My A-Z Author Challenge 2015 is complete!! :)

Yes, that's right, as you have probably seen already, I have completed my A-Z Author Challenge - yay! :) This has all happened in 64 days...and considering this is the first year I have had a full-time job, I am pretty daym proud of that! :) I have really enjoyed it, as it has really got me to read a whole range of new authors that I may never have normally touched, but whom have benefited from having a surname starting with an unusual letter! Having said that, I did get a bit dis-encouraged by the end, as I felt like the alphabet was dictating what I could read next! Now I have a 'TBR jar', so I won't know what I am reading next until I finish a book and pick a new one from the jar - how exciting!

Anyway, as I have finished, I thought it only fair to honour all the books that have taken part in my challenge, and I shall finish by picking a top 5! I hope you enjoy! :)

A - Mitch Albom - The First Phone Call from Heaven
B - Laura Bates - Everyday Sexism
C - John Connolly - Bad Men
D - Lucy Dillon - One Small Act of Kindness
E - Imogen Edwards-Jones - Hotel Babylon
F - Jane Fallon - The Ugly Sister
G - Jane Green - The Other Woman
H - Emma Healey - Elizabeth is Missing
I - John Irving - A Prayer for Owen Meany
J - EL James - Grey
K - Nicole Krauss - The History of Love
L - Francois Lelord - Hector and the Search for Happiness
M - Ken Macleod - Intrusion
N - Jennifer Niven - All the Bright Places
O - Maggie O'Farrell - Instructions for a Heatwave
P - Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar
Q - Matthew Quick - The Silver Linings Playbook
R - Stella Rimington - The Geneva Trap
S - Alice Sebold - The Lovely Bones
T - CL Taylor - The Accident
U - Fred Uhlman - Reunion
V - Ferdinand von Schirach - The Collini Case
W - Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray
X - Xinran - The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices
Y - Louise Young - The Heroes' Welcome
Z - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the Wind

Quite a mix in there...we have crime, thrillers, young-adult, biography, non-fiction, romance, classics and other types of fiction - it's great! :) 

Aaaand my top 5 are:

5) Grey - I know people are going to seriously judge me that out of 26 books this made the top 5, but I really enjoyed it! It was very long, which I was secretly dreading, and I was actually so pleasantly surprised that it quickly shot into being one of my favourites! :) 

4) The Accident - I LOVED this, I thought the story was great, the suspense kept me hooked, and I really identified with the characters.

3) The First Phone Call from Heaven - For the first book of twenty-six to have kept my attention for so long must show that it was something special! I really love the magic in Albom's stories, they always make me feel warm and fuzzy once I have finished them, 

2) Intrusion - I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book because the reviews were a bit varied, but I loved it! I thought the storyline was really interesting, and I loved all the sciencey references, which seemed pretty accurate and appealed to me in particular! 

1) The Bell Jar - Without a doubt, my favourite book of this list. I just thought it was so powerfully written, and is the first book to have ever provoked such strong emotion in me that the emotion didn't go away when I shut the book! I really really think the whole world needs to read this book!! :)

I do feel a bit bad - these 2-3 line synopses do not do these books justice at all, and there were some other great ones in the mix too. All of these books have been reviewed under the A-Z tag, so if any of them interest you, please go and check out the reviews! :) Also, if you have read any of the books featured in this challenge, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Adios, amigos :) 

Z: The Shadow of the Wind

Okay, I'm sorry, I promise this will be the last review for a little while! But now...I bring you...the last book in my A-Z Author Challenge 2015 - yay!!! :)  I am so happy that I have finished it, as much as I enjoyed it, it is much more fun to have a mystery regarding what I shall read next, rather than being dictated-to by the alphabet! I now have a TBR jar (stolen from another blogger - sorry I can't remember who!), which I am very excited to start using! :)

Anyway, back to the point! This review is of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's 'The Shadow of the Wind'.

Oooh I do love being shrouded in mystery! This book had it all: mystery, intrigue, romance, heart-break, crime, passion - what else could someone want?! Critics call this the book for people who love books, because it is a celebration of the power of literature! 

Without giving too much away, the basic storyline is set in Barcelona. Daniel, a bookshop owner's son is taken by his father to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a safe haven for old books which may otherwise be destroyed. He feels drawn to 'The Shadow of the Wind', which he later finds out is the only copy of this book remaining in existence. Why, you may ask? Well, Daniel asked the same question! In his quest to discover the life and mystery of the writer, Julian Carax, Daniel gets a little more than he bargained for. Suddenly, he finds himself intertwined in an epic and complex puzzle, involving some very unlikely characters. Undeterred, he follows all the trails, which lead him to some pretty scary places! 

This story is packed full of suspense and mystery, and I actually didn't predict the ending at all! I was gripped...most of the time. For me, sometimes the plot-line advanced a little too slowly, which is why I just couldn't feel justified giving it the full 5 stars. I really enjoyed it though, and would definitely think about picking up the sequel: 'The Angel's Game', although I may give myself a Zafon break first! 

Have you read The Angel's Game? Is it similar to this, does the storyline follow this closely? Do I need to have a good memory of this book to enjoy it properly? I'd love to hear your thoughts below :) 

Y: The Heroes' Welcome

Yes yes, it's me again! I have another book review to bring you, which I finished just yesterday. This is Young's 'The Heroes' Welcome'. I have to be honest, I was desperately trying to find a Y for my A-Z challenge, and was about to give up when I saw this gorgeous cover sitting on a table in Waterstones! I just had to buy it...I didn't even really look at what it was about until I got home!

I later found out that it is a sequel to Young's 'My Dear I Wanted to Tell You', which I actually read years ago, and know I enjoyed, but wouldn't be able to tell you much of the plot except that it was a war romance set in the First World War.

In this sequel, Young deals with the 'what happens next?' Yes, you can write romantic letters which travel across oceans to each other, but what about when the war is over? If you're lucky enough that your soldier returns home, what will life be like then? No one really thinks about that!

Everyone recognises the sacrifice of soldiers who risked their lives fighting for our country, no one denies them the glory they deserve. But how many people think about the hardships they faced when they returned home? Injured, suffering with PTSD, how easy would it have been for those soldiers to integrate back into society? What about their wives? Would they still love the man they had fallen in love with before the war, or would they have changed so much they were unrecognisable? Would they be able to handle their husband's night terrors, their disfigurement, or their drink problem?

This book was really well-written, and struck a very poignant chord! It tells a story which I guess a lot of people don't even consider, and for that reason I really enjoyed it! It was daring, and not afraid to tell a story of heart-break. Not every story has a happy ending, but don't we all have to make the best of what we have?

Has anyone else read this book? I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)

X: The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

Hello people, and welcome back again to my book reviews as part of my A-Z author challenge! :) I now have my X to share with you...which is Xinran's 'The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices'. I am glad my challenge encouraged me to pick up an 'X', otherwise it would have been very unlikely that this book would have ever come into my possession.

The clue is in the title really...this book is a biographical work, compiling stories of women all over China who have suffered oppression or abuse in their society. Xinran is a radio presenter, who is brave enough to set up the first radio show which discusses the lives of women in China. Within hours, her answer phone and letter box are flooded with stories of women who have been waiting to be heard for so many years.

Some are really heart-breaking. There are tales of abuse, forced marriages and the struggle to develop an identity in a male-dominated world. It is difficult to imagine that these stories actually happened less than 50 years ago! It was a real awakening for me, and shifted my life back into clear perspective: women in the UK complain about the treatment of women, and maybe we should still not stop fighting for 'equality', but we should also be grateful that we do not experience the horrors of these women. If these women can live their lives with such dignity and compassion no matter what hardships they face, what excuse do we have?

W: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Hello my lovely readers, and apologies once again for my period of silence! I have been stuck in a period where I couldn't stop reading whenever I had spare time (nothing to be complained about!), but this does seem to have translated into a slight neglect for my blog! Nevertheless, I am back, with exciting news:

I have finished my A-Z Author Challenge 2015!! :) 

I am so proud of myself, and to have completed it in 64 days is a special achievement, I believe :) I shall soon be bringing you my A-Z wrap-up, but for now, a review of my book read for W: Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. 

I really like these Pulp covers of classics! I get that they're trying to modernise classics to make them more accessible to the youth of today (which is a category I still like to consider myself to be in!), so they totally worked for me! :) Let's be honest, I would have read this regardless of cover, but it's fabulous blue pages were the pushing factor which actually made me buy it! :) 

I am sure most people reading this will know the story of Dorian Gray: he sits for a painting, and becomes overwhelmed by the realisation that he will never again look as young as he does in the picture! This thought eats away at him, and he wishes that the portrait could bear the burden of ageing, while he maintained his youthful good looks forever. Well, Dorian...be careful what you wish for! 

I actually really enjoyed this book. In the first few chapters, Dorian makes friends with Lord Henry (Harry), who had some great things to say. He made some great observations and was extremely philosophical about life, and the human instinct, which I found really interesting. I loved the love story (can't beat the story of a strong man going weak for a girl), and it kept me really hooked!

The problem was, as the story hit about half-way, suddenly it seemed to lose its thread somewhat. At one point, there was almost an entire page listing different names of jewels which Dorian had studied, acquired or sold, and it became extremely tedious! I struggled to cling to the weak thread of the story, and although it did pick back up, I felt rather lost by this point, and almost had to crawl to the finish line. It's a shame really, because Wilde's writing showed such great promise in the first half of the book, which is why I felt guilty scoring it anything less than 4 starts on GoodReads!

What do you think of the story of Dorian Gray? As always, I'd love to hear your comments below! :) 

Top 5 Wednesdays: Favourite Character Tropes

Hello everyone and welcome back to my ever-expanding blog! Today I bring you another Top 5 Wednesday list, inspired by the wonderful GingerReadsLainey. This week's topic of 'Favourite Character Tropes' was another difficult one for me (Lainey isn't making this easy for us at the moment!), as to start with, I am ashamed to say that I didn't even know what a character trope is! I hope I have now got the gist of it, as it'll be pretty embarrassing if none of the items on this list count as character tropes, but *fingers crossed*. 

So, without further ado...I should probably just launch straight in! 

5) A man considered to be a 'player' who becomes smitten with a girl and becomes tamed.
I have to admit, I tend to see this more in films, but I am sure there are loads of books too that I am overlooking! One that springs to mind is Gideon from the Crossfire series. He is the huge player who doesn't ever commit and has a hotel room permanently rented out for when he wants to bring random girls back. Then he meets Eva, and she is the first to be allowed into his home and into his heart and he settles and devotes everything to her...I love it! :)

4) An interfering family member.
Who doesn't love a bit of a family feud or drama?! I can think of so many examples of this:
- The whole family in Almost English
- The mother-in-law in The Other Woman
- The mum in the Crossfire series
- The sister in The Ugly Sister
All of these cause family drama, and it reminds me how lucky I am to have the family I do! :)


3) Really really kind and wonderful religious people.
I'm sure this is obvious to many people, but I think that these characters in books are so fantastic as they help to neutralise some of the bad press that religious people get! What with extremism etc (wow this is getting heavy..), many atheists can't see the benefit of religion. That's why I think it is so important that religion is represented in its way of creating wonderfully patient, kind and caring people, such as:
- Owen Meany from A Prayer for Owen Meany
- those who work in the convent in Instructions for a Heatwave
- the monks in Hector's Search for Happiness
- the sisters in The Secret Life of Bees


2) A romance that grants the couple a new lease of life.
Back on the loved-up theme, I love really cheesey stories where a romance can change a person's life for the better.
- Violet and Finch in All the Bright Places
-  Pat and Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook
- Lou and Will in Me Before You
All of these characters are going through hardships, and in finding each other, they get a renewed faith in the beauty of life, and I love it! :)

1) An alien trying to make sense of human life.
This has got to be my favourite, because it makes for some hilarious writing at times! Some of my favourites are
- The Humans
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- The Lorien Legacies
An 'alien's' perspective on what it is to be human can be so refreshing and amusing at the same time. These books are thoroughly entertaining, and I would highly recommend them to people who want a little taste of SciFi! :)


That's it for another Top 5 Wednesday! I hope you enjoyed it. If you know of any other books which fit my favourite tropes, please let me know! Also, I'd love to read your lists, so please post the links in the comments below :) 

Top Ten Tuesdays: Characters who are Fellow Book Nerds

Hello everyone and welcome back to my bookish blog! Today is time for another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten Characters who are Fellow Book Nerds! It came as no surprise to me that a lot of these characters were childhood favourites of mine, as I have always been a complete geek when it comes to books! :) 



10) Isabel Archer - Portrait of a Lady
This book was an epic challenge for me - 680 pages! But I loved the fact that Isabel was the clever, intelligent one and she loved reading! I take that as no coincidence! Also, in true book geekishness, can we please all appreciate how beautiful this cover is?! I think it is one of my favourites ever!

9) Anastasia - Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey)
I may be judged for saying this, but in some ways I felt I could relate to Anastasia - I really liked her as a character! I can't lie, I wouldn't be complaining if a rich man bought me first-edition copies of a book I loved! Who wouldn't love that, let's be honest! :)

8) Liesel - The Book Thief
I don't think anyone can claim to be more committed to books than Liesel! To steal books illegally from fires and read them over and over again until you have the opportunity to steal another? I applaud that commitment to reading!

7) Alice - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
And so begins my selection of favourite childhood characters! Sitting in/under a tree in the sunshine reading a book in a pretty blue dress? What could be more peaceful?! Life goals...that is all.

6) Charlie - Perks of Being a Wallflower
I love Charlie, he is such an adorable character. He forms such a close bond with his English teacher because he gets all his favourite book recommendations and I just think that's fabulous!

5) Pat - Silver Linings Playbook
Pat is another character I just love. In an effort to win back his ex-wife, he begins to read all of the books she teaches on her syllabus, and he learns so much in the process, which I think aids his recovery! He also has very strong reactions and emotions towards certain books, which to me is the sign of a great reader!

4) Hermione - Harry Potter
Yes, she may read textbooks mainly, but we can't discriminate here! You can't really fault Hermione, she is another character who reads and is the most intelligent person there! This can't all be a coincidence...

3) Violet - All the Bright Places
Violet and Finch bond over quoting Virginia Woolfe. Bleurgh, I know, it is quite cringey, but at the same time, I don't think I could honestly say that a boy quoting my favourite authors wouldn't win me over!

2) Belle - Beauty and the Beast
I know this is slightly cheating as it is the Disney film version of this which I love most, but as I used to have a Disney book version as a child, I am counting this. As I am sure I have said before, Belle is just my idol. As her name suggests, she is beautiful, she is courageous, she loves reading, she is French AND she gets given her own library. I mean come on...how perfect can life get?!


1) Matilda

Matilda easily swiped my top spot in this one! Matilda was one of my favourite books as a child because I loved her all through the story as she was escaping the wrath of her parents by shutting herself behind a wall of books, or wandering off to the library. For the story to then end with her having magical powers, what a great finale! She was bright, she was loved by her teachers (story of my life...joking!), and then she had magic powers! This little book geek defeated the hellish Ms Trunchbull, so this heroine deserves my top spot!

So there you have it! I have to say, this was my favourite Top 10 Tuesday: each one of these characters celebrates a slightly different reason why I love reading, and I love each and every one of them very much! Characters who love books really are the best kind :) Who are your favourite nerdy characters?