a good book has no ending...

Reading has always been my 'thing.'  Growing up, my family were never stuck for ideas for my birthday or Christmas. I'd hear my mum on the phone to my nannna - 'Oh just get her a book, She said something about a new hardback version of Matilda...'  My nanna in fact is responsible for a lot of my early reading, she passed down an entire collection of early edition Beatrix Potter books, the full Encyclopaedia Britannica, (a staple for any 8 year old) She also brought me a copy of War and Peace home from a car boot sale when I was about 9 as a joke - I read it. Albeit over the course of about 3 years. My grandad used to ask, 'How are you getting on with War and Peace, George? Are they still at that party?'

When I was in year 2, 4 of the best readers in the year were chosen to have weekly reading sessions with the headteacher to read more advanced books, and I was one of them. Looking back at the comments she left in my notebook, 'she doesn't listen!' and 'Read the whole book when I only asked for the first chapter.' I was so excited to have this new, 'older' book in my hands, I would zone out and secretly turn the pages while Mrs Moran spoke about verbs and nouns. I would inhale books.

By the time my family emigrated to Spain when I was 11, I packed up my books and alphabetised them so I knew how to rearrange them when we arrived at the new house. My mum came upstairs to check on my packing progress, and sighed at the huge piles of books around me, because she knew I would insist on bringing them all.

English was always the only thing I was good at. I was 'okay' at other subjects, and horrific at maths, but would be a straight A student in English, so my chosen university course was a no brainer, I didn't even consider any other course. What else was there but books? I graduated from the University of Manchester, clutching my English Literature degree while my mum sobbed in July last year.

Since graduating, my reading hasn't slowed down. I am constantly looking for new books to read, and get emailed book lists from different genres all the time, and every few weeks sit down and order them all on Amazon, cheerfully flicking through and sniffing that book smell when they come through the door.

So as reading is such an important part of my life - I will be reviewing books here as I read them. If anybody has any recommendations for me, (I will read anything.) please let me know!