Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne - Review

I cannot emphasise how much I am enjoying having a buddy reader and working our way through classics that I may never have made the time to get around to reading! We read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne all the way back at the very beginning of November! 

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

An American frigate, tracking down a ship-sinking monster, faces not a living creature but an incredible invention -- a fantastic submarine commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo. Suddenly a devastating explosion leaves just three survivors who find themselves prisoners in Nemo's death ship on an underwater odyssey around the world, as Captain Nemo -- one of the most horrible villains ever created -- takes his revenge out on society. This novel, written in 1870, foretells with uncanny accuracy the inventions and advanced technology of the 20th century, and has become a literary stepping-stone for generations of science-fiction writers.

My Review

I completely and utterly fell in love with this book. To me this is exactly what an adventure book should be like. There are pirates and mystery and hidden caves. 

I have to disagree with the synopsis stating that Captain Nemo is one of the most horrible villains as I have to say I really related to him and I'm certainly not a villain! Yes he has killed people, usually only when they are attacking him and his ship. To be able to go so completely off the grid and survive off the land, or in this case the sea and to find hidden wonders that no one else has ever seen sounds absolutely wonderful! To be so intelligent and continue your learning indefinitely within your own personal library, I'd imagine that quite a few people would enjoy this. 

Professor Aronnax and his personal servant Conseil have an extremely strong bond and have a mutual respect that is good to see. Ned Land though to me is another far more interesting character as he is a rugged adventurer from Canada who has seen the world and needs to be out there to really live. He struggles with captivity and suffers from cabin fever which you can feel through the excellent writing. 

There is a lot of scientific, nautical and geographical language used throughout the book and a lot of classification of sea life is done, but this did not take away any enjoyment for me as I enjoyed searching online what things meant when I didn't understand and learning, I enjoyed the learning. 

Hopefully I will have time in the future to come back and re read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea so I can revisit Captain Nemo and enter his exciting underwater world. 

About The Author

Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the genre of science-fiction. He is best known for his novels Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). 

Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. He is the third most translated author of all time, behind Disney Productions and Agatha Christie. His prominent novels have been made into films. Verne, along with H. G. Wells, is often referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction".

The Baby Auction by Peter Taylor-Gooby - Review

I am on a mission to catch up on my reviews and I read The Baby Auction by Peter Taylor-Gooby all the way back at the beginning of December so it's definitely about time that I get my thoughts about it on my blog.

The Baby Auction

Auctioning babies makes sense, at least that’s what Market World thinks. After all the baby goes to someone who can give them a good start in life, and the parents get a return for their pain and trouble. 
For Ed and Matt, the Baby Auction sums up everything that’s wrong with a society based on profit. Then one day Matt rescues a drowning child and they face the question: can love and compassion overcome the harsh laws of Market World?

My Review

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up The Baby Auction as the title is quite shocking. It definitely fits the tone and dystopian feel of the story though and it is even scarier than it sounds when you realise just how easily the world could head in the same direction. 

I think the world building is done extremely well and it was very easy to picture the Market World and the Broken Lands as they are depicted by the authority in power. The Market World is run under the One Law and this promotes Property, Equality, Dignity and Trade. It's very reminiscent of a modern day 1984 and has a lot of the same themes which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

The characters are all really fleshed out and represent both ends of the kaleidoscope as Matt and Ed are both from the lowest levels of society, while Dain and Anna are the up and coming and rich top level. I thought the relationship between Matt and Ed felt a little forced to me, but they got together under circumstances that you just can't imagine, so it's not my place to judge what people in that situation should feel.  Dain and Anna's relationship however I found incredibly sweet and I was routing for them so hard throughout the story. It did help that I completely and utterly fell in love with Dain! He slowly broke down my barriers as I got to know him and by the end I loved his character. 

The story itself is very strong and I loved the politics and revolutionary talk throughout, showing that if people can come together then they can succeed against all odds. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed The Baby Auction and I look forward to reading more by Peter Taylor-Gooby. 

I gave this book 4 stars. 

About The Author 

I was lucky enough to have Peter Taylor-Gooby on my Getting To Know... feature if you want to read more about him check here!

My novels deal with how people live their lives in a diverse globalised capitalist world. In 'Ardent Justice', Ade struggles against the corruption of the City of London, where high finance and street homelessness flourish cheek by jowl. In ‘The Baby Auction’ Ed and Matt struggle to lead a passionate, humane and generous life in a world dominated by the market.
In my day job I'm an academic. My research shows how market capitalism generates inequalities between haves and have-nots and promotes a corrosive individualism that stunts our capacity for empathy, charity and love.
I enjoy hill-walking, riding my bike, holidays and looking after my grand-daughter (not in that order). I became interested in social policy issues after working on adventure playgrounds, teaching, claiming benefits and working in a social security office in Newcastle. I’ve worked in the UK, most European countries, Canada, the US, China, Korea and Japan, Australia and South Africa.

A Look Back Over My Bookish 2016

Today is my blog's second anniversary (woohoo!) and I thought it would be interesting to look back at my 2016 in books and to look forward to what will come in 2017. 

In 2016 I read 134 books and this included

11 Classics

6  Children's Books

34 Adult Books

5 Short Story Collections

35 Graphic Novels and TPBs

25 YA Books

3 Non Fiction Books

14 Mangas

1 Poetry Book

Of these

11 were library books

10 were books lent to me

63 were physical books

and 50 were ebooks

I made some really good choices as my ratings were overall very high with an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars

66 were 5 star reads

39 were 4 star reads

18 were 3 star reads

10 were 2 star reads

and only 1 was a 1 star read

I widened my reading horizons this year and I read a lot of books I wouldn't have done thanks entirely to my buddy reader F. I also discovered some amazing new authors and book bloggers through The Book Connectors which is just such a wonderful group of people. I also changed up the formats I choose to read and have introduced short stories and I even tried an audio book. Overall I'm pleased with my book choices over the year. 

I also started my feature Getting To Know... which has luckily been really popular and I have really enjoyed bringing that each week as well as meeting new people along the way. 

I did go to one bookish even this year which was all the way back in June (though I've been super naughty and not blogged about it) and I went to the Enid Blyton Exhibition which was absolutely lovely. 

Onto 2017

Going forward I have decided on a few goals - not challenges or resolutions - just goals that I'd like to aim for if possible. 

• Read 100 books 
• Continue to read more classics
• Improve my total of non fiction books and read at least 5 in 2017
• Learn to say no to reviews as there are only so many hours in the day
• Always write my review no later than the day after finishing a book unless there's a REALLY good reason
• Go to a bookish event
• Complete more of my outstanding series
• Read more of the books I already own
• Allow myself to not finish a book if I'm just not enjoying it

I'm looking forward to continuing Getting To Know... which comes back on the 3rd of January and I have some more features planned that I think will be really exciting as long as I can pull them off. 

There will be a few changes coming to my blog too as I'd really like to incorporate more blog posts about comics and snail mail and possibly even my journey learning to cook. But we'll see how things go, just the thought is exciting though. 

So a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has joined me over the past two years, it makes me so happy every time a single person reads a blog post or leaves a comment. It really means a lot so thank you. 

Have you made any goals or resolutions for 2017? Let me know what you've got planned! 

Dark Dates by Tracey Sinclair - Review

Dark Dates by Tracey Sinclair has been on my radar since back in August when Tracey appeared on my Getting To Know... feature, which you can check out here if you'd like. I'm actually surprised I hadn't picked it up before as it's something that's right up my street, so when Tracey was looking for people to review Dark Dates I waved my arms around loudly. (That makes sense I promise).  

About The Book

All Cassandra Bick wants is to be left to get on with doing her job. But when you’re a Sensitive whose business is running a dating agency for vampires, life is never going to be straightforward – especially when there’s a supernatural war brewing in London, a sexy new bloodsucker in town and your mysterious, homicidal and vampire hating ex-lover chooses this moment to reappear in your life…

Witty, sharp and entertaining, Dark Dates is a heady mix of vampires, witches and werewolves – with the occasional angel thrown in – and introduces Cassandra Bick, a likeable heroine destined to join the ranks of fantasy’s feistiest females.

My Review

This book is so much fun! There were times that I laughed full on out loud (sometimes in not the most appropriate of places... ahem). I loved all the characters and I'm already looking forward to continuing with the series. 

Cassandra or Cass I swear deals with everything the same way I do - sarcasm and food! She is the perfect mix of everyday woman and one who can defend herself with whatever is nearby even if it is by accident. She feels so very real to me and I really enjoyed her honesty about what (*read who) she thought was hot and how awkward she is around people on a day to day basis. 

Medea is a great sidekick character, she is powerful, intelligent and beautiful and there is even more to her than meets the eye. Katie who you meet later in the book, I'm still not 100% about yet, BUT she is definitely interesting and certainly surprised me. 

Now to my absolutely favourite character - Cain. Yes he is a completely heartless a$$hole at times, but he's hot and he's a bad boy with a soft side and who doesn't want that in their fictional boyfriend? There are also so many more interesting things I could say but I would be spoiling far too much so that will have to do. 

I can see why people would like Laclos as he is basically lust personified and who knows what will happen further into the series, but for now I am full on #teamcain. 

The story is really interesting as there is a war brewing in the vampire world and somehow Cass has got herself mixed up in it and decides to try and deal with a lot herself while the menfolk (Cain and Laclos) preen and stalk about like peacocks. They do come in more than handy when they're needed though and make up for lost time. 

Throughout there are some brilliant references to pop culture and I loved that I could pick some out, though I think I missed the Buffy ones as I've only ever seen the original movie but none of the TV series. 

Overall a really, really good and enjoyable book and as I said I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series. I know this has been  more of a ramble than usual, but this happens when I really like a book. 

I gave this book 5 stars. 

For The Love Of Shakespeare by Beth Miller - Review

Towards the end of this year I have been in a mood for non-fiction so when I got the opportunity to read For The Love Of Shakespeare by Beth Miller, I jumped at the chance, 

About The Book

A treasure-trove of wit, imagination and emotion, his plays and poems continue to surprise, inspire, console and delight us. Whether you're a life-long lover of the Bard or a curious newcomer to his world, this companion will lift the curtain on the unforgettable characters and stories of Britain's greatest dramatist.

My Review

My original plan for reading this book as it is a non-fiction was to read a bit then put it down and just keep diving into it every now and again. This almost immediately went out the window and I ended up reading it cover to cover in two sittings as it was so clear and easy to read and extremely enjoyable as well as being informative. 

I really loved how For The Love Of Shakespeare is organised, it makes it very easy for you to pick it up and find which bit you'd like to read. The first two sections are about Shakespeare himself and about Stratford Upon Avon and London in his time and then it moves onto his works which are split into The Comedies, The Histories, The Tragedies, The Apocryphal Plays and The Poetry. Each play is then broken down into plots, in a nutshell, other notable characters, body count, did you know and quotable lines. I absolutely love the in a nutshell section as it explains the plot of the play in very basic terms usually with quite a lot of wit! 

The quotable lines bit is very good too as I could check out the famous lines I know and quite easily find out which play they are from. I know I keep saying and "this bit is good" but I really mean it, it's all just so good! I enjoyed the other notable characters sections as it highlighted some lesser recognised characters and explained the important things that they had done within the story. 

Throughout the book there are mini interviews with people who are involved one way or another in the world of Shakespeare and the seem to be located close to their favourite play which is a nice touch. It was interesting to see how each person had grown to love Shakespeare and what experiences they had had. 

Overall such a refreshingly light and still informative book and one I will happily keep on my bookshelves as it is also beautiful on the outside too. I have already recommended this to people I know and will continue to do so. 

I gave this book 5 stars and it was one of my stand out books of the year (check that out here)

As part of my review I thought it would be fun to answer the questions that Beth Miller asked each of the people involved in the world of Shakespeare.

What was your switch-on moment?

I know it may seem silly, but I think watching Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. I was the perfect age for this film (teenage girl+Leonardo Dicaprio=success) and it really spoke to me at that time and it made me think more about Shakespeare as being relevant now and not just as a study in my English classes.

Which is your favourite of Shakespeare's play?

My favourite play is A Midsummer Night's Dream, I love the fairies and I love the comedy which is not normally my thing.

Tell us about the most memorable performance you've seen?

It was of A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Burnley Mechanics and we were sat in a hall and the seats were in a circle with a space in the middle for the performance. It was so unlike anything I've seen before or since as it felt a lot more interactive as we were all on the same level as the actors, it felt like we were a part of the play.

Which Shakespeare character would you most like to meet?

I'd love to meet Titania, she is a great and complex character. As part of my theatre studies A-level I chose her as my research subject and I designed clothes for her and planned lighting, so I'd love to meet her and see what she thought of my choices.

How would you persuade somebody to give Shakespeare a chance?

I'd say watch a production first before attempting to read a play. Seeing something can really help you understand how a play is to be read and will help you become more immersed in the world and the characters. If you're not a fan of the theatre then there are plenty of film adaptations that you can choose from too. I'd love to visit the RSC Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon one day and watch a play there.

Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas - Day 12

It took me a while to decide how best to deal with my stand out book from December as there is still over a week left and maybe my stand out book would be read during this next week, also I'm currently part way trough a couple of books so maybe my stand out book could be one of those. So what I've decided to do is to show case my stand out book from last December and that's what I'll do each year. I think this makes it as fair as I can make it. 

Before I get into it though I just want to say thank you to everyone who has joined me through my Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas, it has been a lot of fun for me and it has made me remember so many good books, not just the ones that I have mentioned. It's been a lot of work and the word twelve no longer means anything as I've typed it out that many times, but it's been worth it! I really hope you have all enjoyed this as much as me. 

Day 12 - December Book - Ghost Light by LeeAnne Hansen

Fiona Corrigan and her troupe of actors are mysteriously summoned to a remote Scottish Highlands village in the dead of winter. Fiona is all too happy to be stranded with Patrick, her brooding co-star in this strange village, until his caddish brother enters the picture and complicates everything. Set in the 1920’s, this chilling romance is entangled with twisted family secrets, murder and one, very persistent ghost.

My Thoughts

Even though I read this book almost exactly twelve months ago I can still remember the story and the characters clearly. I absolutely and utterly fell in love with this book and I have mentioned it more than once throughout the past year. 

Ghost Light had me hooked from the opening which was a scene from a play as it was so well written and I wanted to find out what it was foreshadowing in the book. I continued to enjoy the scenes throughout the book and how they echoed the main story, also I got a bonus story within a story. Who wouldn't like that! 

I can still feel the atmosphere that LeeAnne created even now as it was just so well done and so intense. The small sleepy village in the middle of nowhere and the cold - I remember wrapping myself in my blanket while reading this I was so involved. 

If you want to read my full quite rambling review of Ghost Light, you'll find it here. 

About The Author

I was lucky enough to interview LeeAnne back in July so for more information about her, please check out my blog post here. 

LeeAnne Hansen was born in Paris, grew up in Oklahoma and now lives in sunny southern California with her husband and cats. She enjoys writing, acting and playing bass guitar. She can be seen gracing the stage in various theatres or even directing. She is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and has studied art and astronomy. She also thoroughly enjoys long walks on the beach.

If you've missed any of the days and would like to take a look, I've linked them all down below 

Day 1 - Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Day 2 - Sinking by Sarah Armstrong-Garner

Day 3 - Attack On Titan: Volume 1 by Hajime Isayama

Day 4 - The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen

Day 5 - Whispers Of Bedlam Asylum by Mark C. King

Day 6 - Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley

Day 7 - A Single Drop Of Perfect & Other Stories by Jessikah Hope-Stenson

Day 8 - Beetlebrow by Ben Parker

Day 9 - The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Day 10 - They Move Below by Karl Drinkwater

Day 11 - For The Love Of Shakespeare by Beth Miller

Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas - Day 11

Last two days of Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas and today I'm recommending a non-fiction!

Day 11 - November Book - For The Love Of Shakespeare by Beth Miller

A treasure-trove of wit, imagination and emotion, his plays and poems continue to surprise, inspire, console and delight us. Whether you're a life-long lover of the Bard or a curious newcomer to his world, this companion will lift the curtain on the unforgettable characters and stories of Britain's greatest dramatist.

My Thoughts

I absolutely loved this companion book. The way it is written and the format used is brilliant. I was planning on reading it a bit at a time as it is perfectly planned in such a way that you can drop in and out whenever you want or look through and find something specific, but I enjoyed it so much I read it from cover to cover. 

I've been very naughty and my review isn't up yet, but it certainly will be between Christmas and New Year so you can look forward to that very soon. There will be some spoilers of my review in here but there is a lot more in my full review :) 

Companion books can end up being very dry as they are usually full of facts and dates but this is definitely not the case with For The Love Of Shakespeare. The way Beth writes is like she's talking to you and it feels like a really enjoyable conversation or discussion about Shakespeare rather than reading an essay. There is humour and personal experiences mixed in with the facts and it really makes it so much more readable. 

There are some really interesting interviews with people involved in the Shakespeare world throughout and it was good to read about how differently each person came to love the bard. 

I would 100% recommend this to fans of Shakespeare and to people who even have a passing interest in him. The best non fiction I have read in a long time. 

Are you a fan of Shakespeare? What is your favourite play? Only one day left of Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas and only one day left before Christmas, are you all ready?

About The Author

This has been taken from Beth's website which you can visit and enjoy in full here - 

http://www.bethmiller.co.uk/

I have been told that I write like a tall blonde, so that's how I'd like you to picture me.

I've published two novels and two non-fiction books, about The Archers and Shakespeare (that's two separate books, not one weird mash-up). (More info here).

Before writing books, I did a lot of different jobs. I worked in schools, shops, offices, hospitals, students' unions, basements, from home, in my car, and up a tree. OK, not up a tree. I've been a sexual health trainer, a journalist, a psychology lecturer, a PhD student, a lousy alcohol counsellor, and an inept audio-typist. I sold pens, bread, and condoms. Not in the same shop. I taught parents how to tell if their teenagers are taking drugs (clue: they act like teenagers), and taught teenagers how to put on condoms (clue: there won't really be a cucumber). I taught rabbis how to tell if their teenagers are druggedly putting condoms on cucumbers.

Throughout this, I always wrote, and always drank a lot of tea. I'm now pretty much unbeatable at drinking tea.

Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas - Day 9

Something a little different today, my stand out book from September was a classic and it really took my breath away! 

Day 9 - September Book - The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the great thrillers of all time. In 1853 William Thackeray wrote to a friend: 'began to read Monte Cristo at six one morning and never stopped till eleven at night.'. Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmund Dantes is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned in the island fortress of the Chateau d'If. After staging a dramatic escape, he sets out to discover the fabulous treasure of Monte Cristo and catch up with his enemies. A novel of enormous tension and excitement, Monte Cristo is also a tale of obsession and revenge. Believing himself to be an 'Angel of Providence', Dantes pursues his vengeance to the bitter end, only then realising that he himself is a victim of fate.

My Thoughts

The Count Of Monte Cristo was one of the most surprising books this year for me as I went into it expecting not to like it. Me and my buddy reader F are working our way through classics and taking turns choosing the next read. For one of my choices, I chose The Count Of Monte Cristo as I thought that it would be long and wordy and just....not very interesting. How wrong was I!

I found The Count Of Monte Cristo extremely fast paced and exciting. The story was full of revenge and intrigue and is incredibly well written. The characters are all incredibly well developed, in particular Edmond Dantes, obviously. It has actually made me excited to pick up more Dumas books in the future. 

I also think that this book is now in the joint top spot for my favourite classic alongside Crime And Punishment. I did think it might top it, but no Crime And Punishment will not be toppled just yet anyway. 

If you're wary about trying classics, I would 100% recommend this as your first go. Yes it is long, but it is so action packed and interesting it is worth every moment. I will definitely be going back to re read at some point in the future. 

So that was my September stand out book. Have you ever read The Count Of Monte Cristo? Is it one of your favourites? Don't forget to join me tomorrow for my October book choice.

About The Author

Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to Senior in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne were serialized. Dumas also wrote plays and magazine articles, and was a prolific correspondent.

Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas - Day 8

I can't believe I am on day 8 and this is all going to be over in a few days! I really hope people have been enjoying this look back of my personal stand out books from each month this year. 

Day 8 - August Book - Beetlebrow by Ben Parker

Beetlebrow, the first book in the ‘Beetlebrow Trilogy’, is an intricately plotted, emotional and intensely engaging story about two teenage girls, Beetlebrow and Pook, thrown together in a life or death adventure taking place in a sinister, hostile and threatening world. The two will need all their resourcefulness to succeed in a daunting quest: to deliver a cryptic, vital message to the distant eastern city of Dalcratty. 

The growing love Beetlebrow and Pook feel for each other brings them closer together as they confront challenge after challenge, not the least of which is an encounter with the citizens of Essum, whose morality and culture is founded upon interpreting a half-finished painting. 

After you read Beetlebrow, your life will never be quite the same.

My Thoughts

The tag line of "After you read Beetlebrow, your life will never be quite the same" is actually quite true as I still think a lot about the story and the characters and I am really looking forward to the next book in the trilogy which I am hoping will come some time soon in 2017. 

This book took me by surprise as I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I first picked it up. I fell in love with the main character Beetlebrow and I felt like I was with her on her journey. I thought the world building was excellent as the lands were familiar enough to feel like you knew them but different enough for you to know they weren't real life locations. The desert in particular was particularly brutal and I could feel the heat pouring down on me. 

Beetlebrow also has one of the best descriptions about love that I have read and it has really stuck with me. The basic gist is that there are no words good enough to describe how good it is to be with the person you are in love with, except worded MILES more brilliantly! 

One last thing, I really think that a lot of important representation is included in this book and it was good to see a lot of different things from the usual YA that I read. To see my full review the link is here. 

I'll be back tomorrow with September's book and I still just can't believe how quickly these days are going! Are you all prepared for Christmas yet?

About The Author

I was lucky enough to have Ben as a guest on my Getting To Know... feature so for more information about him, please check out that blog post here. 

Ben Parker was born in Ealing, London in 1983. He started writing as a teenager, inspired by Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road'. His early interest in the Beats took him to Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Patrick White, whose work inspired further writing in literary novels. With an exposure to Alan Moore, Robert E. Howard, and Petronius Arbiter, his interest in adventure stories was piqued, and his work continues to tread the fine line between the excitement and emotion of thrilling, fast-paced "page-turners" and the more esoteric drives of satire and the systems of society evoked by "high-minded" literature.

His first novel, 'Beetlebrow', was inspired by thoughts about past civilisations, and how a person could navigate through worlds where everything is against their success. It is in the portrayal of the filthy, bustling streets of ancient Rome, or the alleyways, "rookeries" and make-shift communities of Victorian London which continue to inspire him towards how a person might survive in such an environment. 

Getting To Know... Linda Hill

Today is my last Getting To Know... of 2016 and I am extremely delighted to be welcoming book blogger Linda Hill of Linda's Book Bag to Life Of A Nerdish Mum! 

You have an absolutely wonderful (and busy) blog, Linda's Book Bag, what inspired you to set this up?

Thanks for your kind words about the blog! I set up Linda's Book Bag because I wanted to share my love of books. I'd been a reviewer on the reader panel for https://www.lovereading.co.uk/ so I was already sharing reviews there and years ago I used to review teenage fiction for Hodder to see if it would be suitable for inclusion as class readers for KS3. Both these things made me feel it would be good to have my own blog where I could write about the books I'd enjoyed. Since then, it's grown and I also have guest posts, extracts, interviews and giveaways, especially to support those independently published authors who don't have a huge budget behind them for publicity.

On average how many books do you read in a year? Do you set yourself an annual goal?

Normally I would read between 150 and 200 books a year, but life has been tricky of late and I have hardly had any time for reading. I set myself a challenge on Goodreads to read 125 books this year and at the moment I'm on 106 but I have several reviews that I haven't added there yet as they are for blog tours coming up.

Do you have a favourite place to curl up and read?

Ideally it would be in the sun in the garden or on a beach, but anywhere will do. I really like long haul flights as I can get into a book and just read for the duration, so I suppose you could say a plane seat is a favourite place to read too - even in cattle class!

Do you have a particular way of organising your bookshelves or are books just placed where they fit?

You know, I used to be the most organised person in the universe, but now I'm so overwhelmed by books that they are everywhere. I have three book cases in the sitting room and one on the landing, 300 books under the spare bed, a huge set of shelves in my study (about a third of which is represented in the photo) and then a few (cough) awaiting a place on the side in my study too. That's after taking over 2000 between my husband and me to the Sue Ryder charity bookshop in Spalding over the last three years as we were supposed to be clearing out!

When you're not reading what would we find you doing?

First and foremost I'll be drinking tea. I'm addicted to it. After that I'll be outside. I love to garden and have an allotment. I spent 30 years moaning that our garden is too small so my husband organised an allotment for my birthday to shut me up and I'll often be seen there amongst my leeks and beetroot. We go for lots of walks and love to travel too. We've been all over the world from Antarctica to Zambia and have booked Lapland for our next trip followed by Uganda, where we will be trekking in the hope of seeing gorillas in the wild as wildlife is a huge passion too.

You were an English teacher, is that where your love of reading came from, or have you always been a big reader?

No, definitely not. I was a late reader. My sight is really poor and as I have an older sister who used to read with me, as my parents were so poor they were always working, no-one realised and it wasn't until I got glasses at the age of 8 that I really began to read. It was a miracle that those smudges had a shape and were letters that formed magical words. After that there was no stopping me and I read as much as I could as often as I could.

When you were a teacher, did you have a favourite book to teach as part of the curriculum?

Gosh, that's a tricky question. I always enjoyed teaching Macbeth as it's so dramatic and accessible. I loved reading Of Mice and Men with my students, although every time I taught it I still cried at the end and I think some of them thought I was mad. However, not a book, but a poem sticks in my mind most - Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen. I had a top set of absolutely wonderful 15 and 16 year olds. We had been studying the war poets and it just happened that I was teaching them over the two minutes' silence at 11AM on one 11th November. I'd shown them the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth (the episode when they go over the top and are slaughtered) and then we read and discussed the poem. We finished, by chance, exactly as the bell rang for the silence and at the end all of us were in tears. It was so moving I've never forgotten it.

Bookmark, random bit of paper or dog ear?

I nearly passed out when I saw 'dog ear - NO! NEVER! Though I have to admit, I have scores of wonderful bookmarks but more often than not it's whatever I have to hand - nail file, pen, specs, post-it, passport.

Do you have a favourite author?

Every time I read a book that touches my soul the writer becomes a favourite author. And since I began blogging there have been so many that it's impossible to say. From the classics it has to be Thomas Hardy.

Will we see a book by you in the future? If yes, what genre can we look forward to?

I have actually got my name on around 18 books as author and editor but they are all non-fiction resource books for teachers and students so I don't feel they count! I began NaNoWriMo in 2015 and have completed 26,000 words of a novel which could loosely be called women's fiction. I didn't finish it then as my husband was diagnosed with cancer on 6th November and that took all my time and attention. Since then 2016 has been so fraught waiting for my husband to get the all clear in February and again in September after more surgery and then the near death of my Dad from sepsis and the actual death at full term birth of our great niece Emma that, I didn't have the emotional energy for writing. I was going to complete it this November in NaNoWriMo, but when November arrived I'd spent 3-6 hours a day for the previous three and a half months visiting my Dad in hospital after he had a terrible stroke in July and supporting my Mum. Dad died on 9th November and the funeral was 25th with all the arrangements that causes so perhaps I'll do my own DeWriMo instead!

Thank you so much to Linda for taking the time to join me and answer my questions and for sharing with me so much.

To connect with Linda

Blog - https://lindasbookbag.com/

Twitter - @Lindahill50Hill

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LindasBookBag/?fref=ts

Twelve Days And Twelve Books Of Christmas - Day 6

Half way through and I have my stand out book from June which I was actually lucky enough to be part of the blog tour for, my post is here. 

Day 6 - June Book - Deadly Harvest by Michael Stanley

A young girl goes missing after getting into a car with a mysterious man. Soon after, a second girl disappears, and her devastated father, Witness, sets out to seek revenge. As the trail goes cold, Samantha Khama – new recruit to the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department – suspects the girl was killed for muti, the traditional African medicine usually derived from plants, sometimes animals, and, recently and most chillingly, human parts. When the investigation gets personal, Samantha enlists opera-loving wine connoisseur Assistant Superintendent David ‘Kubu’ Bengu to help her dig into the past. As they begin to discover a pattern to the disappearances, there is another victim, and Kubu and Samantha are thrust into a harrowing race to stop a serial killer who has only one thing in mind …

My Thoughts

This was my second Michael Stanley book, my first being A Death In The Family which I read and reviewed all the way back in 2015 (my review for that is here). I've mentioned in both my reviews previously but as it's one of the reasons I think this book stands out to me, I'm going to mention it again. The fact that these books are written by more than one person is just amazing. I've read books before that are co-authored and you can tell which section or chapter is written by each author, but it is just not that way with the Detective Kubu books. The writing is all smooth and cohesive so when I first discovered it was a two man team I was really shocked. 

Another reason this book stands out is the characters. I adore Detective Kubu, he is just such a wonderfully well rounded character. I love the fact that he's such a family man and is in a happy marriage, adores his kids and he is really close with his parents; It's such a nice touch when books are dealing with crime and darkness to have one shining light of joy to keep the balance. 

I really feel that I have learnt a lot from reading Deadly Harvest in particular about Botswana. The books have introduced me to Setswana, one of the languages spoken in Botswana as well as different traditions and cultures, all interspersed with police work and family life. The subject of Deadly Harvest also introduced the darker side of the culture and I ended up doing a lot of my own research following reading it which is good as I love books that make me want to expand my knowledge and really know about the subject they have brought up. 

Overall though I am specifically saying that Deadly Harvest was my stand out book in June, I would definitely recommend the Detective Kubu series as a whole. 

About The Authors

Michael Stanley is the writing partnership of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. Michael lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Stanley in Minneapolis.
We have travelled extensively in Southern Africa and have a special love of Botswana, where our detective novels are set.