Hello all & happy Saturday! My weekend is being spent going on a few walks, watching the rugby and dropping off presents for my friends kids 1st birthday (socially distanced of course.) Lockdown is getting to me a little more this time around, maybe it’s just because I feel like we’ve been in a permanent lockdown since last year & I haven’t seen friends and family in such a long time… either way bring on the vaccinations so we can all eventually meet up again. This weeks prompt was a hard one for me and I had to go with a mix of read and TBR to get the full 5. It’s only in the last year or so that I’ve ever read a book with unique formatting, be it mixed media, blog/podcast style interludes, diary entries or a travel guide to fantasy planets, but it has definitely made me want to search more out. I think they being a whole new depth to the book, if used right, and can really add to the reading experience. Have you ever read a book with unique formatting? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Top 5 Series was started by Amanda over at Devouring Reads and you can check her blog out here.

Rules!

• Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
• Tag the original post (This one!)
• Tag 5 people — So that more people can join us!!

The Night Swim

I enjoyed this book way more than I expected too and I think a big part of that was the podcast entries that the author included. The book is focused around a true crime podcaster who is following the case of a rape when she receives mysterious notes alluding to things from her past she had long forgotten. It was a really fast paced read, and dealt with some hard hitting topics well. Definitely one to pick up if you’re a fan of the thriller/crime investigation genre.

After the first season of her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall is now a household name―and the last hope for thousands of people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The small town of Neapolis is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. The town’s golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping a high school student, the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season Three a success, Rachel throws herself into interviewing and investigating―but the mysterious letters keep showing up in unexpected places. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

The Chosen Ones

Having never read a Roth book I had little idea what I was getting into with this. Luckily I loved it, though it does seem to be somewhat of a marmite book ( people love it or they hate it.) Interspersed through the story are snippets from history books, scientific journals, newspaper articles and pages from diaries, all of which add to the plot in some way and give the readers little clues as to what is about to happen. It’s definitely a chunky read, and not one for people who aren’t a fan of a slow start, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A decade ago near Chicago, five teenagers defeated the otherworldly enemy known as the Dark One, whose reign of terror brought widespread destruction and death. The seemingly un-extraordinary teens—Sloane, Matt, Ines, Albie, and Esther—had been brought together by a clandestine government agency because one of them was fated to be the “Chosen One,” prophesized to save the world. With the goal achieved, humankind celebrated the victors and began to mourn their lost loved ones.

Ten years later, though the champions remain celebrities, the world has moved forward and a whole, younger generation doesn’t seem to recall the days of endless fear. But Sloane remembers. It’s impossible for her to forget when the paparazzi haunt her every step just as the Dark One still haunts her dreams. Unlike everyone else, she hasn’t moved on; she’s adrift—no direction, no goals, no purpose. On the eve of the Ten Year Celebration of Peace, a new trauma hits the Chosen: the death of one of their own. And when they gather for the funeral at the enshrined site of their triumph, they discover to their horror that the Dark One’s reign never really ended.

Notes from small planets

Definitely one of the quirkier books I have read. Notes from Small Planets is a kind of travel guide to different worlds. The author writes it as if these worlds exist and we can easily travel though them, think lonely planet but instead of become a gladiator in Rome, its ride a Dragon or journey with Goblins. It’s bloody hilarious, made more so by the footnotes at the bottom from his editor.

Journey from fantasy mountains to super-cities, through piratical seas and up into space without missing any must-see sights – or putting a foot wrong with the locals! Whether you’re Lord of the shoestring-budget or Luxe Skywalker – Notes from Small Planets is your pastiche passport through the best worlds of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Your ultimate travel guide to all the must-see locations in the worlds of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

The perfect gift for self-professed geeks and fans of all things genre – from classic genre listeners to new young disciples of nerdery. From misty mountains to wizarding schools, from the homes of superheroes to lairs of infamous villains – visit your favourite worlds and discover new ones – all without ever missing a single landmark or traditional dish. What’s orc for ‘bon voyage’?

Illuminae

Ok! Onto the books I haven’t read, although I don’t need to have read this one to know it is the king of unique formatting. I have had a quick flick through the book and can tell it’s going to be one intriguing and different read… one that I need to pick up asap.

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra — who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents — including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more — Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I love this film! I mean, it makes me cry every single time, but I love it. So I know I will more than likely love the book. I’ve been told it’s written in kind of letters/diary entries format, something I think will really help with the emotional impact, and I’m excited to give it a read.

standing on the fringes of life…
offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see
what it looks like from the dance floor.

This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being A WALLFLOWER

This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie’s letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.