Year in Books Project December update

Well Christmas is over again for another year

&

another year is almost upon us.

I thought I would take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for

2015

Over the last month I have continued working my way through the books piled up next to my bed.

When I last posted I had started reading Broken Harbour by Tana French. It is a crime thriller set in Ireland. I thought this one would be quite promising.  A young family are attacked in their home leaving the husband and two children dead and the wife badly injured.  Right from the beginning you are left trying to decide whether it was the husband who attacked his wife and children, a spurned lover or indeed the wife.  Unfortunately it was quite predictable in places and seemed to go on forever, I think the book could of been half the amount of pages if I'm honest and would probably have held my attention much better.

I then moved on to The Rosie Project  by Graeme Simison, so many of you had read this one and from your recommendations it sounded just my kind of read.  I have to tell you, you didn't let me down. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I loved Don's character he so reminded me of some of the Consultants I work with and could have been modeled on my D.  Although it is never said that he is Aspergers I think by the end of the book you can pretty much take it as read that he is.  In order to really understand this book you have to know or indeed live with someone on that colourful spectrum of ASD/Aspergers to really understand Don.  I am so glad there is a sequel to this book and I will definitely be continuing the lives of Don and Rosie in the Rosie Effect sometime soon.

A List of my Dersires  was a  bit of bridge between books for me but it certainly made me think about what my list of desires may be if I were to win the Lottery.  I have to thank Jo Through the Keyhole for sending me this one. 

Lesley Pearse's  Stolen & Till we meet again were my book swaps with my bookswap buddy at work.  She had forwarned me that I might find them a little predictable.  Stolen was about a young girl found on a beach who upon examination would appear to of recently given birth. She had no recollection of how she had come to be washed up on a beach and no recollection of having had a baby.  Till we meet again was a story of revenge for the death of a child and what lead a mild homely women to take such action.  I thought both these books were very good and not as predictable as I had lead to believe.  Certainly I hadn't guessed the twist in Till we meet again. 

Christmas for One  by Amanda Prowse was my Christmas read and as per usual Amanda did not let me down. I have been a follower of the work of Amanda Prowse right from her first novel Poppy Day.  In this her latest novel she takes up the story of Megan who featured in her novel A Little Love released in February this year.

One Night Only tells the story of fading soap star Helen Redford from her humble beginnings to her attempt to make a come back to stage and screen.  A very entertaining read but not one that gripped me, more a holiday read.

Lastly was my last remaining return to school read.  Throughout 2014 I have been re-reading some of those books we were made to read at school.  Some I have loved and others I have loathed.

Decembers read was Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Unfortunately this turned out to be in the loathed category.  I didn't remember anything about it from school until I started reading it again and I soon remembered it as not being one that I particularly enjoyed at school.  Uncle Tom's cabin was about slavery in the American South and how they were treated at this time.  

As usual I like to pick on as my book of the month and for December I think I have to agree with so many of you in picking 

The Rosie Project  by Graeme Simison

I have loved taking part in The Year in Books Project run by Laura at Circle of Pine Trees. I am so pleased she has decided to continue with the project in 2015.

All that remains is for me to wish you all a Happy New Year and I look forward to seeing which books come up next year.

Mx

The Year in Books -December

As you can see there are a few books residing on my bedside cabinet.

These are the start of my Winter read selection. 

With two weeks off over the festive season and the plan being not to do very much, apart from reading and crafting the pile may just increase a little, especially if Santa brings me a few more off my Christmas list. 

So to begin with I have 

The Rosie Project  so many of you have talked about this book that I decided I just had to have it. 

Well half of blogland can't be wrong about this one can they.

Y bought this one a while ago and it has been sitting on my bookshelf along with Ten things I've learnt about love,  The Supremes at Earls all you can eat., Prescious Thing & One Night Only So I thought it was about time they got promoted from the bookshelf to the bedside cabinet in readiness for reading at some point over the Winter months. 

Back in the summer I lent a book to Jo at Through the Keyhole and when she returned it she included A List of my Dersires as she thought I would like it.  So that is a definite read this month.

I then have two book swaps both by Lesley Pearse Stolen & Till we meet again. I've not read any Lesley Pearse before so it will be interesting to see what I make of them. I swap with my bookswap buddy in the office and we love having our own little review of the books we've read over a nice cup of tea.  It's always nice I think to get someone else's perspective on a book that I've read, especially if their take is so completely different to yours. 

and of course 

Anyone who has been following my blog for any length of time will know I am a huge Amanda Prowse fan and therefore I just had to get Christmas for One  which was released at the end of November, but I am being very good and keeping it until next week when I have finished for the holidays. I usually totally immerse myself in her books and don't surface again until the last page has been turned, so next weekend should do it. 

Of course there will be one or two selections from my Kindle as these days there are just as many books residing on my cloud as there are on the bookshelf.  

I think my family thinks I need to join some sort of group for therapy for Book addiction as I just don't seem to be able to stop myself.  I don't think they realise how many there are on sitting on my little kindle cloud..... 

What about you are you very good and only pick a book as you are coming to the end of another one or is it a once a month trip to the library or do you have to avoid passing a Waterstone store at all costs?

I do try and have a book budget and limit myself to how many new books I can have but when Amazon do a 99p book sale it is a little hard to say no don't you find?

So to kick off the month of December I have picked a book that has been sitting on the book shelf for a while now.  Broken Harbour by Tana French is set in Ireland.  I'm not normally one for Crime Thrillers especially where you have to wait till half way through the book for a crime to actually be committed, but in Broken Harbour the crime takes place right at the beginning of the book and from then on you have to decide was it the husband who did it, a spurned lover or indeed the wife. 

And of course being December I have my last return to school read.  I struggled to make up my mind what my last return to school read should be. As I couldn't make up my mind I put the remaining names of books in a tea cup and pulled out a name.  

My December return to school read is therefore going to be 

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

I hope you all enjoy your December read's and I look forward to seeing what you all have chosen, no doubt you will give me yet more books to look out for. 

Mx