May was a really good reading month for me, I was mostly happy with the books that I read and managed to get through a fair few of them too.
1. Penhallow by Georgette Heyer
I have previously discussed my love of Pride and Prejudice on this blog and many people have recommended Georgette Heyer’s books to me as the Regency setting is quite similar and involves a lot of society-type things and I can get really into who is related to who and what title is where and I love it. Penhallow is about a grumpy old man who is horrible and everyone hates him then oh my word he ends up dead and oh my goodness it was a murder. Gotta solve it. It was quite good so I’ll likely pick up another of Heyer’s books, she wrote quite a lot so there’s a lot of choice!
2. Cut To The Bone by Alex Caan
A whodunnit for the modern Youtube era. Very well done and I really enjoyed it, my friend has recommended the second book in this series as the detective characters develop quite nicely there so I’ll be reading that soon(ish). I also did a full review if you want to find out more you can read it here.
3. How To Come Alive by Beth McColl
I’m realising now that this month was when I started doing a lot of individual reviews so I’ve sort of run out of things to write in a Wrap Up…EXCEPT THAT THIS BOOK IS BRILLIANT. Truly a wonderful book that I’d recommend to anyone struggling to manage with mental health issues as she gives no nonsense advice on the realities of life carrying on while you’re in a fog of depression and also has guidance and templates for speaking to GPs, managers and friends. Full review is here.
4. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Blasphemy maybe, but I wasn’t blown away by this book. Yes, it was lovely to read. I much prefer Circe or The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. Full review here.
5. The Vegetarian by Han Kang
I’ll link my review here but I’ll also tell you now, I didn’t like this book.
6. The Man in the Next Bed by David K Shipley
Ok but a short story so lacks the opportunity to be more interesting, quite surface level and a bit boring. Full review here.
7. The Doctor by Lisa Stone
A bonkers crime thriller, twists and turns and a lot of WTF? This book was an ARC so a full review will be posted nearer publication 25th July 2019.
8. Frat Girl by Kiley Roache
I had fun reading this and couldn’t put it down! A girl is granted a scholarship based on a research project she’ll complete by joining a fraternity accused of misogynistic behaviour and exposing the Greek system but she makes some friends and it’s such a cute story with a nice feminist message along with a heavy dose of girl hate (sounds weird but you’ll see what I mean).
9. A Serial Killer’s Daughter by Kerri Rawson
Mixed emotions about this one. I admire the strength it took to write such a difficult book about a loved one but it wasn’t a very enjoyable or interesting read. A true crime memoir from the point of view of BTK’s daughter, this was an odd read.
10. The Killing Lessons by Saul Black
This is a thriller splitting perspectives between two serial killers/rapists, a ten year old girl that escaped them during a home invasion and the police detective after these men. This was interesting but at some point I got lost with the story and it just wasn’t holding my attention, the depiction of sexual violence was just too much and unnecessary in my opinion and you can definitely tell it was written by a man (Bret Easton Ellis vibes during those parts). I don’t think I’m particularly bothered about picking up the next book in this series, only to find out what happens with the lead detective and the other woman that hacked her medical files and somehow that was just glossed over like that’s not illegal???
11. Develop Your Assertiveness by Sue Bishop
I just had my appraisal last week and one of my development objectives is to be pushier. Hopefully these lessons will rub off on me and I’ll be pushy as anything and not apologise for everything ten times over.
And that’s it for May! Quite a good month for me (reading-wise), how did you get on this month?
You can find my social media @beccaggray on Twitter and Instagram, I also have my bookstagram @booksforbecca if you want to see any of my bookish posts. Thank you for reading!!
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