Kelet café, Budapest
Here's what I read this month...
I was ridiculously emotionally invested in this. My friends can confirm I was gasping out loud every time I picked this up... It's very Jojo Moyes-esque and a real feel-good holiday read. The two main characters essentially start sharing a flat without having met. One works night shifts and so is only in the flat from 9-5, the other has the space in the evening and overnight. They get an insight into each others lives, finding out who eachother are, and how they are feeling based on the traces they leave behind (coffee cups, post it notes, etc). Beth also wrote this on her commute which is very impressive.
The Gift of Reading by Robert Macfarlane (4/5)
I was given this little book by my mum for my birthday. It's an essay/love letter which celebrates the power of gifting books and documents how the authors life has been directly shaped by books he's received.
An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim (3/5)
This was a Leena Norms recommendation which broke my heart. It's got a similar feel to The Handmaid's Tale, with a dystopian American setting. The main character agrees to travel twelve years into the future and work for a company who promise to pay for her partner's life-saving flu treatment in exchange. The couple plan to meet, but when she is re-routed another five years into the future, she can't find him. This is a heavy read, and I found the ending a bit deflating. Very powerful though.
Ordinary People by Diana Evans (3/5)
I've heard this has become a bit of a Marmite book, and I do feel a bit underwhelmed considering how much hype surrounded it. The story follows two disintegrating relationships as the couples navigate their identities and the world of parenthood. It's set in South East London, which made me like it much more, as I'd be sat on the same bus reading as Evans described the views and routes. I also loved the integration of music (Winehouse, Legend, Simone, MJ...), but the overall plot itself just didn't do it for me.
The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr (3/5)
I loved how this was both academic and very sweary, and it felt like a practical post-uni read. The book takes us through an in-depth analysis of how our brain responds to reading or listening to stories, and how writers can use this information to essentially manipulate readers. I've been reading a lot about neuroscience lately and this was another great one.
Let me know what you've been reading over on Twitter or Instagram!
