The Beginnings of a Bookworm

fairydreamsblog
Jun 14, 2020
7 min read

Since I was a kid, I've loved reading and I suppose you could say that I am a bit of a bookworm. I used to love the Rainbow Fairies books by Daisy Meadows (Ghostwritten by a

fair few women, although Rachel Elliott seems to have written the majority) and through a bit of research they are still writing and publishing these today. I was shocked when I found out.

Since going to university and doing my undergrad and my post grad degree (A LOT of reading) and I semi-fell out of love with the idea of reading for escapism and enjoyment. However I am slightly finding my love for reading again and I thought I'd share some of the books that I've enjoyed recently. To share my love of reading, I've placed my reading wish list, of sorts, at the bottom of this post and I can kind of look back on this in say a year and can see what I have completed.

I've also loved reading proper books again, I'm into the new book smell and just feeling it in your hand rather than scrolling.

Let me know what your all time favourite book would be over on instagram @fariydreamsblog -I'd have to say mine would be one of the Harry Potter books, maybe Order of the Phoenix. I also would say The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse would be another one of my absolute faves.

I usually buy my books from Amazon but if I can buy/support a local business then I would love to! Please leave me a DM on instagram or twitter :)

To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han

After I fell in love with the Netflix adaptation and Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky I hopped on amazon and treated myself to this Jenny Han classic. Unfortunately, I haven't read the sequel books but I am definitely looking forward to! I want to delve deeper into the relationship of Lara-Jean, her family and love interests and can't wait to read the other books in the series. After I've finished this post I think I'll be delving back into the world of Lara-Jean in both movies on Netflix.

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse - Charlie Mackey

Winner of Waterstone's Book of the Year in 2019. Honestly I bought this because the front cover was pretty and it was recommended to me during a time in my life where I was pretty down and I could never find the energy to pick up this book, but when I did, recently it made me so thankful I bought it and wish I had read it sooner. It was a tear-jerker and has some amazing quotes within that just makes you reflect on a lot of things. It's also quite a quick read as it was handwritten and also includes illustrations. If you can see at the bottom of the picture there is an illustration of a boy, its a screengrab from this book. My mum works as a Teaching Assistant and during these times she's been removing displays and cleaning and managed to save me a piece of display from when the year 4's had been reading this book. So luckily, I get to see a piece of it with me on a daily basis.

Don't worry, it's been disinfected several times.

But if you're in need of a quick book, I'd highly recommend.

Thin Slices of Anxiety - Catherine Lepage

This book is also a quick read and comes under the self-help category as well although this hits different than I suppose other self help books that I've bought in the fact that it is an observation of anxious behaviour and gives advice to ease a worried mind, as suggested upon the front cover. I enjoyed the illustrations within the book and especially the final pages which is definitely there to suggest that everything we do, we need to remember that we are only human and we have to remind ourselves of that and it's okay to make mistakes, just to make sure we are conscious of it and try to do things that are helpful for our minds rather than detrimental.

Notes on Nationalism- George Orwell

One of 57 titles under Penguin Modern books and authored by George Orwell, famed for classics such as 1964 and Animal Farm. With the politics subtlety mentioned within his novels, his notes have been published on nationalism along with his thoughts on Antisemitism in Britain and The Sporting Spirit. It is essentially a book of essays, however it is an interesting read. 'Nationalism is inseparable from the desire for power'

It is an easy book to pick up and read any of the sections alone rather than the whole thing in one go. As you may see from my wish list of books, I quite enjoy political books and historical books as it can shape a generation from us learning from the past and hopefully improving the world we live in for the better.

Letter from Birmingham Jail - Martin Luther King

Another of Penguin's modern books, which are amazing portions of history and excerpts from essays from prevalent people made available for the public at low cost, the books in this series cost £1! An absolute bargain! I picked this up from the Tate in London as I had read a small portions of MLK's letter as a A Level History student and wanted to delve deeper into his thoughts on segregation, etc. I especially think it is prevalent in today's age with the modern day civil rights movement also known as Black Lives Matter and the protests following George Floyd's murder, similarly this letter was written by King in a jail cell after he was arrested for peaceful protesting. If you want a quick read to help educate yourself further, look no further, its a helpful book to start doing this.

Twas The Night shift Before Christmas (and This is Going to Hurt) - Adam Kay

Adam Kay, a comedian and stand up, who was previously a junior doctor in our beloved NHS wrote 2 books based on documents he kept during his time as a junior doctor. I have to say they are hilarious. I have both books but couldn't find the other to take a photo of, typical right?

If you like TV shows set in hospitals like New Amsterdam, ER, etc. that are filled with moments of hilarity, I would highly recommend these books! If you wanted to know more about Kay's time as a junior doctor, he also has a stage show travelling the country entitled This Is Going To Hurt which is the same name as his books, so one would hope both the show would also make people chuckle.

The Order of The Day - Eric Vuillard

If you're a history buff like me and weirdly enjoy learning about WW2 and the lead up to it with all the meetings, policy of appeasement and more, then The Order of The Day will be right up your alley, the books tells the story of the pivotal meetings in which took place between the European leaders on the run up towards World War 2.

Essentially a fascinating, moving and at times farcical account of the failed diplomacy, broken relationships, and catastrophic momentum which leads to war. I struggled with this book, definitely had to concentrate, but wouldn't recommend to be a bedtime book, if you get me. It's more of a sit in the sun from 10am - 7pm concentrating book, if that even makes any sense. I'm sure someone will.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins

Everyone loved The Hunger Games in 2012 and now it's back for the prequel, a story about Coriolanus Snow's teen years and mentoring tributes in the early games. It is gripping and has twists and turns the whole way through. It's remarkable to see Snow in a different light than we have previously, aka a strong dictator. It is left sort of on a cliff hanger so I'm assuming another book will follow so we know how Snow becomes the Snow we all know and one that Katniss hates.

I'm not going to lie, I struggled with this book, but then again it's the longest book I've read since my uni days so hopefully my next challenge of reading the whole Harry Potter series again, might take a while. *

.* I don't agree/support JK Rowling after her recent tweets however I love the wizarding world and would love to still escape to Hogwarts when I can

So now I've shared some of my favourite reads at the moment, I want to share my future reading list and reading goals!

I think a main goal for me would be to reread old favourites, such as the Harry Potter series, Divergent, Hunger Games along with some others. Essentially lots of Young Adult Fiction books 😂

I know what my next 2 books are as they have just arrived from Amazon as I'm writing this and they are 52 Times Britain was a Bellend and Why I'm Not Talking To White People About Race in order to help educate myself on other things so I can officially tick them off my wishlist!

Future Reads:

I have quite a few, sorry in advance 😂

Th1rt3en - Stephen Mearns
The Last Song - Nicholas Sparks
Once - Morris Gleitzman
Wonder - RJ Palacio
The Dilemma - BA Paris
Under a Wartime Sky - Liz Ternow
Opium and Absinthe - Lydia Kang
Girl, Woman, Other - Bernadine Evaristo
Queenie - Candy Carty-Williams
The Beekeeper of Aleppo - Christy Lefteri
One of Us is Lying - Karen M McManus
Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman
The tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
The Librarian of Auschwitz -Antonio Iturbe
The Volunteer - Jack Fairweather
The Light in Hidden Places - Sharon Cameron
The Warehouse - Rob Hart
The Bees - Laline Paul

I'm attempting to expand my range of books that I'll enjoy rather than the same old, so I'd love to hear any recommendations, I'd really appreciate it!

I'm hoping that I can look back on this within the next year and tick off a fair few of these books! However I may do some in depth reviews on some books that I read between now and then.

If you've enjoyed this read, please feel free to check out my other posts and if you'd like to hear more from me you can subscribe to be the first to see it :)