That time Goodreads challenged me to read 31 books

I'm an avid reader. The husband has little appreciation for my adoration of books or the space said books encompass. Like many readers I've gone back and forth on the topic of e-readers. Partly because I'm indecisive by nature but mostly because I don't want to give up a good old fashioned paper book. I've had just about every model of Kindle on my Amazon wishlist at various points in time but have never pushed the button to "buy now". Is it just me or does anyone else think that 1-click shopping is dangerous? 

Every birthday, anniversary & Christmas as well as every time we move, the husband suggests buying me a Kindle and I always say no. I'd love the idea of being able to purchase a book and start reading it right away. And all the free books sound incredibly enticing. But I always say, you can't put a Kindle on a bookshelf. Which in essence isn't true but it doesn't have the same wow affect as a multitude of overflowing bookshelves. I'm talking personal library standards. That's my goal. And I love perusing my bookshelf and rediscovering some long forgotten book, the details of which have faded from memory and so it's like falling in love again for the first time. 

I'm trying to limit how many books I buy and really shop for bargains. I got a whole case full of mystery novels a few months back that someone was selling for $10 on Facebook. Bargain. And I recently signed up for Audible and have been listening to books on my phone whilst working out. I'm not really a fan of the monthly subscription but even worse, I hate it when the book is actually really good because then I just end up wishing I had it on paperback. 

My Goodreads 2016 book challenge is to read 31 books, I selected that number purely because I turn 31 this year. So far I'm not off to a great start 4 out of 31 and have essentially only completed books I've read as part of my book club. I'm not going to count the audio books because I haven't "read" them rather just listened to someone else read them. 
I'd like to try and challenge myself to read for an hour every day which I'm not certain I have the time to do in one sitting so I'll probably do 30 minutes during lunch and then another 30 minutes in the evening. Accompanied by a nice glass of wine or cup of tea.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

This was our book for May. We have a very civilized selection process and generally keep an open mind when it comes to books. Originally someone had suggested we read her follow up book Furiously Happy but I said that I wasn't keen on reading the second book if I hadn't read the first. I am strictly opposed to such book anarchy. And thus this book was selected. I was excited to read about a female blogger who had made her blog successful. Any blogger who tells you they don't dream of a cult following is lying. Why do you think I pimp my posts all over social media. I was also intrigued to see how frankly she broached the subject of her anxiety and depression. I will say, right off the bat, this book rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like she was trying too hard to be witty. I struggled through the first fifty pages. Eventually her writing relaxed and I could start to enjoy her story. She did a good job of describing her childhood though I would have liked to know more about her parents. I feel like she only scratched the surface of her anxiety and depression. And the same with her marriage, from the beginning Victor was certain that she was the woman he would marry but she never discusses what effect his certainty had on her. I feel like she just gave us fluff rather than substance, with pages upon pages of "funny" stories in HR but nothing incredibly deep about her and she had so many fantastic opportunities to. Nor do I think she delves very deep into her feelings following her miscarriage. I'm not sure whether this is down to the nature of blogs in general where most of us are hesitant to lay everything out there in black and white but I can say that I'm not on her five star bandwagon. At best 3/5 from me.

The Girl With All The Gifts

This was our April read that I had the fortune of hosting. First off I had no clue what this book was about and happened upon it whilst pursing Amazon. The description is rather vague and the reviews even more so with very discernible warnings about spoiler alerts. I did not read the reviews because I unlike some do not like to read the end of a book before the beginning. At first I was so puzzled by this book and who Melanie was but I was hooked from the first page and it did not disappoint. At least until the very end depending upon who you asked because some loved the ending and some like myself were frustrated & saddened. And dare I say it, left feeling a little betrayed. What I can tell you is this, if I had a grenade in my pocket I would always choose to use it. Even if I can't save myself I'd take out as many of my enemies as possible. My advise to anyone who likes to read. Read this book. 
By far one of the best books I've read in a long time. 5/5