Bookish Bucket List 2015

As 2014 comes to a close and this year's Goodreads challenge also comes to an end, I've been left to ponder the books I'm most excited to read in 2015. Some of these I've started already and hope to finish in the new year and others are books I've been wanting to read for absolutely ages. Either way, I think having them down on (virtual) paper will act as an incentive for me to really try and get through them all! So, without further ado, here's my bookish bucket list for 2015:

1. 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë 

2. 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker

3. 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley

Gothic fiction is one of my favourite classic genres so I thought it was high time I got my teeth stuck into these three.

4. 'The Luminaries' by Eleanor Catton 

5. 'Emma' by Jane Austen

Two books I started and never finished in 2014 but I'm still very keen to add them to my 'read' list!

6. 'Dubliners' by James Joyce

I recently read one of the stories contained in this collection - 'The Dead'- and absolutely loved it (you can read more about what I thought here!) so I'm really excited to read the rest.

7. 'The Screwtape Letters' by C.S. Lewis

8. 'A Grief Observed' by C.S. Lewis

It's no secret that C.S. Lewis is one of my all time favourite writers and thinkers. I started 'The Screwtape Letters' several years ago and never finished it- I think I was a bit too young at the time and it just went straight over my head- but I'd really like to give it another go. I've also been wanting to read 'A Grief Observed' for a while now. It was written following the death of Lewis's wife, Joy during a time when he really wrestled with the fundamentals of his Christian faith. Apparently it makes as a really interesting comparison to 'The Problem of Pain' as well. 

9. 'This Side of Paradise' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

10. 'The Beautiful and the Damned' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

After having loved 'Tender is the Night' so much this year, and of course being such a big fan of Gatsby I've decided that 2015 will be a year of Fitzgerald for me.

What's on the top of your reading list for 2015?

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April Reading List

1. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” 

1. The Four Loves - C.S. Lewis

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” 

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

“Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.” 

1. Surprised by Joy - C.S. Lewis

“All Joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still 'about to be'.” 

I've really been enjoying C.S. Lewis this month. I find his stories and philosophical and theological reflection really uplifting and after recently finishing 'Surprised by Joy' I can now say it's definitely one of my favourite books of all time; well-worth a read for anyone who has any interest in the life of C.S. Lewis or his works. 'The Four Loves' is now next on my list to finish for April, followed by 'The Lion the Wish and the Wardrobe' as I am ashamed to admit I never read the Chronicles of Narnia as a child! I also picked up a beautiful Penguin edition of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' in Camden Market while I was in London- bit of a contrast from C.S. Lewis but a great read all the same.

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