Mid-Year Book Freak Out

Hello everyone! 

We have reached the middle portion of June which means the internet is being flooded with mid-year reading panic. June is the month to re-assess whether you set realistic reading goals for the year or not :-) So I am coming to you today to update y'all on how my reading is coming along. 

So for those of you who didn't read back in January or who missed my resolutions post, I set myself the following goals. 

• Read at least 10 books from the Penguin English Library list 
• Read at least 5 books over 700 pages 
• Read at least 5 books by authors I've never read before 
• Read all of the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

Not too ambitious as you can see! I think the hardest one to complete will probably be the Sherlock Holmes goal, as there are so many of those. I have a big, hardback bind-up of these and it is over 1000 pages of thin, tall paper with teeny tiny writing! 

I'm actually doing really well with these goals, and am well on my way to completing three of them. So far I have read: 

• 6/10 Penguin English Library books 

Star rating top to bottom: 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4

• 2/5 big books (apologies for the lack of actual photos, we're moving house so most books are packed away right now! :-( ) 

 5 stars 

5 stars 

• 5/5 new authors 

4 stars 

 3 stars

5 stars 

 5 stars

5 stars

• I'm 51% through the complete Sherlock Holmes according to GoodReads! 

Now Goodreads is a whole other story! I set myself the goal of 60 books this year and I am absolutely smashing it with 45 books read so far :-) 

I'm hoping to race through loads more Sherlock Holmes when it gets to autumn as these are such autumnal/winter stories to read, I just don't feel like diving into them in the summer. Plus it will count as one of the over 700 page books. To finish off the 700 page challenge I'm planning to read The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins (a PEL!!) and Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (also a PEL, hell yeah!!). Wish me luck with reading my goals guys! 

How are you guys getting on with your reading goals? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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Hello 2018

Hello everyone, 

Firstly: Happy New Year! I hope you all saw in the new year with family and friends around you. I had a lovely quiet evening of drinks chatting with my friends and Mr. GingerSnap :-) 

It's quite hard to believe that 2017 is already over, it was such an exciting year for us. I finished university after 5 years, got my dream job, travelled around the world with the man I love and then we moved to Devon to start a new chapter in our life. At the beginning of last year I thought that with such a busy year ahead I wouldn't have much time for reading and in some ways I was right, in others I was very wrong. The evidence is featured below! 

I set myself the challenge of reading 30 books, which thinking back is very un-ambitious. I ended up reading a phenomenal 113 books, which is more than I ever imagined myself reading! When I say I didn't have much time for reading, I promise I wasn't exaggerating. That fact can be seen in how low my average page length was. Due to lack of time I read a lot of novellas, poetry, plays and Penguin Little Black Classics. I really enjoyed most of the books I read this year and choosing a top 5 feels impossible, but I'll give it a try: 

1. The Truth by Terry Pratchett 

2. The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

3. Within The Sanctuary Of Wings by Marie Brennan

4. Villette by Charlotte Brontë

5. The Reader On The 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent

So now that 2018 has unexpectedly rolled around the corner I am at my usual loss as to what resolutions to make. Every year I find myself scrambling for resolutions and choose ones unreasonable or impossible to achieve. 2018 will be different, I am going to set myself five bookish resolutions not only achievable, but fun to carry out. 

    1. I will try not set myself silly goals and challenges for my reading, they push me into a slump and suck the fun out of it for me. I am only going to take part in challenges I enjoy :-)

  2. 2018 is going to be the year of the big books. I want to read 5 BIG books. Now when I say big, I'm talking over 700 pages! 

3. I would like to read between 10 and 30 (or more, more is good) Penguin English Library titles. This list has so many amazing authors and stories featured, it will be perfect for expanding my knowledge of classics :-) 

 4. I would like to finish reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Last year I made it through just over half and I enjoyed every minute of it. Sherlock, this is your year!

  5. So often I end up reading authors I know and love, leaving me feeling guilty for not exploring new writers. I will remedy this by reading at least 5 books by authors I have never heard of. 

Those are all my sensible resolutions for the next year. I am so looking forward to getting stuck into these and feel like I am already making great strides towards this in today's read. I started and finished Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome today and am planning a review for later this week, so keep your eyes peeled bookworms! 

What have you been reading and what are your resolutions, bookish and non-bookish, for the coming year? Let me know in the comments below :-)

xoxo

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Christmas Reading List

Hello everyone! 

With Christmas just around the corner, I am very much looking forward to a few days off to enjoy the festivities. During the holiday period I like nothing more than cooking for my family, spending quality time with them and getting down to some good books.  

For all of us Goodreads fanatics the approach of Christmas often means the winding up of reading challenges and, for some, frantic turning of pages to reach a target. I don't like to set too high a target for myself, it puts the pressure on too much and I end up in a reading slump! This year I finished my goal in good time so am quite merrily ticking along reading whatever I feel like :-) That being said, I love thinking up reading lists for myself, so here is my rather ambitious Christmas tbr: 

- The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J. R. R. Tolkien

- Farmer Giles of Ham by J. R. R. Tolkien

- Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

- The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss

I am already into The Swiss Family Robinson and Mansfield Park and very much enjoying them both. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion Mansfield Park may creep into my top books of the year! 

What have you got planned to read over the festive period? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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