Wrap Up | May

May hasn't been the most productive in terms of reading for me, but it's been a pretty busy month filled with traveling to various places around the country, catching up with people and a few birthdays. Despite this I did still manage to read a collection of short stories, a long poem and a novel...

So onto the three things I read this month:

Let Them Eat Chaos by Kate Tempest
(Paperback, Picador, 72 pages)

Kate Tempest is a spoken-word poet who has become increasingly well known in recent years, mainly due to her impactful live performances. Let Them Eat Chaos, although now produced in 'book' form, is still intended to be read out loud. The poem follows seven neighbours in London who are all awake early one morning and we gain direct insight into their lives, their problems and their concerns. Simultaneously it deals with broader problems that face humanity more generally. It concludes with a big storm breaking over the city, which ultimately ends up connecting all of the disconnected individual voices. Tempest's poem is startlingly relevant and raw in the present climate; both politically, socially and philosophically. Despite studying English Literature at University I often steered clear of poetry during my degree. I struggled to analyse it in a sophisticated way because I found a lot of it incomprehensible and dense (especially the older stuff with complicated language). But that isn't to say that I dislike all poetry - I'm a big fan of Carol Ann Duffy and Rupi Kaur whose's work is more accessible and relatable, particularly because it has a way of appealing to emotion. Tempest too, for me, falls into this category. I'd definitely recommend this poem to everyone, even if you aren't sure poetry is for you.

I read this poem three times: once in my head, once out loud and once following along while I watched/listened to her live performance (linked 'here'). I'm glad I did it in this order. It was interesting to see how I interpreted the spacing of the lines and tempo in comparison to Tempest herself, so do check out the live version if nothing else. I'm keen to pick up her previous collection of poems: Hold Your Own at some point as well as anything else she brings out in the future.

"Come to remind you that you're not an island, 
Life is much broader than borders..."

[4/5 stars]

Treats by Lara Williams
(Paperback, Freight Books, 125 pages)

Treats is a collection of realist stories which explore life in the twenty-first century, with a particular emphasis on relationships. If you're a twenty-something (or a bit older) who has graduated from university - this collection is for you. Many of the stories have relatable elements, especially the first story in the collection called It Begins which is about a girl who graduates, goes to live back home with her parents and is figuring out what she should do next with her life. My other favourites included: Dates, Sundaes At The Tipping Yard and Safe Spaces. Some of these are only a page or two long, others are a bit lengthier. Although I really enjoyed this collection as a whole some of the stories did end up blurring into one another because they did, broadly, explore the same themes and topics. I also noticed that some of the same wording is repeated throughout. These were the main reasons why I only gave it 3.5 stars, but I'd still recommend it if it sounds like the sort of thing you'd be interested in. It's definitely down to earth and wryly written, so don't go into it expecting any inspiring solutions to your singleness or undecided future. Having said that, there is something to be said for the reassurance it offers and the bold decision Williams has taken to depict a 'real' version of post-teenage life.

[3.5/5 stars]

The Mothers by Brit Bennett
(Paperback, Riverhead Books, 278 pages)

The Mothers is a contemporary novel based in America which predominantly focuses on three main characters: Nadia, Aubrey and Luke. I was expecting great things from this book but for me it fell a bit short, mainly because I found the plot to be a little predictable, a bit simplistic maybe. Yet the writing was still good and there were some really good sections within the novel that stood out to me. I just feel like if you read the blurb for this book you pretty much know the whole story already, it didn't blow me away basically. However, if you're looking for a quick, easy read over summer this might be a good option. This is also Brit Bennett's debut novel, so I'll be interested to see what else she writes going forward.

[3/5 stars]

Currently reading:

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid 
(Hardback, Hamish Hamilton, 228 pages)

I'm currently reading Exit West and absolutely loving it so far, the main themes include love, politics and war with a bit of magical realism thrown in for good measure. I'm not going to say much more about it here though - I'll do a full review once I've finished it!

Laura.

Book Haul | May

How is it nearly the end of May already?! This year really seems to be flying by... but seeing as it is almost the end of the month I thought now would be a good time to share the books I've picked up during May.

Swimmer Among the Stars by Kanish Tharoor

(Hardback, Picador, 239 pages)

So technically I got this one at the very end of April, but I'm going to include it here anyway. Swimmer Among the Stars is a fairly long collection of short stories and this edition was only published a couple of months ago, but I haven't seen or heard many reviews for it yet.

Two things in particular drew me to this book: the blurb and the cover. As some of you may already know, I am a recent convert to short stories because they're the perfect length to read on my commute. These ones sounded cool as they seem to be a little bit different to normal and include stories about "an interview with the last speaker of a language" and "the lonely voyage of an elephant". Secondly, any cover which has elephants and/or metallic foiling is always going to grab my attention. When I'm looking for my next fix of short stories I'll definitely be reaching for this collection.

The End We Start From by Megan Hunter

(Hardback, Picador, 127 pages)

One day I was randomly scrolling through Twitter and a photo of this book popped up on my feed. Like aforementioned, foiling on front covers is a weakness of mine (don't judge me okay), so that combined with the interesting premise of this book meant I just had to get it. The End We Start From is set during a "mysterious environmental crisis" in which London is submerged by a flood, it follows a woman who gives birth to her first child, referred to as 'Z', and their journey to escape the flood waters. It promises to be novel which explores motherhood and family in a unique way - I'm excited to read this short debut super soon.

Strange Heart Beating by Eli Goldstone 

(Paperback, Granta, 194 pages)

The next three books came from a second hand book shop called 'Any Amount of Books' in London. Not only do they have a basement full of books for a pound, but they also have proof copies and hardback books that have only recently come out, sold at discounted prices - definitely worth a visit if you're a book-lover and in the area. 

I've seen a lot of book tubers talk about this first book so I grabbed it when I saw it in the shop for five pounds rather than the usual thirteen. From what I can gather Strange Heart Beating is loosely based on the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan. When Leda is killed by a swan Seb, Leda's husband, discovers some mysterious letters from another man. The rest of the novel follows Seb on his journey to find out more about the letters, the man and Leda's past.

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag 

(Hardback, Faber & Faber, 118 pages)

I love brave designs that embody simplicity but are bold at the same time and this is definitely a good example of that. I pretty much know nothing about this book other than it centres around a poor family that comes into fortune unexpectedly and the consequences this results in. This book also only came out a month or so ago, so I'm keen to get to these new releases shortly because I always think there's something nice about reading a book around the time it comes out! Again, I only paid five pounds for this one too. I just can't resist a good bargain.

How Much the Heart Can Hold

(Hardback, Sceptre, 149 pages)

This collection of short stories about love came out last year and each story is written by a different author. I haven't tried a short story collection which has multiple authors yet but I thought it would be a good way to read lots of authors I hadn't necessarily heard of before quite quickly. How Much the Heart Can Hold supposedly examines seven different concepts of love, I'll be interested to see which stories I end up liking the most and hopefully I'll discover some good new authors too.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

(Paperback, 4th Estate, 433 pages)

I think most people have heard of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie because of her well known TED Talk/Essay: 'We Should All Be Feminists' but she's also written a selection of novels - I've heard that this is one of her best. Another one of her novels was on my contemporary literature reading list at university. I never got round to reading it though, because of the typical 'so much to do, so little time' problem that so many English Lit students face. However, I was in Whitstable visiting my sister for her birthday yesterday and there's a little independent bookshop there so since I've been meaning to read more of Adichie's work I picked up this lovely 2017 edition. It explores how three character's lives intertwine in Nigeria during the 1960's against the backdrop of the Civil War. I'm hoping to do an author spotlight on Adichie once I've managed to get through some more of her work, so look out for that later on in the year.

And that's all of the books I've bought in May.

Do let me know if you have any book recommendations or have read any of the books in this post - I'd be interested to know your thoughts!

Laura.