Monday 7 May 2012

Musing Mondays #1



Musing Mondays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading.


This week's musing asks:
If you were going to write a book, what would you write about? Would it be fiction, or nonfiction?
I'm actually already writing a book, which is young adult romantic fiction. I started it for NaNoWriMo which was pretty much a fail, but it gave me a good 20k word start at least. I also have another ya romance (it's definitely the genre I naturally gravitate towards writing) that I write bits and pieces of every so often. Plus, I have about 10 other book ideas swimming around in my head of varying genres. Sigh, I'd love to stop procrastinating and work my way up to being one of those people who can write a book a year.

Thursday 3 May 2012

(Review) I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Release date: February 14th 2012
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Page count: 433
Genre(s): Romance/Chick-lit/Contemporary/Humour
Buy it: Amazon/Book Depository
Add it on: Goodreads
Rating: 5/5

I've lost it. The only thing in the world I wasn't supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It's been in Magnus's family for three generations. And now, the very same day his parents are coming, I've lost it. The very same day. Do not hyperventilate, Poppy. Stay positive!!

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry the ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her 'happy ever after' begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring but in the panic that followed, she has now lost her phone. As she paces shakily round the hotel foyer she spots an abandoned phone in a bin. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton doesn't agree. He wants his phone back and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other's lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents... she soon realises that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life. 


Synopsis from Goodreads

I had never read any Sophie Kinsella before this (ridiculous, I know) so I can't compare this to any of her other work. But as a stand alone book, I LOVED THIS. Seriously, love is not a strong enough word. I didn't expect too much going into this. Just something light-hearted and fun to while away a few hours. A few chapters in, and I was already laughing loud enough to wake the neighbours. Seriously, it usually takes a lot for books to make me laugh. Unless it's a book actually written by a comedian or something, a chuckle or smile is the most a book gets from me. Not this. Full on cackling, I tell you. And it didn't let up! There were so many funny scenarios that you could imagine in a movie. 

Poppy had such a great sense of humour so her thoughts had me cracking up too. Speaking of Poppy - love, love, LOVE. I would be best friends with this girl in a heartbeat. She felt so real and I could relate to her so much. She was so refreshingly open and enthusiastic. Even with all the crap things happening to her, she manages to keep upbeat. She was also totally adorable and I'm not surprised Sam fell for her. Oh, Sam. He was amazing. He starts off very up-tight and harsh, but as the book goes on Poppy gets him to open up and it's adorable. I loved reading the texts Poppy and Sam send to each other. They were so funny and as the book goes on they get increasingly cute. The romance in this book was perfect for me. A little bit of love/hate to start with, leading to a blossoming friendship. I was so invested in these two it's crazy. The book wasn't especially deep, but it was still really heart-warming. Seeing Poppy and Sam change each other for the better was great, and there was also a moment towards the end had me welling up.

Sigh. If you couldn't tell, I adored this book and will definitely re-read it a gazillion times. I give it a 5/5.

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Waiting on Wednesday #3

Once again, I have let almost a month go by without posting. Life has been pretty rough lately and put me into a bit of a reading (or doing anything really) slump. Fortunately, I feel myself getting back to normal, thanks to currently reading through 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series by George R.R Martin which has rekindled my reading buzz. I have a bunch of reviews on goodreads to post over here which I'll try and spread out over the next week or so, and once I'm done with the ASOIAF series, I'll try and speed my way through some YA reads I'm dying to read .

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander
Release date: May 22nd 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Page count: 352
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Add it on: Goodreads

From debut author Cassie Alexander comes a spectacular new urban fantasy series where working the nightshift can be a real nightmare. 


Nursing school prepared Edie Spence for a lot of things. Burn victims? No problem. Severed limbs? Piece of cake. Vampires? No way in hell. But as the newest nurse on Y4, the secret ward hidden in the bowels of County Hospital, Edie has her hands full with every paranormal patient you can imagine—from vamps and were-things to zombies and beyond… 


Edie’s just trying to learn the ropes so she can get through her latest shift unscathed. But when a vampire servant turns to dust under her watch, all hell breaks loose. Now she’s haunted by the man’s dying words—Save Anna—and before she knows it, she’s on a mission to rescue some poor girl from the undead. Which involves crashing a vampire den, falling for a zombie, and fighting for her soul. Grey’s Anatomy was never like this…

Synopsis from Goodreads

After FINALLY reading my first UF book a while ago, I'm desperate to read more. This one sounds like such a fun read.