August Wrap-Up!

To see all the books I've acquired in August, visit my bookhaul here.
August was a good reading month for me! I read nine books in total,, compared to my usual five or six in previous months, and the books were great. I think I read so much because I went on holiday at the start of August and got through four books alone in that first week!

• Blackfin Sky by Kat Ellis - I'm working on a full review of this at the moment, and it was really good! Spooky, creepy and mysterious, the town of Blackfin was excellently created, and I look forward to reading Kat Ellis' new books, as Blackfin Sky was her debut novel. 4 stars.
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - This is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles series, and my full review can be found here. I loved Scarlet almost as much as Cinder, and I especially loved the introduction of Captain Carswell Thorne! If you're unsure about reading the Lunar Chronicles because of all the hype around it, try Cinder anyway, because I think it will live up to expectations. 4.5 - 5 stars.
• PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han - The sequel to To All The Boys I've Loved Before, PSISLY was just as sweet as the first book. Reading about how Lara Jean and Peter's relationship changed was fantastic, and I loved the points Jenny Han made about double standards. These books are not just a fluffy, cute romance (although they definitely have that in), but are about family and friends and high school. Family is definitely important in these two books. 4.25 stars.
• The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - I'm also working on a review of the entire Raven Cycle so far. I enjoyed The Dream Thieves just as much as The Raven Boys, although it once again took me a while to get into the world again. Having just finished PS I Still Love You, where the love interest's surname is Kavinsky, it was quite confusing to read about another, much wilder, much less nice Kavinsky! I didn't like him at all, but I have to admit that his texts to Ronan made me laugh! Blue is such a strong character, and even though the concept of ley lines and Welsh kings are very confusing, the characters really make this series. 4.5 stars.
• Let's Get Lost - This was the perfect summer read! I loved all of the different stories, although I think Elliot's was the least satisfying. Leila was our main character, the one that linked Hudson, Elliot, Sonia, and Bree's lives together, but each of the others were well-developed and likeable. I think Leila's story was my favourite, although I loved her friendship with Bree. 4.75 stars.
• Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman - I have a more detailed review of this on my Goodreads account, but I enjoyed this book a lot! It was an interesting, well-written historical fiction novel and I'm very excited to read the second book in this series. 4.5 stars.
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater - This is the third book in The Raven Cycle, and it. Was. FANTASTIC! All of the things I love about The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves - all of the funny dialogue, all of the intriguing characters, all of the mystery - was apparent in every single page of Blue Lily, Lily Blue. I think this is one of my favourite reads of 2015 so far, and I am incredibly excited for The Raven King! 5 stars.
• Panic by Lauren Oliver - This was so very tense! I flew through Panic as I just had to know what would happen next. The challenges were crazy and very, very dangerous, and Lauren Oliver's writing was wonderful. 4 stars.
• Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins - Hex Hall was funny and entertaining. Jenna was my favourite character, and Sophie was a likeable protagonist whose sarcasm often made me giggle. There were several parts that felt a little tired, like I had read them before, but I can definitely see the potential in this series and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Sophie gets up to! 3.5 - 4 stars.
• A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams - I had to read this for school, and I wasn't expecting much. However, I was pleasantly surprised! A Streetcar Named Desire was an emotional whirlwind of a play, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It also took next to no time to read - maybe only an hour and a half! 3.5 - 4 stars.
• I'm currently reading 1984 by George Orwell, and according to Goodreads I'm 24% done with it. So far I'm not enjoying it as much as I had hoped, but I hope that will improve as I continue.

Those were the books I read in August! What books did you read in August? Have you read any I've mentioned? What did you think?
Thanks for reading(:

July Bookhaul

July has ended, and I've managed to accumulate a crap-load of books.
Oops.
But it was to be expected, as July was YALC month (read about my YALC plans here), and I bought eight books at YALC alone. And then I had already bought a few books before YALC. And then it is possible that I ordered two other books off of Amazon after YALC. Possibly.
Oh well! I'd rather have lots of books to read than none.
Because I've bought so many books, and read a lot as well, I'm splitting up my bookhaul and wrap-up, so here is my July bookhaul!

The Haul:

• 1984 by George Orwell - This is one of the books I have to read for school in September, so I thought I would buy my own copy, as I'd feel more comfortable writing thing in a book I own (although even that will be awful!).
• Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - This is the book that has made me realise that I have to really think about the word 'lightning' before I spell it!
• The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon - I have been really excited to read this book. I read the summary and thought it sounded amazing, and there are so many good reviews of this book.
• Off the Page by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer - After seeing this book just about everywhere thanks to Booksplosion, I decided to cave and buy it as the premise sounded great: a fictional character coming out of their book. How many times have we wished that could happen?
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer - I loved Cinder (my review is here), and badly wanted to continue on with The Lunar Chronicles, so I bought this and....
• Cress by Marissa Meyer - Now I can read these and be up to date by the time Winter is released!
• The Good Girls by Sara Shepard - The second (and final) book in The Perfectionists series, The Good Girls picks up right where The Perfectionist left off. Being a huge fan of Sara Shepard, I had to buy it and read it straightaway!
• Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini - I've been meaning to pick up this trilogy for a while, as it seems to be about magic and time travel, and I love books about time travel.
• Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid - This sounds like the perfect summer read, and the cover is gorgeous, so I bought it!
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - Everyone seems to love this, so hopefully I will too!
  

The books I bought at YALC are mentioned in my YALC Adventures post, which you can find here.

I have actually read four and a half of the books I've bought in July already, so if you weren't going to check out my wrap-up, you should as I had a great reading month! Have you read any of the books I've mentioned? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading(: