5 Star Predictions || Blogmas Day 13

Seeing as yesterdays post was all about my favourite books of 2017, I thought today would be a very good day to discuss books I haven’t read yet but think will become firm favourites – or 5* reads – in 2018. I’ve seen several people on youtube do this – Mercedes I think was first, but the idea caught on and I thought it would translate well in to a blog post.

A lot of factors make up a 5* book for me, it has to be well written, have a plot that keeps me hooked and have well rounded characters. They’re by no means the only things that makes me give a book 5* – but they do help. Equally, how a book reads influences my rating – books with no chapter breaks, or even paragraph breaks, or just places to generally put the book down and get on with stuff really irk me!

Anyone who follows this blog knows I’m an eclectic reader, and that doesn’t change in the books I feel I’m going to give 5* in 2018! So, let’s discuss.

First up is the classics and to The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. This year I really found a love in Russian literature and I have nothing but high hopes for this book. There are a handful of other books by Russian authors on my TBR but this is the one I really want to get around to, but also have the most anticipation about! Interestingly, the next classic I’m optimistic about is Middlemarch by George Eliot which I read 2 years ago and only gave 3*. I’ve since come to appreciate George Eliot’s writing a lot more and I think that on a re-read this could improve enormously for me. It’s probably weird, for someone to predict that they’ll give a re-read of a lesser liked book 5* – but I’m always erring on the wild side!

As for new releases – I have exceedingly high hopes for Becky Chambers in her next instalment in the Wayfarers series Record of a Spaceborn Few. Both previous instalments in the series were 5* reads for me and I have zero doubt about this one. From what I’ve read it doesn’t follow any of the same characters, but that doesn’t worry me because the previous two books were enchanting, diverse and basically, this is the only book I currently have on preorder and I’m excited. I’m also sure that if the wonderful Ali Smith has a release in 2018 it will rocket to the top of my TBR and be a 5 star read. It has to be said that after reading The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden I’m quite excited about the follow up which is released in January – which the name of escapes me!

More popular fiction, or those books likely to be found on tables in Waterstones, are hard for me to pinpoint as they’re not the sort of books I lean towards but I’d like to finally get around to the two Zadie Smith books I haven’t read yet and the one I’m most optimistic for is NW as one of my friends said I would really enjoy it, so that’s one I’m thinking I may give 5* as I loved White Teeth when I read it years ago.

There are a few short story collections I also have a good feeling about – but short story collections are notoriously hard to give 5* reviews to because often there is just that one story which drags it down! But A Guide to Being Born by Ramona Ausubel has been on my TBR for a very long time and I have such high hopes for it. I also have a very good feeling about The Scent of Cinnamon by Charles Lambert which was published by Salt in 2010 and I recently purchased – the first story, from what I read – was amazing and I don’t know why I haven’t read it yet! Also by Salt is another short story collection that I’ve had for over a year which is New World Fairy Tales by Cassandra Parkin.

I think, for now, that is enough books that I think will be 5*. I have over 200 on my TBR so narrowing it down this far was difficult. I’d love to hear what books you’re feeling really optimistic about in 2018 – and any you think I might enjoy because I always enjoy some recommendations!

August Wrap-Up & September Goals

August. What can I say about August? It’s been an up and down month, mainly down because of my health. But I’ll not bore you with that!

On the reading front, I was completely ruined for life by A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. I think that sums up this month in a nutshell, nothing will compare to my love of that book and it is already up there with some of my favourite books of all time (Rebecca, Daniel Deronda, and The Count of Monte Cristo to name but a few). It was the first fiction book I’ve given 5* to since the start of May.

Needless to say it was the best book of the month for me.

Stats wise, I read 6 books which totalled 2456 pages. My goal this month was to get over 2000 pages, as I hadn’t since April, so I’m really happy that I did. I also managed to knock a few off the TBR list that I had going, two of them however I haven’t – they’ve been recurring on a TBR list since June and I still haven’t read them so they’re going to go back on to my shelf and I will pick them up at a later date.

I have one book still ongoing which I started at the very end of the month and it’s a proof copy of Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s a follow up from Sapiens which I really loved so I’m taking my time with it as it’s quite a chunker! So far though, I’m really loving it.

September is my last month of sort of freedom, while I’ll be working come October I will be doing a masters on top of my job so I’m pretty certain I’ll take a wee slump in the reading department. So I want to take advantage of September to the fullest.

My goodreads goal for the year is to read 52 books, I currently sit at 45. I want to hit my goal for the year by the end of September. So 7 books is what I’m aiming for.

Naturally, I want to finish Homo Deus – though that might not be for a while as I’m reading little and often. However it’s really got me in to non-fiction and I’d like to maybe read a bit more over September.

I also really want to read a classic this month – my ‘classic a month’ has sort of fallen by the wayside as of late and as the nights are drawing in, I think now is a perfect time to really get on top of that again. September marks a year since I read Middlemarch, and a year since I fell in love with George Eliot – so maybe I’ll pick up Felix Holt or Romola. 

There are a number of books that I’ve felt ‘calling me’ the past week or so, so I might pick up some of those. In amongst them are a short story collection (or two) and Daphne du Maurier’s work generally.

As for other things, I’m off to see Ian Rankin in conversation with my dad in the middle of the month, so that’ll be fun and I may well put a bit on here about that if it’s good! (which I am absolutely certain it will be)

All in all, September is hopefully going to shape up to be a wonderfully bookish month for me!

July Wrap Up and an August TBR

July was beautiful. It was possibly the most crazy month of my life and I have made so many memories. I was working full time (and managing, something I was scared I wouldn’t be able to do), I graduated, I saw Finding Dory on opening night, and I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I laughed until I was crying, I smiled until my face hurt, I got a sun tan, I didn’t fall over on stage when they called my name, I made new friends, I caught up with old ones, played some Pokemon Go and honestly, I didn’t read all that much. But it was amazing and I don’t regret one second of it (okay, I lie, I wish I didn’t wear the heels for graduation).

But, as this is primarily a blog in which I talk about books, that is what I shall do now. I read 5 books, I’m happy with 5 books. Sadly, there were only a couple that I really loved, most of them were 3* reads. I read in total 1964 pages, which I’m pretty happy with, though I would like to see myself break 2000 again soon as I haven’t done that since April!

My favourite book was Animal by Sara Pascoe, closely followed by The Cursed Child (obviously). Animal was better than How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, and I loved that book. As for The Cursed Child, well, it was glorified fanfiction but what can I say, I’m fanfiction trash.

This month I want to read the remainder of the books I wanted to read in July and didn’t. So, that’s The Essex Serpent, The Brinks That Built the Houses, Human Acts, The Adventures of the Busts of Eva Peron, and finally The Last Pilot. So that’s the 5 books I definitely want to read, I would like to get around to another classic this month, and maybe some poetry too.

One thing I definitely want to do this month is keep on top of this blog a bit more, and be a bit more structured. I’ve recently lost my mojo when it comes to what I want to say and do on here and, like I said a few months ago, I want to take this more seriously which is something I haven’t been doing as of late and I want that to change. So, consider that a promise!

I’ve got some really fun things planned this month, I’m going to see Sarah Millican on the 8th, I’m helping some friends move in to their first home together, seeing two of my oldest friends and having dinner. So I think it’s going to be good. Life is feeling good, and that’s a little strange if I’m honest.

Have a lovely August!

June Wrap Up and July Goals

Hello lovely readers, I apologise for being slack over the past month – it’s been crazy and not very productive on a reading front! So a brief update of things I achieved this month:

• I finished my degree
• I went on holiday (and lovely it was too)
• I got a job
• I started a job
• I GOT A 2:1!!!

That equates to very little reading on the whole. Or rather, I didn’t quite get my ambition of ALL THE BOOKS this month. I instead enjoyed a slow and steady approach to reading, and took time enjoying things like board games with my family and watching TV. I don’t feel guilty in the slightest. I had a really, really lovely month and that’s what matters!

On to the reading, my favourite book by a country mile was Chris Packham’s Fingers in the Sparkle Jar. Though I have to say all the books I read this month were very closely rated, but all for different reasons. It was a pretty varied month, with some non fiction, poetry, fantasy, and mythology/history books in the mix. I did start a few books, which you will hear about in the not so distant future all being well. My average rating was 3.3*, but honestly I didn’t dislike any of the books I read and all of them were by authors I will continue to follow.

Oh July. More than half way through the year and I can’t quite believe what I have achieved in those 6 months! It’s crazy. So in July I want to actually challenge myself. I want to finally have that epic reading month I’ve been harping on about for most of the year! I have 2 new books that I want to read, several audiobooks I want to get around to and generally a shelf full of books that I want to just devour. So, here’s a little pile of the physical books that I’m hoping to get through, alongside some audiobooks:

My audiobook collection is quite varied, I want to catch up on my book club books primarily, and also catch up with the Robin Hobb readalong! Basically, lots of catching up via audiobook in the near future!

So, hopefully, you shall be hearing more of me this month! If you’ve read any of these, or want me to read any of these, do let me know and I’ll prioritise them! Thanks for sticking with me folks.

May Wrap-Up & June Goals

Hello lovely readers, and hasn’t it been a while? For that, I can only apologise and make excuses – those being that I have had exams, I’ve been ill and have another exam to go! So reading has taken a peculiar turn to that of textbooks, and noone wants to read a review of a biophysics or a protein engineering textbook. Noone.

Initially, May was a very positive month; I managed 5 books before the half way point. Sadly, I didn’t read anything more. 5 books a month is average for me, and I’m happy with it on the whole. Though, the books I read seem so long ago now – especially my two 5* reads Adam Bede and Cheer Up Love!

So, in the grand scheme of things, May wasn’t too bad – I have certainly read less – I just can’t remember the last time I went 2 weeks without picking up a book!

My last exam is the 8th. I cannot wait for freedom! I am also going on holiday on the 17th, which will be a fabulous excuse to read! I’m really looking forward to going full steam ahead with my reading.

So goals for the month? Read all the books. I’m so ready to pick a book up again, and as a result my goals are mammoth. I want to reread Middlemarch, and maybe also some Daphne du Maurier. I want to pick up some Dickens, make a dent in my audible library, finally read The Three Musketeers. I want to read some more non-fiction for pleasure and catch up with my book club books. Maybe see what readathons are going and participate.

Basically, I want to do nothing much else. So I look forward to discussing books with you all over the coming months, as discussion will be able to take place now I’m almost free!

April Wrap-Up & May Goals

Hello lovely people and happy May! After a few hideous weeks of weather, us in the UK are finally starting to get something which resembles Spring and I am very, very happy about that! The only downside of May is I have two exams to look forward to (and a third to prepare for in June!). April has been a pretty good reading month, all things considered, partly aided by the absolutely abysmal weather!

So in April I read 8 books which given I was finishing my dissertation and revising for exams I am really happy with. It came to 2104 pages, and there was – I feel – a nice mix in genre which was really aided by taking part in genrethon at the start of the month as I did step outside my comfort zone and read some poetry (and loved it!)

While I had no 5* reads in April, I had one which was pretty close and that was The Vegetarian by Han Kang. That book absolutely blew my mind and left me in a little bit of a book hangover. Since I finished it on the 22nd, I have tried to pick up several books and have been unable to get in to any of them! Based on reading this I’m really wanting to read the remainder of the Man Booker International Prize shortlist as it was phenomenal and to be competing with it, the others must be too!

Also in April this blog had a makeover and got itself a new name – Ashleigh’s Bookshelf. I’m really excited about this new change, and you can read all about it here. As for other bookish things, I finally discovered OverDrive; I don’t know how it missed me for so long but I am definitely going to be taking advantage of in the coming months!

With exams looming, the start of May is going to be relatively slow for me. I’m going to be picking up smaller books, which is a perfect opportunity for me to start crossing some of the books I have from independent publishers off of my TBR! As always, I am going to try and read a classic and will probably pick an audiobook to achieve this goal! One thing I do know is that I am definitely going to be reading The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood as I picked that for a book club I’m part of.

So May is going to be a mood-reading month with very different goals to normal, namely to get through and do well in my exams! If you want to follow what I’m reading, feel free to friend me on goodreads.

I hope you all have a marvellous May!

Readathon: Genrethon TBR

A bit late to the party but, as I finished my dissertation (!!!) I decided that this week I would take part in this readathon I’ve seen everywhere in the bookish community! Genrethon is a new readathon created by Joce, Kristyn, Lauren, and Brittany over on YouTube and it has a great premise – read a minimum of 3 books from 3 different genres over the course of the week (10th to 17th April).

Here is my TBR for this lovely readathon!

On the go, I have Bret Easton Ellis and Other Dogs by Lina Wolff. I’d call this literary fiction, which feels a bit of a cop out! I also have The Thing Around Your Neck still going, I started this in February and didn’t pick it up at all in March so I’m going to get this short story collection finished.

The new books, I have Daphnis and Chloe which is one of the new Little Black Classics by Penguin. This is an ancient Greek classic and has been on my TBR for ages, since I first became aware of Jean’s Bookish Thoughts on YouTube. Finally a poetry collection by Kate Tempest. I am very excited about this, I haven’t read a lot of poetry at all but this appealed to me. I don’t often give in to peer pressure (this has been so hyped online) but I read the first poem and had to own it.

So, I’m aiming to finish these 4. If I get time I’ll definitely be moving on to some other books, maybe a bit of non-fiction and fantasy. Who knows?!

March Wrap-Up & A Tentative TBR

So after February being a bit of a flop, March turned in to an incredible month on the reading front! I surprised myself this month, seriously. I really did not expect to do as well as I did reading, and complete all of my outstanding coursework – but somehow I did!

March Wrap-Up

March was great. I managed to complete 9 books, which totalled 3172 pages. I had three 5* reads this month too, they were all very different books and got 5* for very different reasons, which in my book is pretty incredible! My average rating was 4.0 this month. And I still haven’t finished the outstanding short story collection I started in February.

My 5* reads this month were Headstrong, Daniel Deronda and The Alphabet of Birds. As I said, very different books – feminist non fiction, a 900 page classic, and a translated short story collection. It doesn’t get much different than that!

Alongside the physical books I completed, I also listened to a couple of audiobooks. Included on that list is A Vindication of the Rights of Women and Animal Farm. I also partially listened to audiobooks for Villette, Daniel Deronda and Stardust. But I had a bit of a combination of reading and listening going on there, my main reason for the combination is I’ve become addicted to Microsoft Jigsaw…

Looking Towards April

With April comes my dissertation deadline and final exams creeping upon me. So I’m not going to be too harsh on myself if I don’t get as much reading done as I have in March! Saying that, I would like to do much better than I did in February so I’m aiming for 4 books. I’ve actually got a wee bit of a haul to do towards the start of the month so 3 of these books only recently came in to my possession!

I’ve really been enjoying non-fiction as of late, and I’ve also been binge-watching documentaries on Ancient Egypt so I want to get around to The Story of Egypt by Joann Fletcher. My classic for this coming month will be Far From the Madding Crowd as it is simply about time I read some Hardy (I read Under the Greenwood Tree when I was about 12, it was a bad mistake). Then there is an event happening at my local independent bookshop with the author of Bret Easton Ellis and the Other Dogs and the book sounds incredible so I want to read it before I go to the event. Finally we have The Book Collector which is a relatively short book that I know nothing about.

So, there we have it. I have my mojo back! I just have to finish my dissertation and then I’m (nearly) free as a bird!

To a February Flop and a Hopeful March

Also known as my wrap up and TBR.

Yes, February was a bit of a flop on the reading front in that I only managed one book. But that one book, which I DID finish in the end, was Les Misérables and I am so, so glad I finally read that! So I read a total of 1232 pages – which equated to 67 hours and several minutes of an audiobook and I will have a review up soon for that. Just with a long book, I want to do it justice. I’m over the disappointment of reading only one book because the book I did read was great, and so worth the hours put in to reading it! I also managed a couple of short stories from That Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche which I will be reading sporadically throughout March I think as I find I can’t really sink my teeth in to her work and the occasional story works a lot better!

In March I have 3 essays and my dissertation to finish. And I need to start revision for my exams. Final year has gone far too quickly for my liking! Hopefully though I will be getting a lot more reading done than I did this month, purely because I think I’m going to need a break. While I have a few books in mind for March, I think I’m going to leave it open and just enjoy reading for a little while and pick up what the mood dictates!

I’d love to hear what you’ve got on your TBR and intend to get to in the near future, if only for inspiration!

January Wrap-Up & February TBR

A wee bit late, mainly because the end of January crept up on me. How is it over already?! I was just starting to get in to the month and suddenly it was over and I wasn’t prepared at all! So happy February…

January Stats

January was a great reading month for me, while I didn’t manage many books I read a pretty impressive number of pages which is what I am focusing on this year!

I managed 5 books and while I didn’t complete my TBR for the month I got so engrossed in the Mistborn series I can’t care. I read a total of 3058 pages and my average rating was 3.6.

My favourite book was The Mill on the Floss but, if I take the Mistborn series as a whole I would say that was my favourite but as for individual books none of them quite matched up to The Mill on the Floss.

February TBR

As I type this I have already started on my main goal of the month – Les Misérables. It’s a beast at over 1200 pages and so far I’m really enjoying it. I love an epic novel, I’ve definitely got more in to long books as I have started to enjoy audiobooks. I am also loving French classic literature as a whole. I’m now at the start of the second part as I write this and I really, really love this. It’s by no means a fast read, even as an audiobook on 3x speed!

All the other books are a bit of a mishmash. The Chimes is a new purchase but one I’m very excited about. Then I have two books that have actually been recommended for one of my modules this semester – The War of the Worlds and Brave New World – this module is about biology in society. Both of these books explore various aspects of science in fiction and I’m really excited about these, especially analysing them properly.

Finally we have The Crucible. Oddly this is one I’ve been in the mood to read lately. A lesser known fact about me is I love anything about the Salem witch trials and this is something I haven’t ever read. I don’t often read a play, so I’m looking forward to this!

So that’s my reading stack for the month! Anything you think I ought to get to sooner?