Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery

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When this book was recently released as an audiobook narrated by Rachel McAdams, this brought back so much nostalgia from reading these books when I was younger. I can probably guarantee that I had a silly grin the whole time.

The fun begins when Anne Shirley arrives in Avonlea, the awaited orphan that siblings, Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert had asked for. They were surprised to find the red-headed girl waiting for them. Anne is bright and quick and eager to help, but this somehow ends up landing her into a lot of mischief.

I can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series again.

Baking and Babies - Tara Sivec

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This is the third book in the series, which I didn’t know until I marked it as read on Goodreads, but it didn’t make any difference.

Molly Gilmore just graduated from culinary school and is trying to build up the courage to ask the hot, pastry instructor Marco, out on a date. Of course not everything goes as planned and Molly is pulled into a very elaborate lie.

This author sure knows how to get a girl to giggle like an idiot at 2 in the morning, the pranks and stories that were in this book were hilarious. The characters had very good chemistry and were very lovable, they pulled you in and wanted you to read more about them.

I would recommend it in a heartbeat. I will look for the previous books in this series.

What a year - 2016

I started this blog in the beginning of 2016 and have been loving every second of it. Sharing my favourite reads with you and hopefully making more people enjoy them.

Throughout this year, I tried to step outside my comfort zone, reading more books that I wouldn’t have read otherwise. I also read a lot of South African authors, something that I am ashamed to say, I never did before.

I read 51 books, completing my goal of 50.

The longest book turned out to be Anne of Green Gables at a whopping 634 pages, and what a delight that was. Anne was a favourite of mine when I was young, and I am glad to report that is still the same.

Anne of Green Gables

The shortest book that I read was a short story by a local author, My name is Simon is by Melissa Delport, it is a companion book to Rainfall by the same author. The original story was heartbreaking and I can confirm My name is Simon, somehow just ties up the story very well.  

Rainfall - Melissa Delport

I devoured every book in the Recoil series by Joanne Macgregor, another local author. This dystopian came when I truly thought I am done with them, there isn’t a spin any author could put on them that would get me interested again, and then came Recoil. I loved it, the twists, the turns, the characters. Everything about this series just worked for me. 

Recoil Series - Joanne Macgregor

There were books that broke my heart into pieces, and nothing I could do could put it back together, leaving me feeling empty and lost and with book hangovers (What better kind is there?)

Me Before You

    

Losing Emma

Can’t have a book wrap up without my favourite genre, Contemporary Romance!

This was the year where I tried to read this genre as little as possible because I would just read this and nothing else if I didn’t watch out. Hate to sound like a preppy teenager, but there were books that “gave me all the feels” and was very heartwarming, just the thing after a book that breaks your heart.

Scarred - Joanne Macgregor

The Trouble with Flying - Rachel Morgan

PS You're Mine - Alexa Riley

A Piece of my Heart - Cindi Page

I also read a couple of memoirs, this used to be a daunting thing, reading someone else's experiences and knowing it happened to a real person, but as I got older, and maybe a little wiser, I learned that this is the best way to learn from someone else's experiences. 

The underachieving ovary - J.T. Lawrence

I have to be honest I started this blog thinking I will attract a lot of fellow book lovers and will have so many reads that I won’t keep up, that has not been the case, but after reflecting on it, I decided it does not matter, even if just one person likes the same book or started reading the same author, I am happy.

Here’s to another great year of reading, and thank each and every one of you for sticking around. 

The Postcard - Leah Flemming

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I enjoyed one of the authors previous books (The Captain’s Daughter) and didn’t think twice before buying this one. But sadly I was a little disappointed by this one.

The story spans across a couple of generations, starting just before World War 2, it kicks off when Melissa finds a postcard that was addressed to her late father, she wanted to find out the story behind the postcard.

Some of the characters were a little flat for me, I couldn’t really get into the story and after a while, I got very impatient that it didn’t get to the point. The build up fell very flat. The characters weren’t really believable and seemed very shallow.

Royally Screwed - Emma Chase

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This one was part of my summer holiday reading list that I made and boy, am I glad it made it on the list. I loved this quick read with characters that draw you into the story and makes you want to find out what will happen next in their story. It is a little like The Prince and Me, but I am not complaining. Word of warning, once you pick it up you can’t put it down.

Nicholas Pembrook is the Crown Prince of Wessco, he is charming and always gets what he wants, woman fall at his feet. Then one night he meets the dark-haired beauty who doesn’t fall at his feet. Olivia is a struggling business owner, with a pie restaurant that specialises in pies.

Their story isn’t just the normal, boy meets girl, and they fall in love and live happily ever after. There are quite a few bumps along the road.

I adored all the characters, except for Olivia’s father, I really don’t like him. I loved that Olivia wasn’t just this ditsy girl that will bow down, she was spunky and gutsy.