Audiobook Recommendations - #1

   I used to think audiobooks suck, not because they are made in a bad way or their voice actors aren't good (I mean that's the case sometimes but that's not the point), until I finally signed up for a free audible trial (this isn't a sponsored post, although it'd be damn awesome if it were hah) and gave them a try. I haven't unsubscribed and my collection has steadily grown since. So I thought I could have a look at my library and maybe recommend you a few audiobooks that I've enjoyed and that I hope you might want to check out.

Jerkbait by Mia Siegert

Length: 7h 34min

Narrated by: Raviv Ullman

   Even though they're identical, Tristan isn't close to his twin Robbie at all—until Robbie tries to kill himself.

   Forced to share a room to prevent Robbie from hurting himself, the brothers begin to feel the weight of each other's lives on the ice, and off. Tristan starts seeing his twin not as a hockey star whose shadow Tristan can't escape, but a struggling gay teen terrified about coming out in the professional sports world. Robbie's future in the NHL is plagued by anxiety and the mounting pressure from their dad, coach, and scouts, while Tristan desperately fights to create his own future, not as a hockey player but a musical theatre performer.

   As their season progresses and friends turn out to be enemies, Robbie finds solace in an online stranger known only as “Jimmy2416.” Between keeping Robbie's secret and saving him from taking his life, Tristan is given the final call: sacrifice his dream for a brother he barely knows, or pursue his own path. How far is Robbie willing to go—and more importantly, how far is Tristan willing to go to help him? (goodreads.com)

   This was one of the first books I downloaded and absolutely loved. I've read the book before I got the audiobook (review), but I didn't care. Hearing it narrated by Raviv Ullman was amazing since he fit the voice perfectly and did a great job at doing Mia's book justice. I actually listened to the audiobook together with Mia while gushing and discussing the story as we went along, how different it was to experience the story through the audiobook format and such, which was a lot of fun. If you haven't read Jerkbait yet, and even if you did, I would still wholeheartedly recommend the audiobook. It is amazing, engaging, pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the end because the narration gives it that extra something that just makes it a great book to listen to.

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
Length: 11h 41min
Narrated by: Full Cast

   This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

   The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

   But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

   BRIEFING NOTE: Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes. (godreads.com)

   THIS. This audiobook is honestly everything I ever wished for, especially for a book like Illuminae. We got a full cast, we got sound effects, we got the full deal and it was amazing. All the voice actors did a brilliant job, the sound arrangement was superb, the production amazing and I just...I could scream about this all day, every day. I love Illuminae, as well as it's sequel, Gemina (find my reviews here and here), and the audiobooks are so worth listening to. If sci-fi is your kind of thing, most definitely give this one a go.

I Hate My Selfie by Shane Dawson
Length: 4h 6min
Narrated by: Shane Dawson

   The book that more than 12 million YouTube subscribers have been waiting for! Shane Dawson’s memoir features twenty original essays—uncensored yet surprisingly sweet.

   From his first vlog back in 2008 to his full-length film directorial debut Not Cool, Shane Dawson has been an open book when it comes to documenting his life. But behind the music video spoofs, TMI love life details, and outrageous commentary on everything the celebrity and Internet world has the nerve to dish out is a guy who grew up in a financially challenged but loving home in Long Beach, California, and who suffered all the teasing and social limitations that arise when you’re a morbidly obese kid with a pretty face, your mom is your best friend, and you can't get a date to save your life.

   In I Hate Myselfie, Shane steps away from his larger-than-life Internet persona and takes us deep into the experiences of an eccentric and introverted kid, who by observing the strange world around him developed a talent that would inspire millions of fans. Intelligent, hilarious, heartbreaking, and raw, I Hate Myselfie is a collection of eighteen personal essays about how messy life can get when you’re growing up and how rewarding it can feel when the clean-up is (pretty much) done. (goodreads.com)

   Usually I'm not big on celebrity or YouTuber books, but this book is both hilarious (review) and very emotional and honest, so I recommend it regardless if you watch Shane, or if you won't even know who he is really. I had a lot of fun listening to it, laughed way more than I thought I would, and just found myself very curiously listening to all the different stories he had to tell from his life that showed a more human side to the Shane we usually get to see acting in his videos. And yes, disclaimer, his humor can be considered a little much, sometimes even a bit offensive, so if things like that are a major no-go for you, maybe this isn't for you. If you can look past that, definitely give it a try and don't take it too seriously.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Length: 9h 40min
Narrated by: Christy Romano

   Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

   It can.

   She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

   There is.

   She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

   She’s wrong. (goodreads.com)

   What a surprise, of course I would use this opportunity to mention the Mara Dyer trilogy. The books themselves are amazing, and so are the audiobooks. I love the narrator and the way she voices Mara, all the other characters, and even gives Noah his British accent. I absolutely loved it, and of course had to get the entire trilogy as though having it in hardcover and paperback wasn't quite enough just yet. If you considered checking out the trilogy, now is a great time. You could listen to all three books and then laugh at all of us, who read the trilogy as it came out, because the companion trilogy that's Noah-centric, starting with The Becoming of Noah Shaw, is about to come out and you won't have to wait years for it. Amazing opportunity, right?

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
Length: 10h 43min
Narrated by: Kim Mai Guest, MacLeod Andrews, Shannon McManus, Robbie Daymond

   The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

   Pay close attention and you might solve this.

   On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

   Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

   Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

   Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

   Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

   And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

   Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?

   Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them." (goodreads.com)

   I head a lot about this one before I decided to pick it up. I didn't really know what it was about so I just bought it, downloaded it, and started to listen to it right away. It was a great read, the narrators were really good making it an even better listen/read, and the story itself was quite good too. It had that mysterious, high school intrigue vibe to it making you constantly wonder who did it and what is going on. The fact that each of the four POV characters had their own voice actor definitely also helped distinguish the voices of the characters a bit better since some of them do sound a bit similar if you purely read them. But, all in all, it's a lot of fun and I definitely recommend it!

   And that is it for my first round of audiobook recommendations. Please let me know in the comments down below, or on twitter (@Alice_Reeds), what you thought and if you've listened to any of these or plan on doing so. I definitely have a few more books on my list so I'll surely make a second edition at some point in the near future.

   Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed!

3 Year Blogversary!

   It's been exactly three years today since I sat down and set up this blog, posted my first post having no idea what the hell I was actually doing. Now, three years later, I still have no clue but I try to wing it anyways. Looking at all the things that happened across those years, I think I've done a good job, somehow. I still have no idea how I got here and how already three years have passed, but I think it's a great opportunity to look back at a brief history of this blog:

   Back in July 2013 I had the idea of setting up a blog for my reviews. On July 31st I posted my first introductory post and so the journey began, but this blog hasn't always been the way it was now. Back in 2013 I originally planned on only posting in German because I wanted this to be like a exercise for me to not forget how to properly use German. But, very quickly, I realized that most of the books I've read were not even out in Germany, and would probably not be for a while, so I switched to english, adding the occasional movie review to my repertoire.

   Along the way I had the opportunity to go to a movie premiere with my best friend where we got to see City Of Bones, which arguably was quite a shit movie, but that didn't matter to use much then. What mattered was being there, experiencing a movie premier and being in the same room was the actors we were about to see on screen. Amazing!

   Thanks to this blog I've got to chance to do many other amazing things, but above all, I've discovered some of my favorite books that I would've probably never found otherwise. I mean, this blog gave me my now two favorite books in this world, and I totally know you know which ones I'm about to name: The Mara Dyer trilogy by Michelle Hodkin and The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay. These books are amazing and I cannot get enough of them.

   But, I've also gotten the chance to receive a bunch of ARCs across the years, which truth be told is something I wasn't even aware was thing before getting into the book world and having this blog. Sure, I don't get like twenty physical ARCs sent to me by the big five publishers like some other bloggers do, but then again, this blog has never been about getting the most ARCs and bragging about them. I'm beyond thankful for all the eARCs I've gotten to read, the awesome books I enjoyed before they even came out.

   In 2015 I came across Francesca Zappia and her phenomenal novel, Made You Up. The idea popped into my mind that I wanted to interview her and talk about her book. With that idea, the Ask the Author segment was born and is still running to this day, even though it's been kind of on and off across the past two months. Ever since that post I had the pleasure of interviewing and interacting with an abundance of amazing authors, an experience I am beyond thankful for.

   Amongst my favorite people to interact with across the years were, in no particular order: Francesca Zappia (because of the above mentioned reason and because I loved her book), Andy Weir (because The Martian was literally everything and interviewing him was amazing and surreal // interview), Pintip Dunn (her books are phenomenal and she's such a nice person!), Amy McNamara (because her book was beautiful and showed a raw and stunning side of grief and just showcased impossibly beautiful writing // interview), Karen Fortunati (thanks to this blog I dare calling her my friend, her book is brilliant (review) and am beyond thankful for the time she took to have a look through some of my WIP) and Mia Siegert (whom I can now also call my friend, who is amazing and lovely, and let me read the first draft of her current WIP while she also read some of my WIP giving me amazing tips and critiques // review). Without this blog I would've never gotten the chance to talk to any of these people so this seriously all blows my mind.

   So, to celebrate, I've prepared a whole months of celebrations with a bunch of authors and people from the book community. I hope you're just as excited as I am, because I am busting with excitement tbh. Everyone who's part of this has answered a set of three simple questions (though they vary slightly between authors and book community people). I've enjoyed reading their answers so I hope you guys will too!

   Thank you so much for coming along this journey, thank you to regular readers and those who might be visiting this blog for the first time right now. The past three years were amazing and I cannot wait to see what the next years will bring, hoping you'll come along to see it with me.

   Cheers to three years and many more to come!

Valentine's Day Book TAG!

   Hello there, lovely reader!

   Happy February 14th, also known as Valentine's Day! I'm not too big on V-Day but I saw Margot over on the Epic Reads channel on YouTube do this fun book tag themed around Valentine's Day so I though, hey, let's do it! Let's see how many times I'll managed to say Valentine's day in one blog post.

 

 1. First Book Crush

   I think my first ever book crush was, and I really don't like to say it, Edward Cullen from the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. This was the first YA quartet I ever read, which also got me truly into reading, so, no matter how differently I feel about these books and characters now, years later, it's thanks to them that I love reading as much as I do now. 13/4 year old Alice LOVED Edward to a weird extent so let's not talk about that too much!

2. What book would you want as your Valentine?

   If you've been around for a while, let's see if you can guess which book I could have possibly chosen for this question...3...2...1... The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, obviously. I love this book, I love the characters and the creepy atmosphere, and Noah Shaw is like one of my two fictional boyfriends (yes I can't decide, I'm sorry) so of course I couldn't have chosen any other book. Besides, you know me, I'll always find a way to squeeze this book in because I just love it that much.

   3. Candy Hearts or Chocolate?

   Cupcakes. Or doughnuts. ;)

   4. What book would you gift to your true love?

   Besides the Mara Dyer trilogy, I'd say I'd give my true love The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion by Chris McCoy because it's just a really hilarious book that's different from most things I've read and I would love to share it with someone I love. There is so much craziness going on inside that book that I' sure he'd enjoy it so, that's my choice.

   5. Favorite Rom-com

  10 Things I Hate About You. Love that movie so, so much. I mean, who doesn't love that embarrassingly cute while also slightly cringeworthy scene of Heith Ledger strolling along the bleachers while singing a song over the schools speakers for Bianca, played by Julia Stiles. I'm not the biggest fan of rom-com's but this one is amazing, every single time you watch it.

   6. Best Valentine's Day gift you ever received (or want to receive)

   I've never had a boyfriend during Valentine's day, and I also happen to not really care much about it, so I've never received anything, but if I'd have to choose something that I would like to get, then I'd say a book, because books are awesome no matter what day of the year it is.

   7. Favorite thing about Valentine's Day (if you love it) OR favorite thing to do on Valentine's Day (if you hate it)

   I am truly indifferent toward Valentine's day. I don't love it, I don't hate it, I just don't care so my favorite thing to do is stick to what I do any other day, so continue writing, prepare some interview questions, or binge watch some videos on YouTube.

   Also, I want to share a song with you that is very lovely, contains the magical three words and is very cute, nice and just a little bit sad. It's actually a cover by Gerard Way, whom some of you may know as the former lead singer of My Chemical Romance (still not over it), and it's magnificent. So treat yourself to some wonderful tunes right here.

   And that's it, that was the Valentine's Day Book TAG. I've managed to say Valentine's day a total of 9 times, which is 8 too much as for my liking. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and, if you want to do this TAG too, leave me a comment down below (or tweet me a link @Alice_Reeds) so I can check out your answers!

12 Days of Christmas Book Tag! (Blogmas Day #22)

   Welcome to blogmas day 22!
   Slowly we are approaching the end of blogmas, reaching christmas, but there are still a couple of days left. So, for today I'm bringing you the 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag which was originally created by LizzieLovesBooks over on YouTube. I think this looks really fun, and it's Christmas themed, so basically it first perfect. After yesterdays long discussion post a TAG seems like the way to go.

   #1 - A Partridge in a pear tree: Favorite Stand-Alone Book?
   Because I don't want to choose something uncreative like The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, because you all know I love this one lots and lots, I decided to go with Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Kling. I've read this book not that long ago and loved it so much! It is one of those books that tackles heavy topics and just does it so well while also having an intriguing plot and amazing characters. Love this one so you should check it out if you've not done so yet!

   #2 - Two Turtle Doves: Fictional OTP/Favorite Ship?

   Come on kids, say it with me: Mara Dyer and Noah Shaw from the Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin. I've talked about these two and those books so many times already I'm sure all of you knew I would pick them the second you saw the word OTP in the question. I love Mara and Noah because they are so broken and beautiful and just perfect for each other. I mean, I love those two enough to actually name my laptop Noah. If that's not enough of a sign for it then I don't know. I'm actually contemplating naming my phone Mara. HM.

   #3 - Three French Hens: Favorite Trilogy?
   This is a really hard one, even though I have a feeling it shouldn't be. I want to go with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, but that's like my default answer so to switch it up I'm going to say Legend by Marie Lu. I love that trilogy, despite the fact that I always imagine June and Day to be at least two years older then they are actually in the books since everything they do seems a little unrealistic if you remember that they are merely like 15. But, besides that tiny fact, this trilogy is perfect and the ending, the ending was pure perfection. Champion, so the final book in the trilogy, was brilliant and tied all the loose ends in an amazing way. Marie Lu is definitely one of my favorite authors out there so.

   #4 - Four Calling Birds: Favorite Fictional Beast/Creature?
   I have a feeling that answering this question would be way easier if I would actually read more/any fantasy so, as cheap copout, I'm just going to say Unicorns, because Unicorns are awesome.

   #5 - Five Golden Rings: Show 5 Golden Books.

   #6 - Six Geese a Laying: Rotten egg - What's your least favorite book?
   There are a few books I disliked but there is only one that just made me want to throw my book across the room or out of the window because I just had so many problems with it, and that book is Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire. So many people love this book yet I hated every single page of it. The relationship between the two main characters was horrifying and just so abusive I cannot understand how anyone could think it's "cute" or "goals". Just no. I didn't like this book, I disliked it even more then Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James and Allegiant by Veronica Roth put together. 

   #7 - Seven Swans a Swimming: Show a Book with Water on the Cover.
   For this one, I could have had it really easy by just taking The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, because I'm cheap like that, BUT, I decided against doing that. Instead I'm going with Thicker Than Water by Brigid Kemmerer, a book I'm actually currently reading, even though I don't get much time to read recently which is a shame, really. This book is really good so far so I hope I'll find time to continue on with it really soon!

   #8 - Eight Maids a Milking: What fictional food do you wish you could taste?
   To be honest I have no idea about foods in books. I think those are one of those details that I don't really ay much attention to while reading. But I'm sure there's something in Harry Potter, like for example Butterbeer, which would be interesting to try.

   #9 - Nine Ladies Dancing: Favorite dance between two characters?
   I have no idea. I've honestly been thinking about an answer for this question for the past twenty minutes and I could not recall a couple dancing in any book I've read. This might be because there simply were none, or my ability to remember things like that just sucks on a major scale. Sorry!

   #10 - Ten Lords a Leaping: Favorite Book-To-Movie-Adaptation?
   This one is actually a tie between three movies because I cannot choose no matter how much I try: Catching Fire, The Martian and Fight Club (even though, first rule of the fight club, we don't talk about the fight club). I love these three movies and each of them has something amazing to them so choosing just one seemed like an impossible decision. Catching Fire is part of my favorite dystopian trilogy, The Martian is just all around perfect and science-y, and Fight Club is just a complete mind*ck on every scale with an ending I definitely did not see coming when I watched it for the first time. Love!

   #11 - Eleven Pipers Piping: Favorite Book-To-Movie-Adaptation Soundtrack?
   Another question that made me think for a moment to figure out my question. I think I will go with Twilight, or actually all four Twilight movies. The movies themselves might have been less then average but the music was really good! I was actually surprised by how good of a job they did with their music selection since some of the songs from the soundtracks are actually ones I still really like to listen to until today, and I don't mean only the MUSE song.

   #12 - Twelve Drummers Drumming: It's the end of the song; what's your favorite book ending?
   There are many books that have perfect endings, surprisingly enough, but because I didn't want to repeat myself I decided to go with Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead, the sixth and final book in the Vampire Academy Series. I love this series, it's definitely one of my favorites, just like Rose and Dimitri will forever be one of my favorite OTP's, and Dimitri my fictional boyfriend, closely tied with Noah. The ending of this series that utter perfection and I could have not wished for a better one. I definitely want to re-read the series again sometime soon because I miss it.

   And that is it, the 12 Days of Christmas Book Tag. I hope you enjoyed my answers. Leave yours in the comments below, or do the TAG on your blog/YouTube channel, but don't forget to leave a link in the comments or tweet it at me (@Alice_Reeds) so I can check it out!

Ed Sheeran Book TAG (Blogmas Day #20)

   Welcome to blogmas day 20!
   Today I'm bringing you a book TAG related to one of my absolute favorite artists...the brilliant Ed Sheeran, which you know if you've read the title of this post. I've seen this tag float around on the Spanish side of the BookTube community and decided that I want to do it to. Of course, seeing as I don't really speak Spanish, and my blog is in English, I had to ask a friend to translate the questions for me and I've tweaked them a little.
  If you want to check out the original TAG click here.

   #1 - This - The book that started your reading adventure.
   I would say there are several books that did the trick for me, but the one that sticks out the most is definitely Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I'm not ashamed to admit that I used to love this series like the twiheart that I used to be at 14. When a friend of mine first mentioned the story to me I wasn't sure if I would like it and I didn't know about the growing hype for it yet. Once I started to read Twilight I couldn't stop until I was done with Breaking Dawn. Like many of us in the book community Twilight introduced me to the YA section and since then I never wanted to leave again. Sure, they might not be the best books out there but they will forever have a special place in my mind.

   #2 - Give Me Love - A book with which you lived and suffered through relations between the characters.
   I love this song, it's probably my favorite Ed Sheeran song to be honest, so of course I had to pair my favorite Ed song with my favorite trilogy that fits perfectly with the task. Of course I'm talking about the Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin, how else could it be. You know me, I always find a way to mention these books in TAGs and lists. The emotional journey onto which we go with Mara and Noah in these books is just one hell of a rollercoaster that will, at times, make you swoon and, moments later, rip out your heart. It's magical. I love the relationship that Mara and Noah have, I lived through it, I suffered thanks to it, but I enjoyed every second of it.

   #3 - Sing - A book in which they mention songs/music.
   As someone who loves music I'm always on the hunt for books that incorporate music, are centered around musicians, rock bands, or just characters that love music. My recent absolute favorite when it comes to these types of books, and fitting perfectly into this question, is For the Record by Charlotte Huang. In this story we follow Chelsea who is the new singer of a famous rock band. Through her eyes we experience what it means to stand in the spotlight, to be a rockstar, and it's absolutely amazing. Charlotte Huang did an amazing job at making the story feel incredibly realistic and just a hell of a lot of fun. 

   #4 - Thinking Out Loud - A romantic book.
   I guess the choice of book for this one is kind of very obvious, and extremely uninspired and unoriginal, but of course I have to go with The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Let's face it, The Fault in Our Stars is perfection. John did an amazing job at creating brilliant characters that make us fall in love with them within pages. The story is both heartbreaking but also so cute, romantic and swoon worthy in so many ways. I mean, Augustus Waters, need I say more? Loved this one and it's definitely my favorite contemporary romance book, despite the heart shattering ending and all.

   #5 - Tenerife Sea - A book which is set in an ancient era.
   This one was quite a hard one for me because, as you all know, I don't really read historical fiction/fantasy novels so I wasn't quite sure if I should just skip this question or choose a book I've heard nothing but good things about. Obviously I went with the latter and my choice fell onto An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Around the time this book came out and flashed everybody with its amazingness, and the fact that originally it was planned as standalone, I heard floods of positive opinions about it. I've not read it myself and I highly doubt that I ever will but it seems like a good choice for this song/question.

   #6 - Photograph - A book that made you feel melancholic.
   Melancholic/sad books are something I love wholeheartedly. I think they are beautiful and require an amazing amount of skill so they will make you feel all the feels and for the story and sadness to feel realistic. There are many, many authors who do an amazing job at writing sad stories that really make you think and feel what the characters are going through. Of course I had to pick my absolute favorite book from this category, one I've mentioned many times before on this blog: The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay. This book is absolutely beautiful, haunting and perfect in every way. The characters are endlessly broken but seeing them work through their problems and get better, it's wonderful. I cannot recommend this book enough.

   #7 - Small Bump - A book that you anxiously await.
   For this one I have two choices, one is totally obvious if you've followed by blog for a while, or read my answer for #2. I am extremely looking forward to The Shaw Confessions by Michelle Hodkin, unfortunately for me and everybody else who loved the Mara Dyer Trilogy, this new trilogy/series isn't coming out until 2017, which is just so far away. Besides that I'm also really looking forward to The Last Star by Rick Yancey, the third and final book in the The 5th Wave Trilogy. Like many readers I've not beed the biggest fan of book two, The Infinite Sea, yet I really hope book three will turn it all around and offer us a worth ending to the trilogy that started out so well with The 5th Wave. There's also the movie coming out 2016 so let's see how that will go.

   #8 - Wake Me Up - A book that kept you awake reading.
   There are many books that would fit this one, but my choice fell onto Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky. This is the first book in the Awaken Trilogy, where I have to admit that I've still not read book three which is all sorts of tragic and awful. When I first got this book a couple of years ago, not too long after it came out in Germany, I couldn't get enough of it. I loved every single page of it, still love it to this day, and spend many sleepless nights reading this book, and it's sequel, Middle Ground. This book was my introduction to the dystopian section and soon lead me to discovering The Hunger Games and my undying love for the trilogy, but not the last two movies.

   #9 - You Need Me, I Don't Need You - A book you were anticipating to read but ultimately disappointed you.
   I loved Divergent by Veronica Roth. I liked Insurgent but I absolutely HATED Allegiant from the first until the last page. I think it was one of the worst final books in a trilogy I've ever read since it offered us the most convoluted and no sense making answers to all the questions we had regarding the story and history of the Divergent world I could have imagined. Many people give Ms. Roth credit for the move she did in the book, no spoilers, yet I saw it coming already the second I knew that this one would be written from two POV's. I didn't think it was a brave move, but rather one we could have all lived without since it didn't add anything amazing to the story. Basically what I'm saying is that Allegiant disappointed me in every way possible.

   #10 - I See Fire - A book with flames or fire on the cover.
   This one was another really hard one to find. I don't think I have any books on my shelves that have flames or fire on them, and if I do I can't remember. But, then I remembered a certain book that does have flames on it, but I unfortunately still don't own it, shame on me. The book I'm talking about is The Ables by Jeremy Scott, the guy behind the YouTube Channel Cinema Sins, a channel I love a lot. When I heard that he's coming out with a book about kids with disabilities that have superpowers I knew i had to have it, but I didn't get it for whatever reason, though one thing is clear, I definitely want to listen to the audiobook as he reads the book himself and we all know that he has an amazing voice.

   #11 - Sofa - A book that you take with you everywhere.
   For this question I don't have a single book as answer, and I don't want to repeat myself once more by saying all the Mara Dyer books by Michelle Hodkin, so I will simply say any and all books I have on my phone and iPad thanks to my kindle app. I have all sorts of books on there, ones I bought and others that I got as eARC's. I of course always have either my phone or both with me so whenever I feel like passing the time by reading I can just pull up the app and read any of the books I have on there.

   And that's it, that was the Ed Sheeran Book TAG. I hope you enjoyed this post and leave all your answers below or answer them on your own blog/YouTube Channel leaving a link to it in the comments, or tweet them at me, @Alice_Reeds.
   Thank you so much for reading and I will see you guys tomorrow, hopefully less late then today.

Bookish Christmas Present Recommendations (Blogmas Day #8)

   Welcome to Blogmas day 8!
   Today I have put together a list of books that I think would make amazing christmas presents. I tried to have two options for each of the seven categories, resulting in 15 different books, and I hope I could help out at least one of you seeking for good recommendations. These are all YA books, since that's what I primarily read.

   #1 - A book for that friend who loves contemporary books and music

   For the Record by Charlotte Huang - This book is amazing. This book not only has a really amazing plot line and character, but it literally takes you on tour with a rock band through the eyes of the protagonist, who happens to be the new lead singer of said band. I've read, loved and reviewed this book a couple of months ago so I think it is a perfect mix of music and a
contemporary read. (review)

   This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales - This one is another amazing read that includes the love for DJing, which is something I've not read about in YA before I had picked up this one. It has sad moments, and the protagonist has a sad past, but it is never written about in that classical sobfest type of way. I really enjoyed this one so, if you have DJ friend who likes books, try this one.

   #2 - A book for that friend of yours that loves unreliable narrators

   The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - How could I do a recommendations list and not include Mara Dyer? This is my favorite trilogy of all because it is the perfect blend of unreliable narrator, a sizzling romance, and an intriguing story. Mara is an amazing narrator, even though you will doubt everything she tells you, making this read lots of fun. It also holds a dash 
of paranormal in form of teens with powers, but not in some silly cliche way, trust me, this is a good one!

   Made You Up by Francesca Zappia - This is one of my favorite books of 2015 and features the ultimate unreliable narrator, Alex. She is a great protagonist, despite how unreliable she is, and her mental illness in portrayed perfectly and believably. The characters in this one are quirky and intriguing, so despite dealing with a hard topic this book still offered a lot of fun and humorous moments. (review)

   #3 - That friend who loves books that tackle important topics

   None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio - This book is about a girl who discovers that she is intersex, the first book I've ever read that talked about this topic, eve though it is so incredibly important. The book perfectly mixes informations regarding what intersex is and how you can live with it, how to accept it and so on, and a contemporary read offering a wonderful story with amazing characters. This book is extremely important so I think, if you have a friend who likes books with hard topics, definitely choose this one asap. If you're interested here is my review and interview with the author, it might help you figure out if this is the book for you.

   Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara - This book takes on the complicated topic of grief and takes us along a journey during which the protagonist tries to deal with her grief, find her way back into life, even though it's definitely not the easiest of things to do. This book is incredibly realistic, emotional and important, in my opinion. In addition it looks lovely on a bookshelf thanks to that gorgeous cover. (review)

   Paint My Body Red by Heidi R. Klinger - Teenage suicide, it's all around us but people seem to speak about it was too rarely, especially in connection to school and pressure coming from your family. I think books dealing with these topics are incredibly important since they show how damaging growing up with constant pressure coming from your family, pushing you to your limits when it comes to school and extracurricular activities, taking away your childhood and free time, can be. Besides that, Paint My Body Red offers an amazing story and brilliant characters, a wonderful blend between hard topics and a summer that changes lives. (review)

   #4 - That friend that wants to get into fantasy

   Throne of Glass by Sara J. Maas - This was the first fantasy book I read after years of thinking that fantasy isn't for me. I enjoyed it a lot and was drawn into the world and characters, their stories and all the different things that were happening in this book. Sure, it didn't necessarily make me want to read more fantasy novels, 
but that's simply because fantasy truly isn't my thing, but there are thousands of people that swear that this series is amazing so I'm sure it's definitely worth giving a try.

   Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch - This one is another truly intriguing one that features a fantasy world split up in kingdom separated by seasons. Our protagonist and her friends belong to the fallen kingdom of Winter and try to win back their kingdom and its magic. It sounds awesome and the cover is gorgeous so why not try this one?

   #5 - That friend that's into sci-fi reads

   Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn - Imagine a future in which your future self sends you back a single memory that shows you the life you are facing, be it a career in acting, sport or cooking. Now imagine the memory you receive doesn't show you a career but you committing a crime, a murder. If this doesn't sound intriguing, I don't know what does. The world in which the story plays is great and the characters are intriguing and three dimensional, and the romance is incredibly well executed. This is a great sci-fi read on a somewhat milder end of the sci-fi spectrum, perfect for those who want to get into sci-fi and those who already love the genre. (review)

   Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman - This book is amazing and incredibly unique in so many ways. Not only does the story feature an interesting plot, the most unique formatting and story telling way I've ever seen, but also a crazy AI and amazing characters. I could not put this book down while I read the ARC on my iPad and I cannot wait to hold the hardcover version in my hands. I could go on and on about how brilliant this book is and why you should definitely get it, but I will leave it at saying that this is definitely the perfect pick for sci-fi fans. (review)

   #6 - That friend that likes mysterious reads

   Bone Deep by Kim O'Brien - This book takes you along a journey onto archeological digging grounds where the protagonist, Paige, tries to figure out what happened to her friend Emily and why she disappeared. This book also contained a beautiful touch of Native American stories woven into it which only makes it more intriguing. The twist at the end is amazing and I definitely didn't see it coming, the romance is nice but doesn't take up too much space in the story. 
So, if your friend likes murder-mystery books with a spin to them, this might be the right one for them. (review)

   Never, Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher - This book, or rather the two current available novels that will form a complete book once the third one will be out, was written by two amazing authors who managed to create one hell of a mysterious and intriguing story that will leave you craving for more, along with powerful cliffhangers. Each time I picked one of the two up I couldn't out them away until I was done reading. So, if you're looking for a book that blends mystery with a dash of romance this one is exactly what you are looking for. (review)

   #7 - That friend that likes summer contemporaries

   Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson - I really, really enjoyed this book when I read it back in 2014. It has an amazing story and takes the reader along a road trip across the US where we get to see many interesting places through the eyes
 of the protagonist, Amy. This is a perfect summer read that I hope to re-read next summer, simply because it was just that good. Besides, Morgan Matson is a great author with an addictive quality to her writing style.

   Petty Little Lives by Alice Reeds - Yap, that's my book. It's a summer read so I took myself the freedom to include it on this list, in case your friends have not checked it out yet, or you didn't know about it. This one is all about summer, the value of family, overcoming differences and finding love in unexpected places. So for most of the reviewers quite liked it so maybe your friend will like it too.

   And this is it, those are all the books I prepared for you. As you can see I've read most of them, so be reassured that they are good ones, in my opinion. I hope I could help some of you out and if you think you have any other valuable recommendation you'd like to add, leave them in the comments below or tweet them at me, @Alice_Reeds.