I have once again set myself the goal of reading 75 books. I readily accomplished this last year, but I didn’t feel confident enough to push that goal too much further – nor did I want to for that matter.
Reading lately:
Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. by Caryl Churchill
I absolutely loved Imp and Bluebeard. I was less taken with the plays Glass and Kill. Nevertheless, I think this is quite a striking collection of Caryl Churchill plays. I just wish the quality of language was more even throughout the 4 short plays.
3 stars
Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin
I may have enjoyed the second installment in the series even more than the first. The world is rapidly expanding and the plot was more expansive.
4 stars
The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace
I had read a review that said this collection of poetry was life-changing. I am afraid that I thoroughly disagreed. There were a few pieces that were lovely and moving but on the whole Lovelace’s collection was rather bland. But perhaps my expectations were just set too high.
2 stars
Punk Rock by Simon Stephens
I thought this play was brilliant at exploring friendship dynamics in schools and the pressure that parents put on secondary school students in the Uk. (Culminating in a shocking tragedy.) I would love to direct this play at school one day.
4 stars
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
I cannot believe that I hadn’t read this Australian classic until now. It was so atmospheric- set towards the end of the Edwardian era – and the mystery of the missing schoolgirls was absolutely riveting. Spoiler: you never find out what happened to the girls, you just watch how their absence effects everyone else.
4 stars
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout
I started reading this series to fill an ACOTAR shaped hole in my heart. It’s YA fantasy romance in a world that involved old Gods and vampires. It’s basically everything that I want in a story.
5 stars
Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert
This collection of Albert short stories was definitely written for fans of her previous Hazlewood fairy story. The stories were a bit hit and miss, but on the whole, very pleasant to read.
3 stars
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Any children’s book that is lauded to fill a Harry Potter void, I immediately snap up. This was more Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children than Potter. What I liked most about it was that there was LGBTQ+ representation in it without making a big deal that there was a homosexual couple in a children’s book. More fantasy representation like this is needed!
3 stars
Contractions by Mike Bartlett
This play is incredibly dark – so much so that it is offputting to the level of Sarah Kane at points. However, it is also genuinely laugh-out-loud funny in places.
3 stars
The Burial at Thebes by Seamus Heaney
This is Heaney’s adaptation of the play ‘Antigone’. Heaney has written a beautiful adaptation’ it’s modernised but the poetry in the language is still stunning.
4 stars
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L Armentrout
I did not quite enjoy this novel as much as the first in the series. However, I still liked watching as the lies around our protagonist and everything that she knows were rapidly unfolding. I speed through it at a lightning-quick pace.
4 stars
The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L Armentrout
The beginning of this book was incredible. Riveting, edge-of-your-seat stuff. But then a good 300 pages in the middle really dragged. It picked up its pace again by the end, and I can’t wait for the 4th in the series to be released.
4 stars
The Hogfather by Terry Pratchet
Hogfather is a delightfully easy read and it is always pleasant to be in the Discworld universe again. It’s just not quite as strong and engrossing as some of the other novels in the series.
3 stars
Quartet by Jean Rhys
A semi-autobiographical take on Rhys’ own time in Paris, relationships, and hardships this was engrossing but ultimately unsatisfying.
3 stars
Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
I was quickly hooked into this novella, occurring all on one day in post – WWI Britain. Ultimately, the hasty ending of the story left me deeply frustrated, but the early writing balances that.
4 stars
Heroes and Villians by Angela Carter
In the somewhat near future, humanity destroys the earth with roaming tribes engaging in bloody feuds with mutants and small colonies of “professors” – or so Angela Carter imagines in this bleak novella.
4 stars
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
This book has been on most people’s radars for years and I’m not sure what took me so long to read it. It was an enjoyable read and I speed through it.
3 stars
Whiskey, Words, & a Shavel III by rh Sin
There were one or two beautiful turns of phrases, otherwise, this book of poetry was bland and under-edited. Instagram poetry at its worst.
2 stars
Have you read anything good lately?
