I love reading, and while I have barely read over the list couple of years I really miss it, but I just struggle to find the time to get into a book nowadays. Sometimes I'm really not in the book to sit and read and I find myself getting bored and distracted, but this year I want to actually make the effort to try and read some books. I have had most of these books a while now so I want to try and get them read before the end of this year so that I can tart buying some new ones for my collection. Carry on reading to see what 8 books I have on my list to try and complete before the end of 2019, and if you've read any of them I'd love to know what your thoughts were.
Voodoo Tales by Henry S. Whitehead
I got gifted this book a couple of years ago by a friend and I really want to give it a go, but it's a very big book and I can easily get distracted so I'm likely to get bored half way through. However I still want to try and read this beast of a book because it looks really interesting and there's no point it sitting on my shelf collecting dust, so I might as well try and start reading it. This book is a collection of tales from the colonial period, the stories seem to mostly be set in the West Indies and feature the practice of voodoo. I have heard pretty mixed reviews about this chunky book, some saying they liked half the stories while the others were killer; nonetheless I shall be giving the ghostly book a read, even if I can only manage a few of the tales at least that's an accomplishment.
The Bones Of You by Debbie Howells
My English lit teacher gave me this book when I finished sixth form 3 years ago, because she thought I'd enjoy it but since I finished sixth form I have hardly read at all. This book is high up on my list of books to read because it seems like my type of book and I hate having books in my collection for ages without reading them. This book is said to be a psychological thriller revolving around a young girls murder, which sounds very up my street to be honest. Some reviews I've read have said it's a great read and they couldn't put the book down while others said the story was all over the place. I'm quite excited to read this novel, given it seems to have everything I like in a book, so I might make this one the first book I read in 2019.
Prude & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Pride & Prejudice is a classic, and although I gave this a try a few years ago and found the language quite hard to follow I really want to give it another go. Everyone I know who has read it loves it and I have been recommended it by a few, but I know I'll have to be in the right mood to start reading this book, as it is very different to my usual type of novel, and I know I'm likely to give up if I find it too difficult to follow, but since I have watched the movie adaptation and know the story line, I think I'll find it easier to follow then when I tried reading it before. Have any of you read this classic Jane Austen novel? Let me know down in the comments what you thought.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
I bought this book for my sister for Christmas because we're both a fan of the Coraline movie and thought it would be a good read, but now I kind of want to read it myself, so when she's done I'm going to read her copy. I think it is a little too young for me but I really want to read the original story and see how much of they adapted in the movie, as I already know that they created a whole new character for the movie that wasn't featured in the book. I have also heard the the book is quite creepy and dark and gave some readers nightmares, which actually makes me so excited to read it. I'll see what my sister thinks, and if she doesn't like it I'm taking the book back for myself.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan
When I was 15, me and my friend were obsessed with John Greens books, which she had read all of and I was catching up with her. At this point n time I have read The Fault In Our Stars, An Abundance Of Kathrines, Paper Towns and Looking For Alaska, and the last one on the list apart from \Let It Snow and the newly released Turtles All The Way Down, all I have left to read By Green is Will Grayson, Will Grayson. I started reading it last year but only got about 3 pages in and haven't picked it up since, so now is a good time to try and start reading it again. Although his books seem a little too young for me now, I still want to read it and complete his collection and catch up to my friend who read them all so quickly back then.
Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them by J. K. Rowling
I bought this book for myself a couple of years ago now when I first heard they were making the Fantastic Beasts movie and I wanted to get a head start and learn all about the magical beasts that the film might depict. However I started reading it on a train ride, I read maybe a third (it's quite a thin book) but then I stopped and never started reading it again. While this isn't really a story book, I'd still really like to get back into it, and now that I'll have to wait about another 2 years for the next Fantastic Beasts movie, I'm gonna need something to get me through until the next one.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I read this book for my first year of sixth form and I absolutely loved it, I also adore the 2013 movie starring Leo DiCaprio, and I really wanted to read it again because it was such a great read the first time around. My cope of the book now has notes penciled into the margins and I've highlighted certain quotes and passages, but I never want to get rid of this copy because it has all my annotations to help me dissect the characters, settings and themes. It's a brilliant and glamorous story and while I love watching the movie over and over again, it doesn't give me the same thrill as reading the book does.
Half A Life by V. S. Naipaul
I've had this book about 3 years now, I think one of my teachers was giving away some books that she didn't want and I was drawn to this one because of the title (I like dark, gothic, magical and fantasy books mostly). I have never heard of or seen this book anywhere before, and while the blurb does sound like a good story, I'm questioning whether I'll really enjoy this book and I'm least excited to read this book than any other on this list. I'll definitely give it a go, but whether I get to the end is another thing and since I have 7 other books on this list, I don't care too much about getting to the end of this one if I can complete all the others. If it's not for me, maybe I'll give it away so it can please someone else.
So there are the 8 books that I am planning to read within the next 12 months. Are there any books that you want to read or reread this year? Leave me a comment so I can check them out and maybe I'll add them to my reading list for 2020. Thank you lovelies for checking out this blog post.
India X