Chapter 5 - Summer Reading Challenge

This summer I'm taking part in Chapter 5's Summer Reading Challenge. It's been 2 weeks now since I started the challenge and there are still 4 to go, but I wanted to share with you some of the books I plan to read and also how I'm doing so far.

So this is my sheet as it stands! 


The idea of the Challenge is to get people reading, and it' very simple to get involved yourself! Simply CLICK HERE and download your own challenge sheet. 
Chapter 5 gives you 12 different categories and you have to pick one book to read that falls into that little cubby hole. Then simply tick them off as you go along. 
You DON'T have to read all 12 books! To be in for a chance to win all you have to do is complete 5 of the books you picked and share your completed form on our Facebook page or on Twitter using the hashtag‪ #‎Chapter5Summer‬

Closing Date is the 31st August 2014 & UK Only

Are you taking part? 
What books have you chosen? 

The Chocolate Tag


- THE CHOCOLATE TAG -
Book recommendations with a sugar coated twist. 

Dark Chocolate: A book that covers a dark topic. (abuse, domestic violence, rape, loneliness, bullying, death etc)

TEASE 

by Amanda Maciel

A gripping, controversial debut about the nature of bullying.

Emma Putnam is dead, and it's all Sara Wharton's fault.

At least, that's what everyone seems to think when Sara, along with her best friend and three other classmates, has been criminally charged for the bullying and harassment that led to Emma's shocking suicide. But Sara is sure she hasn't done anything wrong, because Emma brought it on herself. Sara is adamant that she was the victim - not Emma.
Inspired by a true story, TEASE is a thought-provoking must-read that will haunt you long after the last page.


An interesting take on the consequences of bullying from the bully's point of view. This book takes what you would assume to be a black and white topic and blurs the edges of right and wrong. It's gritty and raw and real. It's mean girls without the redemption and it's a breath-taking debut

White ChocolateYour favourite light-hearted/humorous read.

13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES

by Maureen Johnson

Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.

In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat.

The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist.
Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/ bloke–about–town called Keith go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous–though utterly romantic–results. But will she ever see him again?
Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it's all because of the 13 little blue envelopes.


This book is so sweet it will give you a cavity. Sure there are a couple of issues dealt with in the story, however if there wasn't how boring would it be? It's got an amazing book boyfriend, an epic adventure across the world and an incredible author stirring the plot lines. 
  
Milk ChocolateA book that has a lot of hype that you’re dying to read.

LANDLINE

by Rainbow Rowell

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it’s been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply — but that almost seems besides the point now.

Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they’re supposed to visit Neal’s family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can’t go. She’s a TV writer, and something’s come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her — Neal is always a little upset with Georgie — but she doesn’t expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she’s finally done it. If she’s ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It’s not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she’s been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts . . .
Is that what she’s supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?


I ADORED Rainbows YA novel Fangirl and I've been dying to sink my teeth into another one of her books! Everyone I know who has read this one has been raving about it and the hype around this one is palpable. Seriously excited about this one! 

Chocolate with a Caramel Centre: Name a book that made you feel all gooey in the middle while you were reading it.

CRASH INTO YOU

by Katie McGarry

The girl with straight As, designer clothes and the perfect life—that's who people expect Rachel Young to be. So the private-school junior keeps secrets from her wealthy parents and overbearing brothers...and she's just added two more to the list. One involves racing strangers down dark country roads in her Mustang GT. The other? Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Walker-a guy she has no business even talking to. But when the foster kid with the tattoos and intense gray eyes comes to her rescue, she can't get him out of her mind. 

Isaiah has secrets, too. About where he lives, and how he really feels about Rachel. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a rich girl who wants to slum it on the south side for kicks-no matter how angelic she might look. 

But when their shared love of street racing puts both their lives in jeopardy, they have six weeks to come up with a way out. Six weeks to discover just how far they'll go to save each other.

Oh these two characters make me feel all gooey inside for sure! They're so cute together, even when things seem to be going tits up they're amazing and adorable and just damn sexy. I loves them and you will to! 

Wafer Free Kit Kat: Name a book that surprised you lately.

DESPERATELY EVER AFTER

by Laura Kenyon


Imagine what might happen if our most beloved fairy tale princesses were the best of friends and had the dreams, dilemmas, and libidos of the modern woman. How would their stories unfold after the wedding bells stopped ringing? Set in a fictional realm based on New York City, DESPERATELY EVER AFTER sprinkles women’s fiction with elements of fantasy, and encourages readers to rethink everything they know about happy endings. 

Years after turning her husband from beast back to man and becoming his queen, Belle finds out she’s finally going to have a child. But before she can announce the wondrous news, she catches him cheating and watches her “happily ever after” go up in flames. Turning to her friends for the strength to land with grace, she realizes she’s not the only one at a crossroads: 
Cinderella, a mother of four drowning in royal duties, is facing her 30th birthday and questioning everything she’s done (or hasn’t) with her life. 
Rapunzel, a sex-crazed socialite and one-woman powerhouse, is on a self-destructive quest to make up for 20 years locked away in a tower. 

Penelopea, an outsider with a mother-in-law from hell, is harboring a secret that could ruin everything at any moment.  

I'm not a massive lover of self-published books. At least I haven't been in the past. However, this year the self-pubs have been just as if not better than some of the books being published by some of the big publishing houses. The authors who are choosing to self-pub have really stepped it up a gear and that couldn't be truer for Desperately Ever After by Laura Kenyon. 

Snickers: A book that you are going nuts about.

FANGIRL

by Rainbow Rowell


Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?
Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind? 

OMG! The title of this book could not be more appropriate!! I have not spoken to a single person who has read this book and hated it. I actually think it might be physically impossible to dislike Cath and Levi! I find myself squealing, clapping my hands and jumping up and down just thinking about it!  FANGIRLING FOR FANGIRL! 

Hot Chocolate with Cream and Marshmallows: What book would you turn to for a comfort read?

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS

by Stephanie Perkins

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?


St. Clair and Anna are so damn perfect together and the Parisian setting of this book makes it the perfect comfort read. I guess this is another book that makes me a little gooey but I this is a book everyone needs to have on their shelves for a rainy day. Dream of Paris chéris.


Box of Chocolates: What series have you read that you feel has a wide variety and a little something for everyone?

The All Souls Trilogy
A DICOVERY OF WITCHES || SHADOW OF NIGHT || THE BOOK OF LIFE
by Deborah Harkness

    

A Discovery of Witches: 
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.


Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.


This series is AMAZING. I actually can't get enough of these books! They are intelligent, magical, historical and has a romance to last a life time at it's core. It is full of interesting, well-researched themes that make these books rich and mesmerising. Fall in love with Matthew and Diana's story with The All Souls Trilogy. 


If you haven't taken part in the Chocolate Tag yet then copy over the questions and give it a go! Tell us all your chocolatey book recommendations and let's see who has the sweetest tooth. 
Link you're tags in the comments bellow! I want to see what you pick :) 

Tour Post: Extraction

EXTRACTION
Stephanie Diaz


Series: Extraction #1
Release date: July 22nd 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Purchase: Amazon


Summary 

"Welcome to Extraction testing."
Clementine has spent her whole life preparing for her sixteenth birthday, when she’ll be tested for Extraction in the hopes of being sent from the planet Kiel’s toxic Surface to the much safer Core, where people live without fear or starvation. When she proves promising enough to be “Extracted,” she must leave without Logan, the boy she loves. Torn apart from her only sense of family, Clem promises to come back and save him from brutal Surface life.
What she finds initially in the Core is a utopia compared to the Surface—it’s free of hard labor, gun-wielding officials, and the moon's lethal acid. But life is anything but safe, and Clementine learns that the planet's leaders are planning to exterminate Surface dwellers—and that means Logan, too. 
Trapped by the steel walls of the underground and the lies that keep her safe, Clementine must find a way to escape and rescue Logan and the rest of the planet. But the planet leaders don't want her running—they want her subdued.
With intense action scenes and a cast of unforgettable characters,Extraction is a page-turning, gripping read, sure to entertain lovers of Hunger Games and Ender's Game and leave them breathless for more.

About The Author

Twenty-one-year-old Stephanie Diaz wrote her debut novel, Extraction, when she should've been making short films and listening to college lectures at San Diego State University. When she isn't lost in books, she can be found singing, marveling at the night sky, or fan-girling over TV shows.





GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Strange and Ever After


Hey Lovelies! You're probably thinking I've turned into some kind of strange Susan Dennard stalker over the last week as it seems to be all I blog about but there is a very good reason for this. Strange and Ever After is now OUT!!
 Here's everything you need to know about the final book in Something Strange and Deadly series as well as a chance for you to win a copy of the well awaited book! 



IFB is hosting the promo tour for the third and final book in Susan Dennard's steampunk, zombie trilogy. Continue below for a sample and a cool giveaway.

17902141Series: Something Strange & Deadly #3
Release date: July 22nd 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Purchase: Amazon | B&N

Synopsis via Goodreads:
In the conclusion to the trilogy that Publishers Weekly called “a roaring—and addictive—gothic world,” Eleanor Fitt must control her growing power, face her feelings for Daniel, and confront the evil necromancer Marcus...all before it’s too late.

He took her brother, he took her mother, and now, Marcus has taken her good friend Jie. With more determination than ever to bring this sinister man to justice, Eleanor heads to the hot desert streets of nineteenth-century Egypt in hopes of ending this nightmare. But in addition to her increasingly tense relationships with Daniel, Joseph, and her demon, Oliver, Eleanor must also deal with her former friend, Allison, who has curiously entangled herself in Eleanor’s mission.

With the rising dead chomping at her every move and Jie’s life hanging in the balance, Eleanor is convinced that her black magic will see her through to the bitter end. But there will be a price. Though she and the Spirit Hunters have weathered every battle thus far, there will be consequences to suffer this time—the effects of which will be irreversible. And when it’s over, only some will be able to live a strange and ever after.

Susan Dennard will leave readers breathless and forever changed in the concluding pages of this riveting ride.

Susan DennardAbout the Author
Susan Dennard is a writer turned marine biologist turned writer again. Strange and Ever After is the conclusion to her trilogy, which includes A Darkness Strange and Lovely and Something Strange and Deadly. Among the traits she shares with her heroine Eleanor are a weakness for Shakespeare quotes, a healthy appetite for baked goods, and an insatiable curiosity. Sadly, Susan does not get to wear a corset or wave a parasol on a daily basis.



The Complete Series
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#5Questions


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Amazon UK || Amazon US


Author Bio  

Amanda Maciel has worked in book publishing since graduating from Mount Holyoke College and is currently a senior editor at Scholastic. She spends her free time writing, running, or riding the subway with her young son. She lives with him, her husband, and their cat, Ruby, in Brooklyn, New York. Tease is her first novel.



Title:
 Tease
Author: Amanda Maciel
Publishing Date: April 29th 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

From debut author Amanda Maciel comes a provocative and unforgettable novel, inspired by real-life incidents, about a teenage girl who faces criminal charges for bullying after a classmate commits suicide.

Emma Putnam is dead, and it's all Sara Wharton's fault. At least, that's what everyone seems to think. Sara, along with her best friend and three other classmates, has been criminally charged for the bullying and harassment that led to Emma's shocking suicide. Now Sara is the one who's ostracized, already guilty according to her peers, the community, and the media. In the summer before her senior year, in between meetings with lawyers and a court-recommended therapist, Sara is forced to reflect on the events that brought her to this moment—and ultimately consider her own role in an undeniable tragedy. And she'll have to find a way to move forward, even when it feels like her own life is over.

With its powerful narrative, unconventional point of view, and strong anti-bullying theme, this coming-of-age story offers smart, insightful, and nuanced views on high school society, toxic friendships, and family relationships.




Check out my review of TEASE here



1. How did you get into writing?



I started keeping a diary in 1st grade, and my teacher that year (along with my parents) was convinced I’d be a writer someday. In school and college I wrote poetry, newspaper articles, and a little fiction, but it wasn’t until the last five years or so that I figured out how to finish a novel.


2. When starting a book how much of it comes straight from your imagination and how much is research?



Maybe because of my journalism experience (or despite it?), I tend to avoid research until whatever I’m working on is well underway. I’ll noodle around online a little, but I never want to accidentally steal real-life details when I’m trying to create characters, you know? I want my story to feel real, but that has to come from the story itself. And then when I have a draft, or most of a draft, I’ll go back through to follow up on the details.

3. Who is your favourite character you have written and why?



I loved writing about Sara’s little brothers in Tease. They were just so fun to hang out with, and not having any younger siblings of my own, I was immediately very attached to them both.

4. Do you go into a book knowing how you want it to end?




I prefer to, yes. It’s easier to have a goal in mind—a place for the emotional arc to end, at least—before I even start writing. How exactly that plays out tends to change as I go, but I need a sense of where the character needs to learn, or what they need to accomplish, in order to shape the story along the way.


5. What 5 books would you recommend for your readers?




  1. Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy is a great contemporary novel where the protagonist has a lot of growing and thinking to do. I loved it.
  2. No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale is brilliant—it’s a murder mystery/thriller, with this very Fargo-esque satirical tone, and I could not put it down.
  3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell doesn’t need my recommendation, but if you haven’t read it, come on! It deserves every single word of praise it’s gotten and then some.
  4. Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens broke my heart, and it was completely worth it.
  5. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver—again, you don’t need me to tell you, because even if you haven’t read this book I’m sure you’ve heard about it. There’s a good reason for that; it’s amazing.