Book Review: The Escape Book by Ivan Tapia

Source: Goodreads

I had a bit of a struggle rating this book if truth be told. I couldn’t decide on my final rating for a while just because I had very conflicting views on the book. On the one hand, it was a lot of fun to complete, and I did enjoy the puzzles and the general novelty of an escape room in book form. On the cover it says it’s the “first book based on the puzzle of escape rooms” and I’m excited that this is now a thing. On the other hand, the writing wasn’t the best and the content of the book tended to jerk you out of tension of the situation. Please keep reading for my review and, as always, I’ve added the review to Goodreads so please add me there.

Book Review: Firebird by Elizabeth Wein

Source: Goodreads

So I’m back! And I’m reading again! To ease myself into the new year and the three (THREE?!?) reading challenges I’m attempting, I went with a new novella from one of my favourite authors, Elizabeth Wein. I’m a bit of a WW2…kick? Lately? I really enjoyed this book. I also left my review on Goodreads, and feel free to add me there! Keep reading for my review and please don’t forget to leave a comment with your thoughts on the book or recommending any other similar books/authors! 

BOOK REVIEW: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Image is from the Goodreads page

I read Eleanor & Park on holiday while tucked up in bed (yes, I’m so old!) and I read it in a couple of sessions flat. I really enjoyed it, actually. It’s the first Rainbow Rowell book I’ve read, but a few friends have recommended one of her other books, Fangirl. Maybe I’ll read that next – I definitely want to read more Rowell! This is a review so it may contain some spoilers re overarching themes and the like, but I’ll try to keep it relatively major spoiler free. This book tackles the topics of domestical violence, alcohol abuse, childhood abuse (including implied sexual) and bullying. If you are sensitive to any of those topics, you may want to skip this one.

Why Am I Always So Behind on Goodreads?

My Goodreads profile is always a long way behind my actual reading. I like my short Goodreads reviews to compliment my more in depth reviews here on my blog, which means I tend to write them at the same time. But…I’ll be the first to admit that I’m pretty useless at keeping up. I even have a column on my reading spreadsheet reminding me to write reviews, but I still manage to fall behind. It’s just not that easy to write a long, detailed review when life gets in the way, and that means I don’t update my Goodreads either. I’ve been having some struggles recently (and not so recently) that have thrown me way off base, and I’m struggling to know what to do next. I still read but my reading is marred by reality’s ugly head, and having the time and mental energy to review has seemed impossible. While I can think all to well about what I want to say, when it comes down to actually getting it done and dusted I seem stuck. And that blows. A lot.

Just today I moved 6 books from my current list to my read list. I still haven’t reviewed them, but my head seems clearer today than it has in a long time so maybe I can blast some out and get back on track. Just putting a rating and “review to follow” on my books has allowed me to shift them off the current list, and it means I’m catching up to my Goodreads target again. Now I just need to start writing before I actually forget what I thought of the books. For this very reason, I keep rough notes on my phone as I read, so that I can build on them more, but still, it can be hard to remember weeks later what you planned on saying.

We all have our ups and downs, and for the most part reading helps me through mine. I like to review my books so that, later on, I can look back and remember why I enjoyed it (or didn’t), so that I can see whether it’s worth it to reread. It would be nice if my reviews introduced people to books they’d never read too, though reading is so subjective and I always think that it’s better to read and form your own opinion on a book instead of avoiding it because others didn’t like it (or worse, feeling as though you have to enjoy it just because everyone else thinks it’s the best book in the world). Most of the time, writing a review is just part of the reading process to me. It helps me slow down and consider what I’ve just read, rather than running from one book to the next without breath, without remembering what I’ve read or how it made me feel. In these times though, when life itself seems such a chore, reviewing can seem almost impossible. I’m trying though. I hope it picks up. I hope I can get some done before the next wave hits. And maybe this time I won’t fall so far behind.

Book Review: Missing Abby by Lee Weatherly

This review may contain mild spoilers but will not talk in detail about any important plot points. I bought this book second hand from a used book sale sometime last year and just got around to reading it. The book is about a girl called Emma, who is the last person to see her childhood best friend, Abby, before Abby goes missing. The book is centred around Emma trying to find out what happened to Abby while also trying not to let the unsavoury circumstances in her past (that led to her “abandoning” Abby and moving to a different school) bleed through into her present. Check out the Goodreads page here.

2017 Literary Goals

2016 has been a trying year. Much has happened in my personal life (and in the wider world) and sadly the majority of it has been bad. It’s hard to carry on with the things you love when you can think of nothing other than the bad stuff going on (or it’s hard for me anyway). Unfortunately I didn’t read much in 2016 and, even worse, I didn’t track any of my reading so I don’t really know what I did and whether I read what I wanted to. 2017, hopefully, will be different. And so, with this in mind, I made some goals for the coming year. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with them! Here’s to next year, hopefully it’s better than last year.

Goal #1 – Listen to at least 6 audio books. 

I’ve had an audible account for a while now and I’m racking up the audio books, but I haven’t actually listened to any for a while. I used to listen to them at the gym but then I discovered some amazing podcasts and they pretty much took over my life. I’d like to get back into listening to audio books, and hopefully one every two months will be a more than achievable goal.

Goal #2 – Keep up with reviews.

Reviews aren’t just fun for me, they’re actually pretty helpful. I like to read but unless I become obsessed with a book it can be hard for me to remember everything that happens and what I like and dislike. If I write it all down in a review I can look back on it in the future and know what I did and did not enjoy. I also know that reading reviews can be helpful for others when they’re deciding whether to pick up a book and I love being able to guide people into finding books they love. Hopefully I’ll be doing far more reviews this coming year so watch out for them!

Goal #3 – Start a spreadsheet to track my reading and read a wider variety.

Like I said before, I didn’t track my reading at all this past year and so I really have no idea what I read. In 2017 I may go a tiiiiiny bit overboard in the opposite direction – I’ve created a huge spreadsheet to document my reading. It has around 26 columns from title, author and date published all the way through to various forms of representation. I’m tracking a lot. It may end up being too much, and maybe half my columns will lie unused for most of the year, but I think it’s important to me to try and get all of this information down. It also ties in to the goal of wider reading. I want to read a wider variety of authors and characters (not just straight white teens written by straight white adults), I want to read more genres and get out of my comfort zone, and I really want to read more non fiction. Hopefully by charting all of this information I can really see whether I’m being more diverse and, if not, I can change things up so that I am.

Goal #4 – Participate in the POPSUGAR 2017 Reading Challenge AND the Book Riot 2017 Read Harder Challenge. 

I’ve never really done a reading challenge like this before, but I figure it may help me expand my reading a bit (and so ties in nicely with my previous goal). I probably won’t be able to read a separate book for each part of each challenge, but hopefully I will for most of them! I’m aiming to complete the Book Riot challenge fully, and complete the main section of the POPSUGAR one. I may not get onto the “Advanced” section for POPSUGAR but here’s hoping! If you guys are interested in these challenges you can find the Book Riot challenge here and the POPSUGAR challenge here.

Goal #5 – Read (at some point this year) THESE specific books.

I usually don’t make lists of books I “HAVE” to read within a certain month/year because it puts pressure on to just “get it done” and then I might not enjoy them as much as I would usually. There are certain books I really want to read this year so I really hope I’ll find time for them at some point in 2017. They are:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – yes I still haven’t read it (not my fault, my copy was delivered to my parents home not my flat and this is the first time I’ve been back to my family home this year) but I need to. I. Need. To.

The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman – I started this book a while back but I never finished it and now I’ve forgotten most of it. Hopefully at some point this year I can restart it and actually finish it this time!

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult – Jodi came to do a talk about this book in Edinburgh and my flatmate and I went along. It was brilliant! She had great insight and her talk was beautiful. I can’t wait to get the chance to read this one.

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser // Bad Food Britain by Joanna Blythman // The Shape We’re In by Sarah Boseley – these all fit under the same category really, but they’re all factual books about the food industry that I’m really interested to read and see how accurate and unbiased they are. I haven’t really read much about the food/diet industry but it’s a field that does interest me so hopefully I’ll get my teeth into these three this year.

Do you guys have any reading goals for 2017? Mine aren’t very specific (apart from the last one) but hopefully I’ll get back into reading for pleasure and interest this year and it’ll be a great year! Here’s hoping, eh?

 

 

 

Bout of Books 17 – Sign Up and TBR

Hello all!! Yes, I’ve been away for months now. I didn’t choose to abandon you all – I had a few personal problems I was trying to focus on and blogging took a back seat (an understatement really – blogging was being dragged along on a piece of string behind the car really). But things are better now and to celebrate I’ve decided to throw myself into reading with my first ever read-a-thon!! This is super exciting for me. I chose the Bout of Books read-a-thon because it seemed less intense than some other read-a-thons (which is good for my first one) and because it’s starting tomorrow, 22nd August 2016! If you don’t know what Bout of Books is, here’s the official blurb from their website:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Sounds fun, right? I’m very excited for this, and I’ve set up a little TBR to share with you guys. I might not get through all of my list (in fact it’s really highly unlikely) but I’m going to try my best! My TBR is split into three sections: physical books, kindle books, and audio books.

What Will I Be Reading While Travelling? Carnegie Prize 2016

I love reading and I love stories, and as most people say, nothing can ever quite match the feeling of holding a book in your hands, feeling its weight, hearing the crinkle of a turning page (bonus points if the book has beautiful pictures or something else that enhances the reading experience even more). However, they can be a bit…unwieldy, and never more so than when you’re going on holiday. I suppose they’re a bit hard to store if you have so many books and not enough spare shelves or corners. With this in mind, kindles (and other e-readers, although I’ve only ever owned and used a kindle) are also awesome. I’m taking a kindle with me to Paris this week, and in preparation I bought some new books (because I didn’t have enough or anything…) – sticking to a theme, I bought the Carnegie Prize 2016 shortlist. The entire shortlist. Let’s all say a quiet prayer for my poor bank account, eh?

There are 8 books on the shortlist, and they cover various different themes. I’m aiming to have read them all by the time the winner is announced on the 20^th June. Here’s a brief description of all 8 titles – the link to the Carnegie Shortlist 2016 web page is here.

Blackwells Book Haul

I popped into Blackwells bookstore for a little browse today and then I saw the fateful stickers… 3 for 2. Free book. FREE BOOK!! I couldn’t resist. I spent £16.98.

  
From top:

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – the world is divide into Reds (commoners) and Silvers (ruling elite), and Mare is a Red who possesses a mystery power that threatens to destroy this world and its power balance. The Silvers declare her a Silver princess in order to keep an eye on her, and Mare must navigate society so she can bring it down.

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah – starring Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot who attempts to discover who is murdering guests at a fashionable hotel. I love Christie so I’m excited to read this one. 

The Singular & Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath by Ishbelle Bee – set in 1888, this book follows a little girl and her shape shifting guardian as they wash ashore in England, where a mysterious man, Lovelace, who serves a demon Lord is attempting to kill her.

I’m excited for all these books, but I think the Poirot one is the one I’m most anxious to start. Have you read any of these? Are they good?

Update on my Reading and Writing Challenges 2015

Hey everyone. It’s roughly halfway through the year so I thought I’d update you all on my Reading and Writing goals. You can find the original post here.

I’m doing okay on the reading challenge. I’ve completed several of them (although I have yet to write reviews for most) and I have ideas for what I want to read for the others. I’ll get there. I still have half a year left.

As for the writing challenges…well. I haven’t written for at least half an hour every day – but I am determined to start, so hopefully I will be able to tick this one off. I started Camp NaNo but failed horribly. I am determined to do better on the actual NaNo in November though. Let’s see, shall we? I changed the “finish the first drafts of two books” goal to finish the first drafts of a book and a screenplay. I haven’t managed either yet BUT hopefully if I start writing every single day and kick ass in November then I will complete this one. There’s still hope!! And as for writing more fanfiction…I actually haven’t written any this year (although I have read a ton). I have a few ideas for fanfics though so I’ll definitely have written at least a few stories by the time the year is up.

So overall I’m not where I wanted to be in my goals so far, but I think that as long as I step up my game from now on, I can still complete most, if not all, of these goals. Wish me luck!