Book after Book

I am in a pickle! I enjoyed so much writing ' My top 5 books in 2017 ' post last year that I thought I'd do that again. I didn't read a lot in 2017, though, and picking my top 5 books was a breeze. If you've come across 'My 2018 in books' post last week, however, you know that I had a stellar 2018 when it comes to reading. There is no way I can do a Top 5 list. I tried. I failed. I refuse to try again. As I don't think anybody would survive a 'My top 70 books in 2018' post, I have therefore settled for a Top 10 instead. Just as hard but more doable. What I am NOT attempting is ranking these books in order of merit, enjoyment or any other classification. The numbers purely help me tidy up the page. In my heart, they are all in first place! So here it goes… And please do let me know in the comments below or on Twitter whether you also have loved some or all of these! 1) The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech If you haven't experienc...

Before January 2019 comes to an end, I thought I'd take a quick look back at my 2018 in books, with most of the graphics kindly provided by Goodreads. To be honest, I don't know why I've never used this website before. Apparently I registered back in 2010 but I only started adding past books and keeping track of current reads this year. Do feel free to connect here as I love seeing at a glance what others are reading! Plus, the 'compare books' function is amazing! Before I get too sidetracked, here's my 2018 in books: I had set myself a reading target of 50 books and I was super pleased to reach a grand total of 76, which more than doubled my reading activity of previous years. I have been in the grip of the worst reading slump ever between 2011 and 2017 and I can't even think of all the books I've missed out on. Resuming my blog at the end of 2017 was the best decision ever as the bookish community has been a great motivator and support netw...

Happy 2019, everyone! Do you ever feel the pressure of setting New Year’s Resolutions? And – more specifically – reading resolutions? I often do and last year I thought it would be a great idea to post them on my blog. You know, to add a touch of accountability. If you’re curious, you can click here to find out what I was aiming to achieve in 2018. There is also a pretty picture of some of the books eagerly waiting their turn on my physical TBR pile. Now, let’s fast-forward to 2019 and observe a moment of silence for the 10 ½ out of 12 bookish resolutions that didn’t make it. 2018 was a great reading year – and there will be more on this in a separate post – but it didn’t exactly go as planned. I did reach my reading goal of 52 books and I am pleased to report that I even surpassed it, having read 76 books by the end of the year. I also listened to more audiobooks, which I’m getting more and more drawn to. Everything else, however, fell by the wayside. My 2018 in books ...

This year, National Storytelling Week was held from January 27th to February 3rd and the National Literacy Trust shared tips on how to inspire children to read and on how to boost communication skills. These are my favourites....