The Great 2014 Reading Challenge and Updates

First of all, hello and welcome after what's been a week or so since my last post. This is related to my first update, which is that due to other commitments I will be blogging less regularly that usual. I hope to update the blog every 1-2 weeks so please bare with me! Secondly, I have recently read Life of Pi, A Christmas Carol, and the latest installment in the Bridget Jones saga, Mad About The Boy. So stay tuned for updates and reviews on all of those. Thirdly, I am here to introduce the 2014 Reading Challenge, or my own personal Year of Reading. In the past month or so I have become much more into reading, and in particular challenging myself to read modern classics that I wouldn't otherwise read. My knowledge in this area is decidedly lacking and so this is my attempt to rectify the situation. So here is my challenge. To read as many books on this list as possible, including at least 12 modern classics (that's one a month). Feel free to join me!

1) The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

2) The Restaurant At The End of The Universe - Douglas Adams

3) Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

4) The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

5) The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

6) Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres

7) The Time Traveller's Wife

8) Atonement

9) 1984 - George Orwell

10) I Capture The Castle - Dodie Smith

11) To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

12) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

13) Life of Pi - Yann Martel (READ)

14) A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (READ)

15) Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

16) The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

I have partly been inspired by the Rory Gilmore (of Gilmore Girls) Reading Challenge. If you wish to read about it here is a link to a list of books mentioned and read during the show: http://thenovelworld.com/the-rory-gilmore-book-list/

Carpe Diem xx

Sunday Spree: A Collective Book Haul

I mentioned a few blogs back that I had been on a book buying spree. A few weeks ago I realised that I wasn't making full use of my spare time and that I needed to be reading more, in particular catching up on the classics that I have never read (which is a lot!). So here are four of the books that I have accumulated in the past month:

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee:

I first read To Kill A Mockingbird as a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl and much of it went straight over my head, so when I saw this beautiful 50th anniversary paperback edition by Arrow I decided it was a chance to right some wrongs and give it another go.

Christmas Books by Charles Dickens:

This is a Wordsworth Classics edition of collected Christmas stories by Dickens, which of course includes A Christmas Carol. Can't wait to read it for the first time nearer Christmas time.

I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith:

This new Bodley Head hardback edition of the classic was just released on 7th November 2013. It is beautiful and was so happy to get it in the post after pre-ordering it a month before. Unfortunately it doesn't come with a dust jacket, which I think lets it down slightly.

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde:

I have definately trumpeted the genius of Fforde's work on this blog before, so again, I was tempted to add to my collection of the Thursday Next series with this, the third in the set.

What have you been reading this month?

Carpe Diem xx