Book Two 2014: A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens It’s rare enough that I come across a book that demands me to finish it at 1am in the morning when my eyes are bleary and I’ve already read a good 3 hours of it that night and when I know I have to be up at 7am. This is one of those incredible novels. Look, I know as an adult reader who has devoured books since he was a kid (and read over 50 of them last year including some classics he got round to for the first […]
After all of the nice feedback I got from my list of the 53 books I read in 2013 I thought I’d give something new a try. I’m going to review, no matter how brief, every book I read in 2014… There’s one down already. Book One 2014: Quiet – The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain There are books you come across every few years if you’re lucky that completely change the way you view the world. They tilt your head slightly so that many things afterwards are viewed through the prism of what you’ve just […]
So it seemed like a mental and unfulfillable task at the beginning of last year but I set myself the mountain to climb of reading 52 books by the end of the year. I read 53. The question I’ve most been asked online is “HOW??” and, honestly, it’s just reading a bit before bedtime, sitting in on Sundays reading for the day if the schedule allows, taking nights here and there and not turning on the TV ’til late and reading instead… People were interested in seeing the list, I hope it gives you some ideas. I’ve categorised them loosely… […]
I hate those sort of reviews that tell you everything about a book / movie / TV show before you’ve had the chance to explore it for yourself so this isn’t going to be one 🙂 I was lucky enough to get Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep, a couple of weeks before release. It is, believe it or not given that I must have seen tens of TV and movie adaptations of his books and stories, the first of his books that I have ever read. Dan Torrance is Jack’s son, this is his story from a […]
I don’t normally write actual reviews of books I’m reading here, primarily because I’m not a book reviewer (there are exceptions!) but every now and then you come across something that you feel the need to press into the hands of others. Firstly, I’d like to say that I made it in just under the bandwagonwire – I started reading Kevin Barry’s City Of Bohane a couple of weeks before it recently won the IMPAC 🙂 After that I’m not really quite sure what to tell you about it as I feel with this book in particular it’s best not to know […]
(Originally from the Bord Gais Energy Book Club website) First impressions are crucial for me when it comes to a new book, particularly one I stumble across in a bookstore. The most important ones are usually (in some sort of order) cover, title, author, blurb on the back and first page. I’ll be honest; when I got Janet Cameron’s Cinnamon Toast And The End Of The World in the post from the BGE Book Club I had 2 immediate thoughts, for better or worse. The cover made me think it was that most maligned of genres, particularly by male readers […]