This year I set myself a challenge to read 50 books, and I though it would be a breeze and I’d read way more. But it hasn’t been. Keeping a diary of my reads has been great as I can see how my reading peaks and troughs over the year. Some months I’m a real book worm, others, life takes over or I simply don’t feel like it. This month is actually two combined as I’ve had a busy one. Anyway, here’s what I’ve read in August and September…

Valley of The Dolls
This was a Ladies Lit Squad read and it was unanimously well received – this never happens. I loved this fast-paced Hollywood tale, and while I laughed at some of the seriously dated references (a ‘sleeping cure’ for weight loss? Please.), the characters did resonate with me. This is a classic for a reason.

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller
I was really looking forward to reading this tale of a historian staying in an old country pile with only a bohemian couple for company, but I found that the plot dragged along for the first 50%. It was very atmospheric though and I enjoyed the descriptions to the mansion they’re all staying in. The book really picks up towards the end and actually becomes quite chilling but it didn’t make up for the slow start. weirdly I’d still recommend it.

Ordinary People by Sally Rooney
This book is astounding. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year, if not ever. I cried when it finished – not because it’s sad, but because it was so well written and insightful. And I would LOVE to write like Rooney, I mean, what a talent. Ordinary People is about a girl and a boy and their relationship, spanning from their teen years to their twenties. Plot-wise, not much happens, but nothing needs to. the way Rooney writes about those deep, dark internal feelings, miscommunications, thoughts left unsaid… it’s just stunning. Go and buy it right now.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
The sequel to Crazy Rich Asians was just as good as the original, I read it just before I went to see the HILARIOUS film. Not much to say except this is a pacy, trashy romp through Singapore and China society. I wolfed this down in about 4 hours!

The House of Impossible Beauties
I read this on holiday and as a huge LGBTQ ally, lover of gay culture and the ballroom scene, I really enjoyed this. A tale of a Puerto Rican ‘House’ of queens. The language is really raw and works well to tell the tale of these young kids facing prejudice and violence every day. Not a classic but definitely interesting.

This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
After reading this, which literally took one evening, I immediately wanted to go round to my local hospital with a bag of croissants and administer a hug to each and every junior doctor. Everyone is raving about this book and for good reason. Go and read it, because we all use the NHS.

BOOKS READ SO FAR

My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances
Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Under The Sun by Lottie Moggach
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney
Dietland by Sarai Walker
Postcards from The Edge by Carrie Fisher
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The F Word by Liza Palmer
Silence by Natasha Preston
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Trying by Emily Phillips
How To Stop Time by Matt Haig
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Dead Girls by Abigail Tarttelin
I’ll Be Gone in The Dark by Michelle McNamara
Kismet by Luke Tredget
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Ponti by Sharlene Tao
In The Dark by Cara Hunter
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
Fat Chance by Nick Spalding
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
Riders by Jilly Cooper
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton
The Cows by Dawn O’Porter
Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
The Child by Fiona Barton
The Widow by Fiona Barton
Circe by Madeline Miller
Fierce by Gin Phillips
Valley of The Dolls
Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller
Ordinary People by Sally Rooney
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
The House of Impossible Beauties
This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

42/50