BOOK HAUL: JUNE

 S P O N S O R E D  :  O N E  B O O K  S E N T  B Y  P U B L I S H E R
I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S
_____

Summer is upon us all here in the northern hemisphere and June has been a pretty hot month here in Oslo (although luckily not too hot for the most part). It's nice that the days are long and bright, even if most of my time has been spent indoors or at work.

I've gotten loads of exciting books this month as well, and it's time to show you!

( a f f i l i a t e  l i n k s  +  b o o k  m a r k e d  *  s e n t  b y  p u b l i s h e r )
Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

The Garden In Every Sense and Season by Tovah Martin

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Every Last Secret by A. R. Torre

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart

The Eight by Katherine Neville

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Clare Lombardo

Hvordan Bli En Skandinavisk Feminist by Marta Breen

The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

The Mitford Trial by Jessica Fellowes

*Honeycomb by Joanne M. Harris

The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson

Hope you're all enjoying summer so far!

#FRIDAYREADS

BOOK PURGE TBR READING VLOG

BOOK REVIEW: THE DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER BY SHAUN BYTHELL

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

_____

Title: The Diary of a Bookseller
Author: Shaun Bythell
Published: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 320
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

Shaun Blythell is the owner of Scotland's largest second hand bookshop and this is his diary, spanning over about a year, giving us a look into the running of the shop, the book trade and dealing with eccentric customers and colleagues. 

Review:

I think a lot of book lovers appreciate a good book about books, and that's exactly what this is.

This is a charming and funny account of a booksellers life, and it was a very enjoyable read. I really loved getting to know the ins and outs of the shop, getting to know the owner and the people working there and seeing the streams of odd people coming into the shop. I also thought it was interesting how the book comments on how the book world has massively changed in the past twenty years and how tough it is to deal with those changes.

It did take me a bit of time to get into this book though, I'll admit, but when I was about fifty pages in, I was hooked. It does get a little repetitive after a while as well, but that's what life gets like sometimes so it makes sense.

Overall, very enjoyable and I loved the grumpy, slightly pessimistic tone it has throughout (some of which I think anyone working in retail can relate to, at least I did). 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

BOOK DESIGN TAG

BOOK REVIEW: SEVEN AND A HALF LESSONS ABOUT THE BRAIN BY LISA FELDMAN BARRETT

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

_____

Title: Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
Author: Lisa Feldman Barrett
Published: 180
Language: English
Pages: 180
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

This is a book about the brain, where they come from, how they've evolved, how they're structured and what we know about how they work.

Review:

This was fascinating. I always love a good, short science book that explains things in a way that's easy to understand.

The lessons in here were really interesting and I enjoyed slowly making my way through them all. Parts of this book corrected things I'd heard before and thought were right, which is great, and I also learned a lot of new things I'd never known before. 

The brain is complicated and complex, but the author manages to write in a way where everything is understandable. It doesn't go a lot into the deep, it stays very much on the most basic level, but for someone who is new to the topic, it's a great place to start.

What these kinds of books usually do for me is make me want to learn more about a subject, and that's exactly what this did. Really enjoyed it!

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

#FRIDAYREADS

BOOKS PERFECT FOR SUMMERTIME

BOOK REVIEW: THE GRACE YEAR BY KIM LIGGETT

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

_____

Title: The Grace Year
Author: Kim Liggett
Published: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 408
Rating: 2/5

Summary:

Set in an isolated village, a sixteen year old girl is about to be sent away for her grace year; a year spent out in the woods with other girls her age, so they can dispel their magic which makes them capable of making boys lose their minds and drive wives mad with jealousy. 

Review:

I'm always intrigued by books claiming to be feminist dystopias and I'm glad I read this one; it had a lot of things in it that I liked, but unfortunately a lot of things I didn't.

I think this book starts off very well. I really enjoyed getting to see this little village and try to figure out how everything works there. The society, religion and rules of the place was fascinating and set up the story really well. I think the characters started off pretty good, if a little stereotypical, and I liked seeing these girls set off into the woods and the dynamics that start growing between them. There are also several parts that were really atmospheric that I liked. 

About a third of the way through the book, it sort of went a little downhill for me though. Parts of this is personal preference, but I really disliked when a huge chunk of the middle of the book ended up being about a romantic storyline which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I also found the end quite disappointing. 

I do think this could be pretty great for a different kind of reader though; if you enjoy a lot of YA and you like romance, you might not mind the parts I disliked as much. The world really is pretty cool, so I feel like it might be worth reading for that. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

6 BOOKS ABOUT SISTERS

BOOK REVIEW: ROOM BY EMMA DONOGHUE

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

_____

Title: Room
Author: Emma Donoghue
Published: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 352
Rating: 3/5

Summary:

A five year old boy and his mother lives in a small room, the only world the little boy has ever known, but as he's growing older and more curious, his mother starts looking for a way out.

Review:

I remember this book was everywhere a few years ago and I've had it on my shelves for quite some time. I'm glad I finally got to it, although I suspect I would've liked it more had I read it earlier, as I'd heard quite a lot of things about this book and kind of knew what was going to happen.

I think the strongest part of this book is the choice of perspective; we see the whole story through the eyes of the son, and the author is really good at capturing his voice, inner thoughts and his view of the world and the people around him. 

The book is split into two parts; the first is about life inside the room and the second is about it outside. I think both were good, but I thought the first part was the most intriguing. I did find that the book struggled to keep my attention though, and I think it's just because I found it a little predictable and somewhat repetitive after a while. 

I'm glad I finally got around to this though, it was worth the read even if it didn't blow me away. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

#FRIDAYREADS

RANKING BOOK TROPES

BOOK REVIEW: WILDFLOWER BY DREW BARRYMORE

I N C L U D E S  A F F I L I A T E  L I N K S

_____

Title: Wildflower
Author: Drew Barrymore
Published: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 288
Rating: 2/5

Summary:

This is Drew Barrymore's memoir where she looks back at her life, experiences, challenges and adventures.

Review:

Oh man, this was just not for me, sadly.

I didn't really go into this with that many expectations, but I found myself a little disappointed with how surface level this whole thing felt and it felt like it glazed over a lot of things. It's surprisingly tedious as well, and there are few moments that feel truly real and emotional. The stories in here are disjointed and the whole thing feels like it could use some more structure.

I also didn't get on with the writing style at all. It feels almost childish and I actually got kind of annoyed with it, like how in some parts every other sentence ends with an exclamation mark. It could've used some work, I think.

I do think the main reason I didn't like this though, is that I felt like I'm just living on a completely different planet than this person. It got a little too la-di-da for me. It's very Hollywood. 

You can get this book at The Book Depository (affiliate link)
You can read more about it on Goodreads

MY FAVORITE CLASSICS (UPDATED)

#FRIDAYREADS

READING, BREAD & GOING TO THE MOVIES

BOOK REVIEW: KAN JEG BLI MED DEG HJEM BY MARIE AUBERT

_____

Title: Kan Jeg Bli Med Deg Hjem
Author: Marie Aubert
Published: 2016
Language: Norwegian
Pages: 116
Rating: 2/5

Summary:

This is a collection of short stories all about people going through changes in their lives. 

Review:

So, I don't have a lot to say about this one really. I read it and it was just kind of all right.

This just didn't do a whole lot for me. I like the writing style, but I'd probably prefer it in longer format, as these stories were just kind of ordinary to me and didn't make much of an impact. I think the theme of relationships between people and people going through changes is interesting, but these stories just didn't manage to keep my attention.

I'd be happy to read something else by this author, like a longer novel or something, but this didn't really do it for me, unfortunately. 

You can get this book at Adlibris
You can read more about it on Goodreads