Book Haul | April

I've been buying some books, so I thought I'd share them with you.

Let's start with the three beautifully designed and brightly coloured hardbacks...

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

(Hardback, 300 pages)

Having only been published by Viking (an imprint of Penguin Random House) at the end of 2016, this book has already received a lot of hype. Homegoing is about two sisters who end up living very different lives: one is a slave owner's wife, the other is sold into slavery. The novel apparently spans seven generations across three different continents - that's a lot to fit into 300 pages! But I'm looking forward to reading this one, so hopefully I'll get a chance to pick it up soon.

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich 
(Hardback, 305 pages)

Idaho is Emily Ruskovich's debut novel, published by an imprint of PRH called Chatto & Windus and it came out earlier this year. I haven't heard all that much about this one apart from the fact that it centres around a terrible event that happens to a family and is told from multiple perspectives. Sometimes I like going into a book quite blind and I think this is definitely one that suits that method. Apparently Ruskovich grew up in Idaho too, so I'm hoping that the novel will portray an authentic sense of place.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier 
(Hardback, 441 pages)

I've heard great things about Daphne Du Maurier's writing, especially Rebecca so have wanted to get my hands on a copy of it for quite some time now. I studied a small section of this novel during my English Literature A-Level but never got round to reading it in full. Better late than never. No surprises here, but I particularly wanted this 2003 Virago Modern Classic edition because I'm a sucker for pretty covers and well published books. I managed to get it at a decent price from the online bookseller Wordery - definitely worth checking out when you're buying books or just want to steer clear of Amazon with their sneaky postage and packaging charges as Wordery offer free delivery. I probably won't get round to reading this one super soon but I'm pleased to now own a copy.

Last but not least, I got two small paperbacks; one short story collection and some poetry.

Treats by Lara Williams 
(Paperback, 125 pages)

This short story collection was published by Freight Books in 2016. After reading By Light We Knew Our Names I was keen to pick up some more short stories and this sounded like my cuppa tea. I heard about it on Leena Normington's Youtube Channel (JustKissMyFrog) definitely go and check her out - she has some super intelligent and well formed ideas about many things, including books. I'm just going to put a snippet of the blurb here as I feel like collections of stories are always difficult to sum up when you haven't read them yet: 'Treats is a sharply authentic collection of short stories which pinpoint life in the twenty-first century'. Review to follow shortly as I'm sure I'll speed through these.

Let Them Eat Chaos 
(Paperback, 72 pages)

You may have heard of Kate Tempest because her poetry collection called Hold Your Own received a lot of attention and praise. I haven't read that collection yet but I was intrigued by Let Them Eat Chaos, a long poem which was originally written for live performance which examines the lives of seven neighbours in London. I must say, I always avoided studying poetry in an academic sense at university. I often struggle to dissect poems but I do like poetry that engages with relatable issues and topics so we'll see how I get on with this one.

So, that's all of the books! I'm slowly but surely getting through the novels from my March Wrap Up post so expect reviews of those soon. Do let me know if you have any book recommendations, I'm always looking for new suggestions (contact info in the 'contact tab' at the top of the page).

Laura.