Top 5 Favourite Authors

I feel like I haven't read nearly enough books to have an all-time favourite author. However over my years of reading I've definitely come across some fantastic author's from all manners of genres, five of which really stand out for me as my top five favourite authors. I find these authors just generally amazing and thank them so much for the stories they have created; please note that this list is in no particular order.

Stephen Chbosky: What I love most about Chbosky is his ability to make a character feel so real to you. Whilst reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which might I add is one of my all-time favourite books, I felt a great connection to the character's. Chbosky acknowledges that no person is perfect and therefore in order for a reader to connect to a character they have to see that that character also isn't perfect, a feat that is rarely seen within the YA genre.

Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler: Snicket/Handler is without a doubt one of my favourite childhood authors. The books from A Series of Unfortunate Events hold so much of my childhood and are consequently very nostalgic to me. I was so engrossed by the world he had created for the Baudelaire children and found his stories humorous and just generally enjoyable to read; hopefully I'll move onto some of Handler's adult novels in the near future.

Suzanne Collins: Let's be honest here, you were all expecting to see her here. What really stands out about Collins is her ability to make a book that is categorised to a certain age group appeal to anyone of any age and her triumph of dealing with a manner of complicated and difficult themes in a way that is easy to process and understand. It also wasn't until recently that I realised Collins is actually the author of Gregor the Overlander from The Underland Chronicles and that was easily one of my favourite childhood books, reckon I'm too old to carry on with the series now?

J.K. Rowling: It still shocks me that so many people have yet to lay hands on the Harry Potter series, it just baffles me because Rowling is such an inspiring author. I praise her use of imagination and her beautiful writing style as well as being an all round amazing and fluent storyteller. If it wasn't for Rowling then I probably wouldn't be the avid reader that I am today because she is the author that really got me into reading, I mean imagine a world without Harry Potter.

Katy McGarry: If you've yet to pick up a McGarry book then I pity you because you truly are missing out on such raw writing talent. I find McGarry's novels, such as Pushing the Limits, so captivating because they're so poetically and beautifully written. Her stories build an emotional connection with me that I've had little experience with with other authors. I cannot wait for whatever she writes next.

There are plenty of other authors I adore but at this moment these are the five authors that really stand out for me. Be sure to let me know who your favourite authors are in the comments section.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

Synopsis: "Sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is an ordinary teenager, who likes hanging out in Brooklyn with her friends. But everything changes the night she witnesses a murder, committed by a group of teens armed with medieval weaponry. The murderous group are Shadowhunters, secret warriors dedicated to driving demons out of this dimension and back into their own. Drawn inexorably into a terrifying world, Clary slowly begins to learn the truth about her family - and the battle for the fate of the world."

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare book follows the life of sixteen-year-old Clarissa Fray whom witnesses a murder committed by three mysterious teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the murdered body disappears into thin air and it's hard for her to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing, not even a smear of blood, to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy? That question ultimately leads to Clary's journey of learning who she really is and the history of her family after she discovers a connection between the sudden disappearance of her mother, the three mysterious teenagers and an attack she receives from an alleged demon working for a mysterious figure of Clary's mother's past.

I was rather skeptical about starting this series as so many people love it and have hyped about it and I tend to find that when something is overly hyped, much like The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, I over anticipate the read and find myself quite disappointed. This however wasn't so much the case with City of Bones, but saying that I didn't love it either.

To begin with I struggled to get into the story and the world Clare has created. However, once I became used to and found myself enjoying her writing style I found it easy to get lost within the story. I felt that Clare had managed to reinvent the fantasy genre of demons, werewolves, vampires and other creatures in a modern light (minus the sparkly skin) as well as pay homage to the classic traits of such beings that were portrayed by the likes of Bram Stoker in Dracula and other great authors.

Although the overall pacing of the book was a bit slow, I did enjoy the various action sequences portrayed as they were fast paced and I found myself easily visualising the events that were unfolding. The sequences were laid out in various points throughout the book so it was never a case of too much happening or not enough happening; it was just the right balance. I also found some of the twists that were thrown in so gripping to read as they completely threw me off guard and I love that in a book!

Saying that mind there were times when I really wasn't sure if I wanted to slap the main characters or if I wanted to slap Clare. I don't know what it is about these characters but I found them so hard to connect with and ended up hating the majority of them with the exclusion of Simon, Alec and Luke, all three of which aren't in the book all too much. If the reader can't build some sort of connection with the main characters then said reader is more or less done for. Yes, it's good to hate characters, but to hate the majority of them just takes the biscuit.

I also had a bittersweet experience with the ending. I just felt it was so rushed and I couldn't process what the hell was happening as I felt as if it was all leading up to this explosive finish when in fact it was incredibly slow paced with nothing exciting happening. Some of the things the characters did were ridiculous and I struggled to understand some of the things that were occurring which is weird because they were pretty simple happenings, the issue is just the way they were written. I also never found myself completely drawn into the book, there were times when I was captivated for a chapter or two but after that I grew bored and put the book down for the rest of the day which is why it took me so long to complete.

Overall City of Bones is a novel that brings back the traits of creatures such as vampires and demons that we all know and love and is gripping at times but boring at others. I won't be rushing out to purchase the sequel, City of Ashes, but I'll get round to it eventually.

I give Cassandra Clare and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones ★★★

Pushing The Limits - Katie McGarry

Synopsis: "I can't remember the night that changed my life. The night I went from popular to loner freak, and my family are determined to keep it that way. They said the therapy was supposed to help. They didn't expect Noah. Noah is the dangerous boy my parents warned me about. But the only one who'll listen. They only one who'll help me find the truth. I know every kiss, every promise, every touch is forbidden. But what if finding your destiny means breaking all the rules?

Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry is a heart-wrenching novel about two broken teens, Echo Emerson and Noah Hutchins, who are struggling to put the shattered pieces of their lives back together and unexpectedly find love along the way. The two are thrown together at the lowest point of their lives; Noah is on the brink of losing all contact with his younger brothers, the only family he has left, to their foster parents following the death of his biological parent, and Echo is battling with the memories of the most horrific night of her life. But the two quickly learn that the best way for them to get what they want is to work together.

Any book that gets you out of a reading slump is a pretty damn good book. Following my completion of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green I slipped into a reading slump, that is until I found Pushing The Limits. Everything about this debut novel from McGarry is beautiful, mysterious and heart breaking. McGarry's writing style is so effortless and enjoyable to read and as a result I was captivated by this book from the very first line.

The novel alternates between the POVs of both Echo and Noah and I absolutely loved that. Generally when it comes down to romance you tend to find that it's told from just the one point of view, so as a reader you struggle to understand how the other person is feeling and have to read 'I love you' a hundred times over throughout the book to be reminded that the other person probably feels the same way. The differing POVs also highlight just how different Noah and Echo's worlds are and showcase some pretty intense issues which include neglect, lies, self-loathing and abuse.

It was so refreshing to come across a novel where it wasn't love at first sight. Watching Noah and Echo learn to trust and open up to each other was really sweet and believable to read, but despite this the romance isn't the core to the story. Instead the story focuses on the personal journeys and struggles of both Echo and Noah. It's not a story about typical teenage dramas like girls fighting over boys and boys getting into fights for the sake of getting into fights, it deals with real issues that damage so many people on a daily basis. As a result you quickly sympathise with both characters and want to do nothing more than comfort them and hear their stories so you can help.

Both Echo and Noah are miserable in their lives, having faced a wad of bad luck, and it was so hard to process which of the two made my heart break more. As previously mentioned McGarry's writing style is so beautiful and well written that you understand the character's frustrations and anger at the systems and rules which are screwing up their lives as though they were your own. Within her style, McGarry successfully keeps the reader guessing throughout, you have the gradual understanding and development of Noah's past and how he came to losing his brothers and then you have the confusion and anticipation of what happened to Echo that resulted in her mind blocking out the night that changed her life for the worst.

Pushing The Limits is a captivating story that showcases the beauty of real love and the extremes a person will go to to protect the ones they love and overcome the demons that are fighting them from within.

I give Katie McGarry and Pushing The Limits ★★★★★

Weekend Reads #3

Last week I challenged myself with The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, and I'm exactly 100 pages away from completing it, a feat I can easily achieve in one sitting tonight. As I've mentioned in previous posts I've found it an alright read, nothing has really stood out for me but it's been enjoyable to read nevertheless. Things are starting to pick up in terms of pace and action now so I'm really looking forward to finishing it, but saying that I feel like there just aren't enough pages left for all of the things that need to happen.

Following the completion of City of Bones I'll be moving onto Looking For Alaska by John Green. I originally planned to read this at the end of July but I'm literally too excited to wait. So far I've only read The Fault in Our Stars (click here to read my review) and I adored it, it's such an amazing novel. Green has such a beautiful writing style and he has the ability to captivate you from the very first page and I love that in an author.

Looking For Alaska follows the story of Alaska Young, a clever, gorgeous, funny and utterly fascinating girl and a boy called Miles Halter who could not be more in love with her. But when tragedy strikes, Miles discovers the value and the pain of living and loving unconditionally.

Now I'm not a particularly massive fan of romance novels but there's just something about John Green's work with it (and Katie McGarry's, might I add) that makes it so effortless, enjoyable and heartbreaking to read. I just can't wait to get City of Bones done and dusted so I can move straight onto this!

July To Be Read

For the month of July I plan to read a total of eight books, five of which I hope to complete between July 15th - July 21st for the read-a-thon that is being hosted via YouTube (click here for details on that). The most books I've ever completed in a week is three and that's simply because they were all part of series, thus making it easier to put one book down and pick the next up straight away. Therefore managing to complete five totally different books one after the other and reading over 2,300 pages in the space of seven days is going to be a challenge I'll most likely fail, but it's worth a shot.

Every person taking part in the read-a-thon is given the option to take part in the following challenges: read a book that is at least 500 pages, reread a book, finish a series, read a book that has been on your shelf the longest, listen to an audiobook and read a classic. For the first challenge I'll be reading Undone by Cat Clarke and for the second challenge I'll be rereading The Hunger Games: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins simply because I've read the first two books multiple times whereas I've only read Mockingjay twice. Night World: Volume 3 by L. J. Smith is what I'll be reading for the third challenge which is technically cheating as the final book hasn't be released yet, but it's been in the works for around 10 years now. The book I'll be tackling for the fourth challenge is Pure by Julianna Baggott. I won't be listening to an audiobook however simply because I can't stand them, and for the final challenge I'll be reading 1984 by George Orwell, a classic I was supposed to read for my AS English Literature coursework but in typical Cameron fashion I couldn't be bothered.

After that I'll also be reading Cherl: My Story by Cheryl Cole as I've never been one to read autobiographies so I figured her's would be a good place to start as I've heard good things about it. And finally, if I somehow find the time and effort, I hope to start Looking for Alaska by John Green. I love Green's writing style and his ability to make a reader become so engrossed by a book and it's characters. I've been wanting to start this book for ages but for some reason I haven't, but if I don't get round to it in July, which I hope won't be the case, then it'll definitely be at the top of my August list.

However before that I'll be completing The Mortal Instruements: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I'm about three quarters of the way through and so far I've found it an alright book. This is most likely because I've long lost interest in the fantasy genre. Every book of the genre seems to be the same old human girl meets supernatural boy and they fall in love even though it's forbidden, I mean where's the enjoyment in that? Nevertheless the film adaption comes out in August so I figured I may as well give the series a shot.