January: What Did I Read?

 2021: the year of the new beginnings. One of my goals was to complete a goodreads reading challenge. Now I won't jinx things by telling you what that goal number was, but I'm more than on track, if I do say so myself. I read 8 books this month! Let me give you a rundown.

I kicked things off with Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting. It's one of those books that's been sitting in my parent's cupboard for years and I've finally worked up the courage to get around to it. And I'm so glad I did. Certainly one of my favourite books ever- I gave it 5/5 on goodreads. It's technically a novel, but it reads more like a bunch of short stories, meaning that it was quite a quick and easy read. Even if I had to read it out loud half the time; sounding out the words so that I understood what was going on. It chronicles the life of a group of heroin addicts living in Edinburgh. Not the easiest subject matter- and some scenes were absolutely vile to read so I can't imagine how it's gonna be like watching it- but the realism, the frankness of it all made it an incredible read. Even though some of the characters were absolutely detestable in their actions (even Mark Renton, who is sort of the protagonist), I couldn't help rooting for them, and hoping for the best. Although all of the nicknames did make it quite hard to keep up with who I was rooting for at times! But I absolutely loved it. Not for the faint of heart- it's beautiful and filthy at the same time- but it's definitely one of my new favourites.

Then I read Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang. Not as good as Trainspotting, but still a solid read- 4/5 stars. It's a non-linear narrative, telling the story of the main character's suicide attempt- what lead up to it and what came after. Parts of it read like Tumblr prose in a way, but it was still a lovely read. In terms of language. The subject matter is a different case- if suicide isn't a subject you can cope with, I would not suggest this book at all. From what I remember there's nothing too graphic, but it certainly brings you down. Leaves quite a heavy feeling behind. But I think some of that sadness comes from how well the book creates sympathy for it's characters- it was very sweet and very emotive. A solid read and enjoyable in a kind of miserable way- I definitely cried but I liked it. Would recommend if you feel it's a topic you can cope with.

Ranking in third place out of the first three reads of the year, is Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway. As an English Literature student this might be blasphemous to say, but I didn't really enjoy this. I gave it 3 stars out of 5, so I didn't dislike it, but it's made no impact. None whatsoever, really. Unfortunately, this lack of intensity means I found it incredibly easy to just read over and miss bits. This kind of made my head swim. But I think it has a cool concept; what with it all taking place in one night and in a kind of non-linear way. And Virginia Woolf does have a lovely writing style. Probably not the book for me- I'm sorry but the elderly are just not particularly my number one choice as protagonists, but I think that for those who want to get into Virginia Woolf it's probably a good place to start. I always see it on Pinterest lists of classics to read, anyhow. So if that's a good measure of what to read (which is debatable) then by all means go ahead. But not my cup of tea.

The next book I read certainly was. Another five stars went to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I loved this book. It's a classic gothic novel (if you've read all of my reading posts, and are sensing a theme, yes I did read this for school), that details the life of the eponymous Jane Eyre. It starts off a little slow (I detest the Victorian concept of following the protagonist from birth to the point that the action begins, however I suppose it provided some important background context) but it soon gets much more interesting. Nothing huge ever truly occurs, but it's very suspenseful. And the language is beautiful. I liked the characters (although Mr Rochester was very peculiar at times), especially Jane, and some of the drama was just very fun to read about. I think I would've fared well in upper class Victorian society. There were some infuriating parts but I just absolutely adored the ending. This is most definitely a must read.

Another five out of five next- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. I loved this. A lot. Such a good book. It started a bit slow just like Jane Eyre, but it quickly picked up. And this was action-packed. Mostly domestic drama (I mean no murders, or anything) but incredibly entertaining. The non-linear structure of the narrative builds the suspense incredibly well and I was genuinely hooked. I liked many of the characters (although Mia was a bit of a Mary Sue despite doing some questionable things, and Mrs Richardson was detestable) although the teen drama was mostly what kept me hooked, not the endless ridiculous sleuthing Mrs Richardson was up to, nor Mia's backstory. There were some infuriating moments in this but I almost didn't want to put it down. There was a bit of almost everything in this book- romance, social commentary, drama, mystery- and I would absolutely recommend this to everyone. Just really good.

I must not have been thinking too critically during January, as this next book is yet another 5 star in my eyes. I finally got around to reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. And it was just gorgeous. One of my favourite lines ever was this: "The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain", although I must admit it's a bit of a weird thing to say about your cousin. But that wasn't even the weirdest part. No, the settings of West and East Egg certainly take the cake on that one. I couldn't take it seriously. But that comedy offset some of the slightly irritating romance, as it was much easier to take it all more light-heartedly. But nobody reads Great Gatsby for the romance. At least, I didn't. It was very entertaining besides the point- lots of drama. Although the ending was not satisfying in anyway whatsoever. I'm aware I've been a bit negative there; I promise I did enjoy it. And you will too- because I think if you haven't read it, you definitely should.

Now for the last fiction book I read in January. The House by the Sea, by Louise Douglas. This one got slightly less- 4 stars- but it was still incredibly good. I ran through this one incredibly quickly- it was such an easy read. Although there were points when it left me kind of on edge to get out of bed. And I definitely cried at least once. This was set in Italy so obviously I spent most of the time daydreaming about what I'd do if I suddenly inherited a villa there. Not sell it like Edie and Joe wanted to, that's for sure. There were other points when I found Edie's stream of consciousness vaguely irritating, but other than that I liked the majority of the characters. And it was very atmospheric- as I said, couldn't always get out of bed. Lots of suspense. And I think the mystery was paced well; not too slow that I got bored, but not so fast that it was absurd. I really loved this book. Beautiful.

And finally: Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall. Another 4/5. This has got to be the slowest book I've ever read. It took me about a year to get through this. Like treacle. But it was very informative and quite interesting, even if it didn't entirely go in. It made my brain spin so badly that I'm not sure I could repeat much of the information that I learnt. Probably not the best book for beginners in geopolitics. And I'm not much more than a beginner myself. Not sure if I would recommend this one, but I'm glad that I read it.

So that's my January wrap-up! God, this was a long one. I hope everyone's proud of me for sticking with this for so long.