April was definitely my slowest reading month. I was in a bit of a slump trying to read the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and honestly I’m happy that I just stopped and focused on stand-alone books instead. I read 6 books in total in april- let’s talk about my highlights!
This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
★★★★★
I loved this book! I was hesitant to read it because I knew that if it had anything to do with c****r in there that I would be really upset. I knew I’d end up crying and it happened but I really wanted this insight into hospitals, what goes on and what the doctors and nurses and all the staff think and feel. I’ve always had the upmost respect for people who work in roles caring for others and this insight was very valuable to me. It reaffirmed how much respect doctors deserve and I think it’s brilliant that it also took a political stance against how the government berate and underpay doctors and anyone in this profession.
The Familiars by Stacey Hall
★★★★★
I read this for a group read-along and it made the reading experience so much better being able to chat in a group about it. I wanted to read ahead so many times! The chapters ended on cliffhangers and the book was everything gothic, female lead, fiesty and action-packed. I surprise myself every time I read out of my ‘comfort zone’ and wish I would venture out of it more often because whenever I read anything like a thriller, historical or fantasy book I have the best time.
I managed to read a lot in March, these are the highlights! There was some godly stories, and some horrors (and I’m not talking about the genre).
I saw so many lovely posts for World Book Day at the beginning of the month, it’s so lovely to see sucha lovely event celebrated and to remember all the dress-ups and book fairs at school and the true beauty of reading.
I did do a celebratory TBR for March and in this post, I said I wanted to read Gods of Jade and Shadow to celebrate my younger love for gods, mythology and the magic in reading.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno- Garcia ★★★☆☆
I loved the chance to read Mayan mythology for this book. I loved the god of death and the romance element to this book but I thought that it would be so much more of a wild ride than it was and fell short in a lot of places for me. I wanted this book to be dripped in magic and I beleive there was a lot of lost opportunity for more magic in this book. Overall it wasn’t the best in my opinion but I don’t regret reading it at the same time.
In celebration for World Poetry Day, I read Selected Poems.
Selected Poems by Sylvia Plath ★★★★★
I haven’t read poetry since university where I really didnt enjoy it because I felt like I didn’t understand it at all. I have previously read The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath (which I loved) so thought her poetry would be a comfortable place to start. I loved these poems! My favourite was Mirror and Resolve. I definitely want to read more poetry from now on.
For Mother’s Day, I chose a strange one. This book was about a toxic mother-daughter relationship. The main character has to care for a mother who never cared for her after an Alzeimer’s diagnosis.
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi ★★☆☆☆
I really struggled no to hate this. The female characters were awful to each other, I couldn’t ignore the misogyny in the book and really struggled with the concept. I feel bad that I didn’t like this and really want to re-read it and not get so hung up on the ‘bad mother’ concept. This title was later released for the International Women’s Prize Award 2020 and after these I felt even more like I had missed the main object of this book. I am aware that I’ve missed the underlying theme to this book but I really didn’t enjoy it.
Ok, a five star read to change the pace!
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts ★★★★★
This book was a masterpiece! It’s a journal to the other lover in a triangle. Set in 1950s Brighton, Tom settles for Marion in an intolerant society where he cannot show his love for Patrick. It is a story of how everyone gets hurt when you can’t just be with the person you love. There was commentary on fascism, women’s rights and homophobia. This is my type of book, it was littered with greek mythological metaphor, literary references to Anna Karenina and said something about society. It was perfection.
Then I ended March on a high…
In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan ★★★★★
Reading this was a Watermelon Sugar high! It was such a trippy book and was so so unique and interesting. Harry Styles was definitely inspired by reading this (he has actually read it) and I’d definitely recommend this read it was fantastic! It was set in a town called iDeath where everything is made of watermelon sugar, the sun shines a different colour every day and they live in an alternative version to society.
Charlon's Book Corner 