Books I’ve Read Lately May 2018

May has been an unusually good reading month for me. Maybe it’s all the sunshine we’ve had meaning I can sit in the garden and read while the children play or maybe I’ve just hit upon some great books that have kept me reading. Either way I’ve enjoyed a fair few books this month, here’s what I thought of them.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson

This is one of those books that I always felt like I should have read already but for some reason kept putting it off. It can go either way with classics; either you fall in love with them or you wonder what everyone sees in them. This one definitely fell into the first category for me, it’s so dark and intriguing and keeps you guessing right until the end. It’s only short but it’s such a brilliant piece of Gothic literature. 

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear – Elizabeth Gilbert

This has been on my to read list for so long and I’m glad I finally picked it up. I love Elizabeth’s Gilbert no nonsense way of approaching this, her writing is so appealing and her ideas about creativity have stuck with me. I have a tendency to psyche myself out before even trying anything new and I’ve found a lot of things in this book made sense to me – I just need to remember to take her advice! 

Bookworm – A Memoir Of Childhood Reading – Lucy Mangan

As a booklover this book is such a joy to read, I’ve been recommending it to all my bookish friends as it made me so happy. It is basically an ode to all of Lucy’s favourite, and sometimes not so favourite, childhood books. I was constantly reading parts out to my husband and asking him if he remembered certain books. My own book wishlist has grown dramatically since reading it; I have a sudden urge to buy The Phantom Tollbooth and The Family From The One End Of The Street, both of which passed me by as a child but sound wonderful. 

A Court Of Frost & Starlight – Sarah J Maas

I was so happy when this little book arrived through my letterbox. If you’re a Sarah J Maas fan then you’ve probably already read this by now and you’ll know that this is a novella bridging the gap between the first three books and the her next big novels in the series. After reading this I feel like this was her chance to have a bit of fun with the characters and I loved that. Having said that the best bit is the extract from the next book setting up for Nesta and Cassian. She definitely knows how to keep her readers hooked and I can’t wait to read more. 

The Wild Other – Clover Stroud

A friend lent this to me and I could not be more grateful that she did. It is one of the best books I have read this year; it’s so heart-wrenchingly honest that I still cannot stop thinking about it. This memoir isn’t always an easy read and I found it brought a lot of my own emotions to the surface, sometimes I needed a minute after reading it but it’s well worth sticking with it. Overall it’s a beautiful, beautiful book. 

Tom’s Midnight Garden – Phillipa Pearce

I only bought this after reading Bookworm and realising that I desperately wanted to delve into some of my childhood favourites again. It is a perfect, old-fashioned children’s story and I loved it just as much now as I did when I was younger. 

To Kill A Kingdom – Alexandra Christo

What a fun book! It’s a dark twist on The Little Mermaid so think more siren’s and pirates than shell bikinis and flounder fish. I massively enjoyed it; it is a modern fairy tale adventure, lots of fun characters, different settings, a gripping plot and I love that the story wraps up in one book rather than being a series. 

Finnikin Of The Rock – Melina Marchetta

I spotted this on Jess’s Instagram and instantly went and bought it on my Kindle. I know if she likes a fantasy book it is generally a good one and this didn’t disappoint. It begins quite slowly but when it all started to come together I couldn’t stop reading, again, this one had a definite fairy tale vibe and a good old fashioned romance – you can’t go wrong. 

King’s Cage – Victoria Aveyard

This was a re-read as the latest book in the series, War Storm, is out now. I’m going to a talk with Victoria Aveyard this week in Liverpool so I wanted to read the series again. I enjoyed them even more second time round – it’s a bit of a mix between Hunger Games and The Black Magician Trilogy. They are one of my favourite series in the young adult fantasy genre. 

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