Mid Year Freak Out Tag 2018

Hello everyone and welcome to a tag that’s really doing the rounds at the moment – the Mid Year Freak Out Tag which I loved doing last year. Here we go!

1.) The Best Book You’ve Read So Far This Year

This book has now made it onto my all time favourites shelf and I’m already dying to re-read it which usually doesn’t happen for a few years at least! It broke my heart and made me laugh in equal measure and if I’m ever asked for a recommendation, this is the latest book that I push into the hands of everyone who asks. 

2.) Your Favourite Sequel This Year?

I’ve got a feeling that one of the Marnie Rome books appeared in this spot last year, I’m so predictable haha! For me, this series keeps getting better and better and this book for “favourite sequel” spot was a no-brainer.

3.) A New Release That You Haven’t Read Yet But Really Want To?

Okay, so I was initially put off this book because I heard it was about ice hockey. I’m not a huge fan of reading about sports so thought it wasn’t for me. Then I started to see all the amazing reviews, then I realised it wasn’t just about ice hockey, NOW my fellow bloggers are starting to virtually bash me on the head for not having read it so far. This will happen soon, I promise. Er, this month or next month I mean!! For my interview with Fredrik Backman – please see my post HERE. (shameless plug).

4.) Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year?

I think I might have already mentioned Melmoth by Sarah Perry in a previous tag but Bridge Of Clay by Markus Zusak is another one I’ve got on pre-order and am really excited for it to be released!

5.) Your Biggest Disappointment?

I was going to choose one of our Banned Books, Blood And Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause for this answer but in the end, I’m going to choose this. Lee Child has so many fans around the world, I really, REALLY wanted to like this book. I don’t know what it was, maybe I came to the series too late but I didn’t get on with it at all. Huge disappointment! Read my review HERE (but please LC fans, don’t come after me with pointy sticks!)

6.) Biggest Surprise Of The Year?

I read this as a buddy read with the lovely Stuart from Always Trust In Books. It was our first buddy read together so I will always have fond memories of it because of that but I honestly wasn’t prepared for how much I enjoyed this. I was completely gripped the whole way through and this is the first YA series that has got right under my skin for a long time now. Check out my review and our Twitter chat HERE.

We recently read a non fiction together, Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt so look out for our review on that coming in the next couple of weeks. We are also just about to start on the follow up to Scythe, called Thunderhead and I think I can say for both of us that we are VERY excited!

7.) Favourite New To You Or Debut Author?

This was an easy pick for me. I read Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine with my blogger BFF Janel at Keeper Of Pages as our second buddy read and it was also our second five star! Gail Honeyman is new to me and she is also a debut author so that ticks both boxes and I can safely say, whatever she writes next I will be pre-ordering and incredibly excited for.

8.) Your New Fictional Crush?

I have to be honest, I don’t really get fictional crushes but if I had to choose, I’d choose Henry from one of my all time favourite books, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger which I re-read again this year. He’s a little bit mysterious, a little bit dangerous and I love the way he loves Clare. I’m not big on romance but their relationship just captured my heart.

9.) New Favourite Character?

I read the Nightingale with Janel @ Keeper Of Pages for our third buddy read and although my review isn’t up until tomorrow (spoiler alert, I ADORED it!) I had to include it on this tag because I completely fell in love with the character of Isabelle. I’ll talk more about her tomorrow but wow, I don’t think I’ll ever forget her!

10.) A Book That Made You Cry?

It takes a lot for a book to make me cry, I’m not sure why! But when a book does, I will never forget it. I came close to crying with The Heart’s Invisible Furies and The Nightingale, books I’ve already mentioned in this tag but I really teared up during a particular moment of H Is For Hawk, by Helen Macdonald, a non fiction book about grief and falconry where Helen is feeling sad and then plays with her hawk for the first time. It’s really heart-warming and was a passage I read over and over again.

11.) A Book That Made You Happy?

Matilda by Roald Dahl, an old childhood favourite and one Chrissi Reads and I picked for our Kid-Lit challenge this year. I absolutely adore it and it’s always a delight to re-read. 

12.) Your Favourite Book To Movie Adaptation That You’ve Seen This Year?

Has to be The Handmaid’s Tale, adapted from the novel by Margaret Atwood. I love the book (it’s another of my all-time favourites) and I loved the TV series too, I’m currently watching the second one on Channel 4 and it’s so chilling!

13.) Favourite Book Post You’ve Published This Year?

I hate this question as I’m always really insecure about how my blog posts are received. I guess there’s two I’m quite pleased with for very different reasons, Another Day In The Death Of America where I really enjoyed ranting about guns in America and The Time Traveler’s Wife which I’ve already mentioned above where I got into some quite personal details about my own life. 

14.) The Most Beautiful Book You Have Bought/Received This Year?

I’m actually on a book buying ban this year (this excludes pre-orders and any books I might receive for my birthday of course!) so I’ve been really good about not buying many. I did get this beautiful Penguin clothbound classic of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott from my boyfriend for my birthday while we were on holiday in Mexico which was a lovely surprise!

15.) What Are Some Books That You Need To Read By The End Of The Year?

These are the main two books that my fellow bloggers have been begging me to read soon. And I will, I promise!

So that’s my answers, thank you so much for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed my choices. Let me know in the comments if you agree with me or tell me what you might choose yourself. Anyone who wants to do this and hasn’t done it yet, consider yourself tagged!

 

Beth and Chrissi Do Kid-Lit 2014 – The Round Up

2014 was the second year that Chrissi and I rolled out our Kid-Lit challenge. Again, it was a really fun thing to do which we both thoroughly enjoyed. Please see below for the links to my reviews and check out Chrissi’s blog HERE for her fabulous reviews.

JANUARY – Aesop’s Fables by Aesop

FEBRUARY – Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There – Lewis Carroll

MARCH – Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

APRIL – The Magician’s Nephew – C.S. Lewis

MAY – Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie

JUNE – The Wind In The Willows – Kenneth Grahame

JULY – The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz – L. Frank Baum

AUGUST – The Swiss Family Robinson – Johann Wyss

SEPTEMBER – Swallows And Amazons – Arthur Ransome

OCTOBER – Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

NOVEMBER – White Fang – Jack London

DECEMBER – The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

So, in the style of the “Talking About…” reviews we normally do, we thought we’d answer a quick few questions about our second year of blogging in Kid-Lit.

1) What was your favourite Kid-Lit book of 2014 and why?

BETH: I am totally torn between three… Little Women, Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden. I was delighted to find that I loved all three as an adult as much (if not more) than I loved them as a child. Little Women is an undeniable classic, Anne is just one of those characters you completely fall in love with and I love the style of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s storytelling.

CHRISSI: Little Women. When Little Women is an option out of books, I’m always going to mention it. Oh yes!

2) What was your least favourite Kid-Lit book of 2014 and why?

BETH: I think it would have to be The Swiss Family Robinson I’m afraid. I was bitterly disappointed with this book and expected so much more from it. Some passages sent me into complete boredom and it felt slightly too “preachy” for my liking.

CHRISSI: I’m the same as Beth for this answer. Unfortunately I found The Swiss Family Robinson DIRE! Such a shame.

3) What was the Kid-Lit book that surprised you the most?

BETH: Perhaps The Magician’s Nephew. This was one of my old favourites from childhood (along with the rest of the Narnia series) and there were whole parts of the story that I had forgotten so it was exciting to re-read and remember them all over again.

CHRISSI: Anne of Green Gables. I hadn’t read it prior to this challenge and I was surprised at how charming it was.

4) Have you been inspired to read any other books from a Kid-Lit author of 2013?

BETH: Once again, the writing of Frances Hodgson Burnett has made me long to read another of her books – perhaps we can put her on the list for 2016 Chrissi? Otherwise, I think I’m definitely going to read The Making Of A Marchioness this year.

CHRISSI: Oh yes. Let’s read more of Frances Hodgson Burnett! ❤

Beth and Chrissi do Kid-Lit 2014 – MARCH READ – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

What’s it all about?:

In picturesque nineteenth-century New England, tomboyish Jo, beautiful Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy come of age while their father is off to war.

What did I think?:

This is one of my all-time favourite childrens classics and our choice for March Kid-Lit, but as with a few of our previous Kid-Lit books I was slightly apprehensive about reading it as an adult, for fear I wouldn’t love it as much as I used to. I needn’t have feared however as it was just as terrific as I had remembered, although this time around I picked up many more references to religion than I remember being in the novel as a child. It tells the story of the March family which consists of four sisters: Meg, the oldest who is incredibly gentile and beautiful, Jo our tomboy who enjoys anything remotely unladylike and has aspirations to become a writer, Beth the angel in their midst who is kind, unselfish and vulnerable and the youngest Amy who loves anything connected with art and amuses her older sisters with her choice of vocabulary and grand ideas. The story is basically a coming of age novel in which four young girls become women, and the trials that come with becoming a “grown-up,” such as love, marriage, disappointment and tragedy.

This is not just another one of those classics that can become slightly tedious or where nothing much happens – there is plenty of drama for the March family, where there always seems to be something afoot and is in my opinion, a truly heart-warming read. As the girls grow up we hear of their exuberance in putting on small plays, share in the tension as Amy burns Jo’s precious manuscript and worry with them when Beth comes down with scarlet fever. One thing that did surprise me when re-reading this book as an adult as I mentioned previously was how much of a factor religion played in the novel which I didn’t remember having been there previously. Marmee in particular seems to be the dominating persona for this within the household and consistently teaches her girls about the way of the world if they follow God. I don’t mind religion in novels and in certain cases where the religion isn’t Christian interests me greatly and makes me more likely to read a book, but I tend to get slightly exasperated if it becomes too “preachy.” Luckily, I don’t think it comes across that way in Alcott’s novel and is more a background reminder for the children to live their lives by, and to encourage them to be good and honest individuals.

I have the Little Women complete series on my Kindle and I have to admit I was slightly confused after finishing Little Women (at the point where Meg agrees to marry John) and seeing THE END, as I remembered a lot more happening after this event. After a short spot of googling however I found out that the second instalment in the series, Good Wives was originally published separately but both books together made up the story of Little Women. I love the classic storybook happy ending also which paves the way for the next novel Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo’s Boys which I’m quite certain I haven’t read before but will be certain to (Kid-Lit 2015, sis?!)

Reading this book again was an absolute pleasure, the characters are wonderful and so loveable and it reminded me why it is considered a classic work of fiction in the first place. Best bit? It’s pretty hard to choose, some of the scenes will always be highly memorable for me but I have to mention the scene where Aunt March’s parrot looks under a piece of furniture after a spider he has chased there and invites it to: “Come and take a walk my dear?.” Hilarious and utterly brilliant! Definitely one of my favourite pieces of Kid-Lit and I hope future generations will continue to treasure it.

For Chrissi’s fabulous review please see her post HERE

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

WWW Wednesday #34

 

Welcome to another WWW Wednesday, and thanks as ever to MizB for hosting.

To join in you need to answer 3 questions..

•What are you currently reading?

•What did you recently finish reading?

•What do you think you’ll read next?

Click on the book covers to take you to a link to find out more!

What are you currently reading?:

This is an ARC from NetGalley I requested a while ago and as usual am just getting round to reading now! It’s started off quite promising.

What did you recently finish reading?:

This is the March read for a monthly feature I carry out with my sister and fellow blogger Chrissi Reads called Beth and Chrissi do Kid-Lit. Look out for our review coming this weekend!

What do you think you’ll read next?:

I’ve seen the stage production of Phantom (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version) a few times now and love it so I thought it was about time I read the original novel!

What are you reading this Wednesday? Please leave your link and I’ll pay you a visit! Happy Reading Everyone!

 

Beth and Chrissi do Kid-Lit – the titles for 2014

Beth and Chrissi do Kid-Lit is a monthly feature I began with my sister and fellow blogger Chrissi Reads last year. We both chose six books each to represent the twelve months of the year and resolved to read and review one a month. We enjoyed doing it so much last year that we wanted to carry on the challenge for 2014, so without any further ado, here are the twelve lucky titles!

JANUARY – Aesop’s Fables by Aesop

FEBRUARY – Through The Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There – Lewis Carroll

MARCH – Little Women – Louisa May Alcott

APRIL – The Magician’s Nephew – C.S. Lewis

MAY – Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie

JUNE – The Wind In The Willows – Kenneth Grahame

JULY – The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz – L. Frank Baum

AUGUST – The Swiss Family Robinson – Johann Wyss

SEPTEMBER – Swallows And Amazons – Arthur Ransome

OCTOBER – Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

NOVEMBER – White Fang – Jack London

DECEMBER – The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett