February has been an interesting reading month. It was the month that saw me pushing boundaries and leaving my comfort zone, but then I can say that that is experience gained.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Charlotte Brontë: Villette – Leaving her mundane life in England behind, Lucy Snowe departs to France for a life that is, for the most part, similarly mundane. A good book, but far too long.

Ella Drake: Silver Bound – A woman bound as a sex slave is rescued by an ex-boyfriend before she can be ruined. The set-up intimated deprivation but it was actually far more about respect and included an interesting mix of genres.

Kimberly Derting: Desires Of The Dead – Violet steps up her act by working with the FBI. It may not be as creepy as expected but it’s a worthy continuation of the series that begun with The Body Finder.

Lian Hearn: Across The Nightingale Floor – A boy with special abilities takes down the man who massacred his village. A re-read of a long-term favourite that showed me how easily I looked over things as a child. When I can collect my thoughts coherently I will review it.

Marghanita Laski: The Victorian Chaise-Longue – A woman recovering from Tuberculosis wakes up to find herself in the body of a very sick woman in the Victorian era. Takes thinking to almost philosophical levels and packs a great punch within 99 pages.

So I sort of nose-dived into erotic romance this month due to the free ebook Wednesday at Carina Press. I’ve a couple more books I may or may not read, flicking through them I’m not sure they appeal; but I did like Silver Bound and there will be a review. Drake’s usage of vastly different genres in one work tempted me to ask for a galley of her newest release, Jaq’s Harp, which is my current read and so far hints at a very good novella.

Ironically my venture in the work of Laski was also with the intention of trying something new, I expected The Victorian Chaise-Longue to be rather horrific. It wasn’t quite that, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Quotation Report

Unfortunately there isn’t one this time.

Please allow me the following little celebration: I finally finished it, I finally finished it, I finally finished Villette.

I’m now desperate to get back to historical fiction and the classics. Suffice to say next month’s roundup won’t be as diverse as this one.

Please note that I am still looking for guest posters. See this post for details.

Considering the fact that this month has been quite eventful, I’m surprised I got so many books read. In fact New Year feels 6 months away, I have written three essays for university, spent half a week traipsing round London, went on a few impromptu days out, spent far too many additional study hours playing with my nephew whilst yet spending a lot of time studying, and just generally didn’t give as much time to reading as usual. Maybe my reading speed has increased.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Alex Bell: Lex Trent Fighting With Fire – Lex is chosen to participate in the next game by the Gods and this time it may be more deadly than the last. A worthy follow-up to Lex Trent Versus The Gods.

Ally Condie: Matched – Cassia has never questioned her world, but a botch in the system that shows teenagers who they will marry introduces her to the idea that everything may not be a perfect as it seems. Brilliant.

Cat Clarke: Entangled – Grace knows that she is being held captive by Ethan in a white room but knows no more than that. It appears Ethan wants her to write, but why? As Grace begins to spill out the details of her life things start to become clear and in writing she discovers what’s happened. A very good book that takes a different angle on an established idea.

Julia Strachey: Cheerful Weather For The Wedding – A short story about the goings on of a family on the day of the daughter’s wedding. Very funny with a poigniant ending.

Lauren Kate: Torment – Luce goes to a different school while Daniel and Cam fight to protect her. But she’s unlikely to stay put when there’s the chance to find out about her past lives and as it turns out there is more than just one faction after her. Not great, but an improvement on Fallen.

This month saw me reading two of my most-awaited books of this year, as well as two other well-known books – in the case of keeping up to date, this is perhaps my best month so far. I also started Villette but, as I discussed earlier in the month when I talked of reading two books at a time, I’ve found it a difficult and monotonous read and have only just started the third volume. Hopefully I’ll have finished it by the end of February, university work permitting.

My favourite book was definitely Matched, and I was so pleased as it was my first book of the year. I was surprised to find Torment not as shabby as Fallen and although my review of the former, which I will be posting soon, is rather negative, I was happy to be able to discuss some true positives, which is something I wasn’t able to do for Fallen. And my high expectations for Cheerful Weather For The Wedding were duly met.

Quotation Report

In Lex Trent Fighting With Fire, something is obviously going on, but then something generally is. And in Cheerful Weather For The Wedding, Tom reminds us that emerald green socks are most certainly not appropriate attire for a marriage ceremony, while his aunt learns that if you assign the same bedroom to a number of people, somewhere down the vicar is going to see the school-teacher’s folded underwear.

January hasn’t been a bad month for reading, and I have loved almost all that I’ve read. Bring it on, February!

This year I read 60 books, surpassing my goal of doubling last year’s 27. Of those I wrote 43 reviews, some yet to be posted.

I’ve been thinking of how I should tackle this post ever since summer. You see last year’s post was easy enough as there weren’t so many books to talk about so I mentioned them all. But as much as I’d love to do the same this year I figure I could possibly bore you all to tears so against my artistic and organisation hopes I’ve decided to do it rather differently and listed books by rating with only my top 5 including a summary.

As always, books that have been reviewed have a line underneath them and the title links to the review.

The Best Of The Best

• Alex Bell: The Ninth Circle – When Gabriel wakes up on the kitchen floor all he knows is that he’s been bleeding and there’s money on the table. Who is this man who befriends him and what is the deal with Gabriel’s shelves of books on Hell? The book is all about religion and theology and the way Bell handles it is brilliant, she presents it from an objective view point meaning that no matter what you believe, as long as you are open to different interpretations, you should be able to enjoy it.
• Catherine Ryan Hyde: Second Hand Heart – A girl has a heart transplant and falls in love at first sight with the husband of her donor. This husband knew it was probably a bad idea to meet the recipient but felt the need to regardless. The ways in which both must learn to live are different yet strangely strung together. What’s interesting about this book is that the main character can be annoying and yet it never bogs the story down. Ryan Hyde throws some very poignant ideas our way.
• Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre – Neglected during childhood, Jane takes up a position as governess for a girl who’s guardian is peculiar but captivating. But there’s something going on at Thornfield Hall and it seems no one knows what it is. I don’t think Jane is the best character ever but it doesn’t matter as Rochester is first rate and the story is just something else, mixing numerous genres and providing something for everyone.
• Jane Austen: Pride And Prejudice – Two men enter the lives of a family of five girls causing havoc in the heart of one and belated havoc in the heart of another who takes them more at face value. This book has been an eye-opener, having read some incredibly boring books at school I had lowered my expectations, but Austen is just something else entirely.
• Lisa See: On Gold Mountain – Lisa See presents the story of her Chinese-American family’s rise to business success from the initial journey of her great-grandfather to America in the late 1800’s to the present day situation of his descendants. A fabulous tale of adventure, hardship, forbidden love, antiques and lingerie sharing the same space, and the birth of modern-day America written with the poetic language of a novel. Because of the writing style you don’t have to have a particular interest in the creation of America, See has made her otherwise-unknown family famous. Perhaps it’s weird, because these people are real people, but they are some of the most memorable characters for me this year and the book is one I’m going to have to re-read at some point in the future.

The Rest Of The List

5

• C S Lewis: The Magician’s Nephew
• C S Lewis: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
• C S Lewis: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
• Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden
• Lorna Byrne: Stairways To Heaven
• Mark Zusak: The Book Thief
• Philip Pullman: Northern Lights

4.5

• Alex Bell: Jasmyn
• Curtis Sittenfeld: Prep
• Lauren Oliver: Before I Fall
• Maria McCann: The Wilding
• Philip Pullman: The Tiger In The Well
• Terry Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters

4

• Alex Bell: Lex Trent Versus The Gods
• Alison Weir: Innocent Traitor
• C S Lewis: Prince Caspian
• David Eddings: Pawn Of Prophecy
• David Eddings: Queen Of Sorcery
• David Eddings: Magician’s Gambit
• David Eddings: Castle Of Wizardry
• David Eddings: Enchanter’s End Game
• Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights
• Kimberly Derting: The Body Finder
• L J Smith: The Forbidden Game
• Pamela Samuels Young: Murder On The Down Low
• Victoria Hislop: The Return

3.5

• Gayle Forman: If I Stay
• Katherine Webb: The Legacy
• Maile Meloy: Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It
• Paulo Coelho: Veronika Decides To Die
• Rosy Thornton: The Tapestry Of Love

3

• C S Lewis: The Horse And His Boy
• C S Lewis: The Silver Chair
• David Nicholls: One Day
• Freya North: Loves Rules
• Jane Austen: Sense And Sensibility
• Janice Y K Lee: The Piano Teacher
• Lisa See: Peony In Love
• Molly Roe: Call Me Kate
• Philip Pullman: The Butterfly Tattoo
• Sasha Blake: The Wish

2.5

• Alison Weir: The Princes In The Tower
• C S Lewis: The Last Battle
• Jane Austen: Persuasion
• Jane Austen: Sanditon And Other Stories
• Julie Buxbaum: After You
• Julith Jedamus: The Book Of Loss
• Kelly Hunter: Exposed: Misbehaving With The Magnate
• Selene Castrovilla: The Girl Next Door

2

• Celia Rees: Sovay
• J R R Tolkien: The Fellowship Of The Ring

1.5

• Philippa Gregory: The Other Boleyn Girl

1

• C S Lewis: The Great Divorce
• Stephenie Meyer: The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner

0.5

• Lauren Kate: Fallen

This year for me and reading was all about the classics, I vowed early on that I would make a start on Austen, the Brontës, and any others that came to mind and were interesting. This last part didn’t happen as the only other one that came to mind was Dickens and I’m not interested in him right now. But in reading blogs and reviews I’ve discovered Gaskell, Zola, Trollope, and also Frances Burney.

I signed up to two challenges, but the host of one of them stopped updating her site as soon as she’d organised it so I forgot to let her know of my progress. That was the Tudor Challenge, I signed up to read about 8 books but only read two, The Other Boleyn Girl and Innocent Traitor. I did better at the Historical Fiction Challenge, reading 11 out of the 20 I signed up for.

Quotation Report

If Silk of The Belgariad complains about the makeshift camp being too domestic don’t listen, he’s going to go and get some clothes that need repairing regardless. Belgarath may ask others why 2 and 2 makes 4 but when it comes down to it, he hasn’t a clue himself. And Garion will say that he hasn’t been peeking at the naked Ce’Nedra but when the second voice in his head tells him it’ll help confuse the evil god he’ll blush, and the voice reckons it’ll irritate the god as much as it irritates himself anyway, so it’s not all bad.

Elizabeth Bennet of Pride And Prejudice knows it’s probably not a good idea to go against your mother in 19th Century England, but if your father says that he will never speak to you again if you do marry Mr Collins, what option do you have? And speaking of mothers, Alice of Love Rules made a faux-pas by saying “bloody” in her mother-in-law’s presence; while Saul’s thinking that if he clicks on that dodgy-looking link he might get a sexually-transmitted computer virus. Lucky then that he knows the site is far from the one he’s looking for.

Personally it doesn’t take my fancy, but Lyra of His Dark Materials found a piece of seal-meat in her pocket, another’s coat it seems, and enjoyed it very much. And if David Eddings is anything to go by, the excitement to oneself caused by your characters suddenly making swift progress up a steep hill results in most words of a sentence ending in -ly.

Apparently, if Polly of The Magician’s Nephew is anything to go by, if you bring an evil witch queen from one world to your own, it’s fine to go home to dinner and leave her where she is. No matter if she’s intending to start her take-over of your world in the morning. And Elinor of Sense And Sensibility reckons it’s fine to tell your sister she can’t write a letter to her mother on the same day you do, no matter if you’re both at an age where petty issues like this should have ended long ago. Though you should trust her if she tells you never to wait in a shop queue if the man currently being served is looking for a toothpick case. He might be a while.

If you use Shasta of The Horse And His Boy as your case of reference you will never explore the area to the south of your home because if you go just a little way, a little little way, south, and find it uninteresting then surely further south will be just as boring. Of course this does not apply to you if you live by the sea – exploring the sea would be interesting, and possibly fatal. And while the majority of the world’s population would agree that when you’re dead that’s it, Lasaraleen of Calormen, the country south of Narnia, thinks that a good course of action is to kill a traitor and then, afterwards, feed them only bread and water. Edmund, the King of Narnia, at the time of Prince Caspian, shows us that the phrases we think are modern aren’t always so when he says “it will be more of a sucks for him if I win, and less of a let-down for us all if I fail”. And Lucy points out that girls don’t have maps in their heads like boys because their minds have a bit more substance.

In accordance with the thoughts of Lex of Lex Trent Versus The Gods, one of the biggest reasons for being a king is to be able to annoy school children down the ages who will have to copy out your name in the list of kings when they’re learning about dynasties. While Lady Luck, of the same book, knew all too well that if she let a witch in the forest the kings would would go on the hunt straight away because kings love hunting just as much as they love taking royal mistresses. And if you want to be really romantic, do as Lex’s grandfather did and name a huge hulking beast, preferably a griffin, after the person you love.

A young Jane Austen, on writing Memoirs Of Mr Clifford, believed that a man wanting a big meal to be shared with his servants would be satisfied with an egg. And Austen’s character in the short story Love And Freindship believed that because a girl was plain and called Bridget there was nothing worth talking to her for. While Vida of Second Hand Heart makes the poignant point that love isn’t like Valentines, it’s often ugly like a real heart.

In After You an expectant mother gets teary over a nappy commercial, and in Jane Eyre, Mr Rochester suggests that his dog is more like him than the girl he is guardian of. But perhaps Rochester has better manners than said dog, who waits for no one – when it’s his dinner time he’ll gladly leave his human love birds to their conversation in the middle of a meadow, and trot off back home.

Another of Rochester’s beliefs is that you may never think of hating someone whom you already despise. And just to let you know that if you ever venture to Thornfield Hall you may find his cook in the kitchen looking like she’s about to spontaneously combust from the work given her.

In The Wilding, though it may be a factual reference to plant life, it’s still rather funny to read that Jon walks out into the ha-ha.

According to Emma of One Day, Dexter tends to introduce his girlfriends to her by bringing them as a dog does a pigeon and in Murder On The Down Low, a man who rarely smiles finds he’s lost the ability to bring such an expression to his face.

Lastly, in Wyrd Sisters, a freelance robber dresses up as blackbeard for full effect and a witch suggests cornflower to improve the thickness of a grimy cauldron mix.

The next few days will be dedicated to setting out my reading intentions for this new year and I may also post about the films I saw.

What was your favourite/were your favourite books you read in 2010?

December’s been a good reading month for me, and having Christmas meant that I’ve spent a long time not reading so I’m really looking forward to getting back to it in January.

The Books

Non-Fiction

Lorna Byrne: Stairways To Heaven – Continuing on from Angels In My Hair, Byrne presents her story of seeing angels up to the present day. If you’re willing to read it with an open mind you may be amazed.

Fiction

Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights – A man whose love jilted him spends the rest of his life as a domestic abuser. An awful story wonderfully written.

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden – Unlocking a door may be the key to making everyone’s lives happier. Fantastic.

Selene Castrovilla: The Girl Next Door – Sam’s best friend is dying from cancer and doesn’t want to die a virgin. A good premise but could’ve been more. Read after reading Erin’s review.

Terry Pratchett: Wyrd Sisters – A Duke has taken control and a place he doesn’t like and three witches have hidden the rightful king until he’s older. They don’t actually know where he now is but that doesn’t matter because he’s bound to turn up at the right time. Absolutely hilarious.

The first three books listed: Wuthering Heights, The Secret Garden, and Stairways To Heaven blew me away, I had a blast reading them even though Wuthering Heights is quite possibly the most wretched book I’ve ever read. The standout was Stairways To Heaven. I know a lot of people wouldn’t like it but I personally found it answered pretty much every big question we humans ask. Whether or not Byrne is telling the truth I can’t say but she certainly seems real.

Quotation Report

In Wyrd Sisters, a freelance robber dresses up as blackbeard for full effect and a witch suggests cornflower to improve the thickness of a grimy cauldron mix.

So a good end to the year. I’ll be listing all the books I read in 2010 in my first post next year. I will be including in it all the Quotation Reports from my monthly roundups.

November was a trying month for me, literary-wise. It started well until I got to One Day, wherein I started to take a long time to finish them. In fact I should, by…rights?…have finished Wuthering Heights already but it’s a difficult read and I’ve not had as much time to spend reading. I have completed my goal to read double the amount of books as last year, which I’m very pleased about, and read my first Mills & Boon book. Hopefully I may be able to fit in a few more before the year is out.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

David Nicholls: One Day – Two people who know they should be together take years to figure it out. Too much like Cecelia Ahern’s Where Rainbows End.

Kelly Hunter: Exposed: Misbehaving With The Magnate – On returning home a woman finds she still burns for her old love and luckily he still wants her. Surprisingly not too bad.

Kimberly Derting: The Body Finder – A girl who can sense the bodies of murdered people aids the discovery of the killer. Very good young adult fiction.

Pamela Samuels Young: Murder On The Down Low – A detective and a few lawyers solve the mystery of rich black men being murdered. Lots of information about law firms, tiny chapters, a good read.

I’d say my favourite this month was The Body Finder which broke a good few barriers, a little of each. And there is a part of me wanting to read another Mills & Boon to see whether I just happened to get lucky the first time.

Quotation Report

According to Emma of One Day, Dexter tends to introduce his girlfriends to her by bringing them as a dog does a pigeon and in Murder On The Down Low, a man who rarely smiles finds he’s lost the ability to bring such an expression to his face.

Now back to Wuthering Heights…