I'm back! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas (or if you don't celebrate it, a very nice holiday/family-seeing time), and I hope that everyone has a very happy 2014.
I can't remember whether I said or not, but my birthday was at the beginning of December, and I turned 17 - and I got a lot of books. I also got loads for Christmas last week, so I thought I'd combine them and do a gift-book haul. It's a long one, I'm afraid...
1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. I haven't read this before, although I've seen the film (with Emma Watson in), and so for a while I've wanted to read the book because I really enjoyed the film. It's about a boy who's going through a rough patch, and how he survives high school.
2. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. A couple of months ago, I asked on Twitter for more classics to read, and this is one of the ones that came up quite a lot. It's about a deaf-mute called John Singer who becomes the confidant of everyone in his small town, and I thought it sounded really interesting.
3. Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys. Now this one I have read before, and oh how I cried. It's set in 1941, and is the story of a Lithuanian girl called Lina, and how she is moved from labour camp to labour camp by the Soviet Russians. It's a very moving read which I would recommend to anyone.
4. The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, by Simon Mawes. I wrote about this last week.
5. How Language Works, by David Crystal (Nerd Book #1). This is a book all about language, how it is formed, how languages die, how we perceive speech and dialect and multilingualism, to name just a few. I'm really looking forward to reading this as Linguistics is something that I'm very passionate about and I want to take further.
6. 84 Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff. This true story is a collection of letters between Hanff, in New York, and the booksellers at 84 Charing Cross Road, London. They become firm friends and I'm excited to read it.
7. Vivian Versus the Apocalypse, by Katie Coyle. I discovered this book by watching a video by Sanne Vliegenthart (booksandquills - there's a link under the 'My Favourites' tab), who works for Hot Key Books, the company which published this book, and I immediately wanted to read it. It's about a girl whose parents disappear after a religious rapture, which she doesn't believe in, and how she and the others who are left behind deal with what comes next.
8. The Story of English in 100 Words, by David Crystal (Nerd Book #2). This book tells the story of the English Language, and how it evolved over time, by using 100 words that all represent significant changes in the language's development.
9. The Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes), by Alain-Fournier. This is the English translation of a book that I have in the original French, but haven't been able to understand much of - hopefully with the help of this translation, I'll be able to work my way through the French.
10. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce. I'd heard good things about this book, and when I read what it was about, I was intrigued and so I am looking forward to reading it. It's about a man who unexpectedly leaves home, and walks from one end of the country to the other, in order to "save someone else's life."
11. Where Angels Fear To Tread, by E.M. Forster. Again, I've seen the film and wanted to read the book - it's about a widow who embarrasses her late husband's family by running away to Tuscany and becoming involved with a much younger man.
12. The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. I felt I had to read this because all my friends are raving about both the book and the film, so I'll be reading this before I see either of the films. I think it's a prequel to Lord Of The Rings...?
13. The Night Rainbow, by Claire King. This is a book about a young girl named Pea growing up in the South of France, whose neighbour Claude may be keeping a secret...
14. Some Kind of Fairy Tale, by Graham Joyce. This is, according to the blurb, about woods and clearings, folk tales and family histories, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.
15. The Isobel Journal, by Isobel Harrop. I was looking through this the other day, and it's so beautiful! A lovely book full of sketches and photos that completely sum up the life of a teenage girl - and she studied English Language A-Level!
16. Wordsmiths and Warriors, by David and Hilary Crystal (Nerd Book #3). This book picks out moments in the history of the English Language that were specific to a certain place, and tells you all about the development and what it means to the town/city/village today.
17. Last, but by no means least... Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey! Need I say more? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment