I recently won a book party bag from a Pan Macmillan competition which was hosted by The Window Seat and included in the party bag was a book called The Secrets of Happiness by Lucy Diamond, along with a few other goodies (click the link to see what else I won).

I hadn't ever really heard of the author, to be quite honest but one of my elder sister's told me she had been really looking forward to reading this book of hers in particular. Now, I really value my sister's opinion when it comes to books as we're always sharing book recs to each other and discussing them in general, so when she told me that this book was meant to be really good, I thought it should be the first I read out of the three I had won.

It piqued my interest even more so when I read the blurb. At first I thought it would be your typical women's lit or chick lit but as I'm now quite into the book - I think I read about 100 pages within the first few hours which usually indicates that the book has hooked me - I'm thinking differently. It's not at all corny and I'm actually really enjoying how it reads. It's quite easy to get caught up in the plot and forget there is a world outside of this book!

My favourite character so far has to be Becca or Mabel. Mabel's personality is typically rebellious, trying to push the boundaries whilst her mother is gone. Becca, I feel is the quite misunderstood sister out of her and Rachel. She doesn't seem to have much confidence and is always trying her hardest to prove herself to people, to show them that she is worth their time, effort and isn't completely useless at everything she attempts to make a go of. I relate to her really well, especially with the latter part.

I'm excited to see if Becca and Rachel can finally repair their damaged relationship as step-sisters and why Rachel suddenly decided to disappear without telling a single person where she was going... hmm.. Better get back to it!

Starting off a new feature on the blog with a book I've been wanting to read ever since it was published. I've heard so many great things about The Miniaturist and it goes without saying that it's one of those books you highly anticipate reading because of all the awards and amazing reviews it has received.

I was a bit skeptical about actually picking it up to read, to be quite honest. It's been on my shelf for about seven months after I finally found it on offer in my local WH Smiths. The reason why I was skeptical about actually reading it is because, you know when you've heard so many good things about a book or something in general that it might not be as great as what everyone else has been saying about it. So you avoid, avoid and avoid picking it up until you just take a small leap and open those first few pages and get swallowed in by the story.

So, I'm now reading it. I'm around 100 pages in. Usually this marks the time when I'm starting to form my own opinion of the book and getting a gist of where the plot may or may not be heading towards.

At the moment, it's keeping me guessing a lot. I like Nella as a character. I think she's very interesting and I'm not really keen on Marin. I feel like she's very snooty and narrow-minded when it comes to most things and I wish she would give Nella more of a chance to prove her worth. I'm a bit stumped at the whole miniaturist thing knowing exactly what her furniture or her husband's two dog looks like. I have a lot to find out still as the book is only really just getting started.

I think instead of doing book reviews, I'll stick to doing Current Read posts and perhaps an update when I'm around halfway through the book.

Has or is anyone else reading The Miniaturist? What are your thoughts? Did you think it lived up to the praise it has received or were you not that keen as others?

If you've not read The Miniaturist and aren't planning to: have you ever avoided reading a book that has received awards or amazing reviews? If so, what book was it and was it worth the read?