lexiepiper

I have decided to wait until I've read the book before looking at the recs, that way if I don't like it, I wont bother

Thank you that has been a massive help! I'd like something along the lines of this but coloured ~

Love your tats whitegold, although I wanted to ask about the foot one. I really want one on my foot, but a friend of mine said they rub off really easily and they have to be constantly reinked, I was wondering what your experience of this was?

My copy of this came yesterday and I had a flick through, well worth getting if you're doing the challenge, it's really interesting, and also has some on the amazon sellers so you don't even have to pay that much for it

That's awesome, you've done such a good job! This list is much better than the other one I have

That's just what I saw on Amazon, not sure what the changes are or anything, just wanted to make sure as I ordered the black one too

Do you have the black 2006 edition or the white 2010 one?

I'm looking forward to seeing your revised list too as I did wonder if the original one was right

So thanks to a crazy hectic life atm, and my natural procrastination, I'm so so behind on reviews! I'm trying to catch up now though, so the first few reviews will be from books I read at the end of 2010, but I figured I'd still post them here anyway The Snowman by Jo Nesbo No. of pages: 550 Rating: 4.5/5 Series: Harry Hole (Book 7) Synopsis: The night the first snow falls a young boy wakes to find his mother gone. He walks through the silent house, but finds only wet footprints on the stairs. In the garden looms a solitary figure: a snowman bathed in cold moonlight, its black eyes glaring up at the bedroom windows. Round its neck is his mother’s pink scarf. Inspector Harry Hole is convinced there is a link between the disappearance and a menacing letter he received some months earlier. As Harry and his team delve into unsolved case files, they discover that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years. When a second woman disappears Harry’s suspicions are confirmed: he is a pawn in a deadly game. For the first time in his career Harry finds himself confronted with a serial killer operating on his turf, a killer who will drive him to the brink of insanity. Review: A little boy awakes to find his mother has disappeared, upon his search for her around the house, he sees a snowman in the garden with his mother's scarf wrapped around it. A few days later, another mother goes missing, and there's another snowman. So begins Harry Hole's chase after the 'Snowman' serial killer, but considering Harry is a disgraced ex-alcoholic, it's not going to be a smooth ride... My one and only niggle about this book is the cover, I absolutely hate the massive 'the next Stieg Larsson' sign, and it almost put me off of reading this book completely. It's like comparing an apple to a banana, sure they're both fruits, but that's where the similarities end, and it's the same with these authors. Personally, I prefered this book over the one I've read by Stieg Larsson, so I find the sign a bit frustrating, plus it's rude to try and launch an author in a new country by saying he's 'like' an already established author, especially when they have so much talent and merit of their own. Apart from that I loved this book! It very dark, and truly what a thriller should be in every sense. Harry Hole is one of those characters that's hard to love, but he's great at his job, and I found him to be very funny throughout the book. I loved the mystery of the murders, and it unravelled nicely, with lots of twists and turns. I thought I knew who the killer was a few times, but of course I was completely and utterly wrong! The ending was amazing, one of the best endings I've ever read in a thriller book, and I cannot stress enough how great a thriller this book is! If you're a fan of them, then this is definitely a MUST read. I can't wait to get my hands on more books from this series! The Fledgling Handbook by P.C. Cast No. of pages: 157 Rating: 3/5 Series: House Of Night (Handbook) Synopsis: Merry meet, fledgling. I trust this guide will serve you well...Every vampyre fledgling who arrives at the House of Night receives a copy of The Fledgling Handbook 101, and now, fans can have one, too, with this gorgeous must-have edition. Inside you'll find original stories, the complete vampyre history, inside info into rituals, vamp biology, and the Change, and much more. Review: A companion guide to the House Of Night series. The Fledgling Handbook is given to all new vampyre fledglings upon arriving at the House Of Night, and it describes many aspects of life as a vampyre, including history, ritual information, what will happen during your change and almost everything else! I was kind of looking forward to this, as it's mentioned so much during the series and I was so curious what would be in it. I felt mostly disappointed though, it's super short, and still it dragged when I was reading the pages, and there isn't even that much text in there either! The pages are lovely though, thick shiny paper, and lots of pretty pictures and such on them. Basically it's just filler, most of the stuff in it, you know from the series itself and it was clearly released just to cash in on the success of the series. Not worth buying in my opinion, but if you're interested, borrow from a friend or the library. Blood Vines by Erica Spindler No. of pages: 483 Rating: 4/5 Synopsis: Alex Owens knows very little about her childhood or who she really is - her only family an absent, emotionally fragile mother. Alex has always felt something was missing and has spent most of her life searching for what that could be. When an infant's remains are unearthed, Alex realises she has a connection to the case. Suddenly long-lost memories start flooding in, leading her back to a small town in California and to dark and terrifying nightmares that haunt her every waking moment. Greeted with silence and suspicion, Alex is determined to get to the heart of a secret no one wants to see uncovered. As violent deaths and a series of pagan rituals terrify the tightly-knit community, Alex is forced to confront the terrible truth about a single night that changed her family's lives for ever... Review: Alex has always had strange dreams, and coupled with the secrets her mother quite obviously keeps from her, she feels that something is missing in her life, but she has no idea what. But when she's contacted about the death of a baby she has no clue about, she realises the secrets her mother kept are coming back to haunt them... It's well known that Erica is one of my favourite thriller writers, and this book is no exception to the rule. It was gripping and full of twists from page one, and maybe a tad more dark that some of her other books because it's about the murder of a little baby. I really felt quite suffocated at times during the story, which goes to show how great the writing is. It was great as always to see all of the puzzle pieces falling into place, and there were plenty of surprises, including the ending which I didn't see coming. It's well worth a read if you're looking for a gripping thriller that you can't put down! The Small Hand by Susan Hill No. of pages: 167 Rating: 2/5 Synopsis: Returning home from a visit to a client late one summer’s evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow takes a wrong turning and stumbles across the derelict old White House. Compelled by curiosity, he approaches the door, and, standing before the entrance feels the unmistakable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own, ‘as if a child had taken hold of it’. Intrigued by the encounter, he determines to learn more, and discovers that the owner’s grandson had drowned tragically many years before. At first unperturbed by the odd experience, Snow begins to be plagued by haunting dreams, panic attacks, and more frequent visits from the small hand which become increasingly threatening and sinister… Review: Having taken a wrong turn on a country road, Adam Snow accidentally comes across a once beautiful, but now run down abandoned house. As he stands admiring it, he feels a little hand slip in to his, but to his horror, there is no one stood beside him. As he tries to forget the experience, he feels the hand slip in to his again, and realises he needs to find out more about the house that led him to the hand... A pretty disappointing read overall really. I was expecting a scary ghost story and it was nothing of the sort, and I actually found it to be pretty dull. It had so much potential to be great as well which is a shame. I did enjoy the mystery aspect of the plot as so far as I wanted to know the story behind the hand, but didn't really feel that it was explained to much extent. The characters were never explored to any depth, so I never felt like I got to know or like any of them. I think the best bit about this book is the fact it's so short, so it didn't take long to get through. I don't think I'd read anything by this author again.

If you get desperate you could always use Dan Brown's Angels and Demons which is set in Vatican City

Ahh I don't have the clip in cover either, I was going to get one, but then I saw someone was having problems with the battery because of it, so I opted for this slip in cover which is brilliant

This is my list so far for the year Jo Nesbo - The Leopard (20 Jan) Alex Scarrow - TimeRides 3: The Doomsday Code (3 Feb) Carrie Ryan - The Dark And Hollow Places (7 Apr) Kelley Armstrong - The Gathering (7 Apr) Jodi Picoult - Sing You Home (12 Apr) Gayle Forman - Where She Went (28 Apr) Rachel Caine - Bite Club (2 May) Charlaine Harris - Dead Reckoning (3 May) Rachel Ward - Numbers 3: Infinity (6 Jun) Alyson Noel - Everlasting (7 Jun) Rosamund Lupton - Afterwards (9 Jun) Lauren Kate - Passion (16 Jun) Maggie Stiefvater - Forever (12 Jul) Tess Gerritsen - The Silent Girl (21 Jul) Kelley Armstrong - Spellbound (4 Aug) Alyson Noel - Shimmer (5 Aug) Pittacus Lore - The Power Of Six (23 Aug) Markus Zusak - The Bridge Of Clay (1 Sep) Charlaine Harris - The Sookie Stackhouse Companion (15 Sep) John Ajvide Lindqvist - Harbour (30 Sep) Becca Fitzpatrick - Tempest (13 Oct) Ally Condie - Crossed (Nov) James Dashner - The Death Cure

Glad to see you enjoyed The Hunger Games as much as I did I agree with the flower part in book one, I got so choked up too!

Yeah probably!

I think it was you that posted about it in another thread and that's how I discovered it It does look like a pretty great challenge though!

Thanks Tunn! At only £1 there was no way I could pass it up, his other book was fantastic, so I have high hopes! Have you read any of the Jo Nesbo books, they're pretty awesome too, I read The Snowman a few weeks ago and it was so good!

For anyone that's interested, I completely overhauled my blog a few days ago, and I'd be interested to see what people think of it You can check it out here - Book Sanctuary

I am here, I can just about manage to peek over the top of the huge pile of books hehe! And thank you, I appreciate it! How are things going with you? x

I guess it was true they intended to drag it out all year then, but I'm glad they're cutting it short. Sorry to see that Ronni is leaving, but unsurprised really, she's not had one happy storyline has she?!

I have this to read somewhere Glad you enjoyed it hun x

Haha, I'm like that too, it's so bad isn't it!

Thank you!

Ahh good to hear it gets better towards the end! I have to admit I'm curious as to how it all turns out!

I did read about all the complaints and I'm not surprised tbh! It's very sad to see Kat in tears, when the viewers know the baby is just across the street! I can see them getting a lot more complaints over it all before it's finished!

Alan Rickman <3 It's that voice that does it! Hubba, be still my heart! Edited to say, it's weird because I'm only 23 and he's 64, and so old enough to be my granddad haha!