Top Ten Tuesday (6): Favourite Books of 2015

I read a total of 50 books this year, which isn't my best by a long shot, so here's hoping to reading a lot more next year!
The quantity this year may be small, but the quality was amazing. Making this list was really hard! Every single one of these books was a five-star book for me, and I highly recommend every single one.

 

My top 10 books of 2015 are:

 

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander and it's sequel, Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon were very easily my favourite books of 2015. The world building was absolutely amazing, the characters were very well developed, and I loved every second of both of them. I have reviews of Outlander here and Dragonfly in Amber here if you want to read more of my thoughts.

     2. Vicious by V.E. Schwab


I had never read anything by V.E. Schwab before I read Vicious, and I was amazed by it. I read the entire book in one sitting, and I couldn't put it down. The characters in Vicious were some of my all-time favourite characters ever, and the character development was the best I have ever read. It's worth reading for just the characters alone!

     3. Armada by Ernest Cline


I have always loved science-fiction books, and when I saw Armada I had to pick it up. I was surprised by how similar it was to Ender's Game, but also by how different it was. I have a full review here if you want to read more of my thoughts!

     4. The Martian by AndyWeir

I read The Martian in preparation for the movie with the same title that came out in October, and I was not disappointed. The book was fantastic, and had me laughing one second and on the end of my seat the next. I loved the science aspect of the book, and how all of the science and math was thoroughly explained in it. I have a book to movie review here for any of you who want to hear more of my thoughts on the adaptation.

     5. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell


I have always loved magic, and Harry Potter was one of the first series I read when I was just starting to read. It was the first series that I remember reading and falling in love with and still loving to this day, so when I saw how much Carry On was compared to Harry Potter, I knew I needed to read it. The characters were witty and lovable, with just enough frustrating aspects to keep it enjoyable. The world was very similar to Harry Potter, but not enough that you will feel like it is copying. The story line was absolutely amazing, and Carry On is one of my new all-time favourite books. I have a full review here for Carry On.


     6. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

I read Landline right after I finished Carry On, and it was not as good, but still fantastic (kinda has to be to make it onto this list though). It made me feel so many emotions for the characters (mostly frustration and sadness), but I also feel that there was just enough of those emotions as to not scare the reader away, but enough that only those who can deal with such strong, painful emotions can read this book. It is an amazing book, but only for those who can deal with extremely strong, painful moments.

     7. Looking for Alaska by John Green

I tried to read Looking for Alaska a couple of years ago, and I hated it. I tried to read it again earlier this year, and I absolutely loved every single second of it. I read it at a good time in my life, and was able to understand a few of the aspects in the book, which made it more enjoyable. I feel like LFA is one of those books that needs to be read at a certain time in your life, otherwise you won't enjoy it as much, a I didn't. Overall, I loved the characters and the plot of the book, and it is one of my favourite books as of the end of this year.

     8. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie


One of my good friends introduced me to Agatha Christie a year ago, and I have loved every book of hers I have read. I have always love mysteries, but I am quite picky with the ones I like. I had never tried one of her books before, this being the first one I had read, and it did not disappoint. I read the whole book in one sitting, and have continued reading as many of her books as I can get my hands on. I usually am able to solve who the perpetrator of a crime is, but I wasn't able to, even at the end of this book. I loved the characters, the clues, the mystery. The whole story keeps you on your toes, and the characters and clues keep you guessing the whole time. If you want to read an Agatha Christie book, I would suggest starting with And Then There Were None.


     9. Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton

Ever since I got an instagram account, I have always been in love with Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York page. I love his photography style, and the stories that are in his book. I own both of his photography books, Humans of New York and Humans of New York: Stories, and I love both of them. His style is unique, and I love how he photographs the people who he interviews. There is so much time and love put into his work, and being a lover of photography and a (slight) photographer myself in my free time, I adore seeing how he uses his space and lighting in his photographs. I highly recommend his books to anyone and everyone who loves non-fiction books, and photography. I highly recommend his instagram account as well, which you can find and follow here.

    10. The Universe Versus Alex Woods


My good friends got me The Universe Versus Alex Woods for my birthday this year, and I was intrigued by the storyline. It seemed very different, and I hadn't read anything like it before. I picked it up almost as soon as she gave it to me, and I loved it. I found the characters slightly confusing and odd at times, but that makes sense with the story itself. The story was full of heart-break and very large decisions, but I also found it full of love and fondness for the other people in the main character's life. It was amazing how much a character can grow, and how circumstances can really affect what happens to us in life. Who knows, you may get hit by a meteorite while you're lying on the front lawn tomorrow..


Here's to many more books in 2016!

Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genre: Fantasy (Young Adult)

Pages: 522 (Hardcover)

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication date: October 6th, 2015


Synopsis from Carry On's Goodreads page




Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.
That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.
Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.
Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.


I absolutely LOVED this book. Every single page, cover to cover. Every word, every sentence.
All of Rainbow Rowell's books are always so well thought out, so well planned and so well written that it astounds me.
Her characters are absolutely amazing. Each and every character is so well thought out that they seem so real, with their own stories, lives, and backgrounds. Each and every character is extremely different, with conflicting and completely opposite personalities. Her characters have so much depth and so much, well, character, that it just makes the story so much more real.
Her plot line was also unbelievable. Carry On is meant to be like Harry Potter, and I will admit that you probably really need to read Harry Potter first in order to have a feeling of the amount of difficulties and problems that the characters in Carry On have been through, but even though it was so similar to Harry Potter, it was still really good. It was similar, but it wasn't too similar to seem like it was ripping off Harry Potter, or that it wasn't it's own story. The things that happen to the characters are Rainbow Rowell's own ideas, and they are very different.
The school...it was amazing how well it was described and how much detail was put into the book. As I was reading Carry On, I had a perfect picture of it in my head, and it was amazing. I felt like it was a perfect picture of it, and that it fit so well with the characters. It felt like they belonged there just as much as Harry belonged at Hogwarts.
I'm sad that this was meant to be a stand alone, and how it is supposed to be like the seventh and final book in a series. I honestly don't think that Rainbow Rowell could make another book take place after Carry On, because it felt like an ending to a story. Sadly, that story had barely begun before it abruptly ended. I really, really hope that maybe one day we will get the first six books in this series, or even just one more book, that takes place before or after Carry On. (I'm not being very picky about this - anything in this world would be wonderful).
Overall - ★★★★★

December 2015 TBR

December already. This year has gone by so fast, and I still have quite a bit of reading to do!


I plan on reading:

1. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
2. Landline by Rainbow Rowell
3. Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid
4. The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill
5. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I'm hoping that I can read 9 books this month, so that I can achieve my reading goal of 55 books for this year. I've read 9 books in a month before, but this Christmas is going to be even more chaotic than usual, and I really enjoy being able to spend time with my family and friends over the break and to go out and spend time outside when there is snow on the ground, so we will see what happens!

November 2015 Wrap Up

I read a total of 5 books this month, which isn't too bad in my opinion.


I read:

• ★★★★☆ Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
• ★★★.5☆☆ 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith
• ★★☆☆☆ The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• ★★★★.5☆ The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher
• ★★★★★ You Are Here by Chris Hadfield

The first book I read this month was Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Since Carry On came out, I told myself that I NEEDED to read Fangirl this month, and am I glad I did. It was cute, funny, flirty, and real. Being a grade 12 student this year, and since I am going to be going to post-secondary next year, I've found myself really wanting to read more college-based stories. I loved how Fangirl was just enough realism and fiction; how everything lined up perfectly, but not too perfectly. I absolutely loved it, and I highly recommend it! I have a full review under the review section of my blog if you wanted to hear more of my thoughts.

The second book I read this month was 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith. I really enjoyed the quirkiness of the characters, and I loved how the story was so outlandish and seemingly random, but how in the end everything lined up perfectly and made sense with the things you read about earlier in the story. I wasn't a massive fan of some of the characters, because they seemed so unrealistic to me, but I loved others. Overall, not a bad book, and I will definitely be reading Winger to see how Andrew Smith writing style changes.

I made a goal for myself, that I would read (at least) one classic a month, in order to minimize my classic TBR pile. This month I chose The Catcher in the Rye, and I wasn't a huge fan of it. I found the main character to be a little overwhelming, and I found that a majority of the book was just him complaining. I am glad that I read it though, because a lot of people have read it, and I can finally say that I have had the chance to read it.

The fourth book I read this month was The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher. It was one of my most anticipated books to read this year, and I was not disappointed. I love how Lucy Christopher develops her characters, how she makes us believe one thing to be completely true about a character that we love (or hate) and then at the very end of the book pull a complete 180 on us and make us feel the exact opposite about that same character, only stronger. I loved the storyline, I loved the setting and the description, I loved everything. But the ending I am only about 98% in love with...I have a full review under the review section in my blog, if you would like to read more about my thoughts on this book!

I also read You Are Here by Chris Hadfield, which is a collection of some of his photography of the Earth from when he was on the International Space Station from December 2012 until May 2013. I love photography, and I adore anything to do with space or astronauts, so I figured this would be a good read for me. (Also meeting him on November 24th also helped to make me want to read it even more). I loved all of the photographs in this book, they were all beautifully stunning, and I loved how they were all so unique. He wanted to be able to have a human touch on them, with different parts of the photographs in focus and at a different angle, and I believe he did an amazing job with them. Every single photo in this book is just breath taking. Chris Hadfield also wrote a bit about each and every photograph in this book, explaining where it was taken, what is in the photo, and a little background information about each photograph, which I thoroughly enjoyed. If you like space, or photography, or just cool things in general, I highly recommend this book for you.

November 2015 Book Haul

I got a fair amount of books this month, with 11 reading books and 1 colouring book (because why not?). I told myself that I was going to pull back on the buying this month but...well, sales happened.


I got:

Young Adult:

1. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Hardcover)
2. Half Bad by Sally Green (Hardcover)
3. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (Hardcover)
4. Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts (Paperback)
5. Prophecy by Ellen Oh (Paperback)
6. The Promise of Amazing by Robin Constantine (Hardcover)

Adult:

1. Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern (Movie edition paperback)
2. Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander #8 - paperback)
3. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (Hardcover)
4. We Are Pirates by Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket - Hardcover)

Non-fiction

1. You are Here by Chris Hadfield (Hardcover)

Miscellaneous

1. Lost Ocean by Johanna Basford (Paperback colouring book)

Review: The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher

Title: The Killing Woods

Author: Lucy Christopher

Genre: Mystery (Young Adult)

Pages: 384 (Paperback)
Publisher: Chicken House
Publication date: December 30th, 2014


Synopsis from The Killing Woods' Goodreads page


Ashlee Parker is dead, and Emily Shepherd's dad is accused of the crime. A former soldier suffering from PTSD, he emerges from the woods carrying the girl's broken body. "Gone," he says, then retreats into silence.
What really happened that wild night? Emily knows in her bones that her father is innocent -- isn't he? Before he's convicted, she's got to find out the truth. Does Damon Hilary, Ashlee's charismatic boyfriend, have the answers? Or is he only playing games with her -- the kinds of games that can kill?


The fourth book I read this month was The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher. I first read Stolen: A Letter to my Captor by Lucy Christopher 3 years ago because of a recommendation from one of my best friends, and I have read it many, many more times since. When I found out that Lucy Christopher had another book coming out, I was ecstatic. (Except I waiting for almost a year before reading it...)
I loved everything about this book, from the setting to the plot and the character, all the way to how the book was written. It was written beautifully, and I will no doubt be reading it again and again.
The plot of the book was very intriguing, with a dead teenage girl, and her classmate's father the supposed killer. The synopsis reeled me in and made me wonder who had killed poor Ashlee, and why.
The setting of the book was also amazing, with it being in a small army town in the British wilderness, with a massive forest right on the edge of town. Having the story take place by something like a forest in England really allows for weeks and months to pass quickly in a short book, just by describing what is happening in those woods. Having the trees go from a pleasant green to bright autumn colours to a dark, dead wood in winter also really helps for suspense to build, and to help the book climax. (A wood also creates a very dark, secluded place that is perfect for a murder to take place).
The characters in this book were all also very well written, as all of Lucy Christopher's characters are. No matter how small a character is, or how slight their time is in the story, each and every character develops in their own way, and each character shows the reader who they are in such a short amount of time. Each character in the story also has their own bits of personality and quirkiness that allows them to each have different emotions and feelings about each thing that happens in the story, at each at varying strengths. What is completely insignificant to one character could change how another character views themselves, or how they view those around them.
Lucy Christopher has done an amazing job with this book, and I am amazed at how much she kept me guessing until the very end. I pride myself on being able to solve mysteries due to the amount of mystery novels and Sherlock books I read (and the amount of Sherlock I watch) and I could not figure out who the culprit was until the very end of the book, almost right before it was revealed. I applaud Lucy Christopher for her amazing writing skills, and I realllllly hope that she will write another book, preferably a mystery, very soon.
Overall - ★★★★.5☆

Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Fangirl

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genre: Contemporary (young adult)

Pages: 433 (Hardcover)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication date: September 10th, 2013

Synopsis from Fangirl's Goodreads page


Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?
Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?


I really enjoyed this book. Why has it taken me so long to be able to say that? Well...because this is the first time that I've read it. *hides face behind hands*
I read Eleanor & Park over a year ago, and I absolutely loved it. I loved everything, the characters, the plot, the writing style, everything. So I went and picked up Fangirl, expecting to read it very soon. And then a month passed. And another, and another. Pretty soon, it became a year, and I still hadn't read it. I finally sat down and told myself I was going to read it this month, and it was amazing. I loved the writing style (obviously - who doesn't love Rainbow Rowell's writing?) the characters, the plot, the storyline, the fanfiction - you name it, I loved it.
Fangirl is a very cute, realistic contemporary. It has very sweet, loving moments, and very stress-filled, difficult moments. It follows a teenage girl in college, and I am so glad that Rainbow kept not only the cute boy and falling in love elements, but also the finals stress, the difficulties of doing everything and how stressful life, and school, can be.
Fangirl was written in a very beautiful style. All of Rainbow's books are. They're sweet and funny and cute and just filled with so many lovable characters, that I would do anything to be able to just jump into one and stay there forever.
Overall - ★★★★☆