Part of my reading list...

As regular readers might know, I'm a big book fan...huuuuuge! I have more books than I know what to do with! I dream in books! My ideal bedroom is seriously simply a bed in the middle of a library of ceiling to floor books!
I thought I share some of the books that are on the side waiting to be read!

HERE IS A SMALL FACT - YOU ARE GOING TO DIE

1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier.
Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION - THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH

It's a small story, about:
a girl
an accordionist
some fanatical Germans
a Jewish fist fighter
and quite a lot of thievery.

ANOTHER THING YOU SHOULD KNOW - DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES

I wanted this book for a while and all these books apart from one or two, were bought from a charity shop haul! So to see this on the bookshelf in my favourite charity shop was a nice suprise! I'm looking forward to reading this one! I should hope for an interesting plot line and perspective in this!

A gentle, irreverent tale of country-house life and of the English upper classes at play. Rufus, fifth Earl of Atherstone, has no son, and gloomily contemplates the passing of his vast Lincolnshire estate to his plain but good-natured daughter, Araminta, and her grasping cousin, Piggy Atherstone.

 

I browsed through this one and what enticed me was the brilliant cartoon artwork inside that breaks the book up into visually stunning sections! And simply because I never seen anything like this and curiosity, I had to read it to find out more!

Throughout history, great and terrible events have often hinged upon luck. Andrew Roberts has asked a team of twelve leading historians and biographers what might have happened if major world events had gone differently?
Each concentrating in the area in which they are a leading authority, historians as distinguished as Antonia Fraser (Gunpowder Plot), Norman Stone (Sarajevo 1914) and Anne Somerset (the Spanish Armada) consider: ¿What if ¿?¿ Robert Cowley demonstrates how nearly Britain won the American war of independence. In her first publication since her acclaimed GEORGIANA, Amanda Foreman muses on Lincoln¿s Northern States of America and Lord Palmerston¿s Great Britain going to war, as they so nearly did in 1861.
Whether it¿s Stalin fleeing Moscow in 1941(Simon Sebag Montefiore), or Napoleon not being forced to retreat from it in 1812 (Adam Zamoyski), the events covered here are important, world-changing ones.

I been meaning to give this one a read and finsing this one cheap on the bookshelf warrented no excuse not to buy it! I wanted to read about several experts opinions on how historic events could have went down and the outcomes of these in an alternative verse. Some of the more keen histroians amongst my friends regularly talk about things like this book's subject and I like to investigate more into it as well, being keen on history too. history is in itself a lesson we must learn so we can govern our future!
 

The biography of Jane Digby, an ‘enthralling tale of a nineteenth-century beauty whose heart – and hormones – ruled her head.’ Harpers and Queen
A celebrated aristocratic beauty, Jane Digby married Lord Ellenborough at seventeen. Their divorce a few years later was one of England s most scandalous at that time. In her quest for passionate fulfilment she had lovers which included an Austrian prince, King Ludvig I of Bavaria, and a Greek count whose infidelities drove her to the Orient. In Syria, she found the love of her life, a Bedouin nobleman, Sheikh Medjuel el Mezrab who was twenty years her junior.
Bestselling biographer Mary Lovell has produced from Jane Digby’s diaries not only a sympathetic and dramatic portrait of a rare woman, but a fascinating glimpse into the centuries-old Bedouin tradition that is now almost lost.

I like reading books on strong women and female historical figures. Reading the book jacket had me very interested in this woman and her life story and how on earth she ended up involved in Bedouin culture now gotten me very curious indeed! I did a little research and this book is highly reviewed so its looking to be a promising read!

Fleur is beautiful, unscrupulous, and has a large wardrobe of black designer suits. With the help of The Times announcements page she gatecrashes the funerals and memorial services of the wealthy, preying on rich, vulnerable men. She charms her way into their lives and onto their platinum credit cards, takes what she can, and then moves swiftly on.

When Richard, a dull but wealthy businessman, meets Fleur at his wife's memorial service, he's bowled over. Gradually Fleur works her spell on Richard's family - transforming their lives while she moves in on their wealth. But she finds herself lingering longer than she meant to ...

I love Sophie Kinsella and regularly read and re-read her books published under this name - i doubt i would ever get rid of them as they are so light-hearted and charming I look forward to every book rrelease of hers!
However her real name is Madeleine Wickham and I bought this and i'm currently half way through this book, I'm liking it as the story follows the heroine who is actually not a nice person and is bit of an anti-hero, who you come to respect for her methods and ways. it's a great story and I like how it still holds the distinctive Kinsella charm but more serious and in-depth way. I really do need to finish this one off and cross it off this list!

 After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger and Pi - a 16-year-old Indian boy. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary pieces of literary fiction of recent years. Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" is a transformative novel, a dazzling work of imagination that will delight and astound readers in equal measure. It is a triumph of storytelling and a tale that will, as one character puts it, make you believe in God.
This book is perhaps very famous for being such a beautiful story and many reviews and critics says it's immense storyline has the power to move you and in a way change aspects of your thoughts and life! the title alone had always had me curious for years and then I heard they were making this into a film, I thought I finally need to actually read this book! finding this book is however hard until I found it finally in the charity shop and knew I had to read it! I have already seen a few previews of various chapters and I can't wait to read it but just waiting for my mind mentally to settle down more and be of a more open-minded state to take in such a wonderful style of narrative. sometimes you simply need to be in the right place of heart and mind before reading a book! ( I to this day cannot finish reading "One Day" as it is too painful for me, I could really relate to the characters to the point it made me relive through some painful moments!)

 Julie Walters has been described as the nation's most popular actress and comedienne. She has been delighting us on screen and on stage for over 25 years and we have taken her to our hearts. Now she tells us her own story, in her own words. Born in fifties Birmingham, daughter of an Irish Catholic mother, Julie was sent to a convent school. She always wanted to be an actress but first went into nursing to appease her mother before leaving to join the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. West End success followed, and she quickly replicated her success on film, earning an Academy Award nomination for her role in Educating Rita. Julie's collaborations with Victoria Wood have given us the unforgettable Mrs Overall in ACORN ANTIQUES and Petula in DINNERLADIES, and she's found a new generation of fans playing Mrs Weasley in the Harry Potter films and starring in the record-break hit film MAMMA MIA!. The winner of countless awards, Julie has continued to be in some of Britain's best TV drama and has been awarded the OBE and CBE.

 I love Julie Walters, she is a nation's sweetheart in the UK! I grew up watching her on screen and one of her best performances that had me in tears and completely broke me was her acting out a true story of a woman who wanted to kill herself due to a degenerative disease and succeeded - "A Sort Stay In Switzeland." Since then, I had immense respect for this lady and many people have fascinating stories regarding her, telling me snippets of her life. I finally decided I needed to read her story for myself!

 Pearl Lowe has been a singer in a hugely successful pop group, a fashion model and a friend to some of the most famous people in the country. In the nineties when Britpop was in full swing and London was officially the coolest place on the planet, Pearl really did have it all. She was a beautiful woman with a glamorous career and a rock and roll husband she adored, as well as a growing family of gorgeous kids. Except, actually, the parties and the homelife were in terrible tension because Pearl was drinking and taking drugs to such excess that she wasn't sure she would survive.

Pearl was a junkie before she discovered party drugs like ecstasy and cocaine. She managed to look after her kids in between enormous binges, but she knew she had a choice to make: confront the demons, get clean and have her life back, or give up and slip away further into addiction, illness, death. Pearl made her choice. These days she lives with her husband and children in the countryside and she has left the London lifestyle behind. But she isn't the kind of person who could ever give up on glamour - it's just that these days she designs her own line of beautiful lace dresses rather than killing herself slowly with booze and drugs. She is happy.

Pearl's story is a fascinating insight into a world that appears scintillating but is relentless in its destructiveness. It's also inspiring in its message that recovery is possible and sustainable, for everyone.

 Pearl Lowe is an enigma to me, she been part of very personal and public break-ups and involvements with people in the media and she is a mystery! I currently admire how her collections of clothing designed for Peacocks is selling well and she is always mentioned as a fashion muse for a designer every year! I want to know why! this woman makes me curioous to know more about her, and she is apparently the epitome of rock chick!

 Lenny McLean was one of the deadliest bare-knuckle fighters Britain has ever seen. He had dear, powerful friends, but he also had terrible enemies. So much so that he has two bullet wounds in his back - each from a different attack. He has also been stabbed repeatedly - always from behind. Lenny, however, is also a warm, grizzly bear of a man, whose main weakness is an overwhelming desire to put the welfare of his mates ahead of his own well-being. In this autobiography he tells of how the mafia flew him to New York to take on their greatest bare-knuckle boxer in a multi-million pound illicit challenge bout. The Mafia's man lasted less than three minutes. When the IRA fronted up a London gang in a money-laundering scam, Lenny was brought in to intimidate the terrorists. The IRA, not surprisingly, backed off. Lenny's most serious trial came when he was accused of murder. Fighting to prove his innocence against a minimum sentence of 25 years, Lenny never gave up, and went on to be found not guilty. After deciding to retire from the violent life, Len turned his hand to acting, debuting in the series "The Knock". He also had parts in "The Fifth Element" and "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".

 This book has been raved about by friends and critics alike to the point i broke down to peer pressure and bought it to read and find out what is the fuss about! This guy already sounds like someone I would love to meet!

Mr Darcy, Vampyre introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, full of danger, darkness and immortal love. Elizabeth Darcy is the happiest woman alive when she steps into the carriage that is to take her on her wedding tour until she sees the look of torment on Mr Darcy's face and discovers that he has a deep, dark secret that nearly destroys their love, their marriage and even her very life. Darcy and the rest of his family are vampires that cannot be outside during sunrise or sunset. Lady Catherine is at the source, having turned Georgiana into an undying friend for her vampiric daughter, Anne, and then Darcy as the perfect mate for Anne. Now Lizzy and Darcy must travel across the Continent to the Pyrenees to find a way to break the curse. But Lady Catherine won t give up her undead without a fight... The Y in Vampyre is a tribute to the first vampyre story in print in the English language called simply The Vampyre.  It was written by John Polidori, a physician in the employ of Lord Byron and who, whilst staying by Lake Geneva with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary's stepsister Claire Clairmont amused themselves by reading and writing ghost stories.  Two of the greatest horror stories came from that night Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and The Vampyre.
I couldnt resist this one! I love Jane Austen's pride and prejudice (its my favourite book of all time!) and Mr Darcy is perhaps my favourite literacy character so I had to buy this and see what they have done to him! There's a whole book market dedicated to Mr Darcy at the moment that I plan to get hold of!

There are many more books around the place I need to read and review! I just taken in  a delivery of 13 books last week (if you read that post, you know all about it!) and I'm planning on buying more to stock up over the winter! I need to get back into my reading roots again and enjoy a good book, snuggling up warmly on a winter's day with yummy drink and food...luxury! I might actually look into joining a book group here in Plymouth if there is one...hmmm....

I hope to post up reviews of the books I've finished (like Hunger games etc...!) as well as add books to my list...(there's way too many!)

what book should I read?

birdie Love

xxx