Monthly Recap - February 2011

Monthly Progress – February

February in a glance has been one hell of a roller-coaster ride and usually is.

This time last year I had been planning on moving and had been given Avalon [my first pet] and my, how she has grown. One year from now and she has had two litters of her own – the second being today.

However this is not entirely a post about my beautiful family, but my reading habits for this month. While this time last year I think I was sitting on about 5 books, maybe even less than that, I currently am sitting on 14 books read so far this year.

While my reading challenge list is slowly crawling, my buying books and ordering has become insane with a total of books purchased either online or through local bookstores and charity, I am beginning to wonder whether or not it is time to hold back on my spending and get stuck into some books – keeping others on the backburner [or my wishlist] until I have made an impact on my TBR shelf.

Books Read In February:

1. The Devouring- Simon Holt - 5 Stars

2. By The Time You Read This – Lola Jaye- 4.5 Stars

3. How To Get Ideas – Jack Foster & Larry Corby- 4.5 Stars

4. Teach Yourself Creative Writing- Stephen May- 4 Stars

5. 121 Days Of Urban Sodom – Jacqueline Phillips – 2 Stars

Challenge Progress 2011 – February

I read 3 library Books [ Non-Fiction] and 3 [Fiction] Books. Two were pre-dating my buying spree of 2011 and The Devouring was added into January’s ‘Challenge Progress’.

I have decided I am only going to update the amount of books I have read for each challenge during the month and when I have finished I will give you my full progress: example Ebook challenge 12/12 Finished

February

Ebook Challenge – 0

Chick Lit Challenge- 1

I Want More- 0

Off The Shelf- 2

Horror and Urban Fantasy – 0

Buy One Book & Read It Challenge – 0

Twenty Eleven Challenge - 1

Books I Have Brought:

1. Violence 101- Denis Wright

2. Freak Show- James st. James

3. While You Were Dreaming- Lola Jaye

4. Wicked Lovely- Melissa Marr

5. The Pissed Of Parents Club – Mink Elliot

6. The Betrayal Of Natalie Hargrove – Lauren Kate

7. Across The Universe – Beth Revis

8. A Course in Weight Loss: 21 spiritual lessons for surrendering your weight forever- Marianne Williamson

9. You Against Me- Jenny Downham

10. Tan Lines – J.J Salem

11. The Card Turner – Louis Sacher

12. Once In A Full Moon- Ellen Schrieber

13. Mercy- Rebecca Lim

14. My Dating Diary Disasters – Liz Retting

15. Pretty Little Liars- Sarah Sheppard

16. The Inner Gentleman – Allie Kincard

17. Days Like These- Virginia Durgan

18. The Scorpion’s Sweet Venom – Bruna .S

19. The Bigamist – Mary Turner Thomson

20. Turing Life Into Fiction – Robin Hemley

21. Screenwriting 434 – Lew Hunter

22. Manuscript Makeover – Elizabeth Lyon

23. Room To Write- Bonni Goldberg

24. The Screenwriters Workbook- Syd Field

25. Nightshade- Andrea Cremer

26. Good Frog Hunting- Laurie Graff

27. Siggy & Amber – Doug Macleod

28. Going Home- Daniel Steel

29. Anna & The French Kiss – Stephenie Perkins

30. Before I fall- Lauren Oliver

31. Past Midnight – Mara Purnhagen

32. Heretic- Sarah Singleton

33. Century – Sarah Singleton

34. Sacrifice – Sarah Singleton

35. Suicide Blonde – Darcy Steinke

36. The Diary Of Anne Frank – The Definitive Edition

37. The Footsteps Of Anne Frank- Ernest Schnabel

38. So Yesterday – Scott Westerfeild

39. My Unknown Child- Noreen Riols

40. Jacoby’s Game – Alison Prince

41. Firmin- Sam Savage

42. Checkers – John Marsden

43. A Night Without Armour- Jewel

44. You Have To Kiss A Lot Of Frogs- Laurie Graff

45. Confessions Of A Shopaholic – Sophie Kinsella

46. Secrets – Freya North

47. Forbidden- Tabitha Sazuma

48. Revenge Of The Spellmens – Liza Lutz

121 Days Of Urban Sodom - Jacqueline Phillips

DISCLAIMER : The following Book is for 18+ - I do not recommend this book for anyone younger than 18.

Pages: 309

Published: 2005

Date Finished: 26^th February

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Our unnamed narrator takes her readers through an unusual resolution of lost love-six months after parting from her girlfriend Colette, she's still in pain. So she allows herself one hundred and twenty-one days to recover, while at the same time undertaking a journey into the Marquis de Sade's One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sodom. Thus does our narrator catalogue her fall from the intense emotion of young innocent love to despairing bitter debauchery, and at the same time exposes Sade's role in her own modern life. This novel is not solely an edgy, explicit tale, nor is it merely a sour-sweet love story. This gripping novel breaks all boundaries and knows few confines.

A fascinating examination of lust and sadism, with a modern and original style, from an exciting new literary writer. – Good Reads Synopsis

Review: [ A Total Mind-Fuck]

Some facets of the novel were complex and provoking. There were a lot of soul searching questions and issues that were controversial to read. Many times I put the book aside to ask myself how I felt about the situation and was reminded several times of experiences I had gone through myself, and those people closest to me have suffered. Something that began as interesting bored me easily and I found myself suffocating.

I had little time for the narrator, yet spent the majority of the novel being dragged under her self-loathing, suicidal, frustrating ramblings, that half the time made no sense to me and added nothing to the growth of the character. That is what I disliked most about 121 Days of Urban Sodom, the total lack of journey. Each day is tormenting to read and while I understand the context of the story and the role of the victim and how life destroying abuse can be, I didn’t see the need to spend over 300 pages explaining it.

Topics such as BDSM, rape, abuse, murder amongst a lot of grotesque but confronting issues were addressed throughout the novel as we read along her journey with Marquis De Sade and his book 12O Days of urban sodom. Even with the morbid curiosity that is part of my personal reading preference I was disturbed and often repulsed enough to put the book aside for days as she explained the happenings of the novel and her reactions to it.

I didn’t like Jacqueline’s style of writing. I liked the language she used and some descriptive passages really aroused me both mentally and physically, but the structure of the novel and the confusing nature of which she chose to explore it gave me constant headaches as I tried desperately to understand what was happening and to who.

I wanted to love this novel. It looked deliciously promising when I picked it up- and maybe it’s my mood that ruined the majority of the novel, but from the points that I noted it isn’t a book I am likely to recommend to my family and would only recommend it to those familiar with De Sade and those with a morbid curiosity whom despite my review will still pick it up.