2017 Reading Wrap-up!

Here is my year in books for 2017:

Boy! What a year. 2017 was definitely a great reading year for me, I read a total of 91 books! So I definitely exceeded all expectations.

Monthly totals:

January: 12 Books
February: 8 Books
March: 10 Books
April: 7 Books
May: 10 Books
June: 7 Books
July: 6 Books
August: 6 Books
September: 7 Books
October: 7 Books
November: 5 Books
December: 6 Books

January was clearly my best reading month, followed closely by March and May. I’m actually surprised May was such a good reading month, considering I should’ve been revising for exams. Clearly, I procrastinated, a lot and read instead of doing maths. Oops.
It’s all good, the exam went really well, luckily!

Not sure 2018 will be as good as of a reading year, as I have college and will no doubt be inundated with assignments and I’ll be starting university in September. Maybe I’ll read loads over the summer when I’m completely free for a few months!

How much did you read this year? Comment down below and let me know!

Happy New Year’s Eve!

– Leisha

 

 

 

The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell Audiobook | Review (Spoiler Free!)

Synopsis: This is the story of a young boy Wizard and a young girl Warrior who have been taught to hate each other like poison; and the thrilling tale of what happens when their two worlds collide.

Perfect for boys and girls who love fantasy adventure …

Once there was Magic, and the Magic lived in the dark forests.

Wizard boy, Xar, should have come in to his magic by now, but he hasn’t, so he wants to find a witch and steal its magic for himself. But if he’s got any chance of finding one, he will have to travel into the forbidden Badwoods.

Xar doesn’t realise he is about to capture an entirely different kind of enemy. A Warrior girl called Wish.

And inside this book, at this very moment, two worlds collide and the fate of the land is changed forever.

Xar and Wish must visit the dungeons at Warrior fort, and face the evil Queen.

But something that has been sleeping for hundreds of years is stirring…

---

My thoughts:

This book was so entertaining, I had such a great time with this story. This reminded me of how much I love middle grade. I tend to read middle grade when I’m just in the mood for a bit of fun, nothing too serious, this was exactly what I wanted! It was engaging from start to finish, I was hooked. I think I need to pick up some more middle grade in 2018!

I listening to this on audiobook, I have no regrets, David Tennant is such a good narrator! His narration was just perfect for this story, his voice is so easy to listen to, he is very entertaining and great at doing voices. This is probably my favourite audiobook I have listened to thus far.  I haven’t listened to many audiobooks but the ones I have, I haven’t enjoyed as much as this.  It’s a relatively short audiobooks (around 6 hours) and I listened to majority of it in one day.

This story is written so well, it is a great combination of magic and humour.  Every moment of this was just a joy to listen to, it’s a fun story with wizards, warriors, magical creatures, scary evil witches and even an enchanted spoon.

The characters are very likable, both Xar and Wish are interesting, weird and wonderful in their own ways and they have good character development that will hopefully grow in the coming books. There is also a whole cast of great side characters who are just amazing, I particularly like the giant, Crusher and the talking raven, Caliburn. I look forward to seeing where this series goes, this book ends of a bit of a cliff-hanger and I cannot wait for the next book!

I am a bit sad I don’t have a physical copy, I heard there are illustrations throughout the book, I may have to pick up a copy just for that! I feel like I would definitely re-read this book in the future as I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Overall rating: 4.5 Stars! 

Happy Holidays!

 

12 Days Of Christmas Book Tag!

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: a partridge in a pear tree.

The partridge stood alone in the pear tree. What is your favourite stand alone?

I don’t read a ton of standalone’s, but my current favourite is Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, which is currently a standalone but a sequel is planned. The story itself is wrapped up for now so I’m counting it! Ha.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: two turtle doves.

Love is in the air! Who is your one true pairing?

I have so many! Here is just a few: Bluesy and Pynch (The Raven Cycle),  Will and Lyra (His Dark Materials and my ultimate OTP is Han & Leia from Star Wars, not really bookish, but kinda, there are Star Wars books.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: Three French Hens.

In the spirit of threes, what is the best trilogy you have read?

No contest here, it has to be the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, those books are everything. They gave me all the feels, it was an emotional rollercoaster, an epic story from start to finish, it was everything I could ask for in a fantasy series and more!

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: four calling birds.

Since series usually consists of four or more books, what is your favourite series?

This is so hard for me, I have so many to choose from! A Song of ice and fire was the first series I read, so I’ll go with that. 

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: five golden rings.

One ring to rule them all! Who is your Favorite Villain/Antagonist?

Cersei Lannister. A lot of people hate her, but I can’t help but love her!

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: six geese a laying.

Creation is a beautiful thing. What is your favourite world/world-building?

The Cosmere – Brandon Sanderson. He is the king of world-building

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: seven swans a swimming.

Who needs seven swans when all it takes is one good animal sidekick? Who’s your favourite animal sidekick?

Ghost, Jon Snow’s Direwolf.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: eight maids a milking.

Milk is so 18th century. Which book or series takes beverages/food to a whole new level? 

I must pay no attention to food in books, which is odd because I love food. I cannot think of a single book for this question! Haha.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: nine ladies dancing.

Dancing is just one skill of a Lady! Who is your favourite kickass female lead?

Princess Leia. I know, I know, she isn’t strictly bookish, but there are plenty of books with her in. She’s my all-time favourite female character, how could I not mention her!?

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: ten lords a leaping.

How about your favourite leading lad?

Ronan Lynch from The Raven Cycle.  

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: eleven pipers piping. 

What is your favourite book or bookish thing with musical influence? (It can be about music, reference music a lot etc.)

The first thing that came to mind is ‘The Rains of Castamere’ from ASOIAF which was played during the Red Wedding. Tragic.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me: 12 drummers drumming. 

Drum roll please…what is your favourite read of this year?

This year has been my best reading year ever, I’ve read so many books this year which have become my favourites. Trying to choose is beyond hard! Everything I’ve read by Brandon Sanderson or Sarah J Maas, I have loved! I’ll have a post up sometime in January of my top favourites from 2017. 

The 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag was created by Falling Down The Book Hole

 Happy Holidays! xo

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The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air) by Holly Black | Review (Spoiler Free)

 

This story has magic, darkness, bad-ass characters and faeries.

 

Synopsis (from GoodReads):
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

My thoughts:

This is my first Holly Black book and I can totally see the hyped surrounding her. I very much loved her writing style and her world building. This book was a fun quick read and I will definitely be picking up more of Holly Black’s books in the future.
I really enjoyed Jude as the main character, she was very likeable and relatable, I really liked reading from her perspective. Jude is a bad-ass, cunning character with strong determination and is a refreshing perspective to read from. 
 The story itself was very intriguing and gripping from start to finish, I read this book in just over a day.  I was hooked from page one!
The world building was good, I was very intrigued by the Faerie world and how their world is alongside our own. I particularly enjoyed the creatures/ different species that were within the Faerie world. 

Parts of the storyline, I did find quite predictable, the parts that I guess were supposed to be plot twists, I guessed way before the reveal. I can’t go into detail as I would like this to be spoiler free! Despite being quite predictable in some parts, it did take some unexpected turns and was overall very enjoyable.
I cannot wait to see where the story will go in book two!

Definitely, give this a read if you enjoy: female leads, YA fantasy and Faeries!

Overall rating: 4/5 Stars
This book is out January 2nd 2018 



* This book was an ARC from NetGalley and was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

 

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December TBR

My *slightly* late December TBR.

This is the last month to achieve your reading goals, how exciting! I went well above my reading goal for the year and I am glad I don’t have any pressure on me to read a certain amount of books this month. So this month I’m keeping it small and realistic, as I have college work to do, so I don’t have a ton of time for reading. I shall, however, be reading a ton over Christmas break! Unfortunately, my Christmas break doesn’t start until the December 23rd. So most of my reading will be in late December and January.

I am currently reading 1984 by George Orwell, for my English Literature class so I would like to get that done this month. I have been reading it since November and I’m struggling to get into it, finding it really slow at the moment but I have to finish it for my class, so I have no choice but to read it.

The first book I would like to read this month is The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. This book was one of my most anticipated reads this year, it was released in October and I STILL haven’t read it yet. I need to get on this ASAP!

I reread the His Dark Materials trilogy this year in anticipation of this release, I seriously love this world and am so exciting to dive back into this world!

 

The next book I’m hoping to read in December is Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor.

I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone last month and I seriously loved it, I cannot wait to continue this series!  Daughter of Smoke and Bone was a quick read for me, I couldn’t stop reading it, I am hoping this will be just as fast and enticing.

*Maybe I’ll do a full series review once I finish the whole series.

 

And lastly on my small but achievable TBR is Rebel Rising by Beth Revis.

Since The Last Jedi is out this month I am going to be in a Star Wars mood all month and am going to need something Star Wars-y after seeing TLJ. I am so so so excited for TLJ I cannot wait!!

Anyways.. I will be in the mood for sci-fi so I thought I would read one of the new canon novels, I have yet to read a bad book from the new canon. I really enjoyed Rogue One and I really liked Jyn’s character and I am interested in seeing more of her story.

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