Tag: reading

WWW Wednesday: 16th November 2016

Ali@abookishlife14 Comments

The WWW Wednesdays meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

WWW Wednesday

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Here’s this weeks WWW.

Currently Reading

The Trespasser (Dublin Murder Squad, #6)I’m a bit later than normal with this post today as I was waiting until I decided which book to start this morning (a difficult decision at the moment). I have however gone for The Trespasser by Tana French.

I received this a few weeks ago from NetGalley but have been putting off due to a challenge I was taking part in on GoodReads. I absolutely love Tana French books but know from previous books that they can be a little hard to get started on and take a while to read (something which isn’t good when you’re trying to read as many books as possible). It’s actually turned out however that this is not the case with this one. I’m only a few pages in but so far I’m loving it and can’t wait to read more. The MC is a joy to read, she’s so grumpy and negative 🙂

Recently Finished

Despite my plan last week to relax and slow down my reading I somehow seem to have managed to finish six books this week (I blame the fact I was reading a box set)The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The first book finished was real life book club book The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I, unlike most of the people in the book club, did actually manage to finish it before the meet. I’m still a bit conflicted on it as honestly I found it really hard going for the most part. It’s very heavy on philosophy and there are whole chapters on the purpose of grammar, how to appreciate art and the meaning of life (I skimmed a lot). The plot is pretty non existent with most of it packed into the last 20% but it did somehow get to me. I think the discussion at book club helped me to appreciate it more as well. There were a couple of people who absolutely loved it and I’m reliably informed that part of the difficulty with it is due to the translation from French.Faithful

As I was already reading outwith my comfort zone the next book I picked up was Faithful by Alice Hoffman which I had received from NetGalley but had been putting off reading for some unknown reason. This was my first Alice Hoffman book and while it was an emotional read, it was so beautifully written that I absolutely loved it. You can read my full review here.

After two very hard going (for different reasons) books I felt the need for something lighter so picked up The Marriage Contract by Katee Robert. I’m ashamed to say I received this from NetGalley over a year ago and am only now reading and reviewing. It’s a romantic thriller with gangsters and I found it an enjoyable read. I’m actually kind of tempted to get the next one as it sounds even better.Pepped Up (Pepper Jones, #1)

The final three books finished were the first three books in the Pepper Jones series by Ali Dean. It’s a YA/NA sports romance about a 17 year old girl Pepper Jones who’s a runner. I really like Ali Dean’s books as the female characters do tend to be very goal focused and successful which I love. I do kind of wish not everyone was beautiful and successful and that they didn’t go boy mad but you can’t have everything.

Reading Next

Still don’t really have a plan for me reading next list. My next real life book club book is The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo so if I’m sensible I should make a start on that (I’m not sensible so probably won’t). Other than that I think I’m in the mood for either fantasy/SF or horror so maybe Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet or The Many.

Magic Bitter, Magic SweetThe Redbreast (Harry Hole, #3)The Many

Have you read any of the books above or have any other book you’d recommend? Leave comments and links below. Also, if anyone is a Jo Nesbo reader is it ok to start on the third Harry Hole book?

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Teaser Tuesday: 15th November 2016

Ali@abookishlife12 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of Books and a Beat.

Teaser Tuesday | BooksAndABeat.com
This week my teaser comes from Faithful by Alice Hoffman. I received this from NetGalley and actually finished it at the weekend but as I loved it so much I really wanted to post a teaser. It’s a beautifully written and emotional read.

My Teaser

Occasionally a candle will still be burning, so fresh it’s as though it had just been lit. Then the girls gather round in awe and solidarity, even the ones who hate each other. They close their eyes and make a wish, the same one every time: Let it never be me.

~ location 104

BlurbFaithful

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and The Dovekeepers comes a soul-searching story about a young woman struggling to redefine herself and the power of love, family, and fate.

Growing up on Long Island, Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl until one night an extraordinary tragedy changes her fate. Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt.

What happens when a life is turned inside out? When love is something so distant it may as well be a star in the sky? Faithful is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. A fan of Chinese food, dogs, bookstores, and men she should stay away from, Shelby has to fight her way back to her own future. In New York City she finds a circle of lost and found souls—including an angel who’s been watching over her ever since that fateful icy night.

Here is a character you will fall in love with, so believable and real and endearing, that she captures both the ache of loneliness and the joy of finding yourself at last. For anyone who’s ever been a hurt teenager, for every mother of a daughter who has lost her way, Faithful is a roadmap.

Alice Hoffman’s “trademark alchemy” (USA TODAY) and her ability to write about the “delicate balance between the everyday world and the extraordinary” (WBUR) make this an unforgettable story. With beautifully crafted prose, Alice Hoffman spins hope from heartbreak in this profoundly moving novel.

Happy reading everyone.

WWW Wednesday: 9th November 2016

Ali@abookishlife14 Comments

The WWW Wednesdays meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

WWW Wednesday

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Here’s this weeks WWW.

Currently ReadingThe Elegance of the Hedgehog

Today is real life book club day so I’m no doubt still frantically reading this month’s pick The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (I wrote this post yesterday). I’m currently around page 100 of 320 and it’s fairly safe to say I’m struggling. I really want to like it as I really like the person who picked it but honestly it’s heavy going. It’s very wordy with a lot of philosophy thrown in to the mix which I have absolutely no interest in so can’t be bothered reading. Yet again I am probably going to be the only one at book club who didn’t love the book.

Recently Finished

I was pretty much doing everything possible to try and avoid starting The Elegance of the Hedgehog so it’s been a slightly slower reading week for me again with only two books finished.What Light

The first of these was What Light by Jay Asher which is a YA contemporary about a 16 year old girl, Sierra, whose family grow and sell Christmas trees. Most of the year she’s in Oregon where the farm is but for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas the whole family relocate to California to sell the trees. This year in California Sierra meets a boy, Caleb, with a troubled past but she sees something in him that makes her want to take a chance despite the odds being stacked against them.

I think I was expecting something a bit heavier but this is a very sweet and funny romance that’s perfect for Christmas. It does have the familiar good girl, bad boy with issues theme but it’s done exceptionally well, is very mature and I liked it a lot. You can read my full review here

Love You To DeathThe second book finished this week was Love You to Death by Caroline Mitchell. This was another NetGalley request and again had that happy Christmassy feel (ok maybe not happy, more murdery). It’s a police procedural about the hunt for a killer who’s targeting women who’ve given a child up for adoption. I had a bit of a shaky start with this but by the mid point I was completely hooked. The attraction was probably more the main character DS Ruby Preston and her history rather than the hunt for the killer but it’s definitely a series I’ll keep reading. I’m hoping to get a review up later this week.

Reading Next

The team reading challenge I was participating in on GoodReads is now finished so, while I’ll miss it, I think I’m going to make the most of not having to read as many books as possible or that fit some strange task. I’m therefore leaving my reading next open. I think I’m going to slow down a bit, catch up on reviews and maybe find a book I’ve been wanting to read for ages but didn’t want to rush.

Have you read any of the books above or have any other book you’d recommend? Leave comments and links below.

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Teaser Tuesday: 8th November 2016

Ali@abookishlife20 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of Books and a Beat.

Teaser Tuesday | BooksAndABeat.com
This week my teaser comes from The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. This is my current real life book club read and I have to admit I’m finding it a bit of a struggle. There’s a lot of philosophy, something I know very little about, so I’m not sure I will actually manage to finish it. As book club is tomorrow lunchtime, and I’m currently on page 65, I’m definitely up against it.

My Teaser

Thus the concierge couple, as served by the metaphor of their totemic poodle, seems to be utterly devoid of such passions as love and desire and, like their totem, destined to remain ugly, stupid, submissive and boastful. If, in certain novels, princes fall in love with working-class lasses, and princesses with galley slaves, between two concierges, even of the opposite sex, there is never any romance of the type that others experience and that might someday make a worthy story.

~ page 42, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

BlurbThe Elegance of the Hedgehog

RenĂ©e is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building, home to members of the great and the good. Over the years she has maintained her carefully constructed persona as someone reliable but totally uncultivated, in keeping, she feels, with society’s expectations of what a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real RenĂ©e passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives.
Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renée lives resigned to her lonely lot with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

Happy reading everyone.

WWW Wednesday: 2nd November 2016

Ali@abookishlife15 Comments

The WWW Wednesdays meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

WWW Wednesday

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Here’s this weeks WWW.

Currently Reading

What LightI just started What Light by Jay Asher yesterday but due to a couple of long train journeys I’m already more than half way through. It’s a YA contemporary about a 16 year old girl whose family grow and sell Christmas trees meaning she leads two lives. Most of the year she’s in Oregon where the farm is but for the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas the whole family relocate to California to sell the trees. I love the idea of someone having two different lives and I’m absolutely adoring the romance and Christmassy feel.

Recently Finished

I kind of feel like this has been a bit of a slower reading week for me. It probably shouldn’t be as I’m now in the final week of my team challenge but between a trip to see Leigh Bardugo and Rainbow Rowell at the Edinburgh stop of their tour and Halloween (I felt the need to watch a lot of horror films) I haven’t had much time.The Sun Is Also a Star

I did however finish The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon which I was sooo excited to receive from NetGalley. Yoon is the author of Everything, Everything which I have to admit I hadn’t read but had heard loads of good things about. I don’t know therefore how they compare but I did really enjoy The Sun is Also a Star.

 It’s a YA romance about two teenagers, Daniel and Natasha who come from very different backgrounds but meet by chance on the day where Daniel has an interview for a college he doesn’t want to go to and Natasha is facing deportation. It does have it’s sweet and cutesy moments but it also raises some issues around cultural differences and racism in a really intelligent and thoughtful way. It’s one of those books where I almost always had my highlighter out, noting down the quotes I just loved. There was the odd bit I wasn’t so sure about but overall it’s definitely a book I’d recommend. You can read my full review here

An Almond for a ParrotI also finished another NetGalley book, An Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney. This is another one of those books I wanted to read mostly based on the cover and a very unusual blurb. It’s a mix of a lot of different genres, romance, mystery, paranormal and historical which somehow kind of works.

The story begins in London in 1756 with Tully Truegood, in prison for the murder of her husband. It then flashes back to tell the story of her life and how she ended up in her current predicament. As her life story includes periods as a conjurer’s assistant and a famous prostitute it definitely makes for some fascinating reading. It could maybe have been a little bit darker than it was in my opinion but still a good story. You can read my full review here

Reading Next

I think Love You to Death by Caroline Mitchell will be the next book I pick up. I’m in the mood for something a bit darker and more serious so this seems like the perfect choice. I also really need to start my next real life book club read, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. The meeting is next week so I’ve been leaving it as close to the meeting as possible.

I also picked up a copy of Landline by Rainbow Rowell during the week so hopefully I’ll be able to make a start on that too.

Love You To DeathThe Elegance of the HedgehogLandline

Have you read any of the books above or have any other book you’d recommend? Leave comments and links below.

Also, on a slightly related note, has anyone else come across the new TV show Class? It’s a Doctor Who spin off created and written by Patrick Ness. I have become completely addicted.

Happy Wednesday everyone.

Teaser Tuesday: 1st November 2016

Ali@abookishlife13 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of Books and a Beat.

Teaser Tuesday | BooksAndABeat.com
This week my teaser comes from Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo which is the second and final (noooo!!!) book in the Six of Crows duology. I read this almost two weeks ago but didn’t get a chance to post a teaser so thought I should fix that. Leigh Bardugo is a fantastic author and one of the few on my auto buy list. I’d recommend everything she’s ever written.

My Teaser

“I,” she said, planting a hand on her hip, “am a delicate flower.”

“You aren’t a flower, you’re every blossom in the wood blooming at once. You are a tidal wave. You’re a stampede. You are overwhelming.”

~ page 233, Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)Blurb

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world.

Happy reading everyone.

ARC Review: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Ali@abookishlife5 Comments

The Sun Is Also a StarThe Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having never read any of Nicola Yoon’s other books I wasn’t sure what to expect from this but as I’d heard a lot about her previous book Everything, Everything I had high hopes.

YA contemporary stories can be a bit hit or miss for me but in this Yoon has created a story that’s intelligent, sweet, emotional and at the same time deep. It did take a little while to grow on me but by the end I was completely invested in the story and the characters and that ending was just incredible.
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ARC Review: An Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney

Ali@abookishlife4 Comments

An Almond for a ParrotAn Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I have to confess I requested this book from Netgalley based on a combination of that beautiful cover and the unusual title. I love books that are unique and that little bit strange and this most definitely fits into that category telling the story of Tully Truegood skivvy, orphan, conjurers assistant and prostitute.

It’s a bit of a hodgepodge of different genres, historical, romance and fantasy with a little bit of mystery and horror thrown into the mix. It shouldn’t work but somehow it does. It’s well written with some truly memorable characters and a fascinating story.

As someone who is not a fan of period stories this tale of life in 18th century England captivated me and I couldn’t put it down.

I would like to make myself the heroine of this story and my character to be so noble that you could not help but be in love with me. Perhaps I should portray myself as an innocent victim led astray. But alas, sir, I would be lying, and as I am on the brink of seeing my maker, the truth might serve me better.

The story begins in 1756 with our heroine Tully Truegood in prison for the murder of her husband. When visited by her sister Hope she requests paper and ink so she can write the story of her life in the form of a letter to the man she loves. So begins her story, from her mother dying in childbirth, to the neglect of her father and how she became one of the most famous prostitutes in England, discovered she had a very unique power and ended up in prison for murder.

I absolutely loved the form of this story. The majority is written like a letter to a lover and as such it feels like Tully is speaking directly to the reader. The tone is at times very conversational as she tries to give her side of the story and explain her feelings and actions.

Tully makes for a very likeable narrator, honest, forthright and brave, and I think that’s what makes this such a great story. Both Tully and the other characters in the story are rendered so well that you can picture them and the development of Tully over the course of the story is wonderful to read. She grows from a naive, weak and bullied child to a confident and assertive woman in a time when women were treated like possessions. I wasn’t sure about her at the start but by the end I absolutely loved her.

The other characters are also fascinating with my favorites being Mr Crease, Mercy and Lord B each of whom brought something very different to the story (a certain section with Lord B left me in tears). What I struggled a little with however, and the reason I couldn’t give 5 stars, was the central romance. The whole book is written like a love letter as Tully longs for news of Avery but when I learned of their history together I didn’t feel it. It seemed to me to be very one sided with Tully idolizing Avery.

Weirdly the whole thing reminded me a little of Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Partly I think because of the time period but also because of the way Tully is used and abused by most of the men in her life and is let down by the one man who claims to love her. I should say there are some very violent and abusive scenes which may upset and, as a large portion of the story is set in a brothel, there are also a lot of fairly graphic sex scenes although a lot of euphemisms are used for various parts of the anatomy. (As an aside, some of these did make me laugh particularly in the early part of the book where there seems to be a number of references to vegetables).

There are some magical and supernatural elements to the story which I loved and definitely gives it something unique even though they are at times a little confusing and disturbing. I would have really liked a bit more depth to these and to Mr Crease as I just wanted to understand how Tully could do the things she could.

The story is captivating and while there are a couple of areas where I felt it needed more background or explanation I was left feeling very satisfied by the end. I do wonder if it may have been more effective if it was that little bit darker and more explicit than it was but I don’t know.

Overall a great read that I would recommend to those who like a unique story with a strong female character and who aren’t offended by.some graphic sex scenes.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb (from GoodReads)

‘I would like to make myself the heroine of this story – an innocent victim led astray. But alas sir, I would be lying
’

London, 1756: In Newgate prison, Tully Truegood awaits trial. Her fate hanging in the balance, she tells her life-story. It’s a tale that takes her from skivvy in the back streets of London, to conjuror’s assistant, to celebrated courtesan at her stepmother’s Fairy House, the notorious house of ill-repute where decadent excess is a must


Tully was once the talk of the town. Now, with the best seats at Newgate already sold in anticipation of her execution, her only chance of survival is to get her story to the one person who can help her avoid the gallows.

She is Tully Truegood.

Orphan, whore, magician’s apprentice.

Murderer?

WWW Wednesday: 26th October 2016

Ali@abookishlife21 Comments

The WWW Wednesdays meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

WWW Wednesday

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Here’s this weeks WWW.

Currently ReadingThe Sun Is Also a Star

I’m almost finished The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon which I received from NetGalley.  It’s a contemporary YA romance about two teenagers, Daniel and Natasha who come from very different backgrounds but meet by chance (or is it fate?) on the day where Daniel has an admission interview for a college he doesn’t really want to go to and Natasha is facing deportation. They have nothing in common but could change each others life.

As it’s set in New York and is about a couple of teenagers I have to admit I did a lot of comparing to Dash and Lily at the start which was completely unfair. It does have it’s cutesy moments but deals a lot more with cultural differences, racism and bigotry. Now that I’m further into the story I’m loving it a lot.

Recently FinishedThe Score (Off-Campus, #3)

It’s been a bit of a mixed week for me with a fantastic book, a truly terrible read and something decidedly average.

First up was The Score by Elle Kennedy which is the third book in her Off Campus series. It’s a new adult romance about a girl who after breaking up with her long term boyfriend gets involved with a bad boy hockey player. It was an ok read but I didn’t think there was anything particularly stand out about it. Thankfully having just finished Heartless by Marissa Meyer and suffering from a major book hangover it was exactly what I needed.The Swarm

After The Score I still didn’t want to start anything good so picked up The Swarm by Christopher Pearson (basically it fit a challenge I was doing). It’s a horror story with swarms of mutant bugs attacking people everywhere. I’d describe it as the worst book ever written but I suspect that would just encourage more people to read it 🙂 It’s like a bad B movie or a teenage boy trying to come up with the most over the top gory book ever. Unfortunately it’s not even so bad it’s kind of good. It’s just bad.

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)The final book of the week was the one that I’ve been looking forward to for what feels like forever, Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. It’s the follow up to Six of Crows and is a mixture of young adult fantasy and a clever heist story. I absolutely love Bardugo’s writing, there is something about it that draws you in, but the highlight for me was the relationship between the characters and all the little moments of humor.

Reading Next

Not 100% sure at the moment but I think my plan is still to read Love You to Death by Caroline Mitchell and What Light by Jay Asher next. I received both from NetGalley and am really excited about them as they sound really good in very different ways. I also have my next real life book club read to make a start on, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I haven’t been massively impressed with the book club choices so far but have higher hopes for this one.

What LightLove You To DeathThe Elegance of the Hedgehog

Have you read any of the books above or have any other book you’d recommend? Leave comments and links below.

Happy Wednesday everyone.