Here we are again, can you believe it? The end of one year and the start of another. And what a year it's been for my reading project!
This has been my most successful twelve months so far. I've read 33 books, a whole ten more than in 2013. Admittedly, eight of them were gifts sent to me by various publishers and retailers (thank you!) plus there were a couple of books that weren't on my list at the start of the year, but overall everything balanced out. The extra ten books I read were new, so the remaining 23 came off my list. So it all sort of worked out nicely in the end.
As always, I've hit the variety button! The non-fiction covered everything from journalese to murder to psychics to psychology, as well as positive thinking and chocolate (not the same book, honest!). I've enjoyed new and established writers, short stories and full length novels. I read thrillers, science fiction, horror and, of course, my favourite, historical fiction, plus a couple of books that defy genre. These included an original retelling of Romeo and Juliet which I think is very underrated. Looking back, it's been a very eclectic year and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.
Last year, I decided to try reading series of books to give me some intermediate and (hopefully) more achievable targets. I would like to go back to Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series soon and am keeping up with Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories, but this year has been the year of James Bond. I've always loved the films and had heard a lot about the books, so really wanted to give them a go. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of them on CD, so this was the series I started in 2014. I've now heard six of the books and am part way through a seventh ('From Russia with Love'). There are just six more after that, so perhaps I'll finish them all in the next year. You never know!
I'd also like to return to Cornwall and see how the Poldarks are getting on. A new TV adaptation is looming, so I would really like to be able to watch it without spoiling the books!
So, as well as finishing Fleming and Graham's back catalogues, what else does 2015 hold? Well, I'd really like to read at least one classic next year, as well as more non-fiction history. I've got some great looking history on the shelves and would really like to see if it lives up to expectations!
As always, thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you're still enjoying the blog and finding my posts useful and entertaining. If you've got any feedback, you can find me on Twitter as @Girl_LovesBooks. Take care and have a fun and fabulous new year!
Related Posts
Review of the Year 2013
Review of the Year 2012
2014: The Year in Books
January
'Alex and Me' by Irene M Pepperberg
February
'Romps, Tots and Boffins' by Robert Hutton
'The Pagan Lord' by Bernard Cornwell
'For Your Eyes Only' by Ian Fleming
March
'The Devil in the Marshalsea' by Antonia Hodgson
'Gin O'Clock' by The Queen of Twitter
'The Bluffer's Guide to Chocolate'
April
'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming
'Bird Box' by Josh Malerman
May
'Mr Briggs' Hat: A Sensational Account of Britain's First Railway Murder' by Kate Colquhoun
'Live and Let Die' by Ian Fleming
June
'A Host of Voices' by Doris Stokes
'Dr No' by Ian Fleming
'The Psychic Tourist' by William Little
'The Essential Marx' by Groucho Marx, selected by Stefan Kanfer
July
'All My Friends are Superheroes' by Andrew Kaufman
'The Art of Being Brilliant' by Andy Cope and Andy Whittaker
'Warleggan' by Winston Graham
'My Baby Shot Me Down' by Blinding Books
August
'Wake' by Anna Hope
'Octopussy, the Living Daylights and Other Stories' by Ian Fleming
'Moranthology' by Caitlin Moran
September
'The Illustrated Man' by Ray Bradbury
'Thunderball' by Ian Fleming
'Love and Treasure' by Ayelet Waldman
'Warm Bodies' Isaac Marion
October
'Office Politics' by Oliver James
'We Bought a Zoo' by Benjamin Mee
'The Tiny Wife' by Andrew Kaufman
November
'How to Read a Graveyard' by Peter Stanford
'Moonraker' by Ian Fleming
December
'The Miniaturist' by Jessie Burton
