That’s A Wrap: August 2017

I’ve been shaking up my blog a little bit recently, playing around with the categories I have, getting rid of some and this is a new one I’ve been thinking about doing for a while now. I’ve seen a lot of monthly wrap up posts on other blogs, and I’ve always thought they were a great way to take stock and reflect on what you’ve put out each month. I’m trying to be more conscientious about my scheduling and what I post when, so I’m hoping this new post will help me keep track of that.

BOOKISH FINDS: Spontaneous Spree

Sometimes, when I’m disappointed or in need of cheering up I go out to a book shop, and pick up some brand new books. I often pick up my next reads from charity shops or libraries, but there is nothing like coming home with a new book every now and again. It works every time. That being said, sometimes I buy new books when I’m not in need of cheering up and just because I want to. Both are entirely legitimate reasons.

REVIEW: A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab

There was a time when there were four London’s: Red London, White London, Grey London and Black London. They could be moved through freely by people and magic, but then Black London fell and the doors between world’s and cities were closed. Only the Antari may move between these parallel universes now, and Kell is one of the last.

READING LISTS: Mental Health in Books

Mental Health Awareness month was back in May, and in honour of that month I decided to read Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. Over the past year of blogging, I’ve realised I can be a little less varied than I’d like to be in my reading, and now that I’m reaching the end of my dissertation, I feel like I can finally start to branch out. My mental health is something that I often take for granted, it’s not something I have to think about much, and that can mean that I forget not everyone is the same. These are six books I’ve read that have changed my perception of mental health.

MISC: WWW Wednesdays- 23rd August 2017

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- 21st August 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, by posting their answers as a comment or by creating their own blog post.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a back to school freebie. It’s been a few years since I had the dreaded back to school feels, but this week I’m going to reminisce. So here’s my list of ten books set in school, five I’ve read and five I want to read.

REVIEWS: All That Man Is by David Szalay

Shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize in 2016, All That Man Is is a novel that surprisingly lends itself to the short story form. Instead of chapters there are nine sections that follow the lives of nine separate men, starting with young teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, travelling abroad for the first time and ending with a retired man, recovering from a serious operation. In a way that novel comes full circle, starting with Simon and Ferdinand’s inter-railing experience, and ending with Simon’s grandfather, anxious and alone.

MISC: Down The TBR Hole #7

After buying a ridiculous amount of books over the last few months I have quite a bad book hangover, or rather my purse does. It’s definitely taken a hit recently. So with more physical books to read, it seems only fair that I review the books still waiting to be bought.

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?

BOOKISH FINDS: Summer Spending

Please don’t judge me, and if you are judging me then know that it was only partly my fault and that I didn’t buy all these books at once. Some of them were given to me and I couldn’t say no, others I bought as a treat because I finished a publishing work placement, and buying books seemed like an appropriate way of celebrating a week well spent. Many of these books have been on my TBR list for ages, and now that my dissertation is almost done, I’m getting ready to get into all the books I haven’t let myself read while working. There’s quite a tower of them…

MISC: WWW Wednesdays- 16th August 2017

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?