Every year I do my literary round up and every year it sparks off lovely conversations - whether that be with fellow fans of similar books or those that use this list as a jumping off point for their next read. If you’re in the latter camp I’ve included some categorisation/genre information for each book which might make finding what you’re looking for a bit easier.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post I’ve found the last couple of months challenging. Oddly enough it’s this period in the pandemic when I should be imbued with optimism that I feel most helpless and overwhelmed. I mention this only to explain why I’m doing a May/June culture wrap up rather than a monthly one which is that I’ve really just not been reading much.

This month was a delightful one for reading. I found myself constantly engrossed in a one book or another and ended the month with my nose still in about three different novels!

As soon as I read the blurb for My Dark Vanessa I knew it was my kind of book and I was 100% correct. Slipping between present day (well 2017) and various points in the past, the novel explores the relationship between Vanessa and English teacher Jacob Strane which begins when she's his 15-year-old student.

If I were writing in the before times the blog would be chock a block with theatre trips or stand-up comedy nights.

Right. It may have felt like it lasted forever but January is finally over! It has been…okay!

Ooooh this book! I’m going to be so careful how I review this because I really loved launching into this novel with a fairly limited idea of what to expect within the pages.

It wasn’t until Stephen King published his non-fiction work On Writing that it occurred to me to read some of his fiction.

Everything I read in 2020!

I do not know how to feel about this book. There I said it. Even while I was reading it I didn’t know how I felt.

Maus is one of those classic ‘one day I’ll read that’ books. Or two books, depending on which version you have. The downside to having a well-stocked bookshelf and a prolific book buying habit is that I’m constantly reminded of how much I haven’t read.

OK, first up, I have to admit that I’m probably the ideal reader for this novel.

Ever since reading Araminta Hall’s previous novel Our Kind of Cruelty, which I thought was a perfect psychological thriller, I’ve been eagerly awaiting her next offering. Here it is, Imperfect Women, a novel told from the viewpoints of its three protaganists: Eleanor, Mary and Nancy, our imperfect women.

I put off reading any Donna Tartt books for years. Not in a boycotting kind of way but they were extremely hyped among friends, hefty and I wasn’t even sure if they were going to be my kind of thing.

After a couple of hefty reads that explored worlds quite different to mine, I was excited for Emma Gannon’s novel, following the story of Olive, a magazine writer and editor who is grappling with the decision of whether or not to have a baby.

Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favourite 'smart thinkers'. I love the way that he takes a seemingly insurmountably complicated issue and breaks it down into digestible facts and figures without oversimplifying.

I haven’t written here for a few days while I try to keep up to speed with this whole new way of living. In the meantime I was craving a bit of escapism through reading and when this one popped up on Netgalley I was immediately keen.