2014 Year Wrap Up.

Yes it is that time of the year again to look back at all the fantastic books that have been released and a time where I take a step back to look and see how my joy of reading and a personal blog to keep track of the books I have read has now been a branch to reach out to others and share books we enjoy. I never expected when I started this blog to have any followers it was purely for my own reasons ( mainly to stop buying the same book over again!) as to why I set the blog up but I now have to pinch myself as I feel so lucky to have made some great bookish friends some of who I was lucky enough to actually meet ( yes my little bookworms are real people!) and my biggest high light of the year has been to overcome my nerves slightly and actually manage to get the chance to meet some amazing authors. So before I start the wrap up I want to say the BIGGEST  thank you to all of my followers as without your support my blog would not be what it is today you are all AMAZEBALLS!

Top 5 Books 

In at number 1 is the amazing The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman. I have read 120 books this year and this was one of the first books I read and yet I can still remember it as though I read it yesterday. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time as it was such a poignant, beautifully written book that had me in tears. I have not stopped recommending this book throughout the year and it is one of the few books that has actually made it to my bookshelf. If you missed my review ( I'm not sure how as I shouted it from the roof tops!) then click HERE

In at number 2 is The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown, this was by far my favourite Christmas book this year and also my favourite book by Alexandra Brown. This was such a comforting feel good read set in a quirky little village with such a warm lovable group of characters, a book full of community spirit. I really hope we see a follow up to this book in 2015. Take a look at my review by clicking HERE

In at number 3 is The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop, this was a breathtaking read that was so well researched and a captivating read which sparked my interest in the Ghost Town again after all these years. The descriptive writing style really had me hooked on this book and for those whom I have recommended this book to they have all remarked on what a gripping read it is. Check out my review by clicking HERE.

In at number 4 is The Teashop on the Corner by Milly Johnson, is it wrong that this is one of my big memories from my honeymoon this year! This is my favourite Milly Johnson book so far. I longed to be sitting in the Teashop with these wonderful characters and the tantalising bookish gifts. This book was fun, uplifting but also an emotional journey too. Check out my review by clicking HERE.

In at number 5 if The Separation by Dinah Jefferies, I have never felt a characters desperation so much as I did in this book a mothers desperation to find her children and a child's desperation for her mother, this one is a tense read that shows a woman's journey to find her children and will pull at your heartstrings. This is a remarkable debut and I long to see what else this author has in store for us. Check out my review by clicking HERE.

This was so hard to whittle down to only 5 this year as there were some other amazing debuts especially from Jo Thomas with Oyster Catcher and Tina Seskis with One Step Too Far which had the biggest twist of the year! There was also some amazing books that pulled at my heartstrings such as One Step Closer To You by the amazing Alice Peterson and also A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon. Of course we all need a book to make us laugh to and this for me was A Proper Family Holiday by Chrissie Manby.

Out and About

I finally plucked up the courage this year to attend my first author publication event. It seemed fitting that the author who first interacted with me about my reviews and gave me the confidence to push forward with my reviews was the first author event that I attended so you can imagine my pure excitement at the chance of meeting the talented and much respected Rowan Coleman for her publication of The Memory Book.

I had such a wonderful evening and this is the second highlight of my year ( I suppose it is only right to put my Wedding Day first!) This will be a time that I will always remember with a big smile on my face and a day that I will cherish my first meeting of an author and one of my favourites at that so thank you to Rowan and her publishers at Ebury for making my dream come true! You can read more about my time at The Memory Book Publication Event by clicking HERE.

I also attended Penguins Woman's Fiction Event earlier this month again I was a bag of nerves but this was yet another brilliant evening and it was a joy to meet so many talented authors some whose books I have enjoyed over the last few years and some whose debut's where released this year. We came away with a bag full of books which I am slowly working my way through so thank you to the lovely book fairies at Penguin for my invite and for the books! I managed to chat to the lovely Lucy Robinson again after I had briefly met her at Rowan's book launch and I couldn't believe she remembered little old me!

 To see more of my evening at Penguin check out my post by clicking Here

It has been a great year being able to meet so many wonderful authors and their publishers and although they still test my nerves in a big way they are definitely worth it. Not only have I had the opportunity to meet amazing authors but I finally got the chance to meet more book lovers like myself who held my hand at both events! So a big thank you to 

Amanda at One More Page

Anne at Random Things Through My Letterbox

Karen at My Reading Corner

Laura at Laura's Little Book Blog

Zarina at Page To Stage Reviews

Claire Frost for Fabulous Magazine

Bronagh at Handwritten Girl

Laura at Chick Lit Love

I hope we are lucky enough to meet at events in 2015 and I look forward to meeting more bloggers next year we need a big blogger meet!

What will 2015 bring?

I have already been looking at some of the books we have coming to us in 2015 so it looks set to be another great year for us readers. I am getting ready to set my Goodreads reading challenge and I think this year I will up my usual goal of 100 to 120 I think this is going to be a challenge as I have no holiday planned for this year so I will rely on reading around work at the salon, what will your reading goal be for 2015?

This year will also see my 4 year blogversary so I am going to start getting some book goodies and book posts ready for this milestone for you all to take part in.

I will also be offering more giveaways this year and now that I have found out that Book Depository ships worldwide I will be offering more international giveaways for all my lovely followers overseas to take part in.

This year I managed to reach 3000 Twitter Followers ( still not sure how I managed this, I ramble about books and chocolate too much!) I am now at over 3600 followers so it would be great if I made it to 4000 in my 4th year blogging so hopefully this will be another bumper giveaway to plan for too fingers crossed.

So this is it my final post of 2014! 

Once again I would like to thank all you wonderful followers

I hope my reviews have helped you to find some fabulous reads this year. Thank you to all of you who have recommended my blog to friends and who take the time to comment on the blog or re-tweet my reviews 

Thank You , Thank You, Thank You!

Also a massive thank you to all the authors and Publishers who have sent me books to review for this year as much as I love reading my bank balance doesn't like me reading so you have helped in a big way!

I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.

xXx REA xXx