Something new, yay! Hopefully I’ll be able to make this a regular…as some of you know, I’m sure, I’m no good at keeping up with features – No Make Up Monday went well for a while (maybe I should pick that one up again?), but everything else seems to fizzle out because I’m useless at remembering to do something, then I forget, remember again, and by that point it’s useless trying to start it up again! I have done book reviews before on my blog (okay, so more than I thought…here, here, here, here, here and here!). Anyway, I’ve been using Goodreads to record the books I read for a while now, having previously just written them all down in a notebook (will have to get that out again!). I signed up for the 2013 Reading Challenge right at the start of the year, and it’s got me right back into reading again! I’d kind of dropped off the reading bandwagon between September and Christmas due to being so busy at work, but when I was off to have my operation, reading was one of the only things to do, so I picked up my Kindle and got myself into it again. I ended up reading 6 or 7 books in that time! So when I signed up for the Reading Challenge, I originally put down 25 as my goal, but I ended up reading a lot quicker than I thought I would and am already on book number 9 of the year, so I’ve upped my goal to 30, and if I beat it, then yay!
So above are the books I’ve read so far this year (so during the month of January). Some of them aren’t exactly novels (ie. the QI facts books), but I’ve still loved reading them. So plan each month is to list the books I’ve read and give a very quick rating/review. I’ll hopefully get some proper reviews up for the ones I loved the most or that I think others would like to hear about, but for now (since this post is going on anyway!), I’ll just list and rate =D Goodreads only lets you rate out of 5, but I’m going to go for out of 10 so I can be more accurate!
1227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off by John Lloyd – 9/10 – I love reading facts! This book should really be a ‘bathroom book’ I think, but I just read it straight through!
Unique by Alison Allen-Grey – 7.5/10 – This was intended more for a younger audience I believe but I got it cheap in Amazon’s Kindle Offers. It follows the story of a boy who discovers that he was cloned from his older brother who had died and how this will affect not only him but the rest of the world.
The Girl Who Couldn’t Smile by Shane Dunphy – 8/10 – This is a memoir of a man who ran a daycare for emotionally and physically disabled children. It follows the stories of several of the children through hardship and successes. It is a touching story and distressing at times.
The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth – 9/10 – Yes, I am a geek. I just love words and etymology!! I should have done some sort of language studies at university because I’m forever spouting: ‘Did you know that word comes from….?’ and people hate me for it! I found it super interesting, but I’m sure it’s not for everyone. I’ve also purchased The Horologicon by the same author which is a study of words that have fallen out of use and I’m super excited to get started on that =D
Why Don’t You Come For Me? by Diane James – 8/10 – Another fiction, this one a psychological thriller mystery. Jo’s baby daughter disappeared 12 years ago and despite police thinking there is nothing more they can do, Jo still receives postcards stating: ‘I still have her.’ Jo’s life begins to fall apart as paranoia overtakes her life. It is a gripping book that holds you in Jo’s fraught mindset right until the last minute. The ending did annoy me, but only because I wanted it to turn out differently!
Naomi’s Room by Jonathan Aycliffe – 6.5/10 – Another psychological thriller that also borders on ghost story for most of the novel, before falling right in to ghost story territory. I did like the book to begin with, which describes a father’s grief after his daughter is abducted from a toy store at Christmas and discovered tortured and murdered in an alley. However the book centers on their house itself and ghostly happenings around it – how do these connect to their daughters murder? I loved this to start with, but it ended up taking a route I didn’t like. The suspense that had built in the start of the book and brought shivers to your spine ended up disappearing as the book went on and I found the ending disappointing.
The White Lie by Andrea Gillies – 6.5/10 – This is a difficult book for me to rate! The story itself was interesting, following the murder of a boy, supposedly by his aunt, in the loch at the family home. The characters are all unreliable, and the novel spends its time trying to confuse the reader with different versions of events. However the characters I mostly found to be a bit blank and the story took too long to build and end. I wanted to get to the end of it to find out the ending, but it seemed to take forever!
The Discreetly Plumper Book: QI The Second Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd – 9/10 – Another QI book, yes! What can I say, I love facts! I read this alongside The White Lie to give myself a break from it every so often, which was a pretty good idea.
I’m currently reading Is It Just Me? – Miranda Hart’s autobiography, and really enjoying it because I find her hilarious!! I know she’s not to everyone’s taste, but I’m loving the book. I don’t tend to read autobiographies, except ones like The Girl Who Couldn’t Smile etc. so it’s a little unusual for me. Next up on my list is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. If you have any books (particularly ones that are currently cheap/free on Kindle!) let me know, I’d love some recommendations =D
Love,
I loved this post – I have been meaning to get back into reading lately and I think you may have motivated me to get back into it!
I’ve set a goal myself to read at least 1book at week this year so far I’m doing good. I’d love to this as a regular feature as I’ve enjoyed reading it.