Read of the Month - September

I only managed to read six books this month which, for me, isn't very many, so I'm going to try and up my reading throughout October. Once again, I've read some really good books this month, but my read of the month for September has to be . . . Jane Lovering's Please Don't Stop The Music.

I absolutely loved this book from the very first page and ended up reading the entire thing in a little over a day. Please Don't Stop The Music was released back in February, while Jane's second book Star Struck (which I now can't wait to read!) was released in September, and I'm now wondering why I waited so long to read this one as I thought it was great.

The story flows really well and there's twists and turns galore - ones that I never saw coming at all, and which I loved because they were so surprising. There's also a great air of suspense built up as the story builds between two of the main characters, Jeminina and Ben. We know they both have big secrets that are hiding but we have nothing but a few odd hints and clues thrown in here and there to try and work out their secrets.

This is a really well written book with a great storyline and I now cam't wait to read more books by this author.

Other books that I read during August that are also worth checking out are:

* The Beach House by Lucy Diamond

* Seven Days One Summer by Kate Morris
* Wrapped Up In You by Carole Matthews

Festive Books

Once September rolls around, I always start thinking about Christmas, which, in turn, has got me thinking about what festive themed chick-lit books I hope to read in the lead up to the big day this year. This year, more than ever, there seems to be more of these type of books due for release than ever before.

Here are some of the ones I'm most looking forward to reading:

Carole Matthews - Wrapped Up In You 

Scarlett Bailey - The Night Before Christmas

Georgie Carter - The Perfect Christmas

One Minute to Midnight - Amy Silver

Cally Taylor - Home For Christmas

Ali Harris - Miracle On Regent Street

Miranda Dickinson - It Started With A Kiss

And that's just some of them! I'm sure I've missed plenty of others.

So, that's my list, but what festive themed chick-lit books are you most looking forward to reading over the coming months?

Read of the Month - August

At the end of every month I thought I'd post about my favourite read from that month. Now, I'm a few days late with this one, but here is my August Read of the Month:

During August I managed to read seven books, but my favourite of them all was Paige Toon's latest one, 'Baby Be Mine.' It's the follow up to 2008's Johnny Be Good and while plenty of her fans have been waiting for this follow up for some time, I'm a relatively new reader to Paige Toon's books and only read Johnny Be Good a few months ago so I didn't have long to wait.

I thought that Baby Be Mine was better than Johnny Be Good and I flew through it in the space of a day. I couldn't put it down and was desperate to know what was going to happen next! I love Paige Toon's writing style and always find that she has an uncanny way of making you feel like you are in the main character's shoes, feeling and thinking every little thing that they do. I won't spoil Baby Be Mine for those that are yet to read it, but let's just say it provides all the answers desired after the previous book and revisits lots of past characters and places as well as some new ones.

Paige's other novels are really good also. I haven't yet read Chasing Daisy, although it's sitting on my To Be Read pile of books, and Pictures of Lily and Lucy in the Sky are two of my favourite chick-lit reads! There's something about them that just really connect with me so I'm sure I'm going to enjoy Chasing Daisy just as much.

Other books that I read during August that are also worth checking out are:

* The Secrets Between Us by Louise Douglas

* Monday to Friday Man by Alice Peterson
* Taboo by Casey Hill

Social Networking

I have never been into social networking before, although, I have frequently visited the blogs and twitter accounts of many of the writers and book fans I am now following to see what they've been up to, I have never had an account or participated myself. Last week, however, I took the plunge and set up both this blog and a twitter account. I have read many times over the past year or so how social networking is a great tool for writers and readers to make themselves accessible to others and to discuss the things they have in common.

I'll admit I was dubious about joining twitter at first, thinking 'who an earth whould want to follow me?' I needn't have worried, though, as I soon gained a handful of followers, which made me feel a whole lot easier and comfortable with the process. So, thank you to all those that have followed me so far.

I am hoping to sort my blog out and add more content to it over the course of the new few weeks, so I hope you'll stick with it. And if you'd like to follow me on twitter, you can find me at: @amy_jayne_

Hello!

Hello and welcome to my blog.

I should probably start by telling you a little about myself. My name is Amy, I live in Suffolk, and am a big reader. I mostly read chick-lit books, although I do like to read a crime novel from time to time and I have been known to dip into fantasy novels too.

I write a bit too. More for fun than anything else though. I got started at the beginning of the year when I was diagnosed with costochondritis. For those who don't know what costochondritis is, it's when the cartilage around the ribs and the sternum become inflamed, causing much pain and discomfort. On average, costochondritis will affect sufferers for 6-8 weeks, however, seven months on, I still very much suffer from the condition. In pain and at a loss as to what to do to get myself through it, I decided to write, and it really helped me through it and I actually found it quite therpautic.

So that's a little about me. I'm not too sure what this blog is going to be about yet, but I hope you stick with it, it might be fun!