March 2014 To Be Read Pile

I am going to start doing TBR's and trying to stick to them. I need somethingto motivate my reading so hopefully I'll get through a lot of these this month (at least then I'll be able to a buy a few more :D )

March to be read pile – 5 books maximum

·        The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory (Cousins War series) – I really enjoyed watching the television show The White Queen which is based on Philippa Gregory’s Cousins War book series. The series follows key female characters that were a part of the Wars of the Roses in England in the 1400s. The Kingmaker’s Daughter focuses on Anne Neville, the daughter of Warwick the ‘Kingmaker’, who put king of England of the time King Edward III on the throne. I am a really big history geek and love learning about royal families of the past. Before watching the TV show I hadn’t heard of any of the historical figures so I like to read historical fiction book based on these historical figures to try and get a glimpse of what life may have been like for them in the time period. I’m not even 100 pages into this yet which is really bad so I need to get a move on before I can move onto another book :P

·        If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch – The plot of this book sounds really interesting and intriguing to me. The tagline is “What happens in the woods stays in the woods” which immediately makes me wonder what is going to happen in the story. I have skim read the first few pages and the writing style almost reminds me of Blood Red Road by Moira Young (one of my favourite books ever check it out :D) so that gives me high hopes. This cover is quite cool, the way you can see lots of yellow trees and 3 yellow figures dotted throughout which must represent the characters.

·        Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers – I’m going to be honest. I’ve tried to read this book before but I just couldn’t get past the first few chapters – I just think I wasn’t in the mood to read historical fiction at the time but I’m willing to give it another go as a lot of people seem to like it. It definitely has an interesting concept – assassin nuns - that just sounds so funny when I think about it. Anyway I hope I will enjoy it the next time around.

·        The Beautiful and the Cursed by Page Morgan – this book sounds pretty good – it is about two sisters and their mother moving to Paris after learning their brother has gone missing. I’m definitely interested in any book that’s set in Paris – it looks like an amazing city to visit and I’m really intrigued by the story. I haven’t heard a whole lot about it either so I’m going in with not a lot of expectations.

·       Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – I started reading this book last month but struggled to get through it a bit – I feel a bit bad because I know the book and its sequel are very hyped up and a lot of people love them. Parts of it are good for me and other parts are okay;  I’m not saying I dislike it but I hope it picks up as the book goes along as I would really love to become addicted to the series like everyone else.

Reading Wrap up - February 2014

So I haven't done a reading wrap up since late last year (eek!) but I am trying to get back into blogging and will be trying to post more regularly. So here goes!

I feel so ashamed to say that I only read a grand total of ONE book for the whole of February (hangs head in shame). But in fairness it was 911 pages long so cut me some slack? :P The book I read was A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin which was AMAZING. The man just has such an addictive writing style, the characters are so vindictive and awful at times, and you just never know what is coming up around the corner. It didn’t even feel as though I was reading a 911 page book though; it was so good and action packed I just flew through it and could hardly stop reading it. As soon as my book buying ban is over I will definitely be grabbing the rest of the books in the Song of Ice and Fire series – I need to know what happens in Westeros next – now J

Bout of Books Read-a-thon 9.0

I have decided for the first time in a while to participate in a read-a-thon, and having never done the Bout of Books read-a-thon before I thought I would give it a go this year and see how many books I get read by the end of it. I hope to read and finish The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead which I am currently reading but after that I really don't know what I'll pick up next! I will leave a link to the Bout of Books blog so anyone else can sign up to the read-a-thon. I will most likely post updates and my overall progress on here, Goodreads and my twitter which is @Loobylu91. Good luck to anyone who is participating :)

Link to the sign up post on the Bout of Books blog: http://boutofbooks.blogspot.co.uk/

Book Review: A Bargain Struck by Liz Harris

Publisher: Choc Lit
Published: 2013
Format: Paperback
Length: 314 pages
Summary from Goodreads:

Widower Connor Maguire advertises for a wife to raise his young daughter, Bridget, work the homestead and bear him a son.

Ellen O’Sullivan longs for a home, a husband and a family. On paper, she is everything Connor needs in a wife. However, it soon becomes clear that Ellen has not been entirely truthful.

Will Connor be able to overlook Ellen’s dishonesty and keep to his side of the bargain? Or will Bridget’s resentment, the attentions of the beautiful Miss Quinn, and the arrival of an unwelcome visitor, combine to prevent the couple from starting anew.

As their personal feelings blur the boundaries of their deal, they begin to wonder if a bargain struck makes a marriage worth keeping.

Set in Wyoming in 1887, a story of a man and a woman brought together through need, not love.

Review:

In a way, reading this book slightly reminded me of the time I watched the movie Oklahoma!, which is an old musical film about people living in the late 1800s/early 1900s America, particularly in the southern regions, hence the title.

The characters in this book lived in a very small, tight-knit community, the sort of small place where everyone knows everybody else’s business. Connor Maguire, the main male character of the book owns a farm deep in the Wyoming countryside, and has a young daughter, Bridget. He is also a widower who is still mourning the death of his wife and Bridget’s mother.

Ellen O’Sullivan, the other main character, is also a widow, and bears the scar of an accident that claimed her late husband’s life. The two characters come together as Connor needs someone to raise his daughter and help him run his farm, or homestead as the way it is described in the book.

There are also other characters in the book such as Oonagh Quinn, who becomes friends with Ellen, and Connor’s brother Niall, who shakes the farm up when he comes to stay.

Although I’ve read a few books that are set in the 1800s, I haven’t read anything set deep out in the countryside of America, particularly somewhere that sounds like it could be the setting of an old Western movie. The subplot involving Connor’s daughter Bridget was also intriguing; she and Ellen don’t get on at first and she is quite rude to Ellen regarding her scar, but I can certainly understand why a recently bereaved child would act that way towards a strange woman, and nowadays similar situations arise regarding children and their step-parents, so I applaud the author for highlighting an issue that still goes on in modern society.

I was intrigued as to how people led their lives back then, especially people who didn’t live in big cities, and small communities like the one that the book is set in. I found Connor and Ellen pretty likeable characters. I’m still not able to get my head around the fact that people could just advertise for wives in those days and women willingly married people they don’t know. However, as mentioned above it was very interesting to learn about how things worked in that part of America in those times and how simple were the lives that people led.

I would read more books like this as it seems like an interesting sub-genre to write about.

September 2013 Reading Wrap Up - I will try and avoid spoilers!

Hi everyone. So I've decided to start doing wrap up posts on this blog. It has been a little dead recently so I thought I'd start sharing my thoughts on the books I have been reading. So here goes...

1.    Plague (Gone #4) by Michael Grant

This book was amazing. Michael Grant clearly has such a vivid imagination. He must sit in a room and think of all the weird, bad things that could happen to a bunch of teenagers and kids and apply them all to this series, because I couldn’t believe some of the stuff that was happening! I definitely liked Diana more in this book. She and Caine are initially introduced as antagonist’s but I actually felt sorry for her quite a bit in this book and some of the events regarding her character surprised me. Toto was also a new character for this book and I found him quite humorous – he has a power for knowing if people are telling the truth or not and it was quite funny to see him wind up the other characters with his powers. Overall, this book was definitely a 5 star book.

2.    The Madman’s Daughter (Madman’s Daughter Trilogy #1) by Megan Shepherd

This book had been on my wishlist for a few months so when I saw it brand new and really cheap in a local book shop I knew I had to pick up a copy. I hadn’t read the classic book that this book is based on – The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells so I didn’t know how I would feel about the book. I thought that the book started off quite eerie and was impressed by the first couple of chapters, and when Juliet, Edward and Montgomery arrived on the island. Unfortunately, although there were some creepy scenes I didn’t feel as scared as I thought I would when initially read the synopsis. Saying that, there were some twists toward the end that I did not see coming so I must applaud the author for that. I may pick up the second book, Her Dark Curiosity, when it comes out, as I am still intrigued as to what will happen next.

3.    Fear (Gone #5) by Michael Grant

This book picked straight up from where Plague left off, with Perdido Beach still reeling from the bug attacks. Drake grows even more menacing (if that’s even possible!) and Astrid also changes. Overall I really enjoyed the story and character development, especially with Diana towards the end. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

4.    Light (Gone #6) by Michael Grant

This was the final book in the epic Gone series and ever since I ordered it I was almost climbing the ceilings whilst waiting for it – I had to know how it ended and if the kids terror would ever be put to an end. All I can say it was a mind-blowing conclusion and I am still thinking about everything that happened in the book. It’s definitely the freakiest book yet and I cannot recommend this series enough to every one of every age. 4 out of 5 stars.

In conclusion, I feel I have had an extremely good September reading month, and look forward to reading some more horror eque and spooky books for the month of October. I will probably make a separate post about it so stay tuned! Happy reading :)

Book Review: The Reluctant Bride by Beverley Eikli

Publisher: Choc Lit

Published: 2013

Format: Paperback

Length: 353 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Can honour and action banish the shadows of old sins?

Emily Micklen has no option after the death of her loving fiancé, Jack, but to marry the scarred, taciturn, soldier who represents her only escape from destitution.

Major Angus McCartney is tormented by the reproachful slate-grey eyes of two strikingly similar women: Jessamine, his dead mistress, and Emily, the unobtainable beauty who is now his reluctant bride.

Emily’s loyalty to Jack’s memory is matched only by Angus’s determination to atone for the past and win his wife with honour and action. As Napoleon cuts a swathe across Europe, Angus is sent to France on a mission of national security, forcing Emily to confront both her allegiance to Jack and her traitorous half-French family.

Angus and Emily may find love, but will the secrets they uncover divide them forever?

Review:

Aside from Pride and Prejudice, this is my second foray into regency romance and I thoroughly enjoyed Beverley Eikli’s novel of secrets and spies. There are quite a few authors who write regency romances, and as I got sent The Reluctant Bride for review, I was intrigued and excited to how my first experience with a modern author would be like.

Thankfully, I was engrossed by the story the second Emily and Angus agree to marry each other. I know I would certainly be a ‘reluctant bride’ if I were in Emily’s boat; if situations such as these were the norm back then I wonder how many women actually married for love. Angus was definitely a sweetie and sounded like the perfect kind of guy a girl could marry back then.

Emily Micklen comes from a wealthy family and is shocked to find out her fiancé Jack has been killed in battle. As she is pregnant, she and Major Angus McCartney, who delivers the news, agree to marry each other, as it would be the most convenient way of settling the situation.

Angus and Emily grow closer as they spend more time together, and the both uncover secrets about people close to them.

I found the writing style really easy to understand, although at time I was a bit slow to catch up on all the details of Napoleon, I guess it’s because I don’t know that much about the French Revolution and everything that followed, but still, I will probably read more books about it now. Ms Eikli lets you sympathise with the characters and thankfully I liked both Angus and Emily a lot.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed my foray into regency romance, and will definitely check out more books by the author and more works in the genre in the future.

Book Review: Beneath an Irish Sky by Isabella Connor

Published: 2013
Publisher: Choc Lit
Length: 414
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

Jack Stewart thought he’d put the past behind him. On the surface, he has everything success, money, a big house and is never short of an attractive woman by his side, but a tragic accident shatters Jack’s world.

Raised an Irish Traveller, Luke Kiernan hasn’t had it easy, and when he wakes up in a Dublin hospital to find the man he’s hated since childhood at his bedside, he’s hungry for revenge. Two very different worlds collide, bringing new dangers, exposing past deceits and unearthing dark family secrets buried long ago. But from tragedy springs the promise of a fresh start with two women who are intent on helping Jack and Luke mend their lives.

Can new love heal old wounds, or are some scars there for good?

Review:

Beneath An Irish Sky was quite a different book for me to review. I don’t usually read books that have family secrets and things like that in them so it was definitely a refreshing read. I also hadn’t read anything about Irish travellers; the only knowledge I have of them is from watching Big Fat Gypsy Weddings which was quite a fascinating insight into their community.

I really connected with Luke as one of the protagonist’s; I couldn’t believe Jack’s parents reactions to him. How could anyone behave so vile and insensitive to a young guy who has just lost his mother? They were complete judgmental snobs and I didn’t feel anything for them throughout the entire book.

I can somewhat understand at where the people in the close community of Baronsmere were coming from; travellers in general don’t  appear to have the best of reputations, so I was interested in learning more about the community.

Luckily, I really warmed to Luke and Annie, although the latter is dead (this isn’t a spoiler as it is mentioned she died on the back cover), my heart broke whenever I read about Luke reminiscing about he and his mother’s time together, and the bond they shared.

We also get to hear from Jack Stewart, Luke’s father who doesn’t know he has a son until his estranged wife dies, and it’s a struggle for him and Luke to have an easy going father-son relationship, and they have plenty of disputes.

Luckily, I quite liked Jack, although I could understand why he acted the way he did with regards to the Luke situation; he just found out he has a 20 year old son and is unsure how to act around him, they most likely weren’t going to bond with each other straight away. I also really warmed to Emer, an Irish counsellor who is a friend to Luke and becomes Jack’s love interest; she just has a warm, caring personality and it was a pleasure reading about her and Jack’s relationship grow as the book went on.

Books that tend to have family secrets don’t tend to draw me in, but this one gradually did and has made me want to read more so I can get a feel for the genre more. I recommend it to anyone who likes reading about family secrets and small communities, as it is really an interesting story in that way, and really delves into culture and class differences well.