Recently I have chosen to delve into more novels and take up reading as a much more frequent use of my spare time. Therefore, in the past few weeks I have found myself researching and writing lists of books that I want to buy, read and hopefully fall in love with. However, on every venture or impulse book-buy I make I always seem to buy a book that I have never heard of and that I have just taken a fancy to or that I really have just wanted to read for a while and hadn't thought about it when adding to my book list.
Noticing that my 'to reads' was getting rather daunting for me I have started to set to work on slowly making my way through my pile instead of actually just using them as ornaments on my book shelf. Making my final book purchases for a while I decided to take a walk into Waterstones and find another book to add to my pile, which actually resulted in another four books. Yet, equally one of the books featured in the picture above was one chosen by my boyfriend, which I do intend to read myself one day which did look rather exciting that I may just let him 'write' a review on himself for you all to read (although I am sure will result in some control-freak editing from me).
So here is the list of my recent buys of books that I am aiming to read and will result in reviews at one stage or another on my blog...
Number One
(Surprisingly the book to be read by the boyfriend)
'The Enemy' by Charlie Higson.
The Blurb:
"Every time he thought they'd gone,
he heard them again.
Searching for him.
The sickness struck everyone over fourteen.
First it twisted their minds.
Next it ravaged their bodies.
Now they roam the streets -
crazed and hungry.
Across a broken London the young hide in gangs.
Scavenging to survive, they can see only one ending.
Until from across the city come rumours of a safe house.
To get there they must face the Enemy -
the mindless killers who once promised
to love and protect them always.
Can they trust each other long enough to make it out alive?"
Price: £7.99
As I can tell this book is part of a larger series, featuring also 'Dead', 'Fear', 'Sacrifice' and 'Fallen'. Possibly stereotypically a more boys book (that I can guess from the blurb and the front cover), but in all honesty this is book I am really looking forward to reading!
Number TwoA Link To Buy Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'
'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Blurb:
(Unfortunately the copy of this short story I have doesn't have a blurb but the following is Waterstone's synopsis)
"Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrenched this small literary masterpiece from her own experience. Narrated with superb psychological skill and dramatic precision, it tells the story of a nameless woman driven mad by enforced confinement after the birth of her child. Isolated in a colonial mansion in the middle of nowhere, forced to sleep in an attic nursery with barred windows and sickly yellow wallpaper, secretly she does what she has to do - she writes. She craves intellectual stimulation, activity, loving understanding, instead she is ordered to her bedroom to rest and 'pull herself together'. Here, slowly but surely, the tortuous pattern of the wallpaper winds its way into the recesses of her mind..."
Price: £5.99
This is a book I have so frequently heard being discussed and I just had to read it, the psychology behind this short story just intrigued me so much.
Number ThreeA Link To Buy Stephen Chbosky's 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower'
'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky.
The Blurb:
"Charlie's not the biggest geek in high school, but he's by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent, yet socially awkward, Charlie is a wallflower, standing on the threshold of his life whilst watching everyone else live theirs. As Charlie tries to navigate his way through uncharted territory - the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends - he realises that he can't stay on the sidelines forever. There comes a time when you have to see what life looks like from the dance floor."
Price: £6.99
I don't know about this book, it is one that I have heard people in my class discussing and the blurb slightly intrigued so I thought I would give it a go.
Number FourA Link To Buy John Green's 'Paper Towns'
'Paper Towns' by John Green.
The Blurb:
"The thing about Margo Roth Spiegelman is that really all I could ever do was let her talk, and then when she stopped talking encourage her to go on, due to the facts that 1. I was incontestably in love with her, and 2. she was absolutely unprecedented in every way, and 3. she never really asked me any questions...
Quentin Jacobson has always loved Margo from afar. So when she climbs through his window to summon him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow. But the next morning, Q turns up at school and Margo doesn't. She's left clues to her disappearance, like a trail of breadcrumbs for Q to follow.
And everything leads to one unavoidable question:
Who is the real Margo?"
Price: £7.99
Being a fan of John Green's other books, particularly that of 'An Abundance of Katherines', 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson' and 'Looking For Alaska', I just had to get this book and in all honesty the blurb does intrigue me as cliche as it may sound.
Number FiveA Link To Buy Jennifer Niven's 'All The Bright Places'
'All The Bright Places' by Jennifer Niven.
The Blurb:
"The story of a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die.
Theodore Finch wants to take his own life.
I'm broken, and no one can fix it.
Violet Markey is devastated by her sister's death.
In that instant we went plowing through the guardrail, my words died too.
They meet on the ledge of the school bell tower, and so their story begins.
It's only together they can be themselves...
I send a message to Violet:
'You are all the colours in one, at full brightness.'
You're so weird, Finch. But that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
But, as Violet's world grows, Finch's begins to shrink. How far will Violet go to save the boy she has come to love?"
Price: £7.99
This book I don't think I ever would of noticed if it wasn't for a girl picking it up as soon as she walked away I picked it up and instantly added it to the pile of too buys because I was just drawn to the book.
Number SixA Link To Buy Rainbow Rowell's 'Eleanor & Park'
'Eleanor & Park' by Rainbow Rowell
The Blurb:
Eleanor is the new girl in town, and with her chaotic family life, her mismatched clothes and unruly red hair, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.
Park is the boy at the back of the bus. Black T-shirts, headphones, head in a book - he thinks he's made himself invisible. But not to Eleanor . . . never to Eleanor.
Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall for each other. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're young, and you feel as if you have nothing and everything to lose.
Price: £7.99
I picked this book up, for the same reason you pick any book up, because I saw it and just loved the idea of it and had to read it.
Number Seven
'Nineteen Eighty-Four' by George Orwell
The Blurb:
Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skillfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian would he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through an all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker, Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.
The Blurb:
Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skillfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly rebels against the totalitarian would he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through an all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker, Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.
Price: £8.99
This book is a classic that I just had to read and that's why I bought it.
Leave a comment telling me if you have read any of these books or have any books that you would recommend for me to add to the list next, and don't forget to smile because there is your narrated paradise out there somewhere.
Abbie-June x
Really great selection here! I've read The Enemy, 1984 and The Perks of Being a Wallflower... 1984 is amazzzzing. I love books like The Enemy because you just can't put it down! I wasn't all that keen on The Perks of Being a Wallflower - but I think it's one of those books that you have to read at least once in your life!
ReplyDeleteGreat post :)
Charlotte xxx
www.dobeautywithcharlotte.com
Josh, the boyfriend, has started reading The Enemy but says he has actually struggled to get into it, but the first book out of the stack that I picked up was All The Bright Places and I am not even kidding you I feel in love with it instantly. That is something I would strongly advice checking out!
DeleteThank you for the comment means the world,
Abbie-June x
My favourite book is 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' and it is amazing. Here is an extract;
ReplyDeleteAfter mice, the second most intelligent species on Earth were the dolphins.
The dolphins had long known of the impending demolition of Earth and had made many attempts to alert mankind to the danger...The last ever dolphins message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double backward somersault through a hoop whilst whistling "The Star-Spangled Banner," but in fact the message was this: "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish."
And 'The Enemy' sounds like the plot of this star trek episode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miri_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)