Top Ten Tuesday - 2015 Favourites So Far!

Hello again blogosphere! So, I know I'm a little late on the Top Ten Tuesday front (only by one day!). but I have been reading other people's lists and enjoying reading about their favourite books of the year, so I just couldn't resist getting involved.

Of course, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted as always by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week's theme - as you can probably tell from the above paragraph and the title of the post! - is top ten books from the year so far.

My year of reading so far has been very stop-start, interrupted by uni stress and finals and post-final slumps where all I wanted to do was knit and watch YouTube videos... I haven't actually counted, but I'm pretty sure I haven't even read ten books in total this year yet (woops!). I certainly haven't put out that many reviews! I do have reviews lined up for all the books I read, I just haven't got round to polishing them and making them publish-worthy. Anyway, I'm still going to do the list, but I'm cutting it down to Top Four, otherwise it'd just be a list of the books I've read, and that's not quite so interesting ;) (also, I couldn't think of a fifth one to make it a Top Five!)

So let's just get down to the list then shall we?

(In no particular order...)

1. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

I didn't actually get as far as actually writing a review for this one, just because I really didn't know what to say about it, apart from that I LOVED it! This is a graphic memoir about Marjane Satrapi's life growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, and her then moving to Austria (I think that's actually in the second book, but I got a bind-up of the two). I whizzed through this book in one train journey, and I just found it so so interesting. It's a very hyped book but it's absolutely worth it! It was heart-wrenching and heart-warming at the same time, and also taught me a lot about the history of a country and time period with which I was wholly unfamiliar. Highly recommended!

3. The Martian by Andy Weir

This one was a very recent read, and one that I picked up because of all the hype that it's received. I thought the premise sounded really interesting, and had heard that it was really funny too! And I was absolutely not disappointed! At first, I did think the writing style might not be for me, but as I got into it I found it really engaging and I struggled to put the book down to carry out day-to-day tasks like eating and talking to people. In the end, I finished the book in almost one sitting and was gripped from start to finish. It perfectly balances nerdy scienciness with humour and action-adventure type shenanigans. And it feels really believable right to the end! Top stuff! :D

2. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

So I know everyone loves this book so it's kind of redundant to put it on a favourites list, but it's significant to me because I was sort of unconvinced that I would like it as much as everyone else. My brother got it for me for my birthday a couple of years ago, and I'd just kept putting it off, partly for that reason. But I'm glad to say that I absolutely loved it! Though it does come with the downside that I now care if I read spoilers, and there is no corner of the internet that is safe from GoT spoilers (cry).

3. The Beach by Alex Garland

This is probably vying for the top spot on this list. I absolutely LOVED this book! It was recommended by a friend who just told me that it was really clever and that it was her favourite book. And then she pressed it into my hands in the bookshop where we were browsing and coerced me into buying it (not that I really need much persuading when it comes to book buying). I won't say too much about it, just because I think it's one of those books where it's best to go in blind (besides, I have a full review coming soon! Be sure to stay tuned for that one!). But I will say that I couldn't stop talking about it when I'd finished it, and I kept making other people read it so I could discuss it with them. Just read this book! It's great! :D

Hmm... So I think I've exhausted my favourites for this year so far! 

Honourable mentions go to Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (both re-reads), the former because it changed my opinion, and the latter because it confirmed it.

Let me know in the comments what your favourite books of the year so far have been! And feel free to link your TTT post :) 

2015 Reading Challenge!

I first saw this post on The Broke and the Bookish the other day, but when I saw that Laura from Bibliophile at Best had also posted the challenge, temptation won out!

I know I said that my only reading challenge would be to read more diversely and Travel the World in Books... But I just can't resist a good challenge post! I probably won't stick to this at all, but who knows? It could be an interesting way to guide my reading a little this year. And, if nothing else, it will be interesting to look back on at the end of the year and see how many of the challenges I managed to do. So, without further ado, let's get cracking!

1. A book with more than 500 pages: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. Yes, I know, I know! I missed this bandwagon completely! But I'm definitely excited to read this in the coming year :D

2. A classic romance: ... Not a clue! What exactly counts as a classic romance?

3. A book that became a movie: I got The Princess Bride by William Goldman for Christmas, and I'm excited to dive in. Either that or Stardust by Neil Gaiman, which might be better as I've actually seen the film for that one (though I don't own the book) :P

4. A book published this year: I've heard that Kazuo Ishiguro is releasing a new book, The Buried Giant, in 2015 after 10 years of no new releases. I didn't love Never Let Me Go, which is the only book of his that I've read, but I'm still interested in him as a writer and keen to pick up his new release.

5. A book with a number in the title: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - I almost bought this the other day actually, but I'm still undecided whether I'll try and borrow it from library instead. I'll probably cave and buy it though! I want to get more into sci-fi this year, and the premise of this book sounds great :D

6. A book written by someone under 30: Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer - I bought this book when visiting my brother in Canterbury, and have been excited to get to it ever since.

7. A book with non-human characters: Not a clue! All I can think of is Animal Farm but I've already read that and don't envisage a re-read in the near future.. Suggestions welcome!

8. A funny book: Three Men on a Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome - Three Men in a Boat had me in stitches so I can't wait to read more of Jerome's writing!

9. A book by a female author: Er... That covers a lot of books! 

10.  A mystery or thriller: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - This might be her most famous Poirot novel (or even her most famous novel full stop!) so I should really get round to reading it!

11. A book with a one word title: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - I recently bought this and have actually already read it. Review coming soon! (Spoiler alert: I loved it!)

12. A book with short stories: Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

13. A book set in a different country: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (set in Iceland) - I could have picked any number of books that I want to read for my Travel the World in Books challenge, but this is the one that's right at the top of my TBR pile.

14. A non-fiction book: Is That a Fish in Your Ear? by David Bellos. I've had this on my shelf for a while and I'd really love to finish it this year.

15. A popular author's first book: There are plenty of answers for this too! I could go with The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, or White Teeth by Zadie Smith, or The Joy Luck Club  by Amy Tan, or any number of others to be honest!

16. A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet: Howard's End by E.M. Forster. Another book from my Christmas Book Haul that I can't wait to get to. I just love Forster's subtlety and ability to pinpoint humanity's strangeness.

17. A book a friend recommended: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman - my flatmate Holly recommended this to me as soon as I showed an interest in Gaiman and I think it's one of her favourite books.

18. A Pulitzer Prize winning novel: Lately I've been really interested in Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, which won the Pulitzer in 2005. Hopefully I can get hold of a copy sometime this year.

19. A book based on a true story: Erm... Probably a memoir of some description. Suggestions welcome!

20. A book at the bottom of your TBR list: So I'm guessing this means a book that I want to read but that isn't a top priority... And I really don't know what to put here!

21. A book your mom loves: Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall by Spike Milligan. I've heard my mum go on about this book so many times! It's a humorous war memoir, and my mum really loves it! She's mentioned it so much that I just have to read it now..

22. A book that scares you: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton - seriously, that books is enormous and seriously intimidating! But I've been lent it by a friend so I should get to it ASAP. Or if you want a book with an actual scary plot, I have the ebook of Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (the sequel to The Shining).

23. A book more than a 100 years old: The Newcomes by William Makepeace Thackeray. 

24. A book based entirely on its cover: This one:

I mentioned it in my beautiful book spines post. Plus it's been sitting on my shelf for a while.

25. A book you were supposed to read in school and didn't: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, or possibly Great Expectations by Dickens. I started both of these but never made it through them... It wasn't that I wasn't enjoying them, I was just a lazy reader in school! 

26. A memoir: I have My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell on my shelf, and it's been sitting there being ignored for years! It's about time I showed it some love.

27. A book with antonyms in the title: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I've heard great things about it!

28. A book you can finish in a day: The Giver by Lois Lowry - since this book is for younger readers, it's bound to be a lot quicker to read. I can't wait to get to it though!

29.  A book set somewhere you've always wanted to go: A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway - this book is set in Paris where I wanted to go ever since I was a child. I've already been a few times, but I don't think I'd ever get bored of going back!

30. A book published the year you were born: I'm going to cheat a little and go with Good Omens  by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, which was actually published in 1990 (the year before I was born), but it was re-released by a different publisher in 1991 and that's the edition my mum has at home.. That's as close as I could get (with a book that I actually wanted to read)!

31. A book with bad reviews: Whether I like it or not, I tend to let reviews of a book really influence my decision to read it or not... So I probably won't be reading any books with bad reviews this year! But maybe I'll discover after reading a book that it had bad reviews... Who knows!?

32. A Trilogy: Hmmm... I don't really read a lot of series or trilogies so I'm not sure about this one. I'd love to re-read His Dark Materials this year, as I haven't read the sequels in such a long time!

33. A book from your childhood: I would love to re-read The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. This was one of my all time favourite books as a child, and probably still is. I lent it out to a friend though, and now she's moved away so I'll probably never see it again... Time to invest in a new copy, methinks!

34. A book with a love triangle: Hmm.. not too keen on romances so don't think I'm going to be doing this one!

35. A book set in the future: I might try and get round to reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - I've heard lots of things about it but not sure it's the kind of thing I would like... We'll see I suppose!

36. A book set in high school: I'm going to go with The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I don't even know if it is actually set in high school, but Holden Caulfield is a teenager, right?

37. A book with a color in the title: The Color Purple by Alice Walker - I know I'm going to really enjoy this book so I'm excited to get to it (hopefully) this year.

38. A book that made you cry: Probably going to go with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling for this one. Let's be honest, I'll probably re-read all the Harry Potter books this summer anyway!

 
39. A book with magic: Harry Potter notwithstanding, I would like to pick up The Spirit War and Spirit's End by Rachel Aaron, which is a fantasy series I'm keen to finish. I read the first three books early last year but managed to buy an ebook omnibus with only those three in, and never got round to buying the final two. It will happen this year!

40. A graphic novel: Seconds by Brian Lee O'Maley - I've heard a few people rave about this, so I'd definitely love to get my hands on it this year, though I don't know if I'll buy it... I might potentially see if I can get it from the library.
 
41. A book by an author you've never read before: There are so many I could put on here! Any suggestions of authors I really have to read???

42.  A book you own but never read: For this, I'm going to go with Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, mostly because I've had this for YEARS but never read it, and it's sure to be a quick read!

43. A book that takes place in your hometown: Winchester, UK... Not that many books are set here I would imagine, but if you have any suggestions let me know!

44. A book that was originally written in another language: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.

45. A book set during Christmas: But it's only just February..!

46. A book by an author who had your same initials: Not a clue! Can't find one that I like the look of so I'm just going to give this question a miss.

47. A play: I'd love to read something by Shakespeare this year! I haven't read any since I was at school and I'd love to read some properly for myself. Maybe A Midsummer Night's Dream...

48.  A banned book: Hmmm... another tricky one! I don't actually think reading banned books for the sake of it is that beneficial (though I disagree in a general way with censorship of literature). I don't really fancy reading Mein Kampf for example...! I might pick up Nineteen-Eighty-Four by George Orwell, or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, which were both banned at one point.

49. A book based on or turned into a tv show: Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth - I recently heard that the TV show was based on a book (I didn't realise!), and though I've never watched the show, it sounds so interesting!

50.  A book you started but never finished: Villette by Charlotte Bronte! As I mentioned in my post on Tuesday, I started it in September and ran out of steam... But I loved what I read so far!

********

Phew! That's a lot of books! I probably won't get round to reading all of these this year, and I'm certainly not going to put any pressure on myself.  But it'll be interesting to see how many of these I do get to.

How about you? What books are you planning to read this year that fit into these categories? Do you have any suggestions for my list? Let me know in the comments!

Unhaul - January 2015

Hello friends!

Having recently posted a lovely Christmastime book haul, I thought it was about time I posted one of these too... That's right, it's an 'unhaul', in other words, a post about the books I'm getting rid of to make way for all my shiny new ones! 

Inevitably, especially since my tastes have changed so much since starting blogging and watching BookTube videos (seriously, there is so much literature out there!), there are some books on my shelves that I'm just not excited about reading any more. I did a pretty sizeable clear-out last summer after I moved back from France, but these are some more books that, on further consideration, just didn't make the cut!

These first four are ones that I've had for years and years. They're all children's books that I don't think I'll ever get round to reading, so I've decided to give them a new home and allow others to enjoy them!

I'm sure they're great books, but I just don't think they're for me! 

The next bunch are ones that I've read (or, in the third one's case, started reading) and just didn't enjoy enough to want to keep. They were fine, but I won't be re-reading:

Next up, there are a couple that I bought purely because I loved the covers (I even mentioned the second one ages ago in my Opposites Book Tag post for that very reason):

Although they would both work for my Travel the World in Books challenge, I just don't have enough enthusiasm for them any more. 

The same goes for the final two:

I was excited about these when I got them, but my interest has gradually waned, and it's about time they were re-homed so they can be with someone who appreciates them!

So there you have it, all the books I'm getting rid of this January! 

What books are on your unhaul list? How do you feel about getting rid of books? Let me know in the comments!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I received this book from my brother for Christmas, and it was the first book I read in 2015! What a great start to the year!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

I now own two Neil Gaiman books, though I've only read Ocean.

Author:

Neil Gaiman

Genre:

Fantasy

One-sentence summary:

A man returns to a childhood haunt and some long-forgotten memories of supernatural events resurface.

Review:

Having never read any Neil Gaiman before (I know, right?), I was going entirely on other people's opinions. So I was pretty sure I would like this book, but a little apprehensive that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. But I'm happy to report that it absolutely did! In fact, it surpassed them.

Right from the start, there was something weird and wonderful about this story. It begins with a middle-aged man heading to a childhood haunt and beginning to relive childhood memories of things that happened there. It's interesting, while reading the story and realising how extraordinary it is, to remember the man's attitude at the start and how fuzzy his memories have become. I felt that, while it was presented in a supernatural and fantastical way, the essence of the man's relationship to his memories is the same as our own. The events that seem so monumental to us in childhood begin to lose their power as they become transformed into distant recollections of the past.

Another facet of this story that I enjoyed was how the narrator - in the flashback to his childhood - relates to the adults around him and how he perceives adulthood. He sees adults as infallible and undefeatable, something which, as adult readers, we know to be untrue, and which his adult self knows to be untrue as well. 

The majority of the story is completely fantastical, and it's obvious that Gaiman really let his imagination run wild to concoct all the bizarre creatures and scenarios. But, for me, it is the human interactions that really make this book. The narrator's friendship with Lettie Hempstock (in contrast to the one he has with his sister), is really endearing, while the powerlessness he feels in the face of the adult world is much more threatening than any supernatural monster.

Final thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, partly because it is so imaginative and fantastical, and partly because of its human dimension. I know this is a lot of people's favourite Gaiman, so I'll be interested to see how it compares to his other works.

What did you think of The Ocean at the End of the Lane? Do you agree with my review? Let me know in the comments!

Update: Check out this brilliant review by Girl with Her Head in a Book - she just captures the book so perfectly! :)

Top Ten Tuesday - Goals for 2015

So here we are, back again for another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the Broke and the Bookish!

Click here for this week's linkup!

This week's title is:

Top Ten Goals/Resolutions for 2015!

I'm super excited about this because I was going to do a similar list anyway, but now I get the chance to have a peek at other people's posts and chat about their goals, which is loads more fun! A lot of these are book/blogging-related, but there are a few personal ones slipped in there too! So anyway, let's get cracking with the list.

1. Read more diversely

This has been something that I've been focussing on a lot recently with my posts on the Reading Diversely challenge and the Travel the World in Books challenge, so I fully expect to continue with it in 2015. I might even set some specific goals for the year, or even a fully-fledged TBR, who knows!?

2. Buy fewer books

This one is a no-brainer for me as I have so many unread books on my shelves! I know there are loads of people who are worse than me for this, but I still don't like the idea of having so many books I haven't read, and won't even be able to read in the near future because there are so many of them... I might take a leaf out of Susie's book (over at Read Susie Read, on BookTube) and start a Read 5 Before I Buy challenge (or similar).

3. Have a cull!

This one leads on from the previous one - basically I want fewer unread books on my shelf. I don't want to feel pressure to slog through all the books I'm not enthusiastic about before being able to get to the ones I want! I want to be able to read the books I buy immediately rather than feeling bad about reading them before all the others on my TBR! I already had a small cull in the summer, but there are definitely more I can get rid of. I'll just have to be strict with myself.

4. Blog more regularly

I'm pretty sure the coming semester will be even busier than the last one, so I'm not sure how doable this is going to be, but I would love to post more regularly. I don't necessarily mean more often, but I just don't want to disappear for long periods of time (i.e. over a week!). We'll see how that goes shall we...?

5. Read the Bible more

Basically, what I'm discovering is that I'm terrible at doing things regularly! I always end up getting behind on it and thinking about giving up. But this one is really important, so I'm going to make much more of an effort this year to read the Bible more regularly and in more detail.

6. Stop with the comparisons!

This is a personal one rather than a bookish one, but I am so bad at comparing myself to others! I do it all the time and it's so unhelpful! 

7. Don't neglect uni work

Pretty sure this one speaks for itself, but this is definitely a priority for me this year. I graduate this summer, so this is the home stretch!

8. Get adventurous with my genres

This one's another bookish one. It's a pretty spur-of-the-moment type goal, but last night I had a mini Amazon-window-shopping binge and drooled over loads of sci-fi books (I only bought one though! Go me!). And this has inspired me to branch out a bit more and read a wider range of genres. I have pretty varied tastes anyway, so this isn't me forcing myself to read something I don't want to! I just think it's nice to be intentional about mixing it up once in a while ;)

9. Read more foreign-language books

This may seem similar to the first goal, but is actually more to do with reducing my unread books (and helping improve my languages along the way!). I have so many foreign-language books (mostly French and German) that I haven't read, and that really needs to change. Besides, nothing beats the feeling of having read a whole book in another language!

10. Forgive myself

Bit of a contrast with the previous couple of points (heavy alert!), but this one is also super important to me. I'm forever dwelling on all the things I've done or not done that I'm not happy about. This goes for seemingly unimportant things as well - I'm always beating myself up for not reading enough, etc. This is supposed to be fun! 2015 will be the year I stop with all that. (Well, I'll try anyway!)

Here's to a great 2015!!!

What are your goals for 2015? What do you think of mine? Let me know in the comments!