Full Reading Record

Recently I took a look at my side bar and realised that my Reading Record was getting a little chunky. I've decided to keep the record here and will add it to BLOG EXTRA to keep as an archive  and trim off that list to just include the most recent year.

2014
May - American Psycho, The Bone Season, Gone Girl
June  - Popular: A Memoir, The Land Where Lemons Grow, Throne of Glass, Macbeth, Don't Tell The Boss
July - Dead Ends, What Was Promised, How to be a Woman, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Eat My Heart Out, Patient
August  -We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Behind The Beautiful Forevers, The Shock of The Fall
September - After Me Comes The Flood
October  - Heir of Fire, The Great Gatsby, Frankenstein
November - Her
December - Three Men In A Boat, There Will Be Lies

2015
January - The Minaturist, How To Win Friends And Influence People
February - An Echo In The Bone, Maggot Moon, The Secret Garden
March - Written In My Own Heart's Blood, Smoke and Mirrors, Rasputin's Daughter
April - The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year
May - Pride and Prejudice, Trigger Warning
June - The Architect's Apprentice, Birds Without Wings
July - Chickenhawk
August - The Moor's Account
September -The Life I Left Behind, Burnt Paper Sky, Chimes
October - Orlando, Vathek
November - The Bone Clocks
December - Sense and Sensibility, The Mistress Contract, The Poet's Wives

(24)

2016
January - Sea of Poppies, Umbrella
February - Lila, Emma
March - Shantaram
April - The Help, Americanah
May - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
June - The Old Mann & The Sea, Queenie, The Signature of All Things, The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society
July - The Moth, Binge, The Widow, Armada
August - The Man in The High Castle, Eat Pray Love, Leaving Atocha Station
September - Look Who's Back, Queen of Shadows
October - The Box of Delights
November - Blackass
December - Love Letters to the Dead

(25)

2017
January - Captain Corelli's Manolin, Othello, Playing with the Grown-ups
February - Half of a Yellow Sun,

Man Booker ShortList

If you'd like to see my wishlist for this year take a look here. 

I was hoping that Serious Sweet, The School Days of Jesus and Work Like Any Other would make it but sadly they did not. The top three are now in my TBR list and I am particularly interested in David Szalay's. Here is the Man Booker Shortlist for 2016.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Madeline Thien

His Bloody Project

Graeme Macrae Burnet

All That Man Is

David Szalay

The Sellout

Paul Beatty

Eileen

Ottessa Moshfegh

Hot Milk 

Deborah Levy

Congratulations to all of the shortlisted authors and good luck in the next stage!

Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag

Remember the 5th of November. Well bonfire night does call for something a little different. I'm going to do the Secret Life of a Book Blogger tag! I'm also still recovering from my trip to Hong Kong, so thought I'd do some thing different and when I saw So Little Time For Books tag anyone who wants to do it, I thought I would.

1. How long have you been a blogger?
In this incarnation, it's been about 18 months. I started in May 2014, I had a blog before that which is defunct now that had some of my creative writing on it.

2. At what point do you think you'll stop blogging?
I'm really not sure, as I said I have a dead blog already, maybe one day this one will fizzle out as well. But actually what I hope will happen is that as I go through my life, my blog will change, because this is as much an opinion blog as it is a book blog. It covers so many aspects of my life so as that becomes more colourful and exciting, so will my writing!

3. What is the best thing about blogging?
I love when someone picks up a book on my recommendation and lets me know. Actually, since this blog is mostly for my own entertainment, it makes me happy if anyone reads it, even just friends and family. It's not about a huge audience for me, it's about cathartic writing and debriefing my reading with SOMEONE even if it's with the void.

4. What is the worst thing?
Trying to come up with ideas that are new or even vaguely new. Another thing that's tough is just sitting down and writing them. You've had the idea, and now you have to implement it?! Sharing the blog so that someone will read it. I don't think I have any followers that would check in on a Thursday to check my new post, which one day I might have...but generally no one will read it if I don't share my own work on Twitter and Facebook.

5. How long does it take you to create/find pictures to use?
Almost no time at all. I almost only use book covers which link through to Amazon or I use my own pictures.

6. Who is your book crush?
James Fraser from Outlander. Even when he's an older man in the later books, still inspiring, still amazing.

7. What author would you like to have on your blog?
I'd love to interview Diana Gabledon Or Elizabeth Gilbert. I find both of them such interesting people and I feel like the interview would descend into the most fascinating discussion. Actually, I just want to meet them...

8. What do you wear when you write your blog posts?
Recently I've had to plunge right into writing my blog as soon as I'm home from work while I cook dinner. I might have changed into my slippers, but mostly just my work clothes.

9. How long does it take you to prepare?
Anything from an hour to weeks. From the idea, building a draft, sketching out the structure and what books I'm going to feature, it could take a while. especially since some drafts would fit better around holidays, I will take my time whittling away at that one and mean while dash of a quick post for this week.


10. How do you feel about the book blogger community?
I think it's great. I don't know much about it...I knew I want to blog, but because I love what I read and didn't want to forget things. My reading record is a tiny list at the side of the page and it's favourite part of my page. Anyway, I don't know many other book bloggers, I don't visit blogs for reviews on books, I'm more interested in reader's lives, so I like tags like this etc that goes beyond the books.

11. What do you think one should do to get a successful blog?
I have no idea as I don't have one. My favourite blog isn't a book blog its about AMWF couples and culture and it is diverse every week and very well written. I check in with it all the time. So I think that's the answer, not posting a review every single week would be my advice, but that's because that's the kind of content I like. For successful blogging, check out some of the lovely writers I've tagged below.

I tag...
Books, Biscuits and Tea; Bookables; The Queen of Teen Fiction and Fangs, Claws and Wings

Thank you so So Little Time For Books for tagging EVERYONE and giving me a chance to do a blog tag!

When Will My Life Begin?

This is what happens when a 25 year old Londoner who loves Disney tries to do all of the things in Disney's Tangled opening song. Some would say this was the manifestation of a quarter life crisis following a break up.  Here is my photo diary; and yes, I did everything...

7 AM, the usual morning lineup:

Start on the chores and sweep 'til the floor's all clean
Polish and wax

do laundry, and mop and shine up

Sweep again, and by then it's like 7:15.

And so I'll read a book
Or maybe two or three

I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery

               I'll play guitar

 

and knit

And cook 

Tomato Pasta

Cooking gamon

and basically, just wonder when will my life begin?

Indian Wedding

Emotional, but happy tears at a baby shower

But I have the best support in the world

Facing my fear of needles at my first blood donation

Staying close to my friends

Star gazing in a full body sleeping bag

Happy hugs in travel mugs

Then after lunch it's puzzles

This bad boy glows in the dark!

and darts

Flight club darts game!

Cheesecake counts as baking right?

and baking

Raspberry and white chocolate bake

Scones

Paper mache, 

a bit of ballet

I am about to be chased down!

Starting my first chess game

 and chess

Pottery

and ventriloquy,

candle making

Then I'll stretch,

STRETCH. I also went to a yoga class. 

maybe sketch, 

I went to a life drawing class to sketch

At my first climbing wall with my step brother

take a climb,


















Sew a dress! 

Sewing my dress!

Sewing a Dress and making the pattern

Having never made anything on a sewing machine...this was impressive

And I'll reread the books
If I have time to spare

I'll paint the walls some more,
I'm sure there's room somewhere.

That is the blue wall I painted!

And then I'll brush and brush,
and brush and brush my hair

Stuck in the same place I've always been. 

London Caberet

My FIRST first place trophie 

Dancing with a lovely partner

Second place Great Escapee

First place in my category at Welsh Ceroc Champs

London Lions

London Lions

Fifth place

And I'll keep wonderin' and wonderin'
And wonderin' and wonderin'
When will my life begin?

Circus skills in the park!

Rowing in Madrid

Winning Great Escapee!

An amazing wedding in the country

Laughing on adventures

Blowing bubbles at the park

Tom the cat who I cuddle in the mornings

MADRID

Hampton Court adventures