My Goodreads Year in Books 2017.

Happy New Year!

I love this thing Goodreads do at the end of each year. If you’re not on Goodreads, it’s basically social media for book-lovers, and although it leaves a lot to be desired, it’s a great tool for blogging because you can easily log each book as you finish it. You can also use it to collate the books you want to read (although that doesn’t really work for me) and they do this awesome ‘Year in Books’ tool each year to show what your reading habits have been like for the past 365 days.

I didn’t do a reading challenge this year – I felt it affected my enjoyment of books in 2016. I read 100 books in 2016 but only 37 this year – however I felt a lot less stressed about it! I think this is a fairly accurate representation of my reading habits in general, as I seem to remember it being around that number in 2015 as well.

The shortest book I read in 2017 was Hunger by Susan Hill, a creepy story that wasn’t quite up to scratch for me, not when I’ve come to expect so much from Hill. The longest was Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, which was nothing special either.

OK, So Booksically… Tag

I saw the title of this tag and knew I had to do before I’d even watched the video. (Video I saw was this one by LilyCReads, the original by Okay So Booksically is here. I may now need to watch a lot of his videos.) I really shouldn’t be doing tags I haven’t been tagged for when I’ve still not done so many that I have been tagged for, but I am a law unto myself so…

Question 1: Tell Us About Your User / Blog / Channel Name and Your Real Name.

My blog is primarily about books but I do sometimes post about stuff I’ve been getting up to. I usually try and link it back to books though. I also have a card-making blog (which is more or less abandoned) and a new blog about beauty/fashion etc.

January Reads 2017

It must have been a whole year since I started my book blog as I think my first ever post was a January wrap-up! How exciting! If, you know, you don’t have much else going on in your life.

So I have been somewhat quiet on the blogosphere, and my 2017 target to love reading again has been a little bit the reason for this. It’s going well, because I am enjoying all the books I’m reading, but the downside is that I don’t have as many ideas for blog posts, because I’m not forcing my way through so many books and therefore having more subjects floating around in my brain. Hopefully it’s just a bit of a blogging slump and I’ll be posting much more regularly again soon!

Ringing in the New Year Book Tag.

I was tagged for this by the lovely Getting Through Anxiety – thank you! 🙂

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The Rules.
– Link to the person who tagged you.
– Link to the creator of the tag – Rae @ Bookmark Chronicles
– Share the tag image.
– Answer the questions below.
– Tag friends (or not if you don’t feel like it).

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1. Best book and/or series that you’ve read in 2016?

Best book: Wonder by R. J. Palacio.

Best series: Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness – I think it’s also the only series I’ve actually read the whole of in 2016… I’m really not good with series.

The Make-Up Book Tag.

I found this tag on Ariel Bissett’s channel and LOVED it. I love the idea of a tag combining books and make-up – I’ve wanted to do a make-up blog for years but never been able to commit to it the way I have with my book blog. I’m not sure who it was created by unfortunately – even Ariel couldn’t find the original video!

All make-up mentioned is from cruelty-free companies who do not test on animals. However, there are some companies mentioned whose parent companies do test on animals, and I will advise wherever this is the case. I have decided to buy from these companies to make the point that cruelty-free sells, much like if a vegetarian buys a vegetarian meal in a restaurant that also sells meat – they are still funding that company, but they are showing where they stand.

London Book Haul!

I have done the best thing ever and you should all do it – I visited my friend Alys in London and she and I went on a bookshop crawl. (Like a pub crawl, but with books instead of booze.)

We met at St Pancras Station and walked to all of the shops we visited, so we didn’t have to spend any extra money on public transport. (Until it was time to go back to the station, by which time our feet were dying.) We aimed to go to Skoob first but on the way we noticed a bookshop called Gay’s the Word (sadly they don’t seem to have a website) so decided to have a quick look.

  I thought this was a really good little shop. It’s not big but it’s got good variety and the books are presented really well. It’s a quiet little part of London too, which was very welcome on the Saturday immediately after Black Friday. In here, I finally treated myself to Simon VS the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becki Albertalli.

From Goodreads: “Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.”

I’m Very Thankful For…

Being English, I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving myself, but I like the idea of going around the table and saying things you’re thankful for. We often take things for granted. So, in no particular order, here’s a list of bookish things I’m really grateful to have in my life.

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Ebooks.

I adore ebooks. I love their portability and the fact that I can buy as many as I like without having to find the space. I also prefer reading ebooks, because I can read in whatever position I like without my neck aching. Sure, they have their cons as well, and they’re not everybody’s cup of tea, but I’m a big fan.

Book Review: ‘Labyrinth: One Classic Film, Fifty-Five Sonnets’ by A Corrigan.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinion of the book. Quotes below may differ in the final published version of the book.

I love me a bit of Labyrinth, so when I saw this book was available for immediate download, obviously I had to give it a go.

The book follows the story of the Jim Henson film, with each ‘chapter’ in the form of a sonnet (14 lines with an ABAB rhyme scheme, including a rhyming couplet at the end). If you’ve read a lot of traditional poetry, this may be a bit unsophisticated for you, but if it’s your first foray into poetry you might find it a fun read.

The Queen Book Tag.

Thanks so much to Zezee With Books for tagging me! Queen are my all-time favourite band and I basically think that if a song’s not by Queen then it’s probably not worth listening to. (I mean, there are exceptions, but rest assured, Queen are the best band ever.)

This tag was created by Josh at Literary Gladiators.

1. Bohemian Rhapsody – A work that you feel successfully tells the story from multiple points of view?

The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman.

Book Review: ‘Nina is Not OK’ by Shappi Khorsandi.

I received this ebook for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is no way affects my opinion of the book. Quotes in the following review may differ slightly from the final published version of the book.

‘Dear sir or madam,

I’m writing to complain about my treatment by your staff on Saturday night.

At approximately 11.20pm, I gave a young man I’d just met a blowjob by the downstairs bar. One of your bouncers (I’m afraid I cannot describe him, my vision was blurred) dragged me out and threw me onto the street without giving me a chance to call my mum, tell my friends or finish the blowjob.