January Reading Wrap Up

So it's somehow the end of the first month of 2015 already. Where did the time go?! Altogether I managed to read six books this month which is a fairly decent number for me. I decided at the beginning of the year that I wasn't going to set myself any reading targets as I just want to enjoy reading at whatever pace comes naturally to each book. Next month I might read ten or I might read two, but this month it was six.

I kicked off the year with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, the story of a girl who is whisked away to save the inhabitants of Fairyland. Having heard so many people rave over this book I could hardly wait to delve into it as soon as I could. However, it was just a little too 'out there' and weird for me and I didn't really enjoy it for the most part. I then picked up Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, another fantasy novel, but one that has it roots planted more firmly in the human world (I have heard it referred to as Harry Potter for adults, you can make up your own mind about that!). Though entertaining in parts it just didn't do enough to really hold my attention for long so it took me almost a fortnight to get through it (which actually isn't bad considering it's a whopper of a book - over 1000 pages!). To allow myself some time away from this beast, I also read The 39 Steps by John Buchan (sadly I don't own a copy of this as I read it on Google Books at work) and Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson. These were two very quick and easy reads and were by far my favourite books of the month. They were both so much fun; my heart was in my mouth for the majority of Buchan's thriller, whilst Miss Pettigrew was a more light-hearted affair that managed to make me smile despite the wind and rain outside. So after a shaky start to the month, all seemed to be going well.

Then I picked up To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

I. HATED. THIS. BOOK!

Nothing I've ever read has caused me such pain and frustration! If it had been much longer then I certainly would have just put it down and forgotten about it, but at just over 200 pages I thought I'd persevere. I tried to get my head around the 'stream-of-consciousness' writing style, but I just never managed to connect with it and, although I hate to admit it, I did skim the last section of the book in order to get it done and out of the way. Eugh *shudders*

Finally, off the back of a recommendation from my mom, I read Headlong by Michael Frayn, the story of a man who believes he has discovered a missing artistic masterpiece in his neighbour's breakfast room. This was a massive step up from To The Lighthouse - it had an actual plot for a start - but it unfortunately let itself down in the middle where it almost morphed into an academic essay on the history of art and the Netherlands!

So that was January! I'd love to know if anyone else has read any of these books and what you thought of them if you did. Should I turn my back on Virginia Woolf and never let her darken my bookshelf again? What else have people been reading?

And, most importantly, what should I read next?!

Lou x