Happy new year everyone! I hope 2015 is a good one for you. It’s about time I got on and did my review of my reading year. It was a good year in general. I did have a couple of major reading slumps, which meant that this was the first time in many years that I didn’t make my GoodReads challenge. I had set my challenge at 100 books of which I read 91, which isn’t too bad going, I suppose. My challenge goal didn’t take...
I must admit, I’m in a real reading slump right now. As I’ve mentioned in a recent post, I’m currently trying to adjust to my first hearing aid. Most of the reading I’ve done recently has been on that subject. I don’t think I’ve read more than a chapter or two of a fiction book in the last couple of weeks. Adjusting to the hearing aid has also meant that I’ve not been in the mood to listen to audiobooks. It’s not...
Aaand I’m back after my long hiatus! Thank you for your patience. First things first; confession time, I reached exactly 0 words total on my NaNoWriMo project. Sigh. My first challenge was that I was too engrossed in In the Afterlight the last in Alexandra Bracken’s Darkest Minds trilogy. This was released just a day or so before NaNoWriMo, which was just mean! I really couldn’t put the thing down. I found this last in...
Epistle by Max Thompson is the latest in a series of fun cat memoirs written by handsome feline Max, aided and abetted by his human caregiver Karen. I follow Max’s blog and love reading his musings on life as a house cat. I was excited this morning when he announced that the digital version of his latest book was now available from Amazon – hard copy to follow soon – and immediately picked it up and devoured it. Thi...
This week I have been continuing with Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series which I’m reading as a mixture of Kindle ebook and Audible audiobook. Have I mentioned before how much I love Whispersync for Voice? The ability to switch between the two media without having to worry about finding your place is pure awesomeness. Anyway, I digress. I finished Outlander this week and have moved onto Dragonfly in Amber. I have to say, my...
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion tells the story of the romance between Don, a university professor clearly on the autism spectrum, and Rosie, a young woman he assists in her search for her biological father. Their relationship is complicated by Don’s insistence that any potential partner prove her compatibility by completing and passing a multi page questionnaire. Causes for rejection as a potential partner include; being a ve...
So this week I finished a couple of books, one of which left me thinking, “oh… OK. What happened exactly?” and the other received my first five star rating in quite some time. The first of these was Unraveled by Gennifer Albin, the final book in her Crewel World YA dystopian trilogy. I think it would require a second reading to understand fully what Albin was trying to achieve. Unfortunately, I don’t feel strongly enough...
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan is the fifth and final book in the Heroes of Olympus saga. In this book the seven demigods of the prophesy finally have their confrontation with Gaea. I listened to it in audiobook format – perfect for a sick day from work where you don’t feel like doing much. If you enjoyed the previous books, it’s very likely you will like this one, too. It’s more of the same, with resolution of l...
First of all, happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers! An extra day to read! Woohoo! Have a great weekend and safe travels if you’re visiting family. We already have the pumpkin pie ready. As my regular readers may know, this week saw the release of some books that I had been anticipating. See below for details. Unfortunately I was also sick with a nasty headache and ended up taking Wednesday off work. Fortunately, li...
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is an apocalyptic tale about the fall of human civilisation and the struggle of the survivors after a pandemic wipes out 99% of the population. It follows several characters as they attempt to survive in this new world and come to terms with what has happened to their civilisation. I Iistened to this in audiobook format and enjoyed it very much. What I liked Interesting narrative structure. ...