a mid-year book check-in 2024

Last year I made a 'My Year In Books' blog post with little one-liners about each book I read and where I rated it. This year I feel like I have been reading more and didn't fancy waiting until the end of the year so here's a mid-year mini reading check-in!!!

5 STAR READS:

A classic. This couldn't not be 5 stars.

Really thought-provoking and quick read which is relevant through time, no matter what the political situation is. I thought this was such an amazing way to present political hierarchies and discrimination.

The second time I've read this and somehow even more tragic.

I L O V E this book and think about the characters on the daily. I think it is a must-read for the summertime but warning: it will make you cry (and if it doesn't then I'm concerned)

4 STAR READS:

I bought this book because the lovely worker in Waterstone's recommended it to me based on the other handful of books I was carrying around.

I thought it was a very beautiful book which was tragic at times and definitely very insightful in terms of motherhood, creativity, love, life, and community.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book and feel like I read it pretty quickly. It really captured what it's like to be a sister and feel what your sisters are feeling, going through struggles and understanding each other's differences.

I am yet to read Cleopatra and Frankenstein but it's on my list - let's see if it meets my expectations after this!

Definitely had a little Call Me By Your Name phase this summer.

It was such a beautiful book and I loved all the descriptions and the atmosphere it created!! It built upon what I already knew from the movie and made me fall in love with the characters.

I feel like I cried at the end but I can't remember...

I read this for a job interview lmao (spoiler: I didn't get the job) but I thought this was very informative and an easily digestible non-fiction book.

Bloody hell (literally)

I quite enjoyed this and found myself both laughing out loud and hiding my face in disgust in the space of 2 minutes. Not one to read in public I'd say, purely because you can't help but physically react to some of the writing.

Lots of passages describing outfits down to the finest detail and discussing music but overall pretty fun.

This book was fun!! I've actually been thinking about it a lot recently too when I was waiting in a very quiet airport or watching The End We Start From.

Thought-provoking and really interesting, particularly with the COVID pandemic, thinking about an exacerbated version of 'what could have been'.

Second time reading this one (the first was when I was 14/15 and definitely did not understand it!) and I really enjoyed it in terms of cultural aspects, artistic aspects, and relationships both with other people and yourself.

Bit of a kooky one but I was invested in the narrator and I couldn't put it down!! It was an interesting piece on womanhood in the workplace and how your brain can take over, making the line between truth and lies more blurred.

I found this a bit difficult to get into. Love the concept generally and I think the writing was good but I couldn't properly get into it until the last few chapters, when I actually started to get really emotional!

3 STAR READS:

This was a very quick read! Some of it was a bit 'meh' at times but I liked the lessons about running and going all in to get through things.

3.5 stars

I think I was mostly just confused with this one - may have to read it again to see if I know what's going on more next time!

I wanted to love it but I feel like maybe I rushed it...?

2 STAR READS:

I sooooo wanted to love it as much as I did CMBYN but it didn't hit the same.

I liked the atmosphere it built once again, but it was a bit forgettable – SORRY!

I never read this at school so wanted to see what all the fuss was about and I actually had high hopes.

It was just quite boring really...I wish I could have more insightful comments but I found myself just wading through to the end.

Plenty more where that came from!! My reading goal for this year is 25 books so stay tuned for the 2024 Year in Books post!

I hope this gave you some books to add to your list (or ones to avoid) - let me know your favourite books to add to my list!