☀☀ Hey darlings x
It may be like a surprise (because obviously I do Literature at university) but the truth is I have never been someone who enjoys reading or actually reads for pleasure. However, this summer I really got into reading for a few reasons really.
I have never had like a happy association of the summer hols. When I was younger, I would just sit in front of the television or be on my phone for like most of the summer. I sort of realise now that it caused me to become really unhappy. So, this summer I really tried to cut down my screen time by reading books and yeah, I did manage to achieve that, it got reduced. But yeah, I definitely want to do a dedicated blogpost about screen time- I wasted too much of my life on my phone.
Another reason I tried to read more books this summer is because obviously I do study it at university and therefore it is probably in my best interest to cultivate an enjoyment of reading. So yeah, let's begin x
Useless Magic: Songs and Poetry by Florence Welch
My mum got this for me a quite few Christmas's ago and I never read it at the time. It is a book of lyrics and poems by the singer and songwriter of the band Florence and the Machine. I have never been a huge fan of her music because it is just sort of depressing to me but actually reading this gave me an appreciation of her work and defo made me want to re-listen to the albums. It is quite an aesthetic book; it has lots of lovely pages of illustration and image but it is not just a pretty coffee table book it has substance and I did enjoy reading it. The only thing I have at fault with it is that the poems are 1/5 of the book, soo it is mostly lyrics. But yeah this is so cute and yeah I really liked reading it.
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
The story is a mystery about a group of three girls and a teacher that go missing on a school trip on Valentine's Day 1900 and never return. I found it to be an enjoyable read. It had an open-ended mystery i.e. we do not find out what happened- the book offers a number of possibilities. It is short, so I would recommend it if maybe you are getting back into reading again.
I thought Lindsay successfully creates an ethereal and creepy ambience. After I finished reading this, I watched the 1975 film adaption which I actually quite enjoyed too.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
This was pretty fab actually. It is a longer book (about 550 pages) but it is quite a page turner. It is set in like a prestige American university in the 1980s. The story follows a group of classics students who murder their classmate. The narrator reflects on the acceptance into the group and then the events that led him to be complicit in his friend's murder. It is very effervescent. I would really recommend it. I sort of fancied reading The Goldfinch which is also by Tartt but actually I hear quite bad reviews of it, people seem split.
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
This was a pleasant read actually. It did not like blow me away but I enjoyed reading it. It follows a private investigator who attempts to solve three mysteries. They are like separate mysteries/ cold cases but there is also like overarching themes that connect them, e.g. childhood, parenthood, post-natal depression. It is quite gritty. Yeah would recommend.
It by Alexa Chung
This was awful. This was just such waffle. This book is by the model Alexa Chung and it is sort of just her thoughts about style and other things. It is about 200 pages with about 3/5 being photos and illustration. She also discusses like her fave things (like her fave book is lolita and she loves Brigette Bardot style) but even that is sort of all a bit cliche or obvious. Nice pictures but I finished this book within two hours of picking it up and felt empty. You are better off reading my blog.
One Good Turn By Kate Atkinson
This is like the second book to the Case Histories one I read. It was a good read actually. A bit darker and grittier than the first one. It was quite a bleak. It follows a mystery that takes place over the course of like a few days when people observe a man violently beat someone in a fit of road rage. I actually think it is quite a clever plot, like it follows several characters who view or have in some part in the road rage incident and then their plots all link together. I thought the characterisation was successful. I really enjoyed reading this book.
Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick
This was a really interested read actually and honestly has sort of helped me a little bit. It is actually weirdly quite hard to summarise this book because it actually covers a lot but yeah it mainly talk about the effects of chronic loneliness. It has some really interesting studies on the dire effects of loneliness on the body and also how being lonely alters your mind- why therefore you may feel trapped in a cycle of loneliness. To generalise there have been studies that show people who are lonely are more at risk of heart problems and early death. Yeah I really liked the way this book is written and they do have some pointers about how to begin minimising loneliness and building social connects. I would recommend this text if you never really bounced back socially after the lockdowns.
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
I am not going to lie but this was actually a bit of a painful read. I thought it was quite tricky if I am honest. Nonetheless I got through it. I was just very slow reading this. I thought the dialogue was really hard to follow. But actually, I did get into it on the last twenty pages, and it was actually funny.
I hope you enjoyed this blogpost. It is actually pretty tricky to summarise a book. Six books is actually not bad because last year I probably read zero. But yeah, I hope to be back soon with another blogpost.
Love Happy Hippo x
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