Friday 2 February 2018

New Year, New Reads


Ok so I'm aware January is basically over now and to say that I've been pretty slack at this whole blogging scene, is an absolute understatement but I've decided to put less pressure on myself to create blog content when sometimes it's just not feasible as I juggle university, work and life in general. With that said I'm still super looking forward to making new content this year, it's just taking me a little longer to get back into the swing of things ecspecially with these January blues!

But with all that aside, I've decided that what better way to kick start my blog in the new year, than with my favourite things in life.. Books!! So, I thought I'd put together a little selection of new books that I've recently purchased and am oh so excited to read.



Into the Water, Paula Hawkins
Now, I've already read this one, in fact I read it within two days of me getting it. I'd been absolutely dying to read this as I loved her first novel, Girl On a Train which was absolutely incredible, although the film was definitely disappointing in comparison. Into the Water is a thriller that follows the lives of various people living within a village that possesses a dark history, of which many women/young girls have supposedly committed suicide in this lake in town. With the basis of this plot focusing on the suspicion that these girls didn't commit suicide and rather were pushed to their deaths, it lies behind the characters attempting to get to the bottom of the deaths of their loved ones and has an incredible plot twist at the end. Honestly. if you love books that keep you on the edge of your seat then you should definitely check it out.

The Power, Naomi Alderman
This is another that I've already read now and was another that I was super excited to get my teeth stuck into. The book is focused around the concept of how the world would be if women were to hold the power in I guess what you can say is depicted as a matriarchal society. Basically, all the women all over the world have the power to inflict pain upon men through an electric pulse in their fingertips that has been awoken after centuries by the younger generations of girls. Although, the book was quite hard to get into with a bit of a slow start, I have to admit towards the second half of the book I'd really gotten into it. The concept is so interesting and reflects on issues that exist in society today but from a different gender lens i.e. sexism, misogyny and patriarchy and Alderman does this by flipping it on its head to reveal what it would be like if men were the inferior sex. Although the start was a bit rocky, it's definitely worth a read for the pure concept alone of a female dominant society.



The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead
Once again, this was a book that I'd heard amazing reviews about and as it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2017, I felt like this was a must read( And I mean Barack Obama also gave it an amazing review and if the former President of the US gave it a good review, then I feel it's definitely worth a read)!  Although I haven't started to read this book yet, from what I can gather the novel is loosely based upon the underground railroads that were created in the early 19th century to allow African American slaves to escape captivity and flee to free states and the plot focuses on two slaves who try to do exactly that. I'm really looking forward to reading this one as I feel like it will give a fictitious twist to real life events.

Milk and Honey/The Sun and Her Flowers, Rupi Kaur
Now, I'm a big poetry lover but I've never really ventured into reading more modern poetry. Rather, I've always stuck to reading my absolute fave Sylvia Plath and other classics like Coleridge and T.S. Elliot. But after hearing so many good reviews on Rupi Kaur and after one of my best friends highly recommended I read it, I felt like it was about time that I check out her books.



One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
So, this is the book that I'm currently reading and although I'm not even a 1/4 of the way through yet, I can already tell you that I love it. The novel follows the happenings of a psychiatric asylum in Oregon of which its most recent patient is Randle Patrick McMurphy. Long story short, he feigns his mental illness in order to cause havoc in the asylum. The novel is accompanied by illustrations from Ken Kesey himself who drew them whilst taking part in psychoactive drug trials in a psychiatric institution, his time there also inspired him to write this novel.  I guess my interest in this novel comes from the fact that it was banned in some schools in various states of the US during the seventies, due to its supposedly corruptive nature and coverage of the darker side of society. I cannot express how much I can't wait to get stuck into this novel!


The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath, Ronald Hayman
Of course, Sylvia Plath is my absolute hero so when I found this book that I didn't have in my Plath collection, I just had to have it! And although I'm currently rereading The Bell Jar for about the fiftieth time, I cannot wait to check this book out when I'm done.



So, as you can see I have a whole lotta reading to be doing! I hope I've given you guys some reading inspo and I would love to hear what books you've brought/read recently!!


The Clueless Blogger

2 comments:

  1. I have seen so many people raving about Milk and Honey - it looks & sounds so good! I adore modern poetry so it sounds perfect. Can't wait to give it a read. Great post!

    Holly from The Art of Being Holly xo

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  2. Thank you so much!! It's definitely worth checking out if you're into modern poetry! The illustrations are such a lovely touch as well! xo

    - The Clueless Blogger

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