Carrie Says | All My Friends are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman

One of my 2014 New Year's Resolutions was this series: Carrie Says. It is an aim that I chose to carry on for, well, for a long time yet. The aim is to read all of the books Carrie Hope Fletcher has recommended. I have been particularly excited about this book- All My Friends are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman. HERE is the video where Carrie talks about the book.

Carrie says that is is "now [her] all-time favourite book."






















I'm going to be recommending this book to everyone and everyone that group of everyone knows. This 100 page delight is the reason for my happy little knowing smile on my face- as, because of this novel, I feel entirely jolly and grateful for the little nugget of cuteness and heartbreak and heart-warming power it bestows upon its reader. I feel like Tom and Perf teach us about love and how to overcome heartbreak- how to try and try, and keep trying.

All My Friends are Superheroes is about Tom and how, in his life, there are "regular" people and superheroes- there is no surprise that all of his friends are superheroes. Tom, however, is not. On the night of he and his wife's wedding, his wife's ex boyfriend (and superhero) hypnotises The Perfectionist (Tom's wife) to not see Tom- he is now invisible to Perf.

This story is a tale of The Perfectionist's heartbreak and her decision to move on after six months of believing Tom has left her. Tom has just the flight to Vancouver to convince Perf that it is him- he is there. I promise you this story is a gorgeously heart-warming as it seems. We find out about other superheroes and their powers and we giggle and its awesome silliness and we become invested in this world; this way of being. We try to understand how these powers relate to real life and it made me enjoy learning about why certain characters had certain powers. We become invested in the outcome; wanting only the best for Tom and Perf.

I don't want to say too much about this novel as it's so short, so I'll tell you this: Here is another book added to my favourite books pile!

A Regular & A Superhero,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

P.S. All My Friends are Superheroes was the third and final book in my "read before university" challenge. You can read about that HERE.

P.P.S. Another embarrassed reminder that as soon as I work out why my pictures are so terribly terrible, I do aim to fix it!

Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi

Oh my goodness, I have been reading so many awesome books recently. Actually, I don't think the awesome books haven't stopped this year. And when I thought it couldn't continue... Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi happened. I was addicted to reading Shatter Me and I am so very excited to purchase and read the rest of the series. I am delighted I have started what promises to be one of my favourite series ever just in time for university- any boring moments - and any other moments - will be filled with Juliette's story.

So, Shatter me by Tahereh Mafi is about Juliette and her gift/power/hindrance (opinions varying throughout the whole story as portrayed through different characters, and even Juliette herself) of her touch- her touch that can hurt; that can kill. After being locked up, Juliette begins to question a lot- she begins to forget a lot; even what she looks like! Her power soon becomes the very center of The Reestablishment's plans. They want to use Juliette as a weapon- a torture device. Enter Juliette The Heroine. It's about to get awesome.

Shatter Me portrays love and passion and fear and strength and teamwork- themes I trust will (and hope that they will) carry on through the series. Alongside Juliette is Adam. The boy of the book. Juliette thought he forgot- she thought she forgot. Both as fearless as each other (even if Juliette doesn't realise this); both as passionate and determined and just as each other, I can't help but adore their partnership. Oh but there is a twist. A twist that I won't ruin and can't ruin because I'm not fully educated on it yet.

I love a heroine. I have to say that it does make me want to punch the air happily for the sake of feminism, Juliette is awesome. She knows (even if she gets confused) that she is fighting for good to prevail. We find out through another perspective how easily she has always been kind, even though she's been the victim of cruelty and isolation her whole life. Yes, she's different. But she is good. She is strong. She is one of my favourite characters ever.

Shatter Me is gorgeously written. With glorious detail and pretty phrasing, I am completely in love with how this book was presented to me. I love musical and magical ways to present language and it just made me glide easily through this novel because I was so excited to read the next beautifully written sentence.

Book number one in this series has left me feeling (and had me feeling all the way through it) the oh so similar feelings that The Hunger Games gave me. Thinking about it makes my heart ache excitedly and I wouldn't change that for any other bookish feeling.

*Waiting eagerly to be able to buy the next one.*

Passion & Determination,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

P.S. So Shatter Me was the second book I read for my aim to read three books before university begins again: HERE.

P.P.S. Another reminder: I will sort these terrible, terrible pictures out soon!

Dream a Little Dream - Giovanna Fletcher

Naturally, after adoring Giovanna Fletcher's two novels and little novel, I just couldn't wait to read Dream a Little Dream; a book that would be afternoon tea on a Saturday, if it was a meal.

If this was a school writing exercise, my teacher would ask, why? Why is it like an afternoon tea? Because it is a gorgeously sweet tale; the cream and the jam represent how well Sarah and her fantasy man, Brett work together; the scone is the honest and funny and heartfelt way this book is written; the refreshing group of friends it involves is like that refreshing sip of tea after overloading a scone with much too much clotted cream. Not that Sarah can get too much of Brett, of course.

Sarah, who is very aware of her single life and works a job she doesn't exactly love, is a protagonist I adore! For Sarah enjoys the little things- a pub quiz with her friends and lazy TV-watching sessions with her best friend. She is funny and caring, and becomes very excited at the promise of furthering herself in her job. You can't not love her.

Sarah finds herself dreaming dreams she has not experienced before. About a guy she hasn't seen for a very long time. Brett Last; a guy she only saw every now and then with her uni friends back at university. While she has to endure seeing her ex who broke her heart (as he is in the same friendship group), as well as his girlfriend who he left her for, Sarah finds some kind of solace and excitement in these sometimes bizarre dreams.

But, you can understand why she is kind of confused when Brett Last turns up at work. Working as the position she wanted. Whilst she carries on dreaming about Brett at night and working with him during the day, we love watching their real friendship evolve.

I felt very warm reading this novel; very at home. Giovanna Fletcher's writing is in a beautiful world of its own. If I would compare it to an evening; it would be a warm one, with a little cool, comfortable breeze and a big cardigan. Why? Because it's gorgeously smiley and hilarious, packed with moments where I verbally express that "awwwww" emotion.

Pub Quizzes & True Friends,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

P.S. Other Giovanna book reviews!
Billy and Me
You're The One That I Want
Christmas with Billy and Me

An Old Book | A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

I started this "An Old Book" series a while ago to make sure I am including books I read a long time ago on my blog. Seen as I am a quality book keeper (the type that buys too many books and keeps them for ever), it seems only right to reminisce over them, as they stay in my heart as much as they do in my bedroom.


























I adore this novel (italic-worthy and everything), and it is a tale that taught me a lot, and had me engrossed with its company for a lot less than a day.

Jamie Sullivan is quiet; Landon Carter is not. Jamie Sullivan is synonymous, to people around her, with Christianity; Landon Carter is not. Walking on completely different paths through life, the two teenagers become closer and closer, spending time together in a far from predictable way; learning about each other slowly; beautifully. Growing with each other; sharing memories that can't be forgotten.

It's a relatively short story, packed with emotion, which is most certainly helped by the perspective. Landon is looking back at his and Jamie's story. In this way, the story is soaked with solemnly happy reminiscing; with memories, and words-that-were-said, and thoughtful sighs. There's nothing like a bit of hindsight to make me teary. It's heart-breaking, though. It's one of Nicholas Sparks's treasures that breaks my heart while teaching it something valuable.

A Walk to Remember is a lesson of leading an honest life while doing the things we love, opening our hearts and believing in something. It teaches how two people (even if hidden) can have and learn to have similar values, despite being completely different. This book glows heart and warmth, and happiness beyond the sadness.

I've given this book as a present for a few of my friends. One isn't a big reader but told me this is their favourite book. It really is a stunning read.

Walks & Stars,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

You're The One That I Want - Giovanna Fletcher

22nd May 2014

The sun had risen, I was awake, and very excited to allow my hands to glide happily over the front cover of Giovanna Fletcher's second novel. The day proceeded and I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It arrived in a smiling box, delivered to the hands of an excitable girl.

I thought, as I stared lovingly at the pink and blue sky of the novel, I was ready for the heart-wrenching rollercoaster that is Giovanna Fletcher's You're The One That I Want. The tears on my face at the final pages of the novel tell a different story: The Story of Maddy, Rob and Ben.



























15th June 2014

Since finishing Billy and Me (plugplugplug: you can read my review for that HERE, if you wish) last year, I couldn't wait for Giovanna's next piece of written sunshine. In the form of the gorgeously-beautiful You're The One That I Want, there, in front of me sat the novel that was about to entrance me completely.

You're The One That I Want is about three best friends, Maddy, Rob and Ben. It's a story of a first love, an unrequited love, and a raw love that is maybe not unrequited after all. Yet, the story that makes my heart smile and cry is also a concoction involving the loveliest friendship. A friendship that was maybe more fragile than it appeared, and they didn't want it to break. I didn't want it to break.

Maddy is about to walk down the aisle to marry a true love... Rob. Yet, is there always only one true love?

I think Giovanna tackles having two loves wonderfully in her second novel. Without a doubt, I only sympathised with Maddy and hoped her heart was happy, while aching for Ben and smiling still at Maddy and Rob's relationship. It could be a subject that's hard to make innocent, but my heart was completely attached to each character, each relationship and each friendship, wanting everyone to have their happy ending.

The novel follows the best friends' story through the point of views of Maddy and Ben. I love reading books with a  male perspective and reading a story of love through Ben's gorgeously romantic eyes was simply lovely. The way both of the characters tell the story had me completely hooked, and as in love with their love and friendship as they were in love.

Giovanna Fletcher has done it again. I couldn't be more in love with the tale of her second novel. I adore this novel. It felt like I was growing up with the characters throughout the novel. It's sweet, sincere and innocent, and yet heart-breaking and confusing for both me and the characters. It's the most charming read.

Hand Squeezes & Paris,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

Book Swap | The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman

My awesome blogging buddy, Simona recommended a book to me and I recommended one to her as part of a blogging book swap. We read them and then reviewed them and I'm excited to be posting my review of The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman. I recommended I Love the 80s by Megan Crane for Simona to read and you can read her review HERE.

The Life List is a sweet and charming read with a plot that's unique and gripping.

Brett Bohlinger should be envied. She has a handsome, rich boyfriend. Her friends and family love her. She has the perfect job. She has a fabulous loft. She should be envied... right? It takes the death of her wonderful mother to make her realise just how imperfect her life really is. Devastated and torn apart, it takes all of her will not to scream when she finds out she hasn't, after all, received her inheritance and has to complete a challenge first. And this challenge is big. She is reminded of a list she wrote when she was fourteen that her mother kept. Only there were many goals that aren't completed. There are goals remaining like having a baby and buying a horse. To receive her inheritance, Brett must complete these goals.

When my copy of The Life List came through the post, the first thing that struck me as awesome (as well as the pretty front cover) was the plot. This book isn't simply a love story. It's a life story. Brett's fourteen year old dreams were forgotten along the way and during this time she'd convinced herself that these dreams were the furthest from synonymous to her current dreams. Mother knows best, though.

Brett's character is more than pleasing. Despite forgetting her goals along the way, Brett is motivated and her ambition shines through, with and without a push from her mother. She may have not found her old goals compatible with her life initially but soon she's completing them without even realising.

Throughout the novel Brett is looking for love and it's the sweetest rollercoaster ride.

There were two friendships I adored throughout the novel, one being the friendship between Brett and her mother. Even though she's not alive throughout the novel, their relationship is felt and her presence is still beside Brett despite her death. Her mother knew her so well and Brett knew her mother too. They were best friends. I also fell in love with the friendship of Brett and Brad. They are the sort of friends who bounce off of each other perfectly and it made me want a Brad in my life.

The novel is refreshing and a reminder to the reader that materialistic things don't have to be the goal but the ones that you promise yourself you'll reach when you're younger (or other similar goals).

I enjoyed doing this with Simona and if anyone else likes the idea of it, feel free to tweet me HERE or write a comment below because I would love to do it again! Simona would love to do it again too and you can Tweet her HERE!

Burberry Coats & Phone Calls,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

P.S. Thanks to Simona for making the banner!

Looking for Alaska - John Green

Cor blimey, gov'nor! Looking for Alaska... Well, that was an emotional journey.

When I wrote a review on The Fault in Our Stars (if you want to read it, I'll link it at the bottom because it comes with a big disclaimer), I found it difficult because I just wanted to talk about it; let out all of my feelings like I was in the support group in the novel. Hence, why again, I am finding it difficult to write a review like a review and not a huge text of my train of thought. However, this time, unlike my "review" of The Fault in Our Stars, I am determined to not have a large bit of text with the whole plot being covered!

Miles Halter seeks a Great Perhaps that he can't find at his school or at home or even with his memory of learning last words; so, he, after hearing stories about the boarding school Culver Creek from his father, knows where his Great Perhaps lies. Thrown happily into a world of pranks, friendship and the moments of drama and danger, Miles falls in love and learns about life.

Looking for Alaska is captivating, honest and raw: just how John Green does it. As per usual, he taught me something.

Alaska is quirky yet haunted by the past; Miles longs for a chance with this mysteriously beautiful girl. I spent the novel longing for them to meet in the middle, for Miles to banish Alaska's sadness and Alaska to show Miles that he is worthy of this Great Perhaps. I, like Miles, missed the whole point that John Green depicted to me through Alaska in true John Green Style. I'm not sure if that sounds cryptic, but, well, that's John Green for you! It's just not always about what you think it is.

A common attribute people will for other's to have and to share is honesty and this is both my favourite thing about John Green's writing and the aspect that saddens the part of me that hopes for complete harmony in plots. However, I am grateful for the way John Green can rip out of my heart and complete it all at the same time: I am always learning something important, just like the characters in his novels.

John Green puts me under a spell with his words; a spell I can't break. His novels are classics, they are beautiful and for ever haunting my heart.  I have done a review/long conversation about The Fault in Our Stars but before I link it, there are HUGE, unforgiving spoilers so please do not read if you've not read the novel: The Fault in Our Stars - John Green.

Have you ever read a John Green novel? Let me know!

Books & Pranks,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah

I finished Firefly Lane a while ago and I'm excited to talk about it today. This book saw me through a busy time in November and I have been thinking about it ever since.

 

Please excuse the poorly executed photograph. It has one of the most gorgeous front covers I have even seen and the beauty does, as much as we shouldn't judge a book by the cover, completely symbolise the sublime words that make up the pages inside.

 

Narratively following two best friends through decades, Firefly Lane contextually sets up the music and news of the time - something that particularly excites me. It allows the reader to travel through their adventures, relating to the girls easily. It's a novel that really deserves the title "beautiful".

Tully and Kate are dissimilar and yet the same. This is obvious from the start of the novel. As their lives progress their differences change but the similarities stay the same. With Tully focused on her career, fame and success and Kate wanting a family, love and security, eventually they realise a slight jealousy they possess at each other's lives. They go through high school, college and their work lives as best friends, taking on the world the only way they knew how: together. That's what triumphs the jealousy. My favourite thing about the novel are the two best friends. Tully and Kate. Their friendship is the most relatable relationship for me out of any book I've ever read. In so many ways, they are my best friend and I; their trust in each other; their plans for the future together; the way one will always be there fore the other.

But will their friendship survive the test of time? The test of love and ambition?

It's a story of two best friends. It's also a story of love, betrayal and happiness. It's a story of a daughter and her mother; a story of family. It's a story of learning things too late.

I really loved this book and it has become an elite favourite of mine. My mum read it afterwards and said that she thought it was fantastic. I believe it's a book for different generations for so many different reasons. *Sighs.* I didn't want it to end.

I'm really bad for sticking to the same authors. I fall in love with an author and then I'll read all of their books. I'll every now and then pick up a book by a different author and then read all of his/her books. For this reason, I'm trying to be open to different authors and I'm loving doing so! (Although I will still read all of their other books!)

Are there any good books you've read recently? I love suggestions!

Bike Rides & Dreams,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

Blogmas

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

*Many traces of spoiler... Like, seriously, some real spoilers. This may be more like a retelling of the novel than a review.*

You know when people claim to have not been prepared to experience something so mind-blowingly amazing that they now see the world as a more meaningful sphere of metaphors? I experienced it and I experienced it oh so much. When I purchased The Fault in Our Stars I knew I would have my heart taken away from me on a rollercoaster cart, ready for the ride of Hazel Grace's life, but I didn't know my eyes would rain quite so much. (Oh, Mr. Green, my love for metaphors has increased).

Oh, and hold on tight because this is going to be a long post.
























Let's start with the characters.

 

Hazel Grace is one of my favourite characters ever. She's courageous, funny and so selfless. She always seemed to be protecting other people's feelings and although it broke my heart because she didn't have to, she did all the same. She was also so outrageously, inappropriately funny and it made some really sour parts of the book lighter. She had an attitude that made horrible truths easier to take in. "Even cancer isn't a bad guy really: Cancer just wants to be alive." This quote just epitomises Hazel Grace, her justifying the destructiveness of her own illness.
 

I'm not going to talk too much about (one of) the love(s) of my life Augustus Waters because I will soon be posting a Fictional Fantasy post about him but he is just awesomeperfectlovely. From the moment he was mentioned in the novel, I knew he would tattoo my heart with his every organism. The way he saw things as a metaphor and his view on life lit my heart with wonder. Oh, and he's so gosh dang charming.

The parents of Hazel Grace played such a big role in the novel with setting up how heart-breaking the novel is." As Hazel stated, the thing worse than being a sixteen year old with cancer is being a parent with a sixteen year old child with cancer. Throughout the whole novel, whenever one of Hazel's parents was mentioned, this would play through my head, making every tear from her father sting me all the more. I, like Hazel, felt the best relief near the end of the novel when it was made certain that her parents would eventually be okay after she was gone.

 

I had built myself up to meet Peter Van Houten, this wonderful author, the image of him in my heart mirroring Hazel's and so when May came, I felt Hazel's pain with her. Her one wish, her one real wish turned out to be horrendously disappointing. I turned to my brother after I read it and complained about how he ruined Hazel's dream and then he reminded me, it's fiction. Still. What's more, Van Houten, by the end of the novel is still an alcoholic. That's raw and as much as I would have loved for him to be okay (I hope, beyond the pages, he is - I really want to email John Green about this), he wasn't and, well, that added to the realism.

Augustus and Hazel's relationship is at the top with all of my favourite romantic relationships because of one thing: their differences and similarities made a coherent whole. Everything about them worked so well; they understood each other and they wanted to understand each other. What was even more touching was how in love with each other they were before they were together. Hazel didn't want to be with him so as to make sure he never ended up hurt and Augustus wanted to be with her so they could be happy together.

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly and then all at once."    

 

Augustus's fear of oblivion is a part of the novel that made me think. He feared being forgotten because, in time, there would be no one alive to remember.
"Almost everyone is obsessed with leaving a mark upon the world. Bequeathing a legacy. Outlasting death. We all want to be remembered. I do, too. That's what bothers me the most, is being another unremembered casualty in the ancient and inglorious war against disease."
No matter how strong Augustus appeared, how sure of everything he was, he was vulnerable and he had fears. He wanted to make a mark and he feared not making it. Well, he made a mark on my heart, that's for sure.

The part of the novel that broke my heart the most about the novel was this: "...I was beginning to suspect that even if death didn't get in the way, the kind of love  that Augustus and I share could never last." I don't like to believe it's true, but, in my head I linked it with oblivion: nothing ever lasts. Although when I read the quote it caused me to dampen the top of my top, tears not staying at the bay for anything, I know it's exactly what I love about the novel. I really love how honest it is.

I've not felt sadness at a novel like the day I read of Augustus's exit. I went to bed and Augustus was alive and charming Hazel and me. I woke up to read and before long he was dead, gone from the pages of the novel. There's some sense of realism there. That's why my throat was caught and my eyes pricked for a second before I really began to sob.

I'm glad that the book was left where it was because, despite the novel spelling out Hazel's death and what happened after, without the "scratches on a page", we know that beyond Hazel's death, her mom's happiness will exist despite the pain and her parents stay together. I just know it. Mr Green, I thank you.

I've never been so touched by one novel before and heck, not many novels have made me cry quite like this one. I was left with a muddle of thoughts and sadness but enlightenment. Not only did this novel bring me great joy with opening my eyes quite so much, the tears it created meant some really moisturised cheeks! The Fault in Our Stars is full with lines that made me stop, re-read the sentence made up of everyday letters that formed something so special and let the words make my heart pound until I was ever so slightly over the hauntingly perfect or beautiful words. Every special line is in my memory, etched with the romance and the tragedy of it all. True, the overwhelming sadness I felt was genuinely heartbreaking, but it's the most raw, true and touching novel I've read.

I could ramble on (as I've done above) about how amazing this novel is for a days and days without thinking I've not covered everything. The Fault in Our Stars is a love story, a fight, a tragedy. The Fault in Our Stars is a masterpiece, a tear-provoking work and a story that will never leave me.

John Green, this novel was more than "scratches on a page."

Crooked Smiles & Metaphors,

The Girl in the Moonlight.

One Perfect Summer: One Perfect Novel

I fall for fictional characters with a click of a finger. Your typical sensitive, romantic type? Your heart-wrenchingly butch, strong-minded type? I'm sold. However the heartthrob in One Perfect Summer, by Paige Toon, is far (and yet ticks all of the boxes of the features above) from your stereotypical dreamy lad and yet he is up there with all of my favourites! Joe's eyebrow-ring, handsome looks and rock-style makes him not "just a boy" and hence sets me up for an inevitable crash into his and Dyson's (his loyal companion and best friend) world.

This is not all about the fictional boy who became more and more part of my life with every turn of a page, however. Alice, vulnerable, yet incredibly strong is relatable beyond belief. As she attempts to overcome a first love, a magical summer, I, the reader attempts to fall out of love with Joe too. I understand Alice's impossible task and join her in the adventure of her life changing throughout many years.

This is the perfect chick-lit, yet the drama within the twist and turns resulted in me reading it in a day!

I wrote some lyrics inspired by the awesome book: http://thegirlinthemoonlight.tumblr.com/post/39376240208/weeks-with-each-other

Princes & Dandelions,

The Girl in the Moonlight.