44 books down....

So guys, it turns out keeping up with a blog like this is a lot harder than I ever thought. Especially seeing as the second half of my year has been taking up with moving to France and starting university over here. Luckily, it's not been detrimental to my reading and I'm still on track with my 50 book challenge.

I'm on 44 books at the moment and am pretty sure I can make it to 50 before the year is out. I've got quite a few on the go at the moment and my Kindle has been a godsend seeing as I've been travelling a lot.

If you'd like to see all the books I've got through so far there is a link.....here!

I've read so many great books this year so I really do want to get round to writing a little bit about most of them.

The one that has really touched me the most recently was Before I Die by Jenny Downham. It is an incredibly powerful book. I'd definitely recommend it but I would warn you that you really need to prepare yourself for it. I mean, the premise is kind of given away by the title: it is about a teenage girl with cancer who writes a list of things she'd like to achieve before she dies. However, knowing this does not soften the blow at all. There are parts that will make you laugh and touch your heart but I have to admit the ending nearly broke mine. I have never had such an emotional reaction to a book. I don't know whether perhaps it's due to the fact that I've recently been touched by grief which made it feel particularly pertinent and it ended up bringing back a lot of feelings and memories of that time and it was consequently particularly hard to deal with. This didn't make me any less eager to read it though...I'd often pick up the book meaning only to read for about 15 minutes and ending up carrying on for nearly a good hour. It is an incredibly well written and touching book. Go and read it....but don't say I didn't warn you when you end up sobbing all over it while you feel like your head is about to implode with the injustice of it all.

So that's my little message done really. I will endeavour to post about as many books as possible but do know that I am still beavering away at my target despite being snowed under with French university work and the prospect of then moving to Spain in two months...(yes, it's all go with me at the moment!). Also, finally, please excuse any strange grammatical bits and bobs that have appeared into this post...my English syntax and way of speaking has gone a little bit awry due to the amount of French that I am currently subject too! Haha!

Until next time, Char x

17/150

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Sarra Manning

Sarra Manning has been one of my favourite authors for quite some time. I adored her Diary of a Crush books as a teenager, and have followed her all the way into adulthood. I was not too sure about her first adult novel ‘Unsticky’, but I have to say I enjoyed ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’ much more.

Before I started reading it, I had been warned by a friend with very similar literary tastes that she’d actually had to set it aside soon after starting it because she’d found it unnecessarily…how shall I put it….’sexually graphic’? My friend is not a prude by any means, I guess it’s just not what she was expecting from the book, and fair enough really. I didn’t see it coming either. I thought ‘nooooo, that can’t be true’. Consequently I started reading the novel in the doctor’s waiting room a couple of days later and immediately found myself going ‘oh dear God, I hope no one is reading this over my shoulder!’. That said, I did manage to get used to all the sexual moments (which at times seemed a rather unnecessary…) and ended up really enjoying the novel as a whole. As ever I got completely addicted and could barely put it down. I did find the main character, Neve, fairly frustrating at times and my empathy for her came and went throughout the different episodes in the book. However, by the end, I was firmly back on her side and was pleased with how the book ended.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the fact that it was set right in the heart of London and I found myself recognising so many of the places mentioned. It’s lovely to read a book set in your hometown and around all your regular haunts. This really added something for me! So all in all, I’m going to give this book 3 and a half stars out of 5. There were moments I really loved and which compelled me to keep reading but I’ve not given it four stars as I have to many others, just because I occasionally found the main character so frustrating and the book did sometimes feel rather long. Can’t wait to see what’s coming next from Sarra Manning though, she’s such a great author whose books I think I will always read whether they’re adult or YA.

Char x

16/150

Antes Que Anochezca (Before Night Falls, in English) - Reinaldo Arenas

This is a book that I read for my university module ‘Culture and Identity in Latin America’ so I won’t go into great detail about it.

It is an autobiographical novel written by Reinaldo Arenas who was a homosexual man living in Cuba under Fidel Castro. He was greatly persecuted and ended up fleeing to America where he sadly committed suicide in 1990 at the age of only 47. It is astounding to read first-hand what horrors he went through in such recent times and what life in Cuba was really like then. Another surprising part of the book is how sexually explicit it is, it is not a book for the faint hearted in that respect. Whilst shocking it is written in such a beautiful way by Arenas that you can really appreciate the literary genius behind it. The book shows us snippets from throughout his life, from his childhood in the countryside with his mum, grandma and many aunts to his final freedom and happiness in New York before he became ill with AIDS.

As well as this biography put together and finished just before his death, Arenas has also written a number of other novels, all of which are said to have some sort of autobiographic aspect to them. I’d really love to read some of these as his life and writing has really captured me just through reading this book and I’d really recommend it to anyone who was interested in this area of study and interest. There is also a great film adaption of the book starring Javier Bardem which is well worth a watch if anybody does happen to be interested but the book seems a bit hard going.

The book is available in the original Spanish and English to get from amazon and I ended up reading both…does that mean I can count it as two books? I’m kidding. I won’t. Anyway, to wrap this up, I’m going to give this book 4 and a half stars. It’s definitely not something I would have picked for myself had I not had to study it but it really did interest me in the end and I (shock horror) actually enjoyed revising it for me exam!

Char x

15/150

Getting Away With It - Julie Cohen

I got sent this book by the lovely publishers, Headline Review and am really glad they did. It’s probably not a book I would have picked for myself in a book shop. It’s fairly long at over 500 pages and is a “big” book, if you know what I mean, not just a normal handbag sized one, but a sort of ‘oversized’ one. Not that I’m complaining, sometimes it’s nice to have a big book to dig into. Having said that, it can be tricky if you get addicted to and can’t put down a book of over 500 pages, which is exactly what happened here.

The novel is about a set of twins who end up doing a swap, but not in a completely cliché way. The one unreliable and carefree twin is left with no choice but to take over her serious and organised sister’s life. She must take over the family business without anyone noticing the swap and is left with her mother who has rapidly declined with Alzheimer’s disease. Having had first-hand experience of this terrible condition, it was really interesting to see it being dealt with in a book like this. From the book’s cover you might think that it was a chick-lit book full of sweetness and light, but amongst some lighter moments (the family owns an ice cream factory and Liza must invent a new flavour…Beetroot and Horseradish!!), these more serious moments with her mother and the difficult twin relationship are dealt with very well and really give a great insight into both situations.

It is a funny, warm and sometimes sad novel with great characters and intriguing twists and I would say it’s a great book to take on holiday with you. At 500 pages it’ll last you a good while but there’s pretty much no chance you’ll get bored with it. It’s fast paced and should really capture your attention as soon as you sit down on your sun lounger. I definitely wish I’d had something like this to take on my hols with me. So all in all, I’m going to give this book 4/5 stars. It surprised me and I really did enjoy it. It’s probably not a book I would read again but it was greatly satisfying at the time. I look forward to hunting down some more of Julie Cohen’s novels to add to my enormous ‘to read’ list!

Char x

BISCUITS - Fox's Chunkie Extremely Chocolatey Cookies!

So, this blog is called Books and Biscuits for a reason!!! It was originally a name that Hayley and I came up with for a book group at school which we decided to carry on here. The three of us love our biscuits.

My favourite is probably some sort of double chocolate massive fat cookie or those ones you get from Lidl which are rectangular and have a chocolate top! Although shortbread would have to come as a close second....

Not that I ever get to eat the shortbread from a selection because that is Sophie's favourite, and she has been known to fiercely guard her good old fashioned scottish biccies with a vengeance and is not afraid to use physical violence to get me out of the way where they are concerned. I hasten to add this is only the case with shortbread....she's lovely to me all the rest of the time!

Hayley also has a bit of a dilemma for her favourite, as she can't decide between a good old cookie like me, or a more traditional bourbon.

Luckily the laws of this land don't limit us to only one kind of biscuit so we can....and we do, enjoy all these different types. A massive armchair, a cup of coffee or tea, a good old biscuit and a book are one of the greatest pleasures in life. So here, on this blog we are going to celebrate our favourite biscuits and our new discoveries and let you in on our biscuity secrets.

This weeks featured biscuits (hee! Feel like I should congratulate it...!) are Fox's Chunkie Extremely Chocolatey Cookies....which are only £1 in Tesco at the moment. AMAZING. Wish I'd bought more than one packet.....me..? Greedy? Never.

They're huge, have massive pieces of chocolate and nut in them and one side is covered in chocolate....what more can you ask for??? Having said that, I think it's actually possible to get even more chocolately ones as well so I shall have to hunt them down!

I hope we've helped give you a craving to settle down with a book and a biscuit today and I hope you're awaiting our next biscuit rec eagerly. I shall see if I can get Hayley to do some of her amazing home-made ones and post the recipe! Ooooh! Look forward to it!

Char x

14/150

Absent Love: A Chronicle - Rosa Montero

Read for uni, don't ask, just don't ask. Most horrific module to revise for ever. After having slaved through this book, in Spanish AND English, then found out I couldn't even write about it in the exam. *grumbles*.

However, I think under other circumstances I might have quite enjoyed the book, so I'm going to give it 3/5. It's well written and gives and interesting insight in the transition into democracy in Spain after the death of Franco and the end of the dictatorship. It also focuses very strongly on the lives of women and furthermore, the fact that it is written by a strong independent woman novelist is something that was very unusual for the time.

13/150

Unfortunately due to exams, I have got horribly far behind with my reading and reviewing. It was way back near Easter that I read this book but have not had time to review until now. I have a few uni books to add in that I won't review fully as they're quite specific, and frankly I don't want to think about my exams any more that I have to!

The Vanishing Acts of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell

The Vanishing Acts Of Esme Lennox was an absolutely great book which grabbed me from start to finish and has helped truly cement Maggie O’Farrell as one of my all-time favourite authors. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is I love so much about her books but I really truly do. I know part of it is how real the books are, absolutely everything is believable. I often struggle to suspend my belief for certain stories which just go too far beyond reality, but with Maggie O’Farrell’s books this problem doesn’t even present itself. The characters are so real you feel like you can almost touch them, and whilst the story lines are dramatic and attention-grabbing, they are not ridiculous or far-fetched.

I’d really recommend this book to anyone. It was originally a book for my mum’s book group and I just happened to grab it and start reading to pass some time and ended up getting completely carried away and reading it in one go. I can really understand why it was chosen as a book group read, it’s a classic novel which I know will be popular for years to come. Whilst being half set in the present, the book will never age or be out of place due to the clever narrative and not being too specific to the time it is set. The portrayal of the past is much more important in the book and is set in a very specific time period where society was very different and things which were commonplace then, seem shocking now. The book links the present and past brilliantly and finally reaches a climatic end with an actually fairly shocking finale. I was quite surprised by it, and am still slightly confused by it. I’d love to hear what other people thought of the ending, as I’ve read many people saying it was unnecessary, but I am still undecided. Either way, it was a great read, and the book really ended with a spectacular bang. I’d give it 4 and a half stars because I’m still not quite sure what to make of the ending, but then again, I like the fact that it’s given me something to think about. Could it have ended any other way? Maybe I’ll nudge it up to a 4 and ¾ out of 5……? Hmm….

Char x

12/150

"The message was short. I want to see you now. I want you to come to me, it doesn't matter how late it is, and tell me exactly what you want from me.'

At the dawn of the twenty-first century Adam Kellas finds himself hurled on a journey between continents and cultures. In his quest from the war-torn mountains of Afghanistan to the elegant dinner tables of north London and then the marshlands of the American South, only the memory of the beautiful, elusive Astrid offers the possibility of hope."

We Are Now Beginning Our Descent is a novel that I was obliged to study on my Contemporary Writing module at university. It took a while for me to get into this book, as the context and themes of the novel are all very current to the news everyday, and I tend to read books as an escapist hobby rather than a depiction of the reality of which I'm currently living in. When one puts that aside, the novel is rather good.

The text has thematics such as war, long distance love, obsession and trauma. Our protagonist Adam Kellas is a brilliant character because he develops along with the novel. Due to the clever opening of the novel, the reader is immediately thrown into the centre of a young afghan person's life, I didn't realise that this wasn't actually happening but was the musings of Adam. We discover he is a reporter out in the Middle East who is also aspiring to write a novel. Due to the opening, the reader is immediatly put into the mind set that is needed to really get behind the meaning of this text.

I believe that Meek is initially making us realise and think about the effects of seeing the ongoings in the middle east from an outsiders point of view, but due to his friend from the country we are also given the perspective of a person who is actually from the Middle East. By bringing Astrid into the novel, Meek is not only creating a sort of 'relief' character for the reader, but once again a different dimention, as Astrid's character also shows us how even though there are this incredibly horrendous things occurring abroad, she also has her own problems.

Overall this book was a good read, but I found it rather difficult to keep flicking between the various settings of the UK, the Middle East and the USA. I also question the realistic quality of Adam's decision to just jump on a plane one night and go to Astrid. Yes, I realise novels are supposed to be escapist, but one questions that idea in this scenario due to the rest of the novel seeming to be so realistic and accurate.

For me, this is about a 3 star read - Sophie.

BOOK 11/150

So, it was seeing this advert for the book that really made me want to read the book. In some ways, I think adverts for books are a great idea. They help promote books to a wider audience I suppose, but in some ways, for me they help shape the reader’s idea of the book before they read it and possibly diminish the use of the reader’s imagination when reading. When I started the book I very much had the advert in my mind and was looking out for bits in the advert as I read the book. I think it’s a bit of a shame really and wonder whether the characters would have looked completely different in my head had I not seen the advert? Anyway, if you take the advert and the book as two standalone entities, they’re both very good. The advert succeeded in its purpose and did really make me want to read the book. As a student, buying the hardback would have been a bit pricey and waiting for the paperback probably would have killed me, but luckily, Maura Bricknell (@red_books on twitter) from the Headline Publishing group flew to my rescue. She saw a tweet I posted about desperately wanting to read the book, and kindly offered to send me a copy.

So here we are. You probably don’t need my review to get you excited about the book as I think the advert really is wonderful. However I think the book actually goes a lot further than the advert. It follows the life of Elly and her brother and all the people she meets along the way. The book starts when she is around 4 years old and the beginning is written with a very fitting naive innocence that very slowly begins to unravel as we see some of the darker events that affect her life. I won’t say much more than that for fear of ruining the story for you. But there are a lot of very different interweaving storylines through the book with the two main themes being her relationship with her brother and secondly a relationship with a school friend, which comes full circle and is nicely tied up at the end.

Having two brothers myself, it was really interesting for me to see Elly’s relationship with hers, and it made what happened near the end even more heartbreaking and terrible to imagine for me. The book ties in with modern events and there are mentions of the holocaust and of 9/11 for example (something which ends up playing a huge part in the sibling’s relationship). There are also some very touching family moments and some very amusing moments to boot, for example; the children’s disastrous Nativity play. The characters are all engaging and I mean every single one of them; from their parents and dramatic auntie right down to the school teachers and their next door neighbours. There is also a bit of a fairytale-like twist where it comes to the talking Rabbit that they own called God...which also leads to some very funny occurrences. A lot of the book is serious but there are light moments throughout to alleviate this and it really is very true to life.

Finally, I know you’re not meant to judge a book by its cover but When God Was a Rabbit really does have a beautiful dust cover and I felt rather proud reading it on the train to Uni. It got quite a few admiring glances! It’s intricate yet simple...and it’s shiny, which normally helps.

So I’m going to give this 4/5 stars. I’m so glad I read it and it really is wonderfully written but it did not grip me as much as some books have before. It was a comfortable interesting read but not one that I clutched at every spare moment to read it. It’s a great debut novel by Sarah Winman, and I look forward to following her career as a writer as I’m sure she’s going to produce many more great books like this.

Next up to review is The Vanishing Acts of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

-Char x

BOOK 10/150

Firstly, I’d like to apologise for a huge lack of updates from me recently. I have actually been keeping up with my reading and not doing a whole lot else. I’ve had two terrible bereavements in the last two weeks and a few other horrible occurrences and so I’ve just been milling around, not really doing anything useful but trying to get back to normal as much as possible. So here we are, you’re going to get three reviews in quick succession, with a whole lot more to come soon. I’ve got a huge pile of books building up due to lots of love book publishers seeing my tweets and offering to send me things! So that’s brilliant! A huge shout out of thanks needs to go to @red_books on Twitter, and the Headline Publishing group in general. But anyway, on with the reviews! The first one is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro:

I have to admit, I didn’t really know anything about this book before I read it. I mainly chose to read it because I always like to read the book before I see the film, and as most of you probably know, this has recently been turned into a major film starring Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan. Annoyingly, I still haven’t actually got round to seeing the film yet, so I needn’t have hurried so much reading the book, but it was pretty addictive anyway.

I knew next to nothing about the book, having only heard of the author due to a lot of my friends doing another of his books (The Remains of The Day) for their A Level English course and having picked up on a vague romantic storyline from the film trailer. I was, therefore, fairly surprised by what I ended up reading. There is indeed, a strong romantic thread throughout the book, however, it is in very strange circumstances. And I mean, very. Without giving too much away, it’s set in a boarding school, with a twist, in England in the 1990s. It is a seemingly idyllic place and the characters look back on their childhood fondly, but there was a deep secret lurking at the heart of the community, which only becomes really clear once they leave and try to carry on with their lives, which end up being so completely different from those of a normal person.

You are thrown right into the story at the beginning or “in media res” as my literature lecturers would say (It means “in the middle of things” in Latin, joyful, eh?). I found it very difficult at the beginning to really get what’s going on, and it’s not really explained until a lot further on into the book. The element of suspicion and suspense on our behalf as to what is really going on at the boarding school is evidently created on purpose, but it did mean that I spent the first half of the book wandering through, not really getting what was going on, but enjoying the writing nonetheless.

Kazuo Ishiguro really is a very interesting writer and it’s no surprise that the book was Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Despite the storyline not really being plausible (well I hope not anyway) I did still managed to get completely stuck in and felt greatly attached to the characters throughout their difficult plight through life. I was truly touched at the end, and it is very sad. I’ve heard people say great things about both the book and the film so it would seem it’s not just me that really enjoyed the story, I’d really recommend the book if you want something a bit different to get stuck into and also if you need a fairly quick read. It’s quite short and I absolutely flew through it.

I’d give this book 4/5 stars. It was brilliant, and although it did all seem very realistic, the idea of the secret that lurked behind the children’s lives really did jar with me for some reason, and I did sometimes feel myself reading it from a distance, being a bit cynical about the whole idea. I’d really like to explore Kazuo Ishiguro’s works further though and will try and read some more of his books before the year is out.

Next reviews will hopefully be up tomorrow morning. Was planning on doing them all tonight but this took my a horrendously long time to right.

-Char

BOOK 9/150

From Notting Hill...With Love Actually- Ali McNamara

A brilliant girlie novel centred around Scarlett, a movie obsessed woman who relates every event in her life to a film. She moves to London to house sit a property in Notting Hill leaving behind her sensible boyfriend David. Whilst in London she searches for the mother she has never met and she also meets a number of new friends on the way. I don't really want to say much more about it as I will give too much away.

There isn't a huge amount of plot to the book and it is very predictable but I absolutely loved it. It made me want to get out my film collection and visit all the places in London that are mentioned. The book even comes with a guide to London at the end and holds the details of the places Scarlett visits in the book and her favourite films and where they took place.

A light and frivolous read that will appeal to chick-lit fans and chick-flick watchers alike.

I am going to give this 4/5. At present this is the author's only book but it has definitely left me waiting for the next book which is released later on this year.

-Hayley

BOOK 8/150

Last Night At Chateau Marmont-Lauren Weisberger

As a massive fan of Lauren Weisberger I am always disappointed that more of her books don't exist. I realise that there are probably less because she focuses on the books that she publishes being of higher quality which is of course admirable. I have saved this book for a few weeks so that I could read it as a real treat. I started reading it during the end of my revision period and finished it very shortly after my exams. This in itself is a credit to the book as I am a fairly slow reader but I managed to read this very quickly.

I always find Lauren's style easy to read and the subject matter of this book sucked me in like no other. The book focuses on the lives of Brooke and Julian. Brooke attempting to support her husband in the start of his music career by working two jobs. Their lives change forever when he is signed as an artist by Sony and the book follows the couple as what should be the happiest times of their lives creates turmoil and distress within their relationship. It brings to the forefront of your mind just what a life followed by paparazzi would be like and that even when dreams come true they aren't always what you imagined they would be.

Written in her usual slick style you find yourself empathizing with Brooke but the one thing that this book lacked, unlike her other novels, was the razor-sharp wit that she was renowned for from the Devil wears Prada. This said I still really enjoyed it and it was nice to see Weisberger produce a departure from her other novels.

I'm going to go for a 4/5 as for me it just wasn't quite as good as Chasing Harry Winston or The Devil Wears Prada. Even if you haven't read one of her books though I would definitely give it a go and see what you think

-Hayley

BOOK 7/150

I Heart New York-Lindsey Kelk

It has been a few weeks now since I finished this so apologies for only just getting round to reviewing it now. This is a typical chick-lit book and was brilliant for a bit of light reading around the time of my university exams.

The story focuses on Angela Clarke, a woman who flees the UK after discovering her fiance had been cheating on her. All of this takes place on the day of her best friends wedding who also knew about the affair. Feeling betrayed she boards a plane to New York in just the bridesmaid dress she was wearing, with a pair of Louboutin shoes and her passport. It is a story of self-discovery and moving on which is told in a light-hearted manner. She soon finds herself writing a blog on her life in NYC and the two guys that she is dating.

This would make the perfect beach read however since it's been a few weeks since I have read it I feel rather underwhelmed by the book. This said I would probably read the other books in the series as a bit of relaxation and I can be quite sure that fans of chick lit will love this book.

I'm going to give it 3/5 and say that to read another one I would have to be in the mood for it. Check out review number one of the blog though as this includes Carly's review of I Heart Paris, the final book from the same series.

-Hayley

BOOK 6/150

LOVE ALWAYS - HARRIET EVANS

Harriet is one of my favourite authors of all time and I have loved every single one of her books. She also happens to be a complete legend is absolutely lovely on twitter! But, back to the book; Love Always has not disappointed at all. When I received the book I was quite surprised at the size of it! It’s a pretty hefty book, but with an absolutely gorgeous cover that just made me want to jump straight into it.

The subject matter of the book actually surprised me quite a lot, I was expecting another very romance centric book, which don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love, but this was something very different. There are moments of beautiful romance but there is much more to the book than that. It is about family dynamics and secrets and the life changing effects that they can have. There’s an element of the crime mystery in the book and a lot of underlying secrets to discover which all wind together very cleverly.

I don’t think I can actually fault this book at all. It surprised and shocked me in all the right ways and even managed to give me that warm fuzzy feeling we all search for. Finally, Harriet’s descriptions of that part of London are absolutely fantastic and actually caused me to take a trip over that way on Sunday. I explored the delights of Spitalfields markets and even bought a necklace while I was there in tribute to Natasha.

If you’re looking to explore chick lit a bit more I’d really recommend this, as it has some elements of it but has a great serious side as well with some gripping passages. The use of the diary of young Cecily is also very interesting and really contrasts nicely with Natasha’s narration and yet compliments it at the same time. This book is all round good stuff and I’m going to be lending it to all my friends.

5/5 stars again for me here! I’m a roll!

------

Also, we don't seem to be doing too badly with our target and I believe we've actually read more than we've reviewed so far! I've also got a HUGE backlog of things to read but have been focusing a lot more on uni books at the moment as I'm sure we all have.

My next two book reviews to look forward to will be Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro & You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by Sarra Manning

I'm also really interested to know what books anyone would recommend to me at the moment. Is there anyone out there dying to give us some recommendations, because we'll definitely try and follow them up.

I'm also thinking of trying to organise a little giveaway of some sort, so let me know if you'd be interested in that too.

And, FINALLY, if you're liking the blog, please follow us so we can know who's out there and try and catch up with your blogs too!

Thanks, Charlotte x

BOOK 5/150

The Hand That First Held Mine – Maggie O’Farrell

The Hand That First Held Mine is a stunning exploration of two women’s lives which are interestingly intertwined and also a very captivating look at childhood memories and family bonds.

I think I can say pretty much undoubtedly that this is the best book I have read in a long time, and probably since I read another of Maggie’s books last year. Her books are completely in a league of their own, I enjoy many genres of books, but nothing will ever come close to how I feel about hers.

I really can’t criticise anything in this book; it is beautifully written, with an amazing story which is just so real. I can’t get over how much I loved the characters and how I felt for them. I really felt like I was there with them, through two generations. The two stories tied up beautifully and are seriously touching, they made me cry and long to reach out and get involved with the individuals.

I can’t urge you enough to read this book, even if you have never read anything by Maggie O’Farrell before, it is just simply a beautiful piece of work which hugely deserved the Costa Novel Award which it recently received.

I ended up taking the book everywhere with me last week as I couldn’t bear to leave it at home and miss an opportunity to sneak in a bit more reading. I’d like to thank the lovely people at Headline Publishers for sending me the book to read and review. You can check them out here: http://twitter.com/#!/Headlinechiclit

A definite 5 out of 5 stars for this one!

-Charlotte

BOOK 4/150

The Diving-Bell And The Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

Having finished this book yesterday I have spent some time pondering just how I can review this book and summarise just what this book symbolises and how remarkable it actually is. I will start with the subject matter, it is a real-life account of Jean-Dominique Bauby. At the tender age of 43 he suffered a massive stroke which left him completely paralysed. He was then diagnosed as having "locked-in" syndrome. Whilst being unable to physically move other than the blinking of his left eyelid he dictated the entire book purely by this ordinarily simple movement. The accounts of him wishing to talk to his two young children and his wife are simply heartbreaking.

Whilst trapped in his "cocoon"- like state his mind races and we are told of memorable accounts from his time as the editor-in-chief of French Elle. It is an incredible memoir of a man's triumph over the obvious barricades that he faces with the most admirable grit and sheer determination. The stunning imagery cannot help but propel you through the book and I came to the end without even realising how many pages and just how much time had passed. This said it is only around 100 pages and can easily be devoured in one sitting.

Bauby passed away in 1997 but his legacy lived on in the form of the ALIS (Association Du Locked-In Syndrome) a foundation that he set up from his hospital bed.

This book has truly opened my eyes and will stay with me far into the future. It makes me want to seize my own life in my hands and run with it taking a mental picture of every moment as I go. I cannot really find the words to say the effect it had on me personally but I am sure everyone that reads this will be touched. It will lead you to examine your own life and lead you to fall back in love with it. I encourage you to experience it for yourself as it really is a book that should be treasured.

I would give this 5 stars, something you will see in the future I do not do very often

- Hayley

BOOK 3/150

A Weekend with Mr Darcy - Victoria Connelly.
"A Weekend with Mr Darcy' is the first in a trilogy about Jane Austen addicts," with the two other novels being realised over the next two years.  I loved this book as it encompassed my favourite author; Jane Austen, while managing to intertwine the themes of humour, heartbreak, bereavement and how to deal with an Austen conference. Also, let's face it, what sort of woman doesn't immediately reach for a book with the words "Mr. Darcy" pasted across the front of it?! You'd be mad not to!

My first point of discussion has to be the choice of characters. Connelly is mightily clever in regards to her choice of the two main characters as they juxtapose one another beautifully, while interacting perfectly. You have the romantic, 'bohemian' Robyn who is stuck in a relationships she'd rather be out of and in a dead end job. Something many people can relate to. And the other female character is Oxford lecturer in Jane Austen (obviously!) Katherine who once again fails at relationships. Connelly has managed to bring the central thematics of Austen into the contemporary world of literature, which enbles us as readers to fully engage with the characters and fully understand their perspective on events occurring throughout the plot.

The key location used throughout the novel is Purley Hall in 'Austen' country - so the guests at the Austen conference allow the reader to join them in their exploration of Purley Hall, Austen-like events and Jane's old house. I love how Connelly merges fiction and fact here as one really gets the feeling of actually being there and experience these things with the characters. Of course, Purley is described in such a way that one immediately falls in love with it, and if you're anything like me, google it to learn of it's existence! Now, similar to every Austen novel, there was a hunky male present in this story - Dan, who is rather romantic and lives in the stables. Of course, this creates a problem for Robyn who falls for him. I enjoyed the sections where the reader was exposed to Robyn and Dans 'alone' time, as we were able to draw comparisons between her relationship with Dan and Jace. The structure of Dan as a character is fabulous, as he is portrayed as the 'knight in shining armour' after having helped Robyn through difficult times.

Now, Katherine also has an romantic encounter of an entirely different nature, which I believe shows Connelly's diversity of writing as she is able to take similar situations but create completely opposite effects. Katherine unfortunately gets involved with Warwick, who is an author writing under the pseudonym  of Lorna Warwick. This obviously causes problems which helps to create a tense atmosphere in the book, as the reader desperately wants things to work about between Katherine and Warwick, but we are forced right to the end of the novel to learn of the happy outcome.

This book makes you laugh, cry and scream in frustration at the amazingly formed characters, and it is a fabulous read if you love Austen or adore romantic novels.

Definitely a 5 star read for me.
- Sophie.

BOOK 2/150

Autobiografia de un Esclavo by Juan Francisco Manzano

I won't go into detail about this, as it was read for my Culture and Identity in Latin America module at uni. I read it in Spanish, but due to the fact that it was written by someone who themselves how to write Spanish, it is an absolute nightmare to read, no punctuation and basically written phonetically. It is very interesting though and of great historical importance. It was the first and possibly the only account of slavery written in Spanish. It was written by a Cuban slave who had also two poetry books published previously. He lived a very unusual life, and had a variety of different mistresses. When reading this and the English version, however, it is important to remember that it was greatly edited from the original by the sponsors and translators who made the publication possible.

BOOK 1/150

I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk

I read this book a little time before starting the blog and didn’t really make any notes on my thoughts as I went along so unfortunately I’m sort of digging deep into my memory here, well not that deep, but I can be a bit of a goldfish sometimes when it comes to remembering the recent past!

I Heart Paris is the third in the I Heart series by Lindsey Kelk. The first being ‘I Heart New York’ and the second being ‘I Heart Hollywood’. Before getting my hands on this novel, I had only read the first, but this didn’t matter in the slightest. There are references to the second book, but you don’t miss anything from not having read it as it works pretty much as a completely stand alone story. If you haven’t read the first, you may be a little puzzled by some references, but you’ll be fine.

Firstly, Paris is one of my favourite cities in the world and is probably only beaten by my beloved home, London! I loved the descriptions of the city, the tiny cramped hipster wine bars, the funny little shops and all the über sleek Parisians.

There were some very funny moments and many moments that made me go; “Ohhh Goddd, that would so happen to me!” You can really indentify with Angela, she’s a normal British woman attempting to stylishly get by in both America and France. She has boyfriend troubles to contend with, mainly due to a slightly deranged bitchy French beauty and work problems on top of that. I felt like quite a lot of the book was rather negative, although it ends on a positive note, I found that poor Angela just kept getting knocked down throughout the book.

I also found that there wasn’t really enough romance in the book for me, especially seeing as it was set in the prime location of the City of Love itself. There were some nice moments between Angela and Alex but it wasn’t until the very end that there was some real progress.

If you’ve read the other two books and enjoyed them, I think you’ll be very pleased with I Heart Paris. Also, if you’re a Paris lover like me you’ll find yourself checking Eurostar prices and wanting to jump straight onto the next train possible! In general the book was an enjoyably easy read with some great plot twists throughout, and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next from Lindsey Kelk!

I think I'd give it 3 stars, verging on a 3.5...

- Charlotte

BLOGGER THREE: Hayley

NAME: Hayley. Or occasionally Hails

UNI: University of Manchester

COURSE: BSc Fashion and Textile Retailing

FAVOURITE GENRE: Like Carly and Sophie I'm a big chick-lit fan, Harriet Evans, Dorothy Koomson and Lauren Weisberger are particular favourites. Generally though I will devour anything that anyone recommends to me. I'm trying to read more classics this year so expect to see my progress on that front here!

THE BOOK YOU WOULD MOST RECOMMEND AT THE MOMENT: My favourite book is "One Day" by David Nicholls. I intend to re-read it this year so that I can write a review that will truly do it justice. It is the only book that once I finished it all I wanted to do was turn it back to the first page and experience it all over again. Such a beautiful concept, it truly moved me and made me laugh and cry more than any other book ever has before.

OTHER INTERESTS: Music. I absolutely despise silence and one of the first things I do when I wake up is put some music on. I have quite a broad taste. Born and raised on Motown, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. I can't even summarise what I listen to now and do it justice. I would however say my current top 5 are Michael Buble, Ellie Goulding, John Mayer, Justin Nozuka and last but my no means least Take That. That's right Take That, I absolutely adore them, sad but true.

I love going to gigs and concerts, don't do it often enough but I've been very lucky and have seen some amazing acts and hope to be able to continue to do so. I am also a massive fan of Musical theatre. Living so far from London does make seeing West end shows expensive but so worth it.

And despite my degree my goal in life is to be a Special needs teacher.

ANY OTHER NIFTY INFO: I am part of an amazing gospel choir in Manchester, Manchester Harmony Gospel Choir. ( A shameless plug but it has to be done, www.myspace.com/hgcmanchester, check us out!) I have met the most amazing bunch of people there and get to sing some awesome music with them. I absolutely love to sing but can sadly only dream of being able to make a career out of it. I really envy people that are talented enough to do so. And if you want to you can find me on Twitter, talking about fashion and music and other random (and probably boring matter!) on twitter.com/Hayley_fashion

Enjoy

BLOGGER TWO: Sophie

NAME: Sophie. Otherwise known as Soph, Shizzle, or Sid (thanks to Tom).

UNI: Aberystwyth University.

COURSE: English Literature BA.

FAVOURITE GENRE: As a student of English Literature, I read an eclectic mix of genres for my course, but currently I have three real faves. Firstly Jane Austen novels as I think they’re escapist which I love, plus the romantic side, no one can resist a Mr Darcy right? Secondly, historic novels by author’s such as Phillipa Gregory and Alison Weir. My favourite historical period would have to be the Tudor reign. And lastly chic lit novels are always a winner, and never cease to leave me in a happier mood than when I’d started reading them.

THE BOOK YOU WOULD MOST RECOMMEND AT THE MOMENT: Well, I’ve just finished reading A Weekend with Mr Darcy by Victoria Connelly which was fabby! I loved it because it was based on two women who were complete opposites finding the meaning of true love while at an Austen weekend in Hampshire. Firstly it made me desperately want to go on an Austen weekend, and secondly it was all lovely and romantic. I would also recommend any books by Phillipa Gregory as her descriptive writing, which is based around fact really transports you to Tudor England.

OTHER INTERESTS: I adore anything to do with performing arts whether it’s dancing, singing or acting. Dancing is my first passion in life, so I always try to see ballets whether its performed by professionals or amateurs. I love musical theatre as well, and unfortunately don’t get to see a massive amount of west end shows, but I always try to have a sneeky night out to one if I’m around a theatre! A new interest of mine is folk music, which I find mesmerising. Also love writing hence why I’m an English student and I would love to become an author or freelance book editor one day!

ANY OTHER NIFTY INFO: I attempt to do the odd bit of knitting, but I won’t lie, I’m starting to fail dramatically! You can find me on twitter, muttering away to the world wide web about my daily musings: www.twitter.com/sophieshizzle

Peace & Love.

BLOGGER ONE: Charlotte

NAME: Charlotte Evans, also known as; Char, Charlie, Carly, Chardizzle (don't ask)...

UNI: King's College London

COURSE: French & Hispanic Studies, four years, with a year abroad starting this September! Eek! Exciting.

FAVOURITE GENRE: Well, to be honest, I normally read chick lit stuff, however I do like to venture into other genres as much as possible; crime, historical fiction etc. As a student of French & Spanish, I do read a lot of foreign literature as well, especially for my course so will be including these in my total!

THE BOOK YOU WOULD MOST RECOMMEND AT THE MOMENT: That's a really tricky one. I read a lot of books, all the time and to be honest, none have clearly jumped out at me recently. I developed a huge thing for Nicholas Sparks' books towards the end of last year, so if you like something a bit romantic and often heart wrenching, I'd go for that. Dear John was especially beautiful. I'm also a wee bit addicted to Jodi Picoult, but I always have been. OH, also, whilst stuck at an airport last summer, the only thing I had with me to read was After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell. Having not read anything else by her, I was surprised at how much I loved it! I read it all in one go on that day!...Gosh I've rambled a bit there, sorry.

OTHER INTERESTS: I am a huge lover of theatre and music. I try and get to shows and gigs whenever I can. I end up going about once a week sometimes! I love singing and playing the violin and am attempting to teach myself to play the piano properly, as I can only fiddle around a little bit at the moment. I also love cooking, photography and travelling. I have huge travel ambitions which hopefully, once I finish uni will come to light!

ANY OTHER NIFTY INFO: I'm a coffee addict and a serious snacker. Many people tell me I'm exactly like Miranda Hart....from the bbc comedy Miranda. If you haven't seen it, go and watch it on YouTube. It's my favourite thing ever.

Oh and I'm completely addicted to twitter. Find out what I'm up to in my day to day life here: www.twitter.com/charliecarly

Ta very much for your time.

Am off to do some reading.

A very hearty welcome to Books and Biscuits!

So, way back in 6th form, my friend Hayley and I had this lovely idea for a book reading and biscuit eating group called Books and Biscuits. However, due to the workload we had and the way that things like that never really come to fruition when you're 16 years old, it never happened.

So the idea has changed a little bit. We're going to be a book blog.

3 girls. At three different universities across the country. Studying three different things.

But I'll get to that later, with a little introduction for each of us.

For now, here's the big idea, we're going to try and read 150 books between us this year, and we're going to count them down and review them as we go on here.

Please feel free to leave us comments, recommendations or review requests as we go along, we're open to all kinds of literature.

So there we go. Bring it on!