Liverpool, NOH8, teddies and music...

Well, since I'm STILL not reading (though I'm partway through Christos Tsiolkas's Loaded and I just picked up Graham Norton's So Me which looks like a laugh) I thought I'd just drop by and ramble for a bit.  Throw in a few bits and pieces from the last couple of days, that kind of thing...

So, first up, I went to Liverpool!  Yes, agoraphobia was nothing compared to my absolute delight at being back in a city and surrounded by 20-somethings again.  Mum and I drove across on Tuesday (it's about two hours away), picked up my sister at her university flat, and we all stayed the night in a hotel.  I had my first Nando's that evening (yummy!), and the next morning we went out for breakfast, wandered the Albert Dock, had tea and scones (and chocolate) at Thorntons, and shopped!  A handful of pics:

Echo and the Bunnymen on a lambanana!

The Liverpool Eye, the Tate, and the Albert Dock sign

The most promising window I've ever seen

I don't have a Snippy thing on the shop netbook to do Photo Tidying-Up Stuff so please ignore the daybed - but I finally found a cool hat! I shopped the sh*t out of Accessorize in Liverpool One on Wednesday.

So, that was Liverpool.  Ummmm, what else?  Well, I had another couple of 'weep for humanity' moments today.  This morning an elderly woman asked her daughter if Maeve Binchy was "the one what wrote Wuthering Heights"...  And this afternoon a teenage girl asked her dad, "Who's Elton John again?  Have I heard of him before?"  Sometimes I wonder if I'm on the same planet as the people around me, I really do.

I've been around Twitter a lot of late - another side effect (or partial cause?) of me not fancying reading very much at the moment - and one of the things that's most impressed me recently is the way the NOH8 campaign (promoting LGBT human rights equality and education) is spreading quietly across the Twitterverse.  If you're interested, you can check out the campaign website to find out what it's all about, or visit their Twitter feed to find out how to add a NOH8 'Twibbon' to your profile picture.  Or you can just come and see me, of course, for a running commentary of music, opinions, funnies and bookshop craziness!

I'm sitting here nursing a headache today - a quiet Saturday rapidly descended into a hellish Saturday by lunchtime - and there seem to be an inordinate amount of charity-shop-shoppers and rampaging-small-children on the loose.  But even I have to admit that this is cute.  A tiny girl and her brother had been playing in the children's section for quite some time, but lo!  Not only were the shelves left neat and tidy, but they'd also done this:

I may not be an especially child-friendly woman, but even I melted a little bit when I saw it!  Aloysius and his little doggy friend, reading quietly like good little teddies.  Love it.

And now, to play you out this sunny Saturday, here's The Doors and L.A. Woman (the alternate, longer, cooler version).  Enjoy!

No, I'm not dead...

Hello, worried souls!  I've had a few messages along the "Where are youuuuuuu??" lines so I thought I'd just drop by and vacuum some of the cobwebs away before they get out of hand...

Basically, my reading resolve of December - the one that had me mentally firing into January like a book-mad cannon and reading twenty books by the end of the month - fizzled out rather quickly.  I just haven't felt like reading much!  I'm a few pages into a science book and halfway through a YA review novel that I haven't touched in well over a week, and I've flicked through a few other titles but nothing's captured my attention.

Instead I've been music-stalking on YouTube, making long lists of Stuff What I Need To Buy Next Time I Go Play On My iTunes Library (having it still stuck on an old PC sucks, by the way).  I must have spent a fortune last night, on everything from Jeff Buckley to Lady Gaga, but the receipt hasn't arrived yet so I'm not thinking about it!  Then I've been clearing truckloads of old, undealt-with emails, sorting out my carelessly-added YouTube playlists (ooops), shopping for all the stuff I've been putting off, and trying to get my computer folders into some sort of reasonable order so I can get them backed up and move my iTunes across to a newly-cleared space.  I've also been watching DVD box sets, which as we all know is a major time-killer when you get hooked...

And that's it!  On the plus side, I started Christos Tsiolkas's slim first novel Loaded this morning and have actually read more than two pages.  On the minus side, I've got a new list of to-buy music already building up - including some wonderful tunes by the late, great Etta James, who died a few days ago - so I'm thinking I might just have to do another sweep tonight to get me some good tunes for our little trip to Liverpool tomorrow.  We're going to see my sister at uni (her last exam is this afternoon) and stay the night for a little chatter, a little dinner and a little wandering round the city, so that should be fun.  Scary, since that agoraphobia is still lingering a little bit, but fun!

Hopefully I'll be back with some actually, y'know, reviews at some point.  But I'm really trying not to feel pressured by my (entirely self-set) reading challenges and goals for the year, because then they start to feel like homework and that's hardly going to get me reading again, is it?  See you on the other side!

A BTT reader survey - hooray!

Many of you are probably already aware that I just can't resist a survey, so I'm coming out of BTT hibernation (hey, it happens) for this little bookish interview!  I know it's a day late, but I hadn't quite finished my post yesterday and I wasn't feeling too good last night, so here goes nothin'...

1. What's your favourite time of day to read?
I think any time is good reading time for me!  As long as I'm alert and awake, and not doing anything else, I'm good to go on the book front.  Sometimes that might be in the evening after dinner, sometimes it's at work on a quiet day, sometimes it's first thing in the morning before it's time to leave...

2. Do you read during breakfast?
Definitely!  I usually make breakfast and retreat to my room with it.  Depending on how much time I have, I might read until I'm done with my final swig of coffee, or I might just keep going for a while.  It's a great way to start the day.  I don't do it every morning - if I'm particularly tired or headachy or nervous for some reason, I might watch something on my laptop or read a few blog posts instead.

3. What's your favourite breakfast food?
I don't have cereals these days because of my IBS (a bowl of milk on an empty stomach, nope!), and I'm a big fan of tea 'n' toast as a quick after-work meal - for breakfast I prefer something a little sweeter.  Most mornings I have a milk chocolate chip muffin, microwaved for a few seconds for that yummy fresh-baked feeling, with a big mug of tea or coffee.  Occasionally if I'm feeling REALLY decadent I might buy a pack of pain au chocolat instead - but mostly it's all about the muffins!  It's a running family joke!

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?
It varies from one day to the next, from week to week, from season to season.  Some days I don't read a page.  Perhaps I've been very busy at work, or I'm in the middle of a DVD box set marathon that's taking up all my spare time.  Maybe I've just been swept up online and never stopped to pick up my book.  Mostly though, I'd say I read at least an hour a day, sometimes more like five or six.  I usually read over breakfast, which is at least half an hour.  I read behind the counter at work, so the quieter the day, the more likely I am to have read for a good chunk of it.  I read in the evening, while I eat tea, or if there's nothing on telly later on.  Sometimes I read a while longer if I can't sleep, or if I wake up in the early hours of the morning for some reason.  On a day off I can read pretty much all day!

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?
Ummm, let's see, ten years ago I was 14...  I'd have to say probably more.  When I was at school I definitely read a lot, but I also had long school days and a ton of homework to do, plus I liked to veg out and watch telly on the weekends.  Now I can read at work AND at home, and I'm a little more discriminating with my viewing, so I have more time to pick up a book.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?
Sadly not!  I used to read quickly - not speed reading, but fast enough - and could read anywhere, in any kind of environment, but these days I find myself getting distracted too easily.  Often the best way for me to maintain my concentration is to read under my breath, which by definition slows me right down.

7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Flying, definitely!  I've always had those lovely freedom-filled 'flying dreams', ever since I was a kid, and I wanted to be like Peter Pan!  I still use it as a kind of meditation exercise sometimes, imagining myself flying up, out of my body, out of my house, and away over trees and fields and water.  Very relaxing.

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?
Within reason, yes.  Anywhere I conceivably think I might read it.  So... dentist's waiting rooms - check.  On a train - check.  To work every day - check.  Out on a shopping trip around town - check.  But I don't take one grocery shopping or anything like that.

9. What KIND of book?
Any kind of book!  Anything that interests me is fair game - especially when I'm taking it to work.  I'll usually choose something smaller and lighter to carry around elsewhere, but when I go to work I take whatever I'm reading at the time.  It might be a classic, a science book, the latest bestseller, a YA novel, a biography or history book or travel memoir... well, you get the idea.  Like, right now I'm reading a book about the scientific value of E. coli and a romantic YA novel alongside each other.  Diversity is my middle name, peeps!

10. How old were you when you got your first library card?
Too young to remember.  I remember the cards though - I got a bundle of them, and they were little brown half-envelopes made of thin card, with my name on them.  Every time I wanted a book I had to give the librarian one of my cards, and she'd stow it away with the book's insert and stamp the book for me to take home.  Aaaaah, memories...

11. What's the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)
I don't know, actually.  I have a fair few classics, so old books abound in that sense.  I have books that have been on my shelves for over half my life (I recently let go of many of my children's books, it was time), so that's old books in a different sense.  And I have a couple of beautiful old books, like a gorgeous edition of Longfellow's poetry, exquisitely bound with marbled boards and gold leafing down the page edges.

Disclaimer: I do not look this casually sexy when I read in bed.

12. Do you read in bed?
Sometimes - especially if I wake up early, or if I can't sleep last thing at night.  I do quite a lot of reading ON the bed (occasionally with one of the cats), though I prefer to sit on the floor with my back to the warm radiator if it's a bit chilly in the house.  When I was next door in the flat I mostly read in the living room because it was mine, but back in the family house my little bedroom's the only place I'm unlikely to be interrupted!

13. Do you write in your books?
Not any more.  I used to make notes in university texts - mostly ones I knew I would never, ever read again outside the course.  And I'd make occasional notes in other books, and write my name and the date in front of every one.  I don't write anything in books now, unless they're a special gift for someone.  Sometimes I'll ask someone to write in a book THEY'VE given to ME too, particularly if it's something a little bit special.  But for normal standard books I don't write in them now, partially because books flow in and out of my house so regularly now we have the bookshop, and partially because if they're pristine I can put a slightly better price on them at the shop to help pay our bills!

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?
Don't jump in the deep end, or you could scare yourself off books for life.  It's a very brave idea, but tackling War and Peace is probably not your best bet right now.  Start smaller, with a gripping novel or a popular non-fiction title that suits your interests.  And if you don't know where to start, talk to your librarian or local bookseller - they'll always be happy to recommend something!

VIRALS numero dos - and this time there be pirates!

REVIEW: SEIZURE (4*)

by Kathy Reichs (Young Arrow Books, 2011)

I think Virals is rapidly shaping up to be one of my favourite YA series to date.  This second installment - which takes place about four months after the first - takes the firm foundation Reichs laid down in Virals and builds a wonderfully exciting new adventure smack on top of it.

The Viral pack - Tory, Shelton, Hi, Ben and their wolfdog Coop - are still attempting to figure out their new abilities when they get shocking news.  Their beloved Loggerhead Island, home of the LIRI institute and a beautiful nature reserve, is to be sold off as the university budget is squeezed.  Faced with the prospect of her friends being split apart and moved across the continent, Tory clutches wildly at the local legend of Anne Bonny.  A fearsome flame-haired lady pirate, Bonny is rumoured to have buried her treasure somewhere in the area.  Would it be enough to save Loggerhead?  Can she persuade the pack that this isn't just a wild goose chase?  And can they solve the mystery in time to stop the sale of the island - and before anyone else finds out what they're up to?

I loved this book.  I found the relationships between the four human Virals absolutely spot-on for a group of teenagers - the idle banter, Hi's teasing wit, the slight attraction between Tory and Ben that simmers away gently - and enjoyed the continued exploration of the new pack bond that cements them together.  It's great to have four such distinct and resourceful characters to root for, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and quirky idiosyncracies.  The plot has a real Indiana Jones/Pirates of the Caribbean feel to it this time, with riddles to solve, a trail to follow, and a genuinely nail-biting underground set-piece that had me glued breathlessly to the pages for well over an hour.  Like last time, there are dangerous people hot on the pack's heels, and in true crime thriller style Reichs throws out plenty of red herrings to stop the reader working everything out too quickly.  I sincerely hope there's more still to come for the Virals - roll on book three!

Note:  Many thanks to Random House Children's Books, who sent me this book in return for an honest review.

Okay, now I totally want to be a VIRAL...

Finally, having caught up on my last two reviews for 2011's reading, I can move onto 2012 properly...  And my first book of the year was a cracker of a read!  Wolfy and clever and exciting - and very much inclined to make me go buy the first of Kathy Reichs' adult crime novels, to see if Dr. Temperance Brennan is as kick-ass a character as her niece!

REVIEW: VIRALS (4*)

by Kathy Reichs (Young Arrow Books, 2010)

I've never read Kathy Reichs before, but I was intrigued by the premise of this new series for young adults.  It is about four science-geek teenagers living on Morris Island, a tiny community in the middle of nowhere.  Their parents work for the local university's research institute on nearby Loggerhead Island.  The teens are brilliantly drawn characters - funny science buff Hiram, mousy Shelton, tall, dark and silent Ben, and the lone girl, Tory Brennan.  The solid relationships and playful humour between these four is a joy to read, and provides a firm base for the rest of the story.

As you would expect from Kathy Reichs, forensics are at the forefront of the plot (Reichs readers will recognise Tory's surname - forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is her aunt).  When the teens find an old military dog tag in the woods on Loggerhead Island, their curiosity is piqued and they are determined to return it to its rightful owner.  When they break into the Institute to use the scientific equipment to clean the tag, they also end up rescuing a wolfdog puppy from an illegal experimental lab (as you do), and in doing so contract a new strain of parvovirus that wires canine DNA into their own.  Before they know it, they are having to learn about their new capabilities, find out who's behind the illegal experiment, work out the connection between the dog tag and a long-cold missing person case, AND evade the dangerous armed men now hot on their heels.

It's not as complicated as it sounds, honest.  It's certainly a complex and involved novel, as you would expect from a mistress of crime thriller writing, but as all the threads come together everything makes perfect sense...  Reichs kept me guessing to the last - though I had a few suspicions, of course - and I was thoroughly absorbed in the teenagers' search for the truth even as they struggled with their new wolfy traits.  The sharpness and humour of the dialogue and Tory's narrative voice kept everything grounded, but there were still some genuinely shocking moments too.  An intelligent and gripping start to the series - I'm reading the second novel, Seizure, right now and it's looking to be just as good, if not better!

Note:  Many thanks to Random House Children's Books, who sent me this novel for an honest review.

Direct Red: A Surgeon's Story, by Gabriel Weston

Well, this is my last review owing for 2011, so I can finally move into 2012 with a clear slate!  I've just finished my first book of the year - Virals by Kathy Reichs, which I thoroughly enjoyed - so I'll get a review up for that in the next day or two.  And I moving straight onto the second in the Virals series, Seizure, which hits the shelves TODAY.  Should be a good 'un...

REVIEW - DIRECT RED: A SURGEON'S STORY (4*)

by Gabriel Weston (Vintage, 2010)

I picked this up on a whim, out of a bag of incoming books at the shop, because I've rather enjoyed other 'medical memoirs' I've read in the past.  I find them fascinating, perhaps because the medical profession is such a world apart - men and women caring for every kind of person in every kind of difficult situation, often at absolutely critical moments in their lives.  Gabriel Weston's surgical memoir is definitely the best of the bunch so far, and I can see why it was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award in 2009.

Weston is a surgeon in a big-city English hospital.  Her book is divided into short, deftly-titled chapters, providing themes for her anecdotes and creating an interesting structure.  'Speed', for example, illustrates the importance of quick thinking and rapid action in saving lives; 'Hierarchy' delves into the power relations of a surgical ward, and 'Children' covers her time in the paediatric emergency room and children's department.  Theming each section allows Weston to move around in time and to make important points about the surgical profession without muddling her narrative, and it really worked for me.

This is a beautifully written book that rings with the precise and matter-of-fact detail that a surgeon's eye is trained to notice.  Weston's disclaimer points out that no one character or situation here is 'true' - but I don't think it really matters, because at the book's heart is a thoroughly authentic and experienced voice.  There were some heartbreaking moments and some charming ones, some lyrical descriptions and some blisteringly earthy ones.  Far from being frightened by the graphic surgical scenes, I found myself reassured by how much the human body can withstand, and how much a surgical team can do to mend it when it is broken.  Highly recommended - though if you're squeamish you should probably give this one a miss!

Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery, by Keren David

REVIEW: LIA'S GUIDE TO WINNING THE LOTTERY (3.5*)

by Keren David (Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2011)

"My mother kicked me out one minute after I won eight million pounds."

Well, with an opening line like that, how could I resist?  Lia Latimer is sixteen when her first ever lottery ticket - bought for her by her friend Jack as a joke birthday present - wins her the jackpot.  The novel follows her through the trials and tribulations of life as a lottery winner, and it's clear that David has done plenty of research to guide Lea's experiences - the psychology, the pitfalls, the management, the advice and the opportunities.

Alongside the lottery story there is a good dash of family angst as the Latimers struggle to adjust to Lia's new wealth - particularly her little sister Natasha, who suddenly finds herself in great demand amongst the popular girls at school...  Lia must also learn to negotiate her friendships now her life has changed.  Does she owe Jack money because he bought her the ticket?  Why does her best friend Shaz seem so uncomfortable about the whole thing?  And is Raf, her long-time crush, interested in getting to know her for herself, or for her money?

I have to mention one thing that really bugged me about the book, which was the particularly vapid ongoing theme of digging at paranormal romance novels.  Lia and her friends are obsessed with them, and it's unclear whether David is merely acknowledging the genre's popularity or outright mocking it.  Would a sixteen year-old girl (and her peers at school) really be entertaining the possibility that her tall, dark and handsome boy toy is a vampire/werewolf/fallen angel?  Those parts made me cringe, I have to say.

That aside, however, I liked it.  It definitely made me stop to consider the realities of suddenly being wealthier than you've ever imagined.  Lia, a rather immature sixteen in many ways, makes many blunders in the early days: telling too many people, throwing too much money around, getting carried away buying gifts and hailing taxis just because she can.  Throughout the novel she has to learn to manage her winnings and discovers what she can do with a little help and some good advice.  David doesn't go down the 'money is the root of all evil' path, but she does encourage her readers to think about what having money means - how it can corrupt but also aid, how it can be a social catalyst or an embarrassment, how it can be used wisely or frittered away.  A fun, interesting and unusual read - and hey, if I ever DO win the lottery, at least I'll know what not to do!

Brace yourself for a bookshop rant - I'm fuming!

I heard news recently that one of the bookshops in town might be closing down and moving to online-only sales.  During an idle search for more information online, I stumbled upon The Book Guide, an online directory of second-hand and antiquarian bookshops in the UK. 

I was quite surprised to find our bookshop on there anyway, given that I've never stumbled upon this particular website before.  But I was even more surprised to find this in the comments:

It's not very big (as yet, anyway, though there would be room to fit in a lot more shelving than exists at present) and the contents, to be frank, weren't all that marvellous (superior charity shop, I would say) when I went in a few weeks ago - Henry Middleton 19.08.10.

Well, thank you, Mr Middleton, for that charming assessment of our little shop, particularly given that this is one of the only negative comments on any of the bookshops listed for our county.  It got worse, however, and suddenly I knew exactly who this gentleman was:

The stock has improved slightly. There is a sign on the counter which reads "We don't offer trade discount or haggle - so just don't ask" and another on the wall saying "Be nice or leave". Enter at your peril! - Henry Middleton 31.10.11.

Yes, our illustrious Mr Middleton returned for another dig a year later!  These are the only two comments about us, which doesn't exactly paint us in a great light.  It might just be because I'm tired and I've got a cold and therefore not feeling spectacular anyway, but I'm absolutely shaking with anger and feeling just a little bit like I might burst into tears.  Which isn't good since I'm sitting on the shop counter right now. 

If this gentleman is who I think he is, I'd actually marked him out at the time.  He and his wife never once looked at me or spoke to me, but complained quite loudly about everything right by the desk nonetheless.  As they left I remember thinking, "But why didn't they just say something?!"  If someone has a concern we can normally explain, help, point them in the right direction, or whatever.  But apparently I was invisible, even as I tried to catch their eye and initiate a conversation so I could show them I wasn't as horrible or stupid or unpleasant as they seemed to be implying.

I've left two (very short - there's a 40-word limit) responses but there's no function to leave a reply or owner response, so perhaps they won't even be accepted, I don't know.  But in a nutshell, and since I can't say it anywhere else:

1. Actually, there is very little room for more shelving in the shop.  It is a very oddly-shaped premises with curved walls which makes life more difficult, and we have to bear in mind that it can get very busy in here during tourist season.  We also get a lot of pushchairs and wheelchairs in here, so obviously there needs to be room to maneouvre up and down the shop and around the shelves.
2. We are not a specialist bookshop, we are a general second-hand bookshop.  Our customers are mainly tourists wanting books for their holidays, and we try to stock a bit of everything so that there's something for everyone here.  We can't cater to everyone's in-depth special interests in-store (though we can order books on request), but there are all kinds of weird and wonderful odds and ends tucked away with the more common titles.  Our stock turns over constantly so sometimes people find something, sometimes they don't.
3. The sign thing really made me cross.  When a shop has a colourful retro 'Be Nice or Leave' sign tucked away behind the counter in a friendly environment with a smiling girl on the till, is it not obvious that it is a novelty item?  Most of our customers smile, point it out to their friends, and idly wonder if they should buy one for their house.  They don't walk out in a huff having taken grave offense.
4. The other sign actually said 'We don't offer trade discount or haggle so please don't ask' - note the 'please' which Mr Middleton has conveniently left out.  It was actually a temporary sign on the counter edge during a book fair.  Last year we had some extremely aggressive book dealers in the shop during that weekend, and it got very intimidating and quite upsetting for me having to keeping saying 'No' and trying to stay polite under that kind of embarrassing onslaught.  The sign is now gone.

I sometimes wonder, you know?  We price our books fairly and can't afford to haggle - does that warrant a negative review?  We smile and greet every customer (those that deign to look at us, that is), and bend over backwards to help them with recommendations, with names they can't remember and authors on the tip of their tongue, with books for hard-to-please grandchildren and special orders of long-lost favourites.  We chat about books and talk about what we've read and loved recently.  We have sweets on the counter and a board full of my book reviews, recently-read book covers and book lists, and I always offer people a glass of water if they're not feeling well or have a tickly cough.  We plant flowers outside our shop door and feed the sparrows in our little yard.  We have customers who come back week after week, month after month, and bring us Christmas cards and shortbread and remember when we've reached our shop anniversary.  Does that sound like the kind of shop that deserves an 'Enter at your peril!'?  We've made this place as friendly and lovely as we possibly can - and yet this man felt the need to provide not one, but TWO bad comments which are our only ones on this website.  I wouldn't visit here after reading that!

Okay, so I needed to rant... It's a good job I have somewhere to go and vent some of this stuff these days, I know I shouldn't be upset but if you're already having a bad day you do tend to just think "Well, screw you then, I'm going home!"  Except you can't.  *sighs again* 

Anyway, I think I'll go back to my reading now, that always cheers me up!  I hate Bank Holidays... 

P.S. In happier news, this morning after I read these comments, a very nice lady and her husband exclaimed what a beautiful shop we have here and how nicely it's all done out; I helped a shy little girl find a music book as she's just learning the piano and keyboard, and another customer spotted our 'Be Nice or Leave' sign, pointed it out to her husband and had a good chortle over it.  So that was reassuring.  :)

My 2011 in Books!

Yes, it's that time of year again!  Time to review everything we've read over the last twelve months; time to see whether our findings surprise us, depress us or just make us proud; time to offer up our favourites for our readers' wishlisting pleasure...  So, without further ado, let's get on with a couple of stats, then the all-important 'And the award goes to...' section!  You can click on the title of any of the books to read my full review.

Total fiction: 38

Total non-fiction: 21

Male authors: 25

Female authors: 34

Adult books: 42
YA books: 17

TOTAL BOOKS READ: 59

~ MY FAVOURITES OF 2011 ~

FICTION:
Atonement - Ian McEwan
One of the most absorbing, poignant and beautifully observed novels I think I have ever read.  It tells the story of two lovers, Robbie and Cecilia, and of Cecilia's little sister Briony, whose moment of childish self-importance will tear them apart.  I savoured every last page, revelling in the epic sweep and tiny human moments, and have been heartily recommending it to all and sundry ever since!

NON-FICTION:

To Touch a Wild Dolphin - Rachel Smolker

This wonderful book describes Smolker's long love affair with the friendly wild dolphins of the now-famous Monkey Mia, on the West Australia coast.  She describes how she stumbled upon the dolphins, how she set about her dolphin research project, what she has discovered over the last couple of decades, and what life was like for her in Shark Bay.  The dolphins come alive under her pen, and her writing is just beautiful.

YOUNG ADULT BOOK:

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

It took me a while - and a lot of impatient coercement from various fellow readers - but I finally read the first installment this year!  And wow, it was worth the wait.  An emotional rollercoaster of a read, I flew through it on the edge of my seat, and finished the last page in a kind of stunned disbelief, exhausted from the intensity and emotion of the Games.  Now I just need to read the other two...

(AUTO)BIOGRAPHY:

So Many Books, So Little Time - Sara Nelson

The author takes us on a journey through a year in her reading life.  A devoted reader both for work and for pleasure, she sets herself the goal of reading a book a week for a year.  Along the way she writes about her life and family, her reading habits and foibles, and of course, about the books she's been enjoying.  Delicious lazy-day reading for bibliophiles!

BOOK FROM A NEW-TO-ME AUTHOR:

Faceless Killers - Henning Mankell

I'd heard a lot about the famous Kurt Wallander, and seen a couple of the Kenneth Branagh television adaptations too, but I'd never actually read one of the books!  This is the first of the series, and alongside a gripping police procedural plot, introduces us to Wallander's troubled family life, his loneliness - and his intelligent, kind and just approach to his work.

SERIES:

Percy Jackson - Rick Riordan

Yet another YA series I've seen flourishing, but haven't actually read!  I finally read The Lightning Thief this year, devoured it pretty much whole, and wished I hadn't waited so long.  I love the premise of modern-day gods and demigods, mythical creatures and epic battles, and have already picked up the next book in the series to carry on reading in 2012.  Great fun!

BOOK DESIGN:

The Last Werewolf - Glen Duncan
Sleek, matte black dustjacket; exquisitely understated lettering interspersed with the phases of the moon; gold shiny sprayed page ends.  A simple, beautiful object indeed.

MOST MEMORABLE CHARACTER:
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, from Perfume - Patrick Süskind
He is pure, twisted and driven evil, yet also strangely enticing and childlike.  With his incredible nose for scent, Grenouille is truly fascinating.

SCARIEST BOOK:

Long Lankin - Lindsey Barraclough

Opening with the haunting ballad of Long Lankin, this is one of the best young adult novels I read this year.  With its family secrets, forbidden churchyard, and of course, the menace on the marshes, it really got under my skin.  One or two moments actually turned me cold with dread!  Creepy, atmospheric and impossible to put down.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:

Bloodstream - Tess Gerritsen

Part of my first real foray into thriller writing, I'd expected this to be a little formulaic and bland.  I couldn't have been more wrong - it was a taut, exciting, emotional and shocking ride, as a new town doctor tries to find a medical cause for a spate of deadly violence perpetrated by the local teenagers.  A memorable read, and definitely not my last Gerritsen.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:

Passion - Lauren Kate

After enjoying Fallen and finding Torment even better, I was really looking forward to this third installment of Luce and Daniel's story.  Skipping back through Luce's past lives was a fun idea, and some of the sections were interesting, but others were dull, confused or downright cliched.  Hopefully Fallen in Love and Rapture will be better...

LEAST FAVOURITE BOOK:

Bumped - Megan McCafferty

Another huge disappointment.  After all the hype from across the pond, I expected an brilliant and original dystopian novel.  In actual fact, I found it very muddled - particularly the 'godfreaky' parts - and got sick of the incessant baby puns after about ten pages.  Dystopian society or not, could these kids talk about nothing else, ever?

WEEPIEST BOOK:

Atonement - Ian McEwan
There's something about beautiful, intense, sweeping novels that entice the reader to become deeply invested in the characters, so much so that when anything goes wrong it breaks your heart...

FUNNIEST BOOK:

The Princess Bride - William Goldman

Completely brilliant from start to finish!  From the characters to the settings to Goldman's interruptions throughout his 'abridgement', everything about this book is comedy genius.  I knew I was onto a winner when I couldn't stop smiling even through the first few pages of the introduction, and sure enough, it's one of my favourite reads of the year!

~ Reflections on 2011 ~

I feel like I've had quite a good year of reading, despite my relatively low total number of finished books.  I seem to have balanced quite well between male and female authors, read a good chunk of non-fiction, and finished a good few substantial reads to offset the easier stuff.  I started the year really well, with a series of 24-hour read-a-thons driving my reading forward and getting me good and motivated.  Sadly I then hit a complete reading slump during the summer, which slowed things right down again.  It was probably a fairly hefty contributing factor to my not completing my Books to be Read Challenge too, which I'm disappointed about.  That said, the books I DID finish for that challenge turned out to be some of my favourites! 

I think one of the highlights of the year for me - though one of the hardest to pull off - was my three-week Page to Screen event over the summer (links to all the reviews, articles and editorial pieces are listed in this summary post).  It was a great celebration of books and their screen adaptations, and my guest bloggers pulled out all the stops with some brilliant contributions.  I was absolutely exhausted by the end but it was worth it!

Outside of the blog, 2011 was a pretty important year.  My sister has gone into her final year at university so there are big changes ahead as she moves towards graduation and her future.  I've moved back into the family home for a while to stay warm and toasty over the winter, which has been a little strange but quite nice.  Lots of reading time curled up in my room with the cat, and fair amount of 'Oh, you're having something yummy for dinner?  Why no, I didn't have any plans - don't mind if I do!'  And perhaps most importantly - particularly for the blog - is that we've signed a new lease to keep our bookshop premises for another three years.  My inner Bernard Black will run free a while longer!

~ Thoughts for 2012 ~ 

Hmmm.  Well, first up, let's say something about challenges.  After my failure to complete either of the ones I signed up to in 2011, I have nevertheless opted in again for 2012.  I'll be taking part in Hanna's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Book Challenge and Adam's TBR Pile Challenge (I'll try to do better this year!), as well as my own Mixing It Up Challenge.  If you haven't already seen it, you can click on the link for more info and to sign up, and my challenge post with my ideas and categories is here.  On top of those, I'll be working some of the books into my 12 in 12, Books off the Shelf and 75 Book challenges over on LibraryThing.

That might sound a bit much, especially given this year's failures, but they all serve a purpose!  Hopefully they'll persuade me to read some of the classics I didn't get to this year (a pitiful one classic novella in 2011), clear some books off my groaning TBR shelves, and look around at all the different and wonderful subjects and genres I've got waiting for me - the non-fiction, the award winners, the literary fiction - instead of always veering towards the easiest and quickest titles.  I'd also like to stay well on top of my review reading this year, so a little structure wouldn't hurt.  I'm going to use a diary to start noting publication dates so I can prioritise better.

I'd really like 2012 to be a more motivated year.  A little less internet, a little more book time.  Picking up a book behind the counter at work instead of wasting hours flitting from article to article on the laptop.  Getting little admin jobs done for the shop, for the blog and at home instead of letting them build into a day-long epic task.  Clearing out more junk, taking books I've finished with to the shop, and generally getting things organised in time for our move.  You get the idea.  I'm ready to get started today!  

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE - AND HAPPY READING FOR 2012!