September was somewhat of a mixed bag, to say the least! I started a new role at work because apparently that's just what I'm doing this year, so I felt somewhat out of my comfort zone for basically the whole month (which, especially for me, is not necessarily a bad thing, but it feels sorta bad). What also didn't help is that I actually haven't worked a full week in my new department yet, due to my boyfriend's dentistry work, working an event for my old department, and (nearly) a week's leave so October is the time to consolidate myself in my new role, I guess!
My (nearly) week off though! I returned to the Cat Cafe with my mama and fella, went on a super impromptu trip to IKEA, went away for a couple of days to the seaside and went to a teeny zoo in a gorgeous park - yes it was great and yes it was exhausting somehow! It was a trial to go back to work today, but it was actually an ok first day back so yay for that.
Anyway! Enough about me, let's talk about books books books! I feel like I didn't read as much as I could have last month, but I did (re)read an enormous Stephen King so what can you do? Read more, that's what!
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
I love Shakespeare, I love Anne Tyler, I do not love The Taming of the Shrew, which this book re-tells. I liked this book a lot more than The Taming of the Shrew, but that's not really saying much, and it's my least favourite of Tyler's books that I've read so far. I guess that I found it a little far fetched, which I think you sometimes have to do when modernising Shakespeare, but I didn't really buy the family set up, or the meals, or the fact that a woman would marry a man just because her dad wants her to so he can stay in the country and work for him! Still, it wasn't a terrible way to spend an afternoon, I just don't need to read it again or anything.
The Missing Girl by Shirley Jackson
I should really review this properly as a RIP read, but it's sooooo teeny I'm going to do it here. This was, of course, fabulous - three short stories by Shirley Jackson quite literally can't be bad, and these certainly were not. The one that sticks in my brain most is the last one - a really quite disturbing (of course) story about a woman who is just going about her daily business but gets caught up in a weird game that she never agreed to be a part of. It's really unsettling, and just so incredibly good.
The World is Full of Foolish Men by Jean De La Fontaine
I picked this up at the end of the minithon when I was too tired to cope anymore, and it. Was. Weird. As far as I can tell, it's pretty much Aesop's Fables in poem form (which they may well have been in originally, I... have not read Aesop's Fables) and translated from the French to English, and that is not what I was expecting it to be at all. It wasn't bad, it's Aesop's Fables, but it was confusing and I was tired. Helpful, huh?
Bitch Planet Vols 1 & 2 by Kelly Sue De Connick et al
I bought Volume 2 of Bitch Planet ages ago, and I finally finally managed to read it this month. I had to re-read Volume 1 again first because I had completely forgotten all of it, but once I'd done that, I was off and running. I literally can't tell you anything about either of them now, but they're fabulous, I can tell you that - really smart and clever and infuriating and funny and ugh so good. It's SO good, in fact, that I immediately looked to see when the next volume will be out and was horrified to realise I've now read all of the Bitch Planet there is. Does anyone know if there's more coming, and more importantly, can you please buy this so that we can ensure there is?!
Made in America by Bill Bryson
I feel like I was reading this book forever because I had to read it very slowly on the bus to make sure I didn't read any important info. Important info, incidentally, is what this book is full of - as the name implies, it's a history of America, combined with a history of the English language in America - what it started with, what it borrowed, and where a whole multitude of words came from. It's packed full of interesting facts, and what it's missing in Bryson sass (I think this is one of his older books, where he was maybe a little bit too shy to bring out the attitude) it makes up for in pure pure knowledge. It's good stuff.
It by Stephen King
This was fully a re-read even since I started blogging (a rarity, believe me) and even so I want to talk about it in a separate review because, well, RIP needs my attention and I have been negligent. But, I mean, it's It. It's my favourite Stephen King book, and Stephen King is my favourite so how could anything be bad?
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
Another RIP book so a review is up and coming! You know, at some point. Let's just say that I was very stressed at all times whilst reading this, and the TENSION is all there and Highsmith is a fucking master of everything. Very good stuff.
September! I read books! Apparently only 3 novels, but books nonetheless! Now let us see what gifts October has to bring...
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