Synopsis: I live in a world without magic or miracles. A place where there are no clairvoyants or
shapeshifters, no angels or superhuman boys to save you. A place where people die and music disintegrates and things suck. I am pressed so hard against the earth by the weight of reality that some days I wonder how I am still able to lift my feet to walk.

Pages: 448

Rating: 10/10

The long and short of it: Don't let the possibly misleading title put you off, because this is a stunning book about lost and broken souls relearning how to love again. A definite new favourite!

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Another week has flown by and it is time for Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

This week is a half-year review of the books we've read so far.

1. The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay
2. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
3. Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb
4. The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth
5. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
6. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
7. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
8. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
9. VIII by H.M. Castor
10. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis: Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-
crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love – and just how hard it pulled you under.

Pages: 325

Rating: 8/10

Overall: On the face of it, Eleanor & Park is a love story set in the mid-80s, and to be honest, that is the heart of it as well. Nostalgia runs rife alongside overflowing cuteness.

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It's been a while since I've done a Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish, as I've been on holiday (which was amazing) and since getting back have been getting back into the swing of real life.

This week's topic, appropriately enough, is:

• Suddenly Royal by Nicole Chase. This looks like the perfect summer read. Like The Princess Diaries but for grown-ups!
• Flat Out Love by Jessica Park. A straight-forward love story to wile away these long summer (possibly not summery) days.
• Pharmacology by Christopher Herz. While this may sound like a text book, the book description assures me it's not. I kind of had to get this seeing as I studied Pharmacology at university. It looks like an interesting story set against the backdrop of the drugs industry.
• The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. The sequel to City of Bones, which I have just reviewed. This also includes all the other sequels in this series. I like to complete series, although I did enjoy the first one anyway.
• The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth. A companion to The Etymologicon, which I have high hopes for. This feeds my lust for language.
• Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. After all the Oscar excitement for the film, I'm intrigued to see what all the fuss is about.
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Technically I'm reading it now, but I consider it right at the top of the TBR list... I've heard a lot of good things about the book, so I want to see if it'll live up to its own hype.
• A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin. I'm making my way through the A Song of Ice and Fire, and I've just finished A Clash of Kings, so onwards and upwards!
• Struck by Lightning by Chris Colfer. Well, this is waiting to be read as soon as I've finally get to see the film... So hopefully before the end of the summer.
• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Still reading this, and I imagine I'll still be reading it by the end of the summer!

Synopsis: When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder—much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. And she’s more than a little startled when the body disappears into thin air. Soon Clary is introduced to the world of the Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of warriors dedicated to driving demons out of our world and back to their own. And Clary is introduced with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a grotesque monster. How could a mere human survive such an attack and kill a demon? The Shadowhunters would like to know…

Pages: 485

Rating: 7/10

Overall: I imagine, had I never read Harry Potter, I would have loved this book. It has all the ingredients necessary for it to be a book I love: action, plot twists, supernatural stuff, bit of romance... but there were too many moments which smacked of similar ones in Harry Potter and others to fully immerse myself.

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