Musing Mondays is a weekly event hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Each week MizB asks a book related question and bloggers answer with their thoughts about the given topic. This week’s musings asks:

Are there any “raved reads” – books that everyone seems to be talking about– that you’re hoping to get read this year yourself? What books are they and why are you hoping to read them? Is it because you want to say you’ve read it? Or, would you have chosen to read it, even if you’d discovered it yourself, and no one was raving about it?

Oh, I love this one! And the answer is yes, there are lots of books that everyone’s talking about and I’m hoping to read this year. The thing is, living in small country in Eastern Europe means that our local book shops doesn’t have a wide range of books written in English. Especially not from the YA fiction range. So most books I see or add to my wishlist come from recommendations from friends, Goodreads or Blogger. Anyway, there are lots of books I’ve heard about and want to read. Some of them are books I would have read if I saw them in store but some of them are definitely not. For example, The Scorpio Races, The Hunger Games trilogy or Anna Dressed in Blood are books I’m not sure I would have picked up in a book shop but I can’t wait to read them now. The same applies to certain genres as well – normally I wouldn’t have read paranormal or dystopian books, for example. But ever since I started blogging, I constantly find myself wanting to read books I wouldn’t have read before – partly because I want to know what the hype is about and because I’d like to expand my horizons.

How about you? Are there any raved books you’re hoping to read this year? Feel free to leave a comment below! x x x

The one I’m reading right now is Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence. It’s been great so far and I’m looking forward to finding out more! The next one is probably going to be a review copy since I’m way behind with those too.

Recovering from amnesia, Dr. Arthur Calgary discovers that he alone could have provided an alibi in a scandalous murder trial. It ended in the conviction of Jacko Argyle. The victim was Jacko’s own mother, and to make matters worse, he died in prison. But the young man’s innocence means that someone else killed the Argyle matriarch, and would certainly kill again to remain in the shadows. Shaded in the moral ambiguity of murder, the provocative psychological puzzler of guilt, vengeance, and blood secrets is among Agatha Christie’s personal favorites.

How about you? What are you reading for the new year? Feel free to leave a comment below with a link to your own Musing Mondays post or your answer. Have a great day x x x

Hohohoho, you know this one, right? Being a massive Agatha Christie fan, I always recommend And Then There Were None to everyone. Seriously, it’s incredible.

Ten…’ Ten Strangers are lured to an isolated mansion off the Devon coast by a mysterious ‘U.N.Owen’. 

‘Nine…’ At dinner a recorded message accuses each of them in turn of having a guilty secret, and by the end of the night one of the guests is dead.

‘Eight…’ Stranded by a violent storm, and haunted by an ancient nursery rhyme counting down one by one… as one by one… they begin to die. 

‘Seven…’ Which amongst them is the killer and will any of them survive?

How about you? What’s your pick? Feel free to leave a comment below with a link to your own Musing Mondays post or your answer. Have a nice day folks! xxx

Musing Mondays is a weekly event hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Each week MizB asks a book related question and bloggers answer with their thoughts about the given topic.

This week’s question was:

How many books do you read in a week? Month? Year?

I usually read 1 or 2 books per week and somewhere between 3 and 8 books per month, depending on how much time I have. I go to university and I’m about to start working on my thesis so I don’t have that much time at the moment, unfortunately. That’s another reason why I’m looking forward to the summer holidays. No classes, no essays to be done, more time for reading.

In the meantime, I read whenever I can, usually on my days off, in the evening or before going to bed. I’m quite sure I won’t be able to read as much as I used to when I start writing my thesis but I’ll try. ) I just can’t wait to finish it and get back to reading and blogging.

How about you, how many books do you read on average? Feel free to leave a comment below with your answer or with a link to your own Musing Mondays post. I hope everyone had a great weekend! xxx

Musing Mondays is a weekly event hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Each week MizB asks a book related question and bloggers answer with their thoughts about the given topic.

This week’s question was:

Will you be buying books for the holidays, this year? If so, for whom, and why?

Yes I will! I’ve already bought two books for two friends of mine but I’ll probably buy another one for my mum as well. Friend number one is going to get Marian Keyes’s The Brightest Star in the Sky because we have a very similar taste in books and I know for certain that she’s not familiar with either this book or Marian herself. Friend number two, as known as Nat from Besotted with Books has already got her early Christmas present, that is, Agatha Christie’s A Pocket Full of Rye. Why this one? Well, *cough* I’m trying to convert her, Bex and April to being Agatha Christie fans, haha! *cough* Just kidding. I recommended her a Christie book a couple of weeks ago and she really enjoyed it, so I thought she might enjoy this one too. As for my mum, she’s going to get Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making. She loves Christie so I’m sure she’d love it.

As for myself, I usually get book vouchers for Christmas so despite the fact that I’m completely broke, I think I’ll be able to get one or two books for myself as well. We’ll see.

How about you, are you planning to buy books for the holidays? Feel free to leave a comment below with a link to your own Musing Mondays post. I hope everyone had a great weekend! xxx

Musing Mondays is a weekly event hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Each week MizB asks a book related question and bloggers answer with their thoughts about the given topic.

How do you decide to read a book by an author you haven’t read before? What sort of recommendations count most highly in making that decision?

Oh, that’s a good one. A lot of times I go by recommendations from the authors I love the most. For example, after I read The Brightest Star in the Sky, I read a few interviews with Marian Keyes where she told the readers which authors she likes the most, who inspired her, that sort of thing. And naturally, I checked them out. My second source for recommendations is Goodreads. I love the fact that they recommend you books based on what you added to your shelf and they’re divided into categories based on genre. I usually flick through these recommendations once in a while. Having said that, the deciding factor for me is the genre and the blurb. It doesn’t matter how many people say it’s a brilliant book if it belongs to a genre I don’t like = I won’t read it, even if it’s a great book. If I happen to be in a bookshop and there’s no one there with me to recommend a good read then I’ll decide based on the blurb.

How about you? Feel free to leave a comment below with a link to your own Musing Mondays post. Have a nice day! xxx

Musing Mondays is a weekly event hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. Each week MizB asks a book related question and bloggers answer with their thoughts about the given topic.

This week’s question:

Are you currently collecting any authors? Why?
Do you have all of their books? If not, why not?
Did you buy all the books in the collection at the same time, or did you buy a book here, a book there? Have you actually read all of the collection? If not, why not?

I do! When I was younger, I collected Meg Cabot’s books – not because I wanted to actually collect something but because I loved (and still love) her. I didn’t buy all of her books, however. I have about 10 or 12 Meg Cabot books but I didn’t have enough time or money to buy the rest.

I also collect Sophie Kinsella‘s books – I have all of her books and I love them all. I’ve read the whole Shopaholic series and all of her standalone novels, except for Twenties Girl which is still on my bookshelf and is waiting to be read sometime during 2012.

I also collect Marian Keyes‘ books (surprise, surprise) but I only have 5 books in the collection so far!I’ve read them all except for the fifth one which I only bought about a week ago.

Also, one of my biggest dreams is to collect and read all of Agatha Christie‘s books – I know it sounds crazy considering the fact that she has about a hundred novels/short stories, but I already own 22 and I read them all except for 2 books I think. So slowly but surely we’re getting there.

How about you? Do you collect any authors? Feel free to leave a comment below with a link to your own Musing Mondays post. Have a nice day! xxx