Top 5 Reads You Need

Last June, I completed my reading goal:

050. Read 3 books per month for 1 year

Now we're in January, it seems a good time to revisit the 36 books I read, and highlight the five that stuck out the most. These are my top recommendations!

What is Evil?

This month, my reading has taken up a fantasy theme that, in part, questions our perceptions of evil. With these three books, I've completed a goal from The List:

050. Read 3 books per month for 1 year

36 books between July '14 and this June!

...it's actually 41, but I only ever blogged about the first three read each month ;)

With all that reading, you'd think I would have sandwiched in some more Doing, but I digress. Here are the books I read in June, rated, as is the norm, according to my overall enjoyment.

Angelology - Danielle Trussoni (4/5)

A book I picked up after it was heartily recommended by a friend, this is yet another one that spent a fair few months sitting on my shelf, waiting for the right moment.

The right moment came, and I enjoyed all 650-odd pages of it.

Angelology is set in a world where a silent war rages between the human Angelologists and the Nephilim, a race descended from Angels but muddied through millennia of Human-Nephilim hybridisation. For the most part the story focuses around Evangeline, a young nun who knows little of her family history, but discovers the existence of the Angelologists, and of her family history, after finding an old letter in the convent archives. The closer she comes to finding out the full truth, the closer danger comes to laying its hands upon her--and a long sought-after artefact of extreme power that lurks just out of sight.

My only real complaint about the book was that some plot twists were predictable. However, they were delivered at the right moment in the storyline for it to drag on too long.

I liked how the novel took ideas from religious texts and wove them into a story that brings angelic beings into the modern world, with an explanation of how they continue to walk among us. I also liked the way the Nephilim and lesser angelic species were portrayed, as it made a change from the expected behaviours!

Honestly my writing about this book cannot do it justice, not without writing a whole bunch of spoilers.

I recently discovered that there is a sequel, and have, of course, wish-listed it ;)

Not a Fairy Godmother, but a Wizard

Another month, another selection of books read towards my goal of three per month!

It might appear that I've been sailing through these books fairly easily, often managing to meet my monthly goal within a couple of weeks. However, this is because I pile pressure on myself to Stop Procrastinating and Start Reading.

....Even though reading is sometimes procrastination in itself!

This month I bring you three Cinderella stories.

Okay, so calling Darwin a Cinderella character might be pushing it a bit!

As per the norm, I've rated these books out of five according to my enjoyment of them.

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones (5/5)

Until only a couple of months ago, I didn't know this book existed. The only Howl's Moving Castle I knew about was the Studio Ghibli film. Which I haven't seen, but - as I discovered when looking up it up - was based on Diana Wynne Jones' book of the same title.

I liked the plot synopsis and commented to my a friend about wanting to watch the film and read the book. Then she gave me a copy of the book for my birthday! (Thanks Lianne!)

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent here.

Howl's Moving Castle is a young adult novel about Sophie, a girl who has already come to terms with the fact that, as the eldest daughter, she'll live a dull life running the family hat shop. Jump forward a few scenes and Sophie has been cursed by the Witch of the Waste. Now with the visage of an elderly lady, Sophie leaves and begins a journey, which leads her to the moving castle of the fearsome wizard Howl, who is rumoured to eat girl's hearts...

Help! My Books are Taking Over!

Remember how, back in March, I said No More Books?

And then bought more, and then I really said No More Books.

Well, it was my birthday at the end of April. 

I received books. And money. Which I spent on books...

The picture on the left was taken on 27th April. The picture on the right was taken today, after delivery of a parcel of books (bye bye birthday money!)

I did read a book from the pile. And I gained a book from a friend which never got added to the pile, because I read it immediately. 

But then more books happened. 

It is a daily struggle as they take over more space, and I procrastinate on reading them.

These are mostly second-hand books, because a) they're cheaper b) I can't justify spending so much on new books c) most are from charity shops and therefore money to a good cause.

It's also so much easier to spend 'just 20p' or 'just £2' on a second-hand book. 

Instead of £9.99+ for one book.

Which is probably why used books are taking over my cupboard.

I should probably read more, shouldn't I?

A History of Gods and Royalty

Once again I have beavered away at my ongoing reading goal, achieving my monthly target of three books just a few days ago.

This month's trio of novels were similar in that they related to history, religion and royalty, but my impressions - and therefore my ratings - varied greatly...

Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles - Margaret George (2/5)

I picked up this book because I'd previously read Margaret George's The Autobiography of Henry VIII, and loved it. Also I knew little of Mary Queen of Scots, and like historical fiction, so it seemed a good choice.

For the plot of this book, you need only look at the historical records of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots--this tome follows her birth, her life growing up in France, her return to Scotland as Queen and subsequent escapes from plots and imprisonment, until she finally winds up a prisoner in England, upon the orders of Queen Elizabeth I. And of course, the book also follows the events that led to Mary's inevitable execution.

Perhaps having read another of Margaret George's books set my hopes too high for this one, as I was a little disappointed by it. Or maybe it's that I didn't find Mary's life interesting another. The Mary within the books was stubborn, or perhaps naive and ill-informed, too self-righteous and altogether annoying--though not as annoying as John Knox! Portrayed as a manipulative preacher with fanaticism that bordered on madness, I hoped that each of his appearances within this book would be his last.

I found that this book went through fits and starts of holding my attention. It took me quite a few chapters to truly get into the story as I found little interest in Mary's early years and life in France. For a while, I was riveted by the storyline, then again bored by it, and then captivated once again.

The latter part of the book, about Mary's exile (and imprisonment) in England, started off promising but ended up tedious, as Mary was moved here and there whilst Queen Elizabeth evaded the matter of her lords and advisors pushing for Mary's execution. Of course, the fact that Mary was executed eventually is no surprise - being historical fact, after all - but I wound up just wishing Elizabeth would behead her and get on with it!

This book is probably more interesting to someone with a greater interest in Mary Queen of Scots than I have.

I won't read this book again, but if you like long tales about royals of the past, this one may be your cup of tea.

I also totally recommend Margaret George's The Autobiography of Henry VIII (which Ionce wrote about on my other blog, here).

Travels Through Time, Post and Branding

I can't believe that we've already raced through into March! It seems only yesterday that I was writing up my End of Year post and thinking of my hopes for 2015.

Despite that feeling of time flying by, I've stuck to my three-per-month book goal, this time getting in a couple of non-fictions along with the usual fiction. 

Two of the books I read this month have been presents on consecutive Christmases. If you're wondering why I took so long to get around to reading them, it probably has to do with my ever-growing reading pile, and my insatiable book-buying habit ;)

So here's the result of this month's reading: eye-opening and serious, quirky and eccentric!

As usual I've rated them out of five according to overall enjoyment. 

No Logo - Naomi Klein (4/5)

This was in the recommended reading list in the back of Scarlett Thomas' PopCo, which I read last month.
 

It also happened to show up in a local charity shop, so naturally I handed over the bargain 50p to the cause of underprivileged people of the world, in exchange for this book...which is all about multinational brands, the terrible overseas sweatshops that supply their goods (at the cost of the lives, limbs, and human rights of its workers), and the activism that has tried to bring these matters to light. So basically, rich brands and the underprivileged.  

The book is very eye-opening, and to begin with I felt as though I should be taking notes! I think we're all aware that workers in foreign factories are poorly paid, and have to work in bad conditions, but through brand PR about codes of conduct and strict inspections (also touched upon in the book) we're easily persuaded that Things Are Okay Now.

As this book is fifteen years old, I'd be interested to know how - or if - the situations described within have changed.

Considering the collapse of Rana Plaza - an eight storey Bangladeshi building that housed a garment factory - in 2013, I'd assume the answer is that conditions haven't changed.

Considered to be the worst garment factory accident in history, the collapse killed 1,129 and injured over 2,500 workers. Some were still missing when the search was called off.

These workers were paid anything from 12-24 cents an hour, working 90-100 hours a week with only two days off each month.

Some of the companies whose clothes were being made at Rana Plaza were among the many who claimed to have codes of conduct for factory conditions and treatment of workers in the sub-contracted factories. Some made donations towards a trust fund following the disaster, but many didn't.

So I went a little off-tangent here. Returning to the subject of the book, I found it informative, and the contents somewhat shocking. I'd have given this a 5/5 but for the fact I found the font hard to read, and the book itself a little difficult to get into.

By the way, going by the current exchange rate, the 50p (£0.50) I paid for the book would have paid a 'young helper' at Rana Plaza for an entire 6.25 hours of work, a 'junior operator' for 3.4 hours, or a 'senior sewer' for 3.1 hours. Yet for me, it was a bit of pocket change. Really puts it into perspective, doesn't it?

No More Books!

At the beginning of the year, I posted a photo of my reading pile. This picture:

(You can find a list of these books here)

A few weeks ago, after finding some old books I wanted to re-read, and buying a couple of other books, I promised myself, 'No More Books!'
I have ample to be getting on with, and more than I need to meet my goal of reading three per month for a year (goal #50).

But then I went to do some volunteering, and found these...

I mentioned 'No Logo' in my February books post. If the bookmark didn't give it away, I'm reading it right now ;) As for the other two, I decided to see what Germaine Greer had to say, especially since feminism is one of the hot topics at the moment. The Paulo Coelho book is one I've wanted to read for a while, so I was glad to have found it!

You would think I would have stopped buying books at that point, but that would be too sensible. The very next day, Mum and I went to meet with Nan, and I ended up in charity shops again...where I found these...

Books from Piers Anthony's Xanth series!
A friend sent me the first book from this series a couple of years ago and I enjoyed it, so when I caught sight of these, I swooped on them! They are random books from the series but apparently all standalone stories, so there shouldn't be much in the way of spoilers or problems with continuity.

You'd think that would be enough, right?

Never! I ended up buying another Paulo Coelho book in a different charity shop. (And some chocolate, from the 99p store and Holland & Barrett respectively. Chocolate is still a goal. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.)

So my reading pile has increased by nine. Or fourteen if you include the re-reads I added to the pile.

I definitely, definitely am not buying any more books.

....maybe.

Elves, Men and Aunt Gerda (February Reads)

Another month, another set of three books towards a goal:

050. Read 3 books per month for 1 year

As usual I've marked these out of 5 according to my overall enjoyment, although this month I did wonder if I should have been marking out of 10 all along!

The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien (2/5)

I began the month with this book to follow on from my Tolkien themed January (I've been watching Lord of the Rings and of course, I read The Hobbit!)

The Silmarillion is basically a collection of stories about how Middle Earth came to be, and of the First Age, when the elves first came to Middle Earth.

Angels, Asking and the Arkenstone

With the start of the year, I've been continuing with my reading goal:

050. Read 3 books per month for 1 year

I started on this goal in July, so now I'm 7 months in!

Here's what I read in January, as usual marked out of 5 according to my overall enjoyment of the book.

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (5/5)

I've read this before, but after listening to BBC Radio 4's adaptation during the festive season, I decided to read it again.

The antichrist has been brought into the world to start the apocalypse. The angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley, who have an Arrangement and quite like the world thank you very much, set out to find the antichrist (they lost him) and stop the apocalypse happening.

This is an entertaining book with lots of typically British humour, clever plot devices and a whole bunch of lovable characters. Yes, even the antichrist. It also has Queen references.

I may or may not have dug out Queen's Greatest Hits after reading this book...

The Art of Asking - Amanda Palmer (5/5)

Some may remember that I blogged about Amanda Palmer's TED talk of the same title a while ago. This book is like an expanded version of the talk. In it, Amanda explains how by simply asking (and trusting), she has made some great stuff happen. I can't put to words how fantastic and inspiring this book was, not to mention interesting, but I didn't give it five out of five for nothing. I'll definitely be reading this one again. You should read it too.

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien (4/5)

This was another re-read. The last time I read it was around 2000/2001, when I wanted to wade through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings before I saw 'Fellowship of the Ring' at the cinema (I didn't).

The Hobbit is about a small and hairy fellow named Bilbo, who is a hobbit and goes on an adventure with a bunch of dwarves to reclaim treasure and the under-mountain halls that were lost to a wicked dragon. There's also goblins, elves, men, and more.

What you won't find in this book (unlike in the films) is female characters. Seriously. I didn't realise until I saw a mention of it online, and having read the book again, have found it's true. Women are mentioned, but they play no role in the storyline.

I'm half inclined to deduct a point for that, but gender of characters aside I enjoyed The Hobbit. It only gets 4/5 because it took me a while to get into the story.

And that's it for January! I finished the last book on the 12th, and am now giving my brain a break from reading until February arrives!

A Little Light Reading

So 2015 is upon us, and whilst some may be getting on with their New Years Resolutions, I'm pottering about working on The List.

It's no surprise that, when asked what I wanted for Christmas, my answer was "Books". Or more specifically, "Here's a link to my Amazon wishlist."

My parents gifted me the above books, and very happy I am about them, too!

So I've added them to my reading pile...

Some people have shoes. I have books.

God, Excess, and Mrs Flanders

Alright, so this month, I nearly struggled with this goal...

050. Read 3 books per month for 1 year

I wanted to read The Hobbit but decided I didn't have time. Instead, I read these...

November Reads

November is nearly over, and I'm continuing with my goal of reading 3 books per month for a year (#050 on The List).

As this month was National Novel Writing Month, I thought it might be difficult to read three full-length novels as well as trying to write a 50k novel, so I picked some shorter books to read for November. As before, I've rated the books I read out of 5.

Magic, Feminism and Anne Rice

As I've always liked reading, I set the following goal on The List:

050. Read 3 books per month for 1 year

You'd think this would be an easy task, but in truth I set it because I became pretty lax with reading, meanwhile the 'books to read' pile was growing bigger and bigger...

Anyway! I started on this goal back in July, and realised it's about time I start blogging about it.

I'm rating each book out of 5 for how much I enjoyed it overall.