Goodreads: September to read!

Goodreads: September to read!

Saturday, 3 September 2016

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September is upon us and once again, I have a pile of books to work my way through. I’m sticking (with the exception of one book which I naughtily purchased for myself despite being on a book ban…) to my rule of only reading ARCs and review copies of books as I’ve still got an absolutely ridiculous pile on my TBR. Last month was quite successful and I mostly stuck to the books I was supposed to, but this month I’m determined to be good and finish at least 5 books.

My naughty purchase was one that I should have made a long time ago. I remember taking this book out of the library when I was much too young to fully appreciate it. I can’t have actually finished it as I have no idea where the story’s heading and I’m usually pretty good at remembering plot lines. I was in town, early for a train and nipped into Waterstones. There I found THE most BEAUTIFUL copy of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I wasn’t able to resist it and now it’s sitting pride of place on my bookshelf next to my equally gorgeous copy of His Dark Materials. I started reading it at the end of August so with a bit of luck I’ll have it finished pretty soon.

Back on my psychological thriller vibe, I’ve got Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak published by St Martin’s Press to sink my teeth into. I believe that it’s the first book in a new series by Novak so I’m quite glad of that as I won’t have to get to know existing characters or be confused by references to other plots. I absolutely LOVE the cover of this one so if the books anywhere near as good as the cover then I know I’m in for a treat.

The next book on my list is incredibly intriguing. The Secret is by Kathryn Hughes and was published by Headline Books. It’s written by the best selling author of The Letter, which I haven’t read myself but have heard absolutely amazing things about. The book sounds mysterious and intriguing but is also said to be incredibly heartbreaking so I’m very interested in getting through this one as soon as I can.

The final two books in my little to read list are books I’ve had for a few months now but haven’t gotten around to reading. The first is The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies, a book which concentrates itself on the Sino-American identity. I don’t know an awful lot about the book but the cover is gorgeous to look at so hopefully it reads as well. It has a lot of positive reviews and great feedback so my expectations are fully raised. My final book for the month of September is Harmony by Carolyn Pankhurst. The book follows a family who have a child who is diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum. I’m just about starting a PGCE with a specialism in SEN (Special Educational Needs) so learning a little more about autism is very appealing to me. I’m excited to see where the book heads with its tale.

What are you reading this month? It’s an ambitious one for me, but I think I can do it! Leave me comments with some recommendations for next month!

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Goodreads: August to Read!

Goodreads: August to Read!

Monday, 1 August 2016

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Another month, another to-read list! I’m sticking exclusively to review copies of books that I’ve been sent this month, principally because the amount I have stacking up is getting ever so slightly unmanageable but also because moving into a new (unfurnished) flat is blooming expensive so I can no longer justify spending £50 a month on books! That said, the books I’ve been sent recently look amazing so I’m very excited to get stuck into reading them! I’ve already shared a few of the books on Instagram ‘cause I’m an absolute keeno but I haven’t properly got started on any of them yet!

The first of the lovely review books comes from John Murray Originals: Marlow’s Landing by Toby Vieira. This book sounds like nothing I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading before and presumably involves smugglers and secrets galore. The cover is absolutely incredible and that definitely would draw me to it in a bookstore, in spite of the age-old warning about judging a book by its cover! I’m hoping to get this one finished over the next few days which I think is easily done as it’s quite a short one and sounds like something you can easily get yourself hooked on!

I also posted a picture on Instagram of the BEAUTIFUL cover that is After Alice by Gregory Maguire. If you aren’t aware, Gregory Maguire is the guy who wrote the original story behind Wicked, before it went and made itself humungous as a musical! I’ve heard mixed reviews regarding this one, particularly concerning the style of writing; I’m not too far through it myself, around 40 pages in so far, and I’ve found it a little bit trickier than the average book to get into. Obviously, I’ll give it a good go and I really do hope it’s as beautiful as its cover suggests. Thanks to Headline for my copy, I’ll be sure to take good care of it!

As I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned recently, for me summer is a time where you whack out an easy going book and spend any free time lounging in the sun without a care in the world. Unfortunately for me, I live in Liverpool where the sun very rarely exists. Fortunately for me, I have a really comfortable sofa where I can lounge with a book in hand so I can still get away with reading that much-needed chick-read. I have two on my to-read pile this month. Firstly, The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans. I’ve had this one on my shelves for a little while now so thought it was about time I gave it a go. I’m not too sure on the premise of the story but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it all the same. I also have The Perfect Gift by Emma Hannigan which just SCREAMS “read me, it’s the summer hols!” Both of these were sent to me by Headline Review, so thanks to everyone there for the fab additions to my summer reading repertoire!

The last two books on my August to-read list are ones which make me SO excited to have hold of. The first is one of the prettiest looking books I’ve seen in a while, sent to me by Tinder Press. In A Land of Paper Gods is set in war-time China and, if I’m not mistaken, addresses the conflicts between the Chinese and the Japanese armies in 1941, in the midst of the Sino-Japanese War. I took a module at university this scholastic year about conflict and terror in Europe, Latin America and China and one of the topics we addressed was the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanking Massacre. I found it incredibly interesting, particularly as a Westerner, because we had never been taught anything about WW2 outside of European conflicts before. I’m pretty excited to read a little more about an unknown culture and see what this lovely looking book has to offer me.

Finally, I received an uncorrected proof of The Countenance Divine by Michael Hughes. This book is spectacular to look at and I honestly have not seen a more interesting cover than this one in a long, long time. Again, I’m not sure what the story is about but I’m pretty sure there’s some sort of time lapse involved which sounds pretty cool to me. I’m trying not to read up on the books too much, so as not to spoil the surprise, but it’s proving difficult because I really, really want to know more!

What are you reading this month? Let me know in the comments, I always welcome your suggestions!

  

Goodreads: My June Book Choices

Goodreads: My June Book Choices

Friday, 3 June 2016

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Who can believe that it’s actually June already? I know I can’t! I’m really excited to get stuck into some new books this month and my oh my do I have a fab pile of books to work through! I got through quite a few last month, all things considered, so I’d like to be able to get through even more this month and finally get a hold on my ever growing to be read pile! Spoiler alert: it’s a bloody long one!

I’m going to kick off June with a few ebooks, particularly Victoria Walter’s short story The Summer I Met You. Victoria informed me that unfortunately this one won’t be published in paperback form as I had hoped, so I downloaded it to my kindle as soon as I could and I plan on getting through it pretty quickly. It’s quite a short one but I’m sure it’ll be just as good as The Second Love of My Life. You can read my review of that here, if you’re interested in checking it out. I’ve started and not yet finished reading The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood. I’m really enjoying this one so far, although the references to maths and physics are going a little bit over my head – I was definitely more of a Chemistry kind of girl. I also hope to read another few ebooks in June as I head off on my summer holidays with my best friends Leah and Lauren at the end of the month. I’ll only be taking my kindle with me so any beach and poolside reading will be done electronically. I’m going to give The Missing by C. L. Taylor a go as well as a recommendation given to me by Leah – House Rules by Jodi Picoult.

I’d quite like to get through a few of the ARCs sent to me by publishing houses as well. I’ve got The Butterfly Summer by Harriet Evans, Lie with Me by Sabine Durrant and The Jacq of Spades by Patricia Loofbourrow to keep me entertained whilst I’m off university for the next few months. I was also given a few books by a friend, The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett and The Humans by Matt Haig. I’ve already started reading The Humans and I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s very funny and I love the style of writing to this point.

Surprisingly, Liverpool’s absolutely beautifully sunny at the moment and I’m looking forward to taking full advantage of this, sitting out on Sefton park reading my book and sipping gin and tonics to my heart’s content (alongside doing some SERIOUS work, of course!)

What’re you planning on reading this month? Have you read any of my choices! Let me know!