All posts tagged: books

My top books of 2015 (so far)

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So we’ve reached the half-way point in the year. That wonderful time when we think “thank the stars that it’s half over” concomitant with “holy crap! how is it halfway through the year already!” I have to say I’m not particularly impressed with my progress with reading this year. I haven’t read anywhere near as many books as I wanted to by this point, but as I am in the final year of my PhD I will have to cut myself some slack. But here are my top five books of 2015 so far (in no particular order). 1. Golden Son by Pierce Brown I absolutely LOVED Red Rising and pre-ordered this one as soon as I could. Now while I know that I loved this book, I can’t really put my thoughts into any kind of logical thread. While I was reading it I was suffering from appendicitis/in hospital/recovering from surgery so I’m a wee bit scattered on it, but I know that I absolutely loved it! You can see my review of Red …

It’s finally complete!

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So I love these little editions of puffin classics. I have been after a copy of Grimm’s Fairy tales for quite some time, but my collection is now complete. If you’re after these editions yourself you can find them here: Boxset  Individual books: Black Beauty, The Call of the Wild,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Wind in the Willows, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Secret Garden, The Wizard of Oz, Anne of Green Gables,Peter Pan, Matilda, Tales of the Greek Heroes, A Little Princess. I think that’s all of them. There is also Grimm’s Fairy Tales which is out of print and The Jungle Book which has not been released yet.

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“At last, she lifted up the waiting mask. So many of the faces that hung around the stall were lovely, delicate things made of feather and lace and garnished with glass. But this one was beautiful in a different way, an opposite way. It reminded Lila less of dresses and finery, and more of sharpened knives and ships on the seas at night. It looked dangerous. She brought it to rest against her face and smile.” — V. E. Schwab, A Darker Shade of Magic

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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“I threw myself into that fire, threw myself into it, into him, and let myself burn.” Now, I’m probably the only person in the world who read this book without comparing it to Throne of Glass, because I’m the only person in the world who hasn’t read the Throne of Glass series. I’ve read the first book, but I was a bit underwhelmed. But A Court of Thorns and Roses was wonderful! What’s it about: First and foremost this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Feyre (Fay-ruh apparently. Why authors insist on using non-straightforward names is beyond me!) lives in a poor village near The Wall, the magical barrier that divides the human and faerie worlds. One day while she’s out hunting and trying not to die, and have her whole family starve to death in the process, she kills a wolf. Who can blame her? But it turns out the wolf is a faerie and then a giant beast comes to claim her life in payment for killing his buddy, and whisks …

Book Review: Annihilation (Southern Reach Trilogy I) by Jeff Vandermeer

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“The effect of this cannot be understood without being there. The beauty of it cannot be understood, either, and when you see beauty in desolation it changes something inside you. Desolation tries to colonize you.” I have seen some pretty mixed reviews about this series, and I understand why. ‘New weird’ fiction is not for everyone, but it is definitely my bag. This fascinating mystery about the enigmatic Area-X is gripping and ridiculously beautiful at times. It is one of those books that wraps itself around you and isolates you from the rest of the world, pulling you into it and not letting you come up for air until you’re done. It is the sort of book that needs to be read in one sitting. “Silence creates its own violence.” What’s it about: A group of four women are deployed into the mysterious Area-X. Several previous missions have been sent to the area, and everyone has either never been heard from again, or come back completely changed, only to die a short time later. These …

In which you discover how neurotic I am about books…

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I’m obsessed with collecting pretty collections of books, mostly classics, I have quite a beautiful and vast collection. But for some reason I have neglected a fairly ubiquitous and worthy collection, and I don’t know why. Nearly ever booklover has at least one of the Penguin Clothbound Classics. They are beautiful and I just don’t know why I haven’t been collecting these. I only have five of them, which for me is strange. I collect series of books and I get a little obsessed about it, but this series has not driven me crazy like some of the others. Trying to get the last two books in a certain series over the last few days had completely consumed me after my fourth attempt (every bookseller cancelled my order saying the books weren’t in stock) to purchase them. I was acting like a crazy person. I was seriously distressed about not being able to have that full set. I actually get quite upset about it if I had the opportunity to buy the book at one …

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

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“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still” I was initially sent a preview of this book by the publisher and after about two chapters I had already pre-ordered it. I knew I would love it right from the start. Unfortunately, my pre-order took a very, very long time to come and it was a terrible, terrible wait. I wanted to finish it so badly that I ended up buying another copy in the interim. It’s that good. Seriously. “Magic is a truly beautiful disease” What’s it about: This is the story of four alternate Londons, three magical, one not, and the man who can travel between them. Kell belongs to the royal family of Red London (the nice magic London), and must travel between his London, Grey London (non-magic London), and White London (creepy magic London) carrying messages between the royal families which rule each London. Although forbidden, Kell ocassionally brings objects from one London to another for the right price, and when he unknowingly he accepts to carry a piece of …

Book Review: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

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“Even a book can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and when that happens, you blame the hands, but you also read the book.” What’s it about: In a fantasy universe that is somehow a future version of our universe, but actually nothing like it except that we share some of the same literature, a young girl named Kelsea seeks to reclaim the throne of her kingdom, The Tearling, and free it from the oppressive dominion of the neighbouring country ruled by an evil queen. What I thought: I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews about this book, and I am a bit mixed myself. I loved Kelsea as a character. She was strong, intelligent, knew right from wrong, and had a very realistic hang up about her looks. I have heard so many bad things about how Kelsea felt about her looks from reviewers, and I kind of get the impression that these people are probably attractive themselves. Living in a world that values beauty above nearly anything else, you’re constantly aware that you …

“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”

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“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn’t already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.” ― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

The series taking over my life

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So I am only just reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I have always loved the movies but I had avoided the books for so long because I was told that they are really hard to read. I am a fool of a took! I’m about halfway through The Two Towers now and they really aren’t difficult at all. Okay, so the prologue to The Fellowship is difficult to read, but once you get through the billion or so pages of history of the hobbits, they are really fun. And now they are talking over my life. All I want to do is read them.