[Jessi's Reading Lists ~ 2017]

I have started re reading Poldark and have updated by read list... unfortunately I am also going to have to update my brought books list too...

[Jessi's Reading Lists ~ 2017]

I definitely need to get to it then  I am enjoying the Nurses of Steeple Street at the moment!

[Jessi's Reading Lists ~ 2017]

Thank you both - people have been telling me how great the Eyre Affair is for years - I really must try to pick it up this year

[Jessi's Reading Lists ~ 2017]

Brought From May 2017...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, this thread is open for business!!!

[Jessi's Reading Lists ~ 2017]

1 - 35: gained in 2009 or before
36 – 79: gained in 2010
80 - 103: gained in 2011
104 – 147: gained in 2012
148 – 175: gained in 2013
176 – 217: gained in 2014
218 – 285: gained in 2015
286 – 405: gained in 2016/17

 

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. Boyne, John: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
12. Dunant, Sarah: In the Company of the Courtesan
13. Fforde, Jasper: The Eyre Affair
14. Furnivall, Kate: The Russian Concubine
15. George, Margaret: Helen of Troy
16. Gee, Sophie: The Scandal of the Season
17. Gregory, Philippa: The Queens Fool
18. Gilbert, Henry: Robin Hood
19. Grahame: The Wind in the Willows
20. Lawrence, D. H: Lady Chatterley’s Lover
21. Lee, Harper: To Kill A Mocking Bird
22. Lewis, Hilda: I, Jacqueline
23. McIntosh, Fiona: Royal Exile
24. Montefiore, Santa: The Swallow and the Hummingbird
25. Montefiore, Santa: The Butterfly Box
26. Montgomery, L.M : Anne of Green Gables
27. Nesbit, E: The Railway Children
28. Ryan, Robert: Early One Morning
29. Sheers, Owen: Resistance
30. Sittenfeld, Curtis: American Wife
31. Steel, Danielle: Silent Honour
32. Thomes, Rosie: Isis and Ruby
33. Tolkien, J.R.R: The Silmarillion
34. Tolkien, J.R.R: Unfinished Tales
35. Adams: The Letters of John and Abigail Adams
36. Brands: Traitor to his Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
37. Byatt, AS: The Children's Book
38. Burstein, Andrew: Jefferson’s Secrets
39. Campion, Emma: The King's Mistress
40. Cheek, Mavis: Amenable Women
41. Clark, Mary Higgins: The Christmas collection
42. Deighton, Len: SS – GB
43. Didion, Joan: The Year of Magical Thinking
44. Duff, David: Alexandra: Princess and Queen
45. Dunant, Sarah: Sacred Hearts
46. Erikson, Carolly: Great Catherine
47. Erickson, Carolly: The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
48. Figes, Orlando: Natasha’s Dance
49. Follett, Ken: The Pillars of the Earth
50. Furnivall, Kate: Under A Blood Red Sky
51. Gill, Gillian: We Two
52. Gordon Reed, Annette: The Hemingses of Montecello
53. Harrods-Eagles, Cynitha: Anna
54. Hibbert, Christopher: Victoria – a Personal History
55. Hosseini, Khaled: The Kite Runner
56. Kerr, Judith: Out of Hitler Time
57. Lieven, Dominic: Russia Against Napoleon
58. Lovell, Mary S: The Mitford Girls
59. Lukyanenko, Sergei: The Day Watch
60. Mantel, Hilary: Wolf Hall
61. McCullough, David: Mornings On Horseback
62. Mitchell, Margaret: Gone With The Wind
63. Morrow, James: The Last Witchfinder
64. Motley, Annette: Men on White Horses
65. Norton, Elizabeth: Jane Seymour
66. O’Brien, Stacey: Wesley
67. O’ Grady, Paul: At My Mothers Knee
68. O’Toole, Patricia: When Trumpets Call
69. Pakula, Hannah: An Uncommon Woman
70. Plaidy, Jean: Plantagenet Prelude
71. Quinn, Kate: Mistress of Rome
72: Smith, L.J: The Night World
73. Snyder, Maria V: Storm Glass
74. Van Der Kiste, John: Queen Victoria’s children
75. Weir, Alison: Katherine Sywnford
76. Weir, Alison: The Captive Queen
77. Weir, Alison: The Lady in the Tower
78. Withey, Lynne: Dearest Friend
79. Adornetto, Alexandra: Halo
80. Atkinson, Kate: Case Histories
81. Chamberlin, E. R: Everyday Life In Renaissance Times
82. Fraser, Antonia: Love and Louis XVI
83. Graham, Laurie: The Importance of Being Kennedy
84. Gilbert, Elizabeth: Eat, Pray, Love
85. Greene, Graham: Brighton Rock
86. Harris, Charlaine: The Sookie Stackhouse Guide
87. Lewis, CS: Mere Christianity
88. Lovell, Mary S: The Churchill’s
89. Montefiore, Santa: The French Gardener
90. Newman, Janis Cooke: Mrs Lincoln
91. Nicholas, Katie: William and Harry
92. Obama, Barack: Dreams of My Father
93. Orzel, Chad: How To Teach Quantum Physics To Your Dog
94. Patch, Harry: The Last Fighting Tommy
95. Parsons, Tony: Starting Over
96. Pasternak, Boris: Doctor Zhivago
97. Perry, Tasmina: Kiss Heaven Goodbye
98. Richman, Alyson: The Lost Wife
99. Sanderson, Jane: Netherwood
100. Sebba, Anne: That Women
102. Tremlett, Giles: Catherine of Aragon
103. Trotter, Janet MacLeod: Never Stand Alone
104. Adams, Douglas: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
105. Angelini, Josephine: Starcrossed
106. Bach, Richard: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
107. Brown, Kate Lord: The Beauty Chorus
108. Cast, PC and Kristen: Hidden
109. Carnarvon, Countess of: Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey
110. Carter, Aimee: The Goddess Test
111. Clare, Cassandra: City of Bones
112. Clare, Cassandra: Clockwork Angel
113. Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games
114. Dickens, Charles: Great Expectations
115. Doyle, Arthur Canon: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection
116. Edward. Anne: Matriarch
117. Harvey, Greg: The Origins of Tolkien's Middle Earth
118. Follett, Ken: Winter of the Worlds
119. Foster, RF: Randolph Churchill
120. Goldman, Lisa: The No Rules Handbook for Writers
121. Hardy, Thomas: The Mayor of Casterbridge
122. Holt, Maggie: A Nurse at War
123. Huth, Angela: Land Girls
124. Jackson, Nancy: The Cook's Tale
125. Jones, Nigel: Tower
126. King, Stephen: 11.22.63
127. Kerr, John: A Dangerous Method
128. Magorian, Michelle: A Little Love Song
129. Magorian, Michelle: A Spoonful of Jam
130. Magorian, Michelle: Cuckoo in the Nest
131. Massie, Robert K: Peter The Great
132. McInerney, Monica: Those Faraday Girls
133. McKay, Sinclair: The Secret Life of Bletchley Park
134. Moyes, Jojo: The Girl You Left Behind
135. Newman, Michael: Socialism
136. Plaidy, Jean: The Merry Monarchs Wife
137. Plummer, Rosemary: The Maids Tale
138. Powell, Margaret: Below Stairs
139. Prentis, Evelyn: A Nurse and Mother
140. Prentis, Evelyn: A Nurse in Time
141. Rice, Anne: Interview with the Vampire
142. Stachniak, Eva: The Winter Palace
143. Stockett, Kathryn: The Help
144.Townsend, Sue: The Secret Diary of Afrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
145. Tsaraidze, Alexandre: Wife Before God
146. Wilcock, Penelope: The Hawk and the Dove
147. Wolff, Jurgen: Your Writing Coach
148. Berkowitz, Eric: Sex and Punishment
149. Bower, Sarah: House of Borgia
150. Carpenter, Teresa: New York Diaries
151. Collins, Suzanne: The Hunger Games
152. Dalton, Kathleen: Theodore Roosevelt
153. George, Margaret: Elizabeth I 
154. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Creatures
155. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Darkness
156. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Chaos
157. Garcia, Kami and Stohl, Margaret: Beautiful Redemption
158. Green, Graham: Writing for Dummies
159. Harman, Patricia: The Midwife of Hope River
160. Ives, Eric: The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn
161. Lanchaster, John: Capital
162. Marschall, Rick: Bully
163. Northup, Soloman: Twelve Years a Slave
164. O'Neill, Glenda: Our Street
165. Penman, Sharon: The Sunne in Splendour
166. Phillips, Winifred: Mum’s Army
167. Rogers, Hannah: The Art of Deduction 
168. Salisbury, Harriet: The War on our Doorstep
169. Schwalbe: The End of Your Life Book Club
170. Sibley, Brian: The Hobbit
171. Sparks, Nicholas: Safe Haven
172. Sparks, Nicholas: The Lucky One 
173. Spence, Jon: Becoming Jane
174. Weir, Alison: Elizabeth of York
175. Wilson, Derek: The Uncrowned Kings of England 
176. Adam, Max: The King in the North
177. Ashdown-Hill, John: The Third Plantagenet
178. Canon Doyle, Arthur: His Last Bow
179. Canon Doyle, Arthur: Return of Sherlock Holmes
180. Clare Castor: City of Ashes
181. Conklin, Tara: The House Girl
182. Deary, Terry: Groovy Greeks
183. Deary, Terry: Cut Throat Celts
184. Deary, Terry: Angry Aztecs
185. Deary, Terry: Incredible Incas
186. Deary, Terry: Frightful First World War
187. Eden, Dorothy: Never Calling It Love
188. Follett, Ken: Fall of Giants
189. Hugo, Victor: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
190. Ingelman-Sundberg, Catharina: The Little Old Lady Who Broke all the Rules
191. Larman, Alexander: Blazing Star
192. Lefebure, Molly: Blitz
193. Mantel, Hilary: Bring Up The Bodies
194. Meyer, E J: The Borgias
195. Montefiore, Simon Sebag: One Night in Winter
196. Puzo, Mario: The Godfather
197. Rowell, Rainbow: Fan Girl
198. Spencer, LaVyrie: Then Came Heaven n
199. Taylor, Jodi: Just One Damn Thing After Another
200. Wainwright, Robert: Shelia
201. Bolitho, Hector: Albert, Prince Consort
202. Burton, Jessie: The Miniaturist
203. Clements, Rory: The Queens Man
204. Fraser, Antonia: Charles II
205. Gelardi, Julia P: From Splendour to Revolution
206. Graham, Margaret: Easterleigh Hall
207. Holmes, Frederick: The Sickly Stuarts
208. Iggulden, Conn: War of the Roses: Stormbird
209. Jones, Dan: The Plantagenet’s
210. Jones, Dan: The Hollow Crown
211. Langford, Elizabeth: The Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes
212. Lewis, Damien: War Dog
213. Martin, R R George: The World of Fire and Ice
214. Plaidy, Jean: The Reluctant Queen
215. Plaidy, Jean: Victoria Victorious
216. Strong, Roy: Coronation
217. Tribe, Steve: Sherlock Chronicles
218. Aaronovitch, Ben: Rivers of London
219. Aronson, Theo: A Family of Kings
220. Austin, Lynn: Candle In The Darkness
221. Beer, Anna: Bess
222. Brellend, Kay: The Windmill Girls
223. Bolt, Rodney: As Good as God, as Clever as the Devil
224. Castries, Duc De: The Lives of the Kings and Queens of France 
225. Colfer, Chris: A Grimm Warning
226. Crewdson, Dorethea, Dorethea’s War
227. Dunn, Dot May: Around the Village Green
228. Farthing, Pen: Wylie
229. Farquhar, Michael: Bad Days In History
230. Follett, Ken: Edge of Eternity
231. Genova, Lisa: Inside the O’Breins
232. Graham, Winston: Warleggon
233. Graham, Winston: The Black Moon
234. Graham, Winston: The Four Swans
235. Graham, Winston: The Angry Tide
236. Gregory, Phillipa: The Kings Curse
237. Gristwood, Sarah: Blood Sisters
238. Hadlow, Janice: The Strangest Family
239. Hancock, Sheila: Miss Carters War
240. Hardy, Shelia: The 1950s Mother
241. Hawking, Jane: The Theory of Everything
242. Henderson, Casper: The Book of Barely Imagined Beings
243. Hibbert, Christopher: The Virgin Queen
244. Hines, Jerri: Belle of Charleston
245. Hobb, Robin: Assassin’s Apprentice
246. Hobb, Robin: Royal Assassin
247. Hobb, Robin: Assassin’s Quest 
248. Hugghes, Kathryn: The Letter
249. Jensen, Marie-Louise: The Lady In The Tower
250. Jones, Andy: The Two of Us
251. Jones, Dan: Magna Carta
252. Kay, Susan: Legacy
253. King, Sophie: Do You Take This Man?
254. Knight, Lynn: Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue
255. Lake, Deryn: Pour The Dark Wine
256. Licence, Amy: In Bed With The Tudors
257. O’Brien, Anne: The King’s Speech
258. Maitland, Karen: The Vanishing Witch
259. McCallin, Luke: The Pale Horse
260. McCallin, Luke: The Man From Berlin
261. Montefiore, Santa: Songs of Love and War
262. Mottershead, June: Our Zoo
263. Moyes, Jojo: One Plus One
264. Pemberton, Margaret: A Season of Secrets
265. Pevel, Pierre: The Cardinal’s Blades
266. Pulley, Natasha: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
267. Purnell, Sonia:  First Lady
268. Rees, Tracy: Amy Snow
269. Rees, Peter: The Anzac Girls
270. Ribchester, Lucy: The Hourglass Factory
271. Rothschild, Hannah: The Improbability of Love
272. Sibley, Brian: The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Movie Guide
273. Smith, Michael: The Debs of Bletchley Park
274. Sparks, Nicholas: See Me
275. Stewart, Mary: The Crystal Cave
276. Sunners, Julie: Jambusters
277. Thomson, Oliver: The Impossible Bourbons
278. Tolkien, J R R: The History of the Hobbit
279. Tolkien, J R R: Children of Hurin
280. Tolkien, J R R: Return of the Shadow
281. Tolkien, J R R: Treason of Isengard
282. Tolkien, J R R: Sauron Defeated
283. Tolkien, J R R: War Of The Ring
284. Wards, Geffrey and Ken Burns: Roosevelts: An Intimate History
285. White, T H: The Once and Future King
286. Ackerman, Diane: The Zookeepers Wife
287. Aronson, Theo: The King In Love
288. Beauclark, Charles: Nell Gwyn
289. Bernieres, Louis De: The Dust that Falls From Dreams
290. Blackwell, Elizabeth: In the Shadow of Lakecrest
291. Bradley, Simon: The Railways: Nation, Network and People
292. Brown, Raymond Lamont: John Brown  
293. Borman, Tracy: The Private Lives of the Tudors
294. Bowman, Karen: Corsets and Codpieces
295. Bryson, Bill: A Walk In The Woods
296. Bryson, Bill: A Short History of Nearly Everything
297. Bryson, Bill: At Home
298. Bryson, Bill: Shakespeare
299. Burge, James: Heloise and Abelard
300. Carsta, Ellin: The Draper’s Daughter
301. Clare, Bethany: Love Beyond Time
302. Clarke, Susanna: Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell
303. Cleave, Chris: Everyone brave is Forgiven
304. Cohen, David: Bringing Them Up Royal
305. Collins, Larry: Freedom at Midnight
306. Costeloe, Diney: The Sisters of St Croix
307. Cornwall, Bernard: The Pale Horseman
308. Donnelly, Jennifer: Lost in a Book
309. Douglas, Donna: The Nurses of Steeple Street
310. Douglas, Donna: A Nightgale Christmas Carol
311. Duffy, P S: The Cartographer of No Man’s Land
312. Edwards, Rhoda: None but Elizabeth
313. Erskine, Barbara: Lady of Hay
314. Evans, Lissa: Their Finest
315. Fennell, Emerald: Monsters
316. Fletcher, Giovanna: You're The One That I Want
317. Fletcher, Giovanna: Dream a little Dream
318. Frankopan, Peter: The Silk Roads
319. Furnivall, Kate: The Liberation
320. Garwood, Julie: The Wedding
321. Gibson, Mary: Gunner Girls and Bomber Boys
322. Gibson, Mary: Custard Tarts and Broken Hearts
323. Gibson, Mary: Bourben Dreams and Tattered Dreams
324. Graham, Winston: Bella Poldark
325. Grahame-Smith, Seth: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
326. Gregory, Philippa: Three Sisters, Three Queens
327. Goodman, Ruth: How To Be A Tudor
328. Goodman, Ruth: How To Be A Victorian
329. Goodwin, Daisy: The Fortune Hunter
330. Hargrave, Kiran Milliwood: The Girl of Ink and Stars
331. Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia: I, Victoria
332. Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia: Goodbye Piccadilly
333. Harvey, Jacky Colliss: Red – The Natural History of the Redhed
334. Hepburn: A Year at the Stars and Sixpence
335. Hall, Coryne: Princesses on the Wards
336. Haviland, David: Why was Queen Victoria Such a Prude
337. Hay, Daisy: A Strange Romance  - Mr and Mrs Desrali
338. Henderson, Casper: The Book of Barely Imagined Beings
339. Heminsley, Alexandra: Running Like a Girl
340. Horsfield, Debbie: Poldark: The Complete Scripts – Series 2
341. Holmes, Richard: The Age of Wonder
342. Housden, Frances: The Chieftains Curse
343. Howard, Francine Thomas: The Daughter of Union County
344. Hubbard, Kate: Serving Victoria
345. Hughes, Andy: The Pocket Guide to Royal Scandals
346. Hutchinson, Robert: House of Treason
347. Kaplan, Janice: The Gratitutde Diaries
348. Kareem, Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem and Anna Waterhouse: Mycroft Holmes
349. Lane, Soraya M: Voyage of the Heart
350. Lowe, Charles: Alexander III of Russia
351. Macmanus, James: Midnight In Berlin
352. Marston, Edward: The Amorous Nightingale
353. Matusiak, John: Wolsey
354. McGrath, Carol: The Handfasted Wife
355. McLain, Paula: The Paris Wife
356. Merrick, Atlin: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson
357. Millers, John: The English Civil War
358. Montefiore, Simon Sebag: The Romanov's
359. Mortimer, Ian: The Time Travellers Guide to Restoration Britain
360. Moore, Sandra: Caroline
361. Mount, Ferdinard: The Tears if the Rajas
362. Moss, Sarah: Bodies of Light  
363. Nemirovsky, Irene: Suite Francaise
364. O’Brien, Anne: The Scandalous Duchess
365. O’Morain, Padrig: Mindfulness on the Go
366. O’Morain, Padrig: Mindfulness for Worries
367. Oliver, Abi: A Map of New Love
368. Pearson, John: The Profession of Violence
369. Pollard, Tony: Culloden
370. Prowse, Amanda: My Husband’s Wife
371. Rappaport, Helen: The Victoria Letters
372. Perry, Sarah: The Essex Serpent
373. Read, Sara: Maids, Widows, Wives
374. Rideal, Rebecca: 1666
375. Ridley, Jane: Bertie
376. Rosenberg, Alex: The Girl From Krakow
377. Rowling, J K: Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them
378. Rowling, J K: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists
379. Rowling, J K: Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies
380. Rowling, J K: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide
381. Sandy, Claire: What Would Mary Berry Do?
382. Seanz, Benjamin Alire: Aristotle’s and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
383. Seddon, Peter: Law’s Strangest Cases
384. Shetterly, Margot Lee: Hidden Figures
385. Shipton, Elisabeth: Female Tommies
386. Spiers: Hester and Harriet
387. Spufforf, Francis: Golden Hill
388. Stibbe, Nina: Love Nina
389. Stargardt, Bicholas: The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939 - 1945
390. Stratford, Sarah-Jane: Radio Girls
391. Staryed, Sheryl: Ting Beautiful Things
392. Taylor, Andrew, The Ashes of London
393. Theobald, John Owens: These Dark Wings
394. Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace
395. Tonge, Samantha: Breakfast Under A Cornish Sun
396. Queen Victoria: Letters 1837 – 1843
397. Walters, Victoria: The Second Love of My Life
398. Watkins, Sarah-Beth: Catherine of Braganza
399. White, Karen: Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
400. Whitelocks, Anna: Elizabeth’s Bedfellows
401. Williams, Sarah: Colour Bar
402. Winspear, Jacqueline: Journey to Munich
403. Woodbury, Sarah: The Good Knight
404. Weir, Alison: Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen

[Jessi's Reading Lists ~ 2017]

Hi all –

 

I am back (again)! I am 5 months late to the reading party of 2017 but I am just glad I have got here at last.

 

After reading Outlander last year, I got a huge book hangover and didn’t manage a to read much more – maybe 4/5 books in as many or more months! Other contributing factors were my starting running and the emergence of a love life!!!

 

But I have finally got my book mojo back so here I am…

 

And here are my lists… (I still have a bit of working out to do but will over the next few days!)

 

 

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

2016:

2017: 

 

Reading Goals ~

• To have less than 404 books on my TBR list on 1st January 2018. 
• 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.
• Read some thrillers! 
• Review every book!

 

Read 2017:

1. Happy Mum, Happy Baby by Giovanni Fletcher

2. With All My Heart by Margaret Barnes Campbell

3. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

4. Longbourne Library by Trudy Wallis

5. Promise House by Sandra K Moore

6. A Nightingale Christmas Carol by Donna Douglas 

7. The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Penman

8. The Nurses of Steeple Street by Donna Douglas 

9. Never Stand Alone by Janet Macleod Trotter 

10. Catherine of Braganza by Sarah Beth Watkins

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

April   

 

TBR March 1st: 298

Read: 4
Brought: 8

Best books:  The Outlander series – Diana Gabaldon

TBR April: ???

 

Hey all!

 

I am so sorry I have not been around that much this month. There has been a very simple reason for this…

 

The Outlander Series!

 

While on the surface it looks as if I have not read that much this month, having read only 4 books, the Outlander books are whoopers and I have done 3! I have read (I believe) 3,000 pages plus this month and have been using every spare moment I have to get through a few more chapters! I can’t remember the last time I got so swept up in a series, but Outlander, Claire, Jaime and Diana Gabaldon have taken me hostage at the moment. I shall return properly to the internet more often when I get to the end of book 8 I expect lol!

 

In addition to reading 4, I have also brought (I believe) 8 books this month (a couple of them being Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager, so I have read those two already!) so I need to sit down and do some maths to figure out where I am with the TBR pile. I have a horrible feeling I am over 305 again somehow (you guys know me and maths lol) so sometime soon I will have to sit down and work my stats out properly again.

 

But still the year is young enough that I can get under 300 again and I thoroughly enjoyed my April reading! I really hope all of you did too! On to May (and more Outlander! I am currently on book 4, Drums of Autumn!) 

[Your Book Activity - April 2016]

I am continuing with Mansfield Park today

[Your Book Activity - April 2016]

I read more of Mansfield Park last night - I am really enjoying it!

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

I am about 80% through now - its getting dark, but still addictive!

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

It is wonderful! Even though it is a big book, it doesn't feel like it and I am sneaking off every chance I can to read it!

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

April Read-A-Thon

 

Friday: 38 pages of Out of the Hitler Time and 39 pages of Outlander!

 

Saturday: 28 pages of Out of the Hitler Time, 86 pages of Outlander, 24 from Mansfield Park and just 4 from The Sunne in Splendour!

 

Sunday:  39 pages of Out of the Hitler Time (book finished!), 56 pages of Outlander, 16 from Mansfield Park and 21 from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies!

 

Again, I had a really fun read-a-thon! There was as normal a lot of jumping around books, but the main ambition of the weekend was to get to the end of the Out of the Hitler Time trilogy which I started for my first read–a-thon a couple of months back and I achieved that, so that was great! I also continued to get lost in Outlander. I barely realized how many pages were passing as I read the book – it is just so captivating and I feel really lost in the story at the moment, it’s wonderful! In addition to that, I finally got to start Mansfield Park, so I am definitely a happy reader! : ) 

 

Total - 351!

[Your Book Activity - April 2016]

I just finished Out of the Hitler Time by Judith Kerr... what a trilogy! 

[Your Book Activity - April 2016]

I am going to be reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon today! I started it earlier in the week and have fallen in love with the Scottish Highlands as well as all of the Highlanders

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

I am feeling much better now, thank you!  It was a shame though - it wiped out the four day weekend for me! 

 

LOL nope - just a typo!!! Shall go and edit that out

 

You too!

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

March   

 

TBR March 1st: 299

Read: 6
Brought: 2

Best books:  The Churchill Secret KBO - Jonathan Smith and East End Angel - Kay Brellend 

TBR April: 298

 

Once more I can’t quite work the math of my TBR pile. Somehow I still have 298 when theoretically, I feel as if it should be nearer 295, but there we are…

 

 

March was an alright reading month. I feel a bit frustrated as I was ill over Easter which was when I planned to turn it into a great reading month! Instead of making my way through a couple of books, lasted weekend I barely read a page! That said I still got through six books overall and made some real progress with my ‘brick’ reads. So onwards and upwards! Sadly, I am now two books off the big hundred challenge. However, the year is still pretty young, so I am not saying die yet!

 

In March, I suppose the best thing was how much I behaved myself book buying wise. Over the 31 days I only bought 2 and spent under £2 over all! So that was a win : )

 

Hope you all have a great reading April all : ) 

[Your Book Activity - March 2016]

I am now right at the end of Out of the Hitler Time and am determined to finish this weekend!

[Read-a-thon - 2016]

I am off work today and Sunday and will be joining in Have a good reading weekend all!

[New Member]

Welcome to the BCF!

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

The 1950s Housewife - Shelia Hardy (3.5/5)

 

This book was a pretty quick read which lead you through the life of the 1950s housewife – what she wore, what she cooked, what she did for entertainment… how much she knew (or did not) about sex when she got married.  What I really liked in this book was the detail it gave you – it really painted what it was telling me effectively in my mind and that always is a big plus for me.

 

Why 3.5 then? I’m not really sure. I guess part of it was that while this book does make some mentions to upper and lower class housewife, it felt very middle classed focused to me. The life it described was not a universal experience.  Not only that, but in spite of it being a quick read, if found it quite heavy in places too for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on. Overall, I think I came to it hoping to enjoy it more than I did… but it wasn’t a bad read.

[Your Book Activity - March 2016]

I am now on the last book in the Out of The Hitler Time trilogy! 

[Your Book Activity - March 2016]

I passed the half way mark of Out of the Hitler time yesterday!

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!! 

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

 North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell (4.5/5)

 

I loved North and South! Gaskell’s wrote Margaret Hale and John Thornton’s romance so beautifully and I just got swept up in the novel. While it did take me a while to get to through it, it was so, so worth it. There was plenty of heart break for poor Margaret (and John too) along the way but when the end came I was left with a huge smile on my face.

 

I would absolutely recommend North and South. 

[Jessi's Reading Log ~ 2016]

Billy and Me - Giovanna Fletcher  (3.5/5)

 

I enjoyed Billy and Me. In between all my bricks, it was quite nice to have an easier read that I got through relatively quickly.

 

Billy and Me tells the story of a young women named Sophie who lives in a small community, working in the local tea shop. She has had a rough time and is reserved and prone to panic attacks, yet her luck changes with a film crew comes to the village to shoot Pride and Prejudice. There is a spark between her and Billy Buskin, none other than the new films Mr. Darcy himself, and her life changes pretty quickly after that.

 

Like I said, I enjoyed this book. Fletcher certainly knows how to tell a good story and I liked her writing style, the way she told us a little bit here and there before revealing Sophie’s past. That said, I didn’t always sympathize with Sophie. While there were moments I definitely did, I also found myself rolling my eyes at her from time to time. That said, the ending was heartbreaking and I got a little misty eyed, so I would reread this and look forward to reading more from Giovanna Fletcher!