Favourite Books I've Read This Year

The weather may be warming up unfortunately, but Christmas is well and truly on it's way.

Today at work we had Christmas Carols over at Southwark Cathedral for an hour at lunch.

I didn't go last year being new to the company and all, but this year I decided to go along.

The service had a good handful of hymns sung by our colleagues, a couple of local primary schools and the whole audience joined in too.

It was beautiful.

There was one girl in particular who I recognised from work who did a solo at the beginning and she was amazing.

There's just something about a choir singing hymns that can always give me goosebumps.

I also baked my first Yule Log to take into work (my colleague baked mince pies) and we've been stuffing our faces for the past two days (picture is at the end!).

As this goes live I should be at our Christmas Party (yes, it's on a Wednesday, one of the reasons I didn't go last year!) and Thursday we'll be having a free Christmas lunch in the canteen.

And then I only have Monday left at work and I'm on my Christmas holidays!

Well, sort of. I'm working from home between Christmas and New Year, but that's fine by me.

I CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS.

Anyway, as I've been reading a lot this year, I thought I'd do a little round up of my favourite first-time reads.

Initially, my goal was 30 books in a year but around August maybe(?) I upped it to 35 and then 40 because I kept getting nearer to my goal and still having a month or two left of the year.

It's now still on 40 and I'm currently 3 books away from completing it (am also currently reading three books so it's just a case of finishing them before December 31st!)

1. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - February 
Oh. my. God. I just loved this. I'm a hugeeeee fan of the films anyway and I only found out they were books last year so my dad bought me them for last Christmas. I devoured them and loved every minute of them. Although, like the films, the first one was better. If you're into dinosaurs, science-y lingo and action-packed adventure, you'll love this.

2. The Maze Runner by James Dashner - March
My friend bought me these for Christmas also I think (or a belated birthday present, I can't quite remember). I don't know if I watched the first one before I read them but I literally read all three in about a week. Twists, easy-to-read YA that you just can't put down. Follow Thomas as he is thrown into a world he doesn't know anything about and has to figure out how to survive the everchanging maze.

3. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson - May
This was my first audiobook and I adored it way more than I thought I would. My friend (same one as above!) recommended it as an easy fantasy to get stuck into and boy was she right. Full of Gods, Princesses and an almost Greek-like empire, this story takes you on a rollercoaster of events which has you guessing at every turn. Not all the characters are what they seem or who they say they are.

4. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin - July
I sped through the first two in the series sometime last year and eagerly awaited this final instalment's release earlier this year. A fitting ending for an epic trilogy of vampires, love, friendship, loss and power in a dystopian world. I loved every single character, even the antagonists as they provided so much to this story. Cronin nails backstory, timejumps and has an incredible eye for detail I am well and truly inspired by.

5. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - July
This one I picked up at work having always been intrigued by war stories (not realising it was true at the time). It was horrific and heartbreaking, but also so honest and heartwarming at the same time. It's such a fantastic story that it's amazing to think it's all true. To think somebody actually lived this life detailed on 500 pages is unbelievable.

6. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - August
This is another audiobook, a long one at that, but one worth every page. Rothfuss is another writer I envy and aspire to be like. His ability to turn the mundane events into interesting encounters blew me away. A world full of magic, aspiration, friendship, growth with an undertone of darkness, The Name of the Wind will take you on an adventure like no other. The characters are phenomenal and so likeable. Kvothe is someone you will want to follow through the university on through his daily dealings in the Inn he now owns.

7. The Infernal Devices: Book 3, Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare - November
I know I wrote the reviews pretty recently, but I'll say it again - this prequel series is way better than The Mortal Instruments. It was refreshing to see a love triangle that didn't make me want to kill all three of the characters. Tessa was a strong, independent character who happened to fall in love with Jem - a kindhearted, broken boy - and Will - a fiery, sarcastic boy - but refused to hurt either of them intentionally or choose between them. This love story entwined with clockwork creatures, magic, fate and family is one brilliant finale for the series, one that left me for days after feeling lost and wanting to dive back into the Shadowhunter world.

I hope this recap has inspired you to pick up a novel or two! Goodreads has a cute little feature at the moment of a look back on the current year and I have read approximately 16,895 pages - insane!

Let's hope for a bigger and better goal next year.

My to be read pile still isn't getting any smaller...

The Wise Man's Fear

By Patrick Rothfuss.

Narrated by Rupert Degas.

Image From Goodreads

[Sequel to the extraordinary THE NAME OF THE WIND, THE 

WISE MAN'S FEAR is the second instalment of this superb

fantasy trilogy from Patrick Rothfuss. This is the most exciting 

fantasy series since George R. R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND

FIRE, a must-read for all fans of HBO's GAME OF THRONES.

Picking up the tale of Kvothe Kingkiller once again, we follow

him into exile, into political intrigue, courtship, adventure, love

and magic... and further along the path that has turned Kvothe,

the mightiest magician of his age, a legend in his own time, into

Kote, the unassuming pub landlord.

Packed with as much magic, adventure and home-grown drama

as THE NAME OF THE WIND, this is a sequel in every way the

equal to its predecessor and a must-read for all fantasy fans.

Readable, engaging and gripping THE WISE MAN'S FEAR is the

biggest and the best new fantasy novel out there.]

I have a tonne of reviews to write up, so bear with me if there's not many lifestyle posts around!

I am falling more and more in love with these books. Patrick Rothfuss' writing is absolutely a-ma-zing.

There was a lot more action in this one compared to the first one, but, still, even the everyday mundane activities the book covered or the slower moments were made to be interesting yet again. 

I don't know how he does it. There's just something about the way that he writes that makes me feel so engaged, I love it. I could only ever hope to write to near his standard someday.

I still think Kvothe is a brilliant character. It was great to see him break away from the University for a bit, although this then lead to a lack of Sim and Will, but the new characters along his journey were also great. I especially enjoyed Kvothe's interactions with Tempi.

The villains were amplified upping the stakes a great deal. It was great to start off with his university rival again and then to progress onto darker, more powerful enemies on his travels.

I found the Fae aspect very interesting indeed. It shows the good and bad in people, no one is wholly good or bad but a mixture of both.

The fleeting on-off romance with Denna was both lovely and frustrating. You root for them so much but then a lot of things do end up getting in the way.

The twist at the end I did not see coming (and still am trying to understand if it was a twist or me just reading it the wrong way!), but I cannot wait for book three!! He needs to hurry up and finish writing it.

✌︎

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicles, #1)

By Patrick Rothfuss.

Narrated by Rupert Degas.

Image From Goodreads

[Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the 
magically gifted young man who grows to be the 
most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.

The intimate narrative of his childhood in a
troupe of travelling players, his years spent as a
near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his
daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a
legendary school of magic, and his life as a
fugitive after the murder of a king form a 
gripping coming-of-age story unrivalled in recent
literature.

A high-action story written with a poet's hand,
The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that
will transport readers into the body and mind of
a wizard.]

Oh my god, I am loving listening to audiobooks. Why did I not do this sooner?!

I can't believe distributing audiobooks is one of my main tasks at work and it took me a good six months before I even thought about, just maybe, listening to one myself. 

Duh, what an idiot.

The Name of the Wind is a brilliant, intriguing, fascinating read (or listen in my case).

So far, I can determine that it is about a young man's adventure through childhood alone - after an unfortunate, tragic event occurs to his family - and his ambition to get to the university, so that he can finally learn about (and I presume track down) the people that took his family away from him so soon.

It is longggggg (just over 28 hours worth), but it is so worth it. Every detail and minor action is thought of, it is so beautiful.

I did struggle initially to get to grips with it, but I think that's only because of it's quite complex story (to begin with) as you're thrown right into the middle of it and have to learn all these new characters and places and events and terminology that Rothfuss just made up.

I did enjoy Rupert Degas's reading though, he can do a multitude of voices very well and I can clearly tell all of the characters apart from this.

I also absolutely loved the characters. I got so drawn into their lives that - even though there wasn't a whole lot of action action - you're completely intrigued by all of the mundane events that goes on. 

You end up really really rooting for Kvothe as he always seems to get himself into some sticky situations. You also forget that the whole thing is pretty much him telling his story to a scribe, occasionally flitting back to the present day.

The friendships (and even the enemy-relationships) are beautifully done. There is humour and knowledge and disbelief all entwined. And even though Kvothe is meant to be in his mid-teens, I can't help but root for him to get the girl.

It does say in the blurb that he's a wizard and I would just like to clarify for anyone who wants to read this that he isn't a wizard in the sense like Harry Potter, but it is a story that includes an underlying magical theme. 

Basically, whatever you think you know of magical literature, put it aside and be prepared to get something fresh and fantastic. 

I can't believe this was all just one day of him telling his story with the promise overall of three days (obviously within this one day he has told the majority of his childhood and teenage years).

I am definitely hooked on wanting to know what happens next, following his story as he grows into his adult years can only get more interesting I believe! 

(I am currently about 15 hours into the sequel which is an astonishing 43 hours long!!)

Absolutely brilliant.