Books Archives - Angel Reads

Books that Make Me Hungry

Sep 1, 2020

This week I’m sharing the books that make me hungry. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and Bookish and is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

If you don’t know I love to cook. It’s one of my favourite things to do. I love cooking and trying all new things. So whenever there is food in books. I’m kinda all there. So today I’m sharing the books that have made me hungry. And in saying that, it doesn’t take much. Like always these are in no order.

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim: There should be no surprise that this one has made it onto my list. Not only is this a fabulous book. It makes me so hungry. And hungry for one of my favourite foods. I love dumplings. When things were normal Ely and I would go out for dumplings very regularly. I just love it.

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu: If these graphic novels don’t make you hungry then I don’t know what will. And these are worse because there are visuals. I’m not even a big pie person, but gosh damn these books make me hungry.

Humbugged (Happy Cat #4) by Pippa Grant and Lili Valente: While I didn’t love this book. It did make me really hungry. But I guess that’s what happens when the protagonist works in a bakery.

Bittersweet (True North #1) by Sarina Bowen: While also loving this book a lot. This book and in reality this whole series always makes me hungry. And most of the time it’s just fruit, but Bowen just makes me want to eat it all. There are also some other amazing foods mentioned. And I love it.

Ride Hard (Raven Riders #1) by Laura Kaye: Haven makes so much food in this book that I just want to eat it all. Again it’s more on the sweet side. But I don’t care. I just want it all.

Marked (Sailor’s Grave #1) by Drew Elyse: What is it with protagonists working in a bakery? But you know what I don’t care. This book makes me hella hungry. I just think about the cupcakes all the time.
Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler: If you can’t tell by the cover alone that this book will make you hungry, I don’t know what to say. I love this book so much. And I love how food plays a part in this novel. If you haven’t read this one, or anything Sarah Ockler, please do.

Frankie by Shivaun Plozza: I mean out protagonist lives about a kebab shop. I think that is all that needs to be said. Kebabs are one of my favourite foods out there and this just makes me hungry. And crave a kebab even more.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer: This is another one of these books, that while I didn’t love the book. It sure did make me hungry. I loved how good was explored and described in this one a lot.

And that is it for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday? What are books that make you hungry? Do we share any that is the same? Let’s Chat!

Books I Wish I Had Read As A Child

Apr 28, 2020

This week I’m sharing the books that I wished I read as a child Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and Bookish and is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

I have always been a big reader, even as a kid. But it wasn’t like it is now. There wasn’t really a way to see what books were coming out, what people were reading and what to read next. It was more going to a bookstore or the library and picking something up. And because of that, I did miss out on a lot of children and middle-grade books that were popular or they did come out. So today I thought I would share some of the books that I wished I had read as a child. I did break this one up into two categories, the first is the books that were published when I was younger and then the other current books that I could have read when I was a child.

Books That Were Already Published When I Was A Child

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan: I just did a re-read of this series and I just love it so much. But I so wished I read it when I was younger. I read it when I was about 15 and well it was totally enjoyable. I would have devoured the series when I was younger. I’m not even sure why I didn’t. Greek mythology is something that I have always loved and I think it just slipped past me.

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket: This is another series that I’m not sure how I missed it. It would have been close to what I was reading at the time. I think it’s a great series for those wanting to not only challenge themselves a little more but also a great intro to long series. My sister is reading this series at the moment and I would have loved to read it at her age.

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson: I wasn’t a massive contemporary fan when I was younger, but I think this would have been the perfect book for me to read. It’s that mix of being contemporary but having those fantastical elements to them. I know I would have loved it as a child. Plus this movie killed me. I am not over it, and I don’t think I ever will be.

Holes by Louis Sachar: Now I love/d the Holes movie. It was that perfect mix of being strange and good at the same time. But I wasn’t like I was now and I didn’t always know that there are a lot of movies that come from books. Again I think I would found this a very interesting read.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis: Another one where I’m not certain why I didn’t read it when I was a child. This would have been my jam. It would have been the perfect series for me. I loved the movies, I loved the TV series – Even though it terrified me.

Current Books I Wish Were Around When I Was A Child

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani: My younger sister loves this series. Like loves. When she first started she loved it so much that she got her whole class reading it. And I think this series would have been perfect for me as a child. It’s right up what I read and I see how much kids love it these days. I will get to reading it soon though. One of the things that I already like about this series is that the kids grow up.

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger: This is one that I sell at work all the time! Kids love it. And I think I would have as well. It’s magical middle grade and it seems absolutely fantastic. I think I still might pick this series up one day.

The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer: Another magical middle grade, yes, please! I think you can tell by this post today, how much I loved fantasy as a kid. It’s what I read pretty exclusively for some time. This one sounds like a brilliant adventure and I’ve always got kids coming in looking for it at work. That is always a good sign for me.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier: Or anything by Raina Telgemeier. I’ve had a quick look through these and they seem amazing! I think this book would just make me happy. I wasn’t a massive graphic novel reader when I was younger, but I just don’t think there was anything that really caught my eye and I this would have for sure.

And that is it for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday! Whare are the books that you wish you had read as a child? Do we share any that’s the same? Let’s Chat!

Books I Read in 2019 that Surprised Me

Feb 23, 2020

I’m normally the type of reader that knows what I’m reading. Meaning I normally don’t pick up books that I don’t know too much about, or think that I would dislike. I’ve actively been reading for some time so for the most part, I know what I like and dislike in a book. But sometimes there are books that surprise me. I don’t know how I feel going in and then I fall in love with the book, or I fall in love with a new genre. It’s a strange thing. But today I thought I would share the books that surprised me in 2019.

Appetites & Vices (The Truitts #1) by Felicia Grossman: Before last year I hadn’t read much or if any Historical Romance. It wasn’t something that really caught my eye regularly. It was something that I wanted to try and delve into but never did. And then I picked up Appetites & Vices and starting to fall in love with the genre. It just makes me so happy | Review.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: This is going to sound strange on my list I know. Because I adored this book, however, most of the time I find it hard to connect with characters that are ‘famous’ in their story. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I just can’t find common ground with then. But it was totally different in Red, White & Royal Blue, and I fell in love. You can check out my discussion now.

Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin: Over the last year my reading of YA fantasy really dwindled. I just couldn’t love it anymore. Everything was becoming the same and I couldn’t fall in love and stay with the story or the characters. But then I picked up Serpent & Dove and fell in love. It’s everything that I love in a book and I couldn’t put it down | Full Review.

Dragon’s Lair (Wind Dragons MC #1) by Chantal Fernando: This is another sub-genre of romance that I hadn’t really ventured into until last year. I’ve read a couple of books here and there, but nothing along the lines of this. But this was such a fun series. MC books are so interesting and I’m always so intrigued by them, anything can happen and that’s what makes them so engaging.

Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers #1) by Lisa Kleypas: Even though I started to read Historical Romance by this point. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love so much with Lisa Kleypas books. They capture me in such a way that I ended up reading nearly all her books one after the other. They are seriously just so good. If you want to get into Historical Romance then start here.

Halo (Fallen Angel #1) by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine: I wasn’t expecting to like this series as much as I did. Like I said before, famous people aren’t something that I really love reading about. But this one here was just so good. I love reading it so much. It was entertained but also heartbreaking. But so good.

And that is it for this post! What are some of the books that surprised you when reading them? Do we share any that’s the same? Let’s Chat!

In other news, I’m now offering Beta Reading Services. It’s something that I’m passionate about and have been thinking about for some time, but I finally did it.