The Return!

For months I've been thinking about resurrecting this blog and after considering it once again today I decided to go for it. Thanks for the twitter encouragement too people,you know who you are!

I'm not planning to stick to a rigorous schedule with posting as I figure this is supposed to be a fun past-time so I'm content to go with the flow. I've also been thinking about what kind of blog I want this to be, which is a bit more difficult. I definitely want the main focus to be books but I'm hoping to avoid writing endless reviews and instead feature some discussion posts and some more personal 'what reading means to me' type stuff. So here's hoping that all works!

I'd also like to overhaul the layout but for now I thought I'd ease myself in and talk about what I've been reading recently. I'm on holiday from work at the moment so I was hoping to read a lot and even made a list/pile of things to read.Of course that hasn't worked out so much,instead I've fallen into a bit of a book slump, fuelled by choosing books I subsequently found difficult to get into and further poor choices. It's picked up a bit over the last few days so I'm hoping for a fruitful few days!
I'm currently reading:

This is one I've had on my kindle for months but was reminded of after purchasing Jessica Warman's latest book 'Beautiful Lies'. I tend to be like that,I'll buy a brand new title from an author after neglecting other books of theirs for months,blame my massive hoarding streak!

When I'm reading an e-book I usually have at least one physical book on the go too, which at the moment is:

This is definitely a book I feel like I should have read by now, particularly as I've read all of John Green's other books and this is one of the most well known, it's certainly the first of his books I became aware of anyway. I think sometimes it makes me sad to think I'll be completely up-to-date on books by an author I love so I purposely 'save' one or two for when I need them, hoarding logic again! I like this so far but I don't feel like it has the magnetic pull I felt when I was reading 'An Abundance of Katherines' or 'The Fault in Our Stars' which I wholeheartedly think is a masterpiece.

While I'm on the subject of 'books I feel like I should have read by now' I ticked another one of those off my list recently:

This isn't actually the edition I read, as I couldn't find a picture of that one I just chose the one I liked the most! I've had 'The Great Gatsby' on my mental to-read shelf for years but had never felt it was the right point to read it.Now after reading it I wish I'd read it sooner as I think waiting for so long made me build it up to mythical proportions.I enjoyed it I really did and the writing is faultless. What left me disappointed I think was the brevity of the book and the romance. I was expecting a heartbreaking romance(which I generally LOVE)and instead I found most of the characters vastly unlikeable(which I think is intentional)and the outcome of the story almost pointlessly tragic.I feel bad voicing such opinions on such a well-regarded book, particularly when I did enjoy it and am generally a fan of Fitzgerald's but hey,this is my place to share my thoughts!

So I think that's all I have for now but I'll see you again soon!

Review:Between-Jessica Warman

Jessica Warman-Between

'Between' isn't actually released in the US until August and October over here but I thought I'd review it now whilst it's fresh in my mind. Perhaps once I've been blogging longer I might have the foresight to make notes as I read but at the moment I'm just winging it!

'Between' arrived with a plain blue cover with hardly any blurb and comparisons to 'Before I Fall' and 'The Lovely Bones' (both books I really enjoyed), so expectations were high. At over 400 pages in paperback 'Between' is something of a beast and pacing-wise it's a bit uneven. I don't think I'm spoiling anything to say that the book starts with a bang as at the end of the first chapter Elizabeth discovers she has died, but after this initial revelation the book spends the first 100 pages dragging its feet until picking up again around the 150 mark.

My initial problem was with the character of Elizabeth Valchar herself. She's the typical mean girl those of us exposed to American teen books and movies know so well, a spoilt brat who thinks the world owes her a favour. She's similar to the protagonist in 'Before I Fall' in her selfish popularity but rather predictably she starts to grow as a person as she learns a few life lessons.

To begin with the aspects I've outlined above felt too familiar and left me frustrated, however as Elizabeth became accustomed to her existence as a spirit and began to remember more of her life before things became intriguing. Crafting the idea that after death Elizabeth and her companion Alex's memories of their lives are hazy was a clever turn as the reader fits the pieces together at the same pace as the characters do.

'Between' is a difficult book to discuss without giving away surprises the plot hinges upon but I really enjoyed seeing Elizabeth develop beyond a spoilt stereotype into a traumatised girl who spends much of her time feeling lost. The love story element referred to in the press release also took me by surprise and doesn't follow the usual path of the anguished paranormal love story.

By the end once all of the pieces were firmly in place I felt quite touched by Elizabeth's sad story and was really glad I'd persevered through the difficult beginning to get to the heart of the story beneath. 'Between' is a different take on the life beyond death theme and has shown me there is breath left in the telling of paranormal stories.

Rating: 4 out of 5