Top Ten Books I Want To Read With My Book Club

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

I love meeting with my book club and discovering books I wouldn't ordinarily read. From this year on we're only meeting quarterly and the book of each quarter will be decided by a random book club member drawn from a hat. So this list will come in handy for me if my name is drawn. 

These are in no particular order...

All The Light We Cannot See and The Night Circus have both had such amazing reviews that I'm sure everyone would love them.

I loved Still Alice and if Left Neglected is half as good then I'll be glad to have shared it with others. 

Teach A Woman To Fish is one that I saw www.entomologyofabookworm.com would be reading this week. It looks like the kind of insightful book I love to read, so would love to share this with my book club too.

Gilead is one I've been meaning to read for a while. 

Fahrenheit 451 is an interesting read that would lead to great discussion, so it was a must list.

I've read amazing things about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Light Between Oceans.

The Thirteen Tale sounds fantastic and I think it would be well received by all.

Three Cups of Tea is a book I've wanted to buy for some time and would be a great non-fiction to read and discuss.

Which books would you like to read with your book club?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #3

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.

So, I haven't posted for quite a while... I have been reading but family life has been pretty hectic and I've been very disorganised - which isn't much of an excuse but it's the truth. With the festive season over and things finally a lot calmer I've become a bit more organised and plan to post at least weekly on top of reviews. So there'll be much more content from here on.

Read Last Week

As you can see I've been reading a bit of Adult Fiction lately. Both of these are fantastic books that I highly recommend them. Reviews of these and other books I've been reading in my absence will be coming shortly.

Currently Reading

This will be my first Donna Tartt novel and I'm pretty excited because I've heard such marvellous things about her writing. If I like this I'll be sure to check out her other work too.

Up Next

At the start of 2015 I realised how many books that have been sitting on my shelf, collecting dust, waiting to be read. So I am participating in 0 by 16, a project started by Max from Well Done Books, in an effort to reduce the amount of books on my TBR. To aid my efforts I've made myself a TBR jar and, as such, am unlikely to know what I'll read next. 

What are your reading plans for this week?

Top Ten Books For People Who Like Character Driven Novels

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

This wasn't an easy list to compile, but if you love a good character driven novel you'll probably like these:

Which character driven novels would you recommend?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #2

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.

Read Last Week

Currently Reading

Up Next

I'm really craving some fantasy, so hopefully I can get onto these soon!

What are your reading plans for this week?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #1

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.

Read Last Week

Currently Reading

Up Next

What are your reading plans for this week?

Review: No Matter What

No Matter What

by Sally Donovan

Goodreads Description:

'I love you, no matter what.' This book tells the uplifting true story of an ordinary couple who build an extraordinary family - describing Sally and Rob Donovan's journey from a diagnosis of infertility to their decision to adopt two children who suffered abuse in their early life. Writing with incisive wit and honesty, Sally Donovan movingly describes the difficulties of living with infertility when friends and family have no idea, and the emotional process of arriving at a decision to adopt. She recounts the bewildering logistics of adoption and, after finally Sally and Rob are joyfully matched with siblings Jaymee and Harlee, how their joy is followed by shock as they discover disturbing details of their children's past. Determined to heal their children, Sally and Rob realise they will need to go 'beyond parenting' to give them with the help they need. By turns heart-rending, inspiring and hilarious, Sally and Rob's story offers a rare insight into the world of adoptive parents and just what it takes to bring love to the lives of traumatised children.

This book is insightful and, at times, heartbreaking. Donovan highlights the fact that the end of the adoption process is not the end of the journey, that there's so much more before and afterwards. I haven't read anything before has been so honest about adoption - the highs and the lows.

I would thoroughly recommend this to any parent or especially anyone considering the adoption process or anyone who has adopted.

Review: If I Stay

If I Stay

by Gayle Forman

Goodreads Description:

Everybody has to make choices. Some might break you. For seventeen-year-old Mia, surrounded by a wonderful family, friends and a gorgeous boyfriend decisions might seem tough, but they're all about a future full of music and love, a future that's brimming with hope. 

But life can change in an instant. 

A cold February morning ...a snowy road ...and suddenly all of Mia's choices are gone. Except one. As alone as she'll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all. 

With the film trailer out, I thought I'd better post an overdue review of this little beauty!

This was my first Gayle Forman, and I'm hooked. Although short, this story is beautifully sweet and believable. The stream of consciousness style lends so well to this story and the characters felt well-rounded. I especially loved Adam. You will be left wanting more, so be sure to check out the companion novel Where She Went. I still cannot believe I picked this gorgeous hardback like new for £1 from a charity shop!

What did you think of If I Stay and are you excited for the upcoming film?