Books // The Bookshelf - 2014 Reading List - Part 4

And here is the last instalment of my 2014 reading list. (You can find the other instalments here, part 1, part 2, part 3). So this is the final 10 books of my year, as you will see I have a bit of a thing for murder mysteries or deceptive type books, with the odd chick lit, romance or random book thrown in for good measure. This years challenge isn’t going so well at the moment as I seem to have very little time to read, so making my full 40 books for the year is going to be a challenge as so far i think I have only managed 4! But fingers crossed that manages to pick up again soon. So on with the books

A Question of Blood by Ian Rankin – I had never read a Rankin before but my mother is a big fan so has always recommended him. This one I picked up as an audio book and I really enjoyed it. This is part of the Rebus series, the story follows the murder of two teenagers by a former soldier, Rebus is trying to find out why the killer murdered them but is coming up against 2 army investigators who seem determined to stand in his way!
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil – Ok this one I picked up at a charity shop as it was a booker prize nominee and sounded interesting, sadly it took me around 9 months to finish in the end as I had to keep dipping in and out as I got pretty bored with it. Its all to do with the opium dens in Old Bombay, but I found it very long winded and not gripping enough in any way to keep my attention.
If I Stay by Gayle Forman – I picked this one up at the airport on the way to Copenhagen (check out our tips for Copenhagen post) as I had actually just seen the film trailer and it looked interesting. I loved this book! I won’t say too much as I don’t want to give too much away. Mia is a hugely talented violinist and needs to make decisions about where she will progress her career and if she should stay with her amazing boyfriend, then one snowy day her life is changed for ever because of a fatal car accident, now she only has one choice to make but its the hardest one every. This book is beautiful and sad, and I couldn’t wait to read it all! I would definitely recommend it.
Bloodstream by Tess Gerritsen – This is a bit of a different story from Gerristen, and I really enjoyed it. Teenagers in the quiet town of Tranquility are committing violent acts but Dr Claire Elliiott thinks its more than just teenage angst. When she looks at past cases of violence in the tiny village she starts to notice a pattern, can she solve the case before her own teenage son becomes affected! Definitely a good Gerristen book if you like her style of writing.
To Tell the Truth by Anna Smith – This is part of the Rosie Gilmour series although I did’t know that as I hadn’t read an Anna Smith before. When 3 year old Amy is snatched from the beach in Spain during a family holiday Rosie Gilmour a Glasgow journalist is sent out to follow the story. As she delves deeper into the story she uncovers similarities to another abduction 3 years previously, and she must decide whether to follow her gut instinct or do what makes her editor happy. Its a pretty typical crime story but i really enjoyed it.
Where She Went by Gayle Forman – This is the follow on from ‘If I Stay’, and is written from the perspective of both Mia and Adam a little time after the first book end. In all honesty I don’t think it lives up to the first book, which I loved, I think maybe Forman was trying too hard to come up with an end to their story and she didn’t quite nail it. It is enjoyable and its nice to have an idea what happened to Mia and Adam after the last book, but I don’t think a sequel was needed.
Adventures in the Skin Trade by Dylan Thomas – I was working part of the Dylathon which happened in The Grand to celebrate the 100 years of Dylan Thomas’s birthday, before that I had never been much of a fan of Dylans work, but I saw a small extract from a book called Adventures in the Skin Trade which I found really funny and enjoyed, so I got it out of the library. It is a little strange, typical Dylan, but it is quite funny and a pretty quick read. If your a Dylan fan then I would say to try it out. I’m not going to try and explain it to you as there isn’t really a tangible storyline.
Nation by Terry Pratchett – Big fan of Pratchett’s so will read any book of his. This is the first Pratchett audio book my library has had in stock ever, so I obviously nabbed it. This is, as usual, a brilliant Pratchett book, clever, and funny, and weird and just typical Pratchett. Mau is the last survivor of his people on the desert island of Nation, a tidal wave swept away the world he knew and left behind a completely foreign concept to him…other people! I won’t say any more as this is a really great clever concept storyline.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – Well I thought it was about time I read it as every other person I knew had. And I did enjoy it, maybe not as much as others did, but it was a good story. Im not gonna bother synopsising the story as I think almost everyone knows it. If you haven’t read it yet you probably should. Ill be watching the film this week as I have just picked it up so Ill see how that compares.
Caught by Harlan Coben – The very last book of the year was…yet another audiobook by Harlan Coben. This time Haley Mcwaid has gone missing and journalist Wendy Tynes intends to track down the peadophile that she suspects has taken her, but there turns out to be a lot more to this story than she every realised.