Jessi

2009: Read 48 books 2010: Read 79 books 2011: Read 74 books Aim - 100 books is still my goal - third time lucky! - to have a shorter TBR List on January 1st 2013 than I did January 1st 2012! Read in 2012: 1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard - J K Rowling 2. Little Mother of Russia - Coryne Hall 3. The Fellowhip of the Ring - J R R Tolkien 4. Quidditch Through The Ages - J K Rowling 5. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell 6. Behind Closed Doors - Amanda Vickery 7. 1776 - David McCoullough 8. The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin - Charles and Francis Darwin 9. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen 10. A Study In Scarlet - Arthur Canon Doyle 11. 1000 Years of Annoying the French - Stephan Clarke 12. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 13. Tommy - Richard Holmes 14. Call The Midwife - Jennifer Worth 15. The Queen Mother - William Shawcross 16. In Shadow of the Workhouse - Jennifer Worth 17. Poison In The Blood - MG Scarsbrook 18. Call to Arms - Charles Messenger 19. Farewell to the East End - Jennifer Worth 20. The Love Letters of Henry VIII To Anne Boleyn 21. News From The Front - Martin Farrar 22. The Reader - Bernhard Schlink 23. Just Henry - Michelle Magorian 24. Creation - Randal Keynes 25. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy 26. Goodnight Mr Tom - Michelle Magorian 27. Destined - PC and Kristin Cast 28. The Unquiet Western Front - Brian Bond 29. The Two of Us - Sheila Hancock 30. A War Imagined - Samuel Hynes 31. The Silence of Memory - Adrian Gregory 32. Emma Darwin - Edna Healey 33. Workhouse - Pamela Oldfield 34. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 35. A Feast For Crows - George R R Martin 36. Churchill - Paul Addison 37. The Diamond Queen - Andrew Marr 38. Can Any Mother Help Me? - Joanne Bailey 39. Only Fools and Horses - Steve Clark 40. 25 Chapters Of My Life - Olga Alexandrovna Romanov 41. The Communist Manifesto - Marx and Engels 42. Marx - Peter Singer 43. The Gentleman's Daughter - Amanda Vickery 44. To Make Our World Anew: Vol I - Robin DC Kelley 45. The Uncrowned Queen - Anne O'Brien 46. Wartime Princess - Valerie Wilding 47. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens 48. The Frock Coated Communist - Tristrum Hunt 49. Clementine Churchill - Mary Soames 50. One For Sorrow - Chloe Rhodes 51. Desperate Duchesses - Eloise James 52. To Make Our World Anew: Vol II - Robin DC Kelley 53. The Vampire Diaries - LJ Smith 54. Stefan's Diaries: Origins - LJ Smith 55. Stefan's Diaries: Bloodlust - LJ Smith 56. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott 57. The Tudors - G J Meyer 58. The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and the Reunion - LJ Smith 59. Love You To Death - Chrissy Calhoun 60. The Craving - L J Smith 61. Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris 62. Love You To Death 2 - Chrissy Calhoun 63. On Origin of the Species - Charles Darwin 64. The Ripper - L J Smith 65. Wuthering Bites - Sarah Gray 66. Churchill - Norman Rose 67. Lenobia's Vow - PC and Kristin Cast 68. The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux 69. She Wolves - Helen Castor 70. Sally of Monticello - N.M.Ledgin 71. Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson 72. Lloyd George and Churchill: Rivals to Greatness - Richard Toye 73. Colonel Roosevelt - Edmund Morris 74. The Chronicles of Downton Abbey - Jessica Fellowes 75. The Raising of a President - Doug Weed 76. The Asylum - L J Smith 77. Persausion - Jane Austen 78. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris 79. Call the Midwife - Heidi Thomas 80. Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth 81. The Hobbit - Jude Fisher 82. The Borgias - Christopher Hibbert 83. The Real Downton Abbey - Jacky Hyams 84. Modern Family 85. Nightfall - L J Smith 86. The Loves of Charles II - Jean Plaidy 87. The Sugar Girls - Duncan Barrett 88. The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien 89. A Daughters Tale - Mary Soames 90. Inside Games of Thrones 91. Love and Conquest - Douglas Smith 92. Nellie Taft - Carl Sefrozza Anthony

Beautiful Days - Anna Godbersen (4/5) I had to read Bright Young Things before I read the sequel, Beautiful Days, and I thoroughly enjoyed them both. This series is set in New York in the 1920s and is just as brilliant as The Luxe series. Following three young women to their goals (one to be part of a family, another to marriage and a third to fame), these books explore all strands of society from the speakeasies to White Cove families. The character are strong and bold and the story matches. Fun, easy and interesting. I can’t wait for book 3.

I did, Kidsmum - it was a great read. It is easy to see why people do fall for Becky, she is so unique as a character.

Letters to his Children - Theodore Roosevelt (5/5) Looking back over the course of the year I have to say this was quite simply one of my favorites to read. It might not come as a big surprise, but there we have it. Of all the books that were published about him, if there could only be one, this was the one TR wanted this book published. Spanning from 1898 – 1918, these letters reveal TR as a father. In his many letters to his children, Theodore Roosevelt was always quick to give out advice and comfort (and on occasion, ‘preach’) and slow to judge it seemed. When his letters were not full of said advice (over school, career choices etc.), TR wrote to his absent child about their other siblings or what he had been doing, whether that be presidential business or a hunting trip. TR was, famously, never shy over his affection for his children (as some Edwardian fathers were), and in his letters to his children when they were parted, TR confessed more than once that he was ‘homesick’ for them. This book was so tender and heartwarming and will stay with me for a long time (and will no doubt be re-read many times!). To be read on a cold night, under a blanket with hot chocolate.

Reading Little Mother of Russia today by Coryne Hall.

Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray (4/5) I do not think I have ever taken so much time to read a book as I did this one, having started it when it was the book of the ‘month on this forum.’ I stopped and started a lot and found it initially hard to get into. But in the end, I loved it. It was a lot of fun to read. Rebecca’s’ exploits were at times fun to read and at other times I was disgusted with her - I swung between having immense pity and then being really annoyed at Amelia. This really is the novel without a hero. In the end, I did love Rawdon though. I think it is through his character that we get to see Thackeray develop a character. The two leading ladies are much the same as they were at the end of the book as they were at the beginning whereas Rawdon absolutely was not. I will definitely be re-reading this one (at some point).

I am so behind that I am going to start working backwards here guys so you can get something out of my reviews rather than me scratching my brains about a story I read so long ago I am struggling to remember what I thought about it. My Early Life by Winston Churchill – 5/5 I read this for university, being that Churchill is my main focus this year and the subject of my dissertation and I loved it. I think Churchill is a very easy man to be fascinated by. Thought of course always assassinated with WWII, quite rightly, he had a long and varied career before, and My Early Life tells the story of his formative years. Spanning from his unhappy childhood, where he longed to be closer to his two distant parents (even by Victorian stands, Lord and Lady Randolph were distant to be the point of neglect) to his adventures in the Boer war, Churchill reveals something of life in the glided era for a boy who had to work hard, despite being born into the privilege world of the aristocracy. Churchill, as I am learning at the moment, was a flawed man who was nevertheless extremely talented – writing being one of those talents. This was a surprisingly easy and quite a light read and I would recommend it.

Poppy, good luck next year! I love your motivational thoughts!!! I think whenever I lose my mojo next year I'll come back and read them!

I don't know!!! well... I can't!!! May have to accept the inevitable (that the TBR pile will never be in double instead of triple digits again!)

Welcome!

I did have to re-read a few bits! I think I read more than 1 at a time because I think that is the fastest way to a smaller to be read pile. Of course, the real way is to stop buying books - but I don't seem to be able to do that! Frankie - I do feel really mean sometimes!!! I know what you mean about feeling bad!

I was indeed - I think I've read 80/90 other books in that time period. Weridly enough, it the end I really enjoyed it and read the second half in about 3/4 weeks. I just kept stopping and starting with it a lot, but it was a very enjoyable read.

At last I've finished Vanity Fair - I think it took me about 15 months!

Debs at war – Anne De Courcy (4/5) I really enjoyed this book. Being 20 myself when I read it, I was the same age as the girls who joint up for the war effort. Even though they were 20 70 years before me. The story this book told is of about 10 uppers class girls who in different ways joint up either as a nurse, a land girl or at Betchley Park amongst others. These upper class girls stepped out of there social circle for the first time in their life – and grew up fast. It was a very interesting look at these young women during the WWII, especially how it changed them. Anastasia by Carolyn Meyer (3/5) This was a lot like ‘Victoria’. For any youngsters wanting to learn about Imperial Russia, this would be a wonderful place to start.

I read more of Vanity Fair today - not long to go now! Hope to finish before 2012!

Victoria - Anna Kirwan (3/5) This was a very quick, young read. I did enjoy it and it would be a good introduction for queen Victoria’s early life.

Boys Don't Cry - Malorie Blackman (4.5/5) I thoroughly enjoyed this very moving book. Malorie Blackman Noughts and Crosses was wonderful and this followed in the same vein. It touched on very topic issues and was very hard to put down – I LOVED it. Though there were some quite sad moments, I just remember how powerful I found this novel.

Welcome

Finished the Secret Duchess today

Thanks

I'm Reading The Secret Countess at the moment!

Thanks

Hey all!!! Sorry I haven't been around a lot for the last few weeks! Between uni/work and family I have not had a lot of time free but have missed you all loads and hope to be around a bit more now!

No Place Like Home – Pen Farthing (5/5) – see last year’s list for review! Wolf By The Ears - Ann Rinaldi (3.5/5) This was my first Rindali and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a thought provoking read as anything which surrounds slavery is always bound to be. The book tells the story of Harriet Hemmings, the daughter of Sally Hemmings and probably Thomas Jefferson and the choice she has to make; to go and ‘pass’ into white society or to stay with her parents and remain a slave. While the book is easy enough to read, the tale and the questions it raises will stick with you for a long time after.