It’s been a while since I’ve updated you all on what I’ve been reading lately. My Goodreads goal for the year is 100, and I recently just hit 56 books so I’m definitely on track!
You can catch up on my February reading list.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING RECENTLY
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
This was a short and brutal read. It’s really difficult to describe Elmet. It could be read in one sitting but it thrums with cruelty and violence so I recommend watching an episode of “Parks and Rec” after. It’s set in rural Yorkshire and the descriptions of the countryside are absolutely stunning.
4 stars
This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel
I am in two minds about it. On one hand, I really liked reading about the journey and development of a family when they learn that their youngest child is transgender. On the other hand, I disliked the second half of the book when the mum and youngest go to Thailand and “white savour woman” stereotypes and tropes abound. Overall, I’m going with a positive impression because its refreshing to have a LGBTQIAP+ family story that doesn’t involve tragedy.
4 stars
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
As much as I love fantasy, I struggle sometimes with books that are set in the land of the “Fey”. The genre always involves a lot of cruelty, because fairies are not what Disney told us. In fact, I actually read some of Holly Black’s other works way back in middle school and stopped because I just got a bit tired of it all.
I enjoyed the first in this new series. I’m quite intrigued by the changeling concept so I liked getting an insight into what growing up a human in the fairy world would be. (Spoiler: it’s awful).
3 stars
Nevermoor: The trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
I absolutely raced through this book. I was so loath to put it down that I kept reading as I was walking to work. It’s being touted as the new “Harry Potter” and I really thought it was wonderful. I can’t wait for the second in the series.
5 stars
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
It took me a few chapters to get in to this novel, and it’s only because Eleanor is a character that’s hard to love at first. Which is the whole point really. As readers we grow to care about her and see her positives as well as her negatives.
I don’t think the “twist” is as surprising as the author hopes it might be to the reader. I enjoyed the journey of the novel but the message that she was only able to deal with her mental illness once she embraced more conventional aspects of life (getting hair cuts, wearing new clothes) I find somewhat problematic.
Good but not necessarily worth all the hype.
3 stars
Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir by Chris Packham
I knew relatively little about Christ Packham before I read this book. (Besides the fact that he hosted Springwatch.) So I knew little about his journey with depression treatment and growing up with Asperger’s. It was a fascinating to read about his connection to animals groing up; a great memoir to read.
4 stars
La Belle Savauge: The Book of Dust by Phillip Pullman
The original Northern Lights series is one of my all-time favourites. Luckily, Sam loves it too. We even had a “Subtle Knife” reading in our wedding ceremony. I enjoyed the newest instalment to the series, especially the second half of the novel. I’m just not sure what this new book added to the originals (anything?). I’m definitely still excited for the next two books. I can’t wait for the last one which is due to be set after the original series. Will + Lyra forever.
Instead of reading this, I might suggest another of my favourites to Pullman fans instead: the Sally Lockhart series.
3 stars
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
This book is a sequel to Atkinson’s “Life After Life”. You don’t need to have read LAL to enjoy God in Ruins. And I liked LAL, but once it’s clever writing tricks had been exposed, I enjoyed it but I wasn’t blown away. I ended up liking the sequel, God in Ruins more.
Spanning nearly 100 years, it covers Teddy’s childhood, his years in WWII, his post-war life, the life of his child and then his grandchild. All the timeline are woven together and there’s no chronological order. I find Teddy’s story more engrossing than Ursula’s from LAL, and I think one of the most successful things about it is that all the characters are deeply flawed. (Except for maybe Bertie).
And the ending. I won’t spoil anything, but it hit me like a punch. I never expected it and I ended up sitting there crying for a good 10 minutes afterward.
4 stars
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
It’s kind of hard to explain… it’s an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest, set in a Canadian Correctional Facility drama rehabilitation program, and they are putting on “The Tempest”. I loved the premise and the set-up so much that I told Sam that I wanted to get the rights to adapt it into a play.
But it only gets 4 stars because I think the ending got wrapped up way too easily and quickly. Similar to The Tempest, itself, which is the point but it made it slightly frustrating.
4 stars
The First Bad Man by Miranda July
This is definitely a marmite book: people either love it or hate it. Personally, I found it disappointing and quirky just for the sake of being quirky which I found super frustrating. It’s about a middle-aged woman, Cheryl, who is lonely and ends up being bullied by her boses’ daughter. I wouldn’t recommend it but some people on my Goodreads list loved it!
2 stars
Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe
I enjoy Sara Pascoe’s humour, but I’m not sure what this book adds to the conversation on gender and bodily autonomy. It isn’t as personally reflective as I expected it to be and it instead relies a lot on science and other people’s research, that I am not sure has been interpreted correctly.
3 stars
Nasty Women by 404 Ink
This book is a collection of essays from women around the world. Some of them are incredibly strong and moving. I liked that it wasn’t just about “white woman feminism” but instead delved into immigration issues, LGBTQIA+, disability, grief and structural racism. I highly recommend it!
4 stars
South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion
This is a publication of some of Didion’s notebooks. Because of that it feels quite piecemeal and doesn’t quite hang together. There are some beautiful Didion-esque images and sentences but it’s definitely not the strongest in her repertoire.
3 stars
The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess by Starhawk
It’s quite a seminal text for people interested in paganism. The book is poetic, and an interesting and quite uplifting. The mythology in the book is absolutely fascinating. I recommend it for people interested in environmentalism and goddess history.
4 stars
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
I absolutely loved the gothic vibes of this novel. I raced through it and wanted there to be more and more. I found the twist fairly surprising but I was a touch frustrated by the ending. It was an excellent fun read. An eerie, evocative and well-crafted ghost story.
4 stars
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
I’ve talked before on here about how I love Didion, and Slouching Towards Bethlehem has one of my favourite openings in literature (my absolute favourite is du Maurier’s “Rebecca” opening.) To be honest, it made me feel grateful that I wasn’t a young woman in the 1960s and 1970s.
3 stars
The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1) by Maryrose Wood
I can’t remember who recommended this series for me, but it’s so cute. It would be great for Lemony Snicket fans, but I actually enjoy it even more as it’s slightly less mean-spirited. It’s about a young governess and her young charges, who were literally raised by wolves. I enjoyed the first so much that I rushed out to the library and picked up the next three.
4 stars
The Hidden Gallery (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #2) by Maryrose Wood
My favourite character in the series was introduced in this one. He’s a young London playwright and he’s a great sidekick to Penelope.
3 stars
The Unseen Guest (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #3) by Maryrose Wood
I think you definitely pick up some big series clues in this book. It has a lot of lovely character development.
4 stars
The Interrupted Tale (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, #4) by Maryrose Wood
I absolutely can’t wait for the last in the series to come out. Hopefully soon so I can see how it all ends as #4 was a bit of a cliffhanger.
4 stars
Thornhill by Pam Smy
The illustrations in this were absolutely gorgeous. If it wasn’t a library book, I would have been tempted to snip a few out and keep them. The story was creepy but not too unsettling (as it’s aimed at young adults).
4 stars
Broken Glass by VC Andrews
I only picked this up because I was in the library and desperate for some new reads and I had read the first in the series last year. VC Andrews would be turning in the grave, if she knew how awful her ghostwriter was. The novel is dreadful and it was littered with typos.
2 stars
My top recommendations from this session are: Nasty Women, Nevermoor and the Hag-Seed.
Do you have any reads that you’d recommend to me?
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