Sar vs TBR Episode I

Okay so it has previously become apparent that monthly TBR features just don't work for me because I enjoy writing them but then never read any of the books that I put on them so instead I'm introducing a new version of the same thing where I highlight a few of the books that have been gathering dust on my shelves in the past *coughs* 5+ years that I actually want to read this year and hopefully make myself excited to read them!

For now I'm going to pick five and then maybe I'll do another post once I've made some progress:

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.

Honestly, why is haven't I read this yet? I know I need to!!

Mental Health Book Bingo TBR

The MH Book Bingo is almost upon us and I am super duper excited! First things first, if you have no idea what I'm on about please make sure you've read my announcement post 😊
I meant to upload this post quite a while ago but as usual life got in the way so I'm only just getting around to it, here is what I intend to read for the bingo!

Because January is The Month Of Exams™ I'm not sure if I'm going to get a full bingo but here are the books I am currently planning to read in the month and the categories which I'm using them for as well as some others which I (over)ambitiously hope to get around to at the same time. Other categories for books I am reading are in italics in case people are looking for ones to fill a gap

My main five choices:
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer - Delusions/hallucinations rep
Countless by Karen Gregory - ED rep
Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall - MC with 2+ MI's; Agoraphobia rep (ownvoices); romance with MC with MI
10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac - LGBT+ MC with MI; Anxiety rep
The Skeleton Cupboard by Tanya Byron - Nonfiction about MI

Others I hope to find time for:
Cheer Up, Love by Susan Calman - Memoir about MI
Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher - Bipolar disorder rep (ownvoices)
Asking For It by Louise O'Neill - Depression rep/free space

Let me know if you're also planning to get involved in #MHBookBingo and if you need any requests then please drop me a comment or tweet me or the @BingoMH account! I'm so excited about doing this readathon now and I can't wait to read more mental health books with everyone!

TBR - July 2017

I've recently come to the conclusion that I don't appear to be particularly good at ever sticking to the books that I say I'll read in my TBR's. For this reason I'm only going to pick three books which I want to read in the hope that I might achieve more than 50% of them for once! Also it's YALC this month (I'm going for the first time and I'm SO excited!!) so all of these books are being picked because they're on my list of books I need to read before I go.

Truth or Dare by Non Pratt
I bought this at the YA Survival Guide event in June. I need to read it for several reasons mostly because it's got asexual rep in it (for once) and also like the whole flipping it and reading from the back halfway through is really cool.

Waiting for Callback by Perdita and Honor Cargill
This has been on my bookshelf for a while and it sounds like it'll be a really funny and lighthearted read, the kind of thing that you really need in your life sometimes, y'know?! And now seems like an appropriate time for me to read something like that.

No Filter by Orlagh Collins
I was approved for this on NetGalley and it's on my YALC list so I'll be reading this too! It sounds really quite interesting and should be a really good summery read by the sounds of the synopsis.

So this is my shorter-than-usual-but-hopefully-more-successful TBR for July. What are you planning to read? Any of these? Comment because I'm nosey and want to know! Also if you're going to YALC you should also tell me...

TBR - June 2017

Last month I only managed 1 of the 5 books in last month's tbr post (I was also distracted by other books but shh). Now that my exams are over, nothing can stop me and *fingers crossed* I'll be able to read all of the books which I neglected last month too and I now officially have zero things to do.💃

The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas

Honestly I am so excited to read this! I'm very aware that as someone who aims to read diversely I've not yet read a book with a character with an ASD before and I'm just really really looking forward to it!

How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne

This has been on my shelf for a while and I need to return it to it's owner before the summer holidays (shoutout to Bella for loaning it to me). I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to it because quite frankly everything by Holly Bourne seems to be amazing as yay!

Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel

I think this is going to be a really beautiful and important read, I've heard nothing but good things abut it so naturally I can't wait to read it! I'm intrigued by what the storyline will be like from the synopsis but I'm sure this book and I will get along well.

Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz

Okay I'll be honest I was a big fan of Melissa de la Cruz' Blue Bloods series when I was about 15 and this book (although sounding very very different to vampires!) sounds like it'll be really interesting, I bought it ages ago and I'm excited to finally pick it up!

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

So I'm very aware that it's pride month this month and so it's essential (as with every month!) that I include at least one LGBT+ book in my tbr! I'm hoping I'll be able to read more than just one but I'm putting Carry On in this post because a) it's been on my list for SO LONG and b) it's the only LGBT+ book that's currently on my bookshelf that I haven't yet had chance to read!

I have high hopes for June being a month of lots of reading! Have you read any of these or are you planning to read any of them this month? Let me know in a comment, I'm nosey and want to know what you're planning to read!

TBR - May 2017

Girlhood by Cat Clarke
This was my first ever approved read on NetGalley (woop woop I'm so pleased!!), it's published on the 4th of May and I'm hoping I'll be able to whizz through it and get a review done asap (I'm cheating a bit as I've already started as I write this but I started it in May and I'm late on this post so it counts right?!). Anyway it sounds super duper promising and the first chapter hooked me it so fast so let's see what happens (and look out for a review!).

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Do I even need to say why I want to read this? I've been excited about it for months and I haven't bought it yet but hopefully I'll get my hands on it so soon. I know it won't let me down because everyone says its phenomenal!

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
As ACOWAR came out yesterday it seems like a good time for me to start catching up! I loved ACOTAR but there were a few bits that left me feeling a bit "?????" but I think they get sorted out so hopefully I'll enjoy it a lot!

A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard
Again, I'm late to this one, but having heard such good things about this, and having loved Beautiful Broken Things I'm sure this won't disappoint. It sounds like a really interesting concept and having started to learn sign language at the beginning of this year reading a book with a deaf MC sounds like good fun!

Countless by Karen Gregory
I'm so intrigued by what this book will be like. It sounds like it may be a difficult read because it's got a lot of intense stuff in it (judging from the synopsis!). If its done well I think it could be really important and I'm hoping that I'll love it. I haven't read many books that look at eating disorders and I think it may be a difficult thing to do well but Countless sounds as though it has a lot of potential.

What are you planning to read this month? Any of these? Happy reading whatever you pick up!

TBR - April 2017

And so my second ever April in the book blogging world begins!
And what a good selection of books I have for this month!

Asking for It by Louise O'Neill
This has been on my TBR for a long time and it seems like a really important read. I'm very confident that it's going to wreck me, but I'm also very excited about it.

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley
I've not heard very much about this but it sounds really really promising, I love Robin Talley's writing and there different gender symbols that are all over the cover are making me look like this: 😎.

See How They Lie by Sue Wallman
This is a random grab from the library because I'm going away for a week and need plenty of books! Seems like it'll either be really interesting or very unoriginal? I'm hoping for the former, obviously!

George by Alex Gino
This has been loosely on my TBR for a while, I keep looking at it and thinking I'll love it (trans rep, hello!) and as I just said I needed books for my holiday and there it was in the library so it's time for me to read it!

Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen
Either going to be a "girl who's problems are fixed by a boy" book, in which case I'll roll my eyes very loudly,  or it'll be a really positive book that I'll really love! Only time will tell!


What's on you TBR for April? Any of these? Have a good month of reading whatever you pick up!

TBR - March 2017

This is my first ever TBR feature but I'd like to make it a regular thing, as we're already ploughing through March at an alarming speed I've only picked three books that I'd really like to get around to this month, but here's what they are and why I'd like to read them! 

All About Mia by Lisa Williamson
Well in case you haven't read my review of The Art of Being Normal I absolutely adored it, my favourite book of last year, if not ever! I just cannot wait to see what else Lisa Williamson can do. I've heard a lot of good things and I'm just all round super duper looking forward to it. I'm going to yell about it a lot I can already tell!

Ariadnis by Josh Martin
I picked this up out of sheer curiosity and I'm really intrigued as to what it's going to be like. It seems like it's going to feature some super strong females (it doesn't even mention a single guy in the synopsis so that's unusual!)
and maybe even some f/f romance, who knows?

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley
I'm super excited for this, it seems so rich in diversity and I've not yet read a book with a bisexual character (let alone two!) so I'm really looking forward to it. If it's anything like as good as Lies We Tell Ourselves then it won't disappoint!



What are you planning to read this month? Have you read any of these? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!