Hey, Hi, How are you?
It’s the lesser spotted Kate here.
I think my last book review was this one My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan or Kate’s Love Letter to Oxford., which a friend of mine lovingly referred to as me being on drugs and then on the come down, I love that feedback. I mean, how am I supposed to top that?
Well, actually writing something might help. I have definitely been having a weird case of writers/bloggers block, I start to write and then I have no idea what I am actually writing about so apologies in advance if this goes off on a tangent.
So what have I been reading lately – a lot it would seem, I have set myself the task to see if I could read 100 books this year. At time of writing I have read 25 books and I am 1 book behind schedule, I don’t think that’s too bad.
Before I bore you senseless with a list of 25 books in what will be an exceedingly long blog post, I have broken it down into three separate posts.
So far I have read:
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. This is a big yes for me, I have previously reviewed this book here and after finishing the trilogy over Christmas I was able to go back and read this from a whole new perspective so I loved it.
Bright Lights Paris: Shop, Dine & Live…. Parisian Style by Angie Niles. Guess who went to Paris for her birthday in January, Me! I purchased this from Amazon to get me in the mood and for some tips of things to see and do in Paris. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it and I have already donated it to the charity shop.
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – this is when I decided that I could easily read all of The Infernal Devices trilogy before Chain of Gold came out, epic fail as Chain of Gold is out in the world and I am still part way through Clockwork Prince.
In Ruins (Something More #3) by Danielle Pearl When you decide to read a random book on your kindle and it’s only near the end that you realise you have indeed read this book before, which I think sums this book up perfectly. I want to say it was light and frothy but the subject matter was a bit dark in places – date rape, suicide and other issues from lesser characters?? (No idea what was actually going on, felt like different bits might have related to other books in the series). It was a fine read to pass the time, not sure if I will read again and find the rest of the books in the series or just delete at the moment.
The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen – aww, this one was a bit of a love letter to Jane Austen and Bath, two of my favourite things. I did find this hard going in places, but then I often find time travel books just a little hard to swallow, yes I am 100% okay with Fae warriors, vampires and magical witch powers but time travel. Nope. I really enjoyed this, and have already purchased the second book. I loved all the little Jane Austen and Harry Potter titbits that are sprinkled though the book.
Back Chat Beauty – written by Sophie Beresiner ( Beauty Editor) and Lisa Potter Dixon ( International Makeup Artist) this is a beauty and makeup book with a difference, it’s written in the style of a very enlightening chat with two of your best friends who just so happen to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of beauty. Thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone, whether they have very little interest in beauty or are a self-declared beauty addict like me.
Elegance: The Beauty of French Fashion by Megan Hess. A gorgeously illustrated book on the history of some of Frances most well known and loved fashion designers. The emphasis here is on the clothes and illustrations, not surprising as Megan Hess is an extremely talented Fashion illustrator, so this isn’t an encyclopaedic knowledge and in-depth review of the designers, which I liked . I am half tempted to purchase a second copy of this book just to cut some of the pictures out to use as decorations.
Uneasy Lies the Crown (Lady Emily #13) by Tasha Alexander. Somehow I managed to purchase book number 13 in the Lady Emily series without reading any of the other books in the series. From this book alone, I am into it and I already have the other books in the series on my Amazon wish list. I’ve just been sent an Amazon voucher so maybe one or two of these books will soon be mine.
Uneasy Lies the Crown is the 13th in the series and I think some of the bits that I didn’t quite understand or get are references to previous books, or setting the scene for the next book in the series.
99 % Mine by Sally Thorne
Um…. Not quite sure how to say this one, I really didn’t like anyone in this book, there I’ve said it! I hate being unkind about authors books as they have written an actual book (something I couldn’t do) and I strongly believe that every book is someone’s favourite book – this book is just nowhere near my favourite book.
We have hot mess girl who is all bad ass but it actually turns out she has a dodgy heart and acts all tough and mean because people have always treated her with kid gloves. Then we have her twin brother who is Mr stick up his ass/ boring/ control freak. Lastly, we have Mr So-perfect- I am -actually -boring guy, officially he is best friends with Mr Stick up his ass guy and in time honoured rom com tradition stick up his ass guy has asked Mr perfect but boring to look after hot mess while they do up grandma’s house. I could go into more detail but frankly I am boring myself as I type this. I found this to be very predictable and I wanted to give up on it many times but I kept going just to see it through to the end.
There we have it – the first nine books of my 2020 reading challenge, spot any favourites? Has anyone read 99% Mine and heartily disagrees with me?
Let me know how you are doing with your 2020 reading challenge in the comments below.
Happy Reading
Kate
The Beautiful Book Break 