So the first thing that might be
noticeable is that this is not a wrap up post. I’ve decided to make a few
changes to the blog and one of them is to ditch the wrap ups – I just don’t
feel they work as well on a blog as they do on BookTube and I wasn’t enjoying
writing them. So instead of reviewing every book I read in a given month in a
wrap up, I’m going to do a few more reviews and themed mini-reviews (i.e.
Summer Reads, Books for Halloween etc.) and then do a month-in-review post like
this one in which I might make mention of some books I’ve read, what I’ve
picked up that excites me and what I’m currently reading but which is more of a
chat than a specific review. Don’t worry however – there will still be lots of
book based goodness throughout!
I think I bought more books in
June than I read in all honesty. This is, in part, the fault of Independent
Bookshop Week (see last month’s post) which meant I just had to visit the lovely Booka Bookshop and buy all of the things,
including a lovely little essay called ‘The Gifts of Reading’ by Robert
McFarlane. I also bought a book for my Dad for Father’s Day and a gorgeous Virago edition of ‘Diary of a Provincial Lady’ for my Nan as a birthday present. So
there was some book-gifting going on in my life too.
June has however been a really
good month for book releases. Sarah Perry’s second novel ‘The Essex Serpent’,
with it’s beautiful deep green cover, called to me across the bookshop so
that’s now sitting on my bedside table. And Clare North, author of the
fantastic ‘The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August’ has her latest, ‘The Sudden Appearance of Hope’ out this month too. I also decided that I needed a little
YA fantasy in my life and picked up my first ever Sarah J Maas books ‘A Court of Thorn and Roses’ and ‘A Court of Mist and Fury’ (because, of course, you
can’t just buy one in a series!). I’ve heard very good things about her ‘Throne of Glass’ novels but there are a lot of books in that now so this newest series
seemed a little more accessible for a newbie.
On the reading front, after
finishing both ‘The Girls’ and ‘Shrill’ for review, I took a break with another
foray into Kurtis J Wiebe’s excellent ‘Rat Queens’ series with ‘Volume 3: Demons’. There was a (somewhat controversial) change of artist for this third
volume but, once you get past the change of art style, the story remains strong
and the characters as awesome as ever. And it’s not like the new artist does a
bad job – the art style is still amazing, it just is a little bolder and more colourful
than the previous volumes. I’ve read that the series might be going on hiatus
for a little while which is a shame – this third volume ended on one heck of a cliff-hanger
so I really want to know what happens next! I might however pick up ‘Lumberjanes’
to fill the comic-shaped whole in my life in the meantime as I’ve heard only
good things.
My real-life book club pick for
the month was very different to ‘Rat Queens’ – Sunjeev Sahota’s ‘The Year of the Runaways’, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. The tale of
3 Indian migrants (one illegal, one on a student visa, one on a marriage visa)
trying to make it in modern Britain, this was a fascinating but unremittingly
bleak read. When I picked it up, I thought it would focus on the hardships
involved with being a migrant in the UK which, in parts, it does. However, I
was really surprised by how long the book spends in India, examining the
complexities of the caste system and the turmoil of religious and political
unrest that lead each person to leave their country. It was a very nuanced tale
that really exposed the complex nature of immigration – such a prevalent topic
these days – and stripped away the headlines to show the humanity lying at the
heart of the issue. By no means an easy read in terms of subject matter but I
certainly feel more educated for having read it.
‘Runaways’ did leave me in a bit
of a slump – it’s one of those novels that takes a few days to digest – but
I’ve recently started ‘Homegoing’ by Yaa Gyesi and am completely involved in
her writing and in the story of two Ghanaian half-sisters, one who marries a British slave-trader and one who is sold into slavery herself. The book follows
their descendants in both Ghana and America through to the present day and has been
super-hyped in Gyesi’s native US. It’s not due out until January 2017 here in
the UK but (whisper it), Book Depository do have US copies listed for worldwide
delivery. Patience not being one of my virtues, I succumbed to temptation and
bought it. So far it’s amazing so well worth the few extra pennies.
I’m also reading Lisa McInerney’s
Bailey’s Prize winning ‘The Glorious Heresies’ which I picked up at the
library. If I’m honest, I am struggling a little with it – the black humour is
excellent and it’s certainly got punch but I’m finding the characters a little
hard to relate to. Possibly too much bleakness – I’m not over the Sahota yet!
Early days however so I’m going to persevere as there is no doubt that
McInerney’s writing is very accomplished.
As for what’s next on my TBR,
well I don’t want to keep ‘The Essex Serpent’ waiting too long but I also need
to read a proof of Dan Vyleta’s ‘Smoke’ (billed as perfect for lovers of ‘Harry
Potter’ and ‘His Dark Materials’, neither easy shoes to fill) which hits
shelves next month and I’ve got a hankering to get started on the Sarah J Maas.
As always, too many books and too little time!
As always, I’d love to hear from
you – if you’ve read any of the books mentioned or have any recommendations, or
if you just want to come and talk books for a bit, then drop me a comment down
below, tweet me @amyinstaffs or find me on Litsy @ShelfofUnreadBooks. And,
until next time….
Happy Reading! x
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