2016/07/28

BOOK HAUL:
JULY

July is (almost) at an end, and we are moving into the last summer month of the year, which is perhaps a bit sad for most people, but I always look forward to autumn, so I can't help but be okay with it.

I am currently on vacation, enjoying having some time off work and being somewhere else. I love traveling and having the wanderlust sated is lovely - I'm very lucky to be able to do that, to get away. Also, wherever one travels, there are bookshops to be explored...

Anyways, these are the books I got in the month of July! I was going to say I had restrained myself this month, but let's be honest, it doesn't look like I did. I got a great variety though, which I'm super excited about!


















I hope you're enjoying summer so far! Let me know if you've gotten any books this month you're excited about!
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2016/07/26

TOP 5: COVER BUYS II

You all probably know by now that I am thoroughly weak when it comes to a beautiful cover, and therefore I often buy books because of them... so I thought I would share some with you (again)!

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff


Even though it was everywhere when I bought it, I got this without knowing what it was about, because this is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.

Crow Country by Mark Cocker


You may have seen these in a haul, in which I got all of the Birds and Bees collection, but this one, this is my favorite cover of the bunch. 

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi


This is way more striking in real life, as the gold is shiny and lovely. It seems like all the different covers for this particular book are gorgeous.

Murder Underground by Mavis Doriel Hay


I love the art on this, and like most of the British Library Crime Classics, this just appeals to my senses.

South Riding by Winifred Holtby


Little appeals to me more than a great illustration of the English countryside, so this one went right into my basket the minute I saw it.

What about you? Have you bought any books because of the cover recently?

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2016/07/25

BOOK REVIEW:
QUIET BY SUSAN CAIN

Title: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Author: Susan Cain
Published: 2013
Language: English
Pages: 333
Rating: 4/5


Summary:
A book exploring our highly extroverted culture and the nature and unharnessed power of introverts.


Review:
This book has long been on my shelf, and I'm really happy that I finally got around to reading it.

Introversion and extroversion has been something I have been fascinated with my entire adult life. When I was a child, I was, as I am now, quite introverted, and I, like many others like me, have been made to feel like there's something wrong with you. I have been taught to aspire to the extrovert ideal and this book explores this.

I think this is well written and a rather important book. When I was reading it I was overwhelmed with a feeling of wanting everyone to read it - both introverts and extroverts. It gives insight into different types of people and I think it would be good for everyone to understand a lot of things when it comes to both introverts and extroverts.

And this book really is written for everyone. Cain doesn't idealise either introverts or extroverts, she simply recognises strengths and weaknesses of them, and how to best use them in our society.

I think this would be quite reassuring for introverts to read, and enlightening for extroverts. I also find myself a bit annoyed after reading this - not at the book in the slightest - but at all the people who has ever told me I'm anti-social and need to make more of an effort, and who has ever told an introvert the same thing. If you're one of those people, you need to read this.

You can get this book at The Book Depository*
You can read more about it on Goodreads
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2016/07/24

2016/07/23

BOOK REVIEW:
TREATS BY LARA WILLIAMS

Title: Treats
Author: Lara Williams
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 129
Rating: 3/5


Summary:
A contemporary short story collection covering break-ups, relationships and womanhood.


Review:
This was quite a good collection, though not amazing.

This does what it promises: it contains stories of modern women (and a few men), in different shapes and forms. Some, I found easier to connect to than others, so there were very few of the stories that truly struck a chord with me.

The writing is lovely and I thought the use of second person narrative to be quite interesting. There are several moments in this where I felt like I could really connect to the characters, and there are several excellent moments in this. I think this speaks to a very certain age group and I think most of us who have grown up in the modern age can find something in this to relate to. I also thought it was quite interesting to read about the different kinds of relationships that are in this.

I do think this collection is quite repetitive, grinding on the same themes and similar characters, which makes some of the stories blend a bit into each other, which is unfortunate.

This is definitely an interesting collection though, and I would recommend it if you enjoy contemporary literary fiction.

You can get this book at The Book Depository*
You can read more about it on Goodreads
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2016/07/22

2016/07/21

2016/07/20

BOOK REVIEW:
CATALOG OF UNABASHED GRATITUDE BY ROSS GAY

Title: Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude
Author: Ross Gay
Published: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 112
Rating: 2/5


Summary:
This is a collection of poetry meditating on loved ones, the seasons, the earth - all which is passing.


Review:
I bought this book because of it's absolutely beautiful cover and the fact that it won the National Book Award, which made me have rather high expectations. I was so sure I was going to love this, but I'm afraid I didn't.

I really enjoyed the themes of nature, which I found the author captured beautifully. I found the entire collection to be hopeful and loving and well-written. There are lots of sentences in this, parts of poems that really capture something special.

That being said, I did not myself find a connection in any of the poetry. I didn't feel pulled in or captured. It might have something to do with the style, I'm not quite sure. Sometimes when I started a poem I was quite interested but then my interest tapered off as the poem dragged on for pages.

I was initially going to give this three stars, but having mulled it over for a couple of days, none of the poems in this has stuck with me, which is rather sad. I can see the talent, but I can't feel the connection.

You can get this book at The Book Depository*
You can read more about it on Goodreads
*AFFILIATE LINK
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2016/07/18

BOOK REVIEW:
THE RIGHTEOUS MIND BY JONATHAN HAIDT

Title: The Righteous Mind, Why Good People Are Divided By Politics and Religion
Author: Jonathan Haidt
Published: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 500
Rating: 3/5


Summary:
A social psychologist explains morality and why it is the defining characteristics of humans.


Review:
I've always found religion, politics and how it both brings people together and divide them fascinating, so when I found this book I thought it would be perfect for me.

And it was pretty good. I thought this was quite well constructed, starting with explanations on his philosophies and studies on morality, and then moving on to his theory on why humans act the way they do. I'm not a expert, but to me his theory seems viable and definitely interesting.

I especially enjoyed the part about Democrats and Republicans, their similarities and differences, as well as the parts about religion, as that was the part of the book I was most excited about. I do wish there was a bit more about religion in it, though. I also think it took a long while to get there and even though I understand why the author spent so much time explaining different subjects before, that part got a bit boring, to be quite frank.

There are definitely parts of this that are a bit dry and on occasion, things feel a bit repetitive. I can't help but wonder if this could've been a bit shorter and a bit more to the point. I do also wish this was geared a bit more towards an international audience and wasn't so focused solely on America, as I think it wouldn't be a stretch to make it a bit more global (but of course I feel that way, since I'm not American).

Overall though, it was a very interesting book and I definitely learned some new things. If you want a good introduction to morality that's not too difficult to read, this is a good book to read.

You can get this book at The Book Depository*
You can read more about it on Goodreads
*AFFILIATE LINK
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2016/07/17

A POCKET PENGUIN HAUL

Surprise, surprise, it's time for another haul! Woops.

I just couldn't resist when Penguin published some new Pocket Penguins, so I got some! You all know I love classics and collecting beautiful books, so... here we are!

If you don't know, they've made the books different colors and the colors corresponds to what language they were originally written in, which I think is really cool. Orange is English, Red is Russian, Green is German, Yellow is Spanish, Light Blue is Italian, Blue is Czech and Dark Blue is French. They've published twenty of these, but as far as I know, more are coming this fall/winter.













I just love the design of these. What do you think?
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