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Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016


Jessi

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2009: Read 48 books
2010: Read 79 books
2011: Read 74 books
2012: Read 92 books

2013: Read 59 books

2014: Read 45 books

2015: Read 49 books

 

Reading Goals ~

  • To have less than 303 books on my TBR list on 1st January 2017. 
  • Unless I am going to begin reading it that minute, make a list of kindle books I want. Don't just download - the only exceptions to this rule is books I want from the Daily Deal.
  • I am still hoping one year I will read 100 books in a year - maybe this will be the one. 
  • Read some thrillers! 
  • Review every book!

Read 2016 ~

J A N U A R Y 

1. Days 50 - Greg Meng

2. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

3. Quentin and Flora - Bishop Chip

4. A Royal Match - Tyne O'Connell

5. A Study In Scarlet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

6. The Invisible Woman - Claire Tomalin

7. Barmy British Empire - Terry Deary

8. The Sign of Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

9. The World Of Poldark - Emma Marriott

10. Sisters of the East End - Helen Batten

F E B R U A R Y 

11. Billy and Me - Giovanna Fletcher 

​12. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

13. The 1950s Housewife - Shelia Hardy

14. Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy - Karen Abbott

15. Doctor Turner's Casebook - Stephen McGann

16. When Harry Met Rose - Maria Malone

17. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

M A R C H

18. Villainous Victorians - Terry Deary 

19. The Churchill Secret KBO - Jonathan Smith 

20. Poldark Script Book -  Debbie Horsfield

21. The Savage Stone Age - Terry Deary

22. East End Angel - Kay Brellend 

23. While We Were Watching Downton Abbey - Wendy Wax

A P R I L 

24. Out of The Hitler Time - Judith Kerr 

25. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

26. Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

27. Voyager - Diana Gabaldon

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Top Posters In This Topic

1 - 36: gained in 2009 or before
37 – 80: gained in 2010
81 - 105: gained in 2011
106 – 148: gained in 2012
149 – 177: gained in 2013
178 – 224: gained in 2014
225 – 303: gained in 2015 

 

Books in blue - finished in January to March

Books in red - finished April to June

 

To Be Read List ~

 

1. Campbell, Christy: Band of Brigands
2. Foreman, Amanda: The Duchess
3. Garfield, Simon: Our Hidden Lives
4. Gristwood, Sarah: Elizabeth and Leicester
5. Guy, John: My Heart Is My Own
6. Massie, Robert: Nicholas and Alexandra
7. Rees, Laurence: Behind Closed Doors
8. Williams, Stephanie: Olga’s Story
9. Weir, Alison: Henry VIII
10. Anderson, Hans Christian: Anderson’s Fairy Tales
11. Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park
12. Boyne, John: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
13. Dunant, Sarah: In the Company of the Courtesan
14. Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair
15. Furnivall, Kate: The Russian Concubine

16. Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South
17. George, Margaret: Helen of Troy
18. Gee, Sophie: The Scandal of the Season
19. Gregory, Philippa: The Queens Fool
20. Gilbert, Henry: Robin Hood
21. Grahame: The Wind in the Willows
22. Lawrence, D. H: Lady Chatterley’s Lover
23. Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mocking Bird
24. Lewis, Hilda: I, Jacqueline
25. McIntosh, Fiona: Royal Exile
26. Montefiore, Santa: The Swallow and the Hummingbird
27. Montefiore, Santa: The Butterfly Box
28. Montgomery, L.M : Anne of Green Gables
29. Nesbit, E: The Railway Children
30. Ryan, Robert: Early One Morning
31. Sheers, Owen: Resistance
32. Sittenfeld, Curtis: American Wife
33. Steel, Danielle: Silent Honour
34. Thomes, Rosie: Isis and Ruby
35. Tolkien, J.R.R: The Silmarillion
36. Tolkien, J.R.R: Unfinished Tales
37. Adams: The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
38. Brands: Traitor to his Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
39. Byatt, AS: The Children's Book
40. Burstein, Andrew: Jefferson’s Secrets
41. Campion, Emma: The King's Mistress
42. Cheek, Mavis: Amenable Women
43. Clark, Mary Higgins: The Christmas collection
44. Deighton, Len: SS – GB
45. Didion, Joan: The Year of Magical Thinking
46. Duff, David: Alexandra: Princess and Queen
47. Dunant, Sarah: Sacred Hearts
48. Erikson, Carolly: Great Catherine
49. Erickson, Carolly: The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
50. Figes, Orlando: Natasha’s Dance
51. Follett, Ken: The Pillars of the Earth
52. Furnivall, Kate: Under A Blood Red Sky
53. Gill, Gillian: We Two
54. Gordon Reed, Annette: The Hemingses of Montecello
55. Harrods-Eagles, Cynitha: Anna
56. Hibbert, Christopher: Victoria – a Personal History
57. Hosseini, Khaled: The Kite Runner

58. Kerr, Judith: Out of Hitler Time
59. Lieven, Dominic: Russia Against Napoleon
60. Lovell, Mary S: The Mitford Girls
61. Lukyanenko, Sergei: The Day Watch
62. Mantel, Hilary: Wolf Hall
63. McCullough, David: Mornings On Horseback
64. Mitchell, Margaret: Gone With The Wind
65. Morrow, James: The Last Witchfinder
66. Motley, Annette: Men on White Horses
67. Norton, Elizabeth: Jane Seymour
68. O’Brien, Stacey: Wesley
69. O’ Grady, Paul: At My Mothers Knee
70. O’Toole, Patricia: When Trumpets Call
71. Pakula, Hannah: An Uncommon Woman
72. Plaidy, Jean: Plantagenet Prelude
73. Quinn, Kate: Mistress of Rome
74: Smith, L.J: The Night World
75. Snyder, Maria V: Storm Glass
76. Van Der Kiste, John: Queen Victoria’s children
77. Weir, Alison: Katherine Sywnford
78. Weir, Alison: The Captive Queen
79. Weir, Alison: The Lady in the Tower
80. Withey, Lynne: Dearest Friend
81. Adornetto, Alexandra: Halo
82. Atkinson, Kate: Case Histories
83. Chamberlin, E. R: Everyday Life In Renaissance Times
84. Fraser, Antonia: Love and Louis XVI
85. Graham, Laurie: The Importance of Being Kennedy
86. Gilbert, Elizabeth: Eat, Pray, Love
87. Greene, Graham: Brighton Rock
88. Harris, Charlaine: The Sookie Stackhouse Guide
89. Lewis, CS: Mere Christianity
90. Lovell, Mary S: The Churchill’s
91. Montefiore, Santa: The French Gardener
92. Newman, Janis Cooke: Mrs Lincoln
93. Nicholas, Katie: William and Harry
94. Obama, Barack: Dreams of My Father

95. O’Connell, Tyne: A Royal Match
96. Orzel, Chad: How To Teach Quantum Physics To Your Dog
97. Patch, Harry: The Last Fighting Tommy
98. Parsons, Tony: Starting Over
99 Pasternak, Boris: Doctor Zhivago
100. Perry, Tasmina: Kiss Heaven Goodbye
101. Richman, Alyson: The Lost Wife
102. Sanderson, Jane: Netherwood
103. Sebba, Anne: That Women
104. Tremlett, Giles: Catherine of Aragon
105. Trotter, Janet MacLeod: Never Stand Alone
106. Adams, Douglas: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
107. Angelini, Josephine: Starcrossed
108. Bach, Richard: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
109. Brown, Kate Lord: The Beauty Chorus
110. Cast, PC and Kristen: Hidden
111. Carnarvon, Countess of: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey
112. Carter, Aimee: The Goddess Test
113. Clare, Cassandra: City of Bones
114. Clare, Cassandra: Clockwork Angel
115. Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games
116. Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
117. Doyle, Arthur Canon: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection
118. Edward. Anne: Matriarch
119. Harvey, Greg: The Origins of Tolkien's Middle Earth
120. Follett, Ken: Winter of the Worlds
121. Foster, RF: Randolph Churchill
122. Goldman, Lisa: The No Rules Handbook for Writers
123. Hardy, Thomas: The Mayor of Casterbridge
124. Holt, Maggie: A Nurse at War
125. Huth, Angela: Land Girls
126. Jackson, Nancy: The Cook's Tale
127. Jones, Nigel: Tower
128. King, Stephen: 11.22.63
129. Kerr, John: A Dangerous Method
130. Magorian, Michelle: A Little Love Song
131. Magorian, Michelle: A Spoonful of Jam
132. Magorian, Michelle: Cuckoo in the Nest
133. Massie, Robert K: Peter The Great
134. McInerney, Monica: Those Faraday Girls
135. McKay, Sinclair: The Secret Life of Bletchley Park
136. Moyes, Jojo: The Girl You Left Behind
137. Newman, Michael: Socialism
138. Plaidy, Jean: The Merry Monarchs Wife
139. Plummer, Rosemary: The Maids Tale
140. Powell, Margaret: Below Stairs
141. Prentis, Evelyn: A Nurse and Mother
142. Prentis, Evelyn: A Nurse in Time
143. Rice, Anne: Interview with the Vampire
144. Stachniak, Eva: The Winter Palace
145. Stockett, Kathryn: The Help
146.Townsend, Sue: The Secret Diary of Afrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
147. Tsaraidze, Alexandre: Wife Before God
148. Wilcock, Penelope: The Hawk and the Dove
148. Wolff, Jurgen: Your Writing Coach
149. Berkowitz, Eric: Sex and Punishment
150. Bower, Sarah: House of Borgia
151. Carpenter, Teresa: New York Diaries
152. Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games
153. Dalton, Kathleen: Theodore Roosevelt
154. George, Margaret: Elizabeth I 
155. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Creatures
156. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Darkness
157. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Chaos
158. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Redemption
159. Green, Graham: Writing for Dummies
160. Harman, Patricia: The Midwife of Hope River
161. Ives, Eric: The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn
162. Lanchaster, John: Capital
163. Marschall, Rick: Bully
164. Northup, Soloman: Twelve Years a Slave
165. O'Neill, Glenda: Our Street
166. Penman, Sharon: The Sunne in Splendour
167. Phillips, Winifred: Mum’s Army

168. Renshaw, Anne: A Grave Inheritance - read in 2014
169. Rogers, Hannah: The Art of Deduction 
170. Salisbury, Harriet: The War on our Doorstep
171. Schwalbe: The End of Your Life Book Club
172. Sibley, Brian: The Hobbit
173. Sparks, Nicholas: Safe Haven
174. Sparks, Nicholas: The Lucky One 
175. Spence, Jon: Becoming Jane
176. Weir, Alison: Elizabeth of York
177. Wilson, Derek: The Uncrowned Kings of England 
178. Adam, Max: The King in the North
179. Ashdown-Hill, John: The Third Plantagenet
180. Canon Doyle, Arthur: His Last Bow
181. Canon Doyle, Arthur: Return of Sherlock Holmes
182. Clare Castor: City of Ashes
183. Conklin, Tara: The House Girl

184. Deary, Terry:  Savage Stone Age
185. Deary, Terry: Groovy Greeks
186. Deary, Terry: Cut Throat Celts
187. Deary, Terry: Angry Aztecs
188. Deary, Terry: Incredible Incas

189. Deary, Terry: Villainous Victorians
190. Deary, Terry: Barmy British Empire
191. Deary, Terry: Frightful First World War
192. Eden, Dorothy: Never Calling It Love
193. Follett, Ken: Fall of Giants
194. Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
195. Ingelman-Sundberg, Catharina: The Little Old Lady Who Broke all the Rules
196. Larman, Alexander: Blazing Star
197. Lefebure, Molly: Blitz
198. Mantel, Hilary: Bring Up The Bodies
199. Meyer, E J: The Borgias
200. Montefiore, Simon Sebag: One Night in Winter
201. Puzo, Mario: The Godfather
202. Rowell, Rainbow: Fan Girl
203. Spencer, LaVyrie: Then Came Heaven n
204. Taylor, Jodi: Just One Damn Thing After Another

205. Tomalin: The Invisible Woman
206. Wainwright, Robert: Shelia
207. Bolitho, Hector: Albert, Prince Consort
208. Burton, Jessie: The Miniaturist
209. Clements, Rory: The Queens Man

210. Fletcher, Giovanna: Billy and Me
211. Fraser, Antonia: Charles II
212. Gelardi, Julia P: From Splendour to Revolution
213. Graham, Margaret: Easterleigh Hall
214. Holmes, Frederick: The Sickly Stuarts
215. Iggulden, Conn: War of the Roses: Stormbird
216. Jones, Dan: The Plantagenet’s
217. Jones, Dan: The Hollow Crown
218. Langford, Elizabeth: The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes
219. Lewis, Damien: War Dog
220. Martin, R R George: The World of Fire and Ice
221. Plaidy, Jean: The Reluctant Queen
222. Plaidy, Jean: Victoria Victorious
223. Strong, Roy: Coronation
224. Tribe, Steve: Sherlock Chronicles
225. Aaronovitch, Ben: Rivers of London

226. Abbott, Karen: Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy
227. Aronson, Theo: A Family of Kings
228. Austin, Lynn: Candle In The Darkness

229. Batten, Helen: Sisters of the East End
230. Beer, Anna: Bess
231. Bishop, Chip: Quentin and Flora
232. Brellend, Kay: The Windmill Girls
233. Brellend, Kay: East End Angel
234. Bolt, Rodney: As Good as God, as Clever as the Devil
235. Castries, Duc De: The Lives of the Kings and Queens of France 
236. Colfer, Chris: A Grimm Warning
237. Crewdson, Dorethea, Dorethea’s War

238. Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers
239. Dunn, Dot May: Around the Village Green
240. Farthing, Pen: Wylie
241. Farquhar, Michael: Bad Days In History
242. Follett, Ken: Edge of Eternity

243. Gabaldon, Diana: Outlander
244. Genova, Lisa: Inside the O’Breins
245. Graham, Winston: Warleggon
246. Graham, Winston: The Black Moon
247. Graham, Winston: The Four Swans
248. Graham, Winston: The Angry Tide
249. Gregory, Phillipa: The Kings Curse
250. Gristwood, Sarah: Blood Sisters
251. Hadlow, Janice: The Strangest Family
252. Hancock, Sheila: Miss Carters War
253. Hardy, Shelia: The 1950s Mother

254. Hardy, Shelia: The 1950s Housewife
255. Hawking, Jane: The Theory of Everything
256. Henderson, Casper: The Book of Barely Imagined Beings
257. Hibbert, Christopher: The Virgin Queen
258. Hines, Jerri: Belle of Charleston
259. Hobb, Robin: Assassin’s Apprentice
260. Hobb, Robin: Royal Assassin
261. Hobb, Robin: Assassin’s Quest  
262. Hyans, Jackie: Frances Kray
263. Hugghes, Kathryn: The Letter
264. Jensen, Marie-Louise: The Lady In The Tower
265. Jones, Andy: The Two of Us
266. Jones, Dan: Magna Carta
267. Kay, Susan: Legacy
268. King, Sophie: Do You Take This Man?
269. Knight, Lynn: Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue
270. Lake, Deryn: Pour The Dark Wine
271. Licence, Amy: In Bed With The Tudors
272. O’Brien, Anne: The King’s Sister
273. Maitland, Karen: The Vanishing Witch

274. Marriott, Emma: World of Poldark
275. McCallin, Luke: The Pale Horse
276. McCallin, Luke: The Man From Berlin

277. Meng, Greg: Days 50
278. Montefiore, Santa: Songs of Love and War
279. Mottershead, June: Our Zoo
280. Moyes, Jojo: One Plus One
281. Pemberton, Margaret: A Season of Secrets
282. Pevel, Pierre: The Cardinal’s Blades
283. Pulley, Natasha: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
284. Purnell, Sonia:  First Lady
285. Rees, Tracy: Amy Snow
286. Rees, Peter: The Anzac Girls
287. Ribchester, Lucy: The Hourglass Factory
288. Rothschild, Hannah: The Improbability of Love
289. Sibley, Brian: The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Movie Guide
290. Smith, Michael: The Debs of Bletchley Park
291. Sparks, Nicholas: See Me
292. Stewart, Mary: The Crystal Cave
293. Sunners, Julie: Jambusters
294. Thomson, Oliver: The Impossible Bourbons
295. Tolkien, J R R: The History of the Hobbit
296. Tolkien, J R R: Children of Hurin
297. Tolkien, J R R: Return of the Shadow
298. Tolkien, J R R: Treason of Isengard
299. Tolkien, J R R: Sauron Defeated
300. Tolkien, J R R: War Of The Ring
301. Wards, Geffrey and Ken Burns: Roosevelts: An Intimate History

302. Wax, Wendy: While We Were Watching Downton Abbey
303. White, T H: The Once and Future King 

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Brought 2016...

 

Bryson, Bill: A Walk In The Woods

Burge, James: Heloise and Abelard

Fennell, Emerald: Monsters

Fletcher, Giovanna: You're The One That I Want
Gibson, Mary: Gunner Girls and Bomber Boys

Grahame-Smith, Seth: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Hay, Daisy: A Strange Romance  - Mr and Mrs Desrali

Horsfield, Debbie: Poldark Script Book

Kareem, Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem and Anna Waterhouse: Mycroft Holmes
Malone, Maria: When Harry Met Rose
McLain, Paula: The Paris Wife

McGann, Stephen: Doctor Turners Casebook

Montefiore, Simon Sebag: The Romanov's

Smith, Jonathan: The Churchill Secret KBO

Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace

White, Karen: Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion

 

 

 

 

 

And I am ready to go for the new year :)

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Hope you have a great reading year, Jessi. :smile:

 

Some I've really enjoyed from your TBR pile:

 

Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mocking Bird

Follett, Ken: The Pillars of the Earth

Mitchell, Margaret: Gone With The Wind

Rice, Anne: Interview with the Vampire

Lanchester, John: Capital

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Good luck with your goals for this year Jessie  :readingtwo: 

 

I've picked out my highlights from your TBR ...

 

Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park
Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair
Sittenfeld, Curtis: American Wife
Lanchaster, John: Capital

 

All very highly recommended by me ... hope you enjoy them too! :D

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Thanks all! :) 

 

That's two recs for Capital - I am definitely going to have to get to that this year! Its funny you picked Mansfield Park, Claire - I am currently in the middle of North and South, but I am pretty sure MP is where I am going next!

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Thanks all! :)

 

That's two recs for Capital - I am definitely going to have to get to that this year! Its funny you picked Mansfield Park, Claire - I am currently in the middle of North and South, but I am pretty sure MP is where I am going next!

 

Hope you enjoy Mansfield Park ... I'm one of the few who puts it up there as one of Austen's best!  I'm hoping to read North and South this year myself, so looking forward to reading your thoughts on it. :)

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Days 50 – Greg Meng. (4/5)

So – my guilty secret. I am a soap opera fan and Days of our Lives is one of my shows. Thus, when they released a book for their fiftieth anniversary last year I had to get it. It was a really fun read and had some beautiful pics! I learned a bit about the history’s of my favourite characters so – big thumbs up!

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I wish you a great reading year in 2016, Jessi! :smile2:

 

 

12. Boyne, John: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

14. Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair
23. Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mocking Bird

64. Mitchell, Margaret: Gone With The Wind
82. Atkinson, Kate: Case Histories
143. Rice, Anne: Interview with the Vampire
145. Stockett, Kathryn: The Help
146.Townsend, Sue: The Secret Diary of Afrian Mole Aged 13 3/4

 

These were all wonderful reads! I hope you enjoy them a lot :smile2: I think my TBR stands at 303, too, at the moment, so we're in the same boat TBR-wise! I'd really like to have a smaller TBR pile.... Good luck reducing yours! :D 

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Thanks Frankie :) Same to you!!! 

 

I am hoping to get to nearly all of those this year!

 

303 is quite the number, isn't it? I am hoping to finish with less than 275! Good luck to you getting the number down too!   :smile:

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Thank you Kylie - you too!

 

Finished!  I started it way back last spring and finally got to the end this week - I really enjoyed it. I should have tried to read it in a shorter time span though, I am convinced I dropped a few of the threads as I went along! It has gone straight back on the re-read list lol!

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And here is my review! 

 

The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas. (4/5)

I really enjoyed reading this book – it is a brick but what an adventure. I was inspired to read it after having seen The BBC’s The Mucketeers so I came to the book with ideas about it and characters already formed in my head. There was some things that stayed the same – others that have turned out very differently, which I was expecting having read reviews.

Nevertheless, like I say, I really enjoyed the books, getting to know the original Musketeers and their story. It was a real adventure, great characters mixed in with a great deal of history – right up my street! I will definitely be reading more Dumas in the future!

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Glad you enjoyed it, Jessi.  We used to have reading circles on the forum, and I read it as part of one of those a while back (here's our discussion thread for it http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/4212-the-three-musketeers-by-alexander-dumas/). I thoroughly enjoyed it too, and still have some other Dumas books on my wishlist, but you know how it is, so many books, so little time! :D
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Great review! The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favourite ever books, so I hope you'll read that one day, if you haven't already. :) It's a huge book but a rollicking good read. I just know that I'll love The Three Musketeers when I get around to reading it. :)

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Glad you enjoyed it, Jessi.  We used to have reading circles on the forum, and I read it as part of one of those a while back (here's our discussion thread for it http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/4212-the-three-musketeers-by-alexander-dumas/). I thoroughly enjoyed it too, and still have some other Dumas books on my wishlist, but you know how it is, so many books, so little time! :D

 

Thanks - the reading circle must have been fun :) I liked your answers to the questions. Totally agree with you about the pace picking up at the end of the book and Milady's imprisonment going on just a little too long!

 

 

Great review! The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favourite ever books, so I hope you'll read that one day, if you haven't already. :) It's a huge book but a rollicking good read. I just know that I'll love The Three Musketeers when I get around to reading it. :)

 

 

I agree, The Mount Of Monte Cristo is one of my favourite books too, it's incredibly demanding in length but so worth it!

 

 

Ohh, I definitely want to read it! May have to see if I can get about to it this summer!

 

I haven't read any Dumas yet but really inspired to now!

 

I'm currently listening to North and South on audiobook on work journeys.

 

It's really enjoyable - a great read :) 

 

How are you doing with it? I really like it, but for some reason I feel as if I am reading it fairly slowly (though that may be because I keep on picking up all my half read books from last year to finish them at the same time!) My only complaint is how long the paragraphs become at times. 

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Quentin and Flora – Chip Bishop (4/5)

This historical biography was always going to break my heart – I knew it the moment I picked it up. The fate of these two young sweethearts is the devastating story of so many young couples of the First World War – that being of the solider fiancée leaving… and not returning. Out of the fourteen months of their engagement, Flora Payne Whitney and Quentin Roosevelt spent two together and the rest pining for a reunion that was sadly never to come due to the death of the young aviator.

I thought Bishop did the story justice and there is something wonderful to me about their story being told and remembered hundred years after the events. Just at the end, Bishop lets himself down a bit as he begins to jump around too much and loses the flow he created so beautifully in earlier chapters. Nevertheless, a solid read. 

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Happy Reading in 2016 Jessi :) 

I love stories like Quentin and Flora .. it's a world away from how we live now (or how most of us thankfully live now) but it's both fascinating to look back and sobering. So many young people never got the chance to live out their lives as they should have but, like you, I like reading about their experiences .. even though it's upsetting (did the author say what became of Flora?)

I'm enjoying reading your reviews Jessi :)  

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I've come a bit late to your thread, so I hope you don't mind my picking out some favourites on your TBR list - I love the variety, especially the non-fiction books (I will be especially interested if you get round to the Dominic Lieven and Claire Tomalin, as they are both on my TBR list too - Tomalin is one of my favourite writers).  I absolutely loved those below - they all earned 5 or even 6 stars when I read them:

 

11. Austen, Jane: Mansfield Park

13. Dunant, Sarah: In the Company of the Courtesan

14. Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair

16. Gaskell, Elizabeth: North and South

23. Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mocking Bird

47. Dunant, Sarah: Sacred Hearts

62. Mantel, Hilary: Wolf Hall

82. Atkinson, Kate: Case Histories

116. Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations

180. Canon Doyle, Arthur: His Last Bow

181. Canon Doyle, Arthur: Return of Sherlock Holmes

216. Jones, Dan: The Plantagenets

225. Aaronovitch, Ben: Rivers of London

 

I'd agree with Nollaig too - The Count of Monte Cristo is a brilliant read. I have to admit I didn't notice its length, as it just galloped along so brilliantly.

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