An Update on my 2015 Reading Challenge

At the beginning of the year I decided that I was going to participate in both the Book Riot Read Harder challenge and the PopSugar Ultimate Reading challenge as I believed that it would widen my horizons and book choices. I made a list of all the books I wanted to read to accomplish this and spent time considering what would be the best choices for me.

I was really excited by the whole thing and at the start I flew through quite a few of the books on my list, but as I got further into the year, I just wasn't in the mood to read the choices of books that I had made so I changed up some of my original choices with books that I did want to read but that still fit the challenge criteria. As more time went on the books I wanted to read no longer fit under any of the criteria to fit on my challenge list and I started to begrudge reading any of them, even though I do want to read them all, just not at this point in time. Because of this I went into a reading slump for a couple of months which was tough to get through.

So I've made a decision, I'm not going to be completing my 2015 Reading Challenge that I set for myself, I have hit my target of how many books I wanted to read this year (100) and I have thoroughly enjoyed, for the most part, the books I have read. I'm doing this so that I can carry on enjoying my reading experience which is the most important thing to me. I have found that this sort of challenge just doesn't work for me as I found it very restrictive, which is the complete opposite of the reason I was doing it in the first place. This is also the reason that I don't set monthly tbr lists as I never know what genre I'm going to be in the mood for. I do still think that it's a great way for people to expand their reading experience it is just not for me.

If I do read any books that fit in before the end of the year, I'll definitely still blog about them and update my list, but if not, I really don't mind. If you'd like to see how I did, click here for my original 2015 Reading Challenge post.

Have you ever participated in a reading challenge? How did you find it?

My Review of The Assassin Princess

I originally had a different book chosen for the Book Riot topic of "a book published by an indie press", but then I was lucky enough to win a signed copy of The Assassin Princess by Blake Rivers on Facebook directly from the author and thought that it would be a perfect choice for me.

I'd read the blurb and I'd read the Goodreads description as I'd been coveting the book for a while and it sounded really interesting so I was really excited to read it. It was everything I expected and more!

The world building is brilliant and I absolutely adore Legacy, the Planrus Lands etc. They are described just enough for you to picture them yourself but with enough detail so you have a complete picture, The lore and the history that you learn as you travel through the book is incredibly interesting and going forward I would love to read more about it, it's just so well thought out and credible. The magic is also very cleverly done with where it comes from and how it is used, I don't want to go into it too much as I don't want to ruin the wonder of anyone coming to read this book.

The main three characters are Ami, Adam and Hero. Ami is exactly the right kind of badass female main protagonist that you want in a story, Adam is exactly the right kind of twisted evil you want in a story and Hero is the perfect damaged hero you want in a story. I genuinely think the characterisation has been done so well and not only for the main characters, I love the story about Ami's parents and I love the unicorns (yes there are unicorns in this book!)

I'd say the only criticism I have about this is that I don't have the next book in the series so I cannot just jump straight back into the world.

Just a mention about the front cover too, it's stunning and eye catching. So simple and yet striking.

Overall a fantastic book that throws you straight into the action and keeps you going right until the very end. People need to read this book.

I started this book on the 16th of July 2015 and finished it on the 25th of July 2015
I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads

Make Love Not War - My Review of The Art of War

I'm really trying to cut down the amount of books left on my 2015 Reading Challenge and I decided to chose one that was a topic on both the PopSugar and Book Riot challenges and that was "a book that was originally written in a different language". The book I chose was one that has been on my owned tbr for a long time and the book was The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

The Art of War was originally written in Chinese and the copy I read was in English. The book took me just over an hour to read and was surprisingly easy to read. I expected a lot more detail and more indepth descriptions. The writing style was almost lyrical or like poetry and so that was how I read it in my mind.

I don't really know how to review this book as it is so different to everything I normally read. Yes I feel it is an important book and I am glad that I read it. As to whether I think it is still relevant, maybe. Some people say that you can relate certain things to your work life instead of war, but I'm not entirely certain that it would be necessary.

I know this is short and sweet but I really don't have a lot to say about this book

I read this book on the 12th of July
I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads

Cyborgs, Princesses and Fairy Tales Oh My! - My Review of Cinder

I've been doing a lot of the PopSugar categories recently so I thought it was about time to get into some of the Book Riot Read Harder challenge categories. I chose "a book that is a retelling of a classic story" and the book I chose was Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

I will hold my hands up and confess that before reading this book, I really thought I was going to hate it. I don't like cyborgs and I'm pretty sure this is the first retelling book I've ever read so I did not know what to expect and I had made a judgement before I even started.

The writing throughout Cinder is fantastic and Meyer has created a world and characters that you can instantly recognise and relate to. I absolutely adore the characters of Cinder, Iko and Kai and in complete contrast I absolutely hate Queen Levana with a passion, though I think there's more to her character which I'm looking forward to hopefully finding more about in one of the other books.

I really enjoyed the fact that we had a bit of back story for the prince in this story too as I sometimes feel we get the princesses story and then prince charming just rocks up to save the day without us knowing much about him (this isn't true for all fairy tales, just some of the ones I can think of off the top of my head).

I loved this book and was gob smacked it ended when it did, I don't have the next book and I NEED to know what happens next.

The only...not negative but something I want to point out is that I figured out pretty much on page one who Princess Selene was, to be honest though surely everyone must have known. Am I right?

I started this book on the 23rd of May 2015 and I finished reading it on the 24th of May 2015
I gave this book 5 Stars on Goodreads

My Review of In The Dark by Richard Laymon

I really need to get back to reading books on my reading challenge lists and stop getting distracted by ALL THE BOOKS. So on both the PopSugar reading challenge and the BookRiot read harder challenge, there is a topic for "a book recommended by a friend" and the book I was recommended to by the hubby (he counts as a friend right?) was In The Dark by Richard Laymon.

Since meeting my hubby I've read quite a few Richard Laymon books as he is one of his favourite authors, this isn't one of them though and he really wanted me to read it to see what I thought as he hasn't read it yet either. 

As with all Richard Laymon books, even though this was over 500 pages long, it was very quick and easy to read and I read it in just a couple of hours over 3 days. 

The story centres around Jane who is the new head librarian in the town and she receives an envelope which contains money and a clue to where she would find more money. Along the way she meets Brace who becomes a love interest and you get the usual "is it him or is it not" twists, hints and misdirections. As she follows each clue, the challenges become more and more difficult and dangerous. As a normal, sensible human being (honestly) there is no way I'd have gone past finding the first envelope and I don't think anyone with any sort of sanity would continue past maybe the fourth one when it becomes more extreme. 

The characters as usual for a Richard Laymon book are pretty pantomime, but I found both the main characters to be likeable which isn't always the case. 

Overall I really enjoyed the story and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of horror without it being too scary, There was just one bit at the end that I felt was an unnecessary addition to the story, but I won't say what as I do try to keep spoilers out of my reviews. 

One thing I did do when starting to read this book was to get out my pen and paper and start a "nipple" count. If you've read any Richard Laymon at all, you'll probably know he loves the word nipple! This book actually came in with a relatively low score of only 11 mentions.

I started reading this book on the 6th of March 2015 and finished it on the 9th of March 2015

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads

My Review of Golden Age Sub-Mariner Volume 1

As part of my Panels read harder comic book challenge, the one category I really thought that I'd struggle actually finding anything to read was the Golden Age (30's to early 50's). However, while deciding on my options I went to the library with my husband and he spotted Marvel Masterworks: Sub-Mariner - Volume 1 (Marvel Masterworks #47) by Bill Everett, Ray Gill, Stan Lee and Mickey Spillane. This was originally written and published individually in 1941, so it fell perfectly right in the middle of that time frame.

Much as I wanted to love this, as this time period was when comics really got started, I really struggled with the stories and the way the text was written. I felt that each story with Namor was pretty interchangeable as each issue followed the same arc of finding the Nazis did something bad and then punishing them for it, usually by punching them in the face. (action was certainly very different in the 40's)

The writing itself felt very formal and stilted, however that could be due to how people spoke in the 40's, but its not all that long ago in the whole scheme of things.

I believe the stories were run as part of a propaganda plan to try and get America involved in the war (I seem to think we saw Captain America fighting in the war too before America officially joined). This does give at least the reason why the Nazis are in every story, however how they are shoehorned in or blamed in some of the stories is quite unbelievable.

Overall with the Namor stories, I got bored after the second one, so it was quite a slog to get through the rest of the book.

Saying all that, there were stories at the end of each issue about The Angel. These stories and this character I absolutely loved and looked forward to getting to his pages. I liked his character, I thought the stories were good and slightly cheeky. I also loved the idea that when he left a scene, he left a shadow of an angel on whatever surface there happened to be (wall, gravestone etc)

I gave the book 3 stars, mainly because of The Angel, however had this been a more modern book, I would have given less.

I started this book on the 14th of February 2015 and I finished it on the 20th of February 2015
I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads

Panels Comic Challenge

Just when you thought I was doing enough challenges, I go and add another one! This challenge was suggested by the head honcho of the Iggle Bookworms and I thought "why not"

The Panels challenge is a sister to the BookRiot read harder challenge but is for comics instead of books. As I like to broaden my interests and up my knowledge, I thought this was another great way of adding different formats to my reading pile.

I will say that this was actually harder to put together than any of my book challenges and that some of these choices are likely to change depending on whether I can get my hands on them or not.

So to the list:

Read a comic book from the Golden Age (30's to early 50's) - Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Sub-Mariner Vol. 1
Read a comic book that features a creative team representing more than one gender - Adventure Time Vol. 1 by Ryan North
Read a comic book originally published in Europe - Requiem Vampire Knight Vol. 1: Resurrection
Read a piece of comics journalism - A.D. : New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Read a self contained graphic novel - Watchmen by Alan Moore
Read a comic book from an independent publisher - Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir by Liz Prince
Read a comic book by an all female creative team - Lumberjanes #1 by Grace Ellis and Noelle Stevenson
Read a comic book about a culture other than your own - Sailor Moon, Vol. 01 (Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon 1)
Read a comic book about a religion other than your own - Thor: The Mighty Avenger #1
Read a comic book marketed at children or all ages - Tiny Titans #1
Read a comic book that features a LGBTQ character - Rat Queens #1
Read a comic book that won an Eisner Award - Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loab and Alex Ross
Read a webcomic - Digger by Ursula Vernon
Read a comic book starring anthropomorphic animals - Maus: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus #1) by Art Spiegelman
Read a volume of manga - Maria Holic 1
Read a comic book written and drawn by the same person - God Hates Astronauts by Ryan Browne
Read a collection of comic strips - Calvin & Hobbes #1
Read a comic about a non-traditional superhero - C.O.W.L. Volume 1: Principles of Power by Kyle Higgins
Read a new to you comic from the library - Supergirl, Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton
Read a science fiction comic book - V for Vendetta by David Lloyd
Read a fantasy comic book - Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham
Read a comic book featuring non-traditional art - Pax Arena #1
Read a comic set in a country other than your own - Essex County Vol. 1: Tales From the Farm by Jeff Lemire
Read a controversial comic book - Heroes Reborn: Captain America
Read a book about comic books - How to Draw Your Own Graphic Novel: Learn All About Creating Characters, Storytelling, lettering and Inking by Frank Lee
Read a comic with a villain for the protagonist - Sinestro Vol. 1: The Demon Within by Cullen Bunn

I'm really looking forward to reading some of these titles, in particular the comics journalism, I didn't know that that kind of thing existed, so it should certainly be interesting.

What would you do if you weren't afraid? - My Review of Who Moved My Cheese?

For my first book of the year and as part of my reading challenge I decided that it would be a good idea to start with a " self improvement" book. My choice for this topic was Who Moved My Cheese by Dr Spencer Johnson.

This book was originally recommended to me around four years ago by higher management while I was working towards a promotion. I was lucky enough to get my promotion, but that came before I'd had time to read the book. It came up again just before Christmas when I was talking to a good friend about wanting to go forward and launch my blog and other things but was nervous about how it would go. My Friend had been given the book by a work colleague and had found it very helpful so she lent it to me suggesting that I give it a read.

I really enjoyed the way this book was written, it was almost as if you were stood listening to the story being told by a friend. I also enjoyed the fact that it didn't feel very "preachy" which I have found with other self improvement books.

The story follows four characters Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw and how the deal with finding cheese and then what they do when it runs out. The four characters represent different personalities, Sniff is the kind of person who permanently searches for new opportunities, Scurry is a person of action and is always on the go, Hem is someone who is scared of change and will stick to what they know over anything else and Haw is someone who is scared of change but will come round to it eventually and will run with it. I really felt like I identified with Haw, anytime I come to a point in my life where things are going to change I freeze up and panic, not wanting to go through with whatever needs doing (and yes this even includes when I have to upgrade my phone!). But once I get my head around what I need to do and how I'm going to deal with the situation, I'm absolutely fine and I then enjoy the journey.

Throughout the book, Haw writes things that he learns on the walls as a guide to Hem if he decides to follow, the one quote that really stuck with me was "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" It really spoke to me and I thought to all the times I put off doing things that I would have enjoyed or that would have enhanced my life just because I was "afraid". Going forward I will be using this question at times I need to make decisions to help me see if I'm resisting change for the right reason and I feel this will be really good for me.

If I had one complaint about this book, it was the fact that Haw wrote his quotes on walls as he went around the maze, I'm not entirely sure why, but this just didn't feel natural to me and each time he did it, I thought " why can't he write a note on a piece of paper" or some other option. Overall though, this isn't much of a complaint, more just a personal choice as to how to give the information.

I started this book on the 1st January 2015 and completed it on the 3rd of January 2015
I gave the book a 4 star rating on Goodreads, though I'd say it was more a 4.5 rating

2015 Reading Challenge

I've always been a reader, I was an early starter too being able to read before the age of two. I have never had a period of time during which I haven't read, however there have been times when I have just read less. Until around August 2014, I was going through one of the less reading stages when I came across people on Twitter, who are part of International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club, talking about their book challenges and adding books to their TBR list on Goodreads. This really peaked my interest and got me thinking more about reading. I had previously had a Goodreads account, but at that time, it didn't feel right and the people who I was friends with just didn't seem to understand the way I read or the wide variety of genres on my books list. Fast forward back to August and I set myself up a brand new account and started adding the people I'd now met and it has been a brilliant experience. So many like minded people that are friendly and willing to talk about their opinions on books and will recommend books that they feel you will like depending on what they know about you.

Following on from this I have read more and more each month and have been thoroughly enjoying myself to the point where I want to start reviewing books again and have been making brief comments on my most recent books. Being a part of this community I was made aware of some reading challenges for 2015 and I thought why not try them out and use it as a building block to restart my reviews and give me prompts for my blog. The two lists which I have chosen to complete are PopSugar's Ultimate Reading Challenge and BookRiot's Read Harder Challenge, where there has been a duplication of a topic I have only done one and on the PopSugar list, there was a topic "a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't" and as I was a good girl and read everything that I was supposed to, I substituted this with "a book your dad loves". There is only one topic which I missed out completely and that was "an audiobook" though I may try one out later in the year.

I have created a bookshelf on my Goodreads and I will be blogging my reviews of each book as I go along so that I can share my experience with others.

So without further ado, here is my list:

A book with more than 500 pages - A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
A classic romance - Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
A book that became a movie - Divergent by Veronica Roth
A book published this year - Burned by Karen Marie Moning
A book with a number in the title - Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
A book written by someone under 30 - Eragon by Christopher Paolini
A book with nonhuman characters - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
A funny book - High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
A book by a female author - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
A mystery or thriller - A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
A book with a one-word title - You by Caroline Kepnes
A book of short stories - Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
A book set in a different country - Helen of Troy by Margaret George
A nonfiction book - Portrait of a killer: Jack The Ripper by Patricia Cornwell
A popular author's first book - Star Quest by Dean Koontz
A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet - Making Money by Terry Pratchett
A book a friend recommended - In the Dark by Richard Laymon
A Pulitzer Prize-winning book - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
A book based on a true story - All I want for Christmas Is...Letters from Santa's Mailbag by Carl Anderson
A book at the bottom of your to-read list - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
A book your mum loves - The Borrowers by Mary Norton
A book that scares you - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
A book more than 100 years old - The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker
A book based entirely on its cover - The Children's Book by A, S, Byatt
A book your dad loves - Perfect Victim by Christine McGuire and Carla Norton
A memoir - Marley and Me by John Grogan
A book you can finish in a day - Animal Farm by George Orwell
A book with antonyms in the title - War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit - The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas
A book that came out the year you were born - The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
A book with bad reviews - Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
A trilogy - The Maze Runner Trilogy by James Dashner - 1. The Maze Runner 2. The Scorch Trials 3. The Death Cure
A book from your childhood - The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton
A book with a love triangle - Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
A book set in the future - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
A book set in highschool - Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
A book with a colour in the title - Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
A book that made you cry - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
A book with magic - The Tales of Beedle Bard by J. K. Rowling
A graphic novel - Secret Wars by Jim Shooter
A book by an author you've never read before - The Luck of Troy by Roger Lancelyn Green
A book you own but have never read - The Flying Sorcerers by David Gerrold
A book that takes place in your hometown - Mist Over Pendle by Robert Neill
A book that was originally written in a different language - The Art of War by Sun Tzu
A book set during Chirstmas - The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
A book written by an author with your same initials - Little Toot by Hardie Gramalky
A play - Equus by Peter Shaffer
A banned book - American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
A book based on or turned into a TV show - The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
A book you started but never finished - Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
A book written by someone when they were under 25 - The Shadow Thief by Alexandra Adornetto
A book written by someone when they were over 65 - I Dream of Zenia with Bright Red Teeth by Margaret Atwood
A book published by an indie press - The Assassin Princess by Blake Rivers
A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ - The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
A book by a person whose gender is different to your own - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
A book that takes place in Asia - Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
A book by an author from Africa - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture - Dreamkeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia by Harvey Arden
A microhistory - The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester
A YA novel - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
A sci-fi novel - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
A romance novel - Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade - Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
A book that is a retelling of a classic story - Cinder by Marissa Meyer
A collection of poetry - A child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure - Hidden by Casey Hill
A book published before 1850 - Emma by Jane Austin
A self improvement book - Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr Spencer Johnson

There are 70 books in total on my challenge list and I hope to fit in some others to achieve my goal of 100 books this year.

Here's to a very productive and enlightening 2015!