Book Resolutions

Well guys we are getting near to the end of 2013 . How has your year been? Are you Looking Forward to 2014 ?I always think New Year gives us all a lovely fresh start .We can try again with things we have not succeeded in and there is fresh hope. I always start my new year with a new journal. I don't keep a diary but I do keep notes of fun things that happen and books I want to get and quotes and things that make me smile.
Some of the book related things I am hoping to do in 2014 are as follows.

1- Try and complete at least five of the frighteningly high amount of series lists that I have. I stopped counting after thirty.

2-Limit myself to reading 200 books on my Goodreads Challenge for 2014. This might seem a lot but if you are a bad sleeper like I am and you enjoy reading then you know how easy it is to stack up the books during the long nights when sleep just does not come.

3- Try and review books 80% of the time if not more. As I do read a huge amount, and always have, it is not always easy to write reviews every single time. I like to review books that I enjoy for the sake of helping authors who's books I like and to remember later on what I thought of a book.

4- I am going to try again this year to read books from every genre. I do have my favourite genre's but it's good to branch out every so often and try something new, that's how I found out I love Dystopian books!

5-I am going to try and read some of the "big books " I have had on my shelves that were taunting me to read them. Sometimes the thought of a large book is daunting when there are several( okay hundreds)  of smaller books that you could fly though. Saying that though, when I do read a big book and I fall in love with it, it could have a million pages and it would not bother me in the slightest.

So guys, that is some of the hopes I have for myself and my books for 2014. I am hoping to use my new reading journal too in a bid to keep track of all the lovely books, characters, plots and adventures that I have yet to meet in 2014.

Unfaithfully Yours by Nigel Williams

Unfaithfully yours is the wildly funny and touching story about a selection of couples who all live fairly near each other and were very close friends ,  they are all living lives that the others have no idea about . All the stories are told in letter form and are linked in one way or the other to the others. Each person is great fun to read about by themselves but when you add in all the rest of the characters it just makes this such fun!  There were so many laugh out loud moments that I lost count and from start to finish it is just soooo witty! Black humour a lot of the time mixed with honest to goodness chuckles. The characters are so well written that you straight away want to know more about them and as the story progresses we get to see all their juicy secrets and what some of their lives look like to the  others. Seeing Characters through other characters eyes is great fun although you wonder at times how reliable they are in the telling of the story, that really keeps you on your toes! The story, even though it is very funny has many surprises and moments that were surprisingly touching . From cover to cover this is a great book and the first I have read by this author and I am glad to say it definitely wont be the last. I was thrilled to find after reading this that this author has written lots more books. I was so excited!!!!I can't wait to read more by him.

I received this book from Lovereading.co.uk for review and you can find it through the link below on their own website.
https://www.lovereading.co.uk/author/4960/Nigel-Williams.html
This book is due for release in January 2014 from Lovereading.co.uk and all other bookstores.

Book Haul

Hi guys! I thought I would come on and show you what books I got with my book vouchers from Christmas. Below find a lovely collection of books that I am very excited about. Have any of you guys received books this Christmas ?

 The Screaming Staircase by Jonathon Stroud. Is this not one of the best titles! Love it! I don't know too much about it but I expect to be reading this beauty very soon! It was this intriguing cover picture that drew me in ,  but the blurb on the back made the book find its way into my basket.

 This is the second book in this series by Will Hill. I received the first book for review fairly recently and I really loved it and so when I came across this book in the bookstore I was so excited as I had forgotten that it was coming out. I wanted to bounce up and down with excitement but unfortunately a packed bookstore is not conclusive with bouncing up and down squealing yay in front of other shoppers, even though they very likely love books too and would probably in all fairness understand my joy when you get your hands on a book that you were excited about. This series gives a fresh new look to Vampire books. It really is awesome. Read book 1 - Department 19 first to gain the most from the story.

 I have been meaning to pick this book up for the longest time , and now that I have I will be on Goodreads very soon to find out all I can about it that is spoiler free. If anyone has read this book and loved it please comment below or let me know if you would like to read these books..

 Insurgent is book two in the Divergent series. These are Dystopian books and I have to say I love a good dystopian book. Divergent was awesome and I read it in a day so I am very keen to see where the story takes us after where we left off after the first book.

 Allegiant. The third book in the Divergent series. How will it all end???? I will have to read the second book before I start in to this one. Super exciting!!!!

Reading Aloud.

Hi guys! I am listening to Neil Gaiman  reading The Ocean At The Bottom Of The Lane and he has one of those beautiful reading voices! I love being read to , it is one of my most favourite soothing ,  cosy things to do. My dream list of people to read stories would be as follows:

Jason Statham. The most beautifully gravelly voice that I have ever heard.

Anthony Hopkins. Eloquent and hypnotising.

Salma Hayek . Her beautiful accent combines sensuality and delicateness with an exotic edge.

These are just some of my choices but I would love to hear who's voice you love and who you would love to have reading you a  favourite story.

Really cold ... but there are lovely books.

It's so cold out there today with lots of wind so I wrapped up cosy warm first . I have been craving soup since all the overindulgence the last three days here so off I went to get some.

 

Yum Yum I got some soup to warm me up

Now it's time for some lovely reading time.

 
 

Cosy time ....sigh.....ahhhhhhhhh

 

To listen to in a little while

Loving this!

Christmas Gifts Part 2

 My New snuggly scarf my friend got me is the perfect item of clothing to wear in this dreadful cold and wind we are having right now here. The scarf is soooo soft and cosy I love it!

Some book goodies....... Book Journal, Book mark, and lovely books : 0)

Below you will see the Kindle HDX that I was given.. Ahhhh I was thrilled! Its such fun seeing my kindle books in colour when on my previous kindle they were in black and white. I love my kindles either way. They are precious.

 Then there was this box......

 Inside the box was these goodies from Lush that my brother and sister in law got me

 Look what I got from my little Niece...awwwwwwwww

 My twin nephews... Have you ever seen anything cuter.. I love all these cuties.. I am a very proud auntie!

 Scented cushions..Love these. My friend Ivan sends me these and I love them!!!!

 Hankies..Love them.. I am an old fashioned kind of girl....

 Trinket box.Stunning !!!!Look at these colours!!

 The beautiful Frida Kahlo hand mirror my friend sent me from America. It was such a sweet thoughtful gift as he obviously knows how much I admire this artist. She was incredibly passionate and had  a hard life but lived her life to the fullest despite so much ill health. Her stormy relationship with her husband was intriguing too.

 My lovely Marilyn Scarf my friend Ivan sent me. He spoils me , the sweetheart!

The Present I got for myself to hold my kindle. An Accessorise kindle cover.

Audible Book Haul

There is nothing quite like listening to a story when you can't physically pick up a regular book. I have always loved being told stories since I was a child and now that I am an adult I have fallen in love hard with Audible. Below is my audible reads for December .

 The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. Read by Hannah Gordon.Hannah has a lovely voice for reading aloud and it made this already wonderful book even more special.

 At Bertrams's Hotel by Agatha Christie. This is a Miss Marple Mystery. This is a dramatized version which I adore!

The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton read by the lovely eloquent Kate Winslet.

Birthday/Christmas Haul Part 1

Hi guys. Hope you are all having a lovely Christmas. I thought I would come on here today and show you some of the goodies I got for My Birthday and Christmas(both are the same day) .
DVD Haul.

In My Mailbox

This lovely book arrived in my mailbox Christmas eve for review for Lovereading.co.uk.

Zoo Station by David Downing is the first book in the John Russell series and the series ends with book six called Masaryk Station. Zoo Station is the story about an American Journalist working in Berlin who's life gets a lot more interesting when he is approached to work for the Soviets. This looks like it will be a real adrenaline ride.

Kindle Book Haul

The magical faraway tree collection by Enid Bltyon. I was so excited when I saw that one of my childhood favourites was now on kindle. It has really peeved me that the names have been changed in the recent editions of these stories but I love these stories so much and have such fond memories of reading them as a child that I could not pass up getting them for my kindle.

The  Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I have this in hardback but I wanted a copy for my kindle and it was very very cheap on Amazon.co.uk over the Christmas. Marked down to either 0.99 or 1.49 from what I remember. Great deal!

Mad About The Boy by Helen Fielding..I loved the precious books. can't wait to see what Briget has been up to since we were last with her.

Trains and lovers... What a great title! Can't wait to read this.

Mrs Palfrey at the Clairmont. The title of this book hooked me, I just had to get it!

The Spooks Revenge by Joseph Delaney(love this series sooooo much!!!)

The ladies paradise by Emile Zola

The little women letters by Gabrielle Donnelly

You guys know how much I love the book Little Women so there was no way I was going to pass up getting this book.