In March, I read two books by Jeffrey Eugenides, which now means that I've read all three of his novels. This is kind of weird in itself, as I wouldn't consider him one of my favourite authors, but he's one of the only people who I've read all of their books. I also unintentionally read them in publication order.
Books Read:
1. 'Anna Karenina'- Leo Tolstoy
This book had been on my radar for a while, but I was a little apprehensive as it's so huge and old and I don't think I've ever read a translated book before. I know this might be due to the translation, but I was surprised by how straight forward the language was, I rarely found myself confused (except with the complicated Russian names) and the writing wasn't as old as I expected it to be. This book also surprised me in other ways, namely the story lines and the fact that it was so slow and long and took me a good four weeks to read, but that didn't put me off at all, like it usually does. What surprised me about the story lines was that Anna Karenina wasn't actually the sole focus of the novel, she doesn't appear it in all that much compared to the other characters, and that I actually preferred Levin's storyline to hers. (If you've seen the film first, like I had, the film is all about Anna and not really about Levin, whereas he is actually the other main character. Great film, by the way, highly recommend). I expected to like the book, but I actually really loved it, it may be one of my all-time favourite books. It was absolutely fantastic and I'm hoping to read Tolstoy's War and Peace very soon. I love Anna Karenina.
2. 'Salt to the Sea'- Ruta Sepetys
Damn this book was sad. I'd been excited to read it since I first heard it was coming out and I got Titanic-like vibes from the premise, and it did not disappoint. This book was very quick and easy to read, none of the chapters were longer than 3 pages each (which I like), but in those short chapters you still got a proper feel for the characters. I love historical fiction and I like when you can tell that an author has really researched their work, which you definitely could with this book. I also liked the mystery aspects to it. I'm not the first person to say this, and I'm not going to be the last, but I'm amazed at how this was the biggest maritime disaster in history, even bigger than Titanic, and no one has ever heard of it. My dad knew about it but my mum didn't and I didn't have a clue until I read this book. It was a really fantastic and heartbreaking and terrifying read, as all good books should be. (I also like how there's a link between Ruta Sepetys' two books and I'm planning on reading the first one, though they aren't actually linked properly like a series, 'Between Shades of Grey', next month).
3. 'Modern Romance'- Aziz Ansari
What I liked and appreciated about this book is that it wasn't your typical, same-old celebrity autobiography book that everyones written. This was an actual, proper research book and I found it really, really interesting. I've never read a book that was like a proper research paper before and it was a really good way for me to get into more non-fiction writing. This book was non-fiction done properly and seriously, and it was a really interesting deviation from normal celebrity books.
4. 'Middlesex'- Jeffrey Eugenides
This book is nothing like I thought it was going to be, but it was interesting to read a book on hermaphrodites, as that's not a commonly found topic in books. I can't tell whether I liked this book or not, at the time I enjoyed it, but looking back on it I'm not sure if I did. It was a good story and a well written book, my dad's now reading it and he's really impressed with the writing, I'm just confused about my feelings on it.
5. 'The Marriage Plot'- Jeffrey Eugenides
I thought I'd enjoy this book, and then I found out what the story was actually about (the blurb gives no spoilers away), and then I wasn't sure if I would like it. I surprised myself by enjoying it literally straight away. The first half of this book was much stronger than the second half, but overall I really enjoyed it.
6. 'A Darker Shade of Magic'- V.E. Schwab
I didn't think I was going to get to finish this one by the end of this month, so that was a nice surprise. I marked this book as a 'did not finish' around April last year, as I was finding it quite slow to read and I wasn't really into the story, but I decided to give it another go after all the hype surrounding the second book (which has just come out) and because it was only 99p on Kindle. What the hell was wrong with me? I flew through this book in two days, I enjoyed every second and, frankly, I'm embarrassed about not finishing it before. I loved it. I'm now so excited to read the second book, which sounds incredible, and I'm glad it's out already so I don't have to wait ages for it. The only thing that pains me with these books are that the American covers are so stunning and the UK ones are only okay. What the hell was I thinking giving up on this last year?
Rosie
(The ADSOM obsessive and humble-pie eater)
(The ADSOM obsessive and humble-pie eater)
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