I'm Philippa, 24, and I'm from London.
but basically the entire last 3 months were me trying to get through A Feast for Crows. Some high points, but I just cannot care that much about a book which is half composed of Greyjoys and contains no Tyrion or Daenerys. Splitting the characters in half was not a good move in my opinion, though we’ll see how successful that was after the next book. The big event near the end that I won’t spoil for anyone who hasn’t read it was satisfying though!
I’m using the bookmark that Laala bought for me in the Words Bookstore Café in Bahrain. This makes me happy.
Currently reading. Book #50 of the year is Heft by Liz Moore. So far, living up to the hype.
Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Babysitting again. The child is asleep so I’m reading The Woman Who Died a Lot and watching The X Factor. Being paid to do exactly what I’d be doing at home is a definite win. I still haven’t found ANY books in their home though!
And this is a good number, as it was the target I set myself at the start of the year. To celebrate, I’m asking you to nominate a book for me to read as my 52nd. If there is a consensus then I will buy the winning book, if there are many different suggestions with no winner I will look at them all and make a decision. I will definitely (within reason… If it’s ridiculously expensive or impossible to get hold of I can’t) read the winning book.
You have always given me such wonderful suggestions so I’m excited to see what is suggested. It can be any genre etc, I’m open to anything. So if you can reply with a book title, or drop me a message in my ask, it would be amazing!
Just had a bizarre yet lovely conversation with two guys at Waterloo station who were freaked out that I’m at exactly the same place in exactly the same book as the girlfriend of one of them. The conversation was peppered with double bluffs and false stories from them as they had both finished the series so far.
I have been told that Robin Hobb’s series should be next on my reading list.
My teary self will tell you that, with hindsight, it was probably not such a good idea to read the second half of this book on the train.
I went to see Jasper Fforde speak at Foyles for the launch of his newest book in the Thursday Next series, The Woman Who Died a Lot last Monday. He is an author who I admire very much and writes very funny, very readable books. I had seen him speak before on the release of the previous Thursday Next novel, One of Our Thursdays is Missing and both times he showed that he is an captivating speaker who invites audience participation and can tell an amazing story about anything. He told a story about having been Mayor of Swindon for about 5 minutes and had the room in stitches.
I was near the end of a very long queue of people to get their books signed after he spoke and he still approached each person as though they were the first person he had met of the day.
I also got to catch up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time over a few glasses of wine which ended a very lovely day.
