What I've been reading: September and October
A varied selection of books this month - featuring two of the best books I've read this year.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and The Muse by Jessie Burton were both brilliant.
Little Fires Everywhere is set in the 1990s, in a suburb of Cleveland where most things are predictable and people get on with their lives, playing by the rules. The four children in the Richardson family are obeying or rebelling in their own ways, and then artist Mia arrives with her daughter and they become involved with the Richardsons. A local family, friends of the Richardsons, tries to adopt a Chinese-American baby and this custody battle splits the town, and families. It's a gorgeous story, beautifully written, and I stayed up late to finish it (as did a colleague when I passed my copy on to her!).
I enjoyed The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton and The Muse was even better. Two intertwined stories are set in Spain in the 1930s and London in 1967 - I enjoyed the Spanish sections more than the London ones, but they link together very well, telling the story of a painting, how it came to be created in Spain and end up in a London gallery three decades later.
The Roanoake Girls by Amy Engel* was a bit of a random selection on NetGalley, described as a provocative thriller. It was a bit provocative in places, Lane's mother commits suicide and Lane goes to live with her grandparents and cousin, and gradually learns more about her family's secrets (of which there are plenty). I found it a bit weird, and not too much of a thriller.
F*** You Very Much: Understanding the Culture of Rudeness and What We Can Do About It by Danny Wallace* kept me entertained on a long train journey the other weekend. Following an incident over a hot dog, he sets out to understand more about rudeness, why we are so rude, how it makes us feel and what we can do about it. I found it very interesting, especially the bits about public transport and driving - I spend a lot of time driving for work and regularly encounter rude drivers, but also polite ones. This book helps put it into perspective.
I found a copy of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame in a charity shop and decided to buy it as it's one of the books I know quite a bit about, but haven't actually read (or at least, don't remember reading as a child).
Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter was lovely - two teenage girls learning about friendships and relationships, with themselves, and their peers, and their families. It's set just a few years before I was the age of the girls in the story, and I understand many of the pop culture references. A very well-told story that isn't a complete cliche about being a teenager.
I've got a bit of travelling coming up in November, no doubt with time spent lingering in airports, so I've got my Kindle fully stocked for that!
*Provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng and The Muse by Jessie Burton were both brilliant.
Little Fires Everywhere is set in the 1990s, in a suburb of Cleveland where most things are predictable and people get on with their lives, playing by the rules. The four children in the Richardson family are obeying or rebelling in their own ways, and then artist Mia arrives with her daughter and they become involved with the Richardsons. A local family, friends of the Richardsons, tries to adopt a Chinese-American baby and this custody battle splits the town, and families. It's a gorgeous story, beautifully written, and I stayed up late to finish it (as did a colleague when I passed my copy on to her!).
I enjoyed The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton and The Muse was even better. Two intertwined stories are set in Spain in the 1930s and London in 1967 - I enjoyed the Spanish sections more than the London ones, but they link together very well, telling the story of a painting, how it came to be created in Spain and end up in a London gallery three decades later.
The Roanoake Girls by Amy Engel* was a bit of a random selection on NetGalley, described as a provocative thriller. It was a bit provocative in places, Lane's mother commits suicide and Lane goes to live with her grandparents and cousin, and gradually learns more about her family's secrets (of which there are plenty). I found it a bit weird, and not too much of a thriller.
F*** You Very Much: Understanding the Culture of Rudeness and What We Can Do About It by Danny Wallace* kept me entertained on a long train journey the other weekend. Following an incident over a hot dog, he sets out to understand more about rudeness, why we are so rude, how it makes us feel and what we can do about it. I found it very interesting, especially the bits about public transport and driving - I spend a lot of time driving for work and regularly encounter rude drivers, but also polite ones. This book helps put it into perspective.
I found a copy of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame in a charity shop and decided to buy it as it's one of the books I know quite a bit about, but haven't actually read (or at least, don't remember reading as a child).
It was nice enough, and there were some tender parts in the stories of Badger, Ratty, Mole and of course Toad, but I found my attention wandering. I think this is possibly one of those books you simply need to read at the right time - which isn't now for me. Similarly, I didn't enough My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. I've not watched the TV show, but thought I'd read the book. It didn't inspire me, and it struck a weird note between not quite being a memoir and yet not quite being a novel.
Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter was lovely - two teenage girls learning about friendships and relationships, with themselves, and their peers, and their families. It's set just a few years before I was the age of the girls in the story, and I understand many of the pop culture references. A very well-told story that isn't a complete cliche about being a teenager.
*Provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.
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