My 2016 In Books, According To Goodreads...

Discounting my poor blogging habits (the amount of posting, mostly) 2016 was a pretty good year for reading. I managed to rate 62 books with my highest '5 clock' rating. Even more incredible is the fact that 12 of those are graphic novels!

I am so pleased I managed to read over 100 of my own books, fingers crossed that trend will be continuing this year. I'm also happy that my Kindle reading went down and my library borrowing increased slightly. 2016 was obviously the year of reading physical books!

I started the year with a Kindle cozy mystery freebie,

and finished the year with the cutest children's book I read in 2016 (bought for Emily of course, not me...)

According to Goodreads...

Top Ten Tuesday #118 - New-To-Me Authors In 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fabulous girls cover at The Broke & The Bookish. This week's topic is -

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read For The First Time In 2016

Not so many new-to-me authors this year for some reason as I've been reading lots of sequels and things but authors I'm already familiar with. Some of these are debut authors, some are authors I've been meaning to read for years, from Middle Grade to YA to Adult fiction, but I loved them all!

Bookmarked... #24

The return of the (mostly) weekly post letting you all know what I'm reading and have lined up for the week! It's my own version of Sheila at Book Journey's It's Monday What Are You Reading (now hosted by Kathryn at Book Date) and I have her permission to rename it for my own nefarious reasons...

Two weeks worth of reading for me, crammed into one week... Bout of Books 17 was a total bust for me. I started a book on day 1 and that was it, I somehow managed not to read again until the day BoB finished. I've no idea why but I'm pleased that it was a temporary non-reading blip otherwise I don't know what I'd be doing!

Finished

Still Reading

Started

Poppy Pym And The Double Jinx - Laura Wood

From the Winner of the Scholastic Montegrappa Prize for New Children's Writing 

It's Halloween at Saint Smithen's. When the Brimwell town hall burns down, the amateur production of Macbeth is moved to the school and it's all hands on deck. But when the play is struck by a series of mysterious attacks, it's up to Poppy, her friends and her circus family to save the play and unmask the culprit.

Oh Poppy Pym! If anything I enjoyed this even more than the first one (my review of the Pharoah's Curse is here) and I thought that would be impossible! Now firmly settled into Saint Smithens Poppy and her friends, Ingrid & Kip, are still on the lookout for a mystery to solve so when the town hall burns down when the drama society are rehearsing that Scottish play it's the perfect opportunity for the trio to put their detecting skills to the test once again...

Between invading hordes of guinea pigs, wannabe movie stars starring in a vampire movie and cast members dropping like flies thanks to the curse of that Scottish play Poppy is soon up to her neck in the investigation. This time they're trying to solve two mysteries at once so things are even more hectic than usual. Poppy's circus family are soon called upon to help and the arrival of Fanella, Luigi, Pym et al lives the story up even more.

Poppy is a little bit more grown up in this book and thanks to her archnemesis Annabelle Forthington-Smythe is starting to wonder about who her birth parents really might be. There are some really touching moments between her and Madame Pym about this and I look forward to reading more about her search if she decides to go ahead. Although, I do have to say that bombshell dropped on page 293 left me with my mouth hanging open and cursing the fact that the book was finished! I sincerely hope that Laura Wood is writing book 3 now as I'm not sure how I'm expected to wait too long after that...

As per the first book there some great supporting characters and I have to say Letty, Poppy's other roommate, is my favorite. The girl belongs to so many clubs I'd like to know when she finds time to sleep between them and school. Miss Baxter, Fanella, Luigi, Marvin and the other circus members and teachers are all equally as good - but especially Fanella who I think had some of the funniest lines, and the Brimwell Bugle agrees with me! 

A good solid middle grade adventure about friendship, family and how to be a good detective, this is the sort of book I would have devoured at that age and indeed absolutely adored at my slightly more advanced age now...

About The Author

Laura Wood is the winner of the Montegrappa Scholastic Prize for New Children's Writing. She has just completed her PhD at the University of Warwick studying the figure of the reader in nineteenth century literature. POPPY PYM AND THE DOUBLE JINX is her second novel.

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Poppy Pym And The Double Jinx - Laura Wood 

ISBN - 9781407163468

Publisher - Scholastic

Release date - September 1 2016

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon UK 

Thursday 1st September

Rachel Bustin

An Awfully Big Adventure

Friday 2nd September

Bookish Outsider

Library Girl and Book Boy

Saturday 3rd September

Fiction Fascination

Sunday 4th September

Tales of Yesterday

Monday 5th September

Book Lover Jo

Big Book Little Book

Tuesday 6th September

Luna’s Little Library

So Many Books, So Little Time

Wednesday 7th September

Heather Reviews

Wonderfully Bookish

Poppy Pym And The Pharoah's Curse - Laura Wood

The extraordinary story of a little girl raised in a circus who is about to embark on a boarding school adventure. Featuring an ancient Egyptian curse, two best friends (one who wants to be taller and one who knows everything), secretive teachers, dangerous accidents, a mystery to be solved and a menagerie of circus characters.

I'd like to introduce you to my new best friend, Poppy Pym. Most children dream of running away to the circus but Poppy was actually brought up in one, Discovered in the magical top hat of Marvin the Magician Poppy narrowly avoid being called Tomato for the rest of her life and is adopted by Madame Pym and the rest of the circus gang. Fast forward ten years and it's decided that it's time for Poppy to give up her (circus) homeschooling and go to a proper school. Step forward Miss Baxter and Saint Smithens boarding school.

Whirled away from everything she knows Poppy is feeling lost and bewildered but soon makes friends in Ingrid and Letty, her roommates, and Kip, a boy of small stature determined to grow! Finding it hard to settle in completely Poppy's spirits are soon lifted by news of an exhibition of Egyptian artifacts coming to the school. Once owned by a former student the display naturally comes with a mystery built in. Fascinated by a children's detective series she used to read, Detective Dougie Valentine, when Poppy and the other children learn of a supposedly cursed ruby as part of the exhibit they all delve into what might be a mystery to solve!

Caos and mayhem ensue as there are disasters, accidents, and warnings of a mystical nature. Enter a proper policeman, Inspector Hartley, who seems to take a shine to Miss Baxter but warns against Poppy and her friends becoming involved anything criminal. Needless to say, they ignore his advice and are soon up to their necks in trouble! Poppy's circus family arrive just in the nick of time to help the intrepid heroine solve the mystery and they all lived happily ever after...

Poppy Pym and the Pharoah's Curse is an excellent start to a new series by Laura Wood. The characters are so well written and I defy you not to become attached to Poppy, Ingrid, Kip, and all the other fascinating charcters. The circus is a wonder, I would pay to see Buttercup the lion or Fanella or even Marvin the (not-quite-so) Magnificent! Saint Smithens also seems like my sort of school and I can't wait to read more of Poppy's grand adventures.

Poppy Pym And The Pharoah's Curse - Laura Wood

ISBN - 9781407158549

Publisher - Scholastic

Release date - September 3 2015

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository