February Wrap Up & March TBR

This post is going up a little later than I had planned, however I thought it would be nice to share my monthly wrap up here on my blog, in the hope that it will encourage me to keep up with my reading gal for the year.  Alongside that, my hope that is by sharing a TBR each month, I can set myself an achievable goal each month.  I always know roughly which books I want to read next, and even keep a TBR stack on my bedside table.  But I’m hoping that by sharing them here I might stick to my TBR a little more.

For the month of February I read 4 books.

                  harrypotter              cityofashes

Carriedarkplaces

My plan for from January onwards has been to re-read a Harry Potter book either every other book I read, or at least one a month, and so far I’m on track!! Also, after reading City of Bones in January (which I fell in love with!) I have decided to read the rest of the series by reading one a month.  I want to read them all straight away, but don’t want it to stop me reading other books along the way.  You can find my review of Carrie by Stephen King here.

That being said, I’m currently behind on this months TBR (which was to read another 4 books) as I’m still on my first one!  I am currently reading City of Glass by Cassandra Claire and while I am really enjoying it so far, I’ve just been super busy! My goal for march is to finishing reading City of Glass and them move onto American Sniper by Chris Kyle, You and Me, Always by Jill Mansell and Carry On my Rainbow Rowell.

              City_of_glassamerican sniper

you and me always               carry on

Fingers crossed I can pick the pace back up and move on to these book within March! I will be sure to keep you updated, and I’ve been keeping my Goodreads a lot more up to date now, so feel free to check out my profile to see how I’m getting on with my Reading Goal!

If you enjoyed this blog post, please let me know in the comments below and don’t forget to tell me your favourite book from February and your March TBR plans! 🙂

Please like,share and follow if you enjoyed this post, and feel free to leave recommendations in the comments.

 

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Carrie; Stephen King

Carrie

I’ve been a fan of Stephen King for quite a while now, and I’m always finding more books of his that I want to read.  Carrie has been on my TBR for years and years, and I finally got around to reading it last week.

[The Plot]: Carrie knew she should not use the terrifying power she possessed… But one night at her senior prom, Carrie was scorned and humiliated just one time too many, and in a fit of uncontrollable fury she turned her clandestine game into a weapon of horror and destruction…

I’m so glad I finally got around to reading Carrie, and I can’t believe I didn’t know this was Stephen Kings first novel.  Carrie is a loner, she has no friends and was raised under her mothers strict rule.  She’s a complete outcast in school, the butt of every joke and naive in every way.  All until one fateful gym class where it all gets too much for Carrie and she snaps.

Carrie has her first ever period in the shower after gym class, and has no idea what is happening to her.  So when the other girls all laugh and shout at her, she snaps and sends up being sent home.  Carries mother’s religious views are so intense that she genuinely believes Carrie has gotten her period as punishment for a sin. The more Carrie is starting to understand what is happening to her and her body, the angrier she is getting, towards her mother for not explaining things to her, and to her peers at school for laughing at her and mocking her.  She starts to realise that she can move things with her mind, and at first it takes a lot of effort, but with practice, she becomes stronger and stronger.

Carrie seems to be in a better place up until her senior prom.  Sue Snell, one of the girls shouting and laughing at Carrie in the shower room, had felt so guilty about what had happened she has convoked her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom.  As a friendly gesture.  However, things go sour from there on in.  Carrie is once again humiliated in a horrible prank, in front of the entire prom and she fully looses it.  I don’t want to give away too much (although I’m sure many of you will have read the book, or seen the film), but Carrie uses her new found power to pay back those who have hurt for all these years.

The only reason I didn’t rate this book five stars, was purely for the fact that I was expecting it to be much more scary.  I found it to be tense and somewhat thrilling, but not so much scary, so I was a little disappointed.  The next Stephen King book I intend to read is The Shining, but please leave any more recommendations in the comments below.

I rate this book four out of five stars.

four star

Those were just my bookish thoughts, but I would love to hear yours in the comments below.

Please like,share and follow if you enjoyed this post, and feel free to leave recommendations in the comments.

Mr Mercedes; Stephen King

mr mercedes

I think it’s becoming quite clear that I’m a little bit in love with Stephen King’s books.  I think this is the darkest of King’s books I’ve read so far.  That being said, I think it’s also my favourite.

 [The Plot]:  A cat-and-mouse suspense thriller featuring Bill Hodges, a retired cop who is tormented by ‘the Mercedes massacre’, a case he never solved.
Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of that notorious crime, has sent Hodges a taunting letter. Now he’s preparing to kill again.
Each starts to close in on the other in a mega-stakes race against time.

When I picked up this book, I didn’t really know what to expect.  I had read the back, but I didn’t go to the extent of looking up reviews or scrolling through Goodreads.  When I started the book, I felt really sorry for Bill and I didn’t really know what direction the book would take him in.  Bill is seriously considering suicide and has no fear in him about death and what little he has to leave behind.  When he receives the letter form Brady, it’s almost like a spark has been lit and he has something to focus on again.

As you read about Brady, it doesn’t seem possible at first but he gets more and more dark and disturbed as the book goes on.  There is no way you could really fully understand his as a person, but It’s interesting to read from his view.  Instead of just hearing from Bill, you get to see into the bizarre ways Brady justifies his actions and his way of thinking.

The more I read, the more I wanted Bill to catch Brady so badly and give him what he deserves.  As you are reading from both Bill and Brady’s point of view, you know what they are both planning. I found myself getting anxious and het-up at the thought of Bill not figuring out Brady’s plan in time.  But as I got closer to the end of the book, I was cheering certain characters on and I couldn’t possibly put the book down until I found out if they had caught him.  Without giving too much away,  it’s nice to see Bill have a semi-happy ending.  At the beginning of the book he is lonely, retired and on the verge of suicide.  So, just the fact that he has pulled himself together and even has a couple of people he considers friends is nice to read about.

I rate this book five out of five stars.

five star

Those were just my bookish thoughts, but I would love to hear yours in the comments below.

Please like,share and follow if you enjoyed this post, and feel free to leave recommendations in the comments.

Holiday Wrap Up; July 2015

During a lovely two week family holiday in Ibiza, I managed to make a sizeable dent into my to-be-read list.  Here are the books that I completed whilst lazing around the pool and soaking up the vitamin D.

Gray Mountain; John Grisham

gray mountain

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and rated it four out of five stars.  Full review can be found here.
four star

Paper Towns; John Green

paper towns

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as others by John Green and rated it three out of five stars.
three star

Darkly Dreaming Dexter; Jeff Lindsey

dexter

After watching the TV series, I was really excited to read this series and so far I am really enjoying it.  I rated this book four out of five stars. Full review coming soon.four star

Mr Mercedes; Stephen King

mr mercedes

I’m becoming a huge fan of King’s work and once again really enjoyed this book.  I rated it five out of five stars.  Full review coming soon.
five star

Mistress; James Patterson & David Ellis

mistress

This is book is nothing like what I was expected and I really enjoyed the plot twists.  I rated it four out of five stars,
four star

Under the Dome; Stephen King

under the dome

As this is such a long book, I have put off reading it for a while but a holiday was the perfect opportunity and I’m so glad I finished it.  I rated this book five out of five stars.  Full review coming soon.
five star

Those were just my bookish thoughts, but I would love to hear yours in the comments below.

Please like,share and follow if you enjoyed this post, and feel free to leave recommendations in the comments.

The Green Mile; Stephen King

The green Mile

As the only big reader in my family, I have tried and tried over the years to encourage my family and close friends to read more and really get into a book.  So when a relative of mine, who until this point had barely picked up a book, told me he had read a book by Jane Casey and wanted recommendations, I was thrilled to recommend Stephen King.  It was only two weeks later when he told me he had started reading The Green Mile, and I was so proud of him for reading for his own pleasure, that I decided to read along with him.

[The Plot]: At Cold Mountain Penitentiary, along the lonely stretch of cells known as the Green Mile, killers are depraved as the psychopathic “Billy the Kid” Wharton and the possessed Eduard Delacroix await death strapped in “Old Sparky.” Here guards as decent as Paul Edgecombe and as sadistic as Percy Wetmore watch over them. But good or evil, innocent or guilty, none have ever seen the brutal likes of the new prisoner, John Coffey, sentenced to death for raping and murdering two young girls. Is Coffey a devil in human form? Or is he a far, far different kind of being?

After reading Misery many months ago, I’ve been meaning to pick up more of Stephen Kings work, so as I’ve said above, this was the perfect opportunity to do so.  Over the last 6-9months, I’ve really gotten into crime and thriller books, and they weren’t really the type of book I would have gone for before hand.  Whatever it was that gave me the crime/thriller bug, I could not be more grateful.  I’ve read some incredible books over the last 6 months and Stephen Kings is so far top of the list.

I really enjoyed the tempo of this book, as you are reading from Paul’s perspective it jumps back and forth through his memories and it almost feels like you are being told the story in person.  Almost like when your grandparents tell you a story and they get side tracked on small details and forget the order of events.  This kept me fully immersed in the story as I imagined Paul sat in the sun room telling me his story over a cup of tea.  King really makes you feel all of the emotions as you read through Paul’s incredible past.

I must say that I am incredibly proud of myself for not crying whilst reading this book, as I’ve been known to cry for much less.  And saying that I did have a lump in my through on a couple of occasions whilst reading, but they way King makes you feel involved in the story and living through the memories with Paul, it’s not hard to see why.  This is a truly emotional book and after finishing it I just sat for while not really knowing what to do with myself.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I can not wait to get my hands on more of Stephen Kings work, and can’t see it being too long before I do so.

I rate this book five out of five stars.

IMG_0038

Those were just my bookish thoughts, but I would love to hear yours in the comments below.

Please like,share and follow if you enjoyed this post, and feel free to leave recommendations in the comments.
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