The Local Lit Scene

I was aiming to read 50 books this year, which may or may not sound like a lot to you, but alas I didn’t make it. I did manage to read 45 (or to be completely honest, am 3/4  way through book no 45*) but will most likely be finished by tomorrow  so I’m counting it in.

I failed miserably at doing any of the challenges that I planned to, I only managed to read one book from the GLBT challenge and I still have other books on my list which are sitting in my bookshelf awaiting my eyes to peruse them.

What I did learn about myself, is that I am not a List reader. I need to go searching for something which tickles my fancy at a particular time and then read it, which doesn’t work so well for challenges, but I may aim to try it again sometime. Another thing which I have learnt over the last year reading wise, is that sometimes I am just not in the mood to read, whoever would of thought I would utter such words, but it’s true. Between work and toddler play, life gets busy and  at bedtime, I can barely keep my eyes open to read a page, never mind a chapter but my holiday has rectified that for  now at least.

So, without further ado, I give to you my list of books I read this year. Not all of them have reviews.

1. We be reading  – Sue Gee
2. Northern Lights – Phillip Pullman
3. The Angels game – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
4. The Subtle Knife – Phillip Pullman
5. Micheal Tolliver lives – Armistead Maupin
6. The Marriage Bureau for rich people – Farahad Zama
7. Where Rainbows end – Cecilia Ahern
8. The Elegance of the hedgehog –  Muriel Burbery
9. Rumour has it – Jill Mansell
10. Indigo Children – Lee Carroll, Jan Tober
11. The Mother Daughter Dance – Harriet Lerner Ph.D
12. The Swan Thieves – Elizabeth Kostova
13. Natural Flights of the Human Mind – Clare Morrall
14. A Million Miles from Normal – Paige Nick
15. The eye of the world – Robert Jordan
16. The Great Hunt – Robert Jordan
17. Sparkles – Louise Bagshaw
18. Blankets – Craig Thompson
    
19. The Forty Rules of Love – Elif Shafak
    
20. Mushy peas on toast -Laurian Clemence
21. Pippi long stocking – Astrid Lindgren
22. One fifth Avenue – Candace Bushnell
23. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society – Mary Ann Shaffer
24. Our Tragic Universe – Scarlett Thomas
25. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs – Jack Gantos
26. A pyschic in new york
27. The Host – Stephanie Meyer
28. Tom Bedlam – George Hagen
29. Slam – Nick Hornby
30. Tea Time for the traditionally built – Alexander McCall Smith
31. I don’t like chocolate – Jesse Breytenbach
32. The Childrens book – A.S Byatt
33. Penny Vincenzi- the other woman
34. Louise Bagshawe – Passion
35. The pillars of the earth – Ken Follet
36. The last Dragonslayer – Jasper Fforde
37. The love verb – Jane Green
38. How to raise happy healthy children – Sally Ann Creed and Andalene Salvesen
39. Haroun and the sea of stories -Salmon Rushdie
40. Room – Emma Donahue
41. Ladies who lunch – Linda Francis Lee
    
42. Toby Alone- Timothee de Fombelle
    
43. A book of a  thousand days- Shannon Hale
44. Aphrodite – Erica Jong
45. Helen of Troy – Margaret George *

Hmm, looking at this lists, I realise, I will need to do more reviews on my reading!

Here’s to a great book year, leave a comment, and let me know where you book at, love checking out new book blogs:-)

Apologies for lack of posting here, I had decided I needed a little ‘time out’ from the computer. You know when it drains your energy rather than compliments it? Well, that was how it was this past week.  But, here we are, back in the land of the living with lots of reading going on.

I am currently reading my Jasper Fforde book – Shades of Grey but before that I had a spate of other books including:

* finishing the Northern Lights series by Phillip Pullman – I will be putting up a review, but have to honest and say it may take some time as it had a fair amount of stuff in it, which needs to perculate before penning

* We be reading – Sue Gee, a lovely book about two life long friends and their ups and downs in life.  Simple, easy reading.

* Rumour has it – Jill Mansell, another light hearted chick lit book, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

* The Elegance of the hedgehog – Beautiful beautiful book, keep your eyes peeled for the review from a million miles from normal who won the ‘feel the love‘ book for valentines day.

* And the usual  5 books read to my daughter before bed!

We are always looking for reviews, so if you have read something so good or so bad that you want to shout it from the window tops, please send them in! and go on, spill the beans, what are you reading this week?