My favourite and worst book of 2013

The books I've read in 2013

'Outlander' by Diana Gabaldon
'Sister' by Rosamund Lupton
'Dragonfly in Amber' (outlander 2) by Diana Gabaldon
'Voyager' (outlander 3) by Diana Gabaldon
'If I Stay' by Gayle Forman
'Drums of Autumn' (outlander 4) by Diana Gabaldon
'One for the money' by Janet Evanovich
'The Silent Girl' by Tess Gerritsen
'The women who went to bed for a year' by Sue Townsend
'A Stolen Life' by Jaycee Dugcee
'Can you keep a secret' by Sophie Kinsella
'The Midwife's Daughter' by Patricia Ferguson
'Where'd you go Bernadette' by Marie Semple
'Postmortem' by Patricia Cornwell
'The secret keeper' by Kate Morton
'The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time' by Mark Haddon
'Two for the Dough' by Janet Evanovich
'Spoken from the front' by Andy McNab


When thinking about my favourite book of 2013, it isn't hard for me to choose - 'Voyager' by Diana Gabaldon. This so far is my favourite book out of the Outlander series (whether this will change as I'm half way through book 5), and I am so grateful for my friend Jen for recommending them to me. Theses books have everything - love stories, time travel, historical events, violence, family life and new adventurers plus a lot more............ I can't wait for the tv series to start later on this year. If you haven't started these books, start them NOW!!!! On goodreads, they say - This series is comprised of one epic story, each book is like a chapter in that larger story.

Check out Jen's blog for more book recommendations, she read an amazing 122 books in 2013. http://www.jenthousandwords.com/

I also wanted to mentioned one other book that I would highly recommend and that's 'The secret keeper' by Kate Morton. If I hadn't read the Outlander books, this would have been my favourite book of 2013 instead. Really liked this book.

So the worse of my 2013 reads are, 'The women who went to bed for a year' and 'Where'd you go Bernadette'. Both was a waste of money buying this books. Both started off with a few laughs but soon died, with pointless stories and very disappointing endings - would not recommend at all!!!!!

Like I have said in the past, books are a very personal thing and what I have enjoyed reading you might hate. I love this fact as we are all so different and our interests are different - but remember if you have loved a book recommend it - without these recommendations I wouldn't have found many books I have enjoyed reading - like 'The secret keeper'; Janet Evanovich books; 'The silent girl' to mention a few. Not all recommends I have been given though, have I enjoyed, I was recommended 'Where'd you go Bernadette' by a friend who loved it - I hated it, but I was still grateful for that recommendation.

So do you have a favourite and worse book of 2013? What would you recommend me to read?

Spoken from the front by Andy McNab

'Spoken from the front' by Andy McNab

Spoken from the Front is the story of the Afghan Campaign, told for the first time in the words of the servicemen and women who have been fighting there. With unprecedented access to soldiers of all ranks, as well as pilots, reservists, engineers, medics, Royal Military police, mechanics, cooks and other military personnel, Andy McNab has assembled a portrait of modern conflict like never before.

This is the full experience of our troops on the ground and in the air. The horrors, cruelties, drudgery, excitement and banter of these soldiers' lives combine to form a chronological narrative of all the major events in Helmand during the British Army's time there.

From their action-packed, dramatic, moving and often humorous testimonies in interviews, diaries, letters and emails written to family, friends and loved ones, emerges a 360-degree picture of guerrilla warfare up close and extremely personal. It is as close to the real thing as you can get.

REVIEW

This was a camp bookclub book. One of the wives chose it as her husband always talks about Andy McNab and his books. She thought that it would be a good book for us all - understanding a little about what our husbands go through in Afghan.
Well this is a book that none of us liked at all. I for one, didn't enjoy it - I only managed to read half and that was me pushing myself to read that far. I think this is a book that might appeal more to those who understand a little what's it's like to serve out there but I just found all the army abbreviations to much - boring!!!!

RMP, WMIK, RHA, RPGS, K, DFC, JTAC, MERT, ODP, HLS, IRT, GPD, SIB, AMP, ANA, etc etc etc

I would not recommend

Two For The Dough by Janet Evanovich

'Two For The Dough' by Janet Evanovich

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is still learning the ropes at her cousin Vinnie's bail bond office, so when she sets out on the trail of Kenny Mancuso--a suspiciously wealthy, working class Trenton boy who has just shot his best friend--the stakes are higher than ever. That Mancuso is distantly related to vice cop Joe Morelli--who is trying to beat Stephanie to the punch--only makes the hunt more thrilling….

Taking pointers from her bounty hunter pal, Ranger, and using her pistol-packing Granda Mazur as a decoy, Stephanie is soon closing in on her mark. But Morelli and his libido are worthy foes. And a more sinister kind of enemy has made his first move…and his next move might be Stephanie's last.

REVIEW

This is the second book in the Stephanie Plum series. I really needed another fun, entertaining light hearted book and this is what I got. A touch predictable but I was not disappointed at all, a very fun series which had me laughing out loud. I love her grandma, she's a real trouble maker - funny character. Looking forward to seeing what is next for Stephanie Plum!

Would recommend.