Top Ten Tuesday #8

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic and we all share our thoughts on that topic! 

For this week on Top Ten Tuesday, the topic is:

Top Ten Books on my Winter TBR

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is really my SUMMER TBR!!!! Because in Australia it is summer and the temperature doesn't want to get any lower than 25 degrees most days and it loves sneaking in some 48 degrees days (yea summer in Aus gets pretty hot).

1. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
2. Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney
3. Pawn by Aimee Carter
4. Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
5. Dead Silent by Sharon Jones
6. Fallen Crest Public by Tijan
7. Misbehaving by Abbi Glines
8. Just One Year by Gayle Forman
9. Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally
10. Taste of Darkness by Maria V. Synder

So that is my Top Ten Books on my Summer (winter) TBR! Link me below in the comments your Top Ten Tuesday!

Keely xx

50 Random Facts Tag

I saw this tag on Sunny's blog a Sunny Spot and I thought that this tag might help me get out of this lack of blogging lately.

1. My full name is Keely Lorraine Crosbie
2. I just finished my first year of uni studying a B. of Exercise and Sports Science (Clinical Exercise Physiology) which is changing next year to B. of Exercise Physiology
3. I love sport, I even watched the first match of Ashes last week & the Australian Open for Golf
4. I am a volunteer surf life saver and I love it
5. I love playing soccer and waterpolo
6. My favourite animals are Dolphins
7. Last time I went to the beach with my friends and they decided that I was part Dolphin
8. My favourite authors is Ally Carter, Maria V. Snyder and Richelle Mead
9. I am slightly addicted to twitter
10. Amazon should not have 1-Click buying because I by way too many ebooks that I shouldn't
11. I hate winter, summer is my favourite season
12. I find it strange that I have 4 months off uni
13. I recently got a new job working at a pool on a waterslide
14. I LOVE NCIS, BONES, Greys Anatomy, Castle and Body of Proof
15. My mum has told me that my presents from now on will having something to do with furniture or appliances so when I move out I have something 
16. Apparently only having me live at home for 5months a year is 5 to many
17. Moving out of home and going to a country uni has been the best decision I have made
18. I can't wait to start uni next year because of the units I get to do
19. Blue is my favourite colour
20. Since finishing High School last year I only still talk to my two best friends 
21. I love mystery & murder books (no I am a psychopath)
22. It is already a few days into December and my advent calender has no chocolate left... (I'm addicted)
23. I really can't wait to see Catching Fire again!
24. A uni friend got me addicted to Youtube and Youtuber's
25. I procrastinate a lot
26. I helped a friend with his psych conclusion & then he did better than me
27. I hated psychology
28. I am addicted to my Kindle
29. I am slowly moving towards NA and Adult books but I will always come back to YA
30. I want more sport focused YA books, see how sport's obsessed I am?
31. I love spies hence why I love Gallagher Girls and the TV show Covert Affairs
32. Zachary Goode has been one of my favourite book boyfriends since I've read Cross my heart and hope to spy
33. I think after reading Secret that Nick Merrick has beaten him
34. Elementals is one of my new favourite series, I can't get enough
35. I have finished too many good series this year, and some bad ones
36. I love the beach, I spend a lot of my summer there or in my nans pool
37. I tried to enrol for next years classes today and it was horrible because my timetable has clashes and I can't can not take the units
38. If I didn't remind my two friends from college who do my degree that we have test etc. due they might actually forget
39. My brother drives me crazy a lot, but I still love him
40. I can't wait to go back to Europe and see more than the UK & France
41. I really want to go to Cambodia and see the killing fields after studying them in Modern History
42. If I wasn't doing my degree I would be majoring in History & Political Science
43. But I am too much of a science kid do arts
44. One day I would love to work with a national sporting team doing either exercise & sports science, exercise physiology or physiotherapy
45. I only want to do my masters because I finally be able to do what I really want which is physiotherapy
46. I somehow read incredibly fast, most avg. sized paperbacks will take me 2-3hpurs
47. I have currently read 216 books this year, not including the 100+ I've re-read
48. My quote wall has expanded to have holiday photos, uni photos, postcards & a Four poster
49. I have an obession with postcards, that is what I always buy when I visit a new place
50. I am super orgainised which comes in handy when I have a lot of things I need to balance out

So that is 50 random facts about me and I actually managed to write 50! Link me below in the comments if you have done this tag so I can check it out!

Keely xx

Review Time #50

Waiting on the Sidelines by Ginger Scott

Nolan Lennox had things figured out. Named after a baseball legend, she enjoyed being the Tomboy, her closet filled with her brother’s hand-me-downs, cut-off jeans and soccer shorts. But when her first trip to high school results in a broken heart from the first boy to ever make her heart flutter and cruel words from an older girl she once thought a family friend, Nolan starts to question the very person she thought she was and wonders if her humble upbringing can compete with the afforded luxuries of her privileged peers.

Throughout the next four years, Nolan struggles to maintain herself throughout her path of discovery, learning just how cruel teenagers can be through the pressures of underage drinking, sexuality and class. And despite how life seems to continue to work against her, she still manages to listen to her heart, falling deeper and deeper for the guy the entire town adores, even if he only sees her as a friend. Can Nolan strike a compromise between her own integrity and the boy she loves? And can she make him notice her before it’s too late?

Reed Johnson came to Coolidge High School with a lot of fanfare. The son of a hometown football legend and the brother of a local football hero, Reed wore all the pressures of carrying a town without hope into the spotlight. Thankfully, he had the talent to back it up. But when he meets a girl who makes him think twice about exactly what being a hero means, he starts to wonder if following in his brother’s footsteps might be all wrong. 

Nolan Lennox was everything that was opposite of expected. She didn’t flirt, she didn’t drink and she didn’t sleep around. Nothing about her was easy, but something about her made Reed want to try harder. Though she didn’t look the part, she seemed to be spending a lot of time in Reed’s thoughts, and he wondered if she could be the one who made it all worthwhile. But could Reed handle letting her down? And would breaking her heart break him beyond repair?

I am a big fan of sport in YA, I can't get enough so I had to get my hands on this book!

Waiting on the Sidelines follows Nolan and Reed throughout there four years of high school and the ups and downs of the friendship that they make during freshman year. Working on a science project together really sets the pace of their friendship, Nolan is from lower middles class, wears her brothers clothes and whereas Reed's family is wealthy and on his way to becoming the quarterback for Coolidge High.

The book just flows between each year which is great as we can see how things change about each character and how they mature. Freshman year Nolan has a crush on Reed but his girlfriend Tatum is a piece of work. As there relationship grows, the more that they slowly fall for each other. Getting jobs together, driving together, things start changing between them.

When they finally get together in junior year after some not so great events, things start looking up for them, Reed is quarterback and has scouts looking at him. But when an accident happens, it tears Reed and Nolan apart. Nolan blames herself and Reed becomes a shell of who he is. Nolan starts focusing on herself and her academics, volunteer work & scholarship applications for college.

The journey that Scott takes you on is one of friendship, first love, experiences things you expect out of a contemporary YA with sport thrown in there. I reccommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Miranda Kenneally's books.

Rating: 5/5

Keely xx

Top Ten Tuesday #7

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic and we all share our thoughts on that topic! 

For this week on Top Ten Tuesday, the topic is:

Top Ten 2014 Release I'm Dying To Read

Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

Isla and The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

Dead Silent by Sharon Jones

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

Tied With Me by Kristen Proby

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead

What is your top 10 2014 release's? Link me in the comments below!

Keelyxx

November Wrap Up

Hey everyone I haven't been around blogging lately not because I haven't had time, I just haven't felt like blogging this month. But I have been reading, a lot and I have completed my Goodreads goal of 200 books for the year! Although I have read over 200 books, I don't include re-readings of books. I was also supposed to go a book buying ban this month after buying The Fiery Heart but I found a few too many good e-books for a $1.

Review Copies:

• These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
• Empower by Jessica Shirvington (The Violet Eden Chapters #6)

Thanks Allen and Unwin and Hachette!

E-ARCs:

• Love Match by Monica Seles (The Academy #2)
• Keeping Her by Cora Carmack (Losing It #1.5)
• Finding It by Cora Carmack (Losing It #3)

Bought:

• Red Hill by Jamie McGuire 
• Losing It by Cora Carmack (Losing It #1)
• Faking It by Cora Carmack (Losing It #2)
• The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead (Bloodline #4)

Bought e-books:

• My Favourite Mistake by Chelsea M. Cameron
• Love Unexpected, Love Unmatched & Love Untouched by Anne Leigh
• When You're Ready by J.L Berg
• Forever by Rachel Van Dyken 
• One by Mari Arden
• Simple Perfection by Abbi Glines
• Private Message by Danielle Torella
• Come Away With Me, Fight With Me, Play With Me, Safe With Me and Rock With Me by Kristen Proby
• Wrong Side Of Town by Kormal Kant
• Hold Us Close by Caisey Quinn
• Secrets of the Fall by Kailin Gow
• Sometimes Never by Cheryl McIntryre
• Jack Undone by Penelope Ward
• A Beautiful Struggle by Lilliana Anderson
• Something Great by M. Clarke
• Finding You by S.K Hartly
• Out of Line by Jen McLaughlin
• Infatuated by Elle Jordan
• Sudden Response by R.L Mathewson
• Tall, Dark & Lonely by R.L Mathewson
• Without Regret by R.L. Mathewson
• Tall, Dark & Heartless by R.L Mathewson

Borrowed:

• The Cinderella Moment by Jennifer Kloester

As you can see by the amount of e-books, I gave up on my book buying ban...

Let me know in the comments what you got this week/month!

Keely xx

Waiting on Wednesday #11

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that allows readers to showcase eagerly awaited upcoming releases. The week I have been waiting on Fallen Crest Public by Tijan!

Sam's first day at Fallen Crest Public doesn't go well. Some girls want to be her. Some girls want to destroy her. And some just don't like her. All in all, despite being protected by Mason and Logan, it's still only the strong survive. Sam will not only have to survive, she needs to learn how to conquer too, but there's another battle growing. Things are about to come to a disastrous end between the towns, Roussou and Fallen Crest. Sam's other main dilemma? Keeping Mason and Logan from getting arrested or hospitalized.

Cannot wait for this one to come out! After loving the first two books in the series of Fallen Crest High and Fallen Crest Family I am super excited to read this one!

So let me know below what you are waiting on this Wednesday!

Keelyxx

Review Time #49

Empower by Jessica Shirvington

Now I was one lucky blogger who go to go to Sydney at Hachette HQ to meet Jessica & get a signed copy of Empower! Jessica is such a wonderful author and it was so lovely to meet her. I also got to catch up with Jaz from Fiction in Fiction who also was lucky enough to meet Jessica as well and Kim from two girls and novel who works at Hachette!

It has been two years since Violet Eden walked away from the city, her friends, her future and - most importantly - her soulmate, Lincoln. Part angel, part human, Violet is determined to stand by the promises she made to save the one she loves.

Living in the perpetual coldness of a broken soul she survives day to day as a Rogue Grigori in London.

But when an unexpected visitor shows up at her door, the news he bears about someone she swore to protect leaves Violet with no choice.

Even worse, she fears that this might all lead back to the night she tries hardest to forget. And what was taken without her permission.

Violet is going back to New York ... and she knows exactly who is going to be there.

With Phoenix in her dreams and Lincoln in her heart she knows it is only a matter of time before the final choice must be made.

Two years have passed since Violet left New York and left Lincoln after returning his soul to him. Living as a rouge Grigori an old enemy from when Lilith was destroyed has found Violet and he has a message for her. In her time with Gray, a rouge Grigori, from Greece helps Violet block out her emotions and keeps the coldness that she feels from having an almost completely shattered soul from when she returned from after Phoenix killed her. 

Determined never to go back to New York or where Lincoln is, changes when Onyx turns up with word that Spencer has been taken by the exile who took Violet's blood. On a mission to save her friend knows that things are going to change with Lincoln in charge of finding Spence.

We have watched Violet change and embrace her nature throughout the series none more so than in Empower. Violet is longer the confused and love stricken 17 year old we met in Embrace, (okay she is still in love) she has turned into a warrior, a weapon and a symbol. You can't help but feel for Violet and everything that she has been going through for the last two years. 

Lincoln doesn't know why Violet left him after she returned his soul to him and the anger that he has towards Violet is understandable. Lincoln has changed since Violet left him, becoming stronger and a better fighter pushing him up the academy's ranks. Phoenix, is well Phoenix and being an angel he tries to help Violet any way he can to save her. Gray, he is Violets rock when it comes to controlling her emotions and keeping it all lock away, we also learn about something funny that these two have done in London which is a great scene when they are in New York.

The challenges that they face in Empower makes what happened with Lilith child's play. Everything is on the line and only Violet has the final choice, after all she is the Keshet. 

I absolutely loved Empower, as soon as I was on the train back to Newcastle I was reading getting lost into this world wanting to know how it was going to end. I was slightly worried after reading Allegiant just as few days before but none the less it was an amazing end to this series. And so in the words of Onyx be 'Giddy with excitement... It's as if someone has rebooted your favourite movie just for you and you get to sit back and watch all over again.'

Rating: 5/5

P.S. I suggest having tissues and chocolate on standby!

Keely xx