February 2024 in Books

creaturesFebruary was a lot more successful than January at chipping away at my 100 books in 2024. I have to admit that I did read some rubbish in my attempt to cram more in – namely ‘Help: My Cat’s a Vlogging Superstar’ – left over from when I was getting the Feline and Fiction boxes (expect a few of these to pop up), and ‘Same Time Next Year’ – maybe a good choice for some, but it wasn’t for me.

The Book Club read for this month was ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’, which I put my hand up and admit I was not expecting to like when I was told it was a book about an octopus, but I ended up loving it and couldn’t put it down.

I finally got round to reading the other books in the ‘PS. I Love You’ series – I love the films, so the books were a must – yes I love chick clicks as much as I love chick lit. I finally made my way through ‘Little Women’ – I think it’s actually the longest it’s taken me to read a book.

A couple of my favourite authors also popped up this month – Sheila O’Flannagan and Taylor Jenkins Reid – again both books I really enjoyed. If you’re looking for a bit of a quirky read, then I recommend checking out ‘Cat Lady’, I always enjoy Dawn O’Porter’s writing.

– Louisa May Alcott – Little Women

–  Tessa Bailey – Same Time Next Year

– Taylor Jenkins Reid – Maybe in Another Life

– Jenny Han – PS. I Still Love You

– Jenny Han – Always and Forever

– Sheila O’Flannagan – What Eden Did Next

– Rae Earl – Help: My Cat’s a Vlogging Superstar!

– Shelby Van Pelt – Remarkably Bright Creatures

– Dawn O’Porter – Cat Lady

Read ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott

Little WomenThe first item I ticked off on my list had to be a book when I’m aiming to read 100 books in a year!

I have to admit that it took me quite a while to get into ‘Little Women’, and it took me a good few weeks to read – which more than likely shows how easy the books are that I normally read.

I did enjoy the book, but it wouldn’t make it on to my best ever reads list – sorry to anyone who lists ‘Little Women’ as their favourite book. I did enjoy learning about etiquette in 1800s and getting to know the characters  in the book – especially learning about how different their characters and attitudes were.

I would say that I preferred the second half of the book to the first, experiencing the lives of Jo and co when they were older, and learning how their lives changed as they got older.

I think I would have got into it more if I’d been able to sit down for chunks of time and read it, as it felt like I was only reading for half an hour at a time, which meant I was only getting few a few pages at a time.

December 2023 in Books

Christmas Book ClubAnd here we have December’s books. I managed to churn through them a bit quicker this month, and even got through the final book of the year, ‘Invisible Girl’, in about two days as I couldn’t put it down – I think I could have read it in one sitting if I had five hours to spare in one go.

I really enjoyed ‘The Christmas Book Club’, a perfect book to curl up with, and of course, a Christmas book is always a must at this time of year.

Now all that is left to go is to count up how many books I managed to read in 2023, and get ready to take on the 2024 challenge of reading 100 books in a year (gulp). I’ve wanted to do it for a while now, but it will mean opting for a lot of short reads and going back to my childhood to read some classics (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator are already lined up after we saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Hippodrome a few months back). If anyone has a short read recommendations, it would be greatly appreciated!

– Portia Macintosh – Long Time No Sea

–  Shari Low – One Moment in Time

– Portia Macintosh – The Faking Game

– Sarah Morgan – The Christmas Book Club

– Lisa Jewell – The House We Grew Up In

– Lisa Jewell – Invisible Girl