What I've Been Reading This Week

Similarly to most bookworms my To-Be Read pile doesn't stop growing, at this rate I might need another trip to IKEA for another bookcase, oh and that's an excuse to satisfy my stomach with their meatballs. And to pretend I am Summer and Tom having a trip for cutlery or a sofa, to find a Chinese family in my kitchen. 

Over the course of the past week I have disconnected myself from reality and delved into three books and finished all three. It is a fabulous feeling to have no responsibilities to rely on, to lay in bed reading eating avocado bagels and savouring the soft quiet of my house, as my parents work during the day for long hours and my siblings are still at secondary school. 

So my days flow like this, from waking up and eating chocolate, banana porridge to laid back reading to writing (Remember that best selling novel I'm working on???) to reading again, to making myself something worthy of goodness for dinner - read falafels, rice and beans, before settling back into bed, bathed, fresh bed sheets with a book. 

Education over the past few years has prevented me from appreciating reading as much as I used to, unless it was a classic novel, play or a collection of poetry required for me to study A-Level English Literature, I sadly, barely read anything, a couple of chapters here and there on my bus journey to college. Now, it's,beautiful, relaxing and guilt free, so here is a little, brief review of the three books I've lost myself in this week, no spoilers, just a short summary and what I thought!

The Versions of Us by Laura Barrett. 

Recommended to me a few months ago by my creative writing teacher. The Versions of Us, perhaps you could say it's a love story, or several versions of the protagonist Eva's romance throughout her life. The Versions of Us plays on fate, how if one event in our lives had not happened then where would we be? You can follow Eva through 30 years of her life, from being at university and meeting a few suitable partners to three different versions of how those meetings could have turned out. The versions are powerful, all very different from each other but also intertwining each potential partner.

The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins.

Most anticipated read of this year so far. A book I've heard EVERYONE talking about. It is chilling, shocking and absolutely fantastic, with all it's thrilling twists, especially the final one which left me wanting to throw the book under a train. A powerful plot told in multi perspectives, the protagonist Rachel experiences alcohol related blackouts, and after one situation where she can't recall anything, unfortunately a night where something utterly tragic and frightening happens, showing the negative side to one unexpected character, Rachel tries to piece together that mysterious night. Full of mind-blowing revelations, violence, manipulation, alcoholism and romance. Possibly everything you could want in a thriller. I read this in under 24 hours, I just couldn't put it down, and kinda wanted to try gin and tonic...

Before I go to Sleep by SJ Watson.

Another book I wanted to throw under a train after it's unbelievable plot twist, to be honest - I did throw the book across my room. (I apologised, I'm not normally a bad mum) but this book had me in complete shock and fully gripped all the way through. The protagonist Christine suffered an accident in which she lost her memory, she is unable to form new memories and every day she wakes up forgetting everything that happened the previous day. A heartbreaking and distressing story. Christine begins keeping a journal to help assemble her past, however the journal reveals astounding truths about the man she is supposedly married to, the man she's being lead to believe she's in love with. Expertly written with impressive medical knowledge, closed the book feeling I knew a little more about the complexity that is our brain.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think?

Here's to another week of reading...