June 2021 Reading Wrap-Up

June was an interesting reading month… and a pretty disappointing one in some regards! One book I loved, and the other four were pretty mediocre.

I managed to read six books in June. The breakdown:

Reading Wrap-Up | March 2021

March was a pretty slow reading month for me! I had eyes bigger than my brain for my to be read list, and ended up reading 4 books over all. Whilst this isn’t necessarily bad, it’s frustrating to me as someone who wants to read a lot!

Book Review | Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini

Ada, the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron, was destined for fame before she was born. Chiaverini explores Ada’s life, from birth, her introduction into London society, and her exciting friendship with renowned inventor Charles Babbage.

I didn’t know much about Ada Lovelace before I read this book, and whilst I know that a lot of this was fiction, I do feel like I know her a lot better. Jennifer Chiaverini has brought this wonderful woman to life completely vividly.

I’ll admit that the first 100-or-so pages were a little dull, considering the fact they either didn’t have Ada in it, or she was a baby. The only thing that kept me reading was Chiaverini’s wondrous prose – it was like music being played in my mind with every word I read.

Author Interview | Fiona Shaw

Hey everyone! Today I am delighted to be interviewing Fiona Shaw, who wrote the wonderful novel Outwalkers. You can read my spoiler-free review here!

Outwalkers follows a gang of children in near-future Britain as they try to escape capture and enter Scotland where they will be safe. In a post-Brexit UK, this book is, I feel, important for anyone to read. 

Winter Biannual Bibliothon | Day 2 | christmas company

It’s day 2 of the Biannual Bibliothon! This is one of my favourite readathons and I participate every round. You can see more on their YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.

Today’s blog challenge was by Libby @ Libby Reads, and it’s to list 12 characters who you would invite over for a Christmas party!

Winter Biannual Bibliothon 2019| tbr

Hello all! Tomorrow is the first day of the Winter Biannual Bibliothon, and I’m excited to share my TBR with you guys. I know it’s kind of late in the game, but I’ve only just come back to university, so didn’t quite know what books I would have on me.

There are 7 reading challenges, but as I can’t get the group book at the moment, I’ll be aiming to complete six of them. You can check out the reading challenges here!

Magical Readathon: Christmas At Hogwarts TBR | blogmas day 17

I’ve wanted to participate in Book Roast’s Magical Readathon for the longest time, but I’ve always been too late to join! Not this time, however- finally, I can participate! I know this TBR is being posted on the day the readathon starts, but hey, what can I say apart from the fact I never really know what I’m doing until I’m doing it. 

Bookish Naughty or Nice Tag! | blogmas day 9

Thank you so much to Jenn @ Jenniely for tagging me in this! I adore this tag! 

Basically, you just tick the things you have done this year and leave the ones you haven’t, add up everything at the end, and voila – you know if you should expect books or coal under the tree this year! 

I recommend books based on your blog #5 | Another Ranting Reader

“I recommend books based on your blog” is a bi-monthly series where I recommend a different blogger three books based on their blog content and blog design! 

And in this episode of “I recommend you books based on your blog”, I recommend books to Jemima who blogs at Another Ranting Reader! Jemima is a first year university student from Wales, and she blogs about all sorts, including books, feminism, poetry, fashion, travel, and writing. I can sense that this will be a fun list!

What I’ve Been Reading Lately #2

As I stopped doing “Turning the Page” weekly posts because I just wasn’t reading enough (and also I am so busy with uni work!) I am occasionally doing these catch-up posts. You can read the first one here! 

Since I last updated 3 weeks ago, I have read 3 books for university and 2 Little Black Classics, which are a series by Penguin; so, 5 overall. I am working so hard on essays, my dissertation etc., that reading Little Black Classics (which I buddy read with my bestie Natalie) is one of the only ways I can read for pleasure. 

For university I have read: 

• The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (3.5/5): I actually kind of fell in love with Phillip Marlowe here. He is a charming man, but the book itself felt quite episodic. It was actually a series of short stories turned into novels, which makes sense if you read them, but I did really enjoy it nonetheless. 
• A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes (4/5): I really loved this book. It was groundbreaking in its time, and Himes is a truly fascinating character – if you don’t really know much about him, I’d definitely do some research. It was really graphic too, kind of Deadpool-esque, which is something we haven’t really had in the books for this module up until now. 
• The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (3.5/5): Whilst this one wasn’t necessarily my favourite, it is a great novel and I really love Highsmith’s writing style. She was a fascinating person and I would love to read more books she’s written such as Strangers on A Train. If you are interested in LGBTQ+ lit, murder, forgery, unreliable narrators, and sociopaths, this is a novel for you. 

And outside of university, I have read: 

• The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson (4/5): This is a Penguin Modern Classic, and is only about 90 or so pages long, containing three short stories. I thought they were all fascinating, and I’m surprised I haven’t read Jackson before because not only do I like her writing style, but her work feels something I would’ve (should’ve?) studied in school. 
• Stancliffe’s Hotel by Charlotte Bronte (3/5): A Little Black Classic, this was a little longer at 110 pages, and it’s a piece Bronte wrote when she was much younger. Indeed, it is told in the confusing, whimsical way of a child, but it is obvious that Bronte was already stretching her writing style and you can see where the famous writer we all know began her work. 

Despite the fact I haven’t really had much time to read for pleasure, I have been trying to eke out more time recently, so hopefully will have read some more. As well as that, by mid-December one of my modules will be done and I’ll just have my dissertation to finish over Christmas, and I’m hoping to read much more then! 

What have you read recently?