My Expanding Bookshelf

The first Challenge I will be participating in is the 2016 Bookish Resolutions Challenge, hosted by Laura @  trips down imagination lane  and Michelle @  Because Reading . The challenge runs from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2016 and you can sign up here before 1st March 2016. My 2016 resolutions are: Bookish resolutions Get Netgalley ratio up to 80% January - 57% February - 57% March - 52% (This better start going up real soon!) Read 20 physical books I already owned prior to 1st January January - 2 February - 4 March - 8 Reread 5 books January - 0 February - 2 March - 2 Finish 6 series January - Finished/Up-to-date = 2 February - Finished/Up-to-date = 3 March - Finished/Up-to-date = 4 Reach my Goodreads goal this year (65 books) January - 8 February - 14 March - 23 Blogging resolutions Finish updating all blog posts to current layout January - A few updated this month February - All reviews updated! Just to updat...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is my ten most recent 5 star books... I'm also going to add in 4.5 star books.

Title: My Kind of Crazy Author: Robin Reul Published: 05/04/2016, Sourcebooks Fire Pages: 256 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 2/5 "Despite the best of intentions, seventeen-year-old, wisecracking Hank Kirby can't quite seem to catch a break. It's not that he means to screw things up all the time, it just happens. A lot. Case in point: his attempt to ask out the girl he likes literally goes up in flames when he spells "Prom" in sparklers on her lawn...and nearly burns down her house. As if that wasn't bad enough, Peyton Breedlove, a brooding loner and budding pyromaniac, witnesses the whole thing. Much to Hank's dismay, Peyton takes an interest in him - and his "work." The two are thrust into an unusual friendship, but their boundaries are tested when Hank learns that Peyton is hiding some dark secrets, secrets that may change everything he thought he knew about Peyton."

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Book Reviewer . It’s a chance to share  news . A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: City of Bones Series: The Mortal Instruments #1 Author: Cassandra Clare Published: 09/07/2013, Walker Books Ltd Pages: 506 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 4/5 Clary Fray is seeing things: vampires in Brooklyn and werewolves in Manhattan. Irresistibly drawn to the Shadowhunters, a secret group of warrios dedicated to ridding the earth of demonds, Clary encounters the dark side of New York City - and the dangers of forbidden love.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is the top ten books I love but haven't talked about in a while.

Title: Flawed Series: Flawed #1 Author: Cecelia Ahern Published: 24/03/2016, HarperCollins Children's Books Pages: 400 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 4/5 The stunning YA debut from internationally bestselling author Cecelia Ahern. Celestine North lives a perfect life. She's a model daughter and sister, she's well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she's dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan. But then Celestine encounters a situation in which she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule and now faces life-changing repercussions. She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found FLAWED. In this stunning novel, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society in which perfection is paramount and mistakes are punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything. 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Book Reviewer . It’s a chance to share  news . A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Three generations of women, Three second loves, All with a dose of chaos mixed in . Author: Lindsay Detwiler Title: Then Comes Love Genre: ChickLit Release Date: March 18th Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing                          Sometimes in life, changes can be good… After losing her husband, her five cats, and her home, Charlotte Noel hates feeling dependent. As Charlotte tries to find her identity in this new stage of life, she comes to realize that drama never ends, dance aerobics can be a war zone, and love is always a possibility. You never know when a midlife crisis is going to strike… Charlotte’s daughter, Annie, is going through struggles of her own. Recently divorced, she is feeling frumpy and worn-out. Run ragged, Annie mourns her youth and wonders where her life is headed, all while hoping she can help her...

Title: Finding Hope Author: Colleen Nelson Published: 19/03/2016, Dundurn Pages: 200 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 3/5 Hope leaves her small town for a fresh start, but her plans are derailed by an online romance and the appearance of her brother. Hope lives in a small town with nothing to do and nowhere to go. With a drug addict for a brother, she focuses on the only thing that keeps her sane, writing poetry. To escape, she jumps at the chance to attend Ravenhurst Academy as a boarding student. She'll even out up with the clique-ish Ravens if it means making a fresh start. At first, Ravenhurst is better than Hope could have dreamed. She has a boyfriend and a cool roommate, and she might finally have found a place she can fit in. But can she trust her online boyfriend? And what can she do after her brother shows up at the school gates, desperate for help, and the Ravens turn on her? Trapped and unsure, Hope realizes that if she wants to save her brother, she has...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is the top ten books on my Spring TBR (went slightly over 10...woops).

Title: Mr Mercedes Series: Bill Hodges Trilogy #1 Author: Stephen King Published: 23/04/2015, Hodder Paperbacks Pages: 405 Source: Bought Format: paperback Rating: 4.5/5 In a mega-stakes, high suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes. In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the "perk" and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirem...

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Book Reviewer . It’s a chance to share  news . A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: The Notebook Series: The Notebook #1 Author: Nicholas Sparks Published: 2011, Sphere Pages: 221 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 3.5/5 How far can love endure? Noah Calhoun has just returned from World War Two. Attempting to escape the ghosts of battle, he tries to concentrate on restoring an old plantation home to its former flory. And yet he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met there fourteen years before, a girl who captured his heart like no other. But when these distant memories begin to slide into reality, the passion that had lain still is ignited once more. Though so much is in their way, the miraculous force of their love refuses to fade.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is the top ten characters everyone loves but I just don't get and characters I love but others seem to dislike. This is a tricky one this week so it's quite a short list.

Title: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Series: The Wicked Years #1 Author: Gregory Maguire Published: 2006, Headline Review Pages: 495 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 3/5 When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of the middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challe...

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly of  Caffeinated Book Reviewer . It’s a chance to share  news . A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead.

Title: Crossing the Ice Series: Ice #1 Author: Jennifer Comeaux Published: 07/08/2014, Jennifer Comeaux Pages: 308 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 5/5 Falling hard never felt so good. Pair skaters Courtney and Mark have one shot left at their Olympic dream. Thye vow not to let anything get in their way, especially not Josh and Stephanie, the wealthy and talented brother and sister team.  The heart doesn't always listen to reason, though... The more time Courtney spends with sweer, shy Josh, the harder she falls for him. But they are on opposite sides of the competition, and their futures are headed in opposite directions, Will their friendships blossom into more or are their paths too different to cross?

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and The Bookish . This week's topic is the top ten books you should read if you're in the mood for a quick read.