Ten Books That Will Be In My Beach Bag This Summer

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s list is the Top Ten Books That Will Be In My Beach Bag This Summer. The list is going to be a combination of 5 books I’ve already read that give off a wonderful summer vibe and 5 books I’m yet to read, but aim to this Summer!

I’ve defined my summer reads as mostly light, quick reads which you can’t put down. As ever, click on the book image to get to the Goodreads page!

6 books that I’ve already read that are Summer Sizzlers

Twenty Boy Summer– Sarah Ockler– I adored this book. I think it would be perfect for the beach. It’s hard to put down, and captures your attention.

The Undomestic Goddess– Sophie Kinsella– Sophie Kinsella is one of my favourite chick-lit authors. I find her books so easy to read. They’re usually funny, and touching. I think this is one of her best.

Anna And The French Kiss– Stephanie Perkins– This is just a cute, contemporary YA read.

Beauty Queens– Libba Bray– Whilst this wasn’t my favourite read ever, I think it’s a good beach read. Full of teenage drama and satire.

One Perfect Summer– Paige Toon– Paige Toon is another author that I adore for summer- like reads.  Her books tend to be a bit deeper than your average chick-lit. I’d recommend any of her books for the beach, to be honest!

Second Chance Summer- Morgan Matson– A perfect, emotional Summer read.

4 books that I think will be Summer Sizzlers

The Summer I Turned Pretty– Jenny Han– I’m yet to read this, I know… I’m really behind! I’ve heard good things about this series though.

The Summer I Became A Nerd– Leah Rae Miller- Here’s another Summery book that I’ve had for a while but not got around to. Maybe this Summer?

Bittersweet– Sarah Ockler- This book has been on my radar for a while now. I’m hoping that by putting on it a list, it’ll encourage me to read it!

Finding Cinderella- Colleen Hoover– I adore the Hopeless series, so I need to fit in this novella!

What will you be adding to your beach bag this Summer? Please feel free to leave your links to your Top Ten posts and I shall stop by!

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My Summer Challenge: Did I complete it?

Chrissi’s Summer Challenge!

I work in a school, so I have a glorious six weeks off in the summer. Today I’m back to school. Sad face. Oh well, I can’t complain too much as I have completed my Summer Challenge! On 18th June, I picked 10 books on the top of my to be read pile as part of Top Ten Tuesday. I then decided, that I would actually endeavour to read these books!  So here are my thoughts on my favourites and unfortunately one DNF (Did Not Finish).

If you click on the book image, it’ll take you to the book’s Goodreads profile. Easier to add to your TBR list that way! 😉 If you click on the title of the book, it’ll take you to my review (bar my DNF book).

10. Q- A Love Story- Evan Mandery

Unfortunately this is the book that I didn’t finish. I recently read a review saying that you wouldn’t enjoy it if you weren’t into philosophy. Well, that doesn’t work for me. I studied philosophy at university and it is one of my biggest passions. For me, it was too slow and went off track. I’m sure others would enjoy it though which is why I decided to include it even though I don’t usually mention books that I DNF.

9. Grow Up– Ben Brooks

There was nothing really wrong with this book, it just wasn’t as much my thing as the others on this list. It has extremely strong language and adult content so beware. I’d say 18+ only!

8. Beauty Queens– Libba Bray

Again, there was nothing particularly wrong with this book. I’ve just read a lot of good books out of this list! This book is completely OTT and certainly not for everyone, but I enjoyed it enough!

7. Why We Broke Up– Daniel Handler

I think this is such a beautifully illustrated book. I didn’t really know much about it when I picked it up, but it was a pleasure to read! Not the most amazing story ever, but definitely likeable and very readable.

6. Attachments– Rainbow Rowell

I found this book incredibly easy to read. I finished it on a train journey. It wasn’t quite Eleanor & Park for me, but it was still a decent read.

5. Under The Never Sky– Veronica Rossi

I loved this book and I’m looking forward to checking out the sequel. This was one of the first of the books I read and I really expected it to be placed higher, but no.. I read much awesomeness.

4. The Beautiful and The Cursed– Page Morgan

This is the last book I read out of the 10 I picked. I didn’t quite save the best until last, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.

3. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer– Michelle Hodkin

I completely fell in love with this book. I was so confused about what was going on, but that just added to the awesome. Oh yes.

2. Boundless– Cynthia Hand

Argh! I wasn’t sure I was going to like Boundless that much since I wasn’t overly keen on Hallowed. I still like Hallowed, but it didn’t quite match up to Unearthly for me. I need not have feared, I really enjoyed Boundless. A great end to the series. (If you’re on the same ‘Team’ as me..)

1. Divergent– Veronica Roth

I am SO in love with this book. The last 3 in this list were so hard to order, but Divergent just had to come out on top.

Have you read any on my list?  If so, what were your favourites?

Beauty Queens

How did I get it?:
I bought it!

Synopsis:

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What’s a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program – or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan – or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

Thoughts:

This is another of the books that I planned to read on my 6 week summer break from work. I’d heard a lot about it from many other book bloggers. I started Beauty Queens expecting it to be completely over the top and stupid… which it is. The plot may be completely OTT but it’s done in a fun way. Beauty Queens is easy and fun to read. I’m not sure if I’d re-read it myself, but I’m certainly glad I did read it.

Beauty Queens is a funny read, because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s satire, poking fun at the American culture and the media. I like the inclusion of footnotes. They were fun to read.

I thought the characters were interesting, but there wasn’t enough about them to really feel a connection with them. I think it’s because there were so many of them. I did think Adina was a strong character and she is the one that stands out the most for me.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the commercial breaks. They were fun at first, but then it seemed like they were put in the book to pad it out a little.

I did like that it was an all girl adventure. I expected them to be typical pageant personalities, but the longer they stayed on the island the more they left that behind. They had a ‘journey’. (Urgh, I hate that word..so cheesy!) They fell in love, discovered their flaws which they learned to accept and to accept others. They also learned not to care what other people thought of them. They learned to be themselves, not what society wanted to be. This of course, is a very important message.

Overall, I did enjoy this fluffy piece of feminism. It was nice to read a story of girls having adventures, accepting and becoming who they are without the judgment of authoritative figures.
Would I recommend it?
Yes!

Reading next:
The Girl Who Fell From The Sky- Simon Mawer

Stacking The Shelves #27

Click on the image to take you to Tynga’s blog to learn more!

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you’re adding to your shelves, be it buying or borrowing. From ‘real’ books you’ve purchased, a book you’ve borrowed, a book you’ve been given or an e-book they can all be shared!

The Shining Girls- Lauren Beukes– I’d heard a lot about this book so I decided to invest!

Slammed- Colleen Hoover- Is it me or is the cover particularly Fifty Shades of Grey like? I enjoyed Hopeless, so I decided to check out more of Colleen’s work!

Speak- Laurie Halse Anderson– Again, I’ve heard brilliant things about this book.

Beauty Queens- Libba Bray- This is on my list to read over the summer break I have coming up soon!

Kindle:

Q: A Love Story- Evan Mandery- Another on my summer reading list. I saw this book in the shop when it first came out and fancied reading it!

Parallel- Lauren Miller- The copy I downloaded doesn’t have the gorgeous cover I’ve seen around on other blogs. I’m excited to read this book though!

Losing Hope- Colleen Hoover- I’m really looking forward to reading this book!

 

Reality Ends Here- Alison Gaylin– This looks like a good, light read!

What have you got his week? Please feel free to leave your links to your STS posts and I’ll come by and check yours out!

Top Ten Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely The Broke And The Bookish. This week the list is the Top Ten Books At The Top Of My Summer TBR list. I’m counting summer as the six weeks break I get from work. (I work in an infant school!) This summer I’m going to try and catch up/start series I have heard so much about. So in no particular order here are the 10 I’m hoping to read..

As ever, click on the book image to get to the Goodread’s page.

I’ve heard so much about this book that I just have to read it!

I’d like to finish this series. I’ve read the first two but haven’t got round to finishing it yet!

Another one that’s been on my TBR pile far too long!

I’ve heard loads of good things about this book. Can’t wait to start it.

I haven’t read any Rainbow Rowell yet. I need to change that.

This book came highly recommended to me, so I really want to read it soon!

This sounds brilliant! Can’t wait to get stuck in!

Gorgeous cover! A book I’ve heard a lot about!

I’ve heard this book is incredibly funny!

I’ve seen this book so much recently on blogger’s lists, that it’s made its way to my TBR pile!

How about you? What books are at the top of your list? Please feel free to share your links and I’ll come and visit your blog.