Happy New Year....belatedly (FT. Challenges!)

Hello lovely readers!

I know I know, it's already 9th January so i'm a bit behind the times but honestly, the year has started with a bang and my attentions have been elsewhere. Unlike most of my posts, this one will be a bit of a long one so I hope you can stay with me.

On a personal note, my beautiful nephew was born at the very start of the year and I was honoured to be invited to be in the delivery room for his birth. Both mother and baby are healthy and doing wonderfully and i'm over the moon to be an Aunt again to Bobby Jack :)
Work started up again immediately after the New Year and so a lot of time has been spent getting back into the routine of things, fuelling myself with endless cups of tea and many many early nights. I have a lot of reading goals for 2016 (which i'll get to very shortly) but as a personal life goal i'm back at the gym, three mornings a week before work. It's exhausting, especially with my lifestyle and unsociable work hours, but i'm hoping to see great results by the end of this year! Which leads me on to 2016 on Loaded Shelves and what I hope is in store....

I have a WONDERFUL challenge post to share with you! Holly @ The Arts Shelf has created a 60 book YA Challenge (the link takes you directly to the post) which is not only achievable, but is so varied and roomy that it'll be super fun to complete. My GR challenge is also set to 60 books so fingers crossed, I can complete both challenges simultaneously! I've also created a separate page at the top of the blog dedicated to that particular challenge so that you can check my progress. So far so good - i've already filled in 2 of the challenge reads!

Other challenges i'm taking part in are a little less 'official'. In previous years i've set myself an eBook challenge - in which I read as many digital books as possible in order to lower the amount of physical books I have at home. I've finally reached the point where more than half of my annual read list is digital and so i'm clawing it back a little. In 2016 my aim is to read an even amount of physical and digital books. I desperately need to reduce my physical TBR whilst keeping up with netgalleys and digital books (which generally I get through more of, and quicker as it's more portable for work purposes!)

Let me know what challenges your taking part in this year and go and give Holly some blog love and check out her 60 YA Challenge!

2015 In Books

As you may remember (I'm trying to forget), I failed my Goodreads challenge last year of 100 books and so for 2015 I decided to go back to basics and try again from 50. As you can see from my list, I read a fair few graphic novels and as I'm a firm believer that anything goes, they deserve to be on this list. I'm quite impressed with how I've done actually. I work ridiculous hours, I've had two surgeries, I've moved house and just in general it's been one of the busiest years of my life.

1. Bleach Vol.3
2. Bleach Vol.4
3. Undone by Cat Clarke
4. Death Note Vol.11
5. Onepiece Vol.2
6. Mind Games by Teri Terry
7. Girl Online by Zoe Sugg
8. The Beach Cafe by Lucy Diamond
9. I Was Here by Gayle Foreman
10. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
11. The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Russell Brand
12. The Flash Vol 1
13. All That Glitters (Geek Girl 4) by Holly Smale
14. The Son of Neptune by Rick RIordan
15. Enchantment Lake by Margi Preus
16. Monster by C.J.Skuse
17. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
18. Conquering Chaos by Catelynn Lowell & Tyler Baltierra
19. Talon by Julie Kagawa
20. Rogue by Julie Kagawa
21. Butter by Erin Jade Lange
22. Harley Quinn Vol.1
23. Death Note Vol.12
24. Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall
25. Eggs by Jerry Spinelli
26. Bleach Vol.5
27. Grave Matters by Jana Oliver
28. Frozen by Melissa De La Cruz
29. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
30. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
31. Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
32. Teen Angst?...Nah by Ned Vizzini 
33. Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr Spencer Johnson
34. Juvie by Steve Watkins
35. Withering Tights by Louise Rennison
36. When I Was Me by Hilary Freeman
37. Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell
38. The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth
39. Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
40. The Manifesto on How To Be Interesting by Holly Bourne
41. What We Left Behind by Robin Talley
42. Simon Vs The Homosapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli
43. Concentr8 by William Sutcliffe
44. Harley Quinn Vol.2
45. Letting You Go by Anouska Knight
46. Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer
47. Civil War by Mark Millar
48. Punisher War Zone 1
49. Punisher War Zone 2
50. Punisher War Zone 3 
51. Punisher War Zone 4
52. Punisher War Zone 5
53. The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
54. Believarexic by J.J.Johnson
55. Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner
56. Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
57. Night Owls by Jenn Bennett
58. This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
59. Pride Over Pity by Kailyn Lowry
60. All Wrapped Up by Holly Smale
61. Cloud 9 by Alex Campbell
62. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
63. Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff
64. A Pug's Guide to Dating by Gemma Correll
65. Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
66. Politically Correct Holiday Stories by James Finn Garner 
67. Dangerous Games by Teri Terry

Books Read: 67/50

Of Which Were Graphic Novels/Manga:  15

Of Which Were Digital: 44

Of Which Were Festive:2

50 Book Challenge - Completed!

*happy dance!*
I managed to finish the 50 Book Challenge by October which is pretty good going! I'm not going to change my target, but I am setting myself a mini goal of another 15 books by new year. If you're interested in knowing what books i've read so far then either add me on goodreads or wait until 1st January 2012 to find out what books I read this year.

How are you doing on YOUR challenge?

Review // The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely re-written.

The Fault in Our Stars is the book of the year! Nerdfighter, Vlogbrother and spectacular author John Green has created a masterpiece with Hazel's story. From the first page, Green grabs your attention and the voice and character of Hazel was identifiable to me. We are told at the beginning (not a spoiler because it's in the blurb!) that Hazel has terminal cancer and so we immediately know that this story is going to be a journey of some kind. I never expected that journey to be mine though.

There are some beautiful and thought-provoking quotes within this book that I would love to share with you guys but i'm honestly one of those people who believe you should discover things like that yourself as words have different meanings to everyone. In true Green style, this heart-warming and heart-wrenching story that follows Hazel is also incredibly funny. Hazel, Augustus and Isaac have wonderful sense of humours that add to the wonderful characters that they are. They take on a life of their own and the words on the page become so much more than that. I urge all readers to experience this book and please let me know what you think of it.

Goodreads Challenge 15/50
Debut Author Challenge 2/5
Dystopian Challenge 4/5
Paranormal Fantasy Challenge 2/5

Review // Zombicorns - John Green

Zombicorns by John Green was never written to be a published thing. From what I remember, it was written for charity. This book is not available for sale but it can be found online for free. I don't have time to look for the link right now but if you can't find it, i'm willing to send it by email. Just ask in the comments.

I didn't enjoy this story as much as I do the other books he has written but I think that's because it's so short and I didn't get into it enough. However, I DID still like it and it is some powerful writing.

Green makes some beautiful comments on society and what it means to be a person. Although in true John Green style, it's not overloading at all and humans are compared with dogs in an amusing but thoughtful way.

Another of my personal favourite moments is when Caroline shouts, “LEEERRROOOY JEEENNKKIINNNSS!” Despite the fact that two teenage girls are literally fighting for survival in a world gone mad, there are still huge elements of fun. (Leroy Jenkins being a video that went viral.)

Zombicorns successfully shocked me towards the end and its twist (if that's the right word to use) came out of nowhere for me. That doesn't happen very often.

This should be a definite read for any nerdfighter and zombie lover and also for those who just want a quick short read :)

Goodreads Challenge 12/50

Chick Lit Challenge 0/5
Debut Author Challenge 2/5
Dystopian Challenge 3/5
Paranormal Fantasy Challenge 2/5

Review // A Study In Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle

A Study in Scarlet is the introduction to Sherlock Holmes. The detective fiction series feature Sherlock Holmes and Doctor John Watson. Together they solve mysteries and have become perhaps the biggest fictional detectives in the world.

This was the first time i'd ever read a Sherlock Holmes book or infact, anything by Arthur Conan Doyle. As a big fan of the BBC TV show, Sherlock, I picked up the collection for my Kindle.

The story is set in two parts. The first section was truly enjoyable. I got to appreciate how well the Sherlock on TV is in comparison to the real man on the page and they are very similar. I loved the relationship between Holmes and Watson and the general feel of the story as well as the text itself.
However, the second half of the story was very confusing for me. I did understand what was going on (eventually) but the digression and commentary of puritan living seemed unnecessary. I think perhaps that was just my reading of it though as I read it over quite a long period.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, but not for a while I would imagine. A definite for any Sherlock fan but perhaps not for a quick read ;)

Goodreads Challenge 10/50

Chick Lit Challenge 0/5
Debut Author Challenge 2/5
Dystopian Challenge 2/5
Paranormal Fantasy Challenge 2/5

Review // Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night, the well loved play by William Shakespeare needs no introduction.

I have read this play multiple times, and this particular time was for University.
As is often seen in Shakespeare plays, Twelfth Night features mistaken identities, tragedies, comic relief/moments/scenes, memorable characters and perhaps most importantly, the resolution.

I love the dramatic irony that features throughout Twelfth Night. The reader/audience of the play are fully aware that Cesario is in fact Violet and therefore there are plenty of cringe moments!

That's all i'm going to say on this play, other than I think it's well worth a read for any literature lover!

Goodreads Challenge 9/50

Chick Lit Challenge 0/5
Debut Author Challenge 1/5
Dystopian Challenge 1/5
Paranormal Fantasy Challenge 2/5

Review // A Witch in Winter - Ruth Warburton

When Anna meets Seth, it's magic. But her hidden powers unleash a spell that sparks a war among witches and enslaves Seth's heart.

A Witch in Winter is Ruth Warburton's debut novel. As the book cover suggests, protagonist Anna and her loveable father move to a little place called Winter and into an old creaky and freaky house. At first, we see Anna struggle to get used to the big move and find a place amongst the school kids. When Anna finally finds her place, it comes at a price. She discovers that she has magical powers and they are not to be messed with. Anna's power must be controlled and there are people in the book who would like to control her powers and use them for themselves.

This book was an impulse buy and I chose it mostly because the cover was pretty - something I don't do very often. I read it in one sitting and actually really enjoyed it! I engaged with the characters and I was definitely left waiting for more. Just inside the cover I discovered that this book is part of a series so I will be keeping an eye out for the next installment. A great debut novel.

Goodreads Challenge 8/50

Chick Lit Challenge 0/5
Debut Author Challenge 1/5
Dystopian Challenge 0/5
Paranormal Fantasy Challenge 2/5

Book Haul!

I've got a couple of new books over the past few days so it's Book Haul time! :)

For my Kindle I got one of my favourite trilogy's. I own them in book format too but i'm very happy to have them as e-books too!

I haven't read them in a long time so i'm looking forward to them very much :)

Then today when I went shopping with the parents, I bought Vol. 4 of Stefan's Diaries (The Vampire Diaries)

 

& a book called A Witch in Winter. It's the debut novel by Ruth Warburton. I picked it for a few reasons. The blurb of the book sounded interesting and grabbed my attention, the cover is beautiful and caught my eye straight away, and I need to read 5 books by debut authors for one of my challenges. I'll review it when i'm done!

Review // Shimmer - Alyson Noel

Riley Bloom is starting to get to grips with being dead. OK, so she'll never turn thirteen, but she can manifest anything she desires. And, after her first success as a Soul Catcher, she's finally got her 'glow' on. Then she meets Rebecca - a furious ghost who is trapped on Earth, desperate to seek revenge for her own death - and Riley's determined to help her, even if it means defying her cute-but-annoying guide, Bodhi, and breaking all the rules...

Shimmer, is the second book in the Riley Bloom series [a sort of spin off of the Immortals series].
The first book, Radiance, wasn't really one of the best books i'd read but as a book lover with slight OCD, I feel obliged to continue the rest of the series anyway (sometimes they get better and become great!)

The first few chapters of Shimmer just didn't interest me at all. It's sad really because whilst reading the Immortals, I *loved* Riley and wanted to know more about her, but this series just doesn't hook me at all. I kept reading though and surprisingly, it got better!

It still isn't brilliant by any standards but a little after the half way point, I actually started caring about what was happening. Shimmer seemed to be full of moral questioning and whilst I usually don't like that, it worked here. The next book in the series, Dreamland, is out now and of course i'll be reading it and hopefully I stay interested in Riley, Bodhi and Buttercup but for me, the Riley Bloom books are nothing in comparison to the ones about Ever.

 

Goodreads Challenge 7/50

Chick Lit Challenge 0/5
Debut Author Challenge 0/5
Dystopian Challenge 0/5
Paranormal Fantasy Challenge 1/5

Review // City of Shadows - Celia Rees

Davey's grandmother has always told him he was "the gift" - Second Sight, some call it. But it never seemed real - just a stupid old wives' tale. Until now...


It is the summer of his twelfth birthday, and Davey, his sister Kate, and his twin cousins, join the hoards of tourists eager to catch a glimpse of the legendary underground city in Davey's hometown. A harmless trip. Just a bit of fun. But for Davey it is the start of a nightmare, and a long, terrifying battle with the dead...

City of Shadows was recommended to me by a friend. This series was one of her favourites as a young teenager and I can sort of see why. Younger me, would have loved these books. They have the right amount of creepy and a good assortment of characters to keep the story flowing. Unfortunately (as much as I still do read and love children's literature) it was perhaps a little too childish for me. Amidst all of the Shakespeare and Orwell I am currently reading for my degree, I fear that I judged this book too harshly when reading as my critical blinkers were turned on. As the first in a trilogy though, I plan to finish the next 2 books over the summer when I have more time to read books for enjoyment and wont be comparing it to the greats that are top of my reading list.

Goodreads Challenge 6/50

Chick Lit Challenge 0/5
Debut Author Challenge 0/5
Dystopian Challenge 0/5
Paranormal Fantasy Challenge 1/5

Review // Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Nick's just seen the girl who dumped him walk in...with a new guy. What else can he do but ask the strange girl next to him to be his new girlfriend for the next five minutes?
     Norah would do anything to avoid conversation with the not not-friend girl who dumped Nick...and to get over the Evil Ex whom Norah never really totally dumped. What else can she do but answer Nick's question by making out with him?
     With one electric, unexpected kiss, the five-minute couple of Nick and Norah set off on an un-charted adventure called the "first date" that will turn into an infinite night of falling in and out (and in and out, and maybe in and maybe out) of love. Theirs is a first date of music, laughter, heartache, confusion, passion, taxi driver wisdom, and a jacket named Salvatore. And of course a killer soundtrack.
     As Nick and Norah wander through the middle-of-the-night mystic maze of Manhattan, they share the kind of night you want to never end, where every minute counts and every moment flickers between love and disaster.

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist was given to me as a Christmas gift. I have been a fan of the film since its release in 2008 and until recently I had no idea that it was based on a book. It is my second time reading a co-written book starring David Levithan (unfortunately I didn't get chance to review it!) but my first time reading something by Rachel Cohn.

I loved the dynamics between Nick and Norah! Sometimes, when you read a book about teenagers in love, it can get a bit too much. Too much gushing and fawning over each other and making you want to vomit but this is different. We hear the inner thoughts of both Nick and Norah and of course they talk about the things they like about each other but more importantly we learn about THEM.
From the meeting of the characters to the inevitable end, we are taken on an adventure in which they discover love and arguably the main thing; they discover themselves. Both Nick and Norah are striving to get over a bad breakup and let's be honest - who hasn't been there? ;)

I particularly liked the music references throughout the book. The blurb mentions a killer soundtrack and it's not lying! I found myself looking up songs on YouTube to set the mood and it was refreshing. I thought that the idea of 'Salvatore' was really cute too. Many times i've worn boyfriends clothes or whatever and it's just felt nice, and makes you feel close to them when they're not around. It's something simple but it really works.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves YA books, and music lovers. Of course, it's a book for anyone, but I think music lovers in particular will enjoy Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.


Books Read in 2012 - 3.
Currently Reading - Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare / A Study In Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle

Love a challenge? Need an incentive? This blog is for you!

Hey Readers!

We're a couple of days in to the new year and I came across some amazing challenges on my internet travels that I thought I would share with you!

Sometimes, no matter how much you love reading, you have a lot of trouble mustering up the motivation to actually pick up a book and read. Well whilst having a good search of Goodreads I came across some other challenges that you may be interested in!

The Young Adult Book Club have some fabulous challenges that you can take part in! :D

I have joined:

The Debut Author Challenge
Chick-Lit Challenge
Dystopian Challenge
Paranormal and Fantasy Challenge

The reason I decided to take part in these challenges is because other than books I read for my literature degree, I find myself reading the same type of books. There's nothing wrong with that obviously but for 2012 I want more variety to make my reading experiences interesting!

Let me know if you decide to sign up for any challenges.

Books Read in 2012 - 0!
Currently Reading - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - David Levitham

The Books of 2011

Happy new year!

As promised, here's the full list of everything I read in 2011.

1. The Playboy of the Western World - JM Synge
2. New Moan - Stephfordy Mayo
3. The Awakening - LJ Smith
4. The Struggle - LJ Smith
5. Scott Pilgrim Vol 1 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
6. Scott Pilgrim Vol 2 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
7. Booky Wook 2 - Russell Brand
8. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
9. The Fury - LJ Smith
10. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
11. The Reunion - LJ Smith
12. Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
13. Good Morning, Midnight - Jean Rhys
14. The Return: Nightfall - LJ Smith
15. The Doomspell - Cliff McNish
16. The Return: Shadow Souls - LJ Smith
17. Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
18. The Return: Midnight - LJ Smith
19. Glass Houses - Rachel Caine
20. The Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine
21. Midnight Alley - Rachel Caine
22. Feast of Fools - Rachel Caine
23. Lord of Misrule - Rachel Caine
24. Carpe Corpus - Rachel Caine
25. Fade Out - Rachel Caine
26. Kiss of Death - Rachel Caine
27. Ghost Town - Rachel Caine
28. Bite Club - Rachel Caine
29. Harvesting the Heart - Jodi Picoult
30. Birth of a Killer - Darren Shan
31. Wintercraft - Jenna Burtenshaw
32. Stefan's Diaries: Origins
33. Dating Hamlet - Lisa Fielder
34. Marshmallow Magic and Wild Rose Rouge - Karen McCombie
35. Evermore - Alyson Noel
36. Paper Towns - John Green
37. Blue Moon - Alyson Noel
38. Shadowland - Alyson Noel
39. The Scent of Magic - Cliff McNish
40. Those Left Behind - Joss Whedon
41. Beastly - Alex Flinn
42. Radiance - Alyson Noel
43. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
44. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
45. An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
46. W.B.Yeats Poetry - W.B.Yeats
47. Dark Flame - Alyson Noel
48. Batman: Year One - Miller
49. Songs of Innocence and Experience - William Blake
50. Night Star - Alyson Noel
51. Everlasting - Alyson Noel
52. The Wasteland - TS Eliot
53. The Franklin's Prologue and Tale - Geoffrey Chaucer
54. A Passage to India - EM Forster
55. Last Breath - Rachel Caine
56. The Saga of Darren Shan Vol. 1 - Darren Shan
57. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney
58. The Magic of Christmas - Trisha Ashley
59. Let It Snow - John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
60. Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green & David Levitham

New Tallies!!

Books Read in 2012 - 0!
Currently Reading - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - David Levitham

Let It Snow - Green, Johnson & Myracle

Beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicoloured lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you only see in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss with a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks.
Thanks to three of today's best-selling teen authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle - the magic of the holidays shines on these hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance and breathtaking kisses.

Followers of my blog will know that I am a big fan of John Green and his books so it probably comes as no surprise that this book was no exception and I 100% love it, and recommend it.

Aside from that little note, this is not just a John Green book. A collaborative effort between Green, Johnson and Myracle turned into something magnificent and will now forever be my favourite Christmas book, and top 5 all year books.

Let It Snow is three completely different stories that occur at the same time, same town and has mentions and appearances from characters in each of the stories, so you can always get a little fix from the previous one. I know that was a good thing for me anyway as I really didn't want to leave the characters from any of the stories once i'd grown to love them.

The writing styles of Green, Johnson and Myracle all seem quite similar to me. This is a GOOD thing as they are continuously easy to read, follow and love. I'm not sure if this is intentional or a happy chance as I haven't yet read any more of Johnson or Myracle's works.

The stories contain a heavy amount of snow which is WONDERFUL. I live in a very rainy place where snow is practically a myth, so to get the feeling of a real white Christmas filled with adventure was perfect and made me want to snuggle up in pjs whilst reading. The adventures are exciting and unpredictable too!

As the blurb suggests, there is a lot of teens and a lot of romance - but not in the tacky way that some books have. The characters are genuine, real and identifiable and as I keep repeating - so very LOVEABLE!

I'm sad to have reached the end of the book in such a short time (literally just a couple of hours) as I couldn't put it down, but I loved every word on every page and I wish more great authors would do collabs like this. In fact, Let It Snow is probably the only reason I have any Christmas spirit at all this year :)

The Magic of Christmas - Trisha Ashley

In the pretty Lancashire village of Middlemoss, Lizzy is on the verge of leaving her cheating husband when tragedy strikes and she finds herself widowed. Her Christmas Pudding Circle - a group of friends swapping seasonal receipes - offers her a welcome distraction, whilst a simmering rivalry with local cookery writer Nick erupts over who will win Best Mince Pie at the village show...


Meanwhile, the whole village is gearing up for the annual Boxing Day Mystery Play. But who will play Adam to Lizzy's Eve? Could it be the handsome and charismatic soap actor Ritch, or will someone closer to home win her heart? Whatever happens, it promises to be a Christmas to remember!

Last year, I read one of Ashley's books and absolutely loved it, so when I was given this as a pre-Christmas gift I was very happy :)

The Magic of Christmas was a slow starter and it took me until about half way through to really  get in to it.
The stories/relationships between the characters was lovely and homely and I did feel attached to Lizzy and enjoyed hearing about her son Jasper and the start of his university life.

One of the main things I enjoyed about this book was the references to other literary works such as classic Shakespeare plays and Synge's 'Playboy of the Western World'. It always makes me feel good when I understand the intertextuality in a book! It makes me feel like my lectures are paying off ;)

The biggest downside to the book for me, is that there wasn't enough Christmas. The title of the book and the blurb on the back promises lots of Christmassy fun when in fact, there isn't. More than half of the book is the lead up to Christmas when there is occasionally mention of Christmas Cake and mince pies and the rest is post Christmas with a few short pages regarding the day itself! I figured the book itself is more about the relationships between characters but I do feel a little cheated out of Christmas reading.

That said, it was a good, quick read and didn't take too much thinking about which is perfect for the season as it's been so busy around here with Christmas and exams coming up! I probably won't read it again but it'll sit happily on my bookshelves just waiting to be discovered again.

Last Breath - Rachel Caine (Morganville #11)

No blurb for this book as it has been loaned out!

It's been a while since I read this book now and I have a ton of catching up to do but here goes.

In my opinion, the Morganville series is going stronger, perhaps even stronger than ever. Despite Last Breath being book 11 in a what seems to be never-ending series - i'm still wishing for more.
The adventures of Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael are better than ever in this book and for the first time, I genuinely worried for their safety. Last Breath is also the first Morganville book I have honestly sobbed over! At every point in the book, I wasn't sure what was going to happen to the foursome and whether they could overcome the trouble that Morganville and it's vampires had in store for them.

Myrnin, as usual, was as ambiguous as ever and one of my favourite things about the series is that I absolutely adore him, and still don't know whether to trust him! Though I think my opinion on Myrnin has now been set for good (spoiler free blog, remember! - unless stated otherwise anyway).

It's not my favourite book of the series (not that I could decide anyway!) but I enjoyed it so much. I don't think i'll ever be ready to leave Morganville but thankfully there is still at least ONE more book on the way...

50 Book Challenge

I have completed the Goodreads 50 Book Challenge - early!

I thought this definitely needed blogging about. I'm actually really proud of myself for finishing. It's been a tough year for me personally and I felt that my reading had been quite slow but considering everything, it is fantastic! Originally I had planned to post a full list of everything I had read for the challenge, but as I may or may not have explained before, Goodreads isn't the full list. I had forgotten a lot of dates of the things i'd read so they didn't count, unfortunately. I'm actually closer to 60, but still :)

Instead, as i'm still reading and the year isn't over, I decided that i'll post an actual complete list all everything i've read since 1st January 2011 - 1st January 2012 in the new year :)

I enjoy writing this blog a lot, so I have also decided that i'll make it more active. Right now i'm just reviewing a book every so often rather than every one that I read. I'll change that to each book, plus i'll do book haul posts. I have been considering making videos to accompany these blog posts but I certainly don't have a face for the camera so we'll see. I will work something out!

If anyone reading this cares to follow my Goodreads account then it can be found here.
Good luck to everyone else that is frantically making their way to the end of the challenge, and here's to preparing for it all over again in the new year!