May & Half Term Wrap Up

Welcome Back To A Day In The Life Of The Anonymous Me,

I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. I enjoy reading all year round, but one of my favourite places to read is on holiday. For Half Term my family and I spent a week away and I read a lot. It is one of the best things when you look up from your book and you can see the infinite waves gently lapping up the shore in front of you. Therefore, I wanted to share with you all the books I read in May and on holiday. Enjoy!

The first book I read in May was The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood. I’m going to be completely honest here and admit that this was a cover buy. I saw it in Waterstones and instantly knew I had to pick it up. At the stand I then discovered that the page edges are pink with white numbers. The design is exquisite and it looks stunning in my bookcase. The book is about a girl called Gottie (Margot) who lives in Norfolk and is 17. It is the Summer Holidays and one year since her Grandfather’s death. Last summer when her Grandad died, she was going out with Jason, who is her older brother’s (Ned) friend. However, their relationship was a secret and didn’t work out. Also, five summers ago when Gottie was twelve her best friend Thomas moved away to Canada and never contacted her. He’s back for the summer and has a secret. I thought this book was going to be your classic contemporary read, but it is so much more than that. There is a lot of science in this book with mathematical diagrams explaining wormholes and time travel, for these are two of the key parts of the novel. For the book to make sense, you really have to pay attention to the science and keep it in mind throughout the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to you.

I then read Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell. Here in the UK each year, Macmillan releases six novellas for World Book Day – usually 3 for younger readers and 3 for older readers. The books are one pound each and all under 100 pages. In schools we get given book tokens and we can spend the token on one of the six books and get it for free. Back in March I picked up Kindred Spirits and was saving it for my holiday. It was a really fun read about a Star Wars obsessed girl called Elena who is waiting in line by the cinema for the next Star Wars movie. Her father told her the stories of when he queued up as a child. However, this queue doesn’t live up to her expectations. There are only two other people in the queue. This book doesn’t have much of a plot, but it does have a moral story in it which you discover towards the end. It isn’t a bad thing that it doesn’t have much of a storyline and I would read it again.

After reading Kindred Spirits I was in the mood for more Rainbow Rowell, so I reread Fangirl, which I have featured on my blog several times before. It is one of my favourite books and one I recommend to EVERYONE – including YOU! If you haven’t read it I urge you to pick it up in your nearest bookstore and give it a read. I always take this with me if I am reading another Rainbow Rowell book as they always get me in the mood for Fangirl. It is about a girl called Cath who is going to University. She is going to the same University as her identical twin Wren. For their whole lives they have done everything together, but everything is about to change. Wren has decided that she wants to go out and experience life. However, for Cath it is difficult to do this as she has anxiety. She writes fanfiction from her favourite book series – Simon Snow – ‘to disappear’ as she tells us in one of the first chapters of the novel. But then she meets Levi, one of my favourite fictional characters ever, and she has to decide whether she is going to go out into the world and explore. I have reread this book several times now and I never get bored of it. You’ve all probably read it anyway as it is so well know and popular, but if you haven’t, where have you been?!

I then read my favourite book of the year so far – I know, big statement – and it is The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. This book recently came out in paperback and both end papers are covered in reviews from people all raving about it. Authors such as Lauren James (The Next Together), Phillip Pullman (The Northern Lights) and James Dawson (This Book is Gay) have all praised this book and I can totally see why. This book is about David and he believes he was born in the wrong body and wants to be a girl. The book is all about him discovering who he is and telling his parents. I don’t want to say too much about this book because I think it is best to go into it blind. Don’t even read the blurb! This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is insightful, interesting and heart wrenching. Everyone has to read this as it is so important to support the transgender community. As I said earlier, James Dawson recommended this novel, who came out as wanting to be a girl a few years ago. I will post a full review on my blog in the near future for those of you who have read it and want to hear my full opinions as it is difficult to talk about the book without sharing spoilers. My edition is also really special as it is signed and has an exclusive chapter in the back. If you want one of these special copies, head into your local Waterstones and try and pick one up. They are only available in Waterstones stores I’m afraid.

I really hope if you haven’t read any of these you give them a read. I really want to do more book related posts in the near future. Books are one of my main hobbies and I always have a book on the go. If you want to read more book posts from me in the past, you can find them here and here and why not click here too!

Happy Blogging! xx