Come and escape from the world in some great books!
sparkling trails of light drawing out the numbers 2018 in glowing light to welcome in the new year So here it is. New Year's Eve and, being a dad to a five year old and generally quite antisocial, I am at home with family, a glass of chilled champagne and, currently, Pointless on the television.… Continue reading 2018: A Year in Books
The Greek epics seem to have had a resurgence - dare one say a renaissance? - or a reimagining recently. On my to-be-read list are Stephen Fry's Mythos and Heroes, Madeline Miller's Circe, and Song of Achilles and now this by Pat Barker. I don't know what the appeal is of these narratives, nor why they are… Continue reading The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker
Normal People. Are people normal? I don't think so. I think we are weird and strange and contradictory and self-contradictory and life primarily in delusions and bubbles of pretense and make-believe. But maybe that's me! "Normal" seems like a slur... So the point is, I'm not entirely sure what drew me to this book: it… Continue reading Normal People, Sally Rooney
Oh well, having set down my best intentions earlier, to review Washington Black before finishing Sally Rooney's Normal People, and to complete the 30 Day Book Challenge by Christmas, I have failed on all accounts and now have Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls to review as well! But, I have had a lovely Chrsitmas… Continue reading Washington Black, Esi Edugyan
I find this a very broad category today; A book with a person's name in the title (real or fictional). I mean in every genre, there are a wealth of books containing (or perhaps consisting of solely) the name of the characters: every one of the Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl series in Young… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 17!
With an unexpected day off again tomorrow - thanks to an unwell child, poor thing! - it is possible that I may be able to catch up a day or two! Maybe. But today's challenge is to name a book you've read more than once. Now, this is a tricky one. If we look at… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 16!
Why do we read detective stories? It is a strange genre. Every piece of advice is that tension and conflict are the driver of a narrative and, with this genre, unlike the thriller genre, the most significant conflict - the one which traditionally culminates in murder, as it does with this one - occurs significantly… Continue reading The Sentence is Death, Anthony Horowitz
I really should have limited myself to just naming a book and moving on! One name, one image; job done! Instead, no, I decide I'm going to chat and talk about them! I do find it hard not to chat about books. That's the problem! So now, if I do one a day every day, I'll finish… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 15!
Heading towards the half way point. Slowly. I'm aiming to finish by Christmas, possibly on Christmas Day which gives me 20 days in which to complete the final 16. Still a little bit of leeway! Anyway, today's challenge is A fairytale retelling. And there are a lot of these to choose from, even if we… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 14!
Day 13, unlucky for some perhaps, brings with it a terribly arbitrary category: A book with a colour in the title. And, yes, I am anglicising the spelling of colour. And in my head, I am thinking "correcting" when I wrote "angliscising"! Okay, well let's generate a list and celebrate the joys of modern technology:… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 13!
After the previous post, which I found horribly difficult, this one is easy. I mean, why would you expend all the energy required to hate a book? Surely if you react to one that strongly, you'd just stop reading and move on. Wouldn't you? There are so many fabulous books out there, why would you waste time… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 12!
So moving on with this, the challenge has shifted to characters for today rather than novels with the challenge to find A literary character you want to have dinner (or drinks) with. Can I not just ask for all of them? Not together. Obviously. I don't have enough chairs! It's my blog and my rules,… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day 11!
Ah well, I lost my streak! Never mind. Stuff happens! Am I going to lose any sleep over it? Nope! But returning to the challenge today, the task is to choose a book that makes you cry happy tears Happy tears. I'm selecting three books for this one because - well, because it's my blog,… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Ten!
I have thoroughly enjoyed the Rivers of London series as a fresh urban fantasy - and all the freedoms and inventiveness which comes with that - merged with the familiar structures and language of a police procedural. In the previous book, The Hanging Tree, Aaronovitch finally reveals the identity of The Faceless Man, the antagonist… Continue reading Lies Sleeping, Ben Aaronovitch
Today's category - I'm going to be upfront and honest - is one I don't understand and I am confused by. The category is Favourite book to give as a gift. And I do give books as gifts. Frequently. I've given Eleanor Oliphant is Perfectly Fine by Gail Honeyman, Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Nine!
So, week two and day eight roll around and we're still going... And the challenge today is to name A series everyone should read. Now I struggle with this concept. Why should everyone read the same thing? Why would one series - which is a massive investment of time - be something everyone should read? Why should anyone read… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Eight!
Okay, day seven and I've managed not to miss any yet! The joys of having almost a whole week off work because the heating there packed up! God bless the Health and Safety gremlins! So today's category is Best audiobook to listen to on a road trip. Fortunately, I do listen to audiobooks, almost on… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Seven!
Today's challenge is to identify A book that broke your heart. There is only one contender in this category and it is Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls. I have read this novel a dozen times: initially as simply a book for myself; later as a class read for work. I have read it in my head… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Six!
Day Five is such a strange strange week at work! Surreal does not begin to cut it! Anyway, back to the challenge and, today, we are looking for Favourite classic novel. Oh Lord! Again, just one? One? And what exactly is a "classic"? Ask a thousand readers and you'll probably find a thousand definitions, but… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Five!
Day Four and I'm still up to date and this time we are looking at A book you remember from childhood. I cannot recall a time when I did not read - often to escape the attentions of family! - so there are a lot to consider. Again! Enid Blyton was a staple of my… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Four!
Today's challenge is a little easier because there is less competition! A book you did not finish I generally finish my books! Not all. Not always. More often because of time pressures than choice. And I am taking this challenge to be a book that I chose not to finish. Books still to be started… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Three!
I'm going to review these two together quickly: everything you'd expect from Jim Butcher and Harry Dresden is here and in abundance. Sixth and seventh entries into the Dresden Files, following the exploits of Chicago's only professional wizard, if you've been reading up to this point, you know what you're getting into! Blood Rites for me… Continue reading Blood Rites and Dead Beat, Jim Butcher
Today's task: Favourite book by favourite author. Wait! What?! I have to pick one?! One?! Was this challenge not supposed to be fun? Okay. Let's narrow down the favourite authors part. As with the previous day, let's look at them by genre, too. I'm going to kick off with the obvious: Shakespeare. Not trying to… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day Two!
Okay, so I came across this at the great Professional Book Nerds site and with an unexpected day off work, I thought I'd start off today. And doing it on my blog rather than Twitter gives me a little more space to ruminate over the prompts which today is Favourite book in a series. Do… Continue reading 30 Day Book Challenge: Day One!
Book Haul Time! It's a busy busy time at work - yet again! Exam marking and observations and stress. Much that gets in the way of reading! But equally much that reading can rescue you from! Nothing like escaping from that irksome stress with the pleasures of listening to George Washington Black's escape from slavery… Continue reading Regular Reading Update
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