My Awesome August Book Haul

Hello everyone!

It’s almost the weekend-yay! Today I’m going to share my book haul (I don’t know why, but I seem to prefer writing these midway through the month instead of at the end 😂❤). If I get any post during the rest of month, it’ll pop up in my September haul 😊

My book haul is, as usual, quite big, so let’s dive in!

 BOOKS I’VE READ ALREADY

I won’t go into too much detail about these ones, as I’ll be speaking about them in my August Reviews in a few weeks 😊

• THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF OKAY- I won a copy of this on Twitter, in a giveaway ran by Laura. I’ve been desperate to read it since I saw the announcement for it and I dropped everything to read it as soon as it arrived! It was definitely worth it too, it was fabulous…
• GASLIGHT- I received a copy of this from Firefly Press, and I read it right at the beginning of the month and enjoyed it.
• SIMPLY THE QUEST- I bought this at my trip to Waterstones last week and I read it last weekend as it’s been one of my most anticipated reads of the summer. It was even better than the first book, and I’m excited for the 3rd already.
• QUEST- I’ve not read all of this, but I’ve read quite a few stories for an exciting guest post with my friend Louise.
• THE GUGGENHEIM MYSTERY and FRESHERS I’ve read in the past few days, and I loved both of them a huge amount! (Huge thanks to the lovely Jess for sending me Freshers!)

WATERSTONES HAUL

As well as Simply the Quest, I ordered in a few other books I really wanted; The Secret of Supernatural Creek (it has been a LONG 4 years since the last Laura Marlin Mystery, but I want to wait and reread the White Giraffe series and previous Laura Marlins before I read this), A Change is Gonna Come anthology (made up of BAME authors, published by Stripes) and The Starman and Me, which I’ll admit I wanted because of the beautiful cover. 

My next choices, History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera and Another Place by Matthew Crow, are books I mainly bought as I’ve hear a lot of positive comments about them on other blogs. I’m really hoping I’ll enjoy them as much as others have 🙂

I picked up a classic this month too as I really want to get back into reading them. This looks utterly adorable from the bit I read in the shop, and I’m very excited to get to it!

Lastly, I picked up the Children’s Book of the Month: A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan. It looks really interesting and I’ve heard it has mystery elements, so it’s super high on my TBR!

LIBRARY 

I’ve had a few visits to the library this month, and I’ve came home with lots of books each time (hence why I have more books than I’m actually meant to on my card, oopsies 🙈)

These are the books that I had to order in from other branches, and I’m super pleased I was able to get these from the library. I love these authors’ other books, and I’m particularly excited about the Starlight Barking as I totally adore of the One Hundred and One Dalmatians and I only just learned this existed a few weeks ago 😍 

I also picked up a few books based on blurbs, and in one case, a cover so stunning I couldn’t leave it on the shelf (I’m looking at you Chasing the Stars!). I’m hoping these end up being as good as they sound.

RECIEVED

I was lucky enough to receive a few books this month, both from publishers, giveaways and one from a friend.

Along with Gaslight, Firefly also sent me a few of their other titles, which I’m really grateful for.  All of these sound fantastic; I’m hoping (pun intended) to get round to all of them soon, particularly Hope, as it has a hospital setting and it’s had amazing reviews so far.

I also recieved a copy of The Disappearences from Pushkin Press. This sounds really interesting, and I’m excited to read it!

I was super excited when I won a giveaway for these books on Twitter. I’ve wanted to read them for ages and just never got round to buying them, but now I have copies I really want to read them as soon as I possibly can.

Finally, my friend Louise sent me a copy of When We Collided by Emery Lord s i loved her other books so much!

Thank you so much for reading! I’d love to hear what books you’ve added to your TBR this month or which of mine you think I should start with in the comments or on Twitter @GoldenBooksGirl 

See you soon with a new post 

Amy xxx

The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

Hello everybody!

Hope you’ve all had a fabulous weekend 😊. Today I’m taking part in the Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag, for which I was tagged by Meri from Life Stained Pages. 

Let’s just ignore the fact that I’m technically 2 months late in doing this, please 🙈

On with the tag!

1. Favourite book of 2017 so far–  I’ve read some amazing books this year, and I have a whole host of favourites. One that sticks out is Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth. VERY few books make me cry. This managed it several times over, and I couldn‘t have been more blown away by it‘s absolute brilliance in general. If you haven‘t read it, I can‘t recommend it highly enough!

2. Favourite sequel– Some sequels which have really impressed me this year are Beetle Queen by M.G Leonard (I’ve finished both of these in one sitting, and I couldn’t be more excited about the 3rd book coming out next year), Confetti and Cake by Laurel Remington (look out for my review of this soon!) And Forever Geek by Holly Smale.  I’ve just read Simply the Quest by Maz Evans over the weekend too, and it’s also a superb sequel.

3. Recent release you haven’t read yet and want to- Too many! I’m especially excited for Chris Russell’s Songs About Us and the Secrets of Supernatural Creek by Lauren St John (it has been a LONG 4 years since the last Laura Marlin Msytery, but I want to wait until I have time to reread both the White Giraffe series and the other Laura Marlin books). Also, Piglettes by Clémentine Beauvais and Being Miss Nobody by Tamsin Winter

4. Most Anticipated Release for the 2nd Half of 2017- I’m looking forward to quite a few, but I’ve had my eye on The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud and Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend for AGES.

5. Most Disappointing Book of the Year- I’m a pretty big Sarah Mlyknowski fan, so I was devastated by how much I disliked her newest release, The Girls’ Guide to Summer. I actually found it so bad I didn’t finish it, and I’m now unsure about whether I’ll bother with any of her other new releases after this. I honestly can’t think of a single thing I enjoyed about this book.

6. Biggest Surprise– I was so pleasantly surprised by Girl Out of Water by Nat Luurtesma! It’s the closest thing in humour I’ve ever read to Geek Girl (I think I’ve made it pretty clear how much I love Geek Girl), and I’m unbelievably excited to read the sequel next summer 🌞

7. Favourite new author- the best debuts I’ve read this year have been jaw-dropping levels of amazingness, and they are Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren (I don’t want to say too much about this yet, as it isn’t out until September, but it’s so original/clever/phenomenal) and Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth. 

Both of these authors are definetely new favourites of mine, and if their debuts are anything to go by, I’ll never stop reading their works! I Was also lucky enough to win a proof copy of A 2018 book by Laura Steven called the Exact Opposite of Okay, which I couldn’t have loved more! Laura is lovely too, so she is also a new favourite author of mine.

8. Newest fictional crush- I don’t really go in for these too much, but I do have a soft spot for Étienne from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I also loved Max from The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord, and Jones from The Names They Gave Us, by the same author.

9. Newest favourite character–  I love a lot of characters! Some particular favourites this year include Noah from Noah Can’t Even, Alex from See You in the Cosmos, Elliot from Who Let the Gods Out, Wing from Wing Jones and Izzy from the Exact Opposite of Okay. I adore so many more though, these are just a couple!

10.  Books that made you cry- I‘m not a big crier. As above, Running on the Roof of the World managed it, and I was tearful at a few points of the Exact Opposite of Okay too. I also cried at a certain part of the Start of Me and You. I sobbed while reading Forever Geek as well, as I was so sad about the series being over. The end pages of The Hate U Give also made me cry a little bit.
11. Book that Made You Happy- I feel like I’ve already mentioned most of the books that have made me really happy this year! Don’t want to keep naming the same books over and over 😂

12. Favoutite Book to Movie Adaptation- I can’t actually remember seeing any this year.

13.  Favourite Review of 2017 – I’m proud of all my reviews, mainly. I loved writing one for Running on the Roof of the World though, as I couldn’t heap the praise it deserves on it if I live to be a thousand. I think I’ll feel similarly with my reviews for Prisoner of Ice and Snow and Exact Opposite of Okay. 

14. Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought this Year- This one is hard! I picked up Emery Lord because of her covers, which I’m really pleased about. I also bought Sea by Sarah Driver partly for the cover, but I didn’t love it, so I slightly regret that one. I’ve not read it yet, but Alice Broadway’s Ink was also choose from the cover! I buy based on covers more than I should… 😂

15. Books You Need to Read by the End of the Year- I have, like most bookish people I know, got a slightly out of control TBR. I need to read as much of that as possible, and I’d also like to slot in some rereading of favourite books like the 39 Clues series, Pony Club Secrets series and Lauren St John’s 2 middle grade series. I’d also like to read some more children’s classics. Some particular priorities are the Wolves of Willoughby Chase, The Starlight Barking and Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you’ve enjoyed the post. I’m tagging my friend Louise from Book Murmuration! I‘d love to hear about some of your favourites of the year so far in the comments! 

Amy xxx

July Reviews

Hello everybody!

Today I`m planning to share my reviews for all of the books I read last month. I was on holiday in Northumberland for most of the month (as you'll probably know if you follow me on Twitter) which meant I got a lot of reading done.

I actually read a bit more than what Im including here, but I sadly didn't really enjoy the others I read enough to recommend them.

Let`s get on with the reviews!

Character Q&A… Noah Grimes from Noah Can`t Even

Hello everybody!

Today I have a super exciting post to share with you all- a character Q&A with Noah Grimes from the hilarious Noah Can`t Even! I hope you all enjoy reading his answers as much as I did when they pinged into my email inbox…

Hi Noah. Welcome to Golden Books Girl, I`m so excited to have you!

Thank you, Amy. It is a delight and pleasure to be here. I am sick of Simon getting all the glory for what is basically MY WORK. He is like that person who does a group project with you at school, DOES NOTHING, makes you do EVERYTHING, and still takes the credit. Anyway, this is not about him, so let’s get on with it…

For anyone who hasn`t read Noah Can`t Even, can you sum it up in 5 words or less?

Load. Of. Badly. Written. Lies.

On a similar note, can you describe yourself in 140 characters?

Intelligent and nice boy, nearly 16, probably going to be a Prefect next year (not bragging but it’s true).

One of the first things that attracted me to the book was the cover. Did you/Simon have any say on it, and do you feel it suits the book?

No, it was all done with anyone bothering or having the common decency to mention it to me! The cover is appalling and is clearly meant to titillate. I would have preferred a nice flower on the front, a majestic bird of prey, or maybe a picture of all my awards and certificates from school. If the book is about me, shouldn’t the picture be something to do with me?! I don’t even like bananas. They are a devil fruit.

One of my favourite things about the book were the embarrassing situations you got yourself into. If you were to choose your most embarrassing moment ever, what would it be?

Well, the time when I wet myself on the Year 8 trip to the London Dungeon was pretty awful. Everyone thought it was because I was scared when the out-of-work actor dressed up as blood-crazed monster jumped out at me, but the truth was I was suffering from a bladder infection, which is a genuine medical condition and NOT A LAUGHING MATTER. However, everyone did laugh and they had to cordon off a section of the attraction for health and safety reasons. I had to wear a pair of PE shorts for the rest of the day, with no pants underneath, which was very drafty and unpleasant.

And, if you`d like to get your own back on Simon for writing about all of your mishaps, would you be able to tell us one of his most cringeworthy moments?

Oh, I would never be so petty and cruel as to tell you about any of Simon’s cringeworthy moments, like the time he was 13 and doing the high jump at sports day, and was only wearing loose-fitting boxers under his PE shorts, causing him to accidentally reveal his BOY PARTS to the Year 10 girls who were doing the judging… oh whoops, I’ve said it now, oh well. SEE SIMON, IT’S NOT VERY NICE HAVING ALL YOUR PRIVATE EMBARRASSMENTS BROADCAST FOR THE WORLD TO SEE, IS IT?

I know you have a complicated home/school life, and face quite a few problems throughout the book. If a genie granted you three wishes to change anything about your life, what would they be?

To be a self-made multi-billionaire with all the trappings of wealth, including a private island, massive yacht and a Nespresso machine.
For the school to guarantee that I would definitely be Head Boy in the Sixth Form, and it didn’t need to be voted on or anything.
For gran not to have dementia and to be alive as long as I was.

Related to the above question, if anyone reading was facing similar issues to you, what advice would you give them?

Talk to a responsible adult. Unfortunately, all the adults in my life are COMPLETE MORONS who are SELFISH and completely wrapped up in their own SORRY CATASTROPHES of lives, so are useless and I’m better off sorting things out myself. (Except for Gran, of course, who is quite helpful, so if you’ve got a gran you’ll probably be OK).

From reading the book, I don’t think you`ve ever been abroad on holiday. If you could choose any country to visit, where would you want to go and what would you want to do there? And who would you take with you?

Well, NOT FRANCE, because of the incident on the Year 8 French residential trip… um, maybe Iceland, because I don’t really like a lot of heat / people being naked on the beach, and Iceland is nice and cold. I would definitely take Harry as he is my favourite person and the ideal travel companion in that he doesn’t selfishly hog all the arm-rest.

Tell us 5 random facts about you, preferably ones that DON`T appear in Noah Can`t Even

My middle name is a closely guarded secret. It begins with ‘O’ but that’s as much as I will tell you – other than it was my mother having a laugh.
I can’t do mental arithmetic.
My favourite breakfast cereal is Coco Pops.
When nobody is looking I sometimes still get my Lego out and build designs for airports, high security vaults and secret government research facilities because I find it quite interesting and it’s a legitimate academic exercise, I’m not playing with toys or anything.
My favourite Agatha Christie novel is ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’.

Finally, can you give us any juicy titbits about your 2nd adventure, which I believe Simon is currently writing?

Well, it all starts when the French Exchange students come to visit, and like everything in my life, nothing runs smoothly. There’s a drag queen involved, quite a lot of cheese, and an aggressive goose.

Quick-fire round:

Favourite animal?

A Noah-potamus. Lol!

Favourite chocolate bar?

A Cadbury’s Flake. Very sensuous!

Haribo or Skittles?

I like both, but probably Skittles because they’re just a bit more mature, you know? Haribo is kind of for kids really.

Miss Marple or Poirot?

Miss Marple. Especially when she is played by Joan Hickson, who was my favourite TV Miss Marple ever.

Inspired by your mum`s job- Beyoncé or Jay-Z?

My mother and her excuse for a ‘tribute act’ has put me off all forms of popular music. Instead, I enjoy listening to my ‘Spa Reflections’ album, which is a compilation of haunting chords and various wispy sounds of waves and wind, designed to relax you, during a massage treatment, for example.

Thanks again for being interviewed Noah. Hope you enjoyed answering these as much as I enjoyed writing them 🙂

Thank you. I feel I have been a good guest and I’m sure you are grateful. May I just remind everyone that I am on Twitter – @noahgrimes12 – unlike certain members of my Year who are busy snap-chatting appalling parts of their body to one another, I am making witty observations and informing people about my life, like a responsible, law-abiding citizen.

Thank you all so much for reading my interview with Noah, I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, I seriously recommend following both Noah and Simon on Twitter; they`re hilarious! If you`ve read Noah Can`t Even, I`d love to hear what you think of it in the comments below or on my Twitter @GoldenBooksGirl

See you soon with a new post,
Amy xxx

The Ice Lolly Book Tag

Hi everybody!

Today I’m writing a book tag post, but you may not have heard of this tag yet, as Charlotte, Louise and I decided to make one to celebrate summer (which was a very, very fun Twitter conversation!). The idea is comparing books to ice cream, and as I love both I can’t think of anything better.