10 Classics to Read on Cold Winter Nights

I do love a good book list, both to use as inspiration for my ever-growing literary wish list and to share my own recommendations. Following up from my 10 Cosy New Books to Read for Autumn, this time around I thought I'd do things a little differently. Rather than focusing on new books that are already likely to be spotlighted by other bloggers, reviewers, and magazines, I'm sharing some of my favourite classic novels – and the collectible editions that grace my shelves. They would make a beautiful addition to your own collection as well as thoughtful gifts to brighten up someone's day this time of year.

10 Cosy New Books to Read This Autumn

As the days grow darker and colder, I bring out my staples for cosy nights in and weekends at home: festively-scented candles, my trusty checkered and wool-lined fleece blanket, warm-coloured fairy lights, and my towering to-read pile that has been building up over the summer months. Yes, it's the best time of the year for reading while snuggled up with a cup of tea! And today I'm delighted to share with you book releases from the past few months that are perfect to curl up with this autumn. Whether you love a good ol' Christmas tale, harrowing historical fiction, Sherlock Holmesque crime, magical middle grade, laugh-out-loud women's fiction, gripping YA thriller, or thought provoking non-fiction essays, this list of recent favs has something to delight readers of all tastes.

What I Read in June & July 2018 – Round-Up & Mini Reviews

Wowzers, it's been months since I've posted a reading wrap up, I'm so sorry! My new job has been taking up a lot of my time and I haven't been reading as much as before. Though even when combining two months worth of books (seven books in total, two not pictured as they were ebooks) I didn't have the motivation for blogging as I've been feeling mentally depleted. I have a ton of blog post ideas but I need to find the time and energy to get back to a regular posting schedule. The exhausting heat of summer hasn't helped either, but I'm hoping xas cosier months are ahead of us I'll be able to get back into the swing of things. Thanks for your patience in the mean time 😊

What I Read in May 2018 – Round-Up & Mini Reviews

May was a whirlwind reading month stretching from 5-star to 2-star (yikes) novels. I've been getting a little bit experimental in books I've picked up and it clearly didn't always work out. Luckily though, there were some excellent books thrown in the mix as well (mostly, coincidentally, from publishers Scholastic) to make this a worthwhile reading month overall. Highlights included atmospheric Gatsby-esque historical fiction A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood, emotional coming-of-age Final Draft by Riley Redgate and post-Brexit political thriller Night of the Party by Tracey Mathias.

What I Read in April 2018 – Round-Up & Mini Reviews

After a hit-and-miss March, April was an absolutely stellar reading month with several 5-star reads in a row I finished in a single day each until deep into the night as I just could not put them down! This included the follow-up to the imaginative Caraval by Stephanie Garber, the equally mesmerising Legendary; multi-layered YA high fantasy The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green; and the delightful contemporary companion novel to Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, Puddin'. I also reread one of my favourite books of all-time, the dystopian Shakespearean Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, as I picked it for my book club and it was as masterfully put together as I remembered.

What I Read in March 2018 – Round-Up & Mini Reviews

After reading just four books in February, in March I smashed through my TBR a little quicker again (though, to be fair, a few of the reads were quite short). Unfortunately I'd picked up some titles on a whim and they weren't quite for me. But despite March being a month of reading highs and lows, the ones I enjoyed, I REALLY enjoyed. Particular highlights include the essays in Notes on Nationalism by George Orwell, the beautiful nature descriptions in The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell, and Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl, which is a highly imaginative YA set in limbo.

What I Read in February 2018 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

With my goal for 2018 to take more time for each book I read and stress less about getting through all of the review titles ever, I've read a 'mere' four books in February, and I'm okay with that. Being more picky with the titles I picked they've unanimously been brilliant reads (a lovely mixture of fiction and non-fiction too) and I feel very happy with my bookish accomplishment of the month. I've also had more time for reading other content, such as blogs and magazines. I've had years of subscriptions to National Geographic and National Geographic Traveller but never read them back-to-back and I'm now catching up, which I am really enjoying! They are my all-time favourite magazines and it feels so good to finally get around to them, plus they also nicely align with my goal of reading more educational and travel-related content this year, win/win. 

What I Read in December 2017 & January 2018 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

I was overseas in December (away from all of my books) and my camera broke in January (preventing me from taking book pics), so my December reads are looong over-due making this is a double-whammy of a round-up! Out of the eleven books I read these past few months, an awesome four of them were 5-star reads: middle-grade sky ship adventure Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy, inspirational tome of essays O's Little Guide to the Big Questions by the Editors of O, powerful contemporary YA More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer, and non-fiction nature book The Secret Life of the Owl by John Lewis-Stempel, filled with feathered facts and lush woodland descriptions. An eclectic mix of reads, but I fell heads over heels in love with all four of these for different reasons.

My Top 10 Favourite Reads of 2017

Since starting my Goodreads challenges I've been reading 125+ books in a single year... until 2016. Last year I still racked up just over 100 books, but this year life and work was busier than ever before and I didn't even make the 100 mark. Still, I was a lot pickier with the books I choose to get the most out of my limited reading time, meaning that the vast majority were ones I thoroughly enjoyed. Out of the 96 books I read in 2017, most were young adult and lifestyle non-fiction. Though while 7 out of my top 10 books can be classified as YA, just one is non-fiction and there are three adult novels in there too – two of which are crime/thriller, which I hardly ever read before 2017. So it's been a pretty eclectic reading year for me and I can't wait to continue to explore different genres and authors in 2018. For now, here are my top 10 picks from my 2017 reads!

What I Read in November 2017 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

October was a bit of a dud when it came to my reading list. I couldn't really decide on what books to pick up and very few managed to capture my attention fully. I am very pleased to say that this feeling completely turned around in November due to an excellent mix of books that managed to get me excited again about reading! Not only did I devour 11 books (which is a lot in a single month for me) but there were many I really fell in love with along the way, most notably evocative YA Vanilla by Billy Merrell told in verse, funny memoirs The Amazing Book is Not on Fire and Dan & Phil Go Outside by YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester, fantasy YA Everless by Sara Holland, and the fact-filled 147 Things by Jim Chapman. (Excuse the poor quality of the photos in this post though, I had no day light to work with this weekend 😢)

What I Read in October 2017 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

After September's incredible selection of reads, in October when I was looking at my TBR I found it harder to decide on what to pick up next and some books I did end up choosing still didn't grab me quite as much. I did read a variety of genres to mix things up, which helped a little bit to get excited about my chosen reads again. My two absolute favourites in October were the excellent Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman and non-fiction title Why the Dutch Are Different by Ben Coates.

What I Read in September 2017 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

I'm not sure if I have just been incredibly lucky or if I've become more selective with the novels I choose to read, but whatever the reason September was a stellar bookish month in which I only read novels that I absolutely loved (seriously, 4 and 5 stars  across the board!). It's hard to pick favourites from such an excellent bunch but if I must narrow it down, I have to shout-out meta-fictional murder mystery The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz, gaming sci-fi Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller, wondrous children's fantasy Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend, and the inspiring The Little Book of Lykke by Meik Wiking. 

What I Read in August 2017 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

After reading a massive eleven books in July, August was a bit of a quieter month as my reading high halted. My siblings stayed with me for two weeks out of the four meaning I wasn't commuting by myself, diminishing my reading time to the few longer train journeys we took out to Brighton and Oxford. Still, out of the six books I did manage to finish in August, five were 4-star reads which wasn't bad at all. My favourites this past month were YA alien invasion sci-fi I Am Traitor by Sif Sigmarsdóttir and magical fantasy epic A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke.

What I Read in July 2017 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

Wow, July was a whirlwind reading month. I went to Edinburgh for a long weekend, which means I was on trains for a good ten hours providing plenty of reading time, and I picked up quite a few quick reads in the past month as well – so I ended up reading eleven books in total! In an attempt to finally read some of the ones that have been gathering dust on my shelves, I've also made a (small) dent in my TBR, which feels awesome, though being less picky did mean that I read three books I rated with just 2 stars and another I gave 2.5 stars. To balance that out though, I got lost in the magical worlds of Lost Boy by Christina Henry and Moonrise by Sarah Crossan, both of which were so incredible that they will likely make my top 10 of favourite books for all of 2017. 

What I Read in June 2017 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

I posted my first monthly book round-up in May, which received a lot of nice comments on social channels and on my blog for which many thanks. I loved writing it and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it too, as I'm back today with June's book wrap up! It has been an exceptional reading month with just one 2-star read and the others all 4 stars or more. My favourite books in June were political courtroom thriller Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan, missing person mystery Last Seen by Lucy Clarke, teenage action adventure Never Say Die by Anthony Horowitz and contemporary YA Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel.

What I Read in May 2017 – Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

While I post book reviews on this blog, I actually read more in a month than I can cover in a weekly review and I thought it was high time to start with monthly reading round-ups, so all the books I've had the pleasure to enjoy that month can be spotlighted on here! This post marks the first monthly wrap up and is a real mix of adult reads (fiction and non-fiction), young adult and even children's. Out of the books I read in May my favourites were When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and Trouble Makes a Comeback by Stephanie Tromly ♥