2014 Book List *Updated 07/01/14 - 2 books read*

1. The Fault In Our Stars - John Green. I couldn't put this book down and read it in a day. It is beautifully written and very sad. One that stays with you for a while. 10/10.

2. Naked Heat (Book 2)- Richard Castle. Light hearted and fun. If you watch the TV series Castle, it's fab and fits right in, you can recognise some of the story lines etc. and it is cheesy but I really enjoyed this one, easy to read an entertaining. 10/10

3. The Cuckoos Calling - Robert Galbraith. J. K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith. An interesting story with a few twists. Likeable characters, although I guessed the end fairly early on. It would have been 10/10 if there had been a bit less swearing, I thought it was a bit over the top. Look forward to the next one though. 8/10.

4. The Love of My Life - Louise Douglas. A bit boring maybe, it was a good book but I felt it could have been a bit shorter. It's not a book you'll remember. 6/10.

5. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn. A weird book. I enjoyed the twists in it and the two parts, you think you know the characters and then it turns on itself completely. The ending, however, was a huge disappointment. Ruined the story for me, otherwise a clever and entertaining read. 7/10.

6. The Secrets Between Us - Louise Douglas. Again, as with her other book, I enjoyed it, just felt the story went on a bit. Doubted the characters like-ability a bit though and ended up not really being that invested in any one of them! 5/10.

7. One Cold Night - Katia Lief. Totally predictable and really short. I still enjoyed it and it's really not the sort of book I would go for. I've read a few from this author and I like the creepiness in her stories. 8/10.

8. Monday to Friday Man - Alice Peterson. Boring, stopped and started reading it and it was a struggle to finish. 3/10.

9. Stravaganza - City of Flowers - Mary Hoffman. A re-read. Teen books but I love them, this is the third book and I've just bought the fourth so I thought I'd read this again. Total fantasy but an easy read to get totally lost in. I didn't enjoy this as much as the first two though. 9/10.

7. Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

A short novel with loose reference to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written from the aspect of a girl with aspergers. I really enjoyed how the story unfolded and the way it was written. It was interesting to know that Kathryn Erskine's daughter has aspergers otherwise I think the story may have lost some authenticity. 9/10

I had no idea these were 'real' books too! I have just started season 3 of Castle and am loving Nathan Fillion it. I shall have to look this one up

We're over 100 now ladies!!

8.Things we set on fire by Deborah Reed. I wasn't sure where the story was going as it started by a wife shooting her husband leaving her a widow with 2 daughters. The story then expands to explore relationships and the tragedy of muscle wasting diseases even though it doesn't dwell too much on that aspect. Not sure whether it really went anywhere but an interesting read none the less 7/10

9. Bolero by Joanie McDonell. This turned out to be a series about a private detective, I never read novels that are murder mystery but after I got past the first chapter I found it to be well written and intriguing. If you were to read the whole series it may get a little tedious with the constant referrals to the past but as I'm only going to read one the references were helpful. In summation not a bad book even if I didn't guess 'who dunnit' 8/10

6) Sylvia - Bryce Courtenay

This book was about one girl's struggle from child to woman, with a bit of religion and the Children's Crusade thrown in. This book was generally enjoyable, however was a bit long winded and far fetched in parts. 6/10

7. Hurry Up and Wait by Isabel Ashdown: Oooh I really liked this, the characters are really strong, couldn't put it down. It's about a 'friendship' between 3 girls in the 80s and what they get up to in/out of school and then switches over to her school reunion 25 years later.Pretty dark but unfortunately relate-able too in some aspects. 9/10

10. The Bad Mother by Isabelle Grey 6/10

The book promised to be a good read by an intriguing first chapter but soon meandered around being adopted, birth father being a manipulative murderer, marriage that breaks up and a son who runs away when he finds his mother having sex with his estranged father. It all ends rather abruptly and then they all live happily ever after.

7) Walk me Home, Catherine Ryan Hyde

I really enjoyed this book. After their mother dies, two sisters head off on a journey across America in search for their step-father. Along this journey they find out some things that shatter all they ever knew, but they also come across some real Samaritans. Lovely story, read in about 3 days. 8/10

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - Surprisingly readable, with a few interesting twists and turn, but I really didn't believe the ending. It seemed a bit rushed and not thought through! 7/10

2. Why Men Love Bitches - From Doormat To Dream Girl - A Woman's Guide To Holding Her Own In A Relationship - Loved this book, very insightful with some fantastic practical advice. I'd recommend it for all women who want to feel more empowered in their relationships. I've gone back to this book a few times for help! 10/10

7) Misery - Stephen King.

Definitely one of my favourite King books. Writer Paul has a car accident and ends up in his 'biggest fan's' house. It all goes a bit wrong and she will do anything to keep him there. 9/10

Sorry, my last post is book no8

1. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn 7/10. A man accused of murdering his wife. Good writing style although almost as if the book was written for film purposes

2. Shining Girls. Lauren Beukes. 6/10. A serial killer book. Struggled through this one. Lots of characters come and go and quite graphic murder scenes. Not enough suspense or likeable characters in it for me but lots of other people really rate it.

3. Me without you - JoJo Moyes. 9/10. Loved this. Flowing writing style engages you from the beginning. Ending wasn't what I thought it would be but still sad.

Slow reading this year - more reading and less WP me thinks!

8. One Hundred Names - Cecelia Ahern - Didn't really enjoy this, just very 'blah', a journalist reports a false story, her mentor passes away and just before she's given a list of 100 names and she has to find a connection between the people 3/10

9. Where'd You Go Bernadette - Maria Semple - Awesome front cover, awesome book. A collection of transcripts from fax, email, handwritten notes regarding the disappearance of Bernadette Fox. It's so funny, a little dark in places, but just basically brilliant, couldn't put it down 10/10

11. Daughters of the River Huong by Uyen Nicole Duong. A medley of the history of Vietnam, it should have been a novel about the history of one family but seemed to jump all over the place. It was factually correct which was interesting but the story just dragged. 5/10

9) Losing You - Susan Lewis

A very long book, but it was relatively easy to get into and emotive in parts. Characters and relationships were developed well, but I can't help feeling it was missing something. 7/10

10. Recipe for Love: 3/10 - so it appealed to me because it's about food, Italy, Vegas and weddings. It's a 'fluffy' read which you can guess the whole plot within pages. Would be a so-so beach read...

12. Kinesis by Ethan Spier. I've been sitting on this book because I didn't like the cover (boring covers put me off) My eldest daughter started reading it and said that it was good so I thought I would have a read too. The story starts quite violently and soon pans out into an interesting story regarding humans being able to use kinesis and how it varied between users. If you like science fiction, set in the UK in the not so distance future then you should enjoy this. I bought the second book immediately after reading the first as I was intrigued as to what happens next. Some of the prose could be better written hence 8/10

13. Kinetic by Ethan Spier. Original title for a sequel! This book continues where Kinesis left off but describing the people or kinetics rather than the power of kinesis. It's not bad, some parts are sloppy but the novel moves along well with a few twists and turns. An interesting little cliff hanger and I will buy the final book in this series when it's published. 8/10

10) My Hollywood - Mona Simpson.

I thought this would be a good story - a mother and her nanny both struggling with 'motherhood' and being a wife. I did not like the writing style at all and in parts I struggled to follow what was going on as it was very disjointed and jumped around. 3/10

I've read way more than 5 books this year - but only rating those that I hadn't read before. What with all our money going towards the wedding and house deposit I've been working my way through my bookcase again.

So anyway, number 5. The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez

Easy-to-read story about an unusual group of 5 women living in Kabul. Very interesting descriptions of life in another culture (the author did actually live in Kabul for quite a few years) and good storyline running throughout. 8/10

11. Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw - Fantastic! The first book my friends have chosen for our little book club. Five main characters with interlocking lives (not that they know it), it discusses money, wealth, happiness, loneliness, love and ambition in 'new' China. A really good read and well worth its nomination for the Man Booker prize. 9/10.

11) Spilt Milk, Black Coffee - Helen Cross

A book based around an over-spending, alcoholic mother who struggles to maintain a relationship with her adolescent daughter. She meets a muslim man in his twenties and their relationship develops, must to the disgust of everyone around them. This book could've been better, in parts it was hard to follow and disjointed. Good subject to tackle though. 6/10

14. Parallel lines a journey from childhood to Belsen by Peter Lantos. An amazing, articulate and fascinating story describing his childhood and later success as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. Blurb states 'The book has attracted unanimously favourable reviews and Alan Sillitoe described it as 'something of a genius with the readability of a classic'' 10/10

6. Nightingales on Call, Donna Douglas - the fourth in a series of books about trainee nurses in London's east end in the 1930s. My rating for the whole series is 9/10. Very readable, engaging stories, following the lives of a group of young women in another era. Fans of "Call the Midwife" would enjoy them.

11) White Teeth - Zadie Smith

I enjoyed this book after thinking that I wouldn't. All of the cover was decorated with reviews of the book and how amazing it would be and I half expected it to annoy me. But it didn't. It's an interesting and well written journey through the lives of two men. One White English and one Bengali who moved to England. They met during WW2 and the book follows them for 20 years after this. Samad struggles with sticking to the rules of his religion and Archie marries a black woman half his age and is faced with predudice, especially when they have a baby. 8/10

12) The Lies You Told Me - Jessica Ruston

A really good book of secrets, lies and deception. I could not put this book down as it was so well written and the characters developed well. 8/10

7. The Little Beach Street Bakery - Jenny Colgan - A really good read, perfect for reading by the pool in the summer. I felt it was a bit slow to start but once I got into it I was engrossed and finished it within a couple of days. Some recipes for homemade bread at the back which I'm planning on giving a go tomorrow... 8/10.

15. Republic A Novel of America's Future by Charles Sheehan-Miles. I can't decide whether it's 8 or 9/10. The book started by describing an america in the not to distant future, how the Dept of Homeland Security, the Patriot Act and vote rigging formed a police state country. The book reflects the Civil War in 1860's but obviously ends much quicker as fire power is far more sophisticated. 'This is a novel of people fighting a war against each other, all the while believing that they are the ones fighting for our liberty and our country'

I shall move straight onto Insurgent book 2 of America's future, if nothing else an intriguing read.

13. The Butcher's Boy - Thomas Perry

When I read the back of this book I thought it would be right up my street. The plot follows a hit man and a female research analyst who is tracking him. Perry managed to keep the hit man very mysterious but predictable. I have heard that there is a sequel to this book called Sleeping Dogs, and I will read this as I'd like to see what happens. This isnt, however, the best crime thriller I've read. 6/10

14) you came back - Christopher Coake

A well written and at times quite touching book about a family who are torn apart by the death of their young son. This book follows the boy's father several years later, but someone is determined to change things. 7/10