The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

The Here and Now (2014) (Hodder Children's Books)
Ann Brashares
Grade: C+
Genre: young adult / time travel
Source: own / NetGalley

General RBC 2015: A book set in the future 

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

These are the most important rules of Prenna’s community – the rules that she knows she must abide by if they’re to blend in and appear normal. Ethan is the first and only person who makes Prenna want to risk revealing her community’s secret: that they’re from another time … In the future, a mosquito-borne disease is rapidly killing huge swathes of humanity. The early twenty-first century is identified as a ‘safe haven’ where those who have managed to avoid the disease can start over. But the restrictive rules about never revealing where they’re from, never dramatically changing the course of history and never being intimate with someone from outside their community are put to the test as Prenna and Ethan are drawn into a course of events that has the potential to destroy the world – and history – as they know it …

Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Half-Blood (2011) (Hodder)
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Grade: B
Genre: young adult / supernatural
Source: bookbridgr
Covenant: (1) Half-Blood

General RBC 2015: A book based on a myth 

The Hematoi descend from the union of Gods and mortals. Children of two pure-blood Hematoi possess god-like powers and are like the royalty of their community. Children of a pure-blood and a mortal – not so much. They have two choices in life: become a slave in the households of pure bloods, or train to become a Sentinel and protect their community.

Three years ago, Alexandria Andros was taken away from the Covenant by her mother. Now that her mother’s dead, Alex has been returned to the Covenant and must fight for the right to stay – not easy given that she’s missed three years of training. The delectable Aiden has taken responsibility for Alex’s training and Alex is determined to prove that she’s got what it takes to become a Sentinel. Her journey isn’t helped by both others’ wish that she fail and her forbidden attraction to pure-blood Aiden …

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

The Well of Lost Plots (2003) (Hodder)
Jasper Fforde
Grade: B+
Genre: fiction / crime / alternate reality
Source: own
Thursday Next: (1) The Eyre Affair, (2) Lost in a Good Book, (3) The Well of Lost Plots

General RBC 2015: A funny book 

Former literary detective Thursday Next has recently taken up residence in the Well of Lost Plots, the place where all fiction is created. In the real world, the evil Goliath Corporation want her dead and she needs to think about the safety of her unborn child. Settling in to Cavendish Heights, an unpublished novel of dubious quality, this is the perfect time for Thursday to consider how she’s going to approach single-parenthood and how she can reverse Goliath’s eradication of her husband, Landen. Amidst training with Miss Havisham to become a Jurisfiction agent and saving Cavendish Heights from a disastrous future, Thursday realises that something is seriously wrong in the Well and must work out who she can trust, and who wants her dead …

Seed by Lisa Heathfield

Seed (2015) (Electric Monkey, Egmont) (publishing 16/04/2015)
Lisa Heathfield
Grade: A+
Genre: young adult
Source: own
Seed: (1) Seed

General RBC 2015: Free Square 

Seed loves her. Seed will never let her go ...

All Pearl knows is life at Seed. At Seed, they’re all children of Mother Nature who will love and protect them so long as they remain true to each other and live pure lives. In contrast, life on the Outside is dangerous, evil and poisonous. Their tiny community reap and sow the land under the guidance of their charismatic leader, Papa S. At fifteen years old, Pearl will soon become Papa S’s Companion, a role she simultaneously looks forward to, yet fills her with unease. When a new family from the Outside joins their way of life at Seed, this is just the start of a massive upheaval affecting every aspect of their lives. Ellis forces Pearl to question everything she has ever been told about the Outside world, and he challenges some of the very beliefs that they hold dearest at Seed. As some shocking truths are discovered, it's time for Pearl to re-evaluate everything she believes in ...   

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

We Were Liars (2014) (Hot Key Books)
E. Lockhart
Grade: A
Genre: young adult
Source: own 
General RBC 2015: A book without a love triangle

“Welcome to the beautiful Sinclair family. No one is a criminal. No one is an addict. No one is a failure.”

Cady, Johnny, Mirren and Gat. Gat, Mirren, Johnny and Cady. The family call them the Liars after Gat first arrived on Beechwood Island in summer eight. Though the four lead separate lives during the year, they are utterly inseparable during their summer months on the family island. To the outside world, life for the Sinclair family is privileged, effortless and enviable – that is, until summer fifteen. All Cady knows is that she had an accident on the island and the past two years have been spent in a haze of pain and pills, as her selective amnesia prevents her from remembering much of what happened. Now, Cady is back on Beechwood for summer seventeen, the first time since her accident two years ago and everything has changed irrevocably. What is the truth? What is a lie?

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Attachments (2011) (Orion Books)
Rainbow Rowell
Grade: B+
Genre: fiction
Source: own

General RBC 2015: The first book by a favourite author 

The year is 1999 and the Internet is still in its earliest stages. Lincoln has just started a new job at the offices of a local newspaper, enforcing the office’s new IT policy which entails reading emails flagged by the system. He’s quickly drawn into the lives of repeat offenders, Beth and Jennifer who email back and forth about their love lives and family troubles. At first, their emails offer a welcome distraction from the monotony of the night shift but before he knows it, he finds himself falling for one of them and it’s too late to issue a warning without revealing that he’s been reading their emails all along. Does love before first sight exist?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009) (Gollancz)
Carrie Ryan
Grade: C
Genre: young adult / dystopian
Source: own
Forest of Hands and Teeth: (1) The Forest of Hands and Teeth

General RBC 2015: A book on your TBR list 

When Mary’s mother becomes infected and chooses a life with the Unconsecrated, Mary has lost everything. Her father is also one of the Unconsecrated in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her brother Jed is married and has his own family to look after, besides not being able to forgive Mary for letting their mother become infected, and no one has spoken for Mary in the village’s yearly cycle of marriage ceremonies. Mary is taken in by the Sisterhood, whose direction and guidance is unparalleled in their village. But when Mary sees and hears things she shouldn’t she begins to question the hold that he Sisterhood have on the village and the strength of the beliefs she’s followed all her life. When their fences are breached and the Unconsecrated flood their safe haven, Mary takes a leap of faith in entering the forbidden Forest of Hands and Teeth, in search of a better, safer world away from the only lifestyle she has ever known.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2007) (Phoenix)
Paul Torday
Grade: A-
Genre: fiction
Source: own

General RBC 2015: A book that became a film 

Dr Alfred Jones, a respected fisheries scientist with the National Centre for Fisheries Excellence and an avid fisherman, has been tasked with the impossible: to introduce salmon to the Yemen. Coerced by his boss and political manoeuvring higher-up, Fred takes on the project against his better judgement. But as time passes, he can’t help but be enticed by the conviction of Sheikh Muhammad ibn Zaidi bani Tihama, Yemeni national who is funding the project and who is deeply passionate about bringing fly-fishing to the desert. Working closely with the Sheikh’s agent, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot of Fitzharris & Price, this outlandish task sees Fred out of the comforts of his office and jetting between Scotland and the Yemen, forced to deal with meddling politicians and administrators while working through a particularly rocky time in his 20-year marriage. This project is an upstream battle, defying even common sense, until he can hardly recognise the man he has become …

It's Not Me It's You by Mhairi McFarlane

It's Not Me It's You (2014) (Avon)
Mhairi McFarlane
Grade: B-
Genre: chick lit
Source: NetGalley

General RBC 2015: A book with more than 500 pages 

When Delia Moss proposes to her boyfriend of ten years, the last thing she expects is to discover the existence of The Other Woman. When she’s asked to gently put a stop to a serial commenter from leaving mildly insulting and insinuating comments on the council’s website, she doesn’t expect to resign from her job at the Council over it. Given the slightly tumultuous path that her life has taken, Delia decides that a move to London to stay with her best friend Emma, is her last chance to start over. Accepting a job working for the charismatic Kurt in his start-up PR company, Delia believes she can really make a difference … until she meets investigate reporter Adam West who Kurt warns her to steer clear from, with the fate of her job hanging in the balance. This is a story of dodgy jobs, crazy bosses, bad-boy reporters, loyal old (and new) friends, rediscovering her passion for The Fox (a lot more innocent that it sounds) and one woman’s chance to find her place in life …

Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

Audrey, Wait! (2007) (Hodder Children's Books)
Robin Benway
Grade: B
Genre: young adult
Source: own

General RBC 2015: A book on your TBR pile 

When Audrey Cuttler breaks up with her boyfriend Evan, lead singer of the Do-Gooders, the last thing she expects is for her – and him – to become overnight celebrities. Evan, in a fit of rare and truly inspired genius, writes a song about their break-up and it goes viral. ‘Audrey, Wait!’ is catchy and an unsuspected success, getting the Do-Gooders airtime on every local radio station. Of course, everyone wants to hear Audrey’s side of the story and before she can blink, reporters and their cameras are following her every move, she’s forced to take all her classes in the school office just so the other kids stop staring, and her job at the Scooper Dooper becomes a peep show. Audrey can’t wait for all the attention to die down … in her dreams …

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Sweethearts (2008) (Little, Brown)
Sara Zarr
Grade: A-
Genre: young adult
Source: own

General RBC 2015: A classic YA novel 

Once upon a time, Jennifer Harris and Cameron Quick were best friends. Social outcasts at school, they came to depend on each other in a way that only they understood. When one day Cameron doesn’t turn up for school and Jennifer is told that he’s dead, her world is turned upside down. Now in high school, Jennifer Harris is no more. ‘Jenna’ has a happy family after her mum remarried, a close-knit group of friends and a doting boyfriend of three months. When Cameron returns out of the blue, Jenna’s life is thrown out-of-sync – again. As their relationship clicks back into place as if picking up where they left off, they are both forced to remember their shared history and Jenna’s new life suddenly hangs in the balance …

Reading Bingo Challenges for 2015

I might not have completed my trio of reading bingo challenges in 2014, but before the year was out, I'd already started planning a new set for 2015. Since that day browsing on Pinterest, these have been a true revelation that have really made my reading like a game - as if reading wasn't fun enough already.

I've undergone a much-needed down-size for 2015; while there are still three challenges, these are all 5x5 grids with 25 challenges a piece. Coupled with my overarching goal to read 100 books this year, I'm hoping this will be a slightly more achievable year, reading-wise.

The Challenges:

1. Romance RBC 2015
This one has seen the most radical transformation: reduced from 48 challenges to a mere 25. Included are all of the 12 challenges that I didn't complete in 2014, as well as a random mix of AAR Top 100 challenges, romance sub-genres, books by decade of publication and romance tropes - perfectly eclectic. I have a tendency to read a lot of historicals with a sprinkling of a few romantic suspenses on the side, but hopefully this will help me open up genre-wise. Fingers crossed that this will be a little more straightforward than 2014 with a lot less complaining about trying to fit everything in ...