My To-Read List!

Happy New Year!  To all my fellow book lovers I wish you health, happiness and lots of fabulous reading for 2016!

I started the year by looking at all the books that I intended to read in 2015 and didn’t get around to.  As I am now book reviewing for http://www.writing.ie as well as for my own blog, I found a lot of my time  was taken up with reading books sent to me by some very kind publishers.  This year I know I will have to prioritize.  Life is definitely too short to read a book you have no interest in, so I will be a lot more selective in 2016.

I have 4 categories of books to read in 2016:

1. Book to read for review.
2. Books to read for my own blog.
3. Books to read for pleasure.
4. Books to read for research purposes for the novel I am writing.

Here is the list of books I meant to read last year which is where I hope to begin (see photo above and below!):

The Revenant by Michael Puke.   A tale of revenge, soon to be released as a film starring Leonardo Di Caprio.

The Blue Tango by Eoin McNamee.  “A darkly lyric narrative of White Mischief in Post-War Ireland.”  I am reading this for research purposes.

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien.  Her finest novel to date according to Philip Roth.  I cannot wait!

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell.  A writer I have been meaning to read for a long time.  This one’s for pure pleasure!

Summertime by Vanessa Lafaye.  Meant to read this one ages ago…never enough time!  Set in Florida in 1935, it is a fictionalised account of one of the most devastating natural disasters in US history.

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo.  A Zimbabwean writer described as having a ‘powerful, authentic, nihilistic voice’ this debut novel has received rave reviews.   As I spent the first 10 years of my life full time in Zambia, this one is of great interest.

The Last Empress by Anchee Min.  I read the prequel to this, which was called Empress Orchid, a good few years ago, but I never forgot its power.  When I saw this follow up, I couldn’t resist.  Also can’t wait to read this one!

The Novel Habits of Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith.  He has been one of my favourite writers since I started reading about Precious Ramotswe, his ladies detective series.  I also love this series set in Edinburgh.  Pure pleasure reading.

So, what do you think of my list?  Have you already read any of them?  Do any of them tickle your fancy?  Which one (s) would you consider reading?

Pray tell, I am agog to hear your thoughts!