Hello all, my name is Emily and I have a problem. I have eighteen books on my to be read (TBR) list. Well ones an audiobook but I’m counting it because it’s still a book damnit! Anyway, I thought that perhaps the best way to counteract this unsettling number of books would be to make myself accountable for not reading them; so today we’re going to discuss all the books on my list and why I want to read them!
Lets begin with the audiobook because it’s probably going to be the easiest to finish and some naysayers will say it doesn’t count. This is “Full Steam Ahead, How The Railways Made Britain” by Peter Ginn and Ruth Goodman. This book is complementary to the TV series of the same title (watch it here) and is an informative look at how the railways changed the landscape of British life. I know I’m a nerd, wait until we get to the actual books, this is the beginning of a theme. Anyway I love this type of stuff but it’s definitely not for everyone, it’s all facts and figures and textbook-ness. It’s read by both Peter and Ruth which is awesome as they’re pretty enthusiastic about their subject matter and really endeavour to bring it to life. It’s available on audible if you want to give it a shot.
Continuing on our historical path we have “How To Be A Victorian” by Ruth Goodman, yep the same Ruth Goodman as above. This is again a history lesson, but this time it’s about how ordinary people lived their lives during the Victorian period. I love learning about the intricate details of peoples lives especially people in the past, I think I just have that Irish predisposition to nosiness if I’m honest. This book is so beautiful though (I’m two-thirds of the way through) it follows the rhythms of a normal day and explains all of the things you really want to know; where did you keep the chamber pot? What did a two-year-old wear? What happens if I need to go out to work and can’t mind my children? It’s so good, I ordered this on book depository so if you’re interested in any of these books I’m sure you can find them on here.
Onto book three; “My Lady Jane, The Not Entirely True Story” by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. Honestly we’re getting into the territory of me not really knowing much about these books other than someone said I should read them. This book was on someone’s TBR way back and I kept meaning to buy it, totally forgot about it and then was reminded of it the same day I was ordering “How To Be A Victorian” so I slipped it in there. I know a bit about Lady Jane Grey as in the historical figure but in terms of this book I hear it’s funny and has historical context, that’s all I got!
Book four has a ridiculously long title; “Sucking Eggs. What Your Wartime Granny Could Teach You About Diet, Thrift, And Going Green” by Patricia Nicol. I’ve had this book for literally years, I bought it to use as a reference for my Leaving Cert history project (The Effects of Rationing on Post WW2 Britain, just in case you were wondering) but I only ever read the bits that were important to my project. I’ve started this one and I’m discovering that I’m not a fan of self help books, I expected there to be less preaching and more teaching if you know what I mean. But I’m going to properly give it a go, so I’ll get back to you on this one.
I’m going to lump books five and six together as they’re in a series; “Make Do and Mend” and “Eating for Victory” both with a foreword by Jill Norman. These are actually reproductions of WW2 leaflets on fashion and clothing, and gardening and cooking respectively. These two were also books I bought for the Leaving Cert and only read the important parts of. I feel like these two are almost more like magazines, for leafing through on a sunny afternoon in the garden as they’re picture filled and not particularly taxing on the brain.
Moving away from historic texts we have the only e-book in this collection, “Enchanters” by K. F. Bradshaw. This is another book I’ve already started and it is so good!! If you’re a fan of Robin Hobb you need this in your life. It’s set in a fantasy medieval world where magic is highly regulated and then there’s an adventure and honestly you’re better off going in blind. I was lucky enough to get the book for free via a promotion by the author on Tumblr, I’m assuming that the catch will be that the ending is a cliff hanger and you’ll have to buy the next X number of books in the series but seriously if the writing stays this good I will have no trouble forking over cash for the sequels! And you can buy the book for a meer 0.92 euros/0.80 pound/0.99 dollars on barnes and noble, on itunes, or kobo. (It’s also available on amazon but its $1.49 on there for some reason, still worth it though)
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“Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them The Original Screenplay” by J. K. Rowling is number eight on our list. I got this for Christmas and I really hoped that this would be the easy route into reading again, but honestly it’s just been very put-downable. I don’t know what it is, I just haven’t been itching to read it. Hopefully though by the time I get round to it I’ll be back in the swing of things reading wise and I’ll have a lovely time with this one.
Oh number nine. “Forces from Beyond” by Simon R. Green. If you have not read the first few titles of the Ghost Finders series I really, really recommend you do. They’re about people who hunt ghosts and are generally badass. They are fantasy books for adults which don’t use sex to prove their adultness, written with style and elegance and are just generally very good. This book however, is not doing it for me. I know that this is the final book in the series and I wonder if Mr. Green has run out of enthusiasm for these characters. No one seems to be acting the way they should be and I just can’t seem to get into it. But this is the final book in a series which I previously enjoyed and I’m going to finish it damnit!
Lets categorise based on series again, I’m planning on reading the “Fire of Heaven” trilogy by Russell Kirkpatrick. These were loaned to me by my uncle who compared them to Game of Thrones. (Which I haven’t read.) So I know almost nothing about this series except that 1) my uncle liked it, and 2) it is a medieval fantasy novel. I shall endeavour to report back on it!
Lucky number 13! “The Society of S” by Susan Hubbard. This is a book I think I must have been gifted as a child and just never read. Possibly because there was something more interesting on offer or maybe I just never got around to it. Either way I know nothing about this book, I don’t know if you can tell but I like going into books blind, but it seems to be about a girl raised in isolation who is using the internet to solve a mystery? Sounds like a rip-roaring good time to me!
Next up is “Finding Violet Park” by Jenny Valentine. Again I think I may have been gifted this book in childhood and I just never got around to reading it. But if the tagline “I met Violet after she died. But it didn’t stop me from getting to know her” doesn’t make you want to read a book then I don’t know what will! It doesn’t seem like a ghost based tale, but who in the heck knows?
“To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. I have actually read this book before, but it was for school. We read it aged about twelve or thirteen and honestly I think most of it must have gone over my head. I want to re-read this and really take in the bigger themes and really take the time to understand it as an adult, that’s why it’s still here on my TBR list.
Number sixteen is “Pirate Latitudes” by Michael Crichton. Mr. Crichton is better known for another novel he wrote, just a little indy number you’ve probably never heard of called “Jurassic Park”. Which by the way if you’ve not read you seriously should this man is a genius. This book is about pirates looking to steal gold, but nothing is ever that simple in a Michael Crichton book and I’m expecting all sorts of madness from this one.
Second to last we have “Twelve Kings” by Bradley Beaulieu. I got nothing on this one, I don’t even know where I got it. The spine on mine makes it look unopened, if you leant this to me will you please let me know so I know who to return it to? The plot of this seems to be lady assassins which I am very there for and there seems to be a desert involved. We shall see.
And last but by no means least “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” by George R. R. Martin. This is a sort of companion novel to Game of Thrones, set about a century before around a knight and his squire. Honestly this book looks dense as all hell and I’m almost nervous to try to read it! Hence it being at the very bottom of my TBR, but as per all the above, I’ll give it a good go at any rate!
And that is my exceedingly long TBR list, if you have a similar book hoarding problem to me please let me know in the comments? I need more addict friends. And if you’ve anything to recommend me you can leave that down there too!
Until Next Time,
Emily Jayne xo
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