Top Ten Tuesday | Never Say Never Apart From When You Should

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Books I’ve Decided I’m No Longer Interested In Reading', and it was a difficult theme for me to make a list for at first because I'm one of those people who doesn't like to say 'never'. 

My tastes are always evolving and changing, so there are books I might not want to read now that I'll suddenly have a craving for in a year's time, so today I decided to go with a list mostly made up of books I've started reading before, given up on and am sure I won't go back to.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: I remember this book being everywhere years ago and I was intrigued because Eleanor is overweight and it's so rare to see an overweight heroine in fiction - it's particularly rare to see an overweight heroine in fiction whose story isn't about losing weight in some way. I've since seen quite a few reviews from people of colour, however, who've said the way Rowell portrays Park made them uncomfortable which really put me off reading it and now it's been so long since it came out that I don't care. The only things of Rowell's I've read are Attachments and Midnights in My True Love Gave to Me and I didn't love either so I think she's just not for me.

Divergent by Veronica Roth: I tried reading this one years ago when YA dystopian fiction was all the rage and while I easily could have forced myself to finish it I didn't want to. I thought it was boring and the society as a whole didn't really make sense to me. The Hunger Games is creepy because it's easy to see how society might have got to that, but I couldn't understand in what world these factions were considered a good idea by any government. I don't think I'm missing out on anything and I know a lot of people who loved the trilogy hated the ending, so I'm going to keep my distance.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: Tried it and didn't like it and I was disappointed! I've heard so many good things about Stiefvater's writing and about this series in particular that I was hoping to enjoy it, but sadly her style isn't for me. Also, as someone who's lived in Wales and worked alongside people whose mother tongue is Welsh, I couldn't get past the butchering of 'Owen Glendower'. His name's Owain Glyndŵr.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han: I wanted to try one of Han's novels after really enjoying her short story in My True Love Gave to Me, but, again, her work isn't for me. This is another one I easily could have finished if I'd forced myself to, I just didn't want to force myself to finish something when I could be reading something else.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I liked If I Stay a lot and I picked up a copy of Where She Went with the intention of reading it, but I never did and now I'm not that interested. I think If I Stay is fine on its own.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James: It's only in the past year or so I've started to get into Austen and I wanted to pick this one up so I could watch the BBC adaptation starring Anna Maxwell Martin, whom I adore. Unfortunately the book was another I couldn't get into and I ended up watching the adaptation only to be pretty underwhelmed by the story as a whole, so I have no interest in reading the book.

Rebel Heart and Raging Star by Moira Young: Blood Red Road is one of my favourite YA novels. I love the way its written and I love Saba and I love Jack and it pulled me out of a reading slump when I really needed to be pulled out of one. I had every intention of continuing with the trilogy but then I saw more and more reviews that the latter two books weren't as good and eventually I lost interest in it. Blood Red Road is enough for me - why does every YA novel have to have a sequel?

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab: Schwab is another one of those authors who I should love and just don't. A Darker Shade of Magic, in particular, should be right up my street considering it's historical fantasy but Schwab's writing style and I don't get along. Oh well!

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber: I'm always fascinated by novels that combine science and science fiction with religion, so I thought this one would be right up my street. I started reading it, got about a third of the way through it, and still nothing had happened. My patience only goes so far so I put it aside and I have no real desire to try again.

Which books made your list this week?

Book vs. Adaptation | If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Today I'm back with yet another Book vs. Adaptation post - woohoo!

If I Stay was published in 2009 and adapted for the big screen in 2014 by R. J. Cutler who, as one of the directors of Nashville, is no stranger to a bit of music-centred drama. I read If I Stay in 2014, and if you'd like to see my thoughts on the book you can check out my review here!

If I Stay is around 106 minutes long and stars Chloë Grace Moretz and Jamie Blackley as our romantic leads, Mia and Adam. Watching this was the first time I'd seen Blackley in anything, though he has one of those faces that makes me think I've seen him somewhere before, but at this point Moretz is something of an adaptation veteran. She's been in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Let Me In, Hugo and Carrie, and has since returned to our screens as Cassie in J Blakeson's adaptation of The 5th Wave. She was even considered for the part of Katniss in The Hunger Games franchise.

I've mentioned before how little I tend to stray into YA contemporary, but how much I enjoy it when I do. If I Stay is most definitely one of my favourite YA contemporaries; I flew through it in one sitting, so I was pretty excited to watch the adaptation. I'm sure other readers and film buffs would disagree, but I've always found that books that don't fall into the speculative fiction category at all are much easier to adapt than those that do. You can't get the world wrong or the magic system wrong because there is no magic system and the world's our own, but the adaptation could still quickly go south if it isn't done well.

Thankfully, this one is. 

Much like Coraline, I think this may be one of those rare instances when I enjoy the film more than the book. Don't get me wrong, the book's great, but the film made me a little teary-eyed where the book didn't, and I just love watching it; I've watched it so many times since it was released on DVD, it's the kind of film I like to put on if I have a few hours to myself and I want something on in the background while I tinker away at whatever it is I'm doing. That might not sound like much praise, but it's only films that I really, really enjoy that I use as 'background music'.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Moretz; before this the only films I'd watched that she was in were Hugo and Dark Shadows, and I didn't enjoy either of them that much. That's not her fault, by any means, but it did mean she got slightly tainted by association. Now, though, I think she's a brilliant young actress; she captures Mia beautifully.

In fact I thought everyone was cast well. Blackley is a very charming Adam, Liana Liberato makes for a very fun Kim, and Mireille Enos and Joshua Leanord are wonderful as Kat and Denny. Nobody felt miscast or unnatural, which is always a plus.

It's definitely a very close adaptation - there are the odd tweaks here and there, mainly just tiny sections of the book that they missed out, but I didn't really notice them not being there, and I think I actually preferred the story without them. Everything flowed nicely from one section to the next, despite the back and forth narrative to the story.

One of my favourite things about this film, though, is the soundtrack. Or one song in particular on the soundtrack. Norwegian songwriter Ane Brun did an absolutely beautiful cover of Beyonce's 'Halo', accompanied by cellist Linnea Olsson, and it's so lovely - I think I prefer it to the original!

Basically If I Stay is one of those lucky books that's managed to land itself a very good adaptation. If you're a lover of the book and you've been wary about watching this, you needn't worry - I think you'll love it!

Contemporary YA on my TBR!

If there's one genre I tend to avoid, it's YA Contemporary. It's one of those genres I've often found hard to relate to, but last year I fell head over heels in love with Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and while I'm 99.9% certain I'll always prefer speculative fiction to 'realistic' fiction it's made me want to explore more YA Contemporary.

Below are some of the YA Contemporaries I'd like to check out this year!

(Check out my review of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda here!)

If I Stay is another YA Contemporary that I really like which I read back in 2014, and for whatever reason I still haven't read Where She Went despite owning a copy of it. You can check out my review of If I Stay here! Eleanor & Park is another book that's been on my TBR for quite a while, but it's also one I'm slightly hesitant to pick up - in the world of contemporary fiction I know Rainbow Rowell is very popular, but I have yet to be wowed by her. Still, I'd like to give Eleanor & Park a try because it features a heroine who's overweight whose story doesn't have anything to do with going on a diet.

Similarly, Dumplin' is another book I want to check out because it's all about body positivity. In all honestly I didn't realise it was a YA book until I saw Cait @ Paper Fury's review, but that doesn't matter in the slightest - I'm all for books about body positivity! Lisa Williamson's debut, The Art of Being Normal, has really great reviews on Goodreads, and after I read What We Left Behind (reviewed here!) I'd like to read more books which feature trans and gender fluid characters. What I really want is to read a book about a trans character written by a trans writer, but I'm not going to ignore a non-trans writer in the mean time - what's the point in that?

Asking For It by Louise O'Neill, the author of Only Ever Yours, and Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston, author of A Thousand Nights, both deal with sexual assault, and the effect it has on the people who are the victims of it. I own a copy of Asking For It and Exit, Pursued by a Bear is due to be released in March. I think both of these are going to be difficult to read, but I also think it's fantastic that this is an issue which is being discussed in YA; there's too much victim-blaming in our culture. Just too much.

Are any of these books on your TBR? Which of these should I read first?

Top Ten Tuesday | Mum's the Word

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is a freebie, and I'm always a little reluctant when it comes to freebies because I feel like there's so much pressure to do a really cool topic, but it's only pressure that I put upon myself because I'm actually insane.

It was my mum's birthday on Saturday, so this week I thought I'd share my top ten mothers, and mother figures (because let's face it, so many characters have dead mothers), from fiction!

Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Come on, Molly is the ultimate mother. She's a Mother with a capital 'M'. She'd mother the world if she could, and she certainly gives it a good go throughout the series. I love her.

Kat Hall from If I Stay by Gayle Forman: I thought Kat and Denny were such fun, fantastic parents. Kat seems so laid back and wise, and I love how she was portrayed in the film adaptation, too.

Auntie Barbara from Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson: I loved this book when I was a little girl, and I have such fond memories of Auntie Barbara. I almost feel a little cruel putting her on this list when Jayni - or Lola Rose, as she prefers to be called - has her mother, but Auntie Barbara is amazing.

Marmee from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: Like Molly Weasley, I think Marmee is another staple of fictional mothers. She wants her daughters to do well and grow into accomplished young women, but she wants them to find their way in the world their way; she supports Jo when she wants to write, she supports Meg when she chooses to marry for love over money, she supports Amy when she decides to pursue art in Europe, and she supports Beth by letting her take each day at a time, and never forcing her into anything that will make her uncomfortable.

Alana from Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples: What I love about Alana is that she's the heroine of the story, not the heroine's mother. Just because Alana has a child it doesn't make her any less Alana, and it's good to see the struggles that come with parenthood (especially if half the galaxy is trying to murder you) rather than a saintly mother figure.

Grace Goodwin from The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe: I love Grace because at first it seems like Katherine Howe is doing something stereotypical with the hippie, new age mother and the studious daughter who just doesn't understand her, and then it's revealed that Grace is a lot wiser than people assume, she just shares her wisdom in a different way.

Hannah Thornton from North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell: She might not be particularly likeable, but any woman who can survive in the 19th century, and raise two children well, after her husband loses all the family's money and then commits suicide is a pretty good egg in my book. This woman's got steel in her blood.

Miss Honey from Matilda by Roald Dahl: Who doesn't love Miss Honey? I always loved that Matilda ended up with the kind of family she deserved, and that Miss Honey did, too.

Narcissa Malfoy from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: I think Narcissa's a fascinating character, and I love that we can never quite place her. She's not good or bad, she's many, many shades of grey, and she's a pretty fantastic mother.

Michelle Benoit from Scarlet by Marissa Meyer: I really wish we'd learned a little more about this lady! When I realised Marissa Meyer would be doing a sci-fi retelling of Little Red Cap I was curious about how the grandmother would be handled, and the fact that she used to be a military pilot is just so cool. Michelle was amazing, and I thought her relationship with Scarlet was lovely.

What did you talk about this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Unfinished Finished Series

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Ten Finished Series I Have YET To Finish', and I found this topic really, really difficult. I'm amazed I managed to make it to eight, because for a while I honestly thought I might have to settle for three.

I love a good series, don't get me wrong, but I was wary of them for the past few years. I was tired of the same structure to every trilogy I picked up, which is one of the main reasons I read so few YA series nowadays. I've read quite a few first books in series, but I didn't want to include series on my list that I knew I wasn't going to continue. I hated Legend and I wasn't all that impressed with Angelfall, so there was no way those two were going to make their way onto my list.

In terms of series, I have a lot more finished series that I haven't started yet, never mind finished, so I wasn't going to include them either. And then there are the series I love that are ongoing, such as the White Trash Zombie series and The Lunar Chronicles, as well as a lot of graphic novel series that I love.

So in the end I managed to scrape together eight, and here they are!

The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy: I didn't start this series until I was in uni, and I thought it was fantastic. I speed through these books and they're so much fun; I love Derek Landy's sense of humour. Then uni got in the way, and for whatever reason I just didn't return to the series - I want to, though! I read the first six, I believe, but rather than start at book seven I think I may actually re-read those first six and read the series in its entirety from start to finish.

The Dust Lands trilogy by Moira Young: One of the few starts to a YA trilogy that I loved was Blood Red Road, and even though I own Rebel Heart and Raging Star I still haven't read them. Boo me!

The Joanna Stafford trilogy by Nancy Bilyeau: This historical crime trilogy came to an end this year, and I read the first book, The Crown, in February. I enjoyed it (and reviewed it here!) and I got my hands on a copy of the second book, The Chalice, I just haven't read it yet. I'm not sure when I'll complete the trilogy as I'm hoping for the release of an edition of the third book, The Tapestry, that will match the two I already own.

The His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers: I have NO IDEA why I still haven't finished this trilogy, it's kind of ridiculous. Maybe this is something I should get to this month, because I loved Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph.

The If I Stay duology by Gayle Forman: Maybe Where She Went is more of a companion novel than a sequel, but give me a break, I'm clutching at straws here. I really enjoyed If I Stay, it's probably one of my favourite contemporaries, so I'd like to read Where She Went soon.

The Healer trilogy by Maria V. Snyder: I didn't love Touch of Power, but I liked it enough to want to know what happens next.

The Khalifa Brothers duology by Salman Rushdie: I had to read Haroun and the Sea of Stories when I studied postmodernism during my first year of university, and I loved it. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy of Luka and the Fire of Life.

The Fruits Basket series by Natsuki Takaya: Love the manga and love the anime, I just haven't gotten around to finishing the manga yet!

Which books made your list?

Jane Austen Book Tag

I saw this tag and thought 'why not?' I love any opportunity to do a book tag! This tag was created by Jenessa @ Thoughts from Nowhere - you can find the original here!

Sense and Sensibility

A book with a dynamic sibling relationship

I had to go with Merricat and Constance Blackwood from We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I read this book earlier this year and really enjoyed it, and Merricat and Constance's relationship is certainly interesting...

Pride and Prejudice

A book that didn't seem interesting at first

I don't tend to read a lot of contemporary. I had no idea if I was going to like If I Stay, but I decided to give it a chance and I ended up really, really enjoying it - in fact it's now one of my favourite contemporaries!

Emma

A book in which two close friends fall in love

I had to go with Signal to Noise, because I will always take advantage of any opportunity to mention this book. Seriously, read it. It's such an underrated 2015 debut and it's so fantastic! And it has one of the best romantic relationships I've read in a while.

Mansfield Park

A book with a 'rags to riches' storyline

I had to go with The Goblin Emperor which is another of my absolute favourite reads of 2015, and has quickly gone on to my favourite books of all time list. It's brilliant, and you can't help but root for Maia.

Persuasion

A book involving second chances

This might seem like a bit of an odd choice, but I had to go with My Life as a White Trash Zombie because, oddly enough, it's getting turned into a zombie that gives Angel a second chance at life - and she takes full advantage of it! This is such a fun urban fantasy series, and I recommend it.

Northanger Abbey

A book with an imaginative character

How could I not choose A Little Princess? After Sara Crewe is left destitute and abused by the headmistress of her boarding school, it's her imagination that keeps her going.

I tag:

Natalie @ A Sea Change

Mallory @ The Local Muse

Deanna @ Deanna Writes

Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight
Kim @ The Midnight Garden
Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies
Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows Reviews
Chrissi @ Chrissi Reads
Emma @ Emma's Bookery

Stories & Songs #6

I'm back with another installment of Stories & Songs. As always, you can find all the songs mentioned in this playlist!

Where She Went

by Gayle Forman

"Polaroid"

Imagine Dragons

I am a head case
I am the colour of boom
That's never arriving
At you are the opera
Always on time and in tune
And I am the colour of boom

Signal to Noise

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

"Miss Missing You"

Fall Out Boy

Baby, you were my picket fence
I miss missing you now and then
Chlorine kissed summer skin
I miss missing you now and then
Sometimes before it gets better
The darkness gets bigger
The person that you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger
Oh
We’re fading fast
I miss missing you now and then

The Raven Boys

by Maggie Stiefvater

"Don't Carry it All"

The Decemberists

There a wreath of trillium and ivy

Laid upon the body of a boy

Lazy will the loam come from its hiding

Return this quiet searcher to soil

So raise a glass to turnings of the season

And watch it as it arcs towards the sun

And you must bear your neighbour's burden within reason

And your labours will be born when all is done

And nobody, nobody knows

Let the yoke fall from our shoulders

Don't carry it all, don't carry it all

We are all our hands and holders

Beneath this bold and brilliant sun

And this I swear to all, and this I swear to all

Past Perfect

by Leila Sales

"Last Year's Troubles"

Suzanne Vega

Last year's troubles are so old fashioned
The robber on the highway, the pirate on the seas
Maybe it's the clothing that's so entertaining
The earrings and swashbuckling blouses that please

Here we have heroes of times that have passed now
but nobody these days has that kind of chin
Over there the petticoats of ladies of virtue
You can hardly tell them from the petticoats of sin 

American Gods

by Neil Gaiman

"Take Me to Church"

Hozier

If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice

Drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
That's a fine-looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
We've a lot of starving faithful

That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work

Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins so you can sharpen your knife
Offer me my deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Top Ten Tuesday | Lights, Camera, ACTION!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I'd Love To See As Movies/TV Shows'. I love adaptations; there's always the fear that an adaptation is going to be terrible, especially if it's an adaptation of a book you love, but from a critical point of view I find all adaptations fascinating. I love to know why certain decisions were made: why the costumes look the way they do, why that setting was chosen, why that actor was cast, how the director first came to know the book if they knew it before at all.

I love films and there are a few TV shows I adore, so while I'm certainly no expert I tried to assign a director to each of these make-believe adaptations because I thought it'd be fun to give an idea of the kind of adaptation that I'd love to see!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: I read this not too long ago, and Jackson has quickly become one of my favourite authors - she's certainly my favourite horror writer! Heavily inspired by the above cover, I'd love to see Henry Selick create a monochrome stop motion adaptation of this. We so often associate stop motion with children's films, and I think that combined with how grotesque you can make stop motion figures would make for a really atmospheric southern gothic film. Henry Selick's no stranger to adaptations, he's the director of Coraline and also the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and, most recently, The Box Trolls.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: I had to read this during my first year of uni, and though I wasn't expecting to like it I ended up loving it. It's such a fun, vibrant story - well worth a read if you're a fan of retellings - and I think this would work wonderfully as a Studio Ghibli film. Studio Ghibli are also familiar with adaptations; they're the company responsible for the brilliant adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle!

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris: Okay, so obviously The Silence of the Lambs already has an amazing film adaptation starring the fantastic Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster - if you haven't already, watch it, it's so good - but I'm also a huge fan of the show Hannibal, created by the marvellous Bryan Fuller who's also adapting Neil Gaiman's American Gods for TV. I'm really hoping the show gets the rights to Clarice so they can eventually tackle the Silence of the Lambs story in the show.

American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque: I can't be the only one who thinks this would make a really fun TV series, right? I've really gotten into this series this year, and if it were to be adapted I'd love to see someone like Guillermo del Toro at the helm. I feel as though del Toro would be a wonderful fit because he could handle the darker, spookier elements, he's the director of Pan's Labyrinth and the executive producer of Mama after all, and he'd be able to co-ordinate all the action sequences, too, as he's the director of the Hellboy films and Pacific Rim. He's no stranger to TV, either - in fact he's one of the co-creators of The Strain, which just so happens to deal with vampirism.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland: Personally I think this would make such a fun Tim Burton movie. Just so long as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter weren't playing the leads. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but it's time to give some other actors a bit of work! Burton has this habit of mixing bright, vibrant colours with really macabre situations (e.g. in Corpse Bride the land of the living is black and white, whereas the afterlife is bright and colourful) and I think that would work really well with this story.

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: I mean... this story's just meant to be adapted into a found footage horror movie, right? It'd be so much fun to watch, not to mention creepy as hell if given to the right creative team.

Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch and Stjepan Sejic: I've heard rumours that this series is going to be adapted into an animated series, and I really, really hope those rumours are true.

The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau: There have been an awful lot of historical fiction adaptations on the BBC recently - The White Queen; Wolf Hall; Poldark; The Strange Case of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - but I'd love to see some more ladies in these adaptations, and given that so much of The Crown takes place in a nunnery I think it'd be a really fun crime drama to watch.

Feed by Mira Grant: Yet another Mira Grant book. You all know how much I love this one, and though I'd be worried that an adaptation wouldn't do it justice I do think this book would make an amazing TV show. Every episode could open with one of Georgia and co.'s blog posts, or at least that's how I imagine it.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I thought the adaptation of If I Stay was really good, so I'd love to see an adaptation of the sequel, too.

Which books made your list?

Bout of Books 13!

Bout of Books 13 is on its way, which is great because I've been in the mood for a readathon!

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I have a tentative TBR. I'm rubbish at sticking to TBRs, but I always like to make them - just in case! I know I won't read all of these, but if I could get through one or two of them I'll be a happy bunny, and if I don't I'm sure I'll enjoy whatever else it is I read.

Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner: This is a relatively new find - I saw Lesley @ Words of a Reader talking about this book on her channel and I was immediately intrigued. Ever since I started reading Daphne du Maurier and Shirley Jackson I've been getting into modern classics more and more, especially modern classics written by women, and this one sounds right up my alley!

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton: I own three of Jo Walton's books now - Tooth and Claw, Among Others and My Real Children - and I've heard such great things about her writing that it's about time I read something of hers. This sounds bizarre but brilliant, and I'd like to cross it off my TBR soon!

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: I really want to finish this. I haven't picked it up for a couple of weeks, not because I wasn't enjoying it but simply because it surprised me so much I've needed time to recuperate. I think I'm ready to return to it now!

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I always like to toss a short, contemporary read into my TBRs whenever I take part in a readathon - sometimes they can be just what I need to stop me from falling into a slump. I really enjoyed If I Stay, so it's about time I read this one.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: There's a teeny tiny chance I might use this readathon to give Austen another try. Maybe.

Are you taking part in Bout of Books? What are you planning to read?

Top Ten Tuesday | Spring TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books On My Spring TBR'. I've mentioned on my blog before that I don't tend to give myself TBRs; I tried giving myself monthly TBRs last year but they just ended up bumming me out because I don't like turning reading into a competition with myself. I just want it to be something I enjoy!

Even so, I have enjoyed doing seasonal TBRs for Top Ten Tuesday, because I just select a bunch of books I'd like to get through that feel right for that season. Will I read all of these? Who knows!

I've split my list; there are five books which have been/are being released in 2015, and five that haven't.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I read If I Stay last year and really enjoyed it, so it's about time I read Where She Went!

Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan: Spring time always puts me in the mood for contemporary. I fell in love with Jenny Colgan last year when I discovered her Rosie Hopkins books, and I've heard nothing but great things about this book. Plus it's set in Cornwall, and I have a bit of a weakness for books set in Cornwall.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: That's right. I haven't read this. I'm very wary of hype, so when I'm continuously being told a book is awesome, particularly if the book is in a genre I don't know all that well like contemporary, I'm less likely to pick it up. But there are friends of mine I have very similar tastes to who've enjoyed it, so I'm hoping I'll like it, too!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: Also still haven't read this, and I need to. Not only because I've heard great things about it, but also because I live in Wales, where Owain Glyndŵr is still a very famous figure!

Among Others by Jo Walton: Yet another book I've heard nothing but great things about.

Rat Queens, Vol.2: The Far Reaching Tentacles of N'rygoth by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch: I fell in love with this series when I read the first volume, so naturally I preordered a copy of the second volume. It's due to be released in May and I can't wait to read it!

Ms. Marvel, Vol.2: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona and Jacob Wyatt: Another graphic novel series I started earlier this year and want to continue. Volume 2 is due to be released at the end of this month!

Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant: I love Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy and am therefore willing to buy anything she releases. I've preordered my copy, due to be released in April, and I can't wait to see Mira/Seanan's take on merpeople!

The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury: A 2015 debut I've heard nothing but praise for. I got my hands on a copy a few weeks ago, so I need to get around to reading it!

The Hourglass Factory by Lucy Ribchester: Another 2015 debut. It has a gorgeous cover, as well as being historical fiction featuring suffragettes. I'm hoping I'm going to love this one!

Which books made your list?