Jessi

Debutantes - Cora Harrison (3/5) I enjoyed this book. It’s a Young adult novel set in the 1920s, with the four daughters of an earl whose going broke as the protagonists. While some of the girls look to the future and love the movies, the eldest of the girls long for the days of the past and to be presented at court and then marry well. With money lacking, there seems little chance of that happening until they find out they have an aunt they knew nothing about. The book follows the girls as they take their luck on love, their dreams and pursue their goals.

I am another who buys more than she reads... but with only an 8 book difference in 2012, i am hoping to turn that round in 2013. I blame my kindle and this forum for my weakness lol

Lol - hope it was a good one

I'm you'll enjoy it! Its such a beautiful story, and yes, a bit of a tear jerker too! I'll never tire of re-reading it!

Hey Star- I think you may have posted that on the wrong thread Thats great that your doing so well with reading this year though - I know I speed up when I got my kindle last year!

Ruby Alice Side is going to have to go on to my wish list, vodkafan - sounds really interesting

I so wanted to cry - but I knew I had to go back into the office ten minutes later and serve the customer, so I had to blink a lot and bit my lip. It was so sad. Charlie was an interesting character - I don't know why it took me so long to get into it, I just took a while I guess. Two re-reads coming up for you then, Kylie?

Catherine The Great - Robert K Massie (4/5) I was so looking forward to this book. I read a book on Catherine The Great and Potemkin a few years ago and loved it. I came away from it thinking Catherine the Great lived an incredible life. This book furthered that belief. Catherine The Great was one of very few women to ever rule over Russia, despite being born as a relatively low down German princess. We are taken through her life from her arrival in Russia, through her loveless marriage, her taking of the throne and then beyond. We met the councillors and the diplomats who were important in her life, various members of the royal family, as well as of course, her lovers. Ultimately, Catherine comes across as a strong character who was mostly a fair ruler, but occasionally did what she had to in order to keep her throne. This women who loved the arts and wrote to Voltaire could be ruthless when she had to be. The book is a great read, especially the first half where Massie wrote incredibly well. It was unfortunate that as the book drew to the close there was more than one typo and then some repetitions in information - it called to mind Maggie Smith’s line from Downton Abbey: ‘My poor niece will never use one word when twenty will do.’ Overall though, a really good read - it just didn’t challenge Edmund Morris’ Colonel Roosevelt as much as I wanted it too.

I'm sure you will I think it is - and To Kill a Mockingbird is on my TBR list - and one I really want to get through this year too

It did certainly pick up Isn't it just? Its going to stay with me for a long time. It reminded me a lot of Goodnight Mr Tom, which is one of my all time favourites. Thanks Frankie - hope you have a good year too! Me too - I can't believe I waited so long to read it!

Its gone straight back on my reread pile - but not for a while yet... part of me still can't get over the fact the end was spo brutal. The last couple of pages were some comfort but Hans and Rosa...

I finished The Book Thief yesterday! I loved it too!

Isn't it just? I think it'll be a while before I read something that matches it! I really fell for her after Max turned up - that was when I knew she was going to have so many more layers than what we has seen up to that point.

The Book Thief - Markus Zukas (5/5) Read the Book Thief, they said. It’s a great book, they said. You’ll enjoy it, they said. (What they left out was that it will emotionally destroy you in the process...) I got to the end of The Book Thief today during lunch, in the cafeteria on lunch. If I had been on my own then I would have simply sobbed. As it was, I couldn’t. But as I closed the book, I was left a little dazed. I haven’t read such a good book for months. I feel in love with the ideas of the book as much as the characters. How you could build something evil or loving on words, and how they could make or break you. How they could save lives and kill at the same time. The language, the music and the colours. The community. This was what brought it to life for me. But maybe I did fall in love with the characters a little more, especially spapa. As soon as he sat up with Liesel for the first time and played to her, I loved him. When he taught her to read, struggling to do so himself, I loved him more - and when he helped anyone for practically nothing, and gave bread to the Jews, and saved Max - he just stole my heart. As did mama in a very different way. No one can really resist a real battleaxe character, least of all me. Even when she was at her cruellest and crudest, there was always a sense there was something softer underneath and as the tale unfolded, and this was found to be absolutely true. That heart aching image of her holding the accordion in the middle of the night will stay with me. Along with Max and Rudy, the three of them made this an incredibly memorable novel and the ending killed me - especially the part about Rosa being beautiful. But it was Roberts final act that first brought tears to my eyes. The fact Liesel got to live a long and happy life was the real pay off and I suppose as soon as I read the words Nazi Germany, I knew it was not going to happily ever after - but part of me was still surprised by just how devastating the ending was. Death as the narrator - wow. I suppose I just did not expect him to be so human, though, I found myself think ‘you’re lying’ when he tried to give me warnings about what was coming - I just couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to - just like in my own life. But that wide perspective, seeing nothing and unable to influence events except too be at the end was... wow. My heart actually ached a little bit for death too. I thoroughly recommend and am ashamed I left it languishing on my shelf for three years. It’s a great book. You’ll enjoy it...

Made it over the half way mark with the Book Thief today - loving it!

Complete sense! Totally agree!

Thanks! You too! Thats exactly what it feels like when you get behind - in fact last week, looking at the list, I tried to think of what I'd say about books I read 6 months prior and drew a complete blank! :/ whoops!

Yeah, I kind of think I missed it too - because thinking about it now, even though he kept a lot inside, Charlie was one of the only honest characters in the book - he followed his own morals throughout unless he was asked not to by a friend. I don't know if I agreed with Sam looking back, even in regards to the kiss at the end of the park night. It was a thought provoking read, but I feel like I expected more of it.

I hope you enjoy your Canon Doyle this year - I want to read some more Sherlock Holmes too! Good luck

Thank you And off we go - The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky (3.5/5) Ok so the first book of the year is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. If I am honest, I kinda feel that this was a book I thought I was going to enjoy more than I actually did. I begun it in the last week of December thinking it was going to bump up my read pile one more, but I found it a chore to get through the first half of the book. That said, it did get a lot more interesting in the second half, after the protagonist Charlie embarks unwittingly on a relationship. The issues raised (mental health) and the diary form of the book were interesting though, especially the way they were portrayed. By the end of the story, I came to appreciate the detail in the book, Charlie’s quirks, what was important to him and his attempts to ‘fit in’ (when all his friends wanted him to be was himself). Once it got going, I enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Just took me a while to get into. I kind of feel as if it was different to what I normally read, and its always good to branch out a little!

Happy reading this year

Thank you - hopefully it won't remain so!

Good luck to you too Nollaig! 2013 will hopefully be a lucky year for us all! That does definately help, thanks so much for the heads up (I'll be doing the categorising thing too!). Hope you have a good year too! Thank you - I so hope I can get there - fourth times a charm???

Good luck this year Ben - looking forward to your reviews! Looks like you've got some great reads coming up!

I'll be looking forward to seeing how you get on with your YA books. I'm not familiar with William Joyce and Michael Scott but they sound up my street. Shall look forward to reviews!