I've Reached 50!

Earlier this year I set myself the challenge of reading 50 books before the year is out and on Sunday afternoon I reached that goal!

I don't think that I have ever read as many books in a single year as I did this year and this year I have done a lot.

I am so proud not only to gave reached my goal, but also to have reached it before the deadline. Now I have more time to read even more books.

The full list is provided below and another one will published at the end of the year.

1. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

2. Winne the Pooh by A.A Milne

3. I Like it Like That by Cecily von Ziegesar

4. Come To Me Quietly by A.L. Jackson

5. Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones

6. The Armchair Activists' Handbook by Ruth Stokes

7. Shopped by Joanna Blytham

8. Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson

9. You're the One that I Want by Cecily Von Ziegsar

10. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Reread)

11. 100 Greatest Women edited by Kyla Barber

12. Mary Wollstonecraft by Claire Tomalin

13. Longbourn by Jo Baker

14. A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin

15. Saga: Volume 1 written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples

16. A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz

17. Fatale: Death Chases Me written by Ed Brubaker

18. Beloved by Toni Morrison

19. The Thrift Book by India Knight

20. How Green Are My Wellies? by Anna Shepard

21. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

22. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bukagov

23. The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis

24. Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton (Audiobook)

25. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

26. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

27. The Moneyless Man by Mark Boyle

28. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

29. I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

30. On the Island by Tracey Graves

31. Bedknobs and Broomsticks by Mary Norton

32. Sisters Red by Jackson Pierce

33. How to Live for Free by Mark Giles

34. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Ruben

35. How I Lived On Just A Pound A Day by Kath Kelly

36. Sabrina the Teenage Witch by David Cody Weiss and Bobbi JG Weiss

37. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

38. Stop What You're Doing And Read This by Vintage Books

39. Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire (Audiobook)

40. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

41. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Reread)

42. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James (Reread)

43. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

44. Matilda by Roald Dahl

45. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

46. That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba

47. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

48. Twentysomething by Iain Hollingshead

49. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

50. Journey's End by R.C. Sheriff 

Happy Reading!

50 for 2014

At the beginning of the year I set myself the goal to read 50 books and I reached that goal in November. Since then I have managed to complete 15 more books and here is the list:

1. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
2. Winne the Pooh by A.A Milne
3. I Like it Like That by Cecily von Ziegesar
4. Come To Me Quietly by A.L. Jackson
5. Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones
6. The Armchair Activists' Handbook by Ruth Stokes
7. Shopped by Joanna Blytham
8. Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson
9. You're the One that I Want by Cecily Von Ziegsar
10. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Reread)
11. 100 Greatest Women edited by Kyla Barber
12. Mary Wollstonecraft by Claire Tomalin

13. Longbourn by Jo Baker

14. A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin

15. Saga: Volume 1 written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples
16. A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz

17. Fatale: Death Chases Me written by Ed Brubaker
18. Beloved by Toni Morrison
19. The Thrift Book by India Knight
20. How Green Are My Wellies? by Anna Shepard
21. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
22. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bukagov
23. The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis
24. Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton (Audiobook)
25. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
26. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
27. The Moneyless Man by Mark Boyle
28. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
29. I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
30. On the Island by Tracey Graves
31. Bedknobs and Broomsticks by Mary Norton
32. Sisters Red by Jackson Pierce
33. How to Live for Free by Mark Giles
34. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Ruben
35. How I Lived On Just A Pound A Day by Kath Kelly
36. Sabrina the Teenage Witch by David Cody Weiss and Bobbi JG Weiss
37. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
38. Stop What You're Doing And Read This by Vintage Books
39. Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire (Audiobook)
40. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
41. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (Reread)
42. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James (Reread)
43. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
44. Matilda by Roald Dahl
45. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
46. That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba
47. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter
48. Twentysomething by Iain Hollingshead
49. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
50. Journey's End by R.C. Sheriff

**GOAL ACHIEVED**

51. Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone by J.K. Rowling (Reread)
52. Five Go Adventuring Again by Enid Blyton (Auidobook)
53. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

54. Fables: Deluxe Edition Volume 1 Bill Willingham
55. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol
56. Educating Rita by Willy Russell
57. Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse
58. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
59. Phosphorescence Raffaella Barker 
60. Nobody Does It Better by Cecily von Ziegesar
61. Saga: Volume 2 written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples
62. Saga: Volume 3
63. Ghost World Daniel Clowes
64. The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris
65. Hawkeye: Earth's Mightiest Marksman

SO there is the full list of all the books that I read this year. I am over the moon with this achievement and can confidently say that my love of reading is back!

Happy reading :)

Halfway Through!

At the beginning of the year I set myself the goal of reading 50 books before the end of 2014 and it is something that I am determined to achieve. Along the way I have posted discussions about issues that have arisen from the reads and even managed to review a fair few of the books that I have read. I am thrilled that 6 months in to the year I have read 26 books and so am very much on track to reaching my target. 

I am thrilled at how this challenge has reignited my passion for reading and I am very happy with the books that I have read. Some of the stand-out favourites include the biography of Mary Wollstonecraft, as well as Beloved by Toni Morrison that I have been meaning to read for a long time, the graphic novel Saga and my World Book Night Swap novel The Master and Margarita.

Here is the list so far:

1. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
2. Winne the Pooh by A.A Milne
3. I Like it Like That by Cecily von Ziegesar
4. Come To Me Quietly by A.L. Jackson
5. Escaping Reality by Lisa Renee Jones
6. The Armchair Activists' Handbook by Ruth Stokes
7. Shopped by Joanna Blytham
8. Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson
9. You're the One that I Want by Cecily Von Ziegsar
10. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
11. 100 Greatest Women edited by Kyla Barber
12. Mary Wollstonecraft by Claire Tomalin

13. Longbourn by Jo Baker

14. A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin

15. Saga: Volume 1 written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples 

16. A Kid for Two Farthings by Wolf Mankowitz
17. Fatale: Death Chases Me written by Ed Brubaker
18. Beloved by Toni Morrison
19. The Thrift Book by India Knight
20. How Green Are My Wellies? by Anna Shepared
21. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
22. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bukagov
23. The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis
24. Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
25. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
26. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky


Happy Reading!

When To Stop Reading Part II

When it comes to books, is ok good enough? A while I go posted about when to stop reading a book that you were not enjoying. After ploughing through for a few reading sessions and genuinely giving it all I had, I decided to put the book down and move on . I thought that I had the 'when to stop reading' dilemma sorted, but in the last week it has reared it's ugly head again.

In order to commemorate Charles Dickens' Day which takes place on 7th February every year I decided that I would begin reading more of his work and where better to start than at the beginning? With the help of the internet I discovered that Dickens first novel was The Pickwick Papers and so headed to my local library and checked out the brick of a book. I eagerly started reading and found that it was definitely old fashioned, clearly satirical and had a certain kind of human. I thought that this would be enough to sustain my interest and yet here we are with Dickens' Day having past and I'm still not even a hundred pages through. From my previous post you might think that it would be an easy decision for me to simply stop reading and move onto something else. However, the issue with this book feels different to the disinterest that I felt with Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. 

The Pickwick Papers is a perfectly fine book to read when I'm actually reading. When I am literally engaged in reading it I am entertained, if somewhat passively. The problem lies when I put the book down. The thing about a good novel is surely that you long to get back to it. In the past when I am fully engrossed in a story I found myself not even caring about train delays, reasoning that this gives me more time to read. So I have a new question: When it comes to books, is ok good enough? 

After a few days thought my conclusion has to be no. I examined my reason for choosing this particular book and realised that I wasn't reading it for the right reasons. I was never really interested in this book in the way that I should have been from the beginning anyway. I didn't even read the blurb before deciding to read it. I chose to read this book purely based on the fact that it was the first of Charles Dickens' books. This can surely never be a good reason to read a book. Isn't this why we resented being told what to read in school? Maybe a different Dickens novel would keep my interest better or maybe Dickens just isn't my sort of thing at all and I think I have to learn to be ok with that. I have goals for my reading this year, but I think the danger is of them becoming quotas and that just isn't going to be fun. So, yes I do want to reach the goals I set myself in January but I have resolved to do it reading whatever it is that I am genuinely interested in reading. 

Goal Update

This term in my class our theme is 'Other Worlds' and because of this the children’s tables have all been named with different fantasy lands. We have Hogwarts, Narnia, The Land of Oz, Neverland and Alice’s Wonderland. Explaining to the children that these worlds didn't just pop up in Disney films, but actually originated in books has really got me thinking. 

In light of this I would like to add a new goal to my list this year and that is to read at least one book in which these worlds exist.  What this basically means is that this year I want to read the following books:

-          Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

-          The Magician’s Nephew

-          The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

-          Peter Pan

-          Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Having started working in a Primary School in September, I have realised that there are so many great children’s books that I just didn’t read. Even books by my favourite childhood author Enid Blyton. I’m glad that it isn’t now too late to catch up on all of those fabulous stories and over the next few years I hope to make my way through the best of children’s literature. That’s really the only problem with books though isn’t it? There are always so many more to read!

Bookish Goals for 2014

This year because I know that I will have an awful lot going on, I am going to aim to read 50 books! I don't want to just wander aimlessly from one book to another, but I also don't want a rigid structure determining what I should be reading. There is nothing worse than ploughing through a book that just hasn't captured your imagination whilst staring forlornly at another. So I have devised a few guidelines to follow so that I can have a varied reading life for this coming year. 

My 50 books will include:

4 books from the uni TBR pile

5 classics

3 auto/biographies

2 graphic novels

3 plays

2 books of poetry

I kept the numbers small because I don't want to commit myself to too many of certain kinds of books because I still want reading to be fun. The problem with my reading life at university was that it was too regimented. I lost one of the ways in which I used to de-stress because it became the cause of my stress and I don't want to repeat that. These few simple rules feel like they are a good balance. 

I'll be keeping a list throughout the year, which I'll be posting at the beginning of next year to see how I got on.You can also keep up with my progress on my goodreads page here. 

What are your book goals for 2104?