One Day by David Nichols 95%
Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.
This is one of the best books I have read this year, and believe me I have read a lot of good ones. I had already seen the film (which Anne Hathaway is amazing in by the way) so I knew the gist of what happened but the novel is actually pretty different. Firstly, the concept was unique and the story line enthralling. Secondly, the writing was just beautiful, it was real and somehow managed to sum up life exactly - just what I was looking for. The character development was fantastic and it was care at to see how Emma and Dexter changed and grew over the twenty years, it was just done so meticulously and the characters were so real, relatable and just normal people. The ending though, I don't want to give any spoilers, (even though I knew that it was going to happen) just absolutely tore me apart and made One Day the amazing story that it is. I am literally still recovering now - it is making my heart rip just thinking about it. One Day was an emotional, raw and beautiful story and David Nichols is an amazing author so I can't wait to read his brand new book, Us, that literally just came out in September and is the first novel he has written since One Day.
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith 62%
Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything. Today should be one of the worst days of Hadley's life... her father is getting married in London to a woman she's never even met, and she's her flight. Hadley has never believed in destiny of fate before...
But, stuck at the airport in New York, today is also the day she meets Oliver. He's British. He's cute. And he's on her new flight.
Set over twenty-four hours, Hadley and Oliver's sorry will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it.
I won't actually say a nothing about this book because I have already done a full review for it. It has both a short summary of what I thought of this book, and a more in depth explanation as well so if you are interested you can find that here.
The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman 85%
Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.
These are the first two books in the His Dark Materials trilogy (and I am actually half way through the final, The Amber Spyglass), which is listed on the 100 books BBC the Big Read as the whole trilogy being one book, which is how I have read two thirds of a book from that list. I listened to these as an audio book because I don't own them (plus you can get the audio books on youtube so why not?!). I really enjoyed these two middle grade books. They are really fun adventure, fantasy stories with brilliant characters and amazing world building - I mean the world in this is so developed, in-depth and amazingly described. I definitely reccomend this trilogy to people who love adventurous stories with some fantasy thrown in there.
Persuasion by Jane Austen 87%
Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?
Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as Pride and Prejudice, which is the only other Jane Austen novel that I have read, I still really enjoyed this read. It was quite a hard read as it takes a while to get used to the old fashioned style of writing ( so even though it is quite a short book, it took a while to read) but once you do it is much easier to understand and you can really appreciate the beautiful writing and the brilliant story. Jane Austen has a wonderful and distinct writing style and her books are so fascinating and interesting to read because life was just so different back then, compared to know. The stories are timeless though and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Anne Elliot and rooting for her throughout the story - I really didn't know how it was going to end, making it an enthralling read which I would recommend,
Obsidian and Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout 87%
Starting over sucks. When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up. And then he opened his mouth. Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens. The hot alien living next door marks me. You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is.
I loved the first two books in the Lux series, the first of which I read for The Little Book Club, ran by the booktuber, The Little Book Owl (Catriona) who is having a live show on the 5th of October for it. These books were full of sexual tension, teenage angst and dreaminess (Daemon is literally gorgeous). It has such a brilliant, story line and really well paced meaning that I really struggled to put this book down. Jennifer L. Armentrout has a brilliant writing style and builds and develops a fantastic story with relatable and real characters. I can't wait to read the rest of the series - I would recommend this to anyone who loves paranormal romance, and even people who don't because I never read books from that genre but still loved these two.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller 83%
Arthur Miller wrote of his classic play about the witch-hunts and trials in seventeenth-century Salem, Massachusetts. Based on historical people and real events, Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanise the town's most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbour to testify against neighbour brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence.
I read this play for school and I really appreciated and enjoyed it. The story is brilliant, and a great reflection of McCarthyism in the USA during the Cold War. It was a very powerful story that was extremely interesting to study it in depth aith a lot of things to h&m about and questions with no one answer. I definitely recommend this as a brilliant modern classic, it is well worn a read and I am glad we get to study it in my English Literature lessons.
An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green
When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.
Of course, I again really enjoyed this John Green book, though I think it is my least favourite of his (his only books I haven't read are the ones he has written with other authors). It had a great story line with hilarious characters and of course it was extremely witty and interesting. It was very different from his other books, though of it was like any I would have to compare it to Paper Towns. I do however, think that the writing style really didn't feel like John Greens writing which stopped it from getting a higher rating as I love his writing style because of his distinct, unique voice but I felt this was drowned out a little. I still recommend it to John Green lovers though - I know some people are a bit wary of reading it as it isn't as highly acclaimed as his other books but it is still a truly great read that I very much enjoyed.
You Against Me by Jenny Downham 85%
If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother's accused of a terrible crime but says he didn't do it, you defend him, don't you?
When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the offence, her world begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide.
This is a brave and unflinching novel about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love.
When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the offence, her world begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide.
This is a brave and unflinching novel about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love.
This book was really good and I am very glad that I read it, because I have been hesitant by reading it as I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy it but I really did. It was fast paced and I couldn't put it down, meaning that I read it in only a day. Jenny Downham is a great writer and created emotional, real and a raw story. One of my only problems with it though was that I felt like it ended to abruptly and it wasn't all wrapped up. This, I think was intentional but I would have much preferred for it to carry on longer after the end. Saying that, it was still a good ending and a great read.
I hope you enjoyed this post. What books did you read in September? Have you read any of these books - what did you think of them?
Love Ellen xxx
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