Who’s that girl?
I am a thirty-something (oh okay, I confess – I’m 40 now!) bookaholic from Yorkshire in the north of England. I live with my lovely husband and my two fat, lazy cats.
I like
books, chocolate, cats, candles, hiking, thunderstorms, dogs, Strictly Come Dancing, China, journals, countryside, cycling, sunshine, autumn, tigers, Israel, real fires, bonfire toffee, Sex and the City, bubble baths, coffee, Iceland, my bed, bags, hot chocolate, history, Ghost Whisperer, New York, lakes, Greek Islands, custard creams, Christmas, cheese, snow, the cinema, France, sleeping, weekends
I don’t like
my alarm clock, sweetcorn, people with no manners, aggression, trifle, pomp, celebrity wannabees, wasps, radishes, organising finances, paying bills
Bookish things
I love to read and I love to share my thoughts. I have been reviewing on Amazon for about 9 years and I am also very active onGoodreads. I also I set up (and now co-run) the Victorians! group on GR where we read and discuss books written between 1837-1901 (Dickens, the Brontes, Hardy, Collins et al) and also Neo-Victorian books (books set in Victorian times but not publised then). If you love books from this era then feel free to join us – there are 2000+ members and growing and we’d love to see you around.
My Favourite ever books
1) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3) The Magus by John Fowles
4) Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
5) Animal Farm by George Orwell
7) Life of Pi by Yann Martel
8) The Secret History by Donna Tartt
9) Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
10) Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
11) Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
12) Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
13) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
15) The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
16) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
17) The Collector by John Fowles
18) Villette by Charlotte Bronte
20) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
21) The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Some of my favourite authors
Books read in 2012
January
1) The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
2) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
3) Greenbanks by Dorothy Whipple
Books read in 2011
January
1) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
2) Sail by James Patterson
3) The Rose of Sebastapol by Katherine Mahon
February
4) The Mephisto Club by Tess Garitsen
5) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
March
6) Sacrifice by S J Bolton
7) The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards
8 Rupture by Simon Lelic
9) Lasting Damage by Sophie Hannah
10) Vanish by Tess Gerritsen
11) These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
12) Awakening by S J Bolton
13) Everything and Nothing by Araminta Hall
14) The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
15) The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
16) The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
April
17) Body Double by Tess Gerritsen
18) Keeping the Dead by Tess Gerritsen
19) Catch Me When I Fall by Nicci French
20) The Killing Place by Tess Gerritsen
21) Beside the Sea by Véronique Olmi
22) The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tovey Bailey
23) The Chemistry of Death by Stephen Beckett
24) Under the Skin by Michel Faber
25) Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson
26) Crimson China by Betsy Tobin
May
27) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
28) Now You See Me by S J Bolton
29) The Tigers Wife by Tea Obreht
30) It Happened One Summer by Polly Williams
31) Summer of Love by Katie Fforde
32) The Attack by Yasmina Khanda
June
33) Homeless Rats by Ahmed Fagih
34) The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly
35) About Last Night by Adele Parkes
36) I’ll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark
37) Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
38) North of Ithaka by Eleni Gage
July
39) Gillespi and I by Jane Harris
40) The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths
41) The House by the Sea by Santa Montefiore
42) You Belong to Me by Karen Rose
August
42) Far to Go by Alison Pick
43) Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
44) The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
45) The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen
46) Carrie by Stephen King
47) The Accident by Linwood Barclay
September
48) The Unseen by Katherine Webb
49) Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark
50) We’ll Meet Again by Mary Higgins Clark
51) The Tiny Wife by Andrew Kaufman
52) Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
October
53) The Resurrectionists by Kim Wilkins
54) Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner
55) The Neighbour by Lisa Gardner
56) The Retribution by Val McDermid
57) Cage of Bones by Tania Carver
November
58) Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
59) Perfect People by Peter James
60) The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Hishigami
61) Die for Me by Karen Rose
62) Love You More by Lisa Gardner
December
62) The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
64) Divergent by Veronica Roth
65) Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris
66) The Christmas Note by Donna van Liere
67) Little Women by Louisa M Alcott
Books read in 2010
1) Invisible I (The Amanda Project) by Stella Larson
2) The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain
3) The Cradle Will Fall by Mary Higgins Clark
4) Soulless by Gail Carriger
5) Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
6) Corrag by Susan Fletcher
7) Shakespeare’s Truth by Rex Richards
8) Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
9) The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
10) All Pets Go To Heaven by Sylvia Browne
11) The Hanging Valley by Peter Robinson
12) Far From The Land by Thomas J Rice
13) You Belong to Me by Mary Higgins Clark
14) In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson
15) East Lynne by Ellen Wood
16) The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
17) The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marhganita Laski
18) Let me Call You Sweetheart by Mary Higgins Clark
19)Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris
20) A Woman’s Life by Guy de Maupassant
21) Moonlight Becomes You by Mary Higgins Clark
Books I read in 2009
January
1) New Moon – Stephenie Meyer
2) Strictly Come Dancing
3) Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare
4) The Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti
5) Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
6) Poem for the Day One (366 Poems, Old and New, Worth Learning by Heart)
7) Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
February
8) Kane and Abel – Jeffrey Archer
9) Will you please be quiet, please? – Raymond Carver
10) The Tennant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Bronte
11) White Tiger – Aravind Adiga
12) Girl, Interrupted – Susanna Kaysen
13) The Thorn Birds – Colleen McCollough
14) Black Beauty – Anna Sewell
15) Chocky – John Wyndham
16) In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
17) le Petit Prince
March
18) The Midwich Cuckoos – John Wyndham
19) Wolf Totem – Jiang Rong
20) Sky Burial – Xinran
21) Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie
22) Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
23) The Girl who Played with Fire – Steig Larsson
24) The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
25) Villette – Charlotte Bronte
26) The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Murial Barbary
April
27) Lady Audley’s Secret – Mary Elizabeth Braddon
28) The Husband – Dean Koontz
29) Five Quarters of the Orange – Joanne Harris
30) The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole – Sue Townsend
31) Blackberry Wine – Joanne Harris
32) Coastliners – Joanne Harris
33) Run for your Life – James Patterson
May
34) The Food of Love – Anthony Capella
35) My First Book of Garden Birds
36) Dead Spy Running – Jon Stock
37) Innocent Traitor – Alison Weir
38) The Queen’s Sorrow – Susannah Dunn
39) The Piano Teacher – Janice K Lee
40) Daughters of Spain – Jean Plaidy
41) The Autobiography of Henry VIII with Notes by His Fool Will Somers – Margaret George
June
42) Summer – Edith Wharton
43) The Six Wives of Henry VIII – Alison Weir
44) Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
45) Love Letters – Katie Fforde
46) Bonjour Tristesse – Francoise Sagan
47) The Secret Life of France – Lucy Wadham
48) Cold Earth – Sarah Moss
49) Pig Tales – Marie Derrieussecq
July
50) Happy Birthday – Christina Jones
51) The Definitive Book of Body Language – Allan Peace
52) The Day I Died – Polly Courtney
53) Airhead – Meg Cabot
54) The Suspicions of Mr Whitcher – Kate Summerscale
August
55) Twenties Girl – Sophie Kinsella
56) Gone Tomorrow – Lee Child
57) Goodbe, Dearest Holly – Kevin Wells
58) Handle With Care – Jodi Picoult
59) Hold Tight – Harlan Coben
60) The Time Machine – H G Wells
61) Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
September
62) Too Close to Home – Linwood Barclay
63) Sworn to Silence – Linda Castillo
64) I Heart New York – Lindsey Kelk
65) Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs – Jeremy Mercer
66) Evil at Heart – Chelsea Cain
67) The Woods – Harlan Coben
68) No Place Like Home – Mary Higgins Clark
69) Hide – Lisa Garner
70) Secret Smile – Nicci French
October
71) Heartsick – Chelsea Cain
72) Two Little Girls in Blue – Mary Higgins Clark#
73) Paris – Eyewitness
74) Where are you Now? – Mary Higgins Clark
75) Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger
76) Superfreakonomics – Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner
77) Coco Chanel: A Biography – Alex Madsen
78) I Heard that Song Before – Mary Higgins Clark
79) Ghost Stories – M R James
November
80) The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
81) Remarkable Creatures – Tracy Chevalier
82) If Only They Could Talk – James Herriot
83) It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet – James Herriot
84) The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield
85) Agnes Grey – Anne Bronte
86) Paths of Glory – Jeffrey Archer
87) Just Take My Heart – Mary Higgins Clark
88) New Moon: The Illustrated Movie Companion
89) Winter Shadow – Richard Knight
90) Gentlemen and Players – Joanne Harris
91) Evermore: The Immortals – Alyson Noel
December
92) On the Street Where you Live – Mary Higgins Clark
93) Hush Hush – Becca Fitzgerald
94) Shiver – Maggie Stiefvater
95) The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
96) Dashing Through the Snow – Mary & Carol Higgins Clark
97) Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
98) Stolen by Lucy Christopher
99) Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie
I’m breathless….you read so much, and across all genres and types and quality. I so admire that. Interesting reviews, too. wish I could read as much.
Hi Marcys, I know once I find a book I like I tend to binge on that author or genre for a while and then move onto the next. There are so many books and so little time…….I really do need to win the lottery and spend all day kicking back with books. 8)
Boof! Your blog is ridiculously entertaining! I love it! I may hire you as a consultant for mine…LOL. Great design, great imagery, just a fun blog to get lost in. Fantastic!
Thanks Jesse! Hire away – I’m yours. I’m not cheap though, I demand payment in books
)
Hello Boof, I hope you got home in one piece. It was great to meet you yesterday, and I’ve put ‘Wolf Totem’ on my wishlist. I’m looking forward to reading and catching up on your posts.
Nice selection of books read. Ethan Frome is one of my favorites as well
Oh, isn’t that book brilliant? I just loved it, loved it, loved it!
[...] I found on the interwebs - Hannah at Word Lily, Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog, Boof at The Book Whisperer, Meg at Write Meg!, and Alyce at At Home with [...]
[...] just read Boof‘s latest post on her site The Book Whisperer, and that’s only added to my wistfulness. [...]
I enjoy the writings of Robert Charles Wilson (e.g.: Spin, Darwinia, Blind Lake) and would appreciate suggestions of other others who write like him. Ted Chiang is similar for short stories, but any other suggestions would, as I say, be most welcome. Thanks in advance.
Hi Esak, thanks for commenting. I’m afraid I don’t know this author – I will have to go away and look him up. I’m intrigued now.
I KNOW we’d be great friends as we’ve enjoyed so many of the same books.
THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME
is driving me nuts, I no longer have the book, and I can’t remember what happened to ALEX the devil spawn husband/stepfather, after he attempts to murder Liza and Jack in the car. ANY clues??
Thanks,
Sandy
Hey there, I just nominated you for the ’7X7 Link award’ find out more here: http://chroniclesofjen.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/an-award-a-tree-and-a-psychic/ …Congrats to you, you deserve it! Thanks for always keeping me entertained with your blogging!
Hi Boof, I see we have a few favourite authors and books in common, keep up your reading and your reviews I love reading them. I’ve nominated you for ‘The Versatile Blogger Award’ so congratulations, and I look forward to reading more of your stuff.
You can check it out here: http://chroniclesofjen.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/one-two-three-awards-for-me/