I totally fell off the reading wagon after a reading slump :'(

What I Read This February

Summer has continued to suck the life out of me so more books were read. And more that aren't recorded because I have been reading a lot of picture books and short stories for school. I've also been reading the wonderful David Bowie IS from the VA exhibition of the same name as I continue to wrap myself up in everything Bowie I can get my grubby little hands on. I've been overworking the librarians at my local library and only purchased one (non school) book this month in the YA Chronicles subscription box (which was amazing!).  

 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ★★★★

An audio book

I originally borrowed this from the library last year and uploaded it to my computer hoping to get around to it but I couldn’t convince myself to listen to an audio book which is why I included the challenge this year. I really loved the story so didn’t find it hard to pay attention. I did have a few issues with the files causing my computer to crash when I tried to upload them so it was really frustrating I nearly bought the book but it had the tiniest font so I persevered listening to terrible recordings on Youtube. I found it frustrating how slow the story was told, I’m a slow reader but faster than an audiobook narrator for sure. But I really loved the story and I will probably read it with my eyes before the movie gets released in a few years. I would have gotten five stars if my experience wasn’t so painful with the files.

 

Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples ★★★★

This series continues to enthral me with its twists and turns, I may end up buying the last two volumes if I haven’t got the fifth from the library once the sixth is released, but I may be patient.

 

Mosquitoland by David Arnold ★★★

A book that was given to you as a gift

This is a book I should have really loved but something about the writing annoyed me (I can’t remember exactly what it was now…).  

 

Alex + Ada, Vol 1 by Jonathan Luna ★★★

This story is okay, I could take it or leave it. 

 

The Graveyard Book Volume 2 by Russell P. Craig ★★★★★

Just grand (see last months post).

 

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy ★★★★★

I loved this book so much. It was pure enjoyment. Happy to hear it is getting a companion novel.

The Glasgow Coma Scale by Neil D.A. Stewart ★★

I didn’t like this book much, I only read the whole thing as it was pretty short at just over 200 pages. The characters were pretty unlikeable and the storyline was uninteresting. I think Goodreads recommended it to me (I need to stop adding anything to my library queue at the drop of a hat). The only thing I liked about it was that it reminded me of my time in Glasgow. 

 

Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks ★★★★

A book about a road trip

This one was a John Green recommendation from many moons ago and another book that reminded me of my travels overseas. I looped Ireland in a week without a fridge and had an amazing time. I think Tony drank a few more pints than I did though. It was a real laugh reading his adventure, the bloody ejiit.

What I Read This January

I read quite a lot for me, I seem to do that in summer.  We were trapped inside with a lot of bad weather though. I really got into graphic novels. I only bought the one book I can think of which was a part of a book subscription box (YA Chronicles), Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.


RR: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle ★★★★
I loved this more on the second read, I am looking forward to seeing the movie next Christmas. I'm sure I will have adequately forgotten the stories by then.



 
Saga Volume 1,2,3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples ★★★★/★★★★★/★★★★
I am really enjoying this series. I have the fourth volume waiting at the library then I feel it will be a while before the fifth is available.


The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson ★★★★★
A book with a blue cover: I loved I'll Give you the Sun so much, this earlier work of hers was pretty great too. I Look forward to her next book whenever it comes out, I'm sure it will break my heart in a beautiful way. 


  
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz ★★★★
A book set in North America: This book is so hyped on social media, which is justified it was a pretty beautiful read.

 
Lumberjanes, Vol. 1 Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson ★★★
It was cute and likeable enough I just didn't get enough out of the story or the characters.  

  
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon ★★★★
I really enjoyed this book, I loved the use of emails, chat, drawings drew me even further into the story. I never expected the twist. 


 
Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti ★★★★
It took me a while to get into this story but it was worth it in the end.  


 
Trick by Natalia Jaster ★★★★
I received this book in the December YA Chronicles subscription box and was really unsure about whether I would even read it. I gave it a go as it was pretty short and it was surprisingly enjoyable. 


 
The Graveyard Book Volume 1 by Russel P. Craig ★★★★★
I only just heard about this existing, loving the original text by Neil Gaiman I had to read it immediately. I loved all the different illustrators interpretations of the characters. The story is just as good as when I first read it back in University.


Room by Emma Donoghue ★★★★
I didn't really know anything going into this book just that lots of people had recommended it. I nearly gave it up at the start as I can't stand the use of child narrators in adult fiction, it just irks me. But I picked it up again and got into the story. 





 





 


 

2016 Reading Challenge

I decided to make my own reading challenge this year as there were a lot of prompts I just couldn't see myself wanting to force myself into. I have mostly stolen them from various challenges I have seen online. I decided to limit it to 30 books so I had more room to read whatever I feel like in between. 

1. A book from a series you have already started

2. A book that’s becoming a movie this year

3. A New York Times best seller

4. A book by an author you loved as a child

5. A book that was given to you as a gift

6. A book with a blue cover

7. A book from Oprah’s book club

8. A book that a movie you love is based on

9. A book that’s set at Christmas time

10. A book written by a comedian

11. A book about a road trip

12. A classic

13. A dystopian novel

14. A book based on a fairy tale

15. An audio book

16. A collection of essays

17. A historical fiction set prior to 1900

18. A book that was originally published in the decade you were born

19. A book with a protagonist that has a similar occupation to you

20. A graphic novel

21. A Printz Award winner

22. A book recommended by someone 30 years older or younger than you

23. A book you have been meaning to read for a while

24 – 30. A book set on each of the seven continents (Australia, Asia, Antarctica, Africa, Europe, South America, & North America)

What I Read This December

As I mentioned in my last post I managed to pull it together and finish the PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge for 2015 *throws confetti* And thanks to some help picking out the final challenges from my friends what I thought would be an exhausting slog through books I wasn’t really interested in turned out to be enjoyable to the end. So I finished my last five reading challenges then I got to enjoy some magical Christmas books.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery ★★★★

A book with a colour in the title

I didn't think I would get into this one at the beginning as everyone was so darn unlikeable, thankfully the main character developed fabulously and it made for a fun read.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens ★★★★★

A book published over 100 years ago



Even though its a story we all know so well I had never read this. After attempting a few different books for this challenge Rachel recommended I give this one a shot and it was great. 

Life, the Universe and Everything (Hitchikers #3) by Douglas Adams  ★★★★

A book recommended by a friend

Technically I was recommended this series by one of my friends back in university days but I had never gotten around to books 3-5. The storyline in this edition was much easier to follow than the others in the series. Fortunately I like cricket enough to understand all the cricket-centric jokes it featured. 
 

So Long and Thanks for all the Fish (Hitchikers #4) by Douglas Adams ★★★

A book published in the year you were born



This book was okay, not as well put together as the rest of the series (although the foreword explains how the author was basically held at gunpoint and forced to write it). I wasn't really interested in Arthur Dent's love life, I would have rather followed the other characters. Hopefully the last book is better. I probably wont read the book that Eoin Colfer wrote as the 6th book as I don't like his writing much. 

 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ★★★★★

 

A book with magic in it

I loved this book so much, it just made me so happy.

The Night Before Christmas by Scarlett Bailey ★★★★

Calling Mrs. Christmas by Carole Matthews ★★★★

I enjoyed these two little Christmas books, they were pretty fun reads. 
I got a few books for Christmas, I haven't got around to reading any of them yet as I have a thousand library books out but I am excited about reading them sometime soon.