Summer Holiday Reads

Summer has always been a time of reading for me, as a child my family rarely went abroad as we had a touring caravan and therefore explored most of England and Scotland instead. That left plenty of time when it was raining to sit in the front of the caravan, listening to the rain and reading by the light of the overhead lamp I would claim as mine every holiday.
Now years have passed and said caravan has been sold to a family friend and now I am holidaying with DB's family as my parents head south, but the summer read persists in my brain. Even in years when my reading has dropped down to about 5 or 6 books a year, the majority of those would be read during the summer holidays in the garden or by the patio doors stretched out in whatever sunlight I could find. Yes, apparently I am a cat.

This year is no different and I spent last night deciding which books would be my reads of this summer holidays, I shall list them here and review them when I return.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 

Having been intently watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries since it began this year I've decided to finally start to read the original source material. I've seen enough spin offs (Bride and Prejudice, Lost in Austen) to have a good idea of the story, but I'm sure this won't take away from the original!

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

 

 I've read a couple of the Discworld novels ever since I saw the TV adaptation of Hogfather and thought it was fantastic. Death has always been my favourite character and this one seems to feature him heavily which I'm sure will leave me very happy.

Hungry, the Stars and Everything by Emma Jane Unsworth

 Unsworth is the partner of Guy Garvey, lead singer of Elbow my favourite band, and if she's half as talented with words as he is I'm sure this will be a fantastic read. Her blog isn't half bad either! (Although it hasn't been updated in a while)

A Fool's Paradise by Elmify

 
A story written by Elmify of YouTube fame, whilst she was in high school. She read an excerpt in a video and it seemed really interesting and it cost me all of £1.50 so I didn't see why not! You should definitely check out her videos, they are hilarious and wonderfully eloquent.


So those are my summer reads, I shall review them all upon my return! What are you planning to read this summer? Anything recommended by Richard and Judy? Me neither...

FINISHED: Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

So, Noughts and Crosses, I wasn't so sure at first, but it really surprised me. I am really impressed. A dystopian YA book that doesn't shy away from the harsh reality of awful situations.

Bombs go off, people die, awful decisions have to be made and I loved that. I was really impressed.
Blackman doesn't shy away from issues of race and occasionally issues of gender, handling them really well. Her characterisation is nigh on perfect too.

If I have two problems with it, and they are very small, they are that occasionally she sprints through periods of time without too much explanation and that her prose isn't brilliant, but I suppose it is a YA novel so I can cope with those issues.

Overall, I am really impressed and will be going returning to this series soon!

8/10

STARTING: Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

A book I've been seeing on shelves in Waterstones for years, each time saying "one day I'll get around to reading that" and finally I am. We'll see if it lives up to the hype! Not sure if it's the first in a series or standalone but I'm not sure I want to spoil the story by finding out.

Check out my goodreads to see how I'm getting through it! http://www.goodreads.com/fivebyfivewhat

Once a tag cheater, always a tag cheater.. [7 Deadly Sins of Reading]

Ok, I admit it. I haven't been tagged to do this. Scandalous I know, but to be honest, I'm bored and need to do something other than rewatching YouTube videos I've seen numerous times before, so here we go! Remember those old myspace quizzes that used to start off innocuous but then end up being suddenly about your sex life? I used to do those all the time.. not that 13 year old me had anything to tell...
Well that inadvertently ended up in a weird place... let's get on with the tag before I say something else.

 The 7 Deadly Sins of Reading

GREED
What is your most expensive book? What is your least expensive book?
Most expensive would probably have to be a special edition copy of 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' that I saved up for in my early teens and now cherish. It currently resides on the bookshelf in my room in my university house.
Least expensive would have to be a copy of 'Artemis Fowl' that I got for 99p and still have not got around to reading...

WRATH
Which author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
Darren Shan. Seriously, I adored his books as a kid, but as I've gotten older I still want to devour everything he writes out of pure unadulterated loyalty but they now seem formulaic and easy to predict. Disappointing. Sorry Darren...

GLUTTONY
What book have you deliciously devoured over and over with no shame whatsoever?
I went through a stage of just rereading the books I already owned for about 4 years so this could be a long list, but to just choose one... (not counting the Harry Potter books of course) 'Paper Towns' by John Green. I just adore it, so beautifully paced, even once you know the storyline.

SLOTH
What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?
'Sophie's Choice'. That makes me sound like a terrible human, I was told to read it before my A Level course on ethics so bought it and now, even after my first year at university, I still haven't even opened it. Bad Mary. Bad.
Oh and every autobiography on my shelf, I always buy them, thinking they'll be fascinating and never get over halfway through. They're not cheap either!

PRIDE
What book do you most talk about in order to sound like a very intellectual reader?
'Middlesex' by Jeffrey Eugenides, well really anything written by him. Or 'Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit' by Jeanette Winterson, you'd be surprised how much credit you get by reading that off your own back, rather than for a course.

LUST
What attributes do you find most attractive in male or female characters?
To say that I find certain attributes attractive in characters would be to imply that I have some conscious choice in the matter, but I seem to find that the male characters I am drawn to are usually evil, or perceived as so by the protagonist (read Severus Snape) and female characters are usually feisty, independent and often rude. Rampaging feminist, what can I say?

ENVY
What books would you most like to receive as a gift?
Anything that someone things I would benefit from reading, I love it when people give me their favourite books to see if I can discover something new!

STARTING: Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

[EDIT: In resizing the picture on this post it has moved it up in the chronological order of my posts.. thanks Blogger. If you want to read the review for this book you'll need to look back a few posts :)]

And now for something completely different!
A recommendation from both my parents, they've finally got me to start reading Jeffrey Archer, so we'll see how this goes! I think this book is part of a trilogy but I doubt I'll read them all in a row.

Let's see if it lives up to the hype created by my family!

FINISHED: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Finished last night after it took a turn for the absurd...

*HERE BE SPOILERS*

after being locked up in Thai prison after being inadvertently used as a drugs mule and caught at customs, dear Bridget is sent a live bullet from a mysterious source and ends up staying in Mark Darcy's house under the pretext of her flat not being safe..

*SPOILERS GONE*

It all gets a bit contrived, but the comic writing never falters and I was giggling away til the end, just ask DB, he got the brunt of it.

Very much enjoyed this book, perhaps it didn't have the charm of the original, but it wasn't far off!

7/10

Currently Reading: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Hey guys, so it's been a while! I suppose these things always take a turn down in posting when the summer comes around, less opportunities to procrastinate I suppose! DB has given me a ridiculous amount of books to read over the summer despite my plans to take my Kindle to Cornwall on the family holiday to save on space... hmm...

So Bridget Jones is going well, just as funny as the original, if not slightly funnier due to Mark Darcy's frequent bizarre appearances just at the wrong time, as always. Poor Bridge.
At least she's finally thrown away all those horrid self help books which perpetuate the "male hive mind" myth. Good for you Bridget, you fictional character.

I'm getting there guys, why not check out my goodreads to keep an eye on my (somewhat slow) progress?

http://www.goodreads.com/fivebyfivewhat

STARTING: Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason - Helen Fielding

After watching the first Bridget Jones film for the first time in ages, and having read the original book years ago whilst on a holiday on the Isle of Skye, I thought I'd give the sequel a try, after telling DB that I didn't want to read anything that was in a series for a while. Classic Mary.