The Spanish Love Deception – Elena Armas

Catalina ‘Lina’ Martín has made a huge mistake. She has promised her family in Spain that she will be attending her sister’s wedding with her American boyfriend. The problem is, she doesn’t actually have an American boyfriend. She doesn’t have any boyfriend..not even a potential one. So now her options are either find a boyfriend in a matter of weeks, or admit to her family that she doesn’t have a date, and face attending the wedding alone. A wedding that her ex-boyfriend will be at, along with his new fiancee.

When her work nemesis, Aaron Blackford, steps in and offers to be her fake date to the wedding, Catalina refuses to consider it. Aaron is insufferable, pompous and the last person she wants to spend time with, never mind introduce him to her family. But as time goes by, Catalina starts to realise that maybe she has no other choice.

The Love Hypothesis – Ali Hazelwood

Olive Smith – a driven, focused young Ph.D student. She has no interest in relationships – she is far too concerned with researching ways to detect pancreatic cancer early, to give more people a chance of fighting it. That is her goal in life, and nothing will get in her way. Until she has a chance encounter with Adam Carlsen, a legendary biology professor – legendary for both his brilliance in his field, and for being ‘an ass’ to his students. In an effort to encourage her best friend to pursue a relationship with her barely an ex ex, Olive starts ‘fake dating’ a surprisingly willing Adam. While doing so, she learns a lot about him, and herself – maybe she’s not too busy for love after all.

Ugly Love – Colleen Hoover

Meet Tate – a beautiful, innocent young nurse, recently moved into her older brother’s apartment while she studies medicine. She’s hardworking, studious, and too busy for love. Enter Miles – her brother’s handsome, brooding friend, colleague, and neighbour. Miles has a past that he doesn’t want to speak about, a past that has made him put up walls around his heart. Walls that Tate wants to break down. Miles only wants a physical relationship however, and has warned Tate that he has two rules that she must follow if she wants to keep seeing him – don’t ask about his past, and don’t expect a future. But can Tate really be satisfied with a meaningless fling?

Healer Of My Heart – Sheila Turner Johnston

One young woman, a newly qualified teacher, trying her best to carve a life for herself, trying to figure out a way to live with her past traumas and experiences. A student, a confident young man, popular and well respected, with his own secret that he’s trying to cope with. Despite outside forces trying to keep them apart, they find themselves drawn together again and again. But is either one of them strong enough, and able enough, to save the other, and prove that love is possible even in the face of terrible trauma?

Beautiful World, Where Are You – Sally Rooney

Four adults, muddling their way through life, love and friendship. Alice is a successful author, recently returned to Ireland from New York. She meets Felix on Tinder, and arranges to meet him for a drink in the local bar. Felix works in a warehouse, that he hates. Alice’s best friend Eileen lives in Dublin. She’s recently single and depends a little bit too much on her friend Simon, who she has known and secretly loved since childhood. Simon is the politician of the group, a regular church goer and can always be counted on to turn up when needed.

Beautiful World, Where Are You tells the story of this unlikely mix of people, in the way that only Sally Rooney can. I should have loved it – I really enjoyed both of her previous novels, and have read Normal People more than once, but sadly, this novel just didn’t really do it for me.

Wild – Kristin Hannah

Two women. Two very difference careers. One small child to bring them both together.

Dr. Julia Cates is a well respected child psychiatrist, at the top of her field – until a tragic scandal involving one of her patients changes all of that. Shunned and avoided by all but the media, she finds herself lost.

Ellie is the prom queen turned police chief in a small town – the worst thing she has to worry about are the townspeople getting behind the wheel after a night at the bar. Unlucky in love, she’s trying to come to terms with the fact that she’s almost 40, single, with only her two boisterous dogs to share her life with.

All of this gets flipped on its head when a young, nameless, seemingly feral girl appears in Ellie’s town, accompanied by her pet wolf cub. She has no name, she can’t speak, and she acts more like a wolf than a child. Ellie knows that the only way to help this girl is to call in the best – and the best is Dr. Julia Cates.

One Of Us Is Lying – Karen M. McManus

‘One Of Us Is Lying’ is the first novel in a series of 3 by Karen M. McManus. It follows the story of five high school students, who are all sent to detention under suspicious circumstances. Of the five who go in to detention, only four leave alive. Now the focus is on the remaining four students – did one of them kill their schoolmate? Or did they all have a part to play? They all had a motive afterall – their deepest secrets were about to be published on the most popular gossip app in their school. The owner of that site? The student who just died. It’s up to each of them to prove their alleged innocence, and find out who the real killer is.

Did I love this book? No, I’ve definitely read better murder mystery novels.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong

‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he war born – a history whose epicentre is rooted in Vietnam – and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class and masculinity. Asking questions central to the American moment, immersed as it is in addiction, violence and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.’

The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern

‘When Zachary Rawlins stumbles across a strange book hidden in his university library it leads him on a quest unlike any other. Its pages entrance him with their tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities and nameless acolytes, but they also contain something impossible: a recollection from his own childhood.

Determined to solve the puzzle of the book, Zachary follows the clues he finds on the cover – a bee, a key and a sword. They guide him to a masquerade ball, to a dangerous secret club, and finally through a magical doorway created by the fierce and mysterious Mirabel. This door leads to a subterranean labyrinth filled with stories, hidden far beneath the surface of the earth.

When the labyrinth is threatened, Zachary must race with Mirabel and Dorian, a handsome barefoot man with shifting alliances, through its twisting tunnels and crowded ballrooms, searching for the end of his story.

You are invited to join Zachary on the starless sea: the home of storytellers, story-lovers and those who will protect our stories at all costs.’

The Book Snob Tag

I saw this tag over on Words About Words and liked it so much that I decided to give it a bash! So, here goes!

Adaptation Snob: Do you always read the book before you see the movie?

Not always, no, but I do try to. Sometimes I honestly think it’s better if you don’t though, because I have yet to see an adaptation that really lives up to the book, and it is so frustrating sitting through a film sort of saying ‘uh, no that didn’t happen!’ or ‘well that’s just wrong’ to yourself the whole way through.

Format Snob: You can only choose one format in which to read books for the rest of your life. Which do you choose: physical, ebooks, or audiobooks? 

Physical books all the way for me. I just love turning the pages, and the satisfaction that comes with turning the last page of a well enjoyed book.

Ship Snob: Would you date or marry a nonreader? 

I already do – my boyfriend has no interest in books or reading, he is a movie and television kinda guy. He does think the amount I read is impressive though, even if he does feel like the third wheel in our relationship sometimes haha

Genre Snob: You have to ditch one genre – never to be read again for the rest of your life. Which one do you ditch?

Tough to pick one, but it would probably be horror. Not for me, thank you!

Uber Genre Snob: You can only choose to read from one genre for the rest of your life. Which genre do you choose?

Probably contemporary. Or romance. It’s hard to choose!

Community Snob: Which genre do you think receives the most snobbery from the bookish community?

I think chick-lit is definitely looked down upon. I don’t see why though, I love me some fluffy, feel good romance novels sometimes!

Snobbery Recipient: Have you ever been snubbed for something that you have been reading or for reading in general?

Yeah…a lot of the time, especially amongst work peers – it’s almost seen a my weird little quirk – oh you’re reading again – and it can be annoying. But I just tend to smile, and nod, and comfort myself with the fact that I have a hobby that I enjoy and I can lose myself in!

I’m not going to tag anyone in this post, but if you like the tag and want to give it a try, I’d love to read your answers!