BLOGMAS Day 12: My favourite books and why!

I have done it! That's right.. my top 5 books EVER! In no particular order at all...

The Martian by Andy Weir

FanGirl by Rainbow Rowell 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 

Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon 

But why these books in particular? Each of these books mean something different to me. I read them all at different times in my life. I have reread Where Rainbows End aka Love, Rosie dozens of times. I adore it, simply adore it. It was one of the first 'bigger books' I have ever read. It's set out in such a way that I had not read before. It is constructed via emails, letters and texts. It's great. We jump from conversation to conversation and follows two best friends of the same age but at very different stages in their lives. Based in Ireland, one best friend moves away to America and the other remains in Ireland. It's a lovely book and a very easy read, and for me the ending is perfect. It has been made into a film, called Love, Rosie, and honestly I love the film as much as the book. I was hesitant at first with the film, and I didn't actually watch it until about 6 months after it was out, however I can hand on heart say I loved it. I have watched it over and over again. Although some parts are different, I feel like it works for the film. Highly recommend both film and book... let's face it I am going to highly recommend all of these books haha. 

Time to move onto my most recent read which is The Martian by Andy Weir,  I watched the film before I read the book which sometimes is a mistake, but I think for me it helped, because some of th stuff is technical in this book! But OMG this book is amazing, and really well written, And as for the film they are basically the same. I loved every word of this book, and it hit me right in the feels. I felt like I was with him, stranded. Such a good book. I haven't read anything like this before and I am really glad I did.

Everything, Everything was a really, really quick read for me, and it was great. It follows a girl who is allergic to everything and hasn't been outside her house ever. She has a full time carer for when her mum is at work. She is talented and is home schooled. Everything is fine and she doesn't miss the outside world until a new family moves in next door and she befriends the son. She begins questioning everything her mum has told her... is she really allergic to everything? Read the book to find out. I love quick easy YA novels like this. I love these types of books for the summer. Got to love a romance novel.

Thank gawd for Rainbow Rowell for bringing me this book FanGirl,  I adore this book, it follows a set of twins who could not be any different on their journey to college. Cath an introvert who loses herself to fanfiction and her sister Wren who wants to experience college and all it has to offer. Cath wants everything to stay the same between her ans her sister but Wren wants some distance. It follows the journey of these two girls, does Cath get out her comfort zone and does Wren push things to far? Cath writes fanfiction of her favourite film/book series which is very poplar, but how will it all end? This book has everything for me, adventure and romance, a really cute read that I want more of.

And finally The Rosie Project, this book follows a young man who is ready to find a wife, Don is a scientist through and through and sits somewhere on the Asperger scale and takes everything literally. His brain is very much wired in a way that everything can become an experiment including his love life. Don creates a questionnaire, and when on dates uses the questionnaire to determine if the women in question is a suitable candidate. In comes Rosie, she ticks non of the boxes but yet Don is drawn towards her. She is the opposite of what Don wants, and seeks to change Rosie in every way. But does he succeed or does Rosie change him? There is a sequel to The Rosie Project called the Rosie Effect, and I didn't feel that, that book lived up to the first one, it painted both Don and Rosie in very bad ways, and took me quite some time to finish.

Well those are just some of my favourite books, I could add loads more to the list, but for now I am happy with those. If you have any suggestions for me, please comment them below as I love reading.

Love yah
IsThataRedHerring 

My latest book purchases and why...

My latest book purchases are:

I have recently brought a lot of books, mainly because I work nights at work and they can go a little slow when there is no work to do I am able to read. I've been flying through books which is amazing. Here is a list of books so far, and a little bit about the ones I am looking forward to the most.

• The Time keeper by Mitch Albom 
• The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom 
• The Quiet Game by Greg Iles (series, including The Bone Tree) 
• Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes 
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 
• The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan 
• Department 19 by Will Hill
• You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by Sarra Manning
• Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy by Lucy-Anne Holmes 
• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 

The Quiet Game by Greg Iles...
this is also a book by Iles, I have been recommended this book by several people and thought I'd give it a go, it is the first book of a series and I haven't read a series in a while so I am going to try this one and see how it goes.

Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes 
This book is based on Hitler coming back from the dead, he becomes a YouTube star and follows Hitler as a YouTubing and staring in his own TV show, I have mixed views of this book, but I am looking forward to reading it.

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan 
From the reviews this book is heartwarming and very emotional. The book is a collection of essays written by Marina, sadly Marina died in a car accident 3 days after graduating from university. She had a very bright future ahead of her, which sadly was taken from her in a freak accident. I am looking forward to reading it but feel that I am going to need a lot of tissues at the ready.

The Girl of the Train by Paula Hawkins
This book was eagerly recommended to me by the staff of Waterstones, I was lucky enough to be given a voucher from my wonderful friend Vikki for my birthday so thought I'd give it ago. I am about to start the book and from what I've read (reviews) I will not be putting it down.

Love yah
IsThataRedHerring

P.S
You can also follow/add me on GoodReads: Gemma Herring

I have a cunning plan!

Recently I have purchased yet another pile of books. I have a ridiculous amount of books but that will not stop me reading them. But the trouble it, I am finding it really hard to decide which book to read next. I have so many fantastic books, that picking one to read seems impossible. So I have decided to let my decision be made by fate. Much like Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory did for an episode... although mine will not be dice I roll rather putting my hand into a jar and seeing what book title I pull out.

picture courtesy of Google Images 

I have started to write the tittles of the books on pieces of paper, and putting them into a jar. Today I finished the Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, which I shall review in the next few days, I was pleasantly surprised by this book and how lovely it was. So I am currently book free and looking for something new to read and I shall leave that to the jar to decide.

I am now calling my jar, the Jar of Destiny... so from my magical mystery jar, I chose The Quiet Game by Greg Iles which I was very happy about, because it is one of the new books I have recently purchased and is a genre of book I rarely read. It's a crime novel, I've never read any crime before so this is going to be a big change for me. It is also a rather large book, so may take me a little longer than usual to read, so far I am 50 or so pages in and I am loving it. It is beautifully written, and as it is a series I am already looking forward to reading the rest.

As I was writing this blog I couldn't help but buy 3 more books... I try to buy the majority of my books from book shops, unfortunately my trusted Waterstones is currently shut as they are refurbishing, so I brought these 3 new books online. I try to avoid this because slowly the beloved book shops are closing down because they cannot keep up with amazon. So, whenever I can I try to buy direct from the bookshop, and its always good to talk to the staff who are always enthusiastic about reading, and always recommend books.

I am pretty sure my book buying habit is a problem, but hey my parents always knew what to get me for my birthday and Christmas... BOOKS! or book vouchers I'm not fussy.

Love yah
IsThataRedHerring

I really like to read books: part 1

I always have my head in a book, it has led to the nickname of book worm among my family, a nickname I love and continue to support. Whilst at school I adored reading, however I often struggled reading age appropriate books, this has never stopped me from reading and trying new books.

When entering GCSE years, I was put into top set English, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the work and the amount of reading, however with help from teachers and close friends they gave me the confidence to read bigger and longer books. I went through the usual crazes of books, Jacqueline Wilson, Harry Potter and yes the Twilight series. These books helped me develop a greater passion for books and broaden my horizon. Although I still often struggle with pronouncing and spelling words, I am a much more confident person when it comes to reading aloud and taking control in class.

Anyway, I thought I would reveal some of my personal favourite books.
My favourite author of all time has to be Cecila Ahern. She has written some amazing heartfelt books. P.S. I love you was the first book I read of Ahern's, and I was hooked from then, However,  Ahern's book titled Where Rainbows End or now titled Love Rosie, is my favourite of her books,  I loved this book because of how it was set out, it starts with seven year old Rosie and Alex who are sat in class together discussing Alex's party plans. The book is set out in letter, email and text form, it follows the life of Rosie and Alex, Alex moves away suddenly with his parents to America, leaving Ireland and leaving Rosie behind. Rosie falls pregnant when she is 16 and Alex blames himself, saying if he was there Rosie would have gone with him. It follows their lives and ever changing relationship between the both of them and other relationships. Throughout the book the question always lingers: were they meant to be? Were they destined to be together? Without spoiling the book, the ending for me was perfect in every way. The book has now be turned into a film called Love Rosie, I have yet to see the film because I do not want one of my favourite books to be ruined.

The trailer for Love Rosie: 

That is just one of my many favourite books, which I will write more about later on. If you like romance books this is for you. I adore Ahern's writing its wonderful, I have read the majority of her work and still love her writing.

Love yah

IsThataRedHerring

21 books because I am 21.

I got the idea whilst watching a Youtube video, and thought hey that's not a bad idea, I love to read so why not read 21 books, each year of my life. So I had a think and wasn't sure what books to read, but I have a few ideas. After searching the internet for a few ideas as well, I came up with my list... I have come with with a list of 21 books (Okay some are series but I've counted them as 1). This list is not final and most certainly is not all of the books I hope to read this year, but these are the ones I am hoping to read. Even if I do not like the book I will make sure I get through it. I will do a book review of each book as well and will warn you if their will be a spoiler of two but I am hoping there will not be. I hope you like this idea as much as I do and I hope it inspires you to do the same. Reading is so important and it can be fun. So here is my choice for now:

1. A book I have been meaning to read, which never got round to. 
2. A book I have borrowed from a friend
• Daughter by Jane Shemilt
3. An auto biography, I have never read an autobiography before!
• More Fool Me by Stephen Fry
4. The Year I met you and How to fall in love by Cecilia Ahern
5. A book I started but never finished 
• Paper Towns by John Green 
6. My favourite childhood book, 
• Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler 
7. How to be a Women by Catlin Moran 
8. A book I had to read at school
• Of mice and Men by John Steinbeck
9. A book I didn't like and never finished
• Dracula 
10. A new series
• Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant by Veronica Roth  
11. Looking for Alaska by John Green
12. A book recommended by a close friend The shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
13. A book that has been recommended by Youtubers Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown 
14. This book is the second book int he The Rosie series The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion 
15. You're the one that I want by Giovanna Flectcher 
16. The Hobbit by J.R.R  Tolkien 
17. A book that I have been meaning to finish 
• Finale by Becca Fitzpatrick 
18. The beginning of a series you are unsure about
• Uglies by Scott Westerfeld 
19. Elanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell 
20. A heart warmer book
• One Million Lovely Letters by Jodi Ann Bickley 
21. A book that was made into a film 
• Philomena by Martin Sixsmith 

I am currently reading Paper Towns by John Green and aim to finish it this week, I should easily do it, and that will be book one done already.

Love yah

IsThataRedHerring