January was a strange month for me I lacked motivation to blog, read or do anything creative!
I didn't read much and found I wasn't enjoying reading
So I took a break from both reading and blogging!
I am back with my monthly book review but it isn't very positive!
I didn't enjoy most of the books I read this month but some months are like that, as readers we are not always going to love every book we read and I want to be truthfully when doing these reviews.
Hopefully February will be a much better reading month for me!
I am a big fan of Marina Fiorato I have read most of her books and have enjoyed the adventures they bring me on when I read them. When I saw this book in my library I couldn't wait to read it, but I was so disappointed in this book.
It is a prequel to Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which isn't my favourite from Shakespeare but I like the play and the characters so thought I was off to a good start. Unfortunately there is way to much going on in this novel. Fiorato also interweaves other Shakespeare's characters from Romeo & Juliet and Othello for no good reason, it doesn't add anything to the plot.
The story takes so long to pick up and it doesn't really add anything to the two main characters, yet I did like find out about Hero and Claudio's back story
Not a great read and quite boring but I have loved Fiorato's other historical fiction and would definitely recommend her other novels.
Daughter of the House~Rosie Thomas
This was another disappointing read for me. This was recommend by Goodreads so I ordered it from my local library. I hadn't read The Illusionists or even knew this book was a sequel which kind of annoyed me as I would of read that book first! Anyway this is a stand alone story so it didn't really matter. It took forever for the book to actually feel like it had started, the plot is a little thin, it's basically about the daughter of a magician. She is growing up in a time when magic becomes unpopular, the First Word War changes her world, the magic theatre is closed and the family struggles. The problem is none of the characters where likable to me and I found myself not caring about them or what happens next. It's a very slow read and in the end I felt it didn't really go anywhere!
Bonkers~Jennifer Saunders
French and Saunders are one of my favourite comedy duos. I do love strong women, and I love female singers, actors and comedians! After reading Sue Perkins book last year I am trying to read more non fiction and more auto biography's of my favourite people.
This is a nice read but as Jennifer says at the start of the book her memory is a little sketchy, she skims over alot of her life, whether she couldn't remember or just didn't want to get too personal I don't know. She is very shy and a very private person, but it's just hard to keep interested in a book where she doesn't give much away about her life. Unlike Perkins who also kept alot private, there was lots of funny stories about childhood and school years. Saunders memory lapses meant the reader didn't get much of that.
It is a funny read I loved the little drawings at the start of each chapter. The stories about meeting Dawn French and then later making Ab Fab are really funny. Yet I still know relatively nothing about Jennifer Saunders after reading this book!
The Peacock Emporium~Jojo Moyes
Moyes is a funny author for me she can be very hit or miss. I adore some of her books and hate others this falls under the MEH category!
First of all I found it sooooo slow it took me days to get into it I put down and took it back up a number of times! The first few chapters are so boring and slow that I almost gave up but once the pace finally picks up it's not a bad read, it not great either!
It tells of Suzanna her marriage is in trouble and she returns to her home town to try put her life back together. She is haunted by her Mother who died at her birth and she never knew much about her. She must piece together her parents past and secrets to sort out her own marriage and life now.
Parts of this book are very good but others are awful. The character of Suzanna is so dull and depressing! It is hard to get to like her never mind invest in her story!
What Paul Has Been Reading This Month~
The Walking Dead Compendium 1~Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard,
Tony Moore & Cliff Rathburn
In December, I started reading The Walking Dead – Compendium 1, the graphic novel the hugely successful show is based on. I say based on because there are more differences than similarities between the source material and the show. This would not be a complaint as I enjoyed reading a story that was vastly different but felt familiar. The story focuses on Rick Grimes an everyday small town deputy that gets shot in the line of duty. When he awakes he finds a different world to the one he left behind. Saturday mornings washing the car and bringing your child to sports has been replaced with a constant battle for survival.
The graphic novel highlights a number of key issues that the first world has become accustomed to, when the outbreak has come and gone the survivors are still waiting for the government to take control and help the survivors to safety. Survivors now have to try to grow their own food and ensure a safe place to sleep. It would easy to picture this scenario a century’s previous but to see it against the backdrop of modern day Atlanta is frightening.
Human beings have now been replaced by the deceased who outnumber the living 20:1. We see Rick and his group of survivors moved from a campsite outside Atlanta to a tucked away farm to a state prison in search of a safe haven. However, the biggest threat comes not from the dead but the living as we see how the modern person reacts to the loss of society. If you can picture a cult society mixed with mad max then you are on the right track.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel and I’m preparing to read the second, you might not believe me but this 1000 page novel is a light and easy read. I cannot wait to see what this new life throws at Rick and his group next!
What Oisìn Has Been Reading This Month~
Catch The Cuddle~Mike Smith
Oisìn got this book as a gift at Christmas and he has asked for it to be read every night since without fail! He gets three stories read to him a night (Paul blames me as I have turned our little one into a book worm, and some nights three books can be a bit much after a long day) and this book is always in that three! Daisy wakes up one morning not feeling right she needs a cuddle but first she has to catch it!
Oisìn loves lifting the flaps to see what's underneath although he remembers each one now!
It's a sweet book and always guarantees me getting a big cuddle at the end!
So that's what our family have been reading this month
How about yours?
I have sorely negleted my reading recently - by that I mean the last few years! I used to devour books, then life got in the way. Books became more reference than reading pleasure when I was first at college then at work, and now I just don't seem to have the time. I should make at least some time as I did get a lot of pleasure from books ... might start with the pile next to the bed first!
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