Musing Mondays – (31st Jan)

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme held over on Should be reading. To play along just answer the following question.

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

mine was Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden. I had an idea i wouldnt like this book because it was about a culture that i new nothing about. I was really wrong about this book, i loved it and stayd up until i fell asleep reading this. its fantastic.

I also stayed up many a night reading the Harry Potter Series.

Its Monday! What Are You Reading? (31st Jan)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme held over on Book Journey.

Last week i finished two books. The first was Four Play by Fiona Walker. This took me a week to read which for a chick lit book is not very good for me. Its was a very confusing read to start with by the ammount of characters introduced very quickly. Also its part of a series but i dont think ill be reading anymore of  the series. I also read Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I really enjoyed this book, but i did struggle with the language to start with.

I’m currently reading Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safron Foer for my Rory Gilmore Challenge. I’m finding this book a bit difficult too, but im perserving with it and hoping i will be able to get into it a bit more.

I havent brought anymore books this week, but i have my eye on some more.

I think next I’ll read Staying At Daisy’s – Jill Mansell. I really love her books and am hoping i love this one too!

Week in Review (30th Jan 11)

Meme

I took part in my usual four memes this week. I really enjoy taking part in them and look forward to the days that they appear 😀

Books Read

I managed two books this week. The first was Four Play – Jane Moore. I didnt enjoy this one too much but i did keep reading to find out what happened to the story. I also read Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes for the Feb reading circle on the BCF. I really enjoyed this book and read it over a couple of days. I am currently reading Everthing is Illuminated – Jonathan Safron Foer, and im really finding it quite challenging at the moment.

Books Brought

No books again this week but i have sorted out some books that i have read to trade in for some new ones.

Books heard about this week

Shiver – Maggie Stiefvater – i keep hearing about these books and have decided to give them a go.
Denise Welsh Autobiography
Hollyoaks – girl talk

 

Flowers For Algernon – Daniel Keyes

Challenges – BCF February Reading Circle
Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

Synopsis – Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper, and the gentle butt of everyone’s jokes, until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius. But then Algernon, the mouse whose triumphal experimental tranformation preceded his, fades and dies, and Charlie has to face the possibility that his salvation was only temporary.

My thoughts – I dont want to go into too much detail until the february reading circle but i really enjoyed this book. It actually made me cry at the end! i thought it was a fantastic read and would highly recommend it. More thoughts to come in the february reading circle 😀

Rating – 4/5

Daniel Keyes Books!

1 – Flowers for Algernon (1966)

2 – The Touch (1968)

3 – The Fifth Sally (1980)

4 – Until Death . . . (1994)

5 – The Asylum Prophecies (2009)

6 – Daniel Keyes Collected Stories (1989)

7 – The Minds of Billy Milligan (1981)

8 – The Milligan Wars (1994)

9 – Unvailing Claudia: A true story of serial murder (1981)

10 – Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writers Journey (1999)

11 – Precident (1962)

12 – Robot Unwanted (1952)

13 – Something Borrowed (1952)

14 – The Trouble with Elmo (1952)

15 – Crazy Maro (1960)

16 – A Jury of its Peers (1963)

17 – The Quality of Mercy (1966)

18 – Spellbinder (1976)

19 – Mama’s Girl (1992)

Booking Through Thursday 27th Jan

This Weeks Booking Through Thursday asks,

What’s the largest, thickest, heaviest book you ever read? Was it because you had to? For pleasure? For school?

The first really ‘heavy’ book i read was the latter ones in the Harry Potter Series. At the time they seemed massive! However i did read the final book within a day.

The biggest  book i have read was Windfall by Penny Vincenzi. It was a huge book, nearly 800 pages long and also a heardback. This really hurt my arms after a while 😀

It was definitly a book i read for pleasure.

I have a few bigger books on my wishlist though, for example Vanity Fair and Les Mis.

 

Four Play – Fiona Walker

Synopsis – Despite her broken heart, when Dilly Gently joins Magnus Olensen’s new band, the chemistry between them is explosive. Both impossibly romantic dizzy blondes with the souls of poets, they could be made for each other. But before they have chance to declare themselves, Dilly’s friend Nell confides that she has a huge crush on Magnus, and Dilly nobly steps down in order to play reluctant matchmaker. Nell returns the favour by setting her friend up with her dashing twin brother Flipper. But Flipper the bounder is not a good rebound for a true romantic. He hides a secret that could break Dilly’s heart all over again …

My thoughts – I found out this book was part of a series halway through the book which could explain why i found it so confusing, although apperently you can read the books in any order. I was put off to start with by the sheer amount of caracters introducted within the first few pages. \this put me off so much that i only kept reading under the promise of a secret being revealed. I’m glad i stuck with it in the end as i ended up quite enjoying it. It wasnt anything to spectacular but it was a nice read. I’m hoping my reading mojo comes back soon though 😦

Rating – 2.5/5

WWW Wednesdays (26th Jan 2011)

WWW Wednesdays is a weekly meme held over on Should Be Reading. To play along just answer the following questions 😀

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading Four Play by Fiona Walker. I’ve actually been reading this for a week, my reading mojo having gone a bit AWOL 😦 I’m enjoying this book a bit more now, to start with the amount of characters in it was overwhelming and i still cannot understand how some of them fit in with each other. Hopefully i will get this finished in the next couple of days.

 

What did you recently finish reading?

Only the one book in a week 😦 This was Isobel’s Wedding By Sheila O’Flanagan. I really did not like this book. For me the ending really really ruined it. It seemed to against everything Isobel wanted in the book and was justifying. Unfortunatly i think this book has contributed to my loss of mojo.

 

 

What do you think you will read next?

The next book I’m going to read is Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. This is for the February reading Circle over on the Book Club Forum which ive wanted to take part in for a while and its also on some of my reading challenge lists.

Fiona Walker Books!

Lodes Cronicles

1 – Lots of Love (2003)

2 – Tounge in Cheek (2005)

3 – Four Play – (2006) this is what im currently reading

4 – Love Hunt – (2008)

Novels

1 – French Relations(1994)

2 – Kiss Chase (1995)

3 – Well Groomed (1996)

4 – Snap Happy (1998)

5 – Lucy Talk (2000)

6 – Between Males (2000)

7 – Kiss and Tell (2011)

Musing Mondays 24th Jan

Musing Mondays is a weekley meme held over on Should Be Reading.

To play along just answer the following question,

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all?

there are a couple of books that i have felt this way about.

1 – To Kill a Mockingbird – I loved this book but most people i talk to (outside of the internet) havent got into it like i have.

2 – The Da Vinci Code – i loved this again, but alot of people seem to hate it.

3 – A lot of the chick lit books that i have read, i have enjoyed and others havent.

4 – The Harry Potter Series – amoungst some of my friends ‘because the films are so much better’ grrrr!