December's Monthly Recap

We're at the end of the month, and the end of the year. It's not been the best year for me away from the blog, but I on the blog, I think it's been pretty good! Here's a look over what's happened on the blog in the last month.

Reviews:

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Review: Rooms by Lauren Oliver

Rooms by Lauren Oliver (reading copy) - Compulsive and powerful ghost story narrated by two spirits who inhabit the walls of an old house. It's a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways.

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family - bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna - have arrived for their inheritance.

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself - in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide - with cataclysmic results. From Goodreads.

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Looking Over 2015, Looking Forward to 2016

I know most will take part in Jamie of The Perpetual Page-Turner's End of Year Survey, but I'm just not in the mood for it this year. However, I did want to write something that looked back over the past year on Once Upon a Bookcase, and looks forward to 2016.

In this post I'll talk about my favourite books of 2015, what I received from my Secret Santa, looking back over 2015's reading. I'll also talk about my plans for 2016, which include the kind of books I'll be aiming to read, the challenges I'm taking part in and why, and my plans regarding Twitter and my thoughts on leaving it.

Favourite Books of 2015:

This isn't an easy choice. I could choose just one, but it would be leaving out so many other wonderful novels. So instead of just choosing one, I'm going to choose one for different genres, or on different topics. Also, this is for books I read in 2015, not necessarily books published in 2015.

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Review: The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew (#Ad)

The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew

I received this eProof for free from Hot Key Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

A startling coming-of-age novel set in a contemporary Nazi England.

Jessika Keller is a good girl: she obeys her father, does her best to impress Herr Fisher at the Bund Deutscher Mädel meetings and is set to be a world champion ice skater. Her neighbour Clementine is not so submissive. Outspoken and radical, Clem is delectably dangerous and rebellious. And the regime has noticed. Jess cannot keep both her perfect life and her dearest friend. But which can she live without?

THE BIG LIE is a thought-provoking and beautifully told story that explores ideas of loyalty, sexuality, protest and belief. From Goodreads.

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Review: Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition by Katie Rain Hill

Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition by Katie Rain Hill (reading copy) - In her unique, generous, and affecting voice, nineteen-year-old Katie Hill shares her personal journey of undergoing gender reassignment.

Have you ever worried that you'd never be able to live up to your parents' expectations? Have you ever imagined that life would be better if you were just invisible? Have you ever thought you would do anything--anything--to make the teasing stop? Katie Hill had and it nearly tore her apart.

Katie never felt comfortable in her own skin. She realized very young that a serious mistake had been made; she was a girl who had been born in the body of a boy. Suffocating under her peers' bullying and the mounting pressure to be "normal," Katie tried to take her life at the age of eight years old. After several other failed attempts, she finally understood that "Katie"--the girl trapped within her--was determined to live.

In this first-person account, Katie reflects on her pain-filled childhood and the events leading up to the life-changing decision to undergo gender reassignment as a teenager. She reveals the unique challenges she faced while unlearning how to be a boy and shares what it was like to navigate the dating world and experience heartbreak for the first time in a body that matched her gender identity. Told in an unwaveringly honest voice, Rethinking Normal is a coming-of-age story about transcending physical appearances and redefining the parameters of "normalcy" to embody one's true self. From Goodreads.

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Review: One by Sarah Crossan (#Ad)

One by Sarah Crossan

I was sent this proof for free by Macmillan Children's Books in exchange for an honest review.

Grace and Tippi are twins – conjoined twins.

And their lives are about to change.

No longer able to afford homeschooling, they must venture into the world – a world of stares, sneers and cruelty. Will they find more than that at school? Can they find real friends? And what about love?

But what neither Grace or Tippi realises is that a heart-wrenching decision lies ahead. A decision that could tear them apart. One that will change their lives even more than they ever imagined…

From Carnegie Medal shortlisted author Sarah Crossan, this moving and beautifully crafted novel about identity, sisterhood and love ultimately asks one question: what does it mean to want and have a soulmate? From Goodreads.

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Bookish Spinsters is Being Postponed

This is an announcement to say that Bookish Spinsters is going to on break until the New Year. I've had some really bad news recently, and unfortunately, I'm just not able to put the passion and thought into these posts that not only I would like but I feel is required for this link-up. I'm hoping those who read the posts will bear with me as I get myself together, and will come back to reading my Bookish Spinsters posts in the New Year.

Thanks for understanding.

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Review: The Next Together by Lauren James

The Next Together by Lauren James (reading copy) - How many times can you lose the person you love?

Katherine and Matthew are destined to be born again and again, century after century. Each time, their presence changes history for the better, and each time, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be tragically separated.

Spanning the Crimean War, the Siege of Carlisle and the near-future of 2019 and 2039 they find themselves sacrificing their lives to save the world. But why do they keep coming back? What else must they achieve before they can be left to live and love in peace?

Maybe the next together will be different... From Goodreads.

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Review: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia - Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up. From Goodreads.

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Review: A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig (review copy) - You are about to read the true story of Father Christmas.
It is a story that proves that nothing is impossible.
If you are one of those people who believe that some things are impossible, you should put this book down right away. It is most certainly not for you.
Because this book is FULL of impossible things.

Are you still reading?

Good.

Then let us begin . . .

A Boy Called Christmas is a tale of adventure, snow, kidnapping, elves, more snow, and an eleven-year-old boy called Nikolas, who isn't afraid to believe in magic. From Goodreads.

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Review: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera - In the months after his father's suicide, it's been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again--but he's still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he's slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron's crew notices, and they're not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can't deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Why does happiness have to be so hard? From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: Suicide.

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Review: Just Visiting by Dahlia Adler

Just Visiting by Dahlia Adler (eProof) - Reagan Forrester wants out—out of her trailer park, out of reach of her freeloading mother, and out of the shadow of the relationship that made her the pariah of Charytan, Kansas.

Victoria Reyes wants in—in to a fashion design program, in to the arms of a cute guy who doesn't go to Charytan High, and in to a city where she won't stand out for being Mexican.

One thing the polar-opposite best friends do agree on is that wherever they go, they’re staying together. But when they set off on a series of college visits at the start of their senior year, they quickly see that the future doesn’t look quite like they expected. After two years of near-solitude following the betrayal of the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, Reagan falls hard and fast for a Battlestar Galactica-loving, brilliant smile-sporting pre-med prospective... only to learn she's set herself up for heartbreak all over again. Meanwhile, Victoria runs full-speed toward all the things she thinks she wants… only to realize everything she’s looking for might be in the very place they've sworn to leave.

As both Reagan and Victoria struggle to learn who they are and what they want in the present, they discover just how much they don't know about each other's pasts. And when each learns what the other’s been hiding, they'll have to decide whether their friendship has a future. From Goodreads.

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Review: The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar - Sometimes the most terrifying thing is getting what you really want.

Oliver’s skin was still warm, even though there wasn’t a wish waiting to be granted. That strange, spicy-tingly heat spread through my fingers again, and I squeezed his hand a little as we walked. Maybe it was just a reaction to him being inside my head, or to feeling him use his magic, but I suddenly found myself thinking about his pretty eyes, and wondering what it would be like to kiss him. I wondered if his lips felt like magic, too.
He glanced curiously at me, and I remembered: He could hear what I wanted. Our eyes locked, and my heart leaped into my throat. What did I want?

Oliver’s magic binds him to Margo until she makes three wishes. And while she tries to figure out what to wish for she begins to realize he might be what she wants most. From Goodreads.

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Bookish Spinsters: Equality in Sport

Bookish Spinsters is a weekly link-up where we discuss feminism based on a topic/question/prompt, and other feminist book bloggers and book tubers join in with their response. Feel free to join in at any time, I just ask that you link back to Bookish Spinsters. For more info and the list of future Bookish Spinsters topics, go to the Bookish Spinsters page.

This week's topic is Equality in Sport.

I have very little interest in sport. I don't play sports, and I very rarely watch it. But there are a lot of women and girls who are really interested in sport, and yet we very rarely see anything on TV for women's teams competiting. The only thing I can think of where we often see women taking part is in tennis, especially when Wimbledon comes around, yet the focus is still mostly on the male tennis players. And a lot of the talk about the female tennis players I hear is focused on the grunts they make or masculine people perceive their bodies to be. Because obviously we can't just concentrate on the match when women are involved. We also see more women when it comes to the Olympics, but in general, we hardly see any coverage of women in sports.

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Review: What We Left Behind by Robin Talley

What We Left Behind by Robin Talley (proof) - From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love isn't enough to conquer all.

Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, their relationship will surely thrive.

The reality of being apart, however, is a lot different than they expected. As Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, falls in with a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship.

While Toni worries that Gretchen, who is not trans, just won't understand what is going on, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni's life. As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begins to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together? From Goodreads.

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