Blog Archives
Books! A meme about books.
I wanted to write a post about books so I went on a meme hunt and found this…
So here goes…
1. One book that changed your life?
Hate to say it in a way but I read The Secret when I was trying to decide whether to give up work to become self employed and this book helped me make the decision. I wrote this post about it at the time.
2. One book you have read more than once?
I tend not to re-read books, even ones I have loved. I don’t really see the point. I would rather have a new experience with a new book.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Well I suppose it would depend on how long I may be stuck on the desert island. I read pretty quickly so one book won’t cut it so I’m going to cheat and take my Kindle. If it was some sort of plane crash scenario I would be sure to have it with me anyway. The battery lasts long enough for me to read quite a few books without it dying and once it did run out I could maybe use it as some sort of tool until I’m rescued. Then I’d write a book about my experiences and make it available in paperback and in Kindle format!
4. One book that made you laugh?
Last year I discovered some books my a man Terry Ravenscroft. His book suited my humour so if you want something ligjt to make you laugh try Dear Coca Cola, Stairlift to Heaven and the James Bond spoof Stockport Is Too Much
5. One book that made you cry?
The Time Traveler’s Wife. It’s one of my favourite books which is weird considering I mostly read books about grim murders. I’ve never sobbed so much at a book! They made it into a film too of course. Meh.
6. One book you wish had been written?
Making a Million and Saving the World by Stacey Smith
7. One book you wish had never been written?
That God awful Twilight mini book thing, what was it called? *consults Amazon*………The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella. Utter pants. I’m not even going to link it for you. Just don’t bother.
8. One book you are currently reading?
I started Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand last night and I’m also dipping in and out of The Complete Book of Running for Women which is giving me some handy tips and motivation.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
I’d like to read Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class by Owen Jones but it’s not available on Kindle yet.
10. Now tag five people.
I’ll tag my cousin and readaholic like me Charlotte @LottieB123, my Mom Wendy @wendy2918 who should read more, my friend Kathryn @allfivehorizons who blogs about books too , my Twitter friend @Raychybabe who shares my love of crime thrillers and erm…. no that’s just four, oh well, sue me : p
Thanks for reading my post about reading
Stace x
Follow me @StaceInspire
Quick review of the books I read on holiday
We’ve just spent 10 days in Corralejo, Fuerteventura. As planned we just wanted to chill out and as such we went to the beach most days. This meant loads of time for reading. Hoorah. I ended up reading the following 16 books. Yes 16! A beachy reading holiday. I read 11 on my Kindle and 5 real life wooden ones although the links I’ve provided are all to the Kindle versions. I haven’t the time to review them all properly but anything above 7/10 is worth a read I would say.
I’m into thrillers mainly especially if they’re not too predictable, I love a good murder. I also like funny books and the less serious self help books too.
Deffo give Dawn French a go, I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was and my new hero is Terry Ravenscroft. He is a comedy writer and I’ve previously read two of his other books Dear Coca Cola and Dear Air 2000. His humour really appeals to me.
A Tiny Bit Marvellous – Dawn French 9/10
James Blond – Stockport Is Too Much – Terry Ravenscroft 7/10
The Resurrectionist – James Bradley 3/10
How to Do Everything and Be Happy – Peter Jones 7/10
Dusk – Maureen Lee 8/10
Lethal Legacy – Linda Fairstein 5/10
Someone to Save You – Paul Pilkington 8/10
The Facebook Killer Part One – M.L Stewart 8/10
The Facebook Killer Part Two – M.L Stewart 8/10
The Outcast – Sadie Jones 9/10
Touch – Mark Sennen 8/10
Deadly Sanctuary – Sylvia Nobel and Christy Moeller 7/10
The Penal Colony – Richard Herley 9/10
Bullies, Bitches and Bastards -Eileen Condon & Amanda Edwards – 8/10
Stairlift to Heaven – Terry Ravenscroft 9/10
Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum 7/10
So there you go. If you were thinking about what to read next, give some of these a go.
Stace x
Kindle Books of 2010
On Christmas Day it was my Kindle’s 1st birthday. Here are the books I have read this year. I’ve provided links to the best ones. A lot of people have asked me about whether having a Kindle is worth it and my answer is unequivocally YES!
In chronological order. . .
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Stieg Larrsson
The third in the Millennium trilogy. All great books, I loved Salander as a character. Wouldn’t mess with her though!
Wolf Hall – Hillary Mantel
Hard to get into but worth a read.
Blood Sweat and Tea – Tom Reynolds & More Blood, More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea – Tom Reynolds
Nice easy read books. Real life accounts of an Ambulance man.
Amsterdam 2010 – Ruth Francisco
Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris
You’ll see quite a few of these True Blood books by Charlaine Harris in this list. Worth a read but strangely for me I prefer the TV versions. (Probably because of the nakedness though!)
Living Dead In Dallas – Charlaine Harris
Basic Dowsing – Rhondalyn Teel
I bought a dowser at this year’s Mind Body Spirit festival so I thought this book may help me to get my head around it.
Club Dead – Charlaine Harris
Mark Thomas Presents The People’s Manifesto – Mark Thomas
Coincided with the General Election. Most of this made more sense to me than any of of the existing crap we have to vote for.
Dead to The World – Charlaine Harris
Dead As A Doornail – Charlaine Harris
Definitely Dead – Charlaine Harris
All Together Dead – Charlaine Harris
Gruesome in places as the title suggests, it’s about a serial killer in Boston. Great read.
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner – Stephanie Meyer
Shite.
The Silver Linings Playbook – Matthew Quick
As recommended by my bookworm cousin Charlotte. Ace.
Hide – Lisa Gardner
A self help book for those that can’t be bothered to read other self help books. I mean that as a compliment to him. Loved it.
Anyone Can Do It – Duncan Bannatyne
The tall Scottish one off Dragon’s Den. Inspirational. Makes you actually believe anyone can do it. Cliche but true.
This one kept popping up in my recommendations and I kept putting off getting it but I’m glad I did. Really lovely book. Interesting characters in a different setting and time to other books I tend to read. Brilliant.
One Day – David Nicholls
I liked the style of this book and I missed the characters when I had finished it.
My Shit Life So Far – Frankie Boyle
Good book, funny in parts as it should be. He’s still let me down with Tramadol Nights though.
Confessions of a GP – Benjamin Daniels
I read as a way of switching off so rarely read that many drug related books in my spare time but this for me was my book of the year. I wish everyone would read it. This is a real life story of someone who went through so much with his drug use, offending and homelessness and has come out the other side. Awesome.
In Stitches – Nick Edwards
Soul Identity – Dennis Batchelor
Strange.
Despite reservations it really helped me and I would go as far as to say was instrumental in my decision to leave work. This is my post about it.
Scary, gripping, exciting.
Gone for Good – Harlen Coben
Harlen Coben’s book are always a good bet if you like thrillers.
The Final Detail – Harlan Coben
The Redbreast – Jo Nesbo
Not as good as The Snowman but deffo worth a go.
F**k It – John C. Parkin
Well, it’s called F**k It, of course I had to read it. Enjoyable.
An Idiot Abroad – Karl Pilkington
Oh he makes me laugh so much. It helped to watch the series as well just to picture his expressions and the amazing places he travels to.
The Last 10 Seconds – Simon Kernick
The Basement – Stephen Leather
All three of his books were quick and easy reads and cheap too. Bargain.
Once Bitten – Stephen Leather
Still Missing – Chevy Stephens
Dreamer’s Cat – Stephen Leather
and the final one of the year…
Sister – Rosamund Lupton
Really enjoyed this but the news coverage of poor Joanna Yeates made it a bit too possible.
Here’s to another year of reading some great and not so great books.
If any of you have any to recommend then I would love to hear about them.
Stace x
I heart my…. Amazon Kindle
JB bought me this for Christmas. We’ d seen it on the Gadget Show a few weeks before but I had no clue he’d managed to get me one until Christmas morning. I love reading and often get frustrated if I ‘run out of book’. This solves that problem. It is 3G Wi-Fi connected so you can download books within a few seconds directly onto it. The only flaw at the moment is that because it’s not long been available in the UK (has to be shipped from US) it means it connects to Amazon.com. You can browse for books in the same way as you would on the website via the different catergories but as it has a QWERTY keyboard you can just type the author or book you want in and it finds it for you. Magic!
I am lazy and mainly read in bed so the best thing is that you just press a button to turn the page. There is an option for it to read to you but as I have already been concerned about this non-traditional way of reading I prefer to read the words myself, it’s the least I can do! Unless Stephen Fry was the voice, then I may reconsider. 
The battery lasts ages and you can store 1500 books on it so it will be great for travelling too. You can buy accessories for it like covers to keep it safe and warm.
In conclusion I heart my Kindle. Buy one!
Peace, love, empathy
Stace x
