2015: Half Year Book Report

 

2015: Half Year Book Report

 

So.... We are half way through 2015 already. It's crazy really. People always say the older you get the quicker time goes. This is true. It only seemed like Christmas 5 minutes ago and before you know it Christmas will be here again. Talking of Christmas has anyone still got books to read that they got for Christmas? I still have 3 to go, which is not bad for me as I still have some to read I got the Christmas before.

 

I don't know about you, but sitting on our bookshelves are about 100 books unread.. I keep trying to read them but then you get sucked into a book shop. Caught in a tractor beam like you are in Star Wars or something.. An hour or so later you leave with another 2 or 3 books which you just HAD to buy. The books you have said you will read next just get pushed to the back of the queue. This seems to be my pattern all year round.

 

I have been really impressed with how popular books are again and really think that social media is helping. Not only for the big writers out there but for ones that are just starting out. I know that most authors are on Twitter and all the publishers big and small are spreading the word each week as to what new books are out. If it was not for Twitter I would not have read The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and Disclaimer by Renee Knight both debut novels that were published in 2015. There was a social media buzz about these books that really got me excited and wanted me to go buy these books.

 

Target:

 

I don't normally set targets for myself in life as I feel they can take over your life and in a way ruin it. However at the start of the year I did decide to set myself a little goal when it came to reading books. I am not the fastest reader at all. But like most things the more I do it the faster I become. I looked at how many books I read last year and wanted to beat this total in 2015. I decided that I wanted to read 1 1/2 books a month which would give me a total of 18 for the year. Now I know there are people out there that have probably read 18 books in the first 3 months of the year but if I achieve this, this will be the most books I have read in a year. How am I doing you may ask? Well on 28 June I started to read my 10th book of the year. This makes me so happy that I am on target. Do you have targets when it comes to books or do you just read books as and when?

 

My Favourite books of the year so far:

 

Out of the 9 books I have completed so far this year most have been Thriller/Crime/Mystery novels which is by far my favourite genre. Another little goal I set myself is to read more books from different genres to broaden my knowledge and to learn from different styles of writing and story telling. I am not the biggest fan of Autobiography's but I really enjoyed KP by Kevin Pieterson and I also liked The Girl in the Dark by Anna Lyndsey, a memoir of her life living with a rare disease. I have not read a Sci-Fi book in years but just had to read A Vision of Fire by Gillian Anderson (one of my favourite actors) & Jeff Rovin. What do you read generally? Do you stick to one genre or do you enjoy mixing it up? My 3 favourite books so far in 2015 all scoring 5 out of 5 are:

 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 

 

Playing Mrs.Kingston by Tony Lee Moral

 

 

Unlucky 13 by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

 

 

What is happening for the rest of 2015:

 

Well books, books and yes you guessed it books. I am a little excited about the next 6 months in the book world. I have just started to read The Good Luck of Right Now by one of my favourite authors Matthew Quick. There are currently 3 books that are to be published later this year which I will have on pre-order. First up is the new James Bond novel called Trigger Mortis by Anthony Horowitz. This will be published on 08 September 2015. Just 2 days later on the 10th is one book I really can't wait for. As a huge Star Wars geek I cannot wait for the new movie to come out on 18 December, but before then a new Star Wars novel is to be published called Aftermath. This is written by Chuck Wendig & Tim Lebbon and the story bridges the gap between Return of the Jedi & The Force Awakens. Thirdly on 20 October 2015 the 3rd Cormoran Strike novel by Robert Galbraith (J.K Rowling) is published called Career of Evil. Both my wife and I have loved the first 2 books and will probably have to play rock, paper, scissors to see who will read this first. Other books I will be reading this year are Flash Boys by Michael Lewis (Blindside/Moneyball) which is a story on how computer programmers are changing the stock market on Wall Street. Then I will be reading a book that I have been trying to read for ages. I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. A Jason Bourne type thriller that will take you all over the world. I say this is my plan but it all depends on what those book shops force me to buy between now and the end of the year. It would be just like me to read non of the above...

 

Lastly I would just like to thank everyone who has read one of my blogs. I am now at just over 1800 hits which is just fantastic and makes me happy that people out there read what I write.

 

I hope that whatever everyone is reading you are enjoying and would love to hear your reviews and thoughts. You could even write a guest book review on my blog if you like.....

 

Speak soon

 

CBailey31