The month of March was a pretty hectic month for me – I turned seventeen (which means I can now legally learn to drive in the UK, which is where I live…), I’ve started having to think properly about my AS level exams and I have also bought a lot of books.
Of course, it was also my birthday this month, but I’ll point out the books I was given when I get to them. I’m not including my ARCs and I’m only including one ebook, because I normally read physical copies of books, and most of the books that I got this month were in a physical format.
And yes, I am aware that it is April now. I started writing this post in the middle of March, I’m just incredibly lazy and I procrastinate too much.
Orlando by Virginia Woolf
This is in the Vintage Red Spine edition – my mum got this for me when she went to Bristol a few weeks ago, from a three pound bookshop. I haven’t read this yet, admittedly, but I plan to.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
This was from a second hand bookshop that I found in the city where I go to college. I didn’t actually know that this bookshop existed, but I managed to restrain myself to one book.
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
I got this from a charity shop in my town, which has a pretty big back room dedicated to books, and the hardbacks are all one quid. Which is why I got three.
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
I’ve been meaning to read this for ages, just about. It’s in my college library, but now I have my own edition, so I have no excuses.
The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
I came so close to getting Girl with a Pearl Earring but I decided to go for a lesser known work, for a change. I mean, I started reading Daphne du Maurier with Rebecca and Jane Austen with Pride and Prejudice, I should really start off with more… Less well-known novels?
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
I’m a bit of a slut for the Penguin Modern Classic books, so I kind of had to get this one. Just a little.
The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff
One of the librarians at my college really loves this book and she recommended it to me back in September. Yeah. That’s why I have this – another charity shop find.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller
My grandparents got me three books for my birthday – this was one of them, which I actually opened on my way to do an English trip thingy that day. I’ve read about half of it, and I’m really enjoying it so far! It’s another Modern Classic edition.
My Own Story by Emmeline Pankhurst
Another Vintage Red Spine – I’m expanding my feminist reading repertoire! This was also from my grandparents, although probably because my nana did a history degree and likes fuelling my love of historically significant texts.
P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
I read To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before a few months ago, so I decided to get the second book. I haven’t picked it up as of yet, but again I feel I really need to.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
My sister got me this because my original copy fell apart a couple of years ago. I was pretty torn up about that, because it was a first edition hardcover (the British version, of course), but I really love the illustration on the front of this edition. Also, this is my favourite book in the Harry Potter series, so I’m really enjoying being able to read it again.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
I was also given this by my sister – I did already own this, but it matches Order of the Phoenix so I want to keep it. There’s no harm in having two copies of a book.
Short and Sweet (edited by Simon Armitage)
My other sister got me this for my birthday (well, I’m assuming my mother did, because my other sister’s a bit too young to be able to buy me things) and I’ve been dipping in and out of it sporadically. All the poems in this are less than a page, and I’ve decided that my favourite poem of all time is ‘On Going to Meet a Zen Master in the Kyushu Mountains and Not Finding Him’ by Don Paterson.
The Longest Holiday by Paige Toon
My lovely friend Laura sent me this through the post, and I’ve already read it. I actually really enjoyed it, it’s kind of a guilty pleasure chick flick read. I might review it, I might not, I haven’t fully decided.
The Handfasted Wife / The Swan-Daughter / The Betrothed Sister by Carol McGrath
My (again, very lovely) boyfriend gave me these books for my birthday, which are a trilogy of historical romance novels set in the early 11th Century. So basically the time before and around the Battle of Hastings in 1066. I haven’t read these yet, but I’d like to. Soon. I promise.
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
I bought this through Amazon with my gift card from my birthday, it’s been highly recommended to me on a number of occasions and I finally got round to buying it!
Politics and the English Language by George Orwell
What can I really say? I’m trying to seem clever.
Love Poems by Carol Anne Duffy
I’m trying to read more poetry too. I also got this through Amazon, and it’s an ex library edition, which is why the front cover is a little scuffed.
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
I reviewed this! – my one ebook purchase.
