2020 Wrap Up

What an insane year this has been, I have read a lot but no more than usual. I’m very glad to see the back of 2020 although I’m still terrified at what next year will bring, but I know I’ll be able to read some brilliant books no matter what!

Total books read: 50

A nice round amount! The list includes 7 books by Terry Pratchett and 6 rereads.

Favourite book: Circe by Madeline Miller

Least favourite book: The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Shortest Book: The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald (144 pages)

Longest Book: Rogues (collection of short stories) edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois (913 pages)

Genre I read the most of: Historical Fiction or Fantasy

Favourite series: Tudor Legacy by Laura Andersen and A Song of Ice and Fire (of course!) by George R.R. Martin

Audiobooks: I listened to 12 audiobooks in total, I’ve definitely listened to less this year, I lost my motivation for them a bit and during lockdown I preferred to read physical books!

Favourite audiobook: The Time Travellers Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer, narrated by Mike Grady

I hope you all have a lovely New Year even though we can’t go out and celebrate! Here’s to a less strange 2021!!

Top Five Tuesday – Favourite Audiobooks

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This is a great topic for me, this year I started getting really into audiobooks, some that I listened to have definitely been better than others so here are my top five:

1. Mythos written and narrated by Stephen Fry

This was the first audiobook I listened to. Stephen Fry’s style of writing flows so well. Not even for a moment do you feel like the stories are dated or boring. I loved learning about all the Gods and Goddesses and finding out where we get so many words from!

2. World War Z written by Max Brooks, narrated by: Christopher Ragland, Rupert Farley, Nigel Pilkington, Jennifer Woodward, David Thorpe, Adam Sims & Robert Slade

This was so cleverly recorded, the premise of the book is a zombie virus has spread across the world, human kind almost became extinct. Somehow they managed to cling on and a journalist has travelled the world collecting survivors stories. The use of different voices worked perfectly, it all felt very real and so scary!

3. The Child written by Fiona Barton, narrated by Claire Corbett, Adjoa Andoh, Finty Williams, Fenella Woolgar & Steven Pacey

Again the multiple narrators really addd something extra to the story. On a building site in London the skeleton of a baby has been found. The Child tells the story from three different points of view; one woman is reminded of the worst thing that ever happened to her, another is worried that her deepest secret is about to be discovered and the third is journalist trying to find the truth. I really connected with the characters in the story and found myself very emotional by the end.

4. Their Lost Daughters written by Joy Ellis, narrated by Richard Armitage

This is a crime novel set in Lincolnshire, a girl is found wandering and confused having been drugged at a party, but she’s asking for her friend who has disappeared. DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans have to find the people responsible and stop it before anyone else goes missing. Firstly Richard Armitage has such a gorgeous voice so bonus points for that…but it’s a really gripping story, I’m listening to another one in this series at the moment and it’s just as good.

5. Murder on the Orient Express written by Agatha Christie, narrated by: Tom Conti, Jane Asher, Ruta Gedmintas, Joseph Paterson, Ruta Lenska, Art Malik, Edie Marson, Sophie Okenedo & Walles Harmonde

This felt like more of a radio play and it was fantastic. I’ve never actually read any Agatha Christie books but I loved this so I’m clearly going to have to pick some up.

What are some of your favourite audiobooks?

Mid March Catch Up

Hello, I hope your March is going well so far. The weather is very un-Spring-like at the moment, I can’t wait to see all the flowers blooming! Here’s what I’m reading, watching and listening to at the moment:

Reading:

Fire and Blood – A Targaryen History by George R.R. Martin

I am loving this book, it’s so cleverly written, it’s as if it was a history book but so much more interesting! I’ve always been fascinated by the Targaryen’s so it’s perfect, the Dance of the Dragons, their civil war, is really sad though.

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz

I only started it this week but already I’m gripped, Lisbeth is looking into her past again, something to do with a social experiment she was part of as a child.

Related by Blood by Holly Sheidenberger

I signed up to the website Voracious Readers where you get sent ebooks by new authors for free so you can review them and spread the word. Related by Blood is told in three parts, I’ll post my full review on here when I’ve finished all three. It’s really well written, it grips you straight away. A couple are on a romantic road trip when they hit someone on the road, instead of calling an ambulance, they cover it up. The characters are so strange and intriguing, it’s a great read so far.

Watching:

Game of Thrones season 5

This season is so depressing.

Dirty John (Netflix)

I started watching this but it creeped me out quite a bit and I just found myself wanting to bang my head against the wall! It did also remind me a bit of my Mum’s ex (it wasn’t as extreme as that obviously and thankfully they didn’t get married) so that’s probably put me off it a bit…

Listening:

Why We Sleep Audiobook by Matthew Walker

It’s really interesting, although it does make me feel guilty that I’m not sleeping enough!

World War Z Audiobook by Max Brooks

It’s so cleverly done, the book is about a zombie outbreak which humanity manages to survive. Our main character travels the world to hear people’s stories. The audiobook is narrated by different people with the right accents so it feels so real when your listening to it.

Ruby Wax’s No Brainer Audiobook Review

“You might even become a mermaid”

I loved listening to this audiobook, I was walking along laughing and smiling to myself. But aside from the natural humour that Ruby brings, it was also so informative and hopeful.

I loved finding out about parts of our brain and how we can train it. Clearly I need to take up mindfulness, I’ve tried meditation before but I could never get the habit to stick. Mindfulness is a way of meditating that can train your brain to stay in the moment and to step back from what’s going on around you rather than let the stress overwhelm you. It also gave me hope for if I become a parent in the future. If you are at peace with your life, you won’t unload all your stuff onto your child.

I literally had no bad points to say, I’m so glad I listened to this!

“Sadness stuck without context.”

Norse Mythology Audiobook Review

Neil Gaiman narrates the book wonderfully. I loved what he says in the introduction about sharing these myths with others, that’s how stories always used to spread before we had books.

I’m really interested in mythology but this book made it fun as well.

Vikings worshipped weird Gods, I forgot how obsessed they were with war. Loki is so chaotic but also hilarious. I think the highlight of all the stories for me was Loki and his mischievous nature. Also Neil Gaiman’s voice for Thor was brilliant! This is the first time I’ve listened to an audiobook on my commute home an I really enjoyed it.