THE READING LIST: JANUARY/FEBRUARY
- Sophie
- Jan 12, 2017
- 3 min read
Following on from my recent post about the POPSUGAR reading challenge 2017, I wanted to share the books that are on my TBR for the next couple of months. I'm hoping that sharing them on here will encourage me to a. stick to this list (although if I feel like reading something that's not on this list I'm not going to stop myself) and b. give me somewhere to report back to with my successful and not-quite-so-successful reads. Book reviews are going to be an important part of this blog so if you're able to see what it is I plan to read you can keep me on track by asking how they're going, especially if there's one you're particularly interested in reading!
On the TBR for January and February then...
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (published 27th February 2017)
This one's not actually out yet, but because I work in a bookshop we get proof copies and have recently become part of a scheme to give short reviews on a handful of books in the few months before they're published, so this is also another reason why I'm determined to keep my reading stats up this year. I've almost finished this relatively short book (about 170 pages) about love, war, migrants and finding your place in the world. I'm really enjoying it, it's a pretty easy read but there have been a few parts that I've post-it-noted that have particularly accurate or resonant descriptions of human nature that I enjoyed.
It's a bit of a travesty that I've never read this in my mind! In fact it's a travesty that I've not read much Atwood at all, but this is something I hope to change this year. I'm about a quarter of the way through this at the moment and definitely hope to finish it by the end of the month. I'll give my full thoughts once I'm done but it's safe to say I'm very much enjoying it so far.
I read one of Han Kang's other books, The Vegetarian, winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize in October last year and found it very interesting. The story was pretty bizarre focusing on a woman who has an all-consuming desire to become a tree after having a violent and disturbing dream, putting herself through incredible self-torment and causing pain to those around her. It certainly kept my interest and so this led me to picking up another of the author's works. I'm keen to read this soon and will keep you updated with what I think.
Romaphobia: The Last Acceptable Form of Racism by Aidan McGarry (published 15th February 2017)
This is another one that's not out yet, and I don't have a copy yet, so as soon as it's released I'll be picking up a copy. I heard about this from Mercy over at MercysBookishMusings and desperately want to read it. This is a non-fiction book addressing issues such as marginalisation of Roma communities across Europe, the racism and discrimination that still inflicts Roma communities and notions of place and belonging that sound fascinating.
This has been on my TBR since July and I am actually about 140 or so pages through, but it is an absolute tome. I started it and was really enjoying it, but then went through one of my reading slumps and, truth be told, haven't picked it up since September (there was a lot going on in life then!). I'm not sure I'll get it finished by the end of February but I am going to make sure to dedicate a substantial amount of reading time to this one.
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