December 2015 Wrap Up

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's time for my last wrap up of the year!!! Where has this year gone? It's flown by. But it's been a fabulous year for reading that's for sure. Anyway, it's time for my December Wrap Up. Lets get started!!!

The first book I read in December was:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I've enjoyed reading more classics this year however this one was super confusing. The family tree published in this edition helped a lot though and a really liked Nelly Dean, the housekeeper. I gave this book 3* on Goodreads.

The next book I read was:

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

This was a reread for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it all over again. It is the novella to Giovanna's debut novel, Billy and Me. I love all of the characters and with all of the Christmassy elements, its the perfect book to read in December. I gave this book 5* on Goodreads.

The third book I read this month was:

Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

This is the novella to Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher and I really enjoyed this story as well. I love the characters in this book just like in Billy and Me and Christmas With Billy and Me. However I found that there wasn't as many Christmassy elements in this book other than it being set around Christmas time. I loved everything else about the book though and gave it 4* on Goodreads.

The next book I read was:

Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams

This was the 3rd volume in the Fairest graphic novel series and once again I really enjoyed this instalment. It was action packed and I never got bored. There was elements of a few different fairytale characters including Aladdin and Jasmine which was fantastic as I love everything Fairytale. I gave this book 4* on Goodreads.

The fifth book I read this month was:

Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko

This was the 4th instalment in the Fairest graphic novel series and was based around Cinderella and the fact she is a secret agent. I love this twist to Cinderella and the characters she meets along the way including Snow White are great. Again this volume was action packed and I'm looking forward to reading the next volume. I gave this 4* on Goodreads.

And the final book I read in the month of December was:

Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

This was the tales of Roald Dahl's childhood and what he got up to in his school days. We also find out little bits about his family and the adventures they all went on. I really enjoyed reading this and if you enjoy Roald Dahl's fiction books then I'm sure you would enjoy this as well. I gave this book 4* on Goodreads.

So that is it for my December Wrap Up and the last wrap up of the year!!! But it's time to announce my Favourite December Read. And the winner is.....

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher!!!

This book just gave me all of the Christmassy feels and this is a book I could read every Christmas.

So that is it for this year!!! Feel free to leave in the comments the books you've been loving this month and I'll speak to you all in 2016!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished my final book of the year!!! I can tell you I have read 60 books this year!!! That's including graphic novels and novellas. I'm so happy with that number and I plan on at least matching that next year. But for now, it's time for me to tell you about Boy. Tale of Childhood by Roald Dahl.

This book tells us lots of stories from Roald Dahl's childhood, from his school days and about his family and friends, as well as the mischief he got up to. Some of these stories include his prank on the sweet shop lady, his holiday's to Norway to see the rest of his family, and his time spent at boarding school and his stories from his time there.

This book made me laugh so much. Roald Dahl never fails to make you smile in his fiction books and he certainly hasn't failed in this book either. I really enjoyed finding out about what he got up to and what his school day were like.

I loved finding out about some of the people he met during his childhood, some funny, some nasty, some hilarious!!! Some of his teachers sound terrifying!!! I wouldn't have liked to be in school in those day that's for sure!!!

I also really loved the way Roald Dahl introduced his family, even before he was born. We found out about how his mother and father met and how his father had to get his arm amputated after a doctor turned up drunk and thought his injury was something it wasn't and made it ten times worse.

The different places we learn about and Roald Dahl's experiences after his school days are very interesting and it was nice at the end of the book to see what he got up to after his school days including a lot of travelling.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves reading Roald Dahl fiction as he has has such a fantastic childhood with so many stories to tell. This book is suitable for any age to read and will not fail to make you laugh and smile.

Rating /5

4

If you've read this book then let me know in the comments what you thought about it and if you have any recommendations then feel free to leave those in the comments as well.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I haven't had chance to update you on what I'm currently reading and that is Boy. Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl. I started this yesterday on the train to my boyfriends and then read a little more this morning. I don't have much left to read so I will definitely finish it today and update you later with my review.

This book tells lots of stories about Roald Dahl's childhood during his school years and about his family. That's all I'm going to say for now and I'll give you lots more info in my review.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko and I really enjoyed although the ending confused me so I had to find out more about that online. But more about that later!!!

In the novel we follow the story of Cinderella. She is a secret agent and called back to solve the mystery of the attacks on Snow White by human-rodent hybrids. She finds that some of the reasons as to why they are attacking relate back to the night of the ball her Fairy Godmother sent her to.

Cinderella goes on a mission to find out why they are attacking and who is behind the whole assassination attempts on Snow White. As the mystery begins to come to a close, Cinderella thinks she has worked out who the main villain causing these attacks is. But has she got the right person?

This was a super good read all the way through, with fantastic action scenes and a great set of characters. I loved Cinderella and I think the whole characterisation of her being a secret agent is just fantastic. I loved that straight away in the Fairest stand alone graphic novel, Fairest in all the Land.

I also quite liked Snow White's character which surprised me a bit as Snow White is my least favourite princess. However, I thought she was a good character and worked well alongside Cinderella.

The artwork throughout this book was stunning. I had a quick look through before I started reading and it looked fabulous then. But when I got a proper look at it all as I was reading through it, I fell in love with it even more. I think this has to be one of my favourite graphic novels in this series for the artwork as I found it so fantastic.

The only thing I found a little annoying is that at the end of the novel, I was unsure of who the character was that was meant to be the main villain causing the attacks. I haven't read the Fables series yet but from reading all of the previous novels in the Fairest series, there doesn't seem to be any reason as to why you can't read the Fairest graphic novels first. However, I had to search who this character was as nothing was mentioned about her until right at the end but she was obviously introduced in the Fables series. Now knowing who she is, I'm not sure I like that she was the main villain in this story. But that could just be because I don't feel like I know enough about her yet.

Rating/5

4

If you've read any of the Fairest graphic novels, let me know in the comments what you thought of them and I'll speak to you all very soon!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've decided to carry one with the Fairest graffic novel series as I have the next one on my shelf and it's called Fairest: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko. I'm super excited to read this one as Cinderella is the main character and we first met her in the stand alone Fairest graffic novel, Fairest in all the Land where we find out she is a secret agent.

From what I gather from the synopsis of this story, Cinderella is on a mission to find and destroy a group of rodent hybrid. Yes, even Cinderella can be against mice when absolutely necessary!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finished Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I just loved how action packed the story was. And the characters were just fantastic!!!

In this volume we meet Nalayani who is the sole defender of her village. When her village is attacked by the Dhole (a pack of wolf like creatures), Nalayani makes it her task to save her village. She goes to meet the Maharaja (leader/king etc.), Charming, and himself and Nalayani set out to save her village and many others also under attack.

On their journey they face the Dhole on a few different occasions as well as getting injured to the extent of Charming's fingers falling off due to a curse set upon anyone who gets hurts by any of the Dhole.

Back in Nalayani's village, the group work together to survive by finding any food they can get their hands on. They start to lose hope that Nalayani will return after she has been gone a long while.

But will Nalayani and Charming save the village and get rid of the Dhole once and for all? And why were the Dhole attacking in the first place?

I really enjoyed the story in this volume as it never got boring and the action was constant. There was never a moment when I felt there could have been more happening. I also really loved the little snippets of other fairytale characters mentioned in the story including Mowgli and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.

There was also an Aladdin kind of setting and the two main characters seemed to be different versions of Aladdin and Jasmine. I really loved this about the premise as it constantly had a fairytale feel about it even if it wasn't in the 'happily ever after' sense.

I also loved all of the characters whether they were bad or good and I don't usually say that. Nalayani was one of the most bad ass characters I've ever read about and I would love to read more about her. Charming was cheeky but also had this kind, caring vibe about him that made it seem he would never let any harm come of Nalayani. The friendship these two built throughout the story was truly beautiful and I really think the two of them would make a fabulous couple.

The ending came together perfectly, however I would have loved to see more of what happened after the attacks but I think I'm now just asking for a longer story!!!

Rating /5

4

If you've read any of the Fairest graffic novels, let me know in the comments what you thought of them as I would love to know, and if you have any other graffic novel recommendations for me then feel free to leave those in the comment section as well :)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx 

Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's time to read the next instalment in the Fairest graffic novel series!!! Fairest: The Return of the Maharaja, is volume 3 in the series and I can't wait to get my nose stuck into it. I don't know too much about this volume but by the sounds of the synopsis, it's going to be pretty bas ass!!!

The cover of this volume is probably my favourite cover so far. I love the dip dye look and the power the two characters seem to have. I just think it look fabulous!!!

If you've read this graffic novel or any of the other Fairest graffic novels, then let me know in the comments below what you thought of them :)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've just read the whole of Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher in one sitting. It is super short at 85 pages so I thought I would just fly through it. I really enjoyed it like I hoped and I love the characters just as much as I did when reading Dream a Little Dream.

We revisit the life of Sarah who in Dream a Little Dream, got together with a boy called Brett. Sarah is looking forward to her Christmas with her housemate Carly and Brett and is finally feeling that her life is on the up.

But when Carly breaks the news that she is moving in with her boyfriend Josh, Sarah tries to act happy for her but inside she is rather upset. As well as that, Brett begins to act a little strange.

Sarah begins to dream scenarios including Brett leaving her and this sends her mind into overdrive. She begins to panic and wonders why Brett is being really distant and not spending a lot of time with her any more. Brett is constantly coming up with excuses as to why he can't come round to see Sarah and she starts to think that maybe he's up to something that she's unaware of.

The group of friends meet for the final pub quiz of the year. They have been doing the quiz together all year and this final quiz will conclude who has won overall. But the usual quiz master can't be there and so Brett steps in for him. Little does Sarah know that Brett has a little something up his sleeve.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story and I think it shows how friendship should always be treasured. You could really see how close this group of friends were and when any of them had news, they would always be so happy and supportive of them.

I also really loved how Brett wasn't always present, but we were always thinking about what he was up to and where the story was going to take us in terms of Sarah and Brett's relationship.

As well as that, Giovanna Fletcher's writing is always so amusing and even when something more serious is happening, she doesn't fail to add a bit of comedy. I've loved Giovanna's writing style in everything she has written and I can't wait for her to release another book.

The ending of the story was perfect and it made me think more about how guy's minds usually work. I definitely don't think male and female minds are too much alike. Us girls have ways of doing things, and the boys have their ways. And that's just the way humans seem to work.

The only thing I think I would have liked to see more of is Christmas content. Although of course the story was set around Christmas time, there wasn't a lot of Christmassy elements such as descriptive locations, Christmas events etc. and that is something I loved so much about Christmas With Billy and Me. However, that is the only criticism as I loved the rest.

Rating /5

4

If you've read any of the books I've mentioned then let me know what you thought of them in the comments below and lets see if any of our opinions match. 

Speak to you all soon.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx 

Dream a Little Christmas Dream by Giovanna Fletcher

Hello Book Lovers!!!

It's time for another Christmas novella!!! I know that Christmas is over but it's not time to come out of the festive spirit just yet. Dream a Little Christmas Dream is a novella of the book Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher. This is brand new out this year so this will be my first time reading this story. I read Dream a Little Dream earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it so I'm hoping that I will enjoy Dream a Little Christmas Dream just as much.

All I can gather from the synopsis is the main character Sarah is looking forward to spending Christmas with her housemate and her boyfriend Brett. But when her housemate announces she's moving out and Brett starts to act strange, Sarah starts to worry.

It sounds pretty exciting so I'm looking forward to seeing what the characters get up to and where their lives are after Dream a Little Dream.

Let me know what you thought of this little novella if you've read it and if you've read Dream a Little Dream then also let me know what you thought of that :)

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher - Review

Hello Again Book Lovers!!!

As I hoped, I've just sat for the last hour or so reading Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher. It is the perfect book for this time of year and I've loved rereading it so much.

We revisit the life of Sophie May and Billy Buskin (from the novel Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher), where they spend most of their time on Rosefont Hill in Sophie's little coffee shop, Molly's-on-the-Hill. 

One day while Sophie is checking her emails, she comes across one from an email address, proposingonthehill@yahoo.co.uk. This intrigues her as she can clearly see that this somehow involves her little coffee shop. She opens the email and reads it discovering that a secret someone would like to propose to their girlfriend at no other than Molly's-on-the-Hill!!!

Sophie gets so excited that she begins planning the perfect proposal in her little coffee shop straight away. She starts thinking about the decorations and the food she would like to provide as well as going through the list that the mystery person has provided her with requirements about the proposal.

Between herself, Billy, her Mum, Colin (her Mum's boyfriend), and Colin's two children Aaron and Charlotte, the family try to create the perfect atmosphere for the perfect proposal. But who is this mystery person and who is the lucky girl that is going to get proposed to?

This is such a beautiful read, especially at this time of year. I just love all of the characters and I love that Molly is still present in the story even though she isn't physically there. (If you've read Billy and Me then you'll know who Molly is and why she isn't physically there in this novella).

I also love the imagery I can create in my head as the writing is so beautiful and descriptive. It makes me want to go to Rosefont Hill and visit Molly's-on-the-Hill. (Somebody create it quick!!!). The way in which Giovanna Fletcher describes every little detail down to the angel that Charlotte makes for the top of the tree is just stunning and of course her descriptions about the food are just perfect and makes me super hungry!!!

Another thing I love about this book is that is doesn't fail to get you completely in the Christmas spirit. If you don't feel very festive yet this year but would like to, then this would be the perfect book for you to read, sitting next to the Christmas tree, burning Christmas scented candles (I'm speaking from experience, trust me!!!).

Rating /5

5

I am well and truly ready for Christmas now but my festive reading doesn't stop there!!! I have another festive novella for you to see very soon!!!

If you've read Christmas With Billy and Me, or even just Billy and Me, then leave you opinions in the comments below as I would love to read what you thought of them.

For now that's it and I will be speaking to you very soon with another festive read!!!

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

Hello Book Lovers!!!

Today I've decided to get my head stuck into my first Christmas read of this year. It's way later than I expected to but it's not passed Christmas day yet therefore I don't feel like I'm too late :) Christmas With Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher is the Christmas novella to her debut novel Billy and Me which I read a couple of years ago and loved. I have also read Christmas with Billy and Me last year I think it was but I'm super excited to read it again as I love the characters and it's the perfect book to read at this time of year.

The book is super short at just over 50 pages but the content is fantastic but more on that in my review. As it's so short I'm planning on reading it all in one sitting today and then read another Christmas novella either today or tomorrow but more on that when we get round to it :)

If you've read Billy and Me or Christmas With Billy and Me then let me know in the comments what you thought of them and whether you enjoyed them just like I did.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - Review

Hello Book Lovers!!!

I've finally finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and my word wasn't it a brain mash!!! I did have to keep referring back to the family tree and the summary online as I kept getting lost but more on that later. I'm going to now give you a summary of Wuthering Heights so hopefully you can understand it but there will be lots of spoilers so if you don't want spoilers then you can go straight down to my opinions on the novel.

At the beginning of the story we meet Lockwood who rents a manor house called Thrushcross Grange. He meets the landlord Heathcliff and Lockwood asks his Housekeeper Nelly Dean to tell him about Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights.

Nelly begins her story back in her childhood where she worked as a servant at Wuthering Heights for the owner Mr Earnshaw. Mr Earnshaw goes to Liverpool one day and returns with an orphan boy called Heathcliff and begins to prefer Heathcliff over his own son Hindley. This obviously doesn't set well with Hindley and he begins to detest Heathcliff. Catherine, Hindley's sister, also doesn't like Heathcliff to begin with but begins to love him very quickly. Mr Earnshaw decides to send Hindley to college and keep Heathcliff nearby.

Once Mr Earnshaw dies, Hindley inherits Wuthering Heights and returns with his wife Frances. Once he has arrived, he begins being horrible to Heathcliff and Heathcliff very quickly becomes a common labourer and is forced to work in the fields.

Heathcliff and Catherine are still very close however and they go to annoy Edgar and Isabella Linton, the children who live at Thrushcross Grange. While there however, Catherine is bitten by a dog and forced to stay there to recover but by the time Catherine returns, she has fallen in love with Edgar.

Once Hindley's wife Frances dies, Hindley becomes more horrible to Heathcliff. As well as this, Catherine also becomes engaged to Edgar even though she still loves Heathcliff and Healthcliff leaves Wuthering Heights for three years.

When Heathcliff returns he tries to get revenge on everyone that have hurt him and when Hindley dies, he then inherits Wuthering Heights and also tries to inherit Thrushcross Grange by marrying Isabella Linton.

Catherine unfortunately becomes very ill and dies but gives birth to a baby girl just before. Isabella also flees to London and gives birth to Heathcliff's son Linton and keeps him there.

Thirteen years go by and Nelly Dean becomes young Catherine's nursemaid and Thrushcross Grange but Catherine has no knowledge of Wuthering Heights and one day she discovers a manor and meets Hareton.

Isabella dies and Linton comes to live with Heathcliff but Heathcliff treats him very badly. Three years later however, Catherine meets Heathcliff and visits Wuthering Heights to meet Linton. Herself and Linton fall in love but keep it secret by sending letters to each other instead of actually spending time together. Nelly however destroys these letters when she finds them and so Catherine sneaks out to meet Linton.

Before long, Catherine realises that Linton is being forced to like her by Heathcliff who is wanting them to get married and kidnaps them and keeps them at Wuthering Heights until Catherine agrees to marry Linton. Soon after the wedding, both Linton and Edgar die and now Heathcliff owns both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. He forces Catherine to stay at Wuthering Heights and rents Thrushcross Grange to Lockwood.

Although I found this story confusing, I did like some of the characters including Nelly and young Catherine. However I really hated Heathcliff (as you're meant to). He was a powerful character and I wanted to see him pay for the misery he has entailed on others.

I liked the writing style although I did find it rather confusing at times when Emily Bronte wrote in a very broad Yorkshire accent. These times were mostly where I got a bit lost and had to refer back to the summary.

I loved the locations that were described and I could get a clear image in my head of both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange. I would love to think that these places are real as I would have loved to have been able to visit them.

This is the first book I've read by Emily Bronte and I do think that I will try out some of her other work at some point, but I think for now I need to give my brain a rest. Because of a lot of the characters having the same name as they often got passed down through the family, this also made things rather confusing, but the family tree that was printed in this addition of the book made it easier for me to follow.

Rating /5

3

If you've read Wuthering Heights, then let me know in the comments below what you thought of it, and did you get confused just like me? Also if you have any recommendations by Emily Bronte then also leave those in the comments too.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Hello Book Lovers!!!

The first book this month I'll be reading is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I was planning on reading this last month but never got round to it so I've made it a priority this month to read. I really don't know much about this book at all but I've heard it can get a bit confusing so hopefully I won't get too lost. And there's also a family tree in my copy so hopefully that will help.

If you have any recommendations in the classic genre then feel free to comment below as I would love to have more recommendations for classics to read next year.

Happy Reading!!!

xHannahx