i love the way you read
I very rarely buy new books. I will normally either borrow from the library, or buy second hand from the charity shops.
Read More...Tag: book lover
oh how i love a retelling
I have a bit of a thing for retellings when it comes to my books and movies. Whether it is a modern take on a classic fairytale,
Read More...writing is just as entertaining as reading
A question for those who write: do you find that writing is just as much fun as reading? Is it as entertaining? Can you get just as lost
Read More...it’s rachel’s round up time!
It’s that time of the year again, when everyone is writing about their favourites of the year. As part time book blogger, I only feel it’s right that I round up my favourite books of the year.
I have chosen five of my favourite books that I have read this year (not all of them were published this year). There have been numerous amazing books that I have read since January, so I could go on and on for ages. But we don’t have all day so, here goes…
5. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
This is such a sad story and it shows just how traumatic it can be to be a child star. We watch these kids on Disney and Nickelodeon and I always think that they must have fantastic lives. They get out of school, and get to mess about on TV sets instead. But this book tells us there is a darker side and it’s well worth a read…. and that title!
4. The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
A proper family drama that has the seal of approval from the queen that is Reese Witherspoon. This one touched all sorts of nerves as it dealt with infidelity and I always get super angry over those story lines. Brilliantly written and so real that it feels you a part of that family. I would recommend for people who love Celeste Ng.
3. How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
I loved this because I can’t get enough of the psychopaths. I’m an INFP so I feel everything, and I think this means that I’m always really intrigued by people who don’t seem to have that empathy. This main character is on a mission to kill everyone and I thought she was brilliant.
2. Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb
I got this one in the £1 sale on audible and I am so glad I spotted it. This book is from the point of view of a therapist and I found that really interesting. When I was having therapy, I always wondered what mine was thinking and this answered some of those questions. It was very funny and helpful too.
1. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
And numero uno had to be the Goddess herself – TJR. She can do no wrong in my humble opinion and this book was another shining example of her genius. I do love a book about an athlete because I have always been crazy about sport. This one is about a tennis star who is staging a comeback, and OMG, it made me want to dig out my tennis rackets and get out on the court – and no, I can’t play tennis, but I feel like I’m Serena Williams when I’m out there.
I had a goal of 52 books this year, and I comfortably hit that. There were so many highlights along the way and I can’t wait to see what great stories are coming out next year. I’d love to hear what other people have read and if you are aware of anything good coming out in the early part of next year.
Much Love
Rachel xx
a marked lack of books under my tree
Piles of presents draped in sparkles
Bows and ribbons wrapped around
Those lovely soaps and bubble baths.
But then there’s nothing underneath that tree
That slightly looks like hardback books
Filled with stories for this week of boredom
Where I dream of other worlds
With beaches, holidays and handsome men…
I don’t know if there are any other bookish people out there who have the same problem as me – because it is a big problem. I never get any books for Christmas from any of my loved ones.
I think that my family are worried they will buy something that I have either read, or feel very strongly against. But I know other readers suffer this terrible issue because their families think they already have enough books!
I mean, can you imagine?
Anyway, I do believe that Waterstones have a massive sale on at the moment so I can rectify this problem within the next 24 hours.
Merry Christmas everyone, and hope that you got everything you wanted underneath your tree yesterday. And if you didn’t, I hope that you got to spend the day with everyone you loved.
Much Love
Rachel xx
If it makes you angry…
If it makes you angy
Then why the hell are you so sad?
If it makes you angry
Then surely you should be happy
That it makes you feel anything at all?
Is it better to just enjoy something that’s meh, or to feel something bad? Life is full of horrible moments and so surely the entertainment we consume should mirror that and make us feel all those uncomfortable emotions?
I only ask, because I’m reading a book that is making me feel extremely angry. And while I’m reading things, I automatically find myself thinking about what star rating I’m going to give it on Goodreads. And because this is making me feel angry, I wanted to rate it quite low.
However, it may be wrong to criticise an artist or writer for making you feel uncomfortable. Surely that is the point of art? Perhaps this book is a five star after all…
Much Love
Rachel xx
the bookbinder
She tears and glues and cuts
Through cardboard covers
And the silky fabric sleeves,
Waiting for the press the set
The pages into perfect books
To sit on shelves in libraries for
The people of the bookish world.
I love watching videos of people rebinding books. And because I love beautiful books I like to see what they cover their creations with; the finished products are always stunning and they make me want to have a go myself.
There is something quite magical about a book that has been bound in a beautiful fabric and I would die to have a collection of notebooks all bound by myself in the prettiest designs.
Bookbinders fall into the same category as hatmakers for me. They seem a little bit mystical and a little bit mad – but totally genius. It’s an artform that seems to be dying and I can’t understand why. There are so many people that adore stationery, so why aren’t their more bookbinders?
Much Love
Rachel xx
The ghouls
what are you reading right now?
A little bit of book reviewing this evening. I’ve been lucky enough to read some cracking books of late so I thought it was time to share a few.
My first was Jeanette McCurdey’s memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. This was such a sad and shocking read. I’m always super interested in the lives of child stars, and I feel really sad for the ones that go off the rails. I even find the psychology behind child stardom fascinating. And so this was a real eye opener as we saw what can really happen when children are pushed into the spotlight.
Keeping with the memoir, I then read Richard E Grant’s book A Pocketful of Happiness, all about the grief he has experienced since the death of his wife last year. He doesn’t hold back in this book and because it is narrated by him, you can actually hear his voice cracking as he talks about the moment he lost the love of his life.
Next up was Carrie Soto is Back which I devoured. I have a real love of stories about athletes and this one about a tennis star didn’t fail to impress.
I’m now on to a book called The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict. It is about an actress who somehow becomes tangled up with the Nazis before fleeing and then becoming a Hollywood star – and it’s a true story.
I’d love to hear if anyone is reading anything good that I should give a try. Have a fabulous weekend.
Much Love
Rachel xx
writing a truly unusual book
I was having a discussion with a colleague today and we got onto the topic of truly unusual books. Rather than books that just have a really different and original premise, we were talking about books that take on a whole new format that has never been done before.
My colleague is much younger than I am and she has only just finished her masters degree, so she has actually been studying this and has loads of interesting ideas that she has researched. I can barely get on board with a Kindle so some of these wacky ideas are a bit much for me, but some were really interesting.
We began by talking about The Appeal by Janice Hallett which I am actually really keen to read. This is a mystery novel that is made up entirely of emails, articles, reports and evidence and the reader pieces together the events to solve the mystery.
Then we really broke out the crazy and she told me about thise woman who wrote a whole book in the snow and took photos and posted them on Instagram. Obviously, once the snow melted, the only record of the story is the photographs.
My colleague then told me about the story she created for her final project at university and I have asked her to bring it in so I can read it because it sounds so cool.
Basically, she created a box full of random items that were actually all connected by her story. To access the story you had to scan the QR code on each of the items and then you could read the individual parts of the story online.
She’s lost the box but she still has the QR codes so she is going to let me have them and then I can read the mystery. And she’s kind of inspired me to have a go at writing something that is not traditional too.
Much Love
Rachel xx
there’s no difference between life and death
The rattle of the final gasp
Mirrors screams from baby’s lungs,
From birth to death we cry
And love and sleep
But when the deathbed calls
And ghostly shrouds of hospital gowns
Cloak our bodies like the blankets
Wrapped around us on our birthday.
Tears are spilled on both days,
The day we come and then
The day we drift back into nothingness.
I have just finished listening to the audiobook by Richard E Grant. He has written it about the death of his wife and it has really touched me in so many ways. I think that I have been affected by it so much because I have not experienced the death of a close family member, so it all feels so scary- and possible.
Richard and his wife were about the same age as my parents, and I’m a similar age to their daughter, so that also made it hit home just a little more. I haven’t spoken to my mu in several years, and yet I haven’t really thought about how I would feel if the worst should happen to her. Reading this book has given me a bit of perspective in that respect.
The book is so touching because you can hear how much Richard adored his wife, and it’s heartbreaking to listen to that pain. And yet, the end feels so much like birth. There are all the practical things to deal with, like paperwork, there are deep emotions and there is pain.
And I like to think that we go back to the same place we came from before birth.
A bit of a ramble, I know, but hearing someone talk about death always sparks so many thoughts and questions in my own mind. It becomes like a little conversation with myself, babbling on about things that nobody else would understand.
Much Love
Rachel xx