30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 30

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30. Read This Month

To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han

I've read The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy by Jenny Han and really loved the easy reading style. I loved this book even more. 
I had written this down on my wishlist but it was chosen as the next book for the Waterstone's Manchester teen book club which me and Kirsty are members of. So we bought it and I read it all within 3 days.
Lara Jean Song is such a likeable character. She is completely down to earth and I love the descriptions of her outfits, her bedroom, her family life etc. I expected it to be quite predictable, with her being in love with Josh throughout the whole book. It was nice to be wrong about that, it made the story more interesting. 
I really enjoyed the little twists and the easy, flowing way the book was written and I am really glad I read it during Spring - I feel like the descriptive pastel colours really suit the season.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 29

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29. Freebie

The Shining - Stephen King

Danny is only five years old, but in the words of old Mr Hallorann he is a 'shiner', aglow with psychic voltage. When his father becomes caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, Danny's visions grow out of control.

As winter closes in and blizzards cut them off, the hotel seems to develop a life of its own. It is meant to be empty. So who is the lady in Room 217 and who are the masked guests going up and down in the elevator? And why do the hedges shaped like animals seem so alive?

Somewhere, somehow, there is an evil force in the hotel - and that, too, is beginning to shine...

I love Stephen King's style of writing. He writes in such an easy, carefree way with just enough detail for you to imagine it perfectly. I have read Duma Key by him and, although it was slow at times, I did really enjoy it.
This book is one of my favourites. I love the film based on the book but I really think the book is a lot better. There are parts that they left out of the film that really made me feel on-edge while reading. It's an excellent horror story and I am so glad that when I was reading it I was sleeping in the same room as my mum because I don't think I could have slept alone! I have only read it once but I do want to read it again one day.
I also really like the minimalist cover.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 28

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28. Pages

Why We Broke Up - Daniel Handler, Maira Kalman

"I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened."
Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship.

I love books that are illustrated, especially in full colour. This book really utilises the illustration in a sort of scrapbook sense. The page directly links to the picture and what significance it held in their relationship. Daniel Handler is the author of some other books that I love but his writing style in this one is very different. I did enjoy it and I love the layout. I recommend it for those of you who appreciate book art (:

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 27

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27. Bookmarker

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - Victor Hugo

Set in 1482, Victor Hugo’s powerful novel of ‘imagination, caprice and fantasy’ is a meditation on love, fate, architecture and politics, as well as a compelling recreation of the medieval world at the dawn of the modern age.

In a brilliant reworking of the tale of Beauty and the Beast, Hugo creates a host of unforgettable characters – amongst them, Quasimodo, the hunchback of the title, hopelessly in love with the gypsy girl Esmeralda, the satanic priest Claude Frollo, Clopin Trouillefou, king of the beggars, and Louis X1, King of France. Over the entire novel, both literally and symbolically, broods the Cathedral of Notre-Dame.

Vivid characters and memorable set-piece action scenes combine to bring the past to life in this story of love, lust, betrayal, doom and redemption.

This book is so detailed and very intelligent. I find that for me it's extremely hard to read because of this. I really do want to read it but I'm in no rush to finish it. The writing style is timeless and I feel like I am learning a lot whilst I am reading. But I have to admit..it's had a bookmark in the same place for over a year.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 26

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26. Outdoors

Beauty Queens - Libba Bray

When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.Written by Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

I found this book on my recommended list on good reads. It sounded interesting and quite similar to Lord of the Flies which I really like. I am so glad I got it. I have never read a book like this. It's written very well. The plane crash contains beauty pageant contestants who, at first, are just making sure they look great for the contest. When it finally dawns on them that they are going to need to survive being stranded, they all pull together and build huts, forage for food, build fishing lines etc. Some girls go a little crazy. And every few chapters there is a message from the 'sponsor' which contains an advertisement for a useless product.
It made me laugh out loud a lot and I felt like I learnt a lot. There are a good amount of twists and shocking moments.
It is one of the best books I have read in terms of originality.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 25

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25. Happy Tears

Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus - Mo Willems

When the driver leaves the bus temporarily, he gives the reader just one instruction: Don't let the pigeon drive the bus! But, boy, that pigeon tries every trick in the book to get in that driving seat: he whines, wheedles, fibs and flatters. Will you let him drive? Told entirely in speech bubbles, this is a brilliantly original book.

I borrowed this book from the library so don't have my own copy. This photo is borrowed from this blog.

I read this book on a trip to the library a few years ago. The illustrations are great and the story is told speaking directly to the reader. The pigeon is pleading with you to let him drive the bus and I found it hilarious. I was crying with laughter every time I turned the page. Yes I was 22 at the time. But it's such a good book. There are other books in the series too.
There was a live action play not long after I read it which I watched with my fiancee and we loved it. It was so funny and so well done. If the play is touring any time I recommend you watch it, even if it says it's recommended for the very young.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 24

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24. Hysterically Funny

Confessions of Georgia Nicholson - Louise Rennison

There are six things very wrong with my life:
1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for the next two years.
2. It is on my nose.
3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room.
4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and Oberführer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic 'teachers'.
5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home.
6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive.
Follow Georgia's hilarious antics as she tries to overcome the dilemma’s that are weighing up against her, and muddle her way through teenage life and all that it entails: how to replace accidentally shaved-off eyebrows; how to cope with Angus, her small labrador-sized Scottish wildcat; her first kiss with Peter – afterwards known as Whelk Boy; annoying teachers; unsympathetic friends and family, and how to entice Robbie the Sex God! Phew – she’s really got her work cut out!

I bought these books because I read about them in a magazine. I wasn't sure whether I would like them but I found them hilarious. They reminded me of how I used to act with my friends when I had a crush on a boy. And how my parents would embarrass me just by existing.
These are just really fun, easy books that make you laugh out loud. I got really into them as more were released and when the film came out I was so excited. It is one of my favourite films ever. I never get tired of watching it. I have the soundtrack on my ipod too.
The author released another set of books which were about Georgia's cousin and they are a completely different storyline but equally as funny.
I recommend aaaall of them!

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 23

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23. Inspirational

The Diary Of A Young Girl - Anne Frank

In July 1942, thirteen-year-old Anne Frank and her family, fleeing the occupation, went into hiding in an Amsterdam warehouse. Over the next two years Anne vividly describes in her diary the frustrations of living in such close quarters, and her thoughts, feelings and longings as she grows up. Her diary ends abruptly when, in August 1944, they were all betrayed.

I read this book when I was quite young, at the time I didn't realise it was a true story. I didn't learn about World War 2 until I was 12 which is when I re-read it and truly appreciated it. The diary is written by a young Anne Frank going through school life, liking boys, rebelling against her parents, having to make no noise and dreaming of being free. It is told with such an honest voice. I know there is a lot of dispute over how much of it was edited by Anne's father afterwards, which means a lot of the story contains Anne talking about her great relationship with him; but aside from that you really get to know what it was like for a young girl living as normal a life as possible, whilst hiding in a small attic in order to stay alive.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 22

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22. Slow Read

Watership Down - Richard Adams

Fiver could sense danger. Something terrible was going to happen to the warren - he felt sure of it. So did his brother Hazel, for Fiver's sixth sense was never wrong. They had to leave immediately, and they had to persuade the other rabbits to join them. And so begins a long and perilous journey of a small band of rabbits in search of a safe home. Fiver's vision finally leads them to Watership Down, but here they face their most difficult challenge of all...

This book is very intense with the descriptive passages. This is in no way a bad thing, it allows you to picture the scene exactly as the author intended and you may learn the meaning of a few words along the way. I had wanted to read it for a while because it's a really well-known book. I bought it before I went on holiday but didn't read much while I was there, and admittedly I still haven't finished this book. It's not that I didn't like it, it's just very hard to read because of the amount of detail that goes into each paragraph. I can see why it is so famous and I did enjoy it, but I'm not sure if I can get into it enough to ever finish it. It's a book I put down because I needed a break, and have found it hard to pick back up.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 21

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21. Mythology

How To Speak Dragonese - Cressida Cowell

Haddock III was an awesome sword-fighter, a dragon-whisperer and the greatest Viking Hero who ever lived. But it wasn't always like that. Hiccup's memoirs look back to when Hiccup was just an ordinary boy, and finding it very hard to be a Hero.

Climbing on to a Roman Dragon Rustling ship by mistake in your first 'Boarding an Enemy Ship' lesson is bad enough. But to then discover that Alvin the Treacherous is also on board proves to Hiccup he couldn't have been more wrong, especially when he steals his copy of How to Speak Dragonese. Can Hiccup save the dragons and the day?

This is the third book in the How To Train Your Dragon series. I can't tell you what I think because I haven't read this one yet. I have read the first two at the library but this is the first one I bought. There are a lot of differences between the book and film so I would suggest you read them in order. They are exciting, adventurous books aimed at younger children. They have illustrations throughout and have the feel of a real help guide written by a young viking boy.

30 Day Book Photo Challenge - April 20

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20.Short Story

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - F. Scott Fitzgerald

In 1860 Benjamin Button is born an old man and mysteriously begins aging backward. At the beginning of his life he is withered and worn, but as he continues to grow younger he embraces life -- he goes to war, runs a business, falls in love, has children, goes to college and prep school, and, as his mind begins to devolve, he attends kindergarten and eventually returns to the care of his nurse.

I really like the film based on this story so I bought the book from a charity shop. The cover doesn't actually say anything about there being two other stories so I assumed the full book was Benjamin Button. When I realised it was actually 34 pages long I was really intrigued, they managed to turn such a short story into a 2hr 45min film. The story obviously doesn't go into as much detail as the film but the basic idea is there and I really liked it. I'm actually glad I bought this book because the second story, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, really made me laugh out loud. The last story was my least favourite of the 3 but it was okay.
The cover doesn't really suit the story in my opinion. I actually only saw the spine in the shop. If you're going to read one of these 3 I recommend the second one.