rosie abigail

In the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, hello there. It’s been a hot minute (well, two weeks) since I last posted, and even longer than that since I’ve had a regular posting schedule. In all honesty, I’ve been burnt out. Work has been spilling over to my personal life, and balancing living with an unknown health condition has been incredibly stressful. Despite my mind being fully away, I’ve missed blogging! I’ve missed the creativity that comes with it, the community, and the structure blogging brings to my week.

So, I thought I’d ease back into it with talking about one of my favourite topics; books! More specifically, the books that are on my Summer Reading List… 

Books That Are Already on My Bookshelf

Girl, Woman, Other – Bernadine Evaristo
I’ve finally got my hands on the Booker Prize 2019 winner, Girl, Woman, Other and I am super excited! I’ve already read the first section and am hooked. I’m loving the way Evaristo writes, and the characters ooooze humanity in a way I don’t think I’ve experienced before.

Kiss & Part – Short Stories
I received this as a little stocking stuffer at Christmas, and it’s been sat on my bedside table ever since. It’s a series of short stories by contemporary women authors, so it sounds right up my street.

Books I’ve Been Recommended for Years but Never Actually Picked Up Until I Got A Waterstones Books Voucher for my Birthday…

Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Technically, I’ve started this book. Although that was ten years ago when I was a wee whippersnapper and I didn’t get further than the first chapter. However, now as a twenty-something with a literature and theatre degree under my belt, hopefully I can get my teeth into it! Gotta support my girl, the original creator of Sci-Fi, after all.

Beloved – Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison and her novels were mentioned at every step along the way of my degree. Be that as it may, her books were never primary reading, and were purely recommended as side reading, so they shamefully slipped me by. Beloved came across as the most recommended book, at both an academic level and blogging level, so in my shopping bag it went.

One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I actually came across this novel when I was researching asthma in literature for my Masters last year (aka I typed in ‘asthma in literature’ into Google and it popped up). Although that didn’t give me what I needed for my essay (I can thank Lord of the Flies for being the basis of that), the title really stuck in my brain. I think it’s going to be very different from the books I usually read, so I can’t wait to read it.

Books I Have Heard Hyped Up to High Heaven on Blogs so Bit the Bullet and Bought

Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
I went into the bookshop, knowing in the back of my head I’d be keeping my eye out for this, purely based on the hype alone. I didn’t know what it was about at all, but the blurb certainly sucked me in. A murder mystery set in the late sixties? Count me in!

The Dutch House – Ann Patchett
I had only heard about this book via other book bloggers. The cover gives nothing away, and neither does the blurb. And that’s so exciting to me! The last book I went into blind was Gone Girl, and I ended up loving that book. Fingers crossed that will happen again!

So, those are the books I’ve got my eye on to read over the summer. I’m sure I’ll pick up more as we go (I always do). Drop me a comment and let me know what you’ve got on your summer reading list; I’d love to know!

Rosie x

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