The Trouble with Goats & Sheep

Title: The Trouble with Goats & Sheep
Author: Joanna Cannon
Type: Hardback
Read: 24th January - 27th January 2016
Rating: 5/5
Published: 28th January 2016 by Borough Press

England,1976.

Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands.

And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives will find much more than they imagined…

I try so hard to avoid books that have a massive hype. But this one really caught my attention. So much so, june last year i asked Borough Press if i can have an ARC copy and even tried to pre-order on various book sites before a date of release got annouced. Somethin about this book really made me want to read it. And these past few weeks theres been Goats & Sheep everywhere over twitter! But yay for Waterstones sending out early i finished this just before release date. And it matched the hype!

Firstly i have to say i adore the cover, the whole design is just stunning. I love that the cover doesn't give anything away about what is inside. Is a book on farm-yard animals? No. It a tale set in the heatwave of 1976 and told through Grace and Tilly, ten year old best friends. I adored these two. I loved Tilly a teeny tiny bit more - but together they're awesome. Grace is just a little mini grown up who has an older head on her shoulders. We also discover Mrs Creasy has disappeared and Grace & Tilly take it upon themselves to find out where she has gone and after a visit to church, decide to find god along the way.

Once Grace & Tilly are back on the Avenue they decide to talk to all their neighbours in the hope of finding god in someones house. If they find god, then he will keep everyone safe and bring back Mrs Creasy. Through their innocent questions you begin to realise not everything is as it seems within the Avenue and that secrets are hidden waiting to escape. Through their questioning, they make the adults being to rethink the past and the parts they've played in situations.

The chapters do change from the girls view and then we get the adults side to understand the mysteries they are unraveling. It's addicting. I really couldn't put this book down. You get drawn to all the characters, you can't help but adore Grace & Tilly and you just want to help them every step of the way.

I have lots of favourite parts, but i'm very geeky when it comes to places i can very much relate to. When Birmingham was mentioned i had a goofy smile and then just a teeny mention of a drink, makde me giggle and tweet Joanna. The drink was a mention of a place I work at and i just loved that reference, so much so i've told the company I work for!

This is a stunning debut, it really does match all the hype surrounding it. Joanna is an excellent story teller. I really can't wait to see what comes next!

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
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The Rain

Title: The Rain (The Rain #1)
Author: Virginia Bergin
Type: Paperback
Read: 21st January - 23rd January 2016
Rating: 4/5
Published: 17th July 2014 by Macmillan Childrens Books

It's in the rain...and just one drop will kill you.

They don't believe it at first. Crowded in Zach's kitchen, Ruby and the rest of the partygoers laugh at Zach's parents' frenzied push to get them all inside as it starts to drizzle. But then the radio comes on with the warning, "It's in the rain! It's fatal, it's contagious, and there's no cure."

Two weeks later, Ruby is alone. Anyone who's been touched by rain or washed their hands with tap water is dead. The only drinkable water is quickly running out. Ruby's only chance for survival is a treacherous hike across the country to find her father-if he's even still alive.

I won this book via instagram a while back. I've never read anything by this author before and the blurb seemed interesting.

The book is set in the UK, Ruby is at a party with her friends and the hottest boy she knows. When suddenly they're all dragged inside. The radio says nothing but it's in the rain, stay in doors and keep calm. One drop of rain on you and you're dead. It makes you bleed and there is no cure. So how do you survive when everyone around you is dead. How do you live when you need water but you can't drink whats in the taps, you can't wash or anything.

This book is very much aimed at teens. It will probably actually annoy some as well. Ruby is selfish but she's young, she's lost her best friend, her mum and baby brother and now her step dad. What can she do? She decides to set off to London to find her real dad. He will be there he would have survived and he will keep her safe.

Throughout all this Ruby discovers she's not the only one to survive. She's stubborn though. She doesn't want help until she gets to a police station and realises there's people locked in the cells. When help comes from the biggest nerd she knows, Darius, together with a small child, they release the prisoners and animals. Careful to never be caught in a downpour, Darius, Rugby and the child are on a journey to get to London. Whilst routing around in abandond shops to find anything thats left to drink. They must contend with anything and everyone that comes in their way.

Ruby is your typical teenager though. She's always felt like she's been restricted from everything and finally having freedom she's able to do everything from dying her hair to putting on a crazy amount of makeup. To wanting her phone to work and dressing up the the fanciest of clothes.

It sad as well though. Ruby is alone. She wants to be but then never wants anyone to leave her. She's a tough little cookie. The book is written as if Ruby is writing a diary or a movie. She's narrating it and its' quirky. It can distract you often from the storyline, the world is pretty much ending and yet this girl only cares about make up or kissing.

Overall its a good book, its sad as well, especially near the end. I'm certianly going to aim to read the sequal - The Storm.  

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
Follow @VeeBergin

 

The Girls

Title: The Girls
Author: Lisa Jewell
Type: Hardback
Read: 16th January - 21st January 2016
Rating: 4/5
Published: 2nd July 2015 by Century

You live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses.

You’ve known your neighbours for years and you trust them. Implicitly.

You think your children are safe.
But are they really?

Midsummer night: a thirteen-year-old girl is found unconscious in a dark corner of the garden square. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?

Lisa Jewell is one of my favourite authors, that i will buy any book she releases. I got this on release day and its sat on my shelf for too long. It was a brilliant read.

The story is of Pip, Grace and their mother Clare who move to a flat which shares a communal garden. This part kinda reminded me of Notting Hill. As the new girls, Pip and Grace are ignored pretty much at first, they're noticed but ignored. Then gradaully they're intwined in the lives of the communal gardens residents. Grace more so than Pip.

Pip seems the more mature one of the two although she was the younger sister. She was so aware of everything and didn't trust many people at all. Grace being thirteen was just trying to find her own space, to distance herself from the past and get in with the new people in this garden. It caused a lot of drama especially between Tyler and Grace. When boys are thrown in the mix its every girl for themselves.

A night of a party and also Grace's thriteenth birthday, Grace is discovered lying motionless by Pip. Who has attacked her sister and why. This book then looks at what happend before that night, what came to it and why.

I loved the mystery part of it all. With Grace in a coma we only have Pip who is trying to figure evrything out and also the Police. Plus we also have resident Adele who's three daughters are known out in the garden. Adele is also known for her open door, anyone can come and she'll look after them.

But once Grace is hurt, secrets come out that are meant to stay hidden and everyone is suspect. Relationships are tested and boundries pushed.

It's a great story, I'm sorry i never read it sooner. I adore everything Lisa does and this is certainly one of the yes you must read books. I won't give out if we find out who has harmed Grace. Theres so many people you think have done it that as a reader we'll question everything.

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
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Concert: The Corrs

Artist: The Corrs

Tour: White Light Tour

Location: Genting Arena, Birmingham

Date: 19th January 2016

My first concert of 2016 and what a cracking one to start off with. The Corrs haven't toured together for over 10 years, and perhaps in the fashion of groups coming back together, they released a new album "White Light" and a tour to go with it. So i was straight on the computre with my millions of screens open just so i can get decent seats. I got them. Then Genting moved me because it wasn't a sell out. But it was still bloody brilliant.

The support act was 'The Shires' - I'm not sure who they are and were non the wiser after watching them. However they have had an album out so I don't think are brand new. They were good, sung some catchy country songs, so a pretty good act to start up with. 

When The Corrs were together years ago, I never seen them on tour. I wanted to just didnt' get around to it. So with this tour I was really excited. I made sure I brought their new album when it got released so to learn all the songs before the tour. Then i dusted off all the old albums and got listening to them. The Corrs are timeless. Their music doesn't seem to age at all and I can still remember singing in my bedroom as a teen to their songs thinking one day I could do that. I've not got a musical bone in my body!

The songs were a mixture of both old and new. I had my favourites and was hoping they'd perform them. The show started off with a white curtian hiding the stage and suddenly Caroline is projected on there playing the drums. Then the curtain falls and the group break into the song 'I Do What I Like'. The crowd was a mixed bag. I was thinking it would attract mid-thirties and stuff but there was some older folks too and they knew every word! 

Two highlights of the night for me was when they performed 'Runaway' a very classic song which everyone knows and the crowd sung it back to them. You could see Andrea's face glow - like a little kid in a candy shop. And also when they performed the song 'Ellis Island' from their lastest album. This song is just touching and heartbreaking. It's about the times when Irish imergrents went to the US to live but had to go via Ellis Island to be checked over. It just a beautiful song.

The Corrs very much stuck to their Irish roots, they perfomed a song in gaelic 'Buachaill Ón Éirne' which as a language is hard to say let alone sing. They also played some Irish instrumentals seeing as all four are talented musicians too.

The stage was very simple, just the band and a screen behind them which showed them. It was probably daunting for them, being away for 10 years and then selling out numerous arenas, to come back out. I think they did a cracking job and the audience loved them. If they just interact slightly more with them, they'll have a great rest of tour.

Set Listing:

1. I Do What I Like
2. Give Me A Reason
3. Forgiven, Not Forgotten
4. Bring On The Night
5. What Can I Do
6. Radio
7. Lough Erin Shore / Trout In The Bath / Joy of Life
8. Runaway
9. With Me Stay
10. Ellis Island
11. Buachaill Ón Éirne
12. Love To Love You
13. Only When I Sleep
14. Queen Of Hollywood
15. Dreams
16. Kiss Of Life
17. I Never Really Loved You Anyway
18. So Young
19. Encore
1. White Light
2. Breathless
3. Toss The Feather

Cover Reveal: Reader, I Dumped Him...

Check out the stunning ebook by Lorelei Mathias. I love love love the colours.
Sounds like a cracking book!  

Reader, I Dumped Him... by Lorelei Mathias

Ebook is out 4th February 2016

This story is a celebration of the people that bring you back to life when your world closes in: your mates.
Relationships come and go, but the Break-up Club membership never truly expires.

Holly Braithwaite and loveable loser Lawrence have been together for five years. But the obvious cracks in their relationship can no longer be ignored and Holly soon finds herself saying ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’
In the shock aftermath of their break up, Holly finds unlikely companions in Olivia, Harry and Bella. Together, they form the Break-up Club, as they support each other through their mutual melancholy and find ways to love, laugh and function as human beings again.

Break-up Club meets every Sunday. Each week, as the comedy and drama unfolds, they discover a new BUC ‘rule’. And, one by one, the rules become vital markers on their journey to recovery . . .

‘BREAK-UP CLUB’
To our members, we’re the first emergency service.

Pre Order from: Amazon UK

Follow @LoreleiMathias 

The Deep

Title: The Deep
Author: Nick Cutter
Type: Paperback
Read: 10th January - 15th January 2016
Rating: 3/5
Published: 8th October by Headline

A plague is destroying the world's population. The 'Gets makes people forget. First it's the small things, like where you left your keys ... then the not-so-small things, like how to drive. And finally your body forgets how to live.

But now an unknown substance with extraordinary power to heal has been discovered in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Nicknamed ambrosia, it might just be the miracle cure the world has been praying for.

A research lab has been established eight miles below the sea's surface, but all contact with the team has been lost. Dr Luke Nelson's brother is down there and as desperation for a cure outweighs common sense, he agrees to descend through the lightless fathoms ... perhaps to face an evil blacker than anything he could have imagined. 

When this book appeared on bookbridgr i didn't hesitate to request a copy. It sounded really intreguing from the go. I wanted to know more about 'the gets' and what it involved and what they were planning to do to cure it. What i got was something a little mixed.

The book is dark, its very messed up. Seriously you have to have one crazy imagination to think of half of the twisted things that go on in this book. But i did enjoy reading it. It was additive. We meet Luke who has been sent from Iowa to the bottom of the ocean. He's brother is working eight miles below to try and find a cure for the gets. Being at such a distance below the surface, with nothing but darkness surounding them, it messes with the occupants minds. Although most if not all are in total denial of such thing. They're all hiding it in their own crazy ways.

I loved the idea of this book. I don't think i've read anything thats been based under the sea. It's distrubing. It does give you the heebyjeebies of the dark. It messes with your mind too. Thats brilliant. But perhaps i drifted off from this as I wanted to find out much more of Lukes little boy who was taken years before. I want him and Alice to escape and get back to the surface. I wanted Luke and Clayton to make up. They did i guess, but I want them to get out together.

What disappointed me was the ending. And it's whats made me so confused about this book. I have no idea what i read. The ending threw everything out of the water for me. Did it fit? I'm not sure. I guess madness took over the situation and perhaps the ending was fitting. I am still so torn what it really meant. We also never actually find out much more about 'the gets' which this was the basis for the book.

Overall it was good. Its freakishly scary and dark.

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
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Die Again

Title: Die Again (Rizzoli & Isles #11)
Author: Tess Gerritsen
Type: Hardback
Read: 9th January - 10th January 2016
Rating: 5/5
Published: 30th December 2014 by Ballantine Books

Boston Detective Jane Rizzoli is on the case of a big game hunter found dead in his apartment, alone with the body of a beautiful white snow leopard he had recently been commissioned to procure and stuff for a high-profile museum in the area.

Medical examiner Maura Isles connects the case to a number of seemingly unrelated deaths where the victims have all been found hanging upside down, the hallmark of a leopard's kill.

Rizzoli follows the puzzling trail of clues all the way to Botswana, where she uncovers the unsolved mystery of a deadly camping safari six years prior. When she realizes the two cases are connected, Rizzoli must track down the sole survivor of the tragic trip to discover who - or what - is behind these gruesome deaths.

This is the 11th book in the Rizzoli and Isles series. I've never read them in order, i does help witht he back story but its not essential. I much prefer the crime and resolving it. Die Again has been on my shelf since the week it came out. I tend to freak myself out reading Tess' books, they can give me nightmares. So i put this one off and for some reason i just wanted to read it. I got through it in just about a day. Sometimes i feel bad doing so, as so much research goes into these books, that it seems like i'm rushing it. But i really enjoyed this one. It was addictive.

The stroy is split between Botswana and Boston. Africa and the US. We are first introduced to Millie who goes on a safari trip with her annoying and down right rude boyfriend Richard. They are there with five others and two guides. All is well until one of the guides is killed, at first it seems a tragic accident, eaten by animals. But then when one of the tourist is killed, it seems un-nerving and to top it off the truck won't start to get them out of the wild. So grouped together with just one clever leader, they decide to wait it out. Gradually more strange things begin to happen and Millie is caught between the rest of the party and the guide. Until everything gets even more crazy and it seems Millie is the only survivor.

Fast forward 6 years and a double murder in Boston of a taxidermist and a seemily unknown bring the case to light for Rizzoli. But how do these cases link with that of what happened to Millie six years prior.

Tess has a good way of writing, I honestly thought half way through the book i worked out who was behind all the murders. But alas I was totally wrong. It's a good twist and I dont' think anyone will see it coming. Tess leads you down lots of guess who routes and thats a damn good author.

The more I read about Jane Rizzoli the more I just adore her. She's fiesty, independant yet beneath it all at times is also scared. She fights for everything she truely believes in. I want to be a bad as her!

This is a fast action book, its full of drama, suspense and lots of big cats.
I'm keeping everything crossed that this isn't the last for the R&I series!  

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
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Paperweight

Title: Paperweight
Author: Meg Haston
Type: Paperback
Read: 7th January - 9th January 2016
Rating: 4/5
Published: 2nd July 2015 by Hot Key Books

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Struggling to deal with her brother's death and a past she refuses to confront, Stevie knows she has problems. But she's still furious about the fact that she's been packed off to a health clinic, in the middle of nowhere, where mobile phones are banned and communication with the outside world is strictly by permission only. The regimented and obtrusive nature of the clinic and its staff is torture to the deeply private, obstinate Stevie - and don't even get her started on the other 'inmates'. All she wants is to be left alone...

But as Stevie is about to find out, life is full of surprises. And she will prove herself stronger than she knows - even when her past finally catches her up in the most shocking and brutal way possible. 

I remember the only reason i brought this book was because I'd seen a picture of it on someones Instagram. It was a pretty cover, so i brought it whilst travelling in Ireland.

It's not often books, get to me in a way that makes me overthink. This book had so much raw emotion in it that it was hard not to think of it whilst i was doing other things. Paperweight is about Stevie, who is taken to a New Mexico treatment centre. At first I wasn't exactly sure why Stevie was taken there, but as the story goes on we discover that Stevie has an eating disorder. She's bullemic and she wants to die. In twenty seven days to be exact.

I was drawn to Stevie straight away. I found her tough. She had a huge front on her but she was determind. No matter what was going on she was fiesty. We hear her story and you begin to realise she's just a girl who needs someone to love her and tell her exactly what is wrong. Not have someone tiptoe around her and forget she's distroying herself.

It was a really raw and emotionally hard book to read. It is touching how graudal Stevie begins to realise she does need help and she is really in the best place. It's lovely to see her find a friend within the treatment centre and her shrink, Anna, was just someone who didn't judge, but listened to her and tried her best to help no matter how many times Stevie shot her down.

This is a story of finding your way back. It's hard.

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
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Carry On

Title: Carry On
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Type: Hardback
Read: 2nd January 2016 - 6th January 2016
Rating: 5/5
Published: 8th October 2015 by Macmillan Childrens Books (UK)

Simon Snow just wants to relax and savour his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he'll be safe. Simon can't even enjoy the fact that his room-mate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can't stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you're the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savour anything.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

This Book. Is. Amazing.
Rainbow Rowell first introduced us to Simon and Baz in the book 'Fangirl'. The main character Cath wrote Carry On fanfiction about the two characters. In that book, i was so-so about the story. I loved the fangirl story, but I was also so torn on the Simon & Baz stuff. It was so Harry Potter.

Admitedly like everyone else, when we found out Rainbow was actually going to write her own version of Carry On, i was excited. Like crazily slow. I just didnt' really have a clue what to expected. Which was good. I pre-ordered the book and was super excited when it arrived. I just kinda never got around to reading it, partly because I was in a reading slump and secondly, the hype. I was scared. What if it didnt' live up to such. I feel bad when that happens.

But alas. I picked it as my second read of 2016 and I don't regret waiting either. This is Rainbows take on the two characters. It's nothing 'additional' to the story in Fangirl. Its completly seperate.

So the story, its fantasy, it's magical and its so not Harry Potter. It's also very british! I loved that so much. Simon Snow is the chosen one, the one who will save the world of Mages, cept he is pretty terrible at controlling his magic. Baz, is his arch enemy, but they have to put up with each other, they share a room. The story takes place in Watford, and the final year at their for both Simon and Baz. When the start of the new school year comes, Simon cant' wait to get back, but when Baz doesnt' appear back at school for well over six weeks, Simon gets worried. But he cant' work out why, is it because Baz is working on ways to distroy him.

The story is told via Baz, Simon, Penny, Agatha and a few other main characters. I liked that alot, it was great to see things from everyones view point. The magic side of the story was great, not eveyone had the same level of power, and it was set in the "normal" world, and the spells were very fun. It was hard to read them without a sing-song voice in your head. The magic spells were your everyday nursery rhymes. And you think by just saying these words, how easy it was to understand what the spells meant.

I loved Penny as a character, she was so there. Just saying it as it was, being all geeky and yet smart and clever. She and Simon together were pure gold. I did love Baz as well. He's sensitive side came out at times and you realise he is just like everyone else. The main draw of this book, which i'm sure the hype was all for is how Baz and Simon getogether. It's a cute romance, its gradual and confuses Simon more than Baz at first. It's addictive. I wanted more of them.

The book moves on fast after the first "book" and you find out the story, who killed Baz' mum and how can the student get justice and why does Simon get caught up in so much trouble. Simon as a character was sometimes annoying. He seemed immature at times and always thought the Mage would be his go to person. The twist is good. I loved it.

However this book is very british, i think i loved it more so because of that. There has been alot of research go into how us Brits are on a day-to-day basis and the things we say. Who our british icons are (yay for the Ant & Dec part) and our swearing (tut-tut!).

I'm glad i went into this book, cautious and without expectation. It exceeded everything I thought it would. Rainbow doesnt' write fantasy books and with this being her first, she got it right. I truely loved the book and would tell everyone worried about it being a HP rip off, to just read it, forget HP as this isn't anything to do with it. The likeness ends pretty quickly!

I want more!!!  

Go Get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
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This Raging Light

Title: This Raging Light
Author: Estelle Laure
Type: Paperback (ARC)
Read: 1st January 2016
Rating: 4/5
Published: 7th January 2016 by Orchard Books

How is it that you suddenly notice a person? How is it that one day Digby was my best friend's admittedly cute twin brother, and then the next he stole air, gave jitters, twisted my insides up?

Lucille has bigger problems than falling for her best friend's unavailable brother. Her mom has gone, leaving her to look after her sister, Wren. With bills mounting up and appearances to keep, Lucille is raging against her life but holding it together - just.
A stunning debut to devour in one sitting, Laure captures completely the agony and ecstasy of first love.

I recieved an arc copy of this book from Maximumpopbooks as a thank you for taking part in their first ever secret santa. Although the ISBN on the book is for the hardback version, I recieved it in paperback form and the cover is not the same as this. I actually prefer the arc copy. The title reflects back in the light and its just stunning.

I picked this up as my first read of 2016, as i wanted to read this before its due date of 07/01. It's an easy book and can be read in a day. The book is of Lucille & Wren, sisters who are left alone by their mother and have to learn to live on their own. It doesn't seem too bad except Wren is only 9 years old and Lucille is barley 17. They have only one hundred dollars to get by, to pay the bills and live as normal. Lucille does a lot of growing up fast when she tries to keep everything together to make sure Wren isn't taken away.

The book is good. I enjoyed reading about Lucille and Wren, i enjoyed their sisterly togetherness. I loved that no matter how hard it was, they stuck by each other. Lucilles best friend Eden, tries to help as much as possible, but I think she grew jealous and therefore selfish of Lucille. Eden is a twin and knows Lucille is in love with her brother Digby. A romance does ensue but i think although its what Lucille wanted, it probably came at a difficult time and confused both parties a lot.

Lucille takes on a job as well as looking after her sister, going to school and dealing with the house. And we get glimpses into little graces that are mysteriously given to the two sisters. Cupboards full of food, a garden given a make over, of which neither girl knows who is behind it. At the end we find out and its great how they have angels watching them.

We never know where their mum is, just that she's not here where she should be. We find out more about their dad, and why most people in the town ignore the two girls. It's a tough life for both and i really felt for Wren, who went from being a happy 8/9 year old to suddenly realising that her parents didnt' care and she had to put on a brave face whilst trying to avoid all the questions. Its gotta be hard. 
Its a wonderful book.

Go get it From: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery
Follow @StarLaure

 

2016 aims and challenge!

Happy New Year!! I'm so excited to finally be able to pick my goodreads challenge for 2016. I've aimed higher this year. I've gone for 60 books. I usually stick to 50 and always go over, so why not do a real challenge and aim higher! Fingers crossed I can do this. 

I'm not one who can pick a TBR pile, my whole book shelf is a constant TBR shelf. I can't ever pick books in advance and say 'okay this month i'll read this' - well done if you can - but I get bored, or I worry I'm missing something else much more fun. So I won't have set order of ever reading any books this year. 

The only thing I do want to do within the reading challenge is to branch out - so within the above I wish to do/ find books that will come under the following. No book can be classed as more than one category.

- Read a classic

- Read a banned book

- Discover a new author

- Read a book published in 2016

- Read a book over 600 pages

- Read a childrens book

- Read a Graphic Novel

- Read an ARC

- Read a book translated to english

- Read a book more than 100 years old

- Read a Triology

- Read a play

- Read a book that was turned into a movie

- Read a book I was given

- Read a book based on a true story

- Read a book that scares me (or an author)

- Read a book set in a different country 

- Read a book with an animal on the cover

- Read a book with a number in the title

- Read a mystery or thriller

- Read a book set into the future

- Read a book with a one word title

- Read a book based on it's cover
- Re-read a book on your shelf
- A book with a character that has your name

I think by doing this, I'm not tying myself to any one particular book and should reduce my reading shelf dramatically, if i stop buying of course (it's not going to happen but a girl can hope!).

On a personal level, I want to have fun in 2016, I really want my job to get better. I want to start enjoying it again rather than dread going there. I want to study something but not be forced to do so, and I want it to be something I enjoy. I want to get more involved with blogging and start speaking to other bloggers, and learn from them. I want to get more involved in the book community, because from the oustide, it's a brilliant one! 

I also hope to gradually come out of my comfort zone in everything I do. I can do it, I'm probably just too lazy to do so. I also want to use my reading to be more social. How that will happen is beyond me, as reading is such an isolating thing, but I'm going to see if i can find book groups locally or something. We're already in the start of planning 'World Book Day' at work - this year finally dressing up! I want to that to succeed! 

Overall I just want to be happy for 2016 and read more books.