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Ellie 🌻🌸 (she/her)

@ellsbookshelf

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2025 BOOKS

So I asked my partner to pick me 12 books that he thinks I should read this year and this is his selection.

Can’t say I’m too over the moon with it 🤣 I am of course very excited for Betty and White Chrysanthemum, but much less excited for Villette and How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.

Oh well, at least it’s going to help me pick up books I wouldn’t have otherwise and I’ve owned some of these for a very long time.

Have you read any? Do you think Will’s been harsh with his choices? by @ellsbookshelf

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2 years ago

🎄 What I got for Christmas 🎄

I am so happy with the books I was given as Christmas presents! I also got a new colorsoft kindle and I love it so much.

I read My Brilliant Friend in November and adored it so I got the rest of the quartet by Elena Ferrante.

I haven’t read any of the Poppy War books yet but I now have the full series so I’m ready to start, really looking forward to these!

Orbital and God of The Woods just sound so good and I want to start them both immediately.

Also, how cute are these 20 minute candles? A way to set a timer without it being on your phone so you can put it away and do something for yourself, can’t wait to use these.

Has anyone read any of these and recommends I start them as soon as possible?

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas too 🎅🏼 by @ellsbookshelf

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2 years ago

✨💫 5 star predictions! 💫✨

I’ve seen all of these getting lots of love on booksta so I’m hoping that I love them just as much!

Especially Ready Player One, I’ve seen so many people rave about this one and it sounds just like something I would really enjoy so I’m very much looking forward to it.

Or I will totally jinx it by putting them in this post and now I’m expecting them to be 5 stars, they won’t live up to my extremely high expectations 🤣

Have you read any of these? Did you give any of them 5 stars? by @ellsbookshelf

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4 years ago

✨ Last, Now, Next ✨

Last - The Knife Of Never Letting Go. Absolutely loved this, one of my favourite reads of the year. It is YA so in some places was a bit basic and repetitive, but overall the story was so good and I can’t wait to read the second one. Really recommend this to anyone who loves The Hunger Games books!

Now - Piranesi. Also loving this. I’ve never read a book before that I had no clue what the hell was going on but it was still enjoyable. Almost done with this one and I just don’t want it to end. Ignore the ugly library sticker on the front!

Next - Dune. I’m scared by this. I loved the film and I’ve already seen in 3 times so I’m hoping I can go into it with some knowledge already which may help but it’s so intimidating!

What are you currently reading? What is your favourite book of the year so far? by @ellsbookshelf

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4 years ago

Sunset - Jessie Cave ⭐️⭐️.5

Ruth and Hannah are sisters, they often go on holiday together but during one holiday, Hannah dies in a tragic accident. Ruth is left to try and navigate her grief and learn to live in a world where Hannah is no longer alive.

I was so excited when this got picked for book club because it sounded like my thing completely, however, I really didn't love it the way I thought I would.

I know this is an unpopular opinion because most people in book club really enjoyed this but I just found it to be repetitive and sometimes boring. Ruth did some really questionable things which I understand were used to highlight her grief, but some of it I just couldn't get on board with.

I know that I'm extremely fortunate to have not experienced the loss of a sibling like Ruth so maybe it's just hard for me to understand certain things, but I found a lot of this book to just be unbelievable, like how they basically lived in a room in a storage unit for a few nights? I just can't see this happening in real life. I also just didn't believe in the parent's reactions to Hannah dying at all and found all of the characters to be really unlikeable.

That being said, there wasn't anything in particular that I didn't like about this book, I just didn't love it. Most people seem to though so don’t let my review put you off! by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago

The Soulmate Equation - Christina Lauren ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When this got picked as November's pick for @tequilamockingbirdbookclubb I was not looking forward to it! I had decided that I didn’t like romance books after hating every second of 'One Day' (sorry as I know some people love it!!!). I just decided that I found romance books quite boring and they weren’t for me.

When I finally picked this up after putting it off for so long I was SHOCKED by how quickly I got through it and didn't hate it?!

I had some issues with some of the names (River and Fizzy) and the concept I thought sounded so stupid. But it was so easy to read, not too cringey and exactly what I needed after reading a lot of long hard books beforehand!

This took me by such surprise that I'm now not fully sworn off romance, I still don't know if I'm a fan as I haven't read enough of it, but I am going to get stuck into more romance books in 2022 to give the genre a go. Sometimes an easy read that makes you feel happy is exactly what you need, reading is all about having fun right?!

So, although this wasn't my favourite book ever, I am looking forward to reading more romance, more of Christina Lauren's books and being more open minded about what I read and picking up what feels right at the time rather than what I 'planned' to read! So this book definitely made an impact on me! by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago

January Wrap Up!

I had such a mixed month in Jan, some books I loved, some I hated and there was such a variety of ratings, but no 5 stars yet…

I’m still too angry about The Maidens to think about writing a review for it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Persuasion - Jane Austen
A Storm of Swords (part 1) - George R R Martin
Conversations With Friends - Sally Rooney

⭐️⭐️⭐️
New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
Circe - Madeleine Miller

⭐️⭐️.5
Sunset - Jessie Cave

⭐️
The Maidens - Alex Michaelides (Kindle)

Does anyone else always read more in January than any other month?! I love starting the New Year slowly and reading lots by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago

Conversations With Friends - Sally Rooney ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay so I really didn't think I was going to like this one. I read Normal People quite a while ago so can't really remember if I liked it or if I just liked the tv adaptation, then BWWAY came out and I had zero urge to read it.

BUT there was so much Rooney hype that I thought instead I would give CWF a go so picked it up from the library and it blew me away.

Don't get me wrong, there were things I didn't like about it, hence not being 5 stars, in particular I did not like the characters at all! Literally none of them. I've heard so many people say Rooney writes relatable characters but I found pretty much all of them to be self-absorbed and narcissistic, but something about the way that Rooney wrote this story had me hooked.

Maybe it was because I had low expectations? Maybe it's because I actually read very little contemporary stories of young people with complicated relationships, but something just WORKED, I felt so much for Frances' inability to communicate how she was feeling and the upset she put herself through by not being able to openly communicate.

Also, hated that a man in his 30s and a female in her early 20s were emailing? It's just not realistic and neither is a fully grown intelligent man not using capital letters in said emails...

Should I read BWWAY? What is your favourite Sally Rooney book? by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago

BOOKS I WISH I HAD TIME FOR IN 2021 📚✨💫

I didn’t get round to these books this year but I so wish I had! So obviously these are highly anticipated for 2022!

I’m especially excited for Dune but also quite intimidated by it, same with Circe.

Have you read any of these? Any tips on where to start? by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago

The Christmas Escape - Sarah Morgan

Family drama, at Christmas, in Lapland? Sounds great!

Unfortunately, this one was just okay for me. I loved the Christmassy setting, especially reading it so close to Christmas. The Lapland setting was amazing and I can't stop thinking about going there in the Winter. The reindeers, meeting Santa, hot chocolates, log cabins and Christmas Trees all sounded amazing.

I really enjoyed the Alix and Zac storyline! But, didn't love the Christy storylines. I understand that a lot of people love this book for the friendship between Alix and Christy but I just didn't, I've read so much better friendships in other books, it was predictable, annoying and a bit boring.

I am really glad I read it though, it was quick and easy, very Christmassy and perfect for this time of year. by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago

The Chalet - Catherine Cooper

I'm not the biggest fan of thrillers but I really enjoyed this one! It was fairly predictable but I still found it so easy to read and quick to get through.

I loved the multiple timelines and multiple perspectives. I especially liked that you start off not knowing who some of the perspectives are and then they get revealed throughout the story. I didn't enjoy the child's perspective as it was sooo basic and quite easy to guess who it was!

There were a few twists in this which I really enjoyed, I saw some coming and couldn't have guessed others which was great and overall I enjoyed, I think this is such a great wintery read! by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago

A Clash of Kings - Geroge R.R. Martin

I'm not even going to try and sum up the storyline of this book, firstly because I don't want to give any spoilers for the first book, but also there is SO much going on, how on earth do you explain it all?!

Ohhhh wow. I thought I loved the first book in the series (Game of Thrones) but I loved this even more!!

This is a huge book at nearly 900 pages but it never dragged and I never got bored of the storyline.

For those that don't know, these books are told from multiple different perspectives and there are a LOT of characters. My favourite characters in this book really changed from the first one. In book 1 I loved Daenerys, but in this book it felt like Martin couldn't be bothered to think of a storyline for her?! I also loved Tyrion in the first book but found him a bit creepy in this one...

My favourites from this book were Arya (absolute queen!!), Sansa, Jon (always), Theon and Catelyn (my worst from the first book). Even Bran's chapters weren't bad.

I'm reading these with @lockdown.reads and I've seen the series so know what's going to happen next but Hannah doesn't and I'm scared for what's going to happen to Theon but can't wait for Hannah's reaction to it! by @ellsbookshelf

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5 years ago