Okay, so apparently I was busier than I thought over the holidays...and I really neglected this blog! The final term of my first year of teaching sped by, and I read a lot, some how. There are 50 books on this list, and, it doesn't include the rereads. Eek.
I suppose the first thing to do is to catch up with all the books I have read since March 30th! Now, I am not convinced that the month's recorded for these books is completely accurate. GoodReads seems to be a little confused. I have books I know I read in August down as being read in June. There are books from a series recorded in completely the wrong order (see the Outlander series!), and there are some books on this list I may actually have read a few months before. I will try to weed out any errors when I find them, but you may have to wait a while for this post to be more accurate! Until then, this list is a guide!
April: 10 books
A Dangerous Inheritance: A Novel of Tudor Rivals and the Secret of the Tower 3/5 stars
Faery Tales & Nightmares 4/5 Stars
The King's Curse (The Cousins' War, #6) 3/5 Stars
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch 5/5 Stars =
favourite book of the month.
The Girl with All the Gifts 4/5 Stars
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown 4/5 Stars
The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle, #2) 5/5 Stars
Seventh Grave and No Body (Charley Davidson, #7) 5/5 Stars
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1) 5/5 Stars
Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #2) 5/5 Stars
May: 16 books
I feel like I should make a comment here (after adding the thumbnails and ratings for the May books) that a rating for one style of book is not the same as rating another. The 5 Stars I give Kate Daniels books, for example, is not the same as the 5 Stars I'd give His Dark Materials (by Philip Pullman, an amazing trilogy and my favourite books ever). The rating suggests my enjoyment level, as well as the standard of writing. I love the Kate Daniels books, because I really enjoy them. Kate is a brilliant protagonist; she's funny, kick ass and smart. The plot is strong urban fantasy, and very enjoyable. I care about the characters. Ilona Andrews is a good UF writer. These books are not about to become classics. They are fun and easy reads.
Another note - I give many books in a series the same rating. Not all books are as enjoyable; people obviously prefer events and quotes in one over another. However, when you read them in a big stream like I did (chain reading, as you will), and then you rate them 4 months later...they've all merged. Overall, the series is 5/5.
Finally, when it comes to the JR Ward books...why oh why did I carry on reading them if I only gave them 3 stars? Because I downloaded as a bundle, because they were weirdly addictive (even if pretty bad) and because I think I was craving that type of plot at the time...read into that what you will. I seem to have read a few books this month (remember, I am looking at this in hindsight) that were pretty poop but slightly erotic. Hormones? Perhaps. The weather? Maybe. I have no definite answers!
Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, #3) 5/5 Stars
Magic Bleeds (Kate Daniels, #4) 5/5 Stars
Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, #5) 5/5 Stars
Magic Rises (Kate Daniels, #6) 5/5 Stars
Magic Breaks (Kate Daniels, #7) 5/5 Stars
Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels, #8) 5/5 Stars
The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London, #3) 4/5 Stars
Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #1) 3/5 Stars...I don't know why I read so many help.
Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #2) 3/5
Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #3) 3/5 Stars
Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #4) 3/5 Stars
Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #5) 3/5 Stars
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) 4/5 Stars
Gabriel's Inferno (Gabriel's Inferno, #1) 3/5 Stars
Gabriel's Rapture (Gabriel's Inferno, #2) 3/5 Stars
Eighth Grave After Dark (Charley Davidson, #8) 5/5 Stars
June: 13 books
Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy, #3) 5/5 Stars
Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle, #3) 5/5 Stars
Mistwood (Mistwood, #1) 3/5 Stars (This is a classic example of different ratings for different books. Unlike the poop books in May, Mistwood was well written. I just couldn't make myself care too much. 3/5 is generally the highest I seem to rate a book if I wouldn't reread or continue onwards (if it's in a series).
Masques (Sianim, #1 / Aralorn, #1) 4/5 Stars
Wolfsbane (Sianim, #4 / Aralorn, #2) 4/5 Stars
The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy, #1) 4/5 Stars
Voyager (Outlander, #3) 4/5 Stars
Drums of Autumn (Outlander, #4) 4/5 Stars
The Fiery Cross (Outlander, #5) 4/5 Stars
A Breath of Snow and Ashes(Outlander, #6) 4/5 Stars
4/5 stars (I dont know why it's posting weird, soz!)
July/ August, because they were all added en masse to GoodReads so I can't remember!: 11 books, even though it was the summer holidays. I may have missed some, and there were definitely some rereads I didn't include!
Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, #1) 5/5 Stars
The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy, #1) 4/5 Stars
World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2) 5/5 Stars
End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days, #3) 5/5 Stars
Alpha (Alpha, #1) 3/5 Stars...my erotic novel of the month, it seems
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century 5/5 Stars =
non fiction of the month!
The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1) 4/5 Stars
Shadowdance (Darkest London, #4) 4/5 Stars
The Crossing: Conquering The Atlantic In The World's Toughest Rowing Race 4/5 (Non fiction has its own set of ratings again!)
Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4) 4/5 Stars
Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets 3/5 Stars
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1) 4/5 Stars
Books I tried and failed
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1)
Clair's 2015 Reading Challenge:
- A book you read in a day - Dreamfever/ Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (3rd January 2015)
- An author with my initials - The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan (9th January 2015)
- A book written by someone under 30 - The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon (21st February 2015)
- A book with a colour in the title - The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory (18th February 2015)
- A book that takes place in your hometown - The Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan (February 2015)
- A book set in a different country - Delilah by Eleanor Jong (15th February 2015)
- A book with nonhuman characters - Burned by Karen Marie Moning (February 2015)
- A book with a female author - A Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas (10th February 2015)
- A book published this year - Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs (2nd March 2015)
- A book set in high school (well, they're all high school age and some parts mention their school - that counts right) - The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (2nd March)
- A book with more than 500 pages - Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (10th March 2015)
- A book a friend recommended - Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas (12th March)
- A book by an author you've never read before - The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson (17th March)
- A book with a one word title - Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon (30th March)
- A book with a number in the title - Eight Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones (31st May)
- A book with magic in it - The Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews (May 2015)
- A funny book - The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (15th August)
- A book of short stories - Teeth by various authors (June)
- A nonfiction book - The Time Travellers Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer (July 2015)
- A book from an author you love but haven't read yet - Masques by Patricia Briggs (June 2015)
- A book at the bottom of your to read list - Mistwood by Leah Cyprus (7th June 2015)
- A book based entirely on the front cover - The Paper Magician by Charlie N Holmberg (August 2015)
- A memoir - The Crossing by James Cracknell and Ben Fogle (August 2015)
- A trilogy - Penryn and the End of Days trilogy by Susan Ee (August 2015)
- A book set in the future - The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey (April 2015)
- A mystery or thriller - Inferno by Dan Brown (August 2015)
~to be added to as time passes~
4/5 stars 
