nuggets of niamh

I am so glad to be a part of the book blogging community. I love that it gives me (and everyone else) the freedom to gush about our favourite books without judgement. And that it's full of kind-hearted individuals like yourself who always take the time to read and comment nice things. A subject that is regularly discussed in the book community is highly-anticipated releases. While I like discussing "popular" books as much as the next book blogger, I also really enjoy promoting less well-known novels as well. Those "hidden gems", if you will. Last year, in particular, I read quite a few lesser-known novels that I absolutely loved! And that just so happens to be the topic for this week's Top Ten Tuesday! All of the books on my list have fewer than 1000 ratings on Goodreads (which is ridiculous, because they're amazing!) and apart from the very first book, the rest are all by Australian authors (which on one hand is great because it means I'm r...

Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard Published: 12th February 2019 by Macmillan Children's Books Format: Paperback Pages: 384 ISBN: 9781509852888 RRP: $16.99 Trigger warnings: abuse, depression, PTSD, suicide ★ ★ ★ ★ 'This time around, I'm going to be so much better. I'm going to prove to them that it was worth waiting on me.' Fierce Fragile Hearts is the stunning companion novel to Sara Barnard's YA bestseller Beautiful Broken Things . It is about leaving the past behind, the friends who form your future, and learning to find love, in all its forms. Two years after a downward spiral took her as low as you can possibly go, Suzanne is starting again. Again. She's back in Brighton, the only place she felt she belonged, back with her best friends Caddy and Rosie. But they're about to leave for university. When your friends have been your light in the darkness, what happens when you're the one left behind? - - - ...

When it comes to romance in books, I can either take it or leave it. If it's done well, I'll eagerly jump on that 'ship, but if it's not... er, what's the point?! That being said, I'm a sucker for both fun, cutesy relationships and angsty, drama-filled romances alike. In fact, the more extreme the better! This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is "Favourite Couples in Books", and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, it's the perfect time for some swoon-worthy GIFs! (I had so much fun putting this post together!)  So without further ado (and in no particular order), here are my favourite bookish couples!  Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl , with a new topic to respond to every week.

Today's post is a little bit different... As I mentioned in my January wrap-up , I recently went on a super exciting trip: I joined 40 Girl Guides and six other Leaders on a week-long excursion to Mon Repos to observe nesting marine turtles and their hatchlings and I want to tell you all about it! Mon Repos is a small locality on the east coast of Australia, about 300 kilometres north of Brisbane. Every year between November and March, it is a temporary home to hundreds of endangered loggerhead turtles as nesting mothers lay their eggs and, later, the hatchlings emerge onto the beach.

At the beginning of every year when I begin to compile my list of highly anticipated upcoming releases, I inevitably add way more than I could ever possibly read. This year was no different. I recently shared my  top ten most anticipated 2019 releases , featuring predominantly sequels or new books by authors I'm already familiar with, and my aim is to read most, if not all, of those books at some point this year. Of course, there were many others that didn't make that list, including quite a few debut novels. Some, such as Enchantée  and Descendant of the Crane , narrowly missed out and I will definitely be trying to read them as soon as possible after they are released, but others I'm not so sure about yet...   Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl , with a new topic to respond to every week.

Can you believe that we've finally made it to the end of January?! It honestly feels like it lasted for at least 79 years, not 31 days! Crazy. And it's been an... interesting month. I've had A LOT going on in my life, mostly revolving around job applications and interviews, but I'm happy to report that I was offered and have accepted a full-time position that I will be commencing very shortly! Yay! In other news, my family celebrated my grandmother's 80th birthday at the beach earlier this month and I also went on a week-long trip to a conservation park up north to observe nesting turtles and hatchlings! I'm planning on writing a whole blog post about that experience, but for now, let me just tell you that it was truly amazing! 

Somehow another week has passed us by and it's time for a new Top Ten Tuesday post! Today's topic is "The Ten Most Recent Additions to My To-Read List" but I've decided to do something a little bit different... If you're a regular visitor to this blog, you'll know that at the end of every month, I do a wrap-up post including any new books I acquire during that month. However, I often forget to include audiobooks that I borrow from the library. So rather than just repeating myself and listing the books I received for Christmas (because I've barely bought any since then!), today I'm sharing my current audio reads and a few that are next on my to-read list!  Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl , with a new topic to respond to every week. - - -

Tomorrow, the 26th of January, is Australia Day: a holiday (kind of similar to Fourth of July, I think) in which we commemorate the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet on Australian shores and, as a result, the country's establishment. It is a bit controversial, though. It's known as Survival Day by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and allies, and there has been a significant push in recent years to change the date due to the callous treatment that Indigenous Australians endured at the hands of British colonists. However, while it's important to remember the more negative aspects of our history and acknowledge the suffering of Australia's First Peoples, at its heart, Australia Day is a celebration of everything great about being Australian and the country we are fortunate enough to call home.  And one thing that definitely deserves to be celebrated is Australian literature! I was looking for inspiration for an Australia-themed book post when I stumbl...

Every year, no matter how much I read, there are always books that fall by the wayside. Books that I start but never get around to finishing and ones that I never pick up in the first place. 2018 was no exception. I began last year with great intentions: to read every day, limit my book-buying habit, and focus on the books already on my TBR. I didn't exactly fail  at any of those goals (although I DEFINITELY could have done better!) but there were a lot of books that I meant to read and just... didn't. Here are ten books that I should have read in 2018 (and will hopefully read this year):  Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl , with a new topic to respond to every week.  - - -

When it comes to letting go of books, I am... not good. Case in point, I've been considering unhauling most of these books for at least two years now and just... haven't. BUT I recently watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo  and honestly, it was inspiring! After KonMari'ing my clothes and feeling much better for it, I decided it was also time to part with the books that no longer sparked joy for me. So here they are!  - - -

Not only did I read a lot of books in 2018 , but I also discovered quite a few new favourite authors! Some of these authors I adored from the very first page and others had to really work for my love. But either way, these ten authors and their books have ensnared my heart forevermore! Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl , with a new topic to respond to every week. - - -

January is a time of new beginnings; a chance to start the year fresh and in the way that you want it to continue. For me, 2019 is going to be a year of change. And this year, I've actually set myself some New Year's Resolutions. I always enjoy reading about others' goals for the New Year but have avoided making them myself in the past. I put a lot of pressure on myself to complete any goals I set (no matter how lofty), and when I inevitably  don't , the feelings of bitter disappointment and failure are discouraging, to say the least.  But this year will be different.  This year, I've set myself achievable  goals. Goals with specific monthly and/or weekly targets that are less intimidating and that I can realistically complete. Today I'm sharing my five goals for my reading and blogging life in 2019.  - - -

Possibly my favourite thing about the New Year is seeing everyone's lists of highly anticipated upcoming releases. In fact, this is actually the main way I find out about a lot of soon-to-be-published books (and also the reason why my TBR pile is so big!) We all know that the publishing industry is MASSIVE. The volume of books released every year – even just YA – is terribly overwhelming, so it's hard to stay on top of newly-released sequels, let alone books by entirely unfamiliar debut authors! As such, the majority of my highly anticipated releases this year are, unsurprisingly, sequels or books by authors I've previously read. BUT I have also included two debuts! Of course, this list could easily be twice or even three times as long (especially with all of Jay Kristoff's upcoming releases!)  Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by  Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl , with a new topic to respond to every week.

I'm not going to lie, I've been really excited about this post for a long time now. Being the nerd I am, I get an odd sense of pleasure from a well-formated Excel spreadsheet with fancy formulas and appealing graphs. So much so, that I used one to keep track of my reading last year. When I told people this, they all responded with varying degrees of incredulity ("What's the point?" "Why are you wasting your time?") BUT let me tell you, it was immensely useful and I now have a complete record of all the books I read in 2018! And I also get to share all the fascinating statistics with you! - - -

Happy New Year!  2019 has officially arrived, although it will take me a few weeks to adjust to the changeover of the calendar year. Does anyone else CONSTANTLY write the wrong date at the start of a new year?! Now that 2018 is actually over, it's time for me to reflect on the year that was and look back on all the books that I read in the past twelve months. A full summary of my reading stats will be going live on Friday, but first up – the best and worst of 2018! The books that made my "Best of 2018" list are those that I absolutely loved and now class as favourites, while the books on the "Worst of 2018" list were ones that I didn't enjoy or found disappointing (most were actually 3-star reads that simply didn't live up to expectations). These are not necessarily books that were published in 2018 but are all ones that I  read  (for the first time) last year.  Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl , with a new t...