Pages

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Year in Books February




As you can see my little Rufus has been doing some very serious snow watching over the weekend. The four paws don't really know what to make of it, but Rufus decided the best place was the window sill under which is a radiator to keep a little boy warm. 

With snow falling from the sky what else is a girl to do but have an extra hour in bed with a cup of tea and a biscuit and obviously the latest read. 



I started both Kate Mosse's The Mistletoe Bride & other Haunting Tales and Lulu Taylor's Winter Folly
last week.  As a rule I don't have more than one book on the go at a time as I confuse the characters, unless one is fiction and one is non-fiction when I can compartmentalize each one. I did however make an exception with these two because Mistletoe Bride was a book of short stories that I could  read over a  matter of days completing the last one yesterday. I read Winter Ghost last month which was my first reading of Kate Mosse.  I always like ghost stories as a child which usually meant scaring myself witless in the process.  I enjoyed Mistletoe Bride and the other short stories. Some were better than others but on the whole it was a good read. 

I am now continuing with Winter Folly which crosses between present day and the past starting in 1965 when Alexandra Crewe's father forces her into a loveless marriage which she eventually runs away from after just 5 months and into the arms of her childhood friend Nicky Stirling air apparent to Lord Northmoor and the ancestral home of Fort Stirling. 
In the present day John Stirling brings his young bride back to Fort Stirling where he struggles with demons of his past. His young wife Deliah is worried that such demons will destroy their marriage. She embarks on a journey to get to the truth about John's mother  who John believes has died when he was a small boy.

This is my first Lulu Taylor read and so far I am enjoying this novel very much.  I like books that take you back to the past in order to understand the present I am now 70% through and can't wait to get to the final twist. 


Back in December I picked my selection of Winter Reads. There have been one or two queue jumpers of books given to me for Christmas which I have read over the past month. 
From the original picks there are  now four remaining which I am hoping to read at least two during February.  
The Kindle purchases have continued to grow and one or two may be in line for reading this month, and I have of course  yet to select my return to my childhood read which may be from my Kindle or a visit to my local Waterstones. 
I can find it difficult to decide upon which books I will read next, it can depend on what sort of book I have just finished or even the mood I find myself in as to what will take my fancy next. 
How do you pick a book to read?

 I think it is a case of watch this space. 

Happy reading one & all

Mx

14 comments:

  1. I love both those Kate Mosse books - great winter reading! The Lulu Taylor sounds good too - I shall watch for your review next month :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did enjoy the Kate Mosse books but so far the Lulu Taylor one was the better one for me. But I shall keep working my way through the pile and see which one ends up being my favourite February read. Thanks for stopping by hope you visit my little blog again. Always nice to see new people. Will pop over to have a look at Topaz Magpie Jewellery).

      Delete
  2. Having so many books in my pile I am working on the basis of trying to select half a dozen at a time, one each of some of the many - repetitive - sorts that I have, so each selection will include at least one Agatha Christie and one Danielle Steel for the foreseeable future because I have been given loads of each of those! More a case of ploughing through the pile than selecting right now! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With each new season I select books to read over that season and then work my way through adding one or two more as I go along depending on how the mood takes me. Sometimes you get a book that you know you are just going to have to make your next read don't you? Sometimes I can resist but not often.... It's when I am given books as gifts as I always feel I need to read them sooner rather than later before the person who gave the book asks what you thought of it. I'm about half way through those given to me for Christmas and Birthday now. So I feel there may be one or two more queue jumpers during February.

      Delete
  3. I love Kate Mosse, she is an excellent writer. The Lulu Taylor sounds interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Both the Kate Mosse and Lulu Taylor books have been very good reads. Think for me the Lulu Taylor is slightly a head but that could all change with the next book I pick up to read....

      Delete
  4. I have still not ready Kate Mosse, time to change this. I met a little do like yours called Rufus last weekend. He and my puppy ran away together. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hadn't read any up until Christmas when I was given Mistletoe Bride and then I realised at some point I had downloaded Winter Tales to my Kindle so thought it was time to read them. Both very good and I will look at reading the Taxidermists daughter at some point. Rufus has just turned 3 but out the troop he is still very much a puppy. Bit like my eldest son who at 27 still thinks he's Peter Pan:-)

      Delete
  5. I like the browsing at the library or charity shops and choosing books to borrow or buy almost as much as the reading, but I also need to include the book that's chosen and picked up from the library stock by a friend for our monthly book group in my reading. Sometimes I might skim read it or start and not finish it as we have a limited time before it has to go back. I like to choose a novel that's set in or starts in the same season as when I'm reading if I can, but I also read according to my mood. I'm engrossed in non fiction at the moment as I enjoy books about other people's lives that inspire me. Lulu Taylor is a new author to me and the plot sounds interesting and one I would probably choose as I like novels set in two periods where the main character is trying to understand how something in the past relates to his/her life in the present.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's nice to be able to have a bit of escapism isn't it. I will buy a book at the time because that's the mood I'm in on that day. Then it joins the others on the bookshelf and I can shuffle past it a few times until I'm back in that mood again and then it will jump back off the shelf to me. I would recommend the Lulu Taylor having now finished it. The end twist was very good. She has another out at the moment that may just find it's way onto the bookshelf soon.

      Delete
  6. Hello! Wow, you are a prolific reader. Love that you choose books to fit the season. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a lovely weekend! X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I seem to be a little hooked on books. I didn't read that often for many years. Too busy with children. Now they are all but grown at 27, 24 & almost 21 (in two weeks) and the 11 year old bringing up the rear I now have a lot more time to do the things I like to do and so reading is very much back on the agenda.

      Delete
  7. Hello Mitzi

    Rufus is just adorable. I love your choice of books and look forward to yoreview of
    Winter Folly. After January's disaster I am easing myself gently with February's read, which I have finished.

    luv
    irene
    xxxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He still thinks he's a pup and acts like one too. He didn't have a great start to life and is very neurotic and timid because of it until he gets to know you. We've had coming up a year now and he has got a lot better but he's very much a cuddle pup. I've finished the Winter Folly very good but still a few more weeks before I decide on which of my reads is my favourite for February.

      Delete

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Please leave a comment as I do like to read them and will answer any I receive.