Chrissy

Wishing you a wonderful year of reading, Brian.

Oh no, I don't have to dust them do I? Hell, I'll need a song just to get by. The shelves remain as they were, I have been too busy to go browse. *big dramatic self indulgent sigh* But I'm not actually feeling worried about this small gap between books.......just yet. I have realised that panic doesn't my reading mojo return. If we get to July and I haven't picked up a book, THEN I'll panic! Nope, I have it but haven't read it yet. If we time it right there may be a group read in the offing this year! ^ This is me! I bought it when it came out in paperback, way back when.

It is mainly Amazon for me, as I have a kindle. It is also a great site for getting second hand books, so has become my first stop site.

Pecan nuts!

Not reading at all! My reading mojo has ground to a halt, but I am not panicking (just yet). I will tidy my bookshelves later in a hope of triggering a reading want and I will also tidy up my collections on the kindle. If that fails I will revert to an old favourite that is yet to be decided. It's good to get the missing mojo ever and done with early in the year. *gulp*

Thank you Diane. You too! Thanks Ben. Good to see you back on the boards! Thank you LP, and yes I am indeed a new fan of both! Thanks Frankie. You too.

Book buying and reading I am leaving out of any goals for this year. I am happy with how I buy and how I choose my reading matter, so am leaving that be. Later in the year I will be turning 50, and I have a few "Wanna do by the time I hit 50" things, so will be pursuing those. I want to teach myself Latin, so over the past few months have gathered teach yourself / basics books, dictionaries and actual books written in Latin .In addition I would love to be able to play some decent chords on a guitar, so I have bought new strings for my son's ancient guitar and have some How-To clips lined up and ready, as well as beginner books.

Good luck getting it all sorted Madeleine. Perhaps this means the rest of the year will go smoothly for you. After a wonderfully quiet weekend we headed out to the shops for a couple of hours this morning, and picked up a few bargains (no books!). It was fun, especially as neither of us particularly enjoy shopping, but a banana bran muffin washed down with a coffee helped. Back home and planning on organising myself for the rest of the month. I try to plan ahead, then go with the flow. It works for me. Happy New Year everyone.

Yes, I think saying YA was probably a mistake, although I would amend the 9 / 10 year old reader label to say I am talking about a book worm, one who reads independently of what is asked of them!

I would say the youngest readers to really appreciate them would be 9/10 years old. Have a good 2017, for reading and all other things! It is one of those situations whereby if you like Max, the central character, then you will probably like the books. They won't be to everyone's taste (what books ever are?), with hints of weirdness, the identities of some peripheral characters riding alongside the time travel and history hopping, mean belief must be suspended regularly. But, it's a fun romp! The third book takes them all in odd directions, but so long as the next book (there surely must be one sometime!) ties it all up solidly I will be happy. I find Maureen Johnson readable, and I like the main characters, so have an affection for the books.

68 good uns!

I have enjoyed my reading this year enormously. I extended the fun of reading Rachel Caine, zipping through her Weather Warden series, and have discovered new-to-me authors who I am excited with and delighted by; Ben Aaronovitch and his superb Rivers Of London books. Rick Riordan and his Olympian series. Jodi Taylor and the truly magnificent Chronicles Of St Mary's. Daniel O'Malley's Checquy Files. EE Holmes' supernatural trio. I am happy with what I have read this year, and after a few years of wobbly reading mojo, I no longer fear dry spells, but celebrate my re reads instead.

68) Harry Potter & The Cursed Child ; A play by Jack Thorn, based on a story by JK Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorn. My last read of 2016! I enjoy reading plays, they generally have a different rhythm from books, so require a different approach, that for me becomes about visualising with little description. (From Amazon) It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. Despite a significant feature of the play that didn't ring true for me, I enjoyed the story. The focus being on Harry Potter - The Next Generation was a good direction to take, and I quickly developed a liking for Albus, and perhaps more surprising, Scorpius (dreadful name!). This is NOT Harry Potter part 8, and does feel a little indulgent of the writers who clearly wanted to take the familiar, age it and twist it a little. This wasn't a story that needed to be told, and had a deus ex machina aspect that grated. Not a terrible way to end my reading year.

61) Magyk by Angie Sage, 62) Flyte by Angie Sage, 63) Physik by Angie Sage, 64) Queste by Angie Sage, 65) Syren by Angie Sage, 66) Darke by Angie Sage, & 67) Fyre by Angie Sage I have adored the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage since I read the first book about nine or ten years ago. I return to the series fairly regularly, this time around was when I felt my reading mojo slipping a little. It son perked up and I sailed through them, surprising myself with a few little nuances and nuggets I hadn't caught or fully recognised the significance of on previous readings. The hardback book, all chunky and eminently hold-able with a fab designed cover was sitting forlornly on the shelf in a Tesco store in Oban, Scotland. I had said to husband "I will have a quick look and see if I can pick something up to add to my holiday reads." I was smitten from the first! (From Amazon) Septimus Heap, the seventh son of the seventh son, disappears the night he is born, pronounced dead by the midwife. That same night, the baby's father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow -- a newborn girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take her into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved son Septimus? And so begins this delightful series. It all has an olde worlde homemade charm, with castles and magicians, no 'modern' technology and a definite social class system. There is such depth and breadth to the books, the included details give a sense of wholeness to them, as if the author is recording events rather than inventing them. These may be young adult books, but I would be surprised if I was the only grown up (*cough*) to be utterly delighted by them.

The only books I can think of is SM Reine's Descent series of books, and later her Ascension series. They are a gritty urban fantasy books about a demon hunter's battles against the forces of Heaven and Hell. They are not to everyone's taste, and will be sacrilegious to many, but a manifestation (of sorts) of God, Angels, demons and the many angelic and demonic dimensions are included in the books. In addition, there is extensive demon hunting, exorcisms and gritty graphic blood and guts.

Back in 2012, I read and enjoyed Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt. It is an unusual, quick and compelling read. I opened my review at the time with a quote from the book, with Mr Chartwell describing how he likes to 'operate', This is for me, an uncomfortable yet incredibly perceptive description of depression. Worth reading.

When my reading mojo fell into a slump I decided on keeping the engine ticking over by reading an old favourite, Magyk by Angie Sage. From there I have been making my way (rapidly) through the rest of her wonderful Septimus Heap series, having devoured Flyte, Physik, Queste, and Syren. I am now reading Darke, and by the weekend I will have started and finished the final book in the series, Fyre. I love, love, LOVE this series. So much detail, great stories, lovely characters.

My reading has hit a wall, so I decided to return to an old favourite, and am reading Angie Sage's Magyk. Love it!

It depends on what you mean by similar! I've read and enjoyed The Infernal Devices, and The Mortal Instruments series, and I can jot down a few supernatural YA series I have read and enjoyed, but it depends on what aspect you were after. Was it the supernatural? Was it the Victorian atmospheric backdrop you liked? Or the steampunk style machines? Supernatural series; Rachel Caine wrote a fab series, The Morganville Vampires, set in a town. She also wrote The Weather Warden series, featuring humans with weather related 'talents', and the ancient supernatural Djinn. EE Holmes wrote a three book series, The Spirit Legacy, The Spirit Prophecy and The Spirit Ascendancy. It's all about ghosts. Maureen Johnson's Shades Of London books are set in the Whitechapel area of London, where someone is mimicking Jack The Ripper's crimes. They are all modern set series though. I do have on my To Be Read pile the Laini Taylor Daughter Of Smoke & Bone trilogy which may be more what you are after. One other place to try is The Literature Map. Good luck finding some books that fit the bill.

Hell to the yeah! I am currently struggling to choose my next read - too much choice on my kindle and shelves.

No I haven't, and strangely have never even thought of them. Oh dear, I feel a bit guilty that I had only thought of her writings in context to Dorothy L Sayers. Oops!

I love the Lord Peter Wimsey series, and have been impressed by Jill Paton Walsh's continuation of them. The Attenbury Emeralds were great, although I was a tad less happy with The Late Scholar, which I felt missed the mark at times. It will be good to see what JPW comes up with, especially now the next generation Wimseys and Bunters are getting older.

Blustery wind and yucky rain.