March was a slow reading month, sadly. Only three books, but three books that were well worth the time to read. I’ve always had a bit of a problem with people who feel they have to defend themselves and justify their slow progress with reading. Nobody ever said you should read X amount of books a week. Sure, a lot of booktubers read about ten books a month, but that’s them. That’s great, but it doesn’t really make a difference. You’re reading, isn’t that important enough? So, I read three books. Yes, not amazing progress, but its progress. And guess what? Those three books were bloody great. One in fact was one of the best I’ve ever read. And I’m going to explain why.
The Wrap Up
I started reading The Night Circus in February and I finished it in early March. It’s not a big book, but it’s packed with myth, magic and wonder that makes it feel bigger than it is. I won’t lie, it’s beautiful, but at least on my first reading I found it tricky to follow, and motivations were hard to understand I thought. The whole battle between Celia and Marco was a little shaky here and there, and if there was a deeper understanding to it, (which there probably was) I didn’t get it. It reminded me of American Gods, an equally beautiful book that’s hard to follow. If I read them both again, I’m sure I’ll like them more. But, The Night Circus stayed with me. It’s a one-of-a-kind book that I loved reading. Would recommend. Secondly I read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, one of Stephen King’s simpler tales, but still scary, creepy and engrossing. The ending was a little off, and despite its short length it did drag from time to time, but King is King. He makes it worthwhile with ace writing and imagination. Trisha McFarland has the worst journey in the woods in the world, and it heads for some dark places. Not to mention its awesome opening line: ‘The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted.’
The third book I read was my most anticipated book since Tom Rob Smith’s, The Farm. Matt Haig wrote a book called Reasons to Stay Alive, and I’d put it on a reading bucket list for everyone. Not only is it somewhat autobiographical, but it’s an honest, no-holds-barred study of depression that the world so desperately needs, even more so with the Germanwings plane crash. It’s by no means going to lift stigma off mental health, but it’s a welcome start and what he’s doing most of all is getting people talking about mental health, and helping us to understand that it is a part of life. Mental health is as important as physical health, and should be treated the same. It’s hard to talk about, and I’m by no means ready to do so anytime soon, but this book is a miracle. I read it in two days and it’s something I’ll constantly come back to. Please read it. You’ll be glad you did, and it’ll teach you so many things.
The third book I read was my most anticipated book since Tom Rob Smith’s, The Farm. Matt Haig wrote a book called Reasons to Stay Alive, and I’d put it on a reading bucket list for everyone. Not only is it somewhat autobiographical, but it’s an honest, no-holds-barred study of depression that the world so desperately needs, even more so with the Germanwings plane crash. It’s by no means going to lift stigma off mental health, but it’s a welcome start and what he’s doing most of all is getting people talking about mental health, and helping us to understand that it is a part of life. Mental health is as important as physical health, and should be treated the same. It’s hard to talk about, and I’m by no means ready to do so anytime soon, but this book is a miracle. I read it in two days and it’s something I’ll constantly come back to. Please read it. You’ll be glad you did, and it’ll teach you so many things.
April TBR
So far I’m working through A Farewell to Arms, but once I’m done I honestly don’t know what’s next. I’ve got a huge backlog to work through, and it’s actually more fun to choose on the fly than make a plan like I’d normally do. I’ve got about ten King books to read and lots of others I’ve bought late last year that need seeing to, but I will. Many others have TBRs worse than mine, and they’ll crack on with those too. But, there are still books I’ve been meaning to purchase for a while and have been either too lazy or forgetful to get them. Books like I Am Legend, and Jay McInerney’s collection to get. I’m still hungover from Bright Lights, Big City and Reasons to Stay Alive and I just want to read them again. Blast. This hasn’t been the most exciting blog post, and I apologise, but next week I’m going to jabber on about the videogame, Dying Light and why it SHOULD have reignited the zombie genre. Hey, if I talk about videogames, I always mean to do so about storytelling. Videogames can be as powerful as books. I really believe that.
Songs of the Week:
Songs of the Week:
- 'Shyer' by London Grammar
- 'Maybe' by London Grammar
- 'Nightcall' by London Grammar
- 'Strong' by London Grammar
- 'Hey Now' by London Grammar
- 'The Good Left Undone' by Rise Against
- 'Hello Heartache' by Avril Lavigne
- 'Get Better' by Frank Turner
- 'Follow in Flight' by Halo 2 Anniversary Soundtrack
- 'Breaking the Covenant' by Halo 2 Anniversary Soundtrack