Lara’s 100-book challenge

Lara Edwards has decided to challenge herself this year and work on a personal goal by attempting to review books that she has read via her local library, as she has set herself a 100-book challenge on Goodreads and here on the Bookylicious website. This is a blog documenting her reading experiences and reviews of a mix of literary genres over 2022. Feel free to join her literary adventure via Bookylicious on our various social media platforms.

To begin my year of reading and to end the 2021s challenge. I could not resist A Poet for Every Day of the Year by Allie Esiri as her previous poetry collections have been wonderful additions to my bookshelf and would definitely be a beautiful addition to anyone’s book collection. Even though I confess it is difficult for me to read just one of these marvellous poems once a day, what is particularly enjoyable about this anthology is its layout, which provides detail about the poet featured such as the time period in which they lived, making it a wonderful, insightful collection to dip into and enjoy whether you are new to poetry or a poetry fan, and I would thoroughly recommend a copy; also it would be a marvellous book gift.

My second read of the year is the brilliant historical fiction novel that is Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman, which immediately interested me with its truly stunning cover that intrigued me into picking it up. This book is a thrilling, beautiful read with its brilliant storytelling that manages to combine Greek mythology with Georgian London: definitely a must-read for any fans of Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent. With its engaging characters and clever storytelling, this book kept me hooked to the very end with its mystery and suspense, with its fantastic world-building, great characters and interesting use of point of view between three of the characters. This was a superb writing debut.

My third read is Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd by Jonas Jonasson, a popular Swedish author with many successful novels. I was looking forward to another fantastic read and an enjoyable crime caper adventure story and was eager to enjoy a brilliant story. Unfortunately, unlike previous books that I have thoroughly enjoyed by this author, I did not warm to this story at all. One of the major issues with this book is its erratic pacing and flat characters that make it difficult to read and enjoy without the usual detail and lightness that make his books so enjoyable, making this book difficult and un-engaging to read as it lacks the usual finesse of his other popular stories.

My fourth read was Feathertide by Beth Cartwright. This was a book that I did not know what to expect as it was a recommendation, but this was a truly engaging, beautiful fantasy story and a stunning debut novel. Our female protagonist, Mara, lives in a brothel hidden away from the rest of the world with her own set of feathers; she has always known that there are secrets that she does not know the answers to, so she sets out to find them. She feels that despite the care that she is given she does not feel like she belongs there, and so when she turns eighteen she decides to set off to the City of Murmurs, to find her father in the city where he met Mara’s mother. This book caught my eye by chance and I’m so glad that it did: a wonderful debut fantasy novel that was very enjoyable, with lots of beautifully detailed descriptions with some fantastic use of similes. With its interesting use of first-person perspective and the use of a child’s voice, it is particularly effective at helping to weave a spellbinding narrative of adventure, mystery and wonder, making it a wonderful story to enjoy.

My fifth book is Thomas Hardy: The Time-torn Man by Claire Tomalin. This is the first biography by Claire Tomalin that I have read, and a very detailed historical account of his life which was interesting to read as I have not read all the books but mostly his poetic works. Unfortunately, as a character Hardy is not very likeable as a person and seems to mistreat his loved ones dreadfully. I would, however, like to read her other biographies about other people of interest.

The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes is a wonderful non-fiction book that explores the lands of England, which definitely taught me some new things that I did not previously know. This is a fascinating read full of history and geography: a wonderful exploration of the land, well researched with personal anecdotes and an exploration of the lands of the UK. A vast range of topics are covered during individual explorations of trespassing, with folklore stories involved as well. Definitely made my curiosity peak and a thoroughly enjoyable, informative read.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I confess that this book has been on my to-read list for quite some time, but with its thousand pages comes a great commitment; although familiar with the film, it pales in comparison to the novel. This is an epic story and a rightful American classic, a story of another time that is uncompromising, gritty and extremely compelling; this is another time, with different behaviours from each gender and the consequences of war. At the centre of this is Scarlett O’Hara, possibly one of the most self-absorbed characters in literature; however, I do admire her grit and resilience as she is very different from the rest of the Southern belles around her, making her a formidable character. A brilliant piece of literature with memorable characters, technically flawless and a rip-roaring adventure that will reduce you to tears with its tragedy.

Bunny by Mona Awad. I still do not know how to explain this book after being completely bewildered and enchanted by its story. Bunny is a hell of a story, with its ’90s craft vibes mixed with Donnie Darko and a real imagination fest. This is set in a liberal arts college, where everything is definitely not as it seems when Samantha gets invited to join the cool kids that she despises. With intriguing characters and a true ‘you do not know what to expect’, it is horrifying, brilliant and often hilariously written, even if its dialogue can be at times headache inducing and somewhat jarring to follow the prose.

The Snow Song by Sally Gardner. A fierce feminist fairytale and folklore that held me absolutely spellbound from start to finish: beautiful prose and a story of light and darkness, with fierce female characters with storytelling that fight against the patriarchal elders of the snowy, isolated village in which they live. This story is about a community in the 1800s where life is controlled by religion and superstition, and how Edith, who is voiceless, is empowered into having her voice. Spellbinding, dark and utterly brilliant: a delightful story to indulge in on a cold winter’s night.

Middlemarch by George Eliot. This was my first time reading Middlemarch for the book group that I am part of, and I was seriously blown away by this classic as this book was always on my classic to-read list. This is definitely, without doubt, one of the most engrossing books written in the English language; although a lengthy read at 900 pages, this book is a fantastic exploration of insights into every possible nineteenth-century topic and how you learn about yourself while you learn about the characters.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. I haven’t read The Fellowship of the Ring for a good few years, and when I did I confess I was not entirely invested in the story, so I was delighted to read it for a fantasy book club that I co-run. There is so much to enjoy within this story and it is an absolute pleasure to read.

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. I was loaned this book by a friend as I usually prefer to have read a book to accompany a TV series. Although this book has all the ingredients for a great fantasy book, I just could not gel with this book with its extremely cliched plotlines that reminded me far too much of Tolkien, so even the original ideas did not sway me. My issue is a lot of the characters that are involved are just the death of this book, as it started off so promising but I could not bear to keep reading.