Recently I’ve been reading quite different books to what I usually pick up. The last few years I’ve mostly read contemporary YA fiction novels but so far this year I’ve been diving into adult and non-fiction books as well as stories set a few decades ago as opposed to recent years. I’m enjoying it very much and I’m loving reading a variety of books! One of my intentions this year was to read whatever I want and jump out of my usual habits and I’m so glad I have.
Okay so the first book I read this year was Paper Avalanche by Lisa Williamson – very much a contemporary YA! It was fantastic though and it was a fab little start to my 2020. Since then, I’ve delved into non-fiction reads like Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered (SSDGM) by Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff and my current read, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. I loved SSDGM (review to come!) and i had the most fun co-reading it with one of my best pals Lois. We both love the podcast My Favorite Murder and after seeing a live show last year we couldn’t wait to read their book!
I’m not super far through Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race but it’s already brilliant and super important. I’ve used plenty of tabs already and have them at hand to highlight more parts which I want to go back to/research/remember. Everyone I know who has read it has said it’s a must-read and I already agree.
Another amazing book I’ve read which I also will post a review on soon is Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I have so much to say about this book – i learned about a part of history I knew nothing about which has led me to researching it and wanting to read more. I love learning about things that happened in the past and I need to make more effort to read books like this which focus on a part of history that we are not taught when we’re at school. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read more of her work. I’ve also been reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker for this month’s LGBTQ+ Book Club. I’m really enjoying this but sadly didn’t have chance to finish before I had to take my book back to the library and now I’m in London! I’m hoping to pick it up cheap somewhere like a charity shop so I can finish it ASAP!
I’ve also been reading more graphic novels! Not necessarily out of my comfort zone but I haven’t read that many before the last few months. I read Blankets by Craig Thompson before Christmas and I’m currently reading Fun Home by Alison Bechdel – complete coincidence that these are both graphic memoirs but very exciting. I have many more graphic novels on my TBR and every time I finish one it takes all my energy to not dive straight into another and ignore my responsibilities!
Since I’m in London til April and didn’t take many books with me because of limited packing space, I’m borrowing a few books off friends instead. I already have three to get through and will be gathering more soon! This is really cool because they’ve given me ones they recommend and I’m happy to read anything they give me. I’m loving feeling so open to genres, styles etc. at the minute and it’s so cool to go from one book to another completely different one rather than ones which are similar.
What are some genres you’d like to read more of?
The Little Contemporary Corner 