Reading Resolutions

  

This is me :o

  As Christmas sadly draws to a close and we set about pulling the mistletoe down from the ceiling, blowing out that sickly sweet cinnamon scented candle and eating the last crumbs of Christmas cake that no one really wanted, it really is easy to feel a bit sad, isn’t it? When all that festive cheer is gone you’re going to need something else to replace the excitement of having all those santa ornaments dotted around the house – New Year! If we can’t celebrate December anymore let’s celebrate January instead! And, of course, with New Years Day comes New Years Resolutions.

        

    Now, don’t worry. I am not going to harp on at you about my overwhelming desire to stop eating chocolate and start hitting the gym at every possible moment during the day (I think we all know that’s never going to happen). No, this is a book blog, so of course, these must be Reading Resolutions. And, trust me; I have a few bad habits to break…

      

      So without further ado I bring you this year’s  4 Reading Resolutions:

   1.     Start using bookmarks

It has begun

What have I been doing instead, you ask? Fine - May as well get it out in the open now, because it’s all about to change. I am a page folder. I know it’s terrible, I can see you all wincing when you see me put a crease or a crinkle in a brand new book, and up until recently I have felt no remorse. But the problem is getting out of hand – It was okay when it was just my books, at that point it was just a quick and easy way to mark my pages, but now I’m folding other people’s books without even thinking! I can’t handle the shame of creasing another’s book, any more of this guilt and I’ll drive myself insane. So, this is why, starting January 1^st I will pick up a bookmark and never fold again… I hope.

Ooft..

   2.     Read at least two classic novels

Okay, I’m kind of lazy so maybe two is a tad optimistic, but still! I would like to read at least one classic novel. Too many of my favourite teen fictions and movies are based off or make reference too classic novels such as ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘The Scarlet Letter’. Supposedly these books provide some amazingly mind-blowing experience that will skyrocket me into such an intense euphoria that I will never be able to enjoy reading again. I want in on that, Dudes. So, though it may be hard work, and at times I may curse a Brontë or stamp Dickens name into the dirt, but as long as I persevere I shall take my place among the reading elite and I will be able to finally let myself swoon over Colin Firth acting in the old BBC ‘Pride and Prejudice’ series.

   3.     Stop holing up in the teen section, you hermit!

Looking through my bookshelf at all the different books I’ve read this year and it occurs to me that I have a certain… taste in books. What I mean by this is apparently I read almost solely what Waterstones puts on the recommended table in the teen section. I am addicted to teen fiction, particularly the contemporary kind! I can actually feel the craving in me now. I crave Rainbow Rowell and John Green like a drug-addict craves crystal meth. Is there a rehab for this kind of thing? Whether there is or not, I’m not going. I can do this on my own. Cold turkey. This year I shall finally take those few hesitant steps out of the confines of young-adult. I shall browse through not-young-adult and sci-fi and crime/thriller novels!... Maybe.

   4.     Attempt the Goodreads 50 Book Challenge

I'm learning! I swear!

I have spent many hours tampering about with the site but I think I have finally worked out how Goodreads works. However, as I explored through the deep depths of the website trying to work out exactly what a TBR is and how the hell one makes a ‘Listopia’ I stumbled upon the 2014 Reading Challenge. Obviously, having found it in December, it’s a bit late to attempt my 50 books this year, but with any luck I will be able to sign up on January 1^st and power-read my way through the rest of the year. I’ve never done goodreads stuff before, nor have I ever counted the amount of books I read in a year, so I’m not entirely sure how big a number 50 really is, so if you lot reckon I should boost that figure or push it back down, do tell me! All I know is that in 2015 Majestical Evie shall fix on her determined face and she shall read more books in one year than ever before! And that my friends, is a promise, not a resolution! 

Isla and the Happily Ever After Review

    

       I know, I know. I speak about Stephanie Perkins way too much, but if she didn’t cause me so much heart ache maybe I wouldn’t have to! I can’t just let her tear me apart, rip my heart out and use it as a football and pretend like it isn’t happening! I need to speak through my feelings with you, It’s the only way I’ll ever come close to moving on,  – particularly my most recent feelings concerning her newest book, ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’. In recent weeks I have once again found myself lying on my bed at 2am, that familiar pain in my chest, wishing with all my might that I could pull one of Stephanie Perkin’s boys out of their fictional world and safely into my arms.

     

This time it was Josh. Joshua Wasserstein. Though I had not truly appreciated him when reading ‘Anna and the French Kiss’, my mind too consumed with the sheer swooshiness of Etienne’s hair, I was certainly appreciating him now. While Etienne and Cricket, the romantic interests of Perkins two previous companion novels, were friendly and confident, Josh was quiet, artistic and mysterious. In my mind he was stronger built than the other two boys, less soft edges, with a gorgeous well-shaped smile. It was a lovely change from the other two love interests and I ate up every romantic gesture like I hadn’t had a meal in weeks.

     

       There is an added physicality in ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’ not found in the previous books. Usually, Perkins focuses on exactly how the lovely couple came to be, the book ending with that fantastic first kiss moment so highly anticipated by the reader, however, this time we get to have a look at what comes after that. Of course, once a seventeen year-old couple has been together long enough to get that kiss out of the way, things begin to progress to much more… serious stuff. However, being so familiar with Perkins’ usual romance structure, I really did not expect this uh… new kind of kissing contained within the book.

   

         But, of course, Perkins being the literary genius that she is, it was all okay. Better than okay, it was nice. It wasn’t awkward or disgusting. She avoided explicit language and instead of the actual physical act, Perkins spoke of the feelings her characters experienced, something not usually the focal point of this kind of scene. It wasn’t pornographic and strangely, it didn’t seem all that sexual. Josh and Isla did not ‘have sex’, they ‘made love’. It was beautiful.

           However, don’t for a minute think that ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’ is about sex. Most definitely not. These moments were simply the finer details of an ultimately gorgeous picture; the glint in Mona Lisa’s eye.

           Of course, this wouldn’t be a Perkins book if we didn’t have an artfully chosen romantic setting. The book has two main settings – new and exciting Manhattan, brimming with people and possibilities, and… Paris! I squealed with joy when I found out we were going back to Paris, setting of ‘Anna and the French Kiss’.  I want every book to be set in Paris, things just seem to be more dazzling over there. Joshua Wasserstein was amazing for many reasons, he was gorgeous, artistic, thoughtful and funny… but now he gets to speak casual French too? I’m practically swooning as I type.

  

          More specific than Paris, in ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’ we get to return to Anna’s boarding school from ‘Anna and the French Kiss’. Yet another reason to read the series – the three stories are all tastefully intertwined, with ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’ featuring, in my opinion, the best cameos of the entire series. Etienne, Anna, Meredith, Rashmi, Cricket, Lola and Calliope all make an appearance at some point in the book.  The reader is given enough to detail to both excite and satisfy, but crucially, the cameos do not take over the main plotline of the book. I really do wish that I could talk to you about the wonderful scene near the end of the book, but even I would not be so mean as to spoil such a perfect surprise.

  

          There is only one fault I have for ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’ and that is this; the remarkable book marks the end of the three-part series. As I put the book down a weird sort of sadness washed over me and I suddenly wished I had never read any of it at all. I wished I could be back on the first page of ‘Anna and the French Kiss’, my low expectations about to be blown out of the water.

           However, at the end of ‘Isla and the Happily Ever After’ I knew one thing for certain. Stephanie Perkins is my favourite author. She writes exactly the kind of books I want to read, satisfyingly romantic and perfect right down to the last detail. I can’t stress enough how much I loved this series and I just know that whatever Perkins chooses to release next, I will buy from Waterstones with a bright grin on my face and an open heart. 

If you would like to find out more about Stephanie Perkins, here is her website!

And here's my Anna and the French Kiss review! 

My Top 5 Favourite Teen Romance Novels

If you are a regular to my lovely little blog you will probably know that I like teen romantic fiction. A lot. Instead of going to wild parties like most teenagers in this country do, I love to curl up on a Friday night with a mug of hot chocolate, a cosy blanket, a box of tissues close to hand and a good bit of chick-lit in my lap. I’ve read an awful lot of romance fiction in my time and I thought that, what with my experience and all, I’d give you a little idea of what to look out for! So, without further ado, here is my top 5 favourite Teen Romances!

5. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

            Okay, so it may not be the most mature love story out there but it’s still has a warm spot in both my library and my heart. Written as if it were the diary of fourteen year old Georgia Nicolson, ‘Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging’ was the first romance novel that I ever read. I must have been about ten or eleven when I first stole this off of my older sister’s shelf. I was curious as to the contents of a book with the word ‘thong’ on the front cover. I snuck off to my room and read it in secret. It was the funniest book I had ever read. Georgia’s crazy antics and randomnosity had me giggling wildly and though I did not much care for love interest, Robbie, at the time, I still told all the girls in my class at school about it. ‘Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging’ is a book that refuses to take itself seriously

 and that is exactly why it has earned its spot on this list.

4. The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart

            When I first read it, I was addicted to this book like crack cocaine. For the day it took to get through it, getting me to do anything was about as easy as trying to walk through a thick brick wall.  ‘The Boyfriend List’ follows Ruby Oliver as, throughout the course of 11 ‘shrink’ appointments, she explores 15 important relationships (not all of which are romantic) that she has had with guys throughout her life. The stories are interesting and well-paced and the narrative is hilarious. This is a romance novel that for once does not actually promote the importance of love, but promotes self-confidence and friendship instead – strange, I know, but it completely works! Start reading it and I promise, you’ll be done before the day is out.

3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Or any Rainbow Rowell really)

            Would this really be a reliable list if Rainbow Rowell wasn’t on here somewhere? Just thinking about ‘Fangirl’ and its colourful array of characters (particularly tall and lovely, Levi) makes me sigh and drift off into a Rowell induced dream. One of the main reasons I think I loved this book so much was because of its unusual set-up. We all know the story of the cute under-appreciated girl desperately trying to get her high-school crush to notice her, but never before have I heard the tale of one awkward twin, trying to run a successful fan-fiction page and refusing to adapt to her new life at college (University to us Brits)! The difficult changes that happen at college are rarely addressed in teen romance fiction and I absolutely loved ‘Fangirl’ for being one of the first to do so! The whole story was just 

lovely from start to finish. With quirky characters 

and beautiful illustrations, ‘Fangirl’ is definitely one to look out for!

2. 10 Things We Shouldn’t Have Done by Sarah Mlynowski

            I have read this book every single summer for about three years now and it never fails to amaze me. ’10 Things We Shouldn’t Have Done’ is the most unpredictable piece of romantic fiction I have ever read. I found myself laughing with glee at some of the cleverer plot twists. The story follows sixteen year old April as she and her friend Vi spend a year secretly living on their own together while their parents are out of town. Of course, as expected, they abuse this newly-found freedom and after a few wild parties and a washing machine disaster find themselves in a good bit of trouble. Hot-tubs, kittens and drunken mermaid impressions are just three of the 10 things I absolutely loved about this book.

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

                Oo gosh. My heart still aches a little bit from the brilliance of this one. As regulars to this blog will know, ‘Anna and the French Kiss’ has been one of my favourite books for a very long time. It actually has a whole other blog post to itself – and rightfully so. ‘Anna and the French Kiss’, in my opinion, is the perfect teen romance novel. It has everything you could possibly ask for: a beautiful Parisian setting, a charming romantic interest, and most importantly, a whole lot of nearly-kisses, almost-kisses, not-quite kisses and finally, French kisses. There has never, in all of Waterstones teen section, been a more indulgently romantic novel. It destroyed me emotionally and left my crying on my bed. It really is that good. I may have written this list just so that this book could reign supreme. 

So, join me now, let us raise our metaphorical wine glasses in 

celebration and give a toast: To ‘Anna and the French Kiss’!