In March my reading began well but then I had a fully blocked ear for most of the month that made thinking difficult, caused much hearing loss, and made me forgetful. I got used to it but the first week was crazy. You may have noticed my review of The Collector Of Dying Breaths left much to be desired. I got back into reading, but there wasn’t much time.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Kay Kenyon: A Thousand Perfect Things – The military of Londonium travel to Bharata in order to instil British values, and Astoria joins them in order to search for the Lotus. A good book but with many flaws.

M J Rose: The Collector Of Dying Breaths – When Jac’s brother dies from a mysterious poisoning, she takes on his search for a substance that a historical apothecary believed could bring about immortality. Not bad but a little too unbelievable.

Nancy Bilyeau: The Crown – When Joanna is arrested for supposedly helping a condemned woman she is offered freedom, as well as the freedom of her father, if she will search for the cursed Athelstan crown for Stephen Gardiner. Very good.

Shannon Stacey: Love A Little Sideways – Liz moves back to Whitford and a minor accident upon arrival brings Drew Miller to the scene. Not the best Kowalski book.

My favourite this month was The Crown which made a taxing March easier to get through. It was a pity to read the final Kowalski book and find it to be so unsatisfying, but then the series as a whole has been very hit and miss.

Quotation Report

None this time.

I’m writing this on April Fool’s Day but I’ll risk it – here’s hoping April is good for everyone.

What was your favourite book this month (or week if you round-up each week)?

February was… interesting. The weather was good a lot of the time and the issues with the toilet and so forth finally got fixed. Flowers are beginning to grow again and we’re not having to use so much gas and electricity on heating and lights. But in February I had a bit of a slump and didn’t end up finishing a book until mid-month. I’m back to being motivated now but of course it’s difficult making up for 2 weeks little reading, especially when your current read is Anna Karenina…

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Aimee Bender: An Invisible Sign Of My Own – Her difficult childhood still influencing her life, superstitious Mona tries to find happiness in a world where everyone has their habits and compulsions and where bad circumstances have awful effects. A good book but rather depressing – choose your reading time wisely.

Heather Walsh: The Drake Equation – Eco charity-worker Emily meets SUV-advertiser Robert and whilst the debates are constant, love becomes more prevalent. It needs a lot of editing, but the way Walsh has written the characters is excellent.

N K Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – Yenie is called to ‘return’ to her ancestral home to become one of the heirs of her grandfather, but the earth-bound gods have other intentions. An okay book but lacking in focus.

My favourite this month was Bender’s An Invisible Sign Of My Own. That said, however, I liked it more from an objective viewpoint than personally. It had a good lesson to teach but was hard to get through. Jemisin’s book was an addition, of sorts, to my list for Long-Awaited Reads Month, as I had wanted to read it since Aarti’s first A More Diverse Universe and I had had my copy for a good while.

Quotation Report

None this time.

March is the start of spring and thus busy-ness, so who knows how much I’ll read? But I’m glad for it.

What was your favourite book this month (or week if you round-up each week)?

As opposed to December, January was full of happiness, laughter, and lots of motivation. I’m glad Christmas is over and I’m glad that after the couple of so-so weeks that tend to follow the holiday, I’m back to a routine, inspired, reading a fair amount, and writing again. Not much really happens in January, and although everyone knows it, it still feels strange when you realise you’ve not done anything particularly interesting yet (for example day trips). I’ve got to keep remembering that it’s going to be that way until sunrise and sunset make a noticeable dent in the amount of darkness.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Emma Henderson: Grace Williams Says It Loud – A differently-abled girl, born in the 1950s, struggles but survives life in an institution. The writing is confusing at times but overall this is a good book and very important.

Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl – Amy disappears and husband Nick seems not to care – could he be the killer or is there more to Amy than we think? Yep, I finally read it, and it’s as twisted but awesome as you all said.

Irène Némirovsky – Suite Française – As the Germans invade and conquer France, thousands of refugees move to areas that are still free and later adapt to life as the German soldiers move to live amongst them. An excellent book.

This month, Ana and Iris brought back last year’s successful Long-Awaited Reads Month. I loved it last year and had been looking forward to 2014’s month for a while. I read two out of the four books I said I would focus on, Suite Française and Grace Williams Says It Loud, and once again it was so much fun and very useful. Especially in the case of the Némirovsky, my thoughts were confirmed – I’ve known these past few years that I’ve been passing over a good book, and now I’ve read it I know this for absolute certain and am happy to say I’ve finally read it, credit to Long-Awaited Reads Month. Gone Girl technically counts as long-awaited, too, but as I hadn’t been desperate to read it I’m not counting it. I have no one favourite this month; these reading weeks have been stellar.

Quotation Report

None this time.

January has been good and whilst I know that one month doesn’t speak for the rest of the year I’m happy to look forward to the months to come.

What was your favourite book this month (or week if you round-up each week)?

Happy new year! This year I read 76 books, more than I have ever read in a year since I started book blogging. It was by a good amount, too, with 26 books last year and 16 up from the previous ‘best’ year. Certainly not studying helped as I had a lot more time, but I think there is something to be said for reading what you want and a great deal to be said for reading more than one book at a time. Last year I decided that reviewing every book I read was a good idea for me, and I stand by that, but as it happened I couldn’t accomplish it. Of the 76 books I read, 9 were non-fiction. I’m happy with that statistic even if it was aided by ARCs and even if I know I should and want to work harder in that vein.

As I did last year I’m including a ‘best of the best’ list in which I have tried to be as objective as possible. The decisions this year were incredibly difficult, yet still I had every intention of keeping to five as I have previously. Once I was at the fifth choice, however, choosing which of the last two candidates to include proved impossible as both were exceptional and very different, so I’ve bucked the trend and gone for six. Lower down the page, after the rest of the books (that are also listed objectively) you’ll find my personal favourites. Both selections are limited to one book per author.

As always, books that have been reviewed have a line underneath them and the title links to the review. The personal favourites is just a paragraph of book covers, because those covers (plus review links) are of course in the objective lists too. Because I realise last year’s post was huge, and some of you may be more interested in which books I personally preferred (rather than my objective list) you can click here to zoom down to my personal favourites. There is of course some overlap between the lists.

The Best Of The Best (Objective list)

• Andrew Blackman: On The Holloway Road – A man discontent with his life embarks on a journey with a notorious local, aiming to find true freedom in a country full of restrictions. Excellent.
• Becky Aikman: Saturday Night Widows – Dumped from the widow support group she’d joined and wanting to create one based on trying to live again, Aikman created an original group and in this book she details their year of meetings. Brilliant – well written, insightful, and the woman are great to read about in themselves.
• Kate Forsyth: Bitter Greens – A fictional story of the woman who wrote the popular version of Rapunzel, and how she discovered the tale (it includes a retelling of its own). My blurb here ended with me saying it would make my ‘best of’ list, and, as you can see, it has.
• Lisa See: Shanghai Girls – Pearl and her sister, May, are forced to leave their lives as models behind and marry Americans when their father gets into trouble; with Japan invading China and Communism on the way, that may prove to have been for the best. Stunning, absolutely stunning.
• Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt (ed.): Rags & Bones – An anthology of retellings in short story form, featuring the likes of Neil Gaiman, Melissa Marr herself, Kami Garcia, and Saladin Ahmed. A stunning and at times exceptional collection that I would highly recommend to anyone who likes fantasy, paranormal, and horror.
• Taylor Stevens: The Doll – Whisked away under the pretence of an accident, Munroe finds herself at the mercy of criminals who want her to deliver a ‘package’ in return for the life of her loved ones. Excellent book.

5

• Beth Hoffman: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
• Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol
• Elizabeth Chadwick: The Summer Queen
• Elizabeth Fremantle: Queen’s Gambit
• Eloisa James: Desperate Duchesses
• John Elder Robison: Raising Cubby
• Kate Forsyth: The Wild Girl
• Margaret Mitchell: Gone With The Wind
• Martin Wagner: Deutschland
• Meike Ziervogel: Magda
• Michael Pollan: The Omnivore’s Dilemma
• Pavarti K Tyler: White Chalk
• Rainbow Rowell: Eleanor & Park
• Sadie Jones: The Uninvited Guests
• Shannon Stacey: All He Ever Needed
• Shannon Stacey: All He Ever Desired

4.5

• Andrew Blackman: A Virtual Love
• Bianca Zander: The Girl Below
• Debbie Dee: The Underground Witch
• F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
• Juliana Ross: Improper Arrangements
• Julie Kagawa: The Iron Queen
• Katie McGarry: Dare You To
• Kimberly Derting: Dead Silence
• Maryanne O’Hara: Cascade
• Paulo Coelho: Manuscript Found In Accra
• Sherry Thomas: Private Arrangements
• Susan Cain: Quiet

4

• Anya Von Bremzen: Mastering The Art Of Soviet Cooking
• Beatrice Colin: The Luminous Life Of Lilly Aphrodite
• Bee Ridgway: The River Of No Return
• Debbie Dee: Tiy And The Prince Of Egypt
• Eloisa James: An Affair Before Christmas
• Jane Austen: Persuasion
• Jeanne Ray: Julie And Romeo
• Jeannie Lin: The Sword Dancer
• Kate Atkinson: Life After Life
• Michael Palin: Around The World In 80 Days
• Nancy Bilyeau: The Chalice
• Richard C Morais: Buddhaland Brooklyn
• Tanya Byrne: Follow Me Down
• Tom Kizzia: Pilgrim’s Wilderness
• Vincent Lam: The Headmaster’s Wager

3.5

• Anna Belfrage: Like Chaff In The Wind
• Anne O’Brien: The Forbidden Queen
• Jill Myles: Wicked Games
• Julie Kagawa: The Iron Knight
• Kieran Shields: The Truth Of All Things
• Kristina Carlson: Mr Darwin’s Gardener
• Lucienne Boyce: To The Fair Land
• Manisha Jolie Amin: Dancing To The Flute
• Mary Stewart: Stormy Petrel
• Sarah Mayberry: Her Best Worst Mistake
• Shannon Stacey: All He Ever Dreamed
• Sheryl Sandberg: Lean In

3

• Anna Belfrage: A Rip In The Veil
• Jessa Russo: Ever
• Pam Jenoff: The Ambassador’s Daughter
• Shannon Stacey: Snowbound With The CEO
• Sherry Thomas: His At Night

2.5

• Anna Belfrage: The Prodigal Son
• Kimberly S Young: The Eighth Wonder
• Matthew D Lieberman: Social

2

• Jeanne Ray: Calling Invisible Women

1.5

• Natalie Whipple: Transparent

1

• Andrea Zuvich: His Last Mistress
• Ruth A Casie: The Guardian’s Witch

0.5

• B N Peacock: A Tainted Dawn

My Personal Favourites

This year was about reading as much as I could and trying to balance review copies and my own books. I managed to do both, though the latter was down to, in most cases, the need to comfort read. I didn’t sign up for any challenges, but I might as well have found a romance challenge as I read a lot in that genre. During the difficult times that plagued the year the idea of reading something predictable so that I could just relax was too appealing to ignore.

This year was also about reading books I should have read a long time ago. I did read a couple of older classics, but the book in my mind here is Gone With The Wind. Since August was consumed by Mitchell’s book I didn’t expect to have finished at the number of books I have. I must admit a minor defeat by Vanity Fair. I haven’t given up on it but I’ve now been reading it for two years… Right now if I could ask any author anything I’d be asking Thackeray not to refer to every character by their prefix and surname. I know other classical fiction writers do it as well but in their cases there are less characters to sort through in order to discover which is being refered to.

Quotation Report

If the majority are to be believed, Lord Vere of His At Night can’t distinguish between a secret and a hedgehog. It will take the loss of his job for you to know the truth. And whilst Henry VIII stopped approving of monasteries and convents, he wasn’t about to let those who had joined said institutions marry, as Joanna of The Chalice finds out, on her wedding day, no less.

If you want to be typically Georgian, or rather just typically Desperate Duchesses, take up cow-pat discus. It’s as messy and smelly as it sounds. And do know that when it comes to the subject of his mother’s whereabouts (she went up in a cloud of smoke that whisked her back in time) the response from Issac, from Like Chaff In The Wind, is likely to be “can I have some ice-cream?”.

If the rest of the family are downstairs and you want to complete your collection of animals-forcibly-drawn, you can always take a leaf from the book of Smudge from The Uninvited Guests, and lead the pony up the stairs to your room. Any excrement is unimportant, it’s the drawing that matters.

If you are having an argument with Rhett Butler, the sort in which you should be slamming doors, rest assured he will do it for you.

Don’t be like Nick from The River Of No Return – if you choose to return to the past having lived in the future (our present), modern phrases just do not work, and as much as the person you fancy (ah, they may not understand that either) seems modern, they really aren’t. Even if their actions indicate otherwise.

If one has an issue creating names, they can always do as Neil Gaiman has with his contribution to Rags & Bones and use the backdrop as a good excuse. Indeed it may just create a similar sort of humour. And while we’re at it, if you’re in a medieval-ish setting, it’s likely the girl has blushed because she’s suggested the prince will wake the princess with a kiss – not with the bucket of water the dwarf considered appropriate. In the 1980s, Michael Palin shared a train with two other people apparently also known as Michael Palin. But it was the camel and its owner, again both called Michael, that may have surprised him the most when he went Around The World In 80 Days.

In Improper Arrangements, Lady Alice reminds us of changing fashions and attitudes when she says that without crinolines and petticoats she will look ridiculous. And whilst generally a girl might feel upset that another girl is wondering what the man sees in her (the first girl), the reaction of Eleanor from Eleanor & Park is one of agreement. It’s funnier than this blogger makes it sound.

In the next few days I’ll be posting my goals for 2014 and, after that, my second film round up.

What were your favourite books of 2013?

December. Wretchedness. Moving. Christmas. Not as much reading. Wendy mentioned the ’13’ second of this year – maybe she’s right. In my last round-up I said I probably wouldn’t read much in December, but it was for a very different reason.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol – A grumpy, stingy, man learns, through ghostly visitations, that he needs to change his life, in particularly his attitude to Christmas and giving. Excellent.

Elizabeth Chadwick: The Summer Queen – Married earlier than she should have been and to a man she may not have married had her father lived, Alienor (as spelled in the book) struggles to remain independent in a world where women are but child bearers and pawns. The first in a trilogy based on Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life, this book is very good.

Julie Kagawa: The Iron Knight – Ash goes on his quest to become human. Didn’t really need to be written and uses that annoying element of bringing back someone who was definitely dead, but there is some goodness in it.

Matthew D Lieberman: Social – Lieberman looks are why we were made to be social. A concept with lots of promise, particularly for it’s somewhat opposition to Susan Cain’s Quiet, the book has unrealistic expectations, is incredibly repetitive, and the reasonings given are almost always ‘because of evolution’.

Shannon Stacey: Snowbound With The CEO – A business founder and his assistant act on their mutual attraction when held up by a snowstorm around Christmastime. Not one of Stacey’s best by any means – no character or real relationship development.

This is a difficult one but I’m going to say A Christmas Carol was my favourite this month. It’s difficult because The Summer Queen was so very good. Social was my least favourite for the reasons given above.

Quotation Report

None this time.

I’ve enjoyed the reading, but otherwise so long 2013. You won’t be missed.

What was your favourite book this month (or week if you round-up each week)?