NW by Zadie Smith has been sitting on my shelf since just after it came out and I'm really glad I finally got to it. Zadie Smith writes London so well, and this is a great story about whether where you're born determines what you achieve in life or whether it's all down to how hard you're willing to work. It focuses on four people from the same area, all of whom are vaguely connected but also not - their stories sometimes cross and sometimes kind of run parallel and sometimes you're not sure you really know what's going on at all. Not a five star read for me but very good and thoroughly enjoyable writing.
Fables: Cubs in Toyland, Snow White & Camelot by Bill Willingham. I gave up talking about the Fables series after about books five because I really don't want to spoil one of my favourite series for those who've yet to read it, but it's still great. I'm two books from the end now (sobs) and epic things are still happening to all kinds of well known fairytale entities. I continue to love the way that the characters are reinvented and the stories twisted and the artwork continues to be beautiful.
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan is absolutely bloody fantastic and everyone should read it. Set in a fantasy world that's more water than land it focuses on Callanish and North; one a 'landlocker' with a mysterious past and the other a circus girl who dances and lives with a bear. It's beautifully written and I loved the characters. I did want to know more about the world it was set in, and there was one thing that I felt was a little underdeveloped but overall the suspense and intrigue of the story was really gripping. I've already added her other books to my wishlist!
Ms Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson. I don't think I need to say much about this because everybody else in the whole world has already talked about it and loved it and it absolutely lives up to all of the hype. I'm ridiculously excited to read the next volume.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. Everybody in the world has read this except me, but Brittany is hosting a readalong of the Lunar Chronicles series ending up with Winter, the latest book which is published in Autumn so I thought I'd take the opportunity to finally read the series and so far it's not disappointed! I'm absolutely racing through Cinder and will be on to the next book waaaay ahead of schedule!
Playful Learning: Develop Your Child's Sense of Joy and Wonder by Mariah Bruehl. I'm not very far through this yet but I'm hoping it will inspire me to carry on with the educating through play and kind of by accident way I've been doing it so far. Anything that provides inspiration for how to add more creativity and less technology to the day to day lives of my children is a great thing!
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. I literally picked this up today but I love Ishiguro, he's one of my favourite authors, and so far this has ogres and Romans and seems great. I'm excited.
The Bookshop that Floated Away by Sarah Henshaw. I haven't actually started yet but I'm imminently going to pick it up. It's kind of a bit research for the potential bookshop we may open sometime in the future and a bit been wanting to read it since I read about it in The Bookshop Book, but it's about a bookshop on a boat and I'm just really intrigued.
Have you read any of these? What did you think? And what are you reading at the moment?
I'll be curious to hear what you think of The Buried Giant! I love his books but this seems so different from the others.
ReplyDeleteI NEED to read Zadie Smith. I have one or two of her books on my shelf (sadly not this one, but it sounds good).
Oh you should read Zadie Smith. I mean, her books might make you a little reluctant to visit certain areas of London but they are so beautifully full of a sense of the place! White Teeth is great, if you have that. I also have On Beauty to read and want to read The Autograph Man as well.
DeleteThe Buried Giant is different so far. Honestly I've not got much further than when I wrote this post but just because I'm reading so much else. I do plan to finish it because he is one of my favourite authors and the story seems intriguing... Watch this space!
I literally stumbled on Cinder and it's sequels. They are marvelous
ReplyDeleteI finished it really quickly and Scarlet is sitting on my shelf at home just waiting for me to finish my current book. I loved Cinder and am so excited to continue the series!
DeleteI've had a copy of TBTFA since it was released because 1) Jen Campbell recommended it to me and 2) it combines two of my favourite things, narrowboats and books - but I still haven't read it! I've just found it again during my library sort-out though, so it's back on the radar. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah you should read it, it's good. There are many pigeon near death experiences and not as much books as I'd hoped but it's still really interesting
DeleteI read The Buried Giant and it seemed like a mess and when I finished it I was too tired to look deeper for a clearer interpretation. His writing was as foggy as the British countryside that Axl and Beatrice had to roam.
ReplyDelete... but I hope you like it better than I did!~
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