Michelle

What's interesting from my point of view is that lots of use Amazon, and yet the links on here weren't clicked on. Not complaining, because I wouldn't remember either, but just shows referral links aren't that useful.

I am completely with you, book buying makes you feel happy! But we both need to limit, so we can support each other.. and I'll give you some moral support if you decide to cull!

Erm.. roughly, I have 45 to be read, 30ish kept in the cupboard, plus two bookshelves downselves (maybe 100 or so?).

I've added this poll, partly because of general interest, but also for me to gauge if it's worth having any small adverts on here, and if so, for which stores. So, which do you tend to use?

I've just checked the text I sent my mum.. I ended up getting rid of 120 books!

The brutal cull was needed.. I was opening cupboards and nearly being buried alive by books falling out! I had to be very honest with myself over which books I really wasn't going to read. I also got rid of quite a few read books which I'd been hanging on to.. it was a shame to keep them tucked away, so I decided it was best to share them with others instead!

I'm looking forward to it Noll.. it's like extending Christmas!

I'm waiting to find out what you thought about all 3 of your current reads!

So it appears I was further into Strange The Dreamer than I thought, and I've finished it today. A new author for me, and I was unsure what to expect.. and it was fabulous! Review to follow.

I just have the last one to get to, but I've put it off a bit because I wasn't so keen on the second one. I might get back to it this year.

I keep seeing these on audible, and am considering trying them.. I'm glad to know you enjoyed them.

Thanks Claire - I'm never too concerned how many books I read, as long as I find some good ones! But it is just interesting to see how the numbers can vary from year to year.

I've started The Stand, and yes I like it. I agree very much as well that it's an expensive way of reading! I did get some from my library, but they're quite limited. I also agree with The Walking Dead - you need to separate the two as to not get confused.. and yet at the same time it's really interesting to see the differences and similarities. What worked for me was to go back to the beginning of the compendiums when the TV series was quite a way through. I actually read all 3 compendiums, which took me just beyond the existing point of the show, but it worked ok. Yep, my TBR isn't too bad, but the point is that it was much higher, but when I went through there were plenty I'd bought and now no longer really felt drawn to. I'm glad I can pass them on to others, but it's a shame that I've spent the money on them. So I need to be much more careful this year!

I haven't.. I shall take a look. As for Locke and Key, I loved it.. it's my second favourite after The Sandman series. It's a really unusual story, with a unique artistic style. I'm very happy owning the box set.

Hi - yep, the chat section works, but you can't access it until you have 10 posts. However, as far as I'm aware, it's not a feature which is really used that much on here.

I hope things work out with Steve's job. This is the first year I've seriously considered no/less books, so maybe we can support each other?

End of the year report.. I haven't read as much this year, but I also read some graphic novels, plus I have a lot of unfinished books.. which if I'm honest with myself, I won't get back to. I have two on the go at the moment, which I will continue.. the first os my early copy of Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor - I hadn't read her earlier series, despite it sitting on my wish list, so I wasn't sure what to expect. My first reaction was that I love her writing style, and her world building. I'm really enjoying the book, but it's a long one, which I don't often go for, so I'm taking a short break before finishing it. The reason for the break was that I decided to buy the latest 'remastered' version of Battle Royale. I don't know much about the differences, although an amazon reviewer says that the original had some grammar errors, and this one reads better. It's very readable, and once I started it, it rather tore my attention from Strange the Dreamer. They're very different books, so as I go into 2017, I shall be flicking between the two depending on my mood! (I'm going to post this at the beginning of my 2017 blog, because I'd like to hear of anyone else's experiences of either book.)

Ok.. I have two on the go at the moment, which I will continue into 2017.. the first is my early copy of Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor - I hadn't read her earlier series, despite it sitting on my wish list, so I wasn't sure what to expect. My first reaction was that I love her writing style, and her world building. I'm really enjoying the book, but it's a long one, which I don't often go for, so I'm taking a short break before finishing it. The reason for the break was that I decided to buy the latest 'remastered' version of Battle Royale. I don't know much about the differences, although an amazon reviewer says that the original had some grammar errors, and this one reads better. It's very readable, and once I started it, it rather tore my attention from Strange the Dreamer. They're very different books, so as I go into 2017, I shall be flicking between the two depending on my mood! Has anyone read the original version of Battle Royale.. did you notice any errors or issues? And has anyone actually read both? Plus.. any Laini Taylor fans on here?

It's quite interesting to see how my numbers vary so much year to year! I know 2016 suffered from quite a few unfinished books, plus I spent time early in the year with graphic novels... which I hope to get back to at some point this year. I also posted on Facebook about not buying any books in 2017.. and the responses were basically 'nope, it won't happen'! It made me laugh.. my friends know me well! However, it is something I'm going to work hard on. I had a very harsh sort of my books the other day, giving away some which I had bought, but know in all honesty that I won't get around to. I have a TBR pile of around 45, so I should be able to work my way through those if I don't buy anything else. So, I'm not promising no new books, but I'm going to try very hard!

2007 - 49 2008 - 85 2009 - 47 2010 - 43 2011 - 61 2012 - 61 2013 - 69 2014 - 62 2015 - 59 2016 - 47 My adventures in graphic novels and comics can be found here, started 2016. 1. Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor 2. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami 3. The Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan 4. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (audio) 5. The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan 6. Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans 7. The New Hunger by Isaac Marion 8. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (audio) 9. Doctor Who:Engines of War by George Mann (audio) 10. A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab 11. The Burning World by Isaac Marion 12. The Nightwalker by Sebastian Fitzek 13. Doctor Who: Night of the Whisper (audio) 14. Torchwood: The Conspiracy (audio) 15. Ink by Alice Broadway 16. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer 17. Girlhood by Cat Clark 18. Alien - River of Pain (audio) 19. Aliens by Alan Dean Foster (audio) 20. Doing It: Let's Talk About Sex by Hannah Witton 21. Genesis by Bernard Beckett (audio) 22. John Wyndham: A BBC Radio Drama Selection (audio) 23. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor 24. Alien 3 by Alan Dean Foster (audio) 25. The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone (audio) 26. Skitter by Ezekiel Boone (audio) 27. Dead Men Can't Complain and Other Stories by Peter Clines (audio) 28. Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon 29. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (audio) 30. I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist 31. The Gender Games by Juno Dawson 32. Lost Boy by Christina Henry 33. Alien Rain by Ruth Morgan 34. There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins 35. The Explorer by James Smythe 36. 13 Days of Midnight by Leo Hunt 37. Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller 38. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James 39. Alone by Scott Sigler (audio) 40. Monster by Michael Grant 41. The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp 42. Gone by Michael Grant 43. Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behaviour (audio) 44. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (audio) 45. The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World (audio) 46. Invasive by Chuck Wendig (audio) 47. Guts: The Anatomy of The Walking Dead by Paul Vigna 48. I Still Dream by James Smythe 49. Shadow of the Minotaur by Alan Gibbons 50. Below Zero by Dan Smith 51. Christmas Dinner of Souls by Ross Montgomery

47 books this year, plus some graphic novels at the beginning of the year. I have quite a few unfinished as well, two books I'm in the middle of, plus a few I may or may not get back to.

Gilded Cage by Vic James is £1.19 today. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01E5JN2WE/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_WhoxybA5F7VMQ My review:

Trying to cut down to 10... A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab Vicious by V.E. Schwab The Fireman by Joe Hill (audio) Alice / Red Queen by Christina Alice Gilded Cage by Vic James Contagion by Teri Terry Defender by G X Todd The Inferior series by Peadar O'Guilin Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Caraval by Stephanie Garber Edited.. that was tough, but I got it down to my top 10 (almost.. as two are a series / trilogy)

Yea, I know - it was a quick reaction to weed out some favourites.. by the end of the year I will make myself reach a Top 10! As for Gemina, I would actually say I liked it more than Illuminae. As you say, it's one you need to be in the mood for, but once I started, I raced through it!

Crime is a genre I've moved away from over the past few years, but I'm always looking out for something a little different. This book was being mentioned on twitter quite a bit, and the early copy was offered to me by a publicist I put a lot of faith in. Ragdoll certainly does offer that extra I was looking for, and is not your average detective story. A body is found which is actually body parts from six different victims, all stitched together.. nicknamed 'ragdoll' by the press. The killer then releases the names of six further victims to the press, including the dates of their deaths. The police are therefore faced with protecting these six people, whilst trying to figure out the identities of the body parts to try to find out what links them, and who the killer could be. What made this stand out for me was some of the inventive ways in which the poor victims were killed, the unexpected humour, and the characters. When you have a list of six names, you know that not all, if any, will survive, but the methods are certainly unexpected! In amongst all this, humour is a very difficult thing to get right.. but to me the author is spot on - just simple lines and comments which work perfectly, and lighten the mood a touch whilst reading. The characters were really interesting - they're all flawed, human, and believable, and I'm hoping to see much more of them in the second book. It's not quite perfect, and there were a few aspects which for me didn't work as well as they should - but it's certainly in my top 10 books read this year, and I do believe it's going to be big. It's not published until Feb 2017, but it's definitely one to see an eye out for. On an interesting note, the author originally wrote this as a screenplay, for which he received a lot of rejections. Whilst reading, it's easy to see this influence, but difficult to see why it was rejected. I could see it as a Hollywood film, but I really hope not.. it needs to keep it's British setting, and it's humour, and would make a great TV series!