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!

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.