So many books .... not enough time!

I always set myself reading challenges, especially the Goodreads challenge. Last year i was delighted with myself, I surpassed 50 books and ended up reading 54. So what did I do this year? I decided to up the game and set the amount of books to 70, I figured, how hard could it be? Well the answer is ….. very very hard for me!

I see others in my feed reaching a goal of 200+ in a year and I cannot comprehend how they manage to reach that target. I thought of myself as a fast reader, but looking at those stats out there, I really need to quicken up the pace.

I realise, I should never compare myself though, as everyone’s reading journey is their own one. I love reading physical books, ebooks as well as audio books. Some people out there like to speed up their audio books in order to read more, some don’t even qualify an audio book as a book read (those people are wrong in my opinion). However, reading has always been an experience to be cherished, speeding up a book would ruin part of the enjoyment & the journey for me.

So today I decided to sign up for three reading challenges and actually stick to them! One is the Goodreads challenge, whereby I will try and read 80 books this year, the other two are the Booklist Queen & the Popsugar reading challenges. The great thing about these challenges, is you can use some of the books in your current pile of owned books, your ever growing TBR pile. Another bonus, is that some books can be used to tick off multiple challenges.

Looking back on all the books I have read, it is so hard to pick a top 10, so I decided to share a few of my faves!

I could keep going as I was very fortunate with the majority of books selected this year. What were some of your top books & will you be taking on any reading challenges in 2020?

So many books, so little time..

Saying I LOVE books is an understatement, I live and breathe books, most months I read three books at the same time (going between them all of course).

In 2018 I set myself a Goodreads reading challenge of 30 books, thinking I would not make it, what with having a 1 and 3 year old! But somehow… I made it. So I decided to up the challenge to 50 books and once again, by some miracle, I managed to read 54 books by the end of the year.

I was so happy, especially since my TBR (To Be Read) pile keeps growing. It is an obsession, no matter how many books I own, I always buy more. This year I decided to up my challenge further and set the reading challenge to 70 books. Besides the Goodreads reading challenge, I decided to take up some other challenges such as the PopSugar & PingelSisters challenges.

Am I expecting to have too much time within the year? Probably! But I decided to go big this time. Plus, you will find that with one book you read, you can tick off multiple challenges. There is also book bingo, where you have to read a certain section to get a bingo. If you want to check out the above reading challenges as well as all 2019 has to offer for reading goals, check this out!

I wanted to take some time and highlight some of my favourite books from the year (WITHOUT Spoilers) I decided to narrow it down to my top 5, which was really hard to pick, considering I read 54, especially since I loved half of them. Wow! I really did have a great year for reading, since there was really only one I loathed. I tried the first Jack Reacher book, sadly it disappointed me on all fronts! Enough about that, let’t get back to the top 5:

1. Throne of Glass - Sarah J Maas. I am a huge YA (Young Adult) fan, and I was not sure why I waited so long to start this series. I read the first four, and found it really difficult just adding the one to this list. I went with the first, since this book peaked my interest in the fantasy genre. If you have not read this series, and love YA… GET IT NOW! I assure you, you will not regret it.

2. The Woman who walked into doors - Roddy Doyle. He is one of my favourite authors, and this did not disappoint! It is by no means a new book, but if you have not read it yet and want to read a good book set in Dublin, then make sure you grab a copy.

3. The Roanoke Girls - Amy Engel. I subscribe to two book crates a month, one of these is called ChocolateandBook. You can choose to pick a genre of book to receive every month. and also get chocolate plus hot chocolate, but I always pick the surprise genre. This book is a testament to why I do this! I would have never bought this in a bookstore, but it would have definitely been my loss. The fact that it made it into this list, is proof enough that you should not judge a book by its cover. As it was a surprise for me, I will not go into any details either, just grab a copy next time you are browsing for new books.

4. Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo. I added another YA book, but this series is brilliant, the author has become one of my all time favourite. I adore Leigh’s style of writing. This year, I finished Shadow and Bone, which is a prequel to this book and it’s possibly even better than Six of Crows. If you are a YA fan, make sure to check her out. The world she talks about, and that these novels are set in, are enough reason to pick this up.

5. Shockaholic - Carrie Fisher. I was always the first to admit that I am not a Star Wars Fan, this however, did not mean I disliked the cast. Carrie Fisher had such a brutally honest style of writing, and I was hooked from the first page. If you are interested in knowing more about Carrie Fisher, trust me, this book is for you!

Are you a reader? If so, have you set your reading challenge for the year? In case you want to follow me on Goodreads, you can click on my profile. Happy Reading everyone!

Things are never as bad as they seem.

I was thinking about some other books made into movies and vice versa so thought I would list a few more for you all! 

One of my all time favourite books is To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. I was late to the party and only read it a year ago when my husband surprised me with the book. I wanted to kick myself for not reading it sooner, if you have not yet read it, make sure you pick this up as your next read. Most people I know who have not read the book absolutely adore the movie, I mean, you can't go wrong when Gregory Peck is on screen. Having said that, because of my adoration for this perfect novel, I did not see the movie in the same light as everyone else. Yes, there were many great things in the movie but when you find a book flawless, it's impossible to cover everything you love from a book and compress it down to two hours. 

Although it does not happen often, there are movies that turn out better than the book it's based on, The Notebook is one of those movies. The book was absolute crap! I will be the first to admit that I am not a fan of romance novels, so it goes without saying that Nicholas Sparks would not be on my to be read list. I managed to finish the book but it was absolute torture and took way longer than it should have. The movie on the other hand? It is up there in my top ten movies of all time. The chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams is electrifying and I could not get enough, if you decide to watch this with others though, you need to be prepared, ugly crying WILL happen.

To follow up from my previous post, I managed to watch Love Simon. Was it as great as the book? Sadly no, but in this instance I decided to stop comparing the movie to the book 20 mins in. Once I did that, I have to say I really enjoyed it but only because I decided to watch it as if a book never existed. If you are going to see this and love the book, I recommend doing the same thing! 

Happy reading! 

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

I have decided to dedicate the next few posts to books and their movies! I will talk about a couple I loved (either way), some I hated and others I am looking forward to. Before I start this list I do want to mention that I tend to be disappointed with movies made based on books but there are some gems around. 

It goes without saying that the first one I need to discuss is The Godfather. If you have only seen the movie or even vice versa, I definitely recommend reading the fantastic novel by Mario Puzo as well as seeing the brilliant first two movies directed by Francis Ford Coppola. I absolutely adore this book, I have always been a lover of mafia movies as well as books but you cannot get better than this! The first two movies are based on the book, sadly they decided to make a third movie which has nothing to do with the novel and is absolute crap. If you have not yet seen any of the movies, stick to the first two and you will thank me later. Al Pacino is amazing, as are the rest of the cast but to me, no one is better than the great Al "fucking" Pacino!

Another franchise which were not phenomenal but did the books some justice would be The Hunger Games. For the most part, they stuck to the books but I had some issues, such as the new "standard practice" of splitting the final book into two movies. I also did not like the creature changes made in the final instalment. Some things I thought were spot on were most of the cast, Jennifer Lawrence was great as Katniss, Stanley Tucci is always outstanding in what he does as well as Sam Claflin. Woody Harrelson was also a pleasant surprise and I must admit, this was one of my favourite roles for him!  The ending of the whole franchise annoyed me, but then again so did the ending of the book itself (don't worry, no spoilers from me)

When I think of a movie I absolutely hated, yet loved the book it has to be Ready Player One. The book, written by Ernest Cline was one of my favourite books last year so you can only imagine my excitement when I heard Stephen Spielberg was directing the movie. Well I hate to break it to you but the movie was a pile of cack! The casting was all wrong, the story was all wrong, it seems like they took the name and ending of the book but changed EVERYTHING else! If you were a lover of the book I would advise you to steer clear of this movie, but if you want to see it, approach with caution as I am 99% sure you will be crushed.

Finally, a movie I am really looking forward to is Love Simon, based on the book by Becky Albertalli. This book was a nice, enjoyable, easy read. I finished it within two days and I can't wait to see the movie. It has been well received and I plan to see this next week. If you are looking for your next read of the month, pick up a copy! 

What book did you love that was made into a movie? Did it live up to your expectations? 

My thoughts on the Oscars

You may be wondering why this post is coming out so long after the Oscars, but I wanted to make sure that I saw most of the important nominees before posting this! 

I was unable to watch every movie out there but I did manage to watch quite a few. These are the ones that I have seen:

• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• Lady Bird
• Darkest Hour
• I, Tonya
• Dunkirk
• The Shape of Water
• The Post

I want to first discuss a huge Oscars snub for Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards, how and I mean HOW was Martin not nominated for Best Director? Three Billboards was one of the best movies I have seen in the last five years. It is funny, sad, slick as hell and oh so witty! There was nothing I disliked about the film or cast, hands down this was the best movie nominated this year. 

Since Martin was not nominated as Best Director, I assumed that Christopher Nolan would win for Dunkirk. Anyone that saw this movie would of gasped at how beautiful it was, the soundtrack and ambience of this film kept me on the edge of my seat and holding my breath without me even realising. We have all heard this at some point, but this year was meant to be Nolan's year, he DESERVED to win Best Director and has definitely paid his dues. 

Moving on to the Best Actor category, Gary Oldman won and rightly so! Although I was not the biggest fan of Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman's performance was nothing short of brilliant. While I was watching this movie, I did not fall in the love the film per se but I believed that I was watching Churchill on screen and not Gary Oldman. His acceptance speech was also the best one of the night. (I may be a bit biased since he is one of my favourite actors)

Frances McDormand went on to win Best Actress for Three Billboards and I couldn't be happier for her. She was the best thing in the film and you can totally see that the role was written with her in mind, no one could of done it better justice. 

I think it is quite clear how much I love Three Billboards, and if you have not yet seen it make sure you go soon, you may even still catch it on the big screen. You will not regret seeing this masterpiece, I assure you.

So we have discussed who should of won, but who actually won Best Director and Best Film? Yup, you guess it! Guillermo Del Toro won for The Shape of Water which also went on to win best movie. I am not saying that Guillermo is a bad director, I just don't think this movie was very good. I was not invested in any of the characters, and the movie did not draw me in at all. What I will say though, is visually the movie was stunning, just lacking a story is all! Another Director I thought was overrated and should not have been nominated was Greta Gerwig, I was really looking forward to watching Lady Bird and was then hugely disappointed. There are just better movies out there if one were to compare that genre to others such as Juno and Thirteen (be warned, Thirteen is dark but oh so good)

Once again the Oscars got it wrong, every year I lose faith in them even more, if that is even possible at this stage. At least the BAFTA and SAG awards got it right! Did your favourites win this year? Although the Oscars can be quite disappointing, I always love watching all the nominees and scoring them to my standards ... I look forward to next year!

Books... glorious books!

I know it seems like I have been on a bit of a hiatus but I am finally back and hopefully that means posts will be more frequent!

Every spare minute I have had recently has been spent reading so it only seems fair that this blog today would be on all those glorious books I read. For those of you that can't seem to find the time to read a book, do not worry, there IS a solution... audiobooks. I was always sceptical about listening to a book since I used to think it would ruin the experience for me. Before I owned a kindle I was adamant that you had to physically hold a book in your hand to become immersed into a book. I will be the first to admit that I was wrong! Having said that I still go between the two.

Currently, I am reading two books in the house, one upstairs and one when I am downstairs plus an audiobook for the car or if I am on the move. I can't believe how much my system has helped me devour books. I tried a couple of apps and when it comes to audiobooks Audible is the best app for iOS, I do pay a monthly subscription which sucks although you get 1 credit a month to use on a book and other titles at slashed prices once you are done with the first. Other apps will also do the job but Audible has the biggest variety of books out there so it suited me best!

Now for some good title suggestions for you guys out there. This year there have been a couple standouts for me, the weird thing about that is I normally am not a fan of science fiction but these were incredible and have changed my mind on that genre. If you have not read it yet, make sure you pick up a copy of Artemis, this is Andy Weir's second book after The Martian and it does not disappoint. I prefer this book and the story will have you hooked from the first chapter. The other book I loved was Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth, I personally loved the Divergent series (if you only saw the terrible movies please do not punish the books though as they are terrific), but this book is entirely different to those and worth the read. I am sure there isn't a soul left that has not yet read Ready Player One but if there is, go buy it NOW.

Any YA fans out there? If so make sure you pick up Fallen by Lauren Kate, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am impatiently awaiting the next in the series to be delivered. I just noticed a movie was made for this book too, but due to the frequent disappointment these movies tend to be, I will just steer clear of it. 

You may be wondering why I did not delve deeper into my recommendations to you but I really hate spoilers, sometimes I like to pick up a book and read it without knowing anything from the get-go. Next on my list? My husband bought me the Carrie Fisher, Princess Diaries which I can't wait to read. Would love to know what you guys are currently reading or any books you absolutely loved recently.

Happy reading all!

Thor: Ragnarok = Sheer perfection (NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST)

Finally!!! Marvel are back and in full swing. I have to say that Thor: Ragnarok is officially my second favourite Marvel movie of all time. It was a close contender for first, but that title is still held by the funny and amazing Deadpool. 

I have always loved Chris Hemsworth but sadly I felt that the first two movies from this series were lacking something, I was not sure what the "something" actually was until I saw Ragnarok. The simple answer was ... laughs, plenty of laugh out loud moments. From the start right up to the very end I was laughing my ass off. The jokes were on point, the action scenes were everything I was expecting and the plot ran along smoothly. 

The chemistry between all the actors was phenomenal and I loved those nice cameos placed in the film. I was slightly skeptical about Cate Blanchett at first but she embraced this role and the end result worked! All in all I would score this movie a perfect 10/10.

I have been careful not to add any spoilers as I too hate when others do that. If you have not yet been to the cinema, this is definitely not one to miss on the big screen. If you decide to grab some popcorn be warned, choking is a high probability with all the laughing you will be doing. 

Lover of afternoon tea except the cup of tea!!

Have you ever been to afternoon tea? If yes, do you love it or hate it? I never thought it would be something I would enjoy all that much but man was I wrong. 

My mother in law and myself have brought it upon us to try all the afternoon teas Dublin has to offer! And looking back on this path which has been going on for the past two years, I would say progress has indeed been made. Favourites? Well two come to mind straight away, The Morrison and The Gourmet Tea House!

I love the Morrison because they serve different flavours of macarons, another thing I only discovered a few years back. If you have not yet tried one, make it your mission to do so tomorrow. If in Calgary be sure to head downtown to Ollia and grab yourself a box, you HAVE to try the Rocher ones (you'll thank me later!)

The Gourmet Tea House was another hidden gem, the venue is so quirky and the food was outstanding, especially their ciabatta! 

The great thing about Dublin is that many of these venues that serve afternoon tea have offers throughout the year, which allow for many more visits! Next on this list for us is Dundrum and Swords. Two new places to try out and I can't wait. 

I have always enjoyed trying small portions of different foods and afternoon tea is perfect for this. A little bit of savoury, followed by a whole lot of sugar makes everyone feel pampered for the day. The only thing I do not enjoy about them is the tea or coffee that accompanies this amazing treat. I know, this is probably hard for you tea and coffee drinkers to comprehend, but sadly I have never really enjoyed hot drinks. Most venues are very understanding however and allow for a diet coke and water instead which suits me perfectly! 

So do yourself a favour this weekend and book yourself an afternoon tea. Sandwiches, cakes and good company. What else could you want on a relaxing Sunday?

Loving my fortune!