Weekly Highlights: the 'YALC library trip' edition

Weekly Highlights is a feature borrowed from Faye of A Daydreamer's Thoughts, where I get to highlight my posts of the week, show you my new books and talk about bookish things! 

Because I've been amazingly restraint, I haven't done a WH since the beginning of the month because I haven't got any new books. Well, that changed! I've got most of my books ready for the YALC read-a-thon starting tomorrow and got an impulse buy for summer reading. In other news, not a lot to report. I finished my work experience at Mongoose, it went great and will even get a free copy of the book I worked on!

Since this is the first one in a while, the posts listed will be just some of my favourites from the past few weeks.

On The Blog

Review of White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L Armentrout (4 stars)
Review of Take Me On by Katie McGarry (5 stars)
Review of Shut Out by Kody Keplinger (5 stars)
Discussion: DNFing
Review of The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (4 stars)

Currently Reading

Rage Within by Jeyn Roberts - the sequel to Dark Inside, it is just as scary and thrilling. Hoping to finish today so I can start the read-a-thon on time tomorrow morning.

On My Bookshelf

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

A fluke find in my charity shop and I had to scoop it up! It sounds adorable and a perfect way to spend a sunny summer afternoon.

Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid

Five strangers. Countless adventures.One epic way to get lost. 

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most. 

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love. 

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.

This sounds really good and I can't wait to get stuck in. The only thing: it comes up as 'New Title' on my Kindle, which is incredibly annoying. Anyway, thank you MiraInk and Netgalley!

The 100 Society by Carla Spradbery

For sixth-form student Grace Becker, The 100 Society is more than just a game; it's an obsession. Having convinced her five friends at Clifton Academy to see it through to the end, Grace will stop at nothing to carry out the rules of the game: tagging 100 locations around the city. With each step closer to the 100-mark they get, the higher the stakes become. But when the group catches the attention of a menacing stalker - the Reaper - he seems intent on exposing their illegal game, tormenting Grace with anonymous threats and branding their dormitory doors with his ominous tag.

As the once tight-knit group slowly unravels, torn apart by doubt and the death of a student, they no longer know who to trust.

With time running out, Grace must unmask the Reaper before he destroys everything she cares about for ever...

I met Carla briefly back in January at Hachette and her debut sounds very cool, I can't wait to read it and probably get terrified! Thank you Hodder and Netgalley!

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Callum is a nought - a second-class citizen in a world run by the ruling Crosses...

Sephy is a Cross, daughter of one of the most powerful men in the country...

In their world, noughts and Crosses simply don't mix. And as hostility turns to violence, can Callum and Sephy possibly find a way to be together? They are determined to try. And then the bomb explodes... 

This and the following I picked up from the library for the YALC read-a-thon, starting tomorrow! 

Geekhood 2: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb

Archie is a Geek to his core - and despite having a Close Encounter with Sarah at the beginning of term, he's still completely clueless about girls. Enter Clare - an older woman (she's sixteen) who Archie meets on his weekend trip to see his dad and his nightmare step-mum, Jane. Clare and Archie hit it off - and she's got a brilliant, foolproof way to get their crushes to notice them: pretend to be going out with one another! What can possibly go wrong? In the midst of school, getting Sarah to forgive him and dealing with his insane family, Archie and his mates step-up the nerdiness and go Live Action Role-play gaming. Ladies and gentlemen, we are entering a new era...

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathon Stroud
When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

Still to get: Pretty Bad Things by CJ Skuse (because Amazon has decided to send it with my pre-order (urgh), so I'll get the library copy) and The Oathbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch. This is going to be a great read-a-thon! Everyone else taking part: good luck!