What have I been reading?

I am still reading.

At the end of July, I wrote about my Reading Slump and the fact that life was shifting to accommodate a new job. I’m now just over a month into that job and have finally come to a point where my mind is saying return to the blog, write about books.

So here I am. When I think about all the books I’ve been reading, my mind turns into a bookshelf that has had all the books knocked from its shelves. I used to write reviews after finishing one book and before starting a new one, but it’s been so long that I am going to have to ‘bulk review session’.

Anyone who reads my reviews will know that I’m not so much doing it to let people know the fundamentals of character, plot, themes etc., but to explore myself through my reading experience, and let readers of the review absorb that and then experience the book for themselves. So this ‘bulk reviewing’ thing is for me to re-visit what I’ve been reading and actually get my thoughts about them down. I’ve had a lot of different thoughts, and I can’t wait to express them!

So, what have I been reading?

The majority of my reading has been for pleasure. When I started my new job I could read on the way to work, and this was great! It got me out of the reading slump, and I felt the way I used to when I was doing English Literature at uni. But my schedule has changed again, and I’m now working later which means I’m just too tired to read on the way there or on the way home. My reading slot is now in the morning when I’m having breakfast.

Mornings are my evenings, in that it’s the time when I don’t usually have to be anywhere, and I can just settle in to the day with a book and relax. This is extra amazing if I manage to get up earlier!

In my last update, I had just started reading Jamaica Inn, and this is what re-ignited my love of reading and saved me from the slump. After reading that (and the new Jasper Fforde) I moved onto reading a couple of books recommended by a friend, and then I went on holiday for a week and immersed myself in a murder mystery. When I put it like that, it doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s been good to focus on reading a book them moving straight onto the next one.

The last review I wrote was actually for Nottingham City of Literature. I was challenged to do The Accidental Memoir in two weeks, and write about the experience. You can read my thoughts and how I got on with the book here – The Accidental Memoir: Human Writes. I’ll be delving further into this book once I’ve completed it!

There are lots and lots of books I want to read between now and the end of 2018, including Frankenstein and The Book Thief. There are some anticipated new releases (Someday by David Levithan, The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz), and quite a few borrowed books that I should return before 2019!

Currently reading*: The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett

If you fancy it, share what book(s) you’re currently reading, and what you’re looking forward to reading next.

And prepare yourself for all the reviews to come…

Bookish love,

Jade.

*When I say ‘currently reading’ what I mean is, this is the current pleasure read. Technically I’m CR A Child Called Happiness by Stephan Collishaw because I’ve been asked to review it…and I’ve missed the deadline. I don’t have much control over my reading at the moment, and I can’t wait until it gets to the holiday period because that’s when I’ll get back into the full swing of things, reading-wise.