52 Books in 52 Weeks WRAP UP.

What an amazing experience it has been to do the '52 Books in 52 Weeks' Challenge.

I came up with the idea after stumbling upon a random blog that still exist somewhere in the great expanse of the internet-verse. Some random bloke was reading 52 books and it struck my interest immediately. Then I found Robin's blog here at Blogger and the rest is history.

It has been an amazing experience and hopefully I have learned as lot as a struggling ( maniac) writer.

Robin has posted these questions on her website.



Did you reach the goal of 52 books or did you manage to beat your own personal best?


I reached 60 and it is my personal record.



What book are you ending the year with?


Feisty Fido by Patricia B McConnel and Karen B London.


Did you discover a new author or genre? Did you love them or hate them?

I discovered Young Adult Fiction and surprisingly I like it. I also discovered lots of authors !


Did you challenge yourself to read more non fiction if prefer fiction or more fiction if you prefer non fiction?

Yes I read mainly fiction but I included a few non fiction books and I hope to do the same next year. Maybe more.


Did you read from a list or wing it?

I just kind of winged it and built up a collection of books as I went along.


How many classics did you read? What did you think of the writing style or author?


I read eight books that I suppose are looked upon as classics. Some were easier to read than other !


Name one book that you thought you'd never read and was pleasantly surprised you like it.


That's got to be 'The gatecrasher' by Sophie Kinsella ! I never thought i'd read chic lit but it was surprisingly ok ! Full of terrible spelling mistakes though !


What are your top ten favorite books?


My ten favourites of the year, all great books.


1 December - Elizabeth H Winthrop

2 Jamrach's Menagerie - Carol Birch

3 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

4 The Long Walk - Richard Bachman ( Stephen King)

5 One Foot wrong - Sophie Laguna

6 The Birth of Love - Joanna Kavenna

7 Sam's letters to Jennifer - James Patterson

8 The Girl on the Landing - Paul Torday

9 Stephen King - On writing ( A Memoir)

10 Stop Me - Richard Jay Parker



What are your ten least favorite books?


Roughly with my least favourite at the top !


1 MacBeth - William Shakespear

2 The All-Inclusive christ - Witness Lee

3 Complete Poems - Elizabeth Bishop

4 The Runes workbook - Leon Wild

5 Bloody River Blues - Jeffery Deaver

6 The Delinquents - Criena Rohan

7 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday

8 Northern Lights - Philip Pullman

9 Haematology at a Glance - Mehta and Hoftbrand

10 Rage - Richard Bachman ( Stephen King)



Did you start any books that you just simply couldn't finish?

I felt like it a few times but I hung on.


What did you think of the mini challenges and did you join in or complete any?

I thought they were a fantastic idea and I think I took part in a few of them but not at the right time !


Did your family join in on the fun?

Nope. But my wife has started to read a lot more , so perhaps I have been a good influence. Maybe I will add some of her books onto my TBR pile when she's not looking. But seriously, Vampire Diaries !! lol



How many books have you added to your wishlist since the beginning of the year?

I have accumulated quite a TBR pile. Enough to keep me going. A mixture of real books, audio books, kindle books and library books.


What was your favorite thing about the challenge?

I just loved the whole thing and it's one of the best things I have done. I loved discovering different authors and different genres. I loved reading other people's reviews and meeting a few new friends along the way.

Hopefully it has also helped me as a writer to give me a better understanding of what makes a good book.

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I also discovered Twitter along the way and have found some great new authors there, something I wasn't expecting when I started. I have also received some great feedback from a few authors following my reviews and have even been sent an autographed book by the lovely Joanna Kavenna ( Thankyou ) as well as a few nice emails.

I have learned that thrillers aren't really my cup of tea ( but maybe next year I will change my mind) and I've also learned that I find Librivox audios extremely annoying ! I have also found that literary fiction ( can you call them non Genre books ?) have been my favourite this year.

Next year I hope to start all over again. I hope to discover some new genres (Graphic Novels, Autobiographies ?) and read more romance perhaps, humour and maybe another chic lit !


Mainly though I hope to continue writing and breathing, in that order.



My complete book list in order from the first to the last.


1 The Keys to Hell - Jack Higgins
2 The Time Travellers Wife - Audrey Niffenegger.
3 Portrait of the artist as a young dog - Dylan Thomas
4 The Runes workbook - Leon D Wild
5 Emma - Jane Austen
6 Northern Lights - Philip Pullman
7 The Ghosts of Sleath - James Herbert
8 The Whisperers - John Connolly
9 Stephen king - On Writing ( A Memoir)
10 Inconceivable - Ben Elton

11 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
12 Macbeth - William Shakespear
13 Sam's Letters to Jennifer - James Patterson
14 Lord of the Flies - William Goulding
15 The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
16 Doors open - Ian Rankin
17 The Spire - Richard North Patterson
18 The Owl Tree - Jenny Nimmo
19 The Time Machine - H G Wells
20 Rage - Richard Bachman

21 Haematology at a Glance - Mehta and Hoftbrand
22 The Long Walk - Richard Bachman
23 The Delinquents - Criena Rohan
24 The All-Inclusive Christ - Witness Lee
25 Dead Like You - Peter James
26 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
27 Blood Stained Kings - Tim Willocks
28 The Girl on the Landing - Paul Torday
29 Walking the Tree - Kaaron Warren
30 The Phone Goes Dead - Anthony Horowitz

31 The Birth of Love - Joanna Kavenna
32 Stop Me - Richard Jay Parker
33 The Secret Garden ( Audio Book) - Frances Hodgson
34 Paranormality - Professor Richard Wiseman
35 Equal Rights - Terry Pratchett
36 One Foot wrong - Sofie Laguna
37 Bloody River Blues - Jeffery Deaver
38 Roadwork - Richard Bachman
39 Complete Poems - Elizabeth Bishop
40 Sex With Dead People - David Allan Barker ( E Book)

41 The Gatecrasher - Sophie Kinsella
42 Sweet Savage Charity ( E Book) - Margaret Lake
43 Angels and demons - Dan Brown
44 Forbidden Mind ( E Book)- Kimberley Kinrade
45 Jamrach's Menagerie - Carol Birch
46 An Inspector Calls - J B Priestley
47 Meditation for Beginners - Jack Kornfield
48 Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King
49 The Small Hand - Susan Hill
50 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday

51 The Hobbit - J R R Tolkien
52 December - Elizabeth H Winthrop
53 A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
54 The Running Man - Richard Bachman
55 The Green Odyssey ( Audio Book) - Philip Jose Farmer
56 The Dead - David Gatward
57 Dark Rivers of the Heart - Dean Koontz
58 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
59 Photography - Peter Cattrel


60 Feisty Fido - Patricia McConnell and Karen B London