All posts tagged: Books

#50booksin2018 August & September

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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 …

Every Book Ladies lit Squad Have Read So Far!

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Here is a list of every book my book club Ladies lit Squad have read so far! So if you want to read along with us you can get going. All books are written by women (of course). How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell Living The Dream by Lauren Berry The Upstairs Room by Kate Murray Browne The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara Dead Girls by Abigail Tarttelin Riders by Jilly Cooper Circe by Madeline Miller Valley of The Dolls by Jacqueline Susann How to Murder Your Life Cat Marnell is a polarising character, by that I don’t mean your either love her or you hate her. I mean she changes your own mind about her several times in one paragraph. To give this context, Cat, is a drug addict. Her memoir How to Murder Your Life was written, we presume, under the influence so it’s raw, erratic and sometimes hard to read (she’s a fan of a !!!!!!!!!!!). On the flipside it’s this honesty and vulnerability that …

#50booksin2018 June

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June was a holiday month so I thought there’d be lots of reading but my holiday was a girls holiday so we were too busy having lots of hijinks for me to read too much. Plus, I had to read Riders for my book club and it’s a beast at over 900 pages, so that counts as two books. I’m definitely on track to read 50 books but I thought I’d be further along by now! Oh well, I guess life gets in the way – Anyway here’s June’s reads. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson I’m such a big fan of Jon Ronson, I discovered him after listening to his fascinating Podcast ‘The Butterfly Effect‘ about the tech sector takeover of the porn industry. This book deals with an equally interesting topic – public shaming. Specifically in the modern, internet era. He talks to people whose lives have been turned upside down with just one ill-advised tweet or photo – and his writing style is so engaging and personal you’ll whizz through …

#50booksin2018 May

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It’s the 5th month of my self-imposed #50booksin2018 challenge and it’s been a great month for reading. I’m a very lucky girl as I run a book club so lots of publishers send me books to review. This month I was inundated with some fab titles – I haven’t got through them all yet but the ones I did read were fantastic. Next month I’ll be on holiday so I’ve loaded up the Kindle and plan to read A LOT, until then, here are the books I read in May. Kismet by Luke Tredget I can’t believe this book was written by a man, the central character XXX is so relatable to me, the author really has the female psyche nailed. Kismet is a modern day anti-love story where most people find their mate via omnipotent dating app Kismet which assigns each person a compatibility score. XXXX is a journalist on the edge while looking for love. While this book is not a rollercoaster in terms of plot, the characters are incredibly well drawn and …

#50booksin2018 March & April

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Full disclosure, I’ve done hardly any reading recently! Life gets in the way of even the most avid reader. In fact all the books I have read I’ve done so in a couple of days, rather than reading every day. In June I go on holiday to Italy though, so I already have the Kindle loaded and know I’ll make up for lost time. Here’s what I read in March and April… Red Clocks by Leni Zumas Red Clocks tells the story of a not too far-fetched America where abortion is once again illegal, as is IVF and single parent families. It follows five women with different issues around motherhood, pregnancy and abortion. I was really looking forward to reading this as I’m, you know, hashtag woke and all for women’s reproductive rights. However, I found the book really, really hard to get into at first. The plot is actually very interesting but I don’t feel I got to know any of the characters in any depth – it was like I was floating above …

2018 Reading Challenge #50Booksin2018

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I love a challenge. I also love reading. I think you can see where I’m going with this… I oh-so-cleverly combined these two passions of mine to create my 2018 Book Challenge. I’ve decided to read (and document) 50 books this year. My best friend Ben did ask “why not 52?”, well, while there are 52 weeks in the year, I will most certainly have at least a couple of ‘lost weeks’ in 2018 where I’m either too hungover, ill or mentally inept to read. And to be honest, I probably won’t read a book a week. I’m a binger, I might go a month without reading, only to devour 10 books the next. Another great reason to write down every book I read is that I often forget what I’ve read in any given year. Last year I read loads of books (the perks of starting a book club) but I can only remember a few off the top of my head. I’m going to aim to review all 50 books I read this …

#50booksin2018 February

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One of my resolutions, or new year challenges for 2018 was to read 50 books. Here are the titles I read in January (it was a lot as I spent most of that month on a beach in Goa). This month has been super busy so I’ve only managed a bit of reading – BUT some absolutely excellent books. Here are the novels I enjoyed in February… The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson This is probably aimed at the YA audience, but it’s a laser-sharp look at life in a suburban high school. In a series of interconnected stories from the point of view of multiple characters, a picture of teenage life is drawn accurately and thoughtfully. We meet typical teenage stereotypes that are then torn apart when you scratch the surface. Each narrative feels like a thread that stops suddenly then gets picked up, which makes for an interesting reading experience. BUY Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine I loved this book. It definitely lives up to the hype and I …

Here Are 10 Holiday Reads For Your Next Trip

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The best bit about going on holiday (apart from living in a bikini) is getting time to read all those books you’ve been meaning to read for months. Or years in some cases. I always take a couple of physical books but on this particular 2-week holiday, I read 10 books so for the sake of my suitcase I’m a Kindle girl. Read on to find out what to buy/download for your next vacay… My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent I think this must be a YA novel, but I looove a YA novel. This one is pretty dark but a definite page turner. My Absolute Darling follows Turtle, a 14-year-old girl, and her father, who live hidden away in the forest. Turtle is an almost feral child: gun-toting, animal-killing, self-sufficient. Skills all taught to her by her loving father. As Turtle makes more and more contact with the outside world she begins to realise that life at home may not be all that rosy. The Girlfriend by Michelle Frances Ooooh, now this was a …

3 Books With a Strong Female Lead

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Regular readers of this blog will know that I love a good book, in fact I have a book club Ladies Lit Squad and I do try and read a book a week (I’m fast and usually do it in one day at the weekend) unless life gets in the way. Anyway this crappy winter weather is probably a very good impetus for us all to get snuggled up with a good page-turner and here are three written by women and with a truly compelling female lead,enjoy! The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot In this super-interesting book, science writer Rebecca Skloot looks at the life and afterlife of Henrietta Lacks, the African-American woman whose cancer cells were harvested and used to create an immortal cell line for scientific experimentation. You could say that Henrietta is the most important woman in medical history as her cells, taken from a cervical-cancer biopsy, became the first immortal human cell line and have helped scientists to research and find cures for literally hundreds of diseases. So …

3 Books You Need To Read This Winter

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As you may or may not know, this year I started a girls-only book club called Ladies Lit Squad. Since founding LLS in the summer, we’ve had three amazing meetings at The Hoxton Hotel, with sponsors like Urban Decay, Penguin Books and Pukka Herbs and we’ve read a lot of books. Follow LLS on Instagram to read along with us. Oh, and here are just three of the amazing books I’ve read recently that I think you should too… after all it’s hibernation season now. The ideal time to snuggle up with a good book. Living The Dream by Lauren Berry This was the book we read for our second Ladies Lit Squad book club and we were also lucky enough to have the author come and talk about the book. Living The Dream is a tongue in cheek title that will be a familiar refrain to those of us who headed to the bright lights of London for a career in fashion, media or, like the lead character in this novel, work in advertising. …