Off The Shelf.

    Waaaay back in Blogtober I mentioned I was going to write a post about the books I've been reading this year. The sharp eyed among you will have noticed that it never materialized. Well, I've finally managed to get round to writing it! Better late than never, as they say.

    I should start by saying that for me it's been an odd year for reading; I was into it quite strongly still at the beginning of the year, but then my interest waned somewhat and I even started reading a few books and not finishing them! In fact, I gave up quite quickly on some of them. (Does that make them duff purchases or was it simply the wrong time for me to be reading them?) And to make matters worse, I seem to have fallen back into the habit of spending too much time on the internet at night, which of course is not helped by it being nearly Christmas and yours truly being chief online searcher and buyer for pretty much everyone else!

    The first book I finished reading this year was "Brisingr" by Christopher Paolini. I mentioned I was reading this back in January and that I wasn't sure about it, and I can now tell you that it was a relief to finish it! I can't explain what it was that made it an awkward read for me but, it just didn't seem to read well and I think it was too long for the amount of story involved. In April, I started reading the fourth and final book in the series, "Inheritance". And it was so much better! It was a much more enjoyable read with shorter chapters, a faster pace, and I think a much better story too, even though it followed straight on from the previous book.

    Throughout March I went back to my school days and re-read "The Whitby Witches" trilogy by Robin Jarvis, one after the other as if they were one long book. I say re-read but having read it, I'm not sure if I've ever read the third book, and yet I've had'em years! Anyway, another great read. They are each illustrated by the author and one of the main characters - Miss Boston - is drawn to resemble the late, great actress, Dame Margaret Rutherford, who has always been a favourite of mine! The whole trilogy is a tale of good over evil, a child with powers, and a tribe of "coastal folk" which only a certain few can see.

    Next on the list is "Fevre Dream" by George RR Martin. It's only the second book of his that I've read and I really enjoyed it! In fact I can honestly say that it's the best Vampire novel I have ever read, and my favourite book of the year! I highly recommend it! All I'll tell you is that it's set back in the day of steam-liners! How's that for a tease?

    Sadly, after this tremendous read, everything else seemed somewhat lacklustre. 

    I re-read the first two Discworld novels (by Terry Pratchett) back to back - the second is a direct sequel to the first - and, meh. The first book especially was an awful read - I really don't know how it got published - whereas the second has a more coherent story, and much better ending. I imagine I liked them when I first read them but that was some time ago and I can't remember what I thought about them in the finish. I had already decided to read the Discworld series from start to finish in order - which I didn't do originally - as I hadn't read any of them for some time, so it was quite a disappointment to find I wasn't enjoying them. Sometime later in the year I read the third book, "Equal Rites" and I'm pleased to say it was a much more enjoyable experience. It's a better story, featuring Granny Weatherwax rather than the over-used Rincewind the Wizard, than the first two books, and it ends well. I just hope that I find the seventh book just as good and funny as I did when I first read it, because that was the very first Discworld novel I had, and I loved it! Fingers crossed.

    I'm continuing to read the "...Adventure" books by Willard Price. I've read "African Adventure" and "Elephant Adventure" so far this year and I'm hoping to get a third one in before January.

    I'm currently reading "Black Narcissus" by Rumer Godden. And It's not going well. I love the old film starring Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson and Sabu,  and have always wondered what the original book would be like to read, and so far...it's just not my thing. I think it must be the writing style rather than the story itself because earlier in the year I started reading another of her books, "Breakfast With The Nikolides", and I couldn't get into that either. Whether it has something to do with when these books were written or not, I don't really know, but you either like a style or you don't. And in this case I don't. I will try reading a bit more of it before completely giving up, but I'm not hopeful.

    Do you remember this;

    I read this last year (and here!) and thoroughly enjoyed it, and also mentioned that I had another collection of his I was going to read, and at the moment I have a real hankering to do so! I've got no idea if the stories will be as good as the ones in the first, but I'm feeling quite a strong pull towards short stories at the mo' so it will probably get pulled off the shelf in the near future.

    How has your reading gone this year? Anything to recommend?

    Till next time, Byeeee!👋😀