Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

Death Comes to Pemberley (2011) (Faber & Faber)
P.D. James
Grade: B-
Genre: crime / historical fiction / Austen-inspired
Source: own

TBR RBC 2015: A crime novel 

Six years have passed since we left Pride and Prejudice and all is well: Elizabeth has transitioned into her role as the new mistress of Pemberley perfectly and she and Darcy dote on their two young sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. She’s revived the annual Lady Anne’s ball, traditionally held to celebrate the birthday of Darcy’s mother, but which had been dormant since her death. Preparations are well into the final touches on the eve of the ball in 1803, when death comes suddenly and shockingly to Pemberley … It is Lydia Wickham, Elizabeth’s younger, unreliable sister who brings the news in her usual state of hysteria, believing that her husband, George Wickham, is dead. And so follows an investigation that threatens to rock the Darcy family to its core …

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Austenland (2007) (Bloomsbury)
Shannon Hale
Grade: C
Genre: chick lit
Source: own
Austenland: (1) Austenland

Romance RBC 2015: A book that became a film 

Thirty-something Jane Hayes has always had a slight obsession with all things Jane Austen-related, and her obsession has only intensified over time. Proud owner of all the books and DVDs of television and film adaptations alike, Jane has modelled her perfect man on none other than Mr Darcy (the Colin Firth version, of course), meaning that all her boyfriends have never quite lived up to her expectations. When a wealthy aunt leaves Jane an all-expenses-paid-for three-week trip to English countryside retreat ‘Austenland’ in her will, where visitors immerse themselves into nineteenth century living, Jane can’t say no. Jane sees this as her opportunity to get her final fill of Jane Austen and close the door on her unattainable fantasies, but will this trip give Jane the closure she wants, or could she possibly get a Mr Darcy of her own?

My Best of 2014

2014: what a bumper year for reading. I had set a fairly modest target of 100 books for the year, given that once I had finished off my degree in the first half of the year, I would have a good six months or more to complete the target. Then, in early February, I stumbled across some intriguing reading challenges on Pinterest that I was compelled to undertake. I've been tracking my progress throughout the year in the column to the right and regular readers of this blog will know that as the year has drawn to a close, it has become ever-harder to 'fit' my reads into the categories that I've had left. I wasn't able to complete all three of my reading bingo challenges, but that's for another post.

I did manage, however, to complete my original target of 100 books - exactly. According to my Shelfari profile, my 100 reads can be broken down in genres roughly as follows:


Romance - 47
Steampunk - 7
Children's - 4
New adult - 2
Young adult - 16
Anthology/serial -7
Non-fiction - 5
Chick lit - 2
Urban fantasy - 2
Fiction - 4
Fantasy - 3
Crime - 1

Romance clearly takes up the bulk of my reads, but I've used the heading to encompass the sub-genres of contemporary, historical, medieval and erotica, amongst others. About 12 were re-reads and what re-reads they were. 2014 will be memorable not only for discovering new authors and titles, but re-discovering ones that I've loved in the past.

This is now my third 'Best of the year' post since I started this blog in February 2012. It's always hard to narrow down my favourite reads, and this year was no different. I came across my first favourite of the year very early on, and they didn't stop coming. By the end of the year, I had around 20 'favourites' that have been further (painfully) slimmed down, as follows below (in order of review):


1. Deeper by Robin York, a pseudonym for Ruthie Knox (2014) (reviewed 10-03-2014, Grade A+) (YA reading bingo challenge: A book that made you cry)
Ruthie Knox was my favourite new-to-me author of 2013 and this year, she didn't disappoint. 2014 saw Ruthie Knox tryng her hand at new adult, proving that she's just as adept at this hot new genre as she is at contemporary romance. Deeper and its sequel Harder follows college student Caroline Piasecki when she becomes a victim of revenge porn at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. Bad boy West Leavitt is the last person anyone expects to come to Caroline's aid, but he teaches her how to ignore the haters and accept herself and find joy again in her life. A gritty story that will make you cry - in the best way.

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma (1815) (Penguin Classics)
Jane Austen
Grade: A+
Genre: fiction
Source: own
Fiction RBC 2014: A book with a one-word title

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich” is the belle of Highbury. Mistress of her father’s house, Hartfield, since her sister Isabella married, Miss Woodhouse is not in want of company. Nevertheless, when her governess and closest friend Miss Taylor becomes Mrs Weston and leaves Hartfield, Emma finds herself in need of a companion and project. The young Miss Harriet Smith becomes her new protégée, much to the despair of long-time family friend Mr Knightley who always professes to know best for Miss Woodhouse.

Pretty books and other bookish news ...

No review today, because I am completely swamped. Third year law is hell on Earth, but I'm loving every long night spent glued to my desk, lecturers who speak at triple-speed and page-long reading lists for two-hour seminars; the things I do for my degree.

Instead, I thought I would share with you all my newest literary purchase, amongst other things. I was browsing in Waterstones at the beginning of this week, not with anything particular in mind, but knowing that I wanted to buy something special for myself. I spotted this on the shelf and after a brief internal debate, I couldn't help myself.

This is the new September 2013 hardback edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, illustrated by the very talented Jemima Catlin. This is my first copy of The Hobbit and unlikely to be my last; the lady in Waterstones confessed to owning about five copies, yet still being tempted by this one too! I can certainly see why. Despite first publication almost eighty years ago, The Hobbit is a timeless classic and new editions are only getting more beautiful. I've already got my eye on the Deluxe Hardback editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings!

I saw sample copies of the cover whilst I was interning at HarperCollins, but there weren't any interiors in the office that I could take a peek at. I'm glad that now that I've seen them, it's in my own copy; the illustrations are breathtaking. All illustrations are full-colour and there's at least one per double-spread; some pages have two. In addition, there's a dozen full-page illustrations, including the great dragon Smaug amongst his treasure.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Completely my newest obsession. Watch from the start here or here or wherever else they're shown. I've watched all current 84 episodes, as well as the Q&A sessions and Lydia's videoblogs in less than a week. I need more.

What is The LBD? Basically, a modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice. Lizzie is in grad school racking up the debt, there are only three Bennet sisters and Charlotte, Bing Lee and Caroline inject some very welcome Asian-ness into the show (I'm Asian too, if you don't know why I said that) but otherwise the rest of the story is pretty true. Mrs Bennet is still frantically trying to marry off her daughters, Darcy is still as stuck up in Austen's version and Lydia takes off-the-rails into the twenty-first century.