February 2017 book round up

Books bought

I’ve been on a bit of a kindle book spree this month…

The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing World – Margaret Cavendish (kindle edition). I found this book on a list of Amazing feminist sci-fi or something like that. Written by a women, under her own name in 1666. It’s considered the first female written sci-fi novel. Sounds interesting! She sounds great too.

a badass women from the 1600s – Margaret Cavendish

The Toy Dolls: From Fulwell to Fukuoka – Ronan Fitzsimons (kindle edition). The Toy Dolls were one of my favourite bands in my late teens.

Silly, punk rock, probably only known by the wider public for their version of Nellie the Elephant. I’m not expecting literary greatness from this but I’m hoping once I start it I won’t be able to put it down! May be a niche interest book, this one. 🙂

My, haven’t music videos improved since 1984!

Men Explain Things to Me: And Other Essays – Rebecca Solnit (kindle edition) I’ve wanted to read this for a while. In fact, I’ve been waiting so long to actually buy it I don’t want to read it and it be over really quickly! 

The Good Immigrant – Nikesh Shukla (kindle edition). I heard about this book when it came out last year and saw it on loads of ‘best books of the year’ lists in the run up to Christmas. Especially post Brexit, a small thing I can do is make more effort to support BAME writers. Also, I’ve read Coconut Unlimited and *really* enjoyed it.

How Hard Can Love Be? (The Spinster Club Series Book 2) – Holly Bourne (kindle edition). I read the first book in this series last year (Am I Normal Yet?) and absolutely loved it. It’s about a teenager with mental health problems navigating college life. I highly recommend that one and hope this one is equally as good. 

The Polysyllabic Spree: A Hilarious and True Account of One Man’s Struggle with the Monthly Tide of the Books He’s Bought and the Books He’s Been Mean –Nick Hornby (paperback). Oh wow! a book I both bought and read in the same month!

Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Home Cooking – Ramsay, Gordon (hardback). Fiver. Gordon’s usual cooking is a bit fancy for me, so hoping this one will be more accessible.

Beloved: A Novel (Vintage Classics) – Toni Morrison (kindle edition). Another I bought to read straight away. This is one of the few books by a writer of colour on my reading list challenge for this year. I bumped it up the list because I like to try and make sure I read from a fairly diverse group of authors. I don’t always achieve my goals, but I do try. I didn’t realise when I chose my challenge list for this year that it was just so, so white and American and European. Not ideal. 

Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng (paperback) – I have heard great things about this book and can’t wait until it arrives. Still waiting though…

photo from myfrenchtwist.com/read-everything-never-told

Wishful Drinking- Carrie Fisher (kindle edition). 99p kindle bargain. I realised I read a lot of biographies of men and want to even it up a bit, so have been looking out for autobiographies of interesting women.

I need to curb  my book buying a little bit.

Books read

Links to reviews, if I’ve done one 🙂

Me Before You – Jojo Moyes

Dancing With Myself – Billy Idol

Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

Beloved – Toni Morrison

The Polysyllabic Spree – Nick Hornby

The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling. Bedtime story book for 6 year old – it’s going to take a while to get through!

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone – J.K. Rowling. Bedtime story for 4 year old. We will be reading it for a long time I predict – he’s not even had his ‘You’re a wizard Harry!’ moment yet.

Phoebe the Fashion Fairy – Daisy Meadows. 4 year old’s library book choice. Help.