September Wrap Up and October TBR| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

It's that time of the month were I talk about what books I read last month and what books I want to read this month. In September I read a total of 8 books, which I am really proud of as I think it is the most amount of books I have read in a month. I read 2 books for school and 6 for pleasure.
Warning- if you are subscribed to Fairyloot and have not received your box, I would advise you don't read the TBR section of this post as it spoils what the book is.

September Wrap Up

The first book I read in September was Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. This is the last book in the Percy Jackson series, I read the rest in August. I gave this book 5/5 stars. I won't go into detail as to why I like it as I don't want to spoil the story for you. I really liked how the series was tied up and getting to say goodbye to my favourite characters in a nice way.

The next book I read was Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth. I read this for school and I really enjoyed it. I gave it 5/5 stars. I'm not going to explain it myself but I am going to use a quote from the back of the book:

On St George's Day, the morning of the local country fair, Johnny "Rooster" Byron, local waster and modern-day Pied Piper, is a wanted man. The council officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his son wants to be taken to the fair, a father wants to give him a serious kicking, and a motley crew of mates want his ample supply of drugs and alcohol.

The next book I read was Carrie Hope Fletcher's debut fiction novel On The Other Side. This was my favourite book I read in September. I had the pleasure of meeting Carrie at one of her signings and I really enjoyed myself. She was so sweet. I gave this book 5/5 stars. I'm not going to go into too much detail as my review of this is going up on Monday (10/10/16). This book tugged at all the heart strings and made you feel every emotion under the sun. I would love a sequel or a spin off novel to this as I need more from this world.

Left to Right:
The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena

The next 3 books I read were the first 3 books in the Heroes of Olympus series also by Rick Riordan. I still have the last two books to read and when I have read those I will post a series review. I'm so glad I'm getting round to reading Rick Riordan's books. Again I won't go into any detail as these books do spoil things that happen in Percy Jackson. I gave The Lost Hero 5/5 stars, The Son of Neptune 4/5 stars and The Mark of Athena 4/5 stars.

The next book I read was Ross Poldark by Winston Graham. This is the first book in a twelve book series called Poldark. I have had this book on my shelf for over a year and have finally picked it up. I do have the TV tie in edition because I love the TV series so much. I gave it 4/5 stars and plan on reviewing it once I have read the next book. 

The final book I read I don't have a photo of because I forgot I read it and that it Listner by Lemn Sissay. I read this book for school and I gave it 3/5 stars. I'm not a huge fan of poetry and I just didn't enjoy reading this that much. There were some poems I enjoyed but the majority were not for me.  

October TBR

In October I plan on reading 14 books. I am reading 5 for school and 3 of them are short stories. The other 11 books I plan on reading are all for pleasure. 

The first 5 books I am going to talk about are books for school.

The first book I plan on reading in October is the poem The Raven by Edgar Alan Poe. I'm reading this as part of a series of spooky short stories in the run up to Halloween. I have to read these as part of an extra thing I do at school.

The next book I plan on reading is The Signal-Man by Charles Dickens. I'm actually excited to read this as my mum is always banging on about how good this is and now I'm finally reading it.

The next book I plan on reading is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. I have seen the film Sleepy Hollow and am assuming that this is what it is based off. I really liked the film, I remember watching it one Halloween after coming back from holiday.

The next book I have to read is Testing the Echo by David Edgar. This is a script that I have to read for one of my classes. I don't know much about this, so I am going to insert a quote from the book here:

Emma is a dedicated ESOL teacher (English for Speakers of Other Languages), teaching British citizenship to people from Somalia, Serbia, the Congo, India and Egypt. At the same time, Tetyana, Mahmood and Chong have their own, very different reasons for wanting to pass the citizenship test. As the Home Office worries away at the questions in the test, Emma faces a challenge to her deepest-held beliefs.

The final book I have to read for school is 1984 by George Orwell. I know that this was written in 1948 and is about the future.

This section isn't any particular order as I hope I get to all of these books. 

The first book I plan on reading is the Fairyloot September book and that is Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter. I am currently about half way through this book and am really enjoying it so far. It's a modern day retelling of Vassilla the Beautiful. It's set in New York and in the present day. There is a Fairyloot chat taking place on Saturday 15th October at 9pm BST on Twitter, so come join us as we won't be spoiling the book. 

The next books I plan on reading are the last two books in the Heroes of Olympus series: The House of Hades and The Blood of Olympus (which I don't own). I can't wait to finish this series and get started with the Trials of Apollo or maybe the Norse mythology series, I'm torn.

Next I plan on reading This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab/ V.E Schwab. This book came out this year and I managed to pick up a signed copy for my birthday book trip. I can't wait to read this as I have heard nothing but good things about it. 

After This Savage Song I want to read Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. I also picked this up for my birthday. I'm so glad I got the UK hardback as it is so pretty! I don't know much about this but I saw it floating around bookstagram and knew that I wanted to read it.

 The next book I plan on reading is Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs, this is a spin off/ tie in novel from the Miss Peregrines franchise. I'm in a Miss Peregrines mood after seeing the film so I have decided to pick this up. My copy is also signed.

The next book is also by Ransom Riggs and that is Library of Souls. I started this in July and put it down as I wasn't enjoying it, but now I've seen the movie I feel as though I might enjoy it this time. 

The next book I plan on reading is the fifth installment in Throne of Glass series. I really can't wait to get to this as I love this series so much. I've been putting it off as I want to recap the other 4 books as it was almost a year ago since I read them. Also my copy is signed.

 The final book I plan on reading is Demelza by Winston Graham. This is the second book in the Poldark series and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

So that concludes my September Wrap Up and October TBR, leave me a comment about some of the books you want to read this month.

Love,

Carenza x

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children Movie Review| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

As some of you may know, the Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children movie came out on September 30th. It's safe to say it is being talked about in the book community a lot. Some people all ready have their reviews out as they were invited to previews of the movie. Although I wasn't invited to see the movie early, I was lucky enough to go to a preview screening at my local cinema as part of a charitable event late on September 29th. It was one of the best decisions I have made. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and am 100% going to see it again. I have never reviewed a movie before but I thought that this would be a good place to start. The layout will be similar to my Book Reviews: non-spoiler thoughts,poster review, plot, character chat, differences from the book and opinions. If you want to read my Book Review of Miss Peregrines, click here.

Disclaimer

Just a quick disclaimer- in no way, shape or form am I saying that I know better than the people who made this movie. I am talking about as a book-movie adaptation, I am not trying to critique the cast and crew and say I know better because I don't.
Also this review contains spoilers for the books as well as the movie so if you haven't read the books I would advise you don't read this review.

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children Movie Review- Contains Spoilers 

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

I gave Miss Peregrines 4/5 stars as a movie and for accuracy I gave it 3.5/5 stars. There were a lot of changes from the book, some of which enhanced the story, others which made no sense and didn't add to the story. I went into this movie with high expectations and left feeling that most of my expectations had been met.

When I heard this was going to be a movie, TBH I thought here we go again, another failed book-movie adaptation. However once I heard that Tim Burton was going to be directing it, I immediately changed my opinion. I knew that this story was the perfect story for Tim Burton to turn into a movie. Then I saw who the cast were and I got thoroughly excited. We had the perfect director and cast for this fantastically spooky story.

Poster Review

I really like the poster as it shows you all of the peculiar children and Miss Peregrine protecting them. I think it links really nicely to the theme of the story. 

Plot

The first three quarters of the movie follow the plot of the book so I am going to explain the last quarter of the film as I am assuming most people who have seen the movie have read the books. 

So in the last quarter of the movie, the Peculiar children and Jacob have had to leave their loop in 1943 and are escaping to a loop in 2016 via a new loop. They arrive at Blackpool in 1943 and go through an abandoned ghost train ride on the pier. They are then transported to 2016 Blackpool in January. Jacob, Emma and the rest of the Peculiar children head over to were the Baron and the rest of the Hollows are keeping Miss Peregrine captive. They threaten the Baron and start a fight, which takes place on the pier. Enoch has brought back all the dead skeletons on the ship they used to travel from Wales and are now using them as an army. This is the scene where we see Tim Burton's cameo. Somehow the Peculiar children win and kill all the full blown Hollows. They then have to defeat the Hollows that look like people. We have a scene were chaos rains and Olive gets frozen. Emma uses her power to hold back the Baron but runs out of air, while this is happening Jacob is trying to free Miss Peregrine and the rest of the captured carers. The Baron slips in and transforms into Jacob. Emma and Enoch burst in and have to confront to Jacobs. They only find out that the Baron is Jacob when he reacts to being picked up by another Hollow and having his eyes eaten. Jacob frees Miss Peregrine but she is injured. The Peculiars head back to 1943 while Jacob stays in 2016. He travels back to Florida and finds his grandfather alive, who then persuades Jacob to go and find the Peculiar children. After some travelling he finds them. When he meets Emma, he tells her his story but she stops him and kisses him. From Blackpool Tower Miss Peregrine watches as they sail of on their adventures.   

Character Chat

I am going to talk about 4 characters from the movie and they are Jacob "Jake" Portman, Emma Bloom, Miss Peregrine and The Baron.

Jacob "Jake" Portman 

 

Asa Butterfield portrayed Jake in the movie. I think that he was the perfect person to play Jacob as this is what I imagined Jacob would look like when I read the books. I feel like in the movie we got to see more of Jacob's excitement about discovering the world of the peculiar's. I  felt like I could relate to Jacob a bit more in movie than in the book as the movie was set in 2016. There were lots of moments when you could tell that Jacob was an outsider and Asa did these scenes perfectly. I also loved how protective Jacob was of the children and you could tell that Asa had put a lot of effort into these scenes. I was very happy with his performance as Jacob and I really loved his on screen relationship with his dad. Chris O'Dowd (who played Jacob's father) and Asa's scenes were so funny, especially the scene were they see Miss Peregrine and Jacob starts shouting to her. I also loved his on screen relationship with his grandfather and Emma, they were very realistic scenes. 

Ella Purnell portrayed Emma Bloom in the movie. I had never heard of Ella Purnell before the movie so I was looking forward to seeing her performance. Most of you will know that Emma and Olive's powers were swapped, which is something I go into more detail later. I felt as though Emma in the movie didn't care when Abe died, but in the book she gets very upset. I also imagined Emma to be this fiery character and in the movie I felt as though she was too nice. Maybe this was something to do with the power swap, but I didn't like Emma as much in the movie as I did in the books. I still think that Ella was a fantastic Emma and I loved her on screen relationship with Asa as Jake.     

Eva Green portrayed Miss Peregrine in the movie. I know that Eva and Tim have worked together before and was really happy when I heard she had been cast as Miss Peregrine. She was fantastic as Miss Peregrine, defiantly more bad-ass than in the books but it's something I preferred. I also loved how she made her movements bird-like, I felt like this was a really nice and subtle touch to the character. Miss Peregrine in the movie was defiantly more in control of situations and almost dominated the scenes she was in. You could sense that her character really cared about the children she had to look after. I loved the scene when the Baron invaded the home and she was like "no you listen to me" and totally bossed Baron around. 

Samuel L Jackson portrayed The Baron in the movie. I was surprised when I heard they had cast Samuel as The Baron as in the books I felt as though he was a bit of a push over, I was never really scared of him. However, once I saw the movie my opinion changed. The costume and special effects/ costume and make up made The Baron look really scary. I really didn't like the white eyes as they freaked me out a bit. I loved how sassy Samuel made The Baron, I never imagined him as a sassy character but it really worked. 

Differences from the book

Obviously when we get a book to movie adaptation, there are bound to be changes. Some changes are for the better and enhance the story, others not so much. Here are some changes from the book to the movie and my opinions. This is in no particular order.

The Hollows eating children's eyes

I thought that this was a good change as it made the Hollows seem more scary. Also the way they ate the eyeballs was horrible. I liked the idea that if you ate enough eyeballs you became more "human"

Emma and Olive's power swap

I personally felt as though this swap was unnecessary. Emma and Olive are two great individuals, why did they need each others powers? Also when I imagined Olive I always saw her as a little girl rather than a teenager. The swap didn't add anything to the story.

Jacob's grandfather never dying

Again, I felt as though this was an odd decision. Abe plays a part in this story but his part is to introduce Jacob to the Peculiars. I felt as though him never dying was a bit of a paradox as if he hadn't died Jacob wouldn't have gone to the island and prevented his death.

Blackpool

This was a new addition to the story in which the last quarter of the movie in which Jacob and the Peculiars fought the hollows and one. I personally really liked this scene as it allowed us to see a lot of the Peculiars in a battle type situation. They got to show off their powers which was quite cool. Also Tim Burton had a cameo here, which was a nice touch.

Miss Peregrine's Recovery

At the end of the movie we see that the Peculiars have got Miss Peregrine back. This is a big inconsistency with the story of the next book as they spend most of the next book trying to get Miss Peregrine back. I would be interested to see where they take the Hollow City story line from here.

Opinions

As I said at the start of my review, I gave Miss Peregrines 4/5 stars as a movie and 3.5/5 stars for accuracy. I have to say that this was one of the best book-movie adaptations I have seen. It kept the main essence of the story which drew fans in while adding some new things. I couldn't have been happier with the cast as they portrayed the characters wonderfully. Yes some of the people they cast weren't the way I pictured them myself but I was still happy with them. I was so happy that Tim Burton directed this movie as he added his Gothic, crazy touches to this amazing story. I loved the humor in this film. There were moments when I laughed out loud which was something I didn't do while reading the book. Like I already mentioned, I especially loved the scene were Jacob and his father arrive in Wales and they see a Peregrine and Jacob starts shouting at it saying "Don't crap on us!". I will be honest, I am interested to see how they go into a second film if they make a second film as I feel like it would be hard to start the Hollow City story with where they left it. Overall I am very happy with this adaptation and I will definitely try and see it again in the cinema, I've also bought the companion book that goes along with the movie and tells you how they made the movie.      

Note: all pictures in this post are taken from Google and I do not own them/ take credit for them.

Book Review Monday- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany| It'sCarenzaB

Hey guys!
How are you?

Firstly (again) I want to apologies for not posting in a while. I recently moved house and I've only just got wifi after a month without it. Secondly, some of you might have seen in August that I accidentally published an unfinished review but this is my official review.

So if you've read one of my reviews before you will know that there is a certain layout to them, which goes like this: cover review, plot overview, character chat and opinions. But I've now decided to add a non-spoiler section so that people who haven't read the book can still read my review.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child Review- Contains Spoilers

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

When HP+TCC was published there was lots of controversy around it. Many of the fans were upset and didn't like the book as it wasn't written by JK Rowling. Lots of fans weren't happy that it was written in script format and that you don't get the same experience if you don't see the play.

I personally really enjoyed it, yes it was very different to the other 7 books in the Harry Potter world, but at least we finally got our questions answered. I was so happy to be able to reemerge myself in this world with something new. I enjoyed seeing our favourite characters all grown up and meeting new characters. I also enjoyed reading it in a different format and with help from other people (not just JK). There were moments that made you laugh and moments that made you cry, it brought back all the emotions from the Harry Potter books.

Cover Review

A photo taken from my Instagram

So this is the cover for HP+TCC. I really like it, it ties in the symbol above the theater in London (which I have a picture of and will put bellow)

I really like the gold foil on the cover as it makes it seem more special and magical. It also shows that this edition is the rehearsal script edition and that later on there will be a final version.

Plot Overview

What does Goodreads say?

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. 

Average rating on Goodreads; 3.86/5 (this statistic is taken from 190782 ratings and 35901 reviews)

HP+TCC starts where Deathly Hallows ended, at Platform 9 and 3/4. We now see Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny as adults with their children now attending Hogwarts. I really enjoyed how we had the dialogue from Deathly Hallows, it really linked HP+TCC to the rest of the Harry Potter world. We have our first dilemma that Albus is worried that he'll be sorted into Slytherin and Harry reassures him that it doesn't matter. We soon see that Albus has been sorted into Slytherin (no surprise, TBH) and is now friends with Scorpius Malfoy. We quickly skip through the first few years at Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Harry works at the Ministry and has been having funny dreams about Voldemort. We also see that Harry has been having lots of visits from Amos Diggory and his niece Delphi, as he is now an old man and wants some closure about his son's death. This is when we learn about a time turner that has escaped destruction. Albus and Harry argue about being related and end the argue saying they wish they weren't related to each other. This is when Albus teams up with Delphi and they decide to steal the time turner, which Hermione has hidden in a bookcase. We then go through a series of alternate time lines- Cedric Diggory loses the Triwizard tournament, Cedric becomes a Death Eater, Voldemort wins the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry dies, Albus doesn't exist, Ron and Hermione don't get married etc. Meanwhile Harry and Draco are panicking about were there children are. We have a really nice moment here were Draco opens up to Harry about his wife's death and his jealousy of Harry. We also have a scene were Harry confronts Dumbledore's portrait and says how angry he was that Dumbledore never told him anything and expected so much more from Harry. The news then gets leaked about the time turner and some how the boys get back to their parents. We also learn that Delphi is Bellatrix and Voldemort's daughter and she wants to meet her father. We then travel back to the night were Harry's parents die and they prevent Delphi meeting Voldemort and Harry is forced to watch his parents death's which is a very emotional scene. The final scene is were Albus and Harry make up.

That is my very quick summary of the plot for HP+TCC, if I missed anything out please let me know!    

Character Chat

I am only going to talk about 5 characters in this section and they are: Harry Potter, Albus Severus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and Delphi Diggory.

Harry Potter 

I really loved seeing Harry as an adult. We got to see him outside of Hogwarts and in a completely different light. It was nice getting to see him as a father and a husband. We get the sense that Harry had to grow up quickly and that the Battle of Hogwarts has effected him massively. We also get to see him as a tired Ministry employee and how he copes with his "fame". I really loved his and Albus' relationship by the end of the book as we can see that they have gone through so much and they now appreciate each other a tiny bit more. 

Albus Severus Potter

Albus is a character we saw very briefly at the end of Deathly Hallows and was a character I came to love. At first, I didn't like him because he was just so mean to Harry. I really didn't like the scene were he mocked Harry about his past with the Dursley's and his parents dying. I know that Harry's reaction was unacceptable, but he says to Albus that he knows how to get under his skin. I loved his relationship with Scorpius, you could see that they were "made for each other" and were really good friends. They would do anything for each other and that is what matters in a friendship.

Scorpius Malfoy

Scorpius was a new character that we only got a tiny mention in Deathly Hallows and was my favourite character in HP+TCC. He was so funny and nerdy, the perfect character in my opinion. He was the perfect friend for Albus. I felt so sorry for him as there were all the rumors that he was Voldemort's son and then his mum died and I could have cried! I just wanted to cuddle him in every scene and let him know that he was loved. I got the feeling that him and Draco weren't close, which we saw in one of the alternate worlds.

Draco Malfoy

I loved Draco as an adult. I personally always liked Draco as I felt he was a misinterpreted character. He does all of the terrible things he does to save his family and prove himself to them. I think he would have turned out better if he hadn't been rejected by Harry. The scene were he admitted he was jealous of the Golden Trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione) was so heart breaking. It made me wish that we had got to see Draco differently in the books. I loved how he worked with Harry to find their sons. 

Delphi Diggory

Again, Delphi is a new character that we only have in HP+TCC. Immediately I got the sense that Delphi wasn't to be trusted by some of her actions and things she says. I didn't like the fact that she was Bellatrix and Voldemort's daughter. I kinda felt that her character was a bit unnecessary.   

Opinions

I personally really enjoyed HP+TCC. I was so happy to be back in this world that has been a huge part of my life. It was amazing to be able to see our favourite characters all grown up. Yes this book had its flaws, but so does every book. You have to remember that this is a play not a book. I think that at lot of people didn't like it because we hadn't seen these characters between the books so it was hard to accept them the way they were.

I was so happy that Harry's childhood traumas were addressed and that he finally admitted he was traumatized. It's something that I wished we had more of in the series. I also loved Albus and Scorpius's relationship! They were so sweet and genuinely cared for each other. Also, Scorpius is so sweet and such a big nerd! I love him as a character and want to know more about it. Some lines in the book were lines I could see JK writing, for example the scene were Harry and Draco are dueling at Harry's house and Draco says "keep up old man!" and Harry replies "Draco, we're the same age" and Draco says" yes, but I wear it better!" Those were some classic Draco-Harry lines. There was also a lot of humor from Ron, my favourite line of his "Nothing scares me. Apart from mum", again we have another classic example of a Ron line. I loved seeing the alternate worlds if certain things happened, I found that very interesting. My favourite part was a flashback were Hagrid goes and takes Harry from his parents house and says "Hello, my name is Hagrid and I'm going to be your best friend now" That honestly made my heart melt and I want to give Hagrid a hug because he is so cute. 

Some things I wasn't happy with was the idea that Bellatrix and Voldemort had a child together. I just always assumed that Voldemort was too proud to have a child. I also didn't like the scene were Albus mocks Harry for his past, yes I get it that Albus feels ashamed to have a famous father but Harry NEVER asked to be famous and that scene was so hard to read as it made me quite upset. There were also a lot of plot holes and things from the Harry Potter universe that had been changed for the play, which annoyed me slightly but they were things I could overlook.

Overall I gave Harry Potter and The Cursed Child 4/5 stars and I hope one day I can go see the play as I am quite interested to see how they did some of the special effects.

Love,

Carenza x     

    

Top 10 Authors| It'sCarenzaB

Hey guys!
How are you?

Today I thought I'd share with you my Top 10 favourite authors as I find these types of post really interesting. These authors are my current favourites and at some point this will change. I have ranked these authors backwards, so it will start at 10 and finish at 1, I hope you like this post!

10) Jenifer Niven

The reason I put Jenifer Niven on this list was because I really enjoyed her book All The Bright Places. Yes, the book has some huge flaws and doesn't portray mental health how it actually is, but this book does make people aware about mental health. I read All The Bright Places in July 2015 and really enjoyed it. It was a nice fun read and it does make you care about the main characters.

9) Victoria Schwab (also known as VE Schwab)

I'll be honest, I've only read one VE Schwab book, but it was such a good book! Victoria Schwab writes about such unusual ideas and comes up with such amazing characters, it's impossible not to fall in love with her writing style. Also she throws in plot twists that no one sees coming. I really want to read more from her, especially the Darker Shade of Magic series as I have heard nothing but good reviews about it.

8) Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan makes it on to the list for his Percy Jackson series, which I am currently marathoning. Having read the first book about 2 years ago, I was eager to continue with the series, but it wasn't until December 2015 that I bought the rest of the books. I'm currently reading the thrid book and really enjoying it. Though these books are aimed at people younger than myself, they do actually teach you about Greek Mythology and I have learned quite a bit from these books.

7) Maggie Stievfater

I have put Maggie Stievfater on here for her Raven Cycle series as I really liked it. I have only read the first two books, but I can't wait to read the thrid one as it focuses on my favourite character Blue. A few years ago, I did try to read The Wolves of Mercy Fall  but ended up giving up, but now I am more determined to go and read more of her books. Once I've finished the Raven Cycle, I do plan on doing a series review on here.

6) Carrie Hope Fletcher

Having watched Carrie's YouTube channel for around 3 years, I knew I would love her books. I haven't read her most recent one as I am meeting her at a book signing and I get my copy then.  In her other book, All I Know Now, she writes like she's having a conversation with you and I really liked that. She gave you small insights into her own life and made each story relavent to the topic of the chapter.

5) John Green

We are now into the top 5!

John Green had to feature on this list, as his books were some of the first contempary books I have read. My favourites are defintly The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska. Although his books are somewhat similar, they all have their own unique twists. I hope in the future he writes more books as I would love to read something new from him.

4) Ransom Riggs

Again, another author that had to feature on this list. I read the first book in the Miss Peregrines series in a very short amount of time in February and I loved it. I am so glad that it is going to be turned into a film as it is being directed by Tim Burton. The use of old photographs does add something to the stories, though sometimes it does feel like he is adding photos which have no relavence to the actual plot. I haven't finised this series, I actually decided to put down the third book because I wasn't enjoying it as much as the other two.

3) Sarah J Maas

Is it any surprise that Sarah J Maas is on this list? I really love her books and have yet to find a book of hers that I don't like. I have to say that I do prefer the A Court of Thornes and Roses series to her Throne of Glass series. Her books are definitly not YA, they are more New Adult as they do have some very steamy moments (especially ACOMAF). But both series have series bad-ass heroines, which I really like. I can't wait to read Empire of Storms which comes out on September 5th. 

2) Cassandra Clare

Again, is it any surprise that Cassandra Clare is on this list? Probably not. I have been reading Cassandra Clare books for 3 years now and I love every single one she has released. My favourite series of hers is The Infernal Devices, but I do have a lot of love for her other series. Her books are so beautifully written and the characters are just beyond beautiful, I wish they were real. This year I have bought 10 Cassandra Clare books (9 of which are repurchases for the new US covers).

If you want to read my Lady Midnight Review, click here

1) J K Rowling

Obviously, JK Rowling has to be number one on this list. Harry Potter was such a huge part of my childhood, that I couldn't not feature it on this list. Harry Potter will always be a part of my life, I read them when I was little and I fell in love. I can't even count the amount of times I have read Harry Potter or watched the movies. The books always make me happy and I will never get bored of them. They just have a huge sentimental value to me.

So that was it for today's post, I hope you guys liked it. All my social media links are in a tab called About Me, leave a comment saying who you're favourite authors are.

Carenza x 

Tsum Tsum Collection 2016| It'sCarenzaB

Hey guys!
How are you?
So this is my very first blog post since May and I thought I'd do something fun and something I have wanted to do for a while was a Tsum Tsum collection. If you've followed my blog for a while, then you will know I have an unhealthy addiction to Tsum Tsum. If you're sat, reading this thinking "what are Tsum Tsums?", I'll fill you in.

Tsum Tsums (meaning stack stack in Japanese)  are a Disney toy that originated in Japan. Due to there popularity, they were introduced in the UK and the USA. They are bean bag sized toys and every month, Disney releases two  collections- one Disney themed and one Marvel/Star Wars themed. I will link a really cool blog that is dedicated to Tsum Tsum here.

I have been collecting Tsum Tsum since May 2015 and it's safe to say, my collection has grown quite a bit. So if you're interested in Tsum Tsum and all things Japan, then this post is for you.

Classics

Micky Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eyore, Piglet and Marie

This was the first set of Tsums I bought (bar Minnie), I bought these in May 2015 on a trip to Blackpool. It was a very rainy day and I was ill, so I decided to treat myself to my first ever Tsums. These might be my favourites as they were my first ever ones I bought and have sentimental value.

101 Dalmatians

Cruella de Vil and Patch

So this is my very small collection of the 101 Dalmatians set. I have Cruella de Vil and Patch, but there are also two other dogs in this set but I quite like having one dog.

Aladdin

Top Row: Aladdin and Jasmine
Bottom Row: Genie, Raj and Iago

From this set I am missing The Sultan, Jaffar and Abu. I really love this set as Aladdin is one of my favourite Disney movies and they captured the characters so well.

Alice in Wonderland

White Rabbit and Mad Hatter

So I am missing loads from this set and I haven't been able to find them. The one I want to find the most is the Cheshire Cat as he is so cute. I love the Mad Hatter as he does look really mad!

Avengers

Iron Man, Captain America and Spider Man 

Again, I am missing some from this set, but the ones I do have I really like. I think Captain America is my favourite because I love that he has his shield.

Cinderella

Figaro (he's from Pinocchio but I accidentally put him in the Cinderella set)
Fairy Godmother, Jaq and Lucifer 

So in this photo I accidentally included Figaro from Pinocchio- oops!

But this set is also one of my smaller ones, the Fairy Godmother is from eBay and the other two are from Clintons, which is a really good place to buy Tsum Tsum.

Frozen

Top Row: Sven and Olaf
Bottom Row: Kristoff, Anna and Hans

I am only missing one from this set and that is Elsa. My favourite from this set has to be Sven because he looks so cute and is really cheeky!

Guardians of the Galaxy

Top Row: Peter Quill/Star Lord and Gamora
Bottom Row: Groot, Rocket and Drax

This is a set were I have all the characters! My favourite is Groot because of his tree hair quiff and they all look amazing! Usually Tsums are really squishy, but these ones are quite dense.

Lion King

Top Row: Pumba and Timon
Bottom Row: Rafiki, Muffasa and Zazu

I am missing some from this set and I got these from Clintons. I really wish I had the whole set as Lion King is one of my favourite Disney movies ever. Rafiki and Pumba are from the Disney store.

Little Mermaid 

Ursula and Flounder 

Again, a set were I am missing quite a few. Can we take a moment to appreciate how cute Flounder is? Also Ursula has little octopi feet! I love the attention to detail.

Nightmare Before Christmas

Top Row: Sally, Jack Skellington, Zero
Bottom Row: Lock, Barrel, Shock and Vampire Teddy

This is a set were I have almost all of them, the only one I am missing is Sandy Clause. I love them so much as this was one of the first sets I got. Zero is definatlly my favourite.

Odds'n'Sods

Baymax and Dumbo

So these are Tsums that don't have any other Tsums in their sets. Figaro should also be here as I forgot to put him in this photo. They're both so cute and I really want to watch Big Hero Six now I have a Baymax Tsum.

Peter Pan

Top Row:  Tic Toc Croc and John Darling
Bottom Row: Peter Pan, Micheal Darling and Mr Smee

This is a set that is almost complete as I only have 3 more Tsums to collect. My favourite is John Darling because his hat is so big and it makes me laugh.

Snow White

Doc, Grumpy and Dopey  

This is a set were I am missing quite a few, but I love the ones I have as they are all adorable. I do have to admit that I love Dopey the most.

Star Wars

Top Row: Chewbacca and Han Solo
Bottom Row: Darth Vader, Yoda, R2D2 and C3PO

This has to be one of the coolest sets out there as it has all the classic Star Wars characters. I love the droids as they are made of this really shiny material, but Chewie is my favourite because he is so fluffy! Also Yoda has fluff behind his ears, which is really cool.

Toy Story 

Stinky Pete, Buzz Lightyear and Lotso  

This is the final set I have and one of my smallest. I actually bought Buzz recently from Asda as I had been looking for it for a while.

So that is the end of this post, I hope you guys liked it. Also I have a quick announcement and that is that I have decided to make Book Review Monday a weekly feature instead of a biweekly feature. I can't wait to improve my reviews and this means that at the end of the month, I can do a discussion on my YouTube of my favourite book of the month.

All my social media links are in the page called About Me, so if you want to follow me on Instagram or Twitter you can find out my name there.

Love,

Carenza x

I'M BACK| It'sCarenzaB

Hello!
So I am back! Woohoo! If you don't follow me on my social media (@itscarenzab) then you won't know that I had problems logging into my gmail I used for this blog but anyway I somehow fixed this and I am back blogging! I will start blogging properly next week, with all my old usual posts.
I'll just do a super quick update now:
So in June I finished my GCSE's which was a really intense experience and since then I have been doing lots of fun things to make up for the time I spent working! I started my YouTube Channel in June as well, click here to check it out! But a quick warning, blog posts might be a bit sparse over then next few months as I am moving house at the end of this month which is super exciting!
I'm so happy to be back blogging again as I have had loads of cool ideas which I can now share with you guys!
Thank you for standing by me while this happened and understanding!
Love,
Carenza x