Book vs. Adaptation | Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

This is sort of a new feature I'd like to start on my blog - though I'm not sure how regular it'll be! - where I talk about a book adaptation. I love book adaptations, I love watching interviews with directors and producers and costume designers and actors and finding out how a particular adaptation has been put together, and why it is the way it is. Why were those actors chosen? Why do the costumes look like that? Why did the director choose to include those scenes and not others?

Last month I finally finished, and loved, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, and a few days later I decided to watch the 2005 BBC adaptation starring Sally Hawkins and Elaine Cassidy.

If you want to hear my thoughts on the book, you can check out my review here!

The adaptation is around 3 hours long, and was originally aired in two 90 minute episodes. 

What struck me most about this adaptation is that it was cast very well. Sally Hawkins is something of a period drama veteran - she portrayed Anne Elliot in the 2007 adaptation of Persuasion and Mrs. Reed in the 2011 adaptation of Jane Eyre - so I was sure her portrayal of Sue would be perfect, but it was Elaine Cassidy who really blew me away. I wasn't sure what to expect from her, but I thought her portrayal of Maud was perfect.

The costumes and colour tones throughout gave it a very period drama feel, which I loved. It almost felt like I could be watching an adaptation of an Elizabeth Gaskell novel, not a novel written in the 21st century.

It has to be said that the adaptation wasn't as good as the book, in fact I was a little disappointed with it. This could partly be because I was so looking forward to watching it once I'd finished the book - let's face it, hype never makes adaptations better, does it? - but the adaptation was lacking something that I could never quite put my finger on. 

If you're interested in this story, I can't stress enough how vital it is that you read the book before you watch the adaptation because the book will blow you away in ways I don't think the adaptation ever could. It certainly gave it its best shot - it's not a bad adaptation - and perhaps if I hadn't read the book I would have found it more dramatic than it felt, but for the most part the adaptation felt a little subdued. The book isn't exactly a loud book, if that makes any sense, but it's certainly lively and there's no doubting Waters' skill as a storyteller. If you find yourself watching it, look out for Waters' brief cameo!

So Fingersmith isn't a bad adaptation, and I'm sure I'll watch it again, but I definitely recommend reading the book before you do anything else. I'm not sure if I would have understood certain parts of the adaptation if I hadn't already read the book, and it's a fantastic read.

Review | Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

My Rating: 

No one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals. Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer." Mrs. Sucksby’s household also hosts a transient family of petty thieves--fingersmiths--for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives--Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, they all will share in Maud’s vast inheritance. 

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to regret her decision.

I'm not entirely sure how to begin this review. I've been wanting to read Fingersmith for the longest time and I just never got around to it. Then, last Christmas, I got the BBC adaptation on DVD and I'd heard great things about it as an adaptation, but there was no way I was going to watch it before I'd read the book. That might be one of the best literary decisions I've ever made, because if nothing else this book is an experience.

If I told you I started this book in March and finished it in August, you'd probably assume it was a bad book, but the truth is I just wanted to savour it. I easily could have read it in two or three days, but I wanted to drag it out and keep that suspense going, because this is the twistiest, turniest book I have ever read. I don't like to blow my own horn, but I'm pretty good at guessing what's going to happen in books and films, but this book blew me away. There's more than one big twist, and when the first one happened I was sat in bed sucking all the air from the room into my lungs I was that shocked. I wanted to talk to someone about it, but it was three in the morning.

If that's not the sign of a good book, then I don't know what is.

I loved everything about this book. I loved the setting, I loved the way it was written, and I loved the characters. Sue has quickly become a favourite of mine - I thought she was lovely and honest, despite being a thief, and one of those characters I just wanted to hug. It took me a little longer to warm to Maud because I wasn't sure what to make of her, but that's one of the things I love about Sarah Waters; she doesn't write characters, she writes people. Maud is complex and honest in a different way - perhaps brutally so - and I think the relationship between her and Sue is one of the best romances I've read in a while.

If you're unfamiliar with Sarah Waters, she primarily writes historical fiction with LGBT* characters at the centre, which is fantastic. What I love about the way she writes, though, is that the books are never about sexuality, at least not in the obvious sense; she doesn't write books about people coming to terms with their sexuality, she writes about relationships in the same way that heterosexual relationships are written about. When a woman falls in love with a man, she doesn't have to come out as straight. She isn't met with questions like: 'are you sure you're straight? Maybe it's just a phase', and Waters doesn't do that to her characters either.

I can't recommend this book enough. Whether you like historical fiction or not, give it a try. Sarah Waters might specialise in historical queer fiction, but they're never history books or books about being queer, they're books about ordinary people, like you and me, with extraordinary stories.

This Week in Books | 22/07/15

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

Now

This week I finally decided to give Jane Austen a second chance. I was first introduced to Austen when I was eighteen and I had to study Persuasion, and I loathed it. After that I was convinced I just didn't like Austen, and though I've been wanting to try her again for a year or so it's difficult to let go of feelings of such contempt, however ill-founded they might be. But as her books are all free on the kindle, I've been reading Northanger Abbey on my way to and from work because it was the one book of hers that sounded most up my alley. I'm enjoying it so far, as much as it pains eighteen year old me to say! I do still struggle with her writing in places - she uses so many commas that sometimes by the time I've gotten to the end of a sentence I've forgotten how it began - but this time around I have found her pretty funny.

I'm also slowly making my way through Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I'm enjoying them both, it's just taking me a while to read them because I always use my kindle on my way to and from work, and when I get home from work I try to write rather than read.

Then

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Everything, Everything from NetGalley, and I read it in two sittings. I easily could have read it in one if I hadn't started it in the evening when I was tired. I don't read contemporary all that often, but I usually enjoy it when I do. Just before Everything, Everything I read The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, which I absolutely adored, so I was glad to have a quick contemporary to prevent me from going into a post-amazing book slump. Look out for my review of Everything, Everything next week!

Next

I tend to struggle with 'Next' because I don't really plan what I'm going to read; I'm very much a mood reader. Even so, I've been reading quite a few standalones recently (I love standalones) but I'd like to continue with one of the many series on my shelves. White Trash Zombie Apocalypse is the third book in the ongoing White Trash Zombie series. I read the first two earlier this year and really enjoyed them both - it's such a fun urban fantasy series!

What have you been reading?

Classics & Contemporaries | Romance (Non-Austen Edition)

On Friday I started my new series, "Classics & Contemporaries", with the first Romance installment centered around the works of Jane Austen. You can find that post here! 

Today I'm back with the second installment, which is Austen free, and finishing off the Romance section of this little series.

On Friday we began with one of the most famous love stories in existence and its 21st century retelling, and today we're going to do that again!

I have to admit for a little while I couldn't decide if I wanted to include Romeo and Juliet in this series at all, because I could write an entire post about how it isn't a love story (and perhaps one day I will!), but there's no denying that this play has inspired hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of stories.

In fact I'm so certain of this play's impact on the history of the story that I don't think I really need to tell you what it's about, do I? We all know the story of the two warring families and the star-crossed lovers caught in the middle of them - in fact the names 'Romeo' and 'Juliet' are often names we use to describe people who are in love.

Romeo and Juliet isn't my favourite of Shakespeare's plays - Macbeth has always been my favourite - but it's still worth reading. Sadly though, too many people end up hating Shakespeare because they're introduced to him in the wrong way. Usually in school.

I've always lived in Britain so while I can't speak for people elsewhere in the world, most of us who live in Britain are introduced to Shakespeare in primary school; in fact I first read Macbeth when I was 10 years old! If you have a teacher who can't make Shakespeare fun, however, you're bound to be baffled by him, and so many teachers fail to tell their pupils about all the dick jokes in his plays...

If the thought of reading Shakespeare makes you break out into a nervous sweat, I have just the story for you!

At first sight, you might think a story about flesh-eating zombies would have nothing to do with the most famous love story in the world, but Warm Bodies is nothing if not a retelling.

R (Romeo) falls in love with Julie (Juliet) as soon as he sees her. He murders her boyfriend Perry (Paris), has a best friend called M/Marcus (Mercutio) while Julie's best friend is Nora (the Nurse).

On top of all that, R is a zombie and Julie is not, which is a big problem considering all zombies and the living want to do is kill each other. Then again, all the Montagues and the Capulets want to do is kill each other, so not much has changed in 500 years!

Obviously there's a big difference between the way Warm Bodies is written and the way Romeo and Juliet is written, but at the core they're both the same story - one of them just has zombies! 

If you enjoy Warm Bodies there's no reason why you wouldn't enjoy Romeo and Juliet, but if you still feel a little intimidated by the Old English language why not try watching one of the many adaptations of Romeo and Juliet first? Baz Luhrmann's adaptation, originally released in 1996, is particularly useful, as it's set in the 21st century but still uses the Old English language.

Now we're going to travel forward 300 years, to the Victorian era, where another famous classic awaits us...

Charlotte Brontë's most famous work, Jane Eyre, was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym "Currer Bell". Upon its original release The Quarterly Review claimed it was "an anti-Christian composition", and it is a commonly held belief that Brontë wrote the novel as a protest against the Victorian lifestyle.

Gothic and atmospheric, Jane Eyre tells the story of the titular character who suffers neglect and abuse as a child, is sent away to boarding school and then eventually leaves to pursue a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall. Thornfield belongs to the mysterious Mr Rochester, whose ward, Adèle, is Jane's charge.

Coarse and gruff, Mr Rochester is the typical Byronic hero, but Jane gives as good as she gets and in doing so, enchants him, but Mr Rochester is hiding a dark secret that could ruin everything.

I love Jane Eyre, but I know plenty of people who have never been able to get through it because of the novel's slow pace and the density of the text. The truth is that most Victorian novels are very dense - it's rather unusual to come across a short one - as many novels started out serialised in newspapers (such as Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone and Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist) and in the 19th century there were no televisions or cinemas; entire families would enjoy a large novel together, over the course of a couple of weeks!

So if you have a fondness for dark 19th century tales of love that crosses the boundaries of class, I have a piece of historical fiction you just might love.

Sarah Waters' Fingersmith tells the story of orphan Sue Trinder who, under the care of Mrs Sucksby, is raised as a petty thief. One day Gentleman, a beloved thief and con man, comes to Sue with an enticing proposition. If she can win a position as the maid to Maud Lily, a young and naive gentlewoman, and help Gentleman to seduce her, the two of them can make off with her vast inheritance and condemn Maud to a lunatic asylum.

Sue wishes to pay back the kindness of those who raised her and agrees to the plan, but when she meets Maud she begins to care for her in unexpected ways...

Perhaps one of the biggest differences between Fingersmith and Jane Eyre is that while the latter tells the story of a love between a man and a woman, the romance in Fingersmith is between two women. In fact Waters is well known for writing historical fiction featuring LGBT characters.

Other than that difference - and really is it that much of a difference? Love is love is love - there are quite a few similarities between the two stories. Both take place in the 19th century, both feature an orphaned heroine who rises from obscurity into a position at a wealthy home, both feature romances which cross the boundaries of class and both feature madness and deception in some form or another.

Fingersmith may not be the shortest read, for historical fiction also has the capacity to be dense, but as it was written in the 21st century its language is much easier to read, especially for readers who don't read an awful lot of 19th century literature - Fingersmith is a brilliant stepping stone towards a classic like Jane Eyre.

So that wraps up Romance! I hope this has been useful for anyone intimidated by classics, or that it's at least been an enjoyable read - I'll be back next month with an installment centered around Science Fiction!

J.

What's Up Wednesday! | 02/04/14

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin L. Funk as a way for writers and readers to stay in touch!

What I'm Reading

At the moment I'm reading a collection of John Donne's poetry - he's always been one of my favourite poets - and I'm reading my first Sarah Waters novel! I mentioned Fingersmith in my 2014 Booket List as the Historical Fiction novel I'd like to read most this year, but before jumping into that one I'm reading Affinity.

I'm also taking part in the Hogwarts House Reading Challenge over on tumblr, and because I'm a Ravenclaw I have to try and complete these challenges over the course of April!

This week the challenge is to read a book with a blue cover, so I think I'm going to pick up Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book; it's the littlest book of his that I own and I'd love to finally cross it off my TBR list.

What I'm Writing

It's day 2 of Camp NaNoWriMo and I've already made some changes. Because I'm rubbish.

As I mentioned in my post on Friday I wanted to work on a 20,000 word prequel novella to my current WIP, and while an entire novella is something I really want to work on, just the thought of working on another full-length piece, when I haven't got everything figured out for my novel just yet, had me wanting to bang my head against a wall. Add to that that I only got home from a very busy, very exhausting term at university on Sunday, and that I just want to relax this April, and you might be able to understand why the entire 20,000 words is no longer a possibility.

So instead I've set myself a new goal of 15,000 words, and I'd love to use those 15,000 words to write a small selection of Historical Fiction short stories, most of which I can turn into parts of the novella some time in the future!

One other short story I'd like to work on this month is a 5,000 word Beauty and the Beast retelling! Eggplant Literary Productions are looking for poetry and fiction submissions until 30th of April for Spellbound & Spindles, a pair of anthologies containing retellings of fairy tales which feature POC, LGBT and disabled characters, as well non-Western European and non-North American settings. 

So I'm still going to be busy writing away over April, just not as busy as I initially thought - I need a break!

What Inspires Me Right Now

Yesterday I was surrounded by Historical Fiction and Historical Dramas. As I mentioned above I'm reading Sarah Waters' Affinity, and then I watched The Awakening, a spooky film set in the 1920s, and then last night I watched the first episode of the new Channel 4 drama New Worlds, which is set in England and America during the 17th century.


As someone who enjoys writing Historical Fiction it's a lot of fun to experience it in so many different forms, and so many different eras! I'm rather picky when it comes to TV shows - the only shows I regularly watch are Game of Thrones and Hannibal - but I think I'll watch more of New Worlds; I particularly enjoyed the storyline that took place in Massachusetts and starred Alice Englert (Lena Duchannes from Beautiful Creatures) and Joe Dempsie (Gendry from Game of Thrones).


Are any of you watching New Worlds?

What Else I've Been Up To

On Sunday my parents picked me up from uni and we made the five hour drive down to South Wales. It's so nice to be back home, in my bigger bed and just be pampered for a few weeks - I was so tired after this term that my first night back home I slept for eleven hours! Then on Monday I got my hair cut which I was so looking forward to; I love having long hair, but it had gotten to the point where it was all dry and split and horrid, and now it's a lot healthier and lighter and just nicer.

Last week I had a meeting with another tutor who made me feel a lot more confident about my prospective PhD thesis, so now I can start looking into what I'd like to write about in much more detail and start making a list of prospective universities. I already have two I'd definitely like to check out and a possible third, but I'd like at least four or five.

That same day I also found out that I'm going to become an auntie for the fourth time this October! For so long my sister kept saying she wasn't going to have any more children - she already has a little boy and a little girl - but I had a feeling she'd have at least one more. Now I have to see if, nearer the time, I can guess correctly what the baby's going to be. So far whenever my sisters or one of our cousins has had a baby I've always guessed the sex correctly. Maybe this year I should start making bets...

What's new with you?

Jess Suggests | Romance

Happy Valentine's Day!

As it's the day of love it only seems right that I celebrate it by sharing with you some of my personal recommendations for a romantic read!

Delirium

by Lauren Oliver

Lena Haloway is content in her safe, government-managed society. She feels (mostly) relaxed about the future in which her husband and career will be decided, and looks forward to turning 18, when she’ll be cured of deliria, a.k.a. love. She tries not to think about her mother’s suicide (her last words to Lena were a forbidden “I love you”) or the supposed “Invalid” community made up of the uncured just beyond her Portland, Maine, border. There’s no real point—she believes her government knows how to best protect its people, and should do so at any cost. But 95 days before her cure, Lena meets Alex, a confident and mysterious young man who makes her heart flutter and her skin turn red-hot. As their romance blossoms, Lena begins to doubt the intentions of those in power, and fears that her world will turn gray should she submit to the procedure.

Delirium is the first book in Lauren Oliver's Dystopian trilogy, set in a future where love has been declared a disease by the government. When people turn eighteen they are sent for a procedure, similar to a lobotomy, which makes them no longer able to feel love. They cannot fall in love, their friendships dissolve, and even their relationships with their family members turn cold.

This might not sound like the kind of world you want to explore on Valentine's Day, but like any Dystopian novel Delirium involves rebellion, and our heroine Lena Haloway becomes exactly the kind of rebel she's been raised to fear when she finds herself falling in love.

Oliver's writing style is absolutely gorgeous; even if this particular story doesn't interest you you should definitely check out one of Oliver's books purely for the way in which they are written, but Delirium is a wonderful story so check it out if you haven't already!

 Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. 

As I've mentioned before I'm not a huge fan of Jane Austen; I'd much rather read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies than Pride and Prejudice, but it can't be denied that this classic, still widely read today, is one of the most well known romance novels of all time. As such, it only feels right to include it in this list.

I think what people love most about this novel is the 'will they, won't they?' vibe which surrounds Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy's relationship. But if you'd rather read something a little more modern this Valentine's Day, check out Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary - a modern day re-telling of Austen's most famous novel.

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

It's very rare to come across a fan of YA who has yet to read this book, and if you are one of those people who hasn't read The Fault in Our Stars yet then now is the ideal time - especially considering the film adaptation, starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, is coming out in June!

Considering this is a book which deals with terminal illness in children and teenagers you should definitely read it with a box of tissues at hand, but don't let its content scare you; it might sound like it should be a depressing read, but there's so much fun and laughter in this book that there were points when I was reading it in which I forgot our protagonist is ill. 

So if you've been putting it off so far, why not give The Fault in Our Stars a go this Valentine's Day?

The Gargoyle

by Andrew Davidson

The nameless and beautiful narrator of The Gargoyle is driving along a dark road when he is distracted by what seems to be a flight of arrows. He crashes into a ravine and wakes up in a burns ward, undergoing the tortures of the damned. His life is over - he is now a monster.

But in fact it is only just beginning. One day, Marianne Engel, a wild and compelling sculptress of gargoyles, enters his life and tells him that they were once lovers in medieval Germany. In her telling, he was a badly burned mercenary and she was a nun and a scribe who nursed him back to health in the famed monastery of Engelthal. As she spins her tale, Scheherazade fashion, and relates equally mesmerising stories of deathless love in Japan, Greenland, Italy and England, he finds himself drawn back to life - and, finally, to love.

The Gargoyle is one of my favourite books of all time and I won't stop talking about it until I know more people have read it.

Like Delirium, the writing style is gorgeous. Davidson expertly weaves different love stories into the main story arc with some of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read. Reading this book is like sucking on little pieces of candy.

And if the way it's written isn't enough to spark your interest consider this: the main character is a pornographer. I'm gonna go ahead and leave you with that thought.

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby's household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves - fingersmiths - for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home. 

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives - Gentleman, a somewhat elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud's vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be left to live out her days in a mental hospital. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways. . . 

This is something of a naughty suggestion as, unlike the other four books on this list, I haven't actually read this one yet. As I mentioned in a previous post, however, I am hoping to read it this year - in fact I might add it to my TBR pile for March!

The main reason I wanted to include Fingersmith on this list is because the romance in the novel is between two women, and I only think it right that a list compiled of love stories has at least one story that includes a homosexual relationship. There are plenty of books out there that involve characters who aren't typical white, heterosexual males, but sometimes they can be hard to find!

I've heard nothing but good things about Fingersmith. So if you're in the mood for some Historical Fiction this Valentine's Day why don't you give it a try?

I hope you've seen something here that interests you! If you've read any of these books or have some suggestions of your own for a Valentine's Day read feel free to leave them below - I love receiving recommendations!

Have a lovely Valentine's Day whether you spend it with someone special or spend it pampering yourself!

My 2014 Booket List!

I was hoping to have a review of Neil Gaiman's American Gods for you today, but alas uni work has taken priority on my to-do list so my review will just have to remain unfinished for a little while longer!

However, I am determined to provide a new blog post every Monday and Friday so I have something else for you. Instead of a review I'm going to give you a list of books I'd like to finally tick off my TBR list by the end of 2014!

I've picked one book each from eight genres - Historical Fiction; Science Fiction; Fantasy; Contemporary; Horror; Crime; Classic; Non-Fiction - as well as a duology, a trilogy, and a longer series.

I know there are even more genres than the ones on my list, but if I picked a book from every genre imaginable this list would be endless...

Classic

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

Imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Edmond Dantès spends 14 bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works he uses all he has learned during his incarceration to mastermind an elaborate plan of revenge that will bring punishment to those he holds responsible for his fate. No longer the naïve sailor who disappeared into the dark fortress all those years ago, he reinvents himself as the charming, mysterious, and powerful Count of Monte Cristo.

The Count of Monte Cristo was the first book that I mentioned in my previous post about Classics I'd like to try and read this year. Out of all the ones I mentioned this is the one I'd like to read most this year, not only because it's huge but because I've owned my copy for about four years and it's ridiculous that I still haven't read it.

Contemporary

Fangirl

by Rainbow Rowell

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I actually purchased my copy of Fangirl back in October when my sister gave me some spending money for my birthday, but I've yet to get around to reading it. Story of my life really. I took it home with me over Christmas with the intention of reading it but I just wasn't in the mood for a contemporary read, and since then I've spoken to a friend of mine (whose blog can be found here) who also hasn't read it yet. So we've decided to read it together when we both have a copy to hand!

Historical Fiction

Fingersmith

by Sarah Waters

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a "baby farmer," who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby's household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves - fingersmiths - for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home. 

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives - Gentleman, a somewhat elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud's vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be left to live out her days in a mental hospital. With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways. . . 

To be perfectly honest with you I just want to read some Sarah Waters in general. She's one of those authors I'd somehow never heard of before last year, and then I stumbled across all of her books at once. I also discovered she did her English MA at my university! I'm pretty sure Fingersmith is the novel she's most famous for, and I managed to find a copy in great condition in a charity shop in South Wales so I can't wait to sink my teeth into it.

Fantasy

Throne of Glass

by Sarah J. Maas

In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.

Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin’s heart be melted?

If you'd asked me which book I'd put in this category this time last month I'd've said something completely different, but as it happens I stumbled across a copy of Throne of Glass for less than a fiver and picked it up because I've heard nothing but praise for it. I think there's six books planned for this series so far, and I know book two's already out, so I'd better get started!

Science Fiction

Cress

by Marissa Meyer

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. 

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

What a surprise, right? Perhaps I'm cheating a bit here - The Lunar Chronicles might not be what some people think of when you mention sci-fi - but unfortunately I'm not a big reader of the genre. I definitely need to read more of it in future, and right now The Lunar Chronicles is doing a great job of coaxing me into it. I'm currently half way through Scarlet, the second book in the series, and I pre ordered my copy of Cress just the other day. I can't wait for it to arrive next month!

Horror

The Magic Cottage

by James Herbert

"We thought we’d found our haven, a cottage deep in the heart of the forest. Charming, maybe a little run down, but so peaceful. That was the first part of the Magic. Midge’s painting and my music soared to new heights of creativity. That was another part of the Magic. Our love for each other – well, that became the supreme Magic. But the cottage had an alternative side. The Bad Magic." 

"What happened to us there was horrendous beyond belief. The healings, the crazy sect who wanted our home for themselves, the hideous creatures that crawled from the nether regions, and the bats – oh God, the bats! Even now those terrible things seem impossible to me. Yet they happened..."

Here we have yet another genre I've barely read any of, and I haven't read any James Herbert at all. I think The Fog might be Herbert's most famous novel, but I've been meaning to read The Magic Cottage for years because it's my Dad's favourite of Herbert's novels; he made it sound very creepy when he told me about it. Now I just need to get my hands on a copy!

Crime

Die for Me

by Karen Rose

A secret cellar
A multimedia designer is hard at work. His latest computer game,Inquisitor, heralds a new era in state-of-the-art graphics. But there's only one way to ensure that the death scenes are realistic enough...

An isolated field
Detective Ciccotelli's day begins with one grave, one body and no murder weapon. It ends with sixteen graves, but only nine bodies and the realisation that the killer will strike again...

A living hell
When it's discovered that the murder weapons are similar to those used in medieval torture, Ciccotelli knows that he's up against the most dangerous opponent of his career - let the games begin...

When it comes to this particular genre I'm more likely to read it when it's mixed with something else. Basically, I read an awful lot of Historical Crime, but not a lot of Contemporary Crime at all. I really want to cross this book - and the ones that follow it Scream For Me and Kill For Me - off my list because it's been on it for far too long. With any luck it'll get me into reading more Crime set in the modern day.

Non-Fiction

The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

by Ian Mortimer

The past is a foreign country - this is your guide.

We think of Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558-1603) as a golden age. But what was it actually like to live in Elizabethan England? If you could travel to the past and walk the streets of London in the 1590s, where would you stay? What would you eat? What would you wear? Would you really have a sense of it being a glorious age? And if so, how would that glory sit alongside the vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine of the time?

In this book Ian Mortimer reveals a country in which life expectancy is in the early thirties, people still starve to death and Catholics are persecuted for their faith. Yet it produces some of the finest writing in the English language, some of the most magnificent architecture, and sees Elizabeth's subjects settle in America and circumnavigate the globe. Welcome to a country that is, in all its contradictions, the very crucible of the modern world.

When it comes to Non-Fiction it's books like this one that I read the most. I'm a huge History nerd and the Tudor era fascinates me just as it's fascinated generations of people before me and will continue to fascinate people in the future. While the Tudor monarchs themselves were incredibly interesting I was so excited when I came across a book that could teach me what life was like for the Average Joe in the 16th/17th century. Not only will this book be fun to read, but it'll also be a great help considering the novel I'm working on for my MA is set in Elizabethan England!

Duology

Eon

by Alison Goodman

Sixteen-year-old Eon has a dream, and a mission. For years, he's been studying sword-work and magic, toward one end. He and his master hope that he will be chosen as a Dragoneye-an apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune.

But Eon has a dangerous secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been masquerading as a twelve-year-old boy. Females are forbidden to use Dragon Magic; if anyone discovers she has been hiding in plain sight, her death is assured.

When Eon's secret threatens to come to light, she and her allies are plunged into grave danger and a deadly struggle for the Imperial throne. Eon must find the strength and inner power to battle those who want to take her magic...and her life.

There aren't enough duologies in the world and I've been dying to read this one for a while now. I love the idea of reading two books and finishing a series; in fact there are plenty of trilogies out there which could have done without being spread across three books! I don't own either of these books just yet, but I think I might order them in time for my Easter holiday so I can complete a series while taking a break from uni life.

Trilogy

The Lord of the Rings

by J. R. R. Tolkien

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

Out of all the trilogies in the world I have yet to read this is the one I really need to read the most. I love Peter Jackson's adaptations of Tolkien's masterpiece but I so want to read the original stories - so far there's just been something so intimidating about them! I'm thinking of saving them for the summer and working my way through the trilogy in July and August.

Series

Gone

by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents-unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers-that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

I bought my copy of Gone a couple of years ago, and long before that it always caught my eye each time I passed it in the book shop. Last year the series finally came to an end with the release of Light and now that the series is finished I'm eager to get started on it at last; especially as one of my friends recently read the entire series in the space of two weeks because she enjoyed them that much!

What are you hoping to cross off your booket list this year? Check back next week for my review on American Gods and at the end of this week for my January Wrap-Up!