Book haul for August
Okay, things have got a bit out of control this month. I have gone a tad crazy with the book haul! Have I finished the books I have bought over the past few months? No. Did I need more books? No. Did that stop me? No. I blame my recent addiction to BookTube (YouTube videos of vloggers who review books!), and my ever increasing obsession with Goodreads. Lately, my health has been on a bit of a decline, and with limited concentration and energy levels, staring at videos and book reviews is about the only thing that I am comfortable doing (and cuddling my puppy, of course!). So this inevitably leads onto Book Depository orders… Also, now that I am a writing student, I feel that reading lots of different books and genres is mandatory, right?! It is research!!…
Church of Marvels, by Leslie Parry. I had not heard of this book until I saw it on the shop shelf. After a quick search on Goodreads, I was excited to read it. The reviews were all positive, and the blurb was intriguing. I have started reading it, and I am loving it so far. It is one of those books where I want to read it as fast as possible to find out what is happening, but I also want to read it really slowly to savour it. I will be posting a review of this in October.
Where I’m Reading From: The Changing World of Books, by Tim Parks. I heard positive reviews of this book from writers, and thought that it would be a good book to read during my process of finding out what type of writing I want to do, and to appreciate the reading process. It looks at ‘what readers want from books and how to look at literature in a new light.’
The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within, by Stephen Fry. This book was highly recommended by my poetics tutor, and the introduction chapter has already grabbed me. It seems like a light but interesting peek into poetry from Fry’s fascinating and intriguing point of view. It looks at tools and inspiration for writing poetry.
The Dumb House, by John Burnside. One of the BookTubers I am particularly hooked on, Jen Campbell, reviewed this book and raved about it so much that I think everyone who watched the video has ordered the book! It sounds amazing, and I am definitely excited to read this one. It is about a man who uses children as subjects in a bizarre experiment based on a Persian myth, testing whether language is innate or acquired.
The Stone Gods, by Jeanette Winterson. This book was part of Jen Campbell’s video on dystopian adult books, which I loved because my favourite genre is probably dystopian, but I find that it is largely made up of young adult books. Subsequently, I decided to order this book, and the one below, as she highly recommended them both (I fought the urge to buy the other three books she suggested!). This sounds like an interesting storyline, and I am intrigued. It is about a new, pristine planet, our own planet, which is on the edge of destruction, and love.
The Book of Strange New Things, by Michel Faber. This seems like my kind of story line, plus a bit of romance (I don’t know why, but I am not that into romance in books. I love a good romance chick flick, but not so much in books – yes, I am odd! I will work on this…). This is a beautiful looking book, and although Mum promptly pinched it minutes after it arrived in the post, I look forward to reading it when she is done! It is a ‘tale of adventure, faith and the ties that might hold two people together when they are worlds apart.’
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler (audiobook). This looks to be an interesting book, and reviews and friends have told me it is a good one, so I have downloaded the audiobook for when I want to listen to something next. I do mostly listen to books, but as you can tell, I am currently trying to make myself physically read more. This is hard for me due to my health conditions, but I think it is important for improving my writing ability, and de-rusting my brain clogs! This book is about a woman who has had something happen to her that was so awful she buried it in her mind, and about her imploding family.
Let me know what you have bought this month, I would love to hear (no, my wallet does not need any more recommendations, but you know I want to hear them!!). Happy reading (and book buying!).
Captain Albi was helping me with the photo for this book haul. He was such a hilarious poser, I had to include these outtakes!!!