MISC: Down The Tbr Hole #5

Another venture down the book filled darkness that is my TBR pile. I’ve been on a bit of an adding spree recently, my Goodreads list has grown – so it seems like now would be a good time to give it a clean out. Lia at Lost In A Story started this weekly post to trim down the Goodreads to-read list.

The rules are simple:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course, if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

MISC: WWW Wednesday- 28th June 2017

Another week has FLOWN by, and I’m still plugging away at my dissertation. I’d say I’m halfway through and the light is there at the end of the tunnel. Two more months and then I can blown my TBR wide open. Hurray.

WWW is hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Each Wednesday book enthusiasts share their reads by answering three questions:

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Misc: Top Ten Tuesday- 27th June 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they post a different topic that one of their bloggers answers, and they invite others to join in either by posting their answers as a comment or by creating their own blog post.

This week is all about the best books you’ve read in 2017. So far I’ve read 32 books (I’m over halfway to my 50 book goal), which you might think makes it easy, because I have less books to choose from. But getting to 10 was actually quite challenging. I’ve read some great books so far in 2017, but not all of them would make it to the Top 10 by the end of the year.

REVIEW: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

There have only been a handful of times that I’ve wanted to be friends with the author of a book I’ve read, but Jenny Lawson is one of them. So is Jane Austen, so she’s in good company. Strong, witty women will always find their way into my heart and Lawson has done just that with Furiously Happy.

May was Mental Health Awareness month, so I challenged myself to pick up a book that would put me in the shoes of someone who experiences the world differently to me. Challenge is probably the wrong word because it wasn’t a struggle to read Furiously Happy, it was more difficult pulling myself away.

MISC: WWW Wednesdays- 21st June 2017

I didn’t think I would have any new additions this week, after taking my time with Lucia Berlin’s A Manual for Cleaning Women, but I’ve surprised myself and actually finished a few books!

WWW is hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Each Wednesday book enthusiasts share their reads by answering three questions:

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I’m 100 pages into Kate Brown’s The Women of Versailles. I haven’t read any historical fiction in a while, and honestly it’s Versailles the TV programmes fault. There’s only so manyepisodes you can watch of glossy haired actors in their corsets, frilly sleeves and debauchery before you get the itch. I’m not sure where it’s going at the moment, but I’m enjoying the scandals of court life.

What did you recently finish reading?

I read Horatio Clare’s Myths & Legends on Monday. It’s just over a hundred pages but that length has nothing to do with my reading speed. I honestly couldn’t put it down. The book revisits 10 Welsh myths and stories, bringing them into the modern age. Some are almost like fables in the way they expose the pitfalls of modern life. They are hilarious, immersive and sweep you up into the story.

I finished A Manual For Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin. I took my time and I’m glad Idid. There aren’t many writers who would delve so deep into their personal histories, particularly when there are scarsthere, but Berlin revisits these moments time and again. I could never get bored of reading her work.

 

The last book I read was Four Bare Legs in a Bed by Helen Simpson. My tutor recommended Simpson’s short stories to me because of the similarities in our writing and I loved her writing.The themes of entrapment and female empowerment run through the collection in acerbic wit and ludicrous characters. My favourite was the opening story in which a women cheats on her husband in her dreams. Only he has the audacity to start appearing in her fantasies to interrupt her subconscious infidelity.

What do you think you’ll read next?

At this point, who knows. I have Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine waiting on my bookcase with the other thirty books I’ve bought and never read. But I need to read some more short stories for my coursework. So, we shall see!

 

What have you been reading this week?

MISC: Top Ten Tuesday- 20th June 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week they post a different topic that one of their bloggers answers, and they invite others to join in either by posting their answers as a comment or by creating their own blog post.

This week is all about series, and its a great topic for me because I have so many series on my TBR list. I’ve spent a lot of time reading for my course, but once that’s over I’ll have time to indulge in the books I’ve wanted to read that haven’t quite fitted in with my studies! I can’t remember the last series I got stuck in. I think it was A Song of Ice and Fire!

READING LISTS: 10 Non-Fiction Books To Read

Fiction has always been my forte. I like being pulled out of the world and into another, but the truth is non-ficion can do that too. There are hundreds of topics on which I know nothing about, countries I’ve never visited, experiences I’ve never had, and all those discoveries can be found in non-fiction too. I recently read Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy and Amy Poehler’s Yes Please and they pulled me across the Atlantic, I was tucked up under the blankets with Lawson, joining in her racoon rodeo and on the set of SNL with Poehler. Non-fiction can tell you a story, and tell you more about yourself. So, inspired by reading these two fantastic books I’ve picked out 10 more non-fiction books that I would like to read.

REVIEW: Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Being sixteen is hard, being sixteen with a secret is harder. Simon Spier knows what it’s like to keep a part of himself hidden. He’s gay but the only person who knows is his mystery pen-pal Blue. But when Martin the school joker finds Simon’s e-mails to Blue it looks like the truth might come out, whether Simon wants it to or not. The only way to stop Martin from spilling is to help him get closer to Abby, Simon’s friend.

MISC: Hay Festival

I may have mentioned a few times that I was going to Hay Festival last week. If you didn’t know, then you’ve probably been tuning me out. It’s okay, I don’t blame you. I’ve been a stuck record for most of May. It was all I could do not to bring it up every five seconds, because if there’s something I love more than books, it’s a town full of them and a festival dedicated to their talented creators. I’m gushing again, sorry.

MISC: WWW Wednesday- 7th June 2017

I feel like I say ‘its been a busy few weeks’ too often. But… it’s been a busy few weeks (I know, I know). But the water’s have mostly calmed so I’m back to blogging again! It’s been a bit of a quiet week in reading but here’s what I’ve been up to!

WWW is hosted by Taking on a World of Words. Each Wednesday book enthusiasts share their reads by answering three questions:

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?