I have decided to not begin this post exclaiming about how I don’t understand where my month has gone, I don’t know where it went, but why repeat myself from every other month, I obviously have no grasp of how time works, this is no longer new. Instead I will say July has felt like a very successful month reading and blog wise, not for any particular reason, that is just how it has felt. I have felt a lot happier writing my reviews, and I may be about 100 posts behind on my blog feed and not commenting as much as I might like, but I’m happy and that is good, right?
July has been a month of horribly warm weather, and some pretty epic storms (as one woman I work with put it ‘there was so much lightning it was like the paparazzi were outside my window’) and it’s been a month of me feeling incredibly lazy. I don’t know what it is about the summer months that makes me feel lazy, but they do, thankfully my laziness hasn’t really affected my reading or blogging, but it threatened to.
July Reads
July Posts
Review: A Million Miles Away- Lara Avery
Review: A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness
Author Addiction: Tessa Dare
Bite Sized Books: The Movie Edition
Discussion: What Makes You Buy The Books You Do?
Discussion: I Fall Behind In My Blog Reading and That’s Okay
Review: Clariel – Garth Nix
A Reading Challenge Update
Fantasy Challenge: Complete 21/12 Read
Fairytale Retelling: 50% 6/12 Read
Dusting off my Shelves: 53% 8/15 Read
And there you go, that is the month of July all wrapped up for you. I am going to go take a nice long nap now, I’m exhausted just seeing all these posts and books read.
***
Do you find yourself becoming lazy in summer, I know there are the winter blues, but is there summer laziness because I have it.
Release Date: 30th July 2015
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit
My Rating:
Fans of Jill Mansell, Debbie Macomber, Nora Roberts and Marie Force will fall head over heels for the new Cedar Ridge series from New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis, featuring her trademark gift for humour, warmth and romance.
What do you do when you run into the man who broke your heart? Lily's been back in Cedar Ridge for less than ten minutes when she bumps into Aidan, the former love of her life. So much for sneaking back into town unnoticed. And thanks to frizzy hair and armfuls of junk food, she's turning his head for all the wrong reasons.
No one knows why Lily is home after ten years, and she's determined to stay no longer than the summer. But Cedar Ridge and Aidan have other ideas.
As they set about persuading Lily to give them a second chance, she finds herself falling under the spell of the Colorado mountains ... and the one man she could never forget.
Want more warm, funny romance? Visit spellbinding Lucky Harbor or experience some Animal Magnetism in Sunshine, Idaho in Jill's other unforgettable series
The entire reason I keep going back to Jill Shalvis books is because Kaja keeps saying such good things about her and boy am I glad I listen! I requested a copy of Second Chance Summer from Headline Eternal and was thrilled to have a copy arrive in the post. It was a lovely surprise parcel after I got back from shopping on Saturday. I had fully intended to wait to read but that idea was swiftly thrown out the window Saturday night. This is a copy I received free and in no way influences my opinions, I am just a sucker for romance.
I spent an enjoyable Saturday night and Sunday morning devouring this book, I couldn’t read the words fast enough I just needed more of the story and wonderful romance. This is a perfect summer romance read, if you’re on the look out for one. Shalvis is one of those romance authors that has her art form down to a tee and Second Chance Summer is a perfect example of this. If you’re too daunted to dive into her Lucky Harbour series (understandable, there are twelve novels as well as a bunch of novellas) then her new Cedar Ridge book series is a perfect introductory series to you, and you’re lucky because it is just being released so you can get in there at the beginning.
Shalvis is the queen of small-town romance, seriously, I need her to be crowned for it because she writes perfect romances set in small towns which I then instantly want to move to. I cannot wait for more of her Cedar Ridge series to be released because I am fully hooked and can’t wait to experience more of the Kincaid family drama. Shalvis has me fully wrapped up in these characters and she skilled in introducing the characters you know will play significant roles in future novels. I want to know what’s going on with Hudson, one of the Kincaid brothers, and whether or not he is successful in tracking down his twin. I want to know what is happening with Kenna, the only female Kincaid sibling, and why on earth she has become such a recluse. I know I will slowly discover more as the series continues, but enough about future books, let me move on to my review for the opening novel to this fantastic new series.
Lily, our main character, has just returned to her hometown after things went south for her in her last job. She returned to the place where her life took a wrong turn and she had to runaway to try and move past her grief. She also happened to leave behind guy who she may or may not have loved and she is most certainly not looking forward to bumping into him again. The object of both her lust and the man she is hoping to avoid is Aidan Kincaid. He spent his youth being a bit wild and crazy with his siblings and has grown into a man who spends his days saving people, be it as a fireman or as a member of the Search and Rescue team so he is shocked to have Lily stumble back into his life so suddenly after she ran ten years ago. He is angry and intrigued and cannot resist wanting to save her, although the only thing it appears she needs rescuing from is herself. Lily is carrying a lot of guilt with her, even after ten years, and she appears to be the only person holding herself back from being happy.
I don’t want to reveal too much about the story itself, because that will spoil the fun, but I will say this, Lily is headstrong and independent and Aidan may have a thing for rescuing folk and sorting out their problems, but Lily is no damsel. She just needs someone to talk to and help guide her into sorting things out herself, she needs someone to lean on, not someone to rescue her and Shalvis writes that perfectly. Romance is no more about a damsel in need of saving by a handsome fellow with rock-hard abs. It is now far more about an opinionated woman trying to work her way through life and having a romantic interest thrown in to complicate matters. And the alpha male stereotype? Yeah, that still exists, but now the alpha males have feelings they need to address, they may not be the most eloquent but they utterly charming in their adorable emotionally stunted ways. Aidan knows how he feels, he took a bit of time getting to that point, but he knows how he feels and what he wants, he also knows he needs to take things slow because Lily is like a deer ready to bolt at any sudden movements.
I loved the romance in this book, the chemistry between Lily and Aidan was obvious from the start. Shalvis prevents her romances from feel awkward armed with the power to write humour well. You have first meetings including enough junk food to feed a small army, a dress covered in Cheetos stains, a knocked over postcard display in an attempted stealth retreat and threats of bodily harm in a car. Then there mothers who reveal their wicked side, siblings who don’t know when to butt out, but that’s probably more because they care so damn much, and best friends who both is a help and a hindrance. And all this happens in a town so small that everyone is up in each other’s business so knows what’s happening before Lily and Aidan do.
So, to summarise this review, Second Chance Summer is an hilarious read which features alpha males having a facial, mothers attempting to get back on the dating scene whilst also scarring her sons, a woman whose grief is overwhelming and needs to be faced head on in her hometown and a man who has spend his entire adult life saving people and needs to face the fact that the women in his life do no need saving, they just need him there to support them occasionally when they take a fall… a fall which is occasionally cause by a rabbit spider… or just a plain old rabbit, but that doesn’t sound so terrifying. This his a wonderful read filled with highs and lows and some steamy romance which is always enjoyable. Our introduction to Cedar Ridge is perfect and cannot wait to return in My Kind of Wonderful, now if only that book could be released sooner!
Are you a fan of smalltown romances, if so recommend some to me below, you can never have too much romance in your life. Have you read any of Shalvis’s novels before, which are your favourites because I am obviously seriously behind in reading her books.
Release Date: 2nd October 2014
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure
My Rating:
Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped within the stone city walls. And in Belisaere she is forced to follow the plans, plots and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilp. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away. It seems too that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr appear to be disintegrating.
With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever, until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her - and it is herself she must question most of all.
Clariel is a book which I have been waiting so long to read. I have waited for it’s release, then I had to wait for it to come out in paperback to enable me to add it to my shelves. It was long wait for this book, but I am so glad I did wait because it looks lovely on my shelf with the other books in the series. I do love when a series matches, I was worried after such a long gap between the books that they might redesign the covers and ruin my life, thankfully the covers still work and the publishers stuck with it.
The story itself begins slowly. I kept waiting for some action. Waiting… and waiting……and waiting. Once it finally did begin it was interesting, but goodness I found it a bit dull and I was a bit apprehensive that this would not get better. This is one of my absolute favourite fantasy series ever since I was about 15 and discovered the books, so to be disappointed by this book would have been heart-breaking. Thankfully, once the action begins and you get into the real meat of the story it gets better.
I think my problem was I could not agree with Clariel’s thinking, she was too focused on wanting one thing and refused to listen to anyone else. Don’t get me wrong, her parents were also unfair, I get that, but Clariel wanted one thing and refused to listen to any reason on the matter. It was so frustrating at times, you just wanted to shake the girl, it was that kind of feeling which it invoked. It didn’t help she was always so closed off and reserved, refusing to make a true human connection throughout the book. It spoke volumes for the character, she is reserved and settled on a solitary life, but I do kind of wish things had developed differently for her.
I am kind of glad it’s been a year or so since my last reread of the series because this is a prequel novel set a few hundred years before the events of Sabriel. I think, if I had reread the series more recently I would have picked up on more of the hints about why this novel is a significant prequel. I only got inklings of half remembered things, and I think I preferred that. It meant I truly did enjoy the big reveal, I had that ‘I thought so’ moment but was still pleasantly surprised.
As a whole, this was an enjoyable book, but I can’t compare it to the rest of The Old Kingdom series otherwise it would not match up to the other books. It frustrated me and I despaired at times, but that’s why I enjoyed it. I complain about how frustrating I find books sometimes, and sometimes I’ll cringe at embarrassing moments, but I view that as a good thing because any book that can invoke that kind of emotion is doing something right in terms of the writing. This is one of those books. Nix knows how to write an interesting story, sure the pace began too slow for my liking, but once it got going that book did not leave my hands.
Do you ever read a book which you love by itself, but as soon as you compare it to the rest of the series it pales in comparison? Is that a negative thing about the book, or an endorsement for the greatness of the series? Either way I did enjoy this book, I initially wanted to give it 5 stars but had to down grade it to 4 after some consideration, I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
This weeks theme from The Broke and the Bookish is characters who are fellow book nerds. Let me tell you, it took me a while to be able to list ten characters. It’s not so much I couldn’t think of characters, it was more I didn’t want to choose the obvious ones. I mean, I still have obvious choices, but also a few different ones. I don’t know if they can all be classed as ‘book nerds’ but they certainly all enjoy reading.
The Girl at Midnight / Fangirl / Throne of Glass / A Wicked Thing / An Ember in the Ashes / Matilda /
Not all of these are characters who necessarily spring to mind when it comes to ‘book nerds’ but from looking at the books I have to hand these are the characters I came up with. I almost included Hermione as well, but I figure she is more of a general geek on all things, not just books.
Some characters were obvious to choose, like Cath, Matilda, and Charlie but then characters like Jax and Josh aren’t, Josh can’t really be classified as a book nerd, but he is doing some serious reading in I’ll Meet You There, and it’s basically an excise to include that book on my list. As for Jax, he reads and gets compared to as a unicorn for that fact, that alone is enough to include him. I’m not completely certain Echo can be classed as a book nerd, but she collects words and lives in a library so I guess she is.
I won’t give my reasons for all but if you’re wondering you can ask me in my comments and, as always, link me to your posts I’m curious to see what others have come up with.
It’s almost the end of July, what is this? I spend half my time wishing the week would go quicker (that’s normally during the hours at work after I’ve come back from lunch and just want five o’clock to hit) and the other half thinking where the hell is the time going, why doesn’t my week slow down? I don’t know if this time thing is something that happens as you get older, time suddenly begins moving far faster than you’re comfortable with or what.
Last week there was an offer on Marvel Unlimited, I think it was linked with the release of Antman at the cinema, and the offer was you got one month of Marvel Unlimited for a penny, and an American penny at that! That does mean I ended up paying a British, penny, but whatever. I then proceeded to spend a couple of days obsessively reading up on Marvel Civil War because I am so excited for the Captain America film next year. I read all the series linked with the saga, or most of them, and I forgot how amazing the entire saga was. I plan on reading up on some other stories on there over the next month before i have to cancel my subscription. I am feeding my inner geek with all this comic book reading, as shown below. It’s awesome!
I also gave in to the adult colouring book craze this past weekend. About a month, my mom came home from work with a cat colouring book and some pencil crayons. Her excise for buying them was ‘how could I not?’ and at the time it did seem pretty reasonable. All I can say is my mother is a genius with her impulse buys, colouring is so much fun! I bought the Animal Kingdom colouring book on Saturday from Tesco because it looked cool and I am having so much fun colouring in. It’s supposed to be a stress relieving thing, or something like that, but I don’t know about it relieving stress but it is pretty damn fun. I may show you a few pictures once I’ve completed some decent ones.
What I’ve Been Reading
New To Me
I know, I need to slow with my buying, but I bought Such a Rush and Cinder last week and it’s just they arrived in the post this week, so I’m not counting that as spending money. I know I should stop buying physical copies of books I’ve already read, but I like to have physical copies of some of my favourite books. I’m going to slowly get all The Lunar Chronicles series as physical copies in time for Winter to be released. I also decided to by Steelheart after reading this post by Brittany at The Book Addict’s Guide on books to read if you liked Harry Potter. It was in the kindle summer sale, so that is also an acceptable purchase.
The rest of my new books came to me free, so I feel I’ve been quite successful in curbing my spending. Bound by Duty is currently free for Kindle so I decided to give it a read. I requested Second Chance Summer a couple of weeks back to get a review copy from Headline Eternal so you can imagine my surprise when I actually received that in the post yesterday. And Followed by Frost is a Netgalley request I am thrilled to receive. I’ve got the third book in The Paper Magician series to read by Charlie N Holmberg and I’ve been loving her books so far so I’m optimistic for this one.
I’d love to hear about your weeks in the comments. Does anyone else attempt to curb their book spending and still find themselves surrounded by new books to read? And has anyone else tried these adult colouring books? am properly obsessed with mine, I forgot how much fun it is to colour in!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve found myself lamenting my inability to stay on top of all the various blogs I follow. My blog feed constantly hovers at around 50 posts to read each day and I simply do not have the time to read all of those blog posts! I don’t know a single person who does. It would take me an entire morning to read all of those posts, and rather surprisingly I don’t have time to do that each day. It is only in the past week that I’ve decided to take a breath and stop being ridiculous.
I know, it isn’t any great issue not being caught up on blog reading. Really, it’s a non-issue when I think about it, but it bothers me. I follow plenty of blogs I love and I enjoy reading them, so when I begin falling behind I get put off from catching up simply by the fact there are so many posts to read that I feel daunted by the task in front of me. I know it’s another case of my putting pressure on myself to do something, but this is something that I like to do. I enjoy reading others thoughts and their reviews, and it inspires me. When I fall behind that sense of guilt begins to creep in, like I’m not putting enough effort into those I follow. I fully realise how ridiculous it sounds, but that is how my mind works.
Anyway, the past few weeks I’ve been pressuring myself to sit and work solid through reading various posts and it began to feel like a chore and I found myself dreading the times I was reading blog post,s which is stupid. I came to the decision that I would stop being ridiculous and just accept I have very little free time. I will read blog posts when I can and comment when I feel inspired. Enough with the feeling bad I’m not commenting back on the blogs of those who comment on mine. Enough with feeling bad that I take a few days, sometimes over a week, to comment on posts that interest me.
I’ve been following this mind-set for the past week and you know what, it works! The world hasn’t ended because I’m not on time of my blog feed. There have no people questioning what’s going on, and it’s been nice. I feel a lot happier about my blog reading and have found myself enjoying reading the posts on my feed once more. I think sometimes I need to give myself a good shake, take a stop back, and remember that it’s okay that you don’t do everything.
Do you ever find yourself needing to take a step back to breathe so you can realise how ridiculous you’re being about something? Do you ever find yourself up in arms about the sheer number of blog posts you have to read and despairing you simply don’t have the time to read them all?
An Ember in the Ashes – Sabaa Tahir
Release Date: 4th June 2015
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopia, Young Adult
My Rating:
Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.
What if you were the spark that could ignite a revolution?
For years Laia has lived in fear. Fear of the Empire, fear of the Martials, fear of truly living at all. Born as a Scholar, she’s never had much of a choice.
For Elias it’s the opposite. He has seen too much on his path to becoming a Mask, one of the Empire’s elite soldiers. With the Masks’ help the Empire has conquered a continent and enslaved thousands, all in the name of power.
When Laia’s brother is taken she must force herself to help the Resistance, the only people who have a chance of saving him. She must spy on the Commandant, ruthless overseer of Blackcliff Academy. Blackcliff is the training ground for Masks and the very place that Elias is planning to escape. If he succeeds, he will be named deserter. If found, the punishment will be death.
But once Laia and Elias meet, they will find that their destinies are intertwined and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
In the ashes of a broken world one person can make a difference. One voice in the dark can be heard. The price of freedom is always high and this time that price might demand everything, even life itself.
I’ve just finished this book and I need to talk about it. You know those books that everyone raves about but then fail to meet up to the hype surrounding them? Yeah, that isn’t this book. Tahir’s first novel is well deserving of all the praise. It is fantastic! The world she creates is astounding, her characters are amazing and you really connect with them, and the action within, well, I won’t spoil it for you, but this story hooks you in and doesn’t let go.
I was wary going into this book, as I am with all books that receive a lot of praise and attention on the blogosphere, simply because hype does terrible things for books. This book, thankfully, lives up to the hype and exceeds it and for that I am so grateful. I bought this book on some stupid impulse whilst in Waterstones, I did a quick goodreads check and saw the average rating was high and a couple of my friends on goodreads rated it well, so I was walking to the till to buy it. Even the good reviews weren’t enough to convince me initially, though. I was still worried. I went to pick this book up a couple of times and couldn’t fully convince myself that the doubt I felt wasn’t there for a reason.
I had my doubts going in, but Tahir’s writing and the story itself swiftly crushed any doubts I may have had. She writes so well that I can hardly believe this is the first book she has written, she is certainly an author to watch after this book.
I didn’t think a book which is so heavily influenced by the Roman Empire and that period would be a book to interest me. I love a good fantasy novel as much as the next person, but the Roman Empire was known for it’s violence and for the sheer size of the empire itself, I didn’t think I would really connect with the characters of this world. I was so pleased to be proven wrong so completely. The characters are so easy to connect to because they question, they observe their world and their situations and question things looking for a way out. I loved that because I hate when characters accept their lot in life and don’t strive for more.
I was a bit wary of the dual POV because too often I get attached to the one character more than the other, and this did happen, I found it far easier to get behind Elias because he was strong and continually thinking about how to get out of whatever situation he was in, even though he was such a dumb male when it came to Helene. Laia was a lot whinier and a lot weaker than him, but she grew on me because she learnt and became stronger as the story progressed and I like nothing more than good character growth. Be the end I was cheering the pair of them on equally, the dual POV worked as the book progressed as I became attached to both characters to the switching in the stories meant I was continually motivated to keep reading as I wanted to know what was happening to both of them.
This is one of those books I am going to struggle to review because I just can’t find fault with it. I suppose I wish we saw more of the world which Laia and Elias inhabited, we were introduced to Scholar and Martial culture, but we did not fully explore it, this book is very much about the character but I do wish we got to learn more about their cultures, but I always think that with fantasy novels. I like to be fully immersed in a world, and I was immersed, but I did wish for more. Things were hinted at with tales told and the different people inhabiting this world, the Tribesman were explained but I know there were more groups and people under the Empires rule, I wish we’d gotten to see more of that, but there is a second book to be published.
My only other minor complaint is that I can tell there is a larger storyline going on which explains the actions of others but we don’t get any information about it! It’s hinted at and you see other characters are aware of things but you don;t get more and that was frustrating to say the least. Even that is only a minor complaint because I get you never want to give too much away too soon otherwise what keeps people reading? Basically I’m frustrated I’ve been so completely drawn in by this book and am stick waiting for more info.
As you can tell from my review, this book does not disappoint. The only disappointment I had was that I didn’t get more, and that’s not really a complaint at all, just impatience. It was a book in which I expected good things and was given great things which exceeded my expectations, always a pleasure to experience. This is a complex world, but you only get the barest hint of it in this first book, I cannot wait to experience more. It is quite light on the fantasy, leaning much more into the dystopian genre of books, and I think that’s why I enjoyed it. It’s a bit different but still very accessible to anyone. I would definitely recommend this to others, it’s a gripping and enjoyable story and I can’t wait until the next one is released.
And there you have it, do you ever find yourself intimidated books before reading? Do you ever go into a book expecting good things and then discovering something even better, but nothing like what you were expecting?
This is a difficult theme for me from The Broke and the Bookish because I am embarrassed to say I’ve never truly considered the issue of diversity in books.
I recognise and support there is always a need for diversity in books, but it is simply a case of never really acknowledging it. As such, I was determined to find as many diverse books as I could, not racially diverse ones, but also those for LGBTQ and any others that recognise diversity. I learnt a lot with my googling and read up on We Need Diverse Books and what they do and I am now absolutely fascinated with the work been done so far. Whilst I initially considered diversity to be simply about race and better representation for LBGTQ characters, it is more than that. It’s basically about books being written about real people, be they of different races, gay, lesbian, disabled, whatever, just more books about real people, and that I can totally get behind happening.
Those I’ve Read:
The Wrath & The Dawn is great because rather than whitewashing the story (always a risk with any retelling) the book is set in the middle east, or a world very similar to how the middle east was historically. Which makes sense since it’s a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights so you would expect it to be set in the Middle East and be influenced by Arabian culture. It was such a fantastic book and one of my favourites of the year so far, I would strongly recommend to anyone looking for a different read.
I Was Here is a book which looks at suicide and depression and how it is not spoken of and what can happen when that is the case. Foreman is a fantastic author, that is known and acknowledged, so it was obvious she was going to write well about a topic that has previously been pushed aside and ignored. It was fantastic for such a well known author to write about a topic that needs more recognition. Although now I feel we risk an oversaturation of such books being published as like all things, the YA genre oversaturates the market when one book finds popularity, I hate those stupid trends that happen, but I understand why. I want these things to be written about, but they need to be written about well otherwise it risks becoming some marketing gimmick, but that is a discussion for another day.
The Book of Broken Hearts is a book which features Hispanic characters you say! This was a fantastic book, I remember adoring the fact that it did separate out the different hispanic cultures and the differences between them, especially as it showed the diversity within Hispanic culture. It was a fantastic read and I would strongly recommend it, it is beautiful and emotional.
American Gods is a book which was going to be diverse as it is a book that features gods of all different religions, if there wasn’t diversity Gaiman would have been doing something wrong. It was such a good read, it made me want to research different Gods from different cultures because I didn’t realise how many different ones there were!
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is a book I had not even really considered as being diverse until writing this pose, that is probably stupid of me. The thing with me is, I've never really thought about the race of characters beyond it being a description for different characters. I knew Lara Jean was a Korean American with a white father struggling to keep Korean culture in her life following the death of her mother, but it didn’t click in my mind how this is significant. Han successfully incorporates various aspects of Korean culture within the book but does not make it exotic and play up to, it is more a statement of fact that Korean culture is included. It is a fantastic read I would recommend to any fan of contemporary.
And those on my TBR list:
Written in the Stars is a book which features an arranged marriage, I mean arranged marriages are still a thing and this entire book sounds absolutely fascinating. Angsty it probably is, but that cover and the entire premise has fully enticed me. Arrange marriages are not exclusive to one race or culture, it is still prevalent in various countries so a book about a Pakistani American girl who is resigned to being able to live a life in America and has the freedom to choose everything but the man who she will marry is certainly an interesting concept, especially when she visits Pakistan and finds there her future husband has been chosen for her and she is trapped in a country she herself does not fully understand. I want to read this, the more I write about it the more I want to read.
Everything Leads to You is a book I’ve not read and I am seriously dying to pick it up, but this one is a lesbian love story and you just don’t get enough LBGTQ representation in the bookish world, at least not what in I’ve been reading anyway. I recognise that empty space in my reading shelf and plan to remedy it soon. This book is not about the struggle of coming out, or about someone just discovering their sexual preference,s this instead about a woman who knows herself and embraces her sexuality and that is so interesting to read about because it’s a side that I do not see enough of, so this is continuing to wait to be read in my TBR pile.
None of the Above, I’m going to be honest and say this is not one of the books on my TBR list, or it wasn’t until I started writing this post and actually read what this book was about properly! It is one book that springs to mind when it comes to bookish diversity because it broaches a topic I would never fully considered – the story of an intersex girl Kristin and her journey in accepting this fact and how it affects her identity. After reading more about the book I can’t help but want to read it for it’s utterly unique story.
Gabi, A Girl In Pieces is a book where I can’t remember where I first heard about it, I think someone posted a photo of the first page and the writing in that first paragraph clicked with me. I haven’t bought yet but I definitely will be and now I’ve read further into this book and discovered not only is it about Gabi, an Hispanic girl who is a ‘fat girl’ who enjoys eating, you also get the story of her pregnant friend Cindy and her gay friend Sebastian. It is just all round a fantastically diverse sounding book I will definitely be reading sometime soon.
The Curvy Girls Club is not a book I would categorise as being diverse, not until I read more into diversity. Now, looking at it with fresh eyes it is a book that looks at those many would classify as fat and obese and representing them in books. This is a book about women that are fed of being told they don’t fit the stereotype, their weight is not seen as healthy and most look down upon them as needing to eat better. But that is boring and it isn’t fun, why spend so much time trying to fit into a certain category when they can just be themselves? This one is on my Kindle waiting to be read.
What do you reckon, do books appear diverse enough? I would love to hear some recommendations to expand my reading collection, who knew there were so many different types of diversity to consider when it comes to reading?
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