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You are here: Home / Archives for book chat

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Top Ten Unread Books on My Bookshelf

15th November 2011 By Julianne 2 Comments

/pile on the floor/shelf/bedside chest of drawers…

This is my fourth Top Ten Tuesday post. Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is…

Top Ten Unread Books on My Bookshelf

This is the easiest Top Ten Tuesday so far. I have many amazing books on my TBR, and it’s nice to get to write about them and remind myself that they are there and I should get on and read them! I tried to avoid writing about books I’ve mentioned in other Top Ten Tuesday lists. Links will go to Amazon until I actually read and review the books and can link to my own reviews.

1. Out, by Natsuo Kirino

(length of time on TBR – at least three years)
I first read about this on a book forum, lots of people were raving about it. It’s crime fiction and apparently quite gruesome so it’s not exactly waving for my attention from the shelf (plus there are other books in front of it so I can’t actually see it anymore – haha).

2. Wayward Girls and Wicked Women, ed. by Angela Carter

(length of time on TBR – at least three years)
I’ve owned this for ages but like all short story collections, it’s doomed to linger on my TBR, despite Angela Carter being one of my favourite authors.

3. Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales 

(length of time on TBR – at least three years)
I LOVE FAIRY TALES. I LOVE ANGELA CARTER. I WANTED THIS BOOK DESPERATELY. WHY HAVEN’T I READ THIS???? WJ%^EOJ”£! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

4. Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

(length of time on TBR – too shameful to mention)
There are people I’m actually kind of avoiding out of shame at not having read this yet. I loved David Mitchell’s first two books, they propelled him into my favourite author category but this is a giant hardback and thus a committment that requires about two weeks with not much else to do. Okay, maybe just one week, it’s not Ash: A Secret History (which has over 1000 pages and did take me two weeks of rushing home after school and reading as much as possible until bedtime to complete).

5. No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories, by Miranda July

(length of time on TBR – at least three years)
My sister actually really wanted to read this and she borrowed it from me so it’s actually technically on her bookshelf at the moment, but I haven’t read it.

6. The Good, The Bad and The Undead, by Kim Harrison

(length of time on TBR – over two and a half years)
I read Dead Witch Walking, the first in The Hollows series, last August. At least I reviewed it so I won’t have to read it again before I read book two.

7. The Tough Guide To Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

(length of time on TBR – over two and a half years)
My MA tutor recommended this to me. I finished my MA in 2009. Le Sigh.

8. It’s So You: 35 Women Write About Personal Expression Through Fashion and Style, by Michelle Tea

(length of time on TBR – just under two years)
I read this review and desperately wanted to read it. I got it for Xmas…2009. I hang my head in shame.

9. The Dud Avocado, by Elaine Dundy

(length of time on TBR – over one year)
I got this because Sarra Manning recommended it in the back pages of Nobody’s Girl and I am a big fan of Sarra Manning. I haven’t read it yet. It just doesn’t fit into any of my current reading challenges. It doesn’t even fit into the one I am planning to run next year.

10. A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray

(length of time on TBR – about one year)
I’ve heard many good things about this but still it lingers on my TBR. Not for long though, as I have to read it to complete the Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge! Whoo! Finally a book on this list that I’m actually going to read soon! Wayhey!

Filed Under: Recommendation Lists Tagged With: book chat, books, TBR, Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books With Covers or Titles That Made Me Buy Them

18th October 2011 By Julianne 4 Comments

This is my third Top Ten Tuesday post, you can read the first here and the second here. Top Ten Tuesday was created and is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is…

Top 10 Books With Covers or Titles That Made Me Buy Them
It was quite difficult for me to come up with ten books, I had to go through my ‘read’ shelf on Goodreads. I don’t tend to buy books based on titles or covers, I choose them because I’ve read a good review, or the synopsis has intrigued me. I haven’t actually read the first two in the list cover to cover yet.
1. Chronicles of King Arthur, by Andrea Hopkins
Okay, I confess, it wasn’t just the title, it was the price. This was in a library sale, thus, 50p. I was obsessed by the legend of King Arthur when I was a kid so I bought it for old time’s sake and because I feel like I need to refresh my memory when it comes to all things Arthurian.
2. Eyes Like Stars, by Lisa Mantchev
Just look at that cover. Look at it. Even if the novel’s rubbish I think it’s still money well spent and I’ll just have to frame the dustjacket and use the book as a doorstop! (I really hope it’s not rubbish)
3. The Diamond of Drury Lane, by Julia Golding
On to books I’ve actually read! The cover is just so bright and theatrical, I couldn’t resist picking it up and reading the blurb. Then I took it home. My review is extremely overdue (I read it last April). It’s a great read, intended for the 9-12 age group, but I loved it.
4. What Was Lost, by Catherine O’Flynn
I liked the cartoony cover and the description was intriguing. It’s a fantastic book. I read it last May (pattern emerging?). It appears to have been reissued with a new cover, which I suppose they’ve chosen to make it look more serious and literary, but I think it looks bland.
5. Notes from the Teenage Underground, by Simmone Howell
I saw the words ‘teenage’ and ‘underground’ and thought ‘ooh! This could involve teenagers engaging in subcultural activities!’.
6. Diary of a Chav: Trainers V. Tiaras, by Grace Dent
Do I need to explain this one?
7. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, by Gabrielle Zevin
The cover is really eye-catching, with bright green and pink, and the blurb convinced me to take it home.
8. All My Friends Are Superheroes, by Andrew Kaufman
The cover just looks vaguely surreal but that title – wow! It immediately made me wonder, because you could interpret that title several ways.
9. Ten Things I Hate About Me, by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Another big bold cover, with an eye-catching title that sounded like a reference to Ten Things I Hate About You, one of my favourite films.
10. The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales, edited by Alison Lurie
‘Fairy tales’? ‘Modern’? I had already read and loved quite a few modern fairy tales, so how could I say no?

Filed Under: Recommendation Lists Tagged With: book chat, books, cover WTF, Top Ten Tuesday

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