Recently I got back into reading! Yay! Mainly because I've noticed my spelling and grammar take a dramatic recline and a slow decline in gaming hours. Also because reading is incredibly relaxing and you can take books anywhere!
Now my reading genre ranges from crime to scifi to popular fiction to classical. Anything that seems a little bit interesting and suits my mood at the time of either buying or reading, I read that. I went on a massive (for my boyfriend, he was gobsmacked) book shop where I bought 7 books. Two of them a few days before I bought the remainder. So far I've flicked through one as it was incredibly easy to read with minimal effort, and half read another before I put it down and started on my current one. So, my February reading list;
1. Shine: Making the most of life without losing yourself by Samantha Armytage
Always being curious by the 'Self-Help' section of the bookstore, and always wondering "What could be in those books that help people so much more than a counsellor could?" I decided to pick up one for myself. Overall, I'd say though it has valid points, it really isn't worth . All of these things are things you could easily find either online, or do anyway. Also I found that for it to reach max potential in helping people, you would have to fit into a very specific life style, and one that I find isn't that common. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
2. More Fool Me by Stephen Fry
Firstly, someone help me out. Is it pronounced Steev-en, or Stef-en? I can't quite figure it out and everytime I read his name it bugs me.
Back to the book, I found it to be only enjoying if you were to read it in his voice. Any other voice that I used somehow made it less comprehensible. As for the content, I love the descriptiveness of it all. How he goes off on a tangent about his childhood home and the comparisons to modern homes, and even his friends homes at the time. I found it easier to picture it and get involved in the story. The human interaction side of things I found to be quite lacking so far. Though I am only half way through so who knows! It could get a lot better toward the end. I'll hold off on my recommendation. Though his previous book about his high school antics does sounds extremely tempting to buy...
3. A Year of Living Danishly: Unearthing the Secrest to the Worlds Happiest Country by Helen Russell.
I found this book under the 'Travel' section. A genre I don't particularly read or even browse. Having gone overseas recently and blogging about it (on my previous blog), I thought "maybe reading someone elses journal or blog on a country I didn't visit would be eye-opening". So I picked this one up over the others (mainly because I absolutely loved the cover art) and I am so incredibly glad that I did. I have almost finished the book now and each chapter is eye opening and informative about Denmark. Writing in the first person, without referring to anyone's real names, Helen Russell has done an amazing job at creating this book. Also at the end of the chapters there's a little "What I've learnt this month" section and it sumarises the chapters into a few dot points perfectly. Definitely recommend this book to someone else. It feels like a completely made up fiction novel, yet isn't, and I love it. Cannot wait to finish it.
And there it is! My February reading list! I'll save the other 4 books I purchased for March or possibly April depending on how busy I get.
Cate-Marie xxx