Before I Go To Sleep – S J Watson

Christine has amnesia. Every night when she goes to sleep she looses her memory. She’s not sure who she can trust, especially when she begins to realise that those closest to her are lying…

Before I Go To Sleep is a well-written, psychological thriller that kept me turning pages late into the night. Full disclosure: I guessed the ending around 100 pages in (just call me Sherlock Holmes) but that didn’t disappoint me. I needed to find out if I was right!

The narrative structure reminded me a little of Gone Girl; a triptych set up moving between the present, the past in the form of a diary and back to the present for the final reveal. The two novels are completely different though, I just thought it was worth noting.

A good concept, well executed. Worth checking out.

Room – Emma Donoghue

Jack is five years old and he has never seen the outside world. He doesn’t even know it exists. All that he knows is the single, locked room he lives in with his mother.

Room is not a comfortable read yet you find yourself drawn into Jack and Ma’s world and unable to stop. In the times I did, the narrative haunted me; I found myself dreaming about being trapped in a single room. But Room is not a thriller, it is a purely character driven story and in Jack and Ma, Emma Donoghue has created truly original characters that you are not likely to forget.

Room is at once heartbreakingly sad and strangely uplifting, I definitely recommend.

2018 Reading Goals

I mentioned in our update a blogging resolution I made for 2018, but I got to thinking. As we are a book blog, I should also share my reading resolutions or goals for 2018 with you too.

I realised towards the end of last year, I’ve gotten lazy with my reading (and reviewing, but we’ve covered that). Although I have an awesome excuse for why. I spend a lot of time researching lofty theoretical concepts for my thesis and after a long day of trying to differentiate between the Gothic and psychoanalytic double, I’m about done with thinking. I really don’t want to pick up a Man Booker Prize winner. I want an easy read I can get lost in. While there’s nothing exactly wrong with this, I am missing out on a lot of incredible books that deserve some attention.

I also started to realise that I’ve been stuck in a genre rut for months and don’t stray all that far away from fiction. Now I love a good story, but there are so many interesting subjects in this world. Science, History, Politics, Philosophy, Religion, all those concepts that end with ism that I know nothing about. And I should know about these things. There are topics I studied in school that I remember very little of, and I’m kinda ashamed of myself. I’ve become too reliant on Google.

And so my reading goals for 2018 were born:

I know there aren’t many and when you break it down, they are interrelated but I wanted these goals to be achievable. In previous years I’ve set my self the “I will read a certain number of books in one year challenge”, but I never managed it and I was always a little disappointed with myself. This year I want to look back at my book selves and see variety and feel more knowledgeable.

Do you have any reading resolutions or goals for 2018? Sound off in the comments below.

Where’d they go?! An Update

Hey guys. By now you’ve probably noticed the lack of postage on Page One. We really have been MIA (cue the Foo Fighters). We never meant to disappear for this long but the truth is, we’ve been really busy. As you know, Page One is a two woman team and while we work awesome together, we are not machines. Hannah has been busy with all of the words in her writing cave and organising Indie Love (which you should totally come to by the way!). As for me, I’m swamped under a pile of research notes for my PhD. On top of all that, we both have jobs that don’t always leave us with a whole lot of time. Oh and we have families who sort of want to see us every now and then. Now don’t take this the wrong way, we love Page One! We are not going any where! But sometimes the blog has to take a back seat, and that’s what happened towards the end of 2017. So if you got in contact with us recently and didn’t get a response, we are so sorry! Life just had to take over for a while.

Anyway, we’re trying to get back into the swing of things this year, so you should be hearing a lot more from us. I’m trying to schedule specific blog days in to my week. A new years resolution if you will.

I suppose what we’re trying to say is, stick with us. We might go away for a little while, but we always come back. Page One is forever.