Tuesday 25 November 2014

Birthday Book Haul

  

    

      I love my birthday. I really do. I’m one of those people who look forward to it all year and starts planning their special deal months in advance, and in the week running up to that faithful date I hardly shut up about it! I love the creamy, candle-lit birthday cake, the room filled with balloons and I won’t lie, as an aspiring actress, I love all the attention too – Most people find a room full of people serenading you with ‘Happy Birthday to You’ very awkward and embarrassing, but not me, I bask in it! But of course, like most teenagers in Britain, one of my favourite things about my birthday is the presents… More specifically, the book-shaped presents.
      
      Most people my age want laptops and iPods and BMX bicycles for their birthday, not me - I always use and abuse my birthday to top up my to-be-read pile and this year was no exception. I asked for books and books only from almost everyone who posed the question, ‘and what do you want for your birthday?’ in fact, my parents even asked me to compose a list, which let me tell you, was definitely not an unenjoyable task. So, when my lucky day finally rolled around I was able to come downstairs to a birthday-table absolutely teeming with gorgeous crisp new novels from almost every author I asked for.


  
          By the end of the day I had transformed from innocent birthday sweetheart into present-drunk spoilt brat. It was wonderful. My lovely dad, who lives quite far away, had taken it upon himself to order me almost every book on my list to celebrate my change of age. This combined with the generosity of a few other friends and relatives brought my book count to an astonishing 22 books - Happy birthday to me, right?! Today, I want to share my excitement with you guys and go into detail about a few of favourite new novels.  

    1.The One With the Prettiest Cover


I am absolutely in love with the cover of ‘Firecracker’ by David Iserson. So much so, in fact, that I had to read it first just to find out what wonderful story could possibly lay beneath a design that delightful. The gorgeous cover was actually the main reason it made its way into my library, something that pretty had to be good, right?  I was not disappointed. The story follows the awesomely named, incredibly-rich and totally heartless, Astrid Kreiger (What a great name right? I’m going to have to name a kid that when I’m older) as she is forced out of prestigious private school, Bristol Academy, and into local public school, Cadorette Township High School, much to her dismay. Astrid is a sneaky and sparky and absolutely horrible, she lives for herself and 
herself only. It was a really awesome read and a 
one to kick off this reading bonanza that I’ve just entered. 
Good show, Iserson!

    2.The One I Just Couldn’t Get My Hands On


As a teenager with a purse full of tumbleweeds, I have been searching for a cheap copy of ‘Love, Rosie’ by Cecilia Ahern for weeks. The movie recently came out here in the UK. It features dead-gorgeous Sam Claflin and the trailer looks so fun and cute and hilarious that I’ve been dying to see it. But, of course, I must be faithful to my books and I will not let myself watch the movie until I have read the novel. I figured I would be able to find a cheap and battered copy of it under its previous name, ‘Where Rainbows End’  in a local charity shop, but luck has not been on my side and I refuse to cough up £8 for it, so as of yet, I still haven’t seen that movie. But, I will. I have it now and there’s nothing to stop me! 
Sam Claflin, here I come.

    3. The Series Everyone’s Talking About


I have heard only good things about Keira Cass’ ‘Selection’ series. It’s a trilogy that seems to be on everyone’s tongue and quite frankly, I feel majorly left out of this discussion. A friend laid down the plotline of the first book, ‘The Selection’ to me and from what I’ve heard it seems to be a series after my own heart, combining dystopian fiction with dating programmes and a hefty dose of romance too. I have all three books in the series line up and ready to read and though I mustn’t let the hype spoil my experience, my expectations are quite high. I am dying to get in on this fandom and now, thanks to my good ol’ Dad, I can. I’m expecting to love this series so get ready for some top-speed book chatter for this one!

     4.The Long Awaited Sequel


‘If I Stay’ by Gayle Forman is a book that left both me, and a large portion of the rest of the world, in a state of tears and turmoil. The book, though short, was an emotional roller-coaster from start to finish. It was the kind of book that was so gripping and intense that I had to read it all in one day, in one sitting. This was a book that was not going to wait. But though I did not have to wait with ‘If I Stay’, I have waited months for the sequel, ‘Where She Went’. I am so ready to find out the rest of Mia’s story. So much was left unsaid and I simply cannot live the rest of my life not knowing what happened next. I cannot. I will not let Gayle Forman trample all over my heart and crush it into a thousand pieces without her at least telling me if I’ll ever get to put it back together again. I need 
this sequel. I really do.

     5. The Most Important One


Though I love each of my books very much and I will read them all with an equal amount of care and attention, there was one book I wanted more than all of the others put together. Finally. Finally! I own a gorgeous copy of ‘My True Love Gave to Me’. Edited by literary goddess, Stephanie Perkins, the book is a compilation of twelve different Christmas stories, each written by a famous YA author.  As soon as I knew about it I needed it!  This was a book that contained words from Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, and David Levithan (to name a few) all in one place. It was like someone had taken my exact reading tastes and try to make a book tailored entirely to my preferences. It has almost all my favourite authors, It’s got romance, It has a beautiful cover and to top it all off, 
It’s a Christmas book! This book is going to be 
magnificent I have no doubts! The only question now is 
whether I can actually wait until Christmas time or not!

            I could talk about my birthday books forever but this is a blog post, not a novel. This was just a few of the highlights of my book haul, there is still so much to be said. All my friends and family have been so generous and lovely this year and you have no idea how grateful I am. I want to give special thankyou’s to my fantastic Dad who sent me the majority of what’s currently in my new to-be-read pile. I am so excited to read all of this new stuff.  Though I am sad it’s over, the day was perfect. Thank you, everyone. It really has been a magnificent birthday!




11 comments:

  1. Happy birthday Evie! Amazing book haul! I think you're really going to enjoy My life next door, it's a really easy fun read! Also, I've been dying to get my hands on Love, Rosie and My True Love Gave To Me. You're so lucky! I hope you had a fantastic birthday! :D

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    1. Thankyou!!! I know it's a summer book but I just couldn't! It looks SO ROMANTIC :D You should definitely read Love, Rosie. I've just finished it and gosh that book is one heck of a journey!! I really am the luckiest at the moment :D x

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  2. Happy birthday, Evie!

    I hope you enjoy all of your new books! I've read all The Selection books, Where She Went, and My True Love Gave to Me. I loved them all! I see you have the gorgeous UK version of My True Love Gave to Me... I need to get that version. lol

    Erin @ The Hardcover Lover

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    1. Oh good! If you like them then they must be good good good :D Very reassuring :3 The UK one with the bright pink page sides?? sometimes I just take it out and stroke it for a while. I can't wait til Christmas comes around!!! Thankyou so much Erin :D x

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  3. Happy (belated) birthday, Evie! This is such a great haul, and ah, so many bookss! I too love the cover of Firecracker and am eager to see what you think about it! And I hope you enjoy Where She Went. :D x

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    1. Thank you Naban! I know! There's tons :3 I almost had a heart attack when I saw them (in a good way of course). Firecracker was awesome! Very funny, with a different kind of character then I'm used to which was very refreshing

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  4. Aww pretty pretty books! Happy belated birthday gorgeous :)
    Enjoy all these books. My True Love Gave to Me is BEAUTIFUL! The cover is out of this world!
    And I'm glad you're reading Love, Rosie, the movie is coming out soon (I guess) x

    Lots of love,
    -Jay @ http://booksbyj.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks very much Jayy!! I definitely will be enjoying these :3 Love, Rosie, was so amazing! If you haven't read it yet, do. It was such a journey of a book. So many emotions :D

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  5. Heeey~ Belated Happy Birthday Evie :D

    I also enjoy my birthday because of the presents. In fact, I usually ask for books "only" and nothing else. Making the list is one of the fun parts, and it's just exciting thinking which of the books would be bought and by who :)
    I'm glad you're finally gonna start reading the Selection series :D It was pretty good overall. And, oh~ Where She Went, most people preferred If I Stay, but me personally I loved Where She Went more :)

    Have fun reading! :D
    - IZZY @ http://thereadingizzy.blogspot.com/

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    1. I loved list making.. I got to wander around waterstones with a little notepad and pen writing down everything I saw. I was like a kid in a sweetshop. I'm literally just about to start the Selection series. I don't usually go for books about royalty and kingdoms and stuff but it sounds great :D

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  6. Happy birthday! 22 books?! Dang, girl! That is one impressive haul! I applaud you heartily. Happy reading; I'll be looking forward to the reviews!

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