Lifestyle

What I’ve Been Reading Lately

Posted on November 11, 2020

I haven’t done a “What I’ve been reading lately” post since March. Eek! To be honest, the pandemic really sapped my focus and in a time where I thought I’d get a lot of reading done, I struggled to concentrate.

However, I have hit my Goodreads goal for the year (75 books) so let’s see how many more I get through by the end of the year.

You can follow me on Goodreads here.

Reading Lately:

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Set in a world where magic is (secretly) alive in New Haven, controlled by secret societies at Yale, outcast Alex is the only one left to protect us from the devious powers all around. I loved it. I can’t wait for the second to be released.
5 stars

People, Places and Things by Duncan MacMillan
A beautiful play about rehab and reality, I really wish I had been able to see it during its sold-out run at the National.
4 stars

Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons by Sam Steiner
A play set in a dystopian future where the government controls how many words you are allowed to speak every day, eventually limiting us to 140. Special dispensation is allowed in Parliament, of course. This take on the power of language was fascinating but the character development was lacking.
4 stars

Run Sister Run by Chloe Moss
A pretty run-of-the-mill play about family dynamics and the not-so-surprising secrets that sisters keep. However, there are some nice monologues for women in there.
3 stars

I Think We Are Alone by Sally Abbott
This play is about shared secrets that link two sisters to a variety of seemingly random characters and how we are haunted by the past. There was just something lacking for me.
3 stars

Things I Know to Be True by Andrew Bovell
I wish I had seen this Frantic Assembly commissioned play live. However, it’s a beautiful and tear-jerking story about how complicated families are
5 stars

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
This is an engrossing non-fiction account of the Salem witch trials. However, it can be a bit repetitive and dense at times.
3 stars

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
The language in Hamnet was stunning. It was my first exposure to O’Farrell’s work and I cannot wait to read more. The novel centers around the wife of the Bard, who is never named and functions as a supporting character in his fascinating wife’s story.
5 stars

Superman Is an Arab: On God, Marriage, Macho Men and Other Disastrous Inventions by Joumana Haddad
This was a fascinating insight into one woman’s take on feminism in Lebanon. There were a lot of points that I didn’t agree with but it was certainly thought-provoking.
2 stars

Let Them Eat Chaos by Kae Tempest
This is the first full commection of poetry that I’ve read from Tempest. There were flashes of brilliance in it, but overall it was a bit overwrought.
3 Stars

Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given
The debut book from Given is something that I wish I could have read (or gifted) to my 17 year old self. It’s all about body image, feeling empowered, the right to good sex and not viewing other women as competition.
4 stars

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
A very powerful look at racial issues and history in Britain. Personally, I found Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race the more thought-provoking read, but many friends have found Akala’s narrative voice in this easier to access.
4 stars

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
This was a very unique graphic novel about a young man growing up on a Reservation in American, but attending a mostly white school in a nearby town.
4 stars

Noughts & Crosses (Noughts & Crosses, #1) by Malorie Blackman
I feel like I may have been one of the last people in Britain to read this dystopian YA classic that is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, but where whites are historically oppressed and ruled by black Britons. I haven’t read the rest of the series but the first was quite gripping.
4 stars

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
The story of a young Black woman living in London, making relationship mistakes, and choosing the wrong men. Queenie herself is flawed but that makes her a more interesting character.
4 stars

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher
A YA book about life carrying on for the sibling and the twin of a young girl killed in a London terrorist attack and how prejudice is passed on.
4 stars

The Otherside of Truth by Beverly Naidoo
I am teaching this YA book about refugees to a Year 8 English class. The characters are developed and the story is intriguing. Set in London in the 90s, it feels very modern.
4 stars

Skellig: The Play by David Almond
I’m teaching the play version of Skellig to my Year 7s. I think some of the beauty of the story about our treatment of homelessness is lost in the paired down version of the play.
3 stars

Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff
I knew I was teaching Journey’s End for Year 9 English, so a re-read was in order. Sherriff’s WWI play set in the trenches of the Somme, about the death of innocence is a tear-jerker.
5 stars

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Growing up in New Mexico, it felt quite magical to read something by Anaya that seemed representative of the area that you lived in. Anaya’s death this year triggered a wave of nostalgia and a re-read was in order. It’s a magical coming-of-age story that combines Paganism and Catholicism.
4 stars

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
The title says it all. This YA book is set in the future where you are called on the day of your death, giving you notice. You can’t do anything to change it, but you can enjoy your last few hours. The concept is fascinating, it just wasn’t actualized as well as it could have been.
3 stars

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
A must-read for any white woman who calls herself a feminist. Kendall explores why mainstream feminism neglects to see how race, class, sexual orientation, and disability intersect with gender
4 stars

Monster by Walter Dean Myers
A 16 year old Black boy is wrongly imprisoned in American, and ‘Monster’ is the story of his trial. The diary entry style writing makes it quite easy for a young reader to read, though the subject matter is more difficult.
3 stars

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
It’s the story of is the story of Esperanza Cordera, a young girl growing up in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago. The novella reads like poetry. It’s beautiful.
5 stars

Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
Set immediately post 9-11, it’s a smart and compelling YA read about growing up Muslim-American.
4 stars

Dear Martin by Nic Stone
This book was recommended to me when I was looking for YA that was similar to the staggering The Hate U Give. I’d definitely recommend it to a teen.
4 stars

George by Alex Gino
It’s the first YA book that I’ve read with a transgender main character. I’d estimate it as a best fit for readers between 9-12 years old.
4 stars

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
The Pillowman is dark and twisters and shocking. Two police detectives are interviewing a writer suspected of being a serial killer in a dystopian future. It’s brutal and an incredible read.
5 stars

DNA by Dennis Kelly
I revisited this play knowing that I had to teach it for GCSE Drama this year. It’s the perfect play for a school as the cast of characters are teenagers united in covering up a terrible secret but I find it slightly uncompelling.
3 stars

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Evaristo’s book follows 12 characters. It’s hard to describe as it that it doesn’t have a plot, doesn’t have a particularly linear timeline, and doesn’t have a single focal character. What it is, essentially, is a collection of twelve different, loosely linked character studies that combine to create a sort of picture of black heritage in Britain. I couldn’t put it down.
4 stars

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
I enjoyed this book and I thought the writing was occasionally beautiful but I didn’t enjoy it as much as most reviewers seemed to. It didn’t live up to the hype for me.
3 stars

Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
Saad provides much to consider along with instructions on how to delve into my own place in the spectrum of racism. Doing the work as outlined may be difficult, even frightening for many but it is necessary.
4 stars

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
The final installment of the trilogy was probably the weakest of the bunch; however, I thoroughly enjoyed the series and sailed through reading them.
4 stars

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy
A cutesy but beautiful illustrated book that seems to be what everyone needed in 2020.
5 stars

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson
The 2nd in the trilogy at the school for gifted teens was just as delightful as the 1st and left me excited for the final installment.
4 stars

The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
I wanted to really love this book. It was Sherlocky, it was Steampunky. It’s everything that usually calls to me but the ending was so disappointing that it ruined the whole thing.
2 stars

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
A murder mystery set in a boarding school for gifted teens? This is right up my YA alley. It was a very enjoyable read and I downloaded the second and third in the series right away.
4 stars

Outspoken: 50 Speeches by Incredible Women from Boudicca to Michelle Obama by Deborah Coughlin
There are some speeches in here that are absolutely dynamite and some that are less than inspirational.
3 stars

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
A quick YA mental health-read. Nothing truly ground-breaking but fairly fluffy.
2 stars

The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks by Gwendolyn Brooks
A stunning collection of powerful poetry. I can’t wait to read more.
4 stars

The Binding by Bridget Collins
I love the premise of this book – that you can bind up memories into a book and then you won’t remember them anymore but the execution fell short, in my opinion.
3 stars

My top suggestions: ‘Hamnet’, “Ninth House” and ‘The House on Mango Street‘.