February Reads
I’m quite impressed with how well I’m keeping up with this whole reading thing. Another four books read this year, that’s seven now and I’m almost finished The Great Gatsby so that’ll be eight, only two away from how many books I read in 2013. No wonder I made this unofficial resolutions to read more for 2014! The only problem is that now I feel the need to buy more books. My basket on Amazon is filled with bargain books from the marketplace (anyone else love that for cheap DVDs and books or is it just me?) My to read shelf is pretty full but every time I finish one book I feel the need to buy three more for some reason. Oh well, I love books.
Anyway, here is what I managed to read in February.
The first book I read in February was The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson (longest book title ever award). Well I finished it in February, I started it in January but it did take me a little while to get into since it seemed to jump around a lot. It had one main story that went right through the book which was the bit I enjoyed and kept reading to find out what was going to happen and then there were flashbacks from the hundred year old man’s life. Some were funny, others were plain ridiculous and then there were a few boring ones that seemed to drag on for a lot of pages. It was an interesting read, but something I probably wouldn’t attempt again. I found it a bit of a shame that there wasn’t more padding to the main story.
Then I read a book by possibly one of my all time favourite authors, it was The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro. I have read all her books over the course of probably about seven years, I think she writes beautiful and the stories really get me hooked. I think I read this one over the course of 24 hours, I was that drawn in. This story also had flashbacks, but I loved both these and the main story equally. I loved the characters, they were interesting and I could definitely empathise with them. Although this is a chick lit book, it’s not like Sophie Kinsella or Cecelia Ahern, it has a mystery that pans out nicely by the end. However my only critism is that I wanted more. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the characters by the end! I really implore you to read one of Kathleen Tessaro’s books if you haven’t already.
After that I moved onto a real chick lit. I wanted something to read on the train last week that would be easy and quick, nothing too in depth that made me think, so I took Winter Wonderland by Belinda Jones. Belinda Jones is another author that I’ve read all her books, this tends to be a pattern with me, if I like one by the author I’ll read the lot. Winter Wonderland was what it was, a chick lit book. It was entertaining and enjoyable but simply as a chick lit book. I didn’t dislike any characters, I found it easy to read, and the plot wasn’t too bad either. It really is just a perfect holiday read, although I’m not sure how many people want to read about snowy Canada while lying on a beach!
Finally, my best friend Bee gave me the gift of literature as a belated Christmas present while I was down visiting her. It’s called The Invisible Kingdom and it’s a book by the artist Rob Ryan, whom I’ve actually admired for years. He does all those paper cutting prints and he illustrated the cover for one of my favourite books, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. The book is wonderfully illustrated and the story is really sweet too, I can’t wait until Little Miss is old enough to read it. It is incredibly short, it would be good for a child but I’m unsure if they’d appreciate the sentiment behind the story like I did. It’s actually the first in a trilogy which is good because it ended at such a point as I wanted to read more, I’ll definitely be buying the other two when they are released.
See, the inside is just beautiful and it’s the same the whole way through. The illustrations definitely reflect the wonderful world that Rob Ryan has created. It’s beautiful, and if you’ve read by blog for a while you’ll know I’m a lover of beautiful things.
You can follow me on Good Reads to see what I’m reading in March or maybe you could recommend me something good that you’ve read this month?
5 Comments
Dimps
I try to use my library for books, much more cost effective. Especially because I have limited space to store them.
Rachael
Def agree with Dimps about making use of your local library – even if they don’t have the book you want they’ll order it in for you most likely. Charity shops are also a great way of buying new books on the cheap.
Jay
I’ve just finished A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry which was an excellent read although very very sad, currently reading Alys Always by Harriet Lane , this was the book I chose out of our reading group Christmas lucky dip. I’m enjoying it so far and it feels like it’s about to get interesting; coincidentally I put The Hundred Year Old Man…. into the same lucky dip! I’ve enjoyed your reviews it gives me more to put on my Amazon wish list!
Sophie Kean
So many good suggestions to add to my to-read list! Me and my blogger friend have an online monthly book club if you’re interested. Details are over on my blog at http://www.followyourarrow.co.uk 🙂
Hayley Warren
I LOVED The Hundred Year Old Man, I recommend it to everybody! He has a new book coming out in April and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! I read four books in February too 🙂