How are we already two months into 2021? Time is going so quickly! I've had a really strong start to the year with the books I've been reading. Over the last two months, I've read 14 books. I'm hoping that the rest of my reading year stays as strong. I'll be sharing the books I've read in January and February.
January
I read eight books in January, which I'm very happy with. I had quite a diverse reading month, reading from a wide range of genres and a whole spectrum of ratings.
The Angry Tide by Winston Graham
I have been reading the Poldark books on and off since 2018, with one of my goals for 2021 to catch up on the books I own. This was the last one that I did and I decided to make it my first read of 2021. I miss the shortness of the first three books, but still enjoyed my time with this one. As this is the seventh book in the series, I can't talk too much about the plot without it being a spoiler. I am a big fan of the TV show and I know it's a crime in the book community to admit it, but there were aspects of the TV show that I preferred. A solid first read of the year, I gave it 4/5 stars.
Working on a Song- Lyrics of Hadestown by Anais Mitchell
This was a Christmas present as I was a big fan of the musical. I didn't even know there was a book about this show. As the title suggests, this is the lyrics of Hadestown. However, it shows the final version and then talks about how it changed between each of the major productions. I am a big fan of "behind the scenes books", as I call them. I love learning about the creative process behind things I like and this was an interesting insight into a musical I adore. I also gave it 4/5 stars.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
After seeing rave reviews about Where the Crawdads Sing, I picked up a copy in October and finally got around to reading. Just before I started reading it, I was made aware of it's problematic content. I did let that taint my experience, however I think this book just wasn't for me. I do have a full review, which you can read here. My two main qualms with this book were the romance and the ending. Both just didn't sit well with me. That being said, I did enjoy the middle of this book. In the end, I gave it 3/5 stars and have decided I won't be keeping my copy.
How Should One Read a Book? by Virginia Woolf
I saw this floating around bookstagram around Christmas time and as I had some Waterstones vouchers, decided to get it. I had only read one other Virginia Woolf book and I did not like it. However, this was an enjoyable and short book. A non-fiction book about how you should read books you enjoy, it's something a lot of readers will enjoy. It was a short, easy and fun read. I can see myself rereading it at various points in my life. I gave it 4/5 stars.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
I had been wanting to read this for years and finally bought a copy in October. It's one of those books you see in charity shops all the time. I loved this book. I have a full review with all my thoughts, which you can read here. Each twist and turn was amazing. The characters were an interesting bunch, especially as you couldn't trust or like any of them. I had been interested in picking up Tartt's other books, however I've seen some blog posts/tweets floating around saying that the Goldfinch has some racist undertones and that doesn't sit well with me. I think I'll just stick to enjoying this one. I gave it 5/5 stars.
Women&Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard
Back to non-fiction, I decided to read this book. Mary Beard is a well-known academic in the UK and I'd had this on my TBR since the summer. A short read about feminism. It showed the link between well known myths and feminism, showing how some of the things that happened are still happening today. This will make you think and then make you angry. I am interested in reading more about feminism after reading this. I gave it 4/5 stars.
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
This was a book I bought with my Christmas money after seeing BooksNest rave about it. I read the description and it sounded like something I would enjoy. I was sadly wrong. I really struggled with the protagonist, I just didn't like her. However, my main problem with this book was that there was no plot. I did think it did a wonderful job creating atmosphere, but it sacrificed the plot a lot. I also felt that some of the academic terms went over my head at times. This book just really ended up not being for me. I gave it 2/5 stars.
Moulin Rouge by Baz Lurhman
My final read of January was another non-fiction book and this was about one of my favourite films, Moulin Rouge. It had been a very long time since I watched the film and so I rewatched it. I then read this book, which is all about the behind the scenes process for making this film. It was an interesting insight into Lurhman's creative process and all that went into making this wonderful film. The last third was a series of behind the scenes photos from three different photographers, which was a nice touch. If you are a fan of the film, I'd recommend trying to get ahold of this book. I gave it 4/5 stars.
February
As February is a shorter month and was quite a busy month, so I only managed to read six books, which is quite good, but like the over ambitious person I am, I was hoping to read more.
The Poppy War by R.F Kuang
This is such a beloved and hyped book in the book community, and rightly so. I hadn't read a fantasy in a while and was really in the mood for one, so I picked this up. Rin was an amazing character, I absolutely adored her journey. This was an epic fantasy. It was exactly the fantasy I was looking for. There was some quite dark content at times, this is a book about war, so I would be aware of that before going in. I am very excited to continue this series at some point in the year. I gave this 4/5 stars.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
I had a lot of problems with this book. This was something I thought I'd enjoy and bought it with my Christmas money. I have a full review of this book, which you can read here. The marketing of this book really made it out to be a fun and fluffy book, when in fact this is actually quite a dark, social commentary. This has a lot of disturbing, triggering content such as child abuse, sexual abuse, rape of a child, murder and cannibalism. I felt sick while reading a certain part of this book. I can see what this author was trying to do, however I just did not like this book. I gave it 2/5 stars.
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
My first YA book of the year! I had forgotten how fun YA can be and thankfully this reminded me. I had wanted to read this for a while and am so glad I finally picked it up. It had a bit of a rocky start, but improved in the middle. I didn't like the ending, however I enjoyed the rest. This did a really good job of tackling LGBT+ issues in the Latino community. I would read from Aiden Thomas again as they're a really good reader. This is the perfect book for Halloween. I gave it 4/5 stars.
Flake by Matthew Dooley
This year, my family and I did a small family Valentine's Day, with Flake being my present. I had mentioned it to my dad as it's a graphic novel set in the same part of the UK that we all grew up in. I loved this book. It had a wonderful story and some very pretty graphics. The humour actually made me laugh out-loud and I don't do that very often. It's really gotten me in the graphic novel mood. I gave it 4.5/5 stars.
How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are by various authors
I have owned this book since 2015 and I finally finished it. I had read almost a half in 2015 and then gave up for some reason. This book is much more suited to me as a twenty year old, rather than a fifteen year old. While it's not a lifestyle I see myself living, it is one I enjoyed reading about. I would read more lifestyle books in the future. I gave it 4/5 stars.
Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare
My final book of February was to reread Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare. Chain of Iron is already out by the time this post goes live and I felt I needed a recap of the first book. I do have a full review from last year, which you can read here. I was very happy to be back with these characters and in this world. I'm still not sure where this one stands in my overall ranking, but that will be determined by the remaining books in the series. I obviously gave it 5/5 stars.
That concludes my wrap up for the winter months. What did you read this winter?
Carenza :)x
