Goodreads Challenge 2018

Every year I always go through my good reads book challenges and talk about it. This year for the second year in a row I set myself a goal of 24 books. Broken down that’s about 2 books a month, or a book every two weeks. At the beginning of the year I felt that was the perfect amount of reading for me. I didn’t ever imagine that I would read almost twice that amount of books. 



44 books including reading Harry Potter books 6 and 7 twice 

Longest Book: Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (756). My UK version of Goblet of Fire has no cover, so I have a second copy of it that is a smaller sized book so has more pages. But if I go by UK versions Order of the Phoenix has more pages. 

Shortest Book; The Snowman. 
Average Length: 363 Pages
Most Popular; Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. 5,616,833
Least Popular; Disney Year Book 1996
My Average Rating For 2018: 3.7 *
Highest Rated on Goodreads; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 4.63
My First Review of the Year; The Next Best Thing. Jennifer Weiner. 1*

Last Review of the Year: The Truth About The Rochdale Sex Ring by the Victim Who Stoped Them. By Girl A. 5*

Books I Read

Harry Potter The Wad Collection

The Enchanted Wood of Winnie The Pooh

Disney Year Book 1996

The Snowman

The Spice Girls

Lola and the Boy Next Door

Harry Potter Series 

Matched Trilogy

- Matched

- Crossed

- Reached 

LA Candy Series

Goodnight, Beautiful 

Marshmallows for Breakfast 

My Best Friends Girl

The Brighton Mermaid 

The Ice Cream Girls 

The Witches

The Great Gatsby 

The Notebook

The Lucky One

Dear John

The Best of Me

The Next Best Thing

If I Stay 

Where She Went

East, Pray, Love

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before 

The Devil Wears Prada 

The Help

Lock and Key

The Truth About The Rochdale Sex Ring

Hate List

Billie Piper Autobiography 

One Day

Books of the Year

This year I have absolutely smashed my reading goal by almost double. There have been a lot of books that have been blah, some have been in the middle and some that have been AMAZING, and that’s what this post is all about. Out of the amazing books I have read these are my top 5. Also I only decided to put one Dorothy Koomson book on my top favourite books of the year even though I have read most of the books I own by her because it would be all the books by her on this list. 


The Brighton Mermaid 
Nell and Jude are best friends, as teenagers they find a body on the beach, the body is dubbed as The Brighton Mermaid, three weeks later Jude disappears. 25 years later and still haunted by the death of The Brighton Mermaid and the disappearance of Jude, Nell quits her job to find out what happened to them both.  

The book will take you on an emotional journey of Nell, her family and friends. 

The Help
The Help follows three woman in 1960’s Jackson Mississippi. Two of whom are Help for whites families and one is a recent university graduate. Together they write a book about being The Help in Mississippi and what it’s really like. 

I loved reading The Help again. I found it so much more enjoyable to read the second time around.  


The Great Gatsby 
I love the book. It’s a book that I can get lost in its world. Where I feel like everyone is just so glamorous. 

The Lucky One
The Lucky One is about an army veteran who feels like a photo of a girl he finds while out fighting brings him luck. He walks across USA and bonds with the woman and her young child much to the disappointment of the woman’s ex husband 

I am absolutely love with The Lucky One. I love the movie but don’t think that it did the book justice. Which in someways is good because when I read the book I wasn’t seeing the actors playing their specific parts 

The Truth About The Rochdale Sex Ring and The Girl Who Stopped Them 
This book broke my heart when I read it. 

Book Wishlist

Normally I do a post like this around Christmas and my birthday. 



Just A Child
Sammy Woodhouse

After watching Three Girls it was heartbreaking to see just how the young girls were groomed by older men. When I saw that one of the victims had a book out I want to read it. 

Dorothy Koomson Books
My lists like these are never complete without any Dorothy Koomson books in them.  

Gone Girl
- Gillian Flynn

I’ve always wanted to read Gone Girl, but have never picked it up.  

The Book Thief
I absolutely loved the movie, though I normally like to read the book first I wanted to also see the movie. 

Harry Potter Books


Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: The Crimes Of Grindelwald

Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone Illustrated

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban illustrated
Harry Potter books One and Two in the house Editions

Girl on the Train

Currently Reading & What’s Next

I am currently Reading Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen.  

I’ve read the book before, and as I knew I wouldn’t read another ‘new’ book by the end of the year I decided to re read L&K.  

Ruby is 17 years old, and one day her mum disappears leaving ruby home alone. When her landlords find out Ruby is sent to live with her sister Cora and her husband Jamie.  

Ruby isn’t happy about this situation as Cora had left 10 years previous when she went to college, in those 10 years, she had gotten a job and married and had very little contact with ruby and her mum.  

Ruby thought it was none as her mother made her believe that.  


At first Ruby doesn’t want to settle down with Cora, but soon realizes that she has the support of both Cora and Jamie and makes friends, gets a job and even tries at school.  

While there is an obvious romance that could blossom between Nate and Ruby, I like how it doesn’t and that both Ruby and Nate have their own identity rather than be in a relationship.  


What’s Next 
What’s next is I am going to read Hate List. It’s one of my favorite books. Yes it’s a YA on a school shooting but what I like about the book is the aftermath of the events.  

It’s about how the tragic events of what happened that day changing people’s lives forever, and the dramatic changes that people deal with. Both good and bad.  

Cliffhangers, Love triangles, Music and More

I have missed a few days, so I decided that a long Post is needed

How many books is too many books in a book series?

Normally I only like three books in a series, I feel like it can be wrapped up in that many books, but there is always an exception to the rule. For example Harry Potter series you know that’s its right for it to be 7 books. It feels right.  

How do you feel about cliffhangers?

If it’s in a book that is going to have multiple books after it then fine go ahead give me the cliffhanger. But if it’s just a stand alone book then no thanks 

Hardcopy or paperback?

I am not to fussy. I tend to use the Goodwill book store where both Hardback and Paperback are the same price 

Favorite book?

Favourite book at the moment it’s such a hard question because I love the books I own by Dorothy Koomson so I can’t choose between them.  

Least favorite book?

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. This is the easiest book to choose.  

Love triangles, yes or no? 

I am some where in the middle. If you see a character with either one person or another I think can be great. Just to make it interesting. Like in My Best Friends Girl I think that Kamryn being in the situation with Luke and Nate brings an extra something. I can see her with either person.  

The most recent book you just couldn’t finish?

Change of Heart by Jodi Pilcoult 

A book you’re currently reading?

I am currently Reading Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Favorite author?

Dorothy Koomson 

Buying books or borrowing books?

I am someone who loves buying books. I always feel bad about borrowing books. 

Bookmarks or dog-ears?

I used to dog ear my books, but now I am very much a book mark. 

A book you can always reread?

Anything by Dorothy Koomson. She is queen. 

Can you read while hearing music?

When I was a teenager I did but it was during exams when i was studying. But now I don’t listen to music when reading 

One POV or multiple POV’s? (POV’s = Point of views)

I am very much a one POV, on the odd occasion I don’t mind multiple POV ‘s but one for me is perfect. 

Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days?

Over multiple days.  

Which author’s writing style is completely unique to you and why?

I think Dorothy Koomson writing is amazing. It flows really well. Her books are all stand alone books and when I am finished I want a second book to follow what happens next. 

What book did you love while reading but discovered later it wasn’t quality writing?

The Lunar Chronicles. I absolutely loved Cinder but as the series went on I found that Scarlet and Cress were less interesting, more confusing and just stupid 

What is the tiniest book on your shelf?

The Great Gatsby or Animal Farm

What is the thickest book on your shelf?

The Host or book 4 and 5 of Harry Potter 

What is your favorite classic book?

The Great Gatsby 

In school what was your best subject?

English or Textiles. 

I’ve always loved English. I’m not really a great drawer or anything but it was something about textiles that I really liked at school especially the second high school I went to. Maybe because my teacher was the only one who actually invested her time and energy into me when everyone else had lost interest in helping me. 

If you were given a book as a present that you had read before and hated, what would you do?

I would keep it on my shelf but hidden. Then after a while I may just donate it.  

What is your favorite word?

My real Life favourites word won’t ever be said on my blog. But book related favourite word would have to to be Magic or Magical. I love when a book just takes you away from real life.  

Love Triangle or Forbidden Love?

It totally depends on the book.  

I Dislike BUT Everyone Else Loves

When I was thinking about this post and looking through my books it came so easy 

Paper Towns
After the success of TFIOS, everyone seemed to rush and get more of John Green’s books, and the one that everyone raved about was Paper Towns. But I didn’t like it.   

I read Since You’ve Been Gone around the same time and liked it a lot more than Paper Towns and they are very similar books. I felt let down by Paper Towns. 


New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn
I am a Harry Potter person through and through. But I like twilight a little but the rest of the Twilight Saga was just stupid and unnecessary and felt that it should have stoped after book two. 

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before 
With books that people rave about I have learned that for me it’s best to wait until they are on sale before I get them and that’s what o did with TATBILB. I hated the book.  

Authors I’d love to meet

Dorothy Koomson 

When I read My Best Friends Girl by Dorothy Koomson I fell in love. But over this last year or so I have fallen more and more in love with her work. That I actually want to meet her. 

Jacqueline Wilson 

When I was a kid I almost met Jacqueline Wilson. But the line was way to long and we had to leave before we met her. I still have my signed book by her though. 

Nicholas Sparks 

It would be kinda cool to meet Nicholas. It’s rare to find a male author who writes so many books that are based on love and romance. And get made into movies. 

Disappointing Books I Read in 2018

This year I have read a lot of books, some were re reads but I focused this more on books that I have read for the first time this year.  

Honestly I was expecting a lot more disappointment but happy that there wasn’t. 


Eat, Pray, Love
I really wanted to love the book. But I felt that the author was way to high maintenance, and by the end of each chapter when I started to like her I hated her again by the time the next part came alone. 

I ended up re donating the book because I disliked it so much. Which I have no problem with as it cost me only $4 


The Best Of Me
I very much have a love hate relationship when it comes to Nicholas Sparks books. I either love them to the point where they are my favourite or I hate them where I want to have the days back I spent reading them. And unfortunately The Best Of Me was one of those books I want my time back for. The only good part about it was that it finished. And maybe the price. 

The Notebook
Everyone says The Notebook is one of their favourite movies. Not me I hated the movie. Which is probably why I disliked the book as well. 

Reached
I found that The Matched Trilogy and The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlet and Cress) are very much set up the same way where the first book is based on one character, and as the series go on more and more, they add more characters to it. In the case with The Matched Trilogy sure all three characters were already in the first book, but it got more complicated as the books went on. I absolutely loved the first book in the Matched Trilogy but by the third I was disappointed