Having visited three bookshops so far this month (and it's only 11th February - not even halfway through yet!), here is my book haul for the month (I really can't justify buying many more until March now!).
1. The Bees by Laline Paull. This is one of the Waterstone's Book Club (WBC) books that I thought sounded quite fun. Very different from what I usually read, but I'm feeling open-minded about it. Looks like it is a thriller, so that's exciting!
2. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. Another WBC book which, according to the reviews, looks like a genre-crossing detective tale. Hmmm.
3. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. The last of the WBC books I have bought this month. The cover artwork enticed me to buy it - yes I know books shouldn't be judged by their covers - but it is intriguing. Containing suspense and a gripping plot-line, I think I'm going to enjoy this one too. Ooh which one to read first?!
4. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I bought this on recommendation by Jen Campbell on Booktube; again a different type of novel to that which I usually read, but hey - it's nice to escape from the usual sometimes. It's all about 80s pop culture, a decade that I grew up in, so that's a great start.
5. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. For being a classics nut, I can't believe that I haven't read this yet. It's been on my TBR list for ages.
6. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Now, I have read this but it was years and years ago, and I fancied a new copy ahead of the release of her new book in July.
7. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Really looking forward to getting stuck into this one. I absolutely loved Crime and Punishment and adore dark Russian fiction. Want to get even more Dostoyevsky novels, as they are gripping and real page-turners. Hoping this one is the same.
8. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Another classic which I have not read. Felt embarrassed admitting it, so I bought it.
9. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. another novel that I have read but only on my Kindle, and I really REALLY wanted a physical copy. It's one of my favourites.
10. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Yet another neglected classic. Love Hardy and his lyrical, aesthetic prose and so I'm looking forward to reading this novel - the only one of his that, until now, I didn't own.
11. The Divine Comedy by Dante. Absolutely loved Inferno so it was essential that I bought this. Essential, I say.
12. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. One of the two Hugo novels I bought this month. I've seen the film many times but yet have not read the book - purchasing this will allow me to remedy that!
13. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. This has been on my TBR list for longer than I can remember. It's had raving reviews, so I'm looking forward to enjoying it for myself.
14. Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence. I bought this because I hadn't heard of this author before, and was intrigued by it being "of high literary aspiration" and which resembles the writing styles of Dostoyevsky, Melville, Eliot, and Joyce. It "tells of the campaign against the Turks in the Middle East" - a war novel which sounds to me like it is along a similar vein to Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North which I loved.
15. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. The second Hugo novel I have bought this month. Have seen the musical, have the soundtrack on CD, but needed the book. It is MASSIVE though!
16. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Quite enjoyed his novel Never Let Me Go so thought I would try another of his books.
17. Parade's End by Ford Maddox Ford. I have this on Kindle but I wanted it in physical form - that way I might get past the first few pages! (I find it easier reading from paper pages than a screen). It's a novel about the Great War and the destruction and reconstruction that arose from it, focusing on the life of the protagonist Christopher Tietjens. It is another large tome, but I have enjoyed what I have read so far.
18. Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak. I loved the film, read the book in Senior School, but wanted my own copy. This book was banned in the Soviet Union until 1988, and tells of the life and loves of a poet-physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Yuri Zhivago finds himself caught between the Whites and the Reds, and in love with the beautiful Lara. I just know I'm going to need tissues handy when I re-read this.
And that's it! See what I mean? I've had a binge this month, but I'm looking forward to many pleasurable hours working my way through that little lot.
Will post reviews on the books whenever I finish them. Even if that is months away!
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