Hi all,
I thought today I’d return a bit to the roots of this blog and write a post about the books I’ve been reading recently. I’ve not written one of these posts in a while (there was a little book update in this post from a few weeks ago, but not much), and as of late I’ve been reading some really great books that I’ve really enjoyed, so why not fill you in?
These are in no particular order, because a) I’m bad at ranking things and forming measurable opinions and b) I’ve forgotten what order I read them in.
Firstly, I finished Mythos by Stephen Fry, which was a really great book and very much an enjoyable read. I won’t say a lot about it as I mentioned it in my last book update (see above), but I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel, Heroes.
Secondly, I read a new released called The Silence Of The Girls by Pat Barker, which is a retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of Briseis (one of the ‘main’ women, ‘main’ being in quote marks because despite this she still has a very small role in the plot of the actual Iliad). It’s a definitely a book for people who are a bit older because sometimes it mentions fairly… mature themes, however it’s also not too complicated or intellectual (as you might expect with a retelling of an epic poem) so easily enjoyed.
I also finally got round to reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which I feel is one of those classic books which you just have to read at some point, especially as it’s so short, so not exactly a long and strenuous read. I enjoyed reading, and got special enjoyment from the absolute comedy gold line “‘If he be Mr Hyde,’ he had thought, ‘I shall be Mr Seek.'”
Another short book I read is We Should All Be Feminists, which is actually an adaptation of a speech the author (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) gave at a TEDTalk she did. It was a great read and raised some good points, so I would definitely recommend to everyone, no matter whether you consider yourself a feminist or not (which you definitely should, but that’s a topic for a separate post).
Fifthly (is that a word? Can I say that?), I finished Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, which, I have to admit, is not my favourite book. The second half of the novel was alright and fairly interesting to read, however there was a long and tedious journey through the first half before I got there. The language was also difficult to decipher, and I actually had to clarify with someone else who’s read it what happened at the end because there were a solid 2 pages where I really didn’t understand what was happening.
At the moment, I’m reading The Secret Barrister (written anyonymously), which has actually been really interesting so far. It’s been so cool to me to learn about how the court systems and trials and all sorts of legal processes work (in the UK), and I also really enjoy the stories of cases he’s worked on too. I don’t know, it’s just so interesting to me, maybe I’m a bit odd.
Finally, I’m also reading the play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen at the moment, and I’m also really enjoying this (I feel like I’ve said that phrase a lot in this post, but genuinely, it’s true). When I’ve read plays before I’ve not really enjoyed them, but this is different. The plot is actually really interesting, and especially knowing some context about how this would have shocked the contemporary audience, I’ve really enjoyed it so far, and I’m on edge to see what will happen next.
Anyway, that’s all for today’s post. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it and perhaps got some ideas of what to read next? I feel like there’s a fairly wide spread of genres, so hopefully there’s something for everyone. Thanks for reading,
– April
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