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!