Things I Read In July

Well howdy there, friends! Only 9 days into August and I'm wrapping up July, and hasn't all summer felt like that so far? I can honestly barely remember what I did in July at all (I think there was... stuff? And also things) and we're already basically a third of the way through August and... yeah. Have I been doing useful and worthy things? I doubt it! But I have been to my oldest friend's wedding, and also to the Summer Bookshop Crawl in Bath (last weekend, it was ace thanks for asking, yes perhaps I will do a post about it... in October) and also working and sleeping and, you know, all of that good stuff.

But what did I read?

These guys! The strangest thing about July is that I felt like I hardly read anything at all (still facing that Sims addiction, which is somewhat abating now) and yet I still finished 6 books - mad! I'm having trouble at the moment dedicating actual time to reading that isn't travelling time, because it always feels like there's something 'better' to do - this sometimes means The Sims, or TV, or (pertinently!) crafting wedding type things whilst watching TV. This is fine, life is long, etc etc, but I do miss fully dedicating myself to reading so I'm going to try and work on that.

Failing that, I am travelling somewhere for the next 3 out of 4 weekends (at least!) so... there really is plenty of reading time coming up anyway!

Books though - let's talk.

Fear by Bob Woodward - This is Bob Woodward's book about Trump, something which I started reading not long after I finished my Obama book (SO GOOD) and then really had to drag out because, ugh, who wants to spend their spare time reading about Trump? I feel like this was written before Trump's latest, really extremely heinous actions, which only means that is less of a selection of heinous acts for this book to talk about, but still, you know, a lot. What it mostly left me with is a sense of a man who has a complete lack of integrity or intelligence, and whose bottom line is only the economy, regardless of all advice to the contrary that he could, and should be listening to.

Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks - This book starts with a dedication to Hank's wife, and a thank you to Nora Ephron (no, I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying). I think I asked for this last Christmas because I like Tom Hanks and I like short stories, so what could go wrong? Turns out, nothing - this collection was actually so good and interesting and, I thought, gave the kind of insight into regular people that I didn't know movie stars could have (although Tom Hanks is maybe the least movie star-ish of all the movie stars). It was a really good read, and definitely worth your time.

Something New by Lucy Knisley - Why yes, I have already read this this year, and chances are I'll read it again before my wedding. IT IS 'RESEARCH', OK?!

William, An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton -  I get the point of this book - war is futile, English people are stupid and should realllllly learn to speak the language of countries they visit- but I didn't really like it. I didn't find it engaging, really, and mostly I just. Wanted. It. To. Stop. (Probably much like people felt about World War I, which is the backdrop and also main point of this novel). I found it a little too anti-protest for my liking, and just very very grim. Not my fave.

The Girls by Emma Cline - This was also not my fave (maybe this is why I haven't been reading much lately!). This is a novel about a girl who sort of joins a cult but doesn't fully commit to it, and whilst it has its moments (mainly its feminist musings about the forced sexuality of teenage girls) it also has one of those teaser plots that takes the longest time to get to the point, and once it has you... don't really care anymore? It's not terrible by any means, but it's also not a book I would be aching to pick up again, which is a shame because... hippies! Cults! What could go wrong?

Swing Time by Zadie Smith - Zadie Smith is my absolute QUEEN, and bless her heart for saving this reading month. Sort of like The Girls, the novel starts with teasing the ending, but unlike The Girls, it doesn't go on about it for the entirety of the book. Instead, Zadie tells her main character's life story through her friendship with another girl, both with the kinship of being mixed race, but with very very different paths in life. Zadie Smith hasn't disappointed me yet, but this was really just stellar - I still feel now like this actually happened, like both these girls are real, because UGH SO GOOD. Seriously, have you read any Zadie yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!

And that was my month! Looking at it now, I can see that actually I didn't read very much at all - the first two books were finished in the very early days of July, Something New is a comic book so only took a few hours to read, so really throughout the month I read 3 books, so... yeah, that feels right. Ah well, at least there are all these other months to right these wrongs!

Still Devouring Stephen King: The Outsider

It has now been approximately a thousand years (6 months) since I read The Outsider, but have I ever failed to bring you a Stephen King review? No I have not! I will try and drag from the depths of my memory my feels about this book, so let's see how that goes...

I remember, firstly, being genuinely quite scared by this book. I've found that in a lot of his later work, King doesn't go straight for the scaries, and has been writing more in the crime/thriller genre than what I would classify as pure horror, so to feel genuinely rattled and like things might not be ok was pretty exciting. There were points where I had no idea how our heroes were going to get out of the situations they were in, or how they could possibly survive, and, because it's King, of course not all of the characters live (I think...)

The book starts with a horrific crime against a young boy which seems to have been perpetrated by the local kids' baseball coach - and I say seems to because said coach has an airtight alibi for the day of the crime - he was hundreds of miles away, and there is video evidence of it. So far, so weird, but what I really liked about this book was that although this was the initial tension, around a third (I think?!) of the way through, a big thing happens that completely changes the direction I thought the book was going in and made it so much better.

This book was unexpected in many ways, not least because it brought in Holly Gibney (last seen in King's Mr Mercedes Crime trilogy) to help investigate the case. I'm not going to lie, I just wasn't expecting to see her again, but it was a welcome reunion - I do wonder if King will team up Holly and Ralph Anderson (the police detective in this book) again, cause you know what? I would not hate that.

And so. I can't pretend to remember everything about this novel, but in the immortal words of Maya Angelou, 'people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' The Outsider, you made me feel scared that some evil force could steal my identity and do a crime as me, nice work you bloody good book, you.

Sunday Sundries - Summer Reading

Summer Reading, had me ablast! Summer Reading, happened so fast!

There are so many things about summer - the long nights, the warm days, the general feeling of wellbeing I get from it - that just make me want to read outside all day long. Unfortunately I work full time and don't have a garden to sit in seclusion and read, but there are always weekends, and there are always parks, ya know?

But what will I be reading this fine summer, I hear you cry? Let's take a look:

Ahaha, what a good picture - can you tell I'm rusty at this blogging thing?! I'm not re-piling them, so this is the photo you're getting, alright?! They are, from top to the bottom:

• William, An Englishman by Cicely Hamilton (spoiler, I have already finished this and I was not in love with it)
• Swing Time by Zadie Smith
• Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson (always Moomins, always summer)
• 4321 by Paul Auster
• The Establishment by Owen Jones
• Stuffed and Starved by Raj Patel
• Save Me The Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald (token classic, because I try)
• The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
• The Girls by Emma Cline (send me your Emmas, I shall read their books)
• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (that title! I'm trying to just shop my shelves at the moment, so almost all of these I've had for a year or more, but... that title!)
• Voracious by Cara Nicoletti

So really, my summer is shaping up to be amazing - books about food and a giant Paul Auster, books by Emmas and one by an Ocean, plus Moomins and attacks on British Government. What could possibly go wrong?!

What will you/have you been reading this summer?

Things I Read In June (and May... AND April........)

Oh hai there internets.

I'm not going to bore you too much with where the f I've been, but if I may just summarise - my computer broke around the time I would have written my 'Things I Read in April' post, which was a traumatic event in itself. It then resurrected at around the same time my friend informed me that I could download The Sims 4 for free, which has lead to about a month long fall down The Sims rabbithole (I have logged many many Sims hours) which has made both reading AND blogging (which, let's face it, I wasn't doing anything like frequently anyway) fall by the wayside a little.

However! I now have a new laptop (my old one died again for real this time a couple of weeks ago, and I'm no expert but is my laptop Jesus?!) which fires up so quickly I could weep, plus The Sims 4 has started to be annoying and glitchy, so dare I say... I'm back, baby! I probably don't, because the OTHER reason for being away for quite so long is that work has been genuinely insane for the past two months, and I don't see THAT changing any time soon, and also I'm me and have no staying power and stuff.

BUT ANYWAY. We still have today, and let me take you on a brief (I promise!) walk through what I've been reading amongst the chaos of my life.

April

I did read quite a bit in April, but for full disclosure, I read the first 6 books either before or on my birthday (to complete my 100 books from birthday to birthday challenge WHICH I SUCCEEDED AT BTDUBS) so basically as you will see through this post, I have read so little since I turned 30. SIGH *shakes fist at The Sims*.

Highlights of the month:
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay - Honestly this was just a divine collection of short stories from Roxane Gay who has taught me to expect nothing less than perfection from her. I think I pretty much read this book in a day, and it was harrowing and humbling and excellent.

Letter to my Daughter by Maya Angelou - I read this on the eve and morning of my 30th Birthday and I didn't realise it would be when I picked it up but it was the perfect send off to my 20s. Angelou does not have an actual daughter, but millions of women look up to her and this book is for us - it's stories, advice, and it's amazing.

Underground by Haruki Murakami - I didn't know what to expect from Murakami non-fiction, but the answer was a really interesting insight into the Japanese psyche of both the victims and perpetrators (ish) of a gas attack in Tokyo in the 90s. I felt not only better informed about World/Japanese events (did I know there was a gas attack in the 90s? I did not) but just truly intrigued about all of the different aspects of and attitudes to the same event. Would LOVE to read a Murakami book about other acts of terrorism because I'm sure we could all afford to look at things a different way.

Disappointment of the month:
The Power by Naomi Alderman - Alright, look. Almost all book disappointments arise from my own preconceptions of them, but am I alone in wanting The Power to be ABOUT the revolution as opposed to the events that lead up to it? I was disappointed by this because I wanted it to be a different story, essentially, and I truly feel like it could have been much better because the world building here is IMMENSE, but is (I feel) not used as well as it could be. Potentially an unpopular opinion, but it is still mine.

Also Reads:
Hygge - The Danish Art of Happiness by Marie Tourell Soderberg
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The Age of License by Lucy Knisley (re-read)
How To Be Famous by Caitlin Moran
Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley (re-read)

May

Ok, so I didn't read that much in May but I can honestly say that I loved every one of the above books. No disappointments at all! (I wish I could say the same for June...) I cried at AT LEAST three of the above, and yet, you know, I can still pick favourites, it's fine.

Highlights of the Month:
In Every Moment We Are Still Alive by Tom Malmquist - Your heavily pregnant wife is rushed to hospital, seriously ill, and within a few weeks you are a new father and a widower. If that sounds like a tearjerker then you must have a human heart, and yes, of course this book had me crying in public, what do you take me for? This is Malmquist's memoir of a really really really hard time, and whilst it is of course moving, I also want to applaud it for not being overly sentimental. He doesn't try to pretend that either he or his partner were perfect, but just that they were together, a unit, and now they are not. If you need a cry, read this, and if you need motivation to just get on with things, also read this.

To Obama by Jeanne Marie Laskas - THIS is a beautiful gem of a book and I want everyone to read it now now now. As President, Barack Obama used to read 10 letters every night to get something of a snapshot of the real America, and this book details the process of how these letters got to him out of the thousands received every day. It reprints many letters received (some of which, predictably, made me cry), as well as following up with the people and families that sent them. It really delves into the importance of a president who actually does listen to the people, as much as they can, and was a stark highlight of everything that has been lost since Obama left office.

The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett - The first half of this novel is wonderful. An unassuming, highborn but low fortune lady, who does odd jobs for richer women and genuinely takes pleasure in the tiniest things gets rewarded for her goodness by attracting and marrying a Marquess (I'd say spoiler, but the book is called The Making of a Marchioness!) and everything is fab. The second half is, unfortunately time appropriately racist as an Indian servant is suspected of witchcraft (voodoo?) to try and bring misfortune upon the Marchioness. I don't want to defend it by its age, and I was really uncomfortable reading these parts of it, but (but but) the Marchioness is such a wonderful, aspirational really, character that I had to put this aside a tad. A highlight AND A disappointment, then? I think so.

Also Reads (but also loved):
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

June

I have not enjoyed - or at least not wholly enjoyed - many of the books I've read this month, which is a bit of a shame but hey, it happens right? Let's try and find something good about the month...

Highlight of the Month:
Sunset Park by Paul Auster - Ok this was pretty ace, and coming at the end of the month it gives me optimism for future reading (that's a reasonable thing that people have, right?) I don't even know what to tell you about it really, except that it's Paul Auster, and I feel as though he just knows people better than almost any other writer, and writes better than most of them too. The story is held together with pop cultural threads (I believe all the characters watch a movie called The Best Years of Our Lives, which Auster has clearly thought a lot about) and they are just so human and flawed and exploring and trying to be better and just read all of Paul Auster's work and tell me you don't like him, alright?

Disappointment of the Month:
Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami - This book goes under the category of books I should have stopped reading, but didn't. I realised I wanted to stop reading about halfway through, but since I'd already made about a 250 page effort, I didn't want to give up, plus I wanted to get to the point. Turns out, it didn't have one (surprise!) and honestly it felt a lot like the other Ryu Murakami books I've read, except they were way shorter so the disappointment was less. This was weird in an annoying way (as opposed to Haruki Murakami) and jumped all over the place and just in a general sense wasn't very pleasant or fun to read.

Also Reads:
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
Girl Trouble by Carol Dyhouse

THANK YOU, for your efforts if you slogged all the way through that post! I'll try to make the next one just a leeeeetle bit shorter!

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathonnnnnn!!!

Well hello friends! We're back, we're back, for another day (literally) of reading.

 I say day, what I actually mean is... afternoon and evening with a nice early night because I didn't sleep brilliantly last night, with a nice break somewhere near the beginning to go food shopping (the bonus here, however, is SNACKS). So, by readathon, what I actually mean is, I'm going to do some reading today! Huzzah!

Ever overly optimistic, below is my book stack for the day:

Hahahahahaha I will probably read like one book, but options are good and this will serve me as a spring reading stack anyway! I have started reading Little Fires Everywhere and also Hamlet so potentially I will just finish those today, but if you can see a book that is REALLY REALLY GOOD then let me know and I. Will. Prioritise.

And now, as is tradition, the opening survey:

1. What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
I'm in Surrey, England (basically just London ok) and it is cold and gross and I am not feeling outside today (aka it's perfect readathon weather!)

2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
In general, or which do I actually think I'll read today?! I think Difficult Women by Roxane Gay is probably the one I'm most looking forward to, but no guarentees I'll get to it today!

3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?
You know what guys, I am woefully unprepared on the snack front, but I'll be going out shortly(ish) for the best food shop ever - it's my birthday this week so I am literally going to get all the things I want that I normally go 'but it's too expensive!' because this is MY TIME TO SHINE/EAT WHAT I WANT. Oh, and yes - there will be snacks haha!

4. Tell us a little something about yourself!
Come on man, the history of my 20s is documented on this blog! (Kinda) Ok FINE, I am about to be 30 SOMEHOW (pretty sure I was JUST 12), I really love moomins and well, I just really really like books, ok?

5. Something you're going to do differently today
I'm doing this readathon very casually (see: lack of snacks prepared) which was sort of always going to be the case but became the case for sure because I'm v tired today! But, I am here and I am so ready to reeeeead! (ngl I have totally already started so yeah)

Update the First: 6:04pm

Hey guyssssss! So I've probably read for... say 2 1/2 - 3 hours at this point, which I am very ok with. I haven't been chatty at all (my bad) because I think just... I want to do lots of reading and I am in a beautiful sofa cocoon without a care in the world right now! I may venture onto the twitters or insta later (when the eyes get tired) but for now I'm perfectly happy just reading Little Fires Everywhere and waiting for my wonderful fiance (eeee!) to bring me food. Am I the luckiest? I certainly am!

Books Finished: 0 (oops!)
Books Read From: 1
Pages read: 146
Snacks consumed: A handful of pringles and some bourneville buttons (just realised this is my first vegan readathon! But don't worry, I'm still eating like a nutritional moron ahahaha)
Notable Distractions: Food shopping! But am now the proud owner (?!) of some vegan Ben & Jerrys which is very ok with me.

Onwards with the readings!

Update the Second: 10:22pm

So I have finished TWO BOOKS in the last 4 and a bit hours, but one was a comic book because I decided I couldn't do anymore, like, novel reading so another book added to the total it is! I'm off to bed now - I will likely read SOMETHING before 1pm tomorrow, but am heading off to IKEA so it's not going to be my top priority... But I will try to remember to update this when I get home so I can accurately, y'know, add up my reading total when the readathon is done.

Books Finished: 2
Books Read From: 2
Pages Read: 545
Snacks consumed: Fiance made us a lovely bits and pieces tea, so I sort of had many snacks eaten all at once. It. Was. Ace.
Notable Distractions: Literally the only break I've had is to hang out the washing, which is how I burned through so many pages! YAS READING

Night everyone, and happy reading!

Things I Read in March

Hello hello hello litle readers! There has been some radio silence here, which I can't really explain except to say that, you know sometimes you feel like there's nothing really going on and sometimes feel like every moment of your days have been filled? For me, it's been the latter this month, and so blogging (as always!) has fallen by the wayside.

So what have I been doing, I hear you cry? Well. Tons and tons of reading (I made a goal to read 100 books on my 30 before 30 list, and welp, I'm 5 books away with like 8 days left... but guess which readathon there is this weekend!), wedding crafting (yes, already), and an upsetting amount of work (end of the tax year, innit). I also decided, one month before the final season's premiere that I would rewatch all of Game of Thrones (smart) so that is taking up quite a lot of my time, along with just the general seeing of people and living life and omg enjoying the spring that has joyfully just sprung!

But, you know, the books are the thing. But what were they? Let's take a look.

GLORIOUS (apart from the photography, obvs). Let's discuss (relatively briefly, because LOOK HOW MANY)

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison - This was one of my last reads from my 30 books before 30 list, so in theory I will review it fully (you know, one day) but I found this kind of magnificent - the story of a family and of a town with a pleasingly circular conclusion and a ton of heartache and just, ugh, you know? So good.

Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other lies) by Various - Look. I really wanted to love this book, but for me it was just a little tiny bit too much like introduction to feminism as opposed to the advanced feminism that I think I'm looking for (*guiltily eyes primary texts like The Second Sex that she STILL hasn't read*) I think there is a place for books like this for, you know, people who need to be introduced to feminism, but for me, the essays were too short, and the sentiments a little too much like 'oh I realised you can still be a feminist AND be girly!' for me - at least for the most part.

Elevation by Stephen King - As a person who is up to date now with Stephen King reads, I really have to object (on behalf of whoever bought this for me for Christmas) to novellas being produced in hardback and sold for the same price as a lengthier novel. Now that that's off my chest... I obviously need to do a full review of this (LOL) but I found this pretty good - King is into social justice again like for that bit of time he was a feminist, and even though he does these things clumsily, he clearly cares and I am here for it. An odd book, probably not worth the giant amount it cost but it's Stephen King so yeah.

Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley - I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS BOOK FOR FOREVER! I genuinely believe this may be my most anticipated book ever (I preordered it in, like, September even though amazon FAILED ME and didn't deliver and also, fuck those guys) and it did not disappoint. It was a little more harrowing than I was expecting, not really knowing about Knisley's baby experience, but it was so good and thoughtful and interesting (history of pregnancy, yo!) as I have come to expect from her books. I read it the night I got it, so... enough said really?

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul - The final book on my 30 reads before 30 list (or at least the last one I'm intending to read - more on this in another post) this was also the hardest to find, which is a shame because it's good! A better than your average collection of essays on growing up as an Indian-Canadian woman (all of those things are relevant here) including an insight into the crazy-fucked up world of Indian weddings (they put SAFETY PINS into HAIR - which also means HEAD). That's the stand out from the book for me, apparently, but like I say - insightful and funny and just very very good. I should also be reviewing this in full at some point, but this is me we're talking about so who knows?

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey - I found this book weirdly stressful? It's only a novella (see how hard I've been trying to get those 100 books in?!) but it's kind of based around all the hubbub of an English wedding in... a certain era (Idk, google it) and it's all bustling around and rushing and 'where's Jim' and 'What is Florence up to now?' and so on and I found it a bit exhausting? Amidst all of this there is a giant revelation, but by the time I got to it I was so exhausted I sort of... didn't care? Basically, it was all a bit much and now I need a lie down (much like, I imagine, the bride in this book).

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by JK Rowling - See what I mean about getting my numbers up! Is it worth reviewing a 'textbook' of magical creatures created for charity? Not really. But this was fine, but mostly worth a flick through for Harry and Ron's additions to the text and Dumbledore's foreword (I don't care for the Fantastic Beasts films, tbh).

King Lear: The Graphic Novel by William Shakespeare and Ilya - I haven't read any Shakespeare for ages, I thought. What could go wrong, I thought? I'm not going to say this was bad because, you know, it's Shakespeare, but I do have some notes because hello, I wrote my dissertation on Shakespeare in cartoons, this is *kind of* my thing. The front of the book and the art throughout presents Lear as a Native American chief, but, with the exception of Kent posing as his servant, there is literally nothing else to suggest that anything Native American is happening. As a king dispossessed of his lands, this comic could have done SO MUCH MORE on this theme, but instead it pretty much plops two native Americans in... Tudor England? It's really weirdly done, and it's frustrating because it could have been so impactful and effective had it actually referenced Native American history more.

But, you know. Read King Lear, it's really good.

Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell - Eeeeee! So I've been trying to read Midnights (one of the short stories in this book) for so long, but neither wanted to pay £10 for a teensy book (sorry, Rainbow) nor wanted to buy the collection of YA short stories it's in (sorry YA authors). Anyway, I borrowed this from my local library and I just SQUEEEEEEEE because it is so very cute! It's basically a short story over 4 (3? SORRY RAINBOW) New Years Eves and watching from afar and looks and squee squee squeeeeee you know?! The other story in the book, Kindred Spirits, I already own and have read a few times but of course I read it again because it's adorable and how can one person be so good at writing about blossoming love?! I don't know but she's great. SQUEEEEEEE.

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson - Oh Bill, you belligerent old man. This book is a sequel of sorts to Notes from a Small Island, but it also is not that at all since, ya know, Britain has a lot of places to write about even if it's not that big (it isn't). I liked this plenty but (BUT) I found that Bryson kind of started to... grate on me a little bit. I think this is mostly because he's talking about my country (ooh, there's that patriotism I never had) but a lot of his complaints start to feel sort of classist and uncomfortable after a while, and I found myself thinking 'oh just let people do what they WANT' more than once. Having said that, it's still a pretty good travelogue because of course it is, and I do enjoy Bryson's joy and wonder at the beauty of this fine land *tears up a bit and starts singing the national anthem* excuse me a sec...

Bossypants by Tina Fey - That's right, I TRICKED you! This book is not in that photo because I listened to a whole audiobook (I know!) and well. WELL! This is also on my 30 before 30 book list thing (what isn't?!) and whilst I had read this, I had never listened to the audio and what a DIFFERENCE! I am in love and awe and yes, good. Good good good.

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym - It's rare for me to read a book that I immediately know would be perfect for someone else, but I knew about 3 pages into this book that Frances needed to read it, so it's ending up in her hands the next time I see her. As for me, I enjoyed this a whole lot - it's funny and good and the main character truly is an excellent woman (very funny) who DESERVES BETTER than all these men. I don't remember how that book made it into my house (did someone recommend?!) but I'm glad it did and I will be on the lookout for more Pym - for both Frances and me, I guess!

South and West by Joan Didion  - I snuck another slender read in just at the end of the month! This isn't so much a book as some diary entries and fragments of writing for a couple of articles Didion never wrote, but quite frankly, they could publish Joan's shopping lists and I would probably read them (they're probably FASCINATING, and insightfully written). So, yeah, of course this is good, it's Didion - some thoughts about the South and how she just wants to get the f out of there, and then some thoughts about her native California and her upbringing and all of that good stuff. Once again, it's Didion, which is all I really need to say, isn't it?

Ok, that was not brief AT ALL, and for this I apologise. I shall be back on Saturday for 24 hour readathon goodness (WHO ELSE IS READING?!) but I hope your March was fabulous and that you have an even better April. It is now officially my birthday month so I am here for treating myself super duper hard, and what better than an entire day of reading? Literally nothing, eh? Tell me all about your lives in the comments below pls!

30 Books Before 30: #15 The Mothers by Brit Bennett

Ahhhh. That sweet sweet feeling where you read the book a very long time ago (ok like less than 2 months) and can't really review it well because eh, what do I know?

Mind you, that is always true, so here we go anyway!

Here's one thing I remember about this book - its framing is very very interesting and I like it. The start of each chapter is narrated by 'The Mothers', a group of women at the local church who see things, and talk about things, even if they don't fully understand what's going on. This means that the start of the chapters read like the whispered gossips of a group of not-too-well-informed ladies, and then open out into the wider, actually true*, story.

I liked this as a framing device a lot, as I feel like it echoes what happens a lot in real life - a little bit of if you knew what had happened to people behind the scenes, you wouldn't be so quick to judge, and other important things to remember like that. HAVING SAID THAT, I sort of wish that the mothers weren't exclusively a framing device, and had a little more to do with the novel than just lurking around and gossiping - but I guess that's kind of the point of them, and it's fun when they do turn up in the main story as background characters, just as the main characters become background to The Mothers' lives - just another thing that happened to someone else.

The story itself is an age old one, and I have to admit I saw it coming from miles away - but then I don't think this novel is supposed to be one of surprises so much as an exploration of why people sometimes do inexcusable things (hint: it's definitely more complex than you think). Having said that, it was the forgone conclusion feeling about this book that prevented me from really loving it, since when it finally got to its inevitable end, it was kind of like an 'eh, sure' rather than any sense of real excitement or interest.

Having said that, I did pretty much read the whole thing in a day so... I guess it can't have been so terrible? I mean, I'd say it's pretty entertaining and all of that good stuff (and sometimes that's all you neeeed) but that's kind of... It. You probably won't regret reading this at all, but it just might not change your world (nor, I suppose, should it have to). THE END.





*Well, not ACTUALLY because it's fiction. But you know what I mean.