Goodbye 2013

So here we are, at the end of another year. I hope you've all had a very merry Christmas. Mine was very short, as I was working on Christmas Eve, then was back in Boxing day through to the end of Saturday 28th, but I'm having part two of my Christmas break now. I'm feeling utterly exhausted - somehow it feels doubly tiring working when you know you should be on holiday than on a normal week - and Christmas feels like a distant memory, but I'll show off my bookish Christmas presents nonetheless.

From my Secret Santa at work: 

I love these "sprouting" bookmarks, they are adorable! And I think that the book holder could prove very useful for keeping my page open when I read while eating my lunch.

From my sister:

Dedicated To... compiled by W. B. Gooderham. This book is a collection of inscriptions found written in the front of second-hand books. I love second-hand books with writing in them; they are a little piece of history, and each one tells a story.

From Ellie:

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I could not resist this book, but as it was not yet published in the UK, Ellie sent it to me as a lovely surprise. I read this book on Christmas day and Boxing day, and it's absolutely wonderful: the story of a shy, nerdy girl in her first year at university, juggling the real world with fanfiction-writing in the run-up to the release of the final book in her favourite series. Wonderfully identifiable - a proper review is coming soon.

From my parents: 

Doctor Who: The Vault. Treasures from the first 50 years. I haven't really looked at this book yet, but it's a gorgeous, massive collector's book for any fan of the show, going through the series year by year, Doctor by Doctor.

Other books: 

A Steroid Hit the Earth was a present from my friend Sharon, while F in Retakes was a stocking present from my parents. Both are hilarious books full of hilarious errors, one in published material (especially newsletters) and the other from exams. Good for a giggle

From my friend Hannah:

I haven't seen much of Hannah the last year or so. She's one of my best friends from university, now married to Paul, one of our former housemates, and she, like me, works in retail. She sent me this wonderful personal library kit, so that I can keep track of who I've lent books to, and (in theory) they will remember to return them to me. (Also, I always wanted to use one of those library stamps.)

I also got some book vouchers, which I will save up to have a big splurge in the new year (once I've got my to-read pile down a bit.) All in all, a good year for bookish presents. I am very satisfied.

Top Ten books of 2013

1. Redshirts - John Scalzi. I read this just as I was discovering Star Trek, which was perfect timing. Hilarious, fourth-wall-vaporising, embarrass-yourself-laughing parody of science fiction TV in general and original series Trek in particular.
2. Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt. A heartfelt story of growing up, love, loss, family and art. 
3. The Universe Versus Alex Woods - Gavin Extence. Thought-provoking, encouraging, funny and sad in equal measures, a wonderful, lovable character and a beautiful friendship between a teenage boy and an elderly curmudgeon.
4. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline. A treasure-hunt set within the world of a computer game, packed full of nerdy references, a real edge-of-the-seat adventure.
5. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman. The first adult novel from Gaiman in eight years, I finished reading the book the same day it was released, and went right back to the beginning to start again. A thoughtful, magical novel about childhood, family and identity, the power of memory and surviving in a messy world.
6. The Casual Vacancy - J. K. Rowling. Rowling leaves Hogwarts far behind her in her first novel for adults. The Casual Vacancy is a grim read, dark and furious, Dickensian in her passion for social justice. Not a pleasant book, but a very important one.
7. The Fictional Man - Al Ewing. All about storytelling and humanity, fiction and reality, and where to draw the line. Engrossing and hilarious, another book to be read in public at your own peril.
8. The Rose Petal Beach - Dorothy Koomson. Koomson's novels, though definitely very feminine, belay their pastel-coloured covers. The Rose Petal Beach was a thriller to be compared with Gone Girl. I got far more emotionally invested than I was prepared for.
9. Watchmen - Alan Moore. This graphic novel is a deconstruction of the superhero genre, dark but fascinating for its worldbuilding and storytelling. 
10. After the Fall - Charity Norman. A story "of families and secrets, and the futility of running from the past," the author kept me on my toes, surprising me and avoiding the trap of predictability. I read it with suspicion, but Ms Norman got past the emotional barriers I'd put up, with unforeseen, devastating plot twists.

Other new story worlds discovered:

• Dollhouse. Was it really only this year that I discovered this? Joss Whedon's science-fiction series about an illegal organising dealing in programmable people started off engaging me intellectually rather than emotionally, but by the end of series 2, I was shouting at the TV in almost every episode. 
• Les Miserables. The book, the film and the music took over part of my brain at the beginning of the year. I saw the film twice, once before and once after reading the book. Far from being the best novel ever written (and in serious need of a good editor), nonetheless Les Miserables is a massive epic of humanity (and one you can really hum!)
• Star Trek. This year I became a most reluctant Trekkie (I considered Dungeons and Dragons and Star Trek the point of no return when it came to nerdiness.) I watched the reboot movies, and the characters and the possibilities grabbed my attention and sent me right back to the original. Oops.

Other highlights of 2013

• Obviously, the top of the list was meeting my favourite messy-haired fantasy author, Neil Gaiman, when he came to Portsmouth this summer. It was a pretty much perfect day, starting with Neil walking right past me as soon as I got off the hovercraft in Southsea, continued by meeting one of my blog and twitter friends in person, quite by chance, and then having my hat complimented by Neil himself! 

• Meeting Ellie and buying up half her bookshop, when on holiday in the Peak District this year. It is a fine bookshop, and I'm sad that she's selling it, but happy for her that she's escaping the crazy customers and hectic six-day working weeks. Next time I'm up north, perhaps we can invade other bookshops together!

• The Peak District holiday in general: exploring caves, getting lost, falling over in the Chatsworth cascade waterfall-staircase, long walks with gorgeous scenery, and imagining myself to be in The Lord of the Rings. And more ice creams than I care to admit to.

• The Isle of Wight Festival: I spent a relaxing day at Seaview path, sitting on the grass and listening to music, culminating in Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," and then, the crowd moving en masse towards the Big Top, all chanting "one way, or another, I'm gonna find ya, I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha..." like a pack of zombies. 

• Snow! Yes, the winter went on far, far too long this year, but the first snow day was good fun.

• Visiting my friend Anna in Cardiff! It was good to catch up with her in her own environment, and I always enjoy visiting new cities. This trip included a visit to the Doctor Who Experience, free "milkshakes" (ahem) at TGI Friday's when the waitress got our orders wrong, and sampling as many different food places as I could. (Highlight had to be the crepe shop's "I'll have what she's having" crepe with strawberries, chocolate and cream.)

• Barbecues on the beach. We didn't have a spring this year, but summer made up for the last few years of wash-outs, and I spent much of June, July and August in the sea and eating sausages and burgers on the rocky beach at Gurnard.

So, that was my 2013. How was yours?

Happy new year to you all, and best wishes for 2014.

Top ten books of 2013 so far/Once Upon a Readathon

I'm really cheating here, because this was The Broke and the Bookish's top ten for last week, but I was away from my computer for a couple of days and missed it.

My blogging resolution for 2013 was to read quality, rather than quantity: to take my time reading books I could fall in love with, instead of skimming through things I didn't care in order to reach a target. So far it seems to be working. I haven't even kept track of how many books I've read, and deleted my Goodreads account, but there seem to be a higher proportion of great reads on my list.

Top Ten Books of 2013 So Far (in no particular order)

1. Paper Towns by John Green. Although Looking For Alaska, which has similar themes, has more publicity, I preferred this story of a boy piecing together the mystery of his friend and crush's
disappearance. I love a good treasure-hunt story, a mystery with clues to solve, and the interesting and little-known facts and details that make Green's books come alive and appeal to us nerdy types.

2. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. I am very much not into zombies. They Warm Bodies was the exception: Somehow Marion was able to convey just what it would be like to live as a zombie, trapped inside a mind that is almost but not quite eroded, snarkily humorous but surprisingly thoughtful and compassionate. (The book is better than the film.)
do nothing for me.

3. Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. I found this book just after the death of an old friend, and it was just what I needed to read at that time: a tale of grief and young love, family and growing up, and the confusion that comes when someone dies. I haven't seen much publicity around this book, which is a real shame. Highly recommended.

4. The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence. A story of a friendship between a bright but unusual teenager and a grumpy old man. An odd mixture of humour and sadness, this book challenged me to think. Alex Woods is a wonderful character, and I defy you not to fall in love with him.

5. After the Fall by Charity Norman. This is an odd one, because I wasn't sure I was going to like this book at all. I felt sure I knew where the story was going - and I couldn't have been more wrong. I love books that surprise me; that manage to sneak past the emotional barriers I put up, making me care for the characters more than I intended to. Challenging, heartbreaking, but ultimately hopeful.

6. Watchmen by Alan Moore. A dark and dismal story that takes a sideways look at the concept of superheroes, and wonders what kind of world it would be if they really did exist. An uncomfortable and sometimes unpleasant read, posing difficult questions about morality, heroics
and the human race as a whole, but one that stays with you for a long time.

7. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Did I mention that I love a good treasure hunt story? This one is set in a dystopian future, but its true setting is within the internet itself, in a virtual reality that is a geek's paradise, stuffed with references to gaming, science fiction, cult films and TV, in
particular of the 1980s. A thriller with all the adrenaline-rush of the best video game in the world.

8. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman This was my most
anticipated read of the year, and it did not disappoint. A children's tale for grown-ups and a short story grown long, this is all about childhood, magic and memory, filled with deep-down truths that I can't quite grasp, but that Gaiman has made sense of through story. As soon as I finished this book, I started at the beginning once more, a thing I haven't done since I read the final Malory Towers book at the age of 11 or 12.

9. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke I only half-watched the film, which probably demands one's full attention, but is extremely slow-paced. The beginning is bizarre, the middle a respectable science fiction movie slowed right down, starring the world's most sinister computer, and the ending both terrifying and a complete mind-screw. I didn't love it, but it lingered, and when I saw the book in the library, I took it home to read straight away. The novel and film are really two halves of a whole: the film shows, while the book explains what we're seeing. And as I read, a long-forgotten part of my childhood returned to me. When I was seven or eight, I was fascinated by the solar system; the vastness of space, the strangeness of all the planets, and the dream of space exploration. I had a space encyclopedia I could pore over for hours - but as I grew older, I'd forgotten all of this. 2013 has been the year of me discovering I actually like science fiction, but the realistic journey of the Discovery to Jupiter and Saturn gives a far greater idea of the size of space than all the fictional galaxies of Star Trek and Firefly. 

10. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo This is not a book I intend to reread from start to finish regularly, the 1000+ page tome breaking from the story every few chapters for Hugo to pass judgement at great length on history, politics, life in a convent and the sewers of Paris. Of course, you can enjoy the musical without reading the book - from the comfort of your own home now it has been filmed - but the book is so much deeper and richer.



Once Upon A Readathon: Mon 8th- Weds 10th July 2013

After last month's Bout of Books readathon, I've found myself bitten by the bug. Of course, I can devote any of my free time I choose to reading, and do, but it's easy in these days of wi-fi to spend more time tweeting about books, reading blogs about books and setting off a TvTropes tabsplosion about books, than actually reading. A readathon is a great incentive to actually sit down, ignore all the distractions, and actually get lost in a good book or three. So I've decided to sign up for Once Upon A Readathon, which takes place next week. I don't expect to read more than two books during that time, as I'll be at work on two of the three days. Monday will be my day off, and so I intend to get as much reading done as possible that day. Can't wait!

2012: A Year in Books (and a bit of film and TV too.)

Looking back over the hundred-plus books I've read this year, I was surprised to see which books had stuck in my mind and how many I had forgotten ever reading - or at least, was surprised to discover I had read them only this year. I've paid flying visits through some story-worlds, and immersed myself in others, which were often but not necessarily the ones I enjoyed the most at the time.

It can be a wonderful but slightly frightening thing to be so engrossed in a story that it is more real than day-to-day life. The notable books and series for this in 2012 were:

The Sandman graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman. Can that really have been this year? It seems a lifetime ago.

Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, prompted by the BBC's second series of Sherlock at New Year. (Towards the end of the year I once more immersed myself in the world of 221B Baker Street by watching the second Holmes movie from last year, and having another Sherlock marathon.

My reread of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, around the middle of the year, reignited a second time by receiving a lot of the Lego sets for my birthday, and a third by the release the first Hobbit film. Middle-Earth has had a strong pull on me since I was 16, and it doesn't like to let me go.

A Song of Ice and Fire. I took a long time to even be tempted to read this series of doorstopper novels, but eventually I was won around - although I have second thoughts about whether or not to watch the TV adaptation.

Shakespeare as a whole, although I've only actually read the one play in its entirety this year - Julius Caesar. The BBC's marvelous Hollow Crown was a magnificent introduction to Shakespeare's history plays - I love the tragedies, and some of the comedies, but apart from studying the famous bits of Henry V, the histories were entirely new to me. But the staging of Richard II, Henry  IV and Henry V utterly captured my mind and admiration in the way only the Bard can do.

Other books that have stuck in my brain:

The Fault in our Stars - John Green.
The Etymologicon - Mark Forsyth (look! A non-fiction!)
The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters
Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
The Perks of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
1Q84 - Haruki Murakami
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind

But looking back over my reading, I realise how much I've already forgotten; how many books that I enjoyed while I read them but which didn't stick in my mind, and the books that I was fairly indifferent to, and how relatively few really engaged me as a reader. And there is a place for light reading, for enjoyable fluff, but I found myself wondering how many books were ones which I read because they were short or easy, and because I hadn't posted a review on my blog for ages. Surprise, surprise, the easy reads often didn't get reviewed either, because I hadn't much to say about them.

Ellie at Musings of a Bookshop Girl wrote an excellent series of posts about rediscovering the joy of reading which I recommend reading if you feel you've fallen into a bit of a reading or blogging slump. Quality, rather than quantity, is my aim for reading and reviewing in 2013. Of late I have not done much of either. And by "Quality" I don't mean reading only Serious Literature and shunning light reading - far from it! At heart I am a fantasy freak. A thriller-seeker. A comfort-reader. A girl with a literature degree and the intent to use it. A nostalgic inner child. All these things at once and more. My aim is to merely to read the books I love, not the page-numbers of those I don't.

I set myself two reading challenges in 2012 - to read 120 books in a year (at the time of writing I have just over 5 books left to read in under 29 hours - not going to happen!) and Ellie's Mixing It Up Challenge, which encouraged me to read outside my comfort zone. In the end I read books in 13 of 16 genres - you can see which ones here - so I missed target but hardly disgraced myself, and seem to have more non-fiction in my list than in most years. But for 2013 I have resolved to set myself no blogging/reading challenges at all - not even enabling a target on Goodreads for how many books to read. That in itself feels like a bit of a scary commitment as I've been setting myself challenges for several years now (and failing to meet any of my targets.) I'm going to be selfish, and I'm going to fall back in love with my books once more.

At the same time, one of Gandalf's lines in the new Hobbit film really struck a chord with me: The world is out there, not in your books and maps. Or as Dumbledore would put it, It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. So in 2013, I want to go on my own adventures. What form these may take is as yet a mystery, but I feel the need to redress the balance between book and life.

Happy new year everyone, and I wish you all lots of joy for 2013.