YALC 2015!

YALC is fast approaching, so I thought I would let you know my plans for Saturday, the day I'll be going!

If you didn't know, YALC (or the Young Adult Literature Convention) is a book convention held in the UK. This year is only the second year it's been running, but I've heard that last year it was very popular. YALC was brought to life with the help of Malorie Blackman, who was Children's Laureate in 2013. This year it's being run alongside the London Film and Comic Con in - unsurprisingly - London, which means that, for people like me who live nowhere near the capital, there will be a long journey for some!

This will be my first ever convention-type-thing, and I am so excited! One of my best friends and I have had our tickets booked for months, ever since I found out that Cassandra Clare will be there on the Saturday, and even though we'll have to get up at a ridiculously early time, I think it will be worth it. There is a small part of me that's nervous, though; I've heard that last year YALC was quite crowded.

In honour of going to meet one of my all-time favourite authors, my friend and I have decided that we're going to cosplay as Shadowhunters (which I'm sure will earn us some funny looks on trains!). I'm channelling my inner Isabelle and wearing a white dress, my Isabelle necklace, and a Lightwood replica ring that I bought from Hebel Designs. However, unlike Isabelle, I will not be wearing seven-inch heels, as a) I can barely walk in three-inch heels, and b) I anticipate lots of queuing and standing around, and it would be nice to be able to still walk by the end of the day.

I plan on taking a lot of photos and blogging about the day, and I might even try my hand at vlogging, if I'm feeling brave. I also plan on bringing back a LOT of books! Seriously, I'm thinking of bringing another bag with me in addition to my rucksack, which will be full of snacks and water as apparently food is expensive. I'm already going to bring at least three books for Cassandra Clare to sign: Clockwork Princess, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels. And I might even bring The Bone Season if I finish it on time (452 pages in 4 days - challenge accepted!).

As you can probably tell, I don't know what to expect from Saturday, but I can't wait to find out what a book convention is like. The amount of times I've looked at pictures from BEA and Bookcon and envied everyone for being there...! Are you going to YALC? Did you go there last year? What did you think?

Bowlerhatgirl Recommends...Contemporary Books!

Hi!
I thought I would do another recommendations post, this time recommending my favourite contemporary books! These will be split into two categories: mysteries and summery reads.

Mystery/ Thriller Contemporaries:

1. Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas - I loved this book so much that I think it's one of my favourite books of 2014! Anna and her group of friends go on holiday to Aruba, but the trip takes a sinister turn when Elise, Anna's best friend, is murdered. Soon, Anna is trying to clear her name, and we discover what really happened to Elise. This was incredible. It has one of the most shocking endings I've ever read, and I think anyone who likes mysteries will love Dangerous Girls.

2. The Burn for Burn trilogy by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian - I recently just finished this series, and I'm annoyed at myself for not reading them sooner! On the surface, Burn for Burn is about three girls - Kat, Lillia, and Mary - getting revenge on people who have done them wrong. But once you read Fire With Fire (for those of you who have, my review is here), it sets off in another completely different (but equally amazing) direction. The ending to Fire With Fire was as much of a shock as Dangerous Girls, and the plot remained fast-paced and unpredictable right up until the last page of Ashes To Ashes.

3. The Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard - I have finished EVERY BOOK in this series. ALL SIXTEEN, AS WELL AS THE TWO EXTRAS. There are a lot of books in the PLL series, which often puts a lot of people off, but they are easy to read and I love them. Also, there are points where you can stop reading (after book eight or book twelve, I think) and the story will feel relatively wrapped up. The books are very different to the TV show, though, so if you want to read the books and have watched the show, make sure you know this beforehand. If you still really don't want to read eight books, Sara Shepard has another series out called The Lying Game series (Which I have not read every book in, yet), and a duology consisting of The Perfectionists and The Good Girls. All of these are full of twists and turns and mystery and characters doing bad things and trying to cover them up!

Summery reads:

1. The Anna Lola Isla series by Stephanie Perkins - full of gorgeous boys, funny lines, and OTPs, any of these books are perfect for the Summer. Anna & the French Kiss is set in Paris, Lola and the Boy Next Door is set in San Francisco, and Isla and the Happily Ever After is set in New York, Paris and Barcelona, so if you want to travel the world while staying at home, you can! Each is adorable, and they're all linked together in a lovely way.

2. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson - Emily is shy, and her best friend Sloane isn't. One day, Sloane disappears, leaving Emily a list of things to do. She hopes it will lead to her best friend, but it might take Emily further out of her comfort zone than she would have liked. I love how there are playlists and extras in this book, like in Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - which I would also recommend for summer - and it's just so wonderfully suited to summer!

3. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson - this is quite similar to Since You've Been Gone, as both of the protagonists have tasks to do set by people they're close to, but 13 LBE takes us around Europe as Ginny follows her aunt's seemingly crazy instructions, all packaged in blue envelopes. Over the summer, Ginny meets friends, sees the world, and also meets a great boy, which I think is what everyone wants out of a summer! Like Stephanie Perkins' books, it allows you to travel to fantastic places like Rome, Scotland, and Amsterdam, and I love how Maureen Johnson writes, so I loved this book.

4. The Threads trilogy by Sophia Bennett - If you love fashion, Threads is probably your kind of book. It centres around Nonie, daughter of a famous model, and her friends Edie - who wants to save the world - and Jenny - who's going to be an actress - as they befriend a girl called Crow, who has the makings of an incredible fashion designer. The books cover a wide range of issues apart from fashion, like body image, poverty, and deciding what to do with your future, and they have a special place in my heart for being one of the first series to really stay with me (and one of the books managed to find a place in my bath as well, so is now twice the size of the others).

All of these books are wonderful contemporaries! I also have lots of contemporary books on my TBR list, so I may do another recommendation post later on in the year. Have you read any of these? What did you think? What are some of your favourite contemporary novels? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading(:

June Book Haul & Wrap-Up!

Another month has been and gone, and now we're past halfway through the year...that's scary! But, on a lighter note, I read (and bought) some great books in June that I can't wait to show you!

The Haul:

So, technically I wasn't meant to buy any books in June, but I finished my exams and went to a place with bookshops and lost all willpower. However, all of these books were on my big 'Books After Exams' list, so that kind of justifies them (it does not, but saying this makes me feel better
!).

• PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han - How could I not buy this? I need more Lara Jean and Peter feels! PS is the sequel to To All the Boys I've Loved Before, which I read last year (I think) and loved.
• Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas. I read Dangerous Girls at the beginning of the year, and it was AMAZING. I absolutely loved it, and I've been meaning to pick up Dangerous Boys for ages. When I saw it in not one but two bookshops, that was obviously a sign for me to buy it.
• The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith. I haven't read a book by Jennifer E. Smith before, but this sounds so wonderful and sweet and a perfect summery contemporary.
• The Dream Thieves and Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. That's right! I finally own the other two books in the Raven Boys series (that are published). I really liked The Raven Boys and gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how the series continues.
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. This was not on the 'Books After Exams' list, and I wasn't intending on buying it, but I was at a car boot sale, and amid all the pottery and plants, I found a decent copy of Shiver in a box which was being sold for 20p. 20p! That's like...(*attempts maths to work out a percentage* *fails at maths and worries about exam results*) really cheap!

The Wrap-Up:

I read some fantastic books this month!

• (The Rest of) Night School by C. J. Daugherty. This only just makes it onto the June Wrap-Up as I finished it very close to the beginning of the month. I liked Night School, although it wasn't one of my favourites. My full review is here. 3 stars.
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. This was a favourite! I adored this book; the world was so unique, as was the magic. I can't wait to read more about Kell's world and more books by V. E. Schwab! My full review is here. 4.75 stars.
• City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. This was a reread, as I read City of Bones last summer, and I have to say that it was more enjoyable once I'd read the other books in the series. I cared about the characters more knowing all the things I knew after City of Heavenly Fire, and I was more interested in the story because I knew where it would go, whereas before I had no idea. 4 stars.
• The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough. This, like ADSOM is now one of my favourites! I loved almost everything about it. My full review is here. 4.75 stars.
• Rook by Sharon Cameron. I had very high expectations for this book. First of all, it has one of the prettiest covers ever. Second, one of the first lines of the blurb begins with 'In the Sunken City that was once Paris'. I love books set in France, and I love books set in the French Revolution especially, so I really thought I would love Rook. Which I did...kind of. The concept was so interesting; a future that had returned to the ways of the past. And I did love the way that Diet Coca Cola bottles were treated as valuable antiques, and that the A5 was a deserted road. I thought the plot was strong, although at the end it did feel a little messy. I now want a pet fox like Sophia, our protagonist, has, and I admired Sophia for being very strong, independent, and smart. But Sophia and Rene's relationship felt odd, the viewpoints changed too often towards the end (although I liked how Cameron linked them together), and Spear was Gale. HE WAS ACTUALLY GALE (if Gale lived in the future in Europe). Overall, I am glad I read it, as I want to now read more of Sharon Cameron's books, but there were issues. 4 stars.

I would say that my favourite book of June was A Darker Shade of Magic, but it was a hard choice to make! That concludes my June Book Haul and Wrap-Up! June was a great reading month for me; how was it for you? Have you read any of the books mentioned? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading(: