sarahwilliamsandco

Really quick wrap up this month since I read basically nothing! Oops. I’ve somehow fallen back into that bad habit of starting eight books and finishing none. Something to work on in April! So after fourteen excellent months of reading only women authors, I added men back into the mix this March. If you’re gonna add men back in it’s gotta be for someone as boss as Camus.

The Stranger/The Outsider – Albert Camus

This book is everything you need to be reading. In this novel, Camus reaffirms for me the existentialist ideas I learnt and fell in love with in my teens with my brother. Part One I could take or leave; it’s slightly mundane but it’s necessary to set the book up. Part Two, however, will change your life. Meursault makes you question the absurdity of life as well as the social norms that we all desperately follow. Despite Camus never actually calling himself an existentialist, this is the place I’d start if you want to learn more on the school of thought.

Our Numbered Days – Neil Hilborn

I first came across Neil Hilborn when I saw one of his slam poems performed on Youtube. It was ‘OCD’ and it broke my heart. It’s a beautiful exploration of love and mental illness and sadness. The collection follows the same themes adding politics, comedy and self-awareness. Some poems I like better than others and some poems I like a lot. Definitely one I’d suggest picking up.

When Dimple Met Rishi – Sandhya Menon

I bought this book after seeing all the Booktube hype last summer. I was excited to read about a badass, young, woman of colour coder. But like many I felt the hype was too, well, hyped. There is next to no talk of coding in the novel, I think there is already more in this article. The main character falls deeply and madly in love in a matter of weeks, as many young adult books are guilty of doing, but I just can’t really buy into that anymore. I enjoyed the San Francisco setting and the blossoming friendships in the book but I don’t see me reading it again.

Non-Stop – Hamilton Original Soundtrack