I read quite a few books last year and read some absolute stunners, but below are a few of my absolute favourite reads of 2014. I'm hoping to do a lot more book reviews this year, so let me know of any books that you would highly recommend. 

I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

My favourite book of 2014. It follows the story of two young girls, sisters Cassandra and Rose, living in beautiful, if slightly dilapidated, Godsend Castle with their father, Mortmain, mother-in-law, Topaz (an eccentric hippie who was a great secondary character), their younger brother Thomas and their house-helper, the handsome young man Stephen.  The story is not overly fast-paced, but I like a slow read and this one just managed to really touch me. There were a couple of paragraphs in particular, towards the latter end of the book, that I adored and bookmarked...

"Once I got used to the idea of being alone by 

myself for so long, I positively liked it. 

I always enjoy 

the different feeling there is in a house when 

one is alone in it, and the thought of that 

feeling stretching 

ahead for two whole days somehow 

intensified it wonderfully."

The main story follows older sister Rose who becomes romantically involved with the wealthy heir to the castle when he comes from overseas to visit. There is romance, some twists and turns, as well as an abundance of love, compassion and a truly relatable plethora of feelings. I recently read a review of this book on The Guardian that said the below, and I absolutely agree:

'This book was such a wonderful, enchanting and unpredictable read that by the end of it I felt like I almost was Cassandra'. Perfect.


The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood

A recommendation from Jean @ Bookishthoughts on YouTube. She speaks with great passion for her love of Greek and Roman myths and legends, and studies the classics at university (possibly doing her masters now if I am correct?). She's got an easy to listen to Scottish accent and you can tell she just loves reading. Definitely go and check out her channel if you're into books at all. 

She recommended this book for some more easy reading from her favourite subject, and it was fantastic. This tells the story of Odysseus' travels after the Trojan War, but from his wife Penelope's perspective as opposed to his. Atwood, with her usual stunning writing, gives Penelope a magnificent, feisty and entertaining voice - it's a brilliant read, especially if you know even a little bit about the original myth. 

There is also a chorus of singing maids who were, in the original story, hung for their part in the myth and who tell their side of the tale in an interesting and fun way. This book is humorously written, interesting and easy to read. I would highly recommend. 


We Have Always Lived In The Castle, Shirley Jackson

How beautiful is this book cover? This is a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition and is absolutely stunning in real life. Written by Shirley Jackson, an author renowned for her creepy, dark and often sinister fiction, We Have Always Lived In The Castle follows the story of Merricat and Constance, living in Blackwood Castle. Merricat offers a slightly unhinged narrative throughout as the heart of the story is revealed and the reason the neighbours of the nearby village are so hostile towards them comes to light. 

Merricat, Constance and their Uncle Julian have, over the years, developed rules and routines that enable them to feel safe and protected, however, with the arrival of a distant cousin, Charles, things at Blackwood Castle turn awry. The end of the book is filled with a dramatic final few scenes and you are left feeling thoroughly disturbed and unnerved. Definitely give it a go if you like a mystery full of suspense and a slowly developing plot. 

Let me know if you give any of these a go. Do go and look for some reviews on t'interwebs because Lord knows I'm not great at describing books. 

I hope you had a great Monday!

N.B. I would not recommend reading I Capture The Castle and We Have Always Lived In The Castle at the same time, or even near each other. I made this mistake and found myself getting the two mixed up. They are both stories about sisters living in a castle. Just a heads up.

As you may know if you've been reading my blog since the beginning, I had a new year's resolution to read at least 30 books this year. I'm not 100% sure how many I have read now, I think it must be almost 20 but I forgot to keep writing them down. I need to have a think and try and remember but I feel like I've read loads! Anyway, the latest book I've read is The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. I'm sure all of you must have heard of it, it is what is usually considered to be the prequel to the Lord of the Rings series (which I haven't read) and which has been made into film to be released this November. This was one of the main reasons I picked it up as I always prefer to read the book before seeing the film, if indeed that is applicable. 

The Hobbit is primarily a children's book, but as with so many others, for example Harry Potter, this book transcends age and is enjoyed by people aged 10-110 across the globe. If you have seen or read the Lord of the Rings you will have some idea about what the story will entail; dwarves, elves, goblins and trolls, all set in Middle Earth, with all the dangers and beauties that that entails. The Hobbit follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins on a quest, with 14 others, to raid a treasure hoard from a very dangerous dragon in the mountains. Being a hobbit Bilbo usually likes to keep himself to himself and has a particular dislike of adventure, but is coerced into going along on the adventure where many a mishap occur. From being captured by the King of the Goblins and managing to escape, to convincing everyone in his party that he is indeed the master burglar he has been made out to be, Bilbo eventually becomes the hero of the story and is indeed a very loveable character, portrayed extremely well in this descriptive and imaginative story. 

Compared to the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is a relative short story with approximately 365 pages of magical beings and astonishing adventures. You really start to connect with the characters in the book, and Tolkien has managed very effectively to give them all their own individual voices and personalities. The book is written in the third person with an anonymous narrator, and this is something I really enjoyed about it because it is narrated in a very humorous, casual and almost conversational tone with the main focus on Bilbo.

I'm glad I've read it before seeing the film and now I'm really looking forward to seeing it portrayed on the big screen. I'd love to know what your thoughts are on the book and if you're excited to see the movie. Hope you enjoyed this little review, I'm by no means an expert on books but thought I'd let you know how I found it!

Sophie 

Good morning lovlies! So, you may or may not know that one of my new years resolutions was to read 30 books this year and I have to admit I have been majorly slacking. It may not sound like a great amount but it works out as 2 and a half books a month which, combined with working, blogging and general living, can be hard to fit in. I had a spurt when I was reading The Hunger Games and managed to get through them in about a week and a half but since then I have just lost all reading motivation. However, I have managed to get back into it and, once again I started a book (Wildflower, review WILL come soon!) but then got distracted by a much easier read and am happy to say I finished it within about six days. The book in question is Jo Nesbo's 'Headhunters' which I am reliably informed has been made into a feature film. The general storyline of the book features a man called Roger Brown who is a headhunter and an art thief on the side. He is introduced to someone he believes will be the perfect candidate for a postition he has lined up, however, things start to take a turn for the worst when he finds out this candidate is in possesion of one of the most sought after paintings in the world. Everything gets a bit messed up (great descriptions going on here) and there are some good twists and turns to keep it interesting. It's a definite page turner and I'd recommend it for an easy, yet interesting read. As a bonus, the proceeds from the book and the film go to the Harry Hole Foundation which is a charity set up to 'reduce illiteracy among children in the third world'. So even if you don't enjoy it you're still doing some good! 

I must crack on and read some more now. I wish blog posts counted towards my goal of 30 because I can safely say that if they did I would have far surpassed this a long time ago! Ah well, I put myself in this situation and I will not fail! Are you reading any interesting books at the moment? I've been recommended the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series as an un-put-downable series that's bound to have me pushing ahead in my resolution in no time, have any of you lot read them? I really hope you're all doing fantastically well and I look forward to speaking again soon. Au revoir! (Learning French was another resolution, clearly not got that far with that one yet.)

Good day! 

Here is the final review of the sixth book in my new year's resolution. I should really be either further through my 7th book or on my 8th by now but haven't quite managed that because I had a bit of a lull after finishing The Hunger Games. My opinion hasn't really changed from what I thought a while back when I was only about a quarter of the way through. It is definitely aimed more at the teenage audience than The Hunger Games was, and I found myself struggling to get through it just out of boredom. To me it seems the story is so obviously trying to appeal to those that liked Twilight and such stories, that it comes across as try-hard and contrived. Again, I do want to point out that I am obviously not the target audience for this and so my opinion probably doesn't count for a lot, but as it was recommended for those that liked The Hunger Games, I do feel disappointed. I would say teenage girls aged between maybe 12-16 would enjoy this but apart from that, I can't really see how anyone older than that would. The story is fine, it doesn't seem to go anywhere very fast and is incredibly predictable, but I'm sure for anyone who is in to werewolves and easy-to-read stories will find it mildly enjoyable. 

There are two other books in the series called Linger and Forever, but I'm not going to being rushing out to buy them. The first book obviously ends on a bit of a cliffhanger (predictable. obvious. blah.) but to be honest I just don't really care what happens to the characters. I feel bad doing a negative review and even worse because I'm doing a negative review of a book not aimed at me, but for those of you not in their target market and who may have been thinking about reading it I would say maybe try something else. But that might just be me! If you enjoyed it then great, I just don't enjoy stories like this and am just not really into the whole Twilight-esque stories that are going round at the moment. Sorry for being so negative but I thought there wasn't much point giving it a rave review if I didn't enjoy it and this blog is a place to express what I think so there we go! Hopefully the next one will be more enjoyable for me! 

The one I've started now is a biography called 'Wildflower'. It's about a woman named Joan Root who was a wildlife filmmaker and conservationist who was mysteriously shot dead in her home in Kenya. I don't tend to go for biographies but this seemed interesting and I definitely feel like I need to read something a little more intellectual at the moment! 

Will do an update when I'm part way through to let you know how it's going but for now, farewell and hope you're having a really great day!