What Should Have Been.

Oh look, I am posting again! I was going to do so during the week – honestly! There were a couple of things I wanted to participate in that required me to post at a specific time of the week. Alas, when things get busy…

Fortunately, I have found you can schedule posts! There is to be no more missed fun and games due to my inability to sit down and ramble on. Life hack, I know. Not cool, not cool at all. Let us make it our little secret.

Despite how I missed the chance to participate at the time, I feel as though I should bore you with a list post anyway. These things look so fun and I’m saddened by the fact I missed out on this one. First up, is what I should have done on Tuesday. Taken from ‘The Broke and the Bookish’, it is a list of ten authors I’m thankful for.

1.     Dean Koontz. Serious, my life would suck without his books in my life. His prose are beautiful. His characters are so much fun. His sense of humour is exactly the same as mine.

2.     Sharon Bolton. The reason I am an obsessive crime fan. Her plot twists are wonderful. Her stories are brilliant. I fan girl so much.

3.     Laini Taylor. If I let out the inner fan girl, you would all die of excess. I cannot begin to describe how wonderful her writing is. Beautiful. Lyrical. Unique. Everything you could ask for.

4.     Karin Slaughter. My love for crime deepened through this woman. She is my American Sharon Bolton. They’re both wonderfully dark authors, with shocking storylines.

5.     Tess Gerritsen. In case you haven’t noticed, there is a pattern emerging. Yet another wonderful female author to have created a marvellous crime series. Moreover, this woman can spin a great novel outside of crime.

6.     Ben Aaronovitch. Sticking with the pattern, but there is a twist this time. I love fantasy, as well. This man is to thank for the best crime-fantasy combination I have ever read. He has mixed the two together into a brilliant story. Not to mention, his wonderful British humour.

7.     Hugh Howey. I’m taking a step back from the crime authors for a moment. It is time to thank my favourite dystopian writer. There are many wonderful dystopian worlds out there, yet my favourite have all come through the same man. There is always something more to be found in his books, something extra to make it all the more wonderful.

8.     Tim Weaver. I couldn’t help myself: I had to add one final crime writer. I’m stepping away from the police, though. This time I would like to point towards my favourite private investigator. Things appear so simple in these books, only for twists to come out of nowhere to leave you genuinely confused.

9.     George R. R. Martin. We all know the main reason this main is on the list – the creator of everyone’s recent favourite fantasy series. What most people do not realise, is the man has created so much more. He has worked in so many genres. He has written so many interesting things in so many different genres. He is a man of many talents.

10.  Stephen King. I wasn’t sure whether or not to add this man to the list. I have a serious love-hate relationship with his work. He is the only author to have earned both one and five star (not to mention everything in-between) ratings from me on Goodreads. Nevertheless, there are countless good books to be found by him. Furthermore, he has inspired so many others. He needs to be thanked, even if it’s not for all his books.

On Tuesday, you will get the next list on time. Don’t worry about that (worry about my scheduled post not working instead). I also wanted to take part in the Waiting on Wednesday feature. I planned to share at the end of this here post, but I have changed my mind. You can wait until Wednesday to find out what I am looking forward to reading.

Finally, as I planned from last week, a quick update on what I have read and whether or not you should jump on the bandwagon. The list is rather short, as life is busy at the moment. There is not much I can do about that, sorry. So without further ado, here is your list:

·          On Sunday, I finished Peter May’s Blacklight Blue. Without a doubt, it is my favourite of the Enzo Files (admittedly, I have yet to finish the last one, but the statement is liable to stand). The series gets stronger the more you read, and I would recommend you give it a go. The books aren’t overly long, and by this point in the series you’re addicted.

·          On Tuesday, I finished The Great Disappointment. Sorry, I mean The Great Gatsby. I was let down. Massively. It is hard to explain my feelings. I just expected so much more. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Just… no. It wasn’t for me. It is another classic to add to my read list… yet it is not one I will be reading again. Nor will I be recommending it.

·          On Friday, I finished Freeze Frame. Number four in the Enzo Files. Not as good as number three, but still a wonderful read. Much better than the first two books. Still an entertaining read, keeping me interested in the series.

There we have it, a rather menial update. Here is to this getting better with time!

How To Start A Blog?

I’m rather late to this awkward introductory blog post. If by ‘rather late’, you mean ‘the bandwagon left years ago’. Hey-ho, better late than never people always say. Perhaps I was waiting until this would be less awkward… although, I doubt any point in my life history would allow me to write a non-awkward introductory blog post.

Where do you start?

What do you include?

What is the meaning of life?

We’ll leave the last one to the philosophers (or, you know, we could all agree to disagree with forty-two). The first two, however, I will fail to address. Do you want the kind of information included on dating websites? Doubtful. If you do, you’re on the wrong website my friend. Do you want the kind of things I post on Facebook? If so, this may as well not exist (I have reached the point in life where Facebook exists mostly for terrible games). Do you want the kind of things I post on Twitter? Those should be appearing at the side, if I have set the template up correctly. All in all, everything is up in the air at the moment.

In truth, this is another means to procrastinate.

I’m a lover of books, though. I guess the title of the blog gave that away. By means of procrastination, I guess I will give a book related rant. It is likely to happen a lot, after all. I may as well start as I mean to carry on.

First off, my yearly reading challenge. It was upped. Again. It’s getting a bit silly now. I have exams soon. I should probably focus. Alas, all the pretty books are distractions. I should probably stop increasing the number.

Next up, what you should read. This is pretty much a ‘what Siobhan thinks you should read based upon what she enjoyed this year (thus far)’. First, The Martian. Unless you live in a cave lacking in wi-fi you will have heard about it. I delayed in reading it until just before seeing the movie. Damn. What a read. Go read it. Second, A Discovery of Witches. Read the entire trilogy. Words cannot explain my obsession. There was so much fangirling for days.

Super short, just the two (four, really, but we’ll count the All Souls Trilogy as one). I plan to keep you up to date weekly with yays and nays. Perhaps a monthly choice. Certainly a yearly, if this here blog lasts that long. Whether or not I’ll find another mind-blowing read in the next month (serious, the year has gone so quick) I cannot say, but we’ll see.

Oh well, this introductory post is becoming quite a blah post. I really should stop procrastinating and finish my essay. Oh the joys. Who knows when I’ll post next – but until then!