It’s International Women’s Day! And to celebrate, I would like to share some of literature’s feistiest women. I love reading books with a strong female character, even if not all of them are that likeable. My five choices are varied – some are brave and adventurous, others materialistic and selfish, but they are all feisty and great fun to read!
Miscellaneous
My Top 5 Books from 2013
I was not the most consistent book blogger in 2013. I currently have a daunting ten books piled up ready to be written about, and some of them have been there since the spring! Hopefully I will manage to get on to them early in the New Year. My reading list, like my blog, has been a bit pathetic over the past year. I haven’t been racing through books like I usually would, apart from the odd couple. I’ve found comfort in old favourites such as The Hobbit, The Moonstone, The Little Friend and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, but not managed to pick up as many new books as I would have liked.
I’m afraid I can’t blame this lack of adventurous reading on being too busy at work or anything like that, but I have been busy. I’ve been busy having fun! In fact, for me, 2013 has been one of the best years for a long time! I’ve been on some great holidays, including a fantastic trip to Nepal in October, (Where I visited the amazing Pilgrims Book House in Kathmandu, and fought off tears in the airport when reading Sold by Patricia McCormick), and life has generally been quite good, with a job that I enjoy and living happily with my boyfriend in a lovely little flat in the centre of town.
Instead of doing ‘awards’ this year (like in 2011 and 2012), I thought I would simply share my Top 5 books from my reading list of 2013 (Some of which I haven’t reviewed yet – I’ll add the links as soon as I do!)
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Happy Second Blog Birthday to Me!
Bundle of Books is two years old today! Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun and reading fantastic books!? It seems like only yesterday that it was birthday number one. Find out about some of the exciting things that have happened over the last year and some of the great books that I have devoured here.
Top 5 – Book Awards 2012
Wow! What a year! 2012 was very exciting – both for me personally and for Bundle of Books. Lots of things have changed; I left my horrible job, had a couple of interesting work experience opportunities, joint-bought a flat and got a new job (one that I actually like!). My reading habits have adapted, unfortunately meaning that I haven’t read anywhere near as much as last year. This is probably due to shorter lunch breaks and the fact that I now walk to work instead of getting a bus everyday – bad for my To Read pile, but good for my health!
I may not have read as much as I would have liked, but I’ve discovered some fantastic books! I’ve learnt about some talented début authors such as Téa Obreht, Erin Morgenstern and Eowyn Ivey. I’ve become hooked on the popular fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. However, 2012 was not just full of great reading; I’ve visited some wonderful bookshops, I’ve taken a sneaky peek at other people’s shelves, read a bit of poetry and watched some good (and some not so good) adaptations.
Most exciting of all, in August, I was Freshly Pressed! I was so thrilled to see all of the comments made by new (and old!) followers and can still hardly believe that my post was chosen to be on the WordPress homepage for the day – so thanks to everyone who took the time to visit my blog!
And now it’s time to take a look at some of the books that most stood out to me in 2012 (using the same categories as last year).
Top 5 Favourites from the Classics Section
Summer is a busy time for the classics section at Oxfam. We receive piles and piles of donations at the end of July from GCSE, A Level and university students who have finally come to the end of the year. They struggle in with heavy bags, eager to rid themselves of any course material that will remind them of long evenings spent at the library, scrutinising old texts. It’s a time of year when we get a huge increase in Shakespeare study guides, poetry and tattered old penguin classics.
Top 5 Favourite Oxfam Finds
As you may be aware, in the last few months I have started volunteering at Oxfam Books and Music. So far it’s been great. I get to sort through, price and sell books. I even quite like that musty, old book smell. But most exciting of all; I get first pick of the books! Another thing that I love about used books is finding unexpected items inside. I can completely understand these bookworms that accidentally leave postcards, train tickets and scraps of paper between the pages of their books because I do exactly the same thing. I usually grab the nearest thing to mark my place and often these can become nice memories when I find them months or years later hidden in an old read. I’ve found some pretty weird and wonderful things that people have used for bookmarks. Here are a few of my favourite!
Sorry for the Silence…
Hi everyone!
Just a very quick post to apologise for the lack of posts recently! I’ve had a lot of very exciting things going on and a few less interesting but equally as important things to sort out. I haven’t even picked up a book in about THREE WEEKS! Shock, horror! I’m about four book reviews, three bookshop reviews and a couple of Top Fives behind so have a lot to catch up on!
Thankfully, I’m off on holiday tomorrow and am choosing my reading material carefully. I’ll also try and get some reviews done, but not sure I’ll have the Internet. So I’m asking you to bear with me a little longer!
Thanks guys and see you soon!
More Favourite Blogs and Awards!
Time has rushed by so fast this last couple of months and so I have only just got around to this award post. But what better way to start the summer months than with a big celebration of some of my favourite blogs?!
April and May were certainly happy months for me as I was nominated for FOUR blog awards! I am extremely chuffed and have had lots of fun browsing through some of my favourite blogs to pass on the blog love!
So, I would like to say a HUGE thank you (and congratulations!) to the four wonderful bloggers that nominated me: Continue reading
Top 5 Favourite Reading Spots
Finding a good book is great, but reading a good book in your favourite reading spot is simply wonderful. We all have our favourite places to read. The weather can be an important factor, sometimes the time of day and quite often the spot you prefer can depend on what you are reading.
Some people have very odd habits with their favourite reading locations. My choices are quite unoriginal, but nothing makes me enjoy a book more than reading it in the places listed below.
In a Café with a Cup of Tea and Cake
Sometimes you just want to get away for an hour or two. Leave all your dirty washing and other household duties behind and have a bit of time for relaxation and indulgence. We all need somewhere to escape to! I have many favourite cafés in different cities across Europe that I have visited. My choice of food and drink doesn’t often change though – A cup of tea and cake!
Happy Blog Birthday to Me!
So, it’s been a whole year since I first started Bundle of Books and I’m so glad that I’ve stuck around! It’s been a fun year and I’ve read some great books! I’ve also enjoyed some interesting bookish discussions with other book bloggers out there and learnt a lot from comments people make on the blog.
I first started Bundle of Books in April last year with a review of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. I was working in a very uncreative and frustrating environment at the time and was desperate for a creative output. Bundle of Books has been great for that. I was also pleasantly surprised with all the other book lover bloggers out there! Continue reading
Bundle of Books 