Books

I've decided to create a new page to share with you all of my favourite books, the one I've read and the ones I wish to read.
My list includes the books' ratings from Goodreads. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I did!
P.S I've also decided to share with you my not so favourite books and what I think about each of these books.
Enjoy!

The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
4/5 - Goodreads

Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian’s beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied and amoral experiences; all the while his portrait ages and records every soul-corrupting sin.

This is probably my favourite classic ever! It took me time to read but that was mainly due to the fact that I didn't want it to finish. I was quite sad when it ended. I think i'm going to read it again!

And Then There Were None
By Agatha Christie
4.19/5 - Goodreads

Ten Strangers are lured to an isolated island mansion off the Devon coast by a mysterious 'U.N.Owen'.
At dinner a recorded message accuses each of them in turn of having a guilty secret, and by the end of the night one of the guilty secret, and by the end of the night one of the guest is dead,
Stranded by a violent storm, and haunted by an ancient nursery rhyme counting down one by one... as one by one... they begin to die.
Which amongst them is the killer and will any of them survive?

You have reached the top of the top! I didn't want it to end! I'm in love with this book and I advise everyone to read it!



The Murder on the Orient Express
By Agatha Christie
4.10/4 - Goodreads

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stopped the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train was surprisingly full for the time of the year. But by the morning there was one passenger fewer. A passenger lay dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside.

Okay now it's getting  really good! One of Agatha Christie's best!




By The Pricking Of My Thumbs
By Agatha Christie
3.7/5 - Goodreads

An old woman in a nursing home speaks of a child buried behind the fireplace…

When Tommy and Tuppence visited an elderly aunt in her gothic nursing home, they thought nothing of her mistrust of the doctors; after all, Ada was a very difficult old lady.

But when Mrs Lockett mentioned a poisoned mushroom stew and Mrs Lancaster talked about ‘something behind the fireplace’, Tommy and Tuppence found themselves caught up in an unexpected adventure involving possible black magic… 

I bought this book by accident thinking it was an Hercule Poirot book but guess what I actually enjoyed it. Of course it's not the same joy Agatha Christie's Poirot books bring to me but it was close enough!

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

By Agatha Christie
3.7/5 - Goodreads


When Hercule Poirot's own dentist, Henry Morley, is found dead from a gunshot wound, the official verdict is that he has killed himself; a verdict apparently supported when it appears that he has given one of his patients a fatal overdose of anaesthetic. Poirot suspects, however, that there is more to the case than at first appears, and soon events confirm his worst suspicions. 

Ooh! a story about a dentist being murdered, how interesting! You should probably read it!



Hallowe'en Party
By Agatha Christie
3.6/5 - Goodreads

At a Hallowe'en party, Hercule Poirot aids mystery writer Ariadne Oliver in an investigation into the murder of a young girl-who may have witnessed a murder herself. But unmasking the killer proves more daunting than bobbing for apples. 

Definitely not one of Agatha Christie's best, actually it's probably the worst one I've read! Sorry to the fans out there!



The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd
By Agatha Christie
4.1/5 - Goodreads

In the village of King's Abbot, a widow's sudden suicide sparks rumors that she murdered her first husband, was being blackmailed, and was carrying on a secret affair with the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. The following evening, Ackroyd is murdered in his locked study--but not before receiving a letter identifying the widow's blackmailer. King's Abbot is crawling with suspects, including a nervous butler, Ackroyd's wayward stepson, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, who has taken up residence in the victim's home. It's now up to the famous detective Hercule Poirot, who has retired to King's Abbot to garden, to solve the case of who killed Roger Ackroyd--a task in which he is aided by the village doctor and narrator, James Sheppard, and by Sheppard's ingenious sister, Caroline.

Who hasn't read this Book?! I think you should read it right now! Stop everything you're doing and get in the car or whatever transportation and go to the bloody library and ask for the Murder of Roger Ackroyd! Sorry went a bit berserk there!



The ABC Murders
By Agatha Christie
3.9/5 - Goodreads


"Let us see, Mr Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be."
There's a serial killer on the loose, working his way through the alphabet and the whole country is in a state of panic.
A is for Mrs Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. With each murder, the killer is getting more confident - but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first, and fatal mistake...

My first Agatha Christie! How wonderful! I like you Book!



Wuthering Heights
By Emily Brontë
3.78/5 - Goodreads

Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine's father. After Mr Earnshaw's death, Heathcliff is bullied and humiliated by Catherine's brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible revenge for his former miseries. The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure, the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English literature.

It's a classic so I think you know what I'm going to say... Beautifully written, Heathcliff, ahh I hate you but I love you, touches me like no other book has blah blah blah... Read it! It's really worth your time!


Flipped
By Wendelin Van Draanen
3.89/5 - Goodreads


Flipped is a romance told in two voices. The first time Juli Baker saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time Bryce saw Juli, he ran. That’s pretty much the pattern for these two neighbors until the eighth grade, when, just as Juli is realizing Bryce isn't as wonderful as she thought, Bryce is starting to see that Juli is pretty amazing. How these two teens manage to see beyond the surface of things and come together makes for a comic and poignant romance.

I somehow expected better and I'm not saying it was a bad book! I think it's probably more interesting to watch the film than to read the book but if I hadn't read it, I couldn't have compared it to the film! I like the little chicks! Read this book if you like chickens!



Sold
by Zana Muhsen
4.06/5 - Goodreads

Zana Muhsen, born and bred in Birmingham, is of Yemeni origin. When her father told her she was to spend a holiday with relatives in North Yemen, she jumped at the chance. Aged 15 and 13 respectively, Zana and her sister discovered that they had been literally sold into marriage, and that on their arrival they were virtually prisoners. They had to adapt to a completely alien way of life, with no running water, dung-plastered walls, frequent beatings, and the ordeal of childbirth on bare floors with only old women in attendance. After eight years of misery and humiliation Zana succeeded in escaping, but her sister is still there, and it seems likely that she will now never leave the country where she has spent more than half her life. This is an updated edition of Zana's account of her experiences.

This was quite hard to read, not because it was badly written, just because it was so very depressing and disturbing but it was still something worth reading! Read it and you will feel like me!



Smoke (Burned #2)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.31/5 - Goodreads


Pattyn Von Stratten’s father is dead, and Pattyn is on the run. After far too many years of abuse at the hands of her father, and after the tragic loss of her beloved Ethan and their unborn child, Pattyn is desperate for peace. Only her sister Jackie knows what happened that night, but she is stuck at home with their mother, who clings to normalcy by allowing the truth to be covered up by their domineering community leaders. Her father might be finally gone, but without Pattyn, Jackie is desperately isolated. Alone and in disguise, Pattyn starts a new life, but is it even possible to rebuild a life when everything you've known has burned to ash and lies seem far safer than the truth?

To read!


Tilt (Tilt #1)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.18/5 - Goodreads

Three teens, three stories—all interconnected through their parents’ family relationships. As the adults pull away, caught up in their own dilemmas, the lives of the teens begin to tilt….

Mikayla, almost eighteen, is over-the-top in love with Dylan, who loves her back jealously. But what happens to that love when Mikayla gets pregnant the summer before their senior year—and decides to keep the baby?

Shane turns sixteen that same summer and falls hard in love with his first boyfriend, Alex, who happens to be HIV positive. Shane has lived for four years with his little sister’s impending death. Can he accept Alex’s love, knowing that his life, too, will be shortened?

Harley is fourteen—a good girl searching for new experiences, especially love from an older boy. She never expects to hurdle toward self-destructive extremes in order to define who she is and who she wants to be.

Love, in all its forms, has crucial consequences in this standalone novel.

I have to read this one too!



Perfect (Impulse #2)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.35/5 - Goodreads

Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.
Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never understand.
Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would you give up to be perfect?

I read this one and it was also so very very beautiful!


Fallout (Crank #3)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.3/5 - Goodreads

Hunter, Autumn, and Summer—three of Kristina Snow’s five children—live in different homes, with different guardians and different last names. They share only a predisposition for addiction and a host of troubled feelings toward the mother who barely knows them, a mother who has been riding with the monster, crank, for twenty years.

Told in three voices and punctuated by news articles chronicling the family’s story, FALLOUT is the stunning conclusion to the trilogy begun by CRANK and GLASS, and a testament to the harsh reality that addiction is never just one person’s problem.

We've reached a book i have yet to read and I shall order it, soon...



Tricks (Tricks #1)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.3/5 - Goodreads

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching...for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don't expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words "I love you" are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story -- a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, "Can I ever feel okay about myself?"

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Don't waste time! Read it!


Glass (Crank #2)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.26/5 - Goodreads

Glass, the sequel to Crank, is also a NY Times bestseller, and walks you forward from where Crank leaves off. 

Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal. Whatever you call it, it's all the same: a monster. And once it's got hold of you, this monster will never let you go.

Kristina thinks she can control it. Now with a baby to care for, she's determined to be the one deciding when and how much, the one calling the shots. But the monster is too strong, and before she knows it, Kristina is back in its grips...

Write down somewhere: Glass by Ellen Hopkins TO READ!

Identical (Identical #1)

by Ellen Hopkins
4.34/5 - Goodreads

This book tackles perhaps the most difficult subject matter of all. It is about identical twins whose father is sexually abusing one of them.

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family -- on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that's where their differences begin.

For Kaeleigh, she's the misplaced focus of Daddy's love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites -- and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept -- from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it's obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is -- who?

By far the best of Hopkins' books! You have now entered my reading world where Ellen Hopkins rules!


Impulse (Impulse #1)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.30/5 - Goodreads

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade.

Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.

And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun -- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life -- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

If you've had an experience in reading one of Ellen Hopkins' books, then you would understand me when I say that Ellen Hopkins is a poetry god!

Burned (Burned #1)

by Ellen Hopkins
4.23/5 - Goodreads

A NY Times bestseller, is the story of a young woman, struggling to find her place in the world in the face of abuse by the person she most adores: her father. She questions her family, her faith, and her ability to love and be loved.


Suspended from school, she is sent to rural Nevada to live with an aunt whom she barely knows. There she finds love, acceptance and new knowledge about the things that made her father like he is. But even there, her demons find her.

In this riveting and masterful novel told in verse, Ellen Hopkins takes readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride. From the highs of true love to the lows of abuse, Pattyn's story will have readers engrossed until the very last word.

This was the first book I read by Ellen Hopkins and it was really a great experience! I couldn't put the book the down! So I think you know what you have to do if you've never read any of Ellen Hopkins' books, run to a book shop and buy one of the books right now!



Crank (Crank #1)
by Ellen Hopkins
4.13/5 - Goodreads



In Crank, Ellen Hopkins chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank.

I'm not going to say anything, you just have to figure it out for yourself!




Double Cross (Noughts and Crosses #4)
by Malorie Blackman
4.11/5 - Goodreads

Tobey wants a better life - for him and his girlfriend Callie Rose. He wants nothing to do with the gangs that rule the world he lives in. But when he's offered the chance to earn some money just for making a few 'deliveries', just this once, would it hurt to say 'yes'?

The captivating conclusion/companion Novel of the Noughts and Crosses series.

This is normally the last book of the series. It's sitting on my shelf at the moment but I haven't read it yet. I'm going through an Agatha Christie phase but i'll get to it soon.




Checkmate  (Noughts and Crosses #3)
by Malorie Blackman
4.14/5 - Goodreads

Can the future ever erase the past? Rose has a Cross mother and a nought father in a society where the pale-skinned noughts are treated as inferiors and those with dual heritage face a life-long battle against deep-rooted prejudices. Sephy, her mother, has told Rose virtually nothing about her father, but as Rose grows into a young adult, she unexpectedly discovers the truth about her parentage and becomes determined to find out more, to honour both sides of her heritage. But her father’s family has a complicated history – one tied up with the fight for equality for the nought population. And as Rose takes her first steps away from Sephy and into this world, she finds herself drawn inexorably into more and more danger. Suddenly it’s a game of very high stakes that can only have one winner…

The powerful third story in the Noughts & Crosses sequence.

The third emotional book of the series... Just read it!

Knife Edge (Noughts and Crosses #2)

by Malorie Blackman
4.03/5 - Goodreads

Sephy is a Cross, one of the privileged in a society where the ruling Crosses treat the pale-skinned noughts as inferiors. But her baby daughter has a nought father – Callum. Eaten up with bitterness, Callum’s brother Jude, blames Sephy for the terrible losses his family has suffered.

Now Jude’s life rests on a knife edge. Will Sephy be forced, once again, to take sides?

A razor-sharp and intensely moving novel, the second in the Noughts & Crosses sequence.

The second book of the series was great too but not as good as the first but if you've read the first one, don't stop there, continue and read this one. You won't be sorry! Then carry on into the series...

Noughts and Crosses  (Noughts and Crosses #1)

by Malorie Blackman
4.24/5 - Goodreads

Sephy is a Cross – a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a nought – a ‘colourless’ member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses.

The two have been friends since early childhood. But that’s as far as it can go. Until the first steps are taken towards more social equality and a limited number of Noughts are allowed into Cross schools… Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity by Noughts, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum – a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger...

This book was given to me by a friend for my birthday and I'm so thankful because it is by far one of the my best reads! This book is amazing and you will be hooked just like me. I read it in a day so read it too!