June Favourites

June has meant glorious summer-like days on the Sunny Coast with just a smidgen of a winter-y vibe in the evenings. Beautiful reading weather although I hope July brings some real snuggle up under the covers and read weather. I had a fab read count in June with two new fave books and a reread which I loved more than the original time I read it (it was perfectly timed and deliciously addictive).

June book total: 17
Books: 14
Audiobooks: 3

Adult fiction: 7
Young Adult fiction: 10
Australian fiction: 3
Rereads: 1

Fave young adult read

If I Fix You by Abigail Johnson

If I Fix You totally took me by surprise (both with how much I ended up liking it and in the direction the story took). It felt messy and real and I couldn't put it down. Really excited for Abigail Johnson's sophomore novel The First To Know which is out November of this year.

Fave adult fiction

Dinner at Roses by Danielle Hawkins

So, so good! I love Hawkins's effortless style that makes me feel like I am a part of the (fictional) family. Hawkin's dialogue is so superb, and her comedic timing lifts the book in places where there is sorrow and loss. The relationships and interactions are genuine and nuanced and the romance is all the more swoony for it's understated slow build and reveal. Love the New Zealand setting and I am so happy to have a new fave contemporary adult author to follow.

Seriously ~ if you like contemporary adult fiction with small town settings, a bit of swoon, a lot of heart, effortless humour and unforgettable characters you need to be looking up Danielle Hawkins ASAP.  

Fave reread

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Perfectly delightful: funny, slightly ridiculous, swoony, feel-good fun. With the most smilingest of footnotes. LOVED.

What's your recent most fave read? 

Hope all is well in your world :)

xo Nomes

April Favourites

April was a such a great reading month for me. Two weeks of school holidays meant extra reading time and I finally got my YA mojo back (after spending most of 2016 reading adult fiction titles). I saw a few of my goodreads friends reading some of my fave YA titles, which gave me reading envy and set me off on a bit of a reread binge of some old fave contemporary YA titles and it was perfectly like visiting with old friends.

April book total: 16
Books: 12 (including 4 rereads)
Audiobooks: 4

Fave read of April:

A List of Cages by Robin Roe
A List of Cages was heartcrushingly good. I knew very little about this book when I started (and I do recommend knowing little ~ so many reviews are absolutely spoilery) and I really did not expect the characters to win me other so completely.

If I were to make a word cloud of this book, included would be: hopeful, tense, devastating, brotherhood, secrets, cute, tears, powerful, smiley.

The seriousness of the subject matter is perfectly balanced with the levity of an outstanding cast of characters who were fun to hang out with and also reminded me of the life-changing power of teenagers who are awesome and stand up to make a difference. I rarely cry actual tears while reading but it was impossible to stay dry-eyed during A List of Cages.

Fave audiobook:

Highly Illogical Behaviour by John Corey Whaley
This was pretty cute and entertaining as an audiobook with dual narrators who definitely brought the story to life. I enjoyed the humour, pop culture nerdy/sci-fi references, and the underlying tension of the premise. I'm not sure I would have read this in book format, but the audio was good, light reading experience that kept me engaged.

Other recommendations:

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett was an entertaining YA read that was cute and addictive with a summer boardwalk/theme park(ish) setting that felt alive and surprisingly unique (the whole cave/museum thing was great). It didn't personally get me swooning but it did keep me smiling and I think you may find a lot to love if you're looking for a new cute summer-love YA read.


Making Faces by Amy Harmon: I like the way Harmon writes and this story had a great message (that did not take over the narrative) with heartache, swooning, humour, and unexpected twists and turns. I didn't love it as much as I loved her fantasy The Bird and The Sword but it was an absorbing and worthwhile read that didn't shy away from hard topics. I liked the timeline of this book which spanned from early childhood, through high school and into early adulthood. If the premise appeals to you definitely give this a go :)

The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine I was both captivated and intermittently frustrated with this original YA fantasy. I loved the world building and characters and the slow burn romance was also believable and satisfying, as was the unique and intriguing features of Fine's world. The only thing holding me back from listing this as a new fave were these weird pacing lulls where I would disengage with the story while waiting for things to keep moving. This complaint is more telling about me as a fantasy reader than the novel itself (I can be unfairly impatient with fantasy at times).

It Ends With Us is the first Colleen Hoover book I have read and I can see her widespread appeal. Hoover has a seamless writing style that drew me in and kept me turning the pages through the night. It was so easy to engage with her characters and get swept into the story. I knew little about this story going in and for that I am so glad (DO NOT read reviews of this one as I loved the way I was taken by surprise). This story was not what I expected> I was hoping for a kind of guilty pleasure, swoony, mindless read but this ended up being quite powerful and affecting. I would love any other Colleen Hoover recommendations as her backlist is rather intimidating and I have no idea where to start. I am not generally a fan of angsty YA/NA novels, but always a fan of absorbing books with captivating characters :)

What's the latest book you've read and loved?

:) Nomes

March Favourites

The first half of March was a beautiful, dream-like reading month. Back to back good reads and two new fave reads! The second half was littered with DNF books (which means I did get through a lot of titles that are no longer waiting on my TBR). After too many disappointing attempts in a row, I turned to re-reading some old faves which held up on the reread (occasionally a reread doesn't hold the same magic and the book can fall flat). 

Total reads: 9 books and 4 audiobooks

Fave reads of March:

By Your Side by Kasie West 
Light, swoony and unputdownable ~ with just the right amount of character development to add some ache and depth. This is a rainy day comfort read kind of book that was perfect for my reading mood.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
A mesmerising blend of gorgeous writing and mysterious happenings,  this contemporary/fantasy/magical realism/genre-blending novel completely stole my heart. I was hooked after a few chapters but I did not anticipate how much the characters would endear themselves to me. Laura Ruby is a born storyteller and some parts had me feeling like I was inside a fairy tale. This book not only had achey, brilliant, shining characters to fall in love with, but it was also unpredictable and daring and wholly original while remaining full of heart. 

Fave Audiobook for March:

I really enjoyed listening to Salt to the Sea, which has four narrators to match all four teenage perspectives. The story was engaging the whole way through, effortlessly transporting me to another time and place, but it wasn't until the end that I really felt moved. I am absolutely glad I spent time with these characters and heard their stories, this is a story that will linger and that deserved to be told. 

Fave Rereads

I am such an Elizabeth Scott fangirl and I love to periodically revisit her work. Perfect You is one of my faves of hers and it always delivers. She captures teen voice so well, and Will is so dreamy! Ha! Tell Me Three Things was a fave read of 2016 and I'm still loving it <3

How was March for you? Any new fave reads?

January: Mini Reviews and Other Things

I love January, long summer nights, kids home on summer holidays and so much reading time = bliss! I trawled a lot of blogs at the beginning of the month and stole a heap of reading recommendations from Faves of 2014 lists and pretty much maxed out my library card, ever hopeful to find a new favourite book. 

Mostly I had a lot of DNFs, haha. This is mainly due to being overly ambitious with trying books that don't sound like my thing, and then they turn out to not be my thing... However, I love that I flew through so many titles on my TBR to shrink it down a little. 

I read: 14 books all up (that number will shrink for following months as uni starts again in one week).

1. Here's two mini reviews from books I read in January (basically an unedited immediate reader reaction I threw up on goodreads)

Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier

Both the first two books in the series ended up in my top ten of 2014 list. I really liked the premise of this (a flawed, villianously conflicted MC) and loved being back in the Sevenwaters world. However, this took me forever to read. At times I just felt it dragged on and not much at all happened, then suddenly major! exciting! events would unfold and then it would fall back into a lull again. Maybe it's just me not being that great at fantasy (I can be an impatient reader at times and this book requires settling in for the long haul). Or maybe this book needed a good hundred or so pages cut out? haha. Either way, Marillier is a gifted writer and I am hopeful I'll enjoy the next book in the series a little more than this one. 

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2015. While it was captivating it didn't end up being a new favourite for me. I love Hand's writing, she creates characters and worlds that feel real. I was drawn into this story and there's no denying that the grief and devastation and the messy, hopeless aftermath of suicide is captured so well. Hand really focused on family relationships here (sibling love, divorced parents, mother-daughter, father-daughter, forgiveness and resentment). 

I felt like I was navigating those same feelings while reading the book, and I guess that is a sign of author success? Personally, I felt so drained and exhausted upon completion. I wish there had been some reprieve or even brief moments of levity sprinkled throughout. 

[Selfishly, I missed some of the swoon factor that Hand did so well with Tucker and Christian in Unearthly, although it would have been out of place in this book.] 

 As far as YA suicide books go, it is another strong addition to the genre. 

2. I reread three books this month and am so keen to reread more favourites. I never regret making time for rereads. So good to revisit fave characters and worlds. My fave reread was Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan. My gosh, I just love that book so much, it is still as brilliant and captivating as ever. It's an incredibly moving post-apocalyptic fantasy (set in our future, where the world is in eternal winter and the seas and sun are like a myth from long forgotten times). It also has much love on goodreads <3 (rating of 4.34 from 1,391 ratings ~ really great from a book first published in 1993)

3. New books!

I am a huge book scavenger and my fave place to check for second hand books is Salvos and also Bloomfield (a little cancer charity shop opposite my daughter's school). Salvo's had a $1 book sale and I was so selective (I only pick up books that I really want to own). I got 4 Aussie YA's and a copy of Bitterblue to go alongside Graceling and Fire.  

4. Books to look forward to

I added some more awesome books to my tbr. A new Honey Brown (have to wait until May)! Also a new Paullina Simons to look out for (April). I used to love her, back in the day, haha ~ so I'll be checking this out even though I have moved on a bit I'm still hopeful for some good escapism :)

Plus two stunnings covers for two contemporary YA novels. I first spotted these on Angieville and the both sound like my kind of read (fingers crossed I'll find a new fave here). Made You Up by Francesca Zappia and Between the Notes by Sharon Huss Roat. 

5. My fave read of the month: 

These two babies by Rosamund Hodge! Goes to show it does pay to try out books that don't seem like my thing ~ fairy tale mythical retellings, both brilliantly imagined and very captivating. Full review coming!

What about you guys? Did you have a good reading month? 

What has been your favourite read so far?