Books Read:
1. 'Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods'- Rick Riordan
I really, really liked the sound of this book when I first heard it was coming out, it's the stories of the main Greek Gods and Goddesses but told in the voice of Percy Jackson. I love Greek mythology, but I'd forgotten most of what I know about it. This was a really fun, interesting, enjoyable book and I really feel like I learnt a lot from it.
2. 'Anna and the French Kiss'- Stephanie Perkins
I never thought I'd enjoy Stephanie Perkins' books, they didn't sound like something that would interest me, but they were all really cheap on Kindle so I bought them. This book though, holy crap, it was fantastic. I absolutely loved it, I read the entire thing in less than 24 hours and I'm already desperate to read it again. I love all the characters, I fell in love with St Clair almost straight away and I am obsessed with this book; I loved it so much I bought myself a physical copy as well as a Kindle one.
3. 'Lola and the Boy Next Door'- Stephanie Perkins
After reading Anna, I needed to read this one straight away. However, I'm really disappointed to say that I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did Anna and the French Kiss, I couldn't get into the story in the same way and I really couldn't stand any of the characters. Cricket and the appearance of Anna and St Clair were the highlight of the book for me; the last four or so chapters saved this book.
4. 'Anne of Avonlea'- L.M. Montgomery
I was on a reading roll at the start of December, I read three whole books and the end of Percy Jackson in less than a week. Everyone knows by now that Anne of Green Gables is my favourite series ever, but I hadn't re-read this one in such a long time, I couldn't remember what happened. I really, really enjoyed this book, much more than I remembered doing so, and I thought it was a really fantastic continuation of the series; I love everything about this world so much.
5. 'Isla and the Happily Ever After'- Stephanie Perkins
The synopsis of this book initially appealed to me most out of all Stephanie Perkins' books, but I was nearly put off by the first chapter until I released that Isla wasn't usually like that. What I like about this companion trilogy is that all the characters from the other books make appearances, and I especially liked the fact that it was set in Paris again, I was missing that in Lola (plus, after Anna, I'm slightly obsessed with Paris when I never was before). No spoilers, but I really liked how the romance in this book happened quite early on, instead of having to wait till right at the end like most books; the romance in this, and in Anna especially, was so sweet and lovely and made my heart all warm and fuzzy.
6. 'Anne of the Island'- L.M. Montgomery
Again, this is the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series, which I'm working my way through re-reading. I only actually read up to this book when I was younger, and again I really enjoyed it, and it's rekindled my love of Gilbert Blythe.
7. 'Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes'- Rick Riordan
As with Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, this is Greek mythology told in the voice of Percy Jackson. This is the stories of some of the Greek Heroes, which I think I actually enjoyed more than I did the Greek Gods. This was also a really fun and enjoyable read, and I liked the fact that Rick Riordan included quite a few female heroes as well, which you don't often hear about in Greek mythology.
8. 'Let it Snow'- John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
I read this book for the first time last winter and I was quite disappointed with it. I didn't love any of the stories, they all fell a bit flat for me, and I only gave it three out of five stars on Goodreads. I also found it to be a really slow read, it took me so long to read each story, and that added to everything that wasn't great about it. I decided to read it again this year as I needed a book to take with me on the train to work, as the hardback edition of the Percy Jackson book was absolutely massive and not practical at all; plus, it's Christmas and you're obliged to read Christmassy books at this time. This time, I enjoyed it much, much more and I read each story in one day each, which I think added to my enjoyment. So much better the second time round. I thought, as well giving my opinions of the book overall, I'd also say a little bit about each individual story.
'The Jubilee Express'- Maureen Johnson
This is my favourite of the three stories, the first time round it creeped me out a little bit, but this time I really enjoyed it. It made me feel really festive, much more than the other stories did, and I really enjoyed this one.
'A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle'- John Green
I enjoyed this story so much more the second time around. It's not like your typical tragic, misunderstood John Green story, which was good for me. It was just nice, and nice is what you want at Christmas time.
'The Patron Saint of Pigs'- Lauren Myracle
This story let the entire book down. It's the longest of the three, which does not work in it's favour. The story itself was okay, but all of the characters are so annoying that they just let the entire thing down; not good.
9. 'A Christmas Carol'- Charles Dickens
I read this book either last Christmas or the year before and it's one of my favourite classics. Everyone knows the story of a Christmas Carol, and it's one that I love and really enjoy reading. I'd highly recommend this one, it's absolutely fantastic and a must-read in December.
10. 'Six of Crows'- Leigh Bardugo
This book has got so much hype and I've been interested in reading it since the beginning of the year or whenever it was announced; it was described as similar to Ocean's 11, which is one of my favourite films ever, and I've been desperate to read it ever since then. I didn't think I was enjoying it all that much at first, and then I found myself thinking about it whenever I wasn't reading it, and then I realised I was basically hooked. This book is actually genius, the plot twists and not-plot twists were amazing, and I really loved how the reader was kept in the dark about their genius plans so there were so many surprises and then double surprises. I loved it and I need the next book asap.
I really, really liked the sound of this book when I first heard it was coming out, it's the stories of the main Greek Gods and Goddesses but told in the voice of Percy Jackson. I love Greek mythology, but I'd forgotten most of what I know about it. This was a really fun, interesting, enjoyable book and I really feel like I learnt a lot from it.
2. 'Anna and the French Kiss'- Stephanie Perkins
I never thought I'd enjoy Stephanie Perkins' books, they didn't sound like something that would interest me, but they were all really cheap on Kindle so I bought them. This book though, holy crap, it was fantastic. I absolutely loved it, I read the entire thing in less than 24 hours and I'm already desperate to read it again. I love all the characters, I fell in love with St Clair almost straight away and I am obsessed with this book; I loved it so much I bought myself a physical copy as well as a Kindle one.
3. 'Lola and the Boy Next Door'- Stephanie Perkins
After reading Anna, I needed to read this one straight away. However, I'm really disappointed to say that I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did Anna and the French Kiss, I couldn't get into the story in the same way and I really couldn't stand any of the characters. Cricket and the appearance of Anna and St Clair were the highlight of the book for me; the last four or so chapters saved this book.
4. 'Anne of Avonlea'- L.M. Montgomery
I was on a reading roll at the start of December, I read three whole books and the end of Percy Jackson in less than a week. Everyone knows by now that Anne of Green Gables is my favourite series ever, but I hadn't re-read this one in such a long time, I couldn't remember what happened. I really, really enjoyed this book, much more than I remembered doing so, and I thought it was a really fantastic continuation of the series; I love everything about this world so much.
5. 'Isla and the Happily Ever After'- Stephanie Perkins
The synopsis of this book initially appealed to me most out of all Stephanie Perkins' books, but I was nearly put off by the first chapter until I released that Isla wasn't usually like that. What I like about this companion trilogy is that all the characters from the other books make appearances, and I especially liked the fact that it was set in Paris again, I was missing that in Lola (plus, after Anna, I'm slightly obsessed with Paris when I never was before). No spoilers, but I really liked how the romance in this book happened quite early on, instead of having to wait till right at the end like most books; the romance in this, and in Anna especially, was so sweet and lovely and made my heart all warm and fuzzy.
6. 'Anne of the Island'- L.M. Montgomery
Again, this is the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series, which I'm working my way through re-reading. I only actually read up to this book when I was younger, and again I really enjoyed it, and it's rekindled my love of Gilbert Blythe.
7. 'Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes'- Rick Riordan
As with Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods, this is Greek mythology told in the voice of Percy Jackson. This is the stories of some of the Greek Heroes, which I think I actually enjoyed more than I did the Greek Gods. This was also a really fun and enjoyable read, and I liked the fact that Rick Riordan included quite a few female heroes as well, which you don't often hear about in Greek mythology.
8. 'Let it Snow'- John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
I read this book for the first time last winter and I was quite disappointed with it. I didn't love any of the stories, they all fell a bit flat for me, and I only gave it three out of five stars on Goodreads. I also found it to be a really slow read, it took me so long to read each story, and that added to everything that wasn't great about it. I decided to read it again this year as I needed a book to take with me on the train to work, as the hardback edition of the Percy Jackson book was absolutely massive and not practical at all; plus, it's Christmas and you're obliged to read Christmassy books at this time. This time, I enjoyed it much, much more and I read each story in one day each, which I think added to my enjoyment. So much better the second time round. I thought, as well giving my opinions of the book overall, I'd also say a little bit about each individual story.
'The Jubilee Express'- Maureen Johnson
This is my favourite of the three stories, the first time round it creeped me out a little bit, but this time I really enjoyed it. It made me feel really festive, much more than the other stories did, and I really enjoyed this one.
'A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle'- John Green
I enjoyed this story so much more the second time around. It's not like your typical tragic, misunderstood John Green story, which was good for me. It was just nice, and nice is what you want at Christmas time.
'The Patron Saint of Pigs'- Lauren Myracle
This story let the entire book down. It's the longest of the three, which does not work in it's favour. The story itself was okay, but all of the characters are so annoying that they just let the entire thing down; not good.
9. 'A Christmas Carol'- Charles Dickens
I read this book either last Christmas or the year before and it's one of my favourite classics. Everyone knows the story of a Christmas Carol, and it's one that I love and really enjoy reading. I'd highly recommend this one, it's absolutely fantastic and a must-read in December.
10. 'Six of Crows'- Leigh Bardugo
This book has got so much hype and I've been interested in reading it since the beginning of the year or whenever it was announced; it was described as similar to Ocean's 11, which is one of my favourite films ever, and I've been desperate to read it ever since then. I didn't think I was enjoying it all that much at first, and then I found myself thinking about it whenever I wasn't reading it, and then I realised I was basically hooked. This book is actually genius, the plot twists and not-plot twists were amazing, and I really loved how the reader was kept in the dark about their genius plans so there were so many surprises and then double surprises. I loved it and I need the next book asap.
Happy New Year
Rosie
