Let’s Discuss! February Releases I’m Excited For

Hello lovely readers! Welcome to a new month and it’s time for a new set of exciting YA releases. There are so many exciting new releases and here is just a few of them – if you’d like to see more there’s a Goodreads list here.

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Goodreads | February 4th

Caledon Holt is the Kingdom of Renovia’s deadliest weapon. No one alive can best him in brawn or brains, which is why he’s the Guild’s most dangerous member and the Queen’s one and only assassin. He’s also bound to the Queen by an impossible vow–to find the missing Deian Scrolls, the fount of all magical history and knowledge, stolen years ago by a nefarious sect called the Aphrasians.
Shadow has been training all her life to follow in the footsteps of her mother and aunts–to become skilled enough to join the ranks of the Guild. Though magic has been forbidden since the Aphrasian uprising, Shadow has been learning to control her powers in secret, hoping that one day she’ll become an assassin as feared and revered as Caledon Holt.
When a surprise attack brings Shadow and Cal together, they’re forced to team up as assassin and apprentice to hunt down a new sinister threat to Renovia. But as Cal and Shadow grow closer, they’ll uncover a shocking web of lies and secrets that may destroy everything they hold dear. With war on the horizon and true love at risk, they’ll stop at nothing to protect each other and their kingdom in this stunning first novel in the Queen’s Secret series.

I just finished an ARC copy of this book and I enjoyed it! Review coming tomorrow.

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Goodreads | February 4th

As a successful social media journalist with half a million followers, seventeen-year-old Cal is used to sharing his life online. But when his pilot father is selected for a highly publicized NASA mission to Mars, Cal and his family relocate from Brooklyn to Houston and are thrust into a media circus.
Amidst the chaos, Cal meets sensitive and mysterious Leon, another “Astrokid,” and finds himself falling head over heels—fast. As the frenzy around the mission grows, so does their connection. But when secrets about the program are uncovered, Cal must find a way to reveal the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.

This book looks gorgeous and I adore the cover.

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Goodreads | February 4th

Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state candidate – as long as he’s behind the scenes. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya.
Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is cancelled, her parents are separating and now her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing – with some awkward guy she hardly knows …
Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer – and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural crush of the century is another thing entirely. 

I also have an ARC copy of this book and I’m buddy reading it with Faye and Alex next week! I’ve loved all of Becky Albertalli’s books so I’m excited for this one.

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Goodreads | February 6th

In this volume we’ll see the Heartstopper gang go on a school trip to Paris! Not only are Nick and Charlie navigating a new city, but also telling more people about their relationship AND learning more about the challenges each other are facing in private…
Meanwhile Tao and Elle will face their feelings for each other, Tara and Darcy share more about their relationship origin story, and the teachers supervising the trip seem… rather close…?

This week also brings Heartstopper Volume 3. I’ve loved all of the Heartstopper books so far and I’m pretty much up-to-date online, so I can’t wait to add this to my collection.

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Goodreads | February 18th

For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?
His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…
As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.

This is another read I’m not sure I’ll pick up right away but looks really intriguing and I might look out for a copy.

Which February releases are you excited for?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Let’s Discuss! Favourite Books of 2019

Hello everybody! I’m here today with a post I always find hard to write – my favourite books of last year. I hate the question ‘what is your favourite book’, because I never feel I can choose! But I’m forcing myself to do a top 5 countdown today for you, to challenge myself on actually choosing.

5.

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Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Amid the chaos of war, the Shadowhunters must decide to fight with the vampires, werewolves and other Downworlders – or against them. Meanwhile, Jace and Clary have their own decision to make: should they pursue the love they know is a mortal sin?

I had to choose a Cassandra Clare book to include in this list, and City of Glass was my favourite in The Mortal Instruments series. But still, no other Cassandra Clare book beats Clockwork Princess for me!

4.

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Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed. 

I was so late to the party reading The Hate U Give, but it astounded me all the same. It truly is an incredibly important book.

3.

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Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it’s Lei they’re after — the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king’s interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king’s consort. There, she does the unthinkable — she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world’s entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge. 

I adored Girls of Paper and Fire so much! It was such a beautiful read that meant so much to me, but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the second book as much.

2.

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Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Amelie loved Reese. And she thought he loved her. But she’s starting to realise love isn’t supposed to hurt like this. So now she’s retracing their story and untangling what happened by revisiting all the places he made her cry.
Because if she works out what went wrong, perhaps she can finally learn to get over him.

This book came at a time in my life that it couldn’t have helped me more. It was such an emotional read for me and made me realise a lot. But it didn’t quite nab top spot!

1.

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Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a strange book hidden in the library stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues – a bee, a key and a sword – that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to a subterranean library, hidden far below the surface of the earth.
What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians – it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose – in both the mysterious book and in his own life
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I feel like I’m cheating calling my last read of the year my favourite, but a month on and it still means so much to me. I absolutely adored The Starless Sea and it was such a desert island book. I couldn’t help but give it my number 1.

Which was your favourite read of 2019?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Let’s Discuss! Reading Resolutions for 2020

Hi all! I try not to give myself too many targets to avoid disappointment or aiming for anything I realistically can’t achieve, but I also love completing things I aspire to do! So, today I’m going through some reading and blogging resolutions for the year.

  • Read 50 books

I’ve been aiming to read 50 books per year for the past few years, and I only change my Goodreads goal towards the end of the year if I feel I can achieve over that. I managed to up my goal and hit 65 last year, but I’m going to go for 50 again as to not stress myself too much and see how it goes.

  • Read more than I buy

This is a big goal for me right now – I ended last year with more unread books than I had at the start, but I’d like 2020 to be different.

  • Read some of my series

In this post, I discussed some series I’d like to read in 2020. I have a lot sitting on my shelves and it’d be great to get them done!

  • Read a classic

As with last year, I’d like to read just one classic, or more if I can. I imagine with how much I adored the movie, this will end up starting with Little Women, which I’m now desperate to read.

  • Keep up to date on reading ARCs

With me now working as a bookseller, I tend to be lucky enough to pick up ARCs often. But I’m trying, with the help of buddy reads with the lovely Faye and Alex, to keep on top of them!

  • Keep up a blogging schedule

Something I’ve been finding super handy is having this amazing Google sheets document! Faye at A Daydreamers Thoughts shared it with me at the start of the year, and it’s already helping me immensely with keeping on top of my blog.

Thank you for reading! What are your resolutions for the year?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Let’s Discuss! Visiting Harry Potter Studios

Hi all! This week I had the chance to visit the Warner Bros Harry Potter Studio tour again. I visited last year in the Hogwarts in the Snow feature and decided to go again this year for the same feature with my boyfriend and group of friends.

We all noticed the entrance has changed around quite a lot in the past year, with a dragon now hanging from the ceiling and a super cute cafe with a roof shaped like a chocolate frog box!

I love how the Great Hall is dressed for the Yule Ball during the Hogwarts in the snow feature. The Christmas trees look amazing and of course the dinner looks delicious too. Something we noticed this year is how each part of the tables have Christmas crackers for each house!

It was lovely to wander around the rest of the sets. I’ve always adored Dumbledore’s office, so ended up spending a while in there.

Possibly the most exciting thing about our visit was the new feature none of us had seen – Gringotts! It was truly outstanding, especially the part in the top right which I won’t spoil for everybody but was worth taking a video of.

You now enter Diagon Alley through Gringotts, which was so cool but makes Diagon Alley look so small in comparison. It was still so lovely to see though!

Last but not least, we got to see the castle again. I cried the first time I saw this, but I wasn’t expecting to be so emotional this time. However, I still had a few tears in my eyes as it’s just so impressive!

It was so lovely to visit this wonderful and enchanting place again with amazing people who love Harry Potter as much as I do! I even braved Aragog’s Lair this year!

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Let’s Discuss! 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

Hi all! It might seem a bit late, with us now being near the end of January, but I thought I’d do a bit of a wrap-up of my journey of my reading in 2019! I find it so interesting to look back on the Goodreads Year in Books, so I’ll be taking the information from there.

How many books did I read?

I managed to read 65 books in 2019! My original goal was 50, so I’m proud of myself for going above and beyond. Overall, this was 26,849 pages.

What were the shortest and longest books I read?

The shortest book was A Christmas Carol at just 95 pages, and the longest was Queen of Air and Darkness at 893 pages.

What were the most popular and least popular books I read?

City of Bones was the most popular book I read with 1,642,971 ratings and my least popular was Parked with just 23 other readers!

Which books did I read?

My True Love Gave To Me – Various Authors
City of Bones – Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes – Cassandra Clare
City of Glass – Cassandra Clare
City of Fallen Angels – Cassandra Clare
City of Lost Souls – Cassandra Clare
City of Heavenly Fire – Cassandra Clare
King of Scars – Leigh Bardugo
Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy – Cassandra Clare
Lady Midnight – Cassandra Clare
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
Lord of Shadows – Cassandra Clare
Queen of Air and Darkness – Cassandra Clare
East of Eden – John Steinbeck
The Bane Chronicles – Cassandra Clare
Dumplin’ – Julie Murphy
Heartstopper – Alice Oseman
Glass Houses (Morganville #1) – Rachel Caine
The Dead Girls’ Dance (Morganville #2) – Rachel Caine
Midnight Dance (Morganville #3) – Rachel Caine
Feast of Fools (Morganville #4) – Rachel Caine
Lord of Misrule (Morganville #5) – Rachel Caine
Cape Corpus (Morganville #6) – Rachel Caine
Fade Out (Morganville #7) – Rachel Caine
Kiss of Death (Morganville #8) – Rachel Caine
Ghost Town (Morganville #9) – Rachel Caine
Bite Club (Morganville #10) – Rachel Caine
Last Breath (Morganville #11) – Rachel Caine
Black Dawn (Morganville #12) – Rachel Caine
The Quiet at the End of the World – Lauren James
Bitter Blood (Morganville #13) – Rachel Caine
Fall of Night (Morganville #14) – Rachel Caine
Daylighters (Morganville #15) – Rachel Caine
Midnight Bites – Rachel Caine
The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali – Sabina Khan
Meet Cute – Various Authors
Girls of Paper and Fire – Natasha Ngan
Call It What You Want – Brigid Kemmerer
The Last Namsara – Kristen Ciccarelli
The Storm Crow – Kalyn Josephson
Arctic Zoo – Robert Muchamore
City of Ghosts – Victoria Schwab
Noughts and Crosses – Malorie Blackman
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? – Temi Oh
Solitaire – Alice Oseman
The Bone Season – Samantha Shannon
Attachments – Rainbow Rowell
The Starlight Watchmaker – Lauren James
Flame in the Mist – Renee Ahdieh
This Time Will Be Different – Misa Sugiura
Heartstopper Vol 2 – Alice Oseman
Scars Like Wings – Erin Stewart
Parked – Danielle Svetcov
The Marrow Thieves – Cherie Dimaline
Girls of Storm and Shadow (#2) – Natasha Ngan
American Royals – Katherine McGee
Pumpkinheads – Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
A Curse so Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer
Letters to the Lost – Brigid Kemmerer
The Places I’ve Cried in Public – Holly Bourne
Pixie Pushes on – Tamara Bundy
Only Love Can Break Your Heart – Katherine Webber
Made You Up – Fransesca Zappia
Saint Anything – Sarah Dessen
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern

Keep up to date with the blog, I’ll be posting about my absolute favourite reads of 2019 soon!

What was your reading journey of 2019?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Let’s Discuss! Little Women Adaptation

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I wasn’t going to write a review or any kind of post for this movie, due to the pure fact I have never read the book. But after my third viewing of it in cinema, I knew I couldn’t resist any longer. I have to talk about my admiration for this cinematic masterpiece.

This film is just absolutely beautiful in every way. The scenery is superb. The lighting is lovely. The girls have my heart. I saw some of myself in each one of them, and I think that’s what makes this story so special. Jo’s spark, soul and courageous wit is who I think we all aspire to be. Beth’s caring nature is who I hope I am every day. Meg’s love for her family and John shines through, and I know in my heart I am and will be like her in many ways. Amy’s lust for life and raucous, somewhat unsettled character touched my heart. And although I could go on, I will finish on marmee, who I relate to on so many levels, but especially the ‘I bake scones at midnight and don’t mind the mess, we don’t’.

The energy in this film is electric, and I fell in love with the chaotic scenes between the girls. I often felt like Laurie, looking in on the family with adoration and wonder. He seemed to be almost yearning to be part of it all, to have the unrequited love that only occurs between family.

Everything seemed to fit seamlessly together – the costumes, sets and score are just a few aspects that come to mind that offer layer upon layer. The acting is superb, and specific scenes (Jo’s powerful and emotional speech in the attic to her mother comes to mind immediately (below)), I know will stay with me. Some of the beautifully poetic lines brought tears to my eyes even on the third watch.

“I just feel like women….they have minds and they have souls as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition and they’ve got talent as well as just beauty. And I’m so sick of people saying that, that love is just all a woman is fit for. I’m so sick of it. But I’m – I’m so lonely.”

Jo March, Little Women

I can only describe Little Women as an absolute delight and achingly beautiful. Coming out of the first screening with my boyfriend on New Year’s Day, I immediately knew I wanted to see it again and again. I already am endlessly glad that I began the year on such a lovely note. I have since seen it with my mum and my best friend, and both the second and third screening were just as enjoyable as the first. I just know that this film will be a comfort for years to come, and the level of warmth it brought to me will not leave in a hurry.

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Let’s Discuss! January Releases I’m Excited For

Hi all! Today I’m here to talk about January releases I’m excited for. It might be a little bit late, but there are so many beautiful books that I wanted to talk about, I thought I’d write it anyway!

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Goodreads | January 7th

Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight.
When Atoc demands the real Condesa’s hand in marriage, it’s Ximena’s duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc’s no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.
She hunts for the relic, using her weaving ability to hide messages in tapestries for the resistance. But when a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princess, and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, her mission becomes more complicated. There could be a way to overthrow the usurper without starting another war, but only if Ximena turns her back on revenge—and her Condesa. 

I’ve seen this book around on Instagram and the cover is to die for!

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Goodreads | January 7th

Find the heir, win the crown.
The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.
Win the crown, save the kingdom.
Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen–until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?

I adored A Curse So Dark and Lonely so I can’t wait to read this one.

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Goodreads | January 7th

When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.
Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.
Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart? 

I’ve been eyeing this book up for a while on social media and in the bookshop I work in.

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Goodreads | January 7th

It is a year after the action of One of Us Is Lying, and someone has started playing a game of Truth or Dare.
But this is no ordinary Truth or Dare. This game is lethal. Choosing the truth may reveal your darkest secrets, accepting the dare could be dangerous, even deadly.
The teenagers of Bayview must work together once again to find the culprit, before it’s too late . . .

One Of Us Is Lying was one of my favourite books of the year when I read it, so I definitely have to pick up this one. I really need to read Two Can Keep a Secret too!

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Goodreads | January 14th

An instant bestseller, A Map of Days launched readers into the previously unexplored world of American peculiars, one bursting with new questions, new allies, and new adversaries.
Now, with enemies behind him and the unknown ahead, Jacob Portman’s story continues as he takes a brave leap forward into The Conference of the Birds, the next installment of the beloved, bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.

I’m actually up to date on the Miss Peregrine’s books, so I’ll be able to pick this one up straight away.

Which January releases are you excited for?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Welcome back! Blog Plans for the New Year

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog relaunch! I’m now entering my 5th year of owning this blog and I’m choosing 2020 as the year to bring new and exciting things to my journey. 2019 was a rough rollercoaster of a ride for me and it’s ups and downs left me neglecting the blog towards the end of the year. So I’ve chosen to do a relaunch to kickstart a fresh journey for The Books Are Everywhere!

What can you expect?

  • My shop
    – I run an Etsy shop here on which I sell bookmarks! I’m looking forward to adding more designs in 2020
  • Book reviews and content
    – On the blog you can expect to see many more reviews and other book-related content like hauls, wrap-ups, discussions, top 5’s and much more.
  • Recipes and lifestyle
    – I’d love to develop this blog to include other aspects of my life, such as my veganism, lifestyle, films and recipes.

What would you like to see on the blog in the near future?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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