Sick/Ill Book Tag

I love these book tags! I tag whoever reads this ;) As always, link me to your answers in the comments as I love seeing what people come up with :)

This tag is the Sick/Ill book tag. As the owner of an autoimmune disease myself, I thought this one could be fun/different to anything else. The aim of the game is to pick a book that suits the description of the condition.

A total of 9 illnesses whose symptoms mirror how a book made you feel:

1. Diabetes: a book too sweet, like really sweet.
Let It Snow - Green, Johnson & Myracle.
Such an adorable book, containing three short stories (one by each other). Very sweet and easy to read. 

2. Chicken Pox: a book you've read once, and will never pick up again.
Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L.James or any autobiography.
Reading that book once was more than enough for me! Also autobiographies are really interesting to read but I can't see myself ever re-reading one.

3. Influenza: the flu a contagious book that spreads like a virus
The Study Series - Maria V Snyder
Since buying these books, i've gotten five other people to read them and LOVE them. I will forever push these books on to people :)

4. The cycle: a book you read every month, year or often
Harry Potter Series
I think every Potter fan re-reads these often! :)

5. Insomnia: a book that kept you up all night.
Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer & The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson
The Twilight books were just so easy to read that I soaked them up. I'm an unashamed Twilight fan and they would probably still keep me up all night!
Johnson's book was just brilliant and I could not rest until I had the story finished.

6. Amnesia: a book that's forgotten and failed to leave a powerful impression in your memory
The Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice
I really need to finish this series! It's not that I didn't enjoy what i've read so far - I honestly just keep forgetting that i'm in the middle of it. It's just not powerful enough to make me want to finish I guess.

7. Asthma: a book that took your breath away
The Fault in our Stars - John Green
Beautiful writing, fantastic characters and a plot line that literally takes your breath away. This is a total must read.

8. Malnutrition: a book that lacked food for thought
Hush, Hush / Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick
I recently reviewed Crescendo and as I explained there - there's just nothing to these stories so far but I can't stop eating them up! Sometimes, I just can't argue with the critic in me, and I just have to sit back and read...:)

9. Travel sickness: a book that took you on a journey through time or space or to a specific local on the map
Eragon Series - Christopher Paolini
(With the exception of Inheritence, which I am yet to read).
I read these a few years ago whilst I was in hospital. Not really a 'travel' journey, but a journey none-the-less. They're just wonderful stories that anyone can get into and I hope that by the end of the year i'll have read the final installment to complete the story!

July Wrap-Up

It's the end of the month again, where is the time going? I managed to get most of my reading done this month which was great, except I had to switch out a couple of books with other things in order to stick to my reading time frames!
So here is July's Wrap-Up

Books Read in July

Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L.James
Let Them Eat Cake - Rachel Caine (Short Story)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson
Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick
Demon Thief - Darren Shan
Deja Vu of Love - Carol Cadoo

With the exception of Rachel Caine's short story and Carol Cadoo's debut novel Deja Vu of Love, all of the books have been reviewed this month.


Deja Vu of Love by Carol Cadoo will be featured on Loaded Shelves as part of her Virtual Blog Tour later this month where you can read more about the author, my review of her book and an exclusive Get-To-Know-You interview with Carol Cadoo.

Review // Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James

Published - 26th May 2011
Published By -Vintage
Format - Paperback
Goodreads Synopsis - When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time. he unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms.

Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.

Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?

Where do I start with this book? Fifty Shades of Grey was given to me by my sister-in-law who insisted I should read it as she really enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy it. At all.


I knew what the book was about before going into it and although I wasn't interested, I hoped for an underlying story to emerge, maybe a fascinating love story between Ana and Christian. Unfortunately that just never came through. The only time E L James seemed to care about writing was during the sexual scenes. There was no character development; it barely felt like there even were characters. 


For a short period towards the end of the book, I held some hope in the fact that a plot might emerge regarding Christian's life but again, I was disappointed. I assume these things are revealed in the next two books but I was so put off by this one that it will be a long time before I consider moving on to those. I can't even recommend it for mind-numbing easy reading because I was so infuriated by the repetition of complete sentences throughout the book that it was actually challenging to finish. If I ever hear the words 'inner goddess' again, I can't be held responsible for my actions!


Please let me know what you thought about Fifty Shades of Grey, whether good or bad, and feel free to convince me to read the next one or it may never happen!