wait until I have the other two books before reading it but I'm super excited!

November 9- Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover is such a popular author at the moment and I still haven't read any of her books! I really wanted to read Ugly Love- and will someday- but November 9 was another of her books that really caught my attention.

Paper and Fire- Rachel Caine BOOK TALK

***
I really was impressed with this book. Paper and Fire is the second book in The Great Library series (the first book being Ink and Bone) and it blew my expectations out of the water. I liked the first book but didn't love it- it was 'meh'. I was expecting Paper and Fire to be the same sort of ranking but it was so much better! There was a bit of a slow start but I got really into it and thoroughly enjoyed the rest.
There were was excellent character development and the plot had many twists and turns that kept it entertaining.

GOODREADS

AMAZON

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While this book started off pretty slow, I was gripped at the point where Wolfe was being visited by a Mesmer. It was slower mainly because the whole gang was split up and Morgan wasn't there- I love Morgan.

December Book Haul 2016

Surprisingly, despite it being December, I still managed to buy more than a few books...oops. I figured I'd do a bit of an early December book haul and then an X-mas haul as well... just so that these posts aren't ridiculously long. Enjoy!



Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Original Screenplay)- J.K. Rowling 
As soon as I'd watched the movie, I rushed straight out to buy this beauty and sped-read it in one sitting that very night. It was glorious! I have a Book Talk up (linked here) if you missed it and also have an Adaptation Talk (linked here) on the actual movie! I'd 100% recommend reading it!

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy- Cassandra Clare & Co.
While I was at dear old Waterstones, Tales from a Shadowhunter Academy caught my eye in all it's hardback, massive glory and I thought that I'd treat myself with it. I don't know when I'll get to reading it but I still have to read The Bane Chronicles yet....the shame! This book is an assortment of short stories, similar to The Bane Chronicles, about Simon mainly I believe? Apparently it's a good book to read before Lady Midnight but I haven't so...it's not essential.

'Tis the Season BOOK TAG

Tis the season to be jolly! So, let's talk about books! (No surprises there, then). I first saw this tag on Katytastic's Booktube channel so be sure to check that out here!
On with the tag!

1. Do you have a favourite winter read? 
Undone- Cat Clarke
While this isn't exactly a wintery read, I re-read it every December because it's one of my favourites so it's naturally turned into a wintery read for me. Funnily enough, I'm reading it right now and I am loving it! It's so easy to read and will always be one of my favourites!

2. Find a book with blue on the cover!
A Court of Mist and Fury!!! Of course I'd find a way to mention my favourite book! Isn't the cover beautiful?

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Original Screenplay)- J.K. Rowling BOOK TALK

**** (4.5 stars)

Obviously, I'm giving this screenplay the same star rating as the movie but... we saw that coming, right?

After watching the movie, I had to go straight out, buy and read the screenplay to get all the nitty-gritty details into my head. And, let me tell you, it was so good!

It only took me about an hour to read the whole thing but, boy, it was a good hour. I'd completely recommend reading this because it gives you such a further insight on the story and what's happening. There are deeper descriptions between each look and action and everything connects so much nicer. It's much easier to keep track of what each creature looks like and what they are called.

I can also safely say- though you can probably see for yourself- that this book is gorgeous! And the illustrations of the creatures inside the book? Stunning!

Would whole-heartedly recommend picking this up!

Also... go see the movie if you haven't yet! (Obviously).

I have an Adaptation Talk for the movie linked here if you missed it! 

 

GOODREADS

AMAZON

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Reading this screenplay was so amazing! The detail we get is astounding and, as I'd already seen the movie, it was playing out in my head so beautifully.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ADAPTATION TALK

**** (4.5 stars)
I've finally seen it! There has been so much hype on this movie it's insane and, as its written by our very own J.K. Rowling, why wouldn't it have?
I was fangirling so freaking much when the Warner Bros logo came on with the Harry Potter theme the background!
Wow! Okay! Fangirl over, I promise.
A solid four point five out of five stars and, while I did absolutely love it- I have to add my two pence to the budding debate- is it better than dear old Harry Potter?
In my opinion, no! You can't beat classic Harry Potter. How can you compete with Hermione, Luna Lovegood, Lupid, Neville Ron, Dobby, Hagrid, Fred and George? And no villain can ever beat Umbridge! (Also Voldemort...)
I went into this movie knowing next to nothing and I like that- it was great to be surprised with all the effects and characters. The only thing that might get a bit confusing is the names of all the characters and creatures- everything flies at you so fast that it's sometimes a struggle to keep up and catch everything.
Of course I'd recommend this movie! It's a no-brainer. Go see it!

TRAILER

AMAZON

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Newt Scamander is the world's new heart-throb, I swear. He's cute, socially awkward and prefers animals over humans. So, in other words....perfect?
Tina was also cool- and love interest??? I wasn't a massive fan of her to start with but I grew to like her as the movie went on.

TVD 8x06 'Detoured On Some Random Backwards Path to Hell' TV TALK

Team Parent!!

'Detoured on some random backwards path to hell' is a Caroline Forbes quote which I think works extremely well for this episode as Caroline, in my opinion, is the leading lady.

What an episode! A lot of the plans were unveiled in this episode and so much happened! Everything unfurled and the action was brutal!

TVD 8x01 TV TALK  |  TVD 8x02 TV TALK  |  TVD 8x03 TV TALK  |  TVD 8x04 TV TALK
TVD 8x05 TV TALK 

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Caroline doesn't deserve this pain!!!!!

Right from the beginning I was pumped to see Alaric and Caroline defend their kids and fight for them! And that's just what we got. We started the episode with a very threatening encounter between Ric and Seline. And well done to Alaric! Seline actually looked scared at Ric's threat! Hell yeah, you go, Ric!
The family reunion siren edition was fun! I didn't expect such a prickly atmosphere between the two. I was expecting...two masterminds joining forces but...I don't blame Sybil for being a bit mad. She had a perfectly legitimate reason to be. But watching them bicker through the whole episode was a hilarious highlight for me.
My Steroline heart was breaking in this episode. I totally understand where Carebear was coming from but watching her give that ring back was soul-wrenching.

Red Rising- Pierce Brown BOOK TALK

*** (3.5 stars)
This book was good! It was full of sci-fi, action and even a little bit of romance (though, honestly, not much). The beginning section of the book is a bit over-whelming and it takes a while to get your head around all the new vocabulary and make sense of the world but...once you have, it gets hecka interesting!
I would say that Red Rising is an elaborate blend of Legend (Marie Lu), An Ember in the Ashes (Sabaa Tahir) and The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins). And it's all of this... but also set on Mars.
I don't often read sci-fi books but this one really impressed me. I love the battle strategy and war plot lines and we meet a lot of great characters in this book.
I wouldn't say there's a cliffhanger but I am definitely going to be reading the next book at some point.

GOODREADS

AMAZON

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It took me a long and painful time to read this book but I can safely say that it wasn't the books fault. Yes, there were times that I just couldn't be bothered to read a repeated version of the same battle but, for the most part, this book kept me thoroughly gripped and it was due to my own busyness that I didn't read this as quickly as I'd wanted to.  

In my head, I split this book into sections simply because so much friggin happens! It may just be because I read this book over a long time but, it felt like an entire trilogy. Especially in the beginning, Pierce Brown brushes over so many events in a flick of a paragraph. Eo and Darrow's deaths were super quick and Darrow's transformation into a Gold was completely over in a few chapters. Thinking back to the beginning of the book...it feels so long ago because we've come so far!

December Releases and TBR 2016

Releases:
Crystal Storm (Fallen Kingdoms #5)- Morgan Rhodes 
The Selection (Kiera Cass) Colouring Book  
Red Queen (Victoria Aveyard) Colouring Book
Spindle (A Thousand Nights #2)- E.K Johnston 
The Secret off a Heart- Stacey Lee 
Take the Key and Lock Her Up- Ally Carter
Rules of the Game (Endgame #3)- James Frey 


TBR: 

Undone- Cat Clarke 
For some reason, I read this book every December of every year. I've done it for the last few years and will always continue to do so. Undone is one of my favourite books and, while it isn't exactly cheery for the season of joy, I like it as a 'winter' book.

Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2)- Rachel Caine
Paper and Fire is the December's Book of the Month!! This is the second book in the The Great Library series by Rachel Caine. I did enjoy the first book (I didn't love it) but I'm excited too see where the story will take us.

TVD 8x05 'Coming Home Was Mistake' TV TALK

They're too cute!!!!!!

Finally we have Stefan Salvatore quote!!!
After all the Delena quotes, Stefan finally appears!
This episode wasn't as jam-packed as the last one but, wow, it was still exciting! And that cliff-hanger? I'm so excited for episode six.
This episode took us back to the beloved carnival from... series two I wanna say? The episode brought back lots of nostalgia and we only had.... five Elena mentions in this episode.



TVD 8x01 TV TALK  |  TVD 8x02 TV TALK  |  TVD 8x03 TV TALK | TVD 8x04 TV TALK

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I'm beginning to think that Matt has a perpetual 'you killed my puppy' face. Poor Matty blue-blue. He's been through a lot but, surprise surprise, there's a reason why he has to stay! (But thank God that Matt was there to give Caroline some pointers about Seline...).