Perfume. The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

From the very first opening line of Perfume, the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind I knew I was in for an experience with this novel. "In eighteenth century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages." Such begins the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille,an orphan who is gifted with an astonishing power of scent and a dangerous ambition.

Books like this fascinate me as despite the fact that I loathed Jean-Baptiste for being a horrible, disgusting little man and this novel is nothing if not macabre I also thoroughly enjoyed it.It's richly descriptive and beautifully written and yet the whole time I would have loved nothing more than to see Jean-Baptiste be destroyed for his wickedness.

There's a great sense of otherworldliness and fantasy to this novel that although everything is set in a historical setting it reads like someone looking in from afar in a dreamy kind of way. Maybe it's the haze of scents that surround this book but it was not at all what I was expecting and that's exactly why I enjoyed how horribly enjoyable this story was.

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read in 2015

It's now that time of year to start pulling out the big guns and whittling down our best of lists to just ten great reads for The Broke and The Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday. From now till the end of the year I will live in fear of reading a fantastic book that I can no longer add to my best of 2015 list. Without further ado here are my favourite books I read in 2015, of which there are actually only 8 'cos I wanted to keep it to the best of the best:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr :: Everything about this book is so beautiful from it's iridescent cover to the fantastic prose inside I felt a little pang of sadness at having to finish this novel and I highly recommend.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor :: I was really not expecting to enjoy this book that much considering how often Im like 'fantasy isn't really my jam.' Well how times have changed, since like a month ago, I feel like this book has given me a whole new perspective on both YA and fantasy genres.

The Diviners by Libba Bray :: Okay I really didn't want to rank these books in any particular order since my love for them is all fairly similar but The Diviners is my clear winner for the BEST book I read in 2015. I just freaking loved every minute of it, from its wonderfully lovable characters to the exciting plot and historically awesome time period (1920s New York sounds like a fabulous idea). Even just thinking about this book makes me want to give it a little hug in appreciation. Weird I know.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes :: Ahhh this book made my cry so bad. I loved how touching this book was and Jojo Moyes does a fantastic job of creating a wonderful story that feels so authentic. After falling for You Before Me, I am so pleased that I loved this book just as much.

You by Caroline Kepnes :: This book came out of no-where for me. I've never read anything like it and was suprisingly enjoying spending time with the main character Joe who it turns out is a major psychopath. Although this made me question my own sanity I thoroughly recommend for a different take on the thriller genre.

The Collected Works of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zavin :: I love books, as you all know but I also love books that talk about loving books and this one in particular really warmed my heart. AJ is a grumpy bookstore owner who has taken to drinking a lot since his wife died and I just loved this story of how his plans to ruin his own life is interrupted by an unexpected parcel on his doorstep.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell :: I think the main love for this book stems not only from Rainbow's writing (and also that name, I can't get over it!) but this is possibly the first book I've ever read that actually represents a couple going through some REAL SHIT people. I loved that this was a romantic story about two people figuring out their love for one another and choosing to be together without any of the usual fate/lightening bolt/surge of electricity bullshit that is often in romantic novels (and which sometimes I do like but ya know, just not in every novel please).

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins :: This book was kinda perfect reading for me. A twisty thriller that had me hooked from start to finish and an easy non-demanding writing style made it a really quick read.

The Bedside Table Stack #13

Today I'm bringing you a fairly gloomy looking beside table stack filled with dark emotional covers that are actually in stark contrast to the way I feel about these books. I've actually read all but Viper Wine so far, so book reviews will be coming up soon but just know that my last few book selections have been good, real good!

Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre :: Im so excited to finally get around to reading this book after seeing its snazzy cover months ago. Currently I have made it thirty pages in and honestly I can't really gather my thoughts thus far except for the fact that this book is written in a way that gives a nod to an old fashioned writing style which usually isn't my favourite to read even though I love historical fiction books. Hopefully things pick up soon!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins :: This book is sooo good and definitely lived up to the expectations. Although similar in some ways to Gone Girl I did think the writing was a lot more simplistic and didn't really have the character depth to compete but regardless this is a really great read.

Perfume, the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind :: Well this was a very unexpected read and one that I didn't expect to be quite so macabre or quite so funny. It's books like this that make me question the appropriateness of my sense of humour as I often found myself laughing and then reprimanding myself for doing so.

Full reviews will be up soon of these but in the meantime, let me know what you've been enjoying reading recently.