Sunday Sundries: MINITHON Recap!

Oh hai, and happy Sunday! I'm a little sleepy this morning because I stayed up late reading (is there a better reason?) for yesterday we had a minithon. I'm in a slightly incompatible timezone for 8 shared hours of reading (4pm-midnight), mainly just because I'm old now and can't stay up late reading like I used to in the olden days/that one time in 2011 (WHEN I WAS 22 WEEPS OVER THE CRUEL PASSAGE OF TIME).

Ahem. Anyway. Yes. I decided not to blog the minithon because it's a super chill 'thon and also my computer was dead and because it's old too (seriously) it took too long to start back up and anyway, what are you doing if you're not following me on instagram and twitter? Exactly, nothing. The minithon happened to fall on a weekend between jobs (I'm being seconded into a new team in the place I currently work, starting Monday) which felt like a nice time to do a load of reading and eat a shitload of snacks.

And so, to recap, I had a tiny diet coke and read some Stephen King,

 I ate a disturbing amount of beige food,

I switched to some teeny weeny books when it got dark and late and I got too scared to read Stephen King anymore,

and, of course, I ate some (mini!) cakes. Also YES that is a moomin puzzle and it was the bane of my life for at least 2 weeks - are puzzles meant to be relaxing or something? It now lives on our dining table because we can't bear to break up our greatest achievement.

It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon and evening, and I can thoroughly recommend it - minithon or no, read some books, eat some cake, lay back and enjoy life. It's pretty good.

RIP XIII - Oooooh, Extra Spooky

Here it is - the reading event we've all* been waiting for - and this year, since it's the 13th one, it's spoooooookier than ever.

I've been feeling ready for RIP ever since the temperature dropped, and even more so since I started waking up in the dark this week. Now that it's September, predictably, it feels like summer's back again, but nonetheless it's time for some spooky spooky reading. 

If you've never heard of RIP before, firstly where have you been every September and October (because it is clearly not here) and secondly, you're welcome. RIP stands for Readers Imbibing Peril, and it's basically a two month event where book bloggers, and more generally people, dedicate their autumns to reading scary or perilous or crime (you get the idea) books. I have been in love with this event ever since I found out about it during my first blogging autumn (...7 years ago? Oh my) and my joy only increases with each passing year. 

Now. Tradition demands that I choose a peril, and, as ever, I am choosing Peril the First - Read 4 books that fit the (very broad) definitions of RIP literature. This is, I have just realised, my first RIP without also doing my Stephen King challenge, but looking back on it, I've also realised that I used to read Stephen King books PLUS RIP books, and still managed to hit 4, so... ok then! But still, *heart laments for Stephen King*

Do you want to see a big pile of books, though? Course you do.

What was that thing I said about Stephen King again? Oh yeah, nothing...

Let's just highlight a few books on my stack then...

• Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell I have owned for the longest time and really really really do want to have read it but LOOK HOW LARGE IT IS. Please tell me things about it that will make me want to read it. Please.
• I promised myself I could re-read It again this year, and so it shall be done. See also: The Handmaid's Tale.
• I really enjoyed The Talented Mr Ripley last year, so Strangers on a Train has made it onto my pile this year.
• It amuses me to have father and son on the same pile, so hiiiii Strange Weather. I also genuinely love Joe Hill so expect me to definitely read this book at the very least!

Basically, yaaaaay spooky books. The weather will, hopefully be poor, the sofa duvet will come out of hiding and I am ready for an autumn of creepy reading, as ever.

What will you be reading?

*I've 

Things I Read In August

Aaaaaand it's September now. I'm not sure how that happened, but here we are and it's basically autumn and just this last week I've been waking up before sunrise, and frankly, I am just not ready for this yet! August was pretty good- it started (more or less) with my sister's wedding, and ended (more or less) with my auntie's hen do because, you know, that's how my life is going this year. In between, I had a couple of Fridays off, one to go and visit my friends in Bristol (the best!) and one to make the most of the bank holiday and to actually see my boyfriend during it because of the aforementioned hen do, and whilst August felt like it was dragging in parts, I think mostly it was just long and full.

I also read some things, because of course I did. Observe:

Firstly, I just want to pat myself on the back for the spine colour complementing this month - it was completely unintentional but also looks really good, so go me. BUT ANYWAY, let's talk books!

French Milk by Lucy Knisley - I seem to be going through a little Knisley revival stage at the moment, or just, you know, I've been re-reading her comics a lot while I'm waiting for her next one (early next year!) This is her earliest (published) book and while I love it a lot, I miss the colour that's in her later stuff. This is still good good book though.

The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante - I finally finished the Neopolitan novels and things did not go at all the way I expected, which I guess is kind of the way of life. THESE BOOKS ARE SO GOOD and I still don't know why and I still mean to write whole post about them, you know, some day or something *mumbles non-specifically*

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro - I have had this book on my shelves for the longest time, without any real inclination to read it for whatever reason (I think I didn't like the cover?) I've been having a bit of an Ishiguro revival over the last year or so, and in fact I now don't own any unread Ishiguros. This was good, too - a kind of a mystery, along with a dollop of self delusion, and the now to be expected thing where so much is unsaid that you have to fill in the gaps yourself. I think I've said before that this doesn't always work for me within his writing, but in this book, it really really did. Nice one, Kazuo.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff - OMG this book was so good. I do want to review this one because I've got it into my mad head that I'll review all of the 30 before 30 books I read (we'll see), but I will just say that I read Arcadia and liked it plenty, but THIS I loved and was engrossed by and transported and all those other good things you want from a book. 

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - Another 30 before 30 book so 'I'll review it later' but this is a very very funny series of essays, even though I did at times sort of wish I was reading Amy Sedaris's essays instead because my GOD she sounds like a character. Very very funny stuff though, and I am here for it.

Paper Girls Vol 3 & 4 by Brian K Vaughan et al - I found these in the library which was very exciting because I remembered really enjoying the first two volumes when I read them last year. Unfortunately I didn't remember much about them, so jumping into volume 3 I was like 'o...kay?' but that didn't really detract from my enjoyment - it's just so nice to read comics where a group of girls are the main focus and even the people they encounter on their accidental time travelling adventures are, usually, women. Also, they're just fun and exciting and perilous and totally reminded me that I need to read the next instalment of Bitch Planet that's just been sitting around my house for ages (no one knows why, really). GOOD STUFF SMASH THAT PATRIARCHY (all male writers and artists...)

And that was August! I supplemented my reading with some yoga (at the start of the month at least, whoops) and the entire new season of Orange is the New Black, plus some Studio Ghibli films. I've also just started watching Sharp Objects and I am TENSE af, so that's obviously super fun!

What have you been reading/watching/enjoying this month?

30 Books You Should (Apparently) Read Before You Turn 30

As mentioned in my Sunday post, I have an aim and a goal and a purpose for life (ok maybe not that last bit) which is to read all of the books on the abovementioned list before I'm 30, which, I hate to admit, is less than 8 months away ahahaha how did I get so old please someone stop me.

I don't know exactly how I feel about such lists because AS IF there are even 30 books that all people need to read before they reach a certain age, but I'm always up for trying to complete a list of books even though I never knowingly have. This particular list, also, seems a little less high-minded than some of the '30 before 30' lists I've seen (am I actually ever going to read Siddharta or Ulysses? I am probably not) and so more achievable, you know, maybe.

Also I've already read nearly half and some of the other books I already own, so totally achievable! Yes!

Let's look at the list, shall we? You can find it here, in its original form, and also below with my commentary...

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams - I own this! I haven't read it to my complete SHAME. I agree with the list, it is time. (read 5th October 2018)

2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - IT IS AMAZING and I am completely not against reading it again before I'm 30, if my friend ever gives me my copy back... (re-read 18th October 2018)

3. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin - I haven't read any Ursula K Le Guin but this sounds GREAT so I'm here for it (read 2nd October 2018)

4. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai - I am 100% here for Malala's book (read 6th December 2018)

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I also would read this again any time. Obviously.

6. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou - Done and done.

7. The Mothers by Brit Bennett - Another one I haven't heard of but I am also here for. There's a reason I want to complete this list, and it's because everything sounds GREAT. (read 13th January 2019)

8. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - I am ashamed to say that I haven't read any David Sedaris, but pleased to say that I do own this so yeah, I'm gonna read this for sure (and at last!) (read 28th August 2018)

9. Wild by Cheryl Strayed - I mean, duh. I love it, you should also read it before you're 30, or after. (re-read 11th Jan 2019)

10. Bossypants by Tina Fey - Yup. (Re-read 17th March 2019)

11. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi - This sounds so tragic that I almost can't even, but I do want to so yeah. (read 14th October 2018)

12. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Very pleased that this made the list because it's excellent. I do have a couple of other books by her, so perhaps I shall read one of those instead of this one.

13. The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir - I own this already so I know how dense and challenging this is, so maybe this will turn into 29 before 30, but I want to give it another try!

14. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller - I have been meaning to re-read this for a long time since I read it when I was about 15 and didn't really understand things and stuff, so yeah.

15. The Rules do not Apply by Ariel Levy - I feel like I've heard about this and don't know much about it, but ONCE AGAIN, the description sounds great so I am also here for it. (Read 10th November 2018)

16. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff - I own this! Hooray! I feel like I read something good about it and in a fit of passion (ooer) put it on my amazon wishlist where I believe Bex bought it for me, so thing I read that I can't remember, you'd better be right! *stern face* (Read 25th August 2018)

17. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas - I also own this! What could go wrong?! (read 22nd December 2018)

18. The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien -  Eh, this is fine but I'm not sure it really deserves a place on this list. Just put all of Lord of the Rings on it, dammit (or, you know, not...)

19. Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates - I have, once again, not heard of this because I am an ill-educated swine, and once again it sounds pretty great. (Read 19th February 2019)

20. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden -  This is, without question, one of my favourite ever books and a quick search just told me that I haven't even read it since I started blogging. THIS MUST CHANGE. (Re-read 15th February 2019)

21. Slaugherhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut - I'm not overly enamoured with Vonnegut, but I have read this. It's fine.

22. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison - I haven't read any Toni Morrison, to my eternal shame, so this'll be a good way to kick me off and actually read the two books of hers I own as well. (Read 2nd March 2019)

23. One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul - Word. (Read 7th March 2019)

24. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - ALL THE PRAISE HANDS (Read 24th June 2018)

25. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead - OK FINE I'll read an award winning book I guess, are you happy now? (Read 5th January 2019)

26. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - This is soooo very good - I can't remember if I ever reviewed it because I think I read it when I was doing my MA (oh wait, yes I did and no I didn't) but dystopia + Shakespeare = Dreamy.

27. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - I have extra never heard of this, and just as much am convinced that it sounds great. (read 18 November 2018)

28. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - It's another one that I read ages ago but that is fabulous. AGH this is making me want to read AND re-read... (Re-read 10th February 2019)

29. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - Heartbreaking, beautiful, incredible writing - do I need to go on?

30. Commonwealth by Ann Patchett - Finishing off the list with another one... I've never heard of. Ann is pretty solid though, as I understand it, so what's the worst that can happen? (Read 8th November 2018)

ISN'T IT A GOOD LIST?! I've got 8 months and 16 books to go - as long as I remember to read these exact books, what can go wrong? I think I"m going to come back to this page and update it when I've read books from it, and if you'd like you can come back and check my progress - 8th April 2019 is my cut off point, so I'll let y'all know if I've been successful after then!

Are you currently undertaking any book challenges?

Sunday Sundries: A Coupla Things I'm Gonna Do

Good... ok, Afternoon, wow, and a happy Sunday one and all! I've had an interesting Sunday morning of waking up early and then falling asleep trying to read my book a couple of hours later, and then waking up THE GROGGIEST EVER, so here I am, waking myself up with blogging, and you are so welcome!

Here are some things I have been up to:

My sister's wedding was last Friday which was lovely and exhausting and I pretty much needed the next two days to recover from it, so in spite of my mild irritation that it was on a Friday (but my annual leeeeeave), in the end that turned out to be a good thing!

Workity work work. We're in a really busy phase at the moment which has been fine but also kinda tiring so I'm really glad that the next 3 weeks in a row are 4 day weeks (best feeling!) plus I have a week off (kinda) coming up in September which is obviously the actual best.

Yoga! I have been doing some! I don't even really know what has happened this past week (and it has just been this past week) but I guess that on Monday I got tired of not doing things and decided to... do a thing? This is partly because of one of my 30 before 30 goals to make my evenings more purposeful (and to do some kind of regular exercise!), I guess, but I really don't know where my specific motivation came from on Monday, and I'm pretty happy not to examine it too closely! The point is, yay yoga! I've been doing Yoga with Adrienne and have started off one of her 30 day challenges (if you're interested, I believe it's one from 3 years ago?) and omg I am so sore, but so pleased with myself for the 6 days IN A ROW I have already done (including after drinks with work friends on Wednesday, and before going round my friend's for dinner on Friday!)

Wow, that was a lot of talking about yoga, huh? I'm just REALLY PROUD OF ME OK?!

Moving swiftly onwards, let's talk about BOOK THINGS! I really do have a couple things I'm gonna do, and please allow me to tell you all about them.

Firstly, THE MINITHON is back for its... X number time and after X number of years, ok look it's the minithon so we like to keep things a little loosey goosey when it comes to numbers and stuff ok? The premise of the minithon is to keep things small (short books, short stories, stories with children in... it's pretty much 'make your own adventure' time) and tiny snacks are encouraged and also adorable. It's also mini in that it's 8 hours long, as opposed to the 24 hour readathon, and you can sign up here and why wouldn't you? Exactly.

FINALLY - From the start of this year, all I've been able to do is scream I'M GOING TO BE 30 NEXT YEAR in abject horror

(this, when I was a mere 28 years old). I think that realistically I'm actually ok with it, but it's fun to be dramatic about how ancient I am. What I also think is going to be fun is trying to complete this list  of 30 Books You Should Read Before You Turn 30 that I saw on Book Riot yesterday because yay book lists! I was just gonna whack the whole list in this post and then talk about it, but actually this has gotten pretty unwieldy so I think I'm going to make a whole new post for it I KNOW DON'T GET TOO EXCITED! Or do, I'm not the boss of you.

So yeah. Exciting book things and general life happening. Go me, and go you too! Please tell me about your week/month/year, I'll be thrilled to hear about it.

Things I Read in July

Oh HAI again, internet folken! That's right, my things I read in July post is right on time and in tip top condition, look at me go! I guess I covered this somewhat in my very very late things I read in June post, but July basically consisted of me being off work for two weeks due to some (keyhole) surgery (nothing to worry about, but it was ow), and then going back to work and being very very very busy. Although I had two weeks to read to my heart's content, I mostly watched Six Feet Under and felt reasonably bad for not being at work (and read a few books), and since I've been back at work I've been doing a few extra hours here and there to help out, and consequently have been (almost) too tired to read, like, ever. HAVING SAID THAT, I did in fact finish 9 books in July, but having said THAT, three of them were totally comic books and one was a children's book. Why yes, I was comfort reading, why do you ask?

Here they are though, and honestly they look like an impressive bunch!

Let's delve a little deeper, shall we?

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
This is not, as you may know, my first time reading this book, but it was maybe my most therapeutic. When you wake up from day surgery, after you've been in recovery (where they have the goooood drugs), they make you sit on the ward for two hours to make sure you're not going to keel over or whatever, before they let you go home. I am not a very good waiter and I'm especially not a good waiter in hospitals, and I didn't really want to hold a book that could fall onto my stitches and what have you, so I opened my trusty kindle app where I keep a copy of Attachments, in case of emergency. Attachments saw me through that two hours, and when I woke up in the middle of the night because of general anaesthetic sleep, it saw me through until morning, too. Thanks, Rainbow.

Moomins Vol 2 by Tove Jansson
Ah, the Moomins. I basically think about the Moomins every day and am even considering getting a Moomin tattoo, but whilst I love them and find them adorable and know their basic philosophies (and love that a cartoon even has a philosophy), I haven't actually read many of their stories. I started to rectify that this month, first with this volume, which is made up of about 4 or 5 comic strip stories, ALL OF WHICH are fabulous. I enjoy being validated of my love of moomins, by actually reading the Moomins, ya know?

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
You've probably read this already. Everyone else seems to have done, but I, as always, had it on my shelves for ages, but avoided it like the plague because have you SEEN the size of it?! This was foolish because this book is unbelievably good. By good, I mean, obviously, that it ripped its hand into my belly and pulled my guts out, then squeezed my heart until it broke, and, you know, I won't labour the point- it's really really really sad. I can't tell you anything, obviously, but I did spend the last 100 pages softly weeping, and it was only soft because it was about 1am at that point and my boyfriend was asleep next to me. This book is truly an emotional journey, and I am both mad at it for breaking me, and in awe of it for the same. Read it if you want to remember what it feels like to wholly inhabit a fictional world, and to care for characters as if they're (your own) flesh and blood.

Moomins Vol 3 by Tove Jansson
I'm pretty sure I read this to come back up from the A Little Life low, and hey, it worked. There's nothing like the Moomins to cheer you up, it has to be said.

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
Oh hey, it's the second book in the quadrilogy that I really liked when I started it in June! I believe I started reading this pretty much straight after My Brilliant Friend, but it fell by the wayside a little post-op. This was still great- a more mature narrator means that things get much more complicated for her and her brilliant friend, and I am all over the whole thing, if I'm honest. I feel like I definitely need to write a whole post about these books once I'm done with them, because feeeeeelings, I have tons of them!

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
I've written before about my love for this book (it was my everything as a child) and it's one of the books that has made it to pride of place on the 'vital books' shelf next to my bed. I felt like reading it one day during sick leave, and by golly that's what I did. It took me about a morning, and it was a beautiful and nostalgic slice of loveliness. *dances off into the sunset*

Something New by Lucy Knisley
Have I mentioned that it's WEDDING SEASON in my life at the moment? Because it is and aghhh (2 DAYS TIL MY SISTER'S!!!) Something New remains my favourite thing I have read about weddings, and it will take a lot of beating - it's essentially the story of Knisley's own wedding, interlinked with various wedding traditions and why they're a lot of nonsense. It makes me sad that both 1) I didn't go to her wedding which seems ace, and 2) we're not best friends already, cause honestly I think we could find a LOT to talk about. Still, I will have to be satisfied with following her on instagram and counting down the days until her next book (Kid Gloves) comes out - I'm sure THAT will become my favourite book on having babies, T.B.H.

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster
Oh Paul Auster. I don't think I've ever been disappointed by Paul Auster, but this one did feel especially good to me. I'm not sure how many of his novels I've read over the past... I'm gonna say 8 or so years when he was first introduced to me at university, but there are some things I've come to expect from him and The Brooklyn Follies hit all of those, and hard. The references to books and art, the plucky young man, even the very capable older man, the strange things happening and fortuitous circumstances... Have I mentioned that I love Paul Auster yet? I'll say this for this month of reading - I usually try to get rid of a few of the books I've read in the month (because, you know, space) but this month I just can't bear to part with any of them, so yeah- it's been that kind of reading month.

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
I was determined to finish this in July, and by jove, I totally managed it! I managed it so well, I even had to read something on my kindle on the bus home yesterday because I'd run out of book to read. This is (you may have guessed) the third book in the Neapolitan series, and I mean, just... I feel like a part of me is expecting the quality to drop with each book, and it just isn't happening. IT IS SUCH A GOOD SERIES, I mean, just YES. I would add that the end of this one is probably more cliffhangery than the other two, which means that I will be starting the fourth book today, and just YES I am so glad these books exist in the world.

And that was July! I really did do a ton of comfort reading, and it was exactly what I needed at the time so I'm not even a little bit sorry. August will bring who knows what (other than a wedding and another hen do, AM I DONE YET?!), but I know for sure that I am going to Bristol one weekend which involves a lot of train reading time so squeeeeee *bounces excitedly*. How about you guys?

Things I Read in June

Hiiiiii! I know, I know, I'm completely and utterly late with the things I've read in June and it's practically the end of July and I should just go and slink away into a hole or something. I. Know. I am very ashamed. However, for once I have (kind of) a good excuse that doesn't even involve laziness so much as (minor) surgery that has left me achy and sore and... well not too grumpy cause my boyfriend did a stellar job of looking after me, but grumpy because boooooored, ya know?

I mean, I've also been back at work two weeks now, so I have no excuse for that time period so yeahhhh... SHAME FACE.

I genuinely think about this all the time.

June was a BIT of a month. Just a bit. It started with my mum's 60th Birthday (literally, her birthday is 1st June), my cousin got married (FREAKING MARRIED!) which was exciting and a beautiful day, and I went to the zoo and I saw Foo Fighters and there was all sorts of wedding admin going on for both my sister and cousin's weddings, and basically, it was super tiring. I'm not saying that it has been a lovely relaxing break having holes punched into my stomach and cysts drained from my ovaries, but I'm also not NOT saying that (I am joking, I wouldn't recommend that as a method of taking a break. Seriously.)

Anyway. What did I read in June though, I hear you cry? I dunno, let's look:

Firstly, I have to apologise for the crappy photo- I'm hardly a photography wizard anyway, but this month I feel like I hit a new low... did you want the sun in your eyes? You didn't? TOO BAD!

Anyway. That indistinct form on top of the books is my iPad because lo and behold, I read a couple of ebooks last month, look at me go! I use the kindle app on the iPad (and on my phone) and yes I know amazon, and yes I'm sorry. SORRY. Let's talk books though, yes?

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
I hardly read YA at all because I JUST CAN'T ok, but I had read some good things about The Hate You Give online, and found a copy at my mum's house (I think it's my sister's?) and so I subtly borrowed it. It was good! I'm never going to go to YA for the greatest writing in the world (and I want that always), and I didn't get that here, but I found this really thought provoking and interesting, and also very humanising in a way that black people do not always get in literature or culture or media or... you get the idea. It made me pretty angry since, you know, a black teen gets shot in the first chapter and that. Shit. Is. Actually. Happening, but I think it's important to be mad about it and to try and do things to change it. Reading this book is maybe a tiny start.

The Children Who Lived in a Barn by Eleanor Graham
At this point, I feel pretty much assured that I'm going to have a good time when I read a Persephone book. This book was no exception, and I'll start with the foreword which is by my favourite author as a child, Jacqueline Wilson. In it, she describes reading this book as a child, and how, even though she can read a book now and remember nothing about it a week later (lol, I feel you, JW) she remembers the exact plot of this, as well as other childhood books so well. It just made me feel all warm and fuzzy cause that's how I feel about her books as well as a few other childhood favourites. This book, I know, if I had read it would have been one of my favourite books because it touched all of my kids books tingly spots- children forced to fend for themselves, the difficult realities of their everyday lives, the people who help them... It's just all good stuff. It was a weird experience to read and think, who knows, maybe one day I might have a kid who will read this and it'll become one of their childhood favourites - you just never know!

Just Kids by Patti Smith
I had some interesting feelings about Just Kids, which, firstly, was written with such beautiful sorting prose that it made me feel almost breathless, so nice work Patti. My interesting feelings were, I think, feminist ones, where it felt like Patti was putting herself and her work aside to help and to forward the work of Robert Mapplethorpe, but then the book is basically a memoir of the relationship between the two and is not really any of my business to comment upon. That's the weird feeling it actually left me with- this idea that, although it maybe made me feel a little uncomfortable in a feminist way, this is actually so intimate, and so between the two of them that I felt, and still feel, extremely uncomfortable commenting on it at all in a critical sense. Really though - A+++ writing.

Why Have Kids? by Jessica Valenti
I'm not sure why I ended up reading two kindle books in a row in June, or where the heck my physical books were, but it is what it is. I also don't remember buying Why Have Kids which leads me to assume that it was a Kindle Daily Deal purchase early one morning because yeahhhh... Anyway, this book was fine. It wasn't really an exploration of why you should or shouldn't have kids (say, focusing on overpopulation vs human need to reproduce or something like that, which I would totally read) but more on why people should stfu on commenting on women who have, or have chosen not to. THIS I can get on board with, so I did mostly read it going 'THEY DID WHAT?!' or 'yeah, she SHOULD do what she wants' and so on. This was pretty much preaching to the choir, but I'm kind of glad someone wrote it.

Also it is bullshit that maternity leave is not a legal thing in the US and I'm sorry your country sucks so bad. ALSO it is bullshit that in most countries paternity leave is only 2 weeks, but that's a whole other story.

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
Ummm. Bukowski. Listen. I got the point of this book (a kind of bildungsroman for horrible people) but I just kind of... didn't like it? It would be reductive to say 'too many male characters' cause, I get it, boys growing up have their own tribes and blah blah blah but the women in this book were basically just the main characters mother and women he found attractive and wanted to fuck. I'd call it misogynistic but it's pretty much just misanthropic, and not really my cup of tea at all. Can you both get something and not really like it? Cause I'm pretty sure that's what happened here.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
I went to Naples in April and I think a little bit beforehand, my friend sent me a link to an Elena Ferrante article in The Guardian which I found was excellent, and then I found the first two Neapolitan novels in a charity shop and the rest is history. This book is almost the exact opposite of Ham on Rye- the story of two girls, growing up in Naples, with different opportunities and different attitudes and outlooks on life, but still a certain sense of love and devotion between them. It is still, disturbingly, incredibly rare to read a book about the friendships between women, which is so ridiculous when, speaking as a woman, these are the bulk of our friendships. They may not quite shape our big life decisions in quite the same way as a romantic relationship, but they shape us in hundreds and thousands of tiny ways, every day. This book is important, and more than that it's good engaging and unflinching and not just, like, sweet and lovely because they're women, but complicated and deep and interesting because they are. I'm currently on the third book in the quadrilogy and STILL LOVING IT, oh yes.

Little Boy Lost by Margharita Laski
Once again- you know you're going to get a good read with a Persephone! This book, about the search for a child lost during WWII was very moving, and then towards the end, kind of annoying. The main character is the child's father, but the child's father is kind of a tool- some of which can be put down to the stress of wanting to find his son, but some of it is just him being a tool, which makes it kind of hard to root for him. Still, the ending was super satisfying, and I guess I have to read books about men SOMETIMES... I guess...

And that was June! Stay tuned for what I read in July in mere days because I am not doing the same thing again next month, all of this was a real struggle to remember! I hope you've had, well, two great months, and please, believe my lies when I tell you I'll be back on top of things in August. IT'S THE THREE WEDDING SUMMER, IT'S KILLING MEEEEEEE.