Tag Archives: recommendations

Infographic: Autobiographies I’ve Read in 2015

Sorry about the internet absence. There hasn’t been a post on here in three weeks. Welp. A lot of bloggers are very good at timekeeping and balancing different things in life … But it turns out I’m not very good at keeping up to date with blogging during my GCSE year. I actually wrote most of the posts you’ve seen since September during August!

I hope that over the Christmas holidays I can start scheduling for the new year, so I don’t neglect this blog too much over the next six months. As an apology for the random disappearance, here’s an infographic I’ve been working on between revision sessions. Click on it for a high res / larger version you can zoom in on, if the writing appears too small on your screen!

Thank you Piktochart, aka the most fantastic infographic maker I have ever encountered, for making this infographic so beautifully easy to create (this isn’t a promo, I just love Piktochart a lot <3)

You can read slightly longer reviews of some of the books featured on this graphic here –

The Time in Between by Nancy Tucker // Tomboy by Liz Prince

DIVERSITY IN YA: Book recommendations!

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I was sitting at my computer, procrastinating by scrolling through my twitter feed, last Friday night. I was completely stuck for blog post ideas: I’ve been so behind with blogging because the first term at school has been hectic, to say the least!

I’ve been very aware of the inspiring, brilliant #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign on Twitter since it launched, but seeing tweets from that evening’s #SupportWNDB talk were the deciding factor that led to me making this post. Also, that I haven’t done a infographic post in quite a while. I hope you enjoy it!

There were a lot of books to pick from to fit onto this quick graphic, but picking out of my recently used Goodreads shelves… I honestly didn’t actually find it difficult to narrow it down, to pick only a few titles with diverse characters; of colour, a different cultural background, an LGBT* identity or disability. I think that proves that a) I really must seek out more diverse books, and read those sitting on my TBR, and that b) the WNDB campaign is so necessary: I’m so glad it’s encouraging and publicising books that otherwise wouldn’t be as visible.

Anyway, I’m aware I’ve rambled on a bit, and this post was meant to be just an infographic… (:

I hope you liked the infographic! I would love to take any recommendations on books similar to these (or completely unique ones of course!) and hear what you thought of these titles. There’s a lot of amazing sounding YA/MG fiction that’s out next year also, like Lara Williamson’s The Art of Being Normal (A very hotly anticipated one!) – are there any titles you are looking forward to reading?

Anti-Bullying Blog Week: Bloggers on Bullying

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Hello, people! The lovely Sophie from A DAY DREAMER’S WORLD is hosting a really special blogging week, to go with a special themed week that’s happening too: Anti-Bullying Week. She’s been posting some brilliant author guests posts, that are both emotional and supportive. Sophie’s so amazing for hosting this blog week, and supporting bullying victims in general.
As a part of her blog week, I and a lot of other bloggers were asked if they would like to help, by posting today. The title is Bloggers on Bullying: and it’s all about sharing experiences and being supportive and things 🙂 So, below, I’ve decided to not write a thing about my experiences. Yes, I have been bullied a lot of times before, and it’s awful. I’ve had name calling, and even physical bullying. But I’d rather post some book recommendations, to read if you’re a victim! All of these books, I’ve absolutely loved, and a lot of them I read whilst I was being picked on, and they really, really helped me. So, hopefully, this post might help somebody, which would make me so glad!

My Recommendations:

Bullying is a subject that’s tackled in so many YA books, especially nowadays. It’s amazing to see so many authors, like Siobhan Curham, supporting bullying victims and helping campaign against bullying. Below, are books that I’ve read that cover bullying. I’ve decided to only pick ten, or this post would be a mile long. There are so many great books about brave victims out there- I wish I could list them all!

#1: Finding Cherokee Brown by Siobhan Curham

I read this in one school day, which was a really awful school day. It cheered me up so much, because Cherokee’s ending was happy. She’s an amazing character.

#2: The Curious incident of the Dog in the Night Time

Though not entirely about bullying, Curious Incident features a boy who is picked on a lot because he’s autistic and attending a specialist school.

Wonder #3: Wonder by R J Palacio

It’s heart warming, and heart-breaking too. The bullying themes in his are really powerful. It’s also a beautiful story about hope and friendship!

#4: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J K Rowling:

Before Hogwarts, Harry’s bullied by his aunt, uncle, and cousin. That beginning is a really sad one, before he wreaks a hilarious revenge involving a snake!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #1) #5: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney:

Okay, you might not see this as bullying- I don’t, particularly. However, Greg Heffley is socially excluded and you can tell he does have a pretty hard time, if you read between the lines and ignore the humour!

#6: Matilda by Roald Dahl:

Realistic and uplifting, it’s a childhood classic I read and re-read whenever I want to smile, because Matilda overcomes the awful people.

#7: Geek Girl by Holly Smale:

This is an obvious one! Harriet matches my personality exactly, minus the modelling. She’s a social outcast, picked on by an awful girl called Alexa. Holly Smale captured school bullying so well in this book, as well as its sequel.

Teardrop (Teardrop, #1) #8: Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O’Porter:

The themes in this are more of teenage-romance: however, it definitely does touch on bullying and peer pressure. Dawn’s writing is gritty and realistic, and there’s also a short spin-off Dawn wrote for world book day from the POV of the bully- which gives a really emotional insight into a bully’s life.

#9: Teardrop by Lauren Kate:

I only just finished this book! I wanted to include it here, because the protagonist, Eureka, is left out because of things she’s done in the past. The bullying isn’t the biggest focus of the book, but I really felt it and it was really sad, and I’m sure things all get resolved in the sequel.

#10: Furnace- Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith:

In the first parts of the book, before the protagonist is sent to prison, he’s experiencing serious peer pressure; the need to follow in his friend’s footsteps and bully others. It’s a really heart-rendering story; full of bullying’s consequences as well as horror. This took my mind off of my own bullying problems, a lot!

Thank you, Sophie, for inviting me to do a post! I know this wasn’t exactly the topic every other blogger has been doing. However, I thought it might be a good way to help anybody who is a victim of bullying still; maybe if you’re reading this, you’ll pick up one of the books, and it’ll help you, like a lot of these did for me. If you want to know more about the Anti Bullying Blog Week, check out Sophie’s blog or use the hashtag #AntiBullyingBW on twitter!