If you’re looking for a bit of comedic YA non-fiction, we recommend Strangers Assume My Girlfriend is My Nurse by Shane Burcaw. And if you’re in the mood for moving and meaningful YA contemporary, hurry and get your hands on How to Be Luminous by Harriet Reuter Hapgood!⁣

If you like:
• space, found family, and slow burn romance, you should DEFINITELY pick up a copy of THE WEIGHT OF THE STARS by K. Ancrum
• contemporary books packed with FEELS, try FEAR OF MISSING OUT by Kate McGovern
• swoony romcoms set in coffee shops, SMALL TOWN HEARTS by Lillie Vale is the perfect fit

Pride and Prejudice Audiobook Narrated by Kate Kellgren

I love audiobooks!

I never was really interested in audiobooks until I downloaded overdrive (now MeetLibby) to become better familiar with it, in order to assist library patrons. However, I started listening to them when getting ready in the morning, traveling, cleaning, etc.; and was hooked.

My book club met last month and my pick was Pride and Prejudice. I lent out my copies to the book club…

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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Rating: 6/10

I’m surprised it took me so long to read this book, I’ve had it on my bookshelf for a couple of years now but never had a moment to sit down and really get into it. I had zero expectations of this book and had heard very little in relation to what it was about or what people thought of it - so it was so nice to read a book and just let it take me on its narrative journey without any initial idea what it was about!

The way Plath describes New York in the 50’s just makes me wish I could have seen it for myself! There is a sense in the book that you are really living through the main character and it’s very easy to feel quickly engrossed and connected to the character and story line. The way she described the city, the fashion, the dinners and the architecture genuinely make me feel like I was born in the wrong era!

Without revealing too much, this book is fantastic - the way the writer really toys with your emotions and expectations of the book too. Set in New York, the book follows Esther, a young woman trying to figure out her future and how to make her mark on the world. The book touches on themes of femininity, sexuality, women’s rights and most notably mental health. Before I read this book I already knew about Plath’s own mental health story and so when reading this book made very close links between her own story and Esther’s. Plath caught me completely off guard, and the end of the book was so moving and left me with so much to think about. Set a time when liberation for women was occurring, it really is heartbreaking to read this book as a modern woman and compare how different my life is compared to the characters within the novel.

A read that will definitely lure you into a false sense of comfort and completely break your heart! I gave it a 6/10 purely when comparing it to other books I’d read recently that were more fast paced - this book can feel like the storyline doesn’t really progress within a whole chapter, but that being said I still loved it! I definitely recommend it, an absolute classic!

almostreading:

Roman history is like a bottomless well, interesting but very exhausting

A few weeks back, I received a package from a lovely woman my sister knows. Little did I know, this woman would turn out to be one of the most unique voices in literature I’ve come across. I finished her book in no time and I’ve been tossing and turning ideas in my head, trying to find out how I’m going to give this book a review that does it justice and is honest at the same time.

Rosehead is story about a girl *ahem, anyone singing the Nirvana song?* who believes her grandfather’s rose garden eats people. The story presents an intriguing interplay between elements of fantasy and mystery. I spent a large portion of my time reading this book stopping to think about whether I believed what was going on or whether the protagonist was making it all up. To me, it’s always an interesting experience having a seemingly unreliable protagonist - and I say seemingly, because the story unfolds beautifully.

Speaking of the protagonist, Lilith is an intelligent 12 year old girl. She is quite snarky for her age; which might seem unrealistic but I didn’t mind it. I’d rather read about unusual characters anyways. Despite her wit, I was constantly reminded that she really is just a child - through her arguments with her mother, temper tantrums and sense of adventure. I was always looking forward to her next excursion with her pet, Panther because that’s when things got really exciting.

Now on to the hard part, which is the things I didn’t like about the book. It’s hard to fault a book you like so much. That being said, I really would have liked more background in this book. I wanted to know more about her past, her “diagnosis” and her parents specially. I didn’t like that when it came to discussing what was wrong with Lilith, a few diagnoses were just rattled off (but that’s just me, I’m a med student and get irked by these things).

The book ended with a cliffhanger - which I’m not sure if it means there will be a sequel or it’s just to keep you wondering. I quite liked that the whole book kept me wondering about what’s coming next, but I would have preferred for the ending to come full circle if this is a stand-alone.

I have to applaud the author’s beautiful descriptive writing. She painted a beautiful and gory garden that I couldn’t stop picturing and I think would make for one heck of a movie. Like I mentioned before, she has quite a unique voice. I wish I could say more about the way she writes but I’m at a loss for words *pun totally intended*.

I’d like to thank Ksenia for the wonderful experience she provides through this book and for graciously sending it to me. And I hope this book reaches more people as it is highly underrated. Find Rosehead on Amazon.

I just watched a TikTok where a woman demonstrated how there is a finite number of books a person would be able to read in their lifetime and that, if you have an ever increasing tbr list (who doesn’t?), you will always be in a deficit and never read all that you would want to read…

…and now I am broken. I didn’t need to know that. Genuinely shed a tear.

“Here it is, a book that represents the wholeness that I built after everything toppled.”

Little Weirds, Jenny Slate