Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell * Reading Challenge Recap *

Challenges – #14/691 – Ultimate Teen Book Guide, #14/782 Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition

Synopsis – Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell’s magnificent historical epic is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and a people forever changed. Above all, it is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett O’Hara and the dashing soldier of fortune, Rhett Butler.

My Thoughts – My orginal review can be found HERE. I really enjoyed this book – surprisingly so. I always struggle with long/classic books and I didnt think I would get into this as much as I did. I would definitaly re-read this at some point too.

Rating – 5/5

Recommendations – Ultimate Teen Book Guide – Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier, The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane, Katherine – Anya Seton.

Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition – Scarlett – Alexandra Ripley, The WInd Done Gone – Alice Randall, Katherine – Anya Seaton (Challenge Book), Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier.

Girls in Love – Jacqueline Wilson *Reading Challenge Recap*

Challenges – #13/691 Ultimate Teen Book Guide #13/782 Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition.

Series – Girls

• Girls In Love
• Girls Under Pressure
• Girls Out Late
• Girls In Tears

Synopsis – Meet Ellie and her best friends Nadine and Magda, three teenage girls just starting Year Nine with a lot on their minds – mainly boys! Told in the bright, sparky and authentic voice of Ellie, Girls in Love is a funny, frank and revealing look at their friendships, problems and heartaches that older fans of bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson will adore.

My Thoughts – I read this book back when I was a pre-teen – over and over again. I really really enjoyed it at the time but I never realised that it was part of a series! I also really enjoyed the TV show that it was made into. This was a really good read for a pre-teen/young teenager and I’ve just added it to my wishlist to read again!

Rating – 4/5

Recommendations – Ultimate Teen Book Guide – Girls Under Pressure – Jacqueline Wilson, Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging – Louise Rennison (Challenge Book), Mates, Dates . . . Series – Cathy Hopkins (Challenge Book), Notes From the Teenage Underground – Simmone Howells.

Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition – Girls Under Pressure – Jacqueline Wilson, Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging – Louise Rennison (Challenge Book), Ginger Snaps – Cathy Cassidy.

 

The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde * Reading Challenge Recap *

Challenges – #11/691 Ultimate Teen Book Guide, #11/782 Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition.

Series – Thursday Next

• The Eyre Affair
• Lost in a Good Book
• The Well of Lost Plots
• Something Rotten
• First Among Sequels
• One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
• The Woman Who Died A Lot

Synopsis – There is another 1985, where London’s criminal gangs have moved into the lucrative literary market, and Thursday Next is on the trail of the new crime wave’s MR Big.

Acheron Hades has been kidnapping certain characters from works of fiction and holding them to ransom. Jane Eyre is gone. Missing.

Thursday sets out to find a way into the book to repair the damage. But solving crimes against literature isn’t easy when you also have to find time to halt the Crimean War, persuade the man you love to marry you, and figure out who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays.

Perhaps today just isn’t going to be Thursday’s day. Join her on a truly breathtaking adventure, and find out for yourself. Fiction will never be the same again …

My Thoughts – I tried to read this a few years back – I think in around 2014 ish but unfortunatly I really couldnt get into it at all – which was a shame as the plot sounds like a book I would enjoy and a lot of people really rate this series. I’m not sure if it was the timing of reading or something else but having just read through the synopsis again I do think I’ll give it another go. I’ve added it to my wishlist on audible as I’m really getting into audiobooks so hopefully it will appeal to me in that way!

Rating – A bit unfair to rate as I never finished it.

Recommendations – Ultimate Teen Book Guide – Is Heathcliff a Murderer? – John Sutherland, Good Omens – Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (Challenge Book), Austenland – Shannon Hale.

Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition – Nursery Crime Adventures – Jasper Fforde, M is for Magic – Neil Gaiman (Challenge Book), The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams (Challenge Book)

Dracula – Bram Stoker * Reading Challenge Recap *

Challenges – Ultimate Teen Book Guide – #10/691, Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition #10/782

Synopsis – When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries in his client’s castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England: a ship runs aground on the shores of Whitby, its crew vanished; beautiful Lucy Westenra slowly succumbs to a mysterious, wasting illness, her blood drained away; and the lunatic Renfield raves about the imminent arrival of his ‘master’. In the ensuing battle of wills between the sinister Count and a determined group of adversaries – led by the intrepid vampire hunter Abraham van Helsing – Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre, probing into questions of identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

My Thoughts – I read this back in 2012 on my Kindle and actually really enjoyed it. I’ve always struggled with classic books as I seem to struggle to get into them but this one was really good. My original review can be found HERE.

Rating – I rated this book 5/5.

Recommendations – Ultimate Teen Book Guide – Carmilla – Sheridan Le Fanu, dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Stevenson (Challenge Book), Twilight – Stephenie Meyer (Challenge book), Peeps – Scott Westerfield (Challenge Book), The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova (Challenge Book), Jane Austen – Northanger Abbey (Challenge Book)

Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition – Carmilla – Sheridan Le Fanu, dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Stevenson (Challenge Book), Night World Series – L.J. Smith (Challenge Book), Twilight – Stephenie Mayer (Challenge Book), Interview with a Vampire – Anne Rice (Challenge Book), Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen.

The Keeper of Lost Things – Ruth Hogan Book Review

Format – Audiobook

Synopsis – Meet the Keeper of Lost Things….

Once a celebrated author of short stories now in his twilight years, Anthony Peardew has spent half his life collecting lost objects, trying to atone for a promise broken many years before.

Realising he is running out of time, he leaves his house and all its lost treasures to his assistant Laura, the one person he can trust to fulfil his legacy and reunite the thousands of objects with their rightful owners.

But the final wishes of the Keeper of Lost Things have unforeseen repercussions which trigger a most serendipitous series of encounters….

My Thoughts – I downloaded this from audible as it was on a 2 for 1 offer but it’s also a book that I’ve wanted to read for a while. This book has two different plot lines running, the first being Anthony Peardew and Laura and the other is Bomber and Eunice. Anthony becomes ‘The Keeper of Lost Things’ when his wife to be suddenly dies and many years later Laura becomes his housekeeper. When he dies we are introduced to the character of Sunshine, a young lady with Downs Syndrome, and I have to say that if everyone had Sunshine in their lives the world would be a much better place. This plot of the book was really good and had me hooked right to the end – what does happen with all the things tha are lost?

The second plot line to this book is Bomber and his assistant Eunice. This was a lovely little sub plot – woven so tightly with the other story but at the same time just not close enough to see where the two would link. It took til right at the end for it all to become apparent.

This was an amazing story – one that I would highly recommend that everyone read!

Rating – 5/5

The Last Thing She Told Me – Linda Green Book Review

Format – Audiobook

Synopsis – Even the deepest buried secrets can find their way to the surface…

Moments before she dies, Nicola’s grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden.

Nicola’s mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola’s daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty’s garden, it’s clear that something sinister has taken place.

But will unearthing painful family secrets end up tearing Nicola’s family apart?

My Thoughts – I downloaded this on audible a little while back as it sounded like a really good thriller! This book is about 4 generations of the same family and how things that happened to one have shaped the lives of the others. It was a really fantastic book with such a good plot that I think I might go back and listen to it all again as know I know what happened I will probably enjoy it even more.

It took me a while to understand the narration in the book but once I had it figured out then I really enjoyed it. I’m not sure if I have read anything else by the author previously but I’ll definitely be reading more. It was fantastic and really had me hooked!

A great recommended read.

Rating – 4.5/5

Bring Me Back – B A Paris Book Review

Format – Audiobook

Synopsis – The Disappearance
Twelve years ago Finn’s girlfriend disappeared.

The Suspicion
He told the police the truth about that night.
Just not quite the whole truth.

The Fear
Now Finn has moved on.
But his past won’t stay buried….

My Thoughts – I downloaded this as it was the daily deal on Amazon. This book is about Finn, a man who 12 years ago lost his girlfriend in France following an argument. She has never been found – he has moved on with her sister. But things have been coming to light to indicate that Layla, the first girlfriend, is alive.

Never have I been so confused by a book – in a good way. It really messed with my head and I couldn’t work out which way this plot was going to go. I did work out around halfway through what I thought would happen – and it did eventually happen – however I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the different narrations and the going back and forward in the time lines. A very enjoyable listen.

Rating – 4/5

Does My Bum Look Big in This? Arabella Weir Book Review

Format – Paperback book

Challenges – Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition

Synopsis – Like all women, Jackie knows life would be perfect if only she had a small bum, sticky-up bosoms and didn’t grow a moustache once a month . . . Chart her progress as she perfects the art of feeling shitty about every little, and not so little, bit of herself. The potential for self-doubt lies in everything – and it’s all her fault.

My Thoughts – I brought this as it was part of the Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition reading challenge as it was recommended under the Bridget Jones books. This was fairly similar to the Bridget Jones in the plot however I just found it very unbelievable and almost quite shocking that anyone could be quite that shallow. For example – deciding not to eat to impress a man is quite ridiculous and really in my opinion doesn’t set too much of a good example to a young girl that could be reading the book. I didn’t really enjoy this at all and to be honest I was glad to see the end of it. Maybe I’m just at the wrong time of life to read this book however it just wasnt for me.

Rating – 1/5

The Forth Friend – Joy Ellis Book Review

Format – audiobook

Synopsis – Crimebusting duo DI Jackman and DS Evans are back, solving another crime that will make your skin crawl.

Police detective Carter McLean is the only survivor of a plane crash that kills his four best friends. He returns to work, but he is left full of guilt and terrible flashbacks. So for each of his four friends, he decides to complete something that they left unfinished.

Eighteen months before the crash, Suzanne Holland disappeared, leaving a room with traces of blood but no other leads. Suzanne was the wife of one of Carter’s four best friends. Adding to the pressure, the boss’ niece has a stalker. Due to the sensitivity of the Holland case, Carter is put on this investigation.

DS Marie Evans is the only person Carter can confide in. But even she begins to doubt whether he can really cope and whether he is actually losing his mind. DI Jackman and DS Evans of the Fenland police face a battle to untangle three mysteries, and can they really believe their friend and colleague Carter?

My Thoughts – I am loving this series of books set in the Lincolnshire Fens. This is the 3rd book in the series and I’m going to be sad when there is no more left to read!

This book is more about Marie Evans than Jackman as opposed to the first couple of books and it was good to have a bit of difference in the series. I did wonder for a while how the missing person plot and Carter McClean were going to tie in together and I was a little frustrated with it to start with. However I enjoyed how the two sub plots became one plot in the end. The ending was very sad too – I wished that there could have been a different outcome but I understand why it happened that way.

The next book is released on audible on 15th February and I’m very much looking forward to it!

Rating – 4/5

The Secret Child – Kerry Fisher Book Review

Format – audiobook

2018 book

Synopsis – You can run from your past, but it will always catch up with you…

Susie was forced to do something she will always regret. Everything that led to the choice she made had to be buried and forgotten.

Her secret echoes down through the years, tainting everything it touches. Her husband wonders why his wife is so distant. Her daughters can’t understand their changeable mother.

Susie knows her past is pushing her family apart, and the guilt is eating her up, but she can’t escape from the consequences of what she has done. No-one but Susie knows the whole story, and when her daughters discover a piece of the puzzle, she must face the question she has struggled with for most of her life:

Would the truth bring them back together, or break them?

My Thoughts – I downloaded this on audible as I’m really enjoying thrillers and this sort of genre at the minute. This book is about Susie a woman who lives in England and how one event can shape not only her whole life but all those others around her. It was quite a thought-provoking book about how you could be married to someone and not quite know everything about them and the guilt that you could feel from one tiny little secret.

This book was the first that I had read by this author and I really enjoyed it – I’d definitely want to read more.

Rating – 4/5