sarahwilliamsandco

I’ve had another pretty good reading month quantity-wise, I know, who am I? So I figured I’d share them with you again in case there’s anything you fancy adding to your tbr. Spoiler though, some are not like five stars for me but doesn’t mean they couldn’t be for you! It’s all relative.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Obviously

I’m never not reading a Harry Potter book. Sometimes I just read one on my phone when I don’t have a book. Sometimes I read them at night when I’m tired or between books when I’m not ready to start a new story. I dip in and out constantly. Though this is actually only the second time I’ve ever read the fifth book (doesn’t sound quite so mad if I mention that I only read them all for the first time four years ago, I know).

The Vegetarian – Han Kang

This book was getting a lot of buzz a while ago so I picked it up. I wanted to know what people were saying about my people. For one, the book should be called The Vegan as the main character does not eat dairy or eggs. That probably annoyed me more than it needed to. The book is very bizarre. It’s spilt into three parts with different narrators. I didn’t really care for part one and part two made me uncomfortable. Part three was much more interesting. Though I do think the title is overall misleading. The book to me feels like it views vegetarianism as a gateway to madness. I think that’s problematic. Like you’re obviously supposed to get that the characters didn’t understand the vegetarian lifestyle but there wasn’t really any defence made by the author either. However the portrayal of mental health itself was interesting so I’m a bit mixed. Not fully decided how I feel.

We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

An old one but a good one. I saw the Ted talk for this essay years ago and I just felt like rereading it. It’s an excellent jump off point for beginners to feminism or for people who think feminism doesn’t affect their life. It affects everybody. I think this should be studied in schools. For real. It reminds me why it’s so exciting to be a feminist. Because we’re telling social norms and outdated laws and customs and uninformed mindsets to fuck off. We’re demanding a better world for everyone.

Crown of Midnight – Sarah J Maas

I’ve started this book about three times on my kindle and just never broke a hundred pages. I have no idea why because I like it enough. I think it just hadn’t like grabbed me as anything mind blowing. But I liked the first book of the series so I decided to finally just get through this one. I like that there are badass female characters in this book who don’t just wait to be told what to do. However I’m wondering if I’m just growing out of young adult fiction. To me, the big twist at the end was blindingly obvious from the beginning and I’m just wondering if I would have noticed that when I was younger. If not then I guess I am just looking for more complex writing now. If I would have known it even at sixteen then I guess it’s just not written very well. Either way, it’s a fun read.

Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert

I mentioned these last two in my favourite books of 2017 so I won’t say loads. There is a lot in this book that I’ll remember and come back too. Others I won’t but I think that’s the beauty of non-fiction. Whilst I disagree with some of her ideas, she’s always opened my mind to new ways of thinking about creativity and my craft. If you’re looking for some inspiration for any creative pursuit then I’d give this a read.

Citizen: An American Lyric – Claudia Rankine

Everyone just needs to go and read this. I don’t know what else to say. It’s about race and identity and America. It’s completely relevant to today’s society especially with the Black Lives Matter and #metoo movements. It’s important to education yourself. And this is a good place to start. Just make sure you have your highlighter ready.

See you next month, kids.

Into The Ocean – All The Luck In The World