June wrap - what I read in June!

So June was a awesome month for reading!!! I got WAY more reading done than I thought I would have.

So without further ado let's get into what I read this month!

I finished the following:

1. The view on the way down - Rebecca Wait
2. Stay with me - Maureen McCarthy
3. Paper Towns - John Green
4. A court of thorns and roses - Sarah J Maas
5. The Infernal Devices #1: Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare (audio book)
6. This is where I leave you - Jonathan Tropper (audio book)
7. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - JK Rowling
8. The Memory of Eva Ryker - Donald A. Stanwood
9. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

The only book from my original TBR that I didn't read was 'All fall down' by Jennifer Weiner. I still have that book out from loan from the library so I may read it in July - if I feel like it!!!

I have done separate book reviews for most of these books so check out my good reads link for more info!

If I had to pick a favourite from the bunch I read this month I would have to say The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I really enjoyed this one! I have only read one other of her books and I really enjoyed that too!

Here's to another great reading month!

~ Katie

Book chat - Paper Towns by John Green

I read Paper Towns by John Green because it was picked as my book clubs book for the month of July. Namely because the movie is due for release then and we thought it might be nice to go to the movies as our next book club meeting!

I have to take responsibility for suggesting this book, I had never read any John Green and I had seen a preview for the movie and thought it looked like a nice easy book to read!

Then I found out about the #rainbowthon read-a-thon and wanted to participate and seeing as this book as a lovely yellow spine I thought I would give it a go first up!

This book is narrated by Quentin Jacobson, or 'Q' to his friends. Q is eighteen and about to finish college/junior high (I am pretty unfamiliar with the American schooling system! Excuse my ignorance!). He is pretty caught up on his next door neightbour, Margo Roth Spiegelman (I am unsure if Roth is part of her surname, first name or is actually her middle name - Q always refers to her using all three names in the book, it's a little weird!). Margo is a popular girl at school, whereas Q isn't!

Pretty much, without giving any of the plot away, Margo is a free spirited girl who loves adventure and doesn't feel like she belongs. Q is a teenager who has always been slightly infatuated with Margo and is constantly wanting to regain their friendship as children.

This book is a mystery, so I can't say much without giving away much of the plot, although I will say not too much of it was really 'mysterious' to me.

While this book was certainly easy to read, and I can see how this would really appeal to many readers (particularly young people - surprise surprise given it's a YA book!), I couldn't say it was my favourite read of the year. The characters were like-able enough, although Margo was a little frustrating for me personally, and the plot line was pretty good, it lacked something for me.

I will still go and see the movie though, and it's possible that this might be one of those rare occasions where I may actually prefer the movie over the book! Call me crazy!

If you're after a light read, that doesn't require any thinking, then this one would be perfect.

3/5 stars

~ Katie

#rainbowthon TBR

Hi All


So I have decided to participate in the #Rainbowthon being hosted by the girls from the Carpe Librum book club. 

Basically the goal of this readathon is to pick 6 books whose spines match the colours of the rainbown (Red, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Purple and Green). Then you have a week starting from today to read as many as you can!!!

Officially the readathon runs from June 15 - June 22! 

I have never participated in a readathon before and I am pretty excited!! Unfortunately I have an assignment due (my last one for the semester!) on Thursday so that will slow down my reading a fair bit but I am still going to give it a read hot go! 

Go and check out Riley Marie Reads for all the rules and more info!!! You can also follow the girls over on twitter @carpelibrum and use the hashtag #Rainbowthon to follow all the conversations over there! I know I will be :)

So my pick for the week are as follows:
Yellow: Paper Towns, John Green
Orange: The Help, Katheryn Stockett (sort of more yellow than orange but it was as close as I could get!)
Red: Seraphina, Rachel Hartman
Green: The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
Purple: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling (yep a re-read!)
Blue: The Memory of Eva Ryker, Donald A. Stanwood. 

I plan to try and update my process everyday, or every few days depending on how much actual reading I have done! If I can knock over my assignment today that will certainly help with my reading plans. 

Happy reading everyone!! Let me know if you are going to be participating!!!

~ Katie 

April 2015 Project life layouts

This year, as you may know, I have really gotten into project life. I thought I would bite the bullet and share some of my pages from April! I am still working out what kind of page protectors I like using - I love a few of the designs (and hate some others!), but I certainly haven't settled on just one design! I have chosen to scrapbook monthly, instead of weekly. I just think this approach will work better for me!

I had a very busy April (in contrast I think my May photos will only take up 1 double spread!). So I hope you enjoy my pages. Please feel free to link your own blog posts/instagram photos/youtube videos as I am always looking for new inspiration!

~ Katie

Book chat - The view on the way down by Rebecca Wait (Book Review)

So I have finished my first book of June and it's only day two! So proud of myself. I was browsing in my local library last week and I picked up a couple of books on the shelf that looked new and barely read. I hadn't heard of them so I thought I'd give them a go!

The View on the Way Down was in the adult fiction section of the library, but I think it's somewhere between a YA book and adult fiction. It follows the story of Emma, who is a 14 year old being bullied at school, engaging in a pattern of emotion eating, and is living in a dysfunctional family. Early on in the book we learn that Emma's eldest brother Kit has died, and her other brother, Jamie, left home when Kit died and hasn't been back since. Not wanting to give too much away but this book needs to have a serious trigger warning - the book deals with suicide, mental illness and the impact of suicide on the grieving family. I thought it was extremely well written and an excellent insight into what living with a mental illness might be like, and on how families, and individuals within those families, grieve in different ways.

I am not ashamed to say I cried a number of times in this book - particularly in the last chapter! I still have tears on my cheeks as I write this! I thought the characters were well written, well defined and that the story was wonderfully told. It's a short book (308 pages), and I whipped through this in just two nights (would have finished it sooner if I didn't have to work!).

This was Rebecca Wait's first novel, and I believe she has released her second novel this year. I think I will be checking this out very soon!!! Do yourself a favour and go and check her out - you can find her here.

I would highly recommend this book, if you can handle the trigger warning.

4.5/5 stars!

~ Katie

1 book from my June TBR read... that's a good start right!!! :)

June To Be Read (TBR) List

Well June is now upon us - I cannot believe we are in June already!!! June is my birthday month so I always get pretty excited, even though it is winter here in Australia.

So I have a pretty adventurous TBR list this month, but I will write them all down anyway!

So my June TBR looks like this...
1. The view on the way down - Rebecca Wait
2. All fall down - Jennifer Weiner
3. Stay with me - Maureen McCarthy (one of my favourite authors during high school!)
4. Paper Towns - John Green (never read any of his books and the movie looks good so thought I should start with this one!)
5. A court of thorns and roses - Sarah J Maas (read Throne of Glass last month, really enjoyed it, have been hearing all the hype about this so thought I'd give it a shot!)
6. The Infernal Devices #1: Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare (audio book) (again haven't read any of Cassandra Clare's books and this was available on audio book at my local library so thought I would give it a try!)
7. This is where I leave you - Jonathan Tropper (in fairness I have basically finished this - and it's my book clubs book this month so I don't really have a choice about finishing it!)

Anyway that is my highly ambitious list! I have almost finished This is where I leave you, and The view on the way down, so I am off to a good start!

I look forward to checking back in on my progress throughout the month. Also have a few new scrapbooking layouts coming on the blog in the next few days so keep an eye out for those!

Happy reading and scrapping my friends.

~ Katie

What did I read in May??? (May wrap-up)

I have really been embracing reading again this month!! And I can honestly say I have been loving it. I have found a real passion for my books again, have discovered lots of old favourites that I want to reread, and have enjoyed exploring lots of the new books on offer! 

One other thing that I have really discovered this month is the joy of visiting the local library! I have been a member of my local library for years, I joined when I first got an ereader and realised my local library offered LOTS of ebooks for borrowing. I am sad to say that I have never utilised the library for ebooks - even though that was my whole purpose for signing up! However this month I have borrowed heaps of books and have been really really enjoying the convenience (and money saver!) of the library. 

So more to the point what did I actually get read this month... well I am sorry to say... not as much as I would have liked!

So below is the list I said I would read... 

1. Rhiannon's Ride 3: The heart of starts by Kate Forsyth 
2. This is where I leave you by Jonathan Tropper (this is my current book club book)
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass
5. The Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell (audio book)
6. Stolen by Rebecca Muddiman (audio book)

And what I actually finished was:

1. Rhiannon's Ride 3: The heart of starts by Kate Forsyth 
2. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass
3. The Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell (audio book)
4. Stolen by Rebecca Muddiman (audio book)

Now while I will admit that this not a very impressive read I do also have to say that I have read 291 pages of The Goldfinch, but at that point I had to stop as I am really not enjoying it! Instead I picked up Throne of Glass and finished that in three days. It took me three weeks just to get up to page 291 in The Goldfinch. Hopefully I will push on and finish it, but I feel like life is to short to read books I am not enjoying! I have a HUGE pile of unread books so I feel like I am better off just going with something else. 

I am also almost finished This is where I leave you (audio book), I am on the last CD! I probably could have pushed through and finished it in May but I'm really in no rush. I love listening to my audio books too and from work and I have been getting through almost three a month. 

I really enjoyed Throne of Glass, as well as Rhiannon's Ride (although that one is a reread so I knew I loved it already!). 

Bring on June!! Going to get lots of reading done (as well as my last uni assignment for the semester!). 

Would love to hear how your reading went this month. 

~Katie