tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32159654108859254152024-02-19T16:16:31.220+01:00The Bookish Badger thebookishbadgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14425438018585177368noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215965410885925415.post-21860048695602392302019-01-09T17:00:00.000+01:002019-01-09T17:00:06.068+01:00Favourite listens of 2018!Hi!<br />
I have been a long time fan of Audible and listening to audiobooks rather than music. And in 2018 I listened to a total of 17 books. Some long and some short.<br />
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Just like the top reads of 2018 I will now share some of my favourite audiobooks of 2018!<br />
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I don't tend to love reading memoirs myself, but I'm a huge sucker for self narrated memoirs and this one is one of my absolute favourites! As someone who grew up with Gilmore Girls I spent all these minutes with goosebumps, tears in my eyes and a strong longing to re watch the show. I love Lauren's humor and the way she wrote this book is so easy and almost like a friend is telling you her story. I gave this 4.5 stars.<br />
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I heard so many good things about this series, a lot from different booktubers I watch and I wanted to know what the hype was all about. This series is so wonderful, full of strong female characters, suspense and darkness. It has some trigger warnings like rape and abuse but I found it to be done very well. The characters are so diverse and well rounded and I adored this book. It also has a chapeter for each main character and it gives you great insight to the characters themselves. The narrators are very skilled. I gave this 4.7/5<br />
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The same feelings as An ember in the ashes, I adored this book as well, however this was a lot more action packed and tense. I gave this a 5/5.<br />
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I have found I quite enjoy listening to classics whilst reading them, however this one wasn't like a normal audiobook but more like a radio story, it had sound effects, music and people talking rather than one person reading the book. It was wonderful and made the book seem a lot less "classics are heavy" to me. It reminded me of being a child and listening to the children radio show before bedtime. The narrators are wonderful and I felt like I was a part of the story. 4/5</div>
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And last but not least, As many of you know I am a huge potter head, and a Hufflepuff through and through. And Eddie Redmayne is one of my biggest crushes of my adult life, his charm and gentleness comes through so well in his voice and he read this book in such a way it felt way more interesting than it actually is (I have the physical copy of this book and it is way more factual and dry irl) but the way he read it made it come to life, which is what makes a good audiobook in my opinion. I gave this a 4.7.<br />
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These were some of my favourite audiobooks of the year, and with my new resolution of listening to audiobooks rather than music this year I hope to get through many more!<br />
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Do you like audiobooks? if so what are your top 3!<br />
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xo Julesthebookishbadgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14425438018585177368noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3215965410885925415.post-79203840542510123922019-01-02T12:43:00.000+01:002019-01-02T12:52:47.803+01:00Favourite reads of 2018This year was my first year where I read properly in a long time. The previous years I've only read like maybe one or two books a year, this year I read 28! Which for some might not seem like a whole lot but for me it is quite a lot of books. So I will go through some of my favourite reads of 2018!<br />
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I listened to a lot of audiobooks as well which will be on it's own post later this month!<br />
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A court of thorns and roses - by Sarah J. Maas</div>
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This book was recommended to me by one of my instagram friends @booksfor.mee AKA Bettina. And I hesitated for a while to read it due to hearing a lot of mixed opinions on it, and that there was a lot of romance in it. However once I started it I couldn't get enough of it. I hardly put it down and finished it within a week. I loved the banter between certain characters, and I liked the suspense. Some of the characters bugged me so much but overall I gave this book 4.5 stars. </div>
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Eliza and her monsters - by Francesca Zappia</div>
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This book man. This book was wonderful. I went into this not really expecting much, and was blown away. The portrayal of anxiety and panic attacks in this book is so well done, it portrays it very well. And the romance in it is actually really realistic, which I loved. It is portrayed in a way which shows that it isn't just all flowers and rainbows and that sometimes people are selfish. But the way they care about each other makes me happy. At one point I had to close this book for a solid 15 min to gather myself after a certain scene that made me bawl my eyes out. I sped through this book in the span of 3 days, which for me is really quick. I gave this a 5/5 stars. </div>
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The Upside of Unrequited and Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda - by Becky Albertalli</div>
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Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda </div>
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This was probably my first contemporary read of the year because I heard nothing but good things about it, and the movie was also coming out this year (Which was everything btw). I loved Simon, he is my precious little angel. And although he made some really bad decisions I can see where his mind was when making them. And I really felt like we got to know him as a friend, which I really enjoyed. I also loved his family a lot, as someone who is in the lgbtq community myself it was really nice to see such a supporting family. I also loved the writing here and the element of emails in it as well, it really reminded me of The Perks Of Being a Wallflower which is one of my all time favourite books. I gave this book a 4.75 stars out of 5.</div>
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The Upside of Unrequited </div>
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I adored this book! The representation in it was everything I needed, not just racial representation but body representation, personality, mental health and religion. The main character is so relatable, I loved her. Also there is sort of a love triangle in here but it wasn't one of those annoying ones like the twilight one (sorryyyy twilight fans), and I adored the guy she ended up with. This book had me crying happy tears at the end, and was a really feel good happy read. I gave this a 5/5 stars.</div>
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Six of Crows and Crooked kingdom - by Leigh Bardugo</div>
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This was the year I got totally lost in the grisha universe, I binged Six of crows in two days and loved every minute of it, it as so suspenseful and exciting, and the characters so well written and fleshed out they felt almost like real people. And granted they aren't necessarily good people in the grand scheme of things they are good people to each other, which I love. the group dynamic and their care for one another is something I truly admired. And I love Leigh Bardugo's writing style, I loved that we got to see inside each characters with the different chapters, and truly found this book series amazing. </div>
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Crooked kingdom was just as wonderfully dark and suspenseful as six of crows, however it was more heartbreaking than I imagined, and at one point I had to close the book to simply breathe and finish my crying for a solid 15 minutes before continuing. If you pick up any book from my recommendation I would advise you to pick this duopoly!</div>
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I obviously gave these books 5/5.</div>
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I hope to see you around again sometime soon! Happy new year!</div>
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What was some of your favourite reads of 2018?</div>
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xo Jules</div>
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<br />thebookishbadgerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14425438018585177368noreply@blogger.com3