There are many books I planned to read this year, but as per usual any ideas I had about what I wanted to read went out the window! I usually read what takes my fancy at the time. T5W is a group hosted on Goodreads, if you’d like to participate check it out here.
This week’s Top 10 Tuesday caught my attention as I know I’ve read a lot of long books, but I wasn’t sure which was the longest.
Top 10 Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish, but as of January has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. If you’re interested in taking part click here.
I’ve sorted this list by order of pages according to Goodreads for ease (where possible for the edition I read), or I could spend ages deciding what is ‘longest’. The Lord of the Rings is listed as one book partly because the edition I own has it in one volume, but largely because this is how J. R. R. Tolkien intended it.
It’s no surprise to find most on this list are high fantasy, nor that a long classic made it into the top ten. There is also more than one book from some series – Paolini’s Eragon series clocks in three books, while Jordan’s Wheel of Time series has two in this list.
This week’s Top 10 Tuesday looks at popular books that lived up to the hype. I could name quite a few books that didn’t live up to their hype, but here are the ones that I think did. We’ll have to leave the ones that didn’t for another day.
Top 10 Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish, but as of January has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. If you’re interested in taking part click here.
Some of these are books I disliked but am glad I read because I learnt something from them. As much as we can learn what makes a great book, as a writer you can learn what not to do from what you don’t like about books you’ve read.
Top 10 Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish, but as of January has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. If you’re interested in taking part click here.
April was a slow month for me. I only finished reading two books. I’ve been spending time practicing my driving as I have my test next week (eek!) so haven’t been reading or blogging as much this month.
The month started out well – I finished reading a book I loved! The Young Elites by Marie Lu really gripped me. I kep
t turning the pages and couldn’t believe it when I finished it. I wanted more. I have the second and third books in the trilogy on my shelf and I don’t think it will be long before I read them.
While on holiday I got a copy of A Street Cat Named Bob. I love cats and I saw the film a few months ago, and remember it being a really interesting and moving story. It was good reading the book as there was obviously stuff the film left out.
So, the other reason I haven’t done many reviews this month is that I’ve been reading the tome that is A Game of Thrones. I’m about 2/3 of the way through now. It feels like I’ve been reading this book for ages, though it’s only been a few months. I’m loving it so far. Review will be coming when I finish it, which may be another couple of weeks at the rate I’m reading at the moment!
Hopefully May will be a better month for both reading and blogging!
I had a good haul of books last month!
The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh
Having read The Wrath and the Dawn, I wasn’t desperate to read the sequel, but invested enough to want to. So when I saw the Kindle edition discounted, I went for it. I’m curious to see where the story goes.
The Young Elites, The Rose Society, The Midnight Star (Young Elites trilogy) by Mary Lu
I saw these books as a pack of three for less than the price of one – I’ve never been one to resist a book bargain. The series I was originally interested in by Lu was Legend, but having read the back cover of The Young Elites I thought I would give this series a go.
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic by Leigh Bardugo
I have seen this book so many times in book shops and just fell in love with the beauty of it. It’s a lush hardcover with thick pages that are beautifully illustrated in colour. I loved Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm (I have yet to read the final book in the trilogy!). This book is a collection of short stories that are fairy tales from the Grishaverse.
The first T5W of 2018 is about our reading goals for the next year. I don’t usually do this kind of thing, but it was actually interesting to sit and think about where I want my reading to take me over the next 12 months. T5W is a group hosted on Goodreads, if you’d like to participate check it out here.
1) Read more. In 2017 I read 38 books, but a lot of these were from my degree, when I had to sit and read them really quickly. When I don’t have that kind of deadline, it usually takes me 2-4 weeks to read a book. I want to spend more of my spare time reading, as I’ve not been spending as much time doing it as I used to.
2) Read some classics. After spending 3 years slogging through classics (most of which I wouldn’t have chosen myself) I got kind of fed up of them and haven’t touched them since I finished my degree in June 2017. Months later, I finally feel like reading them of my own free will! So I want to get back into some classics of my own choosing this year.
3) Time for some contemporary. I read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi, and would like to read a few more contemporary/general fiction books.
4) Review the books I read. I don’t get round to reviewing a lot of the books I read. This year I want to blog reviews of as many of them as I can. I enjoy thinking about what I’ve read and sharing my thoughts, so really I ought to do it more.
5) Take a chance on me. With the Mamma Mia Here We Go Again trailer coming out, this song just popped into my head. I want to take a chance on books more this year. I want to not just keep reading safe books by authors or in genres I know I love. I want to step out of my comfort zone and read some books I’m not sure whether I’ll like, because I might just find a gem I might not have looked at otherwise.
I don’t usually plan what I’m going to read. I like to see what takes my fancy. But these are some of the books I am desperate to read in 2018.
Series I want to continue
Ringer by Lauren Oliver: The concept of this series – having the two stories in one – really caught my attention, but it’s also the story and characters that make me want to read the next book.
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare: After finally getting round to reading the first book in Clare’s Infernal Devices series at the end of 2017, I am excited to read the second in the series!
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo: I enjoyed the first and second books in this trilogy, so am eager to read the final instalment. I hope it makes a good ending.
Series I want to start
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin: As soon as I read the blurb for this book, I wanted to read it. It’s been sat on my kindle for a few months but I just haven’t got round to it yet. I will definitely be reading it in 2018 though!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass: Another one that has been sat on my kindle for a while. I’ve heard so much about this series and there are quite a few books in it now. I really should get around to reading it.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer: I have wanted to read this book since it first came out, and have finally got a copy. I haven’t read many fairy tale retellings, but this one caught my eye. Combining a fairy tale retelling with sci-fi just sounds like something I would love. I hope it doesn’t disappoint.
Classics I want to read
After reading so many classics during my degree, I had really had enough of them by the time I’d finished. Now I have reached the point where I feel ready to get back into reading some classics in 2018.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: Having enjoyed the TV adaptation of The Moonstone, I am interested in reading one of Wilkie Collins’ works.
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: Eventually I will read all of Austen’s novels. So far, I have ticked off Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility. I’m planning to read Mansfield Park next.
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: I read Tess of the D’Urbervilles a few years ago and loved it. I was totally enchanted by Hardy’s style of writing.
What are you looking forward to reading in 2018?
As we are now just over half way through 2017, I decided to post a list of the best books I have read so far this year. I have reread some books – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and the Hunger Games trilogy – but this list will feature books I have read for the first time.
Replica by Lauren Oliver
I rarely buy hardback books – they’re too expensive and heavy. However, I just could not wait for the paperback of Replica to come out. The idea of the story being told from two points of view, and flipping the book over the read the second half of the story, just seemed so cool. I was curious to see whether Lauren Oliver could pull it off, and desperately hoped I wouldn’t be disappointed. I was not, and it is one of my favourite books I have read this year. Without the two ‘stories’ in one, would the actual plot of the book hold its own? I’m not sure, but I 
definitely enjoyed it in this form, and the two points of view weren’t gimmicky like I had feared. I eagerly await the next book in the series, and hope it lives up to the first one.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
This is the first novel I have read by Laurie Halse Anderson, and will forever be one of my favourite books. It doesn’t shy away from the difficult topics it deals with. The poetic writing style and imagery is stunning. The metaphors woven into the book are really effective. I felt totally pulled into the story.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson 
With Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson once again writes about mental health. I found the writing as engaging as that of Speak, and although this is also one of my favourite books, it didn’t bowl me over in the same way as Speak. I didn’t know much about eating disorders before reading this book, and I found it enlightening to read about what it can be like to experience it.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Having seen and enjoyed the film when it came 
out, I wanted to read the book. The characters are aged up somewhat for the film, so the beginning of the book is even more shocking consider the child characters are so young. Ender is only six when he is sent to Battle School to begin his training. Some parts of the book were slow, but on the whole it kept me reading, with a satisfying twist at the end.
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
This is the second book I have read by Ellen Hopkins, and only the second verse novel I have read. The book tells the story of a girl who becomes a drug addict. This is another one with tough subject matter! What I liked about the book is how Hopkins utilises the verse form to reflect the narrator’s addiction and mental state. I found it highly effective.
These are the best books I have read so far this year. I wonder what my favourites will be at the end of 2017!
From reading Dracula last week, I’m going the complete reversal on vampire books by reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It’s not something I would choose to read, but I have been curious to read it for a long time to see what it’s really like. Since it’s on the reading list for the Children’s Literature module I’m taking for my degree, I now get the pleasure of finally finding out.
My knowledge of this book is based solely on the various claims from both sides of the argument – Twilight fans and Twilight haters – and the films. Having heard that the books are better than the films, I’ve tried not to let my dislike of the films cloud my judgement over the first book in the series. This is easier said than done though, as I’ve found it difficult to separate myself from all the things I’ve heard about it and form my own opinion through reading it. It seems to be impossible to be unbiased because it’s just such a famous book and people have said a lot of negative things about it. I can’t help but wonder whether I would like or dislike it if there wasn’t all that surrounding it, if it were just a book I’d picked up off the shelf that I hadn’t really heard of and didn’t have any preconceptions about. That’s something we’ll never know so I’ll just have to attempt to be as objective as possible and take it at face value as well as I can.
I’m about halfway through currently, and although it started out fine, things have gone dramatically downhill in the last few chapters. Full review to come when I’ve finished reading it!
The Last Book On The Left 