How I Read Books Tag

I found this tag at Vanessa Buttino's Booktube channel. She is a fairly new booktuber, and I have currently subscribed to her to see if our taste in books is similar. I tried to find the creator of this tag, and the closest I could come was Ashley at Climbthestacks saying that she thought the original video no longer existed.

So now that all the formalities are out of the way, Let me begin!

1) How do you find out about new books to read?
There are loads of ways! The first is booktube. Courtesy of booktube, my wish list has grown to over 400 books. The second way is my amazing bookseller, Kerry. She passes books under my nose very often. Sometimes I have heard of them on booktube, sometimes I have never heard of them before. I still buy them, read them, and enjoy them. The other way is through my mom. She and I have similar tastes, especially now that my mom has realised that she loves fantasy. And finally, I do occasionally meet people in real life who read, and sometimes I get ideas of what to read next from them. Usually I am giving more ideas than I get though.

2) How did you get into reading?
My mom. When I was very little, I used to sit on her lap while she read the old Golden Books to me. Then, when I got a little older she would read to both my brother and I when we were in bed at night. It started with Noddy (by Enid Blyton) and progressed to The Famous Five and other books by Enid Blyton. By then, I knew I loved stories, and after my folks went to bed, I would then continue to read under the covers with a torch. I took to reading better than fish to water. Always loved it.


3) How has your taste in books changed since you've got older?
Well, the age group has changed. Other than that, I can't say it has changed too much. There was a period in my life where I declared that I was only going to read highbrow books, but that gave me my first and only reading slump. So I do what I always did. I browse shelves, pick up what interests me, and read it. I am still preferring crime thrillers when I have an urge for light reading. But even as a child, I never restricted myself to one genre. I chose books either based on the cover, what people told me, or what sounded interesting from the synopsis on the back. I even read children's classics. So, all I can say that has changed is the age group within which I read.

4) How often do you buy books?
Too often. I wish I could read them as fast as I can buy them! I go grocery shopping twice a week. Therefore I walk past - ok, who am I kidding - I walk into my favourite bookshop twice a week. It is not often I leave without something. Often I leave with two things. On rare occasions I leave with more than two things. Only very seldom do I walk out empty handed. maybe tomorrow I will be able to leave without buying something. Time will tell.

5) How did you get into booktubing?
OK, this is a blog. I don't booktube - yet - because it just seems like a huge commitment that I don't think I have the time to sign up for. But... I will say that I got into following booktubers from a Bookriot post on facebook that introduced me to some. And there  my internet bandwidth spiralled into oblivion as it became my new obsession. My initial introduction was Little Book Owl and The Readables. I must have found the most popular channels first, and subscribed to all, as if scared I was going to miss out on something, but after about a year, I was starting to get bored of the same books being discussed over and over and over again. I must confess that I unsubscribed to quite a few (nothing personal, but there are only so many times one can hear the same thing) and started looking around for new booktubers who read different books. I tend to give a booktuber a couple of months to see where our tastes lie. If we match, I keep subscribing, if not, I am sorry to say, I end it. Not because I dislike their content, but because I have so much to get through. I would also rather find other booktubers who would introduce me to different books I would enjoy.

6) How do you react when you don't like the end of a book?
I complain about it to my mom. But it is not often that I come across books that I completely despise. There generally are quite a few good pints that I enjoy.

7) How often have you taken a sneaky look at the back page of a book to see if it's a happy ending?
Never. The closest I ever got to doing that was flipping ahead through books in A Song of Ice and Fire series to see if my loved character was still alive (and narrating another chapter). That was purely because it could be 100 pages sometimes until I heard from him/her again, and that ind of suspense can kill.

8) How many people are you going to tag, and who are they?
I was going to delete this question, but hey. If you are out there and want to do this, be my guest. Link to your post below, and i will happily go and see what you had to say.

The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith

This is the 4th book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I have been working my way through them this year, and loving every moment of it.

This book is going to be difficult to talk about as it is a middle book in a series. I have also discussed the earlier books in this blog already, so anything I say about the series in general is basically going to be a repetition of what I have said before.

Briefly, in this story, Mma Makutsi expands her entrepreneurial skill by opening a typing school for men, another detective agency opens its door in town, and ... is there some romance in the air?

The characters continue to develop and grow. I also enjoy the simplistic (and sometimes rather ironic) lines of wisdom to be found in these pages. I am really impressed with how women and feminism is handled in these books. Granted, the female characters do down men a lot, but they are breaking new ground in a culture where women are seen as subservient. Maybe it is a necessary stepping stone? It is great though, seeing African women being irreplaceable, business-minded and independent.

This is the 36th book I've read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.

The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup

I have had this book on my shelf for over a year. I wanted to read it, because I really enjoyed Q&A by Vikas Swarup many, many years ago. I kept putting it off for the most shallow of reasons. I did not find the cover appealing because I do not like orange. It was completely and utterly because of the Rainbow Readathon that I picked it up at last. I REALLY don't like orange.

Sapna Sinha is given a rather unusual proposal. A multi-millionaire, a complete stranger, tells her that if she passes seven tests, she can become the CEO of his company. It would be her ticket from complete poverty to luxurious wealth. But there is that saying: if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Or is it?

As with all authors out there who have one massive first success, books they write post-success are compared to their first works. J.K. Rowling is in this category, and I feel Vikas Swarup is there too. This book does not have many great reviews on Goodreads, because it is not Q&A a.k.a Slumdog Millionaire. I don't think it is necessarily fair to compare books: The Girl on the Train is the next Gone Girl (no, it isn't - and that statement left many people very disappointed with The Girl on the Train.) and I don't think it is necessarily fair to judge an author's books against the one amazing one they wrote. Cormoran Strike is not Harry Potter, nor is the target market the same. In the same breath, The Accidental Apprentice is not Q&A. But perhaps it is just human nature and we have expectations.

After sounding like a champion for the book, I am going to be honest. This one was a quick, fun read, but it was not spectacular. The plot was based on a few lucky breaks and I found some things highly unlikely and unrealistic. There was a nice twist in the plot, though, which I did not see coming and thoroughly enjoyed. I also found the past and present story lines interesting. It had been a while since I had read a book set in India and I had fun returning and revisiting the country.

 I liked the characters. Sapna, the protagonist, was a level-headed woman who had a good moral code and a sense of responsibility. I do not give value to books solely because I can relate to the characters, but I really could relate a lot to what Sapna felt, especially with regards to her feelings of responsibility towards her family. Maybe that is what really made her character seem real to me. I could also understand and appreciate both her love for her sister and her annoyance with her sister. In fact, I can't really say there were any characters in this book that felt completely flat. Some were annoying (but one just needs to spend an hour out the house to discover that there are annoying people in the world), but as a whole, they felt real. I especially enjoyed the arc her neighbour underwent, first the Gandhian woman, prepared to die for her cause, to a celebrity.

I would recommend this book for readers who would like to start reading diversely, as it is not a difficult book to read at all and offers an interesting view into Indian culture without the romantic view of Bollywood movies. And it has cricket talk! (Maybe that isn't a selling point...)

This was the 35th books read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this one 4 stars on Goodreads, although I think it was closer to a 3.5. It was mostly fun, although I think that there were definitely some interesting points made with regards to some characters. I might need to give this one a bit more thought. Maybe I will have a more solid view when I do my (probably late) monthly wrap up.

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

This was the second novella in the bind up titled Legion and The Emperor's Soul all, obviously, by Brandon Sanderson.

I read Legion last year and absolutely loved it. It is what made me happily head out and buy the Mistborn trilogy and a few other books by Brandon Sanderson that could quite easily double as self-defense weapons.

The Emperor's Soul was not a disappointment in the slightest. It was unlike anything I had come across before.

Shai is a Forger (which is mostly what it sounds like, except it isn't.)  She doesn't forge money or documents, she forges anything by rewriting the memory of the item. Am I saying too much? I hope not. Shai is to be executed, until the council realise that she can save them. If only she can forge a new soul for the Emperor.

What I did appreciate, from having lived in South Korea for three years, was Sanderson's explanation of where his idea came from - the stamps they use in China and Korea. It was also something that I had noticed, although apparently I lacked the imagination to bend it into a story like this. (Silly me.)

Overall, I would recommend these to fans of Sanderson, or folks, like me, who are wanting to give him a try but would like to invest first in something a little shorter than the novels and series he has written.

This is the 34th book completed for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads. I really enjoyed it.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

I had heard some great things about this one on Booktube. The clincher was hearing Jen Campbell  talk about it. Generally speaking, I am not really into reading children's stories, and I can't say that I can ever really remember being up for them as a little kid even (I liked Robin Hood, Peter Pan and The Three Musketeers - all done in very abridged kiddies books with loads of pictures). But, as I have been really enjoying Jen's videos of late, I thought I would give this one a go.

Wow. No other book this year has put such a dent in my sticky note pile. I marked spot after spot in this one. But before I get ahead of myself, let me do a brief synopsis: September, a little girl, is taken through to Fairyland where many things happen. Brief, to the point, non spoilery. In fact, I bet the title alone will give you a clue as to something that happens in the book....

During the first few pages, I regretted my choice of picking this one up. It sounded like a children's book. I wasn't in the mood for a kiddie book. And then... and then the book just exploded and I fell in love with it. It is actually a strange book to categorise, because although everything about it screams 'kiddies book', I doubt children would grasp, let alone appreciate a lot of the wisdom and thoughts in it. This is just one of the first quotes that I liked.

“One ought not to judge her: all children are Heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb high trees and say shocking things and leap so very high grown-up hearts flutter in terror. Hearts weigh quite a lot. That is why it takes so long to grow one. But, as in their reading and arithmetic and drawing, different children proceed at different speeds. (It is well known that reading quickens the growth of a heart like nothing else.) Some small ones are terrible and fey, Utterly Heartless. Some are dear and sweet and Hardly Heartless At All. September stood very generally in the middle on the day the Green Wind took her, Somewhat Heartless, and Somewhat Grown.”

― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

Some of the passages were spectacular, and I found myself hijacking unwitting family members to read parts out loud. I have added a ton of quotes to my favourites. I have terrorised the staff room with retellings and recommendations.

I think anyone who was ever young, or someone who has children or deals with children, should read this book. There is something in here for everyone.

This is the 33rd book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this one an outstanding 5 stars on Goodreads because I just loved everything about it.

Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

I had heard great things about this one on Booktube. As a result, I was hesitant to read it. And then my amazing lady at my favourite bookshop pointed it out to me, and I bought it. (I am the best customer in a book shop. Someone just needs to show me a book and I am ready to buy it.)

I read it within a day or two of purchasing it. (Now that is a habit I would like to encourage!)

I had managed to remain completely spoiler free on this one. I knew nothing about the book, besides that it took place in a bookshop. (The title was a big giveaway on that point.) That is the way I like to go into books - completely blind. As a result, everything that happened was a pleasant surprise.

And that statement leaves me with a conundrum. Do I tell you what I liked about the book and risk ruining your experience of reading it? Or do I go ahead and tell you, because that is what people expect from book reviews? Puzzles, puzzles....

Actually, that is quite fitting. Puzzles. There are some puzzles in this book. And books, quite a lot of books. And there are people. Some are weird, some are modern and others are bookish. There is one thing that I have to say, and I hope it doesn't spoil anything. I really liked how the romance concluded in the book. It was completely realistic. There, I said it.  I also enjoyed how the book combined both old and new ways convincingly (vague, I know. Spoilers!). It also at no point felt fictitious.

Anyone who wants a break from heavy reading, or readers in general, will probably enjoy this (because it is about books and a bookshop - mostly-ish).

This is the 32nd book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads, solely on the enjoyment factor. It was fun, light, and everything a stressed out teacher, trying to get reports and comments done, could ever want. Plus it was in a bookshop - mostly-ish.

The Rainbow Readathon Wrap Up

What a pleasantly alliterative title!

Once again I am late in doing the wrap up. I have a good excuse. No, wait, scrap that. I have a magnificent excuse! My mom and I are in the middle of making my wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling bookcase, which means that my desk and everything else in my room is currently in chaos. It does not inspire thought for writing - anything. It is, however, motivating as far as getting the job done, goes.

So, to start off, the readathon was a huge success! I finished 5 of the 6 books I had planned to read, and made huge progress with the 6th. I read the following colours: red, orange, yellow, blue and purple (and green, if you count the green on September's jacket in The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making' - which I am because it is perfectly legal according to the rules.)

  I enjoyed every single one of these books (reviews to come if I can keep my eyes open). I have made it though 65% of Trigger Warning, according to Goodreads, although it look closer to the end if I look at the book. Oh well, who cares, right? I am really enjoying one short story a night. It is dragging out the Gaiman pleasure instead of merging the entire book into one higgledy-piggledy reading experience.

 So that was 5 books read completed.
1 book nearly completed.
1406 pages (approximately)
6 colours read.
A beautiful book pile completed.
And 7 brilliant days of reading.

What more could a book worm ask for?

The Rainbow Readathon

For the past week, I have been working on categorizing and capturing my library in a database. (I will have a post about that at some point.) It has become quite the mission and to be honest, I am regretting having started. Because now I have incomplete data and a mission that no longer feels like an entertaining quest into the treasures on my shelves. Now I just feel like a data capturer with a very flat backside.

But this mission has led me to the realisation that my TBR is getting a bit out of hand. Perhaps it isn't radioactive, and hasn't quite achieved a life of its own - yet, but it is definitely starting to concern me. I am happy when my TBR pile is in the 30s. It means I have a variety from different genres to read. It is no where near the 30s. I have been buying a lot more than I should recently. But it isn't just that my TBR is threatening to acquire life - it is that these are just a teensy, tiny iota of all the books out there that I want to read. So I need to get reading - more and faster.

So this has led me to consider doing the Rainbow Readathon. Once again, the timing is a bit off. If it were in 2 weeks time, I would be bouncing off the walls to join. It will be the holidays (which were made for teachers, not kids, because dammit man, we deserve it!)! But today and tomorrow I have off from work (tomorrow being a public holiday, and the powers-that-be, under no illusion that kids are going to come to school on Monday if Tuesday is an off day, gave us today off too). But tomorrow is a BIG day for my books. My mom and I, weather permitting, are going to make my wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling bookcase. I bought all the wood today! So I hope to be incredibly busy tomorrow. But... the weather does look a bit dubious... (When the bookcase happens, there will definitely be a post about that!)

The Rainbow Readathon requirements:
Either read 6 books that make up the colours in a rainbow, namely: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple OR read 6 books of any one colour above. You can double up on 2 colours with two books.

So, in the event that it rains, that I can mark the last exams that are written between Weds and Friday in record time, and that I can email out the marks and comments pronto, I will be reading these:

RED:
Choices, choices. I can never choose. I just want to read everything! But I have narrowed it down to The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. I know Jen Campbell loves this book and I see it was even blurbed by Neil Gaiman. One could not ask for more, could they?


ORANGE:
The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup. I bought this one last year and I was keen to read it then. I really enjoyed Q&A by the same author (which was made into the movie Slumdog Millionaire - which I have not seen), and the first paragraph of this book - WOW. Talk about getting stuck in a plot! Very keen to get through this one.

YELLOW:
Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Shop by Robin Sloan. This was a recent acquisition and it looks so nice to read. (I didn't get the glow in the dark yellow cover, but this one has enough yellow on to qualify. It also has orange and blue on in case I don't get to either of those colours.)

GREEN:

This one is easy. I have been reading it slowly but surely since last month. I don't really plan on finishing it this week, because I think rushing through short stories really kills them. I do hope to finish it this month though. So for green, it is Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman. Got to have some Gaiman on the list!

BLUE:
The Kalahari Typing School for Men, the 4th book in the Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. I have been enjoying this series (as you would know if you have been following me for any length of time) and I must admit that they are nice for readathons. I can finish a book in a sitting and yet feel that I have read something worth while. This book also has the advantage that it can double up with another colour.

 PURPLE:
And to add the cherry to the cake, I am adding some Sanderson. I have read the first story in this bind up, but there is the 2nd one left to go, The Emperor's Soul. It is also the only book I have not read that I know has purple on it. (Legion was brilliant by the way! It was a great introduction into Sanderson. And if people who love him say that it isn't the best, well, I only have great things awaiting me!)

I must admit that this really makes for a pretty TBR pile! I can't promise that I will be able to get to all of them (as I have hinted at and rather bluntly stated, I am a bit busy) but I will definitely give it a good go - unless I get to build my bookcase, in which case, I will be outside (gasp, shock, horror!) with power tools!

Are you doing this readathon? If you are, leave a link to your TBR in the comments. I would love to see what you are reading!

The Time-Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I had heard that this was a great book to read. I didn't know much about the plot, but I was curious. One of my goals with reading is not just to enjoy myself or to help me sleep at night, but to improve my mind. I want to read good books too. So that is how this one came to be on my TBR pile.

Clare has known Henry since she was six years old, when he would come and visit her from the future. She has always known that he is the man she will marry one day. This is the story of their journey.

“Think for a minute, darling: in fairy tales it's always the children who have the fine adventures. The mothers have to stay at home and wait for the children to fly in the window."

― Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife

This is such a difficult story for me to rate. I have pointed out before that I think Goodreads's rating system is rather frivolous. Why judge a book on whether one liked it, where there are so many deeper things to look at? You see, I can't say that I enjoyed this story. There was nothing wrong with it - it is just that romance is not really my preferred genre for reading. Having said that though, I have to state that this was extremely well written and that the thought that went into the plot was admirable. I also have to note that the multitude of timelines do not get confusing. She handled it masterfully. The plot progressed whether we were in the present or one of the many pasts.

I do have some issues though. The first one is the use of the word 'cunt'. Now, if it were an obnoxious male character that had used the word, I would have been fine with it. It would have been something appropriate for that character to say. But are there women out there who actually refer to their own vaginas so crudely and crassly? I feel that that word is derogatory and that women would not, as a rule, degrade themselves in such a way. I found that out of character for Clare, and I found it a bit jarring as I ended up on a mental detour debating whether women would actually use the word to refer to their own bodies, and if they did, what type of women would they be.

The book was a focus on their relationship. But yet I did not feel that they were 'meant for each other'. I am long past the days where I believe in one true love, so don't get me wrong there. But for a woman to have waited for years for a man, and to be so deeply in love with him, I feel the need to see why. There was nothing that made Henry seem to be any different from any other men out there (besides the time travelling thing) and I feel that if Clare had not met him as a child, she probably would have looked past him as an adult. In fact, it was her knowing him as a child that gets her to make him into the man she knew as a child. It is a bit paradoxical, isn't it? But my point is that I didn't think Henry was a magnificent catch (other than the fact that he seems to have a bigger library than I do - which is not necessarily a quality that I would look for in a husband; it would just be a cherry on the cake). He did some things that I have zero tolerance for and in many ways I thought he was an insensitive asshole (here I am referring to how he treated his girlfriend, Ingrid). Is this just perpetuating that idea that women can change men into their perfect 'dream guys'? And then there was Gomez and his wife Charisse, friends of Clare's. I can't go into much here without spoiling things, but I will say that I think Gomez was also an asshole.

Who do I think would enjoy this? I think people who enjoy dramas and romance would get something out of this. I think women are more likely to enjoy this than men. I would not recommend this to anyone who loves high action and plot driven novels.

This is the 31st book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads, although I think it was more a 3.5.

The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard

I was on a hunt for a short play to do with one of my classes at school. I read this almost twenty years ago at university and loved it then.  I am glad I did. I think I found it a lot funnier this time round.

The Real Inspector Hound shows a play within a play. We watch Birdboot and Moon who are theatre critics conversing while a play is going on. The play they are watching is reminiscent of Agatha Christie type murder mysteries. It even opens with a dead body on the floor! And to say much more is to spoil it. (The book is only 36 pages after all.)

This was hilarious to read. I must admit that I appreciated the critics' voices a lot more now that I am older and have been subjected to a lot more reviews of that nature. I also enjoyed the ending, which suited the genre perfectly.

Not too sure if this would be too advanced for the kids though. Hmmm... Decisions, decisions.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads (again).

Dune by Frank Herbert

I had been putting off reading Dune for the longest time. My book is ugly, fat and has the tiniest font going. I got slightly tempted when Common Touch of Fantasy decided to host a readalong for it. But it was his First Impressions video that made me decide to give it a go. After that, there was no stopping me. I finished the book before the readalong even got to the end of the first part.


Paul Atreides and his family are sent to the desert planet Arrakis. It is a trap - even they know it. But besides the political threat they face, there are the dangers in the world - the fact that water is the most valuable commodity. And let's not get talking about the sand worms - the HUGE sand worms.

I was under the impression that this was going to be a tough one to slog through. Was I wrong! Dune is easy to read and the plot keeps the pages turning - at least, in my opinion. My mom is reading it at the moment, and she is finding it slow going. I think it might be because she has been on a Clive Cussler binge for the past few months, whereas I have been reading a huge variety of different things. Anyway, I am just putting that out there, as with all things, what I think might not apply to everyone.

Dune is divided into three books. (I am not talking about the continuation of the series, which I have no intention to read as I have heard nothing good about them.) The first and third books were my favourites. I thought Book 2 was a little slower and that the pacing of it didn't quite match the other books. The third book was a little more jagged and jumped, initially, two years ahead.  I felt that there were scenes that were spoken about that I would have love to have read. I would have loved to have read about raids and battles.

I really enjoyed some of the characters in this book. I thought Jessica was a wonderfully strong female character. I also enjoyed Chani for the same reasons. I did think that some characters were a bit thick in places. I know why Herbert did what he did (for the plot), but I was not completely satisfied with the justification for these characters doing what they did. (Ahh, the joys of giving non-spoilery reviews. Everything is vague.)

I loved the world he created. I really appreciated the depth of detail and thought he put into it. There was no point in the story where I felt that this was a fictitious world. It had its history and geography - but most impressive was the way the people adapted to survive.

I have shelved this Sci-Fi and as fantasy too, because it definitely has a fantasy feel in the story telling. But as Neil Gaiman and Kazuo Isiguro pointed out, what exactly is genre? Anyone who enjoys a well thought out story line, particularly one revolving around battles etc. would enjoy this.

This is the 30th(!!!) book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.
I gave Dune 4 stars on Goodreads.

Help Me! Book Tag

I am in the mood to procrastinate and have a bit of fun. My marking is up to date (can't say the same for the papers I need to moderate - but one disaster at a time, right!) I found this one on Booktube by J&J Books, a cute duo between what I have gathered is a sister and a young brother. It scores for cuteness. (This video is just with Jess.) The original book tag is by BookGeekMovieFreak and can be found here.

So here are the questions along with my answers!

1. You have a test tomorrow, but instead of studying you’ve been reading. Which fictional character do you call to help you cram for this test? 
I really want to say Hermione Granger. I mean, which other character can one really rely upon?  But to be different I am going to go with Peekay from The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. He made a book just for that! Or, I could ask John Milton from Spud by John van de Ruit. He was a pretty smart kid. Only one problem, he might not be of much help - me being female and all that.

2. Pay day is still 2 weeks away, but you are broke. Which rich character do you ask for money to help you out? 
Oh crickey! Most of the characters I like are dead broke and facing bigger problems than money. I think I would have to go with Logan Gyre from the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. He seems to be a very honourable man and a good, loyal friend. I think, if I were his friend, I might (and that is a big might), be able to put my pride in my pocket and ask for help.

3. There is a burglar in your house. Which character to you call to help you beat up the burglar?
Jack Reacher Lizbeth Salander. I would put money on this girl getting through pretty much anything. I might even end up feeling sorry for the burglar - or not! Lizbeth is the epitome of the saying 'dynamite comes in small packages'.

4. There is a spider/snake/something else that really scares you in your house. Which character do you call to get rid of it for you? 
Ron Weasley. OK, so I would ask Ron for help, then die laughing for quite some time. Then I might call Jack Reacher Katniss Everdeen. Her skills with the bow would reduce the likelihood of me needing to replace walls; and one thing that girl can do well - besides stir up an uprising - is hunt.

5. You’ve had a really bad week. Which character do you call to cheer you up?
I really should not find this one as hard as I am to answer. I would probably go for Sam Vimes along with the rest of the cast from the City Watch Disc World novels by Terry Pratchett. As a collective they are hilarious and would definitely cheer me up.

6. There is a zombie apocalypse going on. Which character can totally handle him/herself in this apocalypse? Pick the character that would give you the highest survival chances.
Jack Reacher  OK, I got this! Paul Muad'Dib from Dune by Frank Herbert. That would be a pack of aces up the sleeve as far as strategy and beating unbelievable odds goes!

7. Your house caught on fire, you need a place to stay. Which character’s house do you want to stay in?
Can't I just go to Hogwarts? I will teach Muggle Studies! OK, more seriously. The Weasley house is very tempting because it sounds a lot like my house (without the risky architecture). But that answer has already been claimed by many. I think I would like a few days at 221B Baker Street with the boys (although that would not be good for me trying to NOT smoke). Ooo! I know. I'll bunk with Rhi Bran ap Brychan (a.k.a Robin Hood), not in Sherwood but in the Welsh forest from the King Raven series by Stephen R. Lawhead. (We are just going to ignore the fact that I would freeze to death, be it winter or summer)

8. Because your house caught on fire, you obviously don’t have any clothes. Which character do you want to borrow clothes from?
Princess Raisa ana’Marianna from the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima. I am grinning here because anyone who knows me, knows that I am not into fancy, pretty clothes. While Raisa might be a princess, she is also a warrior and as a result, knows how to dress practically. But, should the need arise, there might be something fancy in her wardrobe (all assuming that her short frame can clothe my not-so-short frame).

9. You’ve been wrongly accused of something. Which character can weasel him/herself out of any bad situation and can certainly help you get out of this pickle. 
Jack Reacher would be perfect for this because he has loads of experience in this exact area. But I am going to go for Alex Rider from the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz because he is also very good in areas like this. Mostly though, my inner maternal instincts just want to give the lad a hug. Other than that, there is Sherlock Holmes, or the kids from the Virals series by Kathy Reichs. Actually, Frank and Joe Hardy would even cut this one! (Now that is a blast from the past!)

10. You just broke up with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Which character do you call to be your rebound.
Jack Reacher (in the books by Lee Child) I have just noted how valuable he could be to have around! And he is 6'5. I LOVE a tall man. He is always on the move too, so there will definitely not be any strings attached.

Well, that is what you can call a rather vast selection of genres!

More Fool Me by Stephen Fry

I alternated between the audio book and a regular book with this one. The audio book was more enjoyable as it was read by Stephen Fry. It added a lot to the conversational tone, and I have to confess that I abandoned the physical book before the half way mark and just enjoyed listening.

The beginning was the best part. It was informative and quite humorous (his exploits on horses were worthy of quite a few laughs). Although structurally it would have driven the precision-fanatic nuts (chronological order did not exist), the tone was still very conversational and entertaining while still being informative.

Sometimes memoirs tend to knock people off their pedestals. I am sorry to say that this memoir achieved that for me. Yes, I was disappointed to learn that Fry was a coke user, but I also found that some of his humour, particularly in the diary section, very reminiscent of the grade 9 boys I teach. (That is not a compliment.) Do men still get the giggles from words like clitoris, for god's sake? That disappointed me more than the coke - which is probably odd. I think what really happened was that he became a human and not some god-like (amusing comparison for a budding atheist) entity who lauded his intelligence and wit for all to appreciate (which I still do appreciate). I never thought that I would have ever associated the word 'juvenile' with him though.

The latter part of the book was where I began to struggle. If it weren't for the fact that I was listening to it and could get on with crafty things while listening, I would still be stuck there with my next 'Great Train Robbery' (In case you are new here, that is a book that took me 5 months to read because I was bored to death with it.)  I enjoyed the beginning of his diary entries as it was written while he was writing 'The Hippopotamus' and I have a personal interest in the writing process. But then, after the book was written, it became a rather tedious description of social gatherings (generally at The Groucho Club) generally with coke and celebrities that I couldn't claim to know - the effect of not being British, I suppose. While the tone still remained conversational and entertaining, I just can't say I was interested in the content. I think I would have preferred it if he had returned to the initial style and wafted through memories that were more entertaining. I do have to wonder what his intention of it was. Did he want readers (which, let's face it, is synonymous with 'fans' here) to frown upon him? I cannot see how any other response is really possible. Unless I am missing something. Maybe people get excited at the thought of private clubs and cocaine. If anyone out there has read this, I would really love to hear another thought on this.

I rated this book 3 stars on Goodreads. It was OK overall, but the stellar parts were lost with a rather loose ending. (He didn't even mention how he stopped doing coke - or if he did, I zoned out... possible.)

This is the 29th book finished for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge and another number off the PopSugar reading challenge. (I should probably do an update on that at the end of this month too.)

PS: If you have any plans to read The Hippopotamus by Fry, I would read it before this memoir. He spoils a lot of the book (I think, never having read it, although it is on my TBR pile) while he discusses the writing process for it. Grrrr...

May 2015 Wrap Up

...coming to you late, because apparently I can never write a wrap up at the end of a month, although I must admit that the 3rd is probably the closest I have come as yet!

I did not expect to have such an awesome reading month in May. May is my worst month for work. I had twelve exam papers to set (my memos are 25 pages for the lit exams!!!) and I still had to try and do that thing called lesson planning. And that is not even touching on the admin! So how did I read so many? Just as most of you book lovers out there do, I resort to reading to keep my sanity - or bookshops (but that is a whole other mess I will discuss at the end of this post - or not. It is rather long already).

I got through ten books, or 3162 pages, in May. (Apparently my sanity really felt threatened.)

Bout of Books 13 started me off well. In that week I finished Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I found that a highly entertaining read and thought that the characters were well rounded and very realistic. They were not dumped into boxes of 'good' and 'bad', but were pleasant (dare I repeat the word 'realistic' again) combinations. Although the content is fairly mature, I think this is a valuable book for teens to read - which is probably the last thing I should have said.

In the same week I finished To Kill a Mockingbird for the fourth year in a row (I teach it). What more can be said about this one? Everyone is rereading or reading it at the moment for the release of Go Set a Watchman later this year. (I am nervous for that. What if it disappoints? What if it knocks Harper Lee off her pedestal? Should I get it the day of the release or should I risk being spoilt and wait to hear whether I want to read it or not? What should I do?) I should probably NOT mention here that, in an essay I marked today, one kid called the author Happer Lee... *le sigh*

Still during Bout of Books, I finished The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker. I think this book might have suffered as a result of the rather disrupted pace in which I read it. It came across as rather drawn out. I think that was my fault though, and not the book's. The plot was interesting and I did enjoy how suspense was kept throughout as I was given tidbits of the past to keep me curious as to what had happened. I also appreciated the two main characters (and come to think of it, the supporting cast was rather good too) and how they were not human, but trying so desperately to fit in.

The last book I read during the readathon was Room by Emma Donoghue. This is my favourite book for the month! It was written on such a dark topic but yet the choice of narrator made it light and charming. I think people who enjoy adult books that have child narrators (such as To Kill a Mockingbird) would probably enjoy this one too. I found myself sifting through my mental filing cabinet on things I learnt in Sociology and Psychology to support this book. I really thought it was ingeniously done.

After Bout of Books I finished Morality for Beautiful Girls, the third book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith. I usually read these books in one sitting and I think that usually adds to the enjoyment of them. I couldn't do that in May, and I think that might have been why I only rated this one a 4 star book. It was still good though, so don't be put off if you would like to try some literature set in Africa about African characters (written by a white man - yes, not perfect, but the books are still great reads and diverse in comparison to most reading lists).

Next up was We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I thought that the hype had died down enough and that I would have a more realistic view of the book.  That was probably a good decision as I probably would have been horribly disappointed had I read it a year ago. The book was entertaining and I did enjoy reading it, but it was not earth-shattering. I think that also knowing about the ending (not that I was spoilt, but I knew that something happened) also ruined it quite a bit as I was expecting something. It wasn't even the most original something either. It was still good though and I think the kids I teach might get a kick out of it. Great use of metaphor too, I must say. Perhaps a little over the top in places, but I like the idea of bashing the kids over the head with the stuff occasionally.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Personally I think she is quite deserving of the hype she is getting. I think Dark Places is my favourite book of hers, now that I have read all of them. This one had everything that a good old-fashioned thriller needs and a bit more. I would suggest saving this for a day where you can just sit and devour it in one sitting. I don't think it would be as amazing dragged out. I would recommend this one to people who enjoy thrillers, or those who have a penchant for the dark and twisted.

I read From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury next. This one was a bit confusing and only made sense after I had read the afterword by Bradbury, explaining that the book was a collection of pieces that had been published in a magazine (I forget the title of it now, and to unearth the book is going to take more energy than I have at the moment). As I so poorly and repetitively explained in my review below, I was expecting a book with a continuous plot line. As a result, the book did not make much sense. I also felt a bit frustrated that new characters would pop up late into the book when they had never been mentioned earlier. Of course, it all made sense much later - perhaps too late. Bradbury writes really well though. I think folks who enjoy classics and books that require that level of though while reading are more likely to enjoy it than the average book fanatic.

What was next? I am the Messenger by Markus Zusac. Although I have sworn off reading YA for a while (apparently very unsuccessfully) there are some YA books that I want to read for myself and not for ideas and recommendations for the kids at school. I loved The Book Thief by Zusac so I wanted to give this one a go too. I though it was very good as well - good enough for a 5 star rating. I think that the message in this book was very worthwhile and I liked that the characters were very real people. I am not going to go into more detail, as I think this is a good one to go into blind.

And FINALLY, I saw the end of The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton. Oh my word! I had been on this book since the 15th of January! I did not enjoy it (REALLY? Bet you didn't guess that.) While the actual robbery and the planning that went into it was impressive, the book was written like a wikipedia entry. Info dumping? It was info diarrhoea! It just never ended and I can't say it was written in any way that was even remotely entertaining. Now, I am sure there are people out there who would find this book fascinating and brilliant. I, however, am not one of them. I am glad I finished it, and, should I ever get over my dislike of being in front of cameras and volunteer for a tv programme like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, at least I have some facts about the robbery in case it is the million buck question.

Not Completed in May

I began Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman during Bout of Books. It was nice to sit and take a quick reading break from work with a short story. I am dragging this one out for a bit though, as I am enjoying a short story randomly here or there. I don't want to rush the collection as I feel it might detract from the stories. Some of the stories have been absolutely brilliant though. I enjoy how Gaiman has structured some. One story (although I can't say it was my favourite) was only written is one side of an interview - no questions. That was fun to read!

Totals for May

Read: 10 books
Books started: 1
Books cleared from my TBR pile: 9
Books added to my TBR pile: 11 (Oh dear! I still have 7 coming that I ordered too! I must find a new place to shop for groceries! I cannot walk past my favourite bookshop and go and buy boring things like toilet paper and milk without popping in!)