Another month, another book roundup! Hope your month of May is going well, y’all! Here in Scotland we’ve benefitted from some amazing weather and I’ve been a busy bee with job applications and interviews. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
I’m back with more book reviews and recommendations. It’s especially featuring Tuesday Nigths in 1980, which is due to come out next week!
Tuesday Nights in 1980. Molly Prentiss. 4/5
This book was a fantastic read. It is about art and love and loss and New York city. It is written so beautifully, so lyrically, that it felt like art itself. As a writer, if I one day write a book as beautifully written as Molly Prentiss did with Tuesday Nights in 1980, I would be very proud and happy. She did a great job at building the world of all these interlinked and yet disconnected characters.
I would recommend it for art lovers, those who like stories of young adults in the 80s, and those who love New York city. It felt like a love letter to all of the above.
Everyday Sexism. Laura Bates. 4/5
Bates writes this book based on her Everyday Sexism Project, which explores the sexism that still pervades our society in all different aspects: from childhood, to parenthood, to politics, to work. It made me feel disgusted that our society is still so far from equality. This book should be a mandatory read for many, not just those who consider themselves feminists.
A Girl’s Guide to Moving On. Debbie Macomber. 2/5
This book follows along two women who are trying to rebuild their lives after breaking up with cheating husbands. I appreciated the spirit of the book, but I found the characters sad. I was 100% with one of the secondary characters who told one of the two main women to get a backbone. It was all too pathetic. To be fair, I’ve never lived through such a difficult situation, but I found it sad. You may like it if you’ve lived through something of the sort, or like stories of broken hearts and moving on.
The House at Baker Street. Michelle Birkby. 3/5
The House on Baker Street is an interesting reversal of point of view as Birkby makes the women of Baker Street in charge of a gruesome case. I loved the idea to empower the woman and Mrs Hudson definitely seems to discover her own strength through this narrative. It’s a bit difficult because the era is so sexist, the women doubt their own worth and intelligence more than once, which is highly irritating, but it also allows for some interesting case of female empowerment. I’d recommend this book if you love Sherlock Holmes stories, a good detective story or stories of kick ass women.
Pretty Is. Maggie Mitchell. 2.5/5
This is a debut novel about the aftermath, 20 years later, of two women who were abducted as children. I was rooting for it, but unfortunately I found this book disappointing and not very well written. It felt a bit immature in its voice and structure – and unfortunately it didn’t seem to be on purpose. I did appreciate the ending though – which I won’t share of course – but it did resonate more with me in its mirror image.
*All books above have been given to me by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest reviews – all opinions are my own.*
What books have you read lately?xx