Monday, 16 January 2012

Bout of books wrap up post


Ok, so here is my final wrap up post for Bout of Books 3.0

Books finished on day 7: 0
Books finished since start: 1 and a half
Pages read on day 7: 116 (The Geneva Deception)
Pages read since start: 1349
Books read since start: Start Somewhere by Calvin Nowell, Kiss the girls by James Patterson, It's now or never by Carole Matthews, The Geneva Deception by James Twining, Duncton Tales by William Horwood. (These weren't finished, I read bits and pieces of them)

All in all, I enjoyed the readathon and the challenges I took part in. Even though I did not actually meet my goal I think my page count was pretty high. If I had chosen books that were less than 500 pages each, maybe I would have finished more. Thanks to Amanda for organising this readathon.

Sunday, 15 January 2012

Bout of books 3.0 day 7



I didn't get a chance to update yesterday, so this is for two days. I had a very surprise visit from my best friend and ended up going to lunch with her, so did not really get much chance to read yesterday. I have read a bit today. So, since Friday night I have read the following:

Books read since Friday: 0
Books read all together: 1 and a half
Pages read since Friday:  290 (270 The Geneva Deception, 20 Start somewhere)
Pages read since start: 1233
#insixwords so hot I am battling to read

Friday, 13 January 2012

Bout of Books 3.0 picture challenge and update

Bout of Books
Todays challenge over at The reading housewives was to show a picture of your book, your snack and your drink. Tonight, I dropped Brenda off to youth and then had a couple of hours to read.
I have had a craving for hot chocolate for a day or so, but it is far too hot here So, I compromised and treated myself to some chocolate milk, which was yummy. Also, my packet of Lightly salted crisps and some rocky road chocolate. Yummy! Reading wise I am busy with Duncton Tales, but will possibly take a break to read a few shorter books.

Since my last update I havent had too much chance to read, but am happy with my progress so far.

Books finished today: 0
Books finished so far: 1 and a half (It's now or never and Kiss the girls)
Pages read since last update: 151 (136 Duncton Tales, 15 Start somewhere)
Pages read so far: 943
#insix words: Thank goodness its nearly the weekend!



Thursday, 12 January 2012

Interview

Whilst surfing today I discovered this meme and thought this was quite a nice set of questions. Pop over to Booking through Thursday if you would like to join in.

1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?

Any time! With working full time, studying part time and raising a daughter, I can't really say I have a set time to read. I will snatch a few minutes here and there at various times of the day.
2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.)
If I am eating alone yes, but not if I am with my daughter. Same goes for other meals, even in restaurants
3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)
Egg, bacon, mushrooms, toast

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?
Once again, depends on the day, but I try to get at least an hour in. Sometimes it is a lot more, sometimes less.
5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?
I have always read a lot, but during the period where my daughter was very young I found less time to read and didnt read much at all. Not to say that I didn't read, I always had a book on the go, but would take ages to finish it. That would put us from about 1998 - 2002  or so. Over the last few years I have been reading progressively more and more.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?
Wouldn't say a speed reader, but I think I do read relatively fast.

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
To fly!


8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?
Pretty much. I have one on the go at work, and one on the go at home. If I am going out I generally take one in my bag, unless I am just popping out to the shops. I have been known to buy a book to read at a fast food place because I cannot sit on my own without reading.
9. What KIND of book?
Paper, I would LOVE a Kindle though.
10. How old were you when you got your first library card?
I have had a library card as long as I can remember. My mum got us one as small children and we would go to the library weekly. True confession here: I used to read more books than I was allowed to take out. So, I used to sneak extra books out the library and sneak them back in the next week!
11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)
I have a copy of David Copperfield which was my Grandfathers setbook at school. My mum subsequently used it as well. There is no date in it, but he was born in 1892, so it must have been published around 1900. There is another one with the same binding (can't remember the name right now) so it possibly came at around the same time. Oldest book in MY collection is some copies of Noddy from my childhood.
12. Do you read in bed?
Yes, in bed with a cup of coffee last thing at night, first thing in the morning, middle of the day, lol. Any time.
13. Do you write in your books?
I am absolutely unable to do this. I write my name only if they are going to be lent out. That is generally written in the inside front cover. Otherwise I cannot write in books, tear pages out, bend the corners etc. We had a very strict librarian in junior school who drummed this into me. Occasionally I will underline or star in a textbook, but this is very lightly in pencil.
14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?
Read as much as you can get your hands on. Also, try and mix it up a bit, so you are not reading the same thing over and over. You may get bored and give up.
15. What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask? (Actually, leave the answer to this one in the comments on this post, huh? So I can find them when I need inspiration!)
This is my first time here,  so dont really know what has been asked.


Review: Not that kind of girl by Catherine Alliot

Not That Kind of Girl
Picture links to Goodreads page
After being dumped at the altar Henrietta (Henny) falls in love and subsequently marries her boss, Marcus. The story starts about 15 years later when Henrietta, Marcus and their 2 children have just moved to the country and Henrietta takes a job as PA to a historian. After being found in a compromising, if innocent, position by her husband, her marriage starts to fall apart. Who should enter her life at this stage, but her ex-fiance Rupert. Who will she choose? Does her husband even want her? What are Ruperts plans? The book is set mainly between London and the countryside and some funny times ensue.

The majority of the book centres around Henny and her thoughts and feelings, as she tries to deal with these developments.  I am really in two minds about this book as there are some brilliant parts but some really boring bits. I found the main character to be really tiresome. Given to flights of fancy which made her do really stupid things. Although I guess that is sometimes what the genre is about, it really made me want to kick her! Henny would look at something and then we would have 4-5 pages of her imagining all sorts of happy or sad things happening. And then worse she would act on these even when there was no conceivable reason for her to do whatever she was doing.  There were times when the book dragged a bit, and could have probably done with having a 100 pages less fantasy. Having said that, the parts where there is any action are absolutely hysterical and had me laughing aloud. There are some scenes in the book which rank up there with my favourite scenes ever.
Rating: I gave it 3/5 on goodreads

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Bout of books 3.0 Day 3

Had work today, so I did not manage to read as much as I would have liked. However, I have managed to finish my first full book! I read It's now or Never  by Carole Matthews which was a really sweet, funny, romantic story!
Progress so far:
Books finished today: 1 (It's now or never)
Books finished so far: 1 and a half (It's now or never and Kiss the Girls)
Pages read today: 184
Total number of pages read: 792
#insixwords: Work interfered with my reading!

Review: Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs

Devil Bones (Temperance Brennan, #11)

Picture links to the Good reads page

A plumber doing some renovations on an empty house discovers an unknown part to the cellar, and with that a human skull,ritual implements and rotting animal carcasses. Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is called to investigate. Subsequently, a headless body turns up on a nearby lake shore. Many questions arise, who is the owner of the skull? Do the skull and the body belong to the same person? Why is there minimal decomposition on the body? Who is responsible? Before anyone knows what is going on a preacher turned politician starts making accusations of witchcraft and local citizens turn it into a witch hunt.

Kathy Reichs has really become one of my favourite authors and I usually thoroughly enjoy her books. However, I really struggled to get into this book in the beginning. It seemed to take a long time to get anywhere.  I found there was too much background information given considering that it was the 11th book in the series. Also, some of it had no bearing on the current story, so really was unnecessary. Also, there was too much theoretical information (I normally enjoy this, so not sure why it frustrated me in this book), and I felt that it sometimes interfered with the flow of the story. I also, generally prefer the books set in Canada, since I love Andrew Ryan and he did not get enough time in this book.
Having said that, the book is not all bad and I was never in any danger of giving up.The second half of the book is much faster than the first, and there are lots of twists and turns in the plot. I had guessed the culprit half way through, then with the way the story played out changed my mind about 4 times before finally discovering that it was my original suspect. Once you get into the story it is easy to read and goes quickly, so on the whole I did enjoy it.

Rating: I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads