December Wrap-Up and First TBR for 2019!



I hope you guys are having a great 2019 so far! 

December was a wonderful month. My best friend visited from South Africa for three weeks which was amazing. We went to London, Oxford and the Cotswolds. We made so many wonderful memories and ate a LOT of amazing chocolate! However, because she was here for three weeks, I had virtually no time for reading. I was also quite busy with Christmas time, meeting up with friends, going to places and all that. HOWEVER, three of the four books were really good, so no complaints there.

On New Year's Eve we went to London which was so much fun! I went to Foyles bookstore, and it was SO BEAUTIFUL. I may have got tears in my eyes haha! Their YA selection was HUGE. I could've spent hours in there. I'm thinking of going back for my birthday and going on a lil shopping spree! 

I'm looking forward to January. Although I love Christmas time, it throws me out of my normal routine which I find kiiind of unsettling. I'm looking forward to having a regular routine again. I'm also reaaaally hoping I get a job this month! FINGERS CROSSED. I can't believe how hard it is finding work! 

January is also my dad's birthday, so that'll be fun. 

It's also my last month of being a teenager, which freaks me out muchly. I hope it's a good one! 

Evolution (Dark Matter #3)My Lady Jane: The Not Entirely True StoryLIFEL1K3 (Lifelike, #1)Quarks, Chaos and Christianity: Questions to Science and Religion

Evolution - | My Lady Jane - | LIFEL1K3 - | Quarks, Chaos and Christianity

I finished Evolution, which was a fabulous end to a fabulous trilogy. My Lady Jane was SO GOOD. I had high expectations and they were met. Jane and Glifford were adorable. The humour was brilliant and the magical spin on history was fabulous! LIFEL1K3 was also really good. It took me around 50 pages to get into it, but then I got so into it I finished it in one sitting. I also read a Christian non-fiction book, but I didn't agree with quite a few things, so it only got 3 stars from me! 


These all sound SO GOOD. 

We have...

1. Spinning Thorns
Sleeping Beauty has woken.
The world has been renewed.
Everyone is living happily ever after . . .
Almost.
Sharp, blood-seeking thorns still surround the castle. A feud remains between those who wield magic and those who were subjected to it. And while the kingdom is divided against itself, nothing can thrive.
A rebellion may be needed - and that's where Sleeping Beauty's daughter comes in . . . 
A Sleeping Beauty retelling featuring Sleeping Beauty's daughter?! YES, PLEASE.

2. The Queen's Rising
When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.
Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.
Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.
With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?
We all love a good political fantasy! 

3. Light Years
Reeling from the latest attack by a mysterious enemy, the Quatra Fleet Academy is finally admitting students from every planet in the solar system after centuries of exclusivity.
Hotshot pilot Vesper, an ambitious Tridian citizen, dreams of becoming a captain - but when she loses her spot to a brilliant, wisecracking boy from the wrong side of the asteroid belt, it makes her question everything she thought she knew. Growing up on the toxic planet Deva, Cormak will take any chance he can get to escape his dead-end life and join the Academy - even if he has to steal someone's identity to do it. Arran was always considered an outsider on icy Chetire, always dreaming of something more than a life working in the mines. Now an incoming cadet, Arran is looking for a place to belong - he just never thought that place would be in the arms of a Tridian boy. And Orelia is hiding a dark secret - she's infiltrated the Academy to complete a mission, one that threatens the security of everyone there. But if anyone finds out who she really is, it'll be her life on the line.
These cadets will have to put their differences aside and become a team to defend their world from a cunning enemy - but the danger might be lurking closer to home than they think...

I kind of want to read ALL THE SCI-FI lately.

4. Killer T
Our world is about to change in ways we can barely imagine. KILLER T is a novel about growing up in that world. 
Harry and Charlie are teenagers whose lives are shaped by a society that's shifting around them. He is a lonely Brit in his first term at a Las Vegas high school. She is an unlikely friend, who gets accused of mixing a batch of explosives that blew up a football player.
The two of them are drawn together at a time when gene editing technology is starting to explode. With a lab in the garage anyone can beat cancer, enhance their brain to pass exams, or tweak a few genes for that year-round tan and perfect beach body. But in the wrong hands, cheap gene editing is the most deadly weapon in history. Killer T is a synthetic virus with a ninety per-cent mortality rate, and the terrorists who created it want a billion dollars before they'll release a vaccine.
Terrifying. Romantic. Huge in scope. A story for our times.
I really enjoy books about genes and viruses and all that stuff - it's so interesting to read about! 

5. A Taxonomy of Love
The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it’s . . . something at first sight. He knows she’s special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of “friend” gets messier, too.
Through sibling feuds and family tragedies, new relationships and broken hearts, the two grow together and apart, and Spencer, an aspiring scientist, tries to map it all out using his trusty system of taxonomy. He wants to identify and classify their relationship, but in the end, he finds that life doesn’t always fit into easy-to-manage boxes, and it’s this messy complexity that makes life so rich and beautiful.
THIS SOUNDS SO FREAKING CUTE. MY HEART.

6. Where I Live
Linden Rose has a big secret--she is homeless and living in the halls of her small-town high school. Her position as school blog editor, her best friends, Ham and Seung, and the promise of a future far away are what keep Linden under the radar and moving forward.
But when cool-girl Bea comes to school with a bloody lip, the damage hits too close to home. Linden begins looking at Bea's life, and soon her investigation prompts people to pay more attention. And attention is the last thing she needs.
Linden knows the only way to put a stop to the violence is to tell Bea's story and come to terms with her own painful past. Even if that means breaking her rules for survival and jeopardizing the secrets she's worked so hard to keep.
I think this is going to break my heart, but I am here for it. 

7. By A Charm & A Curse
Le Grand’s Carnival Fantastic isn’t like other traveling circuses. It’s bound by a charm, held together by a centuries-old curse, that protects its members from ever growing older or getting hurt. Emmaline King is drawn to the circus like a moth to a flame…and unwittingly recruited into its folds by a mysterious teen boy whose kiss is as cold as ice.
Forced to travel through Texas as the new Girl in the Box, Emmaline is completely trapped. Breaking the curse seems like her only chance at freedom, but with no curse, there’s no charm, either—dooming everyone who calls the Carnival Fantastic home. Including the boy she’s afraid she’s falling for. 
Everything—including his life—could end with just one kiss.
MAGICAL CIRCUSES. POWERFUL KISSES. CURSES. AHHH. 
8. The Glass Spare
A banished princess.A deadly curse.A kingdom at war.
Wil Heidle, the only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father—whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war—Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance.
Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone. At first Wil is horrified—but as she tests its limits, she’s drawn more and more to the strange and volatile ability. When it leads to tragedy, Wil is forced to face the destructive power within her and finally leave her home to seek the truth and a cure.
But finding the key to her redemption puts her in the path of a cursed prince who has his own ideas for what to do with her power.
With a world on the brink of war and a power of ultimate destruction, can Wil find a way to help the kingdom that’s turned its back on her, or will she betray her past and her family forever? 
The rating isn't that great on Goodreads, but it sounds so good?? I HOPE I LOVE IT. 

9. Olivia Twist
Olivia Brownlow is no damsel in distress. Born in a workhouse and raised as a boy among thieving London street gangs, she is as tough and cunning as they come. When she is taken in by her uncle after a caper gone wrong, her life goes from fighting and stealing on the streets to lavish dinners and soirees as a debutante in high society. But she can’t seem to escape her past … or forget the teeming slums where children just like her still scrabble to survive.
Jack MacCarron rose from his place in London’s East End to become the adopted “nephew” of a society matron. Little does society know that MacCarron is a false name for a boy once known among London gangs as the Artful Dodger, and that he and his “aunt” are robbing them blind every chance they get. When Jack encounters Olivia Brownlow in places he least expects, his curiosity is piqued. Why is a society girl helping a bunch of homeless orphan thieves? Even more intriguing, why does she remind him so much of someone he once knew? Jack finds himself wondering if going legit and risking it all might be worth it for love.
Olivia Twist is an innovative reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale Oliver Twist, in which Olivia was forced to live as a boy for her own safety until she was rescued from the streets. Now eighteen, Olivia finds herself at a crossroads: revealed secrets threaten to destroy the “proper” life she has built for her herself, while newfound feelings for an arrogant young man she shouldn’t like could derail her carefully laid plans for the future.
I haven't read the original Oliver Twist (DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT, I'll get around to it. Soon.) This sounds so amazing and I AM EXCITED.
10. Beyond the Darkened ShoreThe ancient land of Éirinn is mired in war. Ciara, Princess of Mide, has never known a time when Éirinn’s kingdoms were not battling for power, or Northmen were not plundering their shores. 
The people of Mide have thankfully always been safe because of Ciara’s unearthly ability to control her enemies’ minds and actions. But lately, a mysterious crow has been appearing to Ciara, whispering warnings of an even darker threat. Although her clansmen dismiss her visions as pagan nonsense, Ciara fears this coming evil will destroy not just Éirinn, but the entire world. 
Then the crow leads Ciara to Leif, a young Northman leader. Leif should be Ciara’s enemy, but when Ciara discovers that he, too, shares her prophetic visions, she knows he’s something more. Leif is mounting an impressive army, and with Ciara’s strength in battle the two might have a chance to save their world. 
With evil rising around them, they’ll do what it takes to defend the land they love…even if it means making the greatest sacrifice of all.
THIS SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A GREAT FANTASY STORY. *_*
11. Ink, Iron, and Glass
Can she write a world gone wrong?
A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother―a noted scriptologist―constantly alters and expands their reality.
But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology―and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.
In this thrilling debut, worlds collide as Elsa unveils a deep political conspiracy seeking to unlock the most dangerous weapon ever created―and only she can stop it.
POLITICAL CONSPIRACIES.. WRITING WORLDS INTO EXISTENCE. CUTE LOVE INTEREST. YAS. 

These all sound SO GOOD! I'm so excited to read all of these! Have you read any of these?