Bookish New Year Resolutions

I'm trying something a bit different with this post. I'm stepping outside my comfort zone of book reviews, and into the murky waters of 'New Year Resolutions'. I'm not a resolution maker, but I do like a good list. So this year, I plan on making some bookish related resolutions. Something achievable other than just my usual 'goodreads challenge'. So here goes:

•  I know I've just said 'other than my usual goodreads challenge' BUT my main goal is still to read 100 books in 2018. There's something deeply satisfying about reading, and making the time to read, that many books in one year. It opens up so many books to me.
• I will read at least 5 books outside of my normal genre. My normal genre is fantasy, YA, science fiction and historical fiction. This still leaves a large number of options open to me, and ideally I'd like to try something really outside my comfort zone. I'm hoping that by doing so I can find some really good new reads. Read: killman creek (thriller), the child finder (thriller)
• I will read at least 5 books on my TBR long list on Goodreads. These are books that are more than 1000 pages, that have been sat in my TBR shelf for a long time, and that I really want to read but never seem to find the time or I find too intimidating.
• I will get my TBR list below 150. I'm ashamed to say I have over 250 books on my TBR list at the moment. These are books I physically own, either on my kindle or on my bookshelf, and have probably been meaning to read for a long time. I will also not purchase any more books until I am under this amount.
• I will read and donate at least half of all the physical books I currently own. This is for my own sanity and clutter free dreams.
• I will read at least 12 'classic' books that I have not previously read before. 'Classic' books are those as defined on my Goodreads shelf under 'classics'. Read: Twelfth Night, The Importance of Being Earnest
• I want to revisit at least 5 old favourite books. These are the books that made me fall in love with reading, and that I always feel guilty about returning to because I feel I should be reading ARCs instead. Read: Northern Kights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass

And that's all of them. A lot of them link into each other, making the challenges helpful to each other. I'm really desperate to get my TBR list down, but I do fall into the trap of reading old favourites for pleasure. But sometimes, I find a good old favourite comforting. Like revisiting an old friend.

I'll try to update this as 2018 trundles along.

Book Review: Close To Home by Cara Hunter

Close To Home follows Detective Inspector Adam Fawley and his search for missing 8 year old Daisy. As is often the case, the kidnapper may be closer to home than everyone thinks, and Adam is tasked with finding out who lying.

Adam Fawley is a dynamic leading man. He's charismatic, likable and obviously good at his job. I liked that. Too many times in novels like this we see police officers who are so incompetent its a miracle they even catch the suspects. I was happy to see this was not the case in this book.

The other characters in this were all a little annoying and unlikable. Daisy's mother doesn't seem to care that her daughter's gone missing, and her father is more concerned with 'keeping up appearances' than actually trying to find his child. As the story continues, we see why the parents are acting like this, and the reasoning behind their behaviors is explained well - but I just still didn't like them. As we see Daisy's backstory unfold and we see a precocious intelligent little girl, I couldn't even bring up any feelings for her. I had no sympathy for any of them, and that made it difficult for me to care.

The story itself is also a little all over the place with flashbacks to back fill and flesh out the main characters and develop their history and significance to the case. This meant the plot jumped around at times, and disrupted the flow of the story. I'm not a fan of this type of story telling personally. I like a more linear approach. I also would have appreciated less of the police reports which seemed to reiterate or repeat information the reader already knew, making the plot a little too long winded.

Look, I'm very picky with my contemporary thrillers. I like something a little out of the ordinary, and something that's going to really shock and surprise me. Unfortunately, I think this subject matter is very common at the moment, with a flood of novels relating to missing children etc. and I think in some parts the novel suffers because of this. I didn't find it particularly original or griping enough at all - and the ending requires a large amount of suspension in belief, and made no real sense to me.

Unfortunately not for me.

Close To Home is available to purchase now from: Amazon

2 STARS

Book Review: The Girl In The Tower by Katherine Arden

Well this was truly magical to read. I loved the previous novel in this series, The Bear and the Nightingale, and had high hopes for the follow up. I was not disappointed. Everything I loved from the first novel - the atmospheric setting of medieval Russia, the richness and depth of characters, and a strong background rooted in Russian folklore were developed and expanded upon to make one of the best reads of the year.

The Girl in the Tower continues to follow Vasya, as she struggles to find herself now she's free from her strict father and the rules she has been made to follow. Above all else she wants freedom. She wants to travel the world with Solovey, her companion horse, and taste the feel of adventure. But the constrictions of her time, and the imminent dangers that face her family in Moscow - particularly her sister Olga and brother Sasha, bring her crashing back to face her responsibilities. The only way to taste the freedom she longs for is to disguise herself as a boy, and join her brother in the hunt for men determined to topple the Grand Prince of Moscow from rule.

Mixed in among the politics of a developing nation, we have a story steeped in Russian folklore. The domovoi and creatures of Midnight seen in the previous novel return, and of course we have Morozko - frost demon and Winter king. Slayer of human girl's hearts, and Vasya's lover. Although labeling him this makes it seem everything is black and white, when it's far more complicated than that. Morozko is deeply conflicted in his feelings for Vasya. He is immortal, and should be unable to feel such things as love. Yet he struggles to let her go and lead the life he wants her to live. He's grown attached to things that should be forbidden to him. He's got so much emotional depth as a character, even though his time with Vasya is often so fleeting and void of conversation. Honestly, I think I'm a little bit in love.

Vasya has also grown so much as a character since we first saw her in The Bear and the Nightingale, and it's great to see her develop slowly. It's almost as if I've grown up with her, and faced these troubles by her side. She's determined to rule her own life, not needing anyone and anything to do what she wants. Her relationship with her older siblings Olga and Sasha has also developed, now that she's meeting them for the first time as an adult. She's challenging them on an intellectual level, yet she loves them deeply - to the point where she would sacrifice her happiness and freedom to keep them safe. She's not perfect either. She's rash, and bullish - at one point taking someone's choice out of their hands when it is not her decision to make. She's refreshing and wonderful.

Father Konstantin also returns - after being banished by Vasya in the previous novel, although he is woefully missing from most of the novel. I enjoy the complexity of his character - his deeply ingrained belief in his faith, yet with a love/hate of Vasya and a yearning to belong.

The plot itself to contain all these wonderful characters is great. It's well paced, as we travel with Vasya and Solovey on their journeys around Russia and then onto Moscow with Sasha, and the plot developments largely left me surprised. There's horse races, magic and little girls in danger. Unlike the previous book, I also thought the ending was well defined and didn't end abruptly. I was satisfied (and sad).

Honestly, I enjoyed this immeasurably, and I cannot wait for the final book - and bringing Vasya home.

The Girl in the Tower is available to purchase now from: Amazon

 - 5 stars