poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Books Read 2009 Books Read 2010 Books Read 2011 Books Read 2012 Books Read 2013 Books Read 2014 Books Read 2015 Books Read 2016 Total Books Read 2009 ... 49 - incomplete list (39 fiction, 9 non-fiction & 1 audio } male authors: 24 .. female authors: 25) Total books read in 2010 ... 141 (94 fiction, 9 non-fiction, 4 short stories, 2 plays & 32 audio } male authors: 75 .. female authors: 66)Total books read in 2011 ... 109 (71 fiction, 26 non-fiction, 1 short story & 11 audio } male authors: 54 .. female authors: 55)Total books read in 2012 ... 89 (50 fiction, 27 non-fiction, 3 short stories, 1 poem & 8 audio } male authors: 48 .. female authors: 41) Total books read in 2013 ... 109 (67 fiction, 21 non-fiction, 5 short stories, 1 poem, 1 essay, 1 collection & 13 audio } male authors: 57 .. female authors: 51 plus all those in the short story collection) Total Books Read 2014 ... 73 (47 fiction, 15 non-fiction, 6 short stories & 5 audio } male authors: 36, female authors: 37) Total Books Read 2015 ... 113 (83 fiction, 14 non-fiction, 2 short stories & 14 audio } ) Total Books Read 2016 ... 91 (57 fiction,15 non-fiction, 2 poetry books & 17 audio } ) Quicklinks Mount TBR 1001 Challenge Wishlist Conquering Mount Virginia The English Counties Challenge BCF Recommended Reads - Fiction BCF Recommended Reads - Non-Fiction Poached Quotes on Toast Poppyshake's 130 Books You Must Read Before Teatime I think I'll go back to scoring again this year as there's a definite difference between 3/5 and 4/5 on the liking it scale 5/5: Loved it! 4/5: Liked it enormously .. would have been a 'loved it' but for .... 3/5: Liked it! 2/5: Not really my cup of tea but, you know, tolerable! 1/5 Hated it .. probably abandoned it or SHOULD HAVE!!! Again, I didn't abandon any books last year. There was one that I should have and would have abandoned only I wanted to keep on with the series so I had to plug on. Was annoyed at it for taking up precious minutes .. not to say hours of reading time January 2017 1. Five Give Up the Booze - Bruno Vincent 3/5 review 2. St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised By Wolves - Karen Russell 4/5 review 3. The Evenings - Gerard Reve 4/5 review 4. Grayson Perry: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl - Wendy Jones 3/5 review 5. Magpie Murders - Anthony Horowitz 3/5 review 6. My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell 5/5 review 7. Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain - Barney Norris (audio) 4/5 review 8. Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout 5/5 review 9. No Time Like the Past (The Chronicles of St Mary's #5) - Jodi Taylor (audio) 4/5 review 10. Cogheart - Peter Bunzl 4/5 review February 2017 11. The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson 5/5 review 12. A Kestrel for a Knave - Barry Hines 5/5 review 13. Hag-seed - Margaret Atwood 4/5 review 14. The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman 5/5 review 15. The Secret of Nightingale Wood - Lucy Strange 4/5 review 16. The Flight of the Mind: The Letters of Virginia Woolf 1888-1912 (Vol One) - Edited by Nigel Nicolson 4/5 review 17. Strange Star - Emma Carroll 4/5 review March 2017 18. The January Man: A Year of Walking Britain - Christopher Somerville 4/5 review 19. The Muse - Jessie Burton (audio) 4/5 20. Another Little Christmas Murder - Lorna Nicholl Morgan 21. The President's Hat - Antoine Laurain 22. So Bright and Delicate: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne 5/5 23. A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle (audio, short story) 4/5 24. Vaudeville - Gaetan Soucy 4/5 April 2017 24. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys 4/5 25. The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge (audio) 4/5 26. Sea (The Huntress #1) - Sarah Driver 4/5 27. The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry 5/5 28. The Radleys - Matt Haig 4/5 29. Rock Stars Stole My Life - Mark Ellen 4/5 30. Beetle Boy (The Battle of the Beetles #1) - M.G. Leonard 4/5 May 2017 31. The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett 5/5 32. The Cider House Rules - John Irving 4/5 33. Letters from the Lighthouse - Emma Carroll 4/5 34. The Sign of the Four - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (audio) 3/5 35. Himself - Jess Kidd 5/5 36. The Stolen Child - Lisa Carey 4/5 37. All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr 5/5 38. Island Summers: Memories of a Norwegian Childhood - Tilly Culme-Seymour 4/5 39. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells 3/5 40. A Scandal in Bohemia (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #1) - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (audio - short story) 4/5 41. The Red-Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes #2) - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (audio - short story) 4/5 42. H is for Hawk - Helen Macdonald 5/5 June 2017 43. The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells 4/5 44. Mrs Zant and the Ghost - Wilkie Collins (audio - short story) 3/5 45. A Rare Book of Cunning Device (Peter Grant short story) - Ben Aaronovitch (audio exclusive) 4/5 46. Bleaker House - Nell Stevens 5/5 47. Who Let the Gods Out? - Maz Evans 4/5 48. Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty 5/5 49. Around Britain by Cake - Caroline Taggart 4/5 50. Golden Hill - Francis Spufford 4/5 51. The Secrets of Wishtide - Kate Saunders 2/5 July 2017 52. The Legend of Podkin One-Ear - Kieran Larwood 4/5 53. The Movie Doctors - Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo 4/5 54. The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy #1) - Jonathan Stroud (audio) 5/5 55. Talking to Addison - Jenny Colgan 3/5 56. The Golem's Eye (The Bartimaeus Trilogy #2) - Jonathan Stroud (audio) 5/5 57. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (The Chronicles of St Mary's #6) - Jodi Taylor(audio) 4/5 58. Down Under - Bill Bryson 4/5 59. Beetle Queen (The Battle of the Beetles #2) - M.G. Leonard 60. Ptolemy's Gate (The Bartimaeus Trilogy #3) - Jonathan Stroud (audio) 5/5 61. The Goshawk - T.H. White 4/5 August 2017 62. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman (audio) 5/5 63. The Woman Who Stole My Life - Marian Keyes 2/5 (and that's generous!) 64. True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean - David Almond 3/5 65. An Almond for a Parrot - Wray Delaney 4/5 September 2017 66. A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson 4/5 67. How Not to be a Boy - Robert Webb (audio) 5/5 October 2017 68. How To Be Champion - Sarah Millican (audio) 4/5 69. The Diary of a Bookseller - Shaun Bythell 4/5 November 2017 70. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling (audio) 5/5 (re-listen) 71. The Princess Bride - William Goldman 4/5 72. Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink - Elvis Costello 4/5 73. The Secrets of Gaslight Lane (The Gower Street Detective #4) - M.R.C. Kasasian 3/5 74. The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy (Burford Family #1) - James Anderson 3/5 75. La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust #1) - Philip Pullman 4/5 76. The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories and Recipes for Midwinter - Nigel Slater 5/5 December 2017 77. Dragon's Green (Worldquake Sequence #1) - Scarlett Thomas 4/5 78. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (audio) 5/5 (re-listen) 79. The Girl Who Saved Christmas (Christmas #2) - Matt Haig 4/5 80. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor #1) - Jessica Townsend (audio) 4/5 81. The Travelling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Arikawa 5/5 82. Thin Air - Michelle Paver 4/5 83. Wolf Brother (Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #1) - Michelle Paver 4/5 84. Mr Dickens and His Carol - Samantha Silva 3/5 85. The Wizards of Once (The Wizards of Once #1) - Cressida Cowell (audio) 4/5 86. Spirit Walker (The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #2) - Michelle Paver 87. Father Christmas and Me (Christmas #3) - Matt Haig 88. The Keeper of Lost Things - Ruth Hogan 3/5 89. Dark Matter - Michelle Paver 4/5 90. A Poem For Every Night of the Year - Edited by Allie Esiri 4/5 Edited January 25, 2018 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) The Shameful Reckoning of My Books TBR Progress 5/139 Link to Books Bought/Acquired in 2017 Fiction: Abercrombie, Joe - Red Country Abercrombie, Joe - The Heroes Akunin, Boris - Murder on the Leviathan Akunin, Boris - The Death of Achilles Almond, David - The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean Anderson, James - The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg CosyAtkinson, Kate - Started Early Took My Dog Atwood, Margaret - The Blind Assassin Barker, Pat - The Ghost Road Barker, Pat - Toby's Room Barnes, Julian - The Noise of Time Beauman, Ned - The Teleportation Accident Boyd, William - Any Human Heart Bradley, Alan - A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce 3) Bradley, Alan - I Am Half Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce 4) Bulgakov, Mikhail - The Master and Margarita Bullington, Jesse - The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart Burnett, Frances Hodgson - A Little Princess Burnett, Frances Hodgson - The Secret Garden Carey, Peter - Oscar and Lucinda Carter, Angela - Nights at the Circus Carter, Angela - The Passion of New Eve Christie, Agatha - At Bertram's HotelChristie, Agatha - Curtain: Poirot's Last Case Christie, Agatha - Death on the NileChristie, Agatha - Dumb Witness Christie, Agatha - Five Little Pigs Christie, Agatha - Hercule Poirot's Christmas Christie, Agatha - The Murder at the Vicarage Christie, Agatha - The Mysterious Affair at Styles Christie, Agatha - Third Girl Collis, John Stewart - The Worm Forgives the Plough Connolly, Cressida - My Former Heart Connolly, John - Nocturnes Dennys, Joyce - Henrietta Sees it Through (Bloomsbury) Drabble, Margaret - The Red Queen Du Maurier, Daphne - The House on the Strand Du Maurier, Daphne - Jamaica Inn Eugenides, Jeffrey - My Mistress's Sparrow is DeadEwing, Barbara - The Circus of Ghosts (Mesmerist #2) Fforde, Jasper - The Big Over Easy Fforde, Jasper - The Fourth Bear Fforde, Jasper - The Woman Who Died a Lot (Thursday Next #7)Fitzgerald, F.Scott - The Beautiful and the DamnedFitzgerald, F. Scott - Tender is the Night French, Dawn - A Tiny Bit Marvellous Gardner, Sally - The Red Necklace Gibbons, Stella - Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm Gogol, Nikolai - The Collected TalesGold, Glen David - Carter Beats the Devil Goss, Theodora - The Thorn and The Blossom Greene, Graham - Brighton Rock Haddon, Mark - The Red House Haig, Matt - The Last Family in England Hall, Louisa - The Carriage House Harkaway, Nick - AngelmakerHay, Sheridan - The Secret of Lost ThingsHines, Barry - A Kestrel For a Knave Hoare, Philip - LeviathanHornby, Nick - Juliet Naked Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Hustvedt, Siri - What I LovedInstall, Deborah - A Robot in the Garden Irving, John - The Cider House Rules Irving, John - The World According to GarpJames, Marlon - A Brief History of Seven Killings Jonasson, Jonas - The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden Joyce, James - Dubliners Kingsolver, Barbara - The Lacuna Lakhous, Amara - Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio Lawrence, DH - Women in Love Le Carre, John - The Spy who Came in from the Cold Lindgren, Astrid - Emil and the Great Escape Lindgren, Astrid - Emil and the Sneaky Rat Lindgren, Astrid - Emil's Clever Pig Lindgren, Astrid - Karlson Flies Again Lindgren, Astrid - Karlson on the Roof Lindgren, Astrid - Lotta Makes a Mess Lindgren, Astrid - Lotta Says No Lindgren, Astrid - Pippi Goes Abroad Lindgren, Astrid - Pippi in the South Seas Mantel, Hilary - Fludd Marquez, Gabriel Garcia - The Autumn of the Patriarch Marquez, Gabriel Garcia - No One Writes to the Colonel Maugham, Somerset - Ashenden Maugham, Somerset - The Magician Maugham, Somerset - The Narrow Corner Maugham, Somerset - Up at the VillaMcGregor, Jon - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things Morton, Kate - The House at Riverton Murdoch, Iris - The Black Prince Nesbit, E - The Railway Children Nesbo, Jo - The Redbreast North, Claire - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August O'Flynn, Catherine - The News Where You Are Oksanen, Sofi - PurgeOrwell, George - Keep the Aspidistra Flying Pratchett, Terry and Baxter, Stephen - The Long Earth Radcliffe, Ann - The Mysteries of Udolpho Ransome, Arthur - Winter Holiday Rodriguez, Deborah - The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul Sewell, Anna - Black Beauty Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck, John - The Pearl Steinbeck, John - The Red Pony Tartt, Donna - The Little Friend Taylor, G.P. - Mariah Mundi & the Ghost Diamonds Toksvig, Sandi - Valentine Grey Townsend, Sue - Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years Townsend, Sue - Adrian Mole & the Weapons of Mass Destruction Udall, Brady - The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint Vickers, Sally - Miss Garnet's Angel Whipple, Dorothy - Someone at a Distance (Persephone) Williams, Nigel - East of Wimbledon Williams, Nigel - They Came From SW19 Winterson, Jeanette - Sexing the Cherry Winton, Tim - Cloudstreet Wodehouse, PG - Right Ho, Jeeves Non Fiction: Bryson, Bill - Down Under De Waal, Edmund - The Hare with Amber Eyes Fitzgerald, Penelope - So I Have Thought of You: The Letters of Penelope Fitzgerald Grove, Valerie - Laurie Lee: The Well Loved Stranger Hepworth, David - 1971 Never a Dull Moment Hodgson, Vere - Few Eggs and No Oranges (Persephone) Last, Nella - Nella Last's Peace Light, Alan - What Happened Miss Simone? Manguel, Alberto - A Reading Diary McCourt, Frank - Angela's Ashes McCourt, Frank - Tis McGrath, Alistair E - CS Lewis: A Life Ozma, Alice - The Reading Promise Pratt, Jean-Lucey (Edited by Simon Garfield) - A Notable Woman White, Florence - Good Things in England (Persephone) Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 1 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 2 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 3 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 4 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 5 Woolf, Virginia - The Letters of Virginia Woolf Vol 6 Edited January 25, 2018 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Poppyshake's English Counties Challenge (the most famous books associated with each English county) For more info visit the English Counties Challenge forum Progress 30/48 (but some of those read will be re-read) Bedfordshire: My Uncle Silas by H. E. BatesBerkshire: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth GrahameBristol: The Misses Mallett by E. H. YoungBuckinghamshire: The Dark Is Rising by Susan CooperCambridgeshire: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy SayersCheshire: Cranford by Elizabeth GaskellCity of London: A Christmas Carol by Charles DickensCornwall: Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier (on shelf)Cumbria: Swallows and Amazons by Arthur RansomeDerbyshire: Year of Wonders by Geraldine BrooksDevon: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan DoyleDorset: Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas HardyCounty Durham: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles DickensEast Riding of Yorkshire: South Riding by Winifred HoltbyEast Sussex: Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. MilneEssex: The Turn Of The Screw by Henry JamesGloucestershire: Cider With Rosie by Laurie LeeGreater London: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleGreater Manchester: North and South by Elizabeth GaskellHampshire: Watership Down by Richard Adams Herefordshire: On The Black Hill by Bruce ChatwinHertfordshire: Pride and Prejudice by Jane AustenIsle of Wight: The Day of the Triffids by John WyndhamKent: The Darling Buds of May by H. E. BatesLancashire: Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette WintersonLeicestershire: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ by Sue TownsendLincolnshire: The Mill on the Floss by George EliotMerseyside: An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl BainbridgeNorfolk: The Go-Between by L. P. HartleyNorth Yorkshire: Dracula by Bram StokerNorthamptonshire: Mansfield Park by Jane AustenNorthumberland: The Stars Look Down by A. J. CroninNottinghamshire: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. LawrenceOxfordshire: The Pursuit of Love by Nancy MitfordRutland: Set In Stone by Robert GoddardShropshire: Summer Lightning by P. G. WodehouseSomerset: Lorna Doone by R. D. BlackmoreSouth Yorkshire: A Kestrel For A Knave by Barry HinesStaffordshire: The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold BennettSuffolk: The Bookshop by Penelope FitzgeraldSurrey: The War of the Worlds by H.G. WellsTyne and Wear: Another World by Pat BarkerWarwickshire: Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas HughesWest Midlands: Middlemarch by George EliotWest Sussex: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella GibbonsWest Yorkshire: Wuthering Heights by Emily BrontëWiltshire: Barchester Towers by Anthony TrollopeWorcestershire: The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall Edited February 6, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) WISHLIST Fiction: Bradley, Alan - Speaking From Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce #5) Bradley, Alan - The Dead In Their Vaulted Arches (Flavia de Luce #6) Bradley, Alan - As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia de Luce #7) Bradley, Alan - Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd (Flavia de Luce #8) Bukowski, Charles - Ham on Rye Comyns, Barbara - Who Was Changed and Who was Dead Haig, Matt - To Be a Cat Hartley, L.P. - The Go-Between Laurain, Antoine - The President's Hat Meloy, Maile - The Apothecary Mitchell, Gladys - Watson's Choice Novik, Naomi - Uprooted O'Loughlin, Ann - The Ballroom Cafe Pierre, DBC - Vernon God Little Robertson, James - To Be Continued Rowley, Steven - Lily and the Octopus Taylor, Andrew - Fireside Gothic Non Fiction: Gordon, Edmund - The Invention of Angela Carter: A Biography Hodgman, George - Bettyville Rakoff, Joanna - My Salinger Year Shaw, Sarah - Portland Place Simon, Carly - Boys in the Trees Edited February 26, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Books read from the 1001 Books You Must Read before You Die by Peter Boxall - 2006 Progress so far: 147/1001987. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe 985. Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe971. Candide - Voltaire959. Evelina – Fanny Burney940. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen938. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen937. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen936. Emma - Jane Austen933. Persuasion - Jane Austen932. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen931. Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley919. The Nose – Nikolay Gogol916. The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe913. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens910. Martin Chuzzlewit – Charles Dickens 909. The Purloined Letter – Edgar Allan Poe905. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray904. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë 903. Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë902. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë900. Mary Barton - Elizabeth Gaskell898. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens897. The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne896. Moby Dick - Herman Melville892. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell891. Villette – Charlotte Brontë 890. Bleak House - Charles Dickens887. North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell 886. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert883. A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens876. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens873. Les Misérables – Victor Hugo871. Notes from the Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky869. Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens 868. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll867. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky865. The Last Chronicle of Barset – Anthony Trollope863. Little Woman - Louisa May Alcott859. Phineas Finn – Anthony Trollope854. Alice Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Caroll853. Middlemarch - George Eliot846. Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy840. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy825. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain 821. The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy 820. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson808. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy805. News from Nowhere – William Morris804. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle803. Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith797. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells 794. Dracula - Bram Stoker790. The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells789. The Turn of the Screw – Henry James776. The Ambassadors – Henry James 740. The Voyage Out - Virginia Woolf699. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald698. Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf695. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie686. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf680. Decline and Fall – Evelyn Waugh675. Orlando - Virginia Woolf671. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner 656. Cakes and Ale – W. Somerset Maugham650. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons643. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas – Gertrude Stein619. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell611. The Years - Virginia Woolf610. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien608. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck603. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier601. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - Winifred Watson596. Goodbye to Berlin - Christopher Isherwood 584. Between the Acts – Virginia Woolf566. The Pursuit of Love - Nancy Mitford564. Animal Farm - George Orwell563. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh561. Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake 547. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell 542. Love in a Cold Climate - Nancy Mitford529. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger526. Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham521. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway495. The Talented Mr. Ripley – Patricia Highsmith 494. The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tokien484. On the Road – Jack Kerouac481. The Midwich Cuckoos – John Wyndham478. The Bell – Iris Murdoch474. Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris – Paul Gallico467. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote465. Memento Mori – Muriel Spark459. Cider With Rosie – Laurie Lee457. Rabbit, Run – John Updike 456. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee451. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller450. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark446. A Severed Head – Iris Murdoch445. Franny and Zooey – J.D. Salinger433. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath431. The Girls of Slender Means – Muriel Spark411. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys 399. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez394. A Kestrel For a Knave - Barry Hines 367. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou365. The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison354. Surfacing – Margaret Atwood352. The Summer Book – Tove Jansson305. The Sea, The Sea – Iris Murdoch300. If On a Winter's Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino 278. On the Black Hill – Bruce Chatwin review275. Schindler’s Ark – Thomas Keneally 274. A Pale View of Hills – Kazuo Ishiguro272. The Color Purple – Alice Walker260. Money: A Suicide Note – Martin Amis 238. The Cider House Rules - John Irving237. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson 236. Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez222. Beloved - Toni Morrison 196. A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving172. Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord – Louis de Bernieres170. Regeneration - Pat Barker 147. The Secret History – Donna Tartt143. The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides133. The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx129. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres120. Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster 117. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry 112. The Information – Martin Amis92. The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy90. Veronika Decides to Die – Paulo Coelho89. The Hours - Michael Cunningham 86. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver69. Pastoralia – George Saunders54. White Teeth – Zadie Smith52. The Devil and Miss Prym – Paulo Coelho49. Life of Pi - Yann Martel38. Gabriel's Gift - Hanif Kureishi 33. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides28. Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami26. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer19. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon15. The Colour – Rose Tremain13. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell9. The Master – Colm Tóibín6. The Sea – John Banville3. On Beauty – Zadie Smith1. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro Edited June 1, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) BCF Recommended Reads - Fiction Kylie's Favourite Fiction (progress 24/40)Jane Austen - EmmaJane Austen - Pride & PrejudiceJohn Banville - The Body of EvidenceRay Bradbury - Farenheit 451Charlotte Bronte - Jane EyreAnthony Burgess - A Clockwork OrangeItalo Calvino - If On a Winter's Night a TravellerJohn Connolly - The Book of Lost ThingsCharles Dickens - A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens - A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens - Great ExpectationsAlexandre Dumas - Count of Monte ChristoMark Dunn - Ella Minnow PeaJeffrey Eugenides - MiddlesexMichel Faber - The Crimson Petal and the WhiteF. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great GatsbyJonathan Safran Foer - Everything is IlluminatedGeorge & Weedon Grossmith - Diary of a NobodyJoseph Heller - Catch 22Susan Hill - The Woman in BlackJack Kerouac - On the RoadJack Kerouac - The Town and the CityKen Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestDaniel Keyes - Flowers for AlgernonSteig Larsson - The Girl With the Dragon TattooHarper Lee - To Kill A MockingbirdErich Maria Marquez - All Quiet on the Western FrontMargaret Mitchell - Gone With the WindVladimir Nabakov - LolitaGeorge Orwell - Animal FarmAyn Rand - Atlas ShruggedMary Shelley - FrankensteinJohn Steinbeck - Grapes of WrathJohn Steinbeck - Of Mice and MenBram Stoker - DraculaHunter.S. Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las VegasJohn Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of DuncesOscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian GrayTim Winton - CloudstreetMarkus Zusak - The Book ThiefFrankie's Favourite Fiction (progress 35/103)Boris Akunin - The Winter Queen Ingvar Ambjørnsen - Elling seriesJane Austen - Northanger Abbey Jane Austen - PersuasionIain Banks - Wasp Factory Muriel Barbery - The Elegance of the Hedgehog Linwood Barclay - Too Close to HomeRobert Bloch - PsychoJohn Boyne - CrippenJohn Boyne - The Boy in the Striped PyjamasPoppy Z. Brite - Exquisite Corpse Karin Brunk Holmqvist - Pieni potenssipuoti Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange Chelsea Cain - HeartsickTruman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany'sMichael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & ClayStephen Chbosky - The Perks of Being a WallflowerAgatha Christie - Ten little NiggersSusanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Jeffery Deaver - Lincoln Rhyme seriesCharles Dickens - A Tale of Two CitiesLucy Dillon - The Secret of Happy Ever After Emma Donoghue - RoomDaphne du Maurier - My Cousin RachelJeffrey Eugenides - MiddlesexMichel Faber - Under the SkinJasper Fforde - The Eyre AffairHelen Fielding - Bridget Jones's DiaryFannie Flagg - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop CafePeter Franzén - Tumman veden päällä Stephen Fry - The Hippopotamus Alex Garland - The Beach Guy Gavriel Kay - The Lions of Al-Rassan Linda Gillard - Emotional Geology William Goldman - The Marathon Man John Grogan - Marley and MeMark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeMatt Haig - The Last Family in EnglandAnna-Leena Härkönen - Häräntappoase Daniil Harms - Incidences Charlaine Harris - Sookie Stackhouse seriesJoanne Harris - Gentleman & PlayersErnest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises Nick Hornby - Juliet, NakedSiri Hustvedt - The Summer Without MenKazuo Ishiguro - A Pale View of HillsLloyd Jones - Mister Pip Katja Kallio - Kuutamolla John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon Stephen King - Cujo Stephen King - Green Mile Stephen King - The Stand Sophie Kinsella - Twenties GirlAndrey Kurkov - Death & the PenguinTuomas Kyrö - Mielensäpahoittaja Harper Lee - To Kill a MockingbirdDennis Lehane - Shutter Island Ira Levin - Rosemary's Baby Jeff Lindsay - DexterVaino Linna - The Unknown SoldierJennifer Lynch - The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (and you need to watch the TV show!!) Vladimar Nabokov - Lolita Irene Nemirovsky - The Ball Grace Metalious - Peyton Place David Mitchell - Black Swan GreenMargaret Mitchell - Gone with the WindSue Monk Kidd - The Secret of Bees L.M. Montgomery - The Blue CastleAlan Moore & Dave Gibbons - WatchmenHaruki Murakami - Sputnik SweetheartSofi Oksanen - PurgeAnn Patchett - Bel CantoInna Patrakova - Naapurit Dan Rhodes - GoldAnne Rice - Interview with a Vampire Kauko Röyhkä - Kaksi aurinkoa Antoine de Saint-Exupery - The Little Prince Pirkko Saisio - Punainen erokirja Sapphire - Push! Erich Segal - Love StoryMary Ann Shaffer - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie SocietyGeorge Bernard Shaw - PygmalionAnita Shreve - The Weight of WaterLinda Lay Shuler - She Who Remembers Nevil Shute - Pied Piper Dai Sijie - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Karin Slaughter - Grant County + Will Trent seriesRobert Louis Stevenson - Dr Jekyll & Mr HydeGarth Stein - The Art of Racing in the RainJohn Steinbeck - The Wayward Bus Kathryn Stockett - The Help Bram Stoker - DraculaPatrick Suskind - PerfumeVikas Swarup - Q&ADonna Tartt - The Secret HistoryJari Tervo - Pyhiesi yhteyteen Voltaire - CandideKurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse FiveSarah Waters - FingersmithIrvine Welsh - TrainspottingOscar Wilde - The Importance of Being EarnestCarlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the WindMarkus Zusak - The Book Thief Edited January 12, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) BCF Recommended Reads - Non Fiction Kylie's Favourite Non-Fiction (progress 3/13)Bill Bryson - Down UnderBill Bryson - A Walk in the WoodsBill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly EverythingTruman Capote - In Cold BloodAB Facey - A Fortunate LifeTim Flannery - The ExplorersTim Flannery - The Birth of SydneyAnne Frank - The Diary of Anne FrankHelene Hanff - 84 Charing Cross RoadSteven D. Levitt - FreaconomicsSylvia Plath - The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia PlathAndrew Solomon - The Noonday DemonMartin Toseland - A Steroid Hit the EarthFrankie's Favourite Non-Fiction (progress 3/28)Sylvia Beach - Shakespeare and CompanyConstance Briscoe - UglyVincent Bugliosi - Helter SkelterAugusten Burroughs - A Wolf at the TableAugusten Burroughs - DryAugusten Burroughs - Magical ThinkingAugusten Burroughs - Possible Side EffectsAugusten Burroughs - Running with ScissorsAlain de Botton - How Proust Can Change Your LifePeggy Claude-Pierre - The Secret Language of Eating DisordersPamela Druckerson - French Children Don't Throw FoodAnne Frank - The Diary of a Young GirlPhilip Gonzalez - The Dog Who Rescues CatsJohn Grogan - Marley and MeRonald Hayman - The Death and Life of Sylvia PlathNick Hornby - The Complete Polysyllabic SpreeLesley McDowell - Between the Sheets - The Literary Liaisons of Nine 20th Century Women WritersMotley Crue - The DirtVicki Myron - Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the WorldChristopher V.V. Parnell - Hell's PrisonerDave Peltzer - A Child Called ItFlora Rheta Scheiber - SybilMary Roach - Stiff - The Life of the Human CadaversAnn Rule - The Stranger Beside MeDeborah Spungen - And I Don't Want to Live This Life: A Mother's Story of her Daughter's MurderDanny Wallace - Yes ManTobias Wolff - This Boys LifeTuula-Liina Varis - Kilpikonna ja olkimarsalkka Edited January 12, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Books bought/acquired in 2017 (2016 Christmas books and books bought with Christmas money included) Progress: 20/27 Fiction: Atwood, Margaret - Hag-seed Bunzl, Peter - Cogheart Carroll, Emma - Strange Star Carroll, Emma - The Letters from the Lighthouse Doerr, Anthony - All the Light We Cannot See Durrell, Gerald - My Family and Other Animals (from lovely Janet) Haig, Matt - The Girl Who Saved Christmas Keyes, Marian - The Woman Who Stole My Life Kidd, Jess - Himself Laurain, Antoine - The President's Hat Leonard, M.G. - Beetle Boy Ness, Patrick - The Ask and the Answer Ness, Patrick - The Knife of Never Letting Go Nicholl Morgan, Lorna - Another Little Christmas Murder Perry, Sarah - The Essex Serpent Pratchett, Terry - The Wee Free Men Russell, Karen - St Lucy's Home For Girls Raised by Wolves (short stories) Soucy, Gaetan - Vaudeville! Spufford, Francis - Golden Hill Stedman, M.L. - The Light Between Oceans Strange, Lucy - The Secret of Nightingale Wood (from lovely Claire) Strout, Elizabeth - Olive Kitteridge Non-Fiction: Bryson, Bill - The Road to Little Dribbling Dahl, Roald - Love From Boy (letters) Esiri, Allie - A Poem For Every Night of the Year .. currently reading Macdonald, Helen - H is for Hawk Somerville, Christopher - The January Man Stevens, Nell - Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World Edited June 1, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Poached Quotes on Toast Edited January 12, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Space in case I come up with something wildly exciting and inventive with which to challenge myself .. might happen Edited January 12, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 Space for the list that I know I've forgotten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 (edited) Well, hello my lovelies .. welcome to my 2017 book blog .. here come the cows :cows: I've really got to do better this year. I don't think I read ANYTHING from any of my challenge lists last year .. or perhaps just one or two but honestly, I just totally ignored them and acted like I didn't have 1001 unread books on my shelves (slight exaggeration but it feels like that many.) 2016 started off well. Because I'd set a fairly low target on Goodreads the year before and exceeded it I thought I'd set a higher one in order to inspire myself and see what I was made of. Turns out I was made of clay and my reading hopes sunk in a tidal wave of indifference (not helped by those nice people at Goodreads who taunted me from April onwards!) This year I'll have more modest reading ambitions (and I'll be laughing in their faces!!! ) I had to go and live with my mum and dad for almost three months at the end of 2016 to help them while mum was recovering from an op and I didn't read a single sentence .. unless you count microwave instructions and medicine information. It drove me almost mad! And many a sleepless night did I spend recounting the times when I could have read and didn't!! I couldn't believe I ever turned down reading to watch Rick Stein's Long Weekends!! But there it is .. you don't know what you've got till it's gone! I won't be making that mistake again! Now, because it's January and all thoughts have turned to streamlining and de-cluttering I've had a bit of a cull of the old TBR. It's NOT cheating it's just sensible. It's not that I don't want to read the books that I've taken off, it's just that I don't think I will read them for a while and .. well .. they're oppressing me! The titles are all in the book jar still though so that should provide entertainment for ages .. me running up and down looking for books that are actually in the charity shop!! Because of course I have no system for finding books or knowing where they are. I used to have a vague idea but I've slept since then. The main thing this year is to enjoy my reading. To basically spend as many hours as possible curled up with a book and a mug of hot chocolate (or iced lemonade in the summer .. if we have one.) I felt very unrelaxed when I was unable to read .. and agitated. Stories are such an escape because frankly, who wants to live in the real world 24/7? .. I don't! It's absolutely appalling but I can get through it with a bit of help from Messrs Dickens and Pratchett and Rowling etc. So, hope you all have A VERY HAPPY READING YEAR and read some gems I do hope I can do better than last year and keep this blog up to date-ish! I'm not going to promise (or threaten ) reviews because it might not happen. I might just write a few lines .. cut the waffle .. get to the point .. that sort of thing. Or I might write several very lengthy reviews and ignore the rest! As per usual. Anyway WELCOME ONE AND ALL. Please use all your tactics .. bullying and otherwise .. to encourage me to read stuff from my TBR etc. I deeply apologise if I have removed any books that you are particularly fond of. It's not personal .. it's space .. or the lack thereof! This thread is now officially .. OPEN! :cows: Edited January 12, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I love your blog! Here's to a fantastic, stress-free 2017. I'm looking forward to lots more meetings with books, coffee (or tea, if you must! ) and toast. (Where's the toast emoticon?! ) I'm looking forward to following your progress. You will have a better reading year, I can feel it in my bones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Wishing you a wonderful year of reading, Kay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I hope you have a wonderful year of reading in 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) I'm very happy to see you've set your new reading log up! I saw it yesterday and immediately came in but I saw it was still under construction, so I tried to be patient and stay away! I wish you a truly wonderful reading year in 2017!! I can't wait to see what books you read this year, and watch how my own wishlist increases in size by ten-fold because of it! Total Books Read 2009 ... 49 Total books read in 2010 ... 141Total books read in 2011 ... 109Total books read in 2012 ... 89 Total books read in 2013 ... 109 Total Books Read 2014 ... 73 Total Books Read 2015 ... 113 Total Books Read 2016 ... 91 When I look at these totals... You're a lean mean reading machine! You spent three months last year reading absolutely nothing and you still managed to come to 91 read books?! You're an inspiration! WISHLIST Rakoff, Joanna - My Salinger Year I have to say I'm liking your short wishlist. I've been entertaining the idea of culling my own wishlist for a while now... There are many titles whose existence on the list makes me yawn. In my own wishlist that is!! I wonder if I have My Salinger Year on my wishlist. I must have. If not, it's going there. I noticed another book by Joanna Rakoff at the bookstore in December and wrote the title down (or rather took a picture of the cover on my smartphone, in order to then add it to my wishlist): A Fortunate Age. Seems interesting! I've really got to do better this year. I don't think I read ANYTHING from any of my challenge lists last year .. or perhaps just one or two but honestly, I just totally ignored them and acted like I didn't have 1001 unread books on my shelves (slight exaggeration but it feels like that many.) That happened with me, too Let's egg each other on to read those challenge books, aye! Hurrah, 2017!!! Edited January 13, 2017 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 You have quite a few books on your TBR that I want to read too so looking forward to seeing what you think of them! Hope you have a great reading year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 I love your blog! Here's to a fantastic, stress-free 2017. I'm looking forward to lots more meetings with books, coffee (or tea, if you must! ) and toast. (Where's the toast emoticon?! ) I'm looking forward to following your progress. You will have a better reading year, I can feel it in my bones! Oh .. thanks Janet I trust your bones much more than I do my own so I'm feeling confident now Yes, hope we have many, many, meet-ups this year .. I always feel a lot happier and booky inspired afterwards Haha .. you're right .. I am a teapot!! Wishing you a wonderful year of reading, Kay. Thanks Chrissy .. you too! I hope you have a wonderful year of reading in 2017 Thanks Gaia I think we're all going to have a great reading year this year .. I can feel it in Janet's bones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 Apologies for the emoticon cull but you know how it is! I'm very happy to see you've set your new reading log up! I saw it yesterday and immediately came in but I saw it was still under construction, so I tried to be patient and stay away! I wish you a truly wonderful reading year in 2017!! I can't wait to see what books you read this year, and watch how my own wishlist increases in size by ten-fold because of it! I exhausted myself constructing yesterday .. I know it was all copy & paste but all the same Hope you have a brilliant reading year my love When I look at these totals... You're a lean mean reading machine! You spent three months last year reading absolutely nothing and you still managed to come to 91 read books?! You're an inspiration! Thank you, bless I was saved by audiobooks last year really .. I 'read' more of them than usual. Also, if I had to have three months of virtually reading nothing then they were the best three months as I hardly ever read much, if anything, in December and November can be a bit lean .. and October for that matter. The worst three months would have been Jan, Feb and March when it's so drab outside and cold and one can think of nothing better than to curl up with a book. I have great hopes for the first three months of 2017. Just watch me zoom off into the distance and then flag! :lol: I have to say I'm liking your short wishlist. I've been entertaining the idea of culling my own wishlist for a while now... There are many titles whose existence on the list makes me yawn. In my own wishlist that is!! Haha .. one of the main reasons for culling was to provide variation and stop me being bored to death with all the copying and pasting and looking at the same old lists a thousand times over You can't help but think, 'well if it's boring me then what are other people making of it?!' I wonder if I have My Salinger Year on my wishlist. I must have. If not, it's going there I browsed it in Waterstone's and it looks fab! I noticed another book by Joanna Rakoff at the bookstore in December and wrote the title down (or rather took a picture of the cover on my smartphone, in order to then add it to my wishlist): A Fortunate Age. Seems interesting! I love the cover but that first review doesn't inspire .. 'utterly awful' It might be a good one though to get from the library That happened with me, too Let's egg each other on to read those challenge books, aye! Hurrah, 2017!!! I'm all for egging .. and can you get a bit pushy, shovey, as well .. when egging won't do? You have quite a few books on your TBR that I want to read too so looking forward to seeing what you think of them! Hope you have a great reading year. Thanks Hayley, you too I must try harder with the TBR this year .. the longer a book stays on the shelf the more reluctant I am to pick it up .. nearly always going for the newer books. It won't do!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 Met up with lovely Claire and lovely Janet on Wednesday for coffee, tea, toast, cake and booky chats .. and booky purchases for that matter! Al and I had a fab time as we always do .. time flew though, we were there over three hours but could have been there for three more. Left to my own devices, I'd still be there now!! Claire bought our Christmas presents with her, she made this absolutely gorgeous patchwork Christmas cushion for us :wub: You can see from the photos how gorgeous it is but it is even more fab in real life. She is so, so, clever! She also bought the book in the pic .. for Al .. but I will be reading it for sure Fair's fair .. it's in my house and it's a book so open season Thank you so much Claire .. you star! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 Here are some of my Christmas books, I've bought a couple more with Christmas money since then but haven't photographed them yet! The mug was from my lovely mum and dad .. and some of the books! The three books on the right are from lovely Janet, lovely Sari and lovely Claire Thank you so much girls It's the start of a new year and I've got new books to read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 KAY. I've missed you and your book reviews. Good to 'see' you back and with a new blog. Will be following closely and I hope you have a fabulous 2017 - both reading and otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) I think I'll write down a few thoughts on the two books I've read so far Yes, start as I mean to go on (as I do every January ) Five Give Up the Booze - Bruno Vincent Synopsis: ‘Maybe you’ve been hitting it a bit hard over the Christmas period?’ suggested George. ‘No more than usual,’ he replied – a statement that gave them less assurance than he thought. George, Dick, Anne, Julian and Timmy confront a new challenge: give up the booze. Give up alcohol you say? Why, of course they can! Talk about an easy challenge! Five old friends set about this simple task and find all of a sudden that: the days are longer; they get to see each other for who they really are; the empty laughter of ordinary conversation is so much harder to fake. Yes, they're saving money and losing weight, but the world itself seems to take on a slow, dreary inevitability. Soon they begin to snap at each other, and then fight - until they begin to wonder, have the Five at last found the challenge that will defeat them? The perfect gift for anyone who has woken up and promised themselves that they will never drink again… At least until next weekend. Thoughts: Haha .. the cheeky monkeys! How they've got permission to have Enid's name on the covers of these little parodies I will never know .. surely she is revolving in her grave! It's a great concept and it is well done, certainly had me smiling away. One of the funniest things about it I thought was the way they had used the original illustrations and sort of shoe-horned them to fit .. some of them matched quite well but some were so obviously wrong .. purposefully I'm sure. That tickled me. The synopsis says they were losing weight and saving money, not true .. George at least got the munchies instead and was tucking into chocolate and Anne lapsed back into smoking. Timmy did not of course give up the booze .. he had never been a boozer but he did feel the effects of it .. now the four were into healthy long walks which tired him and there weren't any trips to the pub so he lost out on all the tidbits. Poor Timmy I don't know what the rest of the series is like, I would read them if they came my way but not sure I'd seek them out. A great way to wile away an hour or so though and very jolly 3/5 Edited April 25, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 KAY. I've missed you and your book reviews. Good to 'see' you back and with a new blog. Will be following closely and I hope you have a fabulous 2017 - both reading and otherwise. Thank you Ben Hope you have a fabulous 2017 too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves - Karen Russell Synopsis: Charting loss, love, and the difficult art of growing up, these stories unfurl with wicked humour and insight. Two young boys make midnight trips to a boat graveyard in search of their dead sister, who set sail in the exoskeleton of a giant crab; a boy whose dreams foretell implacable tragedies is sent to 'Sleepaway Camp for Disordered Dreamers' (Cabin 1, Narcoleptics; Cabin 2, Insomniacs; Cabin 3, Somnambulists...); a Minotaur leads his family on the trail out West, and finally, in the collection's poignant and hilarious title story, fifteen girls raised by wolves are painstakingly re-civilised by nuns.Thoughts: One of the books I was reading when I went to my mum and dad's was Swamplandia! by Karen Russell .. sadly I never got any further with it and it had to be returned to the library but the little I read I enjoyed. At the same time, while browsing the internet, I happened to notice another book by her and put it on my wishlist and lo and behold .. it turned up at Christmastime Now, the title and the cover were enough to convince me but what I didn't realise (or perhaps I did when I added it .. but forgot later) was that it is a book of short stories and the title story is the last short story!! .. I must admit this caused me some anxiety but only for a few pages because almost all the stories were brilliant and extremely imaginative. They didn't all work or at least some of them felt squeezed into the short story format and ended too abruptly for me but there were a lot of really outstanding tales. The title story thankfully was one of them but also the one about the Minotaur on the trail out West (would love for this one to be expanded upon) and a couple of eerie tales about avalanches and giant conches. Nobody in these tales is 'normal' .. you never know what you're going to be reading about and so are constantly challenged. There is one that's linked to Swamplandia! but that was one of the few that I didn't feel worked as well but all the stories are intriguing, surreal and fascinating. I'll definitely go back to the library for Swamplandia! at some point. 4/5 Edited January 13, 2017 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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